A Monthly Publication of Zion United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 May 2016 Volume 35 Our Mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Our Vision is to be a vibrant community of passionate believers who, in the love of Christ, will commit to know the needs of the communities around us in order to: CONNECT people with God, GROW people in their faith, & SERVE people s needs. Zion s Staff All Members, Ministers Laura Nothdurft, Youth Director Opal Shanks, Children's Coordinator Pam Reynolds, Administrative Assistant Jamie Sepulvado Director of Music Ministries Brenda Neumeyer, Choir Accompanist & Organist Lucas Shanks, Video & Sound Tech Ken Phelps, Custodian Joel Kidwell, Pastor A Monthly Publication of Zion United Methodist Church Number 5 On April 16, 2016, together, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the Moria refugee camp in the city of Mytilene on the Greek Island of Lesbos. That prior sentence is a big deal. This was a co-pastoral visit by two men whose religious bodies they lead Bartholomew is the head of the Orthodox Church and Francis is the head of the Catholic Church excommunicated each other in the year Even so, as Christians, as pastors, and as leaders, they went to visit the mostly-muslim refugees who are living in desperate situations in the camp after risking everything to find safety and a future outside of wartorn Syria. This picture of them with a baby just makes me rejoice to the tip of my toes! I believe these two, I ll call them Bart and Frank, were displaying God s heart of radical, borderless love. Deuteronomy 10:17-19 says, For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. And, of course, Jesus teaches us, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:730). As someone who confesses Jesus as my Savior, puts my whole trust in His grace, and promises to serve Him as my Lord, I believe that when Jesus says all he means all. So why do we show contempt for His commandment to love by putting up borders? The borders I m talking about can be as simple as a thought during our Greeting Time like, I m not sure I know whether that s a new person or not so I ll just greet people I know Or, borders can be as complex (and perhaps as fanciful?) as in, We are going to build a wall on the border and have Mexico pay for it! Or, I excommunicate you! followed by, Oh yeah? Well I excommunicate YOU! (There you have it Pastor Joel s simple teaching on the Great Schism of 1054 ) But I digress. Back to Frank and Bart in the 21st Century: If they can show us how folks who profess to follow Jesus are supposed to live without borders, but instead demonstrate a very centered-upon-and-from-christ way-of-being in the world, who are we to draw lines? Indeed: Francis even took Twelve refugees home with him! So I am grateful for Bart s and Frank s witness. Will they be able to reverse almost 1,000 years of church separation? I pray that they re on their way. For now, their setting aside their differences while jointly reaching out in Jesus Name reminds all Christians that we are called first to center our lives on God s love, and from that center, second, to reach out to others all others constantly showing and proclaiming the love of God made known in Jesus Christ. Simple teaching. Often hard to do. But here s the deal: Living without borders with our lives centered upon Christ is our Call, and with the Spirit s powerful help, we can do it.

2 Z i o n N e w s Page 2 Our Church Bell Our church bell was installed in our present sanctuary between 1884 and Since then, I figured it has been rung on over 7,200 Sundays. It was also rung on other occasions, too, which I say more later. Bells have been around since around 3,000 years before Jesus time (BC). Their first existence has been traced to the Yangshao culture in China. These bells were made from pottery. Metal bells were not created until about 2,000 BC. Catholic Bishop Paulinus ( A.D.) of Nola introduced church bells in Christian worship in 400 A.D. Nola is a small town in Southwest Italy. Catholic Pope Sabinianus sanctioned its use in 604 A.D. The world s oldest bell was donated by Despot Alexius Slav to the Melnik, Bulgaria metropolitan church. It is dated and is on display at the Sofia National Museum of History. Our denominations' oldest church building is St. George s in Philadelphia, built in 1763 by another denomination and purchased by Methodists in 1769, and the oldest Methodist church west of the Mississippi, Old McKendree Chapel, on the east side of Jackson, built in 1819, do not have bells! The oldest continuous organized Methodist church (1789) and building (1816) in new England, Rehoboth, Lakeville, Connecticut, does have a bell, so gets the prize of the first bell in our denomination. Now, to our church. Our bell has been rung up through the years as a way of providing information about our community. Besides being rung for a church service, it also signaled a church member s death. When the custodian found out about a death, it was his duty to ring the bell. Our bell can be heard for a long way. It was rung as a way of telling the person s age, one toll for each year. Then the people would call someone to find out who died and/or listen in on the party telephone line. On the day of the funeral, the bell would be rung until all attendees had reached the church property. After the service, the bell would be tolled while the grave was being closed. On Sunday mornings the bell was rung 30 minutes before the service and at the time of the service. Today, it is rung at 8 and 10:30 a.m. For many years the bell was rung at midnight, New Year s Eve and at many weddings. Rev. Lyle Johnston (Sources: Church Bell, Marching to Zion , p. 139; Frank Tucker, Old McKendree Chapel, (1959; 1984); Fred Day III, of St. George s not having a bell; Jean McMillen, A Short History of the Rohoboth Methodist Church in Lakeville, Ct. (2006) lakevilleumcct.org; Church Bells, and Paulinus on Wikepedia.com website.) Connect Dear Friends, Do we want Cup of Fellowship to continue? How can we make it easier? Perhaps you might say: "I would like to make my famous brownies on May 22" Or "I could bring strawberries on May 29." Perhaps I could bring my child's favorite cookie. "Label and date it for the freezer. We could begin signing up for partial help. YES! The Connect Committee could use some help. Thank you. May Friendship Day "Finding Grace at the Table" Friday, May 6th New McKendree United Methodist Church, 225 S High, Jackson, MO. Beginning at 6:00 p.m. with a meal. Cost $5.00. We rejoice as we gather on May Friendship Day to celebrate friendships around the table with women of all ages and interests. We recognize that when we gather at the table we will find God's Grace. May Friendship Day is an annual observance " to strengthen a growing sense of unity, the joy of Christian fellowship and the power of Christianity in the day of need." Church Women United invite you to the celebration of May Fellowship Day. Great Gordonville Giveaway This year's Great Gordonville Giveaway will be August 13th. The first planning meeting for this year's event will be Wednesday, May 11th from 6-

