Editor:
Tom Arneberg
(editor@cvbc.net)
During the school year, the AWANA program meets at CVBC on Wednesday evenings from 6:00-8:00. When this school year started we were at the very early stages of construction of the new addition. Not only has God helped our AWANA program through all the minor inconveniences of moving from certain rooms, He has made us all stronger for it.
At the beginning we decided to have three separate council times. We did not know how this would work, or even if it would work, but with God's help it has been going very well.
We have been blessed again this year with some very strong Christian Leaders for our AWANA program. The Directors for Club this year are: Cubbies: Cheryl Pokrzywinski, Sparks: Jean Richtmyre & Connie Williams, Chums & Guards: Dora Woods, and Pals & Pioneers: Tom Sterling.
Sometimes I get so busy I forget to thank everyone that helps out in our AWANA program, so I will do that now. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH
2 Tim 2:15
Mel Richards, AWANA Commander
Mrs. Lila Anderson and Mrs. Jan Koski. The older I grow, the less I remember from my childhood years!! But these two individuals still stand out in my memory because of who they were and what they did. They were my Sunday School teachers.
As the teachers come in on Sunday morning, our purpose is to share our faith in a real way with those who we teach and hopefully make an impact on our students for the Lord that will last for a lifetime!!
Thank you to all who invest their time in God's calling to teach:
All the folks who are substitute teachers, thank you for helping out!
Again this year we have been blessed to see an increase in class numbers! Children's Sunday School averages around 120 children and Adult Class approximately 60.
As we look to 1999-2000, we will try to have at least two adult electives available. These classes may include both a Men's & Women's Class, Parenting Classes, Financial Class, Discovery Classes, and Biblical Studies. If you are interested in leading one of these classes or have an idea, please let me know.
Praise God for the things He will accomplish in the upcoming year.
In His Service,
Dennis Wolf
Here is a summary of the annual church budget.
Cash on hand at end of year: $63,354 (most of this is committed to
building bills)
(The complete line-item budget is available upon request to any CVBC member)
This has been a very dynamic year for Chippewa Valley Bible Church. God
is good!
As is true every year, there have been some disappointments and wrenching
times. Parting ways with our associate pastor, Scott Elkins, last June
was very hard.
This quote from the elders' letter to CVBC members in June sums it up:
The author of Hebrews writes in 12:11, "No discipline
seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it
produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have
been trained by it." You can't measure the appropriateness of an
action by the amount of short-term pain it causes. No one would
dispute that this has been a painful process, both for CVBC and for
Scott. However, we think it was the right thing to do, long-term.
There have also been some exhilarating moments in 1998. Our building
addition is truly a testimony to God's faithfulness! At our first annual
banquet last year, you may remember that we had $75,000 in savings, and
wanted to start building the addition that we calculated may cost
$150,000 to $200,000, without incurring any debt. Our goal was simply to
get the outside structure erected before winter, so we could then
continue the indoor work as time and funds permit.
As you all know by now, God has moved in the hearts of His people, and
abundant blessings came pouring in this year! The addition construction
is now finished, and is being used! We hope to decorate it and furnish
it soon, as funds become available. Praise God!
After the work on the building dies down,
the deacons are looking forward to spending more time examining their
Biblical role, as explained in the book "The New Testament Deacon."
There are a few candidates for future deacon roles, including Darin
Thomas, who is currently under evaluation as required by Scripture
and our new constitution.
Mark
Woodford is taking a break after many years of faithful deacon service.
Among the elders, Keith Tompkins is enjoying a six-month sabbatical from
the eldership.
We've also seen some changes in our paid staff. Connie Williams will be
stepping
down after a very helpful 14-month run as our part time
secretary, to home-school her daughter. We hope to identify a replacement
soon. Dale Thiele joined us this month as our new associate pastor in
charge of the youth ministry! He brings a lot of enthusiasm to this
position, along with a big heart for the Lord. Last, we have created a new
part time position at CVBC, for someone to do repair work, maintenance,
and cleaning. Tom Sterling will be ably filling this role.
After years of tossing around the idea and praying for guidance,
we went ahead and split into two services in September for the
first time ever. We immediately knew that this experiment was a good idea --
almost every week since then, our total attendance at the two services
has been greater than our most crowded one-service Sundays before the split!
However, the second service is now full again, so we may have to tweak
the experiment a bit more to get a better balance at the two services.
I should point out that our goal is NOT to attract large numbers of
people to the pews of CVBC, building a crowd for its own sake. However,
we do feel some responsibility to accommodate those who feel led to
worship with us and hear God's Word being preached. If that means
enduring a little more hassle by having more than one service, then so
be it. A little discomfort or confusion on Sunday mornings is a small
price to pay, to be able to welcome others into our church family!
