Regular Worship Gathering this Week (June 18)

We will be having a regular worship gathering June 18th at our usual 'shed location. Jim Coyle, the pastor of the new church moving into Maranatha's building, will be sharing from God's Word in the book of James. So come join us for a time of worship and studying the Scriptures!

As a reminder, next week we will be meeting at Palisades-Kepler State Park for a time of food and fun. Stay tuned for more details.

Healing the Heartland Reminder

Just a reminder, because a few people have asked... Yes, we indeed are "having Watershed" this week. It's just taking place on Friday instead of Thursday. We will be volunteering at one of the Healing the Heartland BBQs as mentioned in Joe's earlier blog posts.

Our BBQ is held at Taylor Elementary School, 720 7th Ave SW: http://tinyurl.com/nbqqpj

Arrive at 4:00pm if you're available to help with the setup, and the actual event will go from 6:00-9:00pm. Enough food will be on hand to feed 500 people, so be praying for a great turnout! Your volunteering will help kick off this huge weekend of events, and will hopefully help those still affected by the flood to find hope in God.

See you at the BBQ!!

-Steve

Healing the Heartland Fliers -- Update

For those of you who are helping out with flier distribution today, you probably noticed that it's raining outside. Our plan is to still meet at Taylor (yes, in 25 minutes!). We will form teams of two or so and assign a location for each team; then the team can get together later this weekend when convenient (and when it's not raining) and distribute the fliers. So still come if you can!

The Harvest is Plenty

It's time for a pop quiz!

What did Jesus say after he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plenty but the workers are few"?

With Healing the Heartland approaching fast, we see a harvest that really is plenty. There are many thousands of people in Cedar Rapids that do not know Christ, and many of them will participate in at least one of the Healing the Heartland events.

Compared to the number of non-Christians, the workers really are few, whether the workers are Christians or volunteers at one of the events.

Hmm. Wasn't that what Jesus said? Something about volunteering or stepping up?

Nope.

Even though I strongly suggest reading Joe's earlier post and signing up as a volunteer, that's not what I'm going to ask you to do.

Healing the Heartland is going to be a great chance for all of us to share Christ's love with this city. There is an enormous harvest available, but the workers are few. That's why I'm going to make a serious request of everyone that reads this. I want you to do what Jesus commanded in Matthew 9:37-38.

I want you to "ask the Lord of the harvest...to send out workers into his harvest field." Please pray daily, for the next ten days, that God will send out workers into the harvest field of Cedar Rapids.

And if you're willing to pray, please post a comment to let us know you're doing so.

Healing the Heartland

Watershed is partnering with Serve the City and other area organizations to serve our community at the "Healing the Heartland" festival coming up Jun 12 - 14. We will be helping primarily with the Friday night BBQ at Taylor School (720 7th Ave SW in Cedar Rapids).

Watershed will be helping out in two separate events. The first will be on Saturday, June 6th. We will meet at Taylor School at 9:45am and deliver fliers in the Taylor neighborhood. We should be done with this activity by 11:30am.

The second event is the BBQ itself on Friday, Jun 12th. We will be helping at Taylor from 4:00pm - 9:00pm. Our areas of service will include cooking, serving food, and just mingling with others there. If you're not able to stay for the full time, feel free to sign up for whatever part you can be there.

We also have two specific requests for the event on Jun 12th: we need someone with a pickup truck to pick up our food and supplies at River of Life at 3:45pm and bring them to Taylor. We also need someone to be the DJ for the evening -- someone with a good selection of uplifting music and who likes putting together inspiring playlists.

We are looking for as many volunteers as possible for both of these activities. If you can help, please sign up by contacting Joe Clark. Thanks!

Summer 2009 Schedule

It's summer! Along with everything else, that also means that Watershed's meetings are going to be on a different schedule than the rest of the year. In June, July, and August:

1st Thursday of the month: 7:30 at Maranatha
2nd Thursday or Saturday of the month: Service Project (details to be announced)
3rd Thursday of the month: 7:30 at Maranatha
4th Thursday of the month: Meet at a park (details to be announced)

July has five Thursdays again this year. So far nothing has been planned for that Thursday. If you're the type that plans six months in advance, I apologize. When plans get made, they will be announced. (Have a great idea? Share it by posting a comment or contacting the leadership team.)

To make things a bit easier, here's the schedule broken out:

June 4 - 7:30 at Maranatha
June 11 - Healing the Heartland service project Friday/Saturday (details to come)
June 18 - 7:30 at Maranatha
June 25 - Palisades-Kepler State Park, Shelter #1 (Bring-your-own-food grilling and hanging out at 6:30PM; worship at 7:30PM; fire and hanging out afterwards)

July 2 - 7:30 at Maranatha
July 9 - Service Project - TBA
July 16 - 7:30 at Maranatha
July 23 - Park (to be announced)
July 30 - ?????

August 6 - 7:30 at Maranatha
August 13 - Service Project - TBA
August 20 - 7:30 at Maranatha
August 27 - Park (to be announced)

Details that are as-yet unknown, like the July and August service projects and parks, will be announced on the blog and at the Thursday gatherings. The first Thursday in September will mark our return to meeting every Thursday at Maranatha.

Notes:
"Maranatha" means the building we are currently meeting in, though "Maranatha Bible Church" is moving out and "Neighborhood Church" is moving in.
"Summer" is one of those words that is very strange to look at after typing it a few times.

Ultimate Starts Monday

The 2009 Watershed Ultimate season starts Monday, March 30 at 6:30PM at Jones Park on the soccer fields near the disc golf course. Most likely there will be a game at the same time and place each Monday until it gets cold and dark in the fall.

If you've never played before, come out and give it a try. The basics are easy to pick up, and it's a great way to get to know people.

Ephesians 1:17-23 Breakout Groups

We had a different sort of activity at our worship gathering tonight. Instead of listening to a speaker, we got to break up into smaller groups and talk through Ephesians 1:17-23. John put together a list of questions to get discussion going, and it turns out there's a lot to talk about in those few verses.

One of the questions was "What is one step you will take this week to align your life with the truth of this passage?" This is one of those dangerous, slightly scary questions where there are a lot of good answers, but most of them take some work and have a very real possibility of leading you to grow spiritually. My one step? At the end of each day, I'll take a few minutes to think through what I did all day, and compare what I did to what I could have done. I'll compare what happened with what could have happened if I had been living in the knowledge that God can and will work in me with the same power that raised Christ from the dead (as it says in verses 19-21).

My hope is that by reflecting on my day, I'll practice really knowing God's power. And then I might start to live out that knowledge.

Comments are open to share insights or your "one step" from tonight's breakout groups.

Thank you! (from Bekah)

I (Amy) spoke with Bekah Kraft this morning. She is back in the Dominican Republic for a week for debrief. She said she got our pizza card and the note cards yesterday. She wanted to tell you all thank you so much for the pizza gift card and encouraging words.

So thank you so much for all who contributed to the gift card and/or the encouraging words! I think she was really uplifted!

This Week at Watershed

Come join us tonight at 7:30 for a time of worship and the 3rd and final talk in Erin Bird's series "Take Me Apart". If you've heard his previous two talks, you won't want to miss this one!

The Prayer
Lord, take me apart
and remake me;
I don't care what it costs,
I just want to be like you.

Retreat Open Thread

This is an open thread for anyone to comment about the retreat. What was it like? What did God teach you? What entertaining things happened while playing games and talking at 2AM?

Comments are open!

