AWARE. March St. James United Methodist Church. Mailing Label FROM THE PASTOR S DESK

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1 St. James United Methodist Church 100 W. Capitol Drive Appleton, WI Return Service Requested Mailing Label Affix Postage Here ST. JAMES UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Phone: Mark Klaisner, Pastor Margie Trueblood, Children & Youth Ministries Coordinator Andy Lambrecht, Music Director St. James United Methodist Church AWARE FROM THE PASTOR S DESK Dear Friends, During the holy season of Lent, the Church invites all of us to unite ourselves to Jesus through prayer, fasting, sacrificial offerings and works of charity. Our commitment to these acts of devotion reflects our desire to accept the Lord's call to be born again. As we begin this Lenten journey fully aware of our sins and failings, we renew our faith in the power of Jesus to heal us and to transform our lives. This year's Lenten theme at St. James United Methodist Church will be In the Footsteps of Jesus. Our journey will retrace the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. You will be taken to the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized and to the wilderness where he was tempted. You ll see the ruins of ancient Capernaum where Jesus healed the sick. You ll ascend the mountain where he gave his most famous sermon. You ll travel across the Sea of Galilee where he calmed the wind and the waves, and you ll enter Jerusalem where Jesus spent his final days. If you've ever wanted to know more about Jesus Christ, we invite you to join us as we walk "In the Footsteps of Jesus." The Season of Lent calls us to celebrate the reality that God's Spirit dwells within each one of us. It is this Spirit that leads us on a journey of hope and renewal. All of us are on a journey of some kind. The hope of our Lenten Sunday and Mid-Week series is to take us down this road which leads us to the cross and beyond. Town of Nazareth It is my fervent hope and prayer that during the forty days of Lent you will take the opportunity to renew your faith and travel this road with us. Led by the Spirit of God, may you respond to the Lord's call to conversion and may you be filled with many spiritual blessings throughout this sacred time and always. Don t forget to invite your friends and family to share in this sacred time. With prayerful best wishes, I remain Sincerely yours in Christ, Pastor Mark March 2014 The Sea of Galilee TABLE OF CONTENTS From The Pastor s Desk... 1 Worship Corner... 2 Lenten Worship Schedule... 2 Stewardship... 3 News... 4 Calendar... 5 Serving Schedules... 5 Hospitality & Outreach... 3 Joys & Concerns Aware Issue 3, Vol. 14 Aware is published monthly by St. James United Methodist Church, 100 W. Capitol Drive, Appleton, WI. 1

2 Worship Corner Why Do We Do What We Do? For the last several months, we ve been looking at some of the things we do in worship each week. One important and blessed part of every worship service is the time we spend sharing and praying together. We know that the Bible calls on each of us to pray, but why do we pray together as a part of the worship service? One really important blessing to praying together is that it builds our fellowship of believers. Jesus modeled this blessing for the disciples by showing them the importance of prayer. He often withdrew to a quiet place to pray alone, but He also prayed with His disciples and taught them how to pray. It was natural that the disciples would continue the practice of prayer as a young church. LENTEN WORSHIP & STUDY SERIES In the Footsteps of Jesus March 9 April 20, 2014 Travel with us on a journey retracing the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Using video shot for this sermon series, we ll take you to the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized and to the wilderness where he was tempted. You ll see the ruins of ancient Capernaum where Jesus healed the sick. You ll ascend the mountain where he gave his most famous sermon. You ll travel across the Sea of Galilee where he calmed the wind and the waves. You ll visit the last remaining community of Samaritans in the world. And you ll enter Jerusalem where Jesus spent his final days. If you ve ever wanted to know more about Jesus Christ, we invite you to join us as we walk "In the Footsteps of Jesus." In Acts 1, we read that the disciples were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. They were still trying to understand this new vision of what God wanted them to do. Their first task was to choose a replacement disciple for Judas. They approached this problem with prayer: Lord, you know everyone s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. In Acts 2, we find that the early church was all together in one place, continuing their practice of prayer as the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost. As the church grew, prayer was an important part of their regular activities. Verse 42 tells us that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Just as the times of corporate prayer unified and focused the early church, our weekly times of prayer give us a similar direction and purpose. Next month, we ll look at other benefits to our times of prayer. God bless you! Andy Lambrecht, Music Director Garden of Gethsemane Sunday Wednesday Theme Scripture March 9 March 12 The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus Mark 1:9-13 March 16 March 19 Jesus Healing Ministry in Capernaum Mark 1:21-28, March 23 March 26 Jesus Went Up the Mountain Matthew 5:1-29 March 30 April 2 The Storms Obey Him! Mark 4:35-41 April 6 April 9 The Outcasts and the Poor John 4:3-10 April 13 Palm Sunday April 16 The Final Week in Jerusalem Mark 11:7-10 April 20 Easter Your Defining Story John 20:19-23 Praying at thewestern Wall PRAYER CONCERNS Please remember these people in prayer. Diane Ebert & Sherry Sturm, in their battle against cancer. Mike Shepard, for the loss of his father. Delores Klaisner, Pastor Mark s mother, who is ill. The Judean Wilderness Joys & Concerns Birthdays MARCH CELEBRATIONS 3/01 Renee Rettler 3/02 Mali Trueblood 3/02 Ken VanHandel 3/02 Tom Schemm 3/04 Lynne Lambrecht 3/07 Christopher Shepard 3/11 Amy Melius 3/11 Cevonne Ramsaroop 3/12 Shelby Andrews 3/12 Carter Price 3/13 Diane Angeletti 3/15 Edron Ramsaroop 3/19 William Peterson 3/22 Lonnie Milbach 3/24 Melissa Van Linn 3/24 James Derks 3/30 Diane Linstad Anniversaries 3/26 Andy & Lynne Lambrecht Temple Mount of Jerusalem

3 Hospitality & Outreach ST. JOSEPH S FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION St. James continues to collect non-perishable food donations for St. Joseph Food Pantry. Please remember those who are in need when you are at the grocery store and donate generously. Your contribution helps provide hope and nutrition. Food pantry items are collected the first Sunday of each month. Thank you for your help! GOING GROCERY SHOPPING? Don t forget St. James fellowship time when you make your grocery shopping list. Please add just one item from the list on the website of items we would like to serve for fellowship time at St. James. Even better, just add the ingredients to make one of the items and then it would be home-made that makes it extra special. If everyone just brought ONE item, the Hospitality people would have enough to serve everyone and could spend their time serving the items and cleaning up afterwards. A little effort on everyone s part would make big difference. Your thoughts and reactions will be greatly appreciated. If you have questions or comments, please contact a Hospitality team person or David Brusewitz (ph ). St. James Snacks Caves of the Dead Sea Scrolls- Qumran DID YOU KNOW? St. James purchases gift cards at a 10% discount. When you purchase cards at full value, the 10% difference can be your donation to St. James. You will see donation on your periodic giving statement. Cards make great gifts ($25, $50, or $100). It s an easy way to contribute to St. James when you feel you don t have extra money to give. Almost everybody buys gasoline. We ve raised $ so far. The sky s the limit if we ALL participate. A MESSAGE FROM TRUSTEES To all members and friends of St. James UMC, the policy of the Trustees is that all classrooms should remain unlocked for use by all who desire to utilize the rooms and facilities. With this freedom of use, those using the rooms are responsible to make sure that the rooms are used properly and kept clean. If children are using rooms while their parents are attending activities, the parents should inspect the rooms with their children before leaving, to ensure that the