Good Friday morning Church Requel!
What a great Sunday morning we have planned for this weekend. It's all Mandisa music! This is the brain child of Brandi Walker, who tells me she loves listening to Mandisa's upbeat and encouraging lyrics on Christian radio. "Why not have a Sunday when every worship song and every special comes from Mandisa?" Brandi asked me one planning meeting a couple months back.
Joining Brandi on the Praise Team this weekend will be Missie Miller and Trish Trubachik. After individually listening to the set for the last three weeks, the local trio got together and practiced this past Wednesday evening. One thing they can all agree on: Mandisa makes it look a lot easier than it really is. They plan on practicing again tonight. I think we should thank them all this Sunday for their dedication to leading us in our worship.
So what Mandisa songs will we be singing together? Here's this week's praiselist: "Stronger," "My Deliverer," and one of my all-time favorites: "Overcomer." Would you like to get a head start on your own praise singing? Check out this YouTube playlist of all the songs we've sung together at Church Requel so far this year! We update it each Monday morning, but I went ahead and put up the three Mandisa songs early just for you!
YouTube CR Worship Playlist. By the way - the 2015 CR Playlist is a great playlist to bookmark. I always find the music uplifting. It's hard to believe, but we already have 36 songs on the list, and it's only March 20th! We should doubly thank Brandi Walker, who is the one responsible for the songs we sing each week. I love what she's done so far this year!
Speaking of music, didn't you love the kids praise team last Sunday morning? We are also blessed to have Tamira on our staff, teaching our children. Six of our kiddos volunteered to sing with her at Church Requel last Sunday morning.
I have to admit that Tamira was more certain than I was that you all would be able to do "the wave" in the middle of one of our praise songs. She was right! You all looked like you were having as much fun as she was.
Easter Egg Hunt. Tamira is also leading the way toward the first-ever Easter egg hunt for Easter, coming up on April 5th. I've heard back from several of you that you've already gone shopping for Easter candy and plastic eggs. You can begin bringing your Easter goodies for our children to the church service this coming Sunday morning.
Also make sure you plan to stay a little after the service on Easter morning to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt fun. We need all of our adults to line up on our property along Marion Avenue and Park Avenue as a human barrier. Plus - think how much fun it will be to watch our little ones find their eggs? Also - if you know of any children in your life, who don't have a church home - make sure to invite them to Church Requel for Easter morning. Tamira has come up with a creative way to tell the real Resurrection story in KidsMin through a scavenger hunt downstairs during our teaching time upstairs. What a terrific Easter she has planned for KidsMin!
First Homegrown Program. I know this week's newsletter seems to have turned into a staff bragfest. I can't help myself. I guess I'm feeling so blessed this morning. I have to tell you about one more "staff" member. Marci Crawford isn't on the CR payroll, but she's one of us all the same.
Marci volunteers her time each week to produce our weekly program. For several years she's written and edited the program from her own home and then sent it off to Nancy Roop, who used her office printer (with the appreciated permission of Quest) to print out the programs. Mary Kay or I would usually swing by Nancy's office to pick up the printed programs and make sure they arrived timely at Church Requel.
This week for the first time Marci used our new CR office to write, edit, print and fold the programs - all in house! Yay! For many churches this might seem like no big deal. But we know what a big deal it really is. Thank you so much to everyone who sacrificed so much to make this small office happen - the men who worked on construction and everyone who gave financially toward the project.
In Coming Weeks... Here are some other things we have to look forward to in coming weeks!
- Feeding the hungry on Saturday, March 28th, the night before Palm Sunday. This is a great first opportunity to serve and get to know some of your fellow Church Requelers.
- Easter Celebration on April 5th. Church Requel's first ever Easter Egg hunt. Start inviting your family and friends now!
- Parenting two-week mini series after Easter, which will lead us to...
- April 19th - First Child Dedication ceremony since moving to our present location.
- April 26th - Ashland Theological Seminary Professor Dr. John Byron preaching. John is a passionate and gifted teacher and writer (and one of my favorite teachers at ATS!)
- Saturday, May 2nd - Our next Belong Membership Class. This is a great way to learn all about Church Requel, whether you decide to become a member or not.
- May 3rd - Mansfield Christian School Image singing (including our own Haleigh Trubachik!)
- May 10th - Mothers Day - Always a special morning!
On my way to the office this morning I experienced the same thing many of you did - SNOW! On the first day of Spring too! The good news is that we know this is Winter's last gasp. Spring literally is right around the corner. When I look at our plans for this Spring (above), I know it's going to be the best season we've had yet at Church Requel.
Can't you feel it? New people are coming. People are praying for one another and supporting each other throughout the week. There's anticipation for each and every Sunday morning.
Last week our attendance was down just a little bit. When Mary Kay and I were talking about it after church, we realized that a year ago we would have been so thrilled with the number who attended on Sunday. Let's remain faithful and focused on following Christ to our very best ability... and enjoy the ride!
Love partnering with you, Pastor Mark