Chevy Chase United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 H ighlights Chevy Chase United Methodist Church Our worship service on June 3 will honor the United Methodist Women. The theme will be Building Christian Community, and since it is the first summer Sunday, we will celebrate by joining together for The Beloved Community Brunch, an all-church potluck summer brunch. All are welcome to join us. The guest preacher for the day will be the Rev. Dr. Stacey Cole Wilson who is the Director of Congregational Excellence and Strategic Partnerships for our Baltimore- Washington Conference. In addition to our guest speaker, we will give the annual UMW award for Outstanding Service to Mission. (Cont d. p.8 ) If you like to sing or have an instrument to play, this is your chance! Come to church any Sunday at 8:45 am beginning June 3 and practice music for the 10:00 service. All ages are welcome and any Sunday(s) you turn up at 8:45 am to rehearse, you may participate in the service. Our Summer Choir will be a combined group of instrumentalists and singers from our Praise Band, Sanctuary Choir and anyone else who comes to rehearse. Because this will be an ad hoc group from week to week, everyone is invited and welcome to participate as their availability allows. We will rehearse on Sunday mornings from 8:45 am 9:45 am in the Sanctuary for the 10 am combined service. Enjoy the leadership of Tanya Langlois, Director of Music and Worship Arts and try out singing in worship with no recurring commitment necessary! Cherubs Choir directed by Kathryn Whitfield. At 10:00am on the third Thursday morning of each month, the Sandwich Brigade prepares several hundred sandwiches for Martha s Table, an agency in downtown DC, to provide to the hungry and homeless. This is a great summer service opportunity for kids of all ages so bring them along! If you are available to help once a month for about an hour or even occasionally, please contact Mary Alice Gray at graybma@gmail.com. The summer dates of this community service are: June 21, July 19 and August 16. Worship Schedule Children & Youth Worship & Music Opportunities Church News Community Outreach Scout News Calendar Staff

2 June 3 June 10 One combined service at 10:00 am in the Sanctuary United Methodist Women Sunday & Communion Sunday Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Sermon: An Ambassador for Christ Rev. Dr. Stacey Cole Wilson preaching Special Offering: Peace with Justice Rev. Bryant Oskvig preaching Editor, Cindy Hinchman Our Vision for Ministry Bringing All People Together through Christ to Know, Love, and Serve God June 17 June 24 Fathering Sunday Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17 & Mark 4:26-34 Sermon: Stories that Change the World Rev. Kirkland Reynolds preaching Scripture: 2 Corinthians6:1-13 Sermon: Hearts Wide Open Rev. Kirkland Reynolds preaching As disciples of Christ, we are called to love our enemies, seek justice, and serve as reconcilers of conflict. We must insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to work together to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them. - United Methodist Social Principles In a world plagued by war and terror, violence and destruction, people of faith have a clear call to build peace with justice. Scripture is consistent in the call for followers of Christ to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44-45a), forgive others their trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15), to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21), and to seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14). Peacemakers are blessed and called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). Peace With Justice Sunday is one of the special Sundays of The United Methodist Church. Your special gift on Peace With Justice Sunday helps the people of The United Methodist Church make a difference together by sowing seeds and yielding fruit! of peace. Both of our worship spaces the sanctuary and the chapel are now equipped with up-to-date hearing loops that enable people to use the T switch (telephone switch) on their hearing aids to tap into the amplified sound broadcast through the microphones in use during worship services. If your hearing aid does not have a T switch or you don t have a hearing aid there are two wearable headphones available in the sanctuary narthex. Need help with any of this? Ask an usher. Welcoming Statement At Chevy Chase United Methodist Church, we seek to share God s message of grace with all people. And we believe that Jesus Christ calls us to love and serve one another without exception or exclusion. No matter your race or ethnicity, age or abilities, sexual orientation or gender identity, marital or family situation, financial circumstances or faith history, we joyfully offer our hospitality and invite you to participate fully in the life of our church community. You are welcome here. We are a Reconciling Congregation Visit rmnetwork.org to learn more about Reconciling Ministries Articles are due by the 18th of each month for the following month. Please articles to: chinchman@chevychaseumc.org. Articles may also be faxed to (301) or dropped off at the church office.

