Walmsley Boulevard United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 Walmsley Boulevard United Methodist Church Church Office: ; Church Website: Church Address: Reverend Denise Watkins, Pastor Dear Friends in Christ, It is so good to be back at Walmsley and with you for another year of ministry. I thank God for you and your faithfulness. I thank God for how far God has brought us over the past five years. Here in year six of our shared ministry in Christ and for Christ, we are poised for an exciting future. In May, we prayerfully discerned together what we believe that God wants us to focus on in the next five years. We received over 30 suggestions! They are listed in this newsletter. I encourage you to pray about these ideas. Then plan to come and join in with us in August for a Round Table as we discern the way forward together. This year s VA Annual Conference theme was Servant Leadership and I believe this is a timely and relevant topic. Jesus modeled this type of leadership in his ministry and said in the gospel of Mark that "whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So in August, we are going to start with a clear picture for the future. We already know what our purpose and mission is: Discipleship! - Disciples making disciples for the transformation of the community and the world. In the United Methodist tradition, there is a balanced approach to this purpose through the Means of Grace: Devotion, Worship, Acts of Compassion and Acts of Justice. In the church, these focuses are usually organized as: Nurture, Outreach, and Mission. It is an exciting time to be in ministry. And I am so looking forward to this year with you! Keep looking up and forward. In Christ, Pastor Denise Watkins

2 Below are the visions that the members of WBUMC has for their church for the future. Building Update and Maintenance Suggestions: 1. Install showers in the back building. By installing showers we would be able to host Caritas, possibly open as a shelter during severe winter weather. 2. Replace stained carpets in the entry foyer by the Fellowship Hall and in the Sunday School office area. It should be a patterned design similar to what is in the Narthex to better hide stains. 3. Touchup baseboard paint that is chipped. 4. Replace table in choir room. 5. Purchase more decorative flags for sanctuary and designate a place to hang and store them. 6. Trash the pink recliner in the library. 7. Paint exterior activity building. 8. Yardwork in the fall. Plant grass seed to get lawn looking better. 9. Picnic tables in the back of the church. This would enhance our use of the church grounds for VBS and Youth as well as other things. 10. Install Basketball hoop at the top part of the Parking Lot on the other side of the Sanctuary. 11. Outdoor Sports Field in Back Yard for Kick Ball, Soccer, etc. Ministry Suggestions: 1. Bring back community celebrations, i.e. Spring Festival, Back to School/Fall Festival, Trunk or Treat. Over the last two years I ve seen these slowly go away and I think we are missing a great opportunity to connect with the community. However, we do need to be intentional about having information about the church including services, Bible Studies, Youth Events, available. 2. Provide After School Care. - You mentioned the number of single mothers in the community and the need for child care is probably overwhelming. After school care would bring some relief to those mothers and give the kids in the community a place to go. This may require hiring someone, along with volunteers, to oversee the care. It could be an opportunity to help with school work, possibly place a few computers and provide training for the children. Details and age limits would need to be determined. 3. Regular evening Bible Study. - I don t necessarily see this as something that needs to be put on the pastor s plate, but would like to see a study available in the evenings for those who are interested. 2 Continued on next page.

3 4. The Scouting initiative, I believe is a good vision to get community involvement and provide something for the kids. 5. Better organize Compassionate Care team (in progress). 6. Have options available for families to use for catering when having funeral services at the church. 7. Establish Boy Scout Troop for the church neighborhood. 8. Bible Studies for working adults (after work hours) 9. Fellowship activities for children (elementary school age) 10. More Youth involvement in Service/ Ministries 11. Youth actually to participate in Outreach opportunities 12. Mentorship of younger members to encourage growth 13. Parent s Night Out - Corresponds to special occasions/outreach 14. Use Facebook website more actively to reach out to community. It is currently used as an information source. 15. Coffee Hour 16. More activities in general! 17. Community Drive to get new members. Send letters about church, pastor and invite to a dinner. 18. I would like to see more community outreach: Expand the Clothes Closet to more than one day a month. Family movie nights, well advertised and open to all ages. Neighborhood canvasing or prayer walks. Children s program outside of Sunday School. 19. Wednesday evening Bible Study or dinner and Study for all ages. 20. Youth events. 21. Senior Trip events or special guest to speak on things pertinent to seniors Family Events or trips. 22. Bring in a Cub/ Boy Scout Troop. 23. A renewed focus on families, children and youth by strengthening what we have to offer them in the name of Christ, remembering that our focus is Discipleship. Examples could be: paid nursery worker; monthly community dinners with a point person in charge to coordinate with Bible Study and fellowship for adults; and Youth. On August 11th, 3-5p, we will meet for dinner and a round-table discussion, discussing the listed visions and discerning the way forward for WBUMC. 3

