We will be having Chicken Salad, Wednesday, June 6.

Please RSVP by Sunday, June 3 for dinner on Wednesday, June 6 so that we know how many people to cook for! We can only pull off Wednesday night dinners with your help. Please consider helping either by prepping food, serving the meal, or cleaning up afterwards.

Probably 9-10 years ago, a far-less-hairy than now young fella named Jeremiah Fox was a 17 year old, who looked all of 13, and beautifully pitched in week after week to tidy up the West Brow Community Center each week after our worship services. For the past nearly 10 years he has continued to serve us in approximately one gazillion ways, including as worship leader and  as caretaker with his bride, Danielle, who has likewise been a steadfast worker of all manner of mercies in our midst these many years.

Jeremiah and Danielle have recently reached their needed financial goal that will permit them to be yet another of the amazing folks that we have been privileged as a church to send out to the world, Spain more specifically, in order to bring the glad tidings of our Savior’s reconciling mercies.

To honor, encourage, and send off our dear friends, Foxy and Dani, the Bostroms graciously hosted a Hymn Sing a few weeks ago and we prayed and commissioned them during our worship service at Durham this past Sunday.

Be in prayer for the Foxes as pack up and leave within the next week, and visit their website, caminodefox, to learn more about their work in Santiago.

Summer Suppers will begin Wednesday, June 6 at Durham Road and will continue through the summer every wednesday evening. Dinner begins at 6 pm at Durham and costs $5/adult, $3/child, or $12/family. This is a wonderful way to stay connected and in touch with friends from Rock Creek during the summer months.
If you are interested in helping with this weekly event in any way, please contact Elizabeth Johnson at  elizabeth@rockcreekfellowship.org.

This new sermon series begins Sunday, April 29.

The gospel is a message of radical grace- you have been entirely saved by nothing in you, of you, or from you, but rather entirely by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is ‘radical grace’ because you don’t deserve it, you can never do anything to earn it, merit it, keep it, or improve upon it.  And, so says Galatians, as you believe and embrace this good news more and more deeply it changes you from slavery to freedom, from selfishness to love, from self-righteousness to humility, from division to unity, and from guilt to joy.

We are excited to welcome Jacob and Anna Snuggs as our newest staff members here at Rock Creek Fellowship. The Snuggs will be replacing Jeremiah and Danielle Fox as Facilities Coordinators beginning May 15th. The Snuggs will continue to lead the Youth Group as well. Please join us in welcoming the Snuggs to this new position at our Church!

Beginning on April 15 at 9:30 am, we will resume Sunday School for a 6-week period, ending May 20.

Children’s Sunday School
This Spring our children will be studying the Gospel Light curriculum and each week memorizing a Scripture verse! Children, preschool-5th grade, meet in the new wing downstairs in the children’s classroom. Nursery is available in the new wing during the Sunday School hour as well.

Youth Sunday School
Our youth will be going through a DVD Bible Study series for the next 6 weeks during Sunday School. High school meets upstairs in the office at the end of the hall on the left. Middle school meets upstairs in the cupola room.

New Adults Sunday School
Discerning God’s Will: exploring the tension between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. The Bible is clear, God is in control of all things, but yet we are called to respond and live lives pleasing to him. How do these fit together???
Come and see!  Taught by pastor Hutch and Luke Holcomb, Sunday mornings 9:30 in the Durham sanctuary.

Maybe this can help you out. Here is the Session’s report on Sabbatical:

What is a sabbatical, and why do pastors need one?

The word “sabbatical” comes from a Hebrew word meaning a “ceasing” or “stopping,” and it is related to the word “sabbath.” In Exodus 20, the Israelites are commanded to set apart the sabbath day as holy by ceasing their weekly routine, because this mimics God’s rhythms of work and rest that he made a part of the order of creation.

