Isn t it crazy to think that this time last year, you were celebrating farewell dinners for Harry and Marilyn while preparing to welcome a new pastor

Transcription

1 Isn t it crazy to think that this time last year, you were celebrating farewell dinners for Harry and Marilyn while preparing to welcome a new pastor to Wesley? And now we are getting close to the one-year anniversary of my starting as your pastor. It is crazy how quickly a year flies by, but I am incredibly grateful for all the amazing ways God has been at work in and through our church family. So much of my first year at Wesley has been filled with a lot of learning. It has been filled with getting to know the congregation, learning names, and understanding the unique culture of this church. There have been bumps along the way, but also tons of opportunities for laughter and love. As thankful as I am for this past year of learning, I am really looking forward to visioning and setting some goals for Wesley UMC. Like many of you, I believe Wesley is a wonderful church, but I also believe Wesley has so much potential to grow as we continue to adapt to meet the changing needs of the community around us. The whole process of visioning and goal-setting is rooted in prayer and listening for how God is leading our church forward. And I want to invite the whole congregation to join me in this process join me in praying about how God is calling Wesley to love and serve the community around us. Join me in dreaming about new ministries or missions we could try out or create. But don t do all of this without also thinking about how God is calling you to be a part of Wesley s missions and ministries. Because if we want to continue growing as a church, we are going to need everyone to be engaged and involved in the process. Even though Wesley is a small church congregation, that can be a special opportunity. At some mega-churches that have huge attendance numbers each Sunday, when people serve, they are a small part of something big. But here at Wesley, when we serve, we have the opportunity to be a big part of something small. And then we get to see the amazing ways that God blesses and multiplies our seemingly simple and small acts of faith. That is such a sacred and special gift, and I pray that you would all prayerfully consider how God is calling you to be a big part of something small here at Wesley. I can t wait to see how God uses us to transform this church and this community! Blessings,

2 Wesley United Methodist Church Mission Statement: Come join Pastor Sarah from noon to 1:00PM in the Conference Room on Tuesdays. We discuss a variety of themes and topics, but there is always rich discussion. All are welcome and we would love to have you join us! 826 NW 23rd Avenue Gainesville, FL Office: Fax: ! We are on Facebook!!! Pastor s PastorSarah@wumc.cfcoxmail.com Secretary s Terri Manche secretary@wumc.cfcoxmail.com Witness Articles Sharren Gibbs sharren2@cox.net Deadline for articles: 15th of each month Website: Weekly Sunday Activities Sunday School Adult 9:30AM 10:45AM (Sanctuary)

3 Barbara Baldwin Carolyn Clarke Betty Dees Sharren Gibbs Paula Mathis Barb Loehr Clydia Reichert Margaret Singh Lucas Van Alstyne George Winburn Agnes Burke Joan Croft Kay Frazier Marion Holder Pam McCormick Beth Loehr-Moody Beth Senn Polly Teele Lester Wigglesworth Jr Clarence Witt Wow! You all are the greatest. The prayers, visits, phone calls, texts, cards, and sentiments sent through Becky made my time in the hospital and rehab so much easier. Thank you, my church family! Cindy Holmes Singers! The Chancel Choir is in need of more voices can we count on yours? Contact Jim Arnett at We have room for sopranos, altos, tenors and basses, so come on up!

4 3 Adult Class 9:30AM Worship Service 10:45AM Committee Meetings 6:00PM Choir Practice 7:00 PM 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Gainesville, Florida Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Communion Sunday UMW Executive Conference Room Noon Pastor s Class 6:30PM Nightingales Noon Pastor s Class AM Morning Stars Noon Pastor s Class Noon Pastor s Class 6 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 13 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Care Team 20 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Finance 27 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Missions 7 Noon Card Club 6:00PM Sisters in Faith 14 Noon Card Club 21 Noon Card Club 28 Noon Card Club :30 YAHs Cedar River RSVP by 6/

