THE GOOD News. W h a t c o a t U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h

Transcription

1 THE GOOD News W h a t c o a t U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h CHRISTMAS PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE I have often thought what it would have been like to celebrate Christmas before the Christmas tree, shopping malls, and all the commercial hype. What would it be like if Christmas was not about Black Friday or bottom line profits? The Christmas tree did not begin until hundreds of years after the birth of Jesus. Many believe it had its beginning in Germany with Martin Luther. I doubt there were piles of gifts under those first trees. I think about Christmas today and how much it has been shaped by the culture in which we live. Christmas has been hijacked by a money driven society and used to increase profits for business. We hustle around trying to buy stuff and then put most of it in a yard sale a few months later. Do you even remember what you received last Christmas? I think about Christmas in the future. What will it be like? What if buying is not possible and all resources have to be directed toward housing, food and clothes? What if we had no gas to run our cars and were forced to stay home. What would Christmas morning be like in your house? Will we still compete with gaudy yard decorations? Will we still go to Grandmas house or remember Santa or Christmas carols? Since the past is gone and we really don t know what the future may bring, NOW IS ALL WE HAVE. So what do we want to do with Christmas NOW? Here are some simple suggestions to celebrate Christmas: Light a single Christmas Candle on Christmas Morning and read Luke 2:1-20. Make a birthday cake for Jesus. Go to a friend s house and sing Christmas carols. Thank God for the GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT given to us Galatians 5:22 Find some time when all through the house not a person is stirring and enjoy the quiet. Be Still and know that I am God. I am not suggesting that we stop all that we are doing to celebrate Christmas but I am suggesting to begin just one of the above as a part of your celebration. (Continued on page 2) V o l ume 4, Issue 4 I n t h i s i s sue : Weather advisory Page 2 Traditions! Page 3 Bible Study Pages 4 December Birthdays Page 8 Whatcoat United Methodist 16 North Main Street Camden, DE Tel: Fax: whatcoat.umc@verizon.net Web site: Pastor: Robert L. Rowe Sunday Worship 8:30 Contemporary Service 11:00 Traditional service 9:50 Sunday School 1 D e c e m b e r Candlelight Services Christmas Eve Tuesday, December24th 6:30p.m. 11:00p.m. Christmas is coming Whatcoat prepared shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Child at a Stuff the Box Party on November 10th.

2 (Continued from page 1) I remember the first time I stood up in church and gave my Christmas speech. I was six years old. What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would give Him a lamb. If I were a wise man I would do my part. What can I give Him? I will give Him my heart. Merry Christmas! Bob Whatcoat United Methodist Men On December 1 st, 2013, the following men gathered together in Fellowship Hall at 0730 and shared a great breakfast: Charlie Heritage, Jerry Edwards, Pat Dyer, Bill Webb, Ben Lee, Doyle Tiller and son Mike, Tim Lewicki and son Landon, Jorge Garcia, John Vrhovac, L.V. Killen and son Lee, Ron Fraser, Larry Withrow, Dick Powell, Bill Maroon and Steve Burnett. The guest speaker spoke about some members of the greatest generation who flew B-17s in World War II and a German fighter pilot, Franz Ziegler who was a Christian and not a Nazi. Charlie Brown was the name of the American pilot trying to limp back to England after severe battle damage to their bomber. Franz Ziegler was sent aloft to intercept them and shoot them down. Instead, Ziegler escorted them safely through a German anti-air artillery belt, showed them the right way to go, saluted them over the English Channel and let them go unharmed. Forty-six years after the war, the two pilots finally met and became lifelong friends. This story is chronicled in a book titled, A Higher Call. Our next breakfast is in January. Look for announcements for the exact date. Children's Sunday School Winter Weather Advisory Should you have a question about cancelations due to the weather, check out or tune into WBOC TV (Channel 16) or their website ( for the latest news. 2

3 374 SHOEBOXES!! Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3: THANK YOU, WHATCOAT, FOR GIVING TO THE LORD! (Please start saving your shoeboxes and collecting items to fill next year s boxes!) Traditions!! In Pastor Bob s Thanksgiving letter, he asked you to include something that you value from your traditions. Bob and Betty Thomas wrote, Christmas at our home is family, food and putting up the Christmas tree after 6:00p.m. Each family member gets a new ornament to put on the tree. Love you all. An anonymous sharer said that, We are thankful for...friends...family...four-legged kids...a comfortable life and a wonderful church family that is always loving and welcoming! At this time of the year...consider your traditions and why they may be valuable to you or our church family Write or the office to let us know your thoughts and feelings about traditions. 3

