AWARE June St. James United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 St. James United Methodist Church AWARE June 2018 ~~~~~~~~~~~~PASTOR~~~~~~~~~~~ Dongsu Lee ~~~~~~~LAY LEADERSHIP~~~~~~~ Lay Leader/Lay Member Ann. Conf. Larry Gyrion Staff Parish Relation Chairperson Gary Linstad Administrative Board Chairperson Tom Schemm Council Secretary Deb Kraemer Treasurer Deb Ebben Finance Chair Chris Bahr Financial Secretary LuAnn Van Handel Trustees Chair Bill Kraemer Mission Co-Chairs Kay & Charlie Christenson Member Care Lead Dongsu Lee Website Bill Kraemer Education Leader TBA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~STAFF~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Administrative Assistant Deb Kraemer Organist Linda Lee Custodian Kari Sturm Please note: If you are receiving this electronically, all links in this publication are active. (indicated as blue and underlined.) You just need to hover over it and click on the link with your mouse. Greetings St James, There are many things to do as we move through the time of Pentecost from May 20 to November 21. Except for some time off in October for vacation and mission trip, I need to meet the needs of the Holy Cow Assessment. Without implementing its suggestions and recommendations the whole work will be like in the Korean saying, head-isdragon and tail-is-snake, which means to start without good results. For St James to be a thriving church we, both pastor and members, need to actively works on six areas: vital worship, lifelong learning, spiritual formation that fits complex lifestyles, an open leadership system, quality relationships, flexibility. These look like separate agendas, but they are related and connected to one another. We have begun with work on vital worship, by working on resolving the problem of sermon delivery by the pastor and the congregations ability to comprehend them. But the real issue is how God inspires preacher and audience with his living and loving Holy Spirit and how we both speak and listen to the words of God for forgiveness of sins, and change our direction and surroundings. With the Pentecostal theme, the church is the place where the wind of God and the flame of God blow and erupt. More than a mere wonderful and majestic building, and sound, friendly and kind fellowship. Service after service, and month after month, we need to check where we are positioned and what we are doing. For a while the assessment will be our signboard. We will work with it at many gatherings as we plan, pray, and practice the physical and spiritual goals with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we are getting tired of, and with, them, we need to get together and to pray constantly like the congregation of Jerusalem at the first Pentecost in Acts 2:1-24: While the day of Pentecost was running its course they were all together in one place. Heaven helps those who help themselves. Two things that we discussed with the consultant at the May Administrative Council was regular monthly Administrative meetings with possible representation on and during the Sunday Service. We also discussed the possibility of holding Sunday service in fellowship hall on occasion. For these the worship committee will meet and propose its recommendation and logistics at the Council meeting. The above-mentioned themes and agendas can make us spend the hot summer much cooler than what we are expecting. Dear Holy Spirit come and fill us with your wisdom, energy, and power. Help us experience that thy will come true upon us. Amen. 1

2 Scripture Readings for June June 3 June 10 June 17 June 24 1 Samuel 3:1-20, Psalm 139: 1-6,3-18, 2 Corinthians 4:5-12, Mark 2:23-3:6 1 Samuel 8:4-20, Psalm 138, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3: Samuel 15:34-16:13, Psalm 20, 2 Corinthians 5:6-17, Mark 4: Samuel 17:32-49, Psalm 9: 9-20, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13, Mark 4:35-41 ONGOING ACTIVITIES Lunch Bunch: 12:00 p.m. on Monday, June 11 at Little Chicago, N9650 Friendship Drive, Kaukauna Men s Breakfast: 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 12 at Mary s Family Restaurant, 2312 N. Richmond. Ladies Nite Out: 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 19 at Java Warung, 1915 N. Richmond St. Wednesday Bible Study & Support Group: Meets at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, in the St James meeting room. Henderson Settlement Mission Project SAVE THE DATE The Henderson Settlement mission trip to Frakes, Kentucky is scheduled for Oct. 7 - Oct. 13, The projects have been set. For a 71 year old woman; Repairing walls and painting walls and ceiling in living room, hallway, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms. For an 83 year old woman, and her 50 year old daughter, and 11 year old grandchild; Replace joist & decking on front porch, Replace faucets in kitchen and bathroom, repair 2 holes in ceiling, clean, scrape, paint rails on front porch, clean, scrape, paint small concrete block building. Total cost of materials we need to raise is $2,025. Donations can are welcome. Be sure to mark your donation Henderson. If you are interested in going or wanting to know more, please see Tom Graf or Gary Linstad. Thank you to those who helped with the fundraiser on May 19th, or next brat fry is August 11th. Our Sunday Morning Mission offerings from April to June will also go to Henderson Settlement For more info., click on this link June 17th For updates: umcsj.org June 1&2 Rummage sale and brat fry June 7 Foot Care Clinic June 9 Emergency Shelter meal assistance June Wisconsin Annual Conference June Celebrations Birthdays 6/1 Ethel Duhm 6/6 Kari Sturm 6/7 Wayne DeGrand 6/8 Christopher Countney 6/9 Dave Ebben 6/12 Bill Kunz 6/12 Sierra Gyrion 6/15 Kurry Van Linn 6/16 Bonnie Budreau 6/18 Randy Price 6/18 Ava Graham 6/20 Lydia Walters 6/26 Mary Thomas Anniversaries 6/1 Marshall & Bonnie Behling (44y) 6/4 John & Wendy Lind (35y) 6/11 Jim & Jennifer Graham (23y) 6/12 Rob & Sheri Warren (19y) 6/15 Mark & Shannon Melius (22y) 6/18 Tyler & Darcie Lind (7y) 6/20 Tom & Mary Schemm (37y) 6/23 Bill & Deb Kraemer (39y) 6/28 Todd & Margie Trueblood (32y) Pastor Lee s Office Hours St James: Monday & Wednesday, 9 a.m. -12 p.m. Oneida: Tuesday & Thursday, 9 a.m. -12 p.m. Pastor Lee s phone number: Cell:

