3 No PM Service
4 Office Closed
5 Juliet Breakfast/
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9 Youth Service Day 9-noon Raging Rivers Noon-7 pm
Lunch Bunch 10 Lord’s Supper/ Bridge Bread VBS
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15 VBS Family Night
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VBS 19 Juliet Breakfast 20 WOM Youth Camp
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25 Youth Movies
26 Lunch Bunch
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30 The Muny
THE WINDOW GENERATIONS AND, THEN, HERE’S AN IDEA One of the conversation topics at our recent deacon retreat was millennials and the generation gap. So you know, millennials are people who have come of age since the turn of the century. The generation gap is the fact that millennials and, say, people my age tend to process things very differently. If you do not believe this is the case, ask yourself which age group as a whole has the greatest expertise in electronics and communications. Ask which generation depends more on texting. Look around and see if you can even find a young person who is not attached to his/her cell phone. Millennials do not remember pre-9/11. They do not recall a time that the internet did not exist. “Leave It To Beaver” and “The Andy Griffith Show” might as well have taken place in another galaxy. These facts do not make millennials deficient in any way. I remind myself that my generation, coming of age during the Vietnam War, was committed never to trust anyone over the age of thirty. Youth will be served. That we work through problems differently, embrace different music and styles, communicate differently, and have varying preconceptions about life is simply how it is. We are not talking positives and negatives—just the way it is.
And all this generational stuff follows us everywhere, even to church. So here’s my suggestion to young and old alike. There is a thing called “reverse mentoring.” It means the older learn from the younger. We’ve tended to think that experience should win out and the older always should teach the younger. But our learning from the younger ones among us may be more important to us than we might imagine, even critical to our future. Here’s my thought. Find someone who is much older or much younger and get to know that person. Or, if you already know him or her, ask that person questions about how he thinks and what is important to him. At the least it will be interesting. Probably you will be surprised. At Winstanley we all believe in Jesus. We have much in common, of course. But about those areas where we look at the world a little differently, it’s way past time for us to talk and learn from each other. This is, I believe, one of the details of life in which the Lord may give us new unity, joy, and blessing. (Let me know how it goes, okay?) Delighted to be your pastor, Dr. Steve
Volume 67, Issue 7 July 2016
Family Night at the Muny-July 30
Fiddler on the Roof Leave at 6 pm See Lyndsay for more details Wednesday Night Dinner-July 20 Dr. Steve and the Williams Family present “Tamale Night”
What It Means To Be A Deacon . . . If you have been reading what other deacons have written, you will notice a common theme-that of service. It is not a position where you just assist in the Lord’s Supper. The pastor has the responsibility of leading the church. With all he does that goes unnoticed, it can be a draining and daunting task. It is the responsibility of the deacons to help the pastor by being aware of both the personal and spiritual needs of the people of the church. Deacons perform numerous tasks without being noticed. And that is as it should be. As a deacon, you don’t do the job to get recognition. You do it because you feel called by God to help minister to His people. After all, the word deacon means servant. Rick Shepard
VBS July 10-14 6:00-8:10 pm Family Night July 15 at 6:30 pm
Postmaster: Return Service Requested Permit No. 50 US Postage Paid O’Fallon, IL Non-Profit