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Summer is right around the cor-ner which means our incredible
choir is ready for a much needed and well deserved break! If you
are interested in singing a solo or playing an in-strumental piece during one of our summer
worship services please email Kay at [email protected] or text her at 330-962-
4908. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!
Special points of interest:
May 19th - Faith, Hope and Love col-lection - during worship service
May 20th - Prayer Meeting - 6:30 pm
May 22nd - Bingo to benefit the Rahab Ministries - 6:00 pm
Pastors Pen 2
Session Highlights 3
Bingo to benefit Rahab Ministries 3
Worship Opportunities 4
Faith, Hope and Love Fund 4
30 Days of Prayer 6
Prayer Meeting 7
Inside this issue:
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Volume 9, Issue 2
May 2019
Hearing the recommendations from the Worship and Christian Growth & Development Teams, the Session recently approved taking a break for the summer with regards to Sunday School and changing the hour of worship during the same time. The idea was to give teachers a well-deserved break so that they could start back re-freshed in the fall. It also seemed like a good time to go to a new summer worship hour, and 10 a.m. was decided. Al-so, we will be worshiping outside, weather permit-ting, on Sunday, June 9th (Pentecost Sunday); Sun-day, July 14th; and Sun-day, August 11th.
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Pastor’s Pen
Dear Members and Friends of The Vine Fellowship Church: The other day I found a book in my library that has daily reflections on spiritual classics. The book contains pieces from twelve of, “the finest spiritual writers from the Christian tradition, from Saint Augus-tine to Thomas Merton.” Some of the reflections focus on topics like, Contentment, Reconciliation, Grace and Mealtime, What Prayer Is, Solitude and Silence, Brother Wind, Grace and Community, just to name a few. One of the giants of the faith who is focused on is the late German theologian and pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I have been a fan of Bonhoeffer ever since my seminary days when I read his classic, The Cost of Discipleship. The original German title is simply Nachfolge which literally means “following” or “the act of following.” As some of you know, Pastor Bonhoeffer, on April 9, 1945, was exe-cuted in the concentration camp at Flossenburg by special order of Heinrich Himmler. The charge against him was treason for the part he played in the failed attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. For Bonhoeffer, his resistance to Hitler and Nazism was an act of obedience to Jesus Christ. In several of Bonhoeffer’s books you will find a common theme of Grace. For him, grace was the interpretive center of all of life. As he saw it, grace has two parts: promise and demand; gift and re-sponse; free and costly; gospel and law. During May we will be looking at what Bonhoeffer had to say about Grace and elements that go with this amazing gift. Blessings on you as we move closer to the end of the school year and look forward to summer. Yours in Christ and on the Journey together, Mark
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Session Highlights
April Session Highlights
• Session ratified (Community Ministry/Mission Team) the unanimously approved e mail vote taken on March 22, 2019. The motion was, “that Deacon Elaine Miller and Rev. Dr. Mark Ruppert be our church’s repre-sentatives to the Vital Congregation Initiative Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Monday, May 13-16. Furthermore, The Vine Fellowship Church agrees to pay the church fee of $100 to Eastminster Presbytery and will pay for 1 meal for Elaine and 1 meal for Mark. The Vine Fellowship Church will also pay to Eastminster Presbytery $5 per regular worship participant for each year of the Initiative (2019, 2020, 2021).
• Session approved (Stewardship and Finance Team) that we authorize
spending up to $2,000 to support our Vital Congregations Initiative over the next 3 years (April 2019-March 2022). The funds will come from memorial funds- undesignated.
• Session approved (Worship Team) The Vine Fellowship Praise Team Vi-
sion Statement (for a copy, please contact Elder Barbara Conklin, Clerk of Session or Elder Peggy Weaver, Worship Team Chair).
• Session approved (Personnel Team) the job descriptions of the Pastor,
Director of Music Ministry and The HUB Marketing and Events Manager (for copies, please contact Elder Barbara Conklin, Clerk of Session or El-der Dick Hillebrand, Personnel Team Chair).
The Earth is the Lord’s and
everything in it.
Psalms 24:1
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Did you know that more Muslims around the world have come to Christ in the last 25 years than in combined earlier history? This development cor-relates with the years when there has been worldwide concerted intercession during Ramadan, the Muslim holy days, May 6 to June 4.
