Sharing in Christ s Continuing Ministries. A Stephen Ministry & ChristCare Congregation

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1 August 2015 A publication of McCormick United Methodist Church PO Box 267 McCormick, SC (864) Address: mccormickumc@wctel.net Web Site: mccormickumc.org Church Office Hours Monday Thursday 8:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. REACHING UP REACHING OUT A Stephen Ministry & ChristCare Congregation Paul A.Wood Jr Pastor's: Pastor's woodtz1955@gmail.com Church: Parsonage: Administrative Assistant: Barbara Homen Editor: Barbara Homen Sharing in Christ s Continuing Ministries One of the common denominators of human existence is pain. We experience it at birth for at least a brief time until we are taken to mother s breast. We experience it as death approaches. And in myriad ways physical, emotional, social and so many more pain is part of life throughout life. Though pain is something we all have in common, there are some who are suffering who feel that they are alone in their pain. That conclusion in itself will worsen one s pain. To be alone (or to feel alone) is like salt added to a fresh cut. It just makes things all the worse! One of the great privileges of ordained ministry is being allowed into some of the suffering of other people. To walk alongside those who are hurting is an opportunity to share our humanity and to both give and receive the love of God. Sometimes my ministry with those who hurt means offering help something to eat, a listening ear, guidance or a prayer. Other times my ministry with the suffering means simply walking the journey side-by-side with few words spoken and little shared which is of obvious value. I invite you to recall some of those moments in your own life. Along your life s journey you have encountered men, women, youth and children who needed something from you to lessen their pain. You have done this! You have responded, oftentimes without thinking or reflecting on the encounter. But do reflect on these encounters! Re-live them! See them for what they are -- blessings to both care receiver and care giver. What a privilege it is to share God s love in this way and to be part of Christ s continuing ministry! Paul Wood

2 Stewardship: Generous Living In many churches stewardship simply means our church wants more money. During Stewardship Time of Year you read articles and hear sermons on giving of your time and talents, but probably for most people stewardship eventually boils down to money. And who can blame people for thinking this way? However, when it comes to stewardship the question we ought to ask ourselves is, Whose money is it that I m putting in the plate. Whose time am I offering to spend? Whose talents am I offering to use? The Bible says that the answer to each question is that it is God s it s God s money I am putting in the offering plate and it s God s time I am using in His service, and it s God s talents I am called to use. After all, according to Scripture everything we have belongs to God, including ourselves. Are you giving all aspects of you life to God? Are you living generously? Generous living is not just about giving money, or even just about giving. It has to do with the whole of who we are and how we care for our neighbors (see Mark 12:28-31). Each of us brings our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The Old Testament word for "heart" is literally the leaning or thrust of our lives. We might call it our lifestyle or nonverbal witness. In other words, it is how we steward 100 percent of our lives, not just the "religious" sector or the percentage we give away. Nurturing generous living in every aspect of our life together before God -- now that's great stewardship! Stephen Ministry Corner Stephen Ministry is planning to have a training class this coming fall. Classes will be held during September, October, and November and commissioning will be in November. If you are interested please contact one of the Stephen Ministers (listed below) and applications will be on the Stephen Minister Bulletin Board as well as available in the Stephen Minister Mailbox outside the church office. Questions? Ask any of us! Carol and Phil Bailey, Ken Green, Toni Graham, Linda and Ronnie Kidd, Sundee and August Luedecke, Marilyn Meyer, Rosemary Pettus, Larry Ream, and Lindy Stahlman, Jean Thompson, Don Tummons, Nancy Tutt, Carol Wieboldt, Beverly Western, and Paul and Kay Wood AND Please remember if you are feeling stressed and feel that you would like someone to listen to you, someone with whom you can share your feelings and receive acceptance and Christian love, please consider being in a relationship with a Stephen Minister at MUMC. To get the process started, please contact Pastor Paul Wood thru the church office ( ) or any of the Stephen Leaders, Beverly Western ( ), Ken Green ( ), Phil Bailey ( ), Sundee Luedecke ( ) or Kay Wood ( ).. Stewardship Committee, Phil Bailey-Chair

