Messenger | April 30, 2025

 This week's release at a glance:

• Pastor’s Message
• Pray in May
• Grab a Slice & Support WoodsWork
• A Night at the Opera
• Adult Class on the Life of the Apostle Paul
• Pastors’ Bible Study
• Get Ready for VBS
• Mother’s Day Food Drive to Support SPAN
• Ministry of Hope-Malawi Team has a Wonderful Problem!
• Open Dance Classes
• Funeral Service for Paul Jones
• Softball Game vs. Heritage Church
• Langton Green Produce Baskets
  

Pastor's Message

People sometimes think that church life slows down after Easter, but while that might be true at other churches, it’s definitely not true here at Woods! May will be a very busy month for us, in fact. This Sunday alone we will have Communion at both services and a baptism at 11AM; The Confirmation class has their retreat on May 4 and Confirmation Sunday will be May 18; a new adult education series has started on Sundays at 11AM on the Apostle Paul; the coed church softball team has started up again; WoodsWork is racing through their final preparations in May for a week of building homes in Ohio in June; our Night at the Opera evening event is on Saturday, May 10; the annual stewardship campaign is kicking off; the Senior Fellowship group has an event planned for Friday, May 30. Whew! And that’s not even everything going on here! And, of course, there’s Mother’s Day, and college graduations, and the start of boating season, and… you get the point.

Which is why I want to highlight that our Children’s Ministry has brought back their Pray in May initiative for another year. Each day in May, they have identified something in our church or in our lives or in the world for us to pray for that day. I want to encourage everyone to join in this opportunity for spiritual focus and growth, especially given everything that is going on. It’s said that, during the height of the early Protestant Reformation, when there was so much to do and so much chaos to contend with, Martin Luther would say, “I’m far too busy to spend less than two hours in prayer!” Luther knew that the busier he was and the more important things he had to do, the more he needed to anchor himself in God’s presence and will for strength and guidance, so that his busyness was purposeful and centered in his ministry. While two hours is commendable, Pray in May only requires a few minutes, but the point is the same: to anchor ourselves in God’s presence and will for strength and guidance, so that our lives are purposeful and centered in our ministry.

You can pick up the Pray in May worksheet at the Welcome Desk in the church lobby, or contact the church office at info@woodschurch.org to request a PDF version that you can print at home. I hope you will join in to Pray in May as we go through so many exciting activities in the life of the church!

Peace and blessings,

—Pastor J.C.

Church News

Pray in May

Prayers were submitted by many of the ministries of Woods Church for our Pray in May initiative. These include the Property Ministry that maintains the facility, the HR Ministry that supports the staff and staffing of the church, the Nominating Ministry that invites members to participate in leadership roles, the Child Development Center that cares for and serves young children, the Mission Ministry that extends the love of God to others, the Youth Ministry that serves middle and high school students who play-pray-serve in the name of Jesus Christ, the Children's Ministry that serves children and their families by offering resources for faith and helping them participate in the life of Woods Church.

Download a copy of the poster or pick one up at the Welcome Desk. Heart stickers are available to help you mark a path of love through the month.

Grab a Slice & Support WoodsWork

Support our WoodsWork 2025 youth mission team by eating at MOD Pizza on Thursday, May 1!

Bring in the flyer or use the code MODGIVES25 online, and 25% of your total will go to support WoodsWork, our house building mission trip for High School youth. We hope to see you there on May 1!

A Night at the Opera

Join us Saturday, May 10, for an enchanting evening of music and fine dining! Over a delicious spaghetti dinner, enjoy performances by talented opera singers: Soprano Kimberly Christie, Bass/Baritone Jason Buckwalter, Bass Shouvik Mondle, Alto Jennifer Cooper, and Tenor David Merrill as they serenade you with popular opera arias and classic musical theater songs.

Dinner Menu: Spaghetti, salad, bread, and dessert

Doors Open: 5:30PM

️Dinner Begins: 6PM

Performance Starts: 6:30PM

️Tickets: $25

For questions, please email Pam Ward at pward@woodschurch.org.

Children's News

Get Ready for VBS!

Register today for Vacation Bible Study! This year’s program will be held July 14–17, 4–7PM, with dinner at 6:30PM.

Education & Small Groups

Adult Class on the Life of the Apostle Paul

Adult Education will be offering a study on Sundays through June 8, 11AM, featuring The Call: The Life of the Apostle Paul by Adam Hamilton.

Follow the journeys of Paul, beginning with his dramatic conversion, as he spread the Gospel through modern-day Greece and Turkey. Travel to the early church sites and explore Paul’s conversations with the new believers. In this six-week study, you are invited to experience faith through Christ’s greatest teacher and missionary.