Maps to the Retreat

For those of you (like me) who are looking for a last-minute map to the retreat, here is a post from the past that will help:

2009 Retreat Financial Aid

In case you hadn't heard already, the annual Watershed retreat is almost here. It's a great chance to meet and deepen friendships with other Watershedders, but most importantly to go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Remember to register this Thursday!

If you're really excited about going, but bummed because the $20 registration fee is an issue, please don't let it be an issue. There is financial help available. Talk to any member of the leadership team (Steve, John, Bill, Sue, Mike, Joe, Amber, or Matt), and we'll make sure you're taken care of. We want you to be there, whether or not you have $20 to spare.

Watershed Retreat Registration!

The Watershed retreat is only a couple weeks away! The retreat will be Friday night, Jan 30th thru Saturday afternoon, Jan 31st. You will hear more details about the retreat at our weekly meetings, but I wanted to post a note here that we will begin accepting registrations this week (Jan 15th). The registration cost is $20. More info to come soon....

New Year's Day - Game Night!

In place of our regular worship gathering on January 1, Watershed will be meeting at New Covenant Bible Church for a game night to celebrate the new year. We'll be meeting in the Middle School room, which is down in the NCBC basement. Arrive anytime after 7:00pm and bring your favorite board games!

NCBC is located just behind Mike McGrath's on Center Point Rd. Park in the West lot and enter through the green door on the south side of the building. Go down the stairs and the Middle School room will be the second room on your left as you walk North.

We ask everyone coming to please bring a snack or drink to share.

We hope you can make it!

QUICK UPDATE: If the door happens to be locked when you arrive (sometimes the janitor does that, not knowing folks are downstairs), call Steve's cell and he'll come let you in: 350-9700.

Tonight's Gathering Cancelled - Dec 18

After careful consideration, we have decided to cancel tonight's worship gathering (Dec 18) due to the impending storm. I realize the storm hasn't hit us yet, but based on the radar and the prediction for ice/sleet, we feel that its better to err on the side of caution. We don't want to risk anyone getting in an accident trying to get to Watershed, or getting home afterward (by 9 we'll be in the thick of the storm). The area colleges have also cancelled their evening activities and we tend to follow them.

In addition, Karen McCaa our scheduled speaker was coming up from Iowa City and did not feel safe making the drive up and back with the icy conditions. So altogether we feel it is best to cancel tonight's gathering.

Stay safe and stay dry! And have a Merry Christmas!

This Thursday -- Open Mic Night

As a reminder, this Thursday's Watershed gathering will be Open Mic night. Be thinking about what you're thankful for in this Thanksgiving season, and plan to share some of your thoughts with the rest of the group.

Also, after Watershed we will have a social time with refreshments. See ya there. :-)

This Thursday - Last Park Night!

This week we will be meeting at Daniels Park for our Thursday gathering. Folks plan to be there by 5:30-ish, but show up whenever you'd like. Feel free to bring your own food to grill. We'll sing a few songs and have a brief devotional by Leah Romaneli at 7:30.

A map is in the following link. From H Ave NE, go north on Oakland Rd NE (Oakland is a one-way). Take the northmost (second) entrance into the park. We'll be at the upper pavilion.

http://tinyurl.com/67oy8w

Hope to see you all there!

-Steve

*Friday Update* Service Project: August 14th

Fri Update: About 10-15 people made it out to Springville and, somewhat surprisingly, we were able to do a good amount of cleaning and put a first coat on about half of the shed. We will need to put another coat on, as well as paint the other half. The plan is to meet at Maranatha at 8:30am on Saturday, and head out to Springville and work on it until it's done. If you're able to join us, that would be great. Thanks!

Thu Update: The radar is showing rain for this evening (Aug 14), but we're going to try our luck. We may not get to paint, but we'll do some more prep work at least (power-washing, etc). We may not stay as long as planned though, so if you were planning to come late you should still call Joe (431-9495) and see what's up.

Check back again tomorrow (Friday) to see if we'll be painting on Saturday!

Next Thursday (August 14th) is our next service project! This month, we're going to be going out to Chris Thompson's parents' house to do some painting and possibly housework. His parents are older and not in the best of health, so this is a good way to help them out and minister to them.

We will primarily be painting a shed, but before painting we'll need to power wash the shed to erase some chalky film deposit. In order allow as much time as possible, we'll be meeting at Maranatha at 5pm, however if you can't make it that early, you can meet us "on location" whenever you're available -- we'll be there till 8:30 or 9pm probably.

After it gets too dark to work (or when we get our task done), we will hang out for a while and enjoy some smores. :-)

Here's a link to directions from Maranatha Bible Church. And here's a satellite view of the yard -- the shed is the larger building northeast of the house.

Special Event: Guthridge Park

This Thursday is an unusual 5th Thursday of the month. In honor of this, we are going to have a special evening at the park. We're going to meet at Guthridge Park in Hiawatha at the "Red" Pavilion at 7:00. We will bring some usual games -- like frisbee and Mafia or board games in the pavilion. There may be special appearances of games related to bean bag toss or water balloons. If you have some other games, feel free to bring those as well.

As in previous events at parks, we will have the grill hot (at 7pm this time), so if you'd like to bring meat to grill (or other food) feel free.

We won't have a regular worship/devotional session on this particular evening -- it's just a casual time to hang out with friends and have some fun. Hope to see you there!

July Park: Bever Park

Our location for our meeting on Thursday, July 24 is Bever Park. We'll be at Bever Pavilion (click for a map). It's at the east entrance to the park. Come early to grill and chill, and our worship time will start at 7:30.

This Week - Meeting at Maranatha

Just a quick reminder that this Thursday is a "regular" worship gathering at Maranatha Bible Church. See you there!

Watershed Serving at Mission of Hope

As was announced last Thursday at Watershed, we will not have a normal Watershed meeting this Thursday, July 10th. Instead, the following Monday, July 14th, we will be preparing and serving a meal at Mission of Hope. Mission of Hope is serving meals twice a day for the community, focusing on those displaced by the recent flood.

We are in need of a number of volunteers to make this opportunity a success. Here are the options:

• Providing Food (bring food to Mission of Hope on Jul 14 or work out an arrangement with those preparing other food)
• Preparing Food (? - appx 6:30pm)
• Serving Food (5:15pm - appx 7:30pm)
• Cleanup (appx 7:00pm - appx 9:00pm)

If you have questions or would like to sign up contact Joe Clark, or leave a comment here.

Watershed at Palisades St Park

This Thursday, June 26th we will be having our Watershed gathering outside at Palisades-Kepler St Park. Feel free to come anytime after 6pm for food and fellowship and a chance to enjoy the great outdoors. There are grills at the park, but you will need to bring your own food/drink. Also feel free to bring a frisbee or a ball to kick or throw around. We will start a time of worship at 7:30. We will also have a fire and smores afterwards so plan to stick around. If you came out to Palisades last year, you'll remember how much fun it was. You don't want to miss out!

Here is a map showing how to get to the park, which is off US 30 going east toward Mt Vernon. Here is a map of the park. We have reserved Shelter #1. 

Helping Mission of Hope Flood Relief Center

We as the Watershed community have the opportunity to come alongside and help the Mission of Hope organization as they minister to the flood victims in the area. They have opened their doors as a relief center. We will be collecting food and supply donations at our Watershed gatherings for the next several weeks (see list below).

They can use our help in several different ways:

Prayer. Pray not only for the people affected by the flood, but also for the staff serving them...that they may remain able and faithful servants to our King

Food. They/we will be serving at least two meals per day (currently planning on lunch and dinner), and also are giving a bag of non-perishable food items away.

