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October 3, 2025

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Our Current Sermon Series is "Our Money Story"

We all have a money story, whether we recognize it or not. Perhaps we are living from a story of fear or shame. Or a story that the church is dying and no longer relevant. Or a story that our actions won’t have an impact. Or a story that we don’t have enough. Where might God be speaking a new narrative into the limited ones we have told ourselves? This theme invites us to discover and tell our money stories in light of God’s money

story of liberation and justice. This series encourages us to transform our stewardship practices into more full expressions of who we are and what we believe. This theme is intentionally direct—it invites us to name exactly what we’re talking about and not skirt around it. To speak of money is to invite tension into the room. We so quickly want to avoid it. But it’s time we reframe this. Money and possessions are one of the most common topics in scripture, and Jesus talked about money more than faith and prayer. Our money story, therefore, is a spiritual story. Thinking about God’s money story should be liberating, inviting, and transformative. This stewardship season, we invite you to remember, release, reimagine, and restore your money stories so that we can write the one God is begging us to live into.

Upcoming NACC News & Events:

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Save the date for Blessing of the Animals - October 5th! We will gather outside at 1pm with our beloved pets - chips and hot dogs will be served!

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Retreat is NEXT Saturday!! 🎉

Join the Spirituality Collaborative hosted all-church retreat at Hideout Haven (in Kissee Mills) on October 11th. This will be half-day OR full-day (you choose), with several different events/experiences for you to try! There is something for everyone - from our littlest to our most elders. Please note that all activities are optional, and there is also the option to just hang out under the pergola and visit with each other.



If you signed up for the treat, you should have received an informational email from Kassie. If you did not receive the email please reach out to her at [email protected].

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The Join us for our annual Halloween Fun Fest on Sunday, October 26th!! We will have a mac n cheese and chili cook off beginning at 5:30pm, indoor trick or treating, photo booth, haunted basement, and Halloween bowling will all begin at 6 - you are free to explore the activities as you wish! 



CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!! (New sign up - even if you already signed up for any positions via the Google form, please sign up again using the Sign Up Genius below)

  • We need several types of volunteers to make this happen. ALL of the positions available are (subjectively) super fun ones - so check them out and sign up if you can!
  • We need volunteers to spookily decorate afterworship or before the event on Sunday the 26th (decor provided - but feel free to bring fun stuff if you have it!).
  • We need volunteers to hand out candy to our trick or treaters! Option to decorate the door where you are, as well!
  • We need volunteers to set up and run several activities! We are providing activities ideas to sign up for, but if you have an additional idea - we will have an extra spot for that, too!
  • SIGN UP AT THE SIGN UP GENIUS HERE!

The sign up for the cook off is separate! If you want to participate in cooking for the chili/mac n cheese cookoff, please sign up here

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As most of you know, Pastor Jody, who served as our spiritual formation for youth pastor, will no longer be serving in that position. During her time with us, she has shared a wealth of creativity, wisdom, and love with us - especially the littlest amongst us! We plan to make a card with messages of love and gratitude to Pastor Jody and are collecting messages and "signatures" in a Google Form. We will take your responses and turn them into one big card with messages from all of us! Please share your name/s and any messages you may have as we wish Pastor Jody farewell! Find the Google Form here.

Spiritual Formation Classes & Groups at NACC:

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Join us for a new class - Disciples 101! Classes will be October 5th and 12th and November 9th and 16th from 5 to 7pm. We will be using the book "We Call Ourselves Disciples" by Kamilah Hall Sharpe and Joel Brown. Copies of the book will be available for purchase for $7.



Attend one, a few, or all four sessions — whatever works for you!



To sign up, please contact Candy Adams at 📧 [email protected] by Sunday, September 28th

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This Sunday, October 5th, we will begin a new series based on the book Homegrown Mystics: Restoring Our Nation with the Healing Wisdom of America’s Visionaries by Bruce Epperly.
Tom Carlson will be leading this first session which will focus on visionaries Raiph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman who were key figures in the Transcendentalism movement in the early history of our country.

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Coffee and Conversations meets at 9am on Sunday on zoom and in person. It is a multi-generational group and welcoming to all.

Coffee and Conversations is currently reading A History of God by Karen Armstrong.

A History of God reading and discussion schedule:
Oct 5 chap 4
Oct 12 chap 5
Oct 19 chap 6
Oct 26 chap 7
Nov 2 chap 8
Nov 9 chap 9
Nov 16 chap 10
Dec 7 chap 11
Off for the holidays resume Jan 4

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👍 The nursery (birth to 5 years old) and adjoining Sunday activities room for older kids (5-12) will open at 9am each Sunday. Located on the north end of the main hall & through the double doors.



