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About Dan

Dan currently serves as a Residence Life Coordinator (RLC) at Seattle Pacific University where he works with student leaders seeking to develop Christian community focused on learning and growth. As an RLC, Dan recruits, trains, mentors and supervises student leaders. Dan sees his work first and foremost as an act of discipleship as he helps his students discover their God-given potential and further explore their faith. Dan is passionate about discipleship and believes growth happens in the context of relationship—relationship with God and relationship with each other. He is eager to connect with the folks of Mountain View and to learn their unique stories.

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Volume 24, Issue 5.5

Meet Dan & Sara Jones…

May 2015 M o u n t a i n V i e w P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h

The Encourager

Take Note:

May 19

Session Meeting

7PM

May 20

Last Trek Kids Club

6:30PM

May 21

Praise & Promise

Graduation

6:30PM

May 29

Book Club

7PM

May 31

Annual Meeting

11:30AM

May 31

Luncheon

Following Meeting

June 4

GriefShare

Church Foyer

6:30PM-8:30PM

June 7

Last day of Sunday

School, 2nd service

June 14

Worship service times

change for summer

10AM

June 21

Father’s Day

Special Mini-Edition

We are so pleased to announce that our Associate Pastor Nominating Committee has completed our search and we are nominating Dan Jones as our candidate for Mountain View's first Associate Pastor! Our committee has worked diligently for almost a year, and we’ve reviewed the dossiers of approximately 100 applicants! It's with great joy that we recommend Dan to be both ordained and installed to help lead us into the exciting future God has for us! This special mini-edition of the Encourager is designed to help you get acquainted with both Dan and Sara. Please see the last page of this publication for details about the special Sunday when they will be with us in worship for the first time, May 31st!"

APNC Announcement! By Don Cunningham

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PAGE 2 SPEC IAL M IN I - ED I T ION

Having spent the last decade of his life studying, working, and living in educational institutions, Dan values the connection between faith and learning. He is passionate about Christian education, Bible-centered preaching, and applying what we learn from study and conversation to every aspect of life. Dan is a fifth generation Californian and the youngest of four children. He grew up playing sports, being involved at church, and spending time with his family. Dan studied Educational Ministry at SPU and then received his Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. In addition to working for two Christian Universities, Dan has also interned at a number of churches. He has worked with youth, college students, and adults. Dan’s experience in pastoral care includes both visiting folks in hospitals and serving at Harborview Medical Center for 6 months as a Chaplain for his Clinical Pastoral Education. Dan has an eclectic denominational background, having visited and served in a number of different kinds of churches. Born in a non-denominational home, Dan describes his denominational background as a journey with many fascinating detours. As a teenager, he was a student leader at Saddleback Church, a mega church with average weekly attendance of 20,000 people. He attended a Free Methodist University, worshiping often at Bethany Community Church during his college years. While studying for ministry, he interned at a Nazarene Church, Missionary Alliance Church, and Mennonite Church in addition to working as an interim youth director at a Foursquare Church. During his first year of seminary, he helped start a small missional community in Orange County, California. He finally found a home with PC USA toward the end of seminary. Dan describes himself as ecumenical and believes that Christians can learn profound truth from each other. That being said, he is also distinctly Presbyterian, valuing democratic polity, emphasis on education, the authority of scripture, and a robust theology of grace.

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VOLUME 24 , I SSUE 5 .5 PAGE 3

Dan’s call

Dan experienced his call to pastoral ministry as a 16 year old on a service mission’s trip to Mexico. As a teenager from affluent South Orange County, California, Dan witnessed the economic disparity between his home and a poor village in Mexico. In this context, he discovered a renewed commitment to Jesus and a call to serve God and beckon others to follow Jesus. Since this call was planted in his heart, Dan’s abilities as a pastor have been nurtured over the years through service, education, and training. Hobbies

Dan’s favorite pastime is reading a good book at a quiet coffee shop. He appreciates rich conversation with people and loves talking about God, faith, relationships, and social justice. As an avid movie lover, you can often find him taking in a movie with his wife Sara. They love having people over to their home as long as it includes good food, deep conversation and the occasional spontaneous dance party. About Sara

Sara will be graduating in June with her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She currently serves as a therapist at a private practice in Federal Way. Once Dan and Sara make the move up North, she will be looking for work closer to Marysville. Having worked in a number of different contexts within the field of mental health, Sara’s specialty is with adolescents, couples and adults. Sara is passionate about marriage and equipping couples to better communicate and thrive in their relationships. Sara enjoys reading, movies, music, and learning about people. She is also a huge fan of animals and is counting down the days until she can finally get a dog. Originally from Denver, Colorado, Sara loves hiking, camping and the outdoors. Having spent the last decade living in cities, she is excited to move closer to the mountains and further relish the beautiful state of Washington.

