Church of the Word
ANNOUNCEMENTS

2010

Download our year-long Church Calendar for Year 2010 More information about events will be found below as they occur.

Church-Wide Announcements

• Summer Worship Schedule for Anglican Fellowship in Manassas - We will be holding worship on June 20th and June 27th at the usual 4 p.m. time. We will NOT be holding worship during the month of JULY. We WILL return to worship on August 1. July will be a time of vacation and planning for the fall. Anglican Fellowship in Manassas is interested in connection with Anglicans and other Christians in Manassas to help establish a missional community there.

• Wednesday at the Word - We are taking a summer break. Wednesday at the Word, including AWANA, will resume again after Labor Day. Enjoy your summer!

• Support Our Mission Trips to Kenya, Uganda, and Dominican Republic. If you check our website, you will find information on upcoming mission trips. Scott Adams will serve for a year with International Justice Mission in Uganda. And our youth group, led by Liz McCaslin, has just returned from the Dominican Republic. Ask one of the following people about his/her experiences: Liz & Caitlin McCaslin, Amy & Sadie Aram, Diane Stalcup & Maddie Basye, Gracie Billingsley, Scott Young. Thank you for supporting these folks with your prayers.

• Children's Summer Activities - We will offer two weeks of Preschool Summer Camp starting July 19th and a music camp for teens August 2-6. We are also exploring possibilities for Art and Music camps for younger children. Details will follow soon.

• Teen Worship Boot Camp - Ages 10-18. Learn basic vocal and instrument skills (guitar, bass, keyboard, & drums), advanced instrument skills, band-building, and songwriting. Two Sessions: July 19-23 Culpeper, VA, 10-2pm MTWTh, 10-3 F or August 2-6, 10-2pm MTWTh, 10-3 F, Church of the Word. Early Paid Registration - $100 ($75 ea. additional sibling). Late Registration ? add $20 after July 2/Culpeper or July 16/Gainesville. To register, fill out registration and return with payment to Braeded Chord Productions, (write Teen Worship Boot Camp on the memo line), P O Box 124, Culpeper VA 22701. Contact information: Doris MacDonald 703-203-3212 (cell) or Sharon Dennis 540-222-3175 (cell).

• MOPS News
  
  • Wednesday, Aug. 4, is our Signal Hill Playdate at 10:00 a.m.

  • August 18th, will be our Peach Picking Playdate, at Hartland Orchard, in Markam!

  • We are starting to regroup for fall, and getting ready for our next MOPS year. The theme for the year is MOMOLOGY - The Art and Science of Mothering. So, get excited. For a 2010/2011 Registration forms for you and your participating MOPPETS, contact Susan Chacey at sachacey@peoplepc.com or Emily Hubbell at ehubbell@cox.net. The fees for Fall will be $35 for each mom, and $10 for each child enrolling in MOPPETS. Checks can be made out to MOPS-CWG.

• Singing Children of Church of the Word - We now have a children?s choral group. If you are interested in your children participating, please contact Katie McElroy know by calling 703-507-0418.

• Town of Haymarket Food Pantry - We are collecting non-perishable food items for donation to the Haymarket Food Pantry. Look for the marked box in the hallway.

• Hospitality - We are currently in need of about 3 people to volunteer for the monthly hospitality rotation. This involves setting up the coffee and cool drinks and bring a snack.

• CANA Council was Held July 22-24, 2010 - The CANA Council, the theme of which was "Being a Church in the World," began on Thursday, July 22 and ended with a festal Eucharist on Saturday, July 24. In addition to a number of breakout sessions, Council featured speeches from the Most Rev'd Nicholas Okoh, primate of the Church of Nigeria, Darrell L. Whiteman, VP for mission personnel and preparation at The Mission Society, and CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns.

• ADV Synod - October 2, 2010 - Save the date now for the Anglican District of Virginia Synod Meeting in October. The keynote speaker will be Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, retired Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England.

• A One-day Women's Retreat is coming in October! Get ready! More news to follow!

• Church of the Word's "Redemption Diner" is still open for business, supplying hot meals to shut-ins on the 3rd Thursday of each month. We are currently serving in excess of 30 people. As the list grows, so does our need for operating funds to buy food and supplies and our need for volunteers to help make deliveries. To make a financial contribution, simply write your check to Church of the Word, Gainesville, with ?Redemption Diner" on the memo line.