3 St James Rummage Sale June 1 & 2 From 8a.m.-5 p.m. Help needed. Contact Chris Bahr We are in need of people to help serve a meal every even numbered month, on the second Saturday, from 4-7 p.m. If you can assist, contact Paul and Deb Countney or the church office. The next need is for June 9th. Ben High is graduating from Appleton West High School on June 7, Ben is planning to attend UW-Fox Deven Amelia Stauffer is graduating from UW-Stout on May 5 with a Psychology degree, Brooklyn Shepard is graduating from Freedom High School in May. She is attending UW Oshkosh in the Fall. Thursday Sept. 6 to Sunday Sept. 9 CHOIR NEWS The choir will be taking a break for the summer. Come fall, Kay Jacobson will has agreed to be the volunteer choir director, coordinating with the office for dates the group is available. Thank you to Kay Christenson and Deb Kraemer for picking the songs and coordinating the choir for the past 9 months. Thursday Sept. 13 to Sunday Sept. 16 Imago Dei Camp, Clintonville, WI Sponsorship required. If interested in attending, contact Deb in the church office, for more details. Here is how it works at St James. 1. Enable WiFi on your wireless device(s) 2. Select one of the following network names, TWCWiFi, SpectrumWiFi Plus, T WCWiFi-Passpoint, SpectrumWiFi, or CableWiFi 3. Sign in using your existing username and password or your Spectrum MyAccount username and password. (if you have a spectrum/road runner account at home.) Once you have signed in for the first time, you will be automatically connected the next time your are near a WiFi access point. We are also working on other methods for those who do not Spectrum service. 3

4 Giving Questions for a Money Autobiography Pt. 3 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. (Matthew 25:23) From Writing a Money Autobiography by Dan Dick A money autobiography is a reflection process on the role and influence of money and material possessions in our life. It challenges us to explore the past to see how our attitudes, assumptions, and values concerning money and wealth were formed. Management Questions concerning money and wealth In what ways are you a good manager of money? In what ways are you a poor manager of money? How do you feel about talking about your finances with other people? Why do you feel this way? Do you use credit cards? Do you pay the monthly balances in full? How does buying on credit make you feel? Why? How much money do you wish you had in the bank/invested? How did you arrive at this figure? How close is this to what you have? How much money do you give to church and charity? Do you tithe? How do you decide how much to give? Where to give? Do you have a personal budget? Why? How do you make decisions about what to spend, what to save, and what to give? What are your greatest financial concerns? How have you made decisions concerning retirement, insurance, drafting a will, etc? If you have not done so, why not? It is useful to create a money autobiography journal to record your thoughts, reflections, and feelings. Then, you can return to the money autobiography journal months and years afterward. Jim Wells, Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation Lifest 2018 Summer fun is just a few months away. What's on your calendar? If you enjoy live music and activities that celebrate spirituality, check out Lifest 2018! Lifest is a family-friendly, drug & alcoholfree event being held July at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh. Church Mutual Ins Co Foundation (CMCARES) is partnering with Lifest again this year to support this nationally known, faith-base music festival which is celebrating its 20th party with a purpose. We are pleased to offer you a discount on event tickets! Event tickets will be $49 (regularly $66) for the full event or $20 (regularly $30) for a single day ticket. To purchase tickets go to and use the discount code cmcares18 when purchasing tickets. This code is good until June 15, Daily Bread Devotional There are free copies of the Daily Bread devotional available for you to take, at the Connection Center table. New 3-month devotionals are available. Sunday School News It was with much prayer and thought that Sherri Gyrion has to decided to step down from the volunteer position of leading the Education Committee. St James would like to thank Sherri for her leadership over the past year-and-a-half on behalf of our children and families. The education committee is exploring ideas for Vacation Bible School, and more information will be available soon. Please watch for it in the weekly publications. The education committee is seeking new leadership. If interested, please contact someone on the education committee, or pastor Lee. Thank you. 4

