July, Vol. 22, No. 7 HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

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1 FOR THE JOURNEY July, Vol. 22, No. 7 HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Robbservations Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. - John 14:8-9a Greetings from the road to our 2015 high school youth mission trip to Boulder, Colorado! One of the more challenging expectations that the youth are required to follow during the trip is no electronic devices (adults get to have phones for communication). We do this in order to foster more interaction and build community so the youth have had to get creative and even a bit old school to entertain one another. Today I actually overheard some of our youth playing a game of 20 Questions as they put forth their best efforts to try and figure out what object (animal, vegetable, or mineral) the clue giver had in mind. Sometimes they got it and sometimes it took some extra help. Do you ever feel that way about your relationship with God? Life brings up all kinds of questions for us: good questions, painful questions, scary questions, and great questions. How do we find our sense of place and peace? I believe the answer is found in Jesus response to Phillip, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. If, in the midst of our questions, we take the leap of faith to follow Jesus in our actions and attitudes, the way becomes clear. We see Jesus when we choose love instead of hate, when we use our time, talents and treasure to serve others, when we forgive those who have wronged us and when we seek the ways of peace and justice for all of God s people. The beautiful thing is that we always have the opportunities to do these things every day no matter what other questions are stirring up within us. This week, our 7 youth and 3 adult missionaries have the opportunity to see Jesus by following in his way. We will see lives change, hearts lifted and hope restored among the forgotten and downtrodden people of Boulder. We will have stories to tell about the ways we have seen God s presence. We ll still have questions hopefully even better ones but ultimately it will be about taking the step from where we are to where Jesus calls us to go. Of course, you don t have to go on a mission trip to have such an experience. I know you have questions maybe even 20 or more but even better, you have the Way of Jesus Christ. Follow him, and I promise you will see the Father. Yours in Christ s Mission, Pastor Robb

2 MINISTRY VOLUNTEERS FOR JULY July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 Lay Readers Cyndee Kaiser Anne Allen Janet Carson Joey Bohl Children s Sermon Cheryl Muller Tom Hanrath Anne Allen Sharon Fortune Host Team 9:30 Coffee Fellowship Nursery Volunteers Sara Sessions Barb Teasdale Holiday Weekend No Nursery Greeters 9:30 Joey Bohl Mike & Diane Myers Outdoor Service No Nursery Brad & Sarah Nelson Kay Lee Pat Miller Anne Allen Jennifer Norlander Dan & Carolyn Johnson Ruth & Ray Nyland Anna Nyland Alberto Larabee Kay Lee HOPE CHURCH STAFF Pastor.... SS & VBS Volunteer Coordinator Office Manager... Pianist.. Choir Director Rev. Robb McClintock Renee Marino Betsy Larson Andrea Blaeser John Weiland... FOR THE JOURNEY articles should be submitted to the church office by the 20 th of each month. Contributions are welcome. Connecting with Our Pastor Pastor Robb s office hours are generally 11AM to 3PM, M, W, Th, depending upon other meetings and scheduled appointments. You can also reach him promptly by sending an to (robb_mcclintock@att.net) which he frequently checks or by sending a text to When the situation is less urgent, messages can be left with the church office or his home phone Due to HIPPA privacy laws, our ability to find out when persons are hospitalized is limited so please notify him whenever pastoral care is desired.

3 Preaching the Word Date Text Message 7/5/15 * Mark 6:1-13 Pack Light 7/12/15 Psalm 24 Coming Clean 7/19/15 Ephesians 2:11-22 Best. Gift. Ever! 7/26/15 John 6:1-21 Two Fish and a Food Replicator * Communion Sunday Summer Worship at 9:30 a.m. Outdoor Worship July 12th Bring your favorite lawn chair Monday Evening Bible Study meets every Monday except holidays from 6-7p.m. at Hope. We continue to study the New Testament and everyone is welcome including families. Women's Bible Study will be meeting on July 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. If you have any questions please call Cindy Hanson at July Women s Saturday Gathering. Join us for a fun filled time on July 18 th, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

