A place for beginning, becoming, and belonging!

ugar Creek Church

Saturday, September 12

More details coming soon!

Make sure to save the date!

The Church Picnic will be held on Sunday,

August 23 at 12:30pm. Look for more

information coming soon!

Come and enjoy 3 fun-filled days at Ramsey

State Park with other Sugar Creek Campers.

Contact Shirley Rickman (217-691-5039) if you

plan on joining us, or for more information.

Ramsey State Park

September 25—27

On Sunday, August 2 our children and

youth will “move up” to their new classes.

If you have questions about which grades

promote, ask any of our Sunday school

teachers, or contact Emily Osterbur

(eosterbur@sugarcreek.org/483.2270).

Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.

Youth Stockholder’s Dinner

Sunday, August 2 at

6:30pm

Attention all stockholders,

please join us for this very

special evening. The youth

and adult volunteers will be sharing their mission trip

experiences from RWM Camp, Kenosha, WI, and Paducah

KY.

What’s on the Menu

Meat and vegetable lasagna with green beans, garden

salad, and dessert. Please contact the Church Office

(483.2270/office@sugarcreek.org) to let us know you will

be joining us.

Wonderful Wednesdays

Kicks Off September 9

Meal—5:30pm

Classes—6:30pm

1st Sally Behl

1st Terry House

2nd Mindi Tuxhorn

3rd Becky Lucas

3rd Jason Sharp

3rd Brad Johnson

4th Brian Cowgur

5th Lovell Legg

6th Charlotte House

10th Chuck Sharp

12th Mike Barnard

14th Marcia Mackay

14th Rustin Godfrey

14th Cole Craven

14th Olivia Craven

18th Bill Legg

18th Jay Davis

18th Jerry Suchomski

19th Joe Frazee

19th Jason Henry

21st Charlotte Clark

21st Ray Lytle

22nd Jenna Horn

23rd Jeff Ondrey

24th Angel Lael

24th Abby Miller

26th Sarah Clem

27th Megan Brown

28th Rosa Bryan

29th Melissa Osborne

30th Kerry McDonald

31st Linda Davis

2nd Bill & Audrey Moore

4th Jerry & Linda Suchomski

5th John & Lucy Anderson

6th Keith & Corinna (Kurth) Baker

18th Barry & Jennifer Smith

19th Harry & Barbara Deffley

20th Keith & Bonnie Horn

23rd Ted & Jean Chase

23rd Bill & Lisa Brockway

24th John & Charse Kessler

29th Chuck & Lois Frazee

Don’t see your name

on the birthday or

anniversary list?

Please contact the

Church Office

(483.2270 or

office@sugarcreek.org)

to let us know.

We don’t want to miss

your special day!

The Men of Sugar Creek Church

will meet on Monday, August 10

at Sgt. Peppers Café, 3141 Baker

Drive (just off Stephenson near

South Sixth) in Springfield, at

6PM. Dinner from the menu.

All men are welcome!

Barefoot Friends Friday, August 21 at 6:30pm

Attention ladies! Join us for this special

evening, not only is this the perfect opportunity

to meet other ladies from Sugar Creek, we also

get to enjoy ice cream sundaes too! Invite a

friend to join you!

The best thing about ...is making them.

Sugar Creek Congregation,

As we embark together on a journey of discernment and discovery for our church through MAPP (Ministry

Assessment and Planning Process), the MAPP Team, first and foremost, requests congregational prayers. We

ask that you pray that we may discern what God’s vision is for the future of our church. Pray for reaching the

un-churched and become the congregation that God is calling us to be.

Nehemiah 1:11

O, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayers of your servants who

delight in revering your name.

Important dates for the congregation to be aware of:

Sunday, August 16 – Fruitful Congregational Survey

Sunday, August 23 – Fruitful Congregational Survey

All adults and high school students, one survey per person, will be asked to complete the survey during

worship and place it in the offering.

Friday – Sunday, August 28-30 – Assessment Week-end

On these days the consultant team from the office of Congregational Development will spend the week-end

with our congregation conducting listening sessions on Friday and Saturday with groups of 10 – 20 people in

one hour time slots. The consultant team will hold listening sessions with the Pastor and Church Staff, as well

as the Leadership Team, Youth, Parents with Children at Home, Empty Nesters, those who are new to the con-

gregation, and long time congregation members. In the future, there will be opportunities to sign-up for these

sessions.

Along with the listening sessions on Friday and Saturday, the consultant team will also be touring the

community, Sugar Creek Church, and worshiping with us on Sunday.

Week of September 27 – Week of November 8 – Discernment Bible Study

This is an opportunity for our whole congregation to engage in 7 weeks of small group prayer, study of

scripture, and Christian conversation as a means of discerning God’s desired future for Sugar Creek United

Methodist Church. These small group opportunities will consist of a 60 - 90 minute Bible study and will be

offered at different days/times throughout the week; hopefully making it convenient for everyone to be in-

volved in this important component of the MAPP for Sugar Creek.

Saturday, October 3 – Current Reality Workshop

This workshop looks at the report from the August 28 – 30 weekend on-site visit of the consultants,

examination of demographics of the community, and the results of the Fruitful Congregational Survey.

The MAPP Team, Leadership Team, and members of the congregation who have completed the survey,

participated in a listening focus group session during the August 28-30 Assessment Weekend, and are

currently participating in a Bible study are encouraged to attend this workshop.

If you have any questions, please contact Clark Germann, Kathy Koch, or Pastor Allen.

