The Pillars. August Pastor s Message

Transcription

1 Rev. Karen Burtner Graham The Pillars August 2017 The mission of the New Concord United Methodist Church is to make and develop disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Pastor s Message My mother died 20 years ago this month. My sisters and their families will be gathering at my dad s place in University Heights on the 19 th for a special time of remembering and honoring her. She died suddenly without warning, without suffering. She was an organ donor and after all my sisters were able to get to Ohio and see her and after we had some time together with her in the ICU room to say goodbye, her organs were harvested and others received the gift of life out of her death. I am now the age she was when she died. Much has happened in these past 20 years. All of her grandchildren are now adults and three of them are parents themselves. A new generation has been born since her death. She loved her family, and it has been bittersweet for my sisters and I to finish raising our own children without her. But we know she would be happy to see how life unfolded, and for her to see how love has continued to be experienced and shared. I gave a tribute at her memorial service I wasn t the main speaker but shared briefly as a daughter. I used the image of the rainbow to talk about her life. How when we see a rainbow in the sky, we can t see all of it, but we know it s all there. We see the arc in the sky but we can t see where it starts and where it ends. So it is with our own lives. My mother s life ended too soon, I stated, but it was still complete. For the years she lived the arc of her life was lovely and meaningful. She didn t live an incomplete life, even though it wasn t a long life. I read Jesus words from the Gospel of John: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. My mother lived an abundant life. I share this for several reasons. One is simply because it s what s on my mind and heart as the anniversary of her death approaches. I ve now lived 1/3 of my life without her. That is both a real and surreal thing to know. And of course as I have reached the age at which she died, I am even more aware of how fleeting our lives are, and how swiftly the years go by. So that s one reason. The other reason, however, is that my preparation for the Ecclesiastes sermon series has stirred up some of these feelings within me. I ll be preaching on these verses on August 20: Even those

2 who live many years should rejoice in them all; yet let them remember that the days of darkness will be many Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it (11:8, 12:1, 6-7). The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that since death comes to us all, we should enjoy life while there is still time to do so. Enjoying life abundant life. I see the connection. And so that s what I offer to you in this reflection. What good things have you left undone? Do them! What joy have you bottled up? Release it! What love have you held back? Share it! What blessings have you withheld? Give them! For as long as you still have breath, breathe in the goodness of God, and do all you can to reflect that goodness in your life. Your complete life. Your abundant life. I close with this stanza from a song called, Nothing is Lost, by Colin Gibson: Nothing is lost to the heart of God, nothing is lost forever. God s heart is love, and that love will remain, holding the world forever. No impulse of love, no office of care, no moment of life in its fullness; No beginning too late, no ending too soon, but is gathered and known in its goodness. In God s goodness, Pastor Karen Graham Church Family News Congratulations to Brent and Jenna Riggle on the birth of their daughter, Joleah Marie. She was born July 1 st. Ted and Bonnie Riggle are the happy grandparents! Congratulations to Jordan Richards and Ted Davis who were married on July 15 th! Eva Moorehead died June 30 after a long illness. Her funeral was held July 3, with Rev. Craig Redecker officiating. A lovely repast was prepared and served here by our Funeral Hospitality team. We extend our heartfelt Christian sympathy to Russell and all of his family. We also offer our sympathy to Betty & Charlie Neptune on the death of Betty s sister, Patsy Tom, to Connie & Jim Hummell on the death of Connie s father Dick Boyd, and to Bill & Jean Gingerich on the death of Jean s brother Neal Williams.

