4 th of. July. The Visitor. America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea.

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1 Vicksburg United Methodist Church The Visitor Volume 25, Issue 5 July 2018 Inside This Issue Pastor s Article 2 Worship Schedule 2 Kids Hope 3 Mission Moment 3 POP! 3 Birthdays/Anniversaries 5 Calendar 6 Church Staff Pastor Rev. Greg Culver Administrative Assistant Polly Preston Financial Assistant Michelle Morgan Choir/Praise Band Director Tamra Stamm Custodian Paul French Heart & Hands Teacher/Director Amber Morris Heart & Hands Teacher Kelli Young Heart & Hands Assistant Amber Smith Kids Hope USA Director Sharon Pendola Youth Director Hank Stamm Newsletter Editor Polly Preston 4 th of July America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea.

2 Page 2 The Visitor July 2018 What s the Good Word? What American Citizenship Means to Me When observing the public discourse you will likely conclude that, as a nation, we are cursed by the shallowness of our leaders. We call them many things: ignorant, self-serving, petty, ego-crazed, deceptive, condescending, socialist, fascist. When we use these words, the names and images of our favorite least favorite leaders immediately come to mind. It largely depends on the partisan tribe we adhere to. There is no question: we should expect more from our leaders. But perhaps we should take a moment to reverse our perspective and ask: What should we expect from ourselves? How well do we perform our own roles? Not so much our role as followers but, our more crucial role as American citizens. How skilled are we at practicing citizenship?" Not citizenship in the narrow legal sense. Rather, citizenship in a broader sense: membership and participation in a community with its linkages and responsibilities, its contributions and accountability to a larger enterprise. Too often in the U.S. today, we confuse consumerism and citizenship. We have come to think of citizenship as being about our access to rights and entitlements and privileges and civic bargains as if citizenship was similar to membership at Costco. Clearly, citizenship means more than that. Citizenship is about responsibilities and not just rights. It s about obligation, not just entitlements. It s about the willingness to sacrifice for the common good and not just the willingness to claim personal privileges. Citizenship involves an accounting of what we owe, not just a calculation of what we can get. The basic requirements of citizenship are simple. First, be well-informed rather than thoroughly indoctri- Worship Schedule for July July 1 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Sermon Series: Not Just Suggestions Scripture: Exodus 20:3-11 Brad Addis preaching (Pastor Greg will be in Ohio for Joanne s nephew s wedding) July 8 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Holy Communion Sermon Series: Not Just Suggestions Scripture: Exodus 20:12-16 July 15 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Sermon Series: Not Just Suggestions Scripture: Exodus 20:17 John Cleveland preaching (Pastor Greg will be on the youth mission trip) July 22 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Youth Mission Service July 29 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Sermon Series: Walk in the Light Scripture: 1 John 1:1-4 nated. Obey the law. Vote thoughtfully. Be willing, along with everyone else, to pay your fair share of taxes. Serve on jury duty. Consider some other type of voluntary service if you are not currently doing so. (Some form of mandatory national service for young people is a good idea but that s just my opinion.) Yet we should not limit ourselves to these very basic requirements. We should look for other obligations to undertake in gratefulness for what our country offers us and in testimony to what we owe this country, our community and the people around us. Being satisfied to practice only some of our obligations or doing the barest minimum will cause this nation to stagnate and frustrate our hopes for better leadership. The jaundiced view of our leaders may have as much to do with our own sense of privilege or our own disengagement as with our leaders wrong-headedness. We are often overly-focused on whether their rhetoric and actions benefit our own individual interests in the shortterm. And we may carelessly ignore whether their words and actions will serve the wider interests of the nation in the long term. (This could be our legacy for our children and grandchildren.) All of us should be able to recognize the truth of the old maxim there is no free lunch. In the words of the colonial era patriot Thomas Paine, "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men (or women), undergo the fatigue of supporting it." The problem is that, as a nation, we have become extremely fatigue averse. So as we shake our heads at leaders throughout the political spectrum and level criticism at them, let s not try to shake off our own responsibilities and obligations. It is appropriate to expect much more from many of our leaders. But to see those expectations realized, it will be necessary to expect much more from ourselves. Let us pray: Lord God Almighty, You have made all the peoples of the earth for Your glory, to serve You in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with Your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Enjoy Independence Day. Thank God for it! Grace and peace to you, Pastor Greg

