Category: MidweekMessage

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #253

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #253 and to July! It is hard for me to believe I just said that-which means 2025 is half over. I won’t mention that dirty “S” word, you know, the one that begins in “S,” ends in “L,” and has a “choo” in between is one month away. For many of you, I guess the best thing to say is take advantage of the time left. 😁

I have some super good news to share with you! Elijah Clausman, one of the young men who plays guitar in our worship band in the second service (and has a head of hair that some people might be envious of 😁) was baptized Friday afternoon at Hilltop Camp following the close of the Sr. High Wilderness Week. Elijah not only has been part of our band, but has taken an active role in ROOTS. Our very own, Westin Linville, had the honor of baptizing him. Pastor Ryan was standing right there in case Westin decided to hold him under. 😁

YOUTH CORNER

• • • Auggie Wood played baseball for the Warner Family Team this summer. They were eliminated when they lost in extra innings (2) while playing in the rain, but played well. Way to go, Auggie! Now, I hear it’s on to football.
    • Emmy Wells and her friend, Zara, played softball this summer. Gannon Wiegand played baseball.
    • We had some of our young people play T-ball this past month: Collin, Mason and Aiden Chesser and Owen Hutchison.
    • Amelia and Hudsyn Biggs are playing basketball at Tier Ten. Is anyone else playing ball at Tier Ten?
    • Tessa Floyd, the daughter of Travis and Sierra Floyd, was chosen as 2025 Owen County “Best Personality” winner in the baby contest for the OC Fair. The picture I saw had Grandpa Tony smiling bigger than Tessa.😀
    • The Nazarene Church is sponsoring Upwards Soccer. It is for ages 4-9. Early registration ended June 23rd but Jordan Wright (the leader) told me it is not too late to register. They practice and have games on Saturday mornings for one hour (30 minute practice/30 minute game). Evaluations will be held Saturday, July 19th from 10-12:00 at the soccer fields on Hwy 46. Evaluations are only for age groups 6-9. Dates for games are August 9-16-23 and September 6-20-27. Registration is $90. For multiple siblings there is a discount. Registration includes a jersey, socks, and end of the season prize, sticker chart, and snacks. They are also in need of coaches. You may find more info at  https://www.spencer.church/upward

Next Sunday, July 6th the Fair officially begins. There will be a vesper service to benefit WRE on Sunday evening and then all next week the Owen County Fair will be in full swing. There are a lot of moving parts-from the animals, to the displays, to performances, to lots of people interaction, and of course, the food. Take a moment and pray-not only for a good fair, but also a safe one. While you are at it, let’s pray for Cassie Linville, our 4-H youth educator and her crew. This is sort of the culmination of all their work all year long.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you make a decision and then wonder whether it was a wise one or not? Diana and I were in that boat last week. We had scheduled a church family pitch-in for this past Wednesday and then on Monday we began to wonder if that was a wise choice or not. It was miserably hot. People were gone on vacation and if they weren’t, would they want to come out for a pitch-in? She put a survey on Facebook but even that didn’t tell us much. So, because we had announced it we decided, “Oh well. If only a handful of people show up, it will be worth it.” Surprise! Surprise! We had close to 50 people here and man, was there food left over! Once again, we were surprised. And we learned a valuable lesson: never
underestimate the power of drawing a crowd when there is food involved and people enjoy spending time together. 😀 Thanks to everyone who showed up. The next one is scheduled for July 30th.

Our Sunday with Will, Theresa, Ellie, Audrey and Tallie Reed was like all the others: extra special. Will does such a good job of presenting their work in Kenya and it was super fun to spend some time with Will, Theresa and the girls afterwards. Ellie fit right in with Sophia Kropack and Isabella Chambers. It was like they have been best friends all along. Audrey has this engaging laugh and Tallie is 3 1⁄2 (so she told me) and talked to me the whole time we were at lunch (except when she tired of me and then fell asleep in her mom’s arms). She asked me how old I was and telling her “pretty old” was not good enough. When I told her and she said, “Why Mr. Bill you don’t look that old,” she became my new best friend. Sadly, she didn’t say that at all. 😏 Theresa was telling me that the magic age for having chewing gum is 4 so she wants to know how old everyone is.

I just know this next announcement will break your heart (you ought to see Diana’s). THERE WILL BE NO MIDWEEK MESSAGE NEXT WEEK. It has been 6 years since I have seen any of my brothers. One lives in Camano Island, WA. The other two live in PA. I received an email from my brother, Rob, about maybe coming to see them. Not only has it been a long time, my brother Garry is going to have his 5th or 6th cancer surgery shortly. So following this Sunday’s worship, Jo and I will be taking off to spend the night in Columbus, OH. Monday we will head to PA where we will have a reunion with my brothers and their families. Wednesday we will head back to Columbus and spend Wednesday and Thursday night watching Braden play baseball. It will our last chance as he prepares for college life at Ohio State. We will be back, Lord willing, Friday. Your prayers for our safe travel would be much appreciated. The MM will be back full bore with all the Fair highlights the next week.

This Sunday my sermon is Taking God at His Word from Psalm 108-145, with a big emphasis on 119. The next Sunday will be Wise Advice from Psalm 146-Proverbs 18. I’ll look forward to seeing you both times. Love you all.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #252

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #252. Thanks for allowing me “invade” your week by taking time to read this MM.

What a difference a week or so makes! The week before baseball games were being cancelled because of rain and this past week one word sort of sums it up: HOT! We could add another word as well: HUMID. I guess it could be said, “Well, that’s life in Indiana”. I texted someone Saturday and told them we expect this in August. They proceeded to tell me it was 119 Friday and 104 Saturday where they lived (Arizona). Compared to that I guess we are experiencing a cold snap! 😅 Stay safe during this time.