In His service,
Tom Arneberg
Children's Church was expanded this year to accommodate the two service
schedule implemented by CVBC. This ministry currently reaches between 15 to
20 children each week. Three to five year olds sing, pray, listen to a Bible
story, have a snack, and usually find time to do a craft during the time
allotted for Children's Church. The curriculum used in this ministry
supplements the Bible story taught to the four and five year old Sunday
School class each week.
We want to thank everyone who has volunteered for Children's Church. Without
you, there would be no ministry in this area. A special thank you to Libby
Krause who faithfully starts each week of Children's Church with singing,
and
to Melissa Majorins who graciously volunteered to help teach during the
first service.
Respectfully submitted,
Have you noticed the extra shiny faucets and spotless floors? It's due to
the great cooperative effort of 58 church families. Two different adult
families each week have been taking time out of their busy schedules to come
polish, shine, sweep & mop the church. This well-oiled machine has been going
for nearly a year
and a half now and deserves an applause from the church family for
their behind the scenes effort.
Plans are still in the making for the future
of the church cleaning ministry due to the recent building addition. Keep the
deacons in your prayers as they decide on the next chapter of the church
cleaning saga.
Stephanie Poulson
As CVBC grows larger, good communications becomes even more important.
In 1998, we continued in
our fourth year of putting out a four-page newsletter every month
("Focus on the Valley"). It is created by a volunteer staff (Tom
Arneberg edits, Stu Krause lays it out, and a cast of dozens gets to
proofread the electronic copy). Once we produce the master, CVBC secretary
Connie Williams does the copying, folding, labeling, and mailing.
The newsletter goes to around 370 homes, including families of AWANA and VBS
kids.
Another way we communicate in our church is through electronic mail.
We are up to 111 different people on our central email list. We also
have several sublists for various groups within the church.
Email provides us a great way to keep in
touch -- messages on the CVBC list include prayer requests, text from
newsletter drafts, text from the weekly bulletins, updates, and
announcements. Even more information and ideas and brainstorming comes
across some of the leadership email lists.
If you have access to email and are not on the main email list, please
send a note to "info@cvbc.net"!
This year we also got our very own internet domain, called "cvbc.net".
This allows us an easy-to-remember home page of
"www.cvbc.net", which is
used in printed material, newspaper copy, etc. We've had over 1000 hits
to our web page. There is a lot of useful information on our home page,
including back issues of all our newsletters, our new constitution,
information about AWANA, links to
papers on Biblical Eldership, etc. Surf on over and check it out!
Tom Arneberg, toma@cvbc.net
In 1998, the Deaconesses continued to serve the Lord through various
activities. Baby showers, new baby and graduation recognitions, meal
preparation as needed for church families, visitation and encouragement of
those in poor health or spirit and preparation for communion and baptism are
just some of the activities we had opportunities in which to serve. Thank
you to those who have assisted us.
In His Service,
The Deacons of CVBC have had a busy year. Our goal is to provide the Elders of
CVBC with any support necessary to free them up for prayer and teaching of
God's Word. As usual, we try to focus on repairs and maintenance of the church
facility. But this year, the majority of our efforts were put into the
building addition.
Thank the Lord for faithful servants, CVBC members who generously gave their
time, offerings and prayers to the building project. It is with great joy that
I think of the families and individuals who will come to know Christ and learn
more about His plan for their lives in those new rooms. Please continue to
pray that the rooms are used for the glory of our Lord.
In 1999, the Deacons will study the new testament models of the early church
Deacons to try and understand more fully their role in Christ's body. Mark
Woodford will be stepping down for at least a year and we are all grateful to
God for his many years of faithful service. Also, Darin Thomas will be
installed as a Deacon pending examination by the Elders. The current Deacons
are Stuart Krause, Jon Strand, Mark Hedrington, Dave McDaniel, Chuck Wood and
Doug Mason.
Thanks to the Lord for these men and the opportunity to serve.
Stuart Krause
The CVBC
Drama Team started off the year with a potluck and play featuring
SNAPSHOTS AND PORTRAITS. The play was a satirical drama about some Christian
stereotypes we sometimes find ourselves in, and what it means to be a
Christian. The was performed by the Junior and Senior High drama team,
Counterfocus.
After schools let out we started a summer drama team for 3rd through 6th
graders which was eventually split into two teams. The 3rd and 4th graders
worked on Biblical melodramas and performed them at Irvine Park one Saturday
morning. The 5th and 6th graders worked on a mystery play, THE CASE OF THE
DISAPPEARING YOUTH CHOIR, which was performed as a dinner theater.
Other
events this summer included the Sonlight Island VBS adventure with Sky, Buffy,
and Doc Beechum. To end the drama season the Sunday school children performed
their annual Christmas program. The 1st and 2nd graders performed a short
play, ANGEL ON WHEELS, directed by Linda Balsiger. The 3rd graders and up
performed a full length play, THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT.
There are a lot of
good actors coming into the ranks and I look forward to working
with them again during this next year.
