The family of God here at Dowagiac Church of Christ wishes to extend to you a warm welcome.  If you have questions about our worship services and why we do what we do, we will be glad to give you a biblical answer.  The uniqueness of the Church of Christ is that we are trying to restore to the best of our ability those things that we see the first century Church doing.  We are also working hard at building the spirit, unity, and love that Jesus taught and prayed for.  We have no clergy, but are working together as equal co-workers trying to serve one another and the area in which we live.  Come study with us, grow with us, and serve with us as we strive to do God’s will in all things.


Tonight we will study one of the strangest events in the Bible, the demons who got thrown into a herd of pigs.  Come and join us in this interesting study.



Projects Underway:
Carpeting.  Jim and Brenda have gotten the carpet ordered for the fellowship area, and J.R. has agreed to put it down saving the congregation over $1,000.  We will schedule a work day to take up the old carpet and prepare the floor for the new.  See Dave Pickens or Bill Gibson if you can help with this.
Parking area.  We are getting an estimate to blacktop our parking area and concrete under the overhang.  This will be expensive, but is badly needed.  We will have a congregational meeting on this as soon as we get the estimate.
Water softener.  For many years the water coming into our building has been hard water.  We are looking into having a softener put in to reduce maintenance and facilitate keeping our building clean and useful. 
Friendship Evangelism.  An article by Dan Cooper is being circulated that we would like everyone to read.  We will be discussing how we can implement some of brother Cooper’s points in the work here in Dowagiac.

As we start a new year of work here at the Dowagiac Church, it is good to look back at 2007 and see what has been accomplished and where we are headed.  The year 2007 was a great one for this congregation.  Our average attendance has grown, we have new people taking a lead in mission work and in leadership, and we have improved our facility and our outreach into the community.  As we start into 2008 we have some major facility improvements coming, and there are a number of studies going on and people being contacted that we hope will contribute to our growth.  Our benevolent program has been very active this year, and we are currently assisting two families with meals.

In addition to the local things that are happening, this congregation has an active role in a number of mission works that reach beyond Dowagiac.  We are helping support the H.O.P.E. prison ministry which has students throughout the United States.  Last year 33 prisoners were baptized into Christ through this ministry, and a number of members participate in this work by grading course lessons and preparing materials for the course.  Brother Glynn Langston, a blind evangelist who has a special ministry to visually-impaired people world-wide will be visiting us sometime soon and sharing his work with us.  We have helped him in the past and he has been in the area several times.

The Does God Exist? ministry is sponsored by this congregation, and while we do not provide direct financial support to the ministry because it is not needed, we do provide logistical and structural support for this work.  The Claytons and the Marcussens work with this ministry.  This work has been going on for 40 years and challenges atheism and naturalism on its own turf and at its own level.  Every year a full “Year End Report” is given to supporters by the Claytons.  This report tells about what has been done by the ministry, and gives a full financial report on how the resources given to this work by interested Christians all over the world are used.   If you would like a copy there are several on the table in the lobby.