Free family fun awaits
As the pace of life picks up in the fall, family time can feel fractured. Fall Fun Fest is a free event for your family in October that is both easy to love and easy to invite neighbors and friends to attend with you. You can look forward to pumpkin decorating, a cake walk, crazy hair, donut on a rope, and new this year -- movies, Bingo, and free dinner for your family at the start of the night! October 26, 6-9 pm (dinner from 6-7). More invite cards and flyers are available at the ministry cart in the Commons this weekend. Oh and yes, it’s all free. Madcap!
Fall Fun Fest: We’d love your help!
We need YOU to help make our 4th annual Fall Fun Fest the best one yet! An event of this size requires over 150 willing sets of hands to implement. New this year — to make this even MORE fun, the first 5 volunteers to sign up on this link will receive Punch Pizza gift cards at the event! And, all volunteers who serve at the event will be eligible to win a $100 Family Movie Night at the Marcus Theatre in Oakdale! Click here to sign up to serve now! (Yes, it’s the same link!) Questions? Please contact Pam Hawley, phawley@fiveoakschurch.org.
Hey middle and high schoolers, bring your friends on Wednesday nights
School is back in swing, and we know you’re busy with sports, activities, and homework. But Wednesday evenings we’d love to see you and your friends from school join us at Five Oaks from 6-8 pm for a break from your responsibilities. Be ready for crazy fun games, worship, time in small groups with others your age, and a chance to connect. We even sell dinner each week in the Acorn Cafe if you’re tight on time. See you on Wednesday!
Help Five Oaks make a difference at Feed My Starving Children!
At Five Oaks we know that you want to be a difference-maker and not a spectator. Creating change is within your reach! Join us as we partner with Feed My Starving Children and our entire community to help pack Five Million Meals at HealthEast Sports Center in October. This is both a great opportunity to serve as a family —ages 5 and up are welcome— and a chance to reach out to your friends and neighbors. Inviting them to join you is an easy way to involve them in what is important to you. Help our Five Oaks community create hope for children across the world in desperate need.
We’re encouraging our Five Oaks family to serve together at one of two shifts: Use one of these links to sign up:
Five Oaks Church First Shift: Saturday, October 6, 3-5 pm
http://volunteer.fmsc.org/Register/Group/JoinGroup.aspx?gid=1492063
Five Oaks Church Second Shift: Saturday, October 6, 6-8:30 pm
http://volunteer.fmsc.org/Register/Group/JoinGroup.aspx?gid=1492953
We can do more together
We know that life is better when we’re connected. How is God nudging you to connect with others this fall? A small group? Women’s ministry? For guys, how about Journeymen? Each of these avenues offers ways to get connected and form meaningful relationships. To learn more, email Jonathan Haage, jhaage@fiveoakschurch.org.
Women: Join us October 3 for the TABLE
Join us for a morning of fellowship and guided conversation as we share a meal with other women like you. This is a chance to both connect with other women and to invite your neighbors! Wednesday ,October 3, 9:15-11:30. RSVP by clicking here. All are welcome!
Attend a family milestone class this fall
We want to help you be equipped and prepared to journey through the key events in your child's/student's spiritual journey. This fall we have three milestone classes to help you journey well as a family.
•The Family Dedication milestone (October 7) will help you start your journey as a family. To register, please click here.
•The Communion/Baptism milestone (October 14) will help equip you for meaningful conversations with your student about salvation, following Jesus, and what baptism and communion have to do with that. To register, please click here.
•Preparing to Launch (October 28), our newest milestone, will help juniors, seniors and their parents prepare for their final years in high school. To register, please click here.
If you have further questions about any of these classes or need help registering, please email family@fiveoakschurch.org.
Join our Reach 1 Family Facebook group to share invite ideas
Got a new neighbor? A family from soccer? The family of your son or daughter’s newest friend from school? These relationships, some new to you and others not, provide a great opportunity for you to invite them into something new in their lives.
