OLCC,P E-Newslink
June 5, 2020
From Pastor Paul
Greetings!
As we enter the month of June, the restrictions related to Covid-19 are beginning to loosen! Yes, I heard those shouts of “Hallelujah” and “Amen”! Our staff and leadership are in conversation about how to resume office hours, worship, and other activities safely in the near future. We are exploring the rental of tents to be placed by the lake so we can hold our summer worship services outdoors in the fresh air. We know some are uneasy about returning to group gatherings and we understand that. We will continue to offer some form of video worship even after we return to worship in person.
We continue our “Life Rebooted” message series this week by looking at Peter, the Apostle. Peter was no shrinking violet! He often spoke up first and most loudly of all the disciples. And when Jesus told the disciples of his imminent suffering and death and that all the disciples would abandon him, Peter proudly declared he wouldn’t leave Jesus even if all the other disciples did!
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Peter’s pride led to a hard fall – 3 times he denied even knowing Jesus and went out and wept bitterly. Pride can lead us to fall hard as well, but God can reboot our lives as he did with Peter – read John 21:15-19 for that story, and listen to my message this Sunday for the good news!
Finally, we all have been impacted by the events of these past 10 days or so in our nation. A clearly heinous act of policing led to the unnecessary death of George Floyd, which has led to protests that have been both peaceful, provocative, and downright destructive. We as a nation have much to think about and reflect on in these days. Yes, black lives matter – but so do ALL lives: all racial ethnic groups, all genders, all ages from conception to death, all socioeconomic classes, all orientations, all law enforcement officers – ALL LIVES MATTER as precious and sacred in God’s sight!
We must be in prayer for our nation, our leaders, our communities and religious leaders as they navigate these challenging times. And, as Jesus taught, we must first examine our own lives and beliefs and prejudices – we must take the log out of our own eye before we think we can point out the speck in someone else’s eye. May God’s Holy Spirit, celebrated at Pentecost, be poured out on us and on our nation that we may grieve our sin and seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness!
Blessings,
Pastor Paul
Pray for one another...
Continued healing and health for: Fiona Bell, John Brannon, Nancy Burton, Ron Carlson, Rebecca Caufield, Tom Conrad, Peter Cooper, Alan Coopland, Irene Guymer, Harold Jacobsen, Herbert Jarvie, Jackie Johnson, Larry Lankford, Nina Linebaugh, Donna Malenowski, Jim Mann, Bill Marvin, Jean Mattinen, Trudy Morse, Bill & Joyce Pitchford, Sarah Robertson Nadeau, Jack Rothley, Greg Sables, Candy Sacharski, Dara Sperstad, Melanie Telford, Doris Wiegert, Morgen Wright, Madie Zurkan.
Faith leaders march down Woodward Avenue on June 4
Senior Graduation Information Needed
Please help us collect the graduation information for each of our senior students (High School or College), including name, school graduating from (and degrees, if any), future plans, etc. We would like this information by Monday, June 8th. Please email this information along with their photo to: jennifer@olccp.com
Summaries for each student who submits their information will be shared in our on-line Worship bulletin, in our virtual Worship service, and in our Eblast for the weekend of June 14th ! If you have any concerns or questions contact Pastor Linda at: Linda@olccp.com
Face Mask Offer
Greetings to all. Hope you are all well and safe. To be safer we are all asked to wear non-surgical masks when in public. I have been making masks and would like to share them with you. I will be putting them on my porch for your pick up. These are made from fabrics out of my closets so the prints are what they are.
If you have a tightly woven, 100% cotton fabric that you would like to donate, there will be a bin for that. Please put your mane on it so if it isn't used, it can be returned.
Please call before you come so I can tell you if there are some available or when they will be. I will leave them on my porch.
Helene King
5255 Greer Rd.
West Bloomfield (directly across from Grectchko school}
248-520-3190
From Martha Piesko, Director of Children's Ministries
Dear OLCC,P Families,
Time to play Bible Bingo (courtesy of Spark House Publishing)
Let your child choose from the suggested reading activities. Once they complete an activity, they can color in the square. When they have colored in five squares in a row, they can have a bingo. You can stop there or encourage your child to continue with the other activities until all the squares are colored.
Fun & Sunshine!
