First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
V o l u me 1 2 I s su e 1 0
Our Mission:
O c t ob e r 2 0 1 4
To witness to the love of God, to serve from our doorsteps to the far corners of the world, and to
provide true community for our members.
Committees You May Not See
Stewardship and Finance
The goal of the Stewardship and Finance Committee is develop an understanding of the meaning
of Christian stewardship within the membership and to direct the financial program of the Church.
The committee is responsible for:
Promoting stewardship education.
 Supervising preparation of the Church budget.
 Keeping accurate financial records.
Nominating
The Nominating Committee is responsible for submitting nominations for the election of elders,
deacons, junior deacons, trustees, and board officers.
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The nominations are submitted to the Church board during the October meeting.
 The committee then contacts the prospective list of nominees for acceptance or rejection of
the proposed term of office.
 The names of the confirmed nominees are presented to the Church board during the
November meeting.
 The names of the confirmed nominees are submitted to the congregation for final approval in
December.
Personnel
The Personnel Committee is responsible for hiring and evaluating the performance of staff
members other than the pastor. The committee:
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Develops and updates job descriptions for all staff positions.
Posts job openings and evaluates applications, providing recommendations to the board for
hiring.
Develops and implements staff performance evaluations.
If you feel that your talents fit in the areas served by these committees, contact the committee
chairs and offer your service.
 Presented by Kathy Long, FCC Board Vice President
Laugh Lines: There’s an old saying… (see following pages)
Additional committees that support the work of the Church may not be as visible to members as
those we have discussed earlier, but these committees perform essential functions for the Church.
The Church Bell
First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Page 2
A Nickel's Worth
by Bill Nichols, Senior Minister
Dear Church Family,
ecky and I had a wonderful vacation last month on our cruise to Alaska
and the days we spent in Seattle. I want to once again thank everyone
who was involved in creating some fantastic worship services for the
congregation to enjoy in our absence. Special thanks to Tim Scott and Vickie Sowers for speaking
at the early services and to Gary Short and David Estes for speaking at the regular services. I also
want to thank all of the elders who filled in for the various prayers and meditations that I
normally do. It is truly a blessing to be able to go on vacation and know that all is taken care of
in a great way while I’m gone. I hope that you have expressed your appreciation to all of those
who were involved.
“A penny saved is a penny that will sit around in a jar for five years.” @KEATINGTHOMAS
B
While we had a great time away, it is good to be back in Bolivar, and to see how things are
coming together at our new home. By the time you get this newsletter, we should be pretty much
moved into our Bolivar home. For the time being, we are going to be maintaining two homes and
spending time at both, with the majority of our time in Bolivar. We have some things we want to
do at our home in Walnut Grove to get it ready to put back on the market.
First Christian Church is hosting the Area Assembly on Sunday afternoon, November 2nd
beginning at 3:30 PM. The program plans are being finalized and will include a presentation by
the staff of the new camping program at Lake Pomme de Terre and a discussion time concerning
the direction that the Region is moving in its reorganization process. There will be special music
by Tony Reynolds from Appleton City, and there is going to be a Camp Reunion going on in the
basement with kids who attended Faith Adventures Camp. Once the program is complete, we
will be serving dinner in the multi-purpose room. Registration for the Assembly is $25.00 for
adults and includes dinner. The camp program downstairs is free.
CWF News
Nine ladies from our church attended the salad supper at the First Christian
Church in El Dorado Springs on Monday, September 15th. We enjoyed a
wonderful variety of salads and desserts and participated in a fun gift drawing
for the visiting churches.
After supper, we were blessed by Pam and Phil Morgan with song and testimony. The
Morgans travel around the country sharing how God has blessed their lives after a tragic
accident and continues to bless them every day.
More CWF news on page 3
Construction on our new sound booth and the upgrades to our sound system as well as the
installation of video monitors and cameras should be complete by Friday, October 10th. We will be
providing training to anyone who has an interest in working in the sound booth running the sound,
video cameras, and laptop. Watch for details concerning this training. We would like to have several
people who are capable of running this on Sunday morning, and for special events such as weddings,
funerals, seminars, and more.
