The Open Hands Food Pantry will be closed Monday, July 8 due to a large event at the church. It will reopen for regular house Wednesday, July 10, 10am-12pm.
Cedar Hills Facebook Groups & Social Media
Facebook Groups
Cedar Hills connects many places, and a few of our ministries have connect in Facebook groups. Have you joined any yet?
- Cedar Hills Children and Family Ministry – Announcements and events related to the children and family ministries.
- Parenting Together – Our parents and families in the Parenting Together class.
- Cedar Hills Family – All things Cedar Hills, giveaways, garage sales, announcements.
- Women in Fellowship & Faith – Women’s ministry and events.
Main Facebook page:
Cedar Hills Community Church
(like and follow)
YouTube:
Cedar Hills YouTube
Subscribe!
UMV 2024 – The River of the Kingdom
UPPER MISSISSIPPI
VALLEY NETWORK
Alliance of Reformed Churches
UMV 2024:
The River of the Kingdom!
Saturday, June 15, 8am to 3pm
Cedar Hills Community Church
Online registration is now closed. Please register upon arrival Saturday morning, starting at 8am.
June 15, 2024 Schedule
8:00am
Continental Breakfast and Fellowship
Registration Open
9:00am
Welcome and Worship
9:45am-10:35am
BREAKOUT Session #1
- Hiring the Right Pastor: Discover resources to seek the next Pastor for your congregation. (Ron Fischer)
- Alliance Vision: How the Alliance of Reformed Church works and why it matters. (Tim Vink)
- Church Vitality: Three Essentials for Healthy Growing Churches. (Ben Ingebretson)
10:45am-11:35am
BREAKOUT Session #2
-
Leadership Development: How To Expand Your Leadership Bench. (Ben Ingebretson)
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Pathways to Ordination: Discover the Alliance pathway to ordination. (Thomas Cellilli)
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Ministry in a Hostile World: How we offer Jesus in a polarized, angry world. (Kent Landhuis)
11:45am
Business Meeting
12:15pm
Lunch (no cost)
1:15pm
Keynote Speaker – Colin Thornley
2:15pm
Closing Thoughts and Prayer
PRESENTERS
Colin Thornley served in ministry with Grace Community Church for over 25 years as in various roles such as: Youth Pastor, College Pastor and Pastor of Discipleship & Equipping. While serving at Grace, he continued to pursue training and ministry opportunities with Serge as a mentor and eventually a Sonship Coach. He was first introduced to Sonship and Serge mission’s organization in the fall 1993 when he experienced a ‘gosplosion’ as he listened to Jack Miller lecture and Drew Angus pressing the good news into the deepest parts of his heart. The gospel-centric paradigm shift that began there increasingly impacted his life and dependence on Jesus and His finished work. Colin’s passion for mentoring and equipping people who want to mentor others led him to begin assisting Serge in a minimally part-time capacity and finally to join the Serge Renewal Mentoring Team in January of 2020.
Ben Ingebretson is a leadership vitality/church planting consultant and has led widely with organizations, churches and denominations including the United Methodist Church, and the Reformed Church in America.
Tim Vink is the Director of Spiritual Leadership and Outreach in the Alliance of Reformed Churches. Through 35 years of evangelism, disciple-making, and helping diverse churches plant more reproducing churches, Tim has experienced the power of making Jesus our model for ministry today. Working with a multiplication mindset, embracing the fullness of the gospel of Jesus and New Testament patterns of Kingdom growth, and receiving all the help offered by the same Holy Spirit—the dynamic results have been life-giving for hundreds of new churches and tens of thousands of people.
Ron Fischer is the Network Leader & President, Board of Directors of the Upper Mississippi Valley Network. Ron serves the Alliance part-time as the Executive Assistant to the Board and as Pastor of Operations at Christ’s Family Church in Davenport, IA. He has served in churches for the last 20+ years in South Carolina, Florida and now Iowa.
Thomas Cellilli has faithfully served this New Life Community Church as lead pastor since August 2021. Thomas has been married to his wife Shelby since 2017, and together they have two daughters: Nora and Audrey. He enjoys spending time with them running around in their backyard with their dog, Rizzo. In his free time, Thomas enjoys disc golfing at Altmaier Park, going to coffeeshops with a good novel, playing an over-complicated board game, or re-watching his favorite sci-fi/fantasy movies.
Kent Landhuis is Pastor of Preaching and Leadership at Cedar Hills Community Church. Kent used to think that being human was something sinful that had to be over come. Now he understands that people are made to bear God’s image by becoming human like Jesus. Kent wants to purge the phrase “I’m only human” from our vocabulary because the message of Jesus is that everyone can become more human, as God designed, which allows us all to flourish. Kent’s mission is to introduce others to this good news so they can become all they are meant to be in Jesus!