(Continued from page 2)

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PAGE 4 SPEC IAL M IN I - ED I T ION

As an only child, Sara grew up in a home that was Christian but rarely went to church. As a young teenager, Sara came to faith through Young Life and started regularly attending youth group. Sara graduated from high school a Valedictorian, and decided that she wanted to attend a Christian university and further develop her faith. This led her from Colorado to Seattle to attend SPU. How Sara met Dan... Sara and Dan met at SPU during a school dance. As the story goes, Dan was standing in the middle of a crowded dance floor filled mostly with women who were salsa dancing (there are a lot more women than men at SPU). After having decided to leave the dance, Sara walked in and Dan noticed her immediately. Having never spoken to her before—and having never asked a random girl to dance—Dan walked up to Sara and asked if she knew how to salsa. She said no, but determined, Dan grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the dance floor. They laughed and twirled—nether knowing what they were doing—and the rest is history.

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Make sure you plan to be in church on May 31, it’s your chance to hear Dan Jones

preach for the first time at Mountain View! What a great time for us to welcome him and

Sara! Stick around after the second service for the Annual Meeting. We will be receiving

the Annual Report, awarding the “Heart of Mountain View,” and voting on new elders, dea-

cons and nominating committee members. This year’s meeting is especially exciting and im-

portant because we will be voting to elect Dan to this special service and to approve his

terms of call. Thank you for your support of this community of faith, and please plan to be

here for the meeting. Your input makes a huge difference! Our wonderful fellowship team is

planning a Kalua Pork luncheon to follow the meeting.

Pease bring a dessert to share after lunch!

May 31, Worship Services at 9 & 10:30, Annual Meeting & Luncheon to follow

Vote to Elect the Candidate!

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PAGE 5 SPEC IAL M IN I - ED I T ION

God

I believe in the one triune God, distinctly one yet mysteriously three. God has revealed himself [1] as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God’s image is reflected in all persons, male and female. God is omnipotent, sovereign over all creation. God’s sovereignty is exercised according to his free will and good nature. I believe the Holy Bible is God’s revelation; it is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

Covenant

I believe God created the heavens and the Earth. Due to God’s loving nature, he created humanity for the purpose of community. Humans were created to be in loving relationship with God, each other and creation. Humanity rebelled against God bringing sin, brokenness and death into the world. God made a covenant with Abraham and the people of Israel to be a light to nations and reflect God’s holiness, justice and virtue to the world. God invited the people of Israel to partner with him to establish a sacred community, marked by the obedience of Torah and the worship the one true God. The people of Israel often failed in their obedience to God, yet God remained faithful in keeping his covenant.

Christ

I believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ and Son of God. Jesus is God incarnate, the perfect revelation of the Father’s nature. I believe in the virgin birth. Jesus, through word and deed, revealed the Kingdom of God to humanity. In his life, death and literal resurrection, Jesus inaugurated God’s eternal reign and was the first fruit of what is to come for all who are in Christ Jesus. I believe Jesus’ teaching is central to what it means to be his disciple. We are called to love God, neighbor and enemy and be people of peace and justice. I believe Christ died for the sins of humanity on a cross. I believe salvation, both a present and future reality, occurs by the grace of God.

Church and Holy Spirit

The Church has been appointed to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Church is called to practice the teachings of Christ, as depicted in the canonical gospels. The vitality of the church is maintained through corporate gatherings where God is worshiped, life is shared and sacraments are practiced. Through word and deed the Church is united in the pursuit of justice, restoration, and righteousness. The Church has been elected to be the people of God charged with providing a dim glimpse of God’s eschatological reality to all creation. The Holy Spirit guides, transforms and equips us to bring God’s love, justice and good news to our wounded world.

Hope

I believe Christ will come again in glory. I believe in a day of judgment where all will be held accountable. I believe God will make all things new; establish an eternal kingdom where death and sin will be no more.

[1] I use a male pronoun while recognizing that God is beyond gender.

Statement of Faith By Dan Jones

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5115 100th Street NE Marysville, WA 98270 Phone: 360.659.7777 Email: office@mtvpc.org

Mountain View Presbyterian Church

John Mason Pastor

Kristin Serniotti Children’s Ministries Director

Dustin Willetts Creative Arts Director

Hannah Kreutz Director of Youth Ministry

Brenda Leighton Preschool Director

Jackie Fuller Keyboardist

Karen Senff Custodian

Rachel Ellinger Administrative Assistant

HOURS

Worship Services: 9 & 10:30 AM

Nursery Care: 9 & 10:30 AM

Kids Under Construction: 9 AM

Sunday School: 10:30 AM

OFFICE HOURS:

Monday-Thursday, 9 AM-5 PM

Staff

Mountain View’s rainbow

Find us on the web!

www.mtvpc.org

Elders and Deacons Elders

Lee Brandt-Dillon

Hal Clark

Jim Fletcher

Judith Hoye

Todd Leighton

Lynn Lockwood

Clerk: Jeannine King

Deacons

Judy Aiton

Bill Armstrong

Sarah Cunning-ham

Diana Franz

Denise Gritton

Luana Jackson

Steve Jahn

Mandy Jordan

Deborah Pattie

Dale Pederson

Tracy Raymond

Paul Thompson

These folks are

called by God

and elected by

the members of

this

congregation to

lead this body

of believers.

They are so

happy to serve

you!

PAGE 6

Firewood for Sale office@mtvpc.org

Proceeds to benefit Quest

SPEC IAL M IN I - ED I T ION