The 5th Annual Serving Owen County Together (SOCT) is now history. A very HOT historical day.
Aaron LaGrange sent some stats about the day:

• • • People directly served: 518 adults and 432 children=950 people
    • Large amounts of food and drinks were given to several local organizations, including Mt. Olivet Church outreach, Spencer Food Bank, and the Spencer Lions Club free lunch program. Those groups alone will have contact with 200+ this coming week.
    • Over 111 volunteers came together.

YOUTH CORNER

There has been a lot of activity involving our young people and so I will do my best to get as much as I can. Please…if I forget someone, let me know. I will get them in the next MM. Fair week is soon coming and there will tons of our young people involved in that. I don’t want to forget anyone so I rely on folks letting me know.

• • • Many of our young people were involved in summer baseball/softball leagues at the sports complex. Here we go…Grace Chesser’s team (Black shirts) won their league championship on Wednesday night. Calvin Keene (Red shirts) played on the runner-up team. Jordan Mangia and Barrett Zigler’s (White shirts) teams played that night. Emmett Bumbalough (Red team) played as well. Conrad Keene’s team played the team that included Uriah Bumbalough, Fletcher and Christian Wells, and Winston Zigler the night we went. Jo & I remained neutral for all games. 😁
    • Gavin Wells and Tom Mangia were the head coaches of their teams. Tom was assisted by Kristine (wife) and Aubrey (daughter) and Chris Zigler. Ryan Keene helped coach Calvin’s team. WHEW! I hope I got that all right! 🙂
    • Julian Carson’s team was the 12u champions and Julian was picked for the all-star team. Julian is Mike and Nannette Edwards’ grandson.
    • Rusti O’Neal and CJ Wood’s team won the Girls’ Softball championship. They also showed off some pretty snazzy rings in the pictures. Rusti’s mom, Hanna Dutton was their coach!
    • CJ Wood made the Middle School cheer squad. Way to go CJ!
    • Jordyn Anderson had her cheer competition tryouts and was moved up 2 levels to mini prep as a flyer. Grandpa Mike Edwards said he has no clue what that means. But Jordyn and grandma Nannette were excited.
    • Dane Stahl went to Pennsylvania for State in track. He placed 74th out of 113 in the 200m and 108th out of 140 in the 100m. Mom (Kim) said he had a blast! Great job, Dane!
    • Meilynn Hess and her dog, Ivy, earned Overall Reserve Top Dog in the 4-H Dog Show this past Saturday. She even bumped Ivy up 2 obedience categories to challenge both herself and the dog. She also earned Overall Reserve Grand Champion in Agility; 5A class Champion and Overall Reserve Grand Champion in Obedience; and Advanced Champion and Overall Grand Champion in Showmanship. Way to go Meilynn!
    • Let me remind you to pray for the High School Wilderness Week of camp that began this past Sunday. There are a ton of our young people (and adults) who will be attending. Female campers are Alli Anderson, Anna Bales, Anna East, Rachel East, Kalissa Hamlin, Meilynn Hess and Ayzleah Sutton. Male campers are Lucas Alexander, Tobin Bales, Elijah Clausman, Caleb East, Jake Jenkins (LJ), and Nolan Miller. Adults attending are Ryan and Hope East, Abby Bales, Macy Carlson, Mike and Bella Krapf, Westin and Cassie Linville, Hannah Pendleton, Owen Powell, and Gracie Wainscott.

Switching Gears for a moment: We have been telling you recently that our next step on the building process for our addition (after the stem wall was completed and plumbing and electric was roughed in) that expanding the parking lot was next. But that is at the mercy of the weather. It was decided this past week to pursue another direction. We have asked for and received the bid for doing the concrete pad and putting the shell up. We will concern ourselves with the parking lot expansion after that. The Building Team and elders are all on board with that direction so we will be coming to you soon with the plans for that to happen. Our contractor said at best it will be the end of August/first of September for the materials and supplies to be here. Look for more information real soon on projected cost and our plan of action. We are all convinced this is the way to go! 😀

You will get this on Wednesday in your inbox. Please remember the OVCF Family Pitch-in is at 6:00 tonight.

This coming Sunday Will and Theresa Reed and their three children will be with us. They will be sharing briefly about their mission work with Serge in Kenya in during both services. We have always enjoyed having the Reeds visit with us and if you haven’t met them, you need to!

• • • Keep in mind this is also a 5th Sunday so the elementary age young people will be with us in adult worship. The nursery and preschool class will still meet as usual at 10:45.
    • Following the second service a BBQ and dessert fundraiser had been planned to help offset some of the cost of the Family Camp Weekend at Hilltop scheduled for August 1-3. That fundraiser has been cancelled for now. We will let you know if/when it is rescheduled.

I’ve got more news to share but my space is limited so I will use it in next week’s edition. This Sunday’s message is We are Being Watched! from Psalm 78-107. I will look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday and sharing it with you. Know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #251

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #251. Thanks for joining me this week as I try to share some important events taking place, as well as give some of my own thoughts on what is taking place at OVCF.

Don’t forget that this coming Saturday is the 5th annual Serving Owen County Together (the rain date is June 28th). As I have mentioned in the past few MMs, this is a great opportunity for us to be involved in serving our community. SOCT is a joint effort of different vendors (Servant’s Heart, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, For Bare Feet, Changing Footprints and others) to help make life a little easier for those who are struggling. Food, clothing of all kinds, baby supplies, even some furniture is made available for free to those who come. Volunteers are always welcomed. One more time here is the schedule:

• • • 8-10 am-Set up
    • 10-12:00- First shift
    • 12-3:00- Second shift
    • 3-4:00- Tear down

Result? A good feeling of having served your community and helped someone in need.

Mark this on your calendar! Our next church family pitch-in will be on Wednesday, June 25 at 6pm. Someone said to me when we in the midst of last month’s pitch-in: “Hey Bill! I thought you said we weren’t going to have any more pitch-ins until after school started!” Guilty as charged. However, after Diana took a survey and the results were something like 28-0 for continuing, we decided to keep having them, even through the summer. We look forward to seeing you there and enjoying your company and fellowship.