3 July 2018 The Visitor Page 3 Kids Hope News by Sharon Pendola This has been a flying high year for Kids Hope at Tobey Elementary. Thus "flying high" was the theme of our end-ofyear party on June 7th. Unlike the past when parties were held at the church, our gathering was held at the school at the request of Mike Barwegen (principal of Tobey). This assured that all of the students would attend. Invitations were also sent to all parents and teachers. The students were greeted with name tags and asked to choose a cloth bag, made by our "Sew What Now" church group. The bags were made from a variety of colorful designs ranging from fish, frogs, soccer balls to geometrics. Dave Nic instructed everyone how to make paper airplanes, and the flying began. The cafeteria was full of laughter and smiles, while both students and mentors tried to outdistance each other. A fly-off was held, and everyone received a reward. Pizza, fruit kabobs and drinks followed with the singing of "Happy Birthday" to Nancy Fulton's student and the humming of "Pomp and Circumstance" for our two graduates, Asant and Shane. Complete with graduation caps and scrolled certificates of completion, Asant and Shane were honored with glowing words from Ken Franklin and Kip Young. The boys were presented large beach towels with their names embroidered on the fronts as gifts from the church. "Wow! These are huge!" was Shane's comment. After food and dedications, everyone built a glider to fly outside on the playground. It was a perfect hot and sunny day. When the students and mentors returned to the cafeteria, their cloth bags were full of bubbles, jelly beans, a big glider and airplanes to use this summer. Mentors sang the new Kids Hope song to their students, arranged by Vera Walker, and the students returned by singing to the mentors. It was a joyous conclusion to a fruitful year of impactful mentoring. With bittersweet goodbyes, we wished all of our students a happy summer. Thanks to all the mentors and church support members that help to make this program a success. Mission Moment Generous Hands and South County Community Services are partnering to help children prepare for a successful new school year. They will be hosting the Annual Back to School Bonanza on August 11. The Bonanza is a free event offered to the children in the South County area who are in need of assistance. Children receive free backpacks filled with school supplies. Instead of providing food for the month of July, we are asking your help by donating school supplies (pencils, notebooks, crayons, markers, etc.). There are complete lists of items needed on the mission table. Place items in the baskets in the hallway or on the table in the church narthex. If you would like to make a more personal impact, you can volunteer to help with games, face painting, crafts, and more! Please contact Sheri Louis at or slouis916@aol.com if you are interested in putting smiles on kids faces this year! Thanks again for supporting your community by sharing God s love. July POP! is all about prayer. We'll sing prayer songs, play prayer games, learn the Lord's Prayer, and of course yell our "Yay, God!" each week. This program, intended for children age 3 to third grade, encourages kids to worship God using their whole body. Children leave the adult worship service right after the kids' message and are returned back to service after the offering. There will be no POP! on July 29 as it is the 5th Sunday.