Join us in the Office Conference Room and on Zoom. Books are available in the office.

Pastors’ Bible Study

Lead Pastor J.C. Austin and Associate Pastor Nancy Lincoln Reynolds offer a weekly Bible Study on Wednesdays, 12PM, to examine the upcoming Sunday’s scripture readings before they are presented in worship.

Join us on Zoom and gain a new understanding of scripture and enhance your worship experience.

Mission News

Mother’s Day Food Drive to Support SPAN

There is an urgent need to help stock the shelves at SPAN for the summer, when donations are not as plentiful. There will be tables set up near the SPAN bins behind the Welcome Desk on Sundays, May 4 & 11.

Please help by donating the following items that SPAN needs most during the summer:

• Canned meat and fish
• Peanut butter and jelly
• Tuna and Hamburger Helper
• Instant and canned white and sweet potatoes
• Pancake mix and syrup
• Oatmeal
• Cereal
• Coffee and tea
• Pasta
• Pasta sauce and other canned tomato products
• Canned vegetables and beans
• Soap and shampoo
• Deodorant
• Toothpaste
• Paper towels
• Laundry detergent
• Dish soap
• All-purpose cleaner
  

Ministry of Hope-Malawi Team has a Wonderful Problem!

We have already had donations totaling eight Medical MAP Packs and more than 100 pairs of shoes for vulnerable children and adults of Ministry of Hope (MOH). A huge THANK YOU to Woods CDC families who donated 88 pairs of shoes!

Now we need suitcases to transport these items. Thanks to Ethiopian Airlines, each mission traveler is allowed three bags, so the team can take 21 suitcases. International bags can total 62 linear inches—length (including wheels) + width + depth. Suitcases as close to the maximum size as allowed are much appreciated.

If you have a large suitcase you no longer use that we could take to transport supplies and then donate to secondary or college students at MOH for their use, we would love to have them. If you prefer that one of your large bags travels to Africa and returns, we will be grateful for a loan. Please contact Pat Johnson at paj10041949@gmail.com or 410.544.3718.

Zikomo Kwambiri (Thank you very much).

Music Notes

Open Dance Classes

Join our Worship Ministry for a series of free dance classes on Sundays through June 1, 2–3:15PM, in Fellowship Hall! Professional teachers will offer a variety of dance styles—including jazz, musical theater, contemporary, tap, yoga, and more! Open to anyone ages 12 and over in and outside the Woods community.

All experience levels are welcome, though classes will be taught at an intermediate level with options for beginners and advanced students.

For more information please email Alyssa Barlis at alyssabarlis@gmail.com.

Church Family News

Funeral Service for Paul Jones

A Service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held for Woods member Paul Jones will be held at Woods Church on Friday, May 2, 1PM, in the Sanctuary. A reception will follow in Fellowship Hall.

Please keep Paul’s daughter, Amy Buxton, and all family and friends in your prayers.

In Our Community

Game Day vs. Heritage Church

Game On! This Sunday, May 4, 2PM, we’re taking the field against Heritage Church at Elvaton #1.

No experience required and you already made the team! Qualifications include: you must bring a smile, and be at least 16 years of age by December 31. No full-time commitment is necessary.

If you are interested, contact Scott Wiley at 410.353.1491 or wilecoy2us@gmail.com.

Langton Green Produce Baskets

Langton Green, one of our mission partners, is an Anne Arundel County–based residential community that supports neurodivergent adults. They are offering produce baskets from June–October. For more information, see the attached flyer

A Moment of Prayer

Mighty and Life-giving God,

By your grace-filled power and with your wondrous love for us, you raised your Son Jesus from the dead. With his resurrection, you have forever trampled the force of death and you have opened the gate of abundant and everlasting life.

By your grace, Lord God, transform us to be your Easter people. In your Spirit, inspire us to be witnesses to the presence of the Risen Christ among us. Confirm in us, the assurance of his presence with us, here in all of our brokenness, here in this life where we ought to see his face in the tired and the poor and the stranger and the other.

In seeing him, inspire and strengthen us to work in and for his kingdom: a kingdom where the hungry are fed and children are welcomed; where the sick are healed; where sins are forgiven and prisoners are set free; where those who mourn are comforted, and the peacemakers are blessed, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are forever satisfied; where the nations are healed, and where war is learned no more; where the dead are raised from the grave and gather forever around the throne of your grace.

We offer these prayers, as we would live, in the name of the Risen Christ, whose resurrection unleashes our salvation.