THE Link Newsletter DATES AHEAD. Note From President - Marie Samec MARCH February. March. April

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1 THE Link Newsletter MARCH 2015 THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF TRINITY UMC UNITED METHODIST WOMEN C IRCLES: FAITH ~ HARMONY ~ HOPE ~ JOY ~ PEACE ~ SUNSHINE ~ TRINITY ~ VILLAGE Note From President - Marie Samec Greetings I am honored to be a member of an organization that contributes so much to improve the lives of others, both locally, nationally and globally. It is amazing to see and read about all the work of United Methodist Women. The 59th Annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is March 9-20, The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. United Methodist Women is an active participant in this annual global gathering, especially through its Church Center for the United Nations. They offer workshops on a variety of issues. We have an opportunity to continually learn through our Reading Program. Come to our General Meeting on March 24 to hear about the purpose of this program. I strongly encourage each of you to take on a future leadership role in our UMW at Trinity. Please consider this opportunity in prayer. Each of you have special gifts to offer and are needed to step in to ill the place of those needing a break. There have been so many who have held these roles before me to help guide, teach and encourage me. Abundant resources are made available. Fortunately, perfection is not required. I am pleasantly surprised that most of you laugh with me rather than at me when I make mistakes. Most importantly, I know God provides me strength and guidance. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~ Romans 8:28 (NIV) February DATES AHEAD 24 UMW General Meeting., Room 232: Social, 9:30 am; General Meeting, 10:00 am Topic: The Trinity Faith Mission Connection Speaker: Ward Simonton, Trinity Mission s Of ice Director of Faith Mission and Founder of Kids Count Alachua County. Hostess: Joy Circle Special Collection: Love Offering GCM Collection: Peanut Butter and Jelly March 1 Mommy Reads training, Room 222, 3:00 pm 3 Leadership Team Meeting, Room 222, 10:00 am 7 Mommy Reads women s prison ministry trip. Depart from Trinity at 8:00 am 9-20 The 59th Annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 10 Faith Circle Meeting, 9:30 am 10 Morning Circle Meetings, 10:00 am 15 Sunshine Circle Meeting, 3:00 pm, Trinity Atrium Program: UMW Reading Program by Terry Baxter; The Madison Youth Ranch by Joan Ricks 17 Village Circle, 10:00 am, Towers Club Swing Room Program: The Madison Youth Ranch by Priscilla Pridgen Dorcas Group, Room 222, 1:30 pm. Meets monthly on the third Tuesday. 24 General Meeting, Room 232 9:30 Refreshments and Social Time: Hostess Harmony Circle 10:00 Program Expanding Your Horizons through the UMW Reading Program: Joan Drost and Terry Baxter GMC Donation: Mac and Cheese April 7 Leadership Team Meeting, Room :00 am

