middle school meltdown: so many wins for students!
A group of 33 students and seven leaders embarked on a wintry journey to Winter Meltdown at Forest Springs last weekend. They experienced God alongside hundreds of other middle schoolers from around the midwest. A lot of fun and community building takes place on a weekend like this for our students every year! It is our hope and prayer that our students catch the longing for what camp is as they get ready for our weeklong summer camp - Camp Getaway on June 12-17 - which is the most impactful week of the ministry at middle school. (Parents, mark your calendar for that impactful week!) Thank you for all your prayers and support to make this possible for each and every middle school student in this life-changing weekend.
Lent at Five Oaks: Bring God back to the center
Do you ever feel as though life gets a bit busier each day? Sometimes the tasks of the day fill our time before we make room for God and Scripture. This upside down template may seem fulfilling for awhile, as the busier we are, sometimes the less relevant God seems. Lent is a time for reflection and renewal. If you’d like to flip the script and get God back to the center, join us on Thursday evenings at 7 pm, starting March 2, for our Lent services. We’ll equip you with a reminder of the foundational teachings of our faith and reasons why it matters to bring God with you into every day. Childcare provided.
Serve your neighbor in need at Dorothy Day
If you’d like to make a difference to our neighbors in St. Paul, join us to prepare and serve a meal at the Dorothy Day Center on Saturday, March 4, 9:30 am-1:15 pm. Interested? Put “Dorothy Day” on your connect card, or email Cindy and Tim Wiant, wiynts4@sbcglobal.net. Tim and Cindy will get back to you with confirmation of your spot on our team for this date. Volunteers need to be at least 14 years old.
Interested in membership at Five Oaks?
Membership is important at Five Oaks. It’s a way of saying, “I want to be part of the mission of this local church.” If you have a personal relationship with Christ AND you have completed the Story of God class, we would love to have you join us for our membership class on March 5 at 9 am. Details and registration here. Questions? Email Emily Brewer, ebrewer@fiveoakschurch.org.
Ladies, let’s have brunch
Five Oaks Women invites you to our monthly TABLE gathering on March 1, 9:30-11:30 am. Invite a friend or neighbor and enjoy a morning of delicious food and guided conversation around the TABLE with other ladies. This is a great opportunity to connect with others and reconnect with old friends. Put “TABLE” on your connect card for more info, or register here. Childcare provided for birth through preschool.
Be prepared for key events in your child’s spiritual journey
We want to partner with you in the faith milestones of your family. Our milestone classes are designed to do just that. If you have a young child and would like to participate in our Family Dedication, join us March 19, 9 am, for our Dedications class. At 10:45 on March 19 we’ll have a Baptism & Communion class. These classes will help equip you for conversations in your family on these important topics. To register for either class, email Kelly Bauman.
Five Oaks Students: Our special needs ministry is growing
If you have a heart for differently-abled students, we may have a way for you to share your gifts on Wednesday night with Five Oaks Students. We have a need right now for adults with your gifting to work directly with some of our special needs students. We’d like to invite you to shadow a volunteer at youth group for a week or two to see if it’s a good fit for you. If you’d like to start this conversation or jump in on shadowing, email students@fiveoakschurch.org.
New series for men’s ministry: Forgotten God
Men, we want to invite you on a continued journey to learn about the Holy Spirit. Would listening to the Holy Spirit be a welcome change or more like an interruption to your life? Journeymen is starting a video series based on the book, Forgotten God, from Francis Chan, that will equip you to engage in your relationship with the Holy Spirit and help you reorder priorities as God would have you do. Email Jonathan Haage for more info.
Leading others through community
Do you love to help new people connect in relationships? Do you love helping facilitate people growing in their faith? Small groups are one of the major ways we connect with our church family and grow in our faith. If you are interested in helping lead or co-lead a small group, we would love to help you do that. We have training and resources to ensure you are equipped and prepared to lead well! Email Jonathan Haage with questions or to start the conversation about this much-needed role of leadership.
Do you enjoy social media?
We know that one of the many ways we stay connected to our church body is through our social media outlets on Facebook and Instagram. If you engage with social media regularly, consider joining our social media team! We provide training, resources, and a well-organized schedule of content to our volunteers. We’d love your creativity and willingness to help us stay connected and discipling our readers! Email Stephanie Kiel for more info.
Daily rhythm of Scripture
Would you like to be a part of helping hundreds in our church engage in Scripture daily? Well you can, by joining our DailyLife writing team. You write a few short devotionals every 4ish weeks in line with the scripture from the current series we are in. It’s a great way to serve from anywhere and on your own schedule. Plus, we have a writing mentor to help you on-ramp, we provide lots of resources, and you’ll be coached in our writing process! Email Jonathan Haage to learn more.
Way to be the hands and feet of Jesus!
A few weeks ago, 105 Five Oakers helped to pack 14,256 meals at our Feed My Starving Children event, which will feed 39 kids for an entire year! It was fun to see so many faces and ages spanning from our younger to more seasoned church family! It was a great day serving together and praying over the meals we packed. Be on the lookout for our next event in October!
Enjoy cleaning? Bless a family in the process!
We want to support and come alongside those who are fostering or have adopted, but it can be hard to know where to start. Our Foster and Adopt ministry here at Five Oaks has implemented a group of people called a “Care Community” as a way of tangibly supporting a family who is fostering or adopting. We are currently looking for a volunteer or small team to go and help with house cleaning for a foster family in our church. This would be an ongoing, once-per-month commitment. Interested or want to know more about Care Communities? Email Will & CarrieAnn Standfest at foster@fiveoakschurch.org.