ST. PAUL S MESSENGER

Transcription

1 Sept/Oct 2018 ST. PAUL S MESSENGER MESSAGE FROM OUR PASTOR It s been amazing to see our church step up!! As may of you know, Michelle, Dirk and Hunter Ringgenberg moved to Kansas. we will miss them A LOT! We will miss them as members of our family, and we will miss Michelle as our administrator. Michelle did a lot in her role as administrator, which means there were suddenly a lot of duties that needed to be done. I have to admit that I was worried a little at first, Who will step up? How will we get this done? I wondered. But you all kept assuring me: It ll be fine, Pastor! We ll get er done! And you know, you re right! Watching so many of you step up to all these administrative duties has been a Beautiful thing to behold. Are these still a few things that haven t been taken up yet? Are these still some Items that will fall through the cracks? Yes, and yes. But I know we will have Grace with one another. I see it already. And I am grateful. With love, Pastor Mary Beth Steppin Up!

2 Spiritual Healing - Prayers Ephesians 6:18 ~ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord s people. ~ Sue Barker Sue Latta Jerry Wibe Jack Toepfer Evelyn Ostrander Ernie & Barb Bruster Denny Davis & Family Larry & Jan Sloan & their daughter Julie Phyllis Johnson Dave & Rita Aves Ruth Howard Doug & Judy Nelson Amanda Stewart Mildred Shoeman Dean & Juanita McCoy Irene Wilcox St. Paul s UCC Congregation We pray for assurance, comfort, hope, peace, joy, recovery and peace. Gracious God, we know nothing is to big or too small for you. Meet us where we are. Show us how to breathe in your Spirit. Surround us with your grace upon grace. Grant us your peace. Amen If you would like to be added or would like to add a loved one to the prayer list, please contact me douglascc@yahoo.com or call me at Dear Michelle, Thank you for all your work as our church administrator. From putting together and folding bulletins to advertising events around town, from sending s to ordering office supplies, you really kept our church organized for the last four plus years. We are grateful for all your work. We will miss you; and we wish you, Dirk and Hunter, a beautiful adventure on this next path in your life. Love St. Paul s Family & friends Aleah Ruvidell Storm daughter of Paul and Sharra Storm, and sister of Alexys Idio Storm was baptized on July 22 nd, 2018 by Pastor Mary Beth Mardis-LeCroy. A lovely lunch was served by the family after Worship Service. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

3 Sunday School Kick-Off September 9th SUNDAY SCHOOL AND YOUTH All Sunday School-age children are invited to gather at 9:15AM in the sanctuary beginning September 9th for prayer, worship and song! Around 9:30, we will all scatter to our various classes downstairs: Teachers: PreK-2 nd Sharra Storm, Diane Ostendorf and Lisa Winnie 3 rd -6 th Wes Mathes Confirmation Pastor Mary Beth 8 th -12 th Pat Mc Dermott and Chris Mower All of the curricula (except for the confirmation curriculum) are published by Sparkhouse Publishing, which is a Biblically-based, creative, and fun curriculum series. We are very excited for the Sunday School year!! Subs: Jess Olsen (515) Becky Janovick (515) Diana Olsen (515) Brenna Saxton (515) YOUTH SUNDAYS! Our first Youth Sunday (when children and youth take on leadership and service positions during worship) will be on September 16 th. Schedule for Youth Sundays Oct. 21st, Nov. 11th, Dec. 16th, Jan. 20th, Feb. 17th, Mar. 17th, April 14th (Palm Sunday), and May 12th (Graduation Sunday). We are excited for an AWESOME year!!!!!!! Completing the Circle Listening/Reflection Group: Families with Children On July 29, 2018, our fifth listening/reflection group met with families of children and youth. It was an excellent conversation. Some of what we discussed are as follows: child care during worship is/was essential for families with young children. Offering care, according to this group, is an essential welcoming/ hospitable gesture. The group also shared that less is more; they don t necessarily want more programming, but just want good programming (The Coffee House is a great example of a very strong activity we did). The group was generally positive about Family Sunday, but would like to see more nonup-front parts for kids who might not want to read/sing all the time. Parents would love more information about what kids are learning in Sunday School so they can ask questions and engage with them around that. They like the focus on the Bible in curriculum. The group wondered if the youth might be intentionally involved in Labor Day, parades, etc. Thanks be to God for this honest, holy, helpful conversation!

