Ashland United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 Ashland United Methodist Church Issue 18 The November 2018 Volume 11 The Messenger 2019 Discipleship Campaign Change Your Habits Your Life We are in full swing sharing our 2019 Discipleship Campaign. I encourage you to get involved and make this year s campaign an even bigger success than our 2018 Campaign. This is important because it sets the course for the coming year. Ashland believes Discipleship matters! This campaign is more than the numbers; it is the engagement. It requires being a disciple to make a disciple. Matthew 28:19 tells us to go and make disciples; therefore we want to become better disciples as we strive to make disciples. We have commitment cards for everyone. We believe kids and adults can grow as disciples; the commitment cards are age appropriate. It is a chance to prayerfully consider your personal plan for the coming year. I hope you will get involved. We want you to think about how many times you will be in worship. We want you to commit to an outreach mission locally or globally that is your passion. We want you to make a plan for developing your faith through a small group or a personal plan of study. This will also be a time to make your financial support decision for the coming year. We are encouraged to grow in all of these areas as we grow in Christ. Inside this Edition Discipleship Campaign Cover From Our Pastor 5 Member News 2 Celebrating Youth 6 Veterans Honor Flight 3 Celebrating Kids 7 November Calendar 4 Don t be left out...

2 The red carnation delivered to my hospital room blessed me with a smile as I gazed upon it daily. It followed me home for more days of smiles. I am blessed by the flower, Pastor Doug, Sue and knowing prayers on my behalf were said. I am gaining and for that I am grateful. Psalms 24:118 ~Sandy Woody Dear Ashland family, Thank you to Pastor Doug, Sue Abarr and all of our Ashland family for the flowers, visits, prayers and words of encouragement during Larry s stay in the hospital. We are so blessed to be a part of the Ashland family. ~Larry, Karen and Virginia Sparks Sue and Ashland friends, Thank you for the lovely pink budvase and for the visits and prayers. ~Betty Nold If you are going to be in the hospital or have surgery and you would like a visit, please contact the office at (office@aumcfamily.org) or Sue Abarr at For surgeries, please let us know the date, time, and hospital where you will be having your surgery. Remember, due to HIPPA regulations, the hospital will not call and inform the church of your hospitalization. Operation Christmas Child Since 1993 Samaritan s Purse has brought joy to 157 million boys and girls around the world through Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. Each one is an opportunity for the Gospel to be shared with the children. These simple gifts brighten their hearts as we share with them the true meaning of Christmas. In the hands of local churches, they are tools for evangelism, discipleship and multiplication. Our Ashland family is currently filling shoeboxes with stuffed animals, school supplies, hygiene items, soccer balls and sewing kits as Christmas presents for children around the world. Toothpaste and candy are no longer allowed due to custom regulations. It is not too late to fill a regular size shoebox and return it with a $9 contribution (to help with the cost of distribution) to the church by November 11 th. Let Us Shop For You! Cash and check donations accepted. (Please no shoebox items). Checks can be made out to AUMC with shoebox in the memo. Please put in the offering plate or give to Kathy Cordero. Please help us reach our goal of 250 shoeboxes. Please contact Elaine Spafford at with any questions about this mission outreach project. Page 2

3 Veterans Honor Flight On October 10, 2018, I had the honor of being a member of a group of 57 Veterans to fly from Kansas City to Washington, DC, as part of the Veterans Honor Flight. This group of veterans had served military time in either World War II, Korean War or the Vietnam War. The oldest veteran in this group was 95 years old. Upon arriving at Arlington National Cemetery, at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we were met by Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. He shook each of our hands and a personal picture with him was taken. The rest of the day we visited all the remaining War Memorials. Each memorial is dedicated to the branch of service of the military. What a thrill it was to see so many visitors and school children from other countries. So many of them wanted to shake our hands and thank us for our service in keeping their country safe. Upon our return into KCI, we were met by approximately 200 visitors welcoming us home. They wanted to shake hands and thank us for our service. There were three major Kansas City television crews broadcasting our arrival home. The Buchanan Highlanders Bagpipe and Drum Band led by Roger Heard was also part of the welcoming crowd. This will always be an honor and memory in my heart for my time spent in the military. God bless our veterans! Ray Stufflebean Editor s Note: Ray served in the US Army with the Army Intelligence Service. Thank you Ray and all other veterans for your service. SOUP & SALAD LUNCH with ENTERTAINMENT Thursday, November 15 12:00 p.m. Fellowship Hall If you are new to Ashland or if you have been visiting for a while and would like to explore membership, please join me on Sunday, November 11, at 10:00 a.m. in my office for Coffee with the Pastor. This will be an opportunity to discuss church membership and learn more about the United Methodist Church. We will also discuss how to form a connection in the life of the church. I sincerely hope that you will join me. Pastor Doug After we enjoy our lunch Scotty Plowman, musical entertainer, will be playing the guitar and singing gospel and traditional music. Scotty is a songwriter and entertainer in Branson, Missouri. We hope you will join us for a fun time. Sign up sheets are at the Information Desks. Page 3

