Category: OVCF News

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #183

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #183! I trust you had a good week last week and this one is even better! Thanks for giving me a few minutes of your time.

I’d like to remind you to pray for the following people this week:

• Our Educator of the Week is Hope East (you might know her). ☺ Hope, of course, is the better half of Pastor Ryan and she homeschools their three children: Anna, Caleb and Rachel. Hope is also the lead person in OVCF’s Care Team Ministry.
• Our Mission of the Week is Weekly Religious Education or WRE. WRE is a totally voluntary program offered to the elementary children in the Spencer-Owen Community Schools district. Each elementary school has its own off-site meeting place. Many of our young people take part in the WRE program and we support WRE monthly through our missions giving.

YOUTH CORNER

Several Midweek Messages ago I began to highlight some of our young people in various ways. Some in sports; some in other areas. This week I have a mix to share with you.

• Addison Mayle plays basketball for the freshman girls’ team at OVHS.
• This past week Lincoln VanDerMoere, Don and Shelby’s son, had an exceptional week at school. He had given lots of effort at school and had many moments of empathy, caring about others! Stepmom, Shelby, wanted to share that news.  (I love hearing about our young people making a difference in the lives of others in simple, caring ways).
• This is a little bit late but did you know that Anna East now has her driver’s license?  She told me it has been a month and two weeks. Not that she is counting. ☺  I’m trying to figure out whether to say, “Congrats Anna!” or “Look out for Anna!”  “Congrats” is more appropriate. ☺
• Aubrey Mangia plays for the 7th grade girls’ team at OVMS.
• Did you know Annalei Dow, the daughter of Chad and Terri Dow, will be diving for the University of Minnesota next year?  She signed her national letter of intent on November 8.  Annalei has been working toward this goal for many years. Congrats Annalei!! I predict mom and dad making some trips up north to where it is really, really cold with lots of snow.
• One correction: Kysen White plays for the 6th grade boys’ team not the 7th grade team at OVMS.

I’m taking ideas about our young people for next week’s MM. Please feel free to share with me if you know of any ways our young people are being active in school or in helping others.

Backpack Buddies for Christmas 2023 is now history. Thank you so much for your donations of food (and money to purchase items) for the young people in our schools to have food to take home over Christmas break. Even though your name or the church’s name is not listed on our donations, the Father in heaven knows of our/your generosity. I’m reminded of the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 25 when He taught His followers: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” (Mt.25:35-36) When they asked Him when they saw Him like that He told them, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Mt.25:40).  I see Backpack Buddies as one of the ways OVCF responds to the needs of others in our community.

As you probably already are aware, the day before Christmas is Sunday. We realize that Sundays are hectic enough for many, let alone it being the day before Christmas. SO PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE CHANGES FOR THAT SUNDAY ONLY.  I’ll try to delineate them to make them easier to absorb:

• There will be ONE service on Sunday morning at 10:00.
• There will also be ONE service on Sunday night at 5:00.
• The services will be different. The one in the morning will be as usual and Sunday night will include singing carols, a short devotional thought and a time of reflection.  We will also take communion together.
• The children’s programs will be offered on Sunday morning only.
• I’ll share more information as I have it.

Here is something which needs your attention: OVCF’s leadership is always looking for men to serve with them as elders. A couple of months ago I was asked to approach Robert Anderson about sitting in on some elder’s meetings to see if he might be interested in joining our leadership team. After the elder’s meeting this past Monday, he came to me and said, “I am definitely interested.” The practice of OVCF is to bring him before the congregation and present him as one who would like to become an elder. You then have two weeks to let us know your thoughts. If you have a spiritual objection, we ask that you put it in writing, sign it, and then hand it to one of the leaders (Wayne Akerson, Jeff Carlson, David Robertson, Pastor Ryan or myself). No anonymous letters will be accepted. We ask that you let us know your thoughts on or before December 20th. If there is no spiritual reason why he should not serve as an elder, we will let you know of the church’s decision and he will begin serving alongside us as an elder.