4 Diaconate Your Deacons are another source for your spiritual care in partnership with Pastor Marybeth and when she is unavailable (since we also do visits when she is available and sometimes with her). Please do not hesitate to call one of us in your time of need or if you just need to talk. We take Communion, devotional material, and sometimes food to our members on a regular basis. Mike Burkhart Linda Burkhart Sara Bullock Connie and Carl Duling Jerry Scott Sue Latta Ann Rieter Nominating We are busy making our first contact and meeting weekly to meet our deadline in early October to have all church committees filled. We decided to contact everyone this year who still has time left on a committee to make sure that you want to finish your commitment or move on early to a new committee. Makes for more phone calls but if it's not working for you - lets us know and we will plug you in somewhere else. We have a wonderful church family of fellow believers with an amazing spectrum of God given talents and St. Paul's has lots of opportunities to serve. We all need to fulfill our covenant to God and each other and use those talents. Sometimes by stepping out of our comfort zone. Scary - sometimes, rewarding - always. So be ready for our phone calls and have in mind what your passion is for St. Paul s. Sue Thornton, Mike Burkhart, Marie Olson, Sara Bullock and Julie Mathes Finance & Mission Committee Communications: Paul Storm audited Treasurer s records and found them to be in order. Thanks Paul!! St. Paul s Committee Chairs: please review August 2017 through July 2018 expenses and provide 2019 budget number and any changes to Finance & Mission Committee on or before August 12 th by mailto:lnshep@iowatelecom.net or written request to Norma Shepard. Thank you. Finance & Mission Committee will be meeting at 7:00pm on Sept 17 th to finalize the budget for next year.

5 Make a Joyful Noise St. Paul s Choir will be starting up its new season soon! We would love to see More members in the choir. You don t have to be a trained vocalist to be in the choir, and you don t have to have to have a musical background. You only Have to enjoy singing and be willing to make a joyful noise. Th choir sings Two Sundays each month and rehearses each Wednesday evening from 7 8pm. Stay tuned for an announcement for the first rehearsal of the new choir season. Hope to see you there! LABOR DAY BOOTH AND PARADE Mark your calendars! Labor Day weekend this year is from September 1st-September 3rd. We all know Labor Day weekend is a very busy time for families, but we really need volunteers to help make the Labor Day food booth a success. Helping with this fundraiser is a great way to get to know fellow worshipers better and working the booth is a fun way to interact with family and friends and with people attending the Labor Day Celebration. Let s hit the ball out of the park! It takes all of the team working together to be successful. Signup sheets are on the table in the back. The Spring Festival /Auction committee has been meeting monthly to hammer out details about the festival and more so the auction since we have never done the auction before. Our hope is to inspire our fellow parishioners to show case their talents and hobbies by donating a sample of such to the auction. The sky is the limit as to what might be on this auction!! We do not want this to be your stuff that did not sell at the garage sale but more so something that reflects what your hobbies ( knitting, cooking, gardening, sewing, wood working, lawn work, etc) are. So be thinking about what you might want to contribute and mark April 6th 2019 on your calendar now!!! Heart of Iowa Habitat for Humanity is extending a helping hand to existing homeowners by offering home repair services across Boone County in If you or someone you know could use some help with repairs such as a new roof, scrape and paint, new windows or doors, landscape renewal, or most anything on the outside of the house, the Helping Hands program could be a great solution. If internal home repairs are needed, Habitat has resources available for that, too. Contact Habitat for Humanity for details at , director@heartofiowahabitat.org, or stop in the office at 720 Story Street in Boone. There will be some exciting transformations when Habitat s Helping Hands are on the job in 2019.

6 Beautiful New Church Brochures for Church Outreach We have some wonderful new church brochures (look in the pew pockets in front of you!). We hope to use these as outreach for our church. Anytime we go somewhere or do something in the community (e.g. Labor Day), please grab some and hand them out! Announcements for Bulletin If you would like to publish when a certain meeting or event is, please Pastor Mary Beth at pastormarybeth@gmail.com. Assume she knows nothing! J New Member Class Coming Soon! St. Paul s will offer a new member's class soon, probably in September. Why become a member? What does that even mean? In some ways, becoming a member wouldn't change a whole lot from visiting the church. The only real difference from a polity point of view would be that you could now vote in annual meetings and in committee meetings. However, on a deeper level, there is something to be said to really committing to a place. When we join a church, we make covenant with one another we make promises to "stick it out," in sickness in health, in joy and in sorrow, together. It s a promise to be the church together, as best as we are able. One last point: folks are welcome to come to the new member's class, and then decide not to join after all. No matter what, attending the class is a great way to learn about the history of our denomination, our beliefs, and how our church works at St. Paul's, plus listen to some faith stories from some of our folks! Let the pastor know if you are interested. DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED!! MADRID COMMUNITIES FALL FESTIVAL OPEN HOUSE Sept 16 th - 1:00 to 3:30pm Madrid Home 613 N. West St., Madrid, IA... Come join us for an afternoon of fall festivities and tour of the fresh updates at the main campus - Live music, Balloon Twisting, Face Painting and Refreshments/Harvest Treats Carl and Connie Duling serve as delegates for St. Paul s UCC