Supplies.

Biggest Needs:

• men's underwear
• men's clothing, esp larger sizes
• white socks
• jeans
• shorts
• toilet paper
• paper towels
• towels

Other Needs:

• clothing
• toiletries/hygeine products
• cleaning supplie

Time. They will need volunteers to work in the kitchen, food pantry, provide transport, sort and distribute clothing, provide prayer and counseling, answer phones, make calls/recruit, etc. A special need right now is nightly cleanup from 9pm - midnight.

To sign up to volunteer, call Cathy or Pastor Ron at New Beginnings Church Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm at (319)294-5393, or email at newbeginningschurch2002@hotmail.com

July's Park - Bever Park

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have updated the Summer Schedule to reflect that we now have a park reserved for the 4th Thursday in July. We'll be gathering at Bever Park in the Bever Pavilion.

Also, we are investigating whether the floods have caused problems at Palisades Kepler State Park where we are scheduled to gather on June 26th. Be watching this blog for updated information. As of right now, we are planning on still going to Palisades.

Saturday Serving Project Update

As you may have guessed, the rain and flooding has forced us to cancel the painting project schedule for this Saturday. However, we are planning to do flood relief work instead, so we will still meet at Maranatha at 8:30 am. We will have details for you then. Since circumstances are changing rapidly it is hard to plan very far in advance.

If you are unable to make it to Maranatha tomorrow morning but are still interested in meeting us somewhere to help, or if you have any other questions, please give John a call @ 319.431.0083.

Serving those affected by flooding

I'm at work downtown, and we're putting our disaster recovery plan into action with some temporary work locations. And for people that just work downtown, that's fine.

But people who live near downtown, or in other areas affected by the flooding river, need help. Serve the City has a page dedicated to emergency flood assistance. I think they are coordinating with Linn County Emergency Management. It sounds like the needs are constantly changing, so check the emergency flood assistance page and call in.

Also, check Erin's post below or the various news outlets (KCRG, Gazette, etc) for more ways to serve.

Another serving opportunity - Sandbagging

Since this is a "serving" week in the summer schedule, this seems appropriate to post...

Want to help your community and neighbors?  Make sandbags!  They are doing them 24 hrs. a day all week.  For more info (like where to go), see to KCRG's website.

No Watershed on Thurs (June 12), Service Project on Sat (June 14)

We will not be gathering this Thursday (June 12th) but will be having a service project on Saturday the 14th instead. We will meet at Maranatha Bible Church at 8:30am to receive instructions and then drive to our location, and work til 4pm.

We are partnering with an organization called Brighten and several area churches to help paint and repair the outside of several homes in the Wellington Heights neighborhood. We will specifically be scraping and painting the 2nd story of one home. We will be working on ladders and scaffolding, but for those who aren't a big fan of heights, we will have work on lower levels for you as well. All you need to bring is some old clothes that you don't mind getting dirty and stained with paint. All the other stuff we need will be supplied to us. I've been told the old paint we are scraping off is lead-based, so I will provide some face masks for us to use.

We hope to see as many of you out there as possible, so please consider serving the people in our community alongside other young adults.

Parkersburg Tornado Help

As was announced last night, a group will be heading to Parkersburg Saturday, May 31, to help with some cleanup effort. The plan is to meet at the Hiawatha Casey's, at the corner of Center Point Road and Boyson, by 8:00am. People will then carpool up to Parkersburg (80 miles) and report to the United Methodist Church. A volunteer station is set up there, and they will give instructions on where to go.

The only thing you should have to bring is safety glasses and work gloves (hard-soled shoes recommended). If you have a sledge hammer or shovel, you may wish to

At this time no clothing donations are needed, and it seems the Butler County site has taken down the list of items to donate. We will consider collecting donations as a follow-on effort in the weeks ahead.

Directions from Casey's to the P'burg Methodist Church:
http://tinyurl.com/5r8tal

For information for volunteers:
http://www.butlercoiowa.org/


I will be heading up earlier in the morning with a few other folks, but John Connelly will be at Casey's with map printouts for you.

Thanks to everyone who is giving their time for this!

-Steve

Summer Schedule

Along with my personal announcement, we also announced the summer schedule (beginning in June). The easy way to remember it is as follows:

1st Thursday - Regular (7:30 pm @ Maranatha)
2nd Thursday - Serving
3rd Thursday - Regular
4th Thursday - Park (come early to eat, worship at 7:30, locations to be announced)

There is a 5th Thursday in July, and the leadership team is trying to come up with some sort of special event for that night (outside worship night? some other event?).

If you want a "hard" schedule, copy the following, paste it in your own word processor, and print it out (or just stick it in your own calendar program on your computer or the Internet):

June 5 - Marantha, 7:30 pm
June 12 - Serving (time and location to be announced)
June 19 - Marantha, 7:30 pm
June 26 - Palisades-Kepler State Park - Shelter 1 (6:30 pm Bring-your-own Picnic &/or Hiking, 7:30 pm Worship, Fire afterwards)

July 3 - Marantha, 7:30 pm
July 10 - Serving (time and location to be announced)
July 17 - Marantha, 7:30 pm
July 24 - Bever Park, 7:30 pm (come early to picnic)
July 31 - Special Event

August 7 - Marantha, 7:30 pm
August 14 - Serving (time and location to be announced)
August 21 - Marantha, 7:30 pm
August 28 - Park-to-be-announced, 7:30 pm (come early to picnic)

Sept 4 - back to weekly schedule at Maranatha

We'll try to keep this updated as serving opportunities and parks are confirmed. Here's to a great summer!

A Time for Everything

For everything there is an appointed time,
and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to rip, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – NET)

This is only the 2nd (and last) time that I have posted the same thing on my personal blog as I have posted on Waterblogged, the “official” blog of Watershed. But I felt it best to put this in both locations since it concerns Watershed and myself.

Last night at Watershed, I announced at the beginning of my message that I am stepping down from leadership of Watershed. Anytime a leader announces they are “stepping down” immediately questions arise: “What’s wrong?” “What did he do?” “Is there some scandal I don’t know about?”

So let me start by saying that nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. My marriage is fine. I’m doing well spiritually. I don’t have some unconfessed sin I am needing to deal with.

Also, Watershed is fine. In fact, it is going great and could possibly be at its healthiest point ever in its 4 1/2 years of existence.

So why would I be stepping away if everything is “fine”? Simple: obedience.

Now I must confess that my obedience has come slowly. I have sensed that God has wanted me to do this for several months. But I like Watershed – I like the young adults who come, I enjoy teaching, I enjoy worshiping alongside of those who come, and more. And so I fought against what I knew God was telling me to do.

But by February, I knew I had to obey. This feeling wouldn’t go away after much prayer and counsel.

This summer seemed to make the most sense for a transition, so I will be transitioning out of leadership during June, July, and August. The leadership team (made of Steve Adolphs, Matt & Amber Schouten, John Connelly, and Bill & Sue Lottes) will continue to protect the vision of Watershed. At this time we don’t have a solid answer on how we will oversee the teaching schedule since I have been doing that pretty much by myself. But I have no fears that we, with God’s guidance, will come up with a great solution.

I always knew my time with Watershed would some day come to an end, but I always thought it would happen when I died or God moved me to a different ministry. But I’m obviously not dead, and I don’t have other plans in mind. So my plan is to just pour into my family more and the ministry I was called to first as the young adult pastor at New Covenant. But I am remaining open to whatever the Lord wants to do with my life.

