YOUTH CHOIR ADDS TO WORSHIP

What do you get when the Washington Brazilian Youth Choir leads worship with the New Hope praise and worship team? A close match to what heaven will be like.

God's powerful presence was clearly felt on Sabbath.

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CHURCH BOARD RETREAT

The church board of New Hope met on Sunday, September 14. The purpose of the retreat was to begin the discussion on developing future initiatives for the church. During the morning worship, Pastor Newman emphasized the greatest contribution a church board could make is to focus on evangelism.

The full day session was facilitated by Pastor's Ann Roda and Jose Hernandez. They led the group through an intensive process called, Connections, to help the leaders of church discover their spiritual gifts.

The day was filled with prayer and affirmation as the leaders worked together as a team.

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HAITI NEEDS NEW HOPE'S HELP

Haiti Needs Our Help after tropical storms Fay and Hanna, then hurricanes Gustav and Ike (all within 30 days). A team from New Hope will travel with Charles Lemorzellec (Eden Garden Orphanage) to distribute food to the village near the orphanage. The village is cut off from food supplies. We are taking a special collection in Kingdom Kids (SS and Kids Church) to buy rice and beans for the people. Visit the SOS-Haiti table on September 20 for more information or www.http://www.edenchildren.info

ARE WE EVANGELISTS?

Thom S. Rainer in his book, The Unchurched Next Door (2003), asked the formerly unchurched what person was the greatest influence in your becoming a Christian (pp. 204-205).

Family Members 42%
No One 25%
Other 17%
Coworker 08%
Neighbor 06%
Merchant 02%

Then they asked which family member was the most influential in you becoming a Christian.

Wife 35%
Child 18%
Parents 16%
Siblings 05%
Parent's in Law 02%

Husbands reaching wives was virtually a nonfactor.

SEMINARS YOU CAN USE

DEADLINE EXTENDED for the ACS Supervision Series!

A few spaces are still available in the Management Skills: Supervision , a four-part series of skill-building workshops for new and experienced managers. Experts in management and life-coaching will address: The Impact of Generational Differences; Managing Conflict; Supervising the Difficult Employee; and The Role of Coaching. Sessions will run consecutive Thursdays, September 18 – October 9 from 8:30 – 11:30 am. To register or for more information, visit our website at www.acshoco.org, or contact Joan Driessen at joan.driessen@acshoco.org or 410-715-9545.

EMERGENCY! How Volunteers Can Help Your Organization Weather the Storm On September 8 at 1:00 pm, Pamela Simonson of The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County will discuss steps that your organization can take to ensure that you can function during an emergency, and how volunteers can be recruited and incorporated into your plan. This informal discussion is informative and free but does require registration.

The State of Public Health in Howard County will be presented by Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County Health Officer. Dr Beilenson will provide an update on the current state of health, the challenges we face in the next year, and the services and initiatives designed to address them. This meeting will be on Wednesday, September 17 from 12:00 noon-1:30 pm at The Meeting House in Oakland Mills.

The Gavel Group, a forum for Board Presidents, will hold their quarterly meeting on October 10^th from 7:45 am – 9:15 am at the ACS office. The focus of this meeting will be on the board’s role in fundraising.

For more information on any of these programs, please call us at 410-715-9545, or visit our website at www.acshoco.org.