Pastor Tom Arthur

email
ph 517.889.5540
Pastor's Blog

As the pastor I seek to help keep us in the middle of God's story through preaching, teaching, visioning, and leadership.

• Hobbies? Cooking, backpacking, reading, biking, dating my wife
• What movies do you watch? Dramas (A River Runs Through It, Juno, Doctor Zhivago), fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Harry Potter), romantic comedy (Lars and the Real Girl, An Ideal Husband, Bride and Prejudice), action (Batman, Spider-Man, Super Man), documentaries (Mad Hot Ballroom, Deep Blue, Grizzly Man)
• TV shows I love to watch? LOST, X-Files, The Office
• What do you read? What do you read? I generally read one old book (pre-1900s) between every new book (a recommendation I picked up from C.S. Lewis and one I highly recommend to you. Begin with Devotional Classics and Spiritual Classics by Richard Foster). Some recent favorites include The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen, The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, Getting Involved with God by Ellen Davis, and The Brother's K by David James Duncan. Some classic favorites include Till We Have Faces and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Proper Confidence by Lesslie Newbigin, John Wesley's Sermons, The Life of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure, and the Confessions and Teaching Christianity by St. Augustine. For a further list of books that have influenced me and some description about those books, check out the resource page.
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally? A day of sailing with my wife on the Little Traverse Bay; reading old books and realizing that there are 2000+ years worth of mentors for this Christian walk; a solitary mountain-top at sunrise or sunset; seeing people's lives changed and transformed by the power of God's grace working through the community of the church; being challenged way beyond my comfort zones and fears and realizing that what I was afraid of or uncomfortable with ended up being a catalyst for going further up and further in to the love of God and neighbor.

Jeremy Kratky - Worship Leader

Music Ministry and Worship Design: We craft what you see, hear, and experience in the worship service on Sunday mornings. We use creative arts, pop culture, Scripture, and relevant teaching to communicate God's truth. Our goal is to create a safe, welcoming environment for you to seek and worship God no matter where you happen to be in your spiritual journey.

• Four movies I would watch over and over? (in no particular order) Cast Away, Dumb and Dumber, The Shawshank Redemption, Billy Madison.
• First thing I do when I wake up? Roll over. Kiss my wife. Stand up out of bed. Throw the extra pillows back onto the bed.
• Favorite electronic gadget? My cell phone. Why? Well it's new, slim and cool. Plus it helps me keep in contact with my friends and family. It's kind of weird. I mean I press a few numbers and all of a sudden a voice talks back to me. It's a great gadget.
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Actually, I feel very blessed to have a career in ministry. It is by far where I belong and where I feel best utilized. I already have a dream job and I'm still relatively young!
• Last time I made snowball? It was winter of 2005 when I threw a snow ball at my then fiancé's townhouse window to get her attention and let me in the front door. She about killed me because it surprised her so bad. Oops.

Bill Hoerner - Board of Stewards

The Board of Stewards is the administrative unit of Sycamore Creek Church where staff and congregational interests come together. Our primary responsibility is to work with staff so that the mission of the church is realized.

• Hobbies? Mountain Biking, Volleyball, Hiking and working in the yard and around the house.
• Four movies I would watch over and over The Patriot, Sahara, Men in Black, Tommy Boy.
• Four TV shows I love to watch: NCIS, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, Iron Chef America and Phineas and Ferb (with the kids of course).
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? The Outdoors, watching others I helped succeed and being with my family.
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Meteorologist or a Chef.

Julie Soltis - Kid's Creek

• Hobbies? Scrapbooking both Traditional and Digital photo books and photography.
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Is a Philanthropist a profession?
• What do you read? Anything about children, family.2 great books for women, Captivating by Eldrich and It’s All About Him - Finding the Love of my Life by Denise Jackson.
• What movies do you watch? Chick flicks and way too may Disney/Pixar films. But I can’t quote the verbatim like my kids.
• First thing I do when I wake up Hit the snooze button, at least once.

Shelley Mull - Membership

We show God's love by welcoming people on Sunday morning and caring for the Sycamore Creek Church family, visitors and guests. We also provide hospitality including refreshments for other activities of the church.

• Four TV shows I love to watch: Amazing Race, Cold Case, NCIS, CSI
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I would love to work as a counselor.
• What do you read? Bible, leadership books, novels, real-life stories in magazines.
• Last time I made snowball? With a twelve year old son, I have to defend myself each winter with at least one snowball or two.
• First thing I do when I wake up: Thank God for a new day and ask Him to join me throughout the day.

Mark Aupperlee - Maturity

We seek to help each person to grow in love for God and others through small groups and other studies.

