Update for August 22, 2010

College students (particularly freshmen), read this! It's an excellent blog entry written by Joey Brinkley, a former College Community intern. It gives AWESOME advice that you don't want to miss!

You have likely heard some excitement around the church about Sole Chain and breaking Guinness world records? Well, folks, we did it! We collected over 10,000 pairs of brand new shoes to donate to orphans around the world. This was the 10th year of Shoes for Orphan Soles, and South Main is currently the world record holder for longest chain of shoes (the exact number is 20,110 shoes in the chain). Check out this aerial shot of the completed product, which 150 South Mainers and visitors helped assemble on Saturday, August 21st!
2wcl07s.jpg

Announcements

Sanctuary Choir has kicked off for the school year. If you'd like to join us, we meet every Wednesday from 7:30-9:00. Right now, we're meeting in the sanctuary, but once construction is completed behind the sanctuary we'll be in the choir suite (if you're in the sanctuary and go out the piano side door, just keep going straight until you find a set of stairs going up; that's where the choir suite is located). No singing experience necessary!

Praying together is important. In addition to praying individually, praying together as a church family can be a powerful experience. To help us experience and remember this, the SMBC Discipleship Committee has put together a Monthly Prayer Calendar, which you can find here: http://www.smbc.org/smbcprayers.

There will be a South Main Garden interest meeting on September 2 from 6:00-7:30. To join, contact Erin Conaway at econaway@smbc.org.

There will only be an 11:00 worship service on September 5th.

Save the date: the next Discovery Weekend is November 19-20. What makes you uniquely you? How can you use your gifts, talents, and personality to serve the God who created you in love? Think you already know? What you learn this weekend may surprise you! Consider learning more about your spiritual gifts and how you can use them to further God's kingdom by attending Discovery Weekend. The session on the 19th will be from 6:30pm-9:30pm, and the session on the 20th will be from 8:45am-3:00pm. There is no cost for materials, Friday dinner, or Saturday lunch.


Praises and Prayer Requests

Safe travel and wonderful start of school year

Jennifer's sister, Lee, has had her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) confirmed. Pray for the management of her symptoms as she begins her second year at the University of North Texas.

Update for March 14, 2010

Happy Spring Break past, present, and future to all of you! There are a LOT of announcements and prayer requests this week; sorry I have missed the past few weeks!

Announcements:

Blood Drive in Activities Building March 21st from 8am to 1pm.

Learn about the spiritual gifts God has given you and how to apply them at Discovery Weekend, March 26-27. I have taken this course and, trust me, it's fanTAStic! The retreat is from 6:30-9:30 on the 26th and from 8:45-3:00 on the 27th. The retreat is NO COST. To register, contact Martha Dethrow by March 23.

The Youth Auction will be held on March 28 at noon in the gym. If you have a good or service to donate to the auction (such as hair cuts, gift cards, photography services, baked goods, tickets, etc), contact Angie Durand, Sally Reed, or Missy Wells. All proceeds will go to the youth mission trip fund.

Missions Day is April 17, 8:30am - noon. Let us know if you have any ideas of projects we could take on, but we'll be sure to have some great assignment for our class!

Prayer during Worship Service: The Discipleship Committee is looking for volunteers to pray during worship services. To sign up, please contact Ruth Campos or Lu Alcazar.

David Wilcox Concert at SMBC, May 7

Manna, South Main's mission to the homeless right on our doorstep, takes place at 8:00am every Sunday morning. If you would like to volunteer to set up and/or help lead the Manna worship service, please contact Erin Conaway.

College Mission to Collique, Peru, May 22-29, 2010, organized by Tallowood Baptist Church. The cost is $1,500 per person. We will be ministering through worship, VBS, sports camps, construction, and painting. We'll also get to sight see in Lima. Contact Chuck Westbrook if you are interested in going.

SMBC is participating in a Buckner mission trip to Guatemala July 2-6. The group will lead a Disciple Now Weekend, complete a service project, and fellowship with students in transitional homes. The land cost ($915) includes meals, lodging, in-country transportation, insurance, interpreters, bottled water, and sightseeing. Airfare ($500-$550) can be arranged by the Buckner on-site Travel Consultant. Contact Chelsea Wade with questions or if you're interested in going.


Prayer Requests and Praises:

Sarrean's cousin as she grieves for her husband

Elizabeth as she decides which nursing school to attend

Elizabeth will be living in Peru this summer; pray for her safety and quick assimilation

Church-wide mission trip in Eagle Pass this week

Safe travel during spring break

Praise: Bill arrived safely in Australia (for those of you who don't know, he has taken a 20-month position in Australia; the rest of his family still in Houston)


Here are some additional prayers and praises from the past few weeks:

Praise: Peter and Sara's church has a permanent pastor

Virginia got a scholarship to Vanderbilt and will be heading to Nashville in August

As of Feb 28, Jessica's dad (Emily & Kyle's uncle) is having coronary problems

As of Feb 28, Zach's uncle was at MD Anderson

Update for November 8, 2009

The end of the semester is just ahead! I hope everyone's staying afloat with tests and assignments -- but just remember, you're almost done!

If you're in town, please come (and bring a friend) to the FREE FALL FESTIVAL this Sunday at noon in the SMBC front lawn. We need your help serving at the ever-popular college class booth: Sausage on a Stick! Please help out. I can vouch that it'll be lots of fun!

