the NEWSREEL from the pastor s pen... Journey to the Other Side of Grief Contact Information Sunday Services SEPTEMBER 2017 Volume 23, Issue 8

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1 the NEWSREEL McConnellsburg United Methodist Church, McConnellsburg, PA SEPTEMBER 2017 Volume 23, Issue 8 from the pastor s pen... Journey to the Other Side of Grief Grief is a complicated journey. I have come to understand the process more deeply and personally upon the death of my father. There was, of course, the initial mourning of not seeing his face or hearing his voice on a daily basis. With many tears, the finality of our earthly relationship eventually took root and I accepted his passing with thanksgiving that his suffering was over. As time moved forward, a more subtle but equally profound, grief occurred. It appeared in waves. The second wave of grief came as we began the adventure of cleaning out the family home to prepare it for a public sale. Years of collections and a life well-spent were left to my sister and me to sift through, not unlike prospectors panning for golden nuggets. We made sure to keep the personal items such as pictures and heirlooms while making piles of stuff to turn over to the capable hands of the auctioneer. As I inspected each item, I was overcome with an aching sadness for the loss of both my parents. It seems the clearing out process had stirred up more than just dust. I mourned my mother all over again and with grief compounded, felt every bit an orphan. I was consumed with pain. I share this with you for many reasons. First, you need to know that I am human. Even though I am a pastor with an unshakeable faith, I feel the sting of humanness as much as anyone else. I also want you to know that it s OK to be consumed with pain when a personal or national tragedy occurs. It doesn t diminish your faith at all to admit your heart is broken. You can read about the depth of human pain all through the 1 (continued on Page 2) Contact Information Pastor: Robin Baer Parsonage: Church Office: mcumc@comcast.net Youth Director: Kelli Miller Facility Coordinator: Reta Chamberlin Alternate: Sue Nesbitt Website: Sunday Services Worship: 8:30 am & 11:00 am Sunday School: 9:45 am (for all ages)

2 (continued from Page 1) Scriptures. Jeremiah s shattered heart over the suffering of his people is described in great detail in Lamentations. The Psalms are filled with the gut wrenching pain God s people experienced in their daily life. Even Jesus himself wept when he faced the human response to death at the grave of Lazarus. God not only accepts our pain, God yearns to take it from us. God wants all of us, not just the good and easy bits. So, it s OK to cry and be broken. God loves and heals the brokenhearted. I guess it was inevitable as I grieved the loss of my parents to start thinking about my own future and mortality. With each passing day, I get closer and closer to meeting Jesus face to face. Although I am totally excited about that day, there is a part of me that doesn t feel ready to do that any time soon. There are too many things I want to do before I die. There are places I want to go. There are people I want to meet. There are folks I want to lead to Jesus. There are practical decisions that need to be made, and admittedly I am somewhat reluctant about making them. Where will I live in retirement? Will I have enough money to retire? As an unmarried woman, who will take care of me if I become disabled? Having no children, who will execute my estate after my passing? Should I prepay for my funeral? Gosh, so many things to think about. Yet, even though those questions might be left unanswered for the time being, I am assured of one thing God is in my future. God will take care of both my finished and unfinished business. Through the faithfulness of his Son, I have an eternal home a home where the only thing I need to do is praise. The worries of this earthly existence will be over. There will be no more tears, no more pain, no more grief, and no more separation. All will be reconciled. Thank you, Church, for allowing me the time to grieve and heal. What once was a dark place, is now filled with Light and Hope. Brokenness and uncertainty has been replaced by an ever-growing Shalom and Assurance. To those for whom this testimony has hit close to home, I pray my story has encouraged you. Christ is the Lifter of your head. You will get through this tunnel of grief, and to echo a familiar hymn, Because He lives, you can face tomorrow. With you on the journey, Pastor Robin Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 2