YOUTH CORNER

• • • We have three young people at Hilltop Camp this week. Ice Breaker (June 15-17) is Rob Anderson and Amelia Borders. Day Camp (one day-June 19) is James Anderson. As you can see both are shortened times at camp. Ice Breaker is for the campers to experience a longer stay and two nights at camp. Day Camp is for the campers to begin experiencing what camp is like. Pray for these three young lives to have a fun and meaningful time.
    • Sunday morning Kartik and Jeanna Srinivasan took their daughter, Aasha, to the Civil Air Patrol encampment. She will be there all week until graduation on Saturday. CAP is the Air Force’s version of JROTC. She joined last October and every cadet must attend encampment in order to advance to higher rankings. Encampment is like boot camp for teens. Mom has asked for prayers because it is mentally and physically exhausting. It will be even more challenging because Aasha won’t have much time to recover from her week at camp this past week. If you would like to send her a note of encouragement, you can use this link: https://forms.gle/9A2r9paKpNZvdM2a8. On the form you’ll need to know: Aasha Srinivasan, Alpha Flight. Mail starts on the 16th and closes on the 19th. They will print out your note and give it to Aasha.
    • The weather has played havoc with the baseball games at the Sports Complex. This is to be the last week with tournaments. Why do I hear this sigh of relief from so many parents?
    • I’m going to get a little ahead of myself in this week’s MM by asking you to pray for the High School Wilderness Week that begins this Sunday. There are a ton of our young people (and adults) who will be attending. Female campers are Alli Anderson, Anna Bales, Anna East, Rachel East, Kalissa Hamlin and Meilynn Hess. Male campers are Lucas Alexander, Elijah Clausman, Caleb East, Jake Jenkins (LJ), and Nolan Miller. Adults attending are Ryan and Hope East (Deans), Abby Bales, Macy Carlson, Mike and Bella Krapf, Westin and Cassie Linville, Hannah Pendleton, Owen Powell, Linda St John, and Gracie Wainscott. I’ll remind you again next week to pray for them. That is such a large list it won’t hurt to start praying now.

I had someone text me Sunday afternoon to ask about the Family Camp scheduled for the weekend of August 1-3 (Friday evening through Sunday afternoon). It is an “end of the summer” experience for families with your church family. Years ago, I told her, we used to have it at Beechwood Camp just outside of Worthington. It has been a long time since we had the family camp weekend and several wanted to bring it back. There are several options for you to consider for the weekend. There is a QR code you can use to take you to all the pertinent information. Jo and I will probably visit on Saturday for a while so you have an invitation to ride along with us. But that is still a month and a half away so you can give it some thought.

Did you know that Will and Teresa Reed and their three children will be here with us on Sunday, June 29th? They have been serving on the mission field in Kenya and are home for a summer furlough. We always look forward to having them visit. It has been a pleasure to help sponsor them for this second tour of theirs. Will is going to bring us up to date on their current ministry. You are going to love them!

This Sunday’s message is entitled What a Heart Prays For. The Scripture is Psalm 40-77. A couple of weeks ago I asked you to read a post I wrote for my blog. I’m not sure how many, if any, read that post I linked to, but this sermon is the subject of that post. If you would like to read that post and didn’t have a chance to before, here is the link: https://livingintheshadow.ovcf.org/2025/05/29/may-29-6/ I will look forward to studying it
deeper with you this Sunday.

Jo and I celebrated our 52nd anniversary this past Monday, the 16th. She said she would do it all over again. 😀 As would I…in a heartbeat.

Love you all. See you Sunday if not sooner.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #250

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #250! I have to admit that when I started the MM I never thought I would hit #250. For those of you who are new to the MM I started this during the COVID nightmare because I wanted to stay in touch with people. I tried various ways-notes, drive-by prayers (I parked in the driveway or street and prayed for those who lived there), texts, calls, you name it-to stay in touch. We were not meeting in person at the time so I had no or very little personal contact with people. So I created the MM to stay in touch and let you all know what was happening in the church family. Never, though, did I expect to write #250. All along the way my trusty sidekick and editor (Diana) has patiently edited my ramblings. Some were heavily penciled while others were almost good as is. The latter has been very rare.😆

Now that you know some of the back story, thanks for letting me into your life this week. I have some great news to share! Congratulations to Bobby and Becca Anderson upon the birth of Bailey Christine on Saturday, June 7th at 7:35 AM. She weighed 6 pounds and was 18” long. Bailey is welcomed and loved by siblings, Kathryn, Alli, Rob, and James, as well as grandparents, Lonnie and Joyce Anderson, and a slew of other family members. We are grateful for a safe and healthy delivery and baby.

YOUTH CORNER

It has been my practice down through the MM history to list the young people who are heading to camp for the week so you can pray for them. As George Bailey once said, “A pox upon me for a clumsy lout!” I failed to list the young people who were at camp last week. And when I am done listing them, I will give you some even better news!

• • • Dorm campers at Junior Week (Junior High camp) were Amelia Biggs, Bella Madorin, Aubrey Mangia, Rusti O’Neal, Charli Wood, CJ Wood and Evelyn Young. Boys were Brayden McVicker, Tad Nicholson, and Cooper Wood. Deanna Cain was on the Wilderness Camp side. On Friday afternoon, Rusti, CJ and Evelyn all made confessions of faith and were baptized. As I texted after I heard that: “Money wasted to send kids to camp? Said no wise person ever.” It is weeks like this and reports like that where I am so thankful the elders of OVCF see the importance of helping any young person go to camp.
    • Campers this week: Dorm campers are Grace and Gloria Chandler, Zuri Wills, and Tanner Wood. Junior High Wilderness campers are Lucas and Nicolai Alexander, Kane Miller, Aasha Srinivasan, and Tatum White. A number of our folks are faculty: Pastor Ryan and Hope (Ryan is the dean), Anna Bales, Anna, Caleb and Rachel East, Mike and Bella Krapf, Isaac Manuel, Nolan Miller, and Gracie Wainscott. (Anna Bales, the Krapfs, and Isaac Manuel are friends and from other churches).
    • The rain did a number on the ball leagues at the complex and they are no longer making up rained out games. There are a few games this week from the regular schedule and tournament games next week. I hope all the young people had a great time and deeply appreciate the time and effort of their coaches and parents.