5 Grace Marketplace Since Grace Marketplace opened its doors in 2014, it has become a center of help, healing, and hope in our community. Grace meets its clients where they stand and walks with them toward a better future by providing meals, shelter, and other immediate needs while connecting them with essential services. These services include medical care, job training and skill building, mental health services, and more. Grace makes this possible by providing space on their campus for other community services providers often space that is shared with numerous providers. GRACE offers a wide variety of supportive services, including Intake and referral Substance abuse and mental health counseling Case management Assistance with public benefit signups (food stamps, Medicaid, SSI/SSDI, and SafeLink phones) Showers and restrooms Breakfast and Dinner Outdoor shelter pavilion Storage of personal belongings Clothes closet Help prevent and end homelessness by making a donation toward an immediate need. We ve set up a fund to cover the small expenses that tend to be the tipping point pushing people into homelessness. Things like a flat tire, needing to be able get back to Mom, or having to choose between groceries or rent. Often, households will call looking for emergency shelter before they actually lose their housing. This fund lets us address those issues and prevent households from ever becoming homeless. As much progress as Grace has made, it has not yet reached its full potential. Most pressing, many more local agencies that want to provide services at Grace have no facility in which to do so. To address this deficiency, funds to renovate an existing building into the Community Services Building will significantly expand the agencies that can participate at Grace. Some of the services to be added to the current array include: expanding veterans services; dedicating space for more frequent 12-step meetings; creating a women s safe space where women can meet with domestic violence service providers such as Peaceful Paths; providing room for additional mental health services from Meridian Behavioral Healthcare; and expanding case management offerings by Grace staff and other community providers. For more information, visit

6 SISTERS IN FAITH COOK AT RONALD McDONALD HOUSE On April 8th, the UMW circle Sisters in Faith showed up at Ronald McDonald house with the makin s for barbeque chicken, cole slaw, baked beans, chips, and cake for the residents staying there as they or family members fight cancer. We had to do the cooking there in their kitchen, and the food had to be ready at 6:00 PM. Instead of serving the food, it is made available for a two-hour window so folks come eat whenever they can. Each Sister in the circle sat and ate dinner with the residents, listening to their stories of battling health demons and how much the Ronald McDonald House program helps them. We were all so happy to have helped in our small way, and hope to return with new recipes soon! Cindy, Sandy, Paula, Donna, Nancy, and Sharren behind the buffet line. We will continue to collect your contributions. Our next visit will be for July 4th. Go, red, white and blue!! We have an amazing congregation here at Wesley!!! Love to all. Thank you for all your love. Joyce Welsh

7 The Missions Committee is delighted that Denise Pompili and Kim Harrell have agreed to be in charge of the Birthday Bag Project. This ensures that we can continue with our plans to add Metcalf Elementary to this project. Thanks so much, Kim and Denise! Contributions for the bags can be left in the box in the entryway. We need birthday bags, cake mix, frosting, balloons, candles, and disposable cake pans for these bags. Also, I am so pleased at the response we ve already had to our request for items for the Hope Lodge. I recently delivered pots and pans, blow dryers, food storage containers, and many other items from their wish list. They were blown away by the generous contributions you have made! While I was there I got a tour of the facilities and was very impressed with how they are providing for cancer patients and their families. Our church should feel proud to be helping with this. The Missions Committee will continue to collect articles from their wish list through the end of June so you still have time to participate. A basket is in the narthex for donations. It also lists the things they would like to have donated. We also continue to need non-perishable food for the Bread of the Mighty community food pantry. They especially need canned meats, peanut butter, and healthy vegetables and fruits. This is a continuing ministry that serves a great need in our community. Our BOGO basket in front of the altar is waiting for your contributions. Yours in Christ, Nancy Case, Missions Chair Agape, Nancy Case Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers. It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one. The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close. When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there. Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on the front door forever. Some minds are like concrete; thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

8 We will meet for lunch on June 15 at Cedar River at 11:30 AM. Please RSVP to me or the office by June 10th. We will not meet in July. Blessings, ~Donna June, Becky, Cindy, Donna, Paula, Denise, and Jan enjoy lunch at Applebee s. The Whittlers group has been a big success, with 20 or more people attending each week, both men and women! Join this fun group on Wednesdays at 2:30 PM for conversation, refreshments, and some good ol whittlin! Newbies are welcome, too someone will help you get started on your project. Bandaids available as needed As usual, we always appreciate donations of non-perishable food, end tables, desks, lamps, chairs, cookware, etc. to assist our vets in setting up their own apartments. Jim Harris is heading back to North Carolina for the summer and Danny could use some help! Jim contributed a lot to the group, often bringing food he prepared for the Whittlers. Come join us! Danny Aguila ( )

