Nonprofit Organization US POSTAGE PAID Stillwater, OK Permit No.

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Facts & Figures for February 19, 2012 Attendance (127 and 135)...........................262 Sunday School........129 General Fund Receipts..............$2,975.00 Capital Fund Receipts..........................$170.00 Loose Offering/Sunday School.......$82.00 Non-Budget Funds Receipts....$4,554.615 Preliminary Facts & Figures as of Jan. 31, 2012 YTD Budget Receipts...........$34,279.33 YTD Budget Expenses......$41,778.92 Net Receipts over Expenses.......($7,499.59) Presented by Kay Smith, Treasurer, dkwsmith@suddenlink.net

The Stillwater Christian

Volume 2012 In This Issue
Announcements Care and Keeping of a Candle Birthdays & Anniversaries 1 2 2

February 21 Ash Wednesday Service, Feb. 22 Join us at 6pm with a Pancake Supper with breakfast meat and fresh fruit salad. We will then gather in the Sanctuary for an Ash Wednesday service.

Elders Forming Prayer and Bible Study Groups The Elders are forming Prayer and Bible Study Groups to meet for six weeks, from Feb. 26 to Easter. Groups will be organized with meeting Children & Youth 3 times and locations decided by the participants. You can form a Prayer Facts & Figures 4 and/or Bible Study group. Contact the office (editor@fcc-stillwater.org 372-7722) or Nancy Trench (nancyjtrench@gmail.com 404-269-3026) if you are interested, and/or need resources. In response to the WNF Surveys, weve designed Session 4 to meet the shared ideas and requests of the congregation. Classes of various lengths and topics are being offered! Come join us for fun, food and fellowship. 5 week classes include: Weaving with Marie Hesser, Lenten Scripture and Prayer led by the elders, Mah Jongg, and Choir 3 week classes 2/29-3/14: Photography with Christy Luper, Gospel Music Sing Along with Ival Hesser 2 week classes 3/28, 4/4: Frugal Living with Tracy Freeman, Exercise or Zumba 1 week class 3/28: Estate planning
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Central Area Churches Praying for Churches This week we are praying for: FCC in OKC

WNF Session 4: Feb. 29-April 4 Set to Begin!

Week of Compassion Special Offering Feb. 19-26th

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Of Stillwater, OK, Inc. 411 W. Mathews Ave. Stillwater, OK 74075-7517

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Please give generously to Week of Compassion and make a difference in the life of our neighbors near and far. You never know when it might be you who needs a little compassion.
The Stillwater Christian is a weekly publication of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The deadline for articles each week is 1pm Monday. Tracy Freeman, Editor editor@fcc-stillwater.org Church Office Phone: 405.372.7722 Fax: 405.372.7726 Find The Stillwater Christian and more information at www.fcc-stillwater.org

Sunday Van Drivers are still needed (special licensing not required)! We are also accepting donations of Coupons (place in the plastic tub in Narthex), toilet paper, and adult diapers for our Helping Hands Neighbors. Annual SICC Chili Supper Benefit, Saturday Feb. 25th FCC has supported the Stillwater Interfaith Counseling Center since it began 15 years ago. Saturday is the annual Chili Supper fundraiser! Well serve all-you-can-eat homemade chili, vegetarian soup, all the "fixins," dessert and beverages from 11 am to 7 pm at the low cost of $6 per adult, $15 for a family of 4. Tickets are available in advance from Woody Hedrick and Cara Beer or at the door.

Outreach Volunteers And Donations Needed!

CWF Rummage Sale, Mar 1 and 2

Plan to bring your items to the church Feb. 26-29th during our Prep Days. Volunteers are also needed and appreciated during this busy week.
Join us this Sunday for Owen Caytons Message, Our Father in Heaven based on Mark 1:9-15 and Genesis 9:8-17 Traditional 9:00am Sunday School 10:10 Contemporary 11:10

