The OPEN DOOR. Heard through. A Tribute On This Special Holiday

Transcription

1 Heard through The OPEN DOOR Manchester Road Wildwood, Missouri Phone: FAX: Volume 15 Number 1 January February, 2019 Editors: Chylene Daub & Shirley Giebel A Tribute On This Special Holiday Remembering Nate Burger (Oct. 18, 1937 Dec. 8, 2017) January 19, 2019 brings us another anniversary marking Martin Luther King, Jr. s birthday, and its reminder of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s devoted to securing equal opportunity and treatment for minority groups. The holiday, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, is also a good time to remember and lift up the life and example of our Bethel member, the late Nate Burger. Nate grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the Jim Crow days where he experienced first-hand the indignities of segregation. A Christian Example. The important Christian message of Nate s life was that despite growing up in Black America he expanded and grew moving beyond segregation to integration with a life that flourished and embraced everyone regardless of race or culture or station in life. According to his beloved wife, Barbara, Nate learned from the hardships of the past to focus on the future and all the opportunities it opened up. The quiet strength that was the Nate we knew at Bethel, he drew in large part from the example of his parents who were both educators and involved in making a better world. After military service and some years in pharmaceutical sales, Nate became an educator and counselor serving schools in Kirkwood, University City and Eureka. After leaving regular teaching in 2005, Nate retired but he was not retiring! He volunteered at Family Court tutoring and mentoring at-risk youth. And he became such a frequent substitute teacher at Eureka High that you could scarcely call it retirement at all. Bethel I m going back there. And the rest is history Barbara Burger says as she remembers what Nate told her after his first visit to Bethel. Nate had grown up in the Methodist church, always read his Bible, but had, not uncommonly, often struggled with the idea of regular church attendance. Out of the blue, he began to visit churches in the area. At Bethel Nate felt welcome. He found the close, connected family he remembered from his childhood church the acceptance, fellowship and caring that means so much to all our members. Nate also was a regular at the Bethel men s Thursday Breakfast Club better known as the ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out) Group. Grateful for a life. Along with his family Barbara and his children, Nate III (Chip), Henry (Hank) and Pamela the Bethel family gives tribute on this special holiday to a life that enriched us all. Editor s Note: Nate s mother appears in the book Count Them One by One by Gordon A. Martin, Jr. about a Mississippi civil rights trial which fundamentally reshaped liberty and the South.

2 Bethel United Methodist Church 2018 Actual Budget % total Income Weekly Giving $193,395 $187, % Crafters $4,000 $1, % All Others $21,257 $11, % Total Inc. $218,652 $199, % Expense Pastorial Support $80,796 $81,596 99% Staff salaries & exp. $32,968 $36,346 91% Apportionments $27,290 $27, % Oper./Programs $74,256 $69, % Total Exp. $215,310 $214, % Income/(loss) $3,342 -$14,970 Fund balances 12/31/18 Rockwood bank General $82,629 Parsonage sale $33,447 Rockwood bank Capital $58,997 Rockwood bank Memorial $11,280 Edward Jones $9,652 Sub total undesignated $196,005 Designated for Youth United Methodist Found. $31,619 As of 9/30/18 Total $227,624 Bethel Debt Wall loan -$80,985 Capital Campaign Notes -$52,500 Net Fund Balance $94,139 Notes: December YTD Actuals % District apportionments paid % Conference apportionments paid. 3. $1,698 other gifts paid to Conference. 4. Other gifts: Circle of Concern $2,833 & Boy Scout 456 $ Closed Quilters ($2.220) & Choir ($1,1120) accounts to General Fund. 6. $3,418 P&I paid on 2016 Wall loan

3 If you planted HOPE Today in any hopeless heart If someone s burden Was lighter, because You did your part If you caused a Laugh that chased Some tears away If tonight, Your name Is named When Someone Kneels To Pray Then Your day Has Been Well Spent!

4 Cookie Walk a Success! No surprise that Bethel s annual Cookie Walk and Christmas Boutique was a success, as always. Bethel bakers brought beautiful trays of homemade cookies and candy for the sale. Shoppers were lined up at the door long before 9 a.m. to get the best selection. Barb Jacobs (center) was chairperson this year. She is pictured with Diane Koonce, and Sheila Olive looks on. To Our Bethel Family, Thank you for enriching and blessing our lives for another year. Your friendship, generosity, and love truly allow us to catch glimpses of our Lord. This Church has done more for us than you ll ever know. We wish there were words to express how grateful, humbled, and honored we feel to be able to serve alongside of you these past years. God be with you and bless you in the coming year, and may it be the most memorable yet. Stan & Goggie

5 Soul Food Bethel s Enduring Ministry of Fellowship Just before 7:30 each Sunday morning a two-member team of fellow Bethel members meet in the church kitchen to get the coffee going and start whipping up a hot breakfast that will be served from 8:30 to just before church starts at 9:25. Friendly Fellowship. As people begin to arrive, a table fills up, coffee and good food bring out lively conversation: a good hunting or fishing story or two, sharing church news and what s been going on during each other s week. It is always a welcome sight to see families like the three-generation George and Arlene Gaehle family; Inez Kroenung and her son Joe and others. New visitors to the church and guests are always welcome. Carla DeSalme sums it up this way: Breakfast together deepens our bonds with each other. Ten Years and Counting. Perhaps most remarkable, it is estimated this project has been going each Sunday for at least 10 years. The idea had some precedent in the Easter breakfast served between Sunrise Service and regular worship hour. But the seeds of the current idea of breakfast before regular church service were planted-- according to Pastor Len s best recollection--when then member Steve Pautz mentioned the difficulty of getting their two little boys fed, dressed and the family off to church on time. The Administrative Board at the time voted approval of the Sunday morning breakfast on the hope that it would motivate more families with children to come to church and Sunday school. Getting It On the Griddle. Former members Stuart and Margaret Meiron volunteered and took on the task originally. When they faced a transfer in his work, they started recruiting teams to take over the breakfast service and wrote up procedures for each task. The Current Team Rosters 1st Sunday Dave Strickland and Mike Lantz 3rd Sunday Gary Hayes & Angie Strickland 2nd Sunday Carla DeSalme & Alison Verbeck

