Inside This Issue:

2 Inside LVCC 3 Prayer in the Chapel 4 Enrichment 5 Children & Youth

6 Fellowship

7 Calendar

LAKEWOOD VILLAGE COMMUNITY CHURCHMAN MARCH 2016 A Note from our Pastor Dear Friends,

God is doing many precious and sacred things in our hearts during this Lenten season. As we enjoy the beauty of springtime, God's power, creativity and newness of life, we also see beautiful things coming forth from our hearts as we spend time with Him in quietness and devotion.

Joel 2:12 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart..."

We are helping ourselves spiritually, to move away from words or behaviors which are harmful or nonproductive, and into love, joy, peace, freedom and blessing.

We are helping our church community spiritually, to have more focus and power to have a positive impact on the lives of our brothers and sisters.

We are helping lost and hurting people spiritually, to have their eyes opened to the good news of Jesus' love, and our love in the Gospel, and to be saved, healed, delivered from evil, and to come into the fellowship of faith.

The last two Sundays of this month are Palm Sunday and Easter, with Holy Week in between. What a special time for us to consider all that God has done through Jesus Christ, to worship and rejoice, to proclaim the goodness of His salvation from day to day, to enjoy the beauty and creative power of this special season of new life.

Blessings, Pastor Steve

HOLY WEEK EVENTS

PALM & PASSION

SUNDAY

MARCH 20

8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m.

& 7:00 p.m.

We begin Holy Week waving

palm branches in celebration

of Jesus, OUR KING, who

reigns over all!

MAUNDY

THURSDAY -

MARCH 24

6:30 p.m.

Join us for the Service of

Tenebrae. We will eat a light

dinner and partake in

communion together as we

remember the last supper

and the passion of our Lord.

GOOD FRIDAY

MARCH 25

1:00 p.m. Traditional

7:00 p.m. Contemporary

There is no greater love than

Christ’s suffering for us on

the cross. During this service,

we fix our eyes on Jesus in

meditation and prayer.

EASTER SUNDAY - MARCH 27 6:00 a.m. SUNRISE SERVICE AT FOREST LAWN, CYPRESS

Sunrise service is a time to celebrate God’s redeeming love for us! The LVCC Chancel Choir, Steeple Singers, Praise Band and Voices of Praise Choir will all be singing His praises at dawn!

Come listen to “CLINGING TO THE WRONG BODY”. from the gifted and passionate Pastor Dwight Radliff.

EASTER BREAKFAST 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

After Sunrise service, head back over to LVCC with your friends and family to enjoy a delicious continental breakfast served in the Garden Room.

Breakfast will be served both before and after LVCC services.

EASTER SUNDAY SERVICES AT LVCC 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Resurrection Sunday continues at LVCC as we praise His name and give glory to God through music and scripture!

Pastor Steve Boggan will be preaching his reassuring sermon “HE WILL SWALLOW UP DEATH FOREVER”.

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INSIDE LVCC

Lent is a time of introspection and focus on our Lord, while Easter is a time of great rejoicing. This year, we will be collecting and distributing 25 baskets of food and Easter toys to families at the Ray Fletcher Outreach. It is a blessing to be involved with such a worthwhile program. Please consider a Lenten Commitment of donating food, candy or toys to help less fortunate families celebrate Easter.

We will be preparing the baskets on Sunday, March 20 after the 10:00 service. You will find boxes for donations of non-perishable items near the Sanctuary entrance where we will be graciously accepting:

Fillable plastic eggs Wrapped non-chocolate

candy Small toys & plush items Breakfast cereal Pop-tarts Boxed instant potatoes Gravy mix (dry packaged) Canned vegetables Canned fruit Muffin or cornbread mix Boxed dessert mix (cake,

cookies, brownies, etc)

The Missions Committee will add Ralphs gift cards for the purchase of meat. LVCC’s thoughtfulness and generosity truly change lives