As followers of Christ, we’ve experienced great freedom in Christ, and so in theory we should throw the best parties. But, sometimes we feel ill-equipped to invite others to church for any number of reasons.
To help build your confidence in inviting others, consider joining our Reach 1 Family group on Facebook. We need you to join this group so you can share your insights and successes with inviting others, and joining will also give you new ideas and strategies.
We plan to use these ideas to invite those “new” families in our lives to join us at one of our great church parties, the Five Oaks Church Fall Fun Fest on October 26. Click here to go straight to our Reach 1 Family Group and join.
Discover your part in the Story of God
Most people find the Bible confusing, even lifelong readers, because most of us don’t understand how it all fits together to tell one story. In Story of God, this six-week experience will offer you a knowledgeable framework for the Bible, help you read it with greater understanding, and make room for your tough questions. Not only can you expect honest answers, but also you can look forward to a practical, realistic approach to reading the Bible for the rest of your life. This is a great way to connect with others in your Story of God cohort, too. For more info on classes starting this fall, visit storyofgod.church.
It’s just a phase: Don’t miss the Phase Small Group
Your kids move in and out of phases as they grow and mature, and we don’t want to miss any of them. If you are interested in joining the Phase Small Group that will meet starting this fall during our Saturday services at church, please email Cindy Yarrington, cyarrington@fiveoakschurch.org. She will send you more details.
Five Oaks book club
Do you love to read? Join us at our book club to discuss our monthly reading choice and meet others from church who also love a good book.
When: Second Tuesday of every month
Time: 6:45 pm - discussion at 7 pm
Where: Five Oaks Church, Fireside Commons
New members are welcome throughout the year. Join anytime. Please message Carie Jorgenson on Realm to find out what our upcoming titles will be and to ask any questions about joining us!
Save the date for our Annual Congregational Meeting
You may be thinking, “Annual meeting? Ho hum…” Well, ho hum no more. Join us November 11 at 4 pm for a short business meeting, shared vision from Pastor Henry and ministry leaders, and heavy appetizers for all following. Definitely not the annual meeting you remember from your childhood…
Community News
Attention Retreat families!
Fall is such a fun season for family events, but for families with differently-abled kids, many of these events are difficult, if not impossible to navigate. Join us at Rockpoint Church for a Joni and Friends corn maze and fall fun day! Enjoy an afternoon of food, games, fellowship, and a corn maze created with disabilities in mind. Sunday, October 7 at Rockpoint Church, 5825 Kelvin Ave., Lake Elmo. Games open from 2-5 pm; light dinner served at 5 pm. Please RSVP to Joni and Friends at 952-933-7777 or email cnardini@joinandfriends.org.
Help wanted: Your home!
Perhaps you’ve considered hosting an exchange student, but you’re worried about a long-term commitment, or a bad match, or maybe you think you’re too busy to adequately share our culture with an exchange student. Here is an opportunity to bless a college student for less than a month. You can invite a Japanese college student studying at Bethel University this winter (February 16th - March 12th) to be a part of your family! Many of these students are hungry for the comforts of home, and they want to participate with your family in your own kind of “busy!” Share your love and faith with your student, and you'll plant a seed. Your student takes classes during the day and spends the evenings with you. Transportation help to/from Bethel is provided as well as a stipend. For information contact, Lisa Bekemeyer, lbekemeyer@me.com or 651-253-9498.
Grandparents make an eternal difference
You matter in the lives of your grandchildren! This phase of life offers you opportunities to influence in ways you maybe never considered as a parent. Join other Five Oaks grandparents as we attend a seminar New Life Church in Woodbury just for grandparents like you. October 27, 7:30-3:30. Click here for more info and to register.
French student looking for a Minnesota home next summer
Do you have room in your life for an athletic 16 year-old French boy for a month during the summer of 2019? He loves sports, reading, technology, and is looking forward to seeing Minnesota sights and culture. For more details, please email Dan Ellingson, dan.ellingson@gmail.com.