November 13, 2024
Hello, church family and friends!
It is a wonderful week here at your church. After a couple weeks of being pulled hither and yon to help out with family stuff (and thank you for your understanding about those occasional schedule changes, I know many of you have it happen too in order to be there for your beloveds) and also community meetings and whatnot, it is glorious to have things back to normal.
This past week, in the midst of preparing for a presentation about the Wolf Center, I had the pleasure of meeting a young man who is a senior at CCHS, who came by to see if he could do some community service hours for a scholarship and an English project. It was a Tuesday there wasn’t a lot for him to do, but I was able to connect him with Jim Flemming who has been volunteering with us and helping find grants that might help us, and introduce him to a couple of folks who were there to do laundry and take showers. Then he came back on Thursday and got to talk with the ladies of United Women in Faith, and he stayed to serve at Fallon Daily Bread. I only got to spend a little time with him myself, but I am SO GLAD that kids are getting this encouragement to volunteer! I think, when it’s taught and done well, volunteerism can build tremendous character. And I can’t say enough about how important it is for humans of all ages to learn firsthand about poverty and folks who live very different lives from their own. It can connect people to the Lord and the truths of the Gospel in a visceral way that words alone can’t quite tell. All of that was definitely a highlight to the week.
There are a bunch of things that conspired together, I think, to make this finally happen. Because God knows, the folks at Social Services and us at Epworth have been trying forever. But the biggest thing is housing. Being housed has done wonders for Leroy’s sense of safety and confidence, given him extra motivation to be sober and stay away from people who aren’t (because he risks losing his housing otherwise), freed him from having to rely on people who constantly took advantage of him, and allowed him to focus on things like improving his physical health now that he doesn’t have to focus on just survival. Please continue to keep him in prayer, and thank God for answered prayers!
My prayer for all of us this week, as the seasons change in earnest and the harvest is complete, is that we see the hand of God all around us. As the wind blows, and leaves fall, and everything gets wet and cold and dark, let it all remind us that God has provided everything we need for this moment, right now. Let’s gather it in, all that God has grown for us this year. Breathe deep, give thanks, wrap yourself in warm blankets and warm memories, and thank God for today’s simple pleasures and the goodness of this life.
Resting in God’s everlasting arms,
Worship This Week
Shout to the Lord! Music as Prayer, Part 3
We continue this week, singing and praying together, this time songs of hope. The Bible is FULL of these, and so is 2000 years of Christian history! We don’t even know how to choose what we should hear or sing together, there are so many. As we move into the season of harvest festivals and thankfulness and abundance, it is so soothing to look, and taste, and see that the Lord is GOOD. And therein lies our hope. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read and pray with Isaiah 43:1-7 and 18-19, and Romans 5:1-5.
Worship begins at 9:00am every Sunday, in person. If you can’t be there, remember to find us on YouTube so that you can watch live from wherever you are, or join us on KVLV radio on AM980 every Sunday beginning at 9:30am. If you have ideas or questions, or if we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553. We’d love to hear from you.
News and Fun Stuff
We have singers, dancers, and performers from all over our community signed up to perform, and all KINDS of delicious desserts coming for our auction! Now, we need help spreading the word so folks will come and make this event a big success. With the extremely capable help of party planner extraordinaire Elizabeth Medina, we will also have a fun and unique dinner, and a few raffle items, along with music, poetry, storytelling, dancing, and other fabulous entertainment. Look for the sign up sheet in worship, the more help we can get the better!
Advent Bible Study Begins Sunday December 1
Our Advent study this year is called “Who Needs Christmas” by Andy Stanley. We’ll have at least one class on Sundays after worship, one on Mondays at 10:30am, and one on Wednesdays at 6pm via Zoom. There is no book to purchase this time, just video in class and discussion. Join any class, any time! All are welcome.
Church Family Potluck Sunday November 24
Bring something delicious to share if you’re able, and spend some time with your church family before folks head off to Bible study or bell choir rehearsal or Messy Church. We’ll start with grace right after church, in the fireside room.
And Then, Stay for Messy Church!
Join us for a wonderful time of food, fellowship, and learning together. It’s church, but not as you know it! We start at around 10:45am and finish up around 11:30.
Thanksgiving at Fallon Daily Bread
Epworth and Scout Troop 1776 are co-hosting a BIG pre-Thanksgiving supper on Monday, November 25. It’s always a bigger than usual feast, and a fun one with the Scouts there to help. We need help most with cooking and set up, but everything else too! AND we’d also love some of the usual help on our usual Methodist Night, Monday November 18, where we’re serving breakfast for dinner. Thank you!
Wolf Center Community Services Update
Thanks to the hard work of Steve Russell and the nascent Wolf Center Community Services (WCCS) board of directors, we are now officially a 501c3 nonprofit! We are all settled with the IRS and the State of Nevada, and we are off and running. Now, the real work begins. Soon the Board will begin meeting regularly to refine its mission statement and bylaws, and continue to organize. And you, dear church family, have a big part to play! It turns out that there are state and federal grants available to us for capital improvements and energy efficiency to support the work we are already doing. So, the WCCS board would love to hear about your priorities and ideas. What improvements would you like to see, to help us use the Wolf Center more efficiently? Like, do you think we need some updated equipment in the kitchen, more storage, better shelving, better room dividers, better lighting, safety improvements, better air conditioning? Give us your ideas, as big and wild as you want! Don’t hold back! Share them with one or all of the board members, and we’ll talk together and come up with a design plan to present to the church (since the church remains the owner of the property, and retains the right to approve how it is used.) Here are the WCCS Board members:
Grant Mills grantmfi@cccomm.net, Steve Russell stever49@gmail.com,
Margaret Knox coke@cccomm.net, Edith Isidoro-Mills eaim@phonewave.net
Kathy Fraker kathyfraker59@gmail.com, Lori Crook, loricrook1999@gmail.com
Tammie Sheminski Tammie@churchillcoalition.com
Steve Endacott endacottsteve@charter.net, Sean Rowe seanrowe@fallonlegal.com
Glenn Wassmuth (don’t have contact info for him yet)
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