Keep this on your radar!! This coming Sunday is Father’s Day. While I’m not advocating for anything special for the men in your life (although…), I’d like to remind you that it is the last day of the Change for Life fundraising event for New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center. Please bring your baby bottle filled with change, cash, or a check to the info table this Sunday. And just so you know…they will accept those bottles at any time. 😊

June 21st is the day for the 5th annual Serving Owen County Together (SOCT) event. SOCT is an opportunity for us to participate with various organizations to help the folks of Owen County to
find some relief. Here are the specific details again:

• • • • 8-10am- Set up
      • 10-12:00- First shift
      • 12-3:00- Second shift
      • 3-4:00- Tear down
      • If you can help in any way, it will be welcomed.

Some of you have asked me, “What is the next stage with our building addition?” At this point, as I understand it, they will be working on adding the new parking lot to the east (that, of course, depends on the rain). Following that, we will assess where we are financially to see when we can proceed with the concrete pad and the shell for the new building. Our contractor does not want to do the concrete pad until we can at least get it under roof and enclosed to protect it from the elements. Once we have a better idea of what is next, we will update you! 😊

I went to camp to visit the campers from OVCF on Tuesday since Pastor Ryan is somewhat busy doing his thing. 😁Jo, Tami and I will be heading out on today (Wednesday) sometime to see Braden (our grandson/nephew) play baseball on Thursday and Friday. We will be back Saturday morning. We have one more visit planned in July then our days of going to Ohio to watch him play baseball or football will be over.

This coming Sunday my message will be entitled A Godly Man. On Mother’s Day I took the reading from the Everyday Gospel Devotional and found a common theme for each day. I decided to take the same approach for Father’s Day. I will be looking at 7 characteristics a godly man should exhibit. I look forward to sharing that day with you. (And I do feel somewhat more qualified to preach on Father’s Day than Mother’s Day). 😆I do want you to know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #249

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #249. Thanks for joining me this week. So much happened over the past week and I can’t wait to share some of it with you. I do hope your week has gone well so far and you are finding some time to relax and enjoy the beginning of your summer. Now if the weather will just cooperate…😊

I have to start out with something concerning last week’s MM. I listed the teachers from OVCF and made the comment that I checked, double checked, and triple checked to make sure I had everyone’s name. Yep, you guessed it…I forgot a name. I sent her a text apologizing for my mistake and she told me it was okay and didn’t matter. But to me it does. My apologies to Cristi Wood, a teacher at MCES.

YOUTH CORNER

After last week I had more information given to me about some of our young people so I want to catch up on that.

• • • Rusti O’Neal found herself on the all A’s Honor Roll at SES. To put that even more into perspective, she made the all A’s Honor Roll for the whole year! Along the way she found time to be the Patriot Paper Editor, Student Council Secretary, Flag Bearer and also was part of Lifeline (an organization at SES)
    • Her brother, Beau, made the A/B Honor Roll at SES.
    • Mia Rose Hess was a freshman at Cedarville University (Ohio) this past academic year. She made the Dean’s Honor List for Spring 2025. This award was for a 3.75 GPA or higher while taking a minimum of 12 credit hours.
    • Hilltop Campers this week: (Jr. High) Rusti O’Neal, Amelia Biggs, Charli Wood, Aubrey Mangia, CJ Wood, Cooper Wood and Tad Nicholson. (Jr. Wilderness) Deanna Cain. Please be praying for these young people.
    • Jo and I spent several evenings this past week at the sports complex (when it wasn’t raining) watching a number of our young people play ball (T-ball, baseball, and softball). I am not going to try to list all the kids whom we saw this past week. That is a disaster waiting to happen.😊However, the real troopers are the parents, some of whom are at the field every night of the week. The season is being extended due to so many rainouts, so they will at least be playing this week and next week. If you just want a nice diversion come to the sports complex and watch some ball. Games start at 6:00 on most fields. Look for Jo and me. We will most likely be there.

Congratulations to Keaton & Lily (Bault) Zufall! Keaton is Candi Provo’s son and Lily is Melvin & Rosie Bault’s granddaughter. They were married this past Saturday. I had the privilege of performing the wedding.

Please remember, the Change for Life fundraiser that benefits New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center is still ongoing. You can still pick up a baby bottle at the info table and fill it with your change, $, or check. The fundraiser goes until Father’s Day, June 15th. Please return your baby bottle to the info table by that date.

I have been writing about the 5th Annual Serving Owen County Together (SOCT) event coming up this month on June 21st. The rain date is June 28th. SOCT is an effort to help Owen County folks (especially those who have been struggling) with various clothing items, shoes, socks, toiletries, diapers, and a host of other items, even some furniture. All of it free to those who come. Here are some details that might assist you in your decision to help:

• • • 8-10am- Set Up
    • 10am-12pm- First shift
    • 12-3pm- Second shift
    • 3-4 pm- Tear down
    • Last year SOCT served over 1000 people and had over 100 volunteers.
    • There is a link to sign up to volunteer:
      https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050D4DABAE29A2FC1-57095840-2025
    • I will be there to welcome people as the first point of contact. There are many different ways you can help. Take a moment to sign up or if you prefer just show up to volunteer.