3 Reaching Up Reaching Out SALKEHATCHIE SUMMER CAMP There were approximately 70 high school and college age youth and adult participants in this year s Salkehatchie Summer Service work team. During the week of June 20 26, the group did needed repair work to six homes in the community, one of which was that of Katie Lindley one of our own whose roof was replaced. Katie is shown below with the group who worked on her home the team constructed and painted the wooden cross in the middle of the photo. Ten churches in our community were also a part of this reaching up and reaching out project by providing meals for the group throughout the week. Kellie Owans, Camp Director, was presented a check in the amount of $1,000 from Pastor Paul; this amount was budgeted in this year s outreach missions funds. Phil Bailey, McCormick Lions Club President, also presented Kellie a $1,000 check from that organization. Support for Outreach Ministries Outreach Missions funds from McCormick UMC were sent to help with the Stop Hunger Now meal packaging event that was held at this year s SC Annual Conference on Tuesday, June 9 the goal for this event was to package 285,000 meals. According to Carol Bailey, who attended, it was really something to see! STOP HUNGER NOW at McCormick UMC Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 10 the date that we will have our meal packaging event at MUMC. To purchase supplies to package 20,000 meals that day, we must raise $5,800 and we need at least 80 volunteers. You can donate and volunteer on our church s website. You may also sign up in the fellowship hall, and, if you choose to do so, make your contribution to MUMC and designate it for Stop Hunger Now. And, of course, let us all be in prayer for this special outreach opportunity. Funds in the amount of $2,500 from the MUMC outreach missions budget have been sent in support of our covenant relationship with Rev. Rhett Thompson, United Methodist missionary assigned to the Republic of Panama. As a church family, we support Rhett with our gifts and our prayers. At the June 15 meeting of the Outreach Missions Committee, funds were approved in the amount of $2,000 to support the Backpack Ministry that has been adopted by the McCormick County Ministerial Alliance. -Linda Kidd

4 AUGUST BIRTHDAYS AUGUST COUNTERS AUGUST 3 Judy Motsinger AUGUST 10 Dot Baggett AUGUST 17 AUGUST 24 AUGUST 31 Carol Bailey Betty Francavilla Rosemary Pettus AUGUST FLOWERS 8/4 Sally Meise 8/4 Sundee Luedecke 8/5 Beverly Snyder 8/8 Harry Shelley 8/12 Roger Wideman 8/20 Don Tummons 8/20 Janice Hardy 8/20 Floyd Thomas 8/21 Mary Wright 8/22 Jerry Rohr 8/25 Betty Smith 8/30 Paul Wood 8/31 Henry Burch AUGUST 2 Lesa Camp AUGUST 9 Open AUGUST 16 Open AUGUST 23 Don Tummons AUGUST 30 Kay Wood AUGUST USHERS 11:00 Service AUGUST 2 Toni Graham, Beverly Western, Mike Sartain, Arvid Perez August 9 Sam Krotzer, Toni Graham August 16 Byron & Mary Thompson, Gordon & Carol Waine August 23 Byron & Mary Thompson, Sam Krotzer, August Luedecke 8/8 Jimmy &Betty Smith 8/8 Byron & Mary Thompson 8/23 Don & Carol Tummons August 30 Ron & Shirley Garling, Mike Sartain Arvid Perez AUGUST USHERS 8:30 am Tom Huber and Paula LeMond

5 Disciple Begins in September 24:7 Christ Care News I have four disciples that are interested in taking the disciple course, so we need 8 more. Disciple is a 36 week journey through bible. We will begin in September and go through the process. Thirty six weeks sounds like a long time and it is but what you will gain will make it worth it. It is for everyone, you may read the bible every day, you may never had read the entire bible, and it just does not matter. The hope is, you will grow in your relationship with God and take away so many new nuggets. There are daily readings and you will spend anywhere from 1-2 hours a day in reading and contemplation about what you have read. Then when we come together and discuss it, you be even more enlightened. I have taught ten other Disciple One courses and each time I learn something new. I so believe in the course that I am willing to take time from my work schedule to walk with you on this journey. The class will be held on Mondays starting at 8AM and go to about 9:45 with a break in the middle. Coffee will be served! I know that you may not make all the classes and that is okay, in my previous ten classes, no one ever had perfect attendance. Pray about this and you will hear more in the near future about the class. Don Tummons The members of the 24:7 Christ Care Group are presently on our annual summer break. Prior to disbanding for the summer, we had a couple of meetings in May on the 17th we reviewed Chapter 8 of Lazarus Awakening entitled Unwinding Graveclothes. Discussion centered around our need, in our relationships with others, to unbind ourselves from the things that would hinder our Christianity and to not be guilty of binding others into a relationship that hinders their personal Christian growth. Then on May 31, we studied Chapter 9, Living Resurrected. This chapter offered encouraging and helpful words about how we can take the resurrected Christ into our daily lives. Our final gathering before our summer break was on Thursday, June 11 when we had our Annual Flag Day Patriotic Hot Dog Dinner at Bell Ridge. We had a great turnout by our friends there with 15 of the 18 residents attending. Following our dinner, we spent some time in discussion of the final chapter of Lazarus Awakening. We talked about how we can live, like Lazarus, as friends of Christ. We took away from our time together scriptures that help us to know who we are in Christ that we are accepted, secure, and significant and we realized that this is a positive tie-in to the title of the final chapter, Laughing Lazarus. Our group will resume meeting in September. Linda Kidd UPDATE: We will use the brand new Disciple Fast Track. This reduces the length of Disciple to 24 weeks. More details soon.

