Join us tonight in the Social Hall for our Spaghetti Dinner and Bingo Pride Team Fundraiser. The dinner starts at 6:30 pm. Spaghetti dinner is sold out, but you can still join us at 7:30 pm to play Bingo and buy your 50/50 tickets.

Sunday, June 9th, 2024

Sermon:

"Open Doors"

Sacred Text:

Revelation 3:7-8



Worship (in-person and online):

10:30 AM

A Word from Rev. Ray

Happy Pride Month!

This is a particularly busy month for us at KOP and our community. The excitement and recognition that comes within June are real morale boosters, especially in an environment where we may sometimes feel undervalued. While we may encounter closed doors on both personal and community levels, this month reminds us of our worth and contributions.

This Sunday, we will revisit the topic of thresholds, which we began exploring on Sunday, May 26th. We discussed how crossing thresholds can expand our faith. There are moments when God delivers us from fiery trials, and there are moments when God meets us within the furnace. This Sunday, we'll discover that there are doors only God can close and doors only God can open. If you are facing challenging decisions, this message might be just what you need.

Come expecting a blessing, and you will receive a blessing.

Blessings,

Rev. Ray

Safety Protocols for In-person Worship

SCAM EMAIL ALERT!

We have received word from a few individuals that they received an email from someone pretending to be Rev. Ray, asking for help with a personal matter. If you have received an email, do not respond, and do not go along with the request for any form of money or gift cards. This is a scam! If there is any question as to whether this is a legitimate request from Rev. Ray, please do one of several things:

1. Look at the sent email address. It will more than likely be an email address that is not "revray@churchstpetersburg.org".
2. Before responding, feel free to contact the church and ask to speak with Rev. Ray, to verify if this email was actually sent from him.

We are working on our end to change passwords to things like this newsletter server to help ensure there are no further issues.

Upcoming Activities

This Sunday, June 9th is Bring a Friend Sunday! Invite all of your friends and family to come to King of Peace with you! Prizes will be awarded to the individuals who bring the most friends! Let's fill up all our empty chairs!

Following worship this Sunday, June 9th, we will have a Special Congregational Meeting to discuss and vote on building expenditures to include roof and solar. Everyone is welcome to attend, but only Members are eligible to vote.

If you cannot join the meeting in person, you can join us through the Zoom link below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89184212249?pwd=b3lhWFl1eE51MzA0ejJwOGdNalRRdz09  

Meeting ID: 891 8421 2249 

Passcode: 033092

We are inviting you to wear all your favorite pride shirts and colors during the month of June. Let's show our pride in who God created us all to be!

Our Pride Team is collecting gift cards for a gift card bouquet. If you are able, please bring a gift card in of any amount, $5-$100 from places like Wawa, McDonalds, Amazon, etc. You can give them to TC, the head of our Pride Team!

Starting this Sunday, get your tickets for your chance to win the Gift Card Bouquet.

1 Ticket for $5

3 Tickets for $10

10 Tickets for $20

The winning ticket will be selected in worship on Pride Sunday, June 23rd!

Dwayne is looking for some help painting a mural on the outside of the church. If you are interested, please join him June 10th-June 15th from 9 am-2 pm. If you have any questions at all, contact Dwayne at colorthesoul@yahoo.com.

If you are an early riser, make plans now to attend our next Breakfast Club on Thursday, June 13th at 9 am. We meet at Parkside Cafe, located at 8180 49th St. N, Pinellas Park. This is a great way to have fellowship with others from King of Peace.

Save the Date! On Saturday, June 15th at 11 am, King of Peace will hold a special Installation Service for Rev. Ray Simms as Senior Pastor of King of Peace MCC! This will be a very special day in the life of King of Peace, and we hope that you will make plans to be present. We'll pray for God's blessing upon King of Peace and upon Rev. Ray's leadership. Following the service, there will be a reception in the Social Hall. Let's celebrate the new thing that God is doing as the great legacy of King of Peace continues!

We need your help! St. Pete Pride weekend is June 22nd-23rd. We need people staffing the booth for the event, including set up and tear down. Also, we are looking for people to march in the parade on Saturday, June 22nd at 6 pm. There will also be a small amount of people that can ride in the trailer or truck! Sign up in the foyer on Sunday or email melanie@churchstpetersburg.org.

We are also looking for 2 individuals to represent King of Peace as part of a large group of many affirming churches and faith groups walking in the parade. If this is something you'd be interested in, please reach out to revray@churchstpetersburg.org.

We are collecting supplies for CampOUT again this year. CampOut is a local youth summer camp for LGBTQ+ young people ages 10-17. You'll see the list of needed supplies in the picture above. You can drop any donations off on Sundays or during office hours in the bin marked for CampOUT through June 30th. If you would prefer to give a monetary donation to apply towards the purchase of supplies, please place your contribution in an envelope and clearly indicate that it is intended for the camp supply fund or contact the church office. Additionally, our next 5th Sunday Benevolence Offering in June will go to CampOUT, to help students who may not have the financial means to participate in the camp. You can find out more information about CampOUT here.

King of Peace will be hosting the Suncoast Blood Bank for a blood drive on Sunday, June 30th from 8:30 am-12:45 pm.

Here's information about the gifts for those who donate:

• The All of Us Program - $25.00 E-gift card.
• Platelet donors will receive a $50.00 E-gift card for a successful platelet donation.
• Any type of donation will enter you into 3 different SUMMER TO THE MAX raffles. One weekly raffle is for a stand-on paddle board and one monthly raffle for a brand-new kayak! The end of the summer raffle is for two electric bikes!
• We also have $10.00 Publix gift cards for double red and whole blood donors.

If you want to register to donate or have any questions about the updated regulations around members of our community donating, call 1.866.97.BLOOD.

On Thursday afternoon, May 16th, surrounded by his family and a lot of love, Thom Cooper entered into his eternal rest. Thom was a long time member of King of Peace. He loved writing his blog and was a lover of music! We will celebrate Thom's life on Saturday, July 20th at 10 am at King of Peace. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Please pray for his partner Dimitris, his children, and all his family and friends who loved him and are grieving his loss. Well done thy good and faithful servant. Thom, may God's light perpetual shine on you, and your spirit live in on the memories we have of you.

Prayer is a vital part of our church. We are looking for a few more people who are willing to be on our Prayer Team. For more information, talk with Rev. Lorraine. You can sign up in the foyer or email revlorraine@churchstpetersburg.org.

We are offering a book study before worship on Brian McLaren's "We Make the Road by Walking". Every Sunday, we meet from 9:30-10:15 am, in Room 5. If you miss Sunday School, this is for you! Want to know more about the book or how to order it, click here. See Rob Pannett if you have any questions.

This month, the Good Samaritan Food Pantry is in need of donations of jars of peanut butter and cheese crackers. If you are able to donate these items, please bring them to church with you on Sunday or you can drop them off at the church office Monday through Thursday from 9 am-5 pm. There will be a shopping cart in the foyer, just inside the front door, where you can please them.

Do you know of anyone within our congregation who might need some congregational care or for us to offer their name in prayer during Sunday service? If so, please email revlorraine@churchstpetersburg.org.

Community Events