Oak Creek United Church of Christ
"...where faith in Jesus comes alive by nourishing you on life's journey."
5280 Bigger Road (between Whipp and Rahn)
Kettering, OH 45440


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Phone #: (937) 434-3941
Email the Church Office: office@oakcreekucc.net
Email Rev. John Konz: johnlindakonz@yahoo.com
Email Rev. Brice Thomas: mail@bricethomas.com

Praise & Prayer 9:00 a.m., Traditional Worship 10:15 a.m.



Journey UCC and Common Grounds have started a new Ministry Initiative of Dayton's Interfaith Community
For more details visit Journey UCC



ECUMENICAL YOUTH WORSHIP
The next youth PIZZA & PRAISE is back at First Baptist Church of Dayton on Friday, July 17th from 7-9pm.
Spread the word! Details are at Journey UCC and Journey's MySpace. Please contact Pastor Brice if your youth group is planning to attend!

Here are links to past and upcoming bands' myspace pages!



6th Annual Dog Wash on Sunday June 7th
More info here.
By Christi Guillmen

If you weren't at the church on Sunday, June 7th, you missed meeting a lot of our four-legged friends. This year may not have been as crowded as last, but the enthusiasm was the same.

Volunteers from the church and Centerville High School helped out with registering, grooming, and washing dogs as well as food sales. This year we brought in $730 in proceeds and 4 bags of wish list items for SICSA.

The folks at SICSA were very appreciative of our efforts. We washed and blessed 54 dogs, with the majority visiting us in the first two hours. We had as many as 5 dogs in the wash pen at a time! It got quite hectic.

Our vendors this year were wonderful, too. One was taking pictures and I can tell you they did a great job getting a shot of my dog, Shannon. Some of the most interesting dog names included Scooby, Pugsley, Frosty, Yoda, and a pair called Scruffy and Buffy. Of course we had the usual names such as Max, Bear, and Lady.

A special thanks to all who helped this year. Please continue to check out SICSA's wish list at www.sicsa.org/wish-list.htm. You never know if there's something more you can do for our animal friends.

Photo slideshow from Blue Joopy Studios.



ROOMS WITH A VIEW
By Judy Hudson

Yes, Oak Creek has at least 4 of them - and they were just recently transformed from "obscure and mediocre" to fascinating and inviting" for youths ranging in age from nursery to the teens. These rooms can be found on the Herbster Hallway and specifically are Rooms 30, 31, 33 and 34.

For the very young of nursery age, you will be greeted in Room 30 by a collection of Noah's Ark objects - animals two x two in a room which boasts a cleaned carpet, a general "cleaning up" of contents which left the room as a wonderful play environment for the little ones.

Moving onto Room 33, you will find a room filled with new green curtains and a matching table runner, as well as green accessories in this same lively color which entice the visitor to "come in and spend some time." Room 31 has walls painted in a delicate yellow/acorn squash, light and airy curtain strips which allow the sun rays to filter in, and photographs of Joan Raine's collection of rocks framed on the wall. A kneeling rack under a photograph of stairs leading up to a lush floral garden completes the look in this transformed room.

For those of the teen years, a unique "red arrow" designed from carpet directs you into the room which includes a pool table, and graphics depicting "Eat, Talk and Pray" on one wall, as well as a "Pink Floyd" prism on the opposing wall. A shark's head trash can with beaming jagged teeth completes the look in this room especially designed with the "teens" in mind.

We read about the painting, redecorating and cleaning that was done just recently by many of our own church members, under the direction of Sherry Fyffe, Teresa Braden and Sherry's sister, but to really appreciate all the hard work that has been done and the endless hours that were donated toward this project, you need to take a walk down Herbster Hall and look inside these rooms. It is then that we will realize how fortunate Oak Creek is to have the creative minds of these fantastic women who would certainly be welcome members of Ty Pennington's popular Extreme Home Make Over television programs, as they go about transforming dull and drab to dynamic and distinctive. Take a moment next time you are at church to stroll down the hall and look at these ROOMS WITH A VIEW.



Blood Pressure Screening

Blood pressure screening will be offered on July 5th after worship. The screenings, performed by nurses from our congregation, are offered as a service to Oak Creek members and friends.



CAN DO Sunday July 19

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.
The Food Bank newsletter tells us that there has been a 35% increase for food assistance. A recent study showed that over 65,000 people in Montgomery and surrounding counties were food insecure with 32,000 being children and 9,000 were elderly. The Food Bank continues to meet the demands and will distribute one million pounds more food than last year. Current needs are for: box mixes; canned fish, fruit, meat, soup, vegetables; eggs, juice, and pasta. As always, anything will be much appreciated.



Prayer for our Country

Heavenly God, You are the real foundation of nations, raising them up to serve and care for the people dwelling within their boundaries. I thank You for making me a citizen of this land of freedom and unlimited opportunities - these United States. Send forth Your Spirit to this country and make it a source of wisdom and strength, order and integrity, throughout the world.



Cell Phones & The Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bibles like we treat our cell phones? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets? What if we flipped through it several times a day? What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it? What if we gave it to kids as gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? What if we used it in case of emergency? And one more thing... Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill! And no dropped calls!



Magnificent Mowers

We extend our appreciation to the following people who have agreed to keep our lawn looking good this summer: John Allen, Noel Blatt, Mark Braden, George Harritos, Art Hudson, and Mike Marcum.



Thank You to our Oak Creek Angels

Remember: YOU can recognize an Angel on the Bulletin Board!