Announcements:

• Just to reiterate, Fall Festival (and the infamous college class Sausage on a Stick... yum!), November 15, noon, front lawn
• Catch Up Double Up Sunday is November 15. If you have fallen behind on your giving, this is the week to catch up. If you're in a position to give more than you planned, even the smallest gift could make an enormous difference.
  
• Discovery Weekend: what are your spiritual gifts? Find out on November 20, 6:30pm. Contact mdethrow@comcast.net to sign up.
• Blood Drive, November 22, 8am-12pm, Fellowship Hall
  
• This December, several of South Main's own are going to spend a Buckner Christmas in Peru, during which they will visit orphanages and distribute Christmas gifts and humanitarian aid. If you would like to contribute to the gifts, please bring them to Chelsea Wade's box in the 3rd floor church office, or you can bring them to Sunday school, and we'll take care of them. Examples of items needed include:
• coloring books
• plastic jewelry
• bubbles
• board games
• Christmas CDs in Spanish
• journals
• Children's Tylenol (including chewable)
  
• vitamins for children and adults in large bottles
• Children's cold medicine
• antiperspirant
• antibiotic cream and band-aids
• diapers
• College Mission to Collique, Peru, May 22-29, 2010, organized by Tallowood Baptist Church. The cost is $1,500 per person. We will be ministering through worship, VBS, sports camps, construction, and painting. We'll also get to sight see in Lima. At least one SMBC college student is going, so you should too! Contact Chuck.Westbrook@interfaceflor.com if you are interested in going.

Prayer Requests and Praises:

• Pray for Elizabeth as she applies to nursing school this fall.
• Continue to keep Jim's mom in your prayers. She had surgery on Oct 27.
• Pray for Virginia as she applies to graduate school this fall.
• Keep each other in your thoughts as finals approach.
• Praise: Kathryn gave birth to healthy, happy baby William (9lbs, 13oz) on 11/6!
  

Update for November 1, 2009

Happy Guy Fawkes' Day, everyone!

For those of you who met us around the state for college tour earlier this week, it was great seeing you! We'll do it again in the spring!

Be sure to join our Facebook group, check out our twitter feed, and read our blog! Sunday School is high-tech, yo!

Announcements:

• Fall Festival (and the infamous college class Sausage on a Stick... yum!), November 15, noon, front lawn
• Catch Up Double Up Sunday is November 15. If you have fallen behind on your giving, this is the week to catch up. If you're in a position to give more than you planned, even the smallest gift could make an enormous difference.
  
• Discovery Weekend: what are your spiritual gifts? Find out on November 20, 6:30pm. Contact mdethrow@comcast.net to sign up.
• Blood Drive: November 22, 8am-12pm, Fellowship Hall.
  
• This December, several of South Main's own are going to spend a Buckner Christmas in Peru, during which they will visit orphanages and distribute Christmas gifts and humanitarian aid. If you would like to contribute to the gifts, please bring them to Chelsea Wade's box in the 3rd floor church office, or you can bring them to Sunday school, and we'll take care of them. Examples of items needed include:
• coloring books
• plastic jewelry
• bubbles
• board games
• Christmas CDs in Spanish
• journals
• Children's Tylenol (including chewable)
  
• vitamins for children and adults in large bottles
• Children's cold medicine
• antiperspirant
• antibiotic cream and band-aids
• diapers
  

Prayer Requests and Praises:

• Pray for Elizabeth as she applies to nursing school this fall.
• Continue to keep Jim's mom in your prayers. She had surgery on Oct 27.
• Pray for Virginia as she applies to graduate school this fall

Update for October 25, 2009

Last week in Sunday school, we talked about how God is revealing himself in our lives. The South Main blog, http://themainblog.wordpress.com, is a great source of stories that detail how God is moving in the lives of those in our congregation. It's full of lots of interesting articles about a variety of subjects by all sorts of folks at church, so check it out!

If you haven't already, please join our Facebook group! Also, we're tweeting regularly and updating the blog every week!

Announcements:

• College Tour is next week, November 2-3. Stay tuned for information about when South Main is coming to a campus near you!
  
• If you are interested in working for Passport summer camps in 2010, know that the priority deadline for staff applications is November 1. For more info, visit www.passportstaff.org.
  
• Fall Festival (and the infamous college class Sausage on a Stick... yum!), November 15, noon, front lawn
• Catch Up Double Up Sunday is November 15. If you have fallen behind on your giving, this is the week to catch up. If you're in a position to give more than you planned, even the smallest gift could make an enormous difference.
  
• Discovery Weekend: what are your spiritual gifts? Find out on November 20, 6:30pm. Contact mdethrow@comcast.net to sign up.
• This December, several of South Main's own are going to spend a Buckner Christmas in Peru, during which they will visit orphanages and distribute Christmas gifts and humanitarian aid. If you would like to contribute to the gifts, please bring them to Chelsea Wade's box in the 3rd floor church office, or you can bring them to Sunday school, and we'll take care of them. Examples of items needed include:
• coloring books
• plastic jewelry
• bubbles
• board games
• Christmas CDs in Spanish
• journals
• Children's Tylenol (including chewable)
  
• vitamins for children and adults in large bottles
• Children's cold medicine
• antiperspirant
• antibiotic cream and band-aids
• diapers
  

Prayer Requests and Praises:

• Continue to keep Jim's mom in your prayers. She had surgery on Oct 27.
• Pray for clarity and focus as midterms continue
• Praise: Virginia's grandfather has moved home
• Pray for Virginia as she applies to graduate school this fall
  
• Praise: Marie's mom is doing much better this week. Thank you for your prayers.