Newsletter - Creekwood Christian Church

A Church Living the Great Commandment
The
Compass
Loving God & Loving Neighbor
A Monthly Newsletter of Creekwood Christian Church Issue N° 2 - March 2013
People Over Programs
by Jeff Howell
The world is starving
for true authenticity
and life-changing
relationships.
Page 2
Putting the Prayer into
Prayer Shawls
by Shirlene Lucy
Page 4
Spring in Their Step
by Laurie Jackson
Spring always feels like
a time of new
beginnings - a time of
new life.
Page 5
Going Once, Going
Twice, SOLD
by Karissa Eckrich
I’m not crazy, I’m
passionate!
Page 6
My Mission Trip
Experience
by Josh Jackson
Page 6
Generosity Spotlight
Endowment Fund
update, 2013 budget
snapshot
Page 7
There is nothing like having the
undivided a2en3on of someone you
love. I love God, I know God loves me.
I believe the desire for undivided
a2en3on is mutual. Why, then, is it
such a challenge to pray faithfully? In
fact, why pray at all? For me, the
answer is two-­‐fold: I believe God
desires our undivided a2en3on, the
3me we spend in prayer; and I believe
prayer is the path to a deeper knowing,
a deeper rela3onship with God. I love
this ancient defini3on of prayer, “prayer
is keeping company with God”. We are
called to keep company with God.
That’s what I believe, but let me assure
Loving God with all our Heart
Keeping Company with God
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! by Suzan Hendrickson
you, the fact that I’m wri3ng this ar3cle
does not mean I’ve got the “prayer
thing” down. I have to admit that
when I stopped to take a closer look at
the white cloth in the foyer covered
with short statements reflec3ng
commitments for this Lenten season, I
was relieved and encouraged to find so
very many (about 1/3) that referenced
prayer: pray every morning, pray more,
pray daily, spend personal 1me with
God every day, pray for a different
person each day, pray daily faithfully,
pray for our country, pray for
Creekwood, pray for a friend each day,
pray for a different youth each day, to
be s1ll and know, pray each and every
night...
It appears that I am in good company in
my desire to "keep company" with God.
We have endless opportuni3es to
renew our commitment to pray
(especially during Lent). We
desperately want to succeed in prayer.
We believe we should pray. The Bible
tells us to pray. Jesus himself needed
3me when he could give God his
undivided a2en3on and received
encouragement and strength from such
encounters. Jesus tells us to pray and
even gives us a wonderful example of
how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer.
Con$nued on page 3
Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1

!People Over
! ! ! Programs
by Jeff Howell
A church leader commented to me recently, “That’s always been
Creekwood’s struggle. We say we want to be a program church,
but we don’t really want to give up being a family church.”
While there is a great deal of truth in that statement, I've got
good news and bad news.
The good news is that we don't have to become a program
church. The bad news is what we want to become is even more
difficult to become for a mainline church than becoming a
program church.
The transi3on we must navigate as a church is not from being a
family church to a program church. Our learning curve will be
transi3oning from
a church focused
2
Our primary goal is to
develop people of faith,
not programs of faith.
on program
development to
p e o p l e
development. It's
about people, not
programs. Our
primary goal is to
develop people of
f a i t h , n o t
programs of faith.
A program centered church is best understood as a what. It's a
place you go to par3cipate in programs. Success is defined by the
quality of the programming and the numbers that show up to
a2end at a par3cular place on a given date. A program church is
a what, a place you a2end.
But, as Reggie McNeal suggests in his book "Missional
Renaissance," the church is called to be a who, not a what. God
is calling us to be a people of faith, not a loca3on. A people-­centered
church cherishes rela3onships and seeks to be a
community of faith blessing others in the community.
Success in a people-­‐centered church is measured by the number
of changed lives. In a people centered church people are growing
spiritually closer to God, kids are growing up in the faith,
marriages are being strengthened, broken people are being
healed, and everyone is serving from their passion and
gi_edness.
This is the biggest change for mainline churches to navigate.
Learning the art of developing people, not programs. People
today are hungry for authen3c rela3onships and genuineness.
Programs cannot provide that level of spirituality. Only other
Growing Disciples of Christ
people can. This doesn’t mean we will not develop programs.
But the point of any program in the church is to nurture and
edify and grow people in faith. The great problem in many
program churches is that people grow 3red trying to support
programs. They feel like cogs in a machine. We want people to
be primary, and programs to be secondary.
