The. North Shore United Methodist. March Don t Underestimate the Size of a Mustard Seed

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1 The North Shore United Methodist March 2016 Don t Underestimate the Size of a Mustard Seed Many of our new members have been asking me about our mission and vision statement as a church. Two years ago we sat down with the vision for the past 5 years. We realized that we had accomplished many of the goals the church had set forth but that we were behind on some of the other goals. On Sunday March 6 th at noon we will roll out a preliminary sketch of new building plans for you to look at, ask questions and make comments. I pray you will attend this important gathering of our church. Below is our mission and vision statement: Mission Statement: North Shore UMC seeks to glorify God by developing disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and our community. We are a family of believers who put our faith in action through sharing, nurturing, prayer, service and witness. Vision: We seek to be invitational in sharing God s blessings with a focus on families, children, youth and young adults. We are dedicated to focusing on children, families, youth and young adults. We understand that we live in a rural area with limited resources to care and nurture the next generation of faith. North Shore would like to re-kindle the church as a community-gathering place for all ages. As we move forward we will need to be a church unified, with direction and purpose. This will not be easy! It will stretch us beyond our comfort zones. It will require the kind of determined vision that the first founders of North Shore had. It will require us to ask others for help. It will require us to be on our knees in prayer following God s will. It will be an amazing adventure and a legacy that we will leave for the next generations. Jesus sent his 12 closest followers out into the world with a clear vision, and then he was off to cast his vision, build alignment and empower execution among brand new people! Powerful visions are like that. They compel you, energize you, and pull you forward. This was not drudgery for Jesus. It was his passion and purpose in life. (Luke 4:43). It was the reason he got out of bed in the morning. He was unstoppable! I ve often thought of us as a small church but I recently read statistics from the average worship attendance in our Hill Country District and North Shore is in the top 5 of highest worship attendance. That makes me both sad and excited all at the same time. It reminded me to never underestimate the size of a mustard seed! I can t wait to see how you will live out Christ s call. Let us press on to finish the race we have begun with passion and excitement! March 6th Town Hall Meeting March 8th UMW General Meeting March 10th UMW Creative Hands Carol Bryant s Studio 9:30am March 12th Crop Walk 8am Registration & 8:30 Walk March 12-18th Dominican Republic Mission Trip March 13th Daylight Savings Time March 17th UMW Reading Circle 12:30pm March 20th Eggstravaganza- Picnic & Easter Egg Hunt After 2nd Service March 23rd Staff Appreciation Day March 24th Maundy Thursday 6:30pm March 25th Good Friday 6:30pm March 27th Easter Sunday April 1st Registration Deadline for Marriage Encounter Weekend April 3rd Community Partnership Program 1pm April 10th Youth Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser April 10th Church Council Meeting In Mission with You, Pastor Kim March 6th Communion Offering CROP Hunger Walks are community-wide events sponsored by Church World Service and organized by religious groups, businesses, schools and others to raise funds to end hunger at home and around the world. There are more than 350 CROP Hunger Walks across the United States from Alaska to Florida. After each local walk, 25% of the money raised stays right in the community to help stock local food pantries and soup kitchens. Our local CROP Hunger Walk across Canyon Lake Dam will be on Saturday, March 12th. For more information see

2 United Methodist Men U MW UNITED METHODIST WOMEN United Methodist Women News Because of the primary voting at the church on March 1, the UMW will meet on Tuesday March 8. Carol Bryant will present the Lenten program A Call to Prayer and Self Denial. A special offering will be taken up. The offering received will be sent to National UMW to support national and international programs that empower women to gain the resources they need to earn a living wage so they can take care of themselves and their loved ones. Projects will include job skills training, small business development assistance and similar programs. The grant will also support campaigns to educate communities about economic justice at a local, national, and global level. Weather permitting we will also go up to the labyrinth (on the hill above the columbarium) where Diane Kunz will tell us about what it means and how to walk it. Bring a friend and enjoy some great fellowship. PRAYER MINISTRY Greetings from the Prayer Ministry!!!. We pray all the time, but meet on Sunday mornings at 8:30 AM if anyone would like to join us in the Prayer Chapel in the Education Building. Please stop and say hi to anyone of us. We would be happy to speak to you, take a prayer request or just chat about prayer and how wonderful and privileged we feel it is to be able to take your concerns, joys, praises, etc. before the Lord. When I said, "My foot is slipping, " your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Psalm 94:18-19 Annie Perez Susan Fuqua BLESSINGS Katie Mason Diane Kunz Pat Cahill Joyce Ross The UMM Bar-B-Q is this Saturday, March 5 from 4 to 7 PM. We will be making desserts again this year to sell for $2 a piece. This will benefit our UMW mission work in the community. It will be a great party and a worthwhile cause. Make your plans to attend now. Creative Hands Circle will meet Thursday, March 10 at 9:30 AM at Carol Bryant s studio. We will be working on crafts for mission. The Reading Circle will meet Thursday March 17 at 12:30 at the church. We will be discussing the book House of Purple Cedar. If you haven t read it come anyway, maybe you will want to read it after hearing the review. Congregational Town Hall- Sunday, March 6 after the 11:00 service everyone is invited to stay for a question and answer session to discuss plans for a new sanctuary and education building. The Planning Committee has been working with architect Lorraine Dailey to assess our needs and the best design to meet those needs. She will have a schematic design to present and will be available to answer questions about that. The Fundraising Committee has been working to determine how much our church might be able to spend on this project and how to raise those funds. They will be available for questions on that aspect of the project. We hope that everyone can attend. 2

