Children’s Choir and Activities - Starting this month, we invite children of all ages to join us on Thursday nights from 6:45-8:15 for a night of music and activities!  Children will be split up by age and will start the night learning and signing songs as a choir.  The rest of the night will be spent playing various faith-based games and activities.

Story Time with the Pastors – For the younger children, Story Time with the Pastors is back on!  Wednesdays at 11:00am we will meet for 30-45 minutes of stories, crafts, activities, games, music and more!  It’s such a fun time for the kids!

These are just two of the great upcoming events that we have planned for the rest of this month!  Get your kids involved!  Visit our website for more information on our children and youth ministries!

As the new-year quickly approaches, there couldn’t be a better time to read through the New Testament.   Start 2011 off by reading and worshiping the Bible everyday.  Please join us in dedicating the first 90 days of 2011 to the New Testament.  In these 90 days we will read through the entire New Testament, and gather to discuss what we have read.  It will be a wonderful learning and growing experience for everyone.

We have copies of a new translation of the New Testament, free of charge available in our entry area on Sunday mornings.  There is a reading guide that we will work with and will meet every Wednesday evening at 8pm and Thursday at 7pm.

Please invite family and friends to join as well, this is a great opportunity to bring others into our church community.  It is a great opportunity to learn and grow in our faith together!

Our Middle School youth is sponsoring an Angel Tree to help provide Christmas gifts to a local Mesa family. It is a great opportunity to help out a family within our community that really needs a helping hand.  If we all give a little, this family will receive so much.  Come to Song of Life and pick out an angel ornament that will have a specified child with their age, gender and appropriate size.  Go pick out a new toy or clothing for the child and return it to Song of Life by Sunday, December 7^th.  Our Youth camp will wrap all the gifts so thy can be delivered to the family.  It is a great way to bring joy to a child in need during this holiday season!

Our United Methodist Women are selling UMOM Christmas Cards to support the United Methodist Outreach Ministries. These cards serve as wonderful “alternative” gifts to give with donations to families in need.  All gifts are used to help the homeless in the greater Phoenix community get food and shelter at a time when they need it most. Cards will be on sale beginning Sunday, November 21 at Song of Life and will be sold throughout the season.

Song of Life will have our next Food Box Collection on Sunday, December 12^th.  Next time you are at the store, pick up some canned or non-perishable food to be donated to families in need in our Queen Creek community.  Pan de Vida will collect the food and will distribute food boxes to families in need throughout the month.  Picking up a couple extra food items is such a simple and easy thing to do that will have such a great impact on these families.

Pan de Vida will be wrapping gifts in the Queen Creek Target shopping center on Ellsworth and Rittenhouse every Saturday until Christmas.  If you need to do some Christmas shopping, head to target and get your presents wrapped by Pan de Vida.  It will save you the time and hassle of wrapping gifts and you will support and donate to a great local charity!

It is so important to help others in need during this season of giving, so donate time, money, gifts or food during this holiday season!  Visit Song of Life’s website for more ways that you can help.

Song of Life has two new small groups that will be beginning in January, after the holidays:

• 90 Days in the New Testament. This will be a combination reading plan and small group experience for any and every one who wants to get involved. The hope is to encourage as many in the church as possible to join us in reading from Matthew through Revelation beginning on January 1. We have 18 copies of the new paperback Common English Bible that you can use to join us. Even familiar Scripture might become real and more relevant to you as we journey together through this new translation of God’s Word. Ron will lead one to two small groups a week, for informal discussion around the week’s readings, and will also host an online blog for conversation about the readings.
• Living Beyond Yourself (A Beth Moore Study). This small group will gather once a week for 12 weeks to read and reflect on how God has gifted you for ministry. Kelly LeFevre will lead the group on Thursdays, from 7:00 to 9:00PM, beginning January 6.

Visit Song of Life’s website for more information on all of our upcoming worship opportunities.

Committee and Leadership Roles for 2011

• Finance Team- works to help the church grow its financial foundation for ministry, growth and will work toward a major capital campaign.
• Building Committee- currently working with builders, the Town, and conference officials to find the most effective ways for us to build on our land; will work with the Finance Team to launch a major capital campaign.
• Board of Trustees -oversees the physical property and assets of the church.
• Lay Leadership Team, formerly called “Nominations” -works with church members to identify and nurture leadership.

Other ongoing Leadership Needs

• Barnabas Prayer Team members actively pray, reach out, and support our members. We currently have 17 individuals working on this team, but with new people coming in to the church we need a few more!
• Stephen Ministers are trained in providing one-on-one Christian care to individuals seeking someone to talk to. Training is provided for several months prior to taking on the role of ministry.
• Small Group Leaders are vital ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, leading small groups of adults in Bible study, book discussion, missions projects, and fellowship groups.

