Local Church Updates

• Deacon Honored by President Bush
• Los Angeles Contracts Case of Saturday Night Fever
• Fort Wayne Finally Enjoys "Underwater Fantasy" Social
• Garden Grove Congregation Puts on Puppet Show
• Asheboro Ladies Club Serves Church and Community
• East Texas Dedicates New Church Building
• Houston Holds Second Annual Family Feud: Feast Edition
• Indianapolis Young Adults Enjoy Symphony and Dinner Outing

Deacon Honored by President Bush

In 2002, during the State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called on Americans to give 4,000 hours of their personal lives in community volunteer service. A deacon from the Fairview Heights, Illinois, congregation, Dale Osborne, stepped forward and fulfilled this request.

On Dec. 1, Mr. Osborne, long-time member and deacon in God's Church, was presented with the President's Call to Service Award, which included a letter from President Bush and a lapel pin for his service to community conservation and youth programs.

Vince Szymkowiak, pastor of Fairview Heights and the Rolla and St. Louis, Missouri, congregations, read President Bush's letter to the Fairview Heights congregation. Then, Bill Meister, commander of the 22nd District of the American Legion, presented the certificate of award, the pin and the letter from President Bush. Mr. Meister also presented a letter and certificate from the American Legion.

Mr. Osborne is a servant to both the Church and community.

—Marla Osborne

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Los Angeles Contracts Case of Saturday Night Fever

The Los Angeles, California, congregation had disco fever on Dec. 15 for their second annual thematic winter dance. Pastor Larry Greider said the dance was an excellent opportunity to fellowship with brethren in a different venue.

After a traditional church service and potluck, members donned their 1970s-themed garb, whether painstakingly selected at a costume store or simply pulled out of the closet and dusted off. Bell-bottoms, platform shoes and polyester suits flooded the dance floor.

While church dances and socials are generally directed toward the teen/young adult crowd, this event was successful in having a broader appeal. Winners for the costume contest were chosen from each gender and age group, from 10 and under to 40 and over.

Adrian Rudajs, a teen whose family was awarded "most outrageous family," loved the theme. "The dressing up was even better than I thought," Adrian said, and will look forward to jumping into a costume for the dance next year.

Event coordinator John Velazquez called it a "family style disco dance" and enjoyed seeing the teens share the dance floor with their younger siblings.

Young adult Zach Garnant noticed how the older age brackets participated and said, "It was great. I didn't know my parents could move like that."

—Gregory Zajac

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Fort Wayne Finally Enjoys "Underwater Fantasy" Social

After sundown on the Sabbath of Jan. 5, 2008, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, congregation enjoyed a long-awaited social, cancelled twice previously due to bad weather. A potluck was held after Sabbath services and the festivities began with member Karl Hermann as the emcee.

Everyone brought a "white elephant" gift that was handed out to all bingo players. The pattern of the Survivors television show was used for the bingo sandwiched between the games.

The evening started off with a piñata and "Fishing for Sponge Bob." Fishy bingo winners provided the participants for the games—a puzzle game, charades, seaweed slime, chum bucket and the balloon stomp. The winner of each game got a beautiful purple crown, which passed to the next winner. This crown ended up on the head of Montana Hermann.

The costume contest winner was Kenneth Griggs, dressed as sea slime. The adult winner was Joyce Dickey, who received a gift certificate.

Examples of costumes were Jonah after the whale, mermaids, sailors, scuba divers, stingrays, characters from the Gilligan's Island television show, sea turtles and many others.

A balloon arch provided a colorful backdrop for picture taking at the close of the festivities.

Everyone left with the feeling that they'd had plenty of food, fellowship, and fun. More photos are on the congregation's Web site at www.UCGFortWayne.org.

—Phyllis Minton

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Garden Grove Congregation Puts on Puppet Show

Over 130 members of the Garden Grove, California, congregation stayed after services on Dec. 29, to enjoy a delicious potluck followed by an original, entertaining puppet show based on the story of Nehemiah. This puppet show was an original project conceived and directed by one of our Garden Grove members, Gerald Vera. Gerald has designed video games on a professional level and this year is a student at ABC.

The program was introduced and framed by a lady telling the story of Nehemiah by means of a puppet show to a group of children eagerly waiting for a story.

This wasn't just any puppet show, but one with the main participants in the story depicted as one of several varieties of birds, with attire to match their place in the story. The puppets included several chickens, a peacock (King Artaxerxes), vulture, parrot, crow, swan, duck and eagle.