7 ARMY OF ANGELS is a working group that coordinates gifts and needs so that we can provide help when it is needed. If you have a need that is not listed or gift that is not listed please let us know. THE GIFT OF PRAYER offer prayers day and night Prayer is something that we can all do any time-anywhere for anyone and is something we all need. SMILE - Smiling Is Infectious HOUSEHOLD- miscellaneous household help and tasks FOOD - provide a meal or multiple meals, baking/cooking MISCELLANEOUS let us know what you need and we will try to find help Also lesson leather stamping or art work MOVING - help with small moving needs RIDES - to doctor appt, grocery store or shopping, drive you somewhere up to 4 hours round trip (time investment) YARD WORK mow, rake leaves, plant flowers, trim bushes, pull weeds, etc Please give some thought to gifts you can provide and needs you have or if you have questions please contact: Ann Reiter annelisabethr@msn.com (515) or Carolyn Douglas douglascc@yahoo.com (515) LOVE MINISTRIES DONATIONS NEEDED FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY Chicken Broth Cranberry Sauce Evaporated Milk (12 oz regular milk only) Jiffy Pie Crust Mushroom Soup (10.5 oz) Pumpkin Stuffing Mix OTHER ITEMS NEEDED Assorted Cereals Assorted 64 oz. Juice (No Cranberry) Egg Noodles Kleenex Napkins Toilet Tissue Shampoo Conditioner Items can be brought to church anytime and placed in large basket in Narthex (by coat rack) Thanks.

8 ST. PAUL'S UCC - SEPTEMBER 2018 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 LABOR DAY BOOTH 2 LABOR DAY BOOTH COMMUNION SUNDAY 11:30am Worship Mtg :15am Sunday School 11:30am Official Brd Mtg 6:00PM Pastor's Forum 7:00pm Evening Circle 6:30pm Men's Group begins :15am Sunday School FALL BEGINS 7:00am SHARE TRUCK 11:30am LL&W Mtg 7:00pm Finance Mtg 6:00pm - Pastor's Forum 7:00pm - Choir :15am Sunday School 11:30am Diaconate Mtg 6:00pm - 7:00pm Potluck GRATER LOVE SUNDAY 7:00pm - Choir 30 USHERS: SCRIPTURE READERS: 9:15am Sunday School 2nd John Janovick & Larry Shepard 2nd Sean McDermott To every thing there is a season 9th Kent & Chris Mowrer 9th Brenna Saxton and a time to every purpose 16th Jan Kirkpatrick & Jack Toepfer 16th Marie Olson 11:30 PPR Mtg 23rd Jim & Becky Janovick 23rd Connie Duling under the heaven. 11:45 Spring Fest 30th Terry & Diane Ostendorf 30th Becky Janovick Eccl 3:1 working Group Mtg

9 ST. PAUL'S UCC - OCTOBER 2018 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY :00pm - Pastor's Forum 7:00pm - Choir 7 8 COLUMBUS DAY COMMUNION SUNDAY 9:15am Sunday School 6:00pm - Pastor's Forum 7:00pm Evening Circle 7:00pm - Choir :15am Sunday School 6:30pm Men's Group 7:00pm Finance Mtg 6:00pm - Pastor's Forum 7:00pm -Choir :15 Sunday School 7:00am SHARE 11:30am LL&W Mtg 6:00pm - 7:00pm Potluck 7:00pm Choir HALLOWEEN 9:15am Sunday School 11:30am Diaconate Mtg USHERS: SCRIPTURE READERS: 7th Paul & Sharra Storm 7th Emily Scott 14th Jerry & Deb Wibe 14th Ann Reiter 21st Tim & Deb Latta 21st Diana Olsen 28th Wes & Julie Mathes 28th Deb Wibe 6:00pm - Pastor's Forum 7:00pm -Choir This is the Day that the Lord has made let us Rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 TRUCK

10 St. Paul s United Church of Christ 115 S. Cedar St. Madrid, IA Pastor Rev. Mary Beth Mardis-LeCroy Phone: pastormarybeth@gmail.com St. Paul's UCC Church Church Phone: Church stpaulsucc@iowatelecom.net Facebook: Ia/ No Matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!