We are quickly approaching the end of the year, and with that the Holiday seasons. The choir is
beginning work on the Christmas cantata, the youth and children will soon begin working on their
Christmas program. Thanksgiving will be upon us before we know it, followed by advent and
Christmas Eve Candlelight services. I hope that each of you will begin preparing, even now for all of
these special activities and services by your regular worship at First Christian Church. I think it’s
going to be a terrific three months ahead!
Many Blessings in our Lord and Savior, Jesus!
– Pastor Nichols
Elder’s Training: We will be holding elders’ training on Wednesday, October 29th with dinner
beginning at 5:30 PM and training session from 6 – 7 PM. The dinner is being prepared by Diane
Miller and Vickie Sowers. This training will be held at the church. Any elder who has a specific area
that needs to be addressed in this training needs to contact Pastor Nichols with that request so he
can prepare on that subject. Future elders’ training will be held on the 5th Wednesday, which should
work out to about once each quarter. If you have any questions, please contact Diane Miller.
CWF News, Continued from page 2
CWF News
Festival of Sharing is coming up October 18, 2014 at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in
Sedalia, MO. There are some things that can be done to prepare for this event and to lend
support, for instance:

Pick a project from one of the international organizations to support.
Pray for wisdom on issues related to ending hunger and poverty.
 Make kits or packs; try to increase the number that were made last year.
 Donate $100 for the Beans and Rice funds.
 Invite a friend to come with you to the Quilt Auction.
 Pray for a successful year.
For more information, check out www.FestivalofSharing.org to learn of other ways to help this annual
event.

“I think the expression ‘It’s a small world’ is really a euphemism for ‘I keep running into people I con’t stand.’” BROCK COHEN
A Nickel's Worth, Continued from page 2
The Church Bell
First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
4
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
LET’S GO ON A FUN AND INFORMATIVE DAY-TRIP!
PASSAGES is a 30,000-square-foot interactive living history exhibit that chronicles the
remarkable story behind the Bible. Springfield is the fifth U.S. city to host Passages, a
family-friendly exhibition features more than 400 items from the Jewish, Catholic,
Protestant and Orthodox faith traditions belonging to the Green Collection: one of the
world's largest private collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts.
“If you can’t beat them, arrange to have then beaten.” GEORGE CARLIN
Highlights in the exhibit will include:
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First-century BC Dead Sea Scroll fragments
First editions of the King James Bible
Cuneiform tablets dating to the time of Abraham
A first edition of the Rheims New Testament, the first Catholic English translation
The original, handwritten manuscript of the biblically inspired Battle Hymn of the Republic
A working replica of the Gutenberg printing press
Holograms and video screens that re-enact historical scenes related to the Bible
Sign up now for a group trip to visit PASSAGES, located at 3534 E. Sunshine, in Springfield, MO on Sunday,
October 19th. We need 15 or more signed up to get the Group Rates: Adults: $11.95; Seniors (62+): $9.95; Military &
College Students (with ID): $7.95; Youth (ages 6-17): $7.95.
We can take the church van, leaving church at 1:30 PM, Sunday, October 19th. After viewing Passages, we will
eat out.
Watch for more information as the plan for the trip develops. Contact Rosie Meyer at 326-6678 for
information.
ELDERS SERVING SCHEDULE – OCTOBER 2014
COMMUNION
October
Serve Route 1
Serve Route 2
Serve In
5
12
19
26
Tony
David
Gary
Tim
Mike
Diane
Wayne
Vickie
Diane/Gary
Wayne/Tim
Tony/Mike
John/David
SHEPHERDS PLACE
Devotion & Serving time is 5:00 PM
Oct 6 & 9 - Diane
Oct 13 & 16 - Tony
Oct 20 & 23 - David
Oct 27 & 30 - Tim
If you are unable to serve on a scheduled date, please find a replacement. If the replacement is to serve 'in', please notify
your scheduled serving partner of the change.
T
The Facebook page, Youth of First Christian Church Bolivar, is up and will be updated with
information for the kids and their parents. The Facebook page should be complete sometime this
month, but events and activities will be posted before the page is finished.
We are working on a list of potential activities for the youth and children. If you have ideas for
events or activities the youth and children could participate in, please let me know. As the details
develop, a typed list will be made available for the youth and their parents.
I am really excited to be back and working with the kids again. I wholeheartedly believe that
God has big plans for the youth group this year. I can’t wait to see what His plans are.
In Christ’s love,
Vincent Nickell
SUNDAY SCHOOL SENIOR MOMENTS
In October, Adult Sunday School starts off with the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk. This
book has a strange history. In the Bible, Habakkuk contains three chapters; however, when the
Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, only two chapters were found. It appears that Chapter 3
was added after Habakkuk’s demise. This is not uncommon: take Isaiah, for example. It is believed
at least three authors were involved. Little is known about Habakkuk except that he lived during
the exile.
We finish out the month with Job. Job is believed to have lived in Abrahamic times and was a
Prince of Edom. Most everything about Job was passed on by word of mouth for generations
before being written down.
Come join us in Sunday School. These are good books to read and to learn from. Especially
Job!
 Luke
“Don’t cry over spilled milk. By this time tomorrow, it’ll be free yogurt.” STEPHEN COLBERT
hree SBU students, Clayton Robrahn, Garrett Maxey, and Jalen Supancic
are assisting me this year. They are a welcome addition to the youth
program, helping me on Wednesday nights by leading small groups or
leading the lesson. I have interviewed all three of these young men and believe that
they will be a wonderful asset and help to me this year.
The Church Bell
First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
AUDIO BOOK REVIEW OF THE MONTH
“1066”
Narrated by Dr. Jennifer Paxton, Georgetown University

“A watched pot never boils, bit it does get paranoid.” LESLEY WAKE
This is the first of several new additions to your library. For the next six to 12 months, I will be reviewing
audio/audio visual works. They will be in a CD, DVD or Cassette format.
The first is a CD, and is six 30-minute episodes. Dr. Paxton tells us the story of the epic BATTLE OF HASTINGS,
which was one of the most pivotal times in the history of the “English-Speaking People” (as styled by Winston
Churchill). When William of Normandy won the battle of Hastings, the modern English language was born. Norman
French and Old English were combined into the language we speak today. Never again was England conquered by an
invasion.
You can listen to the whole six lectures at one sitting, or do one a day or one a week. It comes with a booklet
that lets you follow along.
Take this audio home, or play it in your car CD player; just bring it back when you’re finished with it.
 Luke
Religious Factoid:
The term AD (Anno Domini - the year of our Lord) was first used in 525 by a Monk named Dionysius.
BC (before Christ) wasn’t used until a Monk named Werner Rolevinck started using it in the 15th Century
AD.
LIBRARY LANGUE
langue (läng, lä g) n. Language viewed as a system including vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation of a particular community.

On looking back over the past few years, it appears that our library is under utilized. In order to invigorate
our usage, we are going to do a renovation over the next few months. The library will be open during the redo. If
you want a book, just take it – no checkout will be necessary. In fact, no checkout will be necessary for any library
format in the future.
The emphasis will be changing from an all-book/magazine format to an audio/visual library. Of course, we will
still have books and magazines. The magazine rack will be refreshed monthly. No books are going to be thrown
away; rather, some will be put in storage.
The new-book portion of the library will be by category and in alphabetical order by title - not author). This
should make it easier if you know the title, or category, but not the author.
More information will be forthcoming in later newsletters.
LANGUE D’HEBREW – BERESHITH (IN THE BEGINNING) IS THE HEBREW WORD FOR THE FIRST BOOK OF THE TORAH.
 Luke
E-Books for Sale
www.davidaestes.com
Dear First Christian Church:
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your thoughtful
gift. We have the great privilege of serving those who have been called to
ministry and accept your gift on their behalf.