Last, but certainly not least, Jo and I (especially Jo), thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your concerns, prayers, and words during the loss of her sister, Vicki. I could say a lot about Vicki and her struggle but I won’t. Instead I will simply say, “To live is Christ; to die is gain.” Thank you for thinking about us during the time of loss and our travel.  We love you all deeply.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #182

HELLO and welcome to Midweek Message #182. When you get this Thanksgiving will be over and we will be sleighing towards Christmas. I hope you had a grateful Thanksgiving filled with appreciation for family and friends, but most of all for God’s goodness to all of us.

I’d like to remind you to pray for the following folks this week:

• Our Educator of the Week, Christine Chambers, is the first of our homeschool moms whom you will be asked to pray for over the next couple of weeks. Christine, and her husband Jimmy, have four children (Eliza, Isabella, Alexander, and Arionna). Christine was a public school teacher until she started having her own children. As you can imagine her life is filled with studies and being “mom’s taxi service.” ☺ She and Jimmy are the owners of Chambers Restaurant.
• Our College Student of the Week is Mollie Wainscott. Mollie is a freshman at Milligan University. Mollie is an accomplished violinist and is playing in the orchestra at Milligan.
• Our Mission of the Week is Serge, specifically Will & Theresa Reed. Will & Theresa and their three girls- Audrey (5), Ellie (7) and Tallie (2) are serving in Nairobi, Kenya.

YOUTH CORNER

Yep, opened up a can of worms (see last MM), but I wouldn’t have it any other way. ☺ Here are some young people I want to spotlight this week:

• Cammie King was voted MVP by her JV volleyball teammates and recognized at the Fall Sports Banquet for the honor. Proud mama Cara was the informant. ☺
• A number of our young men are playing basketball for OV basketball teams.

1. Kaden White is playing on the freshman boys’ basketball team.
2. Kaden’s brother, Kyson, is playing on the 7th grade team. Rumor has it both boys got their basketball genes from their mom, Karen (Redenbaugh) White, who set several records at OVHS and went on to play at IU.

• I saw Eli Wood’s picture on the wall at OVMS (not a Wanted poster). I was impressed with his 4.0 GPA.

Next week I will feature some more of our outstanding young people who attend OVCF. If you know of special achievements please let me know. You can text me or drop me an email.

Before I go any further I need say a huge, and I mean a HUGE THANK YOU for everyone who helped with the Thanksgiving meal. We served about 80 meals (delivery, curbside, inside and take-out). While that was lower than last year, we still made 80+ people happy by giving them a Thanksgiving meal. I have received a few thank you’s from people and they were extremely grateful for their meal. We also took a ton of food (mostly desserts which will put those folks on a sugar high for days) to the EMS workers. It would not have been possible if not for your help in preparing the food, packaging meals, and delivering them. We will need to make some adjustments for next year, but I know God was blessed by our service.

BACKPACK BUDDIES

Every weekend during the school year over 200+ students receive food from the S-OCS school system to take home. As you can imagine this is a daunting task and would be totally impossible if not for the generosity of people and businesses in our community who care about the students. OVCF is one of those who cares. During the year we will sometimes ask for donations of food to be taken to the school. We will give a financial donation to help with buying food. We have also asked you to help us make food possible for these students. This year OVCF bought over $1000 worth of items for the students to take home for Christmas break, but we are also asking for your help in adding to what the church itself purchased. Diana has made a handy list that you can take with you to do your shopping, but just in case you are unable to be here to get the list (or they are all gone), I thought I would include it below. Every little bit helps. The best gift of all? You are helping one of our S-OCS students have something to eat over Christmas break. Here’s the list:

• Ramen noodles (chicken or beef)
• Little Debbie- Cosmic brownies
• Little Debbie- Star Crunch
• Little Debbie- Nutty Buddies
• Fruit snacks
• Snack-size chips, pretzels, goldfish crackers

If you would like to help, please bring donations to the church building by or on December 3rd. We plan to deliver them that week.  Thank you again for being such generous people. ☺

I have been preaching a series entitled More Than a Holiday during the month of November. I decided to carry that theme over into December. I thought you might like to see what is ahead for the month:

• December 3- Long, Long Ago
• December 10- What a Heritage!
• December 17- The Role of a Lifetime
• December 24- Don’t Miss It!
• December 31- What Does it all Mean?