After working for four years, the library committee finished re-organizing
and cataloging the materials in the church library. A project we will be
working on in 1999 is to computerize the card catalog. In 1998 we also put
protective coverings on all new books and books which were in good
condition. We expanded the library in the areas of adult fiction, children
and young adult fiction, and women and men studies. We also purchased
several new videos for kids. At any given time there more than 100 books and
videos checked out of the library.
We would like to thank everyone who made donations to the library in 1998.
They are greatly appreciated by everyone who uses the library. The library
committee will always accept donations of useful, up-to-date Christian
materials. If you would like to donate books, videos, or tapes, please place
them in the donation box in the library.
The library has a lot of different materials which may interest you. If you
have not already done so, please stop by the library and take a look!
Respectfully submitted,
Ladies Missionary Fellowship (LMF)
is a group of dedicated ladies who meet on the
forth Wednesday of each month to share the news of our missionaries and have
prayer for each missionary that CVBC has part in supporting. Along with the
monthly newsletter, we write a personal note so that they can share in the
activities of CVBC. We send birthday and anniversary cards that each of the
ladies sign.
We also participate in the Pick 'n Save refund program and are registered under
Ladies Missionary Fellowship - Chippewa Valley Bible Church where we get
refunds from purchases and we are able to help with a special need of some
missionaries.
This past year we have helped 24 young people subscribe to Campus Crusade
and Brio/Breakaway magazines.
We have had one funeral to serve lunch this past year.
This past year we have been privileged to have several of our missionaries
home that were able to come and speak at our meeting. Maris Dzelzs from
Latvia spoke in Feb., Liz Spellman (Pastor Andy's sister) from Brazil spoke in
March, Grace Haley reported and shared pictures of her mission trip to Brazil
at our annual picnic in Aug, and Joann Arneberg from Tanzania spoke at our
September meeting. We truly enjoyed hearing from each one of them.
Our goal for 1999 is to have a new Missionary booklet updated so the
congregation can share in the work of each of our missionaries and continue to
pray for them as many battles have been won on the field because of the people
back home praying for them.
An invitation is always open to any on the ladies to come and share in a time
of God honored fellowship and support of our missionaries. Babysitting is
always available.
In His service,
Audrey Peterson,
LMF President
We as a church have continued to support many missionaries this year, both
overseas and
domestic. We invested $16,640 in the lives of our missionaries in 1998
(including
"Christmas for Missions"), a little over 10% of the total church budget.
The CVBC
Elders and missions committee choose which missionaries to support, and
regular prayer
support and communications with missionaries is maintained by the Ladies'
Missionary
Fellowship, which meets monthly.
There were 30 missionaries and ministries on our support list in 1998. The
following
changes are being made for 1999:
* John Schone has retired from the jail ministry and will no longer receive
support.
Please continue to pray for our missionaries. You can learn more about any of
them by
looking at the pictures and descriptions on the walls in the church building,
or by asking
any of the LMF members.
* Apple Pregnancy Center (Eau Claire, WI)
"I will sing of the Lord's great love forever..."
CVBC is blessed with many talented musicians, and 1998 was certainly a
wonderful year of song. The youth choir formed in the beginning of '98,
and they
have really come far in only one year. The kids are enthusiastic and have
been learning new concepts that will be valuable their whole singing lives.
Our favorite songs of the year were "He Can Raise You Up," which brought the
"house" down at the Easter service, and this fall's rendition of "Facts Are
Facts." The Youth Choir would not be possible without the piano capabilities
of Marilyn Davis, Dora Wood and Sharon Spencer. Thanks, ladies!
Not to be outdone by the youth of the church, the adult choir meets every
Sunday night and we have a great time learning our music. We especially enjoy
working through a difficult piece and blessing the congregation with songs
that we once thought would be too hard for us to master. This group is so
good that they definitely rise above the inadequacies of their director! And
we would all be lost without Sharon Spencer at the piano. I am so proud of
them -- they continue to use their
musical gifts to worship the Lord and bless
our congregation. Please thank the choir members if our songs are meaningful
to you.
Our worship music teams have continued to expand throughout the year as we
strive to make the worship time one that would draw us closer to God. This
can, at times, be a difficult assignment as people's tastes in music differ so
much. I have tried to incorporate differing styles in an attempt to please
everyone somewhat. Hopefully there are songs which minister to you in a
special way and draw you into a time of worship and readiness for delving into
God's Word on Sundays. If there are songs you especially like, mention this
to the worship leaders and perhaps that song will be used more often. Thank
you for your prayers on the behalf of the worship team.
Special song selections are also an important part of our services and I thank
all who have blessed us with their talents this year. If you would like to
sing or play during our services, please contact me and you will become a
member of our "special music team."
Youth Choir, Adult Choir, Worship Team, Special Music....the names of our
musical groups are not exceptional, but the attitudes and hearts of our CVBC
musicians most certainly are!
"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our
salvation."