  Meal preparation begins at St. Stephen's Church in Catlett at 2 p.m. on Thursday, and delivery takes place between 4 and 5 p.m. If you can help with either preparation, delivery, or both, please contact Fred or Karen Pickrell, Midland Home Group leaders, at 540-788-4568. The need is great, the workers are few.... Please help where you can.

• Help Wanted
  The C.S. Lewis Institute is seeking a part-time Administrative Assistant three days a week. The position pays $15-$20/hr, entails overall office administration, and requires:
  
  • good writing and proofreading skills
  • experience with Excel, Powerpoint and other productivity software
  • effective multi-tasking, staying on top of a variety of details that require regular attention and meeting deadlines

  Please contact Karen Adams at (703) 914-5602, ext. 5107 or k.adams@cslewisinstitute.org.

• Past Sermons are available on the web site of Anglican Fellowship in Manassas. If you miss a Sunday you should be able to find it here:
  http://afmva.churchoftheword.net/category/sermons/

• Devotionals from Scripture Union and The Upper Room are available on the counter in the hallway for each month of the year. You can also find daily scripture reading and devotionals by clicking on the following:
  Daily devotional from Scripture Union
  Daily devotional from the Upper Room

• Church Directory - Please pick up your copy of the new March 2010 Church Directory. The directories are available in the office.

• Church of the Word is using Lectionary Year C as found in the Revised Common Lectionary for the liturgical year that starts with Advent 2009 and continues through most of the year 2010.

Youth Group Activities

• Youth Group Meetings - We are taking a summer break. Wednesday Youth Group meetings at Church of the Word will resume again after Labor Day.

Sunday School and Children's Ministry

• The Children's Ministry at Church of the Word welcomes families to join us in experiencing and sharing Jesus Christ. We offer Sunday and Wednesday programs:
  • Sunday School - Sunday School is available for members and visitors from age 4 through 13. (Pre-K through 8th grade.) Scripture memory pages and children's devotional pages are sent home with students to be used in family devotionals and to reinforce the week's lesson. Church of the Word is currently using the David C. Cook Bible-in-Life series for all classes. Class breakdowns are as follows: Pre K-Kindergarten, 1st-2nd Grade, 3rd-5th grade, Middle School. A separate High School class is offered by our youth leaders.

  • Nursery care is provided for children age 3 and under during the Sunday worship services and for most special services. Call the church office (703-754-9673) to confirm that childcare is offered at a particular function.

  • Awana Club - We are taking a summer break. AWANA will resume again after Labor Day.

  For more information on children?s programs, contact Cynthia du Busc at Children@churchoftheword.net.

Church Needs

• Help wanted! Every church is always on the look out for volunteers. No ministry at Church of the Word suffers from being overstaffed. In a way it is good that we have such a variety of opportunities because there surely is something to suit every ability and disposition. Look over this list and think about where God wants you. Then talk to the head of that ministry (see back of bulletin) or ask one of the Vestry.
  • Acolytes
  • Altar Guild
  • Ushers
  • Greeters
  • Scripture Readers
  • Lay Eucharistic Ministers
  • Overhead projector operators for worship services

Outreach Opportunities

Outreach at Church of the Word has ongoing programs as well as unique monthly opportunities to serve.

The monthly outreach activities are small opportunities for the congregation to participate in and support areas of service such as the two local homeless shelters (Fauquier Family Shelter and The Barn), African Team Ministries, and support for missionaries in Tanzania and Kenya. These needs are usually announced at the start of a month and the donations collected are distributed at the beginning of the next month.

For more information on how you can help with our outreach programs, contact Susan Hilleary at 540-364-0132.

Pregnancy Resource Center News

For information and assistance, contact any of the following:
Manassas PRC at 703-330-1300 (e-mail: manassasprcc@verizon.net),
Warrenton PRC at 540-347-7770 (e-mail: warrentonprc@verizon.net), or
Woodbridge PRC at 703-670-5322 (e-mail: woodbridgeprc@verizon.net).

