AN ACTIVE FAITH – a gathering for men and boys (fathers/grandpas welcome), age 2nd Grade (reading age) through 6th Grade.
Meets twice a month on the 2nd and 4th, Wednesdays, 6-8pm at the Ungs Home: 105 Stoney Point Rd NW (corner of 1st Ave and Stoney Point Rd). Plan for an “active” time learning truths about God with three-legged races, building fires, washing out structures with water and more!
It’s a gathering of all our second service musicians and anyone who loves music and worship to lead together on stage at an 11am service.
The jam is also the first step for anyone interested in worship ministry that wants to explore it some more. We also love when our youth join us on stage! So kids of all ages are welcome.
The Fall jam is practicing Monday, Sept 11 at 6pm to lead on Sunday, Sept 17 at the 11am service (warming up at 9:45am on Sunday).
Registration is helpful, but if you are late registering, just show up! 6pm in the Worship Center.
Please continue to pray for Glenda Brislawn and family as they grieve the passing of her son Brock.
VISITATION & FUNERAL
Sat, Sept. 9 – 10am Visitation
Sat. Sept. 9 – 11am Funeral
A luncheon will follow the funeral service.
Cedar Hills is located at the corner of E Avenue and Stoney Point Rd, right next door to Cherry Hill Pool & Park on the west side of Cedar Rapids. 6455 E Ave NW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405
Brock Che Neff, 43, of North Liberty, Iowa passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, August 31, 2023, at his home. A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at Cedar Hills Community Church: 6455 E Ave NW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52405. A visitation will be held one hour prior to service, beginning at 10:00 AM, at the church.
Brock was born November 9, 1979, to David and Glenda (Fedders) Neff in Denver, Colorado. Brock achieved his first-degree black belt when he was in middle school. He graduated, with honors, from Washington High School in 1999. Brock was inducted in the National Honor Society, while in high school and as a freshman at UNI. During college he worked at the Rod Library. Brock graduated from UNI with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2003. He married Traci Levesque later in 2003 in Cedar Rapids. They made their home in North Liberty, and had their daughter, Zoe Neff in 2009.
Brock’s library work experience continued at the Cedar Rapids Public Library part-time for seven years, and at the University of Iowa Law Library for the last 15 years. Brock loved learning and was a lifelong scholar. He was creative in painting and drawing. Brock even had one of his paintings entered in a judged art show at UNI. He also enjoyed playing video games, fantasy games, kayaking, paddle boarding and walks in local parks with his daughter and friends.
Brock is survived by his daughter, Zoe Neff and her mother, Traci Neff, both of Tiffin, IA; his mother, Glenda Brislawn, and a sister, Alicia Brislawn (fiancé Dwaune Weimer) all of Cedar Rapids, IA; aunt, Sherry Jabaay; uncles, Ken Fedders, and Rich (Mary) Fedders; step-mother, Janis Bowden; step-siblings, Heidi (Tony) Shaw, Brian (Angel) Brislawn, Shannon Brislawn, Jessica Kimple, and Jonathan Kimple; special friends, Dana Bailey, and Angela Geno-Stumme; and many loving cousins, extended family members and friends.
Brock was preceded in death by his grandparents, father, David Neff; stepfather, Scott Brislawn; uncle, Norman Fedders; and aunt, Crystal Fedders.
In honor of Brock, please direct memorials to Glenda Brislawn c/o Cedar Hills Community Church: 6455 E Ave NW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52405.
As you enter into your 15 minutes of prayer, here are key areas you may want to cover. (Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides you in your prayer!)
KEY AREAS TO COVER IN PRAYER:
Then, start here:
PRAISE
Praise is the entryway into God’s presence. Tell God who He is.
Tell Him, “God, you are…”
WAIT
Take a couple of minutes of silence to quiet your thoughts and become aware of God’s presence. Take note of any prayer direction from the Holy Spirit that comes to mind.
CONFESS
Ask God to “search your heart” for any sin, and take a moment to confess it, turn away from it, and receive God’s forgiveness.
DECLARE SCRIPTURE
Open your Bible to any of the Apostolic Prayers and plug in the names of our staff, teachers, groups or anything else related to Cedar Hills.
INTERCESSION
Contend for God to move on someone else’s behalf. Identify the situations, areas of culture, or groups of people for whom you are asking for spiritual awakening, and pray for them.
PERSONAL PETITION
Identify areas in your personal life where you are hungry to see God move and pray in faith to your Heavenly Father who loves to bless you!
THANKSGIVING
Remember God’s blessings. This shifts our perspective from our circumstances to God’s activity, strengthening us to contend, believing that God does not withhold any good thing from His children.
SING
Sing along with Spotify or YouTube, or sing any song on your heart. Or take any scripture and make up any melody you want.
Please continue to keep the Dahm family in your prayers as they grieve Cathy’s passing. The funeral will be Thursday morning, August 3 at 10:30am at the church, the visitation Wednesday evening 4-7pm at Cedar Memorial.
Cathy Sue Dahm, 59, of Cedar Rapids, went to be with the Lord on July 29, 2023, while surrounded by her loving family at the Oldorf Hospice House. A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, August 2, at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, August 3, at Cedar Hills Community Church, Cedar Rapids. Interment will be in the Union Mills Cemetery, Union Mills, Iowa.Born on December 15, 1963, in Oskaloosa, Iowa to John and Shirley Netten Ferguson, Cathy was raised on the family farm near New Sharon with her sisters, Marcy and Molly. Cathy participated in 4-H, athletics, and helped on the farm while growing up. She graduated from North Mahaska High School in 1981 and Des Moines Area Community College in 1983. Cathy was united in marriage to Scott Dahm on August 25, 1984, and they moved to Cedar Rapids in 1985. Cathy was self-employed for most of her accounting career, which enabled her to work from home and raise her children. While Cathy enjoyed her flower gardens, bicycling, cooking, and decorating for Christmas, what she enjoyed most was spending time with family. Cathy was a member of Cedar Hills Community Church.Cathy will be lovingly remembered by her husband of 39 years, Scott; daughter, Danielle Dahm; son, Ryan (Molly Ruhser) Dahm; granddaughters, Maren LaVon and Maya Sue Dahm, the lights of her life; father, John Ferguson, and sisters, Marcy (Fritz) James and Molly (Rick) Swenson; as well as nieces, nephews, and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her mother, Shirley.In lieu of flowers, please remember Cathy with donations to the Cedar Hills’ Open Hands Food Pantry.