I want to thank all of the young adults that worshiped together through the gatherings of Watershed. Seeing you worship, give of your time in serving, and caring for one another and those outside of Watershed has been an inspiration to me. When we tried to start Watershed back in 2003, many people said we were crazy – it wouldn’t work. There was no way you could have people from many different churches come together without it wrecking. I think they would be right if Watershed was a man-birthed organism. But from the very beginning, we knew that God was leading and creating this unorthodox ministry. And we simply chose to follow Him in faith. That is why I believe Watershed is as strong as it is right now.

I’m excited about the future of Watershed. I wish I could be intimately involved to watch it closely, but God either has different plans for me or for Watershed (or both). I’m excited because last week around 10 people stood up saying they were feeling some sort of call from God to go overseas for a long term commitment (a year or more). I’m excited because I see people worshipping authentically through the songs and as they listen to the messages. I’m excited because I see new people being welcomed naturally. I’m excited because God is clearly doing something by moving me out, and we get to place our faith in Him and follow His lead just as we did when we started this crazy thing.

I’m not leaving Cedar Rapids anytime soon – so to any Watershedders reading this – if you see me around, please stop me and say hi. I’ll want updates! But not only will I want to know what’s going on with Watershed, but also I’ll want to know what God is doing in your life. So I encourage you to keep going deeper, to get in over your head so that the “river” of Jesus Christ can take you wherever it/He wants.

Still going deeper with you,
Erin

Bringing Relief to the Cyclone Victims in Myanmar

If you haven't heard by now, a major cyclone slammed into Myanmar (also known as Burma). Current estimates report that 22,000 people have died, another 40,000+ missing, and possibly a million people homeless. Right now, water and food are difficult-to-get necessities. Electricity is out, so news is slow to travel. But the government of Myanmar, which has been very closed to other countries as well as the gospel, is suddenly opening up - they realize they can't handle the magnitude of this tragedy themselves.

Since most of you can't just pick up what you are doing to fly over and help in relief efforts, I thought many of you would be willing to help give financially to help. Here are 3 reputable organizations that will bring relief in the name of Christ and have strong financial accountability:

• Gospel for Asia
• Samaritan's Purse
• World Vision

To give, simply click the link above for the organization you want to donate through. Each link goes directly to each organizations page concerning the cyclone, as well as directions for how to give.

Young Adult Worship Service at Mission of Hope

I got the following email. Thought it might interest some of you! The speaker has given the message at Watershed 3 different times in past years, and those of you who have not heard her would probably benefit the most. Plus, she's a personal friend of mine. :o)

-------
Mission of Hope is having a worship service designed especially for youth and young adults!

Saturday, May 10th
6:30 PM
Mission of Hope - 1537 1st Ave SE
Message - Karen McCaa
Music - "Happy-Go-Lovely"

Join us for a positive and uplifting message by well-known and loved Christian motivational speaker, Karen McCaa. A counselor at Kirkwood Community College and traveled speaker for Nike Co., Karen comes to us from Indiana, and her teachings are universally respected and cherished by all who hear her. Karen pours out her heart as she shares personal stories and Biblical teaching that will be sure to inspire and motivate us to lead lives that honor & follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

In addition, local young band "Happy-Go-Lovely" returns to Mission of Hope to lead us in worship! It's guaranteed to be a night of fun and revelation!

Please forward this invitation, invite your children, bring a friend. Hope to see you there!
Tina

Tina Herring
Worship Coordinator
MISSION OF HOPE
(319)362-5559

Spiritual Q & A - The Answered Questions

We held our Spiritual Q & A last night. While many across Iowa were questioning who to caucus for, we were asking questions about life, the Bible, spiritual matters, and more. I must say there were some GREAT questions asked, and I wish we could have gotten to all of them.

Below are the questions we DID get to. The other questions we didn't have time for will be posted in separate posts with comments open.

------
- What is the "year of Jubilee"?

- My friend proclaims Christ, but is considering moving with her boyfriend. She says the Bible has nothing to say about this issue. What does the Bible say about this issue?

- If a person is in a relationship with a non-Christian, should that person continue the relationship or break it off and have a "hole" in their heart? Also, would Jesus be upset if that person wants to stay in the relationship?

- What are some good verses or passages that can encourage others in their faith?

- What is faith, and is it blind?

- My parents are new believers and are unfamiliar with the Bible. Where would you recomend they start reading in the Bible?

- How can we be joyful, knowing that some people will not be with God in eternity?

- When studying the historical books of the Old Testament, how do we "put ourselves in the Israelite's Place" - reconciling the ethics of a nation at that time - military conquest, plunder, putting the conquered "to the sword" vs. our ethics since the time of Christ - "love your neighbor", "peace", etc.?

- Many Muslims believe Allah is the same as the Christian God - how does the Christian church view the relationship between Yahweh and Allah?

Question - Church

How should we address the fact that the Church as a whole is miserable, poor, blind, and naked?

Question - Matthew 6

What does "the eye is the lamp of the body" and "if the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness" mean in Matthew 6?

Question - Bible Translations

Note: There were two different questions related to this topic, so they are both being put in the same post.

What is/are good translations of the Bible? Why? What benefits? Ease of understanding?

Which translation of the Bible is the best to read? (i.e. most accurate)

Question - Obedience

How can we grow in obedience?

Question - Worldliness and Holiness

What is Wordliness?

-OR-

How do we become holy?

Question - Taming the Tongue

The Bible says the mouth is like a wild animal that cannot be tamed - how does the Lord teach us to control our tongue?

Question - Guidance Scriptures

This spring I will be graduating from school, but I don't know where I'll end up when I find a job. What verses would be helpful in guiding me on trusting God to help me through this big change in my life?

Question - Sabbath?

Should we observe a Sabbath? Why?

(Preferably answer in terms of the Covenant Theology vs. New Covenant Theology vs. Despensationalism debate)

Question - Christianity being purified?

Is Christianity going through a purification process?

e.g. Catholics -> Methodists -> Baptists -> Pentecostals

Spiritual Q & A

Just a reminder: this Thursday, Jan 3, we will have a "Spiritual Q & A" night. Bring your spiritual questions (or a friend with spiritual questions), and I will do my best to try and give you an answer from the Scriptures.

I thought some of you might like at least 24 hours to think of what questions you might like to ask or who to invite, thus the quick blog post.

See you tomorrow night (if you don't go to the caucuses).

Post Abortion Study

I got the following in an email. As I got ready to delete it, I thought there might be someone from within Watershed that might benefit or know someone who would benefit from this Bible Study. All the needed information is below. Something like this could be really helpful to someone, especially as we get ready to go into a new teaching series called "Baggage" starting Jan. 10th.

-------

Next Post-Abortion Healing Bible Study (PAS) class starting Jan. 21:

Are you grieving over an abortion in your past? Did that choice leave you with regrets? Do you wonder if God could ever forgive you? Do you wish there was someone safe you could share your secret with? You are not alone. *Approximately 43% of women have experienced an abortion in the U.S. by the time they reach age 45. There is hope and there is healing.

Please contact Marilyn by Jan. 18 if you'd like more information or to be included in the next PAS class at Aid to Women: 364-8967 or marilyn.s@ aidtowomen.com.

Class will begin Jan. 21, meeting on 11 consecutive Monday evenings, 7-9 p.m.,
after normal business hours. ATW: 701 Center Pt. Rd. N.E., just north of Coe College.
Class and materials are provided at no cost.

