Regional News – Spring Edition Available

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is pleased to announce the publication of the regional News, now available online.  The paper edition is in the shop and will be mailed as soon as possible.  Also, please note that the Lenten Prayerscapes series will be issued this week to congregations for duplication, and may be subscribed or read online at our Mountain Prayerscapes site.  Please help us spread the word!

 

Prayerscapes for Lent Available Now

The daily devotional guide, Prayerscapes for Lent, is now available for print at our Publications Page.  This gift from the Order of Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia, may be freely duplicated for use in and beyond the region’s churches. 

Subscriptions for email delivery (and online reading) may be found at the Prayerscapes site.  The subscription box is in the right-hand panel of that page.  Please freely share this information with those who might enjoy having access to this helpful and encouraging ministry of spiritual nourishment.

 

Advent Devotions – Final Reminder

Advent has begun, and we hope you’re well engaged in the 4-week “looking forward” season in worship and in your devotional life.  This is one last reminder of our Advent Prayerscapes publication.  If you haven’t subscribed, it’s not too late.  Visit the site now and read today’s posting by Rev. Scott Thayer, or join us any time along the Advent journey for another of our minister’s writings.  You are also welcome to download the whole season’s devotions for print from our Publications page.

 

Advent Devotions Ready for Print or Subscription

The second annual publication of Prayerscapes for Advent, the daily devotions prepared by our region’s ministers (and mission partners) is ready for email subscription at the Prayerscapes site, and now also for downloading on our Publications page.

Individuals and congregations wanting to use a convenient full-season booklet which may be freely distributed, will find instructions there (booklet prints on 4 sheets of letter-size paper, 2-sided).  A weekly version is available, as well, for those who wish to feature each week’s collection on 1 sheet of letter-size paper (2-sided) as a bulletin insert, or to print for personal reading.  Visit the site for full details and download links.

If we can be of any help in this process of sharing this gift with your congregation (including printing assistance for congregations who may not be well-equipped for that), please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Lenten Prayerscapes Available

Congregations and individuals will want to take note that the 2009 Lenten Prayerscapes has been published, and is now available. 

You can read the daily devotions, beginning Ash Wednesday (Feb. 25) and running through Easter Sunday, at our Mountain Prayerscapes site.  There, you can also subscribe to daily emails, which will arrive early each day in your inbox (they’ll be viewable late the night before on the Prayerscapes site).

The entire Lenten season is available in a ready-to-print pdf file.  It will print on 7 sheets of 8.5×11 paper, front-to-back, and fold into a 1/2-sheet booklet.  No need to cut and paste, just print the pages in order, front to back – trust us – it works!  Download the full booklet (right-click and “save as” on your computer), and print when you want to. 

Alternately, visit our homepage again beginning next week, and download a week-by-week 1-page, 2-sided bulletin insert.  There are 7 separate pdf files for this choice, and we recommend offering them in churches on Feb. 22.  The last of the 7 files is a 1/2-sheet Easter greeting from Regional Minister, Thaddaeus Allen.

Easily-duplicated paper masters for the booklet or the inserts are also available by calling the Regional Office (304-428-1681) or emailing David Chafin, the editor-at-fault.

All of these devotions are a gift to us from the ministers of the region, who were engaged into the process by Rev. Magdalyn Sebastian of Wheeling.  Permission is given for all non-commercial reproduction of the material.  We are grateful for these thoughtful offerings of faith and encouragement!

 

Prayerscapes for Lent

As we look forward to the Lenten journey with our sisters and brothers in faith from around the world, I encourage you to share the news that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia will again offer the encouraging and challenging words of many of its ministers to you, your congregation, and anyone else who desires to receive them with Lenten Prayerscapes. 

Postings of the daily devotional readings will begin at the Mountain Prayerscapes  site on the eve of Ash Wednesday (late on Feb. 24).  Those who subscribe via email will have them in their inbox the next morning and every day of Lent.  As in Advent, the readings will also be linked on our homepage  for those who wonder through, and available to congregations and individuals who wish to download them to print as a weekly bulletin insert, or an inclusive booklet for the entire season.

The responses to the Advent adventure were so positive, and the encouragement was so strong, we are going to make the effort again.  We deeply appreciate the devotion of our clergy, and of Rev. Magdalyn Sebastian of Wheeling who has taken the lead in soliciting the writings.

Please join us for the Lenten journey, and share this news with your church family and friends!

In Christ’s Love,

David Chafin, Deputy Regional Minister

 

Advent Devotional Guide by Region’s Pastors

The Order of Ministry of the Region is pleased to present an Advent devotional guide called “Prayerscapes for Advent”.  Congregations will receive a set of master copies for weekly bulletin inserts (letter-size paper, to copy both sides and fold).  We also offer a complete booklet that can be downloaded to print on 5 sheets and fold.

Those who wish to read the guide online can subscribe at our new prayer site, Mountain Prayerscapes, which will begin daily emails the last week in November.  If you use the email feature for Prayerscapes, you will need to watch your spam filter or junk mail file for a verification notice from Feedburner.  Failing to respond to this notice will prevent your receiving the daily email during Advent.  The same holds true for subscribing to the Newswire, which will also carry clickable headlines for the feed in the side-panel.  The devotions may also be read on our website beginning Nov. 30.

We urge our congregations and friends to consider using multiple methods of sharing these encouraging words with members and friends, so please add our link to your congregation’s website.

If you have questions, or need help with your subscription, please contact David Chafin at the Regional Office.