3 Christianity is being concerned about your fellow man, not building a million-dollar church while people are starving right around the corner. Christ was a revolutionary person, out there where it was happening. That s what God is all about, and that s where I get my strength. - Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer was an advocate for voting rights and women s rights. She worked to inspire others to join her in speaking out for justice and seeking an end to any law that supported Jim Crow and inequality. Among her accomplishments as a civil rights leader, Hamer is credited with helping thousands of African- Americans register to vote in Mississippi. Reflections on Hamer indicate that her work as a modern day prophet for racial and economic justice was a response to God s call. Hamer dedicated her life to this work after attending a community organizing meeting where a civil rights activist encouraged African Americans in Mississippi to register to vote. Hamer was 45 when she attended that fateful meeting. God was always working through her, and her call shifted to formal leadership and public service in her adult years. Hamer s activism was fueled by her faith in the gospel message of freedom for the oppressed that is found throughout the Bible. Beginning with Moses telling Pharaoh Let my people go and continuing with the prophets who called God s people back to justice, the Bible tells us that God has consistently sought justice and reconciliation. We believe this call finds it s fullest expression in Jesus life and ministry, including when he preached The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor (Luke 4:18 19). I believe that throughout our long history, the church has struggled with building and maintenance (note I didn t write buildings, which I ll get to in a moment). Our mission is clear because Jesus gave it to us: proclaim the good news and welcome people into the community of faith. Yet we have differed on how best to organize ourselves for that mission and how we prepare future generations for that mission. The church is blessed by leaders and saints who through their many gifts ensure we have buildings in which to meet. These are holy spaces, because these buildings are where all people may pray, intentionally seek God s presence, and worship with others who are also responding to Jesus message. But I wonder if all of us in the church (including me) are really listening to contemporary prophets like Fannie Lou Hamer who remind us about the how and to whom in Jesus ministry. Hamer was surely formed by the discipleship patterns found moving in church buildings. The Spirit of God is active among us as we pray, worship, lament, serve and practice hope in our many church buildings. And Jesus frequently performed ministry inside, including synagogues, homes, the Jerusalem temple, and the place the Bible calls the Upper Room. Whether it was originally known as a holy space or not, Jesus made every space he inhabited holy by doing the work of God. But for all the work he did inside, Jesus was clearly focused on the needs of people outside our holy spaces. Peace, Pastor Kirkland

4 JUNE 25 TO JUNE 29 SIGN UP NOW! Dear Families, It s not too late to register for the upcoming Vacation Bible School but you need to hurry. VBS runs from June 25 to June 29 (Mon. - Fri) from 9:00 am to noon. We hope you will join us at Rolling River Rampage VBS where your children will discover an interactive, energizing, Bible-based program that will give them an opportunity to experience the ride of a lifetime with God. Your students will become Rafters and explore how to serve God and find God s mission for their lives. The children will participate in a variety of activities: making art projects at the Craft Station, singing new music at the Music Station, exploring at the Science Station, participating in recreational activities at the Recreation Station, and enjoying tasty snacks at the Snack Station. Along the way, the Rafters will hear about a mission project and how they can respond to a call for action! You can also join in the fun by signing up to be a volunteer during VBS week. Whether your talents lie with music, drama and storytelling, arts and crafts or games, or whether you would prefer to help out behind the scenes (by making backdrops and decorations), we would love to have you join our crew. SSL hours are available for youth volunteers. Let s go! Join us at REGISTER A CAMPER OR TO VOLUNTEER AT The fee is $55 per child with $110 maximum per family. You may also pay online if you like. Our last VBS Volunteer meeting will be on Sunday, June 24 at 6:00 pm to go over assignments and needed programming help. The final day of regular Sunday school was on May 27, Summer Sunday school will run from June 3 through August 26. During the summer there will be one combined service at 10:00 am in the Sanctuary and after the children s message the children will leave for ageappropriate opportunities to worship and learn. Up to age 3, nursery care will continue to be provided in Room 212. Pre-schoolers to rising 3rd graders will have Children s Chapel on the first floor on June 3. On remaining summer Sundays they will meet for age-appropriate lessons and activities. This class will have rotating leadership until we can find a more permanent volunteer. To volunteer contact Brad at bkenn@chevychaseumc.org. Be on the lookout for the VBSthemed Potluck coming Sunday July 1. All members of the church, families and friends are invited to bring a side dish and enjoy fellowship and entertainment. The children will be sharing some of their VBS songs in the worship service that day. Children entering 4th through 6th grades will be joining Brad Kenn and Brinkley Hellams (who has graciously volunteered to teach 4th and 5th graders this fall) while we explore Echo the Story, a curriculum from Sparkhouse.