3 Z i o n N e w s Page 3 7:00. If you would like to help plan this year's event, please plan to attend. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Kevin Denton at Kevin Denton SEMO Food Bank Workday Come help volunteer at the SEMO Food Bank! Zion has signed up for a workday on Saturday, May 21, from 9:00 am until noon. We ll meet at 8:00 at church to carpool down together. We re hoping that, being a weekend and school just getting out, we ll have more volunteers than ever before! We ll be packing boxes of donated food to distribute to families in Southeast Missouri counties. Past volunteers have described it as a fun experience while getting to serve those in our local areas. An assembly line is formed. Teams pack for about an hour and a half, take a break, pack some more, and usually go to eat lunch together to enjoy some fellowship afterwards. We re planning to invade Lambert s this time around! Volunteers need to be 10 years old or older and wear close-toed shoes. *In case you ever volunteer another time, the typical age minimum is 15 years old. We got an exception for this trip.* There will be a sign-up sheet in the Disciple Center lobby. Several youth hope to attend, so we ll also need some help with additional transportation. Please plan to join us! Jackson Ministerial Alliance (JMA) Food Pantry You can help out in two ways: donating food or money and donating your time. If you would like to donate your time, the pantry is open on Mondays from 9-11 am and 1-3 pm and on Thursdays from 1-3 pm. You may be asked to help clients fill their boxes or stock shelves. If you would like to donate food items, they are in need of canned soups and vegetables, Hamburger Helpers, cereals (hot and cold), flour, sugar, oil, dry pastas, laundry soap, dish soap, toilet paper, bleach and paper towels. If you feel led to help the Jackson Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry and have more questions, Ron Abernathy and Milton Kasten are great people to contact. Please consider giving as the summer months are quickly approaching and the kids who usually eat at school will be home for lunch. Fortunately for most of us, our pantries have plenty of groceries. They may not contain that special treat, but we have plenty to eat. Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone in our local community and you have the opportunity to help. The JMA Food Pantry serves residents of Jackson and Cape County. It does not receive any federal assistance and relies on donations from area churches and community members to keep the shelves stocked.

4 Zion News May 2016 Page 4 SE District Mission Team Benefit Concert Sunday, May 8, 2016, 6:00 pm at Wesley United Methodist Church Free Will Offering Contact Jeff & Anita Hahs at or Date Worship 8:00 10:30 Total # Reached In month Sunday School , Budget Trustees Sunday School 3/27 158* / , , / , / , Building Fund Pastor s Discretionary Fund: $502.00; Communion Rail (Feed My Starving Children): $464.35; Food Pantry: $50.00; Feed My Starving Children: $100.00; Heart for Africa: $20.00; *Attendance includes Sunrise Service

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7 Z i o n N e w s Page 7 Your kids are invited to experience the sights, sounds smells, and tastes of a unique culture at Expedition Norway VBS, where kids discover how much God loves the world. Expedition Norway is a whole new environment filled with incredible Bible-learning adventures, cultural experiences, team-building games, unique treats, and cool faith-building songs all amazing standout activities that help faith grow in real life. (Since everything is hands-on, kids might get a little messy. Be sure to send them in play clothes and safe shoes (NO SAN- DALS OR FLIP FLOPS!). Plus, we ll help kids discover how to see evidence of God in everyday life, something we call God Sightings. Get ready to hear that phrase a lots! Dates: July 10-July 14 Time: 5:00 8:20 p.m. Registration/Gathering: 5:00 p.m. Meal: 5:30 p.m. Activities: 6:20 8:20 p.m. Parents Invited Nursery Available/Provided Opening and Donations of Canned Food for Jackson Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry at 6:00 p.m. Contact Jack Johnson or Opal Shanks for More Information Jack Johnson Phone: or Opal Shanks Phone:

8 NON-PROFIIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 226 CAPE GIRARDEAU MO ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED 3652 State Highway Z Gordonville, MO Sunday School: 9:15 Worship: 8:00 & 10:30 Phone Fax Pastor Joel s cell Web site: Church zionumc@showme.net Pastor Joel s cydwel@icloud.com Become a Friend of Zion: Zion United Methodist Church (Gordonville) This is a great way to keep up with what s going on at Zion.