3 Church Council Meeting Minutes The council did not meet in August no minutes to publish. Finance Team Meeting The regular meeting of the Finance Team was held on August 10, 2017 with seven people in attendance. Old Business: HFOH what is the balance and is it enough to pay the remaining bills tabled until next meeting. First Friday profit for July was about $300. It was agreed to move $ from First Friday on Restricted to General Fund to apply to the smaller of the mortgage loans. Electricity expense Love's Closet does this expense and water expense come out of Restricted? Will be checked with Sheila or Sam on this. Question on a $145 water bill could this be two months? Check # 7999 health insurance and pension this amount is set by conference. Wow! It doesn t seem quite possible that school has already begun for the year! I am so excited to be getting back to our regular youth group meetings and to be sharing the good news of Jesus with the students again. This year, I am particularly excited because we will be starting a new curriculum from Group publishing, called LIVE: Books of the Bible. This series of lessons will take us through the entire bible, help us dig deeper into scripture, and open our hearts and minds to parts of the bible that may have been a little intimidating in the past. I will be sending out a weekly parent to give you some more information about what each week s lesson will be about and also to send you some discussion topics that you could talk about with your student. If you would like to be added to the list, please see me and I will get you added. In His Service, Kelli Miller All Middle & High School Students Are Welcome Meet Wednesdays 6:00 to 8:00 pm (Time change from last year) 3 Starting September 30 th

4 2017 September SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY First Friday Lunch 11:00a-1:00p Love's Closet 9a-11a A Choir-8:30a LABOR DAY A Choir-6:00p Bible Study-10:00a and 6:30p K Choir-5:30p Youth Mtg-6:00p Lay Leadership Team Mtg-6:30p Grandparents Day K Choir-8:30a A Choir-11:00a SPRC Mtg-6:00p A Choir-6:00p Bible Study-10:00a and 6:30p Youth Mtg-6:00p Finance Mtg-6:30p A Choir-8:30a Council Mtg-7:00p A Choir-6:00p K Choir-5:30p Youth Mtg-6:00p First Day of Fall K Choir-11:00a A Choir-11:00a Church Conference- 1:30pm (Knobsville) Trustee Mtg-7:00p A Choir-6:00p Notes: A Choir - Adult Choir K Choir - Kids Choir See You At The Pole- 7:00a Bible Study-10:00a and 6:30p Youth Mtg-6:00p 02 - Stanley & Janet Mellott 06 - John Hann 06 - Dawson Will 08 - Jenny Culler September Birthdays & Anniversaries 09 - Betsy Ingram 10 - Bristol Stambaugh 13 - Victor & Evelyn Gobin 18 - Joy & Gary Minnier 21 - Jim & Sharon DeShong 24 - Rick & Deb Buterbaugh 25 - Cole Fletcher 30 - Jeremy & Nicole Fletcher (for additions/corrections use Newsreel suggestion box at back of sanctuary or the church office, address on page 1) CHILDREN'S CHURCH 8:30 11:00 Nicole Wilson Holly Stambaugh NEEDED Vicki Gordon Lindsay Newman Heather Will Jamie Schetrompf Dixie Heacock Penny Shives Nicole Fletcher Jody Hann NEEDED Brady Seiders Reta Chamberlain Cindy Glessner Joy Minnier NURSERY 8:30 11: NEEDED NEEDED NEEDED Sherri McClain NEEDED Leanne Pollock NEEDED NEEDED If you can help, please contact Reta Chamberlin 4

5 SEPTEMBER READING PLAN This month revisit those bible stories many learned as a child. Pray God opens your eyes to new meanings. 04 Creation Genesis 1 05 Noah s Ark Genesis 6, 7, 8 06 Coat of Many Colors Genesis The Exodus Exodus 1, 2 08 The Exodus Exodus 3, 4 11 The Exodus Exodus 5, 6 12 The Exodus Exodus 7, 8 13 The Exodus Exodus 9, The Exodus Exodus 11, The Exodus Exodus 13, Jericho Joshua 6 19 David and Goliath 1 Samuel The Fiery Furnace Daniel 3 21 The Lions Den Daniel 6 22 Jonah Jonah 25 Jesus Birth Matthew 1, 2 26 Jesus Birth Luke 1, 2 27 The Good Samaritan Luke 10: Peter Walks on Water Matthew 14: Feeding the 5000 John 6 Take the time to teach these stories to the children in your life. Remind them they are not just stories, they are actual accounts of our Christian history. If you don t who will? On the non-reading days, spend time in prayer and ask God to show you deeper meanings of these beloved passages. Why didn't Noah go fishing? Answer: He only had two worms! Did you ever know the three main characters portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures (rated PG) belonged to African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches? The movie came out in January 2017 and is based on a non-fiction book, of the same name, written by Margot Shetterly. It tells the story of three African-American women that worked for NASA space program as mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson. In the 1960s the work of getting man into space wasn t done by electronic processors, it was done by human computers solving incredibly complicated math formulas necessary to get the rocketships into space and back again. These three women were some of those human computers. IBM computers were being used by NASA but in 1962, as John Glenn was preparing to be launched in to space and become the first American to orbit around Earth he asked for the girl (referring to Katherine Johnson) to manually check the calculations generated by the electronic computers. These calculations were critical to a successful mission. It took her a day and a half to complete and her calculations exactly matched the computer output. Katherine remembers the astronaut saying, If she says they re good, then I m ready to go. Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan were active and life-long members of AME churches in Virginia. Mary lived to be 83 years old and in addition to her church work she was a Girl Scout leader. Dorothy actively participated in her church s music department, missionary projects and the food distribution program. She died in 2008 at the age of 98. Katherine recently celebrated her 99 th birthday with a visit to her hometown of White Sulphur Springs, WV where the public library was named after her. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States..... and now you know. 5