3 Music News Good Friday Music The Chancel Choir will be singing a Tenebrae: Service of Darkness for the evening service on Good Friday. The Service of Tenebrae follows a tradition of the church (Tenebrae means darkness and commemorates the final hours of our Lord s live on Earth. The cantata possesses sensitivity and depth of emotion seldom heard in a choral composition. The choir anticipates you will be moved by the music and hope you will make a special effort to be a part of this service. Introducing Erick Let me introduce Erick. He is the newest addition to the choir in the 11:00 service. Erick sings Tenor, which is the higher of the male voices. He is a freshman at Canyon Lake High School and sings in the choir there. We are truly delighted to have him join us (he is by far the youngest member of the choir). The Tenor voice part has been missing except when I can conduct and sing the part at the same time. Look for Erick on the top row of the choir. The Tenors sit to the right in the loft. Handbells We re looking for a few ringers to round out the 3 octave handbell set we have. Rehearsals are low stress. Bells don t need a lot of musical experience to play, but some music training is a great benefit. Ringing handbells is easy and challenging. Easy because each ringer typically only has to keep up with and play 2 notes. Challenging, because ringing in the ensemble requires keeping up with what is going on in the ensemble. Congregational singing Lift up your voices and sing praise and thanksgiving to God. Not only is your voice heard, but regardless of how well you think you sing, God thinks your voice is beautiful Canyon Lake CROP Hunger Walk It is CROP Walk time again! Envelopes have been handed out and we are looking for walkers and sponsors. This year we are trying something different. All walkers are being given a blue CROP hunger walk bracelet. If you see someone with one of these bracelets on, feel free to give them a donation. The Walk will be on Saturday, March 12. Registration begins at 8:00. We will have music, stretching exercises and a surprise for children, We will start walking at 8:30. Kevin Murphey, our Church World Service guy, has promised to provide good weather for the walk and we are going to do our best to hold him to it. After the walk, join us for a beans and rice meal. If you want to join the fun and haven t gotten an envelope to collect pledges, see Beryl Josephson after church. As usual, 25% of the money raised will be returned to our three local food banks and 75% will go to support Church World Service programs to feed the hungry and provide help to refugees and rebuild after disasters. North Shore Youth March Youth Newsletter Article What a month February has been! North Shore Youth was busy, but boy did we have fun! We kicked off the month with our Winter Retreat at Camp Eagle with 300 of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. From zip-lining, super swings, hiking, fantastic worship, and a whole lot of bonding, we came back feeling revived and even more on fire for the Lord. We also kicked off our Dave Ramsey Generation Change on Wednesday evenings and Confirmation 2016 on Sunday afternoons. Please continue to be in prayer for both of these classes as these students take time out of their hectic schedules to spend more time with the Lord. We are wrapping up our Hot Topics sermon series and I want to give a big thank you to all those who have been involved. Throughout the past two months we have discussed: Technology, Body Image, Dating, Peer Pressure, and will wrap up this Sunday with Addiction. These topics have allowed us to examine many issues our teens face today while providing a safe and loving environment for them to ask questions and get answers. Lastly we had our first ever Youth Valentine s Dance! Our students were encouraged to invite their friends, dress their best, and come prepared to dance! We had a photo booth, a LOT of food, and so much fun! As always, I encourage you to come out and spend some time with our young people. I may be a bit biased, but we have some AWESOME kids who could always use another leader, mentor, and friend on their Christian journey! My heart is so full serving them and we at North Shore Youth thank you for all you do to support us! CRRC needs for March The CRRC is in need of soap; bath soap, dish soap, laundry soap, shampoo and conditioner. As always they can always use toilet paper, tooth brushes, and tooth paste. Next time you are at the grocery store pick up a few items to donate then drop them off in the Narthex in the baskets located under the TV. 3

