Children's choir opportunities

Dear Parents of K-6th grade children,

We are very excited to announce that Holly Steck would like to provide your child with opportunities to be involved in our children’s choir. Holly is a musically gifted teacher with a heart for teaching children how to use music to learn about God and to worship at the same time. An active choir will create an environment for kids to learn the basics of music reading so they may explore beyond the notes and rhythms into deeper parts of music.
Current choir opportunities include a Sunday morning group that will share a Christmas favorite during the service on December 20th and a spring musical that will require rehearsals to begin in January.

The December special music group rehearsal dates will be on Sunday mornings Dec. 6 (from 10:30am-11am*then children will go into the service with parents as it is the 1st Sun.), Dec. 13, & Dec. 20 (from 10:30am – 11:15am). Children will be dismissed from choir practice to small groups on Dec. 13 & 20.

A sign up roster will be on the CC slat wall to share your child’s interest in one or both musical opportunities. Holly will be on vacation from Nov. 21 – Nov. 29. Please feel free to contact the church office with immediate questions, or write your question on the sign up roster.

You may contact Holly at (330) 830-6762 or email her at hollybberries@yahoo.com or contact Debbie in the church office at 330-477-7834; email whippleheights@whcma.org.

A note from the pastor

Hello Whipple Height’ers-

I wanted to take a moment to update you on some things coming up that I believe you and your family would love to be part of. I hope this week is going well for you. It is the Thanksgiving Season so I pray we would all take at least a moment each day to thank God for the blessings in our lives. There are some in our church who have a taken a challenge to actually write out one thing they are thankful for every day from November to Christmas and then read their list out loud to their family, friends, and coworkers before they break for Christmas season. Not a bad idea! Perhaps you too would like to take that challenge.

This coming Sunday at church we are going to have a program shift. We have decided to keep all the kids (K-6th) in the service with us and the entire service is going to focus on Testimonies of God's People. We are going to have an extended time of Worship and then an extended time of open sharing about the Goodness of God in our lives. I pray you would begin now praying about something you would want to share about how good God is within your life and family and church. I also want to challenge you to Invite at least one person to this week’s journey of Testimony Share and Thanksgiving Dinner. I think it is going to be a great Sunday that will be uplifting to all generations. We will finish our Grateful Dead series the following week and our Children (K-6) will have a great Missions Minded Moment (in the Fellowship Hall) during services next week. What would you say this Sunday about the Goodness of God in your life?

Thanksgiving Dinner is this week after our Testimony Service. Men-Saturday @7:30 we are gathering for a FREE Breakfast and then we are going to help set up for our dinner. The more hands the better so please consider joining us on Saturday. If you know anyone that needs Community and a safe place to experience the love of Christ-Please Invite them this week to our gathering-pray now for who that may be in your life-step out in faith and invite.

This Coming Wednesday is our GoStark gathering at First Christian Church for our Community Thanksgiving Eve Service. Please consider this night. Check out www.gostark.com for more information. We have two services to choose from, 5 or 7. We have a sign up at the Connection Center.
The Hanging of the Greens is coming-November 29th @6pm. Come out with your Family and enjoy decorating the church and enjoying a kick off to the Christmas Season with music, cookies, and community. It is always a great time.

Wow! This was way longer than I thought it would be but we have a lot of great things going on. This Sunday, come prepare your hearts to enjoy the Goodness of God. Your Testimony is the message for the day-I love you all, guard your hearts wherever you may be as you read this, and please know that our time on this earth is short-Let us EMBRACE the Grace of God and EXTEND that Grace to our world today.

Grace and Peace
Pastor Taylor

A note from the pastor

Dear Friends-

Let me first say to all the veterans that are reading this, Thank You. I was thinking this morning of the freedom we have as Americans and there truly are no words to describe how blessed we are to live in the greatest country in the world. Veterans, thank you seems to never be enough but please know that I appreciate the hours of service and sacrifice you have offered for our country. If you see a veteran, please thank them, not just today, but every day.

I hope to see you this weekend at Church. Please study ahead and check out 2 Corinthians Chapter 4. So great! I have been challenged all week and believe that God has some great things in store. You know what? Stark County has been rated as one of the fastest dying counties in America. Do you know what could happen if the Church in Stark County awoke to the freedom we have in Christ? Stay tuned, join the journey on Sunday and hear more….

We had a great Worship Night this past Sunday. There were over sixty that took part in this night and I would love to hear from you if you were there. Let me know how you felt it went and what stood out the most to you. Your worship community is excited about exploring new direction God could be taking us for this night. If you were there, please let me know how God used it in your life.

Enjoy this week! What a beautiful week God has blessed us with. If you are sick, hang in there and know that it will pass. Let’s continue to pray for each other and for our church and our city. In this world we will have Trouble yet God PROMISES never to leave us or temp us beyond that which we can handle. Praise God for that!

See you all Sunday-


Grace and Peace
Pastor Taylor

Invite, reminder from our Deaconess Team

Hi Everyone,

Please note your calendars that we will NOT hold fellowship dinners in November, December or January.
Please plan to attend our Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, November 22 at the elementary school next door.
This dinner is coordinated with the help of our church family.
See the sign ups on the CC table this Sunday for ways you can help!

Also, we encourage you to take this opportunity to invite family members and friends to join us that day.
The dinner is immediately following the worship service.

A note from Pastor Taylor

Dear Friend-

It was so good to be back this past Sunday from my week away in LA. Southern California is amazing however, how beautiful it was to see all the leaves and all the different colors that we have here in Ohio. As I mentioned Sunday morning, I experienced my first earthquake while I was out there. Granted it was only a 3.7, but to an Ohio boy, it felt like a 10. I will take our Ohio natural disasters any day. It’s good to be home. Now, the journey of picking up all those beautiful leaves off the ground has begun.

