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Ebenezer Reformed Church
2997 N. German Church Road
Oregon, IL 61061
Office: (815) 732-6313
www.ebenezerreformed.com
CONSISTORY MEMBERS 2020
Pastor Josiah Youngquist
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (616)607-4934
Elders
Carl Berg
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815)732-3144
Council: Discipleship & Education
Bill Reecher – Vice President of Consistory Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815) 742-6815
Council: Mission & Outreach (Co-Chairperson)
Steve Raine Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815) 978-7300
Council: Discipleship & Education
Dean Rieck
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815)222-0427
Council: Discipleship & Education
John Shelly
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (248)880-6001
Council: Mission & Outreach (Co-Chairperson)
Deacons
Dean Schrues
Phone: (779)423-4478
Meg Coots
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815)904-3776
Council: Property & Stewardship
Val Herriot Phone: (815) 732-2762
Council: Worship & Music(Chairperson)
Skyler Martin
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815) 541-4828
Council: Property & Stewardship (Chairperson)
Travis Zabran
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (815)985-8639
Council: Worship & Music
Pastor: Josiah Youngquist
Email: [email protected]
Secretary: Dee Haak
Email [email protected]
Treasurer—Larry Seabold
Bookkeeper—Mark Lohman
Prayer Chain Requests:
Email Deb Boomgarden:
[email protected] or call
Dee Haak (815) 397-2410/(630) 346-8882
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Pastor Josiah’s letter 2
Calendar 3
News and Events 4
Schedules 5
Birthdays and Anniversaries 6
*Newsletter articles are due SUNDAY,
January 24th
. Items can be emailed to
[email protected] or put in the box in the
Narthex. Thank you.
Love God
Love People
Serve the Community
http://www.ebenezerreformed.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.facebook.com/groups/158333485984/
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Dear Ebenezer Church Family,
It was a perfect fall day. Just the right temperature for a jacket, the leaves had their golden hue
and made that satisfying crunch under your shoes. It was the fall of 2010. I was a freshman at
Moody Bible Institute. It was the first day of classes as I entered the largest lecture hall on
campus for BI 1111: Old Testament Survey. Being a well-prepared freshman, I had already
looked over the syllabus, so I knew over the semester, I would be reading the whole Old
Testament. It seemed like an insurmountable task at the time. How was I going to read a majority
of the Bible in 10 short weeks!
Later that evening, as I began working through homework, I started my Bible reading, "In the
beginning..." I read through the first few chapters, about half an hour or so of time. I carved out
30 minutes a day to devote to reading through the OT for that class. Before I knew it, it was the
end of the semester, and I had done it! What had seemed to be an impossibility was overcome by
a little planning, and the camaraderie of my classmates. Over that first year of college, I had read
entirely through the Bible from front to back for the first time. (Spring semester was New
Testament Survey.)
I had read good portions of scripture before that point. I was in Bible studies and Sunday school
classes throughout my childhood, but there was something different about ready the Bible
through its entirety in that short amount of time. I started to see connections that you miss when
you jump around from passage to passage. I began to see it as one unified book instead of 66
separate writings. You get a great sense that God has been working his plan throughout all
human history to bring about our salvation and restoration in him. Of all the different spiritual
disciplines I've committed to, reading scripture in its entirety has probably been the most
beneficial.
As we begin the new year with all the hopes and aspirations we have for 2021, I hope you would
join us here at ERC in reading scripture together this year. I know that you will be blessed by it.
You may feel overwhelmed by the idea of it, as I was my first time through. But with a little
planning and what I hope will be a healthy amount of accountability by others, we can make it
through this year of reading scripture together.
If you still need the reading plan we are working through together; you can find it
here: https://fivedaybiblereading.com. If you get out of the habit of it at any point this year, I
would encourage you to pick it back up and keep going.
I'm excited to see how God will use our reading scripture together as a congregation!
In Christ,
Pastor Josiah Youngquist
Ebenezer Reformed Church
Office: (815) 732-6313
Cell: (616) 607-4934
https://fivedaybiblereading.com/mailto:[email protected]
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January 2021 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
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Elders
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Consistory
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Virtual Church Service
Worship with us online or in-person!
