................What's Happening at Oakdale

TODAY AT OAKDALE (3-25-2007):

Nursery:  SS – Dixie Anderson     Church – Charity Anderson

Today’s Offg: Gen Fund   Next Sunday: Missions Fund/Deacon’s Fund 

TONIGHT AT OAKDALE:

Joint Service with Meriden EFC 7:00 pm

THIS WEEK AT OAKDALE:

WEDNESDAY:   7:00 p.m. Midweek Ministries

Ø  Acorn Bible Club thru 6^th grade

Ø  Jr. & Sr. High Student Ministries

Ø  Adult Bible Study & Prayer

FRIDAY-Men’s Reading Group at Oakdale 6:15-7:30 am

SATURDAY –  BIC 8:30 – 11:00 am

                         Women’s Bible Study 9:30 – 11:00 am

NEXT WEEK AT OAKDALE:

Next Sunday Pastor Clint will continue the series in John.  Please read John 12:1-19 in preparation for next week’s sermon.

Greeters for Apr 1:      Frank & Jill DeMilia  – East Door

                                      Warren & Judy Verploeg  – Name tags

                                      Rich Nelson – South Door

LOOKING AHEAD:

SUNDAY EVENING SCHEDULE:

Apr 1 – Small Groups

Apr 8 – No Small Groups

TAKE NOTE:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:  Dan Wilson, Alexis Cullison (25), Justin Patterson (26), Nathaniel Morgan (27), Wendy Wester, Lyle Peterson (28), Evelyn Kludas (31)

MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES:

Men’s Theological Reading Group will meet this Friday, Mar. 30 at 6:15 AM at Oakdale.  Please read chapter 19 of Knowing God in preparation for the discussion. 

ON THE FIRST SUNDAY of every month our offering is designated for Missions.  All undesignated giving on this Sunday is collected into the Mission Fund.  Please make your mission offering checks out to “Oakdale Church Missions”.  Do not make the checks out to the individual missionary.  Put their name in the lower left hand corner or the check. It may not be tax deductible if you make the check out to the individual.  This applies especially to the Love Offerings.  Thank you.  Missionary Financial Secretary – Frew Brown   

THE HERITAGE COMMITTEE invites you to join us as we have a joint service with Meriden EFC tonight at 7 p.m. here at the church. We will be enjoying special music and will  be hearing from Eric and Jamie (Bunch) Staveness as they share about their new ministry with the Navigators. We will also enjoy a time of fellowship afterward. The serving committee will be providing sandwiches and beverages, but please bring snacks to share. Come prepared to have a great evening!

PAULLINA CARE CENTER on Wednesday March 28^th at 2:00 pm.   Elsie Wester, Chmn; Eleanor Carlson, Karen Mugge, Jeanette Peters.

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL fund is running low.  If you wish to help with this, place your gift in the offering taken during Sunday School or you can place it in the general offering and mark it for the Sunday School .

MUNCHIN’ & MOVIN’ Come joins us on Wednesday April 4th as we move from the old building to the new building.  There will be things for all ages to do.  Many hands make the load light.  Dinner will be provided for everyone at 6:00 pm.  At 6:30 we start to move everything, classrooms, library, kitchen, sanctuary, etc.  Bring yourself, a van or pickup if possible, and work as long as you can.  This will be a great time for the family of God to work together to see the result of years of planning and building.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, ladies, for your love gift for my birthday.  You are all very special to me.                         Eleda Wester

Thank you for the many kind expressions of sympathy you have shared with us at this time of loss...your visits at church and home, your cards, your gifts, your prayers... have all been very meaningful and very much appreciated.                                          Warren and Judy

“Oakdale 101”   Beginning Sunday, April 15 during the Sunday School hour we will be offering a class for those interested in becoming members of Oakdale EFC or for those just interested in learning more about Oakdale and the Evangelical Free Church.  Pastor Clint will lead you through at least 4 sessions in which we will look at our history, what we believe, why we are here, and why we do what we do. 

     “Oakdale 101” is required for everyone seeking membership at Oakdale.  If you are interested in being a part of these sessions please sign up by calling or emailing the church office.  Call 443-8385  or email the church.

Good Friday Service.  Plan on joining us here at Oakdale for a very special Good Friday Service at 7 PM, as we remember together the death and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

HELP NEEDED!  There are two tables that need to be refinished before we move them to the new building.  If you would be interested in doing this project, please talk to Alice Anderson.

JANITOR(S) NEEDED: After years of good and faithful service the Axiotis family is stepping down as janitors.  In a few weeks we will move into our new building and at that time we will need janitor(s).  The general board has yet to decide whether that will be part time or full time.  If you have any interest in filling this need please talk to Gene Petersen.

THANKS to everyone who supported the Student Ministries Soup Supper. We really appreciate it. If you weren't able to be here but would still like to contribute to the offering to help buy sofas for the youth room, please talk to Mark Anderson, or place a check in the offering plate to "Oakdale Student Ministries" with sofas written in the memo line. Thanks!

Help Needed: Meriden EFC will be putting on a drama presentation at their church on the evenings of April 1,2,& 3. They are looking for people to help with childcare during this event. They will pay $10 per person each evening. Anyone interested in helping on any of these evenings can contact Mark Anderson and he will forward a list of names to Meriden.

BUILDING BOX

Finances

Total cash received to date:                          $1,592,890.13

Total cash & pledged to date:                       $1,730,719.41

Funds borrowed to date:                               $   194,350.00

Your giving for the first three months of 2007 has been very encouraging.  Praise the Lord!   We have been able to keep our loan balance fairly constant in spite of paying some large bills. Continued giving at this level would enable us to have the building completely paid for by this year's end.

LADIES: Spring is right around the corner and so is our first-of-the-year Women's retreat opportunity. Beth Moore will be leading a “Living Proof” event in Omaha May 11-12 and we already have a block of rooms reserved in anticipation. So mark your calendars and check out the sign-up sheet in the lobby...or see Joan Traylor or Karen Anderson for more details.

Attention all Jr. & Sr. High Students!

 ATTENTION GRADUATING SENIORS! Senior's Night out with Mark & Karen happens TODAY! You don't want to miss this. We always have a great time! We'll leave from the church parking lot promptly at 2:30pm. (Get here a little early so we're not running behind.) You don't need to bring anything (well... maybe a sweatshirt) just be prepared to have a good time.

Senior High Small Group will not meet tonight. We'll continue nest Sunday night with our discussion on R.C. Sproul's Choosing My Religion.

Youth Group- Hey Jr. and Sr. High Students! Don't miss youth group on Wednesday nights! We start at 7:00pm. There's praise & worship, food, fun, prayer, and Bible study. Come join us for week #3 of our series Who Does Jesus Say I Am? See you Wednesday! Remember... friends are always welcome.