OpenTable UCC

Companions:

Sadly, we will be having to say good bye to our beloved pastor, Melinda Foster, and Toney, as Melinda journeys on to plant another ministry NEXT WEEKEND. Please join us for this important worship service for our community of faith on Saturday, May 19th @ 5:00 pm. We are very sad to see her go, but excited for what G-d has in store for both her and our community as we all grow and move forward! We can all agree that Melinda’s leaving, although saying good-bye is sad, has forced us all to grow in our commitment towards Open Table’s different ministries. The personal and spiritual growth we have experienced has opened our eyes as to one of the reasons G-d has called Melinda to plant and build another exciting ministry.

Trail Days is THIS WEEKEND and we will be marching in the parade and also manning a booth at the Owasso Middle School.

The schedule for THIS WEEKEND is as follows and our Pastor Melinda Foster writes:

Companions,
There are lots of things for us to do this weekend. Please look at the list and see where you can contribute to our efforts.

Friday – May 11:
4:00 pm Help mow and weedeat at the church.
Toney and Melinda will be there

06:00 – 8:30 pm Help set up the booth at the Mid High (across the street from
High School on 129th)
Kim , Cameron, Tim, Carla Mae and Melinda will be there
(others may be helping and I just don’t know it)

Saturday – May 12:
8:30 am Meet for Parade on Main Street
9:00 – 9:30 am Parade
9:00 – 5:00 pm Work at the Booth
5:00 – 7:00 pm Worship and Dinner
7:00 -11:00 pm Julie’s 50th Birthday Party at OK Equality Center

I’m tired already! ha

Come have fun and help our community of faith get better known in the Community.

Blessings,
Melinda

Come join us to help us march in the parade this weekend, and to give the Fosters a grand sendoff next weekend!

Your companions on the journey at UCC Open Table!

Kimberly Desnmore writes:

Thanks for a great night Saturday everyone and for the part that each of you played in making it happen! If you know anyone who wanted to come, but was unable to and may still want to order something, here is the link to the catalog.

I would like to place an order the end of this week if we have enough orders. We also still have 4 types of coffee, english breakfast tea, hot cocoa, milk and dark chocolate for sale at the building.

Thanks,
Kim

Fair Trade Coffee House Night
hosted by Open Table UCC in Owasso

Saturday, April 14th

Come and go 7 – 10 pm

Located just south of German Corner in Owasso

11308 N. Garnett Road

You’re invited to come and sample fair trade coffee from Equal Exchange, http://www.equalexchange.coop/, to kick off Open Table’s new fair trade coffee and chocolate mission. Fair trade products mean fair wages and ethical working conditions for small-scale family farmers and artisans around the globe. $5 for a cup of fair trade coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and a dessert. $1 for refills. We will have music, board games, a relaxing environment as well as fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate, baked goods, and gifts available for purchase and order. Proceeds will go to benefit the United Church of Christ Coffee Project and the local missions of our church. Thanks for helping us make a difference!

Pastor Melinda Foster writes:

Companions,

We are finishing up our study in Mark this week during worship AND we are having a FAT TUESDAY meal afterwards. Bring something New Orleans-like and share a great dinner. Hopefully we will start hearing some of Cameron and Kim’s stories from Haiti while we eat. Beth is bringing jambalaya and Faith is making a king cake. Can’t wait to see what you are bringing!

Wednesday evening from 6-6:30 we will have Ash Wednesday service. It’s a quiet reflective time to share what we want to give/give up for Lent as we prepare for Easter. It is a service that is not usually attended well, but has a lot of meaning and starts us on the journey to the cross.

Hope to see you soon.

Blessings,
Melinda

Kim and Cameron Densmore have reported on the success of our “Underwear Drive for Haiti!”

Thank you to all of our Haiti underwear donors!! We were able to give each of the 300 students at the school where we worked 1 pair each and then children that came after school (many of whom do not have money to attend school) 2 pairs each, as well as fill a large suitcase with items for a family in town of 6 children who did not own underwear or much of anything in the way of clothing. The children in this photo waited so patiently to receive their underwear, and we could tell that it was truly something that they treasured. We also distributed men’s and women’s underwear to the Haitian workers that we had hired to work with us on pouring the concrete floor of the church located next to the school, our translators, cooks, the teachers from the school, and we left some remaining with the church pastor to further distribute to those in need. We also took another suitcase with more underwear in it to an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, the capitol. Overall, many people were blessed because of you. Thank you for helping to love the people of Haiti!!

