The Navigator
May 21, 2008

  Good & Faithful Servant
of the Month

This month we are honoring a dear sister in Christ who has demonstrated exemplary Christian servanthood, Cindy Wright. In the past Cindy has faithfully served on our Missions Board and with the Community Festival, and she continues to be involved with Adopt-A-Block. She gives leadership in our Welcome Ministries, and just recently you would have found her serving an appreciation lunch to the staff of Snyder Park Elementary as a part of our Kid’s Hope outreach. We thank God for CINDY WRIGHT and name her our Good & Faithful Servant of the Month for May 2008. Please express your gratitude to Cindy for being a faithful and obedient servant of God who helps make Maiden Lane the wonderful church it is.

In recent years one of the great challenges that we have faced within the Church of God is finding a way to keep our congregations and people connected through a communication tool.
In the early years of our movement the Gospel Trumpet was very effective in doing that. That was in the days before radio and television and print media was at its height. In 1962 the Gospel Trumpet became known as Vital Christianity and it remained a strong connecting and communication tool within the Church of God.
With the rise of the internet and other new forms of technology, and with changes in North American culture print media has lost much of its appeal and effectiveness. Increasingly declining subscription rates led to the eventual stoppage of publication of Vital Christianity. Recently an attempt to launch a new publication called OneVoice met the same fate.
What hasn’t changed however is the need to find a means to connect and communicate with other Church of God congregations and people. In a continuing effort to find a successful way to address this issue Church of God Ministries, Inc. has announced the publication of a new and free e-newsletter called CHOGnews.
I want to applaud our national leadership for this endeavor. I believe that in the fast-paced information age that we now find ourselves immersed in this format of communication has the best chance of being successfully received by the church at large.
I strongly encourage all staff, leadership and congregants of Maiden Lane to go online and subscribe to this new and FREE e-newsletter. It is a very simple process and each month the newsletter will be sent to the email address you indicate. To subscribe you need to go the following website address: www.chog.org/chognews.
Let’s each do our parts to stay connected with the larger Church of God. The tendency today is for us to isolate from one another and have little or no contact and communication. Most people today seem content to just do their own thing. This may be convenient in today’s culture, but is it what’s best for the health of our congregations as we move deeper into the 21st Century? I don’t think so. I believe the greater common good is served by putting forth every reasonable effort to stay connected to and communicate with our brothers and sisters in the larger Church of God family of congregations.
I love and value you and your families in Christ and I thank you as always for granting me the blessed privilege of serving as your pastor and spiritual shepherd.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Mark
~1 Thessalonians 5:11

FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR CYNTHIA

Upcoming Events:

May 25: Memorial Day observance and celebration. Let’s remember those who have served so bravely, thank those that are present. We will also participate in communion that morning.
May 28: Final rehearsal and end of the year parties for Worship Choir and both Seekers & Singers.
June 1: Time of worship through baptism in 2nd service. Graduate recognition in both services.
June 8: Combined service at 11:15 at Springfield campus. Worship service at Indian Lake for family camp.

A special “thank you” needs to be given to the following for all of their faithful service to our choirs this year. To Lori Riley, Rick Cox, Faith Pencil, and Steven Wolgast for their continued dedication to our worship choir. Thanks for making sure I wasn’t the one playing the piano! To Carla Ramirez, Ron Wolgast, Bill Gardner, Michelle Dunbar, Cassie Deppen, Russ Overman, Brandi Diehl, Ginny Riley, and Bev Shivley – thank you for all the time, hard work, and love you invest in our children and in the seekers and singers ministries. What a great year it has been!

I would also like to take a moment and thank three very special women. After 12 years of service, Julie Nourse and Peggy Hardacre are stepping down to pursue other ministry opportunities. Whether it was designing sets for a musical or coming up with motions for a song; these ladies have had a very important role in making the Gospel come alive for our littlest singers. Thank you so very much for sharing your love of Jesus. Please also express your thanks to Charlotte Wollum for over 20 years of service to Seekers & Singers. Charlotte’s leadership skills, combined with her love for children, has been a stronghold in this ministry. Always concerned with the spiritual wellbeing of the kids, she found the perfect balance of worship, Bible study, learning, and fun. I really encourage you to personally thank all of these Godly women for their dedication to service with the pastoral staff and their families for an informal lunch and time for conversation. It’s a wonderful chance to connect personally with each of our pastors and get a sense of who they are and their passions for serving the Lord.

FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR JOY

Praise the Lord! We have more new people entering our fellowship each week. Because of that, and a growing interest in learning more about Maiden Lane, we’ll begin our next Newcomer’s Class on Sunday, June 22 at 10 a.m. The class will meet in room 203 (upstairs) for just 6 weeks, so if you’re relatively new, this is a great opportunity to learn more about the church and her ministries.
Each week, we’ll focus on an important aspect of the church: Week 1 will center on basic Church of God beliefs and also highlight some history of Maiden Lane. Week 2 will concentrate on our church’s position on some important moral and social issues. In week 3, we’ll focus on pastoral roles and procedures in our church fellowship (things like wedding policy, ministry to the grieving, hospital visitation, etc.). Week 4 Pastor

Mark will share the church’s mission, vision and values with the class. In week 5, we’ll share the “Menu of Ministries” available to everyone at Maiden Lane. In our final week, Pastor Mark will talk about whole life stewardship and commitment to a church family. Then, on August 3, we’ll introduce our Newcomers in our morning worship services, and then help them assimilate into other Sunday school classes and small groups.

Additionally, the class will have the opportunity to meet each of our pastoral staff as, week by week, each pastor stops in for a time of sharing about him or herself and the ministries he or she oversees. On “introduction Sunday” class members meet after service with the pastoral staff and their families for an informal lunch and time for conversation. It’s a wonderful chance to connect personally with each of our pastors and get a sense of who they are and their passions for serving the Lord.

Feedback from our first class was great; folks found this class helpful as they found a stronger entry point of connection at Maiden Lane. Our hope is that, by talking about our beliefs and our background, as well as our mission as a body of believers, that more new people will find answers to some of their questions as they discern whether God is calling them to make Maiden Lane their church home. If you are or know of a new individual or family in our fellowship, please join us for a great time of fellowship and learning. Contact me, sign up at the table in the Narthex, or mark your Welcome Tab if you’re interested in attending!

FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR DAN
Enon News

Thank you to the Enon WCG for a great two weekends. The Enon WCG hosted a dessert auction and furnished a lasagna dinner that raised over $650.00 for missions and then participated in the Enon Community Garage Sale the next week and raised over $350.00. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to missions. I also want to thank you, the congregation, for your support of these two events as well.

On June 14 the Enon Youth will be travelling to Marmon Valley Farms for a day of horseback riding, lunch and just good old fun. If you are planning on going, pay Pastor Dan by June 1. The cost including everything is $30 per person. The bus will leave from the Enon Campus at 9:30 a.m. and will return at 4 p.m.

As we continue our sermon series on Community Impact, I challenge each of you as a response to last week’s message to fervently pray for all the names brought to the altar. God wants to move in a mighty way in our nation, but as Christians, we need to get in tune with His leading and follow him with good solid leadership, witness and living. People see your actions every day. Do your actions reflect Christ?

ALL CHURCH PICNIC

Mark your calendars for June 22. Our all church picnic will be at the Union Club Park again this year on St Paris Pike, north of the Upper Valley Mall in Springfield.
This year, the Membership Board has chosen to furnish the entire meal as an appreciation of you the church. We will have an old fashioned picnic with hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw and chips. Oh and don’t forget the ice cream for dessert. Sign up begins this weekend in the Lobby at Enon or at the sign up table in Springfield. We do need you to sign up so we can get a count in advance of how much food to purchase.
There will be something for everyone. Games for the kids, cornhole, horseshoes, and entertainment. Come and enjoy this day of fun and fellowship on June 22 at 1:30 p.m.

FAMILY CAMPOUT / UNITY SERVICE @ SPRINGFIELD

Thirty-five families will be camping at Indian Lake the weekend of June 6-8. There will be a worship service at camp on Sunday, June 8. The Springfield campus will have a unity service at 11:15 a.m. on June 8.