It's SHOEBOX time!
Operation Christmas Child delivers great joy and the Good News of Jesus Christ to children in need around the world through
gift-filled shoeboxes. For many, it is their first gift ever! Delivered by our
local church partners, shoebox gifts provide an opportunity to present the Gospel to boys and girls in a clear, child-friendly way. DEADLINE NOV 12th !!
Stay Up To Date
Check back here regularly for the latest news and events in your church. You can also follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DesertChapelUMC/
Philippians Bible Study
The book of Philippians will be the subject of 16-week Bible study beginning in mid July. Using the Bible study method-Precept Upon Precept-we will begin with a thorough investigation of the Word, and then learn how to use outside reference sources to enhance our understanding of the Scriptures. The goal of this Bible study method is to teach the student how to effectively study any Book of the Bible.
If you are interested please call Peggy Cabrinha as day and time is determined by class members. (785)626-0171
GENEROSITY IN OUR COMMUNITY
Community Feast - Desert Chapel will serving a FREE dinner every Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm. This is open to our church family as well as the community.
Clothes Closet - is open from 11 am to 2 pm Saturdays. Adults and childrens clothes and shoes are availble for those in need.
MONTHLY CHURCH MEETINGS
The Leadership Board will meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 4:00 pm.
Message from Our Lay Leader
I hadn’t intended to miss last months Newsletter deadline. So, let’s call this the Summer Lay Leader report.
July and August are usually pretty uneventful in the life of Desert Chapel. Our attending congregation typically shrinks to its lowest level and expenses rise. Vacations and conferences keep worship planners scrambling in efforts to find replacement readers, ushers, sermon givers, and other replacement personnel. But not the Summer of 2023!
The early July arrival of Pastor Philip Tesarek and his family blessed the Desert Chapel family with fresh faces, ideas, and continuity. And, as Lay Leader, I tried to keep up with feeding Philip with back- ground information and historical date to help him understand us a little better.
My own vacation interrupted the personal contact while e-mail and text helped keep the communication open. Fortunately neither Philip or I missed any Leadership Board meetings. And these two July and August meetings were, in retrospect, very important steps as your leaders plan for our future.
Some of you may remember the meetings, discussions, and initiatives of several years ago that led to the “Six Prongs” of Desert Chapel’s missions, goals, and objectives. Pastor Philip actually discovered that the Six Prongs were still listed on our website. I must admit that I had failed to see that in my occasional visits to the website.
I mention the Six Prongs, not necessarily to resurrect them, but to illustrate the need for future planning based on several years of changes in the size of our Church Family and the scope of our mission. The leadership of Desert Chapel has also dramatically changed from the historically common committee structure to a leader-based board that seeks to integrate the functional areas of worship, finance, SPRC, missions, trustees, Pastoral, and congregational needs into a small and nimble group of leaders working toward a common set of objectives and goals.
The July and August Leadership Board meetings have helped us take a few baby steps toward planning as well as a refocus on how we navigate the challenges of a smaller congregation, a divided Methodist Church, an emergence from a pandemic, an aging physical plant, a demographic change in Apache Junction, and a host of other unknown opportunities.
One of our initial steps is to begin to repurpose the two outbuildings that in the past were known as Sunday School and meeting rooms. The Board has elected to
discontinue any relationship with the “Veterans Assistance Center” in Room 8 as of August 30, 2023. DCUMC will continue to help serve Veterans through our outreach clothing, feeding, and worship missions. As further Veteran needs are identified Desert Chapel will seek to support those needs with appropriate affiliations and on-site services.
The portions of the buildings now serving the clothing, food, service groups such as AA, will remain as currently used while the Board looks at ways to streamline our missions and manage costs. Even the use of our garage and designated “NOMADS” RV hookups as well as open property areas will be looked at.
November 16, 2023 is the date of our Charge Conference. Between now and that date all of us who love Desert Chapel and hopefully some who have loved DC in the past will unite with those who come to join in that love will help the Board understand the needs and plan accordingly for the future.
A few of the practical things that need to be accomplished and therefore need your help are: Stewardship and financial planning, inventory of DCUMC belongings, building and grounds management to include repurposing of building usage, volunteer office staffing, telecommunications and other communications equipment and structure, community outreach and community governance involvement, growth planning, and other related areas.
Blessings to all, Dave
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