4 Walmsley Witness WORSHIP-GROW-SERVE July Events ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL MEETING w/ lunch Sunday July 15th, 12p Bluegrass/Gospel Jam Saturday July 28th, 5p Bring your children to join the music and fun during Children s Choir at 9:45am every Sunday! Grocery Ministry & Clothes Closet Tuesday July 10th, 10a-12p Summer Choir Rehearsal Schedule July 11th August 8th July 25th August 22nd If you ve ever been interested in singing with the choir, the summer is the time to try it out! We will have rehearsal every other week. FUN music, in combination with learning CDs to make each anthem EASY to learn, will leave you LOVING every minute and maybe even sticking around for the EXCITEMENT of fall and Advent music! See Victoria Myers or any choir member for more info! School Supply donations needed - #2 pencils - Rounded scissors - Spiral notebooks (wide rule) - Glue sticks - Crayons (24 count) - Wide ruled notebook 4 Please place donations in box in the Narthex by Sunday July 22nd

5 Join us for WBUMC s 2018 Vacation Bible School Friday & Saturday July 27th & 28th, 10a - 1p Sunday July 29th, 10a Brunch 10:30a VBS Celebration! GAMES, MUSIC, STORIES, CRAFTS, FOOD & SO MUCH MORE! Ages 4-5th Grade 5

6 Four short months! It just keeps getting closer and closer to the time that Bob and Anne accept God s call to serve others by being part of the November Mountain Medical Mission Trip with Friends of Barnabas! There is still time to help them reach their goal of $5000! If you feel led to donate, you may make the check out to WBUMC and earmark it Moseley Mission Trip, or you may give the donation directly to one of them. If you haven t already added the trip to your prayer list, it s never too early! Prayers for Bob and Anne as they prepare; prayers for safe travel; prayers for health before, during and after the trip; prayers for those they will serve each day as they go out to villages to be the hands and feet of Jesus; and prayers for the entire team as they also prepare. Thank you so, so much! Shrimp Pasta Salad 8 oz uncooked small pasta shells (about 2-2/3 cups) 1 lb peeled and deveined cooked shrimp, chopped 1 c. frozen peas 4 green onions, chopped 1/4 c. minced fresh parsley 1 c. mayonnaise 1 c. plain yogurt 1/4 c. lemon juice 2 Tbsp snipped fresh dill 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp white pepper If you d like to share a recipe, please submit it to the church office. 1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cold water and drain again. 2. In a large bowl, combine pasta, shrimp, peas, green onions and parsley. Mix remaining ingredients; stir into pasta mixture. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours. Yield: 10 servings 6

7 3 Tyson Thore 3 Talia Thore 3-Jaxon Thore 5 Scott Thore 9 Bonnie Heretick 9 Dale Guess 13 Michael Malone 15 Iris Jackson 18 Graham Towner 22 Maddie Orta 24 Barry Dodson 25 Kris Thore 26 Matthew Dodson 28 Michelle Kidwell 28 Emily Rogers 29 Stuart Dodson 30 Jessica Luck 30 Jacob Thore 1 Kathey Thore 4 Betsy Lewerenz 6 Rosemary Bruce 7 Roger Mackey Sunday Morning Greeters for July 1 Pat Weaver 22 Matt Thore 8 Gloria & Jerry 29 Louise Holmes Madison 15 Ruby Garrett Sunday Morning 1 Gloria Lambert Readers for 8 Bob Moseley Christine Price Bonnie Heretick July 15 Bonnie Heretick 22 Shaun Cox 8/8 Choir Rehearsal, 6p 8/11 Roundtable, 3p 8/14 Grocery Ministry/ Clothes Closet, 10a 8/22 Choir Rehearsal, 6p 8/25 Music Jam, 5p Would you like to contribute to the Walmsley Witness? We welcome your news, articles, quotes, and jokes! To be included in the August Newsletter, please have your submissions to the church office no later than Monday, July 16th. 7