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
We have reserved a block of 10 rooms at Tru by Hilton Hotel, which is a short drive from the church. The group rate is $175.
Hotel Name: TRU BY HILTON CEDAR RAPIDS WESTDALE
Group Name: CEDAR HILLS COMMUNITY CHURCH
Arrival Date: 6/14/2024
Departure Date: 6/15/2024
Cut-off Date: 5/17/2024
Blueberry Blitz – support Lake View Camp
BLUEBERRY BLITZ – Buy blueberries, support Lake View Camp!. Fresh from the farm in Michigan! Order forms are available at the Welcome Center and should be mailed with payment directly to Lake View or turned into the church office by June 23.
A Cedar Hills volunteer will drive to the Pella area to pick up all our church orders and bring them to the church for pickup on Sunday, June 30. (Please be sure to have someone available to pick up your blueberries on that day as we do not have ample storage for unclaimed orders.)
Lake View Camp is a ministry we support and send many our students and grandparents to throughout the summer. They also host camps for children who have a parent in prison (“Angel Tree” camps), which often means these students don’t have the financial means to pay for camp. We are so passionate about reaching out with the gospel to every student–fundraisers like these make it possible!
Matthew 25 Transform Week
MATTHEW 25 TRANSFORM WEEK – Transform Wee brings together community volunteers to complete projects that homeowners aren’t able to do on their own. Register online and select: Cedar Hills Community Church to join the work group from our church and help others in our community!
No skills required; helpers can work one or more mornings or afternoons the week of Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28. Register here
Cedar Hills’ Men’s Group and Journey Youth will both be participating this year.
Cedar Camp Mentors
MENTORS NEEDED
Cedar Camp (our re-envisioned VBS program) is quickly approaching. It will be three evenings, July 7-9.
Our vision is that every student would be assigned to a mentor with a 2-to-1 ratio. Adults of all ages are encouraged to become a mentor. We do all the work for you! It is a slow-paced environment, with plenty of accommodations for our more mature mentors. 🙂
Statistics show us that children who have adults of faith in their lives are less likely to leave the faith as a young adult. That person could be you!
Two information/training sessions are happening this month. If you are interested but need more information about what being a mentor means, you are encouraged to join a training session.
TRAINING SESSIONS
- Sunday, June 24 at 12:00 PM
- Sunday, June 30 at 9:45 AM
Please contact Cathy Poole to sign-up.
$900 for Girls of Grace!
Sunday, June 2 the Girls of Grace (our young ladies age 5 to 5th grade) held a fundraiser in the Gathering Space selling lemonade, baked goods and crafts. They raised $900 for our Cedar Hills family currently serving as missionaries in Eastern Europe.
We are so proud of these young ladies! Thank you to everyone who came and supported their efforts.
Greenfield Relief Project
Many have inquired how we can respond to the devastating tornado that swept through Greenfield, Iowa last week. We were able to send some supplies late last week in coordination with St. John’s Catholic Church, but now the ‘storehouses’ are full at their church. Thank you to the many that helped collect supplies!
Here are some relief organizations on site in Greenfield that you may wish to partner with.
Greater Greenfield Community Foundation – accepting financial donations through their website.
The American Red Cross – They have workers on the ground and are accepting financial donations.
Salvation Army – They have workers on the ground and are accepting financial donations.
Samaritan’s Purse – from their website, it looks like they are organizing volunteers to assist with the clean-up. The volunteer link is on their website.
Food and water drop-off: A food and water drop-off location has been set up at the Department of Transportation facility located at 2313 Highway 92 east of Greenfield.
Shoe Collect – World Record!
WORLD RECORD SHOE COLLECTION – Starting Sunday, June 2, we will be collecting gently used shoes of all kinds and in all sizes to break the Guinness Book of World Records!
Support His Hands Free Medical Clinic and bring in your gently-used shoes. (No shoes with holes, rips, or single shoes).
Collection box will be in the Gathering Space, Sunday, June 2 -16. There will be PRIZES for the organization that collects the most shoes!
Girls of Grace Lemonade Fundraiser
Come and support our Girls of Grace annual lemonade stand! 
Join us on Sunday, June 2nd, between the first and second services, starting around 9:30am. We’ll be offering coffee, lemonade, delicious baked goods and items crafted by the girls themselves, showcasing their entrepreneurial skills. All proceeds will be directed towards our local missionary family located in Europe.
Help us surpass last year’s achievement of $263!