9 Deepest thanks to everyone who has signed up to provide flowers for the sanctuary I hope you ve noticed them!. Donna Weseman and Sherry Adams honor their families in floral form this month! We only have one month not spoken for next March. Are you the person to finish this project? Give Sharren a call. Just as a reminder, here are the parameters for size: Dimensions: Height 25 (+/- 3) inches including vase Width/diameter: inches The Board of Trustees continues to serve WUMC with the responsibility of keeping God s house and the facilities and grounds in order. Security Systems Co. installed a new fire alarm sensor in the sanctuary s west storage room and a new motion sensor in the back east side of the sanctuary. After several months of investigating the drainage problem at the parsonage the cause and solution has been found. The problem stemmed from the west septic tank and its inability to drain properly. Myers Septic and Well Drilling found the septic tank had completely crumbled due to age and materials used when installed. To solve this and future septic tank issues both septic tanks will be condemned and one big septic tank with all connections and drain field will be installed over the next several weeks. Take heart Pastor Sarah the master bathroom will soon be in working order! The leak in the kitchen ceiling was not a roof leak but a leak around the A/C exhaust stack that goes into the outside wall. The mortar had disintegrated and fallen out creating holes around the stack. Many thanks to Danny Aguila and helper for filling the area with new mortar along with a coat of Flex Seal paint for added water protection. The area will be repainted beige. The four water-stained ceiling tiles in the kitchen have been replaced. Bartley Landscape has trimmed bushes and plants in the garden area and where needed around campus. Also, a number of replacements and repairs have been made as needed around the church facilities such as unplugging toilets, replacing light bulbs, remounting paper holder, and lock repair. Thanks to Cindy Holmes for attending the District Leadership Training Session at Ocala First for Trustees. The Board discussed the highlights of the meeting and are paying special attention to the area of insurance and being in compliance. NEXT SCHEDULED TRUSTEES MEETING: JULY 4 th. Sandy Miller, Chair

10 Storytime in the Park We finished up Storytime in the Park for the summer with an outing to the Splash Pond at Depot Park on Sunday, May 20th. With the weather the way it s been all week, we could have played in splash ponds all over town! Everyone had a great time in spite of the weather. We look forward to continuing this mission next fall with bigger and better lesson plans! Thank you! Children s Church Team This was the best-attended picnic we ve had in years! It was so nice to see everyone. Special thanks to Danny Aguila and Jim Harris for grilling the hamburgers, hotdogs, sausages, and jalapeno poppers to perfection! And also special thanks to Edgar Voyles for providing the hamburgers and hotdogs! And of course, we always need to thank the Kitchen Committee for all of their hard labor. It s a labor of love, though isn t it?

11 What a great crowd we had! Danny and Jim were helped at the grill by assistant cooks Eli and Andrew.

12 LADIES DERBY DAY BRUNCH About 40 Wesley women and their friends and family came together for a Kentucky Derby-themed brunch on Saturday, May 19th. Though the Derby had already been run this year, hats were still in fashion as you can see. Sharren brought her photo studio set-up and took pictures of everyone - here is Pastor Sarah s finished portrait. Each UMW circle contributed to setting up the party and entertaining, preparing chicken salad, pasta salad, and fruit kabobs. Even the dessert of rosedecorated cupcakes highlighted the Derby theme. Sharren called a few spirited games of Derby Bingo - what fun! - and there was also a door prize drawing, won by Robbyn Perkins (here with her mom, Paula Mathis). The entry fee of a bag of carrots was donated to the Retirement Home for Horses in Alachua.

13 6/13 6:00PM Care and Nurture Team 6/20 6:00PM Finance Committee 6/27 6:00PM Missions Committee 1 st Chuck Adams 3 rd Barbara Loehr-Fox 9 th Sam Adams 12 th Bonniesue Humphlett 17 th Robert Loehr June Voyles 19 th Jeffrey Carlin 23 rd Linda Crenshaw 25 th Janis Bishop 26 th Sonya Lynn Crenshaw 27 th Doris Welsh 2 nd Sherry & Chuck Adams 16 th Donna & Gary Weseman FUN AND GAMES Join the Canasta card club at Wesley United Methodist Church! Have fun and meet great people! Invite family and friends, the more the merrier! When: Thursdays, 12:00 Noon (except holidays) Where: Wesley United Methodist Church 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Fellowship Hall Call Harley or Pamela Christensen at for information. We have wonderful members waiting to teach you Hand and Foot Canasta! Card Club Guidelines Bring a sack lunch and beverage if you wish. Please arrive on time if possible. Please help clean up after the games end. Please give us your address and phone number in case of scheduling changes. A sign-up sheet will be passed for volunteers to come at 11:30AM to set up and make coffee.