News

Paul Botine – Celebration of Life

Paul BotinePlease pray for Judi and family in the passing of her husband, Paul.  A celebration of life is planned for Monday night, 4-7pm at Cedar Hills in the Gathering Space.

Obituary

Paul Botine, 73, of Cedar Rapids went to be with the Lord on Monday July 16th, 2018.

Paul was born December 4th, 1944 in Pocahontas, Iowa, the son of John Edward and Minnie Kramer Botine. He graduated from Pocahontas Public High School in 1963. After high school Paul enlisted in the US Army. On December 8, 1967 Paul married his high school sweetheart, Judi Luft. They made their first home in Spencer, Iowa where Paul began his career in industrial sales. The job eventually led them to Cedar Rapids where he worked until his retirement.

Survivors include his wife of 50 ½ years, Judi, his children, Troy, Travis (Amy) Botine, April (Kurt) Aarhus, 5 grandchildren, Brookelyn and Bradyn Botine, Kaitlyn (Ryan) Spellerberg, Alexis and Kylee Aarhus.

He was preceded in death by his parents, 2 brothers and 1 sister.

Paul enjoyed spending time outdoors, cleaning the cars, and working in their yard. He took great pride in everything he did.

The family would like to thank the staff at Mercy Hospital, Linn Manor, and Hospice Compassus for the love, care, and attention given to Paul.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Paul’s memory may be directed to the family.  Donations may also be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, East Central Iowa Chapter.

News

Lonnie Ondracek Funeral

Lonnie L. OndracekLonnie L. Ondracek, 78, of Blairstown, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, July 17, 2018, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Visitation: 5 – 7 p.m. Friday, July 20, 2018, at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Funeral Service: 10 a.m. Saturday, July 21, 2018, at Cedar Hills Community Church, Cedar Rapids. Burial: Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Blairstown, Iowa.

FULL Obituary

Family and Children Ministry, Journey, News, VBS

Free Family Carnival Saturday!

You are invited!

Saturday, July 21, 5pm-8pm, with movie starting at 8:30pm on the big wall outdoors! Despicable Me 3 is the movie we’ll be showing.

The whole family is invited for an evening of games and activities on the lawn, including 9 square, bean bags, ladder golf, inflatables, crafts, face painting and more!  Followed by a movie outdoors on the lawn.  Food and drink is available for purchase, so bring some cash! Popcorn for the movie is free!

The event is sponsored by the Journey Student Ministry.

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News

Harold Klug Funeral Details

Harold Klug

Harold Ernest KlugPlease pray for Donna Klug in the passing of her husband Harold. After a valiant battle with cancer, he passed away on Friday, July 13. Visitation will be in Blairstown at Phillips Funeral Home Tuesday, July 17 from 4pm-7pm.  The funeral service will be at Cedar Hills on Wednesday, July 18 at 10:30am.

Pray for comfort for the family in this time of loss.

Obituary

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM, Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at Cedar Hills Community Church, 6455 E Ave NW, Cedar Rapids.  Visitation will be held from 4-7 PM, Tuesday at Phillips Funeral Home in Blairstown. Interment will be held at 2 PM, Wednesday at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Blairstown with graveside military rites by M.J. Kirby American Legion Post #170 and the National Guard Funeral Honors. A memorial fund has been established for Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity and Essence of Life Hospice.

Harold was born October 25, 1940 at Northwood, North Dakota to Ernest Frederick and Goldie Marie (Baker) Klug.  Following graduation from high school in 1958, he attended Whapeton Technical School of Electronics and graduated in 1960. Harold served his country in the National Guard from 1961-67.  He married Gloria Hopkins on May 26, 1962 at Cedar Rapids.  She preceded him in death on February 15, 2001.  On November 2, 2002 he married Donna (Reimer) Maas at the Little Brown Church in Nashua.

Harold’s passion was farming and the church.  He was raised on a farm in North Dakota and later moved to Iowa.  He purchased a farm near Blairstown in 1972.  Harold continued farming until his death.  He was also employed at Rockwell Collins for 35 years, retiring in 2016.

He is survived by his loving wife, Donna; his children, Bethany Jean (Michael Varieur) Kirton of Cedar Rapids, Jeffrey Harold (Wendy) Klug of Iowa City, Christopher Ernest Klug of Blairstown, Clay William Maas of Maquoketa, and Diana (Mark) Sullivan of Mequon, WI; his grandchildren, Yvette Rivera of Des Moines, Kayleigh Kirton of Cedar Rapids, and Glory Rose Klug of Blairstown; and many step-grandchildren and great grandchildren that he lovingly welcomed to his family;  his sister, Beverly Parrott of Denver, CO; and many nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents and first wife he was preceded in death by his son, Randy James Klug, his sister, Helen Pulst and his brother, Frederick Klug.