Despite the rain (and construction site!), we have had volunteers who have kept our church lawn looking nice. Thanks so much to all of you who have taken the time to do so. Outside appearance is the very first thing someone notices when they drive by or pull into our driveway. An unkempt lawn tells observers we don’t care. Thanks for taking time to make our church grounds appealing and more welcoming! 😊

Have you been by to see the progress made on the building addition? The weather finally gave us a break this past week and they were able to pour the stem wall, do some excavating, and put down gravel for the foundation. Bobby Anderson and his crew also worked hard to get our plumbing roughed in! There is more to be done, but the next step is to begin excavating the new parking lot to the east. That is to begin early next week. When the money is available, the concrete pad will be poured and the building shell will be built to enclose it. We will have a better idea where we are after paying for the excavation and stone. It is exciting!!😊

On May 29th I wrote in my Living in the Shadow blog about an upcoming sermon on June 22nd. I issued a challenge in the blog to my readers. I’d like to ask you to read it and consider it as well. I will talk more about it next week in the MM. Here is the link:

My sermon this week is about that age-old question: “Why?” The Scripture I will be using is Job 21-42. I look forward to seeing you this week. Just know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #248

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #248, your source for all good things happening at OVCF. 😊 I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day celebration and along the way took some time to be grateful for the men and women who have served our country. Remembering them is one of the greatest ways to honor their service.

Many of you have asked how our trip to Ohio went. We left early Saturday morning because we found out Braden, our grandson, played a ball game at noon. The weather was great, even though the score didn’t quite turn out like we would have liked. I didn’t realize that it was the first time Tami has had a chance to see him play a high school baseball game. Then it hit me: she is always in class teaching while he is playing. I’m glad we were able to make it.

Graduation went well. Well…relatively well. There were over 400 students in his graduating class. Sadly, acoustics were horrible and it was really hard to hear many of the remarks the speakers made. Here is why we are button-popping grandparents and aunt: Braden graduated with academic highest honors (4.2 GPA)! He received several other honors: 2024 All OCC scholar athlete (football); 2nd team All OCC and 1st team All District (baseball); Gold Key, Keith Noble Jr. scholarship.

Okay… let’s move on to some other important things! 😁 I hope you have made plans to attend the OVCF family pitch-in tonight. I look forward to seeing you tonight at 6:00.

The New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center’s Change for Life fundraiser is happening now! There are baby bottles on the info table for you to take and fill with your change, $, or check and then return by June 15th (Father’s Day). All proceeds from Change for Life work to help the Center’s work to help families in our community.

YOUTH CORNER:

The end of the school year always brings a flurry of awards, the biggest, of course, being that students move up a grade. Here are some others:

• • • Draven Stahl was given the Top Cat Award for 2nd grade.
    • Tad Nicholson received 5 academic awards and was presented with the Best Defensive Player Award for the A-Team, due to his work behind the plate (He is a catcher for the baseball team)! I won’t say anything at all that his mom may have posted that on Facebook.

The VFW hosts the Illustrating America Art Contest for kids grades K-8. We had several who were winners in their age group.

• • • Grades K-2: First place was Alexander Chambers
    • Grades 3-5: First place was Sophia Kropack; second place was Deanna Cain; third place
      was Isabella Chambers
    • Grades 6-9: Second place was Eliza Chambers
    • In a separate category, Creative Patriotic Art, Brodie Sutton, a graduating senior, took first place at the local VFW level and fifth place as State of Indiana winner.

MORE SCHOOL RELATED NEWS:

• • • Kristine Mangia was honored for her 25 years to S-OCS as a teacher
    • Kim Floyd celebrates 5 years as a school nurse.

School is out for the summer so I thought it would be good to acknowledge and remind you to pray for those who were a focus of our weekly prayer list. A LIST OF ALL THE ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS WHO ARE PART OF THE OVCF FAMILY: Mary Beckwith, Matt Beckwith, Gabrielle Corder, Karen Fisher (bookkeeper), Heather Herrington (secretary), Kim Floyd (nurse), Tami Grandi, Hannah Morse, Cara King, Kristine Mangia, Angela Mayle (inclusion), Rachel Nicholson, Kris Samick (Admin) and Jenn Zigler (OVMS

counselor). Homeschool moms are Christine Chambers, Rebecca Chesser, Hope East, Jenny Hess, Michelle Lippert, Jeanna Srinivasan, and Shelly Sutton.

I checked, double checked, and triple checked this list so I hope I have not left anyone out. If I have please let me know and I will include you in next week’s MM.

Welcome to Kathy Wisley! This past Sunday, after studying the First Steps study with me a couple of weeks ago, she made the decision to be baptized. Kathy was baptized this past Sunday at the YMCA. It was a pleasure to baptize her with her family there to witness it.

In MM #245 I mentioned that we have hired Hannah Pendleton as a part-time Children’s Ministry Director. She is fitting into her role rather nicely and will be a big asset to our youth ministry as time moves on. What I failed to mention is that we have also hired Bob Kropack as a part-time maintenance man. Ever since Dick Hogan retired from that position, we have been without one. There have definitely been some things that needed to be taken care of. Bob will work when the need arises and he has already helped make a difference. Welcome, Bob!

A reminder to you about Serving Owen County Together scheduled for June 21st. A rain date (a definite possibility) is June 28th. We have taken part since its inception 4 years ago. It will be located at the front parking lot at OVMS/OVHS this year.

One last thing: have you had a chance to see the progress on the addition? They were finally able to get in and begin putting the stem wall forms together. Good weather will help us this week to see progress with that.

Sunday’s message is When All Seems Lost from Esther 6-Job 21. I look forward to seeing you then. Just know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #247

Hello everyone! Welcome to Midweek Message #247. Thanks for taking the time to read this edition. I toyed with not doing a MM this week but decided there was so much going on that it would be good to do one.