Join Zoom meeting https://zoom.us/j/3529279190?pwd=SDQ2ZjdNczBRYnFvTTZ2SEs5aUxwZz09
Dial by phone, +1 312 626 6799 Meeting ID: 352 927 9190 Password: 924698
WWW
The Wonderful Women in the Word are still meeting via Zoom. We are
currently studying a book about Revelation entitled Breaking the Code by Bruce
Metzger.
We will be starting a new study in January which is yet to be decided.
Follow our group on Facebook or contact Melissa Reecher for more current
info.
Vision 2020
The Vision 2020 report is now available on the RCA website. Please visit
rca.org/synod/vision2020/ for more information.
Financial Need for Camp Manitoqua:
Due to the reduced revenue at Camp Manitoqua caused by the pandemic this year, the
Camp is experiencing a serious financial shortfall. We received a communication from
them regarding an eight-week fundraising campaign to help the Camp continue to do its
work. So, if you are able and would like to make a donation, you can do so online at
www.Manitoqua.org, or you can drop a check in the offering plate. Just mark it for camp
Manitoqua and we will get it to them. Thanks very much.
Bill Reecher, Missions committee
Elders and Deacons selection for next term:
Elders: Dan Herriot and John Smith.
Deacons: Dale Boomgarden and Melissa Reecher. To fill the remainder of Travis
Zabran’s term (2 years), Annette Martin. To fill the remainder of Ray Clawson’s term (1
year), Larry Seabold.
Read the whole Bible in one year!
Join us as we read the Bible together as a congregation in 2021. You can find the
reading plan on the tables in the back narthex area, or look out for it later today on the
prayer chain.
https://zoom.us/j/3529279190?pwd=SDQ2ZjdNczBRYnFvTTZ2SEs5aUxwZz09
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January 2021 Schedule
1/3 Greeters Haak’s
Nursery *** Not available for now**
Tech Bode
1/10 Greeters Martin’s
Nursery *** Not available for now**
Tech Bode
1/17 Greeters Meg Coots & Mary Goerk’s
Nursery *** Not available for now**
Tech Bode
1/24 Greeters Gary & Ginger McDanel
Nursery *** Not available for now**
Tech Bode
1/31 Greeters Myrna Lohman & Lorna Snapp
Nursery *** Not available for now**
Tech Bode
Ushers and Greeters will cover both doors each week and
remind people entering to wear masks and that the bulletins
are in the sanctuary on the pews.
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3 Alex Woodworth 5 Jane Freeman Gary McDanel 6 Scott Woodworth 9 Jackie Schumacher 12 Dan Flanagan 14 Alice Maas 16 Morgan (Gale) Hallene 17 Roger Nordman Lydia Zabran 18 Jennifer Grygiel Ginger McDanel Kaitlyn (Smith) Nelson 20 Paul Chermak Dave Wolf 21 Shirley Jacobs Tracie (Raine) Ahrens 23 Tom Gale 25 MaryAnn Oltmanns Dale Boomgarden 27 Jazmine Ahrens 28 Cian Grygiel We are trying to keep the birthday and anniversary list up to date. If your birthday or anniversary is incorrect or missing, please send an email to [email protected] or put a note in the newsletter box in the Narthex. Thank you!!!!
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Show our shut-ins your love – they need our contact!!! Keep them in your prayers as well as drop by for a visit or send a note to give them a lift.
SHUT-IN LIST
Richard Andrist – 10060 Fowler Rd., Rochelle, IL 61088
(Birthday – July 27)
Ken Anspach – 17168 White Oak Rd., Shannon, IL 61078
(Birthday – July 16)
Evelyn Farver – Valley Hi Nursing Home – Rm 107, So.
Melody Ln., 2406 Hartland Rd., Woodstock, Il 60098
(Birthday – September 6)
Jane Freeman – 817 Palmyra St., Dixon, IL 61021
(Birthday – January 5)
Leona Henning – 244 S. Oak St., Stillman Valley, IL
61084 (Birthday – June 5)
Shirley Jacobs – 3621 Brick Rd., Oregon, IL 61061
(Birthday – January 21)
Patricia Oltmanns – 811 S. Tenth St., Oregon, IL 61061
(Birthday – November 12th)
Ruth Shelly – Pinecrest 414 S. Wesley Ave., Rm 653, Mt.
Morris, IL 61054 (Birthday – April 29)
Valdene Snodgrass – The Atrium, 2885 McFarland Rd.,
Rockford, IL 61107 (Birthday – June 11)