One woman had this to say about the class completed at Aid to Women:
“I just want to thank you for what you did for me. I can’t hardly believe how differently I feel…. Thanks so much for helping me along my healing path.”

Please come. All calls are confidential.

*Alan Guttmacher Institute

Watershed Schedule

I heard that a rumor is circulating about Watershed's schedule with Christmas and New Year's approaching. So to set the record straight, here is when Watershed is and is not meeting over the next couple of week's:

12/20 YES, we are meeting! Nate Ndjerareou will finish up our "Faith, Hope, Love" series.
12/27 NO, we are not meeting! Enjoy the break with family or friends (or both!).
1/3 YES, we are meeting! Bring your questions for a Spiritual Q&A
1/10 YES, we are meeting! This will be the start of a 4-week series called "Baggage: Who We Are In Light Of Our Pasts"

So, I hope to see you tomorrow night, Dec. 20th, for our Christmas Watershed gathering.

No worship gathering tonight due to snow!

For several reasons that all came together in the past 5 minutes, we have decided to cancel tonight's Dec. 6 Worship Gathering.  So plan to come next week to hear Sarah Ndjerareou (Nate's wife) continue our Christmas series "Faith, Hope, Love" with a talk about Hope, and then the following week to hear Nate close up the series with "Love."

Again, there is NO worship gathering tonight.  Enjoy your evening!

-E 

Thursday MP3s are Posted!

If you've been hoping to download an MP3 of a Thursday night message, you're in luck! Mike has all the latest recordings on the Watershed "listen" page.

We're still working out some technical issues regarding the podcast feed, but that should also be coming to the new website soon.

Make sure to thank Mike for taking care of this!

Knowing Your Neighbors

I just learned about a new tool called ZipSkinny.  If you want to "get the skinny" on your neighborhood, you simply enter your Zip Code, and ZipSkinny pulls all sorts of data from the Census Bureau website, and even compares it to other Zip Codes in your areas.

So for fun, I thought I'd enter 52402 since a majority of our Watershed audience lives and works within this zip code.  And I was surprised to see that while the Median age is 33, the largest age range (percentage-wise) was those in the 20-29 age range.  It's nice to know that Watershed is aiming for the right target audience...

Blood:Water Mission - another way to help

Some of you might remember two years ago when we took an offering for Blood:Water Mission. You guys gave an incredible amount, and it was a joy to send such a huge check to provide clean drinking water for African villages. Well here's another way you could help out.

I got an email yesterday asking me to join Blood:Water Mission's group on a new action-oriented social networking site called Razoo. If Blood:Water Mission gets enough members, they could be selected as winner of the Change Your World Contest, which would award them $10,000.

Blood:Water Mission is doing great things helping Africans get clean fresh drinking water from wells right beneath their feet. I'd encourage you to join Razoo as well, and after you confirm your email address, click on http://beta.razoo.com/groups/bloodwatermission to join the group and help them out.

New Watershed website

In case you hadn't seen it yet, Watershed is sporting a new website.   Thanks once again to Sam Otis for lending his awesome talents in the creation of this site!

Now that the site is live, would you enjoy maintaining the site?  It doesn't require much time, but is a necessary element to keep the website current.  If interested, email me at erin.bird@newcovenantbible.org.  You don't have to design, but you do need to have a knowledge of HTML (or the software) to make changes (without messing up Sam's great design).

Oh, and if you look at the site in Internet Explorer 7, the site is all messed up.  Go with a good browser like Firefox or Safari (or stick with Internet Explorer 6) - they know how it is supposed to look.

Tonight's Staff Meeting

Hey everyone,

Had someone call asking if tonight's staff meeting was at New Covenant where we have been meeting for Staff Meeting or if we were at our new location for this fall, Maranatha Bible Church. The answer is: we will be meeting at Maranatha at 7:30 pm. And on the agenda for tonight, a tour!

For a map/directions to Marantha, click here. If that doesn't work for some , do a Google Map search for 701 25th St. NE.

Thursday Informal Activity: Volleyball at Thomas Park

After discussion with a few others, the consensus is that we should round out our "informal" activities for the summer by having an evening of volleyball (maybe even a tournament) at Thomas Park in Marion. We'll plan on meeting at 7pm by the courts.

If you want to come earlier and enjoy a picnic in the park, that would be cool -- maybe leave a comment here if you intend to do so, and try to convince the rest of us to join you in picnicking.

Hope to see you there. :-)

Thursday Informal Activity: Nature Hike (Indian Creek Nature Center)

Hey y'all. One of the activities that was popular on our summer survey was a Nature Hike. So... let's have a nature hike. Wear some comfy shoes and some bug spray and come join us. We'll meet at the Indian Creek Nature Center (click title for a Google map) at 7pm this coming Thursday evening, Aug 2. Also click here for driving directions (from the nature center website).

Hope to see you all there, and if you have comments, feel free to post them here.

Camp Courageous Pineapple Sale

We Need You!

Are you familiar with camp courageous of Iowa?!? If not, please visit their website. It is a wonderful, nonprofit, organization that provides weekend respite care and week long retreats for people with disabilities. The camp and its volunteers are an inspiration and the joy the campers get from attending the camp is truly incredible.

Every year the camp holds pineapple sales leading up to their annual pineapple gala, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Cedar Rapids. On Friday august 10 and Saturday august 11, volunteers will be selling pineapples at area Hy-Vees (Cedar Rapids, Marion, Coralville and Iowa City). Money handling skills are not required, as the pineapples are purchased through Hy-Vee, and all proceeds go directly to Camp Courageous! All you need is a smile, a friendly attitude, and a desire to serve! Volunteers are need to cover in 2 hour time blocks (minimum) in groups of 2-3 per store, from 4-7 on Friday and 10-6 on Saturday. The pineapple displays will be put together by Hy-Vee, all you have to do is show up and smile!

The following weekend (Saturday August 19) is the Pineapple Gala, held at the Crowne Plaza. Details about the tickets can be found on the website. There is a silent auction for some wonderful options, a dinner, followed by a live auction. Tables of ten can be purchased, or individual dinners can also be purchased. All proceeds go directly to Camp Courageous, including dinner prices and all money raised by the auctions. This would be a great social event for some outrageously awesome fun!

These are both great opportunities for individuals, friends,and families of any size! If you are interested in any of the above opportunities, please contact John or Nichole as soon as possible. This is a great chance to be a part of our community, and help raise money for a truly honorable cause.

What: Camp Courageous Pineapple Sales
Delmonte Gold Large Pineapples for $4.00
When: Friday August 10, 2007 4-7 PM
Saturday August 11, 2007 10AM-4PM
Where: Area Hy-Vee Stores including-
Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Iowa City, and Marion

Since you're reading this, I know you're interested in helping. Please contact Nichole or myself to sign up for a specific location and time.

John - kngdmwarrior@hotmail.com

Nichole - aquathlete13@yahoo.com (319-431-5332)

July Worship Gathering

Come join us this Thursday (the 26th) at Palisades-Kepler State Park for our July Worship gathering. If you came out to our gathering last month at Bever Park you know how much it was to be outside for a change. Unlike last time, we won't have food beforehand, but we will have smores and a fire afterwards, so stick around (no pun intended :-)) for awhile.

Here is a map showing how to get to the park, which is off US 30 going east toward Mt Vernon.

Here is a map of the park. We have reserved Shelter #1. We plan on starting at 7:30pm, but feel free to show up anytime beforehand and enjoy the beautiful park.

