Agape Update

Great turnout last night for First (Second) Friday/ Agape Planning
Session. I think we got a lot accomplished as well as some great
fellowship, and I am excited for the coming year!! Forgive this email
for being rather long-winded as we did cover several aspects of the
class: Officers, Curriculum, Missions, & Social Events.

2009 Officers:

President/Co President: Heather Busey
Co President/President-Elect: Rachel McCombs

Mission Committee: Marci Stellman & Amy Curran

Compassion Representatives: Jayne Hudson & Laetitia Clark

Social Coordinator: Heather Busey, Rachel McCombs, & David Clayton

Prospect Committee: Dillon Curran & Philip Busey

Life of St. Luke's Write Up - Jon Arps & Mitchell Clark


Curriculum Planning:
While we have so many out volunteering for The Great Adventure, January
will be spent doing bible study on the books of Genesis and Exodus (to
go along with St. Luke's Read the Bible in Year challenge). These will
be informal discussions/observations among the class. This would be a
fantastic start to the new year and to get you thinking about your
readings for the week.

For February-March we will start a series on "Our Spiritual Legacy." We
will each get a chance to talk about our Spiritual Past and Present as
well as discuss what we want for our spiritual future and the legacy.
To correlate with this topic, we'll get into Adam Hamilton's book
'Christianity's Family Tree'. This will be a discussion of eight
Christian denominations and their beliefs led by various members of the
class.

Following 'Our Spiritual Legacy', we'll delve right into our Lenten
Series by James W. Moore called 'On the Road Again'.
I'm very excited about the idea of growing in our faith together by
learning from each other. We hope to see all of you there!

Missons:
Agape's Missions will be broken down into a quarterly schedule focusing
on four ideas:
"On Whose Shoulders We Stand"
"Within the Walls of the Church"
"The Future of Our Church"
"Outside the Walls of the Church"
Look forward to hearing more from Amy & Marci regarding these great
mission opportunities. Also, we'll be devoting one or two of our
outings per year to a Mission, whether that is volunteering to make and
deliver Mobile Meals or something else as the class decides. It will
be a great way to spread the love of God with others while experiencing
fellowship with each other.

Socials:
February's Superbowl Party will be held at Mike and Randa Orquiz's
house...details to follow soon!
Other upcoming socials: March - Eischen's Night
April - Progressive Dinner?
If anyone would like to sign up for a month to host, we'd love to know!
Email Rachel, David or myself to sign up.

Additional Information:
We'll be taking up a 'Compassion Fund' which will enable us to purchase
cards, meals, and flowers for life's joys and sorrows (births, deaths,
illnesses). We're looking to have everyone contribute around
$10/person to get this started.
Some in the class will be checking on a few other lesson ideas such as
having class with Robert Fasol in the choir loft again, a lesson on the
Stained Glass Windows surrounding the Church, and possibly a series on
Christianity in the Workplace.
We're going to put a lot of effort into inviting friends and prospects
to our class through 'Bring A Friend Sunday' which will generally fall
the 3rd Sunday of the month....just in time to invite them to our First
Friday! These Sundays we will be doing an open house with a potluck
breakfast.

Again, so much exciting things for 2009. Thank you all for your
participation, prayers and input. I know we all want this class to be
such a success, and I'm confident 2009 will exceed our expectations!

Blessings,
Heather :)