We will have an Ash Wednesday service on February 18th at 6 pm in the Sanctuary.

Celebrations: First, I want to celebrate David Pletincks and our choir for the awesome Christmas concert. It was amazing. David and the choir put in months of planning, and practicing, and have helped us to truly appreciate the Christmas Season, the gift of music, and the dedication to excellence.

Secondly, I'd like to celebrate our Administrative Team. There are 16 members of our congregation and are elected annually at our Charge Conference. These volunteers meet monthly to make decisions about the direction of the church, the finances, building maintenance, and staffing needs of our church. Some decisions are easy, but some require much time, prayer, and thoughtfulness. Please pray for our team. While we have so many blessings to be thankful for, our team's biggest challenge right now is finances. While the weekly attendance and giving has steadily increased, we've been hit with some major repair expenses that have put us deeply into the red for this year's budget. 1. Please pray for our Administrative Team. These are the "folks behind the scenes that make the good stuff happen!" 2. Please pray for God's provision. 3. Please pray about your financial support of the church. A part of discipleship is tithing to the church. The first 10% of our income is to go toward the glory of God and for the building of His church. I've heard that some are also confused and think our conference supports us. No, it's actually the other way around. We are totally funded by the giving of our members, and we make monthly contributions to help support our conference. We are aware it's tough for everyone in this economy. The team is having to make some tough decisions about staffing and maintenance for our church, and how to finish out the year strong, and where God is calling us to be faithful stewards for the year to come. We are grateful for their wisdom, their willingness to serve our church, and know God will see us through this challenging season. God is good? All the time! And all the time? God is good!

Women’s Fun & Fellowship now meets the second Friday evening of each month in building B. All ladies are welcome to join us. Depending on the ‘season’ our time can be filled with games, crafts or even a movie. We next meet February 13th at 7 pm. Mark your calendar and plan to come join the fun.

Pastor’s Wednesday Bible study will resume Feb 4th at 6 pm in bldg B. The study is on the book of Galatians.

The Food Pantry is back after a short holiday break. Their first Wednesday back (Jan 4th) they served 130 family units in just the first 45 minutes! That’s a record. Many cars were lined up since 7 am waiting for food. Kudos to our pantry volunteers for their exceptional service to the community and needy. The Wednesday pantry hours are currently from 9-2pm. Beginning February 4th the hours will change to 9-1 pm.

Prayer Requests Ministry: 45 Prayer Partners receive updates on all prayer requests via email, to pray over and intercede for requests each week. You may wish to be included as a prayer partner so call Lorenda in the office to add your email to the group. Submit prayer requests through our website or call the church office. We celebrate Praises and answers to prayer also. Prayer requests, updates and praises are shared each week as the Prayer list is updated and sent to all in the Ministry either via email and on the printed copy found in the Sanctuary lobby each Sunday.

Prayer Shawl Ministry: Our Prayer Shawl groups meets the third Wednesday of each month. Join us Wednesday January 21st at 10:30 am in classroom 2 of building D. Kudos to all the ladies creating beautiful prayer shawls and baby blankets! We know the recipients are very appreciative of your talents. Did you know last year they created colorful purses for each for the girl's Christmas Shoeboxes (Oct MOM), as well as hats for cancer patients, and more. We also have a supply of yarn for you to use when making the shawls.

If you like to knit or crochet, you can bring your finished shawls to the meeting or to the office for Pastor to bless. It's very important to follow the size guidelines. We have found these sizes to be best… For Baby Prayer Blankets: approximate size 29” by 29”. NO fringe please, and also solid soft colors are preferred. For Adult Prayer Shawls - please keep them to this size: 26” by 60” (no fringe), or 26” x 55” (with fringe). This adult size is very important—if they are too short, they don’t wrap around an adult comfortably. If they are too long and have extra fringe, they can get caught in the wheels of a wheelchair and create a safety hazard. ~

LIBRARY MINISTRY—Our library has a huge selection of fiction, non-fiction, devotions, biographies, Bible studies, reference books, humor, CD's DVD's, and more. Check out the web for our a vast collection of cataloged material. We recently received a donation of 4 bags of fiction and historical fiction stories. There is always something new at the library! Our books can be lent out for a month at a time to our regular church attendees. We even have a "Freebie section " as you enter to the left. These are free for the taking, for your own home library to read and to share with others.

Volunteer Opportunities:

· Tuesday mornings from 10 – noon, on a rotation schedule.

· Sunday mornings 10:00 – 10:30 and 10:30 – 11:45 on a rotation schedule.

· We can discuss additional opportunities if it better suits your schedule.

Library circulation remains active. We appreciate donations and we evaluate each one for cataloging into the library, or place them on the “free shelf”, or donate to other entities depending on condition, topic, and if the item is currently available in the library. Check out the web for our a vast collection of cataloged material.

The library is open whenever the church is open. If the librarian, or volunteer, are not available, you can check out books by writing your name and the complete date on the card and leaving the card on the desk. You will find the card in the back of the book, CD, or DVD. If you can only make it during the week, the office will be happy to let you into the library to "check out" our material.

Thank you for your continued interest and support in the SpringLife Church Library. ~Lois Johnson, Librarian

Congregational Care - Monthly Report

“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

Care Companions are matched with a care receiver and are given a guide to share the love of Christ with these persons. Sometimes its just a phone call or card sent in the mail,, while others like a monthly visit to them in their home or Nursing Home/Rehab.