A few weeks ago I met a woman in the First STEP class who told me that she found Jesus cutting paper. She explained that she was invited to join our Scrapbooking Life Group and through her experience of making scrap book pages she found Jesus. I wanted to find out more about what was happening in this Life Group so I contacted the group leader, Karen Flanigan.
Karen had the vision to start this group back in 2002 before Life Groups were even popular at Pantano. She was looking for a place to gather women to share ideas and resources in creating scrap book pages. She looked at libraries and other places to gather people for no cost. This was around the time that the PCC facility expansion was being completed and Pastor Coop challenged Pantano with “What are we going to do with these new buildings to love people to Jesus?” Karen had a great idea!
Karen’s group began meeting in the Modulars and 15 women attended their first scrapbooking night. The group meets on a Friday night once a month with other special events planned throughout the year. It was not long before the group outgrew the modulars. Karen has 250 women on her mailing list and an average of 65 women attend the Friday night events which take up every inch of the PCC volleyball court!
The group has become an incredible outreach to our community. Approximately 25% of the group are PCC attenders. The other women have found out about the group primarily through word of mouth. Women have been invited to the group while shopping for supplies at Michael’s and other craft stores in Tucson.
The group values grace and lives it out in their attitude of sharing and fellowship. Many of the women are surprised to find out that there is no charge to be part of the group. Others ask “It’s ok if we don’t go to church here right?” as they are welcomed in with open arms. The group sets up a special table that the women use to swap magazines and other resources for free. The women share their tools and supplies freely and Karen told me that she has never had anything stolen but sometimes tools are broken due to overuse, which most of the time are replaced with a new tool the next week!
The group has also become a place where people are finding God. The group does not hold a Bible study or prayer time during their meetings. However, new women are often invited to attend other events at PCC, for example mothers with young children are invited to MOPS. Several of the women in the group have started a Monday night Bible Study through which they spend 30 minutes studying the Bible and then the rest of the time making a scrap book page related to the lesson.
The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus that older women are to teach younger women to love their husbands, to love their children and to be wise and pure. Karen explained that one night a divorced mother of two who was struggling asked if she would pray with her in private. After they prayed Karen introduced her to another woman, a grandmother that was in the group. Karen later found that they had become great friends and that they shared similar stories and the grandmother was able to offer her support and advice for dealing with her struggles.
God is working through this group of women who get together each month to cut paper. Grandmothers, mom’s and daughters of all ages are sharing life together and sharing their journeys with God. Jesus truly has been found cutting paper!