New Leaders, to Expand and Grow our Ministries

• Small Group Team Leader- work with our small group leaders and pastor to regularly support and expand our offerings of small groups.
• Worship Team Leader- work with our Worship Design Team and pastor and coordinate various details related to our Sunday worship experience.
• Communications coordinator- work with our regular communications and semi-regular marketing campaigns.

If any of this opportunities interest you, visit the Song of Life website for more information and how you can get involved.

This is the first time we have been really involved in a church. We have gone to church and I grew up in a Methodist Church, but wasn’t really involved. Just seeing what it takes for the church to function on a basic level made me realize it costs a lot of money. I think when people hear the term non-profit organization they think there isn’t a lot of money involved. Well that is so not true. Just looking at the basic operating expenses can blow your mind, it is huge. After seeing this and how everything works I knew we had to step up to the plate and give back.

God has given so much to us and been there for us in times of need and we truly feel it is only right to give back a portion of everything he has given us. Every week when I write the check it really makes me feel good and thankful for everything we have. It is even better when there are times we can give a little extra.

I know times are tight these days, but if you really dig deep in your heart and think of all the good things you have and that have happened it is only right to give a little back to God. I truly believe from experience when you do this you will have such a great inner peace.

Thank You,

Doug and Kim Greenwald

A great missions opportunity is working with UMOM, a non-profit organization that provides homeless families and individuals with housing, food and support.  It is one of Arizona’s best organizations for helping the homeless.  UMOM has new facilities in Phoenix, and they encourage everyone to come tour their new facilities.   Song of Life will be touring, and is also participating in an infant care collection for the organization.  They are collecting baby bottles, formula and baby food, bottle warmers, pacifiers, diapers, baby wipes and more.  All of the donations will go to local families in need.

UMOM is just one of the many organizations that you can donate you time with.  Check our website for some of our other great missions opportunities!

Here at Song of Life, we offer all kinds of small groups for children, teenagers and adults.   For our adult small groups, we offer long-term groups and short-term groups that focus on certain topics.  Our focused small groups are often based off of certain books or Bible passages, so we can read and discuss together.  Our small groups cover a variety of issues, all stemming back to our mission of “living in faith everyday.”

We hope that you will join us for one of our small groups.  Visit Song of Life’s calendar for details for upcoming topics.

1.      Pan De Vida- Song of Life works with Pan De Vida regularly, but they could use your help all the time!  Pan De Vida is local charity based in Queen Creek that is looking for all types of volunteers.  Adult volunteers are needed to work with elderly and disabled individuals in the Queen Creek area to socialize, make calls, and to provide transportation and technical assistance.   They are also looking for “white elephant” donations, which include gently-used household items, gift certificates, or canned food to give away as prizes for the Queen Creek Senior Citizens weekly bingo games.  Visit their website for more information on how to get involved.

2.      St. Mary’s Food Bank was the world’s first food bank!  They gather and distribute food to local sites that serve food to the hungry.  It is a great organization that is always looking for volunteers.  Unfortunately, their main warehouse was damaged by hail and rain this month, so they are currently asking volunteers to come sort through their food to save what was not damaged by the storm.   This opportunity lasts only until October 13^th, so now is the time to act!

3.      Hoofbeats with Heart is an organization in Queen Creek that helps individuals with special abilities through working with horses.  They provide programs that improve the physical, cognitive, social and emotional skills through working with horses.  It is a really great organization that is always looking for volunteers.   Volunteers must be 14 years or older and must participate in a volunteer training session before they begin.

All of these organizations need your help throughout the year.  Donate your time and abilities and you will not only help those in need, but you will help yourself as well.  Volunteering is extremely rewarding, so get family and friends together and volunteer at an organization!

In the same study, they found that personal invitations from family members or friends are the only invitation method that majority of Americans would accept.  This shows how important it is that we are sharing our faith with our friends and family.   Majority of people would not respond to email invitations, door-to-door invitations or television and radio advertising.   If we want to share the great experiences and connections we have within our church community, then word of mouth is the way to go.

We know that asking friends to come to church can be intimidating sometimes.  However, think of it this way, if you had a great experience someplace in your community, wouldn’t you tell your friends all about it?  The same goes for church.  If you’ve had a great experience within the church, tell your friends about it and ask if they would like to join you.  There is always room in our church community for others to join!

Just remember our vision at Song of Life:

Centered in worship, the people of Song of Life
 share Jesus with those they meet; 
care about each other in a community of love;
 grow as disciples of Jesus Christ; and
 go into the world in service.