Blessings, Chris Martin

Stephen Ministries has come to Lakewood Village Community Church. Last month, I along with three other devoted congregation members attended a 7 day 50 hour intensive training session in Orange through Stephen Ministries. The four of us were commissioned Stephen Ministry Leaders in a ceremony on February 21st in both services. If you were at either of the services you received a flyer about the Ministry. In short anyone who requests

spiritual or emotional help getting through a life crisis such as losing a family member, loss of a job, divorce, suffering from sickness, etc. can request a trained caregiver. This care giver will be paired up with the care receiver and will stay paired for as long as needed. Identities will be kept confidential and only the Pastor, caregiver, care receiver and referral coordinator will know the names of those involved. This care giver will meet with the care receiver once a week for an hour or so and give one on one strength to the receiver. It's like having a best friend that you can confide in and with Christ's love, help ease the pain and get you through your crisis. At the writing of this article we have finished the first few phases of setting up the ministry for our congregation and community and are almost at the stage where we will be asking for volunteers and training them to be Stephen Minister care givers. These care givers will also go through intensive training that we leaders will be doing. We as a congregation are so blessed by our Lord to have so many wonderful and caring people from which to recruit. Once the care givers are trained the next step will be to see who can benefit from this ministry. Please do keep in mind that we are only care givers and God is the cure giver. SM continued on page 3.

PROPERTY UPDATES I want to thank all who donated to the Sound System Upgrade. It is complete and I have received so many positive comments that I have to believe that God led us in the right direction.

We have removed the skunk from the premises. He was humanely relocated to the San Gabriel Mountains, hopefully never to return to our campus.

Based on the requests at the Congregation meeting we have purchased and installed an ice machine in the Fellowship Hall kitchen. I would ask that all of our members refrain from trying to adjust the settings on the ice machine as they are touchy. Please contact me if there is an issue (contact info below).

Next up on the property scene is a major upgrade to the Youth areas on the second story of the Fellowship Hall. The Hall was built over 50 years ago and while we have upgraded the main hall we have barely touched the Youth areas upstairs. Pastor Phillip has discussed this issue with the youth and has many ideas how we can bring the youth areas into the 21st century and attract new youth to our church.

I believe that the most important thing we can do to serve our Lord and Savior is to grow our church and thus spread God’s word. This can only be done by adding young families and youth to our congregation. So as Property Director, I am looking for church members to join a committee to plan for this renovation. Please contact me directly at church on Sundays, by email to sandersfam1@gmail.com or phone (562)522-1293 if you are interested in helping plan this project. A plea for funding will follow in the upcoming year. Wayne Sanders Property Director

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CONTRIBUTION UPDATE

Projected donations through 2/29/16:

$23,292

Actual donations through 2/21/16:

$18,146

Thank you for your contribution to this

great ministry!

PRAYER IN THE CHAPEL In Phil. 4:6 Paul says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” I am so thankful for all of you who have joined in our efforts to P U S H, Pray Until Something Happens.

It does not seem possible that we have been doing this now for over five months. When the idea of PUSH first came to mind, my visions was to get at least 100 people who would pray every day for our church growth. One hundred six people signed the book, and the last 5 signatures came from the Sunday school class. They came into the Whitman Chapel and I talked to them about prayer, how God really loved to hear from them, and I told them they were a very important part of our church. They all signed the book before they left the chapel. One little girl was absent that Sunday so her mother came to me the next week and asked me if she could sign the book because she wanted to a part of this also.

Next we had about a dozen people who joined together on Monday night or Thursday morning to do a prayer walk of our entire church property. We put feet to our prayers and prayed together, writing in our prayer journals the requests for growth of all the groups, their leaders, and events that take place every week on our site. The little LVCC prayer tree had over 30 ribbons tied to it as you reached out to each other and prayed for each other’s needs. The tree is still in the chapel and will be brought out for future needs. Next came the 24 Hours of Prayer. About 26 people participated in this event and many expressed to me they wanted to do it again. A couple of people even came back later that day to pray for another hour.

As a result of the Thursday morning prayer walk, we now have two Women’s Prayer groups meeting on Thursday morning and on Thursday evening. We have been going through the book Fervent, A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer. I am not a dramatic person, so when I say this book has changed my prayer life, I really mean it. The Thursday morning group is just finishing the book and will be talking about it in the Sunday morning service soon, so that is going to be very exciting for them and I hope for you also. The Thursday evening group has just gotten started, so you may hear from them in the future also. Between these two groups, we now have 13 amazingly strong prayer warriors praying for you, each other, and our church and community.

Our time of PUSH is coming to an end on Easter Sunday. But this is not the end, but rather a new beginning. We will contin-ue to pray without ceasing. The Sunday after Easter you will be given a very special gift, a small prayer box, in which you can write your prayers and pray over them every day. Once you see

the box, you will know why I sent out the request for empty Altoid boxes. The prayer boxes will be on a table outside the church entrance. Please take one and continue to PUSH. I thank God that His vision for PUSH was so much larger than mine. And to think, I just wanted 100 people to sign a book.