4 Notes From The Finance Committee The Finance Committee would like to thank the members of the congregation who filled out pledge cards and made our budgeting for 2014 a little easier. We don t have to deal with a 17 trillion dollar deficit or a sequestration so that makes it still easier. However, we do have to match projected income with expenditures to allow Whatcoat church to carry out its mission. That s where we have to make choices and sometimes it s difficult. Thanks go to the various church committees who realistically provided us with their requirements. They are trying to provide good stewardship with limited resources and should be commended. Our 2014 budget shows us that we may spend more than we take in and like all families we must make choices to balance our spending. There are basically two major funding areas. The Local Budget provides the money for day to day operations and the church ministry. The Building Fund provides money for the upkeep and maintenance of our church buildings including the new Simpson Center. The envelopes for giving have two lines; one is for the Local Budget and the other is for the Building Fund. Designating where you would like your offering to go, greatly helps our volunteer counters. Most people are familiar with this but this is a reminder to assist our counters. Please keep Whatcoat church in your prayers as we begin a new fiscal year and to continue the mission that God wants us to do. Tuesday Tabernacle Bible Study Several ladies of the church have been meeting Tuesday mornings from and are finishing up Beth Moore s - A Women s heart Bible study. Wow, what a blessing to our lives!!! Who would have thought a Bible study focusing on the Tabernacle which seems so Old Testament and academic, could turn out to be so personal and relevant to our lives today? The study includes a time of group discussion and a video by Beth Moore and that hour video just flies by with her enthusiasm and knowledge. Somehow it seems that she is speaking directly to each one of us! Part of the group took a field trip to Lancaster in early November to see the Biblical Tabernacle Reproduction at the Mennonite Information Center (See photo). This was a great resource for our study and we highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area. We will be wrapping up our current study mid-december and plan on starting something new after the New Year. If you are interested in joining this wonderful group of ladies please contact the church office. 4

5 Whatcoat Christian Preschool News In the month of November we had a visit from Little Drummer who is a Native American Indian from the Lene Lenape tribe. He brought friends that showed us their traditional dress and dances. The children were able to join in a dance and hear information about the tribe. Some children made models of the Mayflower, while others decorated placemats, leaf bowls and made napkin rings. We also concentrated on teaching the children about giving, sharing and being thankful for all we have. Hoping to put our Bible teachings into action, we collected food donations for the homeless. Pastor Bob had a lot of lifting to get the cans delivered. In the spirit of giving preschool families also collected enough to fill 8 shoeboxes of toys for Operation Christmas Child. Each week we hold our Bible time in the sanctuary. The staff just wanted the church family to know that the Thanksgiving display at the alter was beautiful. We were able to point out the cornucopia and foods displayed as part of our Bible time. We pray during this time and teach the children to say Thank you to God for all we have. We also teach them that He will always provide for us. Respectfully submitted by Lee Anne Jackson Preschool Director Mission and Outreach Committee What wonderful Blessings we are giving and receiving this month. You have filled 374 boxes for Operation Christmas Child! WOW!!! You have bought gifts for 50 foster children and given enough money for a turkey dinner for 125 people for Project Foster Angels. Many people have signed up to help with the dinner and party for the children on Dec. 7. Monday, Dec.2nd at noon - we will decorate fellowship hall for the dinner and party. We always accept help if you would like to help decorate. Tuesday, Dec.3rd at 6pm - there will be a meeting for the volunteers for the party. Saturday, Dec 7th from 12-3pm is the dinner and party. Thank you for your donations and help with these two projects. Our next project is the Baby Shower for Jesus in January. This is donations of baby and toddler items for the Pregnancy Help Center. They are always looking for volunteers to help at the Center if you are looking for volunteer work. Our mission trip to Sun Valley Indian School in Arizona is Sept Oct. 4, Please prayerfully consider this heartwarming trip. If you have a desire to go to Sun Valley but haven't made a decision yet, please let me know of your interest so I can place your name on a list and don't forget you or overbook the trip. My telephone number Blessings, Nancy Caswell 5