4 Greetings Easter People! Lent is a sweet time as we journey towards Easter. I am so thankful to stand on this side of the cross and know that Jesus conquers death! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! I hope and pray you have a fun and safe Spring Break! Please plan on being back in town Sunday, March 20 th. Not only is it Palm Sunday, but it s also our EGGSTRAVAGANZA!!!! You re not going to want to miss it! What a perfect way to wrap up Spring Break! Please invite family, friends, and neighbors (or if your neighbors are already your friends, even better!)! It s going to be a sweet day to celebrate! I hope you will join us! Something New How would you define faith formation?!? It is commonly defined as things we intentionally do to help form and shape our faith. Things like reading our Bible, praying, fasting, giving, serving well you get the idea. I think I have the best job in the whole wide world and I am so blessed to get to serve among my sweet family here at North Shore. It is an honor to get to spend a couple hours with your precious ones each week. But it is only a couple hours. Over and over again studies and statistics show that parents/guardians are the number one faith influencers in their children s lives. And as your child was baptized we all took vows to help raise them to know Jesus and live a life following his example. So its up to all of us! In the following months I want to share Family Faith Formation ideas. My goal is to equip, empower, and set you free to be a faith former in your own home. (I know, I can hear some of you what if they ask questions I don t know the answer too? I don t know the Bible well enough. I don t how to respond to the tough stuff. That s beautiful! That s when we walk through it all together. Eight of the most powerful words I ve ever heard are I don t know. Let s look it up together! ) We are all in a process of learning and growing. I learn and grow each week as I prepare lessons for your precious ones, and I learn even more from them! So look for this logo each month for a new Family Faith Formation idea! A simple, but powerful question: Where did you see God today? On the way home from school. At the dinner table or on the way to get dinner. At story time and tuck-in. Storytelling is our most ancient form of passing on history. Take time to ask each family member where they saw God today. In the first few days you might get short answers or sholder shrugs. Encourage everyone to participate and share something. The thing is that, just in asking the question we are helping to refocus our perspective. As we talk about where we see God, we become more in tune, and find ourselves looking for God. Maybe you saw God in the flower growing up out of the mulch on the playground. Or in your classmate or coworker who shared a pencil. Maybe you saw God in the loving way mom prepared dinner or even in that driver who let you change lanes in all that traffic. God is everywhere. When we talk about God we train ourselves to look for God. Where did you see God today? Save the Date: Eggstravaganza Sunday, March 20 th 12:00-2:00pm Save the Date: Vacation Bible School June 27 th July 1 st 9:00-12:00 Lunch Egg Hunt Come Catch the Wave 4

5 Romance Giving Beyond the Lilies This year instead of purchasing Easter Lilies or flowers you can make a tribute donation in honor or memory of a friend, family member or loved one. We have chosen four different places that you may make a donation to. Your generous gift can go to the North Shore UMC Endowment Fund leave a lasting legacy, CRRC to help feed the hungry, GoMad Ministries to help combat Human Trafficking or to Can You Dig It which gives clean drinking water to the people in Uganda. Letters will be sent out recognizing your donation to the honoree or family member in memory of. Fill out the flyer in Sunday s Bulletin and then turn into the office or place in the offering plate. Community Partner Program More than one million individuals in Texas qualify for life-saving food or health benefits but are not enrolled to receive them. In this part of Comal County over 50% of people who qualify for SNAP (Supplemental Food Assistance Program) are not enrolled. Texans can now apply online for public benefit programs like CHIP, TANF, SNAP and Medicaid through the Texas Health and Human Services Commissions new online portal. Recognizing that many low-income families do not have Internet access or might need additional help, the Community Partner Program is a state initiative that allows local congregations to assist low-income Texans in applying for needed benefits. On April 3, at 1pm a volunteer from Texas Impact will be at the church to speak to us about setting up a Community Partner program in our neighborhood. If you are interested in helping our neighbors in this way, please come to this meeting. We will provide a light lunch and will then learn what we can do to help our neighbors enroll for benefits that they are entitled to. We are hoping this will be a natural supplement to our Summer Feeding Program. Why settle for a good Marriage when you can have a Great Marriage? Want to get closer to the One you love? Has squeezing the toothpaste from the middle doused the flames of Romance in your marriage? Do you want greater depth, growth and enrichment in your relationship? Rediscover the one you love! If you love the person you re married to You ll love a marriage encounter weekend!! Rediscover the one you love on a Marriage Encounter weekend! Marriage Encounter is 44 hours where married couples can get away from jobs, kids, chores, and phones and focus only on each other. If you d like greater depth, growth, and enrichment in your relationships, you ll like the difference a Marriage Encounter United Methodist Weekend can make! May 6-8, 2016 Inn of the Hills in Kerrville, TX For more information go to encounter.org or Contact Marilyn & Bud Good at mbgood2@gmail.com Registration Deadline April 1st A weekend of discovery...a lifetime of love Holy Week Schedule March 20th Eggstravaganza & Picnic March 24th Maundy Thursday 6:30pm March 25th Good Friday 6:30pm (Tenebrae: A Service of Darkness) March 27th Easter Sunday 5