2 Treasurer s Report Cheryl Foltz, Treasurer In January and February we get most of our pledges. The end of January we had $8,385 in pledges. I hope that in February we got enough pledges to meet the budget. In March we start paying our District pledge and other budget item. A United Methodist Woman who gives in all 5 channels of Mission Giving is called a Rainbow Giver. A Rainbow Giver records her giving during the year and receives a rainbow pin the next year. Through this Mission Giving we share God's love globally. Forms are available from your Circle or Unit Treasurer. The 5 channels are as listed: 1. Make and remit a Pledge to Mission 2. Give a Special Mission Recognition to honor any person, male or female. The honoree receives a pin and certi icate. The minimum amount is $ Send a Gift to Mission card to honor someone. Cards are available for Congratulations, Thinking of You, Happy Birthday, On Your Special Day, etc. The minimum amount is $ Honor the memory of a friend or relative with a Gift in Memory card. The minimum amount is $ Contribute to the World Thank Offering in any amount. Did something good happen today? Did you put a coin in your World Thank Offering Box? If you need a box see your Circle Treasurer. We have ordered some more if your circle treasurer is out. UMW February General Meeting Program - Linda Cook Expanding Your Horizons through the UMW Reading Program, UMW General Meeting, Tuesday, March 24 th, Room 232. Social time is at 9:30 with the program starting at 10:00 am. Joan Drost and Terry Baxter have prepared an exciting program featuring our own UMW Members sharing their experiences with the UMW Reading program. Plan to come and hear Nancy Scheaffer, Pat Braynard, Nancy Shaffer and Joan Drost share how their horizons have been expanded by the books that they are reading. Hostess Harmony Circle and GCM Donation is Mac and Cheese. North Central District Of icers Training - Marie Samec On Saturday, January 24, Jim Cook drove 11 of us on the Trinity bus to Morrison UMC in Leesburg for of icers training. Two additional Trinity members were there before us as trainers. Jeanine Christian, District President, welcomed us and led the class for Presidents. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to her before our sessions. Deaconess Mary Melvin, a new member at Trinity, led the class for Vice Presidents. Each Of icer attended a class speci ically for their position. It is always interesting to get a fresh perspective from both the new material presented and hearing ideas from leaders from other churches. We all enjoyed a nice lunch at a restaurant afterwards before a pleasant ride home socializing on the bus. The Prayer Walk - Rita Lipsius The House of Hope "prayer walk" held in the chapel on February 15 touched everyone's heart from beginning to end through beautiful music, testimonies and prayer. The "love-in-action" theme proved that love never fails from the incarcerated to becoming a resident alongside others at the HOH. Guests listened and witnessed alumni reunited with families who now are seeking their dreams forward. We share in the partnership. God Bless us all! The Church and People with Disabilities: Awareness, Accessibility, and Advocacy - Marie Samec All were invited to this mission study held on four Wednesday evenings, after the church dinners, January 14 to February 11. Approximately 35 people attended each session and learned from guest speakers who presented their personal and professional experiences and advice relating to various objectives of the study. The overall message is that our church needs to welcome people of all abilities by being inclusive and making experiences accessible for all. We received positive feedback from attendees who gained more understanding of the issues. >>

3 Rev. Rich Quackenbush, representing clergy with disabilities, spoke during the inal session. He stated he was blessed for in our weakness, HE can be strong. He reminded us not all disabilities are obvious. We need to stand for those who can t stand on their own or have not learned to walk yet. We need to speak for those who cannot speak. People with disabilities constitute our nation s largest minority group. Anyone can become disabled at any time. An accessibility survey was assigned as homework. The results of this survey and other notes from the sessions will be presented the Church Council and shared with the Friendship Disability Group. Reading Program - Joan Drost for Terry Baxter It's so good to see how many of you are reading the UMW Books from our Library. I see plenty of check out cards and returned books to know that you are interested in the books chosen for Don't forget to be reading the 2011 books since those will be the ones removed from the Book Cart at the end of December. To receive credit for the Children and Youth Books you will need to read irst one Adult book in each of the 5 Categories. Also, please remember to record the title of each book under the appropriate category and include the year that the book was submitted to the Reading Program. You will ind a list of all the 2015 books we purchased as well as the 2015 Catalogue next to the ile box area. Have you been reading Response and New World Outlook? You can also ind them in the Reading Nook on the stationary bookcase right by the Book Cart. Please don't miss the March General Meeting Program. Learn more details about the meeting in Linda Cook s article in this issue. Dorcas Group - Linda Cook The Dorcas Group is focusing on making baby hats and blankets, warm hats for the homeless especially men, and walker totes. If you would like to be involved, contact Linda Cook at or ldcook45@gmail.com to get yarn, fabric and/or patterns. The group will continue to meet monthly on the third Tuesday at 1:30 in room 222. The next meeting will be on March 17. Come and join us! Mommy Reads - Beth Haines, Leader We travel again on Saturday, March 7. Training in preparation of the trip will be held in Room 222 at 3:00 pm on Sunday, March 1. The dates for our next trips have been cleared with Ms. Lee at the prison and are listed below. Saturday, March 7 Saturday, June 6 Saturday, September 19 (home UF games the irst 2 Saturdays!) Saturday, December 5 Donations of new paperback books are always accepted and can be left at the front desk of the church. Anyone interested in getting involved in this wonderful ministry can contact Beth Haines at mamahaines@gmail.com or CIRCLE NEWS Faith Circle - Betty Martin Cheryl Berry hosted thirteen members of Faith Circle. Jan Johnson served as co-hostess. Approximately 200 Valentine Favors were assembled for delivery with Meals on Wheels on Valentine s Day. Traditional sugared and sugar-free candy favors were prepared to meet recipients needs. Cheryl Berry, with assistance from Mary Ann Williams, directed the project; including purchasing candy and making bookmarks indicating the treats were from Trinity Faith Circle. Joy Circle - Gloria Wittstruck Joy Circle met on Tuesday, February 10 at Joan Drost's home. All twelve members were present, including our newest member Mary Melvin. Food for Kids Backpack Program and Kids Count were chosen as our mission projects for the coming year. We plan to divide our support into ive months each. Jeanine Christian provided the program using 1 Samuel 2:1-8, "The Prayer of Hannah," as her focus on a lesson on love. Then, each circle member used the UMW Prayer Calendar to select a missionary worker to send a valentine card. Next, we did an activity using 1 Corinthians 13 to personalize the personal attributes used in the verse. Nancy Scheaffer will be our hostess for the March circle meeting.