6 August 29, 2017 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God... He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we may set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the generous favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 10-11) Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Grace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, Healer of our Brokenness, and Hope of the World! We have watched and have been greatly stirred by the devastating effect of the deluge of historic proportion in Texas. The Houston area has received more than twenty inches of rain and it is still falling. Judge Robert Herbert, Fort Bend County, Texas, in his Monday press statement summarized the dire situation: "The flood of this magnitude is an eight hundred year event." Bishop Scott Jones of the Texas Conference said, "Tropical Storm Harvey has unleashed the worst flooding in Houston's history, with catastrophic damage." Our hearts ache and go out to so many people who are suffering from the destruction of hurricane Harvey. I call upon the people of our United Methodist Churches to pray for the protection and comfort of so many people directly affected by this overwhelming natural disaster, including safety for the rescue and relief personnel. We have observed the brokenness in their eyes and faces as they struggle to comprehend what has happened. Thus, we pray for strength, healing and hope that they might know that others are praying for them and are offering help to rebuild their lives and homes. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. Knowing the generous hearts of the people of our beloved conference and the way they have answered the needs of others effected by past natural disasters, I urge our congregations to receive a special offering either this coming Sunday, September 2 nd or one Sunday in September. I know that our people are compassionate and long to help those whose lives have been turned upside down. Checks for the offerings received should be made payable to the Susquehanna Conference with Texas 2017 Flooding in the memo line and sent to the Conference Office, 303 Mulberry Drive, Mechanicsburg, PA Offerings from churches should be included on the Treasurer's Remittance Report as 9205 Texas August 2017 Flood Relief. Mission Central is also preparing to respond as needed. They have requested congregations to assemble cleaning buckets and hygiene kits. Further information about these items can be found on their website. You are also invited to attend their Noon prayer meeting on Thursday, August 31 st. Following the prayer time, the participants will remain to assemble the necessary kits. Any individual or church which wants to provide gifts to support the transportation costs for these various kits should contribute directly to Mission Central. Please be assured that our connectional church is already present and at work with the people in the flood affected area. Once again, I humbly ask for your prayerful and generous support for these our sisters and brothers in need. It is moments like this that we see a church alive in mission with Christ. I continue to be blessed to serve God in this place with so many saints of God. With You in Christ's Ministry, Jeremiah J. Park 6

7 Mission Central in Mechanicsburg, PA is the mission warehouse of the Susquehanna Conference. It stores and distributes relief supplies, assembles and verifies relief kits, and conducts other outreach projects. It is one of the member depots of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Supply Network. UMCOR operates two supply depots one in Louisiana and one in Utah. They also collaborate with a network of United Methodist Relief Supply Warehouse across the US, Mission Central being one of them. Others are in IL, AL, TX, MO and NC. This United Methodist ministry provides humanitarian relief when war, conflict, or natural disaster disrupt life. UMCOR collects hygiene, school, and cleaning kits for distribution within the US. With such a vast network, supplies can be distributed effectively and efficiently when disaster strikes. Mission Central is currently working on cleaning buckets that will end up in Texas as part of the Hurricane Harvey relief effort. If you would like to help with that effort you can contact Mission Central - Adam Hoover, ahoover@susumc.org or call More information can also be found on the Mission Central website - [Cleaning buckets are assembled in a 5-gallon resealable bucket and include: liquid laundry detergent, liquid household cleaner, dish soap, air freshener, insect repellant, scrub brush, cleaning wipes, sponges scouring pads, clothespins, clothesline, trash bags, dust masks, kitchen dishwashing gloves, and work gloves] CORN SALAD 1 can white corn 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 can yellow corn salt and pepper, to taste 1/2 cup onion, diced 2 cups corn chips 1 cup cheese, shredded Drain corn. Add onion, cheese, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mix well. Chill. Add corn chips just before serving and mix. In summer, fresh corn can be used. McConnellsburg United Methodist Church Cookbook Ruth Reeder FRUIT COCKTAIL CAKE 1 pkg. lemon cake mix 3 eggs (or egg beaters) 1 17 oz. can lite fruit cocktail Combine cake mix, undrained fruit cocktail and eggs in large bowl. Beat as package directs. Turn batter into well-greased and lightly floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until done. Cool 20 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Frost as desired. 7 McConnellsburg United Methodist Church Cookbook Barbara Weller

