Blog
Special Needs at Maple Grove
I was very young when I learned that God does not make us all alike, but he loves us as we are. As a Japanese teacher friend once noticed, people in the US are like a “flower garden” with many shapes of faces, eyes, noses, bodies, many...
A Plan for a Peaceful, Loving Invasion of Church Worship as planned by Rev. Sheets
In the 1960's there was a group of Oberlin College students who would come to (frequently) rural churches on Sunday mornings with plans to create a disruption to the morning services to "test" the churches. What their purpose was is...
Maple Grove Helps with Lord's Acres Projects
The Church of the Brethren with the help of Church World Service (CWS) and CROP (Christian Rural Overseas Program) developed a program in which crops were grown and harvested, and then train cars ...
Lessons From A Bookmark
The information on this old bookmark was found in an old Bible found in the library books at Maple Grove Church of the Brethren in 2016...
Sunday School at Maple Grove
Maple Grove had one of the first organized Sunday School programs in Northern Ohio. The date is not officially preserved (since written records did not start until 1876), but in an account written in 1874 for the Young Disciple, the church public...
Baccalaureate
A definition of baccalaureate is “a sermon to a graduation class or a service before graduation at which a sermon is delivered”. Today some schools call it a “Day of Remembrance” instead, to avoid any religious connotations and...
On Time - Coming Late
More than one tour leader and/or bus driver has made an announcement similar to this: “If you come early, you are on time; If you come on time, you are late...
Maple Grove Goes to the Ashland County Fair
The Ashland County Fair is usually the third week of September. Maple Grove has been actively involved in the Fair for many years. We have many church people who participate each year in the showing of animals for 4-H and displays for FFA. Some people...
Hungry House Café and A Flat Tire
After much work and preparation, Andrea, Dave and Marilyn were ready to make a trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma (OK), soon to be Andrea’s new home town. Mike was already there and already teaching at the University. She had stayed in West...
Mentoring and My Faith Walk
When I think back over my 73 nearly 74 years I can say that over the years, God directed me to numerous mentors for my life. I say it that way because any person who touches our lives in some way, can be that person called a mentor, if we evaluate...
Following the Leading of the Lord
Our parents taught us that learning to listen to the Lord's leading was very important to knowing what He wanted of us. Our father helped more than one family or person when he followed the Lord's nudges. Once he was driving down a road...
GOD in Capital Letters
Many years ago, I was in a meeting in which some decisions were being made about a document for a church group. The subject came up about using capitalization for words referring to God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the I Am ...
Casting Judgement on Someone Else
I have previously written several blogs about jury duty. However, this one will be different because I, once again, was called for jury duty. This time, I actually sat on the jury and I was elected the foreman (or forewoman to be...
Interesting Facts about the Re-Building Project
DID YOU KNOW? 1.-that before the “old” building was razed, church people worked to remove cement blocks, sandstones, wiring, plumbing, heating ducts, windows, doors, etc. for...
The Young Jesus: No Ordinary Child
As I am preparing my lessons for my class this fall, I have been reading through the assigned texts for the course I will be teaching. As an adjunct professor for this introductory class I am required to teach certain areas of interest that have ...
Steps and Stepladders
May 2003/4, it was time to prepare ourselves for BIG CHANGE at Maple Grove Church. We had reached a goal we had met for money for the new building. We had decided to raze the old building and replace It with a new educational, office, kitchen,...
Knowing Where You Belong
The last month has brought some life changing events to my life. I have completed and received my master’s degree and that is a big deal. Then, a few weeks after graduation, I was offered a teaching position at Walsh University....
The Dunkers and the UNRRA
It was 1945 and, according to Time magazine, the Baltimore stockyards were full of livestock, and an empty ship waited in the harbor, but there was no one to herd the animals on to the ship and overseas to the hungry...
Heifer Project
Our preacher, Fred Bernhard, told us that some weeks earlier he had awakened in the night with an idea. He woke his wife and shared his idea with her, gained her approval
Ending One Chapter Leads to Beginning Another
May 1st will be an important day for me (although by the time you read this it will be long past it) because it is my graduation day. On the first of May, I will...
Called to Serve
Called to Serve – Serving as God’s Hands and Feet – Doing His Work -Their pay is the reward of doing for others...
Owning Up to Our Mistakes
Unlike my first experience with jury duty, I felt less irritation towards my second one for two reasons. First, it was for the Ashland Municipal Court so my drive time...
Our Sanctuary Clock
Once, a student of mine, during a discussion about the problems many their sixth grade age face, listened and then raised his hand. His maturity was far beyond...
Civic Duty ≠ Inconvenience
Recently, I had another experience with jury duty (I will save my first experience for another blog). It is that civic duty that all of us may or may not have experience...
Heifer Project International #2
Here are several letters of thanks sent from the recipients of the heifers donated by Maple Grove...
The Fruitfulness of the Spirit
I feel it is necessary to continue the discussion on achieving good works. It is necessary to discuss what will help those works to become more fruitful. Imagine you have
Heifer Project International #1
In October 1946 Maple Grove Church of the Brethren gave a heifer to Heifer Project to go to China through the efforts of the Cross Bearer’s Adult Class. Two more heifers...
Achieving the Good Life
Lately, I have been thinking about morality and the influence it has on human behavior. I remember studying Plato's allegory of the cave as an undergraduate. This allegory makes reference...
Pioneer Life in Ashland County
By(Aunt) Kate Shopbell Shidler (written in 1890) As today, Feb. 22, 1890, is my fifty-sixth birthday, I thought I would like to have a talk with the boys and girls of Maple Grove (Church) and vicinity; to tell them of the old pioneers...