One extra: Since Christmas Eve is on a Sunday, we will be having one 10 AM service + a Christmas Eve service at 5:00 PM. I’ll fill you in more when I have a more concrete idea. (Not my brain…the plan). ☺

Meanwhile, have a great week. It was a joy seeing many of you and spending part of Thanksgiving Day with you. I look forward to spending the month of December with you.

Due to the death of Jo’s sister on Sunday, we will be out of town from yesterday (Tuesday) until Friday. The service is Thursday. Prayers would be appreciated for safety and all to go smoothly.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #181

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #181. I say this quite often but I appreciate you taking the time to read my ramblings. ☺  I also want you to know with next week being Thanksgiving week, there will NOT be a MM. (Don’t act so happy sad). So this edition will have several weeks of information for you.

Following are several weeks of people I would like to remind you to pray for.

• Our educator of the week for this week is Angela Mayle. Angela is an Inclusion Teacher at SES. She is married to Brent, who works at Cook at Park 48 and they have a daughter, Addison, who is a Freshman and plays on the OVHS girls’ basketball team.
• Our college student for the week is Cayden Paquette. Cayden is a Sophomore at Blackburn College where he plays basketball. He is majoring in Business Management and Marketing/Minoring in Coaching.
• Our mission of the week is New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center.
• Our educator for the week of November 19-25 is Rachel Nicholson. Rachel teaches Special Education at MCES. She is married to Dale, who works at The Chapel Funeral Home, and is the mother to Tad, a 6th grader at MCES (who happens to love baseball and is a catcher).
• Our college student for the week of November 19-25 is Grace Pendleton. Grace is a Junior at IU, but is currently in Italy until December 20th for Interior Design.
• Our Mission of the Week for November 19-25 is Revive Liberia Missions.

YOUTH CORNER

Diana told me I might open a big can of worms by starting this Youth Corner. ☺  I agreed but I thought it would be cool for you to know what some of our young people are doing. Here is more info about some of them:

• Charli Wood has recently won the True Patriot Award for OVMS. Along with that she also won Offensive MVP for the volleyball team; was elected VP of Student Council; and was given a solo for the Veterans Day service through the school choir. Oh…along the way she also made straight As.
• Cooper Wood (brother to Charli) made the 5th grade basketball team, is an A/B Honor Roll student, and in his spare time also earned a Safe Sitter Certificate for babysitting.
• Tanner Wood (yep, same family) was chosen as an SES Top Cat and is a straight A student. And yes, mom, Shelby VanDerMoere, proudly shared all of that info with me. ☺

• Amelia Biggs, Geoff and Kala’s daughter, made the 5th grade basketball travel team.
• Londyn Frye, Brock and Tiffany’s son, made the OVMS team for both 7th & 8th grade.
• Jo & I watched Haven Mosier, daughter of Tommy and Kristina, and Deanna Cain, daughter of Elijah and Cassie Arthur play Saturday in the 9U basketball league.