3 Our Mission Outreach *Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Annual Conference Health Kits drive in May/June. We took 58 Health Kits to Lakeside, where they were then put on a truck for UMCOR s Midwest Distribution Center. Altogether, 16,720 pounds of items were donated: 3,100 Health Kits; 530 School Totes; 420 Cleaning Buckets; 35 Layette Kits; 4 sewing machines; 250 miscellaneous items; and $5, What a success! And it s good to know that when disaster strikes, UMCOR will be on the scene almost immediately providing relief and distributing these needed resources. *In July we are collecting money for the Loads of Love Laundry Ministry. Our church is responsible for providing the coins/help on the 3 rd Wednesday of each month. We have several teams of volunteers who serve from 4:30-7:30 p.m. We would like to be able to add a couple more volunteers to the schedule so folks can have some flexibility. Please contact Joel Linnabary, or the church office if you can help with this. You ll be given instructions, and you ll work with our current volunteers as you learn. (It s not hard). From January to June 2017 we provided the money for 217 loads of laundry! This ministry was started by College Drive Presbyterian Church as another outreach to Food Pantry clients. We are glad we are able to join this community effort. *Beginning Wednesday, August 9, there will be a Free Produce Market from 2-4 pm. With our church Trustees approval, the food truck will be parked in our south parking lot. This market is for Food Pantry clients, and for any other community members who qualify. There are income guideline information sheets in the church office. The guidelines are generous 200% of Federal Poverty Line. The Produce Market is a year round, free distribution point for many types of fresh fruits and vegetables. At these events, a Foodbank truck delivers at least 10,000 pounds of fresh produce and bread and bakery products to the community location. About 200 families are served per market. Any leftover food is taken away by the delivery truck. College Drive Presbyterian Church needs many volunteers to help with distribution. So this would be another great way for us to collaborate! Please contact Denise Baker *We currently have a balance of $4, in our Good Samaritan Fund. This fund is used regularly to provide assistance to those in need. While we have an organized collection in April (The Giving Tree), you may donate at any time. So far this year we have helped 31 people with gasoline, rent, utility bills, hotel rooms, and other emergency needs.

4 *Our annual Back to School mission offering will, like last year, consist of requested clothing items. We ve consulted with school administrators, and this is what they have indicated they most need. When unexpected things happen, it s good for teachers to have clothes on hand. We will receive donations August 20-Sept 2. Here is the list of needed items: Larry Miller Intermediate School (Ages 8-11) New Concord Elementary (Ages5-8) Boys & Girls (no specific sizes were given) Boys & Girls Sweatpants Pants, shorts, sweatpants: Tennis shoes sizes 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, or Underwear: sizes 5-6, 7-8, or 9-10 *And finally the Community Friendship Garden is growing! If you haven t noticed it take a walk or drive to Layton Drive (across from College Drive Presbyterian church) and take a look! We are happy to be able to help this ministry by receiving and processing all financial donations. So far $3, has been given to this worthwhile endeavor. If you want to know more, please contact Heather Coen. Vacation Bible School We enjoyed a terrific week of VBS here at NCUMC in June! Over the course of 5 days, 95 children were involved as well as a host of adult and youth volunteers. Our theme was Maker Fun Factory: Created by God, Built for a Purpose and each day the children learned an important message: God made you; God is for you; God is always with you; God will always love you; God made you for a reason. Torie Briggs and Jennifer Sutphen did a great job as our VBS coordinators! NCUMC volunteers included: Jessica Pyle (Imagination Station); Mary Jo Moody and Barbara Caudill (snacks, with extra thanks to all who donated treats); Pastor Karen Graham (Bible Discovery); Debbie Linnabary (Photography); Bonnie Riggle, Claretta Baker, Joyce Girod (Crew Leaders); Hannah DeMattio (sound/video technician); youth helpers Owen Headley, Olivia Ault, Michael Coen and Trey Lahmers; Chad Briggs; Tammi DeMattio, Mollie and Greg Gerlach, Joel Linnabary, Larry Girod (set-up and Friday picnic). In addition we were blessed with great volunteers from College Drive Presbyterian, Westminster Presbyterian and Friendship Baptist Churches. It was truly a community event! During the week, the VBS participants (and their families) donated $ for St. Jude Children s Research Hospital. This is enough to provide an entire day of chemotherapy treatment for a child! Praise the Lord!

