The E-pistle. February Worship Themes. Sunday, February 5 5 th Sunday after the Epiphany Holy Communion

Transcription

1 The E-pistle ST. PAUL S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FEBRUARY 2017 February Worship Themes Sunday, February 5 5 th Sunday after the Epiphany Holy Communion Matthew 5:13-20 Don t Hide Your Salt Under a Bushel Sunday, February 12 6 th Sunday after the Epiphany Scout Sunday Matthew 5:21-37 That Was Then, This Is Now Sunday, February 19 7 th Sunday after the Epiphany Matthew 5:38-48 Recognition and Reward Sunday, February 26 Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday Pastor Lisa Brown Luke 15:11-32 The Forgiving Father

2 Mark s Missive 2017 is a year of changes. Our country has a new administration. We are entering into a new quadrennium in The United Methodist Church, with a new Book of Discipline and a new leader Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño is a year of milestones for me. Laura and I will celebrate thirty years of marriage in June. Also in June, as I complete 4 decades as a clergy member of this annual conference, I will retire at this year s session. I have received a paycheck from one United Methodist Church or another every month for going on 43 years, and I m pleased to be able to say that the first one and the last one will be from the same church. I am excited to work through this transition with the Staff-Parish Relations Committee, Chaired by Kit Oase, and with our District Superintendent, Rev. Debra Brady, as St. Paul s prepares to welcome enthusiastically its next appointed pastor. Blessings, Mark Wharff Pastor LETTER FROM STAFF-PARISH RELATIONS COMMITTEE We give thanks for the many years of love and service that Mark has given in ministry generally, but particularly here at St. Paul s. He has helped us focus on the challenges of living our faith in the public square. He is a person of many talents and these will be readily missed. Within the Methodist Church, the final decision related to the appointment of a new senior pastor rests with our Bishop Minerva Carcano. This is a time of transition. During the next several months we will continue our work here at St. Paul s, we will celebrate Mark s, and Laura s gifts of time, talent and witness to our congregation and we will prepare for the transition to a new pastor. Generally, changes in ministry are announced at the CA-NV Annual Conference that is held in June, sometimes earlier. Our District Superintendent, Debra Brady, and the Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) are in the process of comparing notes on our needs here at St. Paul s. Already, we have asked members at our all church meeting last Sunday to identify skills, qualities and needs that the church community finds to be of importance. You are welcome to contact me directly at St. Paul s with your thoughts and ideas by (kitoase@stpaulsmanteca.org), or phone ( ). Please do as soon as possible. We want to be as helpful as we can to our District Superintendent, the Bishop s Cabinet and Bishop Carcano in the transition process. In the meantime, we look forward to the next several months of Mark s ministry as he approaches the crossroads of Ministry and Retirement. Blessings to Mark on behalf of everyone at St. Paul s. Kit Oase Lay Leader Chair, SPRC

3 SERVING IN FEBRUARY Coffee Fellowship Feb 5 Feb 12 Feb 19 Feb 26 Feb 5 Feb 12 Feb 19 Feb 26 Volunteers Scholarship Committee Discipleship Committee Wranglers Ushers Bev Casby, Bob Wissel Jim and Jeanne Murchie Glenn & Deanna Phillips Rick & Judy Wentworth Jim Chapple, Evelyn Moore Joel & Susan Groskopf Jerry Hartwell, Kathryn Karnes St. Paul s New Website is now online and it looks fantastic! Check it out at: Thank you to Kit Oase and Chris Cline for all your work on the new website! Feb 1 Andrew Price Feb 5 Betty Buck Feb 12 Gary DiMare Feb 14 Debby Hickey Gene Innerarity Charlie Marshall Feb 15 Katelyn Quaresma Feb 16 Evelyn Moore Bob Pfirmann Feb 21 Hayden Harper Jeanne Murchie Sue Quaresma Feb 22 Anita Handley Karen Tucker Carlos Villanueva Feb 23 Jay Holmes Raeanne Quaresma Feb 24 Barbara Arrington Matthew Weber Feb 26 Ella McChesney FUN * FELLOWSHIP * FOOD Sunday, February 5 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Women & Friends of St. Paul s UMC Please join the United Methodist Women for an indoor Tailgate Party in the Fireside Room. Wear your favorite team jersey (football, baseball, high school, etc.) Any questions, need childcare, or transportation please contact: Pat Kilpatrick (209) or Frona Winter (209)

4 FEBRUARY 2017 Bible Lessons From the Gospel of Luke 5 TH : Communion Sunday (NO KIDS ZONE) 12 th : The Good Samaritan 19 th : The Stories of the Lost 26 th : The Forgiving Father Sunday 10:00 a.m. (All children gather for worship with their families. After the congregation welcomes one another, all children are welcome to attend Kids Zone with the adult leaders.) Kids Zone is an opportunity for children (preschool through 5 th grade) to learn and grow in God s love through prayer, scripture, and hands-on activities. Scout Sunday February 12 10am Scouts, leaders and parents are invited to participate in our Scout Recognition Sunday. St. Paul s United Methodist Church 910 E. North St. / Manteca, CA / Please join us!