I want to invite you to join us this week at church for a historic event that is beginning. GO STARK! www.Gostark.org is back and we are part of over sixty churches in Stark County that will be learning from the same texts for the next four weeks. The series is called, “Grateful Dead”. You can get a glimpse of what each week will look like on our website, www.whcma.org (and a list of the sermon series is available at the church)

Here is a glimpse of this week:
Go Stark “Grateful Dead” Series begins:
Mark 8:34-37
Dead To Me (Alive To God)
What does it mean for me to die to my self and really fully live for Jesus? We die to our selfish ways so that we can live for the cause of God. Or, to quote the late Jim Elliott, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose!” What does it mean for me to die to my self and really fully live for Jesus? We die to our selfish ways so that we can live for the cause of God. Or, to quote the late Jim Elliott, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose!”

I also would like to ask you to be in prayer for Judgment House 2009; www.tourjh.com. This Sunday, we have over twenty youth signed up to go experience the Judgment House at Hope Community Church in Hudson Ohio. Please contact the office if you or your youth (7th-12th) are interested in going. The event is Free. Contact the office for more details.

Have a great week and please remember that this life we live is so short! Let’s live for Christ today! Let’s not worry about tomorrow! Let’s think on things above! Let’s love our God will all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength.

One last thing-I hope you will plan to attend our Praise Night on November 8th at 6pm. Your worship team has been working hard to prepare a night to celebrate, reflect and to be refreshed through worship. There are a number of special music guests and I believe it will be a great night. We are still working on child care for the night; I hope you will plan to join us. Check out details on the web, www.whcma.org.

Grace and Peace
Pastor Taylor

PS. Don’t forget to “fall behind” with the clocks this Saturday, Oct. 31 before you turn in for the night!

My background

EDITOR’S NOTE: Garth Crundwell is the new Associate Pastor at Whipple Heights Church. He starts in January. He will write blog entries as he prepares his family for the move to Ohio.

I was born into a Christian home and opened my heart to Jesus when I was seven years old.

I was baptized at the age of 14 and called into ministry at the age of 12.

My journey of faith took an interesting turn following my graduation from high school.

I had made a decision to enroll in University to pursue a career in law. But following my first year the Lord began to turn my priorities and after counsel with my pastor I enrolled in Canadian Bible College and began a four year degree program which brought my wife into my life and led us to pastoral ministry at the Peace Portal Alliance Church and later, at the Arrow Lakes Alliance Church.

In August of 1990, following graduation from Seminary, we left Canada for Costa Rica to learn the Spanish language before beginning our missionary career in Venezuela.
We were privileged to be C&MA missionaries to Caracas and Maracay, Venezuela during the next 12 years.

We were part of church planting teams and blessed to see many people come to Christ, be discipled and move on in ministry in the local church.

In 2002, the Lord brought us to San Jose, Calif. to be part of a church restart and this began a new phase in our faith journey. These past 7 years have been a struggle due to frequent moves but we've been blessed to form friendships that last to this date.

We are excited to become part of the Whipple Heights family and look forward to many years of ministry together.
Our children are pictured. They are Ryan (the oldest), Alyssa (our only daughter), Chris (the second oldest) and Jonathan (the youngest).

Both Alyssa and Jonathan will be moving with us to Ohio.

Chris is married and attending Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn.

Ryan lives and works in Redding, Calif.

Faces of Whipple

Angela Smith

1. WHERE DO YOU LIVE? --- Canton, OH


2. FAMILY ---I live at home with my Mom and dad, I have a younger sister and brother.


3. WHERE DO YOU WORK? --- I am not currently employed anywhere.


4. DREAM JOB --- My dream job is to work with physically and mentally handicapped kids!


5. WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE CHURCH? --- Nate Shaeffer told me about the Fireproof movie that they were showing & I wanted to come see it so he invited me and I liked it and then that Sunday I came to the 10:45 service and have been coming ever since.


6. FAVORITE BOOK OTHER THEN THE BIBLE? --- The Purpose Driven Life.


7. FAVORITE PRAISE AND WORSHIP SONG --- Softly and Tenderly


8. FAVORITE TV SHOW --- Most Medical Shows.


9. FAVORITE MOVIE --- The movie/Autobiography of Joni (Joni Eareckson Tada)


10. WHEN ON VACATION, DO YOU PREFER THE BEACH OR THE MOUNTAINS? --- Beach


11. FAVORITE FOOD --- Hot dogs/Cheese pizza


12. REALITY TELEVISION OR A GOOD BOOK--- Good book


13. DO YOU HAVE A SECRET TALENT? --- No


14. DO YOU PLAN OR ARE YOU SPONTANEOUS? --- I Plan


15. HAVE YOU EVER SERVED IN ANY CAPACITY FOR THE LORD? ---
Yes I have worked at the churches I have been at before coming to Whipple. I have helped/worked with kids of all different ages from younger to high school, in Sunday school and Sunday evenings. I have helped with kids in bible schools. I've helped babysit on Thursday nights at church for Choir. I have helped with the
physically/mentally disabled kids at church & school for the Special Olympics.


16. IF YOU COULD VISIT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. WHERE WOULD YOU LOVE TO GO? --- Short term missions trip to any Third World country


17. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT THREE THINGS WOULD YOU BRING WITH YOU? --- Devotional book,my worship CDs/CD player,Bible