Rowlett Reindeer (Kid Christmas Sponsoring)

Last year, we joined other Rowlett churches to buy gifts for kids in our community who are in need.  We are going to be doing this again.  We'd love to sponsor as many kids as possible and give them what they need.  The First Christian Church of Rowlett has gone to great lengths this year to interview the families and find out what is most important.  We ask that you would pray about sponsoring some kids.  


How Does It Work
We will have the info cards on the kids hanging on the Christmas tree in the lobby starting Sunday, November 28 and will be collecting the gifts till Sunday, December 12. Each card will have a kids name and age as well as their list of items they want or need (many of these kids have underwear and socks on their Christmas list).  Go shopping and put all the gifts for that child in a big black trash bag with the card stapled to the outside.  Bring it to Catalyst and place it under the tree.  Let's make it obnoxious as we fill the lobby with gifts for the community.  What could happen if we gave to others instead of to ourselves this year?  


How Else Can I Help?
There are also other ways that you can help with this incredible ministry to our community.  Below are some dates with info of what they will be doing.  Take a look and see if there's a way you and your family or cgroup could serve at any of these times.


Monday, November 22 (6-8 pm)
What: Making Angels for Angel Trees
Where: First Christian Church,  7301 Miller road, Rowlett, 75088  972-475-3559   Rev. Ann Dotson

Friday, December 3rd (2 - 7pm)
What: Registration and Interviewing Families for Christmas Help.
Where: First Christian Church,  7301 Miller road, Rowlett, 75088  972-475-3559   Rev. Ann Dotson

Monday, December 13 - Wed. December 15 (1pm - 1am)
What: Shopping and gathering and preparing for distribution of gifts/food
Where: First Christian Church,  7301 Miller road, Rowlett, 75088  972-475-3559   Rev. Ann Dotson

Thursday, December 16 (6-10pm)
What: Distribution to about 100 families
(includes:  Santa Shop, craft room, movies, dinner, conversation, help wrapping gifts- and prayer)
Where: First Christian Church,  7301 Miller road, Rowlett, 75088  972-475-3559   Rev. Ann Dotson

Friday, December 17 (6-10pm)

What: Distribution to about 100 families
(includes:  Santa Shop, craft room, movies, dinner, conversation, help wrapping gifts- and prayer)

Where: First United Methodist Church,  4405 Main Street, Rowlett  972-475-3667   Rev. Dretha Burris.

Catalyst Update and Oppurtunity

Greetings:

An update and a request for help.

Many of you are aware that Catalyst partnered with the Nazarene District Office when we opened our current facility. The district rented office space from us to help offset the start-up costs of a new building. It was a great relationship, but the district has now moved on to help another church do the same thing.

This is a good thing for both parties as it means that we are now fully supporting ourselves financially. This is a big deal because your generosity brought this on much sooner than is normal for new churches. We now have the opportunity to move some offices around, and gain a bit more space for weekly use.

Here is the lowdown on how things will shake out:

1. My current office will be turned into a resource room where we will store supplies and materials for the children's area. This will help de-clutter our classrooms.
2. My office will move to a slightly larger space. This will allow me to meet with people in a more comfortable and private setting. Until now, I have had to meet at Starbucks or in The Lab which is a great place for our kids but not a great place to work through tough situations.
3. The main office space will be turned into a multi-use space. We have big plans, including:
1. A place to meet with first time guests to Catalyst... It will allow me to give our guests more one on one attention than I currently do. This space would create a great environment to meet new people.
2. Meeting Space... As we look to the future, the need for a meeting space is becoming more and more apparent. This space will provide a great environment for these meetings to take place.
3. Space for our teens... It can be difficult for teens to feel comfortable showing up to a house for youth meetings the first time, but nearly all the teens will have already attended services at Catalyst and have a sense of familiarity with the building and location.
4. Nursing Moms- It is also possible that we could utilize this space for our nursing mothers during the service. With three babies born in the last three weeks and at least three more scheduled to arrive in the coming months, we need a comfortable space for our moms to feed these growing babies.

We have waited a couple of weeks to see if this space will furnish itself, but it has yet to happen, so this is where you come in. We feel it is important that this space fit in with the overall vibe and design of Catalyst. This means that we will not be filling it with couches from 1987. We have priced out furniture from IKEA in Frisco and can furnish this room and the new office for $1800. This includes one couch, three loveseats, three end tables, a desk, a TV and shelving. We consider each dollar given to Catalyst sacred and are always diligent in being good stewards of all that is given. We feel this is as frugal as we can be and still achieve the end result we are hoping for.

The summer giving was down at Catalyst and there is currently not enough margin in the account to purchase the needed furniture without some help. We are asking you to think and pray about giving something extra (on top of what you normally give) to help complete this project. It is important that our gifts be "on top of" our normal giving because if we shift our normal giving to this project we are right back where we started.

Please pray about what you should give and shoot an email to catalystrowlett@yahoo.com with the amount that you are willing to give to this project. We are committed to avoiding consumer debt as a church and will not furnish the room until the money has been pledged to be given. When we exceed the $1700 goal we will use the excess money to make other upgrades to the facility and to fund our "Make Some Magic Happen Fund" which is used to help Catalyst families who go through financially difficult times.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Grace and Peace,

Levi

SERVE: Using Your Gifts for the Common Good

Last week, Levi shared about how the Holy Spirit does not come into our lives just to make us better people. He gifts us in different ways so that we can give back for the common good. He also shared some areas where you can serve.

Below is a list of areas where you could put your gifts to use at Catalyst. Each one contains a link to a detailed explanation of the responsibilities and the role that person plays in the overall workings of the church.

C-Kids

Combustibles Sunday Morning Coordinator

Synthesis Student Ministry (Teens)

Youth Workers

Production Team

Program Director

Video Presentation Media

Internet Video Feed

Community

Event Planner

If you have a gift that you think the church could benefit from, send us an email at serve@catrow.org.

ALL SERVE: School Supplies Drive, LAST CALL

THIS IS THE LAST WEEK WE ARE COLLECTING SCHOOL SUPPLIES.

There are many young students in our community that can't afford the supplies they need to be successful. Students return to Doris Cullins Lake Pointe Elementary on Monday so we need to get our donations to them pronto.

Please take some time this weekend to buy some supplies for those in need.

If you need help knowing what to buy you can download this list of needed supplies.