4 High School Youth Group It is hard to believe it is already summer. The school year went by so fast from a youth group point of view. We are so proud of everything that the High School Youth accomplished this year. It was a busy year for us. Every 1 st and 3 rd Wednesday of the month was Confirmation. We spent time applying teachings of Jesus and putting into context that they youth could relate to. We dove into the bible each session as well as some interesting activities. If you missed out on any of the stories from Confirmation, go to the Hope United Methodist Church facebook page. There are many pictures and videos that will show the great times we shared this year. We had members of the confirmation alumni attend classes show guidance and leadership to the Confirmands. Mitch Froehlich, Jacob Marino, Rachel Gochanour, Ben Gochanour, Grant Curtis and Wyatt Fritz were the 6 youth that we had the privilege of confirming this year. On the 2 nd and 4 th Wednesdays of the month, we participated in youth fellowship. We had a mix of group activities with devotionals relating to the situations they experience in school and in their everyday life. One discussion that comes to mind came from a skit called God s Chisel. The Skit Guys, Tommy and Eddie, showed the everyday struggles we deal with. When we let God chisel away the dead weight that we carry, it can be painful. We are forced to look at ourselves differently. But, it says in Ephesians 2:10 For we are God s workmanship and we must remember that God doesn t make mistakes. God views us as his original masterpiece. Other activities that the youth participated in this year included: Paint war, pizza and a movie with Lake Hallie Youth, Trunk-O-Treat, leaf raking, cookie walk, Christmas program, lock-in, Middle and High School bon fire and kickball night, helping with yard work and the Block Party, where members of the youth group helped hand out flyers around the neighborhood bringing awareness to the event. Besides their activities and outreach, they participated and ran multiple fundraising events to prepare for the mission trip June to Boulder, CO. Such fundraisers included the Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfast, Wednesday Night Lent Meals, Easter Egg Bake Breakfast, Stock Sales, and the Pulled Pork Dinner. Not only were the missionaries heavily involved, but the members of the youth group unable to go on mission trip showed their support by assisting in these fundraiser. Seven youth and three adults from Hope are participating in the mission trip: Pastor Robb McClintock, Dan Drinkman, Allie Athas, Dustin Drinkman, Josh Marino, Harley Smalstig, Mitch Froehlich, Jacob Marino, Chloe Hite and Linnea McClintock. We are planning to do our Stockholder Event on Sunday July 26 th following service. Remember to bring your stock certificate to gain entrance. We want to send Congratulations and Best Wishes to our two Graduating Seniors: Dustin Drinkman and Josh Marino. Your leadership this year was amazing and you will be greatly missed. We know you both will do amazing things in this world. We want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone from the Hope UMC and the friends and family of our youth and leaders. This year would not have been so successful without your prayers and support. We can t wait to see what next year brings. Blessings, Pastor Robb, Allie and Sarah

5 Lawn Mowing at Hope Summer is here and the grass is green and growing at Hope. We are in need of some volunteers to mow the lawn. You need to be at least 21 years of age to use the equipment. A rider and push mower are provided in the garage. If you would like to donate money for gas, please designate it on an envelope and place in the offering plate. See clipboard to sign-up for week to mow. If you have any questions please contact Ed Gumbert at or any Trustee. Thank you for help keeping the Hope yard trimmed. Please save your Empty (not-previously re-filled) cartridges for Hope! Please do not throw your empty inkjet or laser cartridges in the trash! We have a way to turn those cartridges in to cash. We can earn up to $2.50 on each of your empty (not previously re-filled) inkjet cartridges, and up to $8 for your laser cartridges. Simply place your empty cartridges in the basket on the Hope in a minute Wall. Please help us out in by the following ways: Bring you used cartridges to Hope Ask Co-workers to bring their empty cartridges to work for you Ask your employer to consider donating their empty cartridges to our organization Thank you for supporting and participating in this most worthwhile program. Seniors Group The very first gathering of Seniors of Hope met Tuesday, June 16th at 10:00 a.m. We opened with a prayer of thanksgiving and asked for guidance for the activation of this senior group; Those in attendance were Elsie, Janet, Susie, John, Lamar, and Sara. We had light conversation, shared ideas for the group and companionship. We have some suggestions on a name for our group, but no decisions were made. We did not go out for lunch this time due to the fact that a lot of us were going to be back at the church at 4:00 p.m. for the neighborhood meal and distribution of lunches. We had some Ole and Lena fortune cookies to share and got a chuckle from. Our next meeting is scheduled for July 14th at 10:00 a.m. in the church library. Bring something to share, whether it is serious, funny, safety tips for aged, or whatever has been an inspiration to you the past month. Our group is a very relaxed gathering. A time for sharing, caring, and companionship. If you are over 55, please join us.