Terri Tompkins
We have been blessed with the following new babies born to CVBC families
in the past year:
* Cameron Sullivan (Jim & Stacy, 10/22/98)
We welcome the following families who have started worshiping with CVBC
in the past year (date of their first visit is in parentheses):
* Dressel, Craig & Becky (01/15/98)
We would like to recognize the following people, who each decided to
take the step of commitment to their local church in becoming official
members of CVBC in 1998:
January 1998
This has been a year of changes in the nursery -- room changes, that is!! We
have been temporarily in room 9 for the last half of 1997. We lost our infant
nursery to the new addition. We've been "making do" amidst the dust and mess.
Thanks to all the volunteers for being flexible. Thanks also to the moms who
have let us take care of your children in spite of ideal conditions. Soon we
should be in better conditions. The new toddler bathroom is plumbed and will
connect the toddler and infant nurseries. Hopefully, they will be painted and
decorated soon.
Another change has been the addition of the early service. Char Vogt has been
volunteering to do 2-3 Sundays of the month. Thank you, Char. We have kept
three
consistent ladies rotating during the Sunday School hour -- Connie Williams,
Cheryl Mason and me. The rest of the rotation is approximately a 12-13
week schedule, with two volunteers for each of the two nurseries. A big thanks
to all of you who give so willingly to staff the nurseries. ("I thank my God
every time I remember you." Phil. 1:3)
The other big change is that Kim Hoffman has stepped forward and volunteered
to be the new nursery coordinator. PTL! I have been praying for awhile now
for someone to take over. This is a definite answer to prayer. She will be
taking over with the new schedule in March.
If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or complaints please contact
me or Kim Hoffman.
In His Service,
Beth Arneberg
It has been a great privilege during the past year to teach the Word of God as
well as to
carry out other aspects of pastoral ministry such as counseling, discipleship,
visitation,
baptisms, rest home services, jail ministry, small group ministry, men's
ministry, contacts
with visitors, Discovery Class, AWANA, etc.
In the past year I have continued preaching from the Gospel of Matthew,
basically
covering Chapters 6-8. Interspersed with the study of Matthew, we have also
covered other topics and portions of God's Word.
Other Special Services included:
- Monthly Communion services.
Sunday Evening Prayer Services were held about once a month. These will be
continued
in 1999. During the summer I started a training course covering basic
principles of
Biblical Counseling. I plan to continue this important training in 1999.
During the Summer Months (May 31 - September 6) we went to an early schedule
with
Sunday Morning Worship at 9:00 AM. On September 13th we initiated two Sunday
Morning Worship Services - the first at 8:00 AM, the second at 10:30 AM. The
early
service has a solid attendance of 60-80 people. The second service is already
filling up
the auditorium again prompting us to consider what we can do in 1999 to
alleviate the
overcrowding.
From July 26 to August 6 our entire family spent two weeks in ministry at Camp
Mont
Lawn / Kids With a Promise in eastern Pennsylvania. For me this was a time of
ministry
as camp chaplain to children from inner-city New York, as well as ministry to
the camp
staff. I led daily chapel services for the children, devotions for the staff,
and small group
Bible classes for the children.
I am very grateful to have Pastor Dale Thiele as part of the ministry team
here at CVBC.
I look forward to working together with Dale and bringing the best out of each
other in
the coming year.
I am also deeply grateful for the team of men God has raised up to serve with
me as
Elders for this local congregation. I could not have survived the challenges
of the past
year without the support, accountability, counsel, prayer, encouragement,
wisdom, and
reproof that I received from these men.
"Sola Deo Gloria!" - to God Be the Glory!
Pastor Andy Majorins
One of the real strengths of our local church is our small groups and
Bible Studies. It is here where the real work of the church is done. If
you are not involved in a small group, please consider joining one!
We have around twenty different small groups currently meeting.
Here is a table with a little information about each of them .
You can read
reports from many of these groups later in this Annual Report.
Our small group is studying "Life in the Father's House,"
a book about the Christian's role in the local church and
how we should function in the body of Christ. Seven to ten
of us meet every other Monday at 5:30 in a group member's
home. We have a discussion of the chapter in the book and
related Scripture passages followed by a time of prayer.
Dave McDaniel and Franklin Bodine
We are delighted to be hosting a parenting class small group at our house this
year! We are using a videotape- and workbook-based curriculum called "Growing
Kids God's Way" by an organization known as "Growing Families International"
(GFI) in California, featuring Gary and Ann Marie Ezzo.
It has been a goal of ours for several years to bring a
class like this to our local church.
We gather for two hours each Monday night for instruction, discussion, and
prayer. The goals of GFI include "providing practical instruction that will
help parents understand not only the principles of biblical ethics but how to
make the application as well," and "to help families look positively toward
the teen years...our culture claims teenage rebellion to be the norm...but the
teen years can be among the best. Raising good children is not a matter of
chance but a matter of rightly applying God's principles in parenting."