5 Laity Speakers Sharon & Ed Ramsaroop 24 GREETER Julie Remmel Rose Ann and Chet Luce Carol Carlson Jill Featherwolf SOUND & PROJECTION Bill Kraemer Ed Ramsaroop Bill Kraemer Ed Ramsaroop USHER CAPTAIN Carol Carlson Bonnie Budreau Bonnie Budreau Carol Carlson Mike Shepard Wayne DeGrand FELLOWSHIP HOSPITALITY Volunteers needed. Volunteers needed. Mary & Tom Schemm Jill Featherwolf LITURGIST Deb Kraemer Cal Christenson Ed & Sharon Ramsaroop Kay Christenson COUNTERS Julie Remmel Carol Carlson Rich Stewart Gary Linstad Chris Bahr Deb Ebben Rich Stewart Mike Shepard COMMUNION SERVERS Ed & Sharon Ramsaroop, Pastor Dongsu and TBA Please contact the church office if you can fill in any TBA spots. See UMCSJ.org for updates & additional info... 5

6 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Office Closed 8am-5pm All-church Rummage Sale 2 8am-5pm All-church Rummage Sale 3 Communion 8:10 a.m. Praise Practice 8:45 a.m. Worship 9:45 a.m. Coffee Time 5-8 p.m. Boy Scout Cross-over 4 4:30 p.m. Girl Scouts 5 8:00 a.m. Men s Breakfast at Mary s Place 6 1:00 p.m. Bible Study & Support Group 6:30 p.m. SPRC 7 9:30-11:30a.m. Valley VNA Foot Care Clinic Call Office Closed 10a.m.-4:30p.m. Member use of fellowship hall 10 8:10 a.m. Praise Practice 8:45 a.m. Worship 9:45 a.m. Coffee Time 11 12:15 p.m. Lunch Bunch, at Little Chicago, N9650 Friendship Drive, Kaukauna :00 p.m. Bible Study & Support Group Office Closed Annual Conference 17 8:10 a.m. Praise Practice 8:45 a.m. Worship - Laity 9:45 a.m. Coffee Time 18 Annual Conference 6:00 p.m. Ladies Nite Out at Java Warung, 1915 N. Richmond St :00 p.m. Bible Study & Support Group 6:30 p.m. Finance Meeting AWARE ARTICLES DUE 21 First day of Office Closed 24 8:10 a.m. Praise Practice 8:45 a.m. Worship 9:45 a.m. Coffee Time :00 p.m. Bible Study & Support Group Office Closed 6

7 Administrative Council Meeting May 9, 2018, 6:30 p.m. Those Present: Dongsu Lee, Tom Schemm, Gary & Diane Linstad, Deb & Bill Kraemer, Diane & Wayne De Grand, Jon & Kathy Krein, and Jim Hicks (consultant) (11) The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. with Tom leading us in prayer. Everyone introduced themselves and what their roll was in conjunction to Ad council. The following Committee reports were given... Trustees: Bill Kraemer The snow removal season ended with the final bill of $420 (the largest of the season). We were unable to find a youth to do the sidewalk removal, so the majority of it was done by Duane Maves. Others who helped at various times, Tom Graf, Pastor Lee, Deb Kraemer, Bill Kraemer, and Deb Ebben Grand Chute FD did their annual inspection of the building. No infractions or code violations were found. Church Mutual ins. did a random inspection of the building. This had not been done since The fire extinguishers had their annual inspection, necessary re-charges were done. We are still in the process of receiving incentive money from Focus on Energy for changing over to LED lighting in the higher traffic areas. This would improve lighting, reduce operating cost and reduce lamp changing frequency. (Less time on ladders!) Kari (janitor) informed us of an ant problem in the building. Charlie C. treated both the inside and the outside of the building. Congregants have been asked to be careful to contain drinks and food to fellowship hall. Missions: Deb Kraemer for Kay Christenson Members were reminded of the upcoming brat fry for Henderson Settlement on May 19 at Festival foods. Some help is still needed. Crop walk is scheduled for October 14 th. More info to come as we get closer. There is a Golden Cross offering for Sunday, May 14 th and Peace with Justice offering on May 27 th. It was asked what the Sunday mission offering schedule was for this year. So I have repeated it here Jan- Mar. UMCOR, Apr.-Jun. Henderson Settlement, July -Sept. VIM, Oct-Dec. Salvation Army. Care Committee: Deb Kraemer Deb reported that our last meeting was on March 8 th. We continue to send cards to members and constituents for birthdays (all ages), anniversaries, thinking of you, and get well soon. This is in addition to doing visitations at home, nursing home, and the hospitals as needed. Much communication is done via as needed in between meetings. Deb asked if there was money available for postage and cards for this committee. Answer, yes. We may submit these items using the check request form. The money will come from the Membership Care account. # Web/IT: Bill Kraemer Bill mentioned again to let him know if there are any events that need promoting. The church calendar and up-coming events are on the home page. Music and recent sermons are posted for listening. Lay Leader: Not present Finance: Gary reported for Chris Bahr The current capital fund acct balance is $15, The 2018 pledged giving for this acct is $12,125. Our 2018 pledged budget giving is $89,810. The budget is still being adjusted for 2018 as there are staff positions still listed that will not be filled this year by SPRC. These positions will be removed and budget readjusted. More information about the 2018 budget will be available at the next meeting. 7 Continued on the next page Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. ~ John Wesley ~