So…if you know more young people I can shine a spotlight on, please let me know. And as you can see, it doesn’t always have to be for sports. A little birdy told me there will be more in the next MM. ☺

I have sometimes been accused of being a “day late and a dollar short.” This is one of those cases. I read the following on Thursday of last week and it was too late to put it in the MM. So I thought I would include it here. The author is Pastor James Emery White. Enjoy:

Saturday is (was) Veterans Day. It is a well-known American holiday, but one with many misconceptions. So many that the U.S. Department of Defense issued “5 Facts to Know About Veterans Day” in relation to its observance back in 2018. In honor of Veterans Day, and as my own salute of gratitude to veterans, I thought it fitting to share the five again:

1. Veterans Day does NOT have an apostrophe. In other words, it’s Veterans Day, not Veterans’ or Veteran’s Day. It is not a day that belongs to one veteran or multiple veterans. It’s a day for honoring all veterans.
2. Veterans Day is NOT the same as Memorial Day. Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace – dead or alive – though it’s mostly intended to thank living veterans for their service. Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives for our country, particularly in battle or from wounds they suffered in battle.
3. It was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I. World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. The actual fighting, however, ended about seven months earlier when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Since it was seen to mark the end of “the war to end all wars”, November 11 was named “Armistice Day.” But then more wars came, so to honor all veterans, it was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. In 1968 it was moved, along with a few other federal holidays, to a Monday to ensure a long weekend.
4. Veterans Day was originally set for the fourth Monday of every October. The first Veterans Day under the 1968 bill didn’t take place until 1971. The delayed implantation, along with moving it to a date different from the historic 11th day of November, led to confusion. Many states continued to celebrate Veterans Day in November. On September 20, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed another law that returned the annual observance to its original date (November 11).
5. Other countries celebrate it, too, in their own ways. World War I was a multinational effort, so there are many celebrations around the world on November 11. In Canada and Australia, it’s called “Remembrance Day.” Great Britain also calls it “Remembrance Day” but observes it on the Sunday closest to November 11 with parades, services and two minutes of silence in London to honor those who lost their lives in war.

Have a great week as you prepare for Thanksgiving Day. Be thankful for all you have and remember from WHOM it came. I am grateful for you.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #180

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #180. I’m not too sure about this cooler weather. Ask me in about a month and half what I think. I’ll probably tell you it was balmy. ☺ I hope you have had a good week so far.

Remember to pray for our Educator of the Week: Kristine Mangia. Kristine teaches 4th grade at Spencer Elementary School. She is married to Tom, who works at Catalent and coaches the 6th-8th grade boys cross country team. They are the parents of three children: Mason, a senior at ISU; Aubrey, a 7th grader at OVMS; and Jordan, a Pre-school student at SES.

Travis Floyd is our College student of the Week. Travis is a senior music major at IU Jacobs School of Music.  He begins his student teaching at Bloomington North in January. He added another accomplishment to his life this year! He married Sierra on April 22nd.  You will also find Travis playing bass with our Worship Team.

Our Mission of the Week is Jesse Cook/International Friendships, Inc. Jesse is married and has two very active boys who love soccer. Jesse was involved in Chi Alpha until accepting the challenge from IFI to engage with international students. Jesse/IFI is one of the missions we support as a church family.

This Saturday is Veterans Day. There is a Veterans Dinner, sponsored by 4-H at the fairgrounds. The dinner is at 6 PM and is offered free of charge to all veterans.

I ran out of room in last week’s MM to tell you more about the Pancake Meal Fundraiser scheduled for November 14th for Maverick Pendleton. Just about a year ago, Maverick (age 4 at the time) was diagnosed with a glioblastoma. He has been a real fighter and his doctors are doing all they can to help him defeat this cancer. His parents, Josh and Becky, have gone through this storm with him. As you can imagine, the cost of treatment is mind-numbing. The Pancake Meal is from 5-6:30 at the Patricksburg gymnasium. It is sponsored by the Patricksburg PTO. The cost is $5 per person. It is a great time for us to put feet to our prayers with our support. Even if you are not a pancake eater (here, here), it would be a great encouragement to them to offer your support and help.

Uppermost in my mind is the Thanksgiving Meal for the community scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, the 23rd. It may seem like I sound like a broken record, but I really feel it is one of the best things we do for our community. We help with several other events, advertise in several of them, but this is something that we can really do to have an impact.  For those who are not familiar with the meal, we serve the community from the Lions Club from 11-1:00. People can come to the LC to eat inside; we deliver to their house; or we can bring it to the curb for their pick-up. I’d like to reiterate what is needed:

Sign-up sheets are on the back info table. You can sign up for different food items: turkey/ham, mashed potatoes, corn or green beans, stuffing, rolls, pie, cookies or brownies, ice, tea, (unsweet/sweet) or lemonade. Your help is needed in the kitchen to help get the food ready to serve, sometimes prepare food, wash dishes, assemble the delivery meals, and help set up or clean up. If you can only work for 15-30 minutes that would be great!  Delivery drivers are needed.
It is an absolutely fun way to serve our community. Plus you get the added benefit of sharing your Thanksgiving with friends from your church family.
If you know of someone who needs a meal, please feel free to call the church office (812.828.9840) by Monday, November 20 and one of us will take your call/information.
I know I said this a few weeks ago, but it bears repeating: I am aware that Thanksgiving is a busy time for all of us, and many of you have family gatherings planned. Enjoy them! If you are able to help in any way, it is appreciated. Do not feel guilty of you are not able to be on site to help.

Operation Christmas Child boxes are due this coming Sunday, the 12th.  Special thanks to Jerry and Carol Sturgeon who volunteered to take the boxes to Sherwood Oaks. The only bad part of that is that Diana, Pastor Ryan and I used to deliver them and then use it as an excuse to have lunch together. Hmmm guess we will have to find another excuse!!  ☺ ☺

In MM #176 I asked you to pray for Valarie Akerson as our Educator of the Week. I mentioned that Valarie is a world class powerlifter and she and Wayne were heading to Coventry for the World Powerlifting Championships. Valarie came home with a gold medal as the #1 powerlifter in her age group (60-64) for women. That is quite an accomplishment. Congrats Valarie!

Youth Corner: 

At the 4-H awards this past Sunday, Eli Wood was given an award for Public Speaking and for his Grand Champion Steer at the OC Fair this past summer.
Alli Anderson, daughter of Rob and Becca, received the Mental Attitude Award at the Fall Sports Banquet. Alli is a sophomore on the OVHS Cross Country Team.
Oakley Groomer, son of Brock and Tiffany, was selected as a Leader of the Pack and awarded a Certificate of Citizenship at MCES. Bonus: He will get to eat pizza with the principal. Can I come? ☺
Know any others I can include in future editions of the MM?

Just a quick heads up. Our December focus will be collecting goods for Backpack Buddies.  A list is being compiled and a date will be set. As soon as we know the info we will let you know.

Cory and Cassidy, Emma, Chloe and Ben really enjoyed their visit with us this past Sunday and sharing about Team Expansion. Thank you so much for being gracious and asking questions and chatting with them afterwards.

I’m going to wind down this edition of the MM. Gratitude really does change us. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to be your pastor. Thanks for that opportunity. I love you all.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #179

Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #179. As I write this I think it is safe to say that Fall has arrived. I can’t honestly say that I am ready for it, but I live in Indiana so it is to be expected. I do hope your week has gone well so far.

Before I get to a recap of this past Sunday’s 19th Anniversary celebration and other events coming up, I’d like to remind you of some important bullet points.

• As our educator of the week, please pray for Cassie Linville. Cassie teaches Agriculture at Eastern Greene High School, is an FFA advisor, and is also the director for our local Campus Life program.  She and Westin live in Cloverdale and have been married for just over 2 years. She sings and Westin plays drums with our worship team.
• As our college student of the week, please pray for Tori Floyd. Tori is returning to IU to get her Masters degree in Epidemiology. Tori also works for the Owen County Health Department.
• As our mission of the week, please pray for Hilltop Christian Camp.  Ryan & Mala Croft are the directors, while Justin and Stevie Chandler are the assistant directors. Hilltop has affected many lives at OVCF-past, present, and certainly in the future. Justin was active at OVCF and his parents, Jason and April and twin sisters still worship here.
• Each week we ask you to pray for our Military friends and family, and also our Law Enforcement Officers and their families. Let me remind you to do that this week.