Staff Meeting #2

Just a quick reminder here that Staff Meeting #2 is tomorrow night (Thursday, July 19) at 7:30 pm. It will be held once again at New Covenant's building in Room 143 (the same room as last time). If you don't know where that is, stand in the foyer facing the worship center where we used to meet on Thursdays, and go to the end of the hallway on your left.

Thursday Informal Activity: Thomas Park

Hey Watershed. This is really late notice, but for those of you who read this, let's get together Thursday evening for another "pseudoWatershed" activity. Let's meet at Thomas Park at 7pm. It's not really a picnic, but bring some food if you want to eat. Then at 7:30, we'll walk on the trail some, or play some volleyball (rumors of water balloons...). No fixed schedule other than that, just an informal get together. Hope to see you there. :-)

Bike Riding: Thu, Jul 5

Hey all you bike riders (the nonmotorized kind, that is). Since we are not having a normal Watershed gathering this Thursday, let's meet for bike riding instead. The plan is to meet at Cedar Lake Park (just west of the H Avenue exit on the Interstate) at 7pm. From there we'll travel either north or south on the trail for an hour or two...should be a nice relaxing evening ride. Hope to see you there.

July 4 Young Life Fundraiser

Andrea S made us aware last Thursday night of an opportunity to help one of our local organizations, Young Life. They are looking for volunteers on the 4th (just a couple short days away) to help man a vendor stand from appx. 6pm - 10pm, and then help with cleanup from 10pm - 1am. Anyone can work one or both shifts.

If you're interested in helping out in this way, let me know (or post a comment here), and I'll forward that info to Young Life.

June Worship in the Park

It's June, and that means being outdoors. That's why Watershed is meeting outdoors this Thursday, June 28, at Bever Pavilion in Bever Park. That's the pavilion by the east entrance to Bever Park--so if you're coming from First Ave, driving on Bever Ave, it'll be the second entrance to the park.

Now, you can come at 7:30 and worship with us. But better yet, come at 6:30 and eat with us! There will be a potluck, starting at 6:30. The hot dogs, buns, plates, napkins, and plastic-ware will be provided. Your job is to bring a side dish to share, and your own beverage. We do have electricity available, so crock pots are welcome. Someone suggested (very cleverly) that y'all could post the side dish you plan to bring so not everyone brings the same thing, because really, who wants 30 platters of lutefisk(*)?

Lutefisk aside, I'm really bummed that I can't be there. But you can make up for it by inviting a friend to come with. And let me know how cool everything I missed was.

The short version:
Thursday, June 28, 6:30PM, potluck at Bever Pavilion in Bever Park.
Thursday, June 28, 7:30PM, worship at/near Bever Pavilion in Bever Park.
Come, and feel free to invite a friend!

(Disclaimer: Not that there's anything wrong with lutefisk. If "fish jello" offends you, please imagine I said "Baked Beans", "Potato Salad", or "Great-Aunt Millie's Roast Asparagus Poppers", whichever is most palatable. Further disclaimer: The author of this post hereby disclaims all knowledge of any great-aunts that may be named Millie, whether they roast asparagus or not.)

Winning

In our staff meeting last Thursday, we talked about winning and Watershed. A win is any time a young adult goes deeper with Christ, be it coming to a Thursday night gathering for the first time, or coming to Christ, or getting involved in their church. We discussed ways that we've seen "wins" occur at Watershed, and some of the things we need to do to continue seeing wins in the future. Here are some of the things you brought up...

• Organized small groups/mentorship groups (possibly meet on Thursdays)
• Bring back the group that met after Thurs night gatherings to discuss the message
• Social events geared toward deepening relationships
• Once a month organized events that might be more comfortable for seekers
• Give people an outlet for their Spiritual Pathways
• Calendar on website for anyone to post events on
• White board in the entry-way to the gathering that lists upcoming activities
• Have someone available after each service for prayer
• Greeting team
• Everyone is a greeter!
• Identify the target audience? Are we trying to reach the churched or the unchurched?

Looking over that list, 3 areas stand out to me: welcoming new attenders (ankle deep), fellowship (knee deep), and small groups/iron-sharpens-iron activities (waist deep).

We also discussed some ways to get the word about Watershed out to the community...

• Letter to area churches
• Vision partner of 89.1 The Spirit
• Ads in the Gazette, Penny Saver, Christian Business Directory
• Contact Christian businesses
• Community service outreaches and events
• Laundromat bulletin boards
• Personal invites
• College campuses (beginning of the year fairs)
• Location (be where we want to minister)

Please discuss the ideas listed above. Are there any other things you believe we need to to do in order to see more wins? Can we focus on all these or are there certain ones that stand out as more urgent than others? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Summer Activities Survey Results

Many of you took a "Watershed Summer Activities Survey" in May before we took a break for the summer. I have compiled the results of that survey, and you can download the Excel spreadsheet by clicking the title link.

We'll try to organize some informal favorites from this list during the "off" weeks of Watershed in July and August, so... stay tuned.

Marion by Moonlight -- Jun 14

As mentioned briefly at our last Watershed meeting in May, we are going to try and arrange some informal activities on the "off" weeks during the summer.

For this week, I'd like to invite everyone to "Marion by Moonlight" at the Marion square this Thursday night. The music goes from 6:30 - 9:30 pm. Let's plan to meet at the square at 6:30.

Hope to see you there. If you have comments on this, feel free to leave them below.

Thursdays and Texting

I must admit, it felt a bit strange not having a Worship Gathering tonight. Instead, I was hanging out with John, Matt, Amber, and Bill working on the June 21 staff meeting, the June 28 Worship Gathering (we almost have a park secured!), and the new location (several good options, I must say!). While I missed worshipping and hanging with all of you, I am excited about this summer and gearing up for next fall.

The main reason I am posting is that I just read a blog about text messaging among young adults. You can read it here. I don't even own a cell phone, so I am obviously not contributing to any of these numbers, but I'm curious how many of you text someone daily? While in your car? And how is your life different because of text messaging? And would you say life is better because of texting?

Comments are open!

Rethink the Website

Tonight we start our summer teaching series called Rethink. I'm excited about it! This evening we'll look at the idea of rethinking our faith (can you do that?). I am hoping that many of you will be challenged in your own faith through this 4-part summer series.

You might notice a few changes to the main website. We've scaled back the site just for the summer, with a new site hopefully launching towards the fall. We'll put announcements right on the home page, as well as on here. We left up the About Us stuff so that any visitors can learn a little more about Watershed before they check out a gathering in June, July, or August. We'll also keep the Listen page up since several of you download the mp3s.

Keep watching the website and/or Waterblogged for info about our June, July, and August gatherings, including locations and directions.

Summer Activities Anyone?

Some of us Watershedders are thinking it would be fun to schedule some informal gatherings on Thursday evenings when we are not having normal Watershed or staff meetings this summer. The dates that these special events might happen are: 6/7, 6/14, 7/5, 7/12, 8/2, 8/9, and 8/23.

I came up with a list of ideas, and I'd like your input. Click here to download or open the Word document with the survey form. Fill out what you think sounds the best, and email the form back to me. I'll also bring some copies of the survey to Watershed on Thursday.