You can also go to the Care Net web site at http://www.care-net.org/.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven; A time to be born. -- Ecclesiastes 3:1-2.

Everything has its time, the author of Ecclesiastes reports. For the last thousand years, time has marched forward. And mankind has been anticipating the new millennium. Global events have happened exactly when and how God designed them. And personal events have also.

Nothing is more personal than the birth of a child. Perhaps that is why it is listed first in the passage in Ecclesiastes. For many, however, the surprise of an unplanned pregnancy cannot be accepted as part of God's perfect will.

Many times women, men, and families cannot imagine how to deal with this new life. They are scared to death about how the baby can fit into their plans. And unfortunately, death is the alternative solution chosen all too frequently. Each day, more than 3,300 unborn children are aborted and just as many women have their hearts scarred.

Here are the startling facts!

ANNUAL ABORTION STATISTICS

• In 2005 (the most recent year for which there is reliable data), approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).
• In 2001, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in NYC (91,792), Florida (85,589), and Texas (77,409); the fewest occurred in Idaho (738), South Dakota (895), and North Dakota (1,216) (CDC).
• There are 36 abortions per 1,000 live births in Idaho and 767 abortions for every 1,000 live births in NYC (CDC).
• Overall, the annual number of legal induced abortions in the United States increased gradually from 1973 until it peaked in 1990, and it generally declined thereafter (CDC).
• In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).
• The abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC).
• The national legal induced abortion ratio increased from 196 abortions per 1,000 live births in 1973 to 358 abortions per 1,000 in 1979 and remained nearly stable through 1981. The ratio peaked at 364 abortions per 1,000 live births in 1984 and since then has demonstrated a generally steady decline. In 2001, the abortion ratio was 246 abortions per 1,000 live births (for the states that reported, a 0.4% increase from 2000 (CDC).
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

• 82% of all abortions are performed on unmarried women (CDC).
• The abortion ratio for unmarried women is 572 abortions for every 1,000 live births. For married women it is 65 abortions for every 1,000 live births (CDC).
• Women between the ages of 20-24 obtained 33% of all abortions (CDC).
• 50% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25; women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all U.S. abortions and teenagers obtain 17% (AGI).
• Adolescents under 15 years obtained less than 1% of all abortions, but have the highest abortion ratio, 744 abortions for every 1,000 live births (CDC).
• 47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion (AGI).
• Black women are more than 4.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times as likely (AGI).
• 43% of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% identify themselves as Catholic (AGI).

WHY ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

• On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).

WHEN DO ABORTIONS OCCUR?

• 87% of all abortions happen during the first trimester, prior to the 13th week (AGI/CDC).

(For more information and statistics on abortion, go to http://www.abort73.com/.)

These millions of overwhelmed women do have a place to find help for themselves and life for their babies. Your local pregnancy resource center works alongside the church to speak words of love, truth, and compassion. Last year, women were helped some 300,000 times through the work of Christian-based centers associated with Care Net.

Tangible help through counseling, access to medical and adoption services, material support... and the message of the gospel changed lives, not just for this millenium, but for eternity.

Remember the women and babies that need Christian compassion to help them through their time of need. Consider joining with your local pregnancy resource center to reach one woman at a time with the right and Godly answer each one is so desperately seeking.

The need is great. Prince William County, with almost 250,000 residents, is 5th in the Commonwealth of Virginia in numbers of abortions performed. In 1996, 1,288 abortions were performed in this county. Forty-five percent of all teen pregnancies are being aborted each year in Prince William / Manassas / Manassas Park.

PRC Ministry Wish List:

• Cribs - We need cribs at both the Manassas and Warrenton Centers. (Yard sales are a great source for cribs, strollers, etc.)
• Video Tapes and Books - We are building educational tape and book libraries for all three centers. Anyone wishing to donate funds or materials can call a center for specific needs.
• Misc. Furniture - We are making our counseling areas more comfortable. Small tables, table lamps, and living room chairs that are not obviously outdated would be greatly appreciated.
• Computer Equipment - We are looking to update our hardware and software to prepare for growth and new ministry. Any usable computer equipment will be very helpful.
• Child Care Volunteers - We are expanding our classes and Bible study offerings to our clients. Many have small children that need care while they attend these meetings.