To Teresa Braden and Eric Nash for the wonderful job of preparing the photo directory for Rev. John and to all the smiling faces who helped to make the project a success!



Church Chuckles

The blessing of the pets will be held this Sunday. Bowls, collars, and leashes will be sold for a small flea.

Our soloist has returned from having reconstructive surgery. The choir is happy to welcome her back with a joyful nose.

Remember the youth department rummage sale to raise funds for summer camp. We have a Gents three-speed bicycle, also two ladies for sale, in good running order.



ATTN: SHOPPERS

The Christian Education team is in need of your help to re-toy the nursery. We are looking for toys that are appropriate for babies and toddlers. We want to have toys that represent stories from the Bible. Example: Noah and the Arc, Daniel and the Lion's Den, Jonah and the whale, Garden of Eden. When you are out shopping look for plastic or vinyl animals - two of a kind - whale, arc, lion, Shepherd's crook, angel wings, halos, manger, baby Jesus, - you get the idea. Ask Sherri or Teresa with any questions.



STEWARDSHIP MOMENT

The Year of the Volunteer
By Christi Guillmen

This month the subject of my article is about another of my "co-singers" in our church choir. Joan Raine can be found gardening in a church plot, helping in the church kitchen, and working at other church activities. Away from church, Joan is volunteers with TWIG, Delta Kappa Gamma International, Primary Village North School, and her own project.
Joan got started volunteering for Dayton Children's after moving to Kettering as a way of meeting people and sharing time and talent for a worthy cause. For the past 40 year, she's been very active in the Dayton Children's Hospital Auxiliary as a Twig member. She is presently in her 4th year as President of Twig 25, and is the Historian for the Hospital Auxiliary Board. Twigs accomplishes fund raisers such as Sugarplum Festival of Trees, Mystery auction, lunches, the Twig 25 garage sale held at OCUCC, as well as other volunteer activities at the hospital such as holding pizza parties for patients and their families, helping patients create Mother's and Father's Day gifts, and donating items and wrapping Christmas gifts with the children. Most recently the organization helped selling Honey baked Hams at the hosp as a fund raiser.
Joan is a member and serves as the Historian of Delta Kappa Gamma International, an honorary women teacher's society promoting excellence in education. This organization works on literacy projects for inner city children, provides scholarships for girls planning a career in education, offers mental health service projects, supplies story books for Ronald MacDonald House, and contributes to world service by helping to improve the education of children in Afghanistan.
In addition to working with this highly visible organizations, Joan also volunteers in her daughter Leslie's classroom at Primary Village North School in Centerville, takes care of her younger grandson (who enjoys helping me garden at the church), and is a volunteer instructor for Creative Memories scrapbooking.
A project she began on my own after 31 years of teaching Kindergarten is for her former students. Joan creates scrapbook pages for each student who she can locate as gifts for them when they graduate from High School. The project is titled "REMEMBER WHERE IT ALL BEGAN".
Joan says, "Being able to focus my energies on others and contributing where help is needed is very fulfilling. It gives a sense of gratification and contentment. I simply enjoy doing things for others. They say that people who volunteer 1-2 hours a week are healthier, live longer and are more satisfied with their lives than those who don't. I just wish there were more hours in the day for volunteering."
When asked what you'd recommend to others who don't know where to start with volunteering, Joan replied, "Find where your interests lie and follow your heart to where you know you can be of help or make a difference in the lives of others. I especially like to take meals to friends who can't get out or are sick and need a "hug" and some nourishment once in a while. I also try to send cards of encouragement to others. Try it, you'll find that you'll like it. There's always something you can do, and even the smallest deeds are appreciated. "



Dunkirk Family Camp July 12 - 18, 2009

Once again it is time to think about warm sun, cool breezes, and beautiful sunsets on Lake Erie at the Dunkirk Conference Center in Dunkirk, New York. It is a 110 acre vacation spot of woodland, streams, playing fields, open grounds and nature trails overlooking Lake Erie. The camp directors are Beth and David Long-Higgins with able assistance from Mary and Shirley Long.
Whether you are single, married, a family, grandparents with grandchildren or an extended family, come for a week filled with fun and adventure. This is an intergenerational experience. Mornings are spent in age group classes. Afternoons find you playing ball, swimming, making crafts, or just sitting and relaxing. Evenings we gather at Vesper Point followed by various activities such as square dancing, a talent show, and corn roasts. It all adds up to Christian Fellowship.
The new registration form and more information are now available on-line at http://dunkirk.cc.org. There is a change in the discount system so for the early bird price break you need to register and pay in full by April 15. In the past the Oak Creek Trust Fund has supported each camping child with $50 toward his/her registration. There is also an additional savings from Dunkirk if you are a first timer or sponsoring a first time camper.
For more fun information, contact any of these folks who have attended before: Bob & Mary Fannin, Marilyn Priser, or Cristie DeBuhr. We look forward to having a group go on the church bus again this year.




Our Mission: We live in a world where people are looking for a Bible-based value system that will give meaning to life. Here in Oak Creek Church, we welcome you to join with us as we seek to live out the commandment of Christ for us to love one another as he loved us from the cross.

"We welcome you to Oak Creek United Church of Christ, where faith comes alive. We are a growing church committed to following Jesus wherever he takes us.  So if you're ready for an adventure, why not give us a call, or, better yet, join us for an event.  We're here to help you make your life the best it can be. We hope you will find the information on this website helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to contact us."

On behalf of our entire church family, we sincerely welcome you to the fellowship of Oak Creek United Church of Christ.

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