A New Presbyterian Church forming in the North Metro

I ns id e th i s i s su e :

Property Purchase 1

Note from Pastor 2

Steering Committee 2

Re-Launch 3

Youth Ministries 3

Children’s Ministries 3

Purpose 4

Worship Location:

1189 Main Street, Lino Lakes

(East of Lake Drive on Main Street)

763-208-8049

www.colpres.org

Apr i l 2012

Vo lume 3 , I s s ue 4

Editor: Pastor Paul H. Moore

Administrator: Jennifer Huehns

Blaine Planning Commission approves property purchase. City Council to vote next. By a unanimous vote the Blaine Planning Commission forwarded the purchase agreement for the Chain of Lakes property to the Blaine City Council. This was a very significant step. Approximately 60 people from the neighborhood attended the meeting. They had a list of reasonable concerns about the purchase of the property which they shared with the Planning Commission. Many of these concerns had been addressed in a report prepared by the staff of the City of Blaine. After the meeting many folks from Chain of Lakes had an opportunity to meet and greet the neighbors. It was a wonderful chance to talk about the future. Some of the neighbors talked about having a pie social when the property purchase is completed. The Blaine City Council will vote on the Purchase Agreement in May. If the vote is favorable, then the Presbytery will close on the property. After the closing—Chain of Lakes will hold the property in trust for the Presbytery.

On Easter Sunday I had the privilege of sharing two stories during my sermon about people at Chain of Lakes who have experienced resurrection since being welcomed into our new church. A special thanks to Dwight Zvorak and Melanie Vosdingh for taking a chance by sharing their stories with

us. The video of the sermon has received more on-line hits than any other sermon. If you would like to watch it go to: http://blip.tv/chain-of-lakes-church/easter-sunday-6075215 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith. The resurrection is also an issue that is hard for some people to believe. Many folks are like Thomas when the disciples excitedly told Thomas, that Jesus was raised. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) For some it’s hard to believe that a dead body could come back to life. Like Thomas, these folks would need to see Jesus before they would believe. I like to think of the resurrection as a story. The powerful part of the story is the resurrection not only happened to a Galilean man who lived about 2,000 years ago, the resurrection happens in our life. God moves in ways that we could never predict, understand, or even believe.

In the Easter sermon I talked about how God removed the stone to the tomb where the dead body of Jesus was placed. The task of the women who came to the tomb was to visit the tomb even though they knew the large stone was in place. God had done something that they could not predict, understand, or believe. They never would have experienced that unless they had taken a step forward in faith. What’s so moving about Dwight’s and Melanie’s story is God did something very powerful in their lives. Each of them took a step forward in faith. What I love about starting a new church is seeing these stories of resurrection take place. These stories happen in a special way in new churches. When they happen I sit back and say, “Wow.” Think to yourself about what stones God is moving out of the way in your life right now. Can you take a step forward in faith today?

P a g e 2 C h a i n o f L a k e s C h u r c h N e w s l e t t e r

V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 4 N o t e s f r o m P a s t o r P a u l

OPEN POSITION: Music Leader

The Worship Team has started a process for hiring a Music Leader at Chain of Lakes. They are aggressively distributing the job description at area seminaries, colleges, high schools, and within communities of music people. Three qualified applicants have submitted materials. Participants on the Worship Team are: Dave Nyberg (chair), Kevin Amundsen, Ken Mc Cullen, and Pastor Paul (staff).

April Steering Committee Notes

The Steering Committee members: • Were fed by Dave Nyberg and enjoyed a

devotion that he shared • Reviewed the summer Outreach events.

Steering Committee members volunteered to participate in different events

• Approved the formation of a Re-launch group

• Received a report on the hiring of a new Music

Leader • Made plans for a special offering in May

• Prayed together.

The Steering Committee meets on the third Monday of the month.

P a g e 3 C h a i n o f L a k e s C h u r c h N e w s l e t t e r

V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 4

You t h Min i s t r i e s MOVIE NIGHT is April 27th Youth 5th grade and up are invited to come to the Senior Center for a movie night. Dinner will be served and we will play games and watch The Ultimate Gift movie (rated PG). This event will start at 6:00 p.m. and end at 8:03 p.m. (Volunteers are needed to prepare and bring dinner for the kids). Contact Tiffany Chopra with questions or to volunteer.

Children & Youth Ministry Task Force A Children & Youth Ministry Task Force gathered to discern how to take the children & youth ministry at Chain of Lakes to the next level. They will be reviewing a survey taken by participants at Chain of Lakes, interviewing other churches who have a successful children and youth ministry, and making recommendations to the Steering Committee. Participants on the Task Force are Melanie Vosdingh (chair), Frank butterfield, Justin Leitch, Ama Sabah, Gary Wassam, Joanne Shingledecker (staff) and Pastor Paul (staff).

SUN DAY SCHOO L During April and May, each week the classes will be designed

around the churches founded by the Apostle Paul.

April 15 - Children view a movie about the life of Paul, and how he passed along understanding of the Gospel message to others

through his travels and established many new Christian churches.

April 22 - Review a letter to the church in Corinth by Paul, and

help the children understand what it means to be the “Body of

Christ” by building a church.

April 29 - A package will come from Apostle Paul and the

children will use the contents to make Spiritual Gift Soup.

May 6 – Written from his jail cell, Paul sends out a letter to the church in Philippi and directs the people to, “Keep their eye on the goal which is Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.” The children review the letter and then play a miniature golf game where they

learn to keep their eyes on the goal .

May 13 – A letter from Paul arrives to the church in Thessalonica. Children will explore what it means to encourage those who need encouragement as they find their way through a “spider web”

ropes course.

At their April meeting the Steering Committee authorized a Re-launch team to form. The purpose of the team is to come up with a plan to Re-launch Chain of Lakes so that our new church can meet our 2012 goal. That goal is to share our message with the community so that 18 new families become disciples. Topics that the Re-launch team will discuss are:

• Finding a new place to worship that is close to our

property

• Being clear about who we are

• What style of worship is important to us

• Who is our Target audience

• Brainstorming about what we do over the summer

as we are at the Senior Center to move towards a re-launch

• Using language of “building church” and not

“doing church.” Participants on the team are: Ken Mc Cullen (chair), John Ivers, Gary Long, Kevin Amundsen, Jennifer Huehns (staff), Joanne Shingledecker (staff), and Pastor Paul (staff). The group will meet every Wednesday at the office at 4:00 p.m. The group is open—anyone at Chain of Lakes is welcome to attend a meeting.

R e - L a u n c h

Apr i l Shower s Song

( t o t he t une o f " I 'm a L i t t l e Teapo t " )

Pitter patter rain drops (wiggle fingers to imitate

rain)

Falling from the sky (wiggle fingers downward)

Here's my umbrella (action of opening an

umbrella)

Hold it high! (hands over head)

When the rain is over (bring hands down slowly)

and the sun begins to glow (make sun with arms)

Little flowers start to bud (Kneel down)

then grow, grow, grow!!! (slowly stand up)

4175 Lovell Road, Suite 115

Lexington, MN 55014

763-208-8049

info@colpres.org

Building a New Faith Community in the North Metro

We’re on the Web!

www.colpres.org

C h a i n o f L a k e s C h u r c h P u r p o s e :

We are called to be an authentic, Christian community where: Strangers become friends Friends become disciples

Disciples impact the world.