rooms remain in proper condition. If you would like to schedule an event, please contact the St. James office at Enjoy, and thank you for your support. Church of the Nativity -Bethlehem Stewardship MISSIONS & OUTREACH MINISTRY TEAM REPORT The Mission and Outreach met for the first time this year on February 2. Much of the discussion focused on what team members felt the purpose of our committee should be. The team is involved in promoting mission on a local, nationwide, and international scale. However, most of us felt that we should also strive to educate our congregation about missions supported by our denomination in more detail, beginning with educating ourselves. You may have noticed in the worship bulletin that each week a specific mission project is designated to receive the mission offering for that Sunday. The recipient agency changes every other month. Contributions to missions should be placed into the blue mission envelope in the pew and put into the offering plate. Please note: Loose money in the offering plate goes toward general church operations. We will be introducing periodic Minutes for Mission into our worship service in order to tell you more about the activities of each supported mission organization, as well as others less known. Our focus for March and April will be on VIM Volunteers in Mission. Several members of St. James have gone on VIM trips to assist with a wide variety of projects. Funds that are raised will assist volunteers from our congregation to offer their time and talents for this worthy venture. Volunteers must pay their own expenses when going on a VIM trip. Some financial assistance can make it possible for some to go who otherwise may not be able to do so. More information will be forthcoming. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 9:12(NIV) Kay and Charlie Christenson 3 USHERS STILL NEEDED! Can you pass an offering plate? Please contact Dave Brusewitz to volunteer. No meetings required! The Jordan River The Site of Jesus Baptism 3

4 News OFFICE DEADLINE REMINDERS Sunday Bulletins and Announcements Monday of the prior week. Aware Newsletter 15th of the prior month. Articles can be submitted to the church office at Announcements will be published for three months prior to an event. All articles are subject to editing. CONFERENCE NEWS Rev. Gordon Lind has served the conference for many years as a local pastor and for the past seven years as District Superintendent. Rev. Lind will be retiring on June 30, Rev. Sue D Alessio, who is currently pastor at Community UMC in Oak Creek, has been appointed as the new District Superintendent. Best wishes to both in their new endeavors. THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY With the advent of (hopefully!) warmer weather, the Thursday AM group will begin meeting on March 6 at. The Upper Room Discipline study books are available in the office. Men s Walk April Women s Walk May 1 4 Registration now open, Space is limited! What is Walk to Emmaus? The Walk to Emmaus is an experience of Christian spiritual renewal and formation. It is an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ in a new way as God s grace and love is revealed to you through other believers. It begins with a 3-day short course in Christianity. Christ will meet you where you are no matter where you are on your Christian journey. Sponsorship is required. For more information or if interested, you may contact Deb & Bill Kraemer ( of dkraemer@new.rr.com), and Kay, Charlie, or Cal Christenson, ( ). We will assist you in finding out how you can attend. Informational brochures are also available. Some others who have also attended are Larry & Sherri Gyrion, Anna Graf, Sherry Schreiner, Bob Strutz, and Ed and Sharon Ramsaroop. LADIES NIGHT OUT Ladies, join us at Java Warung at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, March 19. Sign up at the Connection Center in the Narthex. Come out for a night of food and fellowship! ST JAMES COOKBOOK Sherry King needs your help to put together the latest St. James cookbook. Two more people are needed to form a planning committee, plus people to be typists and proofreaders. It takes a lot of helping hands to make a cookbook! If you would like to help, you can sign up on the sheet at the Connection Center, or call Sherry at she ll get back