8 This & That CHARGE CONFERENCE DATE SET Rev. Dr. Kathy Kind, District Superintendent, Altoona District, has set the date for annual charge conference. It will be held at Knobsville UMC, October 1, 1:30 pm. The charge conference is the basic governing body of each United Methodist local church and is composed of all members of the church council. The charge conference must meet at least once per year. Among other things, the charge conference reviews and evaluates the mission and ministry of the church, sets salaries for the pastor and staff, and elects the members of the church council. s.y.a.t.p see you at the pole September 27 7:00 AM For over 25 years this event has been about one simple act PRAYER. It s about uniting students in prayer before God, interceding for their generation. Spread the word and meet at the flag pole at MHS main entrance. Questions? See Kelli Miller. BIBLE STUDY The current Wednesday bible study, Facing the Giants in our Lives, has three lessons remaining procrastination, failure, and, jealousy. Each is a stand-alone session so Pastor Robin say folks are welcome to plug in as they feel led. A new study yet to be decided will begin in October. FULTON COUNTY FOOD BASKET 35 TH ANNIVERSARY Fill the Bus Event Date - Saturday, Sept. 30 Time - 9:00am to 3:00pm Location - Save-a-Lot Bring non-perishable food items and visit the antique bus! Sunday School Promotion Sunday September 10 Nursery to Primary Alyvia Newman ~ Arianna Tragesor ~ Mikaela Wilson Primary to Middler Deacon Garland ~ Gracie Shives Sunday School begins at 9:45 AM. There is a brief opening and songs for all children and youth in the Sunday school area on the second floor of the Faith & Life Center (in the youth room), with classes immediately following. Sunday School Classes and Teachers Nursery - 2 & 3 s 4 & 5 s Sherri McClain, Tammy Young, Jenny Culler and Betsy Ray Primary - Grades 1, 2 & 3 Leanne Pollock Middler - Grades 4 & 5 Sue Nesbitt Youth - Grades 6 thru 12 Kelli Miller, Justin Miller and Jeremy Fletcher The Adult Bible Class meets in the Social Room in the church basement. Class is lead by Jim DeShong ALL ARE WELCOME 8

9 Thank you to everyone who helped make VBS possible! It couldn't have been done without each and every one of you! Also, thank you to all the parents, grandparents, etc. for bringing your children to be a part of VBS. It was a great week and we had so much fun learning how to be the neighbors that God calls us to be. I am looking forward to next year and can't wait to see how the children grow throughout the next year! In His service, Kelli Miller... and they re back! Both the adult and children s choirs are gearing back up this month and new members are always welcome. The adults practice on Tuesday evenings at 6 pm and children on the 1 st & 3 rd Wednesdays at 5:30 pm. They plan to sing the 2 nd & 4 th Sundays, alternating between services. If you have children that are interested but can t attend practice please see Kelli Miller for possible arrangements. 9

10 COMMUNITY REVIVAL SERVICES SEPTEMBER 16 24, 2017 at Pleasant Ridge Holiness Camp Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Psalm 85:6 The Fulton County churches would like to invite you and your friends to a FREE Pig Roast and Concert Saturday, September 16 at 5:30 pm This will kick off a week of revival services beginning Sunday, September 17 thru Sunday, Sept 24 The Itzel s will be in concert and Rev. Bill Ulmet lead the services Sundays: 10:00 am & 6:00 pm times Monday thru Saturday: 7:00 pm location Pleasant Ridge Holiness Camp, Pleasant Ridge Road, Harrisonville, PA more information contact Pastor Mark Smith at Rev. Ulmet is from Monroe, TN. He entered the field of evangelism in 1993 after spending nearly 20 years pastoring churches in VA, TX, IN, and SC. Bill and Karen Itzel have been touring full-time for almost three decades (now with their four children) and have shared over 3300 concerts. Their concerts include original music, modern and traditional hymns and worship songs. 10