What a great time to be living in Port O’Connor! We have been experiencing the Birthday of Jesus, the Christ; New Years came in with a lot of bangs: Pastor Joane and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary with a special meal with the Pastor who tied our knot, and Pastor Joane celebrated another birthday! (Since I am 29, and she is 12 years my junior, she reached the ripe old age of 17! – I just love this new math!)
Christmas at the Chapel has several layers! We had a great crew come and decorate the Chapel and it, as usual, was beautiful! Thanks to the hard work and great artistic talent we have, the work went quickly and without a hitch! What usually takes several days was all finished in only a part of one day. Thanks!
We enjoyed our Christmas Sunday on December 17, with a great morning service and our annual Christmas Party in the evening. We had invited Friendship Bible Church to join us and we had a great meal and a lot of fun with all the games and activities that go together to make our Celebration always a memorable one!
On Wednesday, December 20, we had a cook-out in our fire pit in front of the Chapel. There were sausages and hotdogs to roast and marshmallows to “burn” while enjoying the friendship and family love that our events are known for. The weather was suitable and we enjoyed singing Christmas Carols together!
On January 11, 1995, the Chapel installed its blue carpet. It was a very cold weekend and John helped provide a place for us to be able to roll out the materials so it could be glued in place. On Monday, January 13, 1995, a glass panel was placed in one of the two front doors of the Chapel, and it was so cold that the silicon would not properly seal with a smooth finish. The pews had been placed in the room, the Reverend Steve Linney took his place, and Pastor Joane walked down the aisle to the waiting arms of Pastor Erny to be married in the new Chapel. It was an anointed service with many friends, several who were pastors, serving as witnesses. It was a special journey, and we have been blessed to have been “tied together” in Port O’Connor’s Fisherman’s Chapel.
Our family planning is not very effecting for most families! We celebrate Thanksgiving, followed in about a month with Christmas. We then celebrate our Wedding Anniversary, followed in five days with Pastor Joane’s Birthday. Then it is only a month until we celebrate Valentines Day! But, maybe the way to look at it is that we got all of the special things quickly scheduled so the rest of the year we can move forward without so much fanfare! Yes, you helped make Pastor Joane’s birthday celebration very special, with a special meal of pork tenderloin and all the trimmings on Wednesday, January 10. You truly know how to make you Pastor feel extra special. Thank you!
We are planning a special activity for February 14. We are thinking about having our men serve their ladies a special meal. Keep your ear to the ground for all the details that will be coming shortly.
Report on Thanksgiving & Christmas Baskets:
Please allow me to share a report concerning the Port O’Connor Benevolence Fund, for which we raise funds and from which Thanksgiving and Food Baskets are purchased to provide needy families with a special Holiday blessing. In 2022, we had a total income of $4,265. From those funds and the generosity of previous years’ giving, we expended expended $5,375.84. In 2023, we received $4,814.74. Since we knew our children from the school system would be out for 20 days, we made extra provisions available for our needy families. We expended $6,659.09 to pass out the 54 food baskets we gave both for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had an ending balance of $4,662.02, but received a Formosa Grant of $800.00, which makes our balance stand at $5,462.02. It is readily seen that we are expending more than we are receiving each year, and with the large rise in food costs, we can not continue providing this service to needy families from our area without additional assistance. Those who seen the need and are able to assist can give a gift to any of our three community churches or can go to the local bank and give to the special account there. We do not know what the need will be like in 2024. We do not know the gifts we will receive during this year, but we do know that our community has some of the most generous people on the planet!
None of these funds are expended for anything except our Thanksgiving and Christmas Food Baskets. With your generosity, the Chapel has a community food pantry which operates out of the Chapel, but the funds are never mixed! Make a special donation if you possibly can to help the needy people of Port O’Connor.
Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenominational congregation in the heart of the POC Community with the community at heart! We truly desire to see your friends and families blessed, hence we serve! Sundays we meet at 10:00 a.m. for Bible Study, 11:00 a.m. for Morning Service, and 6:00 p.m. for Evening Service. We have a group of Spanish speaking saints who meet in our Retreat Center on Sundays at 5:00 p.m. for a devotion. Our Wednesday gathering is at 7:00 p.m., and we begin with a fellowship meal, followed with a Meal from God’s Living Word! Everyone will find a warm welcome at the Chapel and all are urged to “Come, grow with us!”