4 Trinity UMW Circle - Gail Werner Circle met at the home of Dar Holley. Five members were in attendance. Several members were ill or out of town. Circle Leader Senga Watts gave the devotions. Prayers were offered for the sisters who are ill. Senga watts gave her testimony about how she became a Methodist. It was a very interesting and humorous presentation. A LOVE offering was collected for the district UMW. Village Circle - Rita Lipsius Nine members met on February 17 in the Swing Room of the Towers Club. Fellowship and interest is keen, and it is a privilege to be a part of this circle. Alma Gillon opened with the Prayer Calendar focus of the day and the mission of UMCOR being highlighted. Since Alma has visited and volunteered at UMCOR, the highlight was most interesting! Treasurer Lois Scavo presented the 2015 handbooks and handled her pledge responsibilities. Due to Disability Awareness being the mission study recently, the circle program highlighted the reality of it irst-hand! Circle Chairs 2015 Faith Circle Hope Circle Sunshine Circle Trinity Circle Village Circle Joy Circle Peace Circle Harmony Circle Betty Martin Charlotte Baldwin Pat Kilby Rita Lipsius Senga Watts Gail Werner Rita Lipsius Joan Drost Gloria Wittstruck Irene Emery Jan Ordway Judy Ritter Yearbook Changes/Additions - Cheryl Foltz The 2015 Yearbooks have arrived and they are already a bit outdated. We have a new member and corrections. Please make the additions or corrections as noted below to your Yearbook. We will try to keep you updated on additions/corrections to the Yearbooks in the LINK each month. Many Thanks to Marie Samec and Linda Cook for their help getting the yearbook to press. Welcome to new member Laura Navarro - Joy Circle 3410 NW 91st Street, Apt#147 Gainesville, FL Cell: (574) ; Birthday March 22 navarro483@outlook.com Changes or additions to member information" Pg. 30 (Trinity Circle) correct and add: Martha Simpson (Brookdale Clare Bridge,4607 NW 53rd Ave, 32606) C/O Ken Simpson (spouse) 2716 NW 31st Terrace Gainesville, FL (352) Erline Tinckham (Harbor Chase-1415 Ft. Clarke Blvd ) C/O Deanna Tinckham (daughter) 4135 NW 30th Terrace Gainesville, FL (352) Jackie Blinn - Harmony Circle was left out of yearbook. It is: jrblinn@att.net Mary Jo Davis - Village Circle address on pg. 46 of the yearbook is incorrect. It is: gatorgirl3@bellsouth.net Barbara Parker- Village Circle Honorary Member, a resident in Jasmine Point has no . Peggy Ward has only ONE "d" (page 40). Barbara Parker does not have an . Eva Kuitert - Honorary member of Joy Circle does not use the phone, pages 24 & 42. Purpose: United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church. Spelling mistakes page 27 Robertson should be Elaine Robinson page 40 Christine should be Jeanine Christian Sunshine Circle's calendar is only on page 29. The dates did not get on the main calendar.

5 United Methodist Women 4000 NW 53rd Avenue Gainesville FL TrinityGnv.org