First on my mind is a big thank you to all who shared in Sunday’s celebration. Jo, Tami and I were able to watch the live stream (the whole first service and both graduate celebrations) and so we at least felt like we were here in a small way. Each week I am grateful for those who do the live stream faithfully and make it available for those who can’t be here to at least have a small taste of being part of the OVCF family. I commented on the YouTube channel since I don’t have Facebook, but I don’t know if I was doing something wrong (totally possible) or if no one wanted to say hi. 😁 Congratulations again to all our graduates. Here is a complete list of them for you:

• • • Elijah Clausman (homeschool)
    • Calvin Dean (OVHS)
    • Anna East (homeschool)
    • Jordan Mahon (OVHS)
    • Nolan Miller (homeschool)
    • Adriana Moreno (OVHS)
    • Mason Powell (BHSN)
    • Adam Samick (OVHS)Brodie Sutton (homeschool)

College

• • • Alec Akerson (IU)
    • Colby Beckwith (SMWC)
    • Tori Floyd (IU)
    • Travis Floyd (IU)

My prayer for all of you is found in Psalm 37:5- “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” (NLT) I pray you will consult Him in all you, every step you take, and every move you make. I pray your future will be blessed by Him and you will bring honor and glory to Him in all things.

CHANGE FOR LIFE: NEW BEGINNINGS PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER. We are collecting for NBPRC from now until Father’s Day. Please take a bottle on the info table, (fill it with your loose change, money or check) and return it by June 15. EVERYTHING given will support the Center’s work to help families in our community. We have been supporting this for many years and it has always been a good opportunity to help out one of the missions we support.

You are invited to attend Kathy Wisley’s baptism at the YMCA this coming Sunday at 12:45. Notice the time difference from previous times. The Y has been so gracious down through the years to allow us to use the  pool on Sundays before they open, but it sure will be nice to have our own place to baptize people in our new facility (when and if it stops raining). 😄

HAVE YOU REMEMBERED to put the next OVCF family pitch-in on your calendar? It is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28th at 6:00. Someone has suggested we call it “Chat-n-Chew.” That name is up for debate, but getting together for some fun, laughter, and good food is not. 😄

Years ago when Jo and I first came to OVCF, we used to have a weekend called Family Camp. It was at another campground and it was a time for many to unwind and just have some good fun. It has been several years (at least more than the 15 OVCF has been in this building) since there has been a family camp. Several of our folks want to revive that weekend and have chosen August 1-3 at Hilltop as an “end-of-the-summer-right-before-school-starts” opportunity for you to spend time winding down and enjoying your church family. There is more information in this week’s bulletin. Start now by marking your calendars.

For the past 4 years we have taken part in Serving Owen County Together. This is Year #5 and we have been asked to help volunteer again. I will have more in future MMs and we will also post more in the bulletin, but right now I’m going to ask you to put June 21st on your calendar. A rain date (which seems to be a real possibility these days) is June 28th. As I know more I will share it with you. I can tell you it will take place in the front parking lot of the OV high school/middle school. This is a great way to serve our community.

This Sunday I will continue the trek through the Bible using the Everyday Gospel Devotional. I’m going to cover a lot of ground this week by preaching from Ezra 1-Esther 5. The three main characters we will learn from are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. Here is what you have to look forward to:

1. 1. 1. Ezra- the priest who brought a fresh start
      2. Nehemiah- the cupbearer who built a wall
      3. Esther- the queen who saved a nation

We will get a wonderful chance to see how God intervened in rebuilding a nation-spiritually and physically. I missed seeing you this past Sunday. I know vacations begin for many. For those who are here this week, I look forward to seeing you. For those traveling, be safe and please take a moment to check in on the live stream. Love you all.
Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #246

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #246. I hope all you ladies had a nice day Sunday. There is no denying the weather sure was beautiful! 80 degrees and sunny! I was such a good husband and Tami was such a good daughter we didn’t even ask Jo to fix lunch for us. 😁

A couple of big events happen this coming weekend.

• • • We will be gone for our grandson Braden’s graduation from high school this coming Sunday. We will be heading over Saturday and, Lord willing, be back Monday.
    • Pastor Ryan will be preaching this Sunday. His Scripture will be taken from the Everyday Gospel Devotional (just as mine have been all year). His Scripture will be 2 Chronicles 13-36. Please come prepared by reading the Scripture ahead of time.
    • Graduate Recognition Sunday is this Sunday. For those who may not have had a chance to see last week’s MM, I thought I would list them again for you:
      • • • Elijah Clausman
          • Anna East
          • Jordan Mahon
          • Nolan Miller
          • Mason Powell
          • Adam Samick
          • Brodie Sutton
          • Alec Akerson (college)
          • Tori Floyd (college)
          • Travis Floyd (college)

Congratulations to all of you. I will be disappointed to miss your recognition on Sunday but just know that I will be praying for all of you as you follow His leading in your life. I am excited to see what journey God leads you on in the future. I also hope wherever you go you will always remember there is a church in the small town of Spencer, IN that loves you and cares about you.

Several important items will be taking place on Sunday, the 25th.

• • • Several months ago someone asked me about putting in the MM about any upcoming baptisms. Here is one for you to mark your calendar for: Kathy Wisely will be baptized at the YMCA following morning worship at 12:30. You are invited to attend.
    • Adriana, Matt & Mary Beckwith’s foreign exchange student, will be spending her last Sunday with us before heading back to Spain. Not only would I like to introduce her to you, she also has something she would like to say. If you see her, let her know how nice it was to have her visit and that you hope she remembers OVCF was a church that welcomed her. Those who host foreign exchange students take on a big challenge as well. Sort of like temporarily fostering a child. I’m proud of Matt & Mary and their family for taking Adriana in and making the adjustments to host her. Their children, Kaedence, Akaydia, Kayliana, and Aksel are to be commended also.

YOUTH CORNER:

• • • Well, I messed up again (that is two for this year. I’ve hit my quota). In last week’s MM, I stated that Aubrey Mangia took 4th place in the 2400 meter. That was correct. I wrongly stated that was 8 times around the track. It is 6 times. Along with being technologically-challenged, I guess I am reading-challenged as well. Her father, Tom, said 6. I saw 8. Either way she did well. 😀
    • Jo and I were able to make it to the ball diamonds on Wednesday and saw a number of our younger ones play ball. Those we saw were Addi and Owen Hutchison (I owe him one since his game finished as we got there). We also saw Grace Chesser, Jordan Mangia and Brett Zigler. Calvin Keene was playing but we were unable to see him play.
      Parents! Please get me a schedule so we can watch your child play! Jo & I want to see as many as possible play ball!
    • I was able to make it to the high school track meet Thursday evening to watch some of our young athletes compete. The girl’s relay 4×800 with Alli Anderson took first place. Alli also took first place in the individual open 800. The girl’s relay team took 1st place in the 4×400 after I left.
    • I also saw Eli Wood throw the discus 80’. Good job, Eli! Keep up the hard work!!