Martha
OLCCP History book now on website
Good news! Thanks to the dedicated typing of Nancy Rataczak and the photo scanning of Jim Horner, we now have a digital copy of the book, "The Story of Orchard Lake Community Church Presbyterian". This book was produced in 1958 and includes a wonderful history of the church going back to "Indian Days". Nancy and Jim completed their part of this project diligently, and it is my shame that I must admit it has taken me more than A YEAR! to add this to the website. Gordy Steele deserves credit too, He helped Jim find all the hard-copy photos in the archive room so Jim could scan them.
You can read it and see the photos here:
Women's 2020 Summer Bible Study Orchard Lake Community Church
The Secret of Contentment by William B. Barcley
Wednesdays, 10 - 11:30 a.m., July 15 - August 19
The temptation to be discontented is everywhere, especially as we've recently been dealing with Covid-19. We are bombarded with advertisements telling us we are incomplete and unfulfilled. And yet the seeds of discontentment are already present in our own sinful hearts.
William Barcley addresses the heart of the matter -- the discontent that lies within. Based in the writings of Jeremiah Burroughs and Thomas Watson, he presents afresh these great Puritans' meditations on contentment for a modern audience. Above all, he seeks the wisdom of Paul, who declared in Philippians that he had found the "mystery" or the "secret" of being content.
Contentment must be learned, and Barcley reveals the secret, calling us to a contentment that comes from knowing God and delighting in his sovereign goodness and fatherly care.
Join us for this six-week study as we read and discuss our need for contentment. Of course, appropriate safety precautions will be taken for your safety.
Please contact Bonnie Horner, 248-880-2327 or bnnhrn@yahoo.com to sign up.
Mid-Michigan Flood Relief
Important Message from Forgotten Harvest
Thank you to everyone who has already signed up for the pop-up pantries. We have added 5 more sites; 4 in Detroit and 1 in Romeo. We are looking for volunteers to help collect information, direct traffic, and place boxes and groceries into car trunks. Please CLICK HERE to sign up.
The safety and well-being of our community, staff and volunteers are important to Forgotten Harvest. We are monitoring the situation and taking our lead from the Michigan Public Health Department and the CDC. Forgotten Harvest can provide PPE, which will include; gloves, face masks and optional face shields.
We are asking any person considering volunteering to please practice necessary safety precautions:
If this describes you, we are unable to have you as a volunteer:
- If you think you are sick, please DO NOT VOLUNTEER.
- If you have been knowingly exposed to or have been a caregiver for someone that has been diagnosed to COVID 19.
- If you have returned from foreign travel, cruises or traveling from out of state, we ask that you refrain from volunteering for at least 14 days while you monitor your health. This is in accordance with CDC recommendations.
- Groups more vulnerable to a dire outcome if they contract the virus include people 60 years of age or older and those with certain health conditions. We discourage these groups to not volunteer and, therefore, avoid exposure to the virus.
- If you are under the age of 18 years of age.
It is important to stay informed as these types of situations can be dynamic. If a volunteer opportunity is not appropriate for you and if you are interested in other ways that you can help, the latest information will be on our COVID-19 response page. https://www.forgottenharvest.org/COVID19/
As always, thank you for all you do to support our mission!
Nicole Peeples, Volunteer Manager npeeples@forgottenharvest.org
OLCC, P Calendar
Our calendar is available to browse live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at OLCC,P Calendar. You can browse all events coming up. You can also subscribe to the calendar on the same page.
Contact Us
Rev. Dr. Paul H. Thwaite (Sr. Pastor): paul@olccp.com
Rev. Linda Cochran (Temp. Supply Assoc. Pastor) linda@olccp.com
Margaret Bell (Organist): mtbellmusic@gmail.com
Stacey Cheff (Business Administrator): stacey@olccp.com
Emily Grakul (Faith Community Nurse): egrakul@yahoo.com
Martha Piesko (Director of Children’s Ministries) martha@olccp.com
Bruce Snyder (Dir. of Music Ministries): bruce@olccp.com
Jennifer Taub (Office Administrator): jennifer@olccp.com
Doug Wilson (Sexton)
Email: info@olccp.com
Website: www.olccp.com
Location: 5171 Commerce Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI, USA
Phone: 248-682-0730
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OLCCP/