• Hobbies? I love running . . . inside on a treadmill, outside on the roads, or in the woods on trails. I love hiking with my family or going for long walks with them. I also enjoy reading action and mystery novels.
• First thing I do when I wake up: When I first wake up, I hit the snooze bar on my alarm once to allow myself a few minutes to ease into consciousness. It's a rough transition! Then I head straight to the shower. Don't even try to talk to me until I've had my shower and a few minutes to wake up; I am NOT a morning person.
• Favorite electronic gadget: My favorite electronic gadget is my atomic clock. I love to tell the time really accurately, so the whole idea of a radio signal setting the clock to an accuracy of 0.1 seconds makes me really excited! I constantly reset my watch and the other clocks in our house to synchronize with the atomic clock.
• Last time I made snowball? The last time I made a snowball was this past winter while snowshoeing in the Traverse City area with my wife. I snowshoed behind her as we trudged through 3 feet of snow single file. Every once in a while I needed to reach down, grab some snow, and make a snowball. Then I would zip it by her to hit a nearby tree trunk. Whenever I'm out in the snow I love to make snowballs and then try to hit specific skinny tree trunks to test my aim.

Dotty Wilinski - Missions

• Mission Statement: Our goal is to support our congregation as they endeavor to share the love of Christ. We sponsor events, activities and involvement opportunities to live out our faith in our community and the world.
• Vision Statement: The SCC Mission Team has the goal to see our church filled with Christ followers who choose to serve others in spite of inconvenience or sacrifice.

• Hobbies My hobbies are reading and crocheting.
• Four TV shows I love to watch: I love "The Closer", "Monk", "Psych" & "Little People, Big World".
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? I get excited about helping people have a rich relationship with Jesus! I love hearing about answered prayers! I love showing people how to apply biblical principles to their lives and hearing about the results! We serve an awesome God!

Thomas Oates - Operations

Operations is making a safe, comfortable and accessible environment for all Sycamore Creek Church activities. It covers all the facilities including the areas used on Sunday for Education and Worship as well as the church Offices.

• Hobbies? Gardening, Photography and Computer Graphics.
• Four TV shows I love to watch: Lost, CSI Miami, Star Trek Next Generation, Mash.
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? I get geeked about helping people develop their ideas. Taking a start of an idea and growing it, making it better than it could have been on its own.
• What movies do you watch? Sci-Fi/Action, Comedies or Mysteries. They either make me have to think to keep my interest or funny poking fun at the human condition or humanity.
• Favorite electronic Gadget: Palm Computer for how it attempts to bridge the gap between a computer and a person on the go. It's like a mini computer that you carry with you. The problem still is getting info in and getting useful and timely info out.

Chuck Bird - Finance

We serve Sycamore Creek Church to manage the resources for our ministries through stewardship and ethical oversight of God's money.

• Hobbies? Snowmobiling/ATV, Gardening, and Golf.
• Four movies I would watch over and over: American President, Hunt for Red October, Face Off, Basic (anything with Travolta, Cage or Connery).
• Four TV shows I love to watch: House, Numbers, Medium, CSI (Thursdays).
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Things I can do with my hands refinishing old furniture, gardening/landscaping etc.

Crystal Eddy - StuREV

StuREV is our student ministry for our youth from sixth to twelfth grade.

• Hobbies? Spending time with my Husband Brian and Dog Mo, sewing or doing anything crafty, and physical activity.
• What do you read? The Bible and other books that inspire me to be a better person.
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally? Creatively - I am most creative with craft projects and working in the flower garden. Spiritually - Youth fired up for Christ and being outdoors. Emotionally - helping others.

Susan Bigger - Office Manager

email

• Hobbies? Shopping, listening to music and hanging out with friends.
• Four movies I would watch over and over: Legally Blonde, Pretty Woman, Devil Wears Prada, What Women Want
• Four TV shows I love to watch? CSI, CSI:NY, Criminal Minds, NCIS
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Hair Stylist
• What do you read? My Bible, devotionals, books we do for women's Bible study group and books to better myself (wife, mother)

Tammie Oates - Office Assistant

email

My position works with just about everybody. I answer the phones, put together the bulletin, newsletter and any most of the other handouts, I also put together the presentation for each week. There are many other little things that I do that just happen as each week progresses. I try to make things run as easy as possible in the office so that each Sunday the focus is on God.

• Hobbies? Baking, Reading, Traveling
• Four TV shows I love to watch NCSI, CSI, CSI-Miami, Ghost Whisper
• What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Anything to do with animals, a docent at a zoo.
• What do you read? Mysteries, Fantasy/Sci-Fi