6 Last Circuit 7 Day of Mission Well the Day Of Mission is fast approaching! Have you turned in your registration form yet? There is still time! If you want a cool blaze orange t-shirt, which I'm pretty sure will be a collectors item because it will be the last Circuit 7 Day of Mission, you need your registration in NO LATER than July 9th. Yes you read that right! This year will be the last CIRCUIT 7 Day of Mission. Our circuit will be dividing up and we'll see what happens next year but for this year GET YOUR REGISTRATION FORMS TURNED IN! We have been doing a Day of Mission for 9 years now and the very first one had about 120 participants and from then on we have had fewer and fewer volunteers? Last year we have had about 1/2 that amount! Why is that? I really don't have an answer for that but I would like to see our last Day of Mission be our most abundant with people coming from all the 17 churches in our circuit. Yes I said 17 churches! I really believe that there isn't any reason we can't have at least 150 volunteers this year! We have a project for everyone! In the past we've had kids as young as 5 and adults well into their 80s participate. Why aren't you? This is great local opportunity for YOU to show God's love, witness, and fellowship with friends old and new. The Day of Mission is on July 25th. We will start with breakfast at 8am at Jim Falls UMC. After breakfast we will work hard for several hours in Chippewa, Cadott, New Auburn, Jim Falls, Anson, and Holcombe. Then we'll celebrate the last Circuit 7 Day of Mission with a fellowship supper at 5pm at Holcombe UMC. Please come and make this a great day of showing God's love to our communities. Beacon Volunteers Needed Beacon House Volunteers Needed...We will be serving at Beacon House (Interfaith Hospitality Network) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, July We are in need of servers, food providers, evening hosts and overnight volunteers. If you are interested, please sign up at the Ministry Opportunities area, sign up online at (NEW and no log in needed) or contact Joey Bohl at or gibbonje@uwec.edu. Supper is served each night at 5:30 p.m., and servers are encouraged to eat with the guests. Evening hosts hang out with the guests from 7-8:30 p.m. - bring your family and games to spend time with families. Just sit and chat with people. We are also in need of overnight volunteers: volunteers sleep overnight from 8:30 p.m. - 7:30 a.m. If you would like to pair up with an experienced volunteer and join us in this fantastic opportunity, contact Joey. Musical Talent You Could Share? The worship committee is looking for those with musical inclinations to share their gifts with us during worship this summer. Please let Pastor Robb know or see the sign-up sheet in the hall and pick a Sunday or two when you are available and willing. We are looking for all ages and all talents (instrumental or vocal).

7 REGISTRATION FORM (ONE FORM PER FAMILY) August 9th-12th Youth/Child s Name Grade entering for school year Age 1: 2: 3: 4: Parents Mother s Name: Phone number Father s Name: Phone number Do you give permission for photographs of the youth/child named above, taken at Hope UMC to be used for displays within the church, for advertising of church programs within the community, or on the church web-site or social media? (Please circle one) YES NO There are various opportunities to volunteer for before and during the week of VBS this year. Would you like to be contacted and hear how you can help? YES NO In case of emergency, who should we contact if parents cannot be reached? Please provide name, phone number & relationship to child/youth: Allergies or other medical conditions: Home church: Name of special friend your child might like to be with: Forms can be returned to: Hope U.M.C, Attn: VBS, 2233 Golf Road, Eau Claire, WI *2 weeks prior to VBS you will receive a confirmation letter with more information. Any questions please call: or

8 Vacation Bible School, Evenings- August 9 th -12 th Camp Discovery Jesus at work through us. Join us August 9 th -12 th for our fun filled week on our Journey to camp. Come Discover God s Plan and Purpose. Our Goal this year is to have 35 children attend, in 2014 we had 24 children that attended. Please help us outreach to reach this goal! Register now so we have a head count for all activities. Children age 4-5 th Grade are welcomed to attend. There is no registration fee, but free will donations are always welcomed. Registration forms are available on the wall in the main entrance. Please see Clipboards at Hope on how you can be a part of this adventure to Camp Discovery! Volunteer Help is still needed during the week of VBS. There are many ways that you can be involved. Here are some of the positions that need to be filled yet: -4 Adults as Camp Leaders (guide the children in groups of approx. 8 or less) -4 Youth as shepherds with the Camp Leaders -1 adult to lead the mission project for the week Children attending VBS We are asking each child to save any loose change to go towards our local mission project. Theme Color each night This year we ask that the children to wear certain color shirt each night. List of colors will be in the confirmation letter that will be mailed 2 weeks prior to VBS. Donations needed We have various donation needs please keep checking the clipboards for a list. One great need is -Empty toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes for a craft project. Please place any donations in the tent at the main entrance. Items to borrow: We are looking for any decorations that would accent the theme of the Camp Adventure. Any Greenery (plastic or live plants), any camping gear, backpacks and any toy camping gear are welcomed. Also, any stuffed animals like bears, squirrels, owls, birds & etc. *Please make sure to put your name on anything that you want returned. We will need some food donations for the week. Monetary donations are welcomed. We will list specific food items on camels-see Moses Tent of needs. Invite your family, friends and neighbors to Vacation Bible School. All are welcomed!

