Pastor Matt made the following announcement before service the worship services on April 23.
“Here are some highlights from the quarterly joint meeting with elders and deacons at the beginning of April:
Forestgate is going solar. Our deacons recommended to us that we purchase solar panels so that we will save money long-term on our electrical bills.
The panels will cost a lot up front, but we’re getting a very large federal rebate. With all things considered, we expect to recoup that cost in the next 7-12 years through the money we will save (i.e. money we won’t have to pay) on our monthly electrical bills. And after that, we’ll be saving money every month, possibly for as long as 13-18 years.
The Session would like to thankss the deacons for their patience with us as we waited to decide, as we asked them several questions that they had already researched. We’re excited about this, and we’re glad we were able to use God’s money wisely. We pray that He will continue to enable us to make wise decisions, financially and in every aspect of Forestgate’s life and ministry.
Rocky Mountain Presbytery meets here at Forestgate on Thursday. If you’d like to attend the worship service at 1pm or the meeting to follow, please come. Thank you to those who’ve volunteered to help.
Our new Assistant Pastor of Youth and Families Josh Harstine will be taking his ordination exams on Thursday. Please pray for him. (Update: He passed with flying colors, and his first day at Forestgate was May 1.)
As a reminder, the welcome table for the Harstines is still out in the lobby.
Please take this opportunity to encourage the Harstines through your generosity.
Almost 8 years ago, my family and I were the recipients of your generosity through the “pounding”, a pound of this and that for our pantry. And you guys went above and beyond. It was so encouraging. There were household staples (paper towels, laundry detergent and more) that we did not buy for at least a year after we moved to town. Thank you for that, and I hope you’ll take the opportunity to do that for the Harstines – Go see Lisa Brandt for details and sign up for several things.
Lastly, just some brief notes about staffing: We continue to be thankful that Gracie Brandt will be continuing on with us as our music director. We made that announcement several weeks ago, but just in case you missed it, we wanted to say thanks once again.
Pastor Stephen and I are happy to keep Gracie on board, and happy to add Josh to the team very soon.
Pastor Matt also recognized our volunteers
“I’ve said before: ‘Forestgate is nothing without her volunteers.’ So we want to take a moment to honor our volunteers from each of the following Ministry Teams:
- Christian Education Team (including all of our SS teachers, and Children’s church)
- Coffee Team
- Communications Team
- Community Groups (leaders, hosts; including small group Bible studies of any size)
- Deacons (and Deacon Assistants)
- Our Elders
- Engagement Ministry Team (or local missions team)
- Finance Ministry Team
- Fellowship Team
- Men’s Ministry
- Mercy’s Gate
- The (World) Missions Team
- Nursery
- The Security Team
- Visitor Connection Team
- Women’s Ministry Team (especially teachers, leaders)
- Worship/Music Teams
- Youth Ministry
- And for many others that serve but don’t formally belong to one of our teams.
Thank you for your service to Forestgate and for furthering the kingdom of Christ Jesus. If you’ve served on a ministry team in the past year, please pick up your volunteer appreciation T-Shirt and Card in the lobby after the service.”