Dear church Family,
1. There will be prayer meeting tonight at 7 PM. We will continue our study from the book of Revelation. Tonight we will begin chapter 5.
2. There are two pianos in the fellowship hall free for the taking. If you are interested please let me know a sap. They will be permanently removed on Sunday if no one is interested in them.
3. This Friday, September 18, at 7:30 PM in the church we will officially launch the new Pathfinder year with our Induction Services. This will also be an opportunity to welcome our brand new Pathfinders. If you have not registered yet and would like for your children to be involved please let me know a sap.
4. In a discussion with the youth and some adults there was a desire to do a church outing before the weather turns cold. This Sabbath afternoon we will be going to Starved Rock State Park and Matthiessen State Park. They are only 1/2 mile apart.
Matthiessen has a waterfall hike and starved rock has the lodge and visitors center with easier walking for those less ambitious or able.
On the north side of the river directly across from Starved Rock there is also a barge lock and Dam with an observation deck for watching the bald eagles which live locally in the trees there.
We will have potluck this Sabbath. We are asking that you bring your food in disposable containers or clean them when you get home. If we do this then we can clean up quickly and leave directly following. You can bring a change of clothes with you it will be easier.
We could all go the respective areas that we desired personally and then meet at 6:00 for a picnic supper and vespers. If you want something for supper snacks be sure to bring it with you. The youth will lead out the vesper time.
Plan now to come if you are able. This is the only time left this year that we can do something like this on a Sabbath afternoon.
If you need a ride please let me know. We should be back to the church by 8:30 or 9:00 PM that night for those who need a ride.
This is worth the trip if we leave early enough!
It takes about an hour and a half to get there.
Here are some other helpful links and maps.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Matthiessen+State+Park&state=IL
http://www.stateparks.com/matthiessen.html
There will be more news later in the week.
Have a great day,
Pastor Joe
It was just a few weeks ago that we were all won-dering when the renovation project would begin. Since then there have been tireless efforts to renovate the sanctuary and other areas of the Church. The building committee has been meeting on a regular ba-sis to continue follow-ing through with plans that were proposed at an earlier church busi-ness meeting. If you haven’t been by to see the work in pro-gress you should take the time to stop in on a week day. Each Sabbath is extra special as we continue worshiping God and witnessing Him work at the same time. For now we continue to meet in the church fellowship hall but have hopes of meeting in the new sanctuary by August 29. The upstairs bathrooms are near completion and down stairs is close behind. Thank you for your prayers and continued support of this special project. There is still much work to do, so stop by any time to help.
To follow is the text version of the Illinois Conference Update, August 19,
2009. To view this e-news publication in full color, click on the
attachment. This file can be opened with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat
Reader which is available at no cost from www.adobe.com.
Touch Every 1 For Jesus
Don’t forget Signs of the Times as a useful tool in Touching people for
Jesus. Â Contact the Adventist Book Center for more information about
subscriptions or sponsoring a Signs distribution box at 1-800-765-6955 or
online at www.AdventistBookCenter.com.
“When God Said Remember” is a new pocket size book from Mark Finley on the Sabbath.  It is an excellent book to place in the hands of a person with
whom you are studying the Bible when you come to the Sabbath. Â It is
available from the Adventist Book Center for $1.99 per copy, less in
quantities. Â With Elder Finley coming to do a series in Chicago next year
this is a good way to begin developing a tie-in to those meetings, too.
One of the ways that a church can help strengthen new members in the faith
is by providing them with a good Christian television alternative. Â The
Texico Conference (New Mexico and western Texas) has a program where
churches purchase a satellite dish for each new family that is baptized.
Members install these dishes and so the cost is only about $150 per home.
Then these new members can enjoy the Hope Channel, the Hope Church Channel, 3ABN, LLBN, as well as several Adventist radio stations including LifeTalk Radio.
New Jerusalem SDA Church held a Tent Meeting in Kankakee.  Evangelist Ron Williams II, from Dallas, TX was the speaker.  Pastor Wayne Odle reports
that 37 new people were baptized.
News
Congratulations to our Trust Services Department. On July 20 they received a continuation of their Level A accreditation from their accrediting body.
The chairman of the committee wrote: “The latest audit verified the quantity
and quality of the work you have accomplished. Congratulations on a job well
done?”
We had an unusual one-time tithe blessing in February last year. Â When you
factor that out of the accounting, we have had a 4.6% tithe increase
year-to-date through the first two quarters of 2009. Â Thank you for your
faithfulness.
Natanja Hensley is the editor of the Broadview Academy Alumni Newsletter.
If you are not on her email list but would like to be you can subscribe by
contacting her at hope_chgo@hotmail.com. Â She would like to feature our
former summer camp, Little Grassy, in an upcoming newsletter. Â If you have
old pictures of Little Grassy Camp she would love to hear from you.
For those of you who would like to have a video of the Chicagoland
Convocation, DVD’s are available for Sabbath School (Afternoon Service
included in this DVD), Main Service & Praise Festival at a cost of $5.00
each, shipping included. Â We may have a photo DVD available as well.
Contact Norma Gregory to place your order. Â (630) 856-2874 Â or
norma@illinoisadventist.org
Upcoming Events
NAD Health Summit will be held in Orlando, Florida on January 29 – February 7. Keynote speakers will be Mark Finley, DeWitt Williams and Peter Landless. Visit nadhealthsummit.com for all the details.
Illinois Conference Women’s Ministry invites you to a special one day event Sabbath, October 17, 2009.  Treasures in the Sand, beauty in God’s hand to be held at Lindner Conference Center, 610 E Butterfield Rd, Lombard, Illinois.  Keynote Speaker is Sally Streib, author, naturalist,
conchologist, Bible student & teacher. Â To register or for more information
call 708-596-2000 X2404 or visit www.illinoisadventist.org for a brochure.
A SABBATH SCHOOL WORKSHOP by Dr. Donna Habenicht, Religious Educator and founder of Wisdom Tree Ministry, is scheduled for Friday evening, 7 p.m. at Burbank SDA Church.  The Workshop continues all day, Sabbath, August 22.
Topics are: It Takes a Church; How to Help Children Grow Spiritually;
Children’s Ministry for Small Churches; How Today’s Kids Learn; and Grace
and Kids. Â Please join us August 21 & 22 at 8351 S. New Castle Ave.,
Burbank, to improve Sabbath School programming. Â Sabbath noon will be a
fellowship meal. Â For more information please contact: Â Stanley Hagen
630-968-3940
Elmhurst SDA Church is celebrating its 40th Anniversary on November 21, 2009. Â Everybody is invited to come to look back at all of God’s blessing.
If you would like more information please contact them at 630-530-0600 or
visit their website at www.tagnet.org/elmhurst or leave us a message at
girose@aol.com. Â If you know any past members of Elmhurst Church please let them know of this special celebration.
The Fall Campmeeting at 3ABN is scheduled for September 24 – 26. The keynote speaker will be Elder Robert Folkenberg, Sr., former president of the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and now director of the
evangelistic program, ShareHim.
Personnel
Here are the names of new teachers in the Illinois Conference educational
system this year:
. Â Â Â Tamara Darrow – Science Teacher at HAA, is coming from Guam
Adventist Academy in Yona, Guam.
. Â Â Â Gordon Dezotell – Math Teacher at HAA, just graduated from Atlantic
Union College, South Lancaster, Massachusetts.
.    Gabriel Mendez – Principal/Teacher at  Springfield is coming from
Berrien Springs, Michigan. Â Gabe is a graduate of Hinsdale Junior Academy
and Broadview Academy.
.    Catherine Morse – 5-8 Teacher at  Gurnee is coming from Rogue Valley
Adventist School, Medford Oregon. Â Cathy is returning to the Illinois
Conference.
. Â Â Â Marie Ott-Benson – 3rd grade Teacher at HAA is coming from Meadow
Creek Adventist School in Wisconsin. Â Marie’s husband, Jeremy, graduated
from HAA.
.    Starla Powell – Principal/Teacher at  Marion is coming from the
Lincoln Public School system in Lincoln, Nebraska
. Â Â Â Karen Reinke – 5th grade Teacher at HAA has been working as the NAD
editor & writer for the new North American Division language arts
curriculum, Pathways.
. Â Â Â Melanie Joy Uzarraga – 2nd grade teacher at HAA – Over the last 5
years she has been a stay-at home mom raising her young family here in
Illinois. Â Before that she taught in the same position at HAA.
We also have some new pastors in our conference:
. Â Â Â Blaine Fults is the new pastor of the Rockford and Freeport
Churches. Â He has come to us from the Oregon Conference.
. Â Â Â Zorislav Plantak is the new pastor of the Elk Grove Village Church.
. Â Â Â Arek Bojko, pastor of the Chicagoland Polish Church, has added Deer
Park to his district.
