Trinity United Methodist Church 75 East High Street, Mount Gilead, Ohio 43338

Transcription

1 Trinity United Methodist Church 75 East High Street, Mount Gilead, Ohio The Chimes December 2018 Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service 12/24 at 7:00 p.m.

2 Laid in the manger And she gave birth to her firstborn son wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger (Luke 2:7) Jesus first bed, his first crib was a manger which was a feeding trough, a box of hay. I grew up on a farm and I know that hay is prickly. Not too long ago in some reading I came across the insight that Jesus was pricked even in his bed, pricked from the very beginning of his life. Of course, this idea looks forward to when Jesus was pricked on the cross. In the traditional manger scene, Jesus is in that bed of hay. But a manger was not a place for a soft new born baby. Nor a smelly stable. Why would God allow his son to be born there? The stable and manger speak of humble beginnings. No room in the inn reminds us that so many people have no room for God. The dirty stable, the manure and smell cause us to think of Jesus entering a sinful world. When Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem, there were crowns of people, hustle and bustle. It s still the same today. There s just something about the Christmas story that even though a stable is not the most inviting or beautiful place, there s something about the whole picture and story that draws us to Jesus. This is because God s love is revealed in the way Jesus came into this world, manger and all. The warmth the Christmas story brings to our hearts is simply the knowledge of God s love. For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, born of Mary, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! From the Canankamps Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service There will be one Christmas Candle Lighting Eve Service on Monday, 12/24 at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. Lived and died on the cross Offering Envelopes are available on the table outside of the Upper Room, on the table in the Narthex and in the Church office. Again this year, there are no numbers on the offering envelopes. To get credit for a tax donation letter you must write your name on the outside of the offering envelope Altar Flower Schedule is now up and hanging in the hallway between the work room and CIC/Community Room. Please remember the cost of altar flowers ordered through the church office is $30. If you are ordering your own flowers, please let the church office know.

3 PRAYER CONCERNS Trinity members and friends who have been in our prayers the past month.. New Prayer Concerns: Don O Brein, Floyd Wogan, Gale Cragan, Jeff Taylor, Joe Reineke, Kyndra Irwin, LuAnne Fuller, Margaret Jones, Marty Reuss, Nancy Colton, Rachel Caldwell, Ruth Ann George, Highland School District, CA Wildfires Ongoing Prayer: Barb Detwiler, Bill Brucker, Carlotta Blair, Deb Dupilka, Julie Vargo, Mandy Robinson, McLaughlin Family (health), Pat Irons, Pat Tolbert, Phyllis Bell, Shelly Hastings- Toms, Sherry Seckel, Susan Keightley, Tammy Ghent, Unspoken Request. Civilians serving overseas. Military: Curt Belohlavek, Emily Garry, Eric Mann, Kelly Mann-Sorgenfrei, Jon Tschudi, & all other military personnel around the world Nursing Home Residents & Shut-Ins: Alice Foley, Aretha Richardson, Nettie Lyon, Marjorie West, Mary Dianne George Missionaries: Gordon & Ardell Graner [Dominican Republic], Matthew Laferty [Austria] Our Trinity Family wishes to extend prayers to the following families in the loss of a loved one this past month: Bernie Knepp DATE TRINITY ATTENDANCE SUNDAY SCHOOL 8:30 AM 10:30 AM TOTAL 11/04/ /11/ /18/ /25/ The Food Pantry is in need of the following items for Christmas baskets: Cash donations for Hams Cake Mixes Canned Fruit Canned Vegetables Jello Peanut Butter TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY AT SAMES & COOK 3:00-4:00 pm We will be studying the book: One Heartbeat Away by Mark Cahill, a study on God, Creation, Life and Death. Please feel free to join us as we dig into the Word! Dec. 04: Ch.2 - I Can See Clearly Now (1 Chronicles 29:11; John 1:1-3; Romans 1:19-22; Psalm 14:1) Dec. 11: Ch. 3 The Red Silver Dollar (Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6) Dec. 18: Ch. 4 The Flames! The Flames! (Ecclesiastes 3:14; 1 Thess. 5:23; Luke 12:18-21) Dec. 25: No Bible Study COMMUNITY DINNER Wednesday, December 12 th 5:00-6:45 pm Ham Loaf & Cheesy Potatoes. Meals Include: vegetable, choice of salad, roll, dessert and drink. Dinners are $8.00 per person. Children 10 & under free. Carry out available. Thank you everyone for your help and support! Christmas Poinsettia order deadline is Sunday, 12/2. We are ordering red poinsettias at the cost of $7.00 each. If you haven t already, please get your orders and payments to the church office. Christmas Ornament making will be held in Trinity Hall on 12/7 following the Christmas parade (approximately starting) at 8:00 9:30 p.m. Hot Chocolate and Cookies will be served. If you are able to come to the church that evening to lend a helping hand please let the church office know.