8 Applying Bible Principles Suppose that God allowed you to have one wish. Without limit, you could have anything you desire. You could have unlimited wealth. You could have perfect health and live to 1,000 years or more. You could like Solomon have great wisdom. Whatever you want, you may have it. But you only get one wish. What would you choose? Sad to say, many people would choose great wealth and material possessions. Unfortunately, that would not be a good choice. Listen to the counsel of God as expressed in this contemporary translation of Proverbs 27:20 through Solomon, one of the richest people who ever lived- The eyes of man are never satisfied. The behavior and attitude which always wants more has a name: Greed, and it demonstrates itself in our lives as though we were at an auction. If we have $5, we want $10; if we have $10, we want $20; if we have $20, we want $30. Solomon went on to say in Ecclesiastes 5:10, Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. When we have God s perspective, we will accept with a spirit of peace and restfulness whatever he entrusts to us. And when we have God s perspective, we will put into practice the truth of Hebrews 13:5- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. 8

9 Hymn Story: On Eagles Wings And He will raise you up on eagles wings, bear you on the breath of dawn make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand By Michael Joncas Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself (Exodus 19:4, NRSV). Many recent composers for the church draw from biblical sources, making allusions to specific images. Father Jan Michael Joncas (b. 1951) uses the providential image of eagle s wings as the anchor metaphor for his widely sung refrain. This refrain is a response for Psalm 91, usually sung by a cantor. In a presentation for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) convention in Long Beach in 1989, Joncas stated, Scripture grounds my life as a Christian, a preacher, and a priest (Joncas, GIA Publications, Inc. website). On Eagles Wings is an example of the high scriptural content of Fr. Joncas s compositions. The composition appeared first in the liturgical music collection On Eagles Wings in Dr. Joncas is one of the most prominent liturgical scholars and musicians in Catholic music today. He was granted the BA (English) magna cum laude from St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minnesota (1975), the MA (Liturgical Studies) summa cum laude from University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana (1978), and the SLL and SLD summa cum laude from the Pontifico Insituto Liturgico at the Collegio Sant Anselmo (Roma, Italia) in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Fr. Joncas has published widely in liturgical journals, written books, and composed and recorded numerous collections of liturgical music. He served as co-editor of Gather, one of the most widely used collections of liturgical music in Catholic parishes. He has served in parish ministry and is currently serving as University Artistin-Residence and Fellow, Center for Catholic Studies, in the Department of Catholic Studies, University of St. Thomas. The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) was the first major Protestant hymnal to include the refrain, On Eagles Wings. The only changes were the substitution of God and God s for He and His for inclusive language purposes. Many Protestant congregations might view this song as a chorus or praise song. The roots are, in fact, much different. The song was written in 1978 as Joncas was concluding his MA in liturgy from Notre Dame. He was ordained in 1980 as a priest for the archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis. While serving in Minnesota, Fr. Joncas collaborated with two of his colleagues, Marty Haugen (b. 1950) and David Haas (b. 1957), in producing some of the most effective music for the church s worship that has appeared in the days following the Second Vatican Council ( ). This music written for the Catholic liturgy should not be confused with shorter choruses compose by contemporary Christian artists whose roots are in evangelical Christianity. At the National Pastoral Musicians conference in Long Beach, Fr. Joncas noted, We pastoral musicians do not sing to entertain bored worshipers or to seduce them in to brainless ecstasy; we may sing in the Spirit, but we also sing with our minds (Joncas, GIA Publications, Inc. website). In the Catholic liturgy On Eagles Wings would be used most often on Sundays when the lectionary calls for Psalm 91. Joncas s solo setting of the psalm for cantor is not included in The United Methodist Hymnal. The refrain allows the congregation to participate more fully in the singing of the psalm. Most Protestant congregations know only the refrain. The beautiful, soaring melodic line and the rich providential images of the text allow it to stand on its own. On Eagles Wings is often used in the United Methodist worship as a congregational response to the benediction at the conclusion of the service. It also has a broader use, being sung at many 9/11 memorial service and at the memorial service for those who died in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City in How music will be used once it is published may be much different from what the composed intended. In correspondence with this writer, Fr. Joncas noted, I wasn t aware that by printing only the refrain in [The United] Methodist Hymnal, members of the denomination treat is more as a detached benediction that a verse/refrain setting of Psalm 91. Borrowed from 9

10 1 Every Sunday: 2 3 Office Closes at 1p 4 Independence Day 11 Every Wednesday: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 9:45a, Sunday School/ Children s Choir 11a, Worship p, Admin Council Meeting w/ lunch 10a, Grocery Ministry/ Clothes Closet Office Closed NO Bible Study 10:30a, Bible Study 6p, Choir Rehearsal a, Brunch 10:30a, VBS Celebration p, Choir Rehearsal a, VBS 28 10a, VBS 5p, Music Jam 10