Staff Meetings

Tonight's "Major Announcement" was the schedule of "staff" meetings. If you are on volunteer staff, or are interested in being on staff, then come to our meetings this summer on the third Thursday of each summer month at 7:30 pm. The specific dates are:

June 21
July 19
August 16

These meetings will not have times of worship through song or a 30-minute teaching from the Bible or any of the other elements typically found at a Worship Gathering. Rather our times together will be focused on the discussion of the "relaunch" of Watershed in the fall and how we can all play a part in its success. And of course praying together about these things!

We have assembled an email list from people who have submitted their addresses to us regarding staff stuff. If you would like to be on this list to stay informed of staff-related issues, then email me at erin.bird [AT] newcovenantbible [DOT] org.

Four Oaks Service Project

If you are the kind of person who loves playing with kids and getting involved in the community, we have an opportunity for you. We recently found out about a Mexican-themed event hosted by Four Oaks for underprivilidged and hurting children. They are looking for volunteers to help with games (pin the tail on the donkey, bean bag toss and more), serving food, helping with crafts, and just playing with the kids. Erin just spoke last Thursday about giving of our time and energy by helping out with children. They love it when we play with them because they just think we're cool!


Date: Sunday, May 20
Time: 11:30 - 3:00 *
Place: Smith Center (map)

*The event starts at noon, but volunteers need to arrive at 11:30 to receive instructions.

I realize the event is this Sunday, and the last thing we want to do is pull you away from your normal Sunday church service. So if you would normally be attending church at this time, please don't skip church to do this instead. But if you attend an early morning or evening service at your church, and are interested in participating, please let us know!

If you are interested, please contact Joe with your name and birth date at joeclark@joeclarkia.net ASAP, as Four Oaks needs to know how many volunteers are coming for planning purposes.

Gather.Grow.Give.Go in Proverbs 11

If you have attended a Thursday Gathering in the last 3 weeks or listened to the podcast of the messages, you know we are in a series about the vision of Watershed called "Gather.Grow.Give.Go".

Well, Andrea Sandoval just dropped off a sheet of paper here at my house with verses on it from Proverbs 11 that fit perfectly with the stuff we are learning from Ezekiel 47, especially this last Thursday as we talked about the fruit and the leaves in verse 12 and how those signify what we as Christians are to give. These verses are so good, I thought I should share them here on Waterblogged, so here you go:

verse 25 : "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

verse 28 : "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."

verse 30 : "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise."

If you have any other verses you know of our find in the Scripture relating to the images and ideas in Ezekiel 47, feel free to post them here in the comments.

All Scripture from the New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Major Announcement #3

Tonight the third Major Announcement was made as part of the Gather.Grow.Give.Go series. And here it is:

We are looking for a new location for our Thursday Gatherings! We'd like it to be somewhat centralized in the city, possibly free, and a room for childcare. Churches, bars, store fronts, whatever you find. If you have any ideas of where this place might be, please send an email to erin.bird@newcoveREMOVEnantbible.org.

Being Entish...

Tonight, during the "Grow" talk, I mentioned some Bible reading plans to help those of you not faithfully getting rooted in Christ through the Word. But I failed to have the website on the PowerPoint for those who wanted to go to the web and check those out themselves. So here's the link:

http://www.heartlight.org/devotionals/reading_plans/

Also, I mentioned ideas to help you remember to pray. I thought it would be fun to open up comments on this post and hear ideas some of you have to help you to remember to pray.

Going Deeper...

I got the following email from someone who missed last Thursday's Worship Gathering and caught up with the message via podcast. I thought it might encourage some of you to know that God is calling some of you (hopefully lots of you!) into deeper places with him. So that the attention is on God and not this individual, I've edited (with permission) the text so that the email stays anonymous:

Erin,

I just listened to the message you gave this last Thursday on Gathering. Something that always amazes me is God's timing. Just in the last few days I've felt a pull to go deeper with Christ. It's not necessarily a new pull, but a renewed one. I feel like I've been trying to do things to get to Christ but missing something. A friend put it best when she explained it last night: it's like I've been striving to get close with Him. I think I need to abide in Him and realize that His presence is already here.

When we go deep in the river that is Christ, he pulls us wherever he wants. I feel like I've been wading for a while now and wish that the river would pull me into the deep as it pulls those who are already there. What can I do to loose the grip on whatever my toes are wrapped around? Or maybe I'm wading in the wrong direction. Either way, I've again realized where I'd like to be and that I'm not quite there yet.

Tomorrow night's talk will be on "Grow" and we'll address for a bit what it looks like in the Watershed context to go knee deep and begin to go deeper in the river (to let our toes loose their grip!). I'm excited that God is not only working in this person's life, but yours as well!

Passion coming to Chicago!

Passion is coming to Chicago! I (Amy) have been to the Passion Conferences the last 2 years and I am so excited to know they are coming so close and over a weekend! I will be organizing a group to go with me from Watershed. The only details I know is that it is the weekend of October 19 and 20th. It will be a Friday and Saturday. I do not know time information, or any other details. But stay tuned because I will be staying on top of it!

If you are interested in coming, let me know and I will definitely keep you in the loop!

Passion is a young adult conference that is an amazing experience and both years I have went, I have been amazed. Having so many young adults in the same room, worshipping Jesus is soooo amazing you will not want to miss out! You will not be disappointed!

If you want to read the Passion blog, you can find it at www.268blog.blogspot.com and if you want to know more about Passion Conferences, you can find that at www.268generation.com.

MORE TO COME!!!!

Paul Rivera Frias: A Life Transformed!

I just received this email from CURE International, so I thought I would share with everyone so you can see just how your donations are helping!

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Passion07 challenged you to “do something now” to actively live your life for Christ. You took that challenge to heart. Your partnership with CURE is not just doing “something”, it is doing incredible things. It is changing lives. The following story of a child who was healed by a Passion07 sponsored surgery is proof of that.
Paul Rivera Frias will never have to grow up with the stigma of being disabled. He probably won’t even remember going through treatment for his disability. The chubby, little two-year-old is fortunate, he was able to get help early on in his life so that he won’t ever experience the trials that other individuals with disabilities in the Dominican Republic endure. Paul has you to thank for that. It was through your commitments at Passion07 that Paul was able to avoid the heartache and difficulties of being disabled in the developing world.
Born with scoliosis, Paul was referred to CURE for surgery by a hospital near his hometown of Los Alcarrizos, a remote village 30 minutes north of Santo Domingo. The surgery to strengthen his spine was a success. He soon will be able to crawl, and eventually walk, like other toddlers. Although, Paul may never realize or understand the transformation he received at CURE, his mother, Maria Frias, is more than aware of the profound affect his surgery had on his life. “We now have the hope that he is going to grow just as any normal person,” says Maria. For such a little guy, his family already has high hopes for his future. “Our biggest hope is that he could study and become a good professional,” Maria says with a smile. Maria and Paul Frias already attend church with the rest of their family, but say that their faith has grown through their experience at CURE.

Thank you,
CURE International

Stand Tall Performance at Cornell College

Many of you will remember the drama performance by Stand Tall (FYI: that's an old website) from Cornell College during our "Worship Through the Arts" series in February. Maggie, one of the student leaders, just emailed me this, and I wanted to share it with all of you:

Hi Erin!