Kim and Cameron Densmore

Underwear Drive Distribution in Haiti *courtesy the Densmore's

Pastor Melinda Foster writes:

Companions,

This week in worship we will continue our reflections on Mark 1. We have talked about being called into ministry, discipleship, proclaiming the word and this week being a witness. I hope you can join us. As for dinner, it will be a real potluck – bring whatever you want/can/what’s leftover in the frig – unless someone wants to offer to bring something specific.

I need help for next week’s OpenPlace on Wednesday from 2:30-5:00. The first week Tim helped and last week Bob Lawrence came up. The teens enjoyed both of them and continued to feel safe. Let me know ASAP if you can help.

I am calling a community meeting for February 25th at 3:30 to decide what part of the mission we are doing needs to go to someone else and what part do you want to keep. We also need to amend our bylaws and Constitution. We need 3 or 4 people to help put that together over the next couple of weeks.

Keep Kim and Cameron in prayer as they return back to Oklahoma on Saturday evening and back to Owasso Sunday from Haiti.

The calendar is below. We need someone to be in charge of coordinating the Bean Supper. It is in 4 weeks. We need people to cook beans and cornbread and desserts. We need to get the word out and borrow tables and chairs. Let me know what you can do. We need to set the time.

Calendar

Feb 18 – 6:30 pm – Fat Tuesday on Saturday
Feb 22 – 6:00 pm – Ash Wednesday
Feb 25 – 3:30 pm – Community Meeting

Mar 2 – 8:00 pm – OpenPlace Lock-In
Mar 9 – 5:00 pm – BEAN SUPPER FUNDRAISER

Pastor Melinda Foster writes:

Companions,

We had a fabulous Italian feast last Saturday. It was unbelievable! Then, we packed about 750 pair of underwear to go to Haiti. Half of those were for girls.

Kim and Cameron are in Haiti tonight. Please pray for them each morning and each evening for the next 10 days. Put prayer on your phone calendar and your internet calendar so you will remember. We want to pray for their safe return to us, for their experience with poverty and for what they will learn about community.

This Saturday we continue to follow Jesus as he calls his disciples and begins healing people of demons and disease. We have some leftover lasagna and a few slices of cheese cake for dinner. Feel free to bring other food/leftovers to add to the meal.

SOUPER BOWL PARTY – 5:00 Sunday. I’m bringing veggie chili which won 3rd place among all chili at first United Methodist Church in Claremore a few years ago. Bring snacks and drinks and come have a lot of fun whether you watch the game or not.

Over the next 2 months, we will be amending our Bylaws and Constitution to reflect the structure we need for the future. We also need to adopt a Safe Church Policy. You will be kept “in the loop” of when our meetings will be so you can give us your ideas and suggestions.

OPEN PLACE YOUTH GROUP – We need help with sponsors for our youth group. We are having between 10 and 18 teens each week. Tim is helping when he is in town. We need a couple of other people to help so everyone can have an opportunity to meet our youth and encourage them. Please let me know if there is a Wednesday a month that you could help from 2:30 to 5:30 or if you can think of someone outside of our community that might want the opportunity.

Hope to see you soon!
Melinda

CALENDAR

Feb 18 – 6:30 pm – Fat Saturday
Feb 22 – 6:00 pm – Ash Wednesday

Mar 2  - 8:00 pm – OpenPlace Lock-In
Mar 9  - 5:00 pm – BEAN SUPPER FUNDRAISER

May 19 – 5:00 pm – Melinda’s last worship service as our pastor

Kim, Janelle, Cameron and Tim are ready to stuff 784 pair of underwear into duffle bags.

What are all those tighty whities doing stacked in front of the communion table?

Kim and Cameron are in Haiti on a mission trip this week. Thanks to their efforts, 784 people in Haiti will have a new pair of underwear. Kim and Cameron gathered new underwear for men, boys, women and girls from our companions at OpenTableUCC and from their coworkers.

Their goal was to gather 50 pounds of underwear. We exceeded that. After worship last week, we sorted by size and gender, then unwrapped all the underwear. Then, we stuffed it into vacuum bags and packed it tight.

Cameron (who is a drummer) is also taking drum sticks. Kim has some soccer balls to share.

We are blessed to be able to participate in their mission trip by shopping for underwear.