It takes a lot of work to compete in high school sports (or middle school). I am impressed by
those who do the discipline of both competing and school work. I’m also excited to see so many
of our young ones playing ball and getting away from the screens. A big tip of the hat goes to
the parents (and grandparents) who make a point of getting their young ballplayers to and from
practice and games. I was texting with one of the parents last week about their schedules and it
made me tired just reading it. 😄

I KNOW YOU HAVE SURELY MARKED THE DATE! Wednesday, May 28th is the next pitch-in at 6:00. The online poll and word-of-mouth was highly in favor of continuing them through the summer so that is what we are planning to do. We have several ideas mulling around in our brains-one of them a cookout with sort of like a game night involving corn hole and other games. I know…maybe with all the dirt that will be piled around and a little water…nah better not suggest that one. 😄

As I write this it is Sunday afternoon and 80 degrees. The plan is to start building the stem wall for our addition tomorrow. The forecast says 70% chance of rain. Again, I ask Jerry Benton: are you sure we can’t build a dome over our church building and addition area? Sure would come in handy don’t you think? 😁 UPDATE: due to the weather and a repair to the new line REMC installed, the stem wall was delayed. Please pray for several dry days to facilitate the equipment and forms being able to be brought in and the wall to be poured.

Congrats are in order for Zach and Nicole Bell. Kane Jesse Bell was born on 5/8 and tipped the scales at 6# 9oz and was 19 3⁄4” long. Kane means “man” in Hawaiian, Zach’s heritage.

And on that high note I will close this MM. I will miss seeing you this Sunday but I trust you will have a meaningful time with Pastor Ryan. Love you much.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #245

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #245. I know some of you went to your inbox last Wednesday looking for the MM and were sorely disappointed. 😁 It didn’t go to your junk mail. Jo and I went to Ohio to see Braden play some high school baseball so I made plans not to publish one. Little did I know that the weather we had here in the early part of last week would hit there even worse, so we ended up cutting our visit short and came home Tuesday morning. But it was still too late to put a MM together so I stuck with my original decision. We did get to see him play Monday and get a couple of hits (they still lost), but it was reminiscent of a couple summers ago when every time we went the game was rained out. 🙁Hopefully, we will get to see him play some this summer before he starts college at Ohio State.

Since I’m writing about Braden, our next visit will be the weekend of May 17-19 when he will graduate from high school. His graduation is Sunday afternoon, the 18th, so Pastor Ryan will be preaching that Sunday. That is also Graduate Recognition Sunday in the second service. I’m sorry I am going to miss that day because I love to honor our students who have worked so hard, but Ryan and Diana have always done an excellent job of recognizing our graduates. Here is the list we have:

• • • Elijah Clausman (Homeschool)
    • Anna East (Homeschool)
    • Jordan Mahon (OVHS)
    • Nolan Miller (Homeschool)
    • Mason Powell (BHSN)
    • Adam Samick (OVHS)
    • Brodie Sutton (Homeschool)
    • Alec Akerson (Masters of Science in Teaching, Learning and Curriculum: STEM Track at IU)
    • Tori Floyd (Masters at IU School of Public Health)
    • Travis Floyd (IU-Jacobs School of Music)

Remember to pray for our educators of the week: Bonnie Richmond and Beth Sewell. They are
both counselors at OVHS.

YOUTH CORNER

• • • They did it again! The four young men (Walker LaGrange, Charlie Burkett, Dane Stahl, and Landrin Wolford ) on the OVMS track team continue making history. They broke the school record again for the 4×100 and the 4×400. Dane Stahl (Kim’s son) broke the school record for the 200 at 24.43. He now qualifies for the New Balance Nationals next month in Pennsylvania. Way to go, Dane and the other young men!
    • She did it again and excelled! Aubrey Mangia took part in the OVMS track meet this past Saturday. Here were her standings:
      • • 4th place in the 2400 meter (1.5 miles or 8 times around the track)
        • 2nd place in the Girls 800 meter
        • 6th place in Girls’ Long Jump
        • 1st place in the Girls’ 4×800 meter (along with Makynlie Hall, Layla VanHorn and Kenadi Collier)

I really enjoyed the East Tennessee presentation by the folks who went. I was so proud of them being servants. I’m honored to be the pastor of a church that likes to send people and makes it possible for that to happen. Your continued generosity for young people-whether it be for camp or some other venture-needs to be highlighted. A perfect example of that is at the moment, we have 26 campers registered for Hilltop camp. WOW!

Have you taken the time to look at the north end of our property? Not only is excavation done for the water management & drainage, there has been more “playing in the dirt” (i.e. progress) over the past couple of weeks. The electricity for the new building has been connected. Footers have been dug & poured and we are just waiting for clear weather to have the stem wall poured. Next will be putting down gravel for the future foundation! You can really begin to see the footprint of the new building! We plan to expand our parking by
adding to the east which will accommodate 50-75 more spots. Diana has been posting pictures of the progress on the church’s Facebook page. If you would like to see what is happening, come by and check it out! Jerry Benton, the contractor, tells us that he will lay the concrete pad when we are ready to put it under roof.

MONTHLY PITCH-IN! I was mistaken when I spoke at the last pitch-in. For some reason I was thinking it was May and it would be our last one. I was wrong (first time all year). 😁 We asked and several of you weighed in- all in favor of continuing our monthly pitch-ins! Many of you enjoy the time together for food and fellowship (we do, too!)! We will have our next pitch-in on Wednesday, May 28th at 6 PM.