We are going to learn to adjust our focus as a church. In every
age the church has had to redefine itself in order to reach people
and communicate the gospel. It is not unique to Creekwood.
Across America, there con3nues to be a resistance to real and
significant change by mainline denomina3ons in the way the
church operates. All surveys, regardless of denomina3on,
indicate the same reality…the church is declining in its influence
in our culture. In the midst of moun3ng evidence about the
ineffec3veness of the typical program church, leaders are either
denying that the conclusions are true or simply focusing on
“second things first.”
In the gospel, Jesus describes the mission of being involved in
Kingdom ac3vity as “new wine” which requires a “new
wineskin”. Too o_en, instead of embracing the newness, we
become distracted by efforts to reorganize and restructure the
“old wineskin.” It’s an interes3ng response since Jesus said the
“old wineskins” cannot contain the “new wine” of the Kingdom.
Rather than developing ways to release people into ministry and
empowering them to minister and serve according to their
passions and gi_edness, the church seems to be preoccupied
with being caretakers and gatekeepers of archaic programs.
When the church’s focus becomes establishing and protec3ng
programs, its focus becomes ins3tu3onal, and the way it
operates drains people’s mo3va3on, diminishes their joy, and
drains their passion. People want to serve God and others, not
programs.
The New Testament church was born out of a deep commitment
to one another, unity of purpose, mee3ng the needs of people,
and full obedience to God’s leadership.
The world is starving for true authen3city and life-­‐changing
rela3onships. The church should be the most authen3c place on
earth because we have
a rela3onship with
the most authen3c
person who has ever
lived on the planet!
Let’s focus on being
real and growing
people. It’s going to
b e t h e h a r d e s t
things we’ve ever
done. And the most
thrilling!!
People today are
hungry
for authentic
relationships and
genuineness.
Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Loving God with all our Heart
Prayer
24 HOUR
VIGIL
We have a wonderful opportunity to dive wholeheartedly into prayer (and to perhaps try a new way of praying) with
the upcoming 24 hour Prayer Vigil. The vigil begins immediately following the Maundy Thursday worship service and
con3nues through Good Friday. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience a variety of ways of praying and being
s3ll in God’s presence. This year the prayer sta3ons will guide us through praying the Lord’s Prayer with special
a2en3on to each part of that prayer, but also with sugges3ons for offering the prayers of your heart.
Sign up today at creekwood.org
Keeping Company with God (cont. from page 1)
In reflec3ng on my own faith journey, I believe that prayer is
both an area where I have grown greatly, and a discipline in
which I s3ll have a long way to grow. I discovered a li2le book
called, Faith, Hope, and a Bird Called George – A Spiritual
Fable by Michael Morwood. In the book, his character, Hope,
shares this nugget: What if I really believe that God is
everywhere? ‘In that case, perhaps prayer is not so much a
maEer of sending a message
out into the atmosphere to a
listening God, but rather a
maEer of becoming aware of
what I am coming to think of as
a Scared Presence all around
me and within me.
In reflecting on my own
faith journey, I believe that
prayer is both an area where
I have grown greatly, and a
discipline in which I still
For me, Hope’s idea puts a
different spin on “keeping
company with God” and not in
a “fits and starts” way but in a
“pray without ceasing” kind of
way. If I believe that God is everywhere, and I do, then it is I
who must listen and no3ce and respond to the presence of
God in me and all around me. Now all I have to do is nurture
awareness of God’s constant
have a long way to grow.
presence. When you get down to it, that s3ll takes
commitment and discipline. However, I find that there are
some prac3ces and ways of praying that aid me as I seek to
live a more prayerful life, more aware of Divine Presence. I
find that a simple breath prayer is a good place to start in
helping me feel the calmness and peacefulness of God’s
presence.
I have heard prayer likened to learning to
ride a bike. We’re wobbly at first, and it
takes prac3ce. A_er a while, we are
riding along, finding ourselves praying
without having to think about it. I have
found that trying new ways of praying
some3mes leads to the discovery of a
method that is a be2er fit for me and my
rela3onship with God.
If you’re interested in exploring other
ways of praying, I invite you to pick up
the informa3on available at the prayer corner in the li2le
space outside the Cry Room. Try something new, you may be
wobbly at first, but with prac3ce you may find yourself riding
off into a closer rela3onship with God.
Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 3

Loving God with all our Soul
Putting the Prayer
! ! into Prayer Shawls
by Shirlene Lucy
Prayer Shawls, as we call them, are shawls for people who are
facing life’s challenges. They are cra9ed by someone who may or
may not know who will be receiving the shawl in process. As the
cra9er creates, prayers are said for the unknown person. When we
have our kniAng-­‐sessions twice a month, we usually light a Christ
Candle at the beginning of the meeDng and say a prayer at the
beginning and end of the meeDng to help us stay focused, but also
to pray for the people who will eventually be receiving the shawls.
Several Dmes a year, we have a Prayer Shawl dedicaDon during our
Sunday worship services (our next dedicaDon will be on April 7th).
The shawls are placed on a quilt rack or on the bapDstery in the
sanctuary to be prayed over by the congregaDon. People aJending
those services are invited to De an addiDonal knot in the fringe of
any or all of the shawls, to indicate that even more special prayers
have been said for whomever will be receiving that shawl. I was
recently told that when one parDcular man received a shawl, he felt
the many extra knots in the fringe and found great comfort in that
so many people had already prayed for him.
When I select a shawl to give away, I say a liJle prayer as I look over
the choices, praying that my selecDon will have special meaning to
the person who receives it. You may be surprised to hear that most
of the Dme I get feedback that, without my knowing it, the shawl I
selected was the person’s favorite color, or it matched the room
where it will be used, or something similar.
Enclosed is a card that explains the concept of the prayer shawl and
provides informaDon to show when it was dedicated and who made
it. Even those who are not familiar with the Prayer Shawl Ministry
express graDtude that someone at Creekwood has shown God’s
love to them during a difficult Dme. We have received many sincere
thank you cards for shawls that have been given away and have
heard many touching stories about the reacDons of people who
have received one. A friend of mine whose husband died nearly a
year ago told me she recently shared the story of her shawl with
her grief recovery group. People have also noted that they leave
their shawls draped over the back of their favorite chair, or the
head of the bed, or even ask to take it into surgery with them!
When I received a prayer shawl several years ago, I thought it was
something to keep liJle old ladies busy. But when I put the shawl
around me, it felt like a hug from God, and I knew different. If that
isn’t a prayer right there, I don’t know what is.
Power of a Prayer Shawl
Thank you for sharing this
special ministry. The prayer
shawl you sent to Bill was so
pleasing to him. Gave him
great comfort on the way to
the nursing home.
“I wasn’t really sure how my father-­‐in-­‐law
would respond to the shawl. When we
gave it to him, and he read the enclosed
card and then saw the shawl, he cried. I
know that he will gain much comfort
from it.”
Thank you so much for the
shawl and especially the
prayers that came with it...
The Prayer Shawl Ministry is a vital and growing outreach ministry at
Creekwood, and we would love for you to be a part of it. If you would like to
know more about it, please contact Shirlene Lucy at shirlenelucy@msn.com
4
Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Loving God with all our Mind
Spring in Their Step
by Laurie Jackson
Don’t you love spring? It’s nearly impossible to look around
without seeing God. The grass is turning green; the red
buds are blooming; the dandelions are popping up all over
my yard (really, God?). Spring always feels like a 3me of
new beginnings – a 3me of new life.
Even at Creekwood, spring is in the air. We’re giving “spring
cleaning” a new meaning as we spruce up the building and
grounds in prepara3on for Easter company. Our landscape
“specialists” are busy plan3ng spring flowers, reminding all
of us of the beauty of God’s crea3on. Most importantly, a
sense of new life is awakening in the hearts and minds of
some amazing young people in our congrega3on.
During the first week of March, we celebrated the kick-­‐off of
Walk of Faith. Formerly known as Founda3ons of Faith,
Walk of Faith is our ministry in which young people have the
opportunity to partner with adult mentors to learn about
faith, discipleship, and bap3sm. In recent years, all of the
par3cipants, kids and adults alike, met together every week
in a group semng to explore various faith components. This
year, we’re taking Walk of Faith to the next level, and I’m
super-­‐excited about it. Kids will be taking this journey with
their adult mentors, mee3ng one-­‐on-­‐one as they explore
the Gospel of Luke. As a team, they’ll learn about faith and
discipleship, and, ul3mately, a_er reflec3on and
discernment with their mentors and family, youth will
decide if they will be bap3zed into the Body of Christ. Do
you know what the most exci3ng part of all of this is? As
they meet one-­‐on-­‐one for nine weeks, kids and mentors
have an incredible opportunity to grow some amazing and
enduring rela3onships. Growing rela3onships while
growing faith – spring has definitely arrived at Creekwood!