6 . FISHING PROGRAM AT JOHN DE LA HOWE Volunteers are asked to help on the following dates: August 19th Fishing in JDLH pond on campus 6:30 pm till 8 August 20th Fishing in JDLH pond on campus 6:30 pm till 8 On those days we will be fishing in the pond on the JDLH campus where we are almost assured of catching fish. We are in need of volunteers to be with the students during those evenings. Staff members will also be on hand to assist if needed. Those who volunteer can fish as well. You don t have to be available every day but any help you can give us on any day would be a tremendous help. We can assure you, you ll have fun! Dan Tutt A Note From Dan Tutt The fishing training program for the students of John de la Howe who wish to participate is progressing slowly but surely to completion. There are about a dozen kids who have embraced this activity and truly enjoy it. We adults enjoy it also, but very hot weather, Dr. appointments, family needs and health issues sometimes slow us down, perhaps retarding the level of activity. The Wilderness Advisers at the school are very helpful and assist in the projects continuation. An end of season fish fry is still in the works and the kids are happily contributing to the supplies.

7 News from McCormick United Methodist Women Pride in Our Nursery Our nursery is beautiful and well-equipped. Recently the church bought and assembled a new crib which meets federal safety standards and a new Pak N Play playpen. The entire room looks nice and is always ready for little ones. Epworth Children s Home Work Day Offering September 13 Grocery bags for the Backpack Ministry Every week the McCormick County Back Pack Ministry will need nearly 200 grocery bags. Please bring your clean grocery bags (no holes or tears) to church. You will find a receptacle in the fellowship hall. This year s UMW Spiritual Growth Retreat was held May 1-3 at Lake Junaluska, NC. It is my understanding that South Carolina United Methodist Women were blessed by the presence of retreat leader, Yvette Richards, President, UMW national, who led with the theme, Fill My Cup, Lord with Faith, Hope and Love. She challenged those in attendance to go back to their homes and local units and be BOLD, COURAGEOUS, and REASONABLE WOMEN; to walk in FAITH; to have HOPE for the future; and to know that God s LOVE is everlasting and overflowing. In talking with Carol Bailey and Kay Wood, who attended from our UMW unit, they shared what a blessed experience they had. Our Summer UMW Dinner Meeting was held on Thursday, July 30. Our guest speaker was Chari Ridgeway of Calhoun Falls, SC who works at Abbeville Area Medical Center. Her testimony was very inspirational as she centered her message around the theme, And What Does the Lord Require of You? Carol Bailey presented a devotional that also tied in most appropriately with this theme. Pat Sharpe, Treasurer, conducted our annual Pledge Service. An update was presented on this year s Trash to Treasures MUMW Bazaar and Bake Sale scheduled for October 17. Special appreciation is expressed to the following committee members who planned, prepared, and served the meal: Faye Cotty, Emilee Groh, Linda Kidd, Jean Thompson, and Joan Wessels. Linda Kidd

8 Nonprofit Org. U. S. POSTAGE PAID McCormick, S.C. Permit No. 3 McCormick United Methodist Church 200 Gold Street P.O. Box 267 McCormick, South Carolina ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED. Stephen Ministers Here are a couple of questions we want you to think about. Do you have two ears and one mouth? Do you like people? Do you have about 6 hours a month? If you answered yes to any of these questions then we think you need to prayerfully consider joining us for training to become a Stephen Minister. You will receive 50 hours of training over several months preparing you for this journey. Let me tell you about my journey. I love people and decided to do the training, I was still scared when I got a care receiver. At first I was anxious to give him a call but once we made contact and began to get together, I just clicked. God put us together and I know that both of us gained a lot out of our time together. We talk about everything and anything. We express our feelings, we laugh, we have a nice cool beverage, and we pray. You just do not know how you might impact a person s life by your own personal journey. God wants to use you and your talents to help someone through their journey. And you will get a new best friend. We are the Stephen Ministers and we are ready to come alongside you for the beginning of a new chapter in your life. Give us a call, McCormick United Methodist Church office , Beverly or Phil and ask about how you might become a Stephen Minister. Don Tummons