Send prayer requests and general email to office@fcc-stillwater.org

Owen Cayton, Senior Minister

The Care and Feeding of A Candle

pastor@fcc-stillwater.org

CHILDREN & YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS

Sondra Ladd, Children/Youth Ministry Director youth@fcc-stillwater.org

Last week I spent a little time talking about the spiritual piece of spiritual but not religious (SBNR). As you may have gathered, it is not the spiritual with which I have difficulty; it is how religion or religious tends to be defined. More often than not, the term religion is not defined directly by those who call themselves SBNR. However, as you begin to listen to what is being said, it becomes clear that religion is everything bad about a particular faithreligion, according to them, tends to be, by definition, bad. Diana Butler Bass said it best in a recent article, In the last decade, the word religion has become equated with institutional or organized religion. Because of crises such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Roman Catholic abuse scandal, Americans now define religion in almost exclusively negative terms. (The End of Church, goo.gl/mk6qR) To be sure, Christians has not always helped ourselves out in this regard. Throughout our history, which has often been very bloody, we tend to fight and divide over correct belief(there are 18,000 denominations in the U.S.), we pick scapegoats and pick on people of other faiths, we dont always treat our neighbors well, and we tend to lag behind rather than lead when it comes to human rights. There are moments when, as it was observed to me the other day, we tend to look more like the culture (greedy, self-centered, and destructive) than we look like Jesus. At the same time, we have also built hospitals, opened charities to help the poor, and been at the forefront of human rights transformation. There have been Christians throughout history who, as a result of their overtly religious faith, we lift up to emulate because they worked to change the world around them and sought to look more like Jesus. I would go so far as to say that for most Christians, this is what we are attempting to do, however imperfectly we might do it. One of the most interesting phenomena about this movement is the co-opting of Jesus (of course all Christians tend to do that it is sort of funny how we always imagine Jesus to be in agreement with us!) Somehow, those who would lean toward the Christian side of the SBNR spectrum, claim that Jesus came to get rid of religion and the religious. Yet, that is clearly not the witness of the New Testament. While Jesus offers significant challenges to the people of his faith, he is also very clearly a first century Jew. He (and his earlier followers after him) went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, he went to Jerusalem for the Passover, he wore a prayer shawl with tzit-tzit (clear in the story of the woman with the hemorrhage), and he was educated in scriptures among many other things. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus very much at his Jewish best, in dialog with other Rabbis who had a wide arrange of views on many of the issues Jesus addresses there. So, for a definition of religion, I would argue that a broad definition is necessary. We who are in some sense religious cannot simply dismiss anything bad about religion. In the same way, neither can anyone take those good things away from us. So, I would offer the following, perhaps anticlimactic, broad definition of religion (drum roll please): Religion is the discourses (what we say) and practices (what we do) of a particular faith. It is here that I think the two, spirituality and religion, begin to come together. That is where I will pick up next week. Shalom, Pastor Owen

Keri Bruce is the story teller this week and Diana Watkins is the adult assistant. Ryan Parker and Jillian Miller are youth assistants. Happily Forever After Rehearsals Continue Children will continue rehearsals for Happily Forever After during WNF for the upcoming session. T-Shirt orders are being accepted and are due along with $10 payments, by March 7th. Rehearsals for speaking parts will begin this week at 5:30 in the Sanctuary. Youth Connect Sunday Night Youth will be working to set out and organize rummage sale items this Sunday during Sunday School. Youth meetings will be held at the regular time (5:30 dinner and Bible study). PARENTS, YOUTH AND PIE PURCHASERS, MARK YOUR CALENDARS! THE SEMI ANNUAL PIE SALE WILL BE SUNDAY, MARCH 4TH. PARENTS AND YOUTH ARE ASKED TO ATTEND THE FIRST WORSHIP SERVICE, PARENTS WILL ATTEND A STATION TRAINING SESSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING WORSHIP AND YOUTH WILL MEET IN THE YOUTH ROOM FOR INSTRUCTIONS. PIE ASSEMBLY WILL BEGIN AT 10:30. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU BE HERE FOR THE MEETINGS. PIE SALES WILL BEGIN IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CONTEMPORARY SERVICE. PIES ARE $12 EACH. PLEASE CALL SONDRA LADD OR SHERI GUM TO PRE ORDER YOUR PIES. PROCEEDS BENEFIT SUMMER MISSIONS. Childrens Christmas Store to Begin! FCC youth are currently accepting donations for our first annual Childrens Christmas store. If you currently have new, unopened, unused items that could be purchased as Christmas gifts by children, please bring them to the youth office. Also be on the look out for clearance items at local stores and retailers. If you have questions regarding the types of items suitable for donations, please contact Sondra Ladd. Interested in Taking Trip to South Texas? Outreach is looking for Sunday School classes or people willing to take a short trip to South Texas together. Seeing the amazing work that the Good Samaritan Ministries is doing in Los Fresnos will inspire and energize you. The first-hand experience of seeing the way the friendly and on fire for the Lord church members help each other survive in spite of obstacles will be an experience that will stay in your heart forever. If interested, let Leila Beeby know (742-5174 or leila.beeby@sbcglobal.net). Happy Birthday to: 2/21 Emma Bollinger, Maria Bollinger, Idamae Mattheyer, Delbert McGaha; 2/22 Teddy Clark, Joy Fieldsend, Jim Gunkel, Jr.; 2/24 Debra Hall; 2/25 Jim Smith; 2/27 Marie Miller, Pars Tornakian; 2/28 Jean Sharp, Abby Traylor

Youth Pie Sale Day - March 4th