It's been awhile now since Stand Tall performed at Watershed and we've been busy. We loved performing for you all! We just wanted to let you and everyone at Watershed know that we have our large campus performances coming up this Monday and Tuesday, April 16th and 17th. Our performance is called "Quo Vadis...where are you going?" and is comprised of new skits, poetry, music, monologues and choreography written almost entirely by members from our group. The material covers a span of emotions and questions that are faced by both Christians and non-Christians, although we are centering our performance on living joyfully and trustfully in God's truth in order to answer the question "where are you going?". We would love to see members of Watershed there at one or both of our performances. Here's all the information you should need:

What: Stand Tall Christian Performing Arts presents "Quo Vadis...where are you going?"
When: Monday, April 16th and Tuesday, April 17th at 7pm-9:15pm (no intermission)
Where: Cornell College - Black Box - Armstrong Hall (this building is right of the Commons when facing the Commons. To get to the Black Box, enter the doors on the left-hand side of the building, go down a short flight of steps, and directly ahead is the small theatre. People will be there handing out programs)
Other info: Admission is free! Bring your friends!
For more info: contact m-obermann@cornellcollege.edu or Maggie at 970-405-3787

If you could pass on this information, it would be greatly appreciated!
-Maggie

Technical Difficulties

For those of you that gave to CURE International, I thank you again! However, it has come to my attention that some of you might not have saw a confirmation page after you submitted your donation online. There might have been some technical problems with the laptop, specifically the one on the right side (Windows computer).

So, if you did not receive a confirmation page, I would suggest keeping an eye on your credit card account to see if anything posts in the next couple days, if not you can use the link posted in the previous blog that I posted earlier.

Thanks so much!

The 2007 Maundy Thursday service in review

Last night's Maundy Thursday prayer night was a great event in my opinion. First, the generous giving that Amy talked about in the last blog post absolutely overwhelmed me. I am so proud of all of you!

Second, watching so many of you praying inspired me to pray. I had already gone through all the stations in a sense during the preparation, but I was so moved watching so many of you spend serious time with God, contemplating the Scripture passages and what they mean to your life, it motivated me to go through each station again, but this time not as prep but for genuine prayer and reflection.

Third, I was impressed that so many of you just rolled with this completely new method of worship. I expected a few more people to have negative reactions (anytime you implement big change like this, even for a one time event you can expect criticism and negative response), but so many of you were amazingly flexible and sought to connect with God.

I don't know that we'll ever do this again, but if we did, I would change a few things. The scented oil, for one, was too strong. I thought the scent was very nice, but I never imagined it would not only take over the whole worship center, but the whole building! I had a slight headache by the time we were doing tear-down, and I think the scent was partly to blame. My apologies to any of you that are sensitive to smells. The goal was to just have the scent in the area of that particular prayer station concerning the woman and her sacrifice of her embalming perfume.

The other thing I would change is the preparation time. I WAY underestimated how much time it would take to put things together. A HUGE thank you goes to my administrative assistant, Gina Green, here at New Covenant. I try not to bother her with Watershed things, but she got all the books folded and stapled, the various elements collected (communion stuff, props, candles, etc.), and more.

Also, thanks to John Connelly for writing three of the stations' notes and suggested prayers. I wish he hadn't gotten sick so that he could have written more of them - his thoughts and prayers really touched me.

Thanks also to Amy Arp for giving all of us the opportunity to give as part of our worship.

And lastly, thanks to Matt, Mike, Nate, April, Daniel, Ida, Steve, and Heather for their help in set-up and/or tear-down. Without them, the evening would have been a flop.

I've opened up comments on this blog for those who want to share their thoughts about the evening. What did you like? What weirded you out? What would you have done had you planned something like this?

And for those who missed the evening and would like to know what it was all about, I have made a PDF with the content of the prayer guides that were handed out at the door as well as the Scriptures that were at each prayer station. All you'll be missing is some bread, juice, a couple of laptops, and a whole lot of smell!

CURE International Total

I am so overwhelmed by the generous giving of everyone last night at the Maundy Thursday worship service. I am so excited to tell you that we raised $1861.25 last night! That includes the cash and the online donations! Thank you all so much for helping out! Lindsay and I are so excited about it!!!

If you were not able to attend last night and still want to give here are 3 ways:
#1. let me know via email (amyarp@gmail.com),
#2. or you can give by clicking on Sponsor Me! on the left side of this page: http://www.curenetcomm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=363&srcid=362&frsid=45
#3. or at watershed next week.

Thank you all again so much!
Amy

Maundy Thursday Worship Service

Join us on Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 pm for a special Maundy Thursday worship service. The night looks to be unlike anything we have ever done before, so come with no expectations except to meet with God and worship Him.

CURE International Offering

Because we are in the middle of a teaching series on practical Christianity during our Thursday Gatherings, we want to follow through with what we are learning. James 1:27 tells us to care for widows and orphans, in other words, the underprivileged who perhaps feel unloved. We want to reach out to some underprivileged people who might feel unloved because of a physical deformity.

On April 5, the night of our Maundy Thursday Worship Service, we will be taking an offering to raise $2,000 to sponsor one surgery through CURE International, an organization that is helping kids in third world countries have a new lease on life through life-changing surgeries. If you have any questions about CURE International, visit their website, or talk with Amy Arp.

If you want to donate online ahead of time, please use this link, and click on "Sponsor Me" so we can know how much of the $2,000 we have raised.

Most popular young adult websites

I just saw this morning on the Church Relevance blog that Facebook is the most popular website among 17-25 year olds. Even if you aren't in this age range, what is your most popular website?

Mar 1 Gathering - CANCELLED!

As you can see on the Watershed home page, tonight's Worship Gathering has been CANCELLED due to the weather. Even though it is just wet right now (I was just out on the roads and thought we should be able to go tonight), Kirkwood has cancelled all classes after 5:00 pm (we have used them in the past to help us make cancellation decisions), plus the radar at this moment seems to be showing the storm to be swirling back to the south as it heads east, meaning the part of the storm that has closed down I-80 between Omaha and Des Moines is headed our way.

So enjoy the night tucked in at home. Stay warm, and get ready to hear Andy next week on the topic of "The Heart of God".

The Heart of God

Tonight (weather permitting) and next Thursday we have the awesome privilege of having Andy K share with us a two part series on "The Heart of God".

Andy has spoken for us before, way back in the day when we gathered in the New Covenant basement. If you have never heard Andy speak, do whatever you can to get to tonight's AND next week's gatherings. Andy shares passionately from his heart and from the Scriptures. Our hope is that some of Andy's passion oozes onto you and you will leave each Worship Gathering moved to have your heartbeat get in sync with God's.

Andy is on staff at Parkview Church in Iowa City, helping out with 24-7 and outreach. He is a popular workshop speaker at the Main Event conference every fall as well as a speaker for Perspectives. He is the husband of Jamie and father of 3 (one who went to be with Jesus before birth, and new twins (a boy and a girl) born last summer).

The Next Young Adult Generation

Erin here. I will try not to do this very often, but I thought some of you might be interested in some recent surveys that have been released in the past couple months that I posted about on my personal blog. The only reason I am linking is because it has to do with the next generation of young adults and I don't want to recreate the post over here. Some of the survey results were startling to me and might be to you as well.

As I said on my blog, these results concern me, but also motivate me. And I am glad that God has Watershed here in Cedar Rapids at this time to help address the issues raised in these reports. But it is going to take a group of people moving in step with the flow of the Holy Spirit to help reach the young adults of Eastern Iowa for Christ. Will you step into the flow with us?

Life For God forum

For those of you missing the "good old days" with the Watershed forum, you might want to know that Joe Clark and some others have gotten a "Life For God Cedar Rapids" forum up and running. If you enjoy discussing theology, sharing prayer requests, playing games, or just interacting with other young adults online, then join the Life For God forum.

Thanks, Joe (and whoever else helped), for getting that forum going!