5 February 28 6pm Pancake Supper and Silent Auction Personal Prayer Gardens will be sold to enrich the Lenten journey experience for the 2017 season. HOSTED BY: Family Ministry Fund Raiser for 2017 Vacation Bible School When: Friday, March 31, 2017 Where: Bayside@Adventure in Roseville Time: Doors open at 6:30, Concert at 7:30 Price: $20 per ticket (limited tickets reserved) Contact: Kelly Bergman ( ) for tickets Join us for this evening of fun and fellowship! We would like to ride and sit together if possible. If you would like more information or to hear the NEWSBOYS music, visit or Coordinated by Family Ministries

6 Board of Trustees 2016 Year-End Report Dear Congregation, We are so blessed to be part of this loving, forward looking congregation. We Trustees, the business side of the church s organization, the side in charge of the stuff, are blessed to have many hands, many groups, and many donations (tithes, offerings, gifts) that allow the facilities to look so amazing. Members of our congregation remind us that we need to be caretakers of this wonderful piece of God s earth entrusted to us. In an attitude of gratitude, especially to the Memorial Committee, we would like to share a few of the recent projects, both completed and in progress. In the Biblical Garden, a pergola was built with seating and planters, trees were pruned and a few removed, new plants were added and benches under the carob tree with granite were added to make for parents waiting for their preschoolers. The lights in the parking lot were repaired. Lighting was added to the labyrinth. The Fellowship Hall saw the completion of the hanging rails and 24 Bible verses on the walls. St. Paul s sign on the corner of Powers and North was updated. The thermocouple for the boiler was repaired so there is floor heating in the Sanctuary. New welcoming directional signs were placed around the campus and on doors. A new sound operating booth was built in the back of the sanctuary. Carpets have been cleaned. Coming Soon: The entry doors into lobby of Fellowship Hall will be replaced with Handicap accessible entry. Solar panels have been approved for the roof of the Fellowship Hall, and permits are being pulled. The facility had a termite inspection & termites will be dealt with. Security system is being updated under a new service. A mobile shower unit will be coming. Coming a little later after soon : Updating two bathrooms in office. New roof for the Sanctuary! So, in completion of a positive year, we look forward to 2017 with hearts full of God s guidance and grace! Sincerely and with Gratitude, St. Paul s United Methodist Church Trustees Joel Groskopf, Chair Sue Quaresma, Secretary Ed Burroughs Patricia Paulin-Doscher Richard Hoogendoorn Al Lingenfelter Jeanne Pollard Tom Savage Darryl Shaw