A big, huge welcome to Hannah Pendleton! Hannah began her ministry with OVCF as our part- time Children’s Ministry Director this past Monday. We had a staff meeting and initiated her to Ryan’s use of Dry Bar Comedy videos that often keep us laughing. Then we made her all better by taking her to lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at El Ranchero. 😀Welcome, Hannah! We look forward to growing to love her even more as she helps us move forward and improve what we offer for our children’s church programs! Pastor Ryan will be mentoring her and helping her adjust.

Sunday is Mother’s Day. The sermon is entitled A Godly Woman! I’ve taken each day’s reading from Everyday Gospel and condensed it into an idea and then found women in the Bible who exhibit that quality. It will be a woman-honoring message. See you then and know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #244

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #244. Well…Easter 2025 is now history. And what a history it brings! We had a beautiful Sunday morning. Sunshine. Spring weather. Plenty of smiles and hugs all around. I saw little girls smile at me and when I got close play shy and hide. I saw little boys be…well…little boys. I heard the worship team do a tremendous job in leading us to worship. I heard the congregation raise the roof on the songs. I saw a great spirit of cooperation setting up before and tearing down after. Pastor Ryan had the shuttle system  working like a well-oiled machine. You should also know that Diana puts in a lot of extra work to make sure things go smoothly for us. Many thanks to all those who helped set things up (chairs, sound and live stream) and tear things down. And in case you are wondering, we set a new attendance record for our worship of any kind: 315. Abram Event Venue only has 300 chairs so that meant many folks gave up their seat so others could sit with family or at least find a seat. Thank you to those who did that. (I still wonder why no one wanted to sit up front with me). A super big thank you to Pastor Ryan who noticed the nursery was packed with little ones who were too big for that room and took them outside and played kickball, tag, and a whole bunch of other games.

I had someone ask about our addition, someone who was visiting for the first time and is moving here from Indy. I explained where it will be and what the capacity will be. They said they really enjoyed today and would be back. We also had someone who went to the church building and saw the cars and wondered where everyone was. They finally figured it out and came as I was finishing up. But they did say they would be back. I’m sure glad Tiffany Kropack was still greeting when they came.😄 Thanks to all of you who invited friends and family to join us. I hope they had a joyful experience.

Up to this point in the MM, everything I have written was done on Sunday afternoon. From this point on it is Monday. So here it is: Back to earth. 😄

This coming weekend, April 26-28 eight teenagers will be attending the Brown County Chrysalis  Flight. Those eight are Rogan Campbell, Abigail Clausman, Elijah Clausman, Caleb East, Rachel East, Kalissa Hamlin, Meilynn Hess and Nolan Miller. Some of you have been to a Chrysalis weekend or Emmaus Walk in the past. Ryan, Hope and Anna East are sponsoring many of these young people in this venture. If you would consider writing an agape’ letter of love and encouragement to any of these students that you know, it would be much appreciated. If you do, please return your letter to Ryan, Hope or Anna by this Friday the 25th so they will be
received on time. Candlelight is at Hilltop Christian Camp, and anyone who has attended Emmaus or Chrysalis is welcome to attend.

YOUTH NEWS

• • • Congratulations to Cecilia Arnold. This past week she was awarded the True Patriot Award for the third quarter of this school year. Grandma Melissa found out it was for being kind and respectful to her peers and teachers, being a good student, getting good grades, etc. She was nominated by her teacher. What an honor Cecilia!
    • The Jr. High track team is making history. Liam Bevington set the record for the 200 m. Walker LaGrange, Charlie Burkett, Dane Stahl (Kim’s son), and Landrin Wolford set the record in the 4×400. To top it off those same 4 young men set a record in the 4×100 as well. Congratulations to all of them!

Our time with our grandson, Braden, playing high school baseball is winding down. I’m not sure Jo will know what to do when she can’t watch him on her iPad as the games are live streamed. Oh, I know…she will have to talk to me. But I think she would prefer to watch him.😄 We have not been able to watch him play at all this spring. Our last time to watch him play high school baseball live is next Monday and Tuesday so we will be heading out after church next Sunday for Ohio. We will be back Wednesday in time for the pitch-in. (You didn’t expect me to miss that did you?) Our next time gone will be in May for his graduation. Would you please pray for a safe trip for us? Pastor Ryan and Diana will hold the fort down rather well. Because of being gone for the first part of the week, there will be no MM next week.

Because of what I just said, I’ll include our educator of the week for this Sunday and all next week in this edition of the MM. Our educator will be Jenn Zigler. Jenn graduated from Taylor University and received her Masters from Ball State. She has been a counselor at OVMS for 8 years. She has been married to Chris for 13 years and they have two sons, Winston (8) & Barrett (6). They love going to McCormick’s Creek Park to hike, picnic and walk the trails.

Last Monday evening the Building Team met with Jerry Benton, our contractor, to talk about the next stages of our expansion. I know some of you have asked so I thought I would give a quick rundown of our discussion points:

• • • Underground utilities are in and this past Wednesday our power was switched over to the new service cabinet. The new gas line will go in when the building is completed.
    • What is next? Top soil work is first, hopefully within the next 2 weeks. (This is the second week). Then gravel work, a stem wall (footer and wall) and rough grade work will be done. Dirt work, seed, and straw will quickly follow.
    • The pad will be poured when we are ready to enclose it. Jerry is hesitant to pour the pad and then have it sit in the sun for a long period of time.
    • Parking lot expansion will also be taking place. We are planning on 50-75 more parking spaces to the east of the current parking lot. We will be placing flags out soon for that work to be done.

When will all this be done? When it stops raining!😄And please keep in mind that we will proceed as we have the money.

My sermon this Sunday will be entitled Our God Reigns! from 2 Kings 1-19. The next Sunday will be Simple Words-Lifetime Lessons from 2 Kings 20-I Chronicles 17. I look forward to seeing you! And once again I say thanks for making Resurrection Sunday one to remember. I love you all.

Pastor Bill