All posts by Cedar Hills

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Red Sand Sunday

Sunday, July 28 is Red Sand Sunday.  Cedar Hills is partnering with the local nonprofit organization, Chains Interrupted, to bring awareness to the reality and dangers of human trafficking–even in our communities and will participate in the Red Sand Project.

SATURDAY RALLY – Marion

Red Sand Rally & Family Safety Event
Jul 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Marion, 1048 7th Ave, Marion, IA 52302, USA

This event is incredibly poignant. By pouring red sand into sidewalk cracks you are raising awareness for the millions of children and adults who often fall through the cracks and are exploited daily for commercial sex or forced labor. It’s a powerful visual that reminds us how human trafficking is right before our eyes, yet often goes unnoticed. The rally begins at 10am and includes someone affected by trafficking, businesses and local trafficking experts all sharing. The safety fair includes law enforcement, fire safety, technology safety, children’s activities and vendors. Plan to join us for this great family event.  MORE INFORMATION

SUNDAY SPEAKER – Cedar Hills

To help bring awareness to this dire situation, a special speaker from Chains Interrupted will be speaking in between services this Sunday, July 28 at 9:45am in the Teal Classroom to help us as a congregation be educated about trafficking and prevention among our youth.  It is a big problem!

We will also have red sand available to take home for use on your driveways and sidewalks.  The red sand is a great conversation starter to bring awareness to the problem of human trafficking.

MORE INFORMATION: https://redsandproject.org/

STATS

Did you know in 2021 Iowa was #3 in the nation for human trafficking? It is a bigger problem than many of us know or want to acknowledge.

49.6 million people were living in a human trafficking situation in 2021 – International Labor Organization

57% of the nearly 450 human trafficking cases in US Criminal Court in 2021, were minors – 2021 Federal Human Trafficking Report
83% of active sex trafficking cases in 2020, involved online solicitation – 2020 Federal Human Trafficking Report
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Women’s Retreat and Family Fun Event

Ladies! You and your families are invited to a special day event that begins with a retreat for the women, followed by an evening of activities for the whole family.
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, September 28
RETREAT: 10am-4pm
FAMILY EVENTS: 4pm-8pm (bonfire, games, etc.)
WHERE: John’s Place in Fairfax – a country-themed, barn-turned-event center, nestled in the countryside just minutes from the church!
More information will be coming soon on how to register.  Be sure to watch the bulletin and the Women in Fellowship & Faith Facebook Page. 
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Blank Park Zoo and Adventureland!

We are planning a weekend getaway for our August “Faith, Family & Fun” event.  You can come for the weekend, or pick and choose which events you’d like to plug into.

BLANK PARK ZOO –  Saturday, August 3

Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines is open 9am-5pm. Our special group discounted price is $5 for children, 3-12 years old, and $10 for 13-year-olds  through adults. To receive this discounted rate, please pay by Sunday, July 28. You can drop-off payment to Kathryn in the Nursery on  Sunday, or pay Jennifer in the church office.

ADVENTURELAND AMUSEMENT PARK – Sunday, August 4

We don’t have discounted ticket rates for Adventure, so you’ll want to prchase tickets directly from Adventureland and look forward to joining other Cedar Hills families at the Park on Sunday.  Click here for info.

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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?

Main Facebook page:
Cedar Hills Community Church

(like and follow)

YouTube:
Cedar Hills YouTube

Subscribe!

Alliance of Reformed Churches

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)
  • Pathways to Ordination: Discover the Alliance pathway to ordination.  (Thomas Cellilli)
  • 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.
Use this link: https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?ctyhocn=CIDRURU&groupCode=907&arrivaldate=2024-06-14&departuredate=2024-06-15&cid=OM,WW,HILTONLINK,EN,DirectLink&fromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT,
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
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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!

ORDER FORM – Click to print

 

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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

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.

     

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    $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.