Rolling Hills will be holding church services this Saturday for Christmas Eve.  Services will be at 4:00pm and 6:00pm at The WareHouse.

Within the preschool ministry, parents have the option of dropping their children off for preschool classes or taking them into the worship service in the auditorium.

For children who are dropped off in The Backyard, we will have classes staffed with volunteers.  Children will hear the Christmas story and will work on crafts and other activities, much like a regular Sunday morning.  Children may or may not be in their regular classrooms, so please check signs as you check in at the computer kiosks.

For families who would prefer to spend Christmas Eve together and worship in the Auditorium, Preschool and Children’s Ministries are providing activities for children to do during the worship service.  Tables will be set up in the Gallery with crayons and activity packets, which children can use in the Auditorium.

If you have any questions about Christmas Eve, or if you would like to volunteer to serve with children in the Preschool Ministry during one of the two services, please contact Sara Ingmire, Preschool Minister, at sara@rollinghillscommunity.org.

Posted in Holidays by Sara Ingmire No Comments

As Christmas approaches, our calendars fill up with parties and times spent with family and friends.  We hope you will include your church family as you prepare for your Christmas celebration.  Here are a few events on the calendar in the next few weeks that you should mark on your calendar.

Saturday, December 3rd – Rolling Hills Family Pancake Breakfast – From 9-11am, we will have all-you-can-eat pancakes along with all kinds of Christmas fun.  We will be collecting warm weather apparel for children in need as well.  We hope you can join us!

Sunday, December 5th – Rolling Hills Vision Night – At 5:00pm, Jeff Simmons will be sharing with the church the staff’s vision for Rolling Hills and how we feel God is calling us to move in our community and around the world.  We invite you to join in the conversation!  The presentation will be about 45 minutes long.  For those of you who can’t make it to the WareHouse, it will be simulcast through the Rolling Hills website, and there will be a podcast available after the event.

Saturday, December 10th – Christmas at Rolling Hills – This annual church-wide Christmas party promises to be a great time!  There will be dinner, music by Radio Daze, dancing, and loads of Christmas fellowship and fun.  Tickets need to be purchased by this Sunday.  You can purchase tickets online or in person on Sunday morning.

If you have any questions about any of the above events, please send me an email at sara@rollinghillscommunity.org.

{Top Image Credit}

Posted in Events, Fellowship, Fun, Holidays by Sara Ingmire No Comments

Celebrate the coming of the Christmas season with all your friends from Rolling Hills! We will be holding our second annual Family Pancake Breakfast!  Here are all of the details:

WHEN:  Saturday, December 3rd, from 9-11am

WHERE:  The WareHouse

WHAT:  We will have all-you-can-eat pancakes plus Christmas crafts, Christmas games, and the Christmas story.

COST:  Free!

During the breakfast, we will be collecting hats, scarves, coats, and mittens for children in Moldova.

For more information, please contact Sara Ingmire, Preschool Minister, at sara@rollinghillscommunity.org.  We hope to see you there!

Photo by smittenkitten via Flikr

Posted in Events, Fellowship, Fun, Holidays, Outreach by Sara Ingmire No Comments

This morning, I was honored to be asked to take part in the workshop day for Mom to Mom.  My presentation was about how moms can maintain focus on the reason for the upcoming holidays, both for themselves and their families.  The blog post below is based on that presentation.

As the holidays approach, it is so easy for families to get sucked into the hustle and bustle, all the stress, and the materialism that seems to become more and more a part of the season each year.  As parents, it is essential for us to take a step back and proactively work to keep our focus on the reason for the season, both for ourselves and for our families.

I think this all starts by remembering the true reason for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Was it to cook a giant turkey or lavish gifts on our friends and families?  While those can be treasured traditions, they are not the true reason for the holidays.  At Thanksgiving, we are taking a day to thank God for the blessings in our lives and to remember the first Thanksgiving in the United States, when pilgrims were blessed with a bountiful harvest that would provide food for them throughout the cold New England winter.  And of course, Christmas is the celebration of the miracle that is Christ’s birth, the huge gift we were all given that night in Bethlehem.

So, how can you keep focused on the true meaning of these holidays and not get caught up in all of the extras of the day?  I have a few suggestions:

1. Pour Into Yourself - Before you can take care of anyone else, or effectively help others to focus on God over the holidays, you need to take time to do so yourself.  Give yourself the opportunity to read the Bible, pray, learn and study, and meditate each day.  It will keep you centered and focused throughout your day.
2. Plan Ahead - Planning is extremely helpful in the fight to avoid the frantic pace of the holidays.  Planning everything from gifts to decorations to special activities with the family can help you to prioritize what is important over the holidays versus what seems to be urgent.
3. Develop and maintain traditions - Traditions that help to mark celebrations and occasions as special.  They help build memories for families and tie people together.  Working to maintain traditions, develop new ones, or a little of both is a great way to help mark the importance of the holiday.

For more specific ideas on how to incorporate traditions into Thanksgiving and Christmas that help families focus on their true meaning, as well as Bible passages and other resources to use over the course of the holiday season, feel free to download this resource packet.

Posted in Fun, Holidays, Parenting Resources, Parents by Sara Ingmire No Comments