6 Soul Food (cont.) 4th Sunday Camden Family (Rick, Diana & Jacob) 5th Sunday Sheila Olive Couldn t catch her working! The teams split up duties with each doing their part separately and sharing the grill when needed. After-breakfast duties include scouring the grill and general clean-up. When supplies need restocking, teams leave a note for Gary Hayes, who takes care of that. A basket for voluntary donations is on the serving table and helps defray the costs. Menu Traditions. First Sundays feature sausage, biscuits and gravy along with the traditional pancakes. On the other Sundays there are always pancakes and sausage with regular and sugar-free syrup. But then there are surprises--delicious switch-ups--that range from French toast, to scrambled eggs, potatoes, cheese grits, breakfast casserole, or crisp grilled bacon. Coffee (regular and decaf) and orange juice round out the menus. The occasional 5 th Sunday, known as Pastry Sunday, offers an assortment of bagels and donuts to enjoy. Thanks! A word the teams find nice to hear. So all together now: Thank you!

7 REMEMBRANCES On Christmas Eve, our chancel area contained beautiful red poinsettias that were purchased In Memory or In Honor of the following people: In Memory of. Richard Agolia My sister, Sherry Baltimore Earl & Verda Nell Bartman Mazie & Fred Baugus My son, Terry Daub My parents, Edna & Darrel Foster Rhoda Fraser Donna Guentz Virginia Hurt Viola & Ray Kreider Harvey Kroenung & Loved Ones Bill & Anna L. Phipps Ethel Rue David Strickland, Jr. Linnie Strickland Mildred, Clarence & Leroy Tillock Ron Watson In Honor of. Stan & Goggie Sween Bethel UMC s Praise Team From. Ruth Agolia Chylene Daub Jan Allerdissen Jim & Judy Baugus Chylene Daub Shirley Giebel Scott & Tracey Rue Ron Guentz Chris Hogan Jim & Judy Baugus Inez Kroenung P. Louella Phipps Scott & Tracey Rue Angie Strickland Angie Strickland P. Louella Phipps The Watson Family Jean, Patti, Phil, Randy, Lynn and Derek From. Tom & Elaine Hellweg Tom & Elaine Hellweg Circle of Concern, a food pantry in Valley Park that we love to partner with, received $560 in donations made In Honor or In Memory of the following people: In Memory of. Richard Agolia Leota Atwell Ron Durbin Harvey Krueger Maxine Palmer Joyce Pratt John Snider John Snider Our Parents Our Parents From. Cathy, Rick, & Randy Agolia Harry Lee Atwell, Cindy Atwell & Ruth Anne Krueger The Ron Durbin Family Ruth Anne Krueger, Harry Lee Atwell & Cindy Atwell P. Louella Phipps Horace Pratt The Fishback Family Bethel Friends Ruth Anne Krueger & Harry Lee Atwell Dennis & Sharon Coogan In Honor of. All Cancer Patients & Survivors The Kirk Hellweg Family The Bradley Smith Family From. Chuck & Sandy Couch Tom & Elaine Hellweg Tom & Elaine Hellweg

8 Bethel Men s Club Annual Pancake and Sausage Supper February 16, p.m. Call the church office to pre-order sausage and/or scrapple! BETHEL S GOVERNING BOARD 2019 Judy Baugus Ron Guentz Suzi Hladky Carla DeSalme David Strickland Sheila Olive Don Walsh Shirley Giebel Jeff Fothergill Pastor Dan Brown PPR Contact / Lay Member to Annual Conference Trustee Contact Lay Leader Committee on Nominations & Leadership Development Dan Brown Pastor (Chairperson) Sheila Olive Vice-Chair & Class of 2019 (1 year) Jeff Fothergill Lay Leader & Class of 2021 (3 years) Carla DeSalme Class of 2020 (2 years) Treasurer Jim Baugus

9 DATE A/V BREAKFAST GREETERS / USHERS FELLOWSHIP 27-Jan A Strickland The Camden Family 3-Feb G Hayes Dave Strickland & Mike Lantz Brenda Krueger 10-Feb M Muthukumaru Carla DeSalme & Alison Verbeck Ruth Anne Krueger & Bert Foster Sheila Olive & Chuck Hoker 17-Feb C DeSalme Gary Hayes & Angie Strickland Jim & Judy Baugus 24-Feb A Strickland The Camden Family Don & Roberta Verbeck 3-Mar G Hayes Dave Strickland & Mike Lantz Brenda Krueger Ruth Anne Krueger & Katie Schuch 10-Mar M Muthukumaru Carla DeSalme & Alison Verbeck Ruth Anne Krueger & Bert Foster Sheila Olive & Chuck Hoker 17-Mar C DeSalme Gary Hayes & Angie Strickland Jim & Judy Baugus 24-Mar A Strickland The Camden Family Don & Roberta Verbeck Greeter/Ushers & Fellowship Help needed! Can you serve once per quarter?

10 Bethel United Methodist Church Manchester Road Wildwood, MO Jan. Feb. News! Bethel United Methodist Church 8:00 8:30 a.m. Contemporary Issues Group 8:30 9:00 a.m. Breakfast Served 9:25 10:30 a.m. Worship 10:30 10:45 a.m. Fellowship Love God, Love Others, Serve All! 10:45 11:45 a.m. Additional Small Groups