6 Attention Moms!!! Have you heard about the new Where Moms Connect mom s ministry group? Are you expecting a new bundle of joy? Are you raising a (or many) teenagers? Do you have children that fall anywhere between? Are you a mom who wants to connect with other moms? Do you desire faith-based encouragement from others going through the same daily struggles? Do you want to get involved with a Bible study but can t commit to a once a week study with lots of homework? As a mom of a preschooler, I understand all these and hope to form a low commitment but highly connected group of mothers to fulfill our needs. I ve found the perfect curriculum to help us fulfill these needs and our first meeting will be Tuesday, January 7 th from 5:30-8pm. We will then meet once a month to continue to connect and grow! Don t let the date, time or childcare stop you from attending this meeting. My goal is to accommodate everyone that is interested so please contact me, Cherie Moore, cjb194@yahoo.com or the church office for more information if you are interested or have questions. Whatcoat Women for Christ In November, several of the veteran ladies gathered to discuss the history and future of this group. The Whatcoat Women will have an additional restructuring meeting scheduled for Monday, December 9 th at 6:30p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Any women of the church interested in being part of the board and all veteran members are invited to attend. If you are new to this group, may we suggest waiting until our January Epiphany Dinner meeting on Monday, January 13 th at 6:00pm in Fellowship Hall? There will be a short business meeting to discuss the activities for the New Year and ALL women of the church are invited and encouraged to join us for a fun evening of fellowship and food. Please mark your calendars and we can t wait to see what God has in store for us in 2014! 6

7 Time Waits for No Man We have all heard the phrase, "timing is everything Sometimes we hear or say, They were just in the right place at the right time. When we get a little jealous or don't want to give people credit for something they worked hard at and earned, we use this phrase as kind of an escape clause. It s a way of justifying our discontent. We think, If I had been there at that time, I would be in their shoes right now. They didn't earn or deserve it. They were just lucky. Other times we say 'they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. We often use this as a means of denial within our own families. Parents sometimes don't want to deal with things so this seems the best way to validate what happened. Everyone has been at the wrong place in their lives and most of us can't recognize when we are in the right place. No matter where we are we always seem to want to be someplace else. I had a relative who came to visit me for about two weeks, ten years ago. We had a nice visit. We hadn't seen each other in probably thirty years, but kept in touch through the family grape vine. The time came and went and we really didn't make much impact on each other. Just the same it was a pleasant visit. This same relative came to visit last month and stayed for two weeks, again. The difference was that this time timing was everything because we were both at a different place in our lives. Where we are now is a result of spiritual growth. Time had once again passed, and we had both gotten older, but this visit we had matured spiritually. Due to our spiritual maturity we connected on a whole different level. I had found more peace and understanding in my journey with GOD and she was at a point where she needed to reconnect with GOD. Neither one of us knew this about each other, but GOD did! Our visit this time was one I will treasure for years to come. We shared many thoughts and hopes; we shared many fears and regrets. In the end we both knew we shared GOD's love and blessings. I think this time GOD truly placed us both in the right place at the right time. We both learned the right place isn't a physical or chronological place at all; it's a place in your heart where GOD shines and does his best work. The only thing you have to do to be in the right place at the right time is listen to your heart. Thanks, and may GOD bless you all. -Andy Davies 7

8 Yesteryear IX By Pat Dyer In 1913, additional renovations were done on the church on Camden Wyoming Avenue. The Sunday School rooms were improved by knocking out the walls facing the lecture hall and replacing them with glass windows and doors and the entire church was wired for electric lights. Eventually one of the windows was covered up and used to store library books. The room on the right as you face the lecture hall was eventually converted to a kitchen where the women often served dinners as well as providing refreshments for church functions. The materials for the renovations were paid for in cash and the work was done by the young men of the church. The women of the church did their part by raising a large portion of the money to pay for the materials. The Trustees at that time were Luther S. Conwell, Benjamin T. Conwell, Samuel J. Speal, John H. Hinsley, Edgar L. Stubbs and Edgar Cox, all prominent men of the community. It was Samuel Speal s residence that was eventually purchased for the location of our present church, on North Main Street. The church was finally incorporated in The church was to remain this way until the late 1940 s. December Birthdays December 2 Floyd Kerwin Christiana Malone December 3 Bill Kinnamon KylieMay Allen December 8 Joyce Knarr December 12 Annie Peters Ernie Jordan December 21 Ron F raser December 22 Sharon Sheers Griffin Wade December 23 Susan Nichols Linda Price Becca Cofield December 26 Pat Dyer Barbara Truitt Heather Childers December 28- Hadley Lewicki December 30 Jamie Bethard Stephen Jackson (Please let the office know if your birthday needs to be added to the list.) Please submit ALL articles and photos by December 18th for January s newsletter. 3 Bars are still on the way.hot, COLD AND COOL ON WINTER NIGHTS! SOLOS OF MANY COLORS WILL BE PRESENT. MORE INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW.. SO KEEP LOOKING AND LISTENING! 8

9 Whatcoat United Methodist 16 N. Main Street Camden, DE Tel: Fax: We re on the web! Changing lives through Jesus one heart at a time Advent...a time of preparation.. How are you preparing...for the coming of Jesus? 9