Such an endeavor involved 22 members of the congregation in the planning, preparation, stage construction and puppet making. The voices and musical track (including music from Star Wars to set the mood) were recorded the week prior so that our puppeteers could have the freedom to concentrate on the actual puppeteering aspects that evening.

The potluck and puppet show were an excellent conclusion to the congregation's activities for the year.

—Jean Updegraff

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Asheboro Ladies Club Serves Church and Community

The Asheboro, North Carolina, Ladies Club has continued its mission of serving the local brethren, the local community and the Church at large.

Sadie Parks, club facilitator, spearheads contributions to a local food pantry. All the ladies generously donate paper products to help those in the community who are in need of assistance.

Members make cards to send to those requesting prayer both in the United States and abroad. Food and beverages are provided and served weekly to the brethren at services by the ladies on a rotating schedule. Volunteers clean restrooms, provide floral arrangements, greet arrivals at the door and, in general, try to make the Sabbath even more of a delight! Tasks are rotated during quarterly meetings to allow the women to grow in many areas of service in the local congregation.

It is inspiring to see individuals grow. Some are volunteering for the first time. Some are taking on more responsibilities in service to the brethren. Youth and elderly are serving each other.

At the January meeting, discussion centered on building character in our lives. Sandy Mills encouraged the group to continue to strive for character development. Various members gave examples of how to encourage visitors, of doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do and of standing by your convictions regardless of the cost (such as being fired for not working on the Sabbath).

The group enjoyed delicious refreshments provided by Inez Burrow.

—Nancy Holloway

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East Texas Dedicates New Church Building

The East Texas congregation enjoyed the long-anticipated dedication of a new church building the weekend of Jan. 19 and 20, 2008.

Planning on the building started in August 2001 and the groundbreaking occurred on Nov. 11, 2004.

The dedication service was held on the Sabbath of Jan. 19, with President Clyde Kilough joining approximately 250 brethren for the event. After services, a lovely reception was held to celebrate the special occasion.

On Sunday, Jan. 20, Morris Foster, volunteer construction manager, and Scott Hammer, building committee member, assisted pastor Ken Treybig for the official ribbon cutting. Then community residents began touring the facility during an open house from 2 to 4 p.m.

"God sure blessed us with beautiful sunny weather," said Mr. Treybig. "It was snowing and sleeting on Friday, and Monday it was overcast and rainy again—but Sabbath and Sunday were bright and sunny with highs near 50."

The new church building sits on 10 acres just outside of Big Sandy, Texas. It has a sanctuary, kitchen, restrooms, mothers' and parents' rooms, two additional meeting rooms and overhead doors that open to a large multipurpose area that can expand the seating area or be used for potlucks, dances and other activities.

The congregation raised nearly $300,000 in fund-raising and donations while also helping build the facility. Approximately 60 percent of the building was constructed with volunteer labor, with many brethren contributing thousands of hours of labor and support.

After facing challenges for years in finding a suitable, reliable meeting place, the East Texas congregation appreciates meeting weekly in this beautiful, warm location.

—Sarah Baker

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Houston Holds Second Annual Family Feud: Feast Edition

Saturday evening, Oct. 13, brought fun and frivolity as a packed crowd stayed after services to participate in Houston, Texas, North's annual Post-Feast Social.

The social included dinner, dessert, sharing Feast pictures, a Feast photo contest and board games. But the highlight of the evening was the second annual Family Feud.

Participants engaged in lively rounds of survey questions. Eric Powell hosted the games again this year. His jokes and antics proved just as entertaining as the games themselves, and everyone at the event seemed to thoroughly enjoy the evening.

Below are a few Family Feud questions and team results:

What kind of animal would you want as a pet in the Millennium?

What is your favorite activity to do during the Feast?

What do you take to the Feast that you can't leave home without?

Who would you most like to meet in the first resurrection?

Name something that people typically give as Feast gifts.

Past or present, name a memorable Feast site.

Game 1 featured members who attended the Feast in Alaska vs. those who went to Kerrville (Alaska won).

In game 2, it was Panama City Beach vs. Branson (Branson won).

—Peter M. Gabriel

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Indianapolis Young Adults Enjoy Symphony and Dinner Outing

Twenty-plus young adults from Indianapolis, Indiana, gathered together on Jan. 5 for the second annual symphony and dinner outing to enjoy an evening of music, international food and fellowship.

The group met at the Hilbert Circle Theatre, home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, to hear three piano concertos by composers Franz Listz, George Gershwin and Piotr Tchaikovsky.

Following the symphony concert, the group sampled delicious dishes, including the traditional saganaki appetizer (flaming cheese), at the Greek Island Restaurant and was entertained by a skillful, fire-twirling dancer.

—Aimee Zahora

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