Pictured is the new sign at Countryside Community Church.
Submitted photo
Gary Martenson and Jeff LaCoe Jr. work on the new sign at Countryside Community Church.
Submitted photo
NEWTON TOWNSHIP — Countryside Community Church has even more ways for its members to grow their relationships with Jesus as well as each other.
Church members Wayne and Candace Beach developed three monthly programs, which they brought to church council for approval. Nearly two years ago, they launched a spiritual nurture program called “The Walk”.
People meet purely through Zoom every fourth Thursday of the month from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s a Bible study that uses art, music, Scripture and spoken word for an uplifting atmosphere. There is also an accountability section, where members share their testimonials as well as their monthly goals. Attendance started out with six and has grown to more than 10 members.
Another monthly program that Countryside does once a month is the Marriage Enrichment Group. Like “The Walk”, members of this group also meet solely through Zoom but on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. It involved members who want to reinforce and recommit in their marriages. Through Scripture and faith, they work on communication as well as challenges. There are couples who have been attending the program since its beginning in January. But new members are always encouraged.
There is also an in-person program called Caring and Sharing Group. It is typically held at the church on the first Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. It is an informal setting where the community gathers, remembers, shares and celebrates the lives of friends and loved ones.
“Each month, there is a fun activity as well as time for fellowship, remembering loved ones, and sharing joys and concerns,” said Wayne.
Church members voiced a need for a program like this. There are between five and 10 attendees.
Countryside Community Church also has a “Warm Hugs” Ministry. Members have been meeting at Fellowship Hall to make fleece shawls with packets called “Warm Hugs”. These “hugs” have pockets, which get filled with lip balm, tissue packets, and hand sanitizers, and become distributed to local nursing homes, chemotherapy and radiation centers, Children’s Advocacy Center, the Ronald McDonald House, ambulances, Allied Hospice, and the Gino Merli Veterans Center. The members meet every second Tuesday of each month.
The programs aren’t the only things that’s new to Countryside Community Church, A sign currently being constructed on the corner of Orchard Drive and Northern Boulevard. It is six feet high and twelve feet long and will be topped off with a three-and-a-half-foot steeple. The sign will have three lines on both sides with reflective letters to make announcements of church events.
The labor of the project is being completed voluntarily by church members Gary Martenson and Jeff LaCoe, Jr. Church member Charlie Miller is making the steeple. There will be a dedication ceremony when the sign is complete.