to you as soon as she can. Once the planning committee has done some work, they ll be looking for your recipes, so start putting together those favorites to share! Please consider helping out with this cookbook. Thank you! DIRECTORY NEWS The new directory is completed and is located on the Connection Table in the Narthex please take one home! We rely on you to help us keep the St. James records current please notify the office of any changes or corrections to your contact information. LUNCH BUNCH Join us for Lunch Bunch at 12:00 PM, Monday, March 10, at the new Blueberry Hill on College Avenue. Hardrian s Arch in Jerash Why visit the website repeatedly? Answers and Information! Like What is happening this week? Upcoming Events located on the homepage is where you find the overview and details of the ever-changing upcoming events. Google Calendar is the best place to look for all dates on your busy calendar. Am I an usher this week or when do I have hospitality? Anything special happening at church? The bulletin and all inserts are posted on the homepage also. This is a preview of Sundays service. I missed the sermon last week or I want to listen again. You can listen to past sermons, located on homepage. Newsletter - The monthly Aware is a click away. Three items under the Connect tab: Education, Volunteer, Music Education find out current or future classes. Volunteer - check here to find areas where you can help out. Music - Find music related items here. Enjoy our fabulous choir and praise band, recorded in quality audio. Information in these areas will be kept current and up-todate. UMCSJ.org is a tool to publicize your upcoming event. YOU can use this tool. Contact the office to have your information posted on The Church of the Beatitudes- Galilee Church of the Holy Sepulchre ST JAMES ANNUAL GETAWAY WEEKEND April 4-6, 2014 Friday Evening through Sunday Morning Black Oak Lodge at Mount Morris Camp & Conference Center, Mount Morris, WI A modern cabin with large meeting area with fireplace Individual rooms for 2-6 with attached restrooms 160 acres to explore, trails, stream, disc golf, wildlife Organized discussions, free time, fellowship, games, quiet time, naps, meals provided Come alone, bring a friend, bring a family LouAnn Graf will lead the discussion. Topic to be decided. If you have a topic for consideration, please contact LouAnn. Closing worship on Sunday morning led by Lloyd Eggert. Cost: $125 per person Capacity for 20 people Register before March 20 Name Number Attending Total Cost: Checks payable to St. James UMC; Submit to Lloyd Eggert

5 March March 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday GREETER Anna Graf Rose Ann Luce Kim Robinson Donna Eggert SOUND Bill Kraemer Larry Gyrion Wendy Magas Larry Gyrion USHER Tom High David Brusewitz Mike Shepard Wayne DeGrand HOSPITALITY Nancy Adkins, Diane Linstad Jon & Kathy Krein, Tom & Mary Schemm Gyrion family Ethel Duhm, Wayne & Diane DeGrand ACOLYTE Brooklyn Shepard Sierra Gyrion Reed Graham Zach VanLinn Kristen Langlais Bill Kraemer Tom High Confirmands & Mentors Hunter Price 2 Food Pantry Collection & Communion 9:15 AM NO Children s Sunday 10:30 AM Nevaeh Puppet Ministry 10:30 AM Worship Meeting 9 Daylight Savings Time Begins 10:30 AM Confirmation Class 10:30 AM Missions Meeting 10:30 AM Nevaeh Puppet Ministry :00 PM Lunch Bunch at Blueberry Hill :00 PM Potluck dinner with Zion UMC 7:00 Ash Wednesday Service with Zion UMC :30 PM Boy Scouts 13 8 AM-4 PM Conference Training Aware Deadline LITURGIST Connie Klaisner Nancy Adkins Kay Christenson Lloyd Eggert NURSERY Beth Thomas, Brooklyn Shepard Gyrion family Melissa VanLinn, Sydney Klaisner Tom & Ben High Larry Gyrion Ken & Sue Kempfer 16 10:30 AM Chili Cook-off :30 PM Finance Meeting 19 6:00 PM Ladies Night Out at Java Warung Baby Shower 10 AM 4 PM COUNTERS COMMUNION SERVERS Mike Shepard Deb Kraemer, Deb Ebben, Kristen Langlais, Ben High None None None None 23 10:30 AM Confirmation Class :30 PM Boy Scouts COMMUNION SETUP/ CLEANUP KWIK TRIP CARDS Kristen Langlais None None None None Tom Schemm Mike Shepard Margie Trueblood LuAnn VanHandel Betsy Rath 30 One Great Hour of Sharing Easter Flower Order Deadline 10:30 AM Administrative Council Meeting OPEN TO ALL 31 Calendar current as of: Check out our website at for event updates and more details!