4 November 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 4 Communion Sunday All Saints Day 3:00pm St Joseph Symphony (Sanctuary) 11 OCC Shoeboxes Due Back to Church :30pm New G 5 3:00pm UMW Board Meeting(111) 6:30pm 1 st Monday Women (Parlor) 6:30pm Children s Ministry Team 12 5:15pm Ad Council (111) 6:00pm PEO Chapter BJ (G11-12) 19 5:00/7:00pm Church Decorating Party (Sanctuary) 26 6 ELECTION DAY 7:00am/9:00pm Election (FH) 5:00pm Girl Scouts(G11) 5:15pm Finance Team (111) 5:30pm Deep & Wide Bible Study (112) 13 2:00pm LFO Circle (G11-12) 5:15pm Trustees (111) 5:30pm Deep & Wide Bible Study (112) 6:00pm Cub Scouts (G13,113,114,103,104) 7:00pm Boy Scouts (FH/G11) 20 10:00am Messenger Mailing (113) 5:00pm Girl Scouts (G11,12) 6:00pm Cub Scout Pack (FH) 7:00pm Boy Scouts (FH/G11) :30am TLC Bible Study(112) 14 8:30am TLC Bible Study(LePeep) 9:00am Messenger Articles Due 21 No MidWeek@Ashland 28 8:30am TLC Bible Study(112) 1 10:00am Sonshine Storytime(G6) 2:30pm Prayer Group (Prayer Room) 6:00pm Girl Scouts (G11,12) 8 1:00pm Susanna/Joy Circle (LePeep) 15 10:00am Sonshine Story Time (G6) 12:00pm Adults 50+ (FH) 6:00pm Girl Scouts (G12,13,14) 7:00pm Adonai Circle(Kirby) 22 Office Closed 29 6:00pm Girl Scouts (G12,13) 2 10:00am String Quartet Rehearsal (Sanctuary) 6:00pm Cub Scouts (FH) Office Closed :00am Men s Breakfast (FH) 10 The Garden SS Class (ODFK) 9:00am New G Pizza Sale (FH) 17 8:00am Girl Scouts (G11,12,13) 7:00pm Central Methodist University Choir Concert (Sanctuary) :00am UMM Breakfast(FH)

5 We gather together to seek the Lord s blessing. The opening words of the old familiar Thanksgiving hymn ring so true at Ashland UMC. We are reaching the midpoint of the last quarter of the year and it has been a wonderful year! We will celebrate our Stewardship Campaign this month; Change Your Habits Your Life. It is not only our Stewardship slogan, it is the way we are engaging in ministry at 2711 Ashland Avenue. My hope is that we will complete the new West Entrance this month. We are close to reaching our financial goals for the project and you can still get a brick to remember or honor someone special. It is a great way to say, I was here when this historic event transpired. I hope you will consider helping us reach our fundraising goal. We were a part of another historic event in the life of our church in October. October 21 we established a new high water mark in the life of Ashland UMC as we welcomed our 60 th new member. This is the largest group of people coming into membership in one year in the history of Ashland and we have two months of the year remaining. God is blessing this church in so many ways. We have continued to expand our missional footprint! We are active in over 18 different local ministries. October brought us into full swing at Coleman Elementary with an unlimited potential to change lives through this wonderful relationship. In the middle of October the new Emergency Shelter opened downtown at The Crossing. Ashland has fingerprints all over this new ministry. Donna Wilson has led the charge wearing her Mosaic hat, but Donna is one of ours. We have Sunday school classes that have donated resources to get the doors open. We are creating teams to come alongside folks at the shelter and befriend them as they work to reestablish their lives. We are actively demonstrating a response to God s invitation to ministry. The new Ashland directory is in progress. That is incredible and exciting. We will have not only pictures of Ashland folks, but we will also have pages of pictures reflecting mission involvement, Sunday school classes and other Ashland activities. We have added a day, so it is not too late to be a part of the our directory. We continue to expand our outreach in worship welcoming new folks almost every week. The LiveStream ministry continues to grow and we are sharing our Sunday services with more people than ever before. This is exciting because we are headed into one of the months with the greatest attendance of any month of the year. We are in full Christmas planning mode; Ashland has some wonderful things planned for the Christmas season. I hope you are already thinking about who you might invite to experience Ashland this Christmas Season. I want to close this November newsletter with thoughts of Thanksgiving to each and every one of you! Carol and I count our blessings every day and Ashland is a blessing to us. We are enriched by our friendships and the warmth this church has shown us. We name blessings at our Thanksgiving table every year and Ashland UMC and its wonderful people will certainly be at the top of our list of thanks! Doug Page 5