4 Youth Group December Youth Schedule Sunday, 12/2 7:00 p.m. Youth Group at church Sunday, 12/9 7:00 p.m. Youth Group at church Sunday, 12/16 7:00 p.m. Youth Group at church Sunday, 12/23 7:00 p.m. Youth Group at church Sunday, 12/30 7:00 p.m. Youth Group at church All Saints Sunday Mission Committee Thank you to everyone who helped with our effort to send boxes to our troops. Without your generous contributions of supplies, money, time and effort we could not have succeeded. Denise reported that we packed and shipped a total of 26 boxes. On 11/14 we received a box from our soldiers. It contained a thank you note with messages written from all of the soldiers, a certificate and a United States flag. The certificate verified that this was the flag that was flown over their post on 10/30/2018. It was an unexpected surprise and an honor we never could have anticipated. Plans are in the works to have the certificate and flag framed for display and to preserve their thoughtful gift will be ending soon. We wish to thank those members who will be moving off of the committee and welcome the new members who will join us in January. We already have new items to consider! Look for our first meeting to be sometime in January. With our wishes for a blessed Christmas season, Your Mission Committee UNITED METHODIST WOMEN NEWS Merry Christmas Ladies of Trinity! We will celebrate together on Monday, 12/10 at noon with a Christmas Potluck Luncheon. This is purely a social event; no meeting, so please join us if you are able. Table service and beverages will be provided. Let Marilyn ( ) or the church office know if you are coming by Sunday, 12/9 so we can set a place for you. Sewing/ work day is Wed. Dec. 5 th from 9-11:30 am in Trinity Hall. Come help us with our mission to clothe babies in poverty. There are several UMW fundraising lunches and dinners this month so talk with Barb about how you can help. The UMW program committee is working on next year s programming. If you have any suggestions for activities or speakers, please let Marilyn or Della know. Happy Holidays and God Bless, Marilyn Turner American Red Cross Bloodmobile collected 40 units of blood when they were here on 11/5. A potential of 120 lives were saved. A Holiness Invasion Advent means coming, of course, and the promise of Advent is that what is coming is an unimaginable invasion. The mythology of our age has to do with flying saucers and invasions from outer space, and that is unimaginable enough. But what is upon us now is even more so a close encounter not of the third kind but of a different kind altogether. An invasion of holiness. That is what Advent is about. Frederick Buechner, The Clown in the Belfry

5 Dining Opportunity 12/16 Help us celebrate while helping our church. On 12/14 Mike and I will celebrate our 50 th wedding anniversary. What an adventure it has been! There have been ups and downs. Times that were uplifting and filled with joy and others we struggled to deal with. We are thankful for every moment, the lessons we ve learned and the ways we have grown as a couple. We both agree that it would have been much more difficult without the love, support and inspiration we ve found here at Trinity. After more than 30 years of calling this church home we see the needs we as a congregation face keeping this beloved old building in Good condition to serve others in the future. Several people have asked us what plans we had for celebrating our anniversary. To tell the truth we didn t have any. Then the elevator had mechanical issues making it hazardous for many to access Trinity Hall and the Upper Room. Bats needed to be evacuated, the roof need to be repaired and the we found out one of the air conditioners on the roof needs to be replaced and the others are questionable. We have no major needs, but our church home has many. With this in mind, we approached the UMW and asked if we donated groceries etc. would they help us sponsor a fundraising dinner that would allow us to celebrate our 50 years while helping to fund the repairs needed for our building. On Sunday, 12/16 following the 10:30 worship service there will be a free-will donation dinner in Trinity Hall. The menu includes your choice of chicken casserole or ham loaf, cheesy potatoes, a vegetable, tossed salad, anniversary cake or cookies for dessert. If you would like to stay, have a second helping, visit with Mike and I and see our wedding mementos that would be great! Please, no cards or gifts for us. Instead we ask that a donation be made to the church. Mike & Donna Jackson Ken & Friends Be sure to mark your calendars to come out to hear Ken & Friends on Sunday, 12/16 at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. An offering will be taken to raise money to purchase Christmas gifts for a needy family in the community. Church Phone Directory Updates Here are some updates for your phone directories: John & Janet Harbaugh have a new FL address: 2308 Burning Tree Circle Sebring, FL Dennis & Mary Hill no longer have a land line. Dennis cell Mary s cell Don & Marilyn Rhodebeck no longer have a land line. Marilyn s cell Add Bob & Sue Smith 821 Orchard Drive Mount Gilead, OH Bob Willeke has move to Mansfield: Primrose Retirement Community 1303 Millsboro Road, Villa U Mansfield, OH Upside down? Even amid increased secularization, God makes the core Christmas message known. Take, for example, the story of a winter pageant a mother attended at her son s grade school. Songs of reindeer, snow and Santa included one titled Christmas Love, in which the youngest performers held up letters as the song progressed: C, H, etc. When a little girl unknowingly held her M upside down, the older kids snickered and the adult audience smiled acceptingly. But as the song drew to a close and all the letters were revealed, surprised recognition struck the Christians in the room. CHRISTWAS LOVE, read the string of student-borne letters. God s truth had penetrated the human clutter and confusion around Christmas as it has power to do throughout our lives: Christ was love. And of course, he still is.