5 With the end of school and working days, here comes summertime with its barbeques in the backyard, long evening walks with your better half, refreshing evenings with friends, summer camps, first loves and baseball games, lots and lots of baseball games! (Let s Go Nats). It is such a great time because it brings adventures and travels. In the first part of June as a part of my Seminary Education, I will be patriating in a Border delegation and a cultural immersion trip with Borderlinks. In a nutshell BorderLinks connects divided communities, raises awareness about the impact of the border and immigration policies, and inspires action for social transformation. Since 1987, BorderLinks has been facilitating educational immersion trips for delegations in the Arizona-Sonora region and beyond the border to Chiapas. In the July/August issue of highlights I will share some more of my experiences with Borderlinks! As Teachers and Volunteers you have helped provide safe and encouraging spaces for children to learn the stories of the Bible and claim the gospel as part of their story. As part of the Children s and Youth Ministry team, you have planted many seeds of the gospel in the hearts and minds of children with every song you sing, game you play, with every conversation you have had, you have graciously accepted these opportunities to be used by God. I give you thanks! This church could not fulfill its mission and vision without your sacrificial and loving ministry to children and families. Know that the rest of leadership and Families of the church appreciates your service and as much as do I. Youth who are rising 6th graders are asked to attend the 4th to 6th grade Sunday school class during the summer but are invited to attend Youth Group meetings and activities on Sunday evenings as a transition into the group. Older youth will be in church on alternate Sunday mornings. The schedule for youth who are rising 7th graders or above is as follows alternating weeks with Sunday school and weeks with a youth group evening activity: June 3 - No Sunday School or Youth Group June 10 - Youth Group at 6:00pm June 17 - Sunday School: Integrity June 24 - Youth Group (VBS planning meeting) at 6:00pm July 1 - Sunday School: Humility July 8 - Youth Group at 6:00pm July 15 - Sunday School: Boldness July 22 - No youth group (Mission Trip) July 29 - Sunday School: Social Media August 5 - Sunday School: Popularity August 12 - Youth Group at 6:00pm August 19 - Sunday School: Labels August 26 - Youth Group at 6:00 pm The Tongues of Fire Chili Cook-off was a huge success! We raised $ 500 and hope to do it again next year! Congratulations to the Villacis family for winning the Best Overall Chili with Rose s Famous Chili, Alison Gee for winning the best Vegetarian Chili, Achie Mah and the Mah family for winning the Hottest Chili award, and Molly Reynolds for winning the Most Creative. Thank you all for the continual love and support of the youth group. If you have any questions about the Youth Group, know of someone we should invite into the group or would like regular notices about activities, please Brad at bkenn@chevychaseumc.org or call him at the church: ext. 14.

