June 2018 Newsletter/Sinton First United Methodist Church Pastor Ponderings

Transcription

1 June 2018 Newsletter/Sinton First United Methodist Church Pastor Ponderings Dear Friends, I can not believe that the school year is complete! We have been busy in with so many opportunities to serve others and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have continued to exercise our DNA of Hospitality by sharing our kitchen and Fellowship Hall and providing sleeping quarters to Mission volunteers. This week we have a group of 55 staying with us. We are awaiting delivery of another, larger shower trailer from the Annual Conference, but in the meantime, Dana Allen, helped us secure use of shower facilities at Smith Middle School. Teams continue to ask me to let the congregation know how grateful they are for the plush dorms & showers. If you haven t recently looked at the bulletin board outside the office, you should. It s covered with Thank You s from mission teams. Year to date through May our volunteer nights total 1546, which translates to almost 20,000 hours of volunteer work in the region for Harvey Recovery. I thought you might also like to know that each week Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group hosts the Unmet Needs Table in FUMC s Fellowship Hall. This is the nonprofit for which I serve as Board President. We are Gilbert UMC Mission Team collaborating not only with United Methodist efforts, but Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, Salvation Army, Reach Global, The Volunteer Reception Centers in Rockport and Refugio, New Day Port A, Habitat for Humanity, RV Disaster Corps, Christian Public Services, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Mennonite Disaster services. Case Managers present the needs of each client family who have unmet needs in recovering from Hurricane Harvey. These are our neighbors in need in Aransas Refugio, San Patricio and Nueces counties who lost most or all of their homes., Since February 108 cases have been presented and funded to repair, rebuilt from scratch our replace lost mobile homes to the tune of about $2.6 MM. Thank you for sharing our space with such an important ministry! I am so proud to be your pastor. The Health Committee represented FUMC at the first Sinton Cinco de Mayo festival by handling Hurricane preparation bags. MHM surveyed community leaders to see if there is interest in a Community Wellness Center. We have more of the document bags available. They are meant to hold your important documents like insurance policies, health records, ID copies, etc. so that they are our

2 handy in case of any emergency. Thanks to Donna Rosson, Kerry & Dee DuBose & Anna Franklin. We said goodbye to our 2nd long-term Disaster volunteer, Paula Fletcher. I enjoyed a long weekend at my family reunion in New Braunfels. Our guest musicians, Phil & Debi Jones with Sunrise Ministries filled in for me. Thanks to Sandra Coates for serving as host while they stayed at the parsonage. I hope you enjoyed their time with us. summer if you are traveling. In Jesus Joy & Justice, As always, I would love to hear your stories of how Christ is working in your life. Blessings and have a safe Rev. Beth Tatum BOOKS FOR CHURCH LEADERS (see Beth to borrow) Enough; Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity (Adam Hamilton) The Art of Neighboring (Jay Pathak) Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (Robert D. Lupton) Fresh Expressions; A New Kind of Methodist Church for People Not in Church (Kenneth H. Carter Jr. and Audrey Warren) Membership to Discipleship: Growing Mature Disciples Who Make Disciples (Phil Maynard) Copies available $15 in office Rev. Paula Fletcher75 Wamsutta St Unit 202 New Bedford, MA 02740

3 This year's theme is "From Come & See to Go & Do: Rethinking the Five Practices." It has been ten years since the release of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Rio Texas Conference. Much has changed in those ten years. The conference will focus on the shift from attractional assumptions toward missional strategies. In the past, churches assumed that people would go to church if it provided excellent, welcoming worship services. Church pastors, delegates, and lay leaders will learn the importance of taking the Christian faith out into their networks and neighborhoods. Kathy Wheeler & I are your delegates. Please lift the session, Bishop and all participants in prayer. Guests are always welcome to attend, especially any of the worship services. You can watch on-line here: Here is the tentative agenda: Wednesday, June 6 7:00 pm Opening Worship & Holy Communion Selena Auditorium Thursday, June 7 8:00 am First Plenary Session ABC Exhibit Hall B 10:30 am Clergy Session Henry Garret A & B 10:30 am Lay Session Selena Auditorium 12:00 pm Lunch 2:00 pm Second Plenary Session ABC Exhibit Hall B 7:30 pm Service of Remembrance First UMC Corpus Christi Friday, June 8 8:00 am Third Plenary Session ABC Exhibit Hall B 9:15 am First Workshop Session 10:30 am Retirement Service ABC Exhibit Hall B 12:00 pm Lunch 2:00 pm Fourth Plenary Session ABC Exhibit Hall B 3:25 pm Second Workshop Session 7:00 pm Ordination Service Selena Auditorium Saturday, June 9 8:00 am Fifth Plenary Session ABC Exhibit Hall B 10:15 am Fixing of appointments and covenant prayer ABC Exhibit Hall B