4 Page 4 The Visitor July 2018 Summer Worship Schedule Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (no Sunday School) Thank you Thank you for your pies and donations for the Pie and Ice Cream Social. In spite of the rain, $420 was raised. Also thank you to Paul French for all the awesome work on the event. This month s deadlines ScripCents orders are due by 2:00 on Mondays, July 2 and 16. August newsletter items are due Monday, July 23. Church Leaders Church Council John Cleveland (Jcleveland327@gmail.com) Finance Don Dailey (ddaileymsu@gmail.com) Trustees Joe Gruber (jbgru31@gmail.com) Staff Parish Relations Andrea Read (readandrea28@gmail.com) Caring Ministries Barb Addis (Bb1a2b3@aol.com) & Vera Walker (vrwlkr@yahoo.com) Global Missions Tom Aitken (twaitken@att.net) Diana Pomeroy (dlpomeroyus2000@yahoo.com) Memorial Ken Franklin (drkenfp@mac.com) Worship Brad Addis (braddis109@aol.com) Wills & Trust Chris Morris (morrislaw@ameritech.net) Nominations Pastor Greg Culver (gpculver@mac.com) Abuse Prevention Hank Stamm (henrystamm3rd@yahoo.com) Lay Leader Brad Addis (braddis109@aol.com) Altar flowers We need flowers for Sundays. There is a sign up sheet for this. If you need help, contact Dee Morton about ordering flowers from Heirloom Rose in Schoolcraft for $25. Vacation Bible School Prayer requests by phone You can hear the weekly prayer requests by calling the church ( ) before 9:00 a.m. and after 1:00 p.m. When the answering machine answers, press 370. Our 2018 Vacation Bible School will be August 13-16, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Our curriculum, BABYLON, will focus on the story of Daniel. Daniel was way more than the guy who survived a den of hungry lions! Come join Daniel torn from his home and forced into the king s service. Explore exotic sights and smells in a Babylonian bazaar! Kids and adults will find that they re not much different from Daniel and his friends, who kept their faith in a faithless culture. We need you to make this an experience to remember, so please consider volunteering to serve during this 4-day period!

5 July 2018 The Visitor Page 5 Donations from Heirloom Rose Jim Stamper, Master Florist, is donating his services to Vicksburg Untied Methodist Church to provide a rose bud for members who pass away. In addition, he will provide altar flowers for $25. Please make arrangements with the treasurer to make payment. All arrangements and payments for the roses will be made through Vicksburg United Methodist Church. Please contact the church office or Dee Morton for more details. July Birthdays and Anniversaries Birthdays 1 Matt Franklin 2 Barb Hosner 3 William Smola 6 Monroe Agnone 7 Judy Imanse 8 Doug Sponseller 9 Kathryn Starbuck 10 Alexander Ensing 12 Ben Hambright Mac Read 13 Raina Willoughby 15 Matt Luegge 16 Beth DeRyke 17 Madeline Wilke 18 Randy Stafford 22 Mike Harrison Meredith Smola 25 Greg Burke Dennis Sherman 26 June French Jager Luegge Don Puckett 27 Loren Tarner 28 Rollie Read Kearah Williams 29 Marvin Starbuck 30 Jeremy Howard Tom Hoy Anniversaries 1 Jack & Sharon Hosner 2 Mel & Marian Zimmerman 4 Matt & Jill Barton 9 Bob & Nancy Harper 16 Del & Myrna Forsythe 19 Matt & Andrea Luegge 20 Hank & Tamra Stamm 23 Mike & Sharon Pendola 26 Greg & Mardi White Over a river and through the woods... Progressive Dinner December 8 Holiday Progressive Dinner is back. Plan now and save the date: December 8. We will need 3 homes to volunteer for a course. Contact Betsy Myers at if you can host appetizers, salads, or desserts. Plan now so you have plenty of time to clean and decorate for December 8.

6 Becoming disciples; serving God s world. Sunday Schedule 10:00 a.m. Worship Church Office Hours Monday-Thursday 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. The Visitor July 2018 July Calendar 3 7:00p Trustees 4 Independence Day offices closed 5 11:00a UMW Executive Committee 12:30p UMW General Meeting UMW Mission U at Albion College 13 6:00p VCAC Arts Camp Exhibit Youth Mission Trip 16 7:00p Finance Committee 17 6:30p Staff Parish Relations Committee 26 1:00p Priscilla Circle at Aurelia Reed s house 29 1:00p Tuinier baby shower Weekly Activities Sunday 10:00a Worship with POP! for children (not July 29) no Sunday School Wednesday 10:30a SCCS Wednesday Winners Thursday 6:00p ROUTE 56, HELIX, RAW (July 5 and 12 only) Fridays are Pastor Greg s days off (Sabbath). Please call him only in an emergency.