If you need prayer on Sunday, please come into the chapel so we can pray for you and your needs. I will be waiting just inside the door. Sandra Saldano

Our LVCC community is committed to serving those in need, both in and around our church. Do you or someone you know need a ride, a meal made with love, have something that needs fix-ing or need a visit from someone who cares? Call the church office today at 562-425-7411 and let us know how we can be of assistance.

SM continued from pg. 2. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak with your Stephen Ministry Leader team consisting of Norma Ellis, Pastor Phillip Davis, Cathi Beneschan, and myself, Joe Forgacs. We all are excited about this much needed ministry and have already devoted countless hours to its success. You can also visit their website and learn more at: www.stephenministries.org Yours in Christ, Joe

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TUESDAY

MORNING

BIBLE STUDY Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. in

the Crawford Room Come join us any time!

All are welcome!

Be blessed by the

Word of God

as we go through

the Book of Acts,

led by Pastor Steve.

WEDNESDAY

NIGHT CHRISTIAN

EDUCATION

CLASS

Light dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Class begins at 6:30 p.m.

Have you ever wondered

what gifts your Father in

heaven has given you?

Answer the what, where

and why of God’s calling

on your life

through this training series

on Christian Leadership.

To sign up or

if you have questions,

Contact Margo Treller at

562-420-3961 or

mtreller58@verizon.net

The Church liturgical year has colors associated with each season. Beginning with Advent, through Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, Pentecost, ordinary time (time not specifically devoted to one of the other seasons), and coming round back to Advent, we celebrate the seasons of the church year with colors and imagery.

Over 10 years ago, our former Pastor Richard Irving, asked me to consider beginning using paraments in the Church. The first pair was purchased, however since then I have made all the paraments used here at LVCC. I am currently working on a set of paraments and matching banners (those long ones which hang on either side of the cross.) in green to be used at ordinary time.

This parament & banner work has given me an opportunity to research church symbols and imagery. It has been a technical challenge to take a picture, drawing, or computer image and convert it into machine embroidery. From churches here in the US and the UK I have taken photographs and converted them into embroidery. The computer portion of this work runs into hundreds of hours. Once an image is ready to be sent to my Bernina embroidery sewing machine, it can be stitched out on a piece of material as close in weight and “hand” to the final material to be used. This is called a “trial stitch-out”. Ma-chine embroiders have a saying, “There are two kinds of machine embroider-ers; those who do a trial stitch-out, and those who wish they had.” No truer words….

The long banners were all purchased to match paraments I made. Unfortunately, they are no longer made. I am reproducing the green one from the three sets we own. I traced every letter from every word (different font sizes were used) using pattern-making fabric. Then I cut those out and traced them onto white paper. Our son, Tom (he’s one of our fellows in the sound room on Sunday morning) taught me how to enlarge or shrink the font of each letter on the computer. I had to change some of the letters in order to produce all I needed. An E will make an F, a R will make an P, and so on. Then I copied those paper letters onto permanent plastic pattern material. Next I used gold satin backed crepe material and backed it with Heat & Bond, a craft item which allows one to cut out shapes/letters & permanently bond them to another fabric.

The internet has allowed Pastor Steve and me to search for images of a cross and crown, and this is the next set of paraments which are currently in process. The internet has also allowed me to find bombazine; a material used in ladies dresses over 150 years ago. Bombazine is the perfect parament & banner material, as it hangs well, does not stretch out of shape, and works perfectly with machine embroidery designs. Hunting online I have found French gimp, the gold colored edging used on the banners.

The blue paraments (used for Music Appreciation Sunday and during ordinary time, also) are a perfect example of just always looking for images. That oval of embroidery is a wonderful poem found on the front cover of a piece of music our choir sings. The treble clef sign was hand-drawn for me by a friend in our Scottish Clan Society who is a graphic artist. All the images of treble clef signs I had found appeared cartoonish and he was able to create one for me which suited perfectly. And on the back of one of the paraments, I placed a small embroidered patch saying, “Created and Designed for the Glory of God, by Mary L. Reid” And that is precisely why I do this work, this labor of love.

Thank you for this opportunity. Mary.

ENRICHMENT

5

PARENT CAFÉ

POSITIVE PARENTING

CLASSES

10 WEEKS -WEDNESDAYS

These classes will teach parents/caregivers of all ages practical skills for

interacting with children. You will learn to parent with empathy and use

logical consequences from an experienced counselor

and parent educator. Topics will include:

Positive Discipline, Raising Independent Children,

Conflict Resolution, Sibling Rivalry and School Success

$15 per class Sliding scale available.

Register for any of these classes by calling

Nancy at 562-537-7390.

CHILDREN & YOUTH MINISTRY

This past month the youth group headed to Camp Pondo for winter camp! We took 14 of us up the mountain to get closer to God, have some fun, barely sleep, and make lasting memories. Thank you to everyone who prayed and supported us!

This month we will be having a fundraiser to raise money to help families send their kids to Camp Pondo this summer. So on March 12th come on out to our St. Patrick’s Day dinner! There will be some traditional Irish foods and you will have an opportunity to win some great gifts and prizes!

This March the youth group will also be doing the “Identity Theft” sermon series. This series aims to answer some of the biggest questions we ask our-selves: “Who am I, where do I belong, and what do I do with my life?” At the end of the series we will be throwing our Identity Theft party that has always been a hit. So be sure to pass the word along so others can join in!

As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Phillip. Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

PRESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE

MARCH 17 5:00 - 6:00 P.M. Come support the

amazing work of our teachers and see for

yourselves how blessed we are to

have a beautiful and well run preschool

on our campus.

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FELLOWSHIP AND MEETINGS

HEARTS & HANDS

Next Meeting: March 15

at 6:30 p.m. in the Garden Room

We will continue to plan the details of the SPRING TEA On April 24!

,

BOLSA CHICA WETLANDS HIKE

RE-CAP WOW ! What a perfect winter day it was at the Wetlands on Jan. 30th. We saw so many different types of birds, ducks, indigenous plants and cool informational nature boards. We took lots of pictures which can be enjoyed on our Facebook site! We also saw World War II gunning turrets that are still there! Last but not least, we saw the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Interpretive Center, which held awesome nature displays, tanks with cute fish, starfish, shark pods and much more! Little Miss Megan & Miss Elsa named the fish Spongebob & the starfish Patrick! We had a super time getting to know each other in God's great playground ! Thank you for hiking with recreation fami-lies of LVCC: Boggans, Davis', Reids, Marksburys, VanEpps, Sobschaks, Trellers, Bartlings, Rossmans and Tidwells! Recreation is about enjoying and appreciating our loving God's world. Participating in LVCC's recreation events is a won-derful & fun way to support and fellowship with one another!

Kirstin Tidwell, Director of Recreation

Saturday Nighters “WAR ROOM” Movie Night “A compelling drama with humor and heart

that explores the power that prayer can have.”

March 5, 2016

DINNER IS AT 5:00 P.M. AND OUR MOVIE BEGINS AT 6:00 P.M. IN THE GARDEN ROOM.

This is a must see movie and one you will not forget. Come at 5:00 p.m. for dinner and stay for the movie or arrive by

6:00 p.m. to watch the movie. Cost of dinner is a $5.00 donation per person.

We will have drinks and popcorn for all! Please RSVP if you are attending both or just the movie as we want to

make sure we have enough food and chairs set-up for everyone!

Please RSVP to Betty or Joe Forgacs Phone or text 562-230-6365 or email Baforgacs@aol.com Phone or text 562-230-6364 or email Jforgacsjr@aol.com

.

JOIN LVCC WEDNESDAY MORNING

WALKERS! We will meet every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in the church parking lot. We will

walk for about an hour around the neighborhood and local parks.

Bring a friend! All are welcome! For further questions contact

Kirstin at: 562-301-1009 or email kirstinat@verizon.net.

Pageant of Our Lord Experience it. Believe it.

Friday March 18, 2016 Rolling Hills Covenant Church

2222 Palos Verdes Drive, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274

Show Starts: 7:30 p.m. - Cost: $20 Please RSVP to Kirstin Tidwell at

kirstinat@verizon.net or 562-301-1009 Children under 6 years old not admitted.