– Rev. Ruth Chavez Wallace
Vice President for Development
Pension Fund of the Christian Church
Dear First Christian Church:
Many thanks for your most thoughtful contribution. It will be put to
good use in our community.
– For OACAC Staff
ODDMENTS
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE CELL PHONE WEDDING?
The ceremony was fantastic, but the reception was terrible.
The World Wide Web is 25, which is why it can give
advice on beating any video game, but had problems
making sense of health care for a little while.
@DANWILBUR
WHAT LIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN AND TWITCHES?
A nervous wreck.
A tough thing about being a giraffe is knowing that
once you put on a necklace, it’s there forever.
O CTOBER B IRTH DAYS
1
2
3
4
5
5
6
7
7
10
11
11
11
12
12
14
15
16
17
18
18
19
21
23
23
25
25
25
29
30
31
Dana Caffey
Sarah Gingerich
Linda Williamson
Luke Kinman
Alyson Peter
Doran Snodgrass
Scott Cleland
LeAnn Bridges
Kaden Degraffenreid
Joe Lovett
Samuel Maas
Cassie Scott
John Robert Smith
Becky Taylor
Jean Vincent
Keith Jordan
Margaret Rains
Danny Barker
Harper Houk
Dani Inglis
Kay Oshel
Bob Bennett
Larry Jones
Noel Henderson
Leslie Shuler
Ray Blankenship
Jennifer Byrne
Emily Wells
Roger York
Russell Peter
John Fisk
@ROLLDIGGITY
O CTOBER A NNIVERSARIES
CARES AND CONCERNS PRAYER LIST
Jessie Beason, Les Brunk, Barbara Brunk, Leon Decker, Maxine Estes, Jacob
Fabriano, Gordie Hartshorn, Pat Hood, Nick Maas, Mary Owen, Christina Parsons,
Kay Snodgrass, Emily Wells, Beth Worth, Mindi Zumwalt, and the families of each,
as well as the leaders of our country, and our service men & women.
Let’s remember in our prayers those in rest homes, the homebound and those
in need of special care: Claudine Bartshe (Homebound); Ray Blankenship
(Veterans Home, Mt. Vernon); Delores Dickerson, Maxine Estes, Emily
Hendrickson (& others displaced from Rose Park), Erma Kelsey, Nick Maas, & Irene
Smith (Parkview); and Jessie Beason, Mary Noffzinger & Elaine Payne (Butterfield).
2
3
21
22
26
James & Kimberly Pruett
Nicholas J. & Kathy Maas
David & Revonda Scott
Rachel & Bryan Bacon
Bill & Regena Sullivan
Need a ride to church?
Call the Church Office
326-5304
“If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library?” LILY TOMLIN
THANK YOU
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
F i rst C h r ist ia n Ch u rch
(Disc ipl es of Christ)
PO Box 416
407 W Broadway
Bolivar MO 65613
417.326.5304
Bolivar, MO
Permit # 95
www.bolivarfcc.org
bolivarfcc@windstream.net
Alternative Worship 9:00 AM
Sunday School 9:25 AM
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Neil Kinman, Secretary
Address Service Requested
Inside this issue:
“Where there’s a will, there’s a relative.” RICKY GERVAIS
Committees
1
Pastor’s Message
2-3
CWF News
3
News; Elder’s Serving Schedule
4
Youth News; Sunday School Sr. Moments
5
Book Review, Library News
6
Thank You; Cares & Concerns
7
Serving Schedule; Stats
8
Average Attendance:
Greeters:
North Side:
South Side:
Lay Leader:
Diaconate: North Side
Charley York
Nancy Stephens
Neil Kinman
40
South Side
10:30 AM Worship
Charley York
Nancy Stephens
Don Sliffe
Cheryl Sliffe
Luke Kinman
Neil Kinman
Choir: Becky Nichols
Prepare Communion:
9 AM Alternative Worship
Revonda Scott
85
Adult Sunday School
12
Average Weekly Collection:
$3,658.00
* Due to publishing deadlines, numbers for the last Sunday
of the month are estimated.