Those who helped the Israelites live their lives according to this rhythm of work and rest were not able to observe the same rhythm themselves. So while most Israelites observed the holy days as times of rejuvenation and rest in the controlling power of God, the priests spent these days at work. Because of their special status, the Levites were not given a portion of land in Canaan for which they were responsible. Instead, the other tribes were told that they had to share the produce of their land with the Levites as a way of acknowledging that they had a different status and lifestyle among God’s people. They gave them donations of a tenth, which we call a “tithe,” acknowledging that because of their special job, the Levites were not able to engage in industry and thus relied on the generosity of the other tribes.

In these respects, the work of Christian ministers is very much like the work ancient Israelite priests. They work at serving us during our “off time,” whether that is late at night, early in the morning, or on the weekends. That is especially true on the Lord’s Day. While many of us wake up grateful for a break from our normal routine of work, the pastor puts in the most difficult day. They do not live by the same economy of money or time as most of those whom they serve. But that also means that we as their congregants have an opportunity, even an obligation, to give back to them in unusual ways. By doing this, we acknowledge that by their special service to God, they have put themselves at our mercy and rely on our generosity. Paul even goes so far as to say that those who work among the people of God have a right to some of the fruit that those people produce (1 Cor 9:9-14; 1 Tim 5:17-18).

A sabbatical is a gift of rest given to ministers in grateful acknowledgement of the burden they bear for the spiritual wellbeing of those they serve. It is given in acknowledgement that pastors never stop pastoring, whether we are in the depths of despair in the middle of the night, become deathly ill during their kid’s sporting event, or get into serious family troubles on a Saturday morning. I suppose we could think about it in a self-interested way, too: If our pastors are going to have the ability to minister to us, they must replenish themselves from time to time so that they can deplete their energies once again on us.

How often do pastors “go on sabbatical”?

It is customary for pastors to receive sabbaticals after about seven years of service. This is loosely based on the structure of a week, in which one day out of seven is set apart and devoted to God’s work. If we were to follow the logic of this model exactly, we would grant our pastors one year of sabbatical after every six years of service. For various reasons, however, this is not customary practice, and in Pastor Eric’s case, he will receive four months of sabbatical after roughly eleven years of service. This should remind us to look after our pastors better in the future.

Who decides to grant the pastor a sabbatical?

The leadership of the church (the session) grants these periods of rest both for the health of the pastor and the health of the church. The initiative for this decision comes from the session, not from the pastors. This decision is by no means a way for the pastor to transition to another job; on the contrary, it is a way to ensure that the pastor can continue to minister to his congregation upon his return. Pastor Eric is not considering employment at any other church.

What does a pastor rest from during a sabbatical?

This is time set aside to replenish the pastor for future service. One of the things the pastor will rest from is the weekly duties of his normal routine. Because the pastor’s work is so closely tied to weekly worship, this includes a rest from joining in worship at Rock Creek Fellowship. On the rare occasion that we do see Pastor Eric and his family at RCF, it is our duty to refrain from involving them unnecessarily in any ministry-related business. Our first impulse should be to seek out someone on the session, or Pastor Hutch instead.

What does a pastor do on a sabbatical?

By rest, we clearly do not mean that Pastor Eric will lie in bed for four months (though he would deserve it, if he did). In conversation with the session, Pastor Eric has outlined a program of prayer, writing, and recreation to help him recalibrate his body and soul for the continued service of the church which he shepherds. This includes time in the Chattanooga area and away from it. The last Sunday before Pastor Eric’s sabbatical is April 22. He will return to the pulpit on Sunday, August 26.

Enjoy a sweet time of fellowship this Sunday morning on Easter, April 8, 2012!

Lula Lake folks: brunch will be held after the service in the fellowship hall. Contact Lizzy Ott if you’re willing to help out with food, lizzy@rockcreekfellowship.org.

At Durham, we will have a brunch before the service at 9:30 am at Durham. Contact Elizabeth Johnson is you would like to help out, elizabeth@rockcreekfellowship.org!