celebrate good times…c’mon!
For the past seven years, our men’s ministry has hosted a retreat in late January that usually draws in 60+ men ranging from teenagers to age 70+. This event is always high on fun, relaxation, discussion and inspiration from their speaker and breakout sessions. This year, our women’s ministry launched their first women’s retreat in late February. Over 80 ladies showed up and were blessed by the wintry wonderland, shared testimonies, learning from the weekend speaker, and time with new friends and old. This weekend we celebrate all the wins from these events, and we give special thanks to Matt Karasek and Kathleen Miller, the volunteer leaders of these ministries, and all the effort they and their teams put into planning each retreat. If you’d like to get involved, email Kathleen Miller for Five Oaks Women or Matt Karasek for Journeymen.
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 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.
No Five Oaks Students this Wednesday!
We’re taking a break for spring break this week – so no youth group on March 8. We can’t wait to see your student(s) again on March 15! If you’re new to Five Oaks, our youth group meets every Wednesday at 6-8 pm for middle school and 7-9 pm for high school. We always sell snacks and offer a supper option for purchase. Questions? Email students@fiveoakschurch.org.
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.
Global 6K: save the date!
It’s hard for us to imagine, but over 1000 kids die each day due to lack of clean water, and many women and children around the world walk 3+ miles each day to collect the only water they have access to - unclean water that makes them sick and causes those deaths. You can help make a difference in the lives of these kids and families by being a part of our annual Team World Vision Global 6K for Water event at Colby Lake Park on May 20. Save the date! Sign-up details will be coming soon.
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.