5 New Church Staff Members The Staff-Parish Relations Committee announces the hiring of two new church staff members this summer: Corey Elliott, Church Secretary/Financial Secretary and Tyler Driggs, Aldersgate Choir Director. The committee engaged in a deliberate interview process for each position, and gave considerable thought to its decisions. Corey began working here mornings during the week of VBS, and then began the regular 30 hour/week schedule on July 3. Tyler will begin his position on August 15. Welcome, Corey and Tyler! August Worship Pastor Karen will preach a 3-week series on the Book of Ecclesiastes, starting August 6. What s fun about this is that all the pastors in her text study group will also be preaching on Ecclesiastes. This was a group decision, and something the pastors have been talking about with each other. Each pastor is selecting his/her own texts to preach on, and of course each pastor will write his/her own sermons but it s fun to think that whether someone attends College Drive Presbyterian, or Bloomfield Presbyterian, or Unity Presbyterian (in Cambridge), that person will hear a sermon based on texts from Ecclesiastes. Some of the pastors started the series in July. Pastor Karen s August series will follow this schedule: August 6: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 August 13: Ecclesiastes 5 & 7(selected verses) August 20: Ecclesiastes 9: 1-12; 11:7-12:8 On August 27, Rev. Craig Redecker will preach here at both services, while Rev. Karen Graham preaches at Lakeside, Ohio. She was invited to be the Preacher of the Day as part of Lakeside Chautauqua s Religious Life program. The 10:30 a.m. worship service will be held in Hoover Auditorium. Coming in September Want to know more about what Christians believe? Want to know why we believe what we believe? Pastor Karen will offer two 6-week sessions of Adam Hamilton's book Creed. This study, which explores the Apostles Creed, has both book and video components. The books will be available in the church office ($13.50, $14.00 for large print). A Tuesday morning session will begin September 12 at 10:00; and a Wednesday evening session will begin September 13 at 7 p.m. In addition a youth session will also be offered, either as part of a confirmation class or with the youth group. More on that later. You may start signing up for the Tuesday or Wednesday study groups now. This study is geared for folks who are newer to the faith, and for folks who just might like a refresher course on Christian beliefs!

6 August 2017 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Each Sunday 8:30 Contemporary Worship 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Traditional Worship 1 Romans 9:1-5 2 Psalm 17:1-7, 15 3 Ecclesiastes 3: Romans 9: Matthew 14:13-21 Trustee on call: Adam Cook 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 4:00 Private Party -FH 6 Psalm 28 7 Ecclesiastes 7:13 8 Romans 1: Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b Trustee on call: Danny Ingold 10 Ecclesiastes 7: Romans 9: Matthew 14: :30 Boot Camp - FH 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 4:00 Private Party - FH 13 Psalm Ecclesiastes 9: Romans 10: Psalm Ecclesiastes 11:17-12:8 18 Romans 11:1-2a, Matthew 15:10-28 Trustee on call: Bonnie Thompson 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 20 Psalm Genesis 45: Romans 11: Psalm Exodus 1:8-2:10 25 Romans 12: Matthew 16:13-20 Trustee on call: Brian Bennett 7:00 Worship Committee Rm 214 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 27 Psalm 8 28 Exodus 1: Romans 2: Trustee on call: Torie Briggs Rev. Redecker preaching both services 31 Exodus 3:1-15 Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b 5:30 Boot Camp - FH 5:30 Boot Camp - FH

7 August 6: Brian Bennett Barbara Nicholson Benjamin Wolfe August 9: Nancy Moffitt August 17: Jane Sherman August 18: Fred Cubbison August 19: Trina Crosland Steven Sax August 23: Lance Bennett August 26: Chad Briggs Charlie Neptune Jay Slack August 27: Danyella Erbach Kelly Taylor August 29: Sherry Jirles August 30: Jim Hummell August 31: Matt Pyle We are still mailing a lot of Pillars! If you would like to receive it by , please the church office ncumcoffice@frontier.com. Benefits to receiving it by you get it before the beginning of the month, you will be helping us save postage and paper & you get it in full color! There are still dates available for the Mission Candle! August 4: Bill & Judi Miller August 6: Fred & Cinda Cubbison 50 Years! August 7: Steve & Sue Kokovich 51 Years! August 8: Jim & Connie Hummell August 9: Ed & Alice Payne 53 Years! Jack & Sue Taylor 57 Years! August 31: Dick & Brenda Dalrymple We light the Mission Candle in Memory or Honor of someone we love. Stop in the church office to sign-up and leave your $10 donation.

8 Sunday Services 8:30 Contemporary Worship Service 9:30 Sunday School 10:30 Traditional Worship Service Office Hours Monday-Friday 9:00 3:00 Office Staff Rev. Karen Burtner Graham, Pastor Mrs. Corey Elliott, Secretary Ms. Chris White, Treasurer *Please have articles in by August 21 st For the next issue of The Pillars Karen s Office Hours Monday- Thursday 10:00 2:00 Monday Thursday afternoon/evenings visiting, office appointments as needed, meetings Fridays Day off Saturday Working at home, available by appointment Contact US Phone Fax ncumcoffice@frontier.com Rev. Karen s revkncumc@frontier.com