Community of Christ Lutheran Church - Whitehouse, Ohio

Outreach, Assimilation

Lutheran Basics Class - Sunday Mornings at 9:00 AM (We will also continue to offer an Adult Sunday School Class).

The last two weeks of our classes we are also inviting those people who are transferring into our church to also attend. The content of these 6 classes will include:

The Bible - what it contains, when it was written and how do Lutherans read it
Church History - why are there so many denominations, the Reformation, Lutherans in America
Holy Baptism/Worship - what happens in baptism, when do we baptize, etc.
Holy Communion/Worship - how do we understand Holy Communion, what happens in Holy Communion
Community of Christ Lutheran Church - structure, covenant, history, finances
Community of Christ Lutheran Church - ministries we are involved in with a visit from leadership of committees, music, youth and outreach

Please contact the Church Office so that we might prepare for you to come. Spouses and other members of the church are most welcome to come for a refresher course of Lutheran Basics.

As Outreach Assimilation Coordinators - we have been charged with finding and creating ways not only to bring new folks into our church, but, also to “assimilate” or connect those members who are already here. We have tried several things, such as hospitality which has gone over very well following the 5:00 service, and goes well after the 10:00 service when we have someone willing to host that. We’ve had a Wednesday evening ministry for the month of July for children and adults, we have purchased t-shirts, calendars and window decals, we have a new craft group going and a couple new bible studies. We continue to search for new ways to “assimilate” our members.

So…as Christians, what better way to connect with each other than by praying for one another. Many of us have been on the receiving end of having others pray for us. The comfort and peace felt from those prayers is priceless. We wanted to highlight for you our different prayer ministries and introduce a new one.

Email Prayer Ministry - We would like to start a new prayer ministry here at church. Similar to a prayer chain, but, not really. We would like to try this: When prayer request comes in to the church, we would like to email it out to those that would have time to lift this person up in prayer. Many of you answer your emails while at work, so maybe this would be a problem for you. But...if you open an email with a prayer request and could spare just a few seconds, we know the person you are praying for would benefit from the connection you are making by praying for them. Even if all you can say at the moment would be "God please be with and comfort ..... at this time" until you have more opportunity. Here are a few guidelines that we came up with, and if you think of something we that didn't, please share it with us and maybe we can incorporate it in this ministry.

All prayer requests would come from the church office, with "Email Prayer Ministry" in the subject line.
All prayer requests would be short and to the point.
We would have permission from the person calling in the prayer request to share their request with this ministry.
Those who commit to this ministry should be those who check their email frequently.
You do not need to respond to an email you receive, your only response would be to PRAY.
You are not obligated to send this prayer request any further.
You are asked to pray however you feel in your heart you should pray, let the spirit lead you.
When we can, we will send out a follow-up email to let you know how this person is doing
Please let us know if your email address changes.

Please understand, this is a trial. We are open to suggestions and wisdom from any of you out there. We feel this is just one more way for us to be connected to each other. Thank you, Sherrie Carroll & Selinda Schultz.

Other ways that Community of Christ lifts up the ministry of prayer:

In situations where you were unable to call the church office during the week, there is a clip board on the table in the foyer to add a name before a service if you would like someone prayed for during the prayers in the worship service. Pastor Rich makes every effort to look at that before services. When you add a name to that list we will include them on the Prayer List on the weekly announcement sheet in the bulletin for 2 weeks.
We have a Prayer Chain. The Prayer Chain information is on the second page of the church directory, this includes the names of those to call to start the Prayer Chain.
Soon we will be opening up the opportunity to receive prayer requests from the outside groups that use our church. We will do this by placing prayer boxes in the side rooms and foyer which will allow guests and members to leave a prayer request in the box for us to have for our Sunday morning worship services.
We have a bible study group that meets on Tuesday afternoons that welcomes our prayer requests.
We have a Prayer Shawl Ministry. This ministry involves a knitted or crocheted shawl, that was prayed over while it was being made. Any member of the church may make these for this ministry. There is specific yarn available in the foyer along with directions. When someone knows of a need, you may request a shawl through the church office. Prayer Shawls are designated for the person with the need, usually not for those who are the comforters. This person is usually physically ill. We then pass the shawl through our Sunday services one weekend, in order to give each person in attendance an opportunity to pray for the person that the shawl is for. The member who requested the shawl will then deliver it, along with a special card prepared by the church office.