In His Service,

Clark Germann

Kathy Koch

God’s reason for creating every church is for every

church to grow. God’s expectation is that every

church will grow – in every way imaginable”

spiritually, interpersonally, numerically and so on

(in that order). I believe that it is God’s perspective

that every church is primed to grow through

changes. Through changes, through familiarity, we

are expected to encourage and build up one

another in Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 10:24-25,

Ephesians 4:29) Ephesians 4:29 declares, “Do not

let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what it helpful for building

others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who may listen.” Paul empha-

sizes the importance of believers encouraging one another in Ephesians and throughout all

of his New Testament writings. Throughout the New Testament, encouraging and building

up one another is proclaimed – and thoroughly expected. Encouraging and building up one

another in Jesus Christ is not to be ignored.

Things rarely stay the same. Everything can change – as we have experienced some changes

here at Sugar Creek Church. God is always doing something new. In Isaiah 42:19, the Lord

declares, “I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create

rivers for them in the desert!”

When it comes to change in the church, we sometimes remain “torn.” But realize this: we are

expected to be obedient, to remain obedient to the Lord – as He calls us to minister in old,

well-established ways as well as in new, unfamiliar ways. As John Powell says, “The mature

believer is a searching believer.” We follow the Lord in many ways, including the ways we

reach many through our ministries and programs. We set out to bring people to Jesus

Christ. That is Our Mission.

We are Sugar Creek Church and this is our window of opportunity! God expects us to grow

in numerous ways – through times of joy as well as through times of transition. It is a

pivotal time as we detect and understand what God is doing in each of our lives – and in the

life of the church. Be in prayer for our MAPP Team, led by Clark Germann and Kathy Koch.

Let’s move forward – and glorify the Lord.

Pastor Allen

PASTOR’S PEN

SR. HIGH YOUTH

Welcome all fall in-coming Freshmen!

Open to all 9th—12th grade students.

We will meet from 6pm—8pm on Sunday

nights beginning September 13.

We will not be serving dinner, so make

sure you eat before you come. Invite

friends!

JR. HIGH YOUTH

Wednesday Nights

Beginning September 9

6:30pm—8pm

All 7th & 8th grade students welcome!

Come early (5:30pm) for dinner!

Making the Difference!

YOUTH STOCK SALE DINNER Sunday, August 2

Remember to be here on Sunday, August 2 to help with the Youth Stock Sale Dinner. Be here by 3:30pm. All youth are encouraged to come and help with this event. Let’s show our Sugar Creek family how much we appreciated their support for our mission trips.

MEET ME AT THE MUNI

Friday, August 14 Show begins at 8:00pm

Everyone is invited to come out and catch the show with us. Our very own Zach Perko, and Cameron Schlussler are part of the show. We will meet at the Muni at 7:00pm. Make sure to bring your lawn chairs and/or a blanket.

~Tickets~ Adults - $10

Seniors/Military/Students - $8 Kids (3-12) - $6 (2 and under - free)

Auburn Schools ................................... August 19

Chatham Schools ................................. August 19

Pawnee Schools ................................... August 17

Rochester Schools ................................ August 19

Springfield Schools ............................. August 24

On Thursday, August 6 make

sure to have dinner at Texas

Roadhouse (2540 W. Iles Ave

in Spfld). 10% of your bill

will be donated to Midwest

Mission Distribution Center

in Chatham, just mention the

MMDC to your server! Thank

you for supporting this vital

ministry. Together We Can

Make A Difference!

Midwest Mission Distribution

Center partners efforts to

bring hope to God’s people by

supplying education, health

and disaster relief supplies at

home and around the world.

YOUR MONEY

FUNDING GOD’S MINISTRY

Through your giving you are a blessing to others!

General Fund

Contributions

Expense

Missions & Benevolence

Conference Obligations

Program Expense

Salaries (Pastor & Staff)

Utilities & Cleaning

Total Expense

Net Income (-loss)

Building Fund

Contributions

Jan.—June 2015

$156,244

$8,355

$13,236

$24,327

$97,139

$17,248

$160,305

(4,061)

$6,585

June 2015

$20,235

$1,292

$2,206

$6,146

$16,027

$2,772

$28,443

(8,208)

$1,383

Your generous gifts help us to live out

the mission of Sugar Creek Church.

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Matthew 7:12

Electronic option for contributions— Visit our website (www.sugarcreek.org) to have your

offering debited automatically from your checking, savings, credit or debit card. You can set up auto-

matic payments, or do a one-time donation, the choice is yours!

ACH Automatic Giving—Don’t have a Smartphone, or not computer savvy, but are interested in

automatic giving? Great news! We also offer “ACH” (electronic check). Contributions can be set to

come out weekly, bi-weekly, or once a month.

Scan the QR Code if you would like to use your Smartphone for

your contribution to Sugar Creek Church. The QR Code can

also be found on the back of the weekly Church Bulletin.

Caregiving Team Monday, August 3

6:30pm

Education Team Monday, August 10

6:00pm

Nominations Team Monday, August 17

6:30pm

Finance Team Tuesday, August 18

6:30pm

Nominations Team Monday, August 17

6:30pm

PPRC Thursday, August 27

5:30pm

Nominations Team Monday, August 31

6:30pm

You will be contacted by your team chair in the

event of a cancellation, or rescheduling.

FRUITFUL CONGREGATION SURVEY

Look for the Fruitful Congregational Survey in the Sunday

bulletins on August 16 & 23. We are asking all adults and

high school students to fill out a survey (one per person), and

to place them in the Offering Baskets once completed.

United Methodist Men Quarterly Mission Project

Youth Service Bureau of Springfield

Donation List Paper towels

Toilet paper

Kleenex

laundry detergent

White socks (sizes 3yrs to adult)

There is a donation table located in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you for helping making a difference in our community.

SUGAR CREEK GARDEN

Join us Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm

to work in the Sugar Creek Garden.

You can’t start the next chapter of your life

if you keep re-reading your last one.