👍 The StoryKeepers class will begin for the 5-10 year old group in the Sunday activities room (next to the nursery) from 9:00 to 9:40.



👍 The UNO class for middle schoolers will meet upstairs with at with Claudia and Kylie from 9-9:40.



👍 The Pathways class for highschoolers will meet second floor youth room at the top of the stairs on the south side of the building entrance to the sanctuary.



👍 Children are also always welcome in worship where we do have activity bags for busy minds & bodies and a rocking chair and toys in the Narthex (foyer at the back of the sanctuary).

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Meet at Travellers House each Tuesday at 10:30am. Stop by to have a coffee and chat for a while in this social setting! All are welcome!

Other Announcements, Celebrations, or Community News:

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Thank you again to all of those involved in Annie - from sponsors, to crew, cast, and audience - with your help, we were able to raise $842 to help support the accessibility project in the chancel area and the Crisis Cold Weather Shelter. 

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Happy birthday to all these October babies! We hope your day is just as special as you are!

Marcia Morriset - October 1st
Kathy Davis - October 4th
Peter Browning - October 12th
Mario Biggs - October 14th
Justin Fleming - October 14th
Joe Bossi - October 15th
Karen McCully - October 17th
Karen Lance - October 18th
Neil Guion - October 18th
Mike Jungers - October 19th
Larry Butterfield - October 20th
Mark Biggs - October 20th
Kassie Bisso - October 21st
Benny Ellis - October 27th
Milla Lancaster - October 29th

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Crosslines Report From Joan - This Month's Request is Bar Soap

Friday, September 4 was a busy three + hours for our Crosslines volunteers. There were 75 shoppers visiting the pantry. They represented 165 people. So our folks assisted 25 people per hour!


Bambi, the pantry coordinator, is asking us for our recyclable plastic grocery bags for the shoppers to use, primarily, I think, to bag the fresh produce available for them. Crosslines is trying to save in what ways they can, and the plastic bags that they must purchase are quite expensive. Another request Bambi is making is for Best Choice labels. She states that they are like gold for them. To harvest the labels, just remove them from the canned goods or whatever. Then carefully cut out the barcode making sure not to cut off the Best Choice words. I have saved these for years for another organization (for Crosslines now) and put them in a distinguishable pink envelope on my kitchen counter. Please put your plastic bags and Best Choice labels along with your hygiene donations, bar soap this time, in our Crosslines basket by noon on Wednesday, October 1. Our next Crosslines service day will be Friday, October 3. The September shampoo as well as your other gifts were very much appreciated. Thank you all for helping our neighbors who need us.

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Lantern Walk is THIS Saturday, October 4th! 

The City of Springfield holds annual Lantern Walks to draw attention to our most vulnerable pedestrians. Organized through the pedestrian safety program SGF Yields, the City of Springfield partners with neighborhoods to organize the Lantern Walks. Neighbors, schools and families are encouraged to build and decorate luminaries ahead of the event. On the first Saturday in October, starting at sunset, residents stroll with their illuminated lanterns along a designated route. Along the way, there are stations where children learn about safe walking habits, drivers learn about crosswalk laws and parents are encouraged to actively practice safe street crossings with their children. Residents along the route can help make the autumn walk especially beautiful by placing lights along the sidewalks and greeting the children parading with their beautiful lanterns.

Meet at NACC at 6pm on Saturday, October 4th to walk with OUR neighborhood community!



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Donate your car to help support NACC! This process makes it extremely easy for you to donate a vehicle you may not be using to help support the work of NACC. Visit here to learn more about the process!

From CARS: "Donated vehicles are sold through the used-car markets and provide crucial funding for nonprofit programs and services making an impact in communities all over the world. CARS works with a very large network of nationwide and independent suppliers to sell the vehicle and maximize donation proceeds. This includes analyzing vendor pricing and performance on a regular basis to improve the process and ensure the best possible return for our nonprofit partners and to maximize their donors' tax benefit. For unique or specialty items that have been donated, we may use other means to sell the vehicle to help ensure the maximum funds are received for each donation."

NACC uses Elvanto as our church management system. To view the directory, you must have an Elvanto account. Please find the Elvanto and directory links below  (note - you won't be able to view the directory without the Elvanto account first).

Create/Log in to Elvanto here.

Find the latest directory here.

You can find all NACC policies, procedures, and bylaws here.



Office Hours are Tuesday through Friday 9am to 3pm

417-869-9176

C[email protected]

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