30 Days of Prayer Guide Faith, Hope and Love
Sunday, May 5th Communion 11:00 a.m. Worship Service Scripture: II Corinthians 12:1-10 Sermon: “Do Prayers Ever Go Unanswered?” Sunday, May 12th 11:00 a.m. Worship Service Scripture: Matthew 26:36-38 Sermon: “Grace & Community” Sunday, May 19th 11:00 a.m. Worship Service Scripture: Mark 8:34-35 Sermon: “Grace & Discipleship” Sunday, May 26th Memorial Day Sunday 11:00 a.m. Worship Service Scripture: Luke 22:42 Sermon: “Grace & Suffering”
Worship Opportunities
The Faith, Hope and Love Fund was established several years ago to help provide financial aid to people in need. Typically, in a year, we have 4 collections for this all-important fund. On Sun-day, May 19th you will have an opportunity to bring your offer-ing and put it in the basket pro-vided. We do ask if you are col-lecting coins that you roll the coins in order to help those counting the money that Sunday. If you do decide to contribute by way of a check, please indicate in the Memo Section that the money is for The Faith, Hope and Love Fund. Thank you in advance for your contributions to this worthy collection.
We have an opportunity to learn and pray for various Muslims group through use of the Muslim 30 Days of Prayer Guide. In it an individual or group from different countries is de-scribed each day with specific prayer requests that each will be open to the Holy Spirit's revelation of Jesus as Lord and Savior, not just as a prophet as the Quran presents.
Pat Franklin has prayer guides that you may use and keep at a cost of $3.00 each.
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Bible Studies and Fellowship Opportunities
Tuesday Club Tuesday Club will be meeting on May 14th, at 12:30 pm at the Akron Family Restaurant.
Please see Rita if have any questions
WNGS “WNGS” “They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength… They shall mount up with wings of eagles.” Isaiah 40:31
Women of the church are invited to participate in the Wednesday afternoon Bible study. Contact Pat Franklin for more information.
Afternoon Circle Afternoon Circle will resume in September.
Men’s Thursday Morning
Bible Study Every Thursday morning a group of men of all ages meet together at Panera Bread in Montrose
at 6:30 am for Bible study and fellowship. If you would like to join this study, please contact
Tony Miller @ 330-825-9254.
Women’s Bible Review Fellowship The Women's Bible Review Fellowship will gather for its last fellowship of the season on
May 16 at The Hub in the Café. From 1-3pm we will study the final two chapters of the THE PRODIGAL GOD by Pastor Tim Keller. Text or call Suzanne your RSVP by 5.15 @
330.322.7966. .
Prayer Concerns
Pray for our military: Paul Jones - Air Force
Please continue to pray for: Hope Everhart, Frank Weaver, Steve Rowland, Helen Harrod, Nancy Smith, Pete Jones, David Cook, JoAnn Marcinkoski, Mia
Wilson, Sri Lanka bombing victims, Members in Senior Living Facilities, Unrest and killing in our country and around the world, Racial reconciliation, Refugee
crisis around the world, Victims of Hurricanes and Floods, Syrian Refugee Educa-tional Initiative, The Middle East, Local Missions: Love Akron, Missionaries
Mark Hare - and wife Jenny Bent (Haiti & The Dominican Republic) and Elmarie & Scott Parker (Lebanon), The Persecuted Church.
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3676 Community Lane
Copley, OH 44321
Phone: 330-576-608
T HE VINE FELLOWSHI P CHURCH
Our next prayer gathering will
be on May 20th at 6:30 pm in
the Café.
The Vine Fellowship Church
Sunday School begins at 9:30 am
Traditional Worship begins at 11:00 am.
Mark T. Ruppert - Pastor
Denise Negowski - HUB Coordina-tor
Kay Belser - Pianist and Director of Music Ministry
Prayer Meeting
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
www.thevinefellowshipcopley.org
Gossip is the Devil’s radio! Are you his DJ?
Plain English
As a caring Christian community, The Vine Fellowship Church welcomes all people as we proclaim, witness and teach the good news of Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and service.