We appreciate this curriculum because it offers very specific and practical
suggestions in child rearing. They
also give the husband-wife role in parenting its
proper scriptural prominence. The class has some fairly strict rules regarding
attendance, punctuality, and doing your homework reading. But we are following
the guidelines we learned at a GFI leadership seminar last year, and we agree
with GFI that people learn more effectively in a disciplined and structured
environment.
We have a full class this year of seven couples - Tom & Beth Arneberg, Stu &
Libby Krause, Darin & Carolyn Thomas, Jeff & Lisa Flaig, Dan & Lori Burns,
Brent & Deb Tilton, and Jon & Jody Strand. The class runs about twenty weeks,
so we will only do one per year. There is still room for one or two more
families in the next class that will start in the fall of 1999, and we are
praying that an additional class can be led by another couple in our church at
the same time, to help meet the demand.
Please let us know if you are interested learning more about
the class for next fall!
Tom & Beth Arneberg
The High School Girls' Bible Study meets every Sunday night. We are going
through the book, " LOVING GOD WITH ALL YOU MIND" by Elizabeth George.
There are about 3-7 girls that show up every Sunday. They are from the youth
group, church, and school.
This Bible
Study has been a helpful study. We are learning the application of
Philippians 4:8 and how to love God with all our minds and focusing on what is
true instead of our human feelings. God is working in our Bible Study.
Melissa Majorins, group leader
Every other Friday night, the Jim Falls
small group met at Rick & Jennifer Rubenzer's or
Mark & Debbie Woodford's house.
The group consisted of Rick & Jennifer Rubenzer,
Dennis & Mary Wolf, Mark & Debbie Woodford, and Stan & Connie Williams. The
majority of the sessions focused on a book called "The Common Made Holy" by
Neil Anderson & Robert Saucy.
Many other Friday nights were spent sharing our concerns and struggles and
burdens as families. Truly, this is what a small group needs to be --
a place of
refuge and sharing as we face life's trials.
As we start now in 1999, the Friday night group is somewhat smaller, but just
as committed as we study the book of James.
Dennis Wolf
A group of ladies meet each Thursday forenoon in September through May
to study God's Word and pray for local and other urgent needs. Our
current study is "Behold Your God," a study of the attributes of God.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Newton
The Lord continues to bless this Bible study. We currently have between
fifteen and twenty ladies attending each study. With at least that many kids
accompanying their mothers, we decided that it was time to start holding the
Bible study at the Church.
A special thank you to our baby-sitters -- Emily,
Katie and Julieanne Majorins as well as Molly and Brittany McDaniel -- who
watch the children during the study.
In 1998, we completed our study from
the book "Lord, I Want to Know You" by Kay Arthur. We also worked our way
through a Bible study called "The Joy of Women's Friendships" by Dee
Brestin. Upon the recommendation of some ladies from CVBC, we are currently
going through "Loving God With All Your Mind" by Elizabeth George.
Although our Bible Study is known as the Young Mothers' Bible Study, we
welcome any of the ladies of the church to join us. Ladies from outside the
church are also welcome. We meet every other Tuesday morning at 10:00 for
Bible study, prayer and fellowship.
Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Andy led this men's group which met at Church on Thursday
mornings from 6:30
to 7:30 AM. We spent time in Bible study and prayer. The group continues to
meet and any men are welcome to attend if it fits your time schedule.
Men that attended this group included: Andy Majorins, John Krista, Norm
Cripe, Jerry
Cohoon, Herb Anderl, Jason Hedtke, Greg Richards, Curt Clausing, Mel Richards,
Lonnie Jorstad, Mike Mayhew, Larry Hoffman, Darin Thomas.
The Tuesday morning Men on the Move bible study meets weekly at Heckel's
restaurant in Hallie. We have been studying the book of Ephesians. The group
has consisted of the following people over the last year:
Mel Richards
We have been making slow but steady progress this year in the "Life Change
Series" study book on Ephesians. We pray for each other's concerns, we eat
a BIG breakfast and we do a bible study. We leave enough time at the end
for any special prayer requests.
We are not too formal, but some of us have
to be to work at 0730, so we do close at 0700. The coffee and breakfast
is always good, and the discussions are always interesting.
The second and fourth Monday evening of
each month finds a small group convening at
the church at 6:30pm. They gather for a time of prayer, food, fellowship
and
Bible study. Those who come are the Bishops, Polly Sharp, Angie Schlagater,
the Hukriedes, Fran and Tracey Arnold, the Hetdkes, Ryan Stuve and other
frequent visitors.
Jeff and Stephanie Poulson are thrilled to help lead this
wonderful group of people in a study of the book "Stranger on the Road to
Emmaus" by John Cross. It is a chronological walk through the Bible from
Creation to Christ that has proven to be a challenge to unbelievers, new
believers and mature believers alike.
Its intent is to ground and equip its
readers with tools for evangelism and personal growth through a personal
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let Jeff or Stephanie know if you would like a
copy of this exciting book.