Prayer Champions and students are invited to meet on Sunday, August 13. Grind Coffee will be on site with their coffee truck, offering specialty coffees and smoothies at regular prices.
May is mental health awareness month. We pray for many in our circles who struggle with mental health issues that they would know the perfect peace of God.
We pray this story of one will help bring awareness to those who are struggling, as depression and causes come in many forms.
“This is not easy to write. And it’s long so I hope you will stick with me. People don’t want to hear about it, they don’t know what to do about it. But you or someone you love need to know it is real and what it’s like to live with it. “It” is major depressive disorder.
What I’m going to tell you about today is severe, debilitating depression.
I have experienced chronic depression since my late teens. As most of you are aware, there are good and bad days/weeks/months. This is the 2nd time in my life I have hit the floor for an extended period of time.
Have you heard of a high functioning alcoholic? They can get to work and do their job but afterwards they are blotto drunk most nights and weekends.
I don’t know if there’s such a term as a high functioning depressive but that’s what I’m calling it. If you were to go by or call the desk, you probably wouldn’t think there’s anything wrong with me. I’ve become really good at hiding it. Having the structure of the work day is an immense help in that.
Once I pass that time clock in the evening, the darkness sets in. I don’t have anywhere to go but home. COVID has only made it worse. There’s no shopping, no going out to eat, no museums or arts to check out. Making decisions over simple things like ‘where can I stop to pick up supper’ or ‘do I get gas tonight or tomorrow night’ are impossible to make. It becomes overwhelming so I go home and do nothing until the only choice left is to take care of it
There’s a commercial on tv for Rexulti. They show a woman with her friends, obviously not having a good time like they are. For me, that’s what it feels like on a good day. Although I laugh and joke around, I feel nothing. Most of the time I’d rather be home by myself because it’s mentally painful to watch others enjoying life.
Thankfully I don’t have any ideations of hurting myself. I just don’t want to be here anymore. When I see a young person so ill or hear of a fatal car accident, I ask God why he doesn’t take me instead of someone who was loved and needed.
It took not wanting to see my grandchildren to get me to realize that it was really bad again. I am getting the help that I need and it is slowly getting better. To the point that I think I need to share my experiences. I believe part of the cause is heredity.
But, there are 2 parts to this story. Today I got validation that the 5 concussions I’ve had over my lifetime indeed play a role in my diagnosis.
Suffice it to say, I’ve never been graceful. A horse, a bike, a toboggan, a motorcycle, and a divot in the sidewalk were all contributing factors to the falls causing concussions. Each time I ‘recovered’ and nothing was ever thought about it again.
A few years ago I started seeing articles about athletes and the long term effects of a concussion. That’s when I started asking my providers if there could be something to it. Only to be told I appear to be fine so no worries. It felt like being in a Charlie Brown scene.
So frustrating that a jock can have 1 concussion and the world comes to an end. Yet nothing to see here when it’s a clumsy girl who suffered 5.
This spring I got a referral to a psychologist who actually heard me. FINALLY someone listened to me and told me there was something that could be done to help. Except there was no availability within CCH and the only other option was to go out of network. Cha-ching!
I was able to maintain for quite some time after that. But a few months ago, like a clock, things started going downhill again. Every year starting in September my mood drops. Thirty eight years ago this past Saturday, my 23 year old sister was killed by a drunk driver. She had a 6 week old baby. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten over that after all these years.
At any rate, a couple weeks ago I had an appointment w/my PCP. I told her what was going on and she said she’d reach out to the psychologist again. Such a blessing that now there was an opening to be seen by Occupational Therapy.
I had my first appointment last week, today my second for testing. At the end of the hour, the therapist had me in happy tears when she told me that the concussions definitely were a contributing factor to so many things I couldn’t explain. Thank you God for sending an angel with wonderfully great news.
This isn’t a cure. Probably not even a miracle. But there are things that can be done to get me to a better place.
Don’t ever give up. It’s taken many years and a good dose of stubbornness to get me this far. If the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, I am just starting the journey to many years of better days.
Your poster child for Major Depressive Disorder,
M.
We are Girls of Grace!
This program is designed for young girls who are eager to grow in confidence, Christ and community.
Come alongside us and help teach our daughters their worth in Christ, while walking in His grace.
Join us Sunday, May 21, 8am at Brewhemia (Newbo area in Cedar Rapids)
Pray For Me is a rich prayer movement that pairs adults (Prayer Champions) with students, children and families to actively pray for them. We’ll be watching a short video today about what this all entails, but you can begin signing up today to be paired with a Prayer Champion or become a Prayer Champion for someone else.
Starting in May, we will be releasing more information and the books that accompanying this exciting opportunity!
The Cedar Kids Club House is having a special movie and pizza night for their final meeting of this school year. Students in grades 2-5 are invited Sunday, May 7 to watch Inside Out and enjoy pizza from 3:30-5:30pm (an hour earlier than normal!).
Club House is a youth ministry for students in 2nd-5th grade and meets on the 1st Sunday of the month October-May.
Want to register for next year? GO HERE