What if we talked to more people?

Throughout our exploration of how to grow our church, we have challenged our members to come up with both public and private “What if?” statements. Some of these have been shared, paper leaves hanging from the vine in the church’s narthex.

One of the earliest leaves carried a potentially loaded message: “What if we all talked to more people during coffee hour?”

The message, of course, is that to be truly open, friendly and welcoming, we have to be, well, friendly and welcoming.

This article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch drives this point home.

What do you think? What can we do as a church to continue growing, furthering our mission?

Easter Egg Hunt!

We had a beautiful day for the Annual Ivy Chapel Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks to everyone who helped plan this fun event… and apologies to anyone who finds any still-hidden eggs in the heat of the summer.

The album below also includes photos from our Palm Sunday worship service.

Ivy Members Open their Hearts for Emmaus homes

The  annual Open Your Heart dinner-auction benefits residents of Emmaus, a faith-based organization serving more than 250 men and women with developmental disabilities in the St. Louis metropolitan area.  As in the past, this year’s event, held February 4, netted thousands of dollars to help supplement governmental funding for Emmaus.  For every $1 needed to cover program and operating expenses, there’s a 15 cent shortfall in state support.  The Emmaus Foundation is charged with raising funds to close the gap between government payments and actual costs.  The 2012 OYH gala raised just over $50,000.  Attending from Ivy Chapel UCC were Ronn and Dottie Foster; Rod and Judy Hertenstein; Carl and Marsha Ramey; Annie and Shyam Sampath; Nancy Litzinger; and Nancy Hawkins.

The first Emmaus homes were established in 1893 by members of the German Evangelical Church in Marthasville, Mo., to care for individuals with epilepsy and developmental disabilities.  Currently Emmaus operates nearly 50 homes throughout local communities and on its two campuses in St. Charles and Marthasville.  In 2011, Ivy Chapel UCC ‘adopted’ Ross House, a community home in Creve Coeur where six Emmaus residents live.  Ivy members and Ross residents are developing new relationships through this pilot partnership.

Thank you to Brandi Brown Photography for capturing the event in pictures, and for sharing the photos with us.