6 Page 6

7 We will begin practice for the Children s Christmas Program on Sunday, November 4th, and we will practice every Sunday until the program on December 9th. The practices are for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. We will meet in the choir room right after Children s Moments at the 9:00 service. There is a part for everyone (speaking or non-speaking). The preschoolers will be in the program but they do not need to attend the practices. Kate Esely and Andrea Drechsel are directing the program this year. Kasey Brown will practice songs with the children on Wednesday nights during music time. Christmas shopping at the Bible Bucks store will be on Wednesday, November 28th, during MidWeek@Ashland. The kids always love this night because they get to shop for their family with Bible Bucks that they have earned. Members of the Children s Ministry Team will be on hand to help wrap the gifts. Sonshine Story Time will meet twice in November. On 1st we will read Samuel Listens out of the Rhyme Bible. On November 15th we will read God Bless Our Fall. We will make fall craft; have a snack, sing and play. We send you home with an activity for you to do at home with your little one. Coming in December: Family Advent Celebration December 2nd, 3:00 4:30 p.m. Register in advance Holiday Workshop December 15th 10:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Expanded this year! Family Movie Night December 16th - 6:00 p.m. Watch for details! Pray and Play, our quarterly event for families with preschoolers, was on October 20th. We explored the Blessings and Beauty of Autumn. Page 7

8 Ashland United Methodist Church 2711 Ashland Ave. ~ St. Joseph, MO Phone: Fax: office@aumcfamily.org Web: Sunday Worship Times: Traditional: 8:00 AM & 11:00 AM Contemporary: 9:00 AM NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID ST JOSEPH, MO PERMIT NO Return Service Requested Doug Walter, Senior Pastor Sue Abarr, Chaplain Shaun Agnew, Director of Worship Arts & Web Ministries Kathy Cordero, Director of Fiscal & Children s Ministries Amy Grooms, Director of Youth Ministries Christine Barber, Office Manager Edward Poston, Organist Sammy Aures, Custodian Leah Conrad, Hospitality Hostess Don t be left out... If you have not yet scheduled your photography session for the church pictorial directory, please do so as soon as possible. Appointments are still available for Monday, November 19 2:45 to 9:00 p.m. We have a record number of participants and we would love for you to be included!

9 November 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 10:00am Sonshine Storytime(G6) 6:00pm Girl Scouts (G11,12) 2 10:00am String Quartet Rehearsal (Sanctuary) 6:00pm Cub Scouts (FH) 3 8:00am Men s Breakfast (FH) 4 Communion Sunday All Saints Day 3:00pm St Joseph Symphony (Sanctuary) 5 3:00pm UMW Board Meeting(111) 6:30pm 1 st Monday Women(Parlor) 6:30pm Children s Ministry Team 6 ELECTION DAY 7:00am/9:00pm Election (FH) 5:00pm Girl Scouts(G11) 5:15pm Finance Team (111) 5:30pm Deep & Wide Bible Study (112) 7 8:30am TLC Bible Study(112) 8 1:00pm Susanna/Joy Circle (LePeep) 9 10 The Garden SS Class (ODFK) 9:00am New G Pizza Sale (FH) 11 OCC Shoeboxes Due Back to Church 12 5:15pm Ad Council (111) 6:00pm PEO Chapter BJ (G11-12) 13 2:00pm LFO Circle (G11-12) 5:15pm Trustees (111) 5:30pm Deep & Wide Bible Study (112) 6:00pm Cub Scouts (G13,113,114,103,104) 7:00pm Boy Scouts (FH/G11) 14 8:30am TLC Bible Study(LePeep) 9:00am Messenger Articles Due 15 10:00am Sonshine Story Time (G6) 12:00pm Adults 50+ (FH) 6:00pm Girl Scouts (G12,13,14) 7:00pm Adonai Circle(Kirby) :00am Girl Scouts (G11,12,13) 7:00pm Central Methodist University Choir Concert (Sanctuary) :00/7:00pm Church Decorating Party(Sanctuary) 20 10:00am Messenger Mailing(113) 5:00pm Girl Scouts (G11,12) 6:00pm Cub Scout Pack (FH) 7:00pm Boy Scouts (FH/G11) 21 No MidWeek@Ashland 22 Office Closed 23 Office Closed :30pm New G :30am TLC Bible Study(112) 29 6:00pm Girl Scouts (G12,13) :00am UMM Breakfast(FH)