4 GREETINGS FROM THE WESLEY NURSE! May has come and gone with a whirlwind of activity for me. May 5 th, the Health Committee participated in the City of Sinton Cinco De Mayo event. We handed out Hurricane Preparedness bags that were assembled the week before at our 5 th Sunday Mission Outreach day. People were reluctant to come to the table so we just walked around and handed the bags out. They were very well received! The MHM Community Health Worker, Lisa Pantoja, walked around and talked with about 29 individuals about the Health and Wellness Center our ABCD committee is working on. Everyone interviewed thought it would be a great center for the community! Many thanks to Sandra Coates, Donna Rosson, Pastor Beth, Anna Franklin, and Dee DuBose for showing up for this outreach! Speaking of hurricane preparedness, we had some bags in the foyer for you to pick up. It contains valuable information on how to be prepared during this upcoming hurricane season. If you need one, please let me know. As part of our hurricane preparedness plan, we hope to develop a call down list for our members who do not have relatives close and might be planning on staying during a hurricane. After a hurricane, I want to know who might need assistance and who I need to check on. It is optional but we want to be sure our members are supported. We also want to be aware of activities of response that we can all participate in. If we can t physically be present, we might be able to support response efforts financially! Once again, we have a tremendous opportunity to serve thru our Vacation Bible School. Please look at the flyer in the newsletter and consider ways in which you can assist. We need everyone involved to make this a huge success! Grace and peace! Kerry, Wesley Nurse

5 You did it! It s been several years since Sinton FUMC earned the 5 Star award for second-mile giving because the first qualification was to pay 100% of our connectional commitments, or apportionments. There are new UMC Handbooks available in the narthex & office which further explain where those apportionments go. Even though it might feel like we are paying for expenses that we never get benefit from, the United Methodist Church supports initiates worldwide that are strengthened by joint commitment of all our members. On average in the U.S., 85% of our gifts stay in our church, 6% goes to benevolent giving like Africa University, World Service, Seminaries & Higher Education, 2% to General Apportionments for administration like General Conference, Judicial Council and Finance & Benefits (Like clergy pension), and the final 7% goes to our Jurisdiction, Annual Conference and District. From these funds come assistance with my salary through Equitable Compensation Grant or the Bishop s discretionary funds, which are providing about $11,000 directly to Sinton in Your second mile giving supports UMCOR, local, national & world mission projects, and missionaries.

6 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 2 SUNRISE MINISTRIES WILL BE HERE CBDRG Unmet Needs Meeting, 1 pm, FH 7 8 RioTexas Annual Conference 9 Set Up for Fish Fry Fundraiser 10 am RioTexas Annual Conference 7 pm RioTexas Annual Conference Mini Worship w/communion Fish Fry Fundraiser 11-2 (No Covered Dish in June) Missy on Vacation thru 6/17 Health Committee, 6:30 pm, FH CBDRG Un-Met Needs Meeting, 1 pm, FH Case Management, 2-4 pm FH Safe Sanctuary Training at FUMC Corpus Christi, 1-3 pm 17 Men s Bible Study Breakfast 8:30 am CBDRG Unmet Needs Meeting, 1 pm, FH ABCD Meeting 6:30 pm, FH CBDRG Unmet Needs Meeting, 1 pm, FH