When we first
began to pull the
pieces of Walk of
Faith together, we
thought three or
four kids would
be par3cipa3ng.
Then the Holy
Spirit went to
Student Book
2013
work. We started
to dig a li2le
deeper – reaching
out to people and making connec3ons. As of this wri3ng,
we have 12 young people taking ! "##$%&&'
!()*+,*-. !(/)!(
the 01234256#3 Walk &7 !8"239: of Faith journey,
which means we have twelve adults and two youth (serving
as peer mentors) who have commi2ed to serve as mentors
to these kids. These mentors have answered God’s call to
pour themselves into the lives of these twelve kids, heart,
mind, and soul.
Walk of
Faith
Here’s a li2le food for thought: We are all called by God to
pour ourselves into the lives of these twelve kids. In fact,
God has called us to LOVE
these kids as if they were
our own. Wow. Raising
kids is a huge investment
and a lot of work. It can be
gut-­‐wrenching work. Time-­consuming
work.
Painstaking work. Bank-­bus3ng
work. Challenging
work. Thrilling work.
Hysterically funny work.
Amazingly unpredictable
work. It is also THE most
rewarding and THE most important work that God will ever
call us to do.
Contact Sr. Minister, Jeff Howell,
to learn more about the
Walk of Faith program.
Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 5

Recently, I was asked why I agree to head up the mission aucDon
each year. Well, the simple truth is, I love these kids. I think the
youth summer mission trips are a vital part of their faith journey
and part of what makes this church a great place. When we started
coming to Creekwood three years ago, one of the things that we
found impressive was the focus on youth and teaching them to give
back to their community. In this day of self-­‐indulgence and instant
graDficaDon, giving back is something that is o9en lost on our
young ones.
Our first visit to
Creekwood happened to be the day
of the youth aucDon. My daughter
begged to aJend, so we grabbed our
checkbooks and joined in the fun.
We met so many kind strangers that
day, and we really had a great Dme! I
was so amazed that church this size
could be so generous. Everyone dug
deep into their pockets and didn’t
think twice. And the dessert aucDon was… well, AMAZING! That
year, a cake went for $1000, then was put back on the aucDon
block by the person who had the highest bid, and went for another
$1000! How could I not want to be a part of that?
Not long a9er joining, we began exploring different ministries, so
we could get involved and connected. Well, anyone who knows me
knows I don’t have a lot of typical talents. Cra9s terrify me, I’m a
Loving Our Neighbor
Going Once, Going Twice, SOLD
This past summer around 60 youth and
adults from Creekwood traveled to Joplin,
Missouri to help aid in the rebuilding effort.
I saw the devastaDon in 2011, a month
a9er the tornado, with the high school
Youth Group while on our way to St. Louis
for our mission trip. Following the terrible
A uction
youth
April 28 @ 5pm
total klutz so the thought of falling on my face in front of everyone
while serving… no thank you. But, I did have several years of
experience in aucDons; I’d been doing them for years at my
daughter’s elementary school. So, when I was approached to help,
I absolutely knew this was something I could do to give back.
The aucDon and planning it is something that I truly enjoy. I only
work on projects I believe in, and I believe in this with my whole
heart. The people who volunteer right
along with me and put in countless hours
pulling off the annual Mission AucDon are
incredible! I am blessed to be a part of
something so wonderful. Each Dme I send
a leJer or speak to a local business owner/
manager and ask for a donaDon, I do it
knowing that I am asking them to support
a worthy cause-­‐ our Creekwood kids. And
each Dme I get a donaDon, I get excited thinking about someone
geAng into a bidding war and knowing each dollar spent to win
gets one more child on their way to do God’s work to love our
neighbor and touch another person’s life. And each year when the
night ends and the totals come in, I feel all warm and fuzzy when
we’ve met our goals. It makes me proud to have been a part of
something bigger than myself.
My Mission Trip Experience
storm and tornadoes, there was debris as
far as the eye could see. There were bricks,
shards of wood, glass, trees, furniture, you
name it, and we saw it lying around the
city. We decided right then that we wanted
to come back to help the storm vicDms the
next summer.
by Josh Jackson
by Karissa Eckrich
By the summer of 2012, Joplin looked
much different -­‐ like a totally cleared field
with a few streets and a few houses
sprinkled here and there. It just looked like
a new housing development was going on,
and it was very eerie.