7 WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS Creative Commons A 16th edition of John Wesley's Primitive Physick published in London, The following are just a few of Wesley s suggestions: Respectfully submitted by David Bland With all the coughing, sneezing and flu going around I thought maybe it would be helpful to hear what John Wesley has to say about it. In his book, Primitive Physick, the Rev. John Wesley offered the people of his day both an overall preventive approach to health and a long list of remedies for specific ailments -- in all more than 800 prescriptions for more than 300 different disorders. On diet The great rule of eating and drinking is, to suit the quality and quantity of the food to the strength of our digestion; to take always such a sort and such a measure of food as sits light and easy to the stomach. All pickled, or smoked, or salted food, and all high-seasoned, is unwholesome. Nothing conduces more to health than abstinence and plain food, with due labour. For studious persons, about eight ounces of animal food, and twelve of vegetable, in twenty-four hours, is sufficient. Water is the wholesomest of all drinks; quickens the appetite, and strengthens the digestion most. Strong, and more especially spirituous, liquors are a certain, though slow, poison. Malt liquors (except clear small beer, or small ale of due age) are exceeding hurtful to tender persons. Coffee and tea are extremely hurtful to persons who have weak nerves. Tender persons should eat very light suppers, and that two or three hours before going to bed. On exercise A due degree of exercise is indispensably necessary to health and long life. Walking is the best exercise for those who are able to bear it; riding for those who are not. The open air, when the weather is fair, contributes much to the benefit of exercise. We may strengthen any weak part of the body by constant exercise. Thus, the lungs may be strengthened by loud speaking, or walking up an easy ascent; the digestion and the nerves, by riding; the arms and hams, by strongly rubbing them daily. They should frequently shave, and frequently wash their feet. Those who read or write much should learn to do it standing; otherwise it will impair their health. The fewer clothes any one uses, by day or night, the hardier he will be. Remedies for specific ailments A Cough -Every cough is a dry cough at first. As long as it continues so, it may be cured by chewing immediately after you cough, the quantity of pepper-corn of Peruvian bark. Swallow your spittle as long as it is bitter, and then spit out the wood. If you cough again, do this again. It very seldom fails to cure any dry cough. Or, make a hole through a lemon and fill it with honey. Roast it, and catch the juice. Take a tea-spoonful of this frequently. Extreme Fat - Use a total vegetable diet. I know one who was entirely cured of this, by living a year thus: she breakfasted and supped on milk and water (with bread) and dined on turnips, carrots, or other roots, drinking water. The Head-Ache Rub the head for a quarter of an hour. Or, apply to each temple the thin yellow rind of a lemon, newly pared off. The Iliac [Ileac] Passion [i.e., obstructed bowel] - Apply warm flannels soaked in spirits of wine. Or, hold a live puppy constantly on the belly. For one seemingly killed with Lightning, a Damp, or suffocated -Plunge him immediately into cold water. Or, blow strongly with bellows down his throat. This may recover a person seemingly drowned. It is still better, if a strong man blows into his mouth. John Wesley ( ) was not only the founder of Methodism but also wrote widely in other areas of concern. Wesley realized that medicine in England was available just to the wealthy. His aim in Primitive Physick was to bring practical medical advice to workers and others who could not afford private doctors.

8 THE COMMUNICATOR or better known as Dave Bland. 141 million Valentine s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) Over 50 percent of all Valentine s Day cards are purchased in the six days prior to the observance, making Valentine s Day a procrastinator s delight. Research reveals that more than half of the U.S. population celebrates Valentine s Day by purchasing a greeting card. (Source: Hallmark research) Valentine s Day is great for the candy business too. There were 1,241 locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in These establishments employed 43,322 people. California led the nation in the number of such establishments with 136, followed by Pennsylvania with 122. (Source: 515 locations produced nonchocolate confectionary products in These establishments employed 22,234 people. The total value of shipments in 2004 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa products was $13.9 billion. Non-chocolate confectionery product manufacturing, meanwhile, was a $5.7 billion industry. 3,467 Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in Often referred to as candy stores, they are among the best sources of sweets for Valentine s Day. The per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2005 was 25.7 pounds. Candy consumption has actually declined over the last few years; in 1997, each American gobbled or savored more than 27 pounds of candy a year. Presidents Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially called Washington s Birthday by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated on February 22 Washington s actual day of birth the holiday became popularly known as Presidents Day after it was moved as part of 1971 s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present. President's Day never falls on the actual birthday of any American president. Four chief executives George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan were born in February, but their birthdays all come either too early or late to coincide with Presidents Day, which is always celebrated on the third Monday of the month. Love the Lord! Check out this carillon! Major BELL tower. Want to ring a handbell? We ll teach you how! If you can read music, come try something new and different learn how to ring handbells! A bit of tap your head and rub your bellie state of mind, with a whole lot of beautiful music making among an ensemble of crazy, committed folks who St. Paul s Mission Bells meet each Thursday from 6:00-7:00 PM in the music room and play in worship every 4-6 weeks, September through May, or early June. Please contact Mission Bells Director, Lisa Traughber at with questions or say yes, and come check us out. We ll have you ring n in no time!

9 ALL ARE WELCOME and ALL MEANS ALL Ahhh ST. PAUL S UMC MANTICA is a changing. New Directional/room identification Signs, New Handicap door in Fellowship hall, Benches in the Garden, Bible verses in the Gym. Take a little extra time to look around and see ways that St. Paul s is becoming a more fruitful congregation.

10 St. Paul s Preschool Chapel Dates February 16 th & 17 11:30am In the Sanctuary with Pastor Lisa The Good Samaritan Luke 8:8 Do you know your neighbor? Does your neighbor have to live close to you? Jesus teaches the importance of loving our Preschool Registration Early Registration for the 2017/2018 School Year will be open to the St. Paul s congregation on Tuesday, February 21st from 5:30-7:00 PM in the Preschool Office. St. Paul s United Methodist Church 910 E. North Street Manteca, CA office@stpaulsmanteca.org Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors All are welcomed and received in Christ s love.