7 Regular Activities Bible Study: Each Wednesday, 6:30 pm, last day is August 1. Christian Men s Fellowship: 1 st & 3 rd Sunday, 8:30 am Exercise Group: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 10:00 am Health & Wellness Support Group: Monday, 6:15 pm Health Committee: 2 nd Wednesday, 6:30 pm Little Lights Group: Wednesdays, 6:30 pm RX Program: Every 2 nd & 4 th Tuesday, 10 am-12 pm Sunday Worship Service: Every Sunday, 10:00 am Sunday School for Adults & Children: Every Sunday, 9:00 am United Methodist Women: 2 nd Monday, 2:30 pm (excluding summer months) United Methodist Youth Group: Every Wednesday, 6:30 pm (Not meeting this Summer) Walk & Get Fit: Monday-Thursday, 5:30 pm Wesley Counselor: Thursday, 9 am-5 pm (by appointment) Wesley Nurse Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, 8 am-6:30, Friday, 9 am-11am Volunteers Are Needed We are in need of volunteers to learn and operate the sound system in the sanctuary. If you can help please call the church office. Our Sunday School class will start a new study using the book by Max Lucado Anxious for Nothing Finding Calm in a CHOATIC WORLD Our Sunday School class will start a new study using the book by Max Lucado Anxious for Nothing Finding Calm in a CHOATIC WORLD Money counters are needed for Monday mornings. Please call Sandra Coates at if you can help. Greeters for June: Billie Miller July: Betty Strain August: Irma Tamez Lay Readers: 6/3: Kerry DuBose 6/10: Denise Cluiss 6/17: Nina DuBose 6/24: Becky Stalcup Money Counters for June 2018: Sandra Coates & Bonnie Hartung

8 Vacation Bible School JULY 16 TH -20 TH Evenings First United Methodist of Sinton Do good! Seek peace and go after it! - Ps. 31:14B Our children deserve our best! Let s make this year s VBS the BEST EVER! Monica and Evelyn are working to make this very valuable outreach mission a reality. Look for Registration Info Coming Soon. Join the Team. Still needed: Opening Skit, Registration, Group Guides, Decorating SAVE LARGE CARDBOARD BOXES!!! Please prayerfully consider where you would like to serve to make this event all it can be! Evelyn Brough: Monica Reagan: Get ready for an action-packed 5-day super hero training camp where kids discover their strength in God! Hero Central VBS prepares kids to Do good! Seek peace and go after it! Ps. 31:14B (CEB). Kids at VBS Hero Central learn God's heroes have Heart (Samuel Anoints David), Courage (Abigail), Wisdom (Jesus Goes to the Temple), Hope (Beatitudes), and Power (Pentecost). Grab your cape and get ready to fly with epic music, spectacular science, crafty crafts, heroic recreation, and fantastic Bible stories!

9 Join our DS, Rev. Robert Lopez for a tour of a lifetime in the Holy Lands. Jan. 7-16, 2019 Complete brochure in Narthex. Missy Nanez, our uber talented Adminstrative Assistant, is taking a well deserved VACATION June Pastor Beth will be out of town Mon & Tues, June for Long Term Disaster Recovery workshop. Please leave a message with our office Angels or on Pastor Beth s cell NEW CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Monday Thursday, 8 a.m. 1 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. - Noon In April the Church Council contracted with Judy Clifford, CPA, in Mathis to prepare our payroll and handle bookkeeping. Each week her staff sends prepared checks for our finance committee signatures for bill payments along with a report tracking our account balances. We are currently acquiring access for Bill Pay to be available to reduce the chances of missing a payment or incurring late fees. She is issuing a monthly report to us showing all expenses before 2 nd Sunday each month. Sandra Coates has coordinated Monday morning count of deposits. All this has been done to ensure that FUMC is using good accounting procedures with checks and balances. Our Administrative Assistant, Missy Nanez, is now responsible only for the records of individual contributions and forwarding invoices to the CPA. With this reduction in financial responsibilities, Missy primarily prepares worship bulletins & Power Point, keeps membership & attendance records, keeps the official calendar and serves as official receptionist. SPRC recommended reducing the job to 20 hrs per week, and Council approved it unanimously. On Fridays the telephone is manned by volunteers until Noon. Thank you to Chris Day, Sue McDaniel, Betty Strain, Alleta Waters, Kathy Wheeler for serving as Office Angels. We need more folks to help out! If chatting on the phone is your gift, please contact Missy to be on the Reserve List.