Jeff and Stephanie Poulson
Leaders: Rick Pribnow & John Mathwig
Our study focuses on marriage and what God wishes the union to be. TV
and romance novels seem to have set an expectation and rule the way most
Americans view husband and wife.
How different is God's plan?
How different is God's Plan!!!
God created marriage right after he created Man and Woman in his own
image. He set the "rules." He modeled the rules when Christ came to die
for his "Bride" the Church. How should
we treat our spouse? What expectations should we have of our spouse?
But what about ME!
These questions are all answered as we work our way through the study of
the Bible.
Our study was one of the last organized and has only had one meeting
thus far due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas frenzy. We will actually
begin the study on Jan 17. We are meeting every two weeks on Sunday
nights. The couples that are part of the study are currently:
Pribnows, Mathwigs, Vogts, Petersons, Schimmels and Hagers.
Rick Pribnow
We meet every other Sunday night at 6:30 PM. Our time is
spent in equal parts
of fellowship, bible study, and prayer.
Fellowship time is time to
better know
each other so we can better support each other in prayer (and other ways).
In our bible study we are studying Galatians. It's our goal to
clearly understand what God is telling us in His Word and apply
it to our lives. We then spend time praying for each other,
the church family, and any other items God puts on our hearts.
Our group consists of: Norm & Marg Cripe, Bruce & Kathy Dressel,
Garry & Claire Foltz, Lois Iman, Carol Weiss, and Allan & Anita Sharp.
If any one would like to
join our happy group please call Allan or Anita Sharp at 720-0610.
Seniors from CVBC and other interested seniors met for a carry-in
luncheon on the second Thursday of each month. Each month we enjoy
fellowship and a program: video, music, discussions, times of sharing.
Birthdays and anniversaries of the current month are recognized.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Newton
"Reaching the Heart of Your Teen" Small Group Bible study has been an
enlightening and encouraging experience. The fact that teen years can be
some of the best years in raising our kids is not a myth, but a reality.
Teenage rebellion is the exception, not the rule.
The study prepared by
Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo has the goal of bring parents and teens together
to learn and grow in their relationship with each other and with the
Lord. There is opportunity to mend hurting and broken relationships
between the parents and child throughout the study, which is based on a
biblical world view governing human relationships -- especially those
within the family.
The study starts out with the healthy family profile, moves to the power
of relationships, then the many ways of love, then discipline and
encouragement and closes with the three levels of correction.
This study should be done by all parents to help facilitate -- reaching
the heart of your teen.
Prayerfully submitted by,
Michael R. & Lynn A. Mayhew
Last year a wonderful study developed around a book by Elizabeth George.
This year we have continued that study by reading another of George's
books entitled A Woman After God's Own Heart.
The core group of
attenders is encouraged by fellowship, challenged with accountability
and comforted by prayer. These women are seeking truth and desire to
walk more closely with our Lord . Our group meets on the first and
third
Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at CVBC. Newcomers are always
welcome!!!
Brenda Hukriede
Our small group is made up of the Long, Steinmetz, Tobiss and Volbrecht
families. This
means that every study night we have 11 children tearing around our
basement. With such a biased age range, we thought that a study on
parenting would be of great value so we've chosen to go through the book
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. Each study is prepared and
led by a willing volunteer.
The main focus of the group is to support one
another in prayer, so our view is that if necessary, the study is put aside
in favor of meeting any special needs. Our small group meetings have
already raised some challenging points so we are looking forward to
completing the study over the next few months.
Garry & Helen Tobiss
W.O.W.!!! We are "Women of Worth." Our name has changed, but we are
still the same ladies who meet at the church from 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. every
Wednesday/Thursday. This year we have chosen to read the book, "A Women
After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. Together we share, pray and
study God's word "So that you (we) may walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you into his own kingdom & glory!" 1 Thes. 2:12.
In His service,
Lynn Mayhew
Last fall a group of people decided to form a new ministry. Mark and
Darla Volbrecht along with Jeff and Stephanie Poulson brought together
others from the church in hopes of organizing a group for those of us in
young adulthood. In the first five months of existence, we have
gathered for numerous fun activities including a bonfire night, crazy
croquet, and a New Year's Eve party.
In these past few months we have developed many relationships. Now the
group has a solid core of members committed to reaching out to others.
Some of this year's activities will include a sledding outing, a prayer
and praise night, and a video scavenger hunt.
Patrick Hukriede
It has been a pleasure serving as head usher again this year. I enjoy seeing
all the new faces each Sunday. This year we had 308 people at our Easter
service for the highest attendance.
A special thanks to Tom Sterling and Darin Thomas for helping.
Yours in Christ.
Jerry Brandt,
Head Usher
"Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
We have experienced those types of trials in our Youth Ministry this past
year. But we know that God is faithful and can bring us through the storms of
life stronger in our walk with Him.
We were saddened to say goodbye to Scott & Beth Elkins, but we rejoiced that
God has provided Dale Thiele as our new Associate Pastor.
The Youth participated in several functions this year which included a trip to
Sonshine in Willmar, Minn.
I want to thank Wayne & Brenda Street, Greg & Rachel Wallace, Rich Ward,
Andrea Metza, Rick & Sue Pribnow, Charles & Dora Wood, Stan & Connie Williams
and others who have a heart to serve the Lord in Youth Ministry. Thank you for
your time and commitment to the Youth of CVBC.
Dennis Wolf
Stu -- here are some misc. notes.
* This will be around 15-20 pages, based on 47K of text.
* We should have page numbers, and a table of contents.
* We should have the info from the back page of the newsletter, i.e.,
names, phone numbers, and email addresss of deacons and elders. (Note
that Chuck Wood now has email, "cdw1986@aol.com". Also be sure to
display "www.cvbc.net" prominently, as well as "info@cvbc.net"!
* The order of articles in this file is unimportant...put in whatever
order you think flows nicely. Probably should have Chairman's Report
first (since it's an overview of everything), maybe followed by
the financial report.
Might be nice to keep small group reports together (and
after the overview), but there may be too many of them for that to be
practical.
* Brenda and possibly Monique (or others)
should be giving you lots of pictures. It would be great to
have various shots of ministries, maybe even some big ones with captions
to tell who the people are. Also, it might be nice to have small
pictures of whoever is writing the article, like columnists do in the
newspaper, like you did last year. I assume you have many of these
still on your hard
drive...also, we can borrow the family pictures on the wall at church if
needed.
Thanks a ton! We need to get this to Connie W. by Monday night
1/18/99, so she can start working on it Tuesday morning.
- Tom Arneberg, 1/15/99
1998 1998 1999 %
Budget Actual Budget Change
------ ------ ------ ------
Staff Compensation $97,600 $76,219 $94,635 - 3%
Administrative $ 7,700 $ 7,239 $ 8,500 +10%
Facilities $21,500 $15,986 $23,500 + 9%
Youth & Education $14,000 $23,379 $15,500 +11%
Ministries $ 6,350 $ 7,030 $ 8,850 +39%
Missions Support $15,340 $15,340 $17,040 +11%
Building Addition ? $102,601 ? NA
------- ------- -------
TOTAL $164,488 $249,792 $170,024 + 3%
Chairman's Report
The Downs
The Ups
Church Leadership
Worship Services
Children's Church
Lisa Flaig, Paulette Hedrington, and Jody Strand
Church Cleaning
Church Communications
Deaconesses
The Deaconesses
Deacons' Report
Counterfocus
Church Library
Paulette Hedrington, Jody Strand, and Carolyn Thomas
Ladies Missionary Fellowship
Missions Report
* Mike Morgan moved to become prison chaplain in Colorado. He has been
replaced
locally by chaplain Bill Clark whom we now support.
* We will add missions support in 1999 for Jeff & Stephanie Poulson
(missionary
appointees to Brazil) and Jason & Tina Hull (InterVarsity staff at UWEC)
* Dave Anderson (Crescent Lake Bible Camp)
* Jim Arneberg (Tanzania, Africa)
* Roland Bergstrom (Minnesota)
* Judi Brodeen (Mali, Africa) (on educational leave in LA)
* Ted Cripe (New Zealand)
* Maris Dzeles (Latvia)
* Bill Clark (Good News Jail Ministry -- Eau Claire)
* Mark Hull (Fellowship of Christian Athletes -- Eau Claire)
* IFCA National
* Charles Frink (New Zealand)
* Roy Koopman (AWANA -- WI)
* Ester Majam (Philippians)
* Jack McMahan (New Zealand)
* John Pederson (Oak Hills Bible College -- Bemidji, MN)
* Brenda Poulson (Brazil)
* Tony Poulson (Brazil)
* Radio Bible Class (MI)
* Ginger Sharp (Campus Crusade -- Minneapolis)
* Steve Spellman (Brazil)
* Jeff Thibaudeau (Brazil)
* Paul Thyren (Wisconsin Church Extension)
* Debbie Velie (Latvia)
* Jim Walton (Wycliffe -- TX)
* John Wilbur (Crescent Lake Bible Camp)
* Jim Woldhuis (Village Missions -- Duluth, MN)
* Bill Pederson Scholarship (Oak Hills Bible College -- Bemidji, MN)
* Dan Gaffney (Family Life Ministries -- Eau Claire, WI)
* Chad Selje (Campus Crusade -- Eau Claire, WI)
