New church ministry
Pastor Duncan has created a new blog called "Sermons from Countryside." It will contain the basic text of the sermons he will deliver at our worship services as a way of sharing his thoughts with those unable to attend our church service(s).
Copy and paste this address into your browser to visit the blog:
http://countrysidecommunitychurch.blogspot.com
Ongoing Church Ministries
Warm Hugs
This team assembles warm, fleece shawls for people in our community who need "a warm hug". They distribute them to our own friends and families who are in need and also to our community at large through nursing homes and chemotherapy treatment centers. You do not need any sewing ability, only the desire to help. You can also be involved by donating some of the items that we place in the pockets; small hand sanitizers, single serving snacks, lip balms, small tissue packs, gum and hard candy. You can drop these items in the kitchen and mark them Warm Hugs. Contact Donna Urbaniak, 587-5358 or urban01@epix.net for more information.
Prayer Works
This team promotes, encourages, and facilitates growth in prayer for
individuals and the community. It oversees the prayer chain and the
weekly prayer list. It also publishes daily devotionals during Advent and Lent. For more information contact Nancy Madus, 587-2799.
Vacation Bible School
This team organizes and operates a week-long Vacation Bible School for children on late evenings during August. Children from throughout greater Clarks Summit, Newton, and Ransom townships are invited to participate.
Countryside Choir
This team provides beautiful music for Sunday worship as well as a yearly Christmas Cantata. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun! Practice is usually on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. For more information contact Bob Smith, 961-8781.
Home Touch
This team writes letters to persons in the church, the community, and around the world, offering words of encouragement, comfort and care. For more information contact Helen Herne, 587-1257.
Volunteering Opportunities!
Can you volunteer some time to help Countryside Church?
Can you help finish our new church basement ?
As a cost saving measure, our congregation has chosen to complete the basement classrooms, social hall, and kitchen ourselves and will be looking for volunteers to assist in this task. Volunteers will be guided by our basement construction leaders Bud Brown and Pete LaCoe who both bring a great deal of experience from their own construction businesses. We anticipate that the basement work will likely begin in March and continue through spring.
If you can help us with the basement project in any way or could possibly provide or arrange for discounted building materials needed, please call Karen Rickaby in our church office at 570-587-3206 weekdays from 9 AM - 2 PM or email Ron Imdorf @ rj.imdorf@epix.net indicating your interest. If you have friends that would like to work with us on our “Church Raising” project, please let us know.
All are Welcome!
We are still looking for a Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry...
The position of Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for Countryside Community Church shall be a half-time position, with the expectation of approximately 20 hours per week for 50 weeks per year. This position may evolve into full-time ministry.
The general expectation of the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry is to assist in the pastoral leadership of the church and, specifically, to develop a program of ministry to and with youth and young adults living in the eight-mile program radius of the church, in accordance with the church’s vision and mission.
The Director shall work under the supervision of the Lead Pastor, with accountability to the Church Council, and in consultation with the Staff/Pastor-Parish Relations Committee of the church.
The primary responsibilities of the Director shall be to:
Identify, invite, and involve people from each age group (youth: ages 13-18; young adults ages 19-35) to organize and participate in programs that develop hearts for God in a Spirit-filled community. This indicates a major emphasis on outreach to persons both within and outside of the congregation;
Organize ministries and activities appropriate to each age group, and recruit, train and supervise volunteer congregants to lead them. These could include youth/young adult groups, bible studies, fellowship groups etc.;
Work with the church Ministry Teams on strategies to involve and retain youth and young adults in the total ministry of the church. This would include activities to raise funds to support the total youth and young adult ministry program. Participate in leadership of worship, encourage the involvement of youth and young adults, including the possibility of starting services relevant to these age groups both on and off site.
The candidate should note that Countryside Community Church: A United Methodist Fellowship is a new church, formed in 2008 from the merger of four congregations in a rural/suburban area near Clarks Summit and Scranton, PA. It is in the Abington Heights School District. He or she will be in the unique but challenging position of creating a new ministry for a new church—with construction of a new $ 2.5 million church building to be completed in early summer 2012.
The average attendance is approximately 110, with a membership of 519. The church’s ministries are focused on persons living within a 3- 6- and 8-mile radius of the church—a total population of 107,000; but the population in the closer radii is 3,191 and 28,033 respectively. (The larger radius includes portions of the city of Scranton.) Our location is one of a handful of growing communities in Lackawanna County.
The successful candidate will have strong and demonstrable experience in youth and young adult ministry, with a passion for evangelism. He or she should be technologically savvy, of exemplary Christian lifestyle, and able to work comfortably among persons at either end of the theological spectrum.
Potential candidates should send a resume or CV via e-mail, to countryside4youth@yahoo.com, with a cover letter describing their passion for ministry, expected salary range, and include three references. All finalists for this position must agree to background checks and to the Safe Sanctuaries policies of the church and the Susquehanna Conference of The United Methodist Church.
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
~ Mark 16:15
Come Grow With Us!
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