Dear Family and Friends of Hermitage Church of the Nazarene,
What an amazing, beautiful snow blew down on Sunday, February 19, 2012, during Sunday School and worship hours. I entered the facilities at 7:50 AM in a cold, driving rain under my umbrella. I never suspected snow would follow. Kudos to the people who braved the weather and made it to church and remained at church. Thanks to the traffic officer who stayed at his post and helped second service people to exit onto Saundersville Road.
LiveWire (middle school) Students arrive home today from a long weekend trip to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. They went skiing on Saturday, visited a zoo on Sunday, and enjoyed multiple worship and spiritual growth sessions. Chaperones included Rob Mathias, Jake Pilarski, Ginger Pilarski, Christy Gold, Carol Waller, Michael Waller, Eddie Witkowski, Yana Witkowski, Michael Sweigard, and Jill Sweigard. Retreaters included Isabella Green, Madeline Scholl, Mackenzie Eiseman, Anna Waller, McClain Remus, Chelsea Rhodes, Becca Waller, Morgan Follis, Macey Fee, Erin Curry, Carly Earnhardt, Kailey Perkins, Haylee Gold, Ellie Hutchings, Mikayla Wurth, Annie Cater, Anna Stephens, Keely Dozier, Ashley Wallace, Abby Elkins, Sara Waller, Ashlee Harrison, Kristina Lynn, Madeleine Rouse, Taylor Shoemake, Taylor Connell, Brianna Post, Grant Render, Jordan Sweeten, Bryce Poole, Logan Evans, Michael Mathias, Mason Hall, Jakob Hall, Grant Reigard, Gideon Garcia, Teddy Joyce, Joel Jones, Evan Gibson, Gunnison Goodwin, Rocklan Parris, Josh Pilarski, Nick Groover, Austin Waller, JD Hall, Dalton Smith, and Dillon Smith.
District Bible Quizzing was held at Trevecca Community Church on Saturday, February 18, 2012. Congratulations to Briley Ruff and Breelyn Ruff for receiving Gold All-Stars; to Arianna Lake and Daniel Silvernail for receiving Gold Medals.
Our love and care are extended to Jim Harvey in the death of his mother, Corinne Harvey, on Saturday, February 18, 2012. Services are scheduled for Mrs. Harvey on Thursday, February 23, 2012, at 10:00 AM in Bowling Green, KY.
The New Horizon and College Sunday School Classes hosted ten homeless men from Room-in-the-Inn on Saturday, February 18, 2012. They arrived at the HCN campus by van. The groups provided a hot supper; dry, warm beds with clean sheets; towels, soap, and shampoo for showers; detergent for washing clothes. A television was available for those who wanted to watch a basketball game. Chaperones stayed through the night. A hot breakfast was ready on Sunday morning with sack lunches to carry out with them. If you remember the weather on Sunday morning, it was first a driving rain and then a cold, hard snow. That was the weather on the Nashville streets to which the men returned. We give thanks to the Lord for those who served others with compassion and kindness in the name of Jesus. They were Jo Apple, Bev Mitchell, Rick Person, Erna Sisco, Susan Pilgreen, Donna Shankle, Barbara Douthit, Taylor Steinmetz, Ken Jewett, and Dillon Jones. The Faith Builders Sunday School Class provided money for van gas and for tee shirts for the men.
I received a personal note this week from an official person at Trevecca that HCN has the largest number of students at Trevecca Nazarene University of all local churches in the Southeast, which has to be in the nation. She called it a significant accomplishment. I agree.
It certainly qualifies for some bragging rights.
Dr. Sam Green told me weeks ago that he wanted to sponsor a time on Saturdays during the season of Lent wherein people could come to the sanctuary for prayer. It would not be a formal service but would include a weekly scripture sheet for a guide. The meetings begin this Saturday, February 25, 2012, and conclude on Saturday, Marcy 31, 2012. You are invited to participate in any or all of the services.
Several role changes were approved by the Church Board in their regular monthly meeting on Sunday, February 19, 2012. The changes come so that each person operates within their strengths. Traci Haydel begins to focus her energies as Head Housekeeper and the coordination and supervision of the housekeeping team. Jody Scott remains in the front office but shares her time as Property Manager. Traci and Jody are accountable to me as the Senior Pastor but function in systems approved by the Building, Grounds, and Equipment Council on the Church Board. Also, the NextGen Policies and Procedures Manual was approved by the board. This directs the Nazarene Safe program within our local church. Wendell Marlowe asked a great question in the meeting. He wanted to know if I had read the manual. I had. I was glad.
Volunteer State Community College Head Baseball Coach is Mike Crossland, a thirteen year veteran of the VSCC coaching staff. In an interview with The Tennessean on January 31, 2012, Crossland identified Logan Dalton as “the hands-down best player last fall. He stepped into the leadoff spot and took charge of it. He has head and shoulders been the best player on this baseball team so far.” Logan plays centerfield and hit .355 in last year’s regular season.
The Season of Lent begins February 22, 2012, which is Ash Wednesday. A service for all adults, youth, and elementary children begins at 6:30 PM in the Sanctuary. The service includes music, the reading of scripture, prayer, and the marking of ashes. Lent measures forty days before Easter Sunday, excluding the six Sundays. Many Christians choose to deny themselves something of significance during this time in identification with the self-denial of Jesus. The self-denial may be a particular food or entertainment or personal ritual. A challenge is also given to do something positive for forty days. The HCN marquee offers advice this week to: Be Aware of the Endless Opportunities for Doing Good. Participating in self-denial and doing good during Lent helps us to arrive more thoughtful and appreciative than we otherwise would arrive on Easter Sunday. Many evangelical Christians have suspicions about self-denial during Lent. It seems awfully Catholic to us. I would remind us that self-denial is not Catholic, but biblical. I hope to see you on Wednesday night.
In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Howard