* Jeff Poulson (New Tribes Mission - Brazil)
* Jason Hull (InterVarsity - UW Eau Claire)
CVBC Music Ministry Report
New Babies
* Alicia Thomas (Darin & Carolyn, 11/07/98)
* Taylor Hedrington (Mark & Paulette, 11/10/98)
* Jennifer Strand (Jon & Jody, 12/29/98)
New Families
* Foltz, Garry and Claire (02/01/98)
* Hukriede, Patrick & Brenda (02/01/98)
* Clausing, Curt & Terri (02/08/98)
* Van Dong, Hoi & Jean (04/01/98)
* Gast, Mary (04/01/98)
* Hill, Mary (04/01/98)
* Hill, Tidy (04/07/98)
* Hoff, Bard & Karen (05/24/98)
* Vogt, Steve & Char (07/01/98)
* Iman, Lois (08/01/98)
* Ruzicka, Steve & Crystal (08/12/98)
* Hanneman, John & Nadine (09/01/98)
* Pedigo, Jesse & Esther (09/01/98)
* Schimmel, Scott & Tami (09/06/98)
* Hoffman, Larry & Kim (09/13/98)
* Weiss, Carol (09/27/98)
* Thiele, Dale (11/01/98)
New Members
--------
Cripe, Norm & Marge
Poulson, Jeff & Stephanie
Street, Wayne & Brenda
Sullivan, Richard & Robin
Williams, Stan & Connie
Salinas, John
August 1998
---------
Cohoon, Jerry & Jenny
Hukriede, Patrick & Brenda
Haley, Emily
Jorstad, Lonnie & Mary
Metza, Andrea
Sterling, Tom & Mary
Stuve, Terry & Sheri
Thomas, Darin & Carolyn
Volbrecht, Mark & Darla
Nursery Report 1998
Pastor Andy's Report:
- Seven Laws of the Learner Seminar, Feb.6-7
- Message by Scott Elkins, Feb. 22
- Baptism Services, March 29, August 23
- Message by Missionary Steve Spellman, March 29
- "A Work In Progress" by the CVBC Drama Team, April 5
- Good Friday Service, April 10
- Easter Worship, April 12
- Message by Keith Tompkins, May 17
- Groundbreaking Service for our Building Addition, June 14
- Message by Dennis Wolf, June 28
- Message by Missionary Tim Majorins, July 26
- Message by Mike Mayhew, August 2
- Vacation Bible School Program, August 16
- Tanzania Ministry Report by Missionary Jim Arneberg, September 6
- Message by Dale Thiele, Associate Pastor candidate, November 15
- Sunday School Christmas Program, December 13
- Christmas Eve Service, December 24
Overview of Small Groups
Leader: Stan Williams
Assistant: Dennis Wolf
Topic: ?
Time: Friday Evenings
Leader: Mike & Lynn Mayhew
Topic: Reaching the Heart of Your Teen
Time: Sunday Evenings
Leader: Al Sharp
Topic: Galatians
Time: Sunday Nights
Leader: Dave McDaniel
Assistant: Franklin Bodine
Topic: Life In the Father's House
Time: Monday Nights
Leader: Gary Tobiss
Topic: Sheperding a Child's Heart
Time: Sunday Nights
Leader: Jeff & Stephanie Poulson
Topic: The Road to Emmaus
Time: Monday Evenings
Leader: Tom & Beth Arneberg
Topic: Growing Kids God's Way
Time: Monday Evenings
Leader: Cameron Clausing
Topic: Experiencing God
Time: Sunday Evenings
Who: High School Guys
Leader: Melissa Majorins
Topic: Loving God..Your Mind
Time: ?
Who: High School Girls
Leader: Rick Pribnow
Assistant: Jon Mathwig
Topic: Family Life Bible Study
Time: Sunday Evenings
Leader: Mel Richards
Topic: Men on the Move
Time: Tuesday Mornings
Leader: Andy Majorins
Topic: Men on the Move
Time: Thursday Mornings
Leader: Brenda Hukriede
Topic: Women's Bible Study
Time: Thursday Evenings
Leader: Gail Olson
Topic: Moms in Touch
Time: Tuesday Evenings
Leader: Ruth Newton
Topic: Ladies' Bible Study
Time: Thursday Afternoons
Leader: Lynn Mayhew
Topic: Women of Wisdom (W.O.W.)
Time: Thursday Afternoons
Leader: Ruth Newton
Topic: Senior Saints
Time: Thursday Lunchtime
Leader: Audrey Peterson
Topic: Ladies' Missionary Fellowship
Time: Wednesday Mornings
Monday Small Group
Growing Kids God's Way
High School Girls' Bible Study
Friday Night Jim Falls Study
Ladies Bible Class
Young Mothers' Bible Study
Jody Strand
Thursday Morning Men On The Move Group.
Tuesday Morning "Men on the Move"
Dave McDaniel
Steve Vogt
Jon Strand
Greg Richards
Josh Richards
Glen Woods
Monday Night Small Group
Family Life Bible Study -
Sharp Small Group
Senior Saints
Reaching the Heart of Your Teen
Thursday Night Women's Study
South Avenue Home Group
Women of Worth
Young Adults Group
Ushers' report
Youth Group Report
Notes for Stu
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