6 Do you or your children play an instrument? Share your musical gifts in worship this summer with a prelude, postlude, or offertory selection. Send Tanya an at tlanglois@chevychaseumc.org to schedule a Sunday. Please contact Pastor Kirkland Reynolds at (301) or kreynolds@chevychaseumc.org. The service on May 13 was planned and led by Alison Gee s 4th and 5th grade Sunday school class (on left). On May 20 we celebrated promotions and graduations. Judy Smith s 2nd and 3rd graders showed off their memorization of the Lord s Prayer. (right) Kids with Purpose cooked for the homeless in May.

7 You are invited to join us after worship for two community potluck meals. The first potluck meal follows worship on UMW Sunday, which is Sunday, June 3. The second potluck meal follows worship on Vacation Bible School Sunday, which is Sunday, July 1. Please bring a dish to share to our upcoming community potluck meals. You may contact Bob Levering at Bob.levering@gmail.com, the chair of our Hospitality and Membership Committee, if you have any questions or if you would like to help with the potluck meals. The United Methodist Women and the Board of Global Ministries of the Baltimore-Washington Conference will hold its annual weekend mission conference July at the Bethesda Marriott. This year the spiritual growth study for all is "Embracing Wholeness: Covenantal Living with Creation, Community and God." You may choose a study on "What About Our Money?" or "Missionary Conferences of the UMC in the U.S." CCUMW will pay half of registration fee of $190 for all UMW members (discount available before June 1). For more information contact Judy Smith (smarmayor@aol.com) Assisting in worship on Sunday mornings is a great way to offer your time and talents at CCUMC. We need ushers and liturgists, and sound board and slide techs while many of our regulars are on vacation. Please visit the following link go/10c044aa5af2ba7ff2-summer or contact Pastor Kirkland. We also invite you to consider volunteering with our Sunday school for children and teens which you may sign up for at Saturday, June 2 is your last chance to take advantage of the Venture Crew 255 s babysitting at the church so parents can have a night out between 6 pm to 10 pm. The cost is $20 for one child ages 2-12, $30 for 2, or $40 for 3. They will provide snacks, games and fun! For more information or to reserve your spot on Saturday, June 2, call Chloe Kirk at or chloekirk02@gmail.com. For the mission project of Vacation Bible School, we will kick off CCUMC s relationship with Project Transformation (projecttransformationdc.org). Project Transformation harnesses the creative energy and leadership of college age young adults who live in intentional Christian community, and lead summer programs for children in various underserved neighborhoods. The programs are held at United Methodist churches located in the heart of low-income neighborhoods, thereby helping those churches connect in meaningful ways with their communities. We will be supporting the project by raising funds, collecting art supplies at VBS, and providing meals for the interns organized by Caring Casseroles. For more information contact Katie Davis of the Mission Comm. If we have your address we are sending you Highlights electronically. It saves us time, printing costs and lots of trees to send it by and you can still print out one or more pages with any article or information you would like to save. If you do not have , there is no reason for concern, you should be getting Highlights by regular ground mail as usual. If you do get it by you can always pick up a hard copy here at church, saving us the postage. Copies are in all the literature racks. Be sure to take a minute and look at the on-line version. It s lots of fun to see it in color (especially the photos). You can always find it at At CCUMC, we still have salaries and bills to pay over the summer. We have a great way for you to donate even when traveling. Download the QR code and set up an account at Vanco to make automatic payments to the church. You can also connect by going to the homepage of our website click on the orange Online Giving button and set up a password-protected online giving account. Through Vanco you may give daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or irregularly, or just when you re out of town. It s very convenient and regular payments help the church to pay salaries and bills with regularity. Thanks for your support.

8 It is with our heartfelt Christian sympathy that we announce the passing of two long time church members: We offer our sympathy to all who knew and loved Marilyn Hemmig, who passed away on Saturday, May 12. A private memorial service will be held at the family s farm in Indiana in June. You may contact the church office for assistance sending notes of sympathy and prayer to the family. The Hemmig family requests memorial donations be made to the Chevy Chase UMC Youth Ministry. Condolences may be sent to daughter Laurel Porterfield, Darnick Court, Bristow, VA We also offer our sympathy to the family and friends of Fred Bullock who passed away on Tuesday, May 22. A funeral for Fred will be held at the church on Sunday, June 3 at 3:00pm, preceded by a half hour of music played by musician son Robin in memory of his father. Dave and Rebecca Walker and their girls made it a family affair, painting and sprucing up the church sign and cleaning out and mulching the flower bed on Connecticut Ave. Organized by Justin Martell, approximately 25 people showed up on Saturday, May 12 for a Trustees Workday. The crews completed a number of landscaping tasks, painted and replaced the numbers on the front sign, cleaned the Sanctuary and Chapel, removed the modesty rails in the Sanctuary to prepare for summer worship, repaired some carpet issues in the Sanctuary, and organized and cleaned closets and rooms on the lower level. Our preacher on UMW Sunday is the Rev. Dr. Stacey Cole Wilson, the Director of Congregational Excellence and Strategic Partnerships for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is also a worshiper, wife, mother, Prayer Warrior, Pastor, Professional Leadership Coach, youth-advocate, and Visionary Leader. During her tenure in ministry, she has served at several churches in our conference. Rev. Dr. Cole has also received national acclaim as a lectionary writer for the General Board of Global Ministries and for her prayers and litanies published in the award-winning Africana Worship Book. She has traveled from street corners to national pulpits to share God s powerful message of redemptive love. Most recently, she was selected as Wesley Theological Seminary s 2016 Commencement Preacher/Speaker at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Princeton University Chapel s 2016 Commencement, Guest Preacher for their Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Service of Recommitment, and United Theological Seminary s 2017 Distinguished Doctoral Alum of the Year.

9 Mark your calendars! CCUMC is registered to participate alongside other welcoming UMC churches in the National Capital region. You can help to decorate the float early in the day at National UMC, or come downtown for the parade. Our group will have a small service with communion just before we step off on the parade route (4-4:30pm). The Parade CCUMC group at 2017 parade starts at P and 23 rd NW and finishes at 14 th and R Sts. Contact Rebecca Walker if you are interested in participating r.c.holmberg@gmail.com. CCUMC provides a meal for the homeless one Sunday a month always the third Sunday. Which means that each year we serve on Father s day. It s a little harder for me to get people to commit to cooking on Father s Day you all are cooking for your family and your own fathers and possibly preparing for a fabulous family gathering. It s a festive day for most of us. Please consider helping - you can shop while you re getting things for your own Father s Day celebration. Check out the signup genius and add your name. We re making meatloaf again this year it s our most requested meal! Make one for the homeless while you make one for the father in your house. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers! Last month the kids made wonderful casseroles for the homeless, which were very appreciated! Jennifer Pettyjohn jpettyjohn33@gmail.com Pastor Kirkland recently received these comments from a colleague at Hughes-El Buen Samaritano UMC in Wheaton about the citizenship classes we offer here at CCUMC: "I'm not sure if you are aware that one of my Hughes-EBS members is currently participating in the citizenship classes being offered at your church site. I simply wanted to express my deepest gratitude for the way that your people have demonstrated hospitality to her. She shared how everyone has made her feel welcomed and supported during this process. This has allowed for a boost in her self-confidence and in her ability to learn." This is but one of the many favorable comments we hear about our classes. We have had another student who has been sworn in as a citizen (see right) and two more who have passed their interviews but have not yet been sworn in. If you know anyone who might benefit from the classes, they are on Saturday mornings in the Rainbow Room from 10am to 12pm to July 7. Another class will begin in the fall. We also have a need for mentors to give one-on-one help during the class. If you are interested please contact Judy Smith at or just show up. From Our Most Recent Citizen... My swearing in ceremony was truly an amazing and wonderful experience. What a great accomplishment and honor it is to finally have a voice and now a voting right :). Here is a picture of my big day! Priscilla Alexander from South Africa.

10 Scout Troop 255 and Crew 255 had a busy month of service, learning and adventure. Crew 255 ran a conservation project for the NPS, trimming the azaleas at Chevy Chase Circle; while a Troop 255 Eagle project totally replaced the landscaping for seven historically important mausoleums at Congressional Cemetery in DC. We worked hard on an astronomy Merit Badge with an astro physicist from the Carnegie Institution, tested our outdoor top rope climbing skills at Buzzard Rock in Virginia, and backpacked along a nearby section of the Tuscarora trail, an alternative parallel and less crowded route for the Appalachian Trail. Troop 255 is pleased to announce that William Pratt Kiracofe successfully completed his Eagle Board of Review at the monthly Potomac District Eagle Boards of Review. Rev. Kirkland Reynolds, Pastor Tanya Langlois, Director of Music and Worship Arts and Organist kreynolds@chevychaseumc.org tlanglois@chevychaseumc.org Brad Kenn, Director of Youth and Children s Ministry and Pastoral Intern bkenn@chevychaseumc.org George Monk, Financial Secretary gmonk@chevychaseumc.org Susie Sabatano, Church Administrator Dave Brachey, Sunday Sexton Rosa Ramirez and Dina Salinas, Nursery Attendants Belinda Forbes, Missionary in Nicaragua ssabatano@chevychaseumc.org dbrachey@gmail.com

11 Sundays 8:30 am Nursery care available - Room 212 8:45 am Summer Choir Rehearsal - Sanctuary 9:00 am Nursery Care - Room :00 am Summer Worship - Sanctuary 10:15 am Summer Sunday School (most Sundays) 11:00 am Coffee Fellowship - Wesley Room (not 6/3) 6:00 pm Youth Group - Rm. 300 (alternate Sundays) Saturdays 7:30 am Men s Group - Wesley Room 10:00 am Citizenship Class-Rainbow Room 107 Saturday, June 2 6:00 pm Parents Night Out - Phillips Hall Sunday, June 3 10:15 am Children s Chapel - Epworth 11:00 am UMW All-Church Potluck - Phillips Hall 2:30 pm Music by Robin Bullock - Sanctuary 3:00 pm Fred Bullock Funeral - Sanctuary Thursday, June 7 7:30 pm Lay Leadership - Wesley Saturday, June 9 4:30 pm Pride Parade - The Mall Sunday, June 10 6:00 pm Youth Group - Room 300 Tuesday, June 12 7:30 pm Hospitality Comm. Mtg. - Wesley Sunday, June 17 Fathers Day 4:00 pm Dinner for Bethesda Cares Sunday, June 17 Fathers Day 4:00 pm Dinner for Bethesda Cares Tuesday, June 19 1:30 pm Faith Circle - Library Thursday, June 21 Highlights Deadline for July/August issue 10:00 am Sandwich Brigade - Ph.Hall Kitchen Sunday, June 24 6:00 pm Youth Group - Room 300 Monday, June 25 9:00 am Vacation Bible School through Friday 6/29 Sunday, July 1 10:00 am One service in Sanctuary 11:00 am All-Church Potluck honoring VBS - Phillips Hall Our calendar is constantly changing. For up-to-date information, please check the calendar at chevychaseumc.org or call the church office.

12 Return Service Requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Suburban, MD Permit No Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland Phone: Fax: chevychaseumc.org Facebook: Chevy Chase UMC Office hours 8:30 am to 3 pm, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 am to 12:30 am - Nursery care 9:30 am - Contemporary Service in Chapel 9:45 am - Sunday School after Children s Time 10:30 am - Coffee Fellowship in Wesley Room 11:00 am - Traditional Service in Sanctuary