9 Volunteers in Mission September 27 th - October 2 nd Camp Lucerne This is a beautiful time to be at Lake Lucerne in central Wisconsin, moderate temperate days and cool nights are ideal work and fellowship times as we support this WI Conference Camp. Projects include painting roofing, carpentry, winter camp preparations and cleaning of the 50 plus buildings on the camp site. The jobs are plentiful for all skill levels and ages. We encourage you to come and share the beauty of this camp. We gather Sunday evening for supper and conclude our week Friday after lunch. Come for the entire week or a portion the week. Accommodations are provided by the camp, as we are housed in Ridgecrest lodges which are modern and comfortable. Cost is $ includes lodging, meals, work supplies and a donation to camp. Registration Deadline is August 27 th to insure adequate planning. This is an excellent experience for 1 st time VIMer s! (Deposit is $25 with the registration form available in the Hope UMC office. Checks should be made out to WAC/VIM Camp.) Registrar: Sister Ann Catherine Veierstahler, 7350 S. Lovers Lane Road Apt. 350, Franklin, WI Phone srann@desktopangel.com Work Site Leader: John Draggs, Spring Valley Road, Fennimore, WI Phone Jdraggs@tds/net SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS FOR JULY Renee Marino-Hope UMC Sunday School Volunteer Coordinator Thank you to all of our Sunday School and Youth Leaders. You are a guide to our future leaders of this church. From the Christian Education committee and me, we really appreciate the time you gave for the children and youth. Concordia s Camp Discovery is our theme for Vacation Bible School this summer. VBS will be Evenings: August 9 th -12 th, Sunday - Wednesday evenings this year! No registration fee, but free will donations are welcomed. Registration forms are available on the Hope in a minute wall. Looking to be a volunteer? Please see Clipboards at Hope or contact me on how you can be a part of this ministry at Hope this summer. Volunteers can be as young as 6 th grade. There is an ongoing donation list, please see clipboards. July Birthdays Jacob Marino. July 6 th Megan Hu....July 20 th Have a Blessed safe summer!

10 Please help us welcome the newest members to Hope United Methodist Church: Through Confirmation on May 17, 2015 Grant Curtis Wyatt Fritz Mitchell Froehlich Ben Gochanour Rachel Gochanour Jacob Marino Through Transfer or Affirmation of Faith Mike and Cindy Clauson Susie Erickson Kellie and Josh Shaffer Mike and Nancy Troyan Baptism Dalton, Owen and Delaney Shaffer Congratulations Recent Graduates! High School Nate Broughton Dustin Drinkman Joshua Marino College Katie Froehlich Jessica Gumbert Advanced Degrees Kelly Keisler Outdoor Worship Service: July 12 Bring your camp chair and join us for an outdoor service on Sunday, July 12, at 9:30 a.m. We will be gathering on the west side of the church, off the lower level door. Afterwards join us for a smore s gusboard by the campfire. (Marshmallows and graham crackers will be provided. Sign-up for chocolate or another special ingredient on the clip board in the hall.) In the case of inclement weather the service and sharing of smore s will be indoors.

11 Outdoor Worship Service, Aug. 2: Bring your camp chair and join us for an outdoor service on Sunday, Aug. 2, at 9:30 a.m. We will be gathering on the west side of the church, off the lower level door. Come fill your heart with Jesus. Stay for the Hole service. Do nut miss it and afterwards join us for a holey treat. In the case of inclement weather the service and donut holes after will be indoors. Greetings family and friends of Hope. Three and a half years ago Hope UMC partnered with me and a non-profit organization It Can Be Done helping develop sustainable clean water solutions for the people of Uru East in Tanzania. Since I travelled to Kilimanjaro we have seen great expansion in the project. Having a plentiful deep water well that is serving over 2,500 men, women and children right now. The water is pumped to 2 cisterns that have been built and secured. From the cistern pipes were laid by the people living in the villages to deliver water to a public kiosk. The kiosk is open 2 times per day for water distribution. These kiosks employ individuals that track water usage and collect a small fee for the water. This source of clean water has had a significant impact on the lives of the people of Uru, and especially the women and children. No longer needing to walk for hours every day the women and children are now free to pursue other opportunities. Women are able to work and help provide income for their families. Young girls and children are free to do what children should do, play and go to school. We have also noted a significant reduction in water borne illnesses. The people of Uru are currently laying pipes to bring water to the local church and to the only medical clinic in Uru East. Our next phase is the development of an additional water source which has been identified. Our long term goal is to bring water to all of the 15,000 people living in Uru. A mission/adventure trip is available for anyone interested in January See additional information and the flyer in the Fellowship lounge. And yes I am going again. Please share this wonderful opportunity to travel and meet the people of Uru. I would love to talk to you about the upcoming trip or how you can help this project. Lee Ann Richards; richardsleeann@hotmail.com; Please visit our website at

12 Electronic Giving: Fast, Easy, & Secure Support the work of Hope United Methodist Church through Electronic Giving. Have your weekly or monthly contribution debited from your checking or savings account and transferred directly into Hope s account safely and electronically. Contact Betsy at the church office for an authorization form.

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