Cedar Chips, News

Turn Around

Saul of Tarsus was a brilliant Jewish rabbi. He knew the way to ensure God’s favor was by avoiding the 365 “Thou Shalt Nots” in the law of Moses. Saul was a Pharisee—he kept away from sinners!

This is what disturbed him about the fake messiah Jesus. Jesus was justly condemned for offering forgiveness to the riffraff who rebelled against God’s law. He was dead and gone, but his fanatical followers were claiming he was alive. And Saul’s mission was to stamp out the Jesus cult.

As Saul went out to imprison the Jesus fanatics a brilliant light flashed about him from heaven. He fell to the ground and heard a voice, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you?”

“I am Jesus.”

Saul’s mind was spinning, his world turning.

Conversion is a revolution that makes everything look different, an extraordinary reversal of values, and relationships. It means to turn around.

Saul didn’t want to hear that salvation had to be accomplished for him by Jesus apart from his own efforts. He didn’t want to be utterly dependent on God. But the light from heaven puts everything in a new perspective.

When we meet Jesus it’s like experiencing a sunrise; not only do we see him, but we see everything else in a new light because of him. He opens our eyes to see that we are enemies of God and that we cannot earn God’s love by our goodness, because it is a free gift. Then we are inspired (like Saul, who became the apostle Paul) to share this gift with others.

Alan Crandall
Pastor of Care

Cedar Chips, News, Saturate, Transform the Corridor

Did you know?


“In a city of less than 130,000, such low rates of reading and believing the Bible perplex many observers. It defies the expected connection between religiosity and middle-class values. Cedar Rapids is known as a good place to live and grow up, as evidenced by two national accolades it earned in 2016: the best place to raise children, and one of the best affordable cities… Cedar Rapids looks more like a post-Christian coastal city than the outdated stereotype of Middle America. It has a high percentage of religious “nones”; nearly half (47%) of the adults in Linn County…identified as such in 2010. That’s comparable to Manhattan’s New York County (56% nones), Los Angeles County (47% nones), and Chicago’s Cook County (40% nones).” from “The Curious Case of Cedar Rapids” at www.thegospelcoalition.org

Are you ready to change this? To saturate our city and the corridor with the good news of Jesus until every man, women and child is digging into their Bibles on a daily basis, loving the Word, believing the Word, and choosing to follow Jesus? I believe it is possible and it will start with us. This Fall we are choosing to invest time and love into
those places we already are: work, schools, clubs, programs – until the Gospel of Jesus is known.

~ Leah
Director of Worship & Media

Cedar Chips, Consistory, News

Consistory Term Proposal


We want a strong, healthy Consistory of spiritually mature men and women who are called and gifted to serve. We also want long-term stability and intentional development of future leaders. As part of our practice of regular review, the Consistory is exploring ways to better achieve these goals. We believe that the following proposal
will help increase our ability to serve the congregation and community by developing leaders with a greater ownership and influence.

Our current practice is 3-year terms for Elders and Deacons with the possibility of a second successive 3-year term. This practice usually results in the turnover of one third of the Consistory every year which impairs continuity.
In light of the current needs our congregation and community, we recommend flexible Consistory terms that begin as they do currently with a 3-year commitment but then can be extended one year at a time for up to five more years. This will allow adequate time to discover the roles and responsibilities involved with Consistory leadership
while also giving additional years to grow as leaders. Continued service on the Consistory will be by mutual agreement of the board member and the Consistory with the opportunity to recommit for one year at a time until five additional years have been served.

Flexible terms that create room for longer terms allow gifted, called, and passionate leaders to keep serving. Since new Consistory members face a steep learning curve, it is poor stewardship to expend significant efforts to develop board leadership only to lose the benefit because of term limits. Effectiveness is reduced even more with frequent turnover when the ministry and operations of the congregation grow increasingly complex.

Here are some of the benefits of the continuity that comes with flexible terms:
1. Strengthened Consistory with time for deeper relationships.
2. Strengthened leaders with time to grow as Elders and Deacons.
3. Time off for renewal for those rotated off at the time best for them.
4. Allowance for changes in life circumstances while also making room for new leadership to emerge.

The Consistory is discerning next steps in implementing this change. We anticipate voting on this proposal at our July meeting and desire your feedback. Please share your thoughts on this proposal with any Consistory member.
Strong, healthy Consistory leadership is vital for the health of our congregation as we carry out the mission to develop leaders who make disciples in the everyday stuff of life. Maintaining the right mix of experience,  competence, and leadership qualifications among a group of spiritually mature men and women will enable
us to continue to impact our community with the gospel. Pray for wisdom as we seek God’s leading!

Respectfully submitted,
The Consistory

We exist to make disciples who make disciples.