8 Education: Gary and Diane Linstad As of this week, Sherri Gyrion has stepped down as the volunteer education coordinator. Diane reported that they are uncertain what will happen as far as VBS. We had discussed a few options. We have learned that if we do our own VBS on the dates currently chosen, some of our families would not be able to attend due to schedule conflicts. Deb Kraemer will contact Emmanuel and First church and see when and what they are doing for VBS, and pass the info onto the education committee. Perhaps we could join with one of them for this year. Once we have this info., the education committee will contact the families of the church and see what they think and what they would prefer to do. SPRC: Gary Linstad Gary reported that the committee is no longer seeking to fill the choir director positon this year. There have not been any applicants to date. The committee has also decided that since the education position has been an unpaid position since Marge stepped down, they are not responsible for filling it. They feel that education leadership is a task for the Committee On Lay Leadership (formally the nominating committee.) Therefore, because these two positions are still part of the 2018 budget, but will not be filled, and/or paid positions, that those dollars set aside in the budget can be removed. Finance will make this adjustment. Gary also reported that one thing that was clear with the assessment was people s inability to understand the sermons, mostly due to a lack of vocal volume. Gary and Dongsu have been discussing how to make this better. Dongsu has been printing off the sermon in recent weeks. He is also considering putting it on PowerPoint. Deb had done a survey of the congregation, and the response has been overwhelmingly to have a transcript that they can also take home with them at the end of the service. They would like the print of transcript to be larger. Deb had done the first one in Arial font 14, and that seemed to work for most, of late they have been too small. Other suggestions have been to have the congregation sit where there are no dead spots in the sound of the room. Bill reported that indeed, there are several spots where it is harder to hear than others. Some other ideas for worship have also been discussed, but have been deferred to the worship committee for further discussion. Pastors report: Dongsu Lee Taking into account the information that came out the assessment, and listening to the needs of the congregation, Dongsu has been studying and learning with us, what to do as we move forward. The two churches have kept him very busy. We need to work toward both finding new people and bringing back those who dropped off in attendance. We are all important in this process, don t give up! If we work together and are willing to try new things, we will be able to look to the future of St James. Pastor also reported that from June he will be at annual conference, and a lay speaker will fill the pulpit on the 17 th. On June 17 th his son is getting married, and he and Linda will both be gone. Consultant: Jim Hicks Jim reported that he and Dongsu are meeting weekly and talking about the assessment. He will also be talking with some other people who are attending St James. Next steps are to the summary of the assessment as we go forward. Beginning with how we approach the congregation with future changes. Including them as we move forward. We talked a bit about what vital worship feels like, and there was discussion on how to begin that process. Dongsu closed the meeting in prayer at 8:26 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Deb Kraemer, Ad Board Secretary 8

9 For the Kids 9

10 St. James United Methodist Church 100 W. Capitol Drive Appleton, WI Return Service Requested Affix Postage Here Mailing Label To receive this newsletter through and to receive weekly e-news from St. James UMC, please send your address to St. James United Methodist Church Pastor Dongsu Lee Home: Cell: Deb Kraemer Administrative Assistant Office phone number: Office Hours 9 a.m. 1 p.m., Monday Thursday Bulletin Information & Announcements Due Monday of each week Newsletter Submissions Due 20th of each month For more information, go to umcsj.org Aware is published monthly by St. James UMC, 100 W. Capitol Drive, Appleton, WI