Con4nued on pg. 7
6 Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Loving God with all our Strength
Endowment Fund
General Fund
Jan -­‐ Dec 2013
Update
In celebraDon of Creekwood’s 20th anniversary last December, we
took up an endowment fund special offering with the goal of
collecDng $20,000. We blew past our goal with gi9s totaling
$38,815! WOW, What a blessing! Those funds have been invested
at ChrisDan Church FoundaDon, and the General Board of
Creekwood has appointed Tricia Wilson, Earl Underwood, and Stan
Hagadone as the Endowment CommiJee to assist the
congregaDon in adopDng a Permanent Endowment Fund Policy,
which will include, as a minimum, fund management criteria,
procedures for fund investment return distribuDon, and selecDon
process of fund Trustees.
We have faith that these generously gi9ed funds will grow to
$2 million dollars in ten years and support scholarships, missions,
and new ministries into the future and beyond the walls of our
church. We will conDnue to keep you updated as the Endowment
CommiJee moves forward. For more informaDon on ChrisDan
Church FoundaDon visit www.chrisDanchurchfoundaDon.org.
Annual Budget $538,000
Monthly Budget $44,833
Giving Received
Jan ’13 $31,269
Feb ’13 $30,800
YTD Giving $62,069
YTD to Budget -­‐ 31% Behind Plan
Ministry Expenses
Jan ’13 $30,197
Feb ’13 $31,730
YTD Expenses $61,927
Current Balance $142
Building Fund
Step Out Campaign
July 2012-­‐July 2013
Pledged $281,848
Received $192,426
Monthly Giving Received
Jan ’13 $10,018
Feb ’13 $13,284
YTD Rec’d $23,402
Capital Expenses
Jan ’13 $20,920
Feb ’13 $20,920
YTD Expenses $41,840
Current Balance
Reserve Balance $176,027
Effect on Resv
Net Reserve $157,589
My Mission Trip Experience (cont. from pg. 6)
All four days that we worked, I was stuck cleaning and clearing
lots. The first day it was completely miserable, and to be
honest, I was beyond mad that this was the work we were
doing while 5 or 6 others got to help build a house. The first
workday was definitely topped off when a few of us pulled out
an old trellis from the ground, and a horde of big, ugly, black
widow spiders crawled out. Needless to say, I was not in the
best of moods a9er the first day. But something happened on
the third day. We were clearing lots again, and there was
much more work to be done on this lot than the previous one.
We were all dragging, in part because of the horrible heat,
when an older model Honda Accord pulled up and a woman
got out. This was right a9er I killed yet another black widow,
so I was feeling preJy happy. I waved at the woman and said,
“hi,” but she didn't respond. She walked over to Jennifer
Andrews, and they started talking while we conDnued to
work. A few minutes later I looked over, and the woman was
crying while hugging Jennifer.
It turns out that the lot we were clearing was her parents’ lot.
The house that she grew up in used to stand right where we
were, and it was completely destroyed by the tornado. Both
of her parents were in their 80's, and they were uninsured.
They couldn't do the work themselves, so the woman and her
husband were trying to clear the lot on their days off from
work which made for slow progress. She was told that Rebuild
Joplin might be sending people out to clean the lot, but she
didn't know for sure. She had no clue that we would be out
there that day. We saved them from doing the work they
didn't have Dme to do. A9er that the day, everything was
different, and we had more moDvaDon than ever. There were
countless people driving by, honking, and yelling “thank you”
to us.
We cleared not only that lot, but the one across the street,
the one next to that one, and half of the one next to that one.
That part of mission trip really touched me, and it is a true
blessing to help people who really needed help.
Here We Grow!
Welcome to the Creekwood family of faith
Andee Nicosia
Martha Lowke
Dane & Misti Hansen
Creekwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 7

S E Q U O I A C L U B
CCreekwood Christian Church
2660 Forest Vista Drive
Flower Mound, TX 75028
Return Service Requested
Sunday Worship Schedule
9:00 AM ! Contemporary
10:10 AM! Sunday School (all ages)
11:00 AM! Traditional
Wednesday Fellowship Schedule
5:30 PM! Kids, Rec;
! Youth, Study Hall
6:00 PM! Small Group Study
6:45 PM! Dinner
creekwood.org
Easter Services
8:00AM 9:30AM 11:00AM
Contemporary
Blended
prod • i • galadjective
! 1. recklessly extravagant
! 2. having spent everything
Traditional
2660 Forest Vista Dr
Sermon series begins April 7 at 9 and 11AM