. Â Â Â Alex (Sasha) Bolotnikov is raising up two new congregations:
Russian and Jewish.
Obituaries
Betty Simmons, wife of longtime Illinois Conference pastor, Earl Simmons,
passed away on August 10 after a long struggle with cancer. Â The time and
place for her memorial service have not yet been announced.
Lula Connour, member of the Rushville congregation, passed away on Friday, August 14.  Visitation for Lula Connour will be at the Hurd-Hendricks
Funeral Home in Galesburg on August 19 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Â A graveside
service will be held in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Galesburg at 11:00 a.m.
on August 20.
Dr. Harold May, member of the Hinsdale Church, passed away on May 18, 2009. Since retiring as a physicist, his passion has been for community service. He was 90 years old.
Alberta Holt, member of the Salem Church, passed away on June 10. Â She and
her husband, Jack, were instrumental in establishing the very first 3ABN
satellite downlinked television station.
Dr. Gloria Mouzon, member of the West Central Church, passed away on June 25Â at the age of 61.
Illinois Conference Update August 19, 2009 (PDF)
Continue reading about Illinois Conference Update August 19, 2009
The Following is a PDF version of the current Downers Grove Seventh-day Adventist Church News Letter.
DGSDA News and Notes, August 19, 09
Dear Church Family,
It’s hard to believe that we have already reached the end of July!
Wednesday night Mike Korting walked into the sanctuary and said “It’s been a long time since I have seen the sanctuary like thisâ€. Mike is Pam Dyes brother and they along with others were here when this church was originally built. I must admit that it is exciting to see what God is doing with the building project. It is even more exciting to see what He is doing building relationships and strengthening our church family.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it!
There are just a couple of things to let you know this for Sabbath and beyond.
1.We will be in Michigan tomorrow where I will baptize Miranda Richardson. David Holloway will be preaching.
2.There will be fellowship lunch tomorrow picnic style so bring already prepared appropriate food.
3.The church service may be outside weather permitting so throwing in some lawn chairs today might be a good idea.
4.Please continue to pray for those who are having difficulties of some kind.
5.There will be an announcement tomorrow for needs with the renovation in the week ahead. I hope that you are enjoying this special time God gave us.
6.You are invited to stop by the church any time and see what you can do to help.
7.We are not planning to stream live again until we are back in the sanctuary. You can still go to www.livestream.com/downers and access services from the on demand tab.
Thank you for being part our church family here at downers and I hope you have a wonderful Sabbath.
Blessings,
Pastor Joe
July 26 at the Great Western Trail at Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve in Kane County.  Registration begins at 8:00 am registration at Shelter #1 and ride begins at 9:00 am.
Download registration forms from www.campakita.com (click on the Bike-A-Thon button) and preregister by July 22 to ride.
The Bike-A-Thons are for EVERYONE, adults and children alike, and they are fun family activities. Pathfinders may receive 45% of the funds they raise for their NAD Courage To Stand Camporee expenses, excluding the $25 registration fee.
Click here for a link to the trail map:
http://www.kaneforest.com/recreation/trails/maps/greatWesternTrail.pdf
Hello everyone!
Just wanted to let you know there will be a Pathfinder Fundraiser this Saturday night!
This will be a fun one to invite all of your friends and family to.
At 7pm this Saturday evening (July 18) the pathfinders and their families will meet at Rod Metcalf’s house for vespers. At 8:35pm we will go to the Coldstone Creamery at the Bolingbrook Promenade to help with the fundraiser.
Everyone we get to come to Coldstone and purchase a treat from 8:45pm to 10:00pm this Saturday night will be contributing to the fundraiser.
Easy as that!
Please tell all of your friends, family and neighbors about this fundraiser. We still need money for Oshkosh and what better way to get funds than to enjoy a sweet treat with friends.
REMEMBER – VESPERS FIRST
THEN – COLDSTONE
Bolingbrook Promenade’s Address: 631 E. Boughton Rd #220 (South West Corner of Janes Rd and Boughton Rd.)
See you then!
We want your child at Downers Grove Adventist School! Early Registration is on Thursday, August 6, 5:00-8:00 p.m.
If there are any special needs that you have, please confidentially share them with Pastor Arner so we can do our best to help out. Please share this registration information with those that could benefit from Adventist Education at DGAS.
School begins on Thursday, August 20! Have a great summer.
Visit us at www.dgaschool.com
Continue reading about Downers Grove School Early Registration
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