6 NURSERY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Because of our Child Protection Policy we need 2 people in the nursery during the Sunday school hour and during the 10:30 a.m. worship service. Please contact the church office if you are able to help during either of these times at trinityumc@redbird.net or There are also sign-up sheets in the nursery. Thanks to all those who volunteered in the nursery: Gary Begeman, Kristi Bulkowski, Tom Cotton, Alberta Stojkovic, Pat & Dick Miller, Joyce Overmoyer, Vince Brown, Kimberly Neal and Sue Williamson. STEP AEROBICS CLASS New exercisers are welcome to attend our Step Aerobic class. We meet on Mondays & Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m. in the Double Sunday School room. Our class is a small group and can be low impact. We would love to have you join us! If you have any questions ask Allen or Alberta Stojkovic REIMBURSEMENT VOUCHERS If you make any authorized purchases for the church, please return the original receipt and a completed Voucher to the church office within one month of the purchase. This will insure that you receive your reimbursement on time and it also helps the church keep its accounts up to date and accurate. Blank Vouchers are available in the church office Altar Flowers Make sure you write who is purchasing the flowers and who they are In Memory of or In Honor of. The cost of the flowers is $30. Please mark Altar Flowers in memo line of your check made out to Trinity UMC. The church office orders flowers for anyone who has signed up the week before the Sunday they are for. If you decide to get them yourself at another florist, please let the church office know in advance. Thank you! SPECIAL EVENTS AND USE OF FACILITIES We are fortunate to have a facility that is busy through the year. If you plan to hold a special event, work session or other function in the church, please make sure to check availability of date and time with the church office as far in advance as possible. A Building Use form may need to be completed and returned for approval and signature by the Trustee Committee. The forms are available in the church office or may be ed by the office at your request. Your cooperation in this process helps everyone coordinate use of the facility. Thank you! KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM Trinity is part of the Kroger Community Rewards program. Just by using your Kroger plus card when you shop at Kroger, they will make a donation to our church. Our most recent check was $ To sign up go online at and register your Kroger Plus Card. Kroger recently updated its Community Rewards system. Trinity has been assigned a new number. You will need to enter Trinity s number #RH570 and your address. Thank you for supporting this program and Trinity UMC! KROGER S ROUND UP PROGRAM: Kroger s Round Up program has resulted in generous donations to the Mid Ohio Foodbank to help feed the hungry. These contributions have been passed on to local Food Pantries and Kitchens, including the one here at Trinity! Recently, our Food Pantry & End of Month Meal ministry received a total of $128.60! Your pennies really do make a difference! Thank you so much for rounding up at Krogers! ~Food Pantry & End of Month Meal Team

7 GOD S SERVANTS December 2018 December :30 am Greeters 8:30 am Call to Worship Readers 8:30 am Scripture Readers 2 Roger & Marcia Cooper Marcia Cooper Pat Tolbert 9 Don & Marilyn Rhodebeck Deb Knechtly Alan Torppa 16 Rod & Pam Clinger Rod Clinger Rod Clinger 23 Pat Tolbert Noni Wheeler Gary Begeman 30 Cal & Donna Shirk Donna Shirk Loretta Curts December :30 am Greeters 10:30 am Call to Worship Readers 10:30 am Scripture Readers 2 Allen & Alberta Stojkovic Mandy Rocks Robin Brucker 9 Jim & Joyce Overmoyer Olen Jackson Marilyn Turner 16 Juanita Piercy & Suzy Piercy Ruth Logan Joel Seckel 23 Ruth Logan & Evelyn Shoults Tom Cotton Cheryl Young 30 Juanita Piercy & Suzy Piercy Dennis Richardson Anne Cotton December :30 am Music 10:30 am Children s Church Altar Flowers ($30.00) 2 Jaime Zeger Cheryl Young Wilma Hayes 9 Anne Cotton Kristi Bulkowski Joan Myers 16 Amy Barr Kelly Hand Gary & Carol Begeman 23 Dennis Hill Jim Brucker Christmas Poinsettias 30 Ken Barnett Jim Brucker December :30 am Nursery Volunteers 10:30 am Nursery 10:30 am Acolytes Volunteers 2 Gary Begeman Gary Begeman The Bulkowski Family 9 Tom Cotton Tom Cotton The Rocks Family 16 Dick & Pat Miller Dick & Pat Miller The Hand Family 23 Volunteer Needed Volunteer Needed The Bulkowski Family 30 Volunteer Needed Volunteer Needed The Rocks Family 10:30 am Ushers: Olen Jackson, Merrill Brucker, Floyd Sterritt, Glenn Hayes Trinity United Methodist Church: Office Hours: 8:00 am 3:30 pm [Lunch 12:00-12:30 pm] Phone: Fax: Website: Address: trinityumc@redbird.net Pastor Jeff s Address: jcanankamp82@gmail.com The Chimes is a monthly publication of Trinity United Methodist Church. Copy deadline is the third Wednesday of each month by 4 pm. Trinity United Methodist Church Staff: Rev. Jeff Canankamp, Pastor - Parsonage Phone: Sabina Anderson, Music Director Susan James, Pianist Tina Schaeufele, Treasurer Denise Canankamp, Secretary Sara Ness, Custodian Barb Brewer, Kitchen Coordinator Diana Kemp, Nursery Care Giver