10 FISH FRY NEWS! Dear Church Friends, Sunday, June 10 is the fish fry to raise funds for Youth and Children Ministry and Outreach Projects. If you need more tickets please contact me ASAP. A short church service will be held before we start serving. Bring your hair nets or hats to cover your head. If you need to take a Food Handler Class please get on line and take a class. NEEDED: 1. Help to set up on Saturday at 10:00 am 2. Men to help Patrick to fry the fish on Sunday (See Patrick) 3. Servers on Sunday 4. Runners-youth (hopefully) 5. Cookies-put cookies in sandwich bags.two small or one large cookie--please Let Sandra know if you are willing to make cookies and how many dozen. You can bring cookies Saturday morning or Sunday morning. NO peanut cookies please. 6. Also need doorprizes Fundraiser Chairperson, Sandra Coates Skayc2000@aol.com NEW Rio Texas Conference Safe Sanctuary Safety Policy Training Sinton First United Methodist Church needs all of our volunteers that work with our children & youth (VBS, Sunday School, Wednesday nights, Youth Chaperones) to comply with the Conference policy. It is a 3 step process: 1. Register for Background check & Reference screen. Safegatherings.com. You will need contact information ( preferred) for 2 references in addition to the automatic approval by Pastor Beth. If you do not have access to a computer, please contact Missy, Pastor Beth or Kerry to assist with getting you registered. FUMC will pay for your fee. 2. Please visit: to take the online Safe Gatherings course. There is a test as you take this course. If you need to come use the church computer, please schedule with church office ( ). Takes about 1.5 hrs). 3. Register & Take the webinar (2 hrs) or attend in person TRUSTed con Confianza Certification Facilitated session. There will be an in-person Safe Gatherings facilitated training (step 3 of the process) sponsored by First UMC Portland and held at First United Methodist Church Corpus Christi on June 16th from 1pm-3pm. Those who need this final step need to register for the training at the link below: riotexas.org/safetrainings. Scroll to the bottom of web page and select the June 16th FUMC Corpus to register. Your help is greatly appreciated!

11 PRAYER LIST: Donald Bethel (major surgery on back) Rev. Tom Deitzel (knee replacement) Robert Fairly (Knee Replacement) Tenley Threadgill Karen Urban Emma & David Hoffman Audelia Garcia Adam Hoffman Nathan Coates Tracey Medlock John Malone Sherwin Fairly Robert West Richard Lampert Ryan Shazer Greg Smith Joann Pitzer Jimmy Mauch Eileen Kellett Tom Allen Janie Montelongo Cecelia Jones Law Enforcement Personnel: Sinton Community United States Military: Wesley Hartung Cameron Collier Kevin Campbel Jakob Unruh Tyler Scotten Brianna Monreal Chad Hutchins Joys: Carmen Benavidez (latest scans showed no cancer!) Laynie Houser (Doing well post transplant!) If you would like to add a loved one to our prayer list, please, call the church office at , or us at umc@att.net. Memorials (Received May 1-31, 2018) JAMES COLUMBUS Mr. Jerry Oulliber MAY 6: MAY 13: MAY 20: MAY 27: ATTENDANCE & OFFERINGS MAY 2018 Worship -52 Sunday School-28 Total Offering: $4, Worship -42 Sunday School-15 Total Offering: $3, Worship -22 Sunday School-13 Total Offering: $ Worship -35 Sunday School-14 Total Offering: $1, GIVING TO FUNDS APRIL 2018 APPORTIONMENTS FUND= $ BUILDING FUND=$2, COOKBOOKS=$10.00 GENERAL FUND= $12, MEMORIAL=$25.00 SPECIAL OFFERING=$ VOLUNTEER VILLAGE=$ STEWARDSHIP UPDATE Average Needed Monthly for Budget - $ 12, Operating Budget - $164,387 Apportionments YTD - $2, (16.05%) Giving for May to Operating Budget: 5/6: $4, /13: $2, /20: $ /27: $1, Total: $9,217.07

12 FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH P. O. Box 276 Sinton, Texas Happy Father s Day Sunday, June 17, 2018 SINTON METHODIST NEWS 2018 A Publication of the First United Methodist Church of Sinton umc@att.net Website: