Financial Freedom Workshop

Saturday, December 2
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $15 for materials and lunch

Take your first steps toward financial freedom! This one-day budget workshop will give you practical, biblical direction for managing your family’s finances. Topics include debt reduction, saving, investing, and more. You will leave with a clearer picture of where you want to go financially, and you’ll have a workable spending plan to help you get there!

To register, please contact Pastor Rich Schmidt (email / phone).

Volunteer Appreciation Night

Friday, November 17, 7:00-8:30 pm

If you’ve volunteered at Living Hope in the past year, then you’re invited! (Seriously, you should receive an invitation in the mail by November 6. If you don’t, and you should, please let us know, because it probably means we have an old or incorrect mailing address for you.)

You’ll enjoy ice cream with all the toppings and fixins you could possibly want, a special guest speaker, awards, and laughs. It’s all happening at the United Way of Porter County building, 951 Eastport Centre Drive, Valparaiso (Google Maps / Mapquest).

Childcare will not be provided… but we’ll have activity sheets and games to help keep your kids occupied if they tag along.

Please RSVP for this event by contacting Pastor Rich (email / phone) or by dropping your RSVP in the offering box on Sunday morning.

Kids Quiz Meet

Saturday, Oct. 14, 1:00-3:00 pm (Eastern Daylight Time)
At Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene
453 South State Rd. 341, Hillsboro, Indiana (Google Maps)
For kids involved in the 9:00 Sunday morning Bible Quizzing program

This is the first invitational quiz meet of the new school year, covering questions from lessons 1-4. If you’re interested in learning more about our Kids Bible Quizzing program, see the kids page. If you’d like more information about the quiz meet or how we’re getting there, contact Stacey Schmidt (email).

Family Fall Fest

Saturday, Oct. 28, 5:00-7:00 pm
At Jeff & Sherry Reeder’s house, 157 W 150 S (Google Maps / Mapquest)

All ages & families encouraged to come!

• Campfire
• S’mores
• Hot dogs
• Pumpkin painting
• Cookie decorating
• Bobbing for apples
• Football
• Lots of laughs!

Bring a friend and (if you can) a dish or dessert to share.

Living Hope 101

Sunday, January 21, noon-1:30 pm
At the Aberdeen Manor (where we meet for worship)

This is a quick intro to Living Hope and how you can get connected here. If you’ve been to a Sunday morning service, then this is your next step! It’s free, and it’s open to everyone. To RSVP, please contact Pastor Rich (email / staff page).

While we offer Living Hope 101 at various times throughout the year, this one is unique! We have the opportunity to hold the class right there at the Aberdeen Manor after our second service, so we’re including a light lunch and limited childcare. It’s going to be a great chance to meet some other folks who are thinking of calling Living Hope their church home.

All Staff Meeting

Monday, February 12, 6:30-7:30 pm
At the District Office, 970 Mill Pond Rd. (Google Maps / Mapquest)

This is for all of you who are contributing to the mission of Living Hope by your prayers, service, and resources. It’s an hour packed with encouraging stories and practical ideas to help you stay motivated and equipped for service.

At Living Hope, we recognize that you’re stepping up to a new level of ownership & responsibility for the mission of the church. You’re not just “members.” You’re “volunteer staff!”

If you’d like to know more about what it means to join the volunteer staff, please contact Pastor Rich (email / staff page).

No childcare will be provided for this event.

HeartSpa for Women

Saturday, Oct. 7, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

At South Lake Church of the Nazarene
7355 E. 81st Ave. (US 30), Crown Point, IN

All ladies, age 18-118, are invited to this relaxing getaway. Women are coming to this experience from all over Northwest Indiana. Lunch is included.

$15 per person if registered by Sept. 30
$18 per person at the door

Registration forms with more information are available on Sunday mornings. Just look for the gift basket… which your registration form enters you to win!

ShareFest ’06

Saturday, October 21

It’s back! For the third year, we’re joining with churches from all over Valparaiso for a day of sharing God’s love with our community. Our church is overseeing two different work projects this year (one for skilled labor, one for unskilled labor), but you’re free to volunteer for any of the projects listed over on the ShareFest website. Also, don’t forget to sign up for the Blood Drive!

To learn more, visit the ShareFest website or pick up a brochure on Sunday morning.

Parents’ Workshop

Sunday, Sept. 24, 12:30-2:30 pm

At the District Office, 970 Mill Pond Rd., Valparaiso (Google Maps / Mapquest)

We were setting up some training for our kids workers on how to properly handle a misbehaving child, when we thought, “You know, maybe these kids’ parents would like some help, too!” That’s why God’s All Stars is sponsoring this free interactive workshop led by a local behavioral specialist, Jeanette Dalton. Jeanette has years of experience working with students with behavioral problems in Valparaiso’s public schools, and she’s happy to share what she’s learned with you.

Sub sandwiches will be served, so you need to RSVP to our Kids & Youth Pastor, Danae Hezlep, by Sept. 22 (email / staff page). There will be a supervised room for children during the workshop, so please let us know who you’re bringing with you.

Popcorn Festival

It’s here! This Saturday, Sept. 9, we’ll be at the Popcorn Festival in downtown Valparaiso sharing God’s love with kids and adults.

Before the parade, we’ll be handing out almost 3,000 bottles of bubble soap to kids along the parade route. It’s fun, and it gives them something to do while they wait. 😀

All day, we’ll be offering free gifts & games for kids at our kids tent. (It’s in the section with all the other kid-oriented booths at the corner of Lincolnway and Lafayette St. You can’t miss it.) While other people sell things to kids as a fundraiser for their group or organization, we want to show them that God’s love is free. Plus it’s just more fun that way, you don’t have to mess with making change, etc., etc….

You can help support these free offerings by stopping by our food booth on Michigan Ave., just north of Indiana Ave. We’ll be selling popcorn balls, hot dogs, and cold water, all for $1. And I think we’re selling polish sausages for $2. You’ll have to stop by to find out for sure.

All in all, it’s a fun day! If you’re out there, stop by and say hello!

(And if you’d like to help staff one of these activities, just let us know.)

6th Birthday Party

That’s right, Living Hope is hitting the six year mark! On Sept. 17, we’ll celebrate six years in two ways:

1. By kicking off an exciting new message series called “My Big Question” that will address the big questions that many of us are asking. (How about sharing one of your big questions with us, too?)

2. By having a hog roast / picnic / birthday party in the big back yard of Jeff & Sherry Reeder’s house. We’ll have volleyball, cornhole, inflatable games & slide, swimming (weather permitting), lots of picnic food… and there’s a slight chance that we’ll be seeing the pastor in a dunk tank. (If you think that’s a great idea, let us know!) We couldn’t get a dunk tank, so letting the kids put pies in the pastors’ faces will have to do!

Will you join us? Directions to the party will be given out at that morning’s services, so stop on by and celebrate with us! (If you can bring a side dish or dessert with you, that’s great. If not, come anyway!)