No Conversations This Week | Happy Thanksgiving!
Enjoy a week off from Wednesday Night Conversations in order to spend time with family and friends during this week of Thanksgiving.
We will resume with the various ministries on November 29th.
Outreach Team | Service Spotlight
This year as a church our aim and goal is to grow in the area of service. As Mark 10:45 reminds us, Jesus came not to be served, but rather to serve. Would you prayerfully consider serving in the church where we have some pressing needs? On our Outreach Team we are in particular need of volunteers in the areas below. If you are willing to volunteer, please contact the Outreach Team at outreach@gashland.org or sign up on the back of the Communication Card.
- CarePortal Team Coordinator: This position involves creating an Excel spreadsheet that logs all of the CarePortal request that Gashland needs to respond to and has responded to. This volunteer would then send out an email message to everyone on the CarePortal team telling them what kind of action and/or intervention is needed, and to help the other volunteer coordinate how to respond to the request, particularly in the area of prayer. Approximately 2-3 hours per week.
- Breakaway Field Days Volunteer: Breakaway Field Days is for kids ages 7-12, and there are always a variety of roles to fill and something to do for people of all ages! We will need volunteers as coaches to help lead teams from station to station, to help with crafts, to help lead the game stations, to help with registration, and to help in the nursery. Breakaway Field Days will take place June 3rd – 7th, 2024, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm each day.
Search Committee Update
This week the Search Committee gives thanks for you – our fellow sisters and brothers who have encouraged us and upheld us faithfully in prayer during this search process. Please continue your prayers that God’s will is clear to us at each stage of the search.
Men’s Christmas Dinner | December 2nd
As we enter into Advent, we are pleased to continue the tradition of the Men’s Christmas Dinner. It was started as an opportunity to pause for fellowship, as the holiday season can grow frantic and busy. We invite dads to bring their sons for an evening of film, bonding and good food. The will enjoy typical holiday cuisine provided by the women of the church, who are graciously volunteering their time and talent. It will begin with dinner at 5:30pm, followed by the film portion and then discussion over dessert. Please sign-up via the sheet in the lobby prior to Sunday School for the next couple of weeks or email men@gashland.org for more info. We hope you will share this evening with us!
Women’s Christmas Tea | December 4th
Ladies, we are excited to announce that the annual Christmas Tea is back, a much beloved long standing GEPC event. We are excited to take time, hit the pause on busy, and reflect on the advent season. Join us December 4, 2023 from 7-8:30 pm for music, fellowship, decadent desserts, and inspiration. Guests and high school age girls are welcome and encouraged to attend. Registration is required. Sign ups will be in person the next three Sundays – November 12th, 19th and 26th and online at gashland.org/christmas-tea-registration-2023. Volunteers are needed to be table hostesses, provide desserts, greeters and as always men to help serve! Our entertainment this year will be provided by poco Rezound!
Calling All Knitters & Crocheters!
We’re asking later than usual, but all of you folks that like to knit and crochet, we would love for you to make scarfs, hats, gloves, baby blankets, and/or baby hats that we can donate to City Union Mission, Eleos, Hillcrest Hope, and Resource Health. If you’ve made items like these already in the last few months and would like to donate now, please put them in the upstairs Mission Box, which is under the TV in the north lobby by the office or the downstairs Mission Box, which is by the door in the south lobby by the Ministry Center. For those of you just beginning to make your items, please put them in the Mission Boxes as well when they are finished. Please donate by December 1st. Thank you very much! God Bless!
Endowment Fund Minute
2023 is about over and we are in the process of establishing the 2024 budget for next year. The Endowment Fund is not structured and was not created over thirty years ago for today’s obligations, or for that matter tomorrow’s needs. But rather future obligations and needs down the road. As the end of the year approaches, please prayerfully consider giving a legacy gift to the Gashland Evangelical Presbyterian Church endowment fund. Also when you review your will or trust, or when you initially setup a will or trust, remember to include your church.
Volunteers Needed for Conversations!
The Helps Team is looking for just two more volunteers to help with setting up tables and chairs for Conversations. You will arrive at 5:15 Wednesday evening and you’re done by 5:35. Then you get to enjoy a nice meal and light biblical teaching! Activities for kids are included if applicable for you! Come out and make friends and have great Christian fellowship!
Outreach Collection: December | Hillcrest Hope
During the month of December, we will be collecting: 1 lb. coffee bags, coffee creamer, juice boxes, soup mixes or canned soup, Rice-a-Roni or Knorr rice sides, canned Ravioli/Spaghetti-o’s, Clorox wipes, men and women’s shaving cream, hand lotion, and dryer sheets. These items can be placed in the Brown Mission Boxes. One is located in the upstairs lobby by the office under the TV, the other is located downstairs in the Ministry Center’s lobby by the south double doors. Thank you and God Bless!
Thank You Gashland!
A big “Thank You!” for supporting our Outreach partner, Eleos, with their 2023 Thanksgiving Drive! 152 cans of green beans and approximately 750 lbs of clothes and blankets have been delivered. Thanksgiving meal kits and warm clothing will be distributed on Saturday, November 18th. Thank you, Gashland family, for loving our neighbors in the Old Northeast!
Community Volunteer Opportunities
We have a Common Place Board by the Library by the Office where you can see volunteer information from the Missions we support locally and updates from our International Missions. Right now, there is information for both City Union Mission and Hillcrest Hope for those that are interested in helping them during Thanksgiving and Christmas. There’s a variety of help needed! The Thrift Store at Hillcrest Hope in Liberty, the Christmas Store at City Union Mission by the 8th Street Warehouse and mentoring at the Men’s Center, are just a few helps needed. Check out their websites here:
Thank You, Choral Accompanists!
Our choir has had the privilege of working with Li-Hsin Chen at the piano this fall. Unfortunately, Li-Hsin had to leave us for another commitment, but we are happy to welcome our new accompanist, Ali Mammadov. Both of these young men come to us with extraordinary talent and excellent work ethics and we are so fortunate to work with them! In addition to our very own multi-talented Maribeth Griessel who enhances both our hymn singing at the piano as well with her voice with the choir, Gashland is immensely blessed at our sanctuary piano!