Announcements

JKPC Youth Group is active and looking for more to join them!!   We are meeting on the 2nd Friday night of each month for Mission Work and a Game Night and the 4th Sunday for a fun lesson and fellowship.  Bring a friend anytime - the more the merrier.  Please contact Craig or Tracy Damone with any questions. (317)286-3451  tracydamone@comcast.net

We wanted to let you know what we've been doing - Josh Stiles says:  "Once a month on Friday night and Saturday, the Youth Group has gone over to St. John's Food Pantry in Speedway.  We go on Friday to bag up the food and put it in a storing area. Then on Saturday we give out the food.  One month we gave out 200 pairs of bags!  We do things in order by first "shopping" (which is when we put the food in bags), then we put it in a storing place.  Finally, it gets handed out.  We give out a variety of food like canned fruit and veggies.  Also, we give out cereal.  We have a lot of fun doing this.  All the donations from our Food on the First go to St. John's.  So, make sure you bring in your goods."

Food on First—St. John’s Storehouse

At the September 20 S.E.T., representatives from St John’s Episcopal Church shared an overview of their congregation’s food ministry which distributes food on the second Saturday of every month. The number of families being served each month continues to grow. As you shop for items to donate to Food on the First, please keep the following list of desired items in mind:

Canned fruits and vegetables	Spaghetti and pasta	Hamburger/tuna helper
Canned meat / other proteins	Beans	Tomato sauce/ pasta sauce
Rice-a-roni	Bread	Peanut butter / jelly
Potatoes	Sugar	Flour
Detergent	Toilet paper	Holiday treats
Baby foods	Baby formula	Diapers
Pet food

Volunteers to help during the distribution day or days the group stocks the pantry are appreciated. For additional information see a member of the GMO Team or call one of the pantry coordinators directly - Mary (840-7894) or Kevin(858-8584 or 840-2370).

Thanks for Saving Soup Labels and Box Tops!

YES! Our church continues to save Campbell’s Soup “Labels for Education” and General Mill’s products “Box Tops”. These items are sent to Kemmerer Village, and Presbyterian Child Care agency in Assumption, Illinois. The labels and box tops are worth $0.10 each and help provide special school supplies, books, playground equipment, etc, for the school. PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGES…..instead of the old “face” of the soup labels, we now need to save the BARCODE portion of the label, along with the face of the little “Campbell’s kid” next to the barcode. Simply cut this small portion out! For Box Tops, please save the small Box Top symbol on many products---General Mills cereals and many snack items. Zip Lock bags and some tissues have Box Tops symbols, too! Look around for the symbols---it is an easy way to help others! For items you use anyway, it is “no purchase necessary”! Please place your saved Box Tops and Campbell’s Labels in the red mesh basket in the right hand corner of the bulletin board outside the church office ANY TIME! This is an on-going project. THANKS for your help!

Recycling at John Knox — Small and Large

One thing you will have noticed with the onset of construction is that we have moved the paper recycling bin from the north driveway entrance. It is now located beside the aluminum recycling bin, on the southwest corner of the parking lot (beside the storage barn). When construction begins, the north driveway will be blocked-off for public access, as that will be the staging area for contractors. You will be able to park on the north side of the building, but you will only be able to come in through the south driveway (at the stop light).

Also, if you have large metal items you are disposing of, call Harlan Rolfson and he will take them for recycling and donate the funds to the building fund. Grills, air conditioners, guttering – all sorts of things can be turned in for recycling, and Harlan is happy to do the heavy lifting for you! Call him at home at 271-8345, and help out the environment and the church at the same time!

Winter Coats For Homeless Adults

We would like to support to the Wheeler Mission ministry of Rev. Salig who distributes coats to homeless men and women in Indianapolis. We are not asking the congregation to purchase new coats, but to keep this opportunity in mind if you have serviceable adult size coats you would otherwise be donating to Goodwill or other organization. A collection box will be placed in the coat room.

Our Church Is Helping Our Community

Our church continues to provide support for our neighbors in quiet ways that you may not be aware. Kim Grant, our church secretary, keeps detailed records of assistance given to folks in need who come into the church requesting assistance. It is the church's policy that we help individuals once annually. Unfortunately, this is a necessity to help prevent fraud and enable us to help more people with true needs.

Assistance given in 2009 (as of June) include: 7 full-day bus passes; $25 Kroger gift cards to 4 people; $25 gas cards given to 2 people; $25 butterball turkey gift certificates given to 2 individuals. Turkey gift certificates?? YES! A church member received these as a bonus/prize at work, and found out that they were taxable gifts! By donating these certificates to John Knox Church, the gifts became tax-DEDUCTIBLE, and they helped to feed some families! Do you have a similar gift that you would like to donate? What a wonderful way to share with others to provide for some basic needs---food, and transportation.

Flowers on Sundays

Did you know you can add to the beauty of our worship each Sunday by offering flowers for both services? Just sign-up on the chart outside the office. Either provide your own arrangement, or Kim Grant can order an arrangement from a local florist, and then acknowledge your gift in the bulletin. Call Kim (291-0308) if you have any questions!

Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program Press Release

December 15, 2008

"Reverend Frank Mansell has been selected to participate in the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program...

The focus of the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program will engage pastors in explorations of critical economic, educational, and political challenges facing Indiana communities and help them develop the knowledge and skills to become stronger leaders in their congregations and communities."

Click here to read the complete press release.

$$$$ Scrap Metal $$$$

Old grills, copper and other metal items can be recycled. Cash received from these items is being added to the Capital Campaign fund. If you have anything to donate, please call Frank Mansell (291-0308) or Harlan Rolfson (271-8345).

Another Way To “Reach Out By Reaching In”

The Board of Deacons has a special invitation for you. It is easy---and will be enjoyable for all parties, most likely! Imagine living alone in your home, or being surrounded by the same faces every day in a nursing home. The days could be long and lonely. What a wonderful treat it would be to receive a visitor from your home church. Beginning soon, there will be a list of our shut-in members, those in nursing facilities, or assisted living areas, that would probably enjoy a visit from a caring John Knox member. This may be someone you have known for years, or a new name and face. It would be lovely if someone could plan to drop in for a visit each month, or as your time allows. It would be fun to update those members that cannot attend church as to the current activities at John Knox--- perhaps show pictures, or child-crafts that have been created. Oh, my-- Speedway is changing—what a discussion that could be! In turn, you would have an opportunity to learn about an interesting and experienced life that has been lived. Senior citizens always have interesting tales of times gone by---from a perspective that we often could not have imagined.

Watch for a list by the large map to the right of the kitchen door at John Knox Church. Open up your heart and a few minutes in your schedule to make a difference in someone’s life. Reach OUT, by reaching IN to some of our seniors.

Click here to see the calendar for January.

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