Congratulations is extended to Tommy and Kristina Mosier. They welcomed a new son, Koe Russell on October 25th. Haven and Kane are excited older siblings. Oh…I can’t forget mamaw, Janet Jones.  ☺

And I should be horse whipped. In the second service we had a brand new newlywed couple with us and I forgot to mention it. Matthew and Hannah Foster were married Saturday afternoon here at the church building and had their reception outside in the shelter. Brrrr.  Hannah works for Sweet Owen as Director of their daycare and has been attending OVCF for several months. Matthew works for DVM in Bloomington. Congratulations and may God grant you many years of love and happiness together!

About Sunday…WOW! What a great day! This week’s bulletin will share the numbers with you, but let’s suffice it to say that the attendance was higher than we have had in a long, long time. The offering-which went to the Building Fund-was phenomenal! ☺ Your generosity continues to amaze me. The presentation made by Wayne Akerson was spot on and informative (Thanks to Diana for making his notes). Hearing from David Samick about the effort to help the building fund along by investing part of it was a good thing. The singing was good. The sermon was, well…so-so. ☺  The crowd and food for the pitch-in was a beautiful sight to see. There was a lot of food and a lot of talking and laughing going on.  Thanks for making the day extra special. As for the building addition: we will keep you updated as often as we can!

This Sunday, Cory and Cassidy F. and their children will be with us. They serve with Team Expansion and spent 10 years in the Middle East. They are raising support for their transition to serving in Europe. I have known Cassidy since she was in 2nd grade and she and her family played a significant role in the life of my family. I look forward to hearing their presentation Sunday. They will also be spending some time with the youth during the second service.

One of the items uppermost in my mind is the Thanksgiving Meal for the community. I have been sharing about it in the past couple MMs. This Sunday Diana will have the sign-up sheets for food and to volunteer on the info table.  We do several outreaches to the community every year and this is one of my favorites. It is a lot of work for all, but the reward is so great! We plan to offer a meal, as always, at the Lions Club from 11:00-1:00. We will also be delivering meals during that time. Here is how you can help:

• Sign up and offer to cook an item or several. If you sign up to cook a turkey or ham, the church will be glad to purchase it, if needed.
• Sign up to help at the Lions Club. There are tables and chairs to set up and cover, food that needs prepared to serve, dishes that need washed, and delivery/carry out meals to prepare. We know you also have family commitments so anything you can do to help would be appreciated.
• We need to get the word out due to not having a newspaper. You can help us do that by telling folks about it. We have put up posters at several locations around town.
• If you know of anyone who could use a meal, please contact the church office (812.828.9840). We will call and confirm with them about time and any dietary restrictions. We always deliver to those who are working Thanksgiving Day, but taking the food to others is a special time. If you are able to help deliver, please sign up for that.

This Sunday I start a new series with the theme of More Than a Holiday. I was going to use that just for November but I’ve decided to include the December series on Christmas in that theme. As followers of Jesus, we need to see both Thanksgiving and Christmas as more than just   holidays. They hold extra special meaning to us and my desire is to bring that out. Here is how the November sermons will shake out:

• November 5- Why Be Grateful?- I Tim. 1:12-15; Psalm 67
• November 12- Let’s Compare!-Col. 3:16-17; Romans 1:20-23
• November 19- Just Do It!- Luke 17:11-19; James 2:14-17,28
• November 26- When It’s All Said and Done- Pr. 16:18; 2 Cor. 9:9-11

That’s all for this week. Thanks again for a wonderful day Sunday! I love you all.

Pastor Bill

P.S. Reminder! There is an all-you-can-eat pancake dinner fundraiser for Maverick Pendleton, Tuesday, November 14 from 5-6:30 PM at the Patricksburg Elementary gymnasium. Cost: $5 per person.