If you need a ride, let Kirstin know! For more information, visit:

http://pageantofourlord.com/

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

28 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YOUTH WINTER CAMP

8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE

11:00 AM Easter Musical Reh., Choir Room

29 8:45 AM Chapel, CC 9:00 AM Work Crew

1 11:00 AM BIBLE STUDY, CR

2 6:30 AM Men's Breakfast 9:00 AM LVCC Walkers 6:00 PM ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Series/BIBLE STUDY, GR 6:00 PM Youth Group, UFH 7:30 PM Parenting Group, CR

3 7:30 AM & 6:00 PM Women's Prayer Group, GR

7:30 PM Chancel Choir Reh., CC

4 World Day of Prayer

5 9:30 AM Parenting Class, CR 6:00 PM Saturday Nighters “WAR ROOM” Movie Night, GR

6 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Girl Scout Sunday Youth Sunday

8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE

11:00 AM Easter Musical Reh., Choir Room 11:15 AM Music Committee Meeting, Library

7 8:45 AM Chapel, CC 9:00 AM Work Crew 7:00 PM Deacon's Meeting, CR

8 11:00 AM BIBLE STUDY, CR

9 6:30 AM Men's Breakfast 9:00 AM LVCC Walkers 6:00 PM ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Series/BIBLE STUDY, GR 6:00 PM Youth Group, UFH 7:30 PM Parenting Group, CR

10 7:30 AM & 6:00 PM Women's Prayer Group, GR 7:30 PM Chancel Choir Reh., CC

11 12 YOUTH St. Patrick's Day Fundraiser

9:00 AM Ladies' Breakfast Club, Hof's Hut

9:30 AM Parenting Class, CR

13 CAMP FIRE SUNDAY

Daylight-Saving Time Begins FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM WORSHIP SERVICE

11:00 AM Easter Musical Reh., Choir Room 11:15 AM Board of Director's Meeting, CR

14 8:45 AM Chapel, CC 9:00 AM Work Crew

15 11:00 AM BIBLE STUDY, CR 6:30 PM Hearts and Hands, GR

16 6:30 AM Men's Breakfast 9:00 AM LVCC Walkers 6:00 PM ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Series/BIBLE STUDY, GR 6:00 PM Youth Group, UFH 7:30 PM Parenting Group, CR

17 St. Patrick's

Day 7:30 AM & 6:00 PM Women's Prayer Group, GR

5:00 PM Preschool Open House

7:30 PM Chancel Choir Reh., CC

18 5:00 PM Pageant of The Lord- Field Trip

19 9:30 AM Parenting Class, CR 12:00 PM Easter Egg Hunt & BBQ

20 First Day of Spring

Palm Sunday

8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM WORSHIP SERVICE

**Children Sing at 10:00 a.m.** 11:15 AM Missions Easter Baskets

21 8:45 AM Chapel, CC 9:00 AM Work Crew

22 9:15 AM Preschool Easter Chapel, S 11:00 AM BIBLE STUDY, CR 12:45 PM Preschool Easter Chapel, S

23 6:30 AM Men's Breakfast 9:00 AM LVCC Walkers 9:15 AM Preschool Easter Chap-el, S 6:00 PM ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Series/BIBLE STUDY, GR 6:00 PM Youth Group, UFH 7:30 PM Parenting Group, CR

24 Maundy Thursday

7:30 AM & 6:00 PM Women's Prayer Group, GR

6:30 PM SERVICE of Tenebrae with light supper and communion

25 Good Fri-day 1:00 PM GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE traditional 7:00 PM GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE contemporary

26 9:00 AM Men's Break-fast Club, Hof's Hut 9:30 AM Parenting Class, CR

27 EASTER SUNDAY

6:00 AM SUNRISE SERVICE (FOREST LAWN, CYPRESS)

8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE

28 8:45 AM Chapel, CC 9:00 AM Work Crew

29 11:00 AM BIBLE STUDY, CR

30 6:30 AM Men's Breakfast 9:00 AM LVCC Walkers 6:00 PM ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Series/BIBLE STUDY, GR 6:00 PM Youth Group, UFH 7:30 PM Parenting Group, CR

31 7:30 AM & 6:00 PM Women's Prayer Group, GR

7:30 PM Chancel Choir Reh., CC

1

2 6:00 PM Saturday Nighters, GR

MARCH CALENDAR

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RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Tel: 562-425-7411

Fax: 562-429-6122

E-mail: info@thelvcc.org

We’re online!

www.thelvcc.org

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Long Beach, CA Permit No. 317

LVCC Nursery School

562-421-4486

THE

COMMUNITY

CHURCHMAN

2016

4515 Sunfield Avenue

Long Beach, CA 90808

COME WORSHIP WITH US!

SUNDAYS 8:30 A.M. & 10:00 A.M.

(TRADITIONAL WORSHIP)

(Childcare and Sunday School available

during the 10:00 a.m. service time)

SUNDAY EVENINGS

7:00 P.M.

(INFORMAL WORSHIP)