KOINONIA. What is koinonia? It is a Greek word meaning Christian fellowship or communion, with God or, more commonly, with fellow Christians.

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2 KOINONIA What is koinonia? It is a Greek word meaning Christian fellowship or communion, with God or, more commonly, with fellow Christians. In Acts 2 it says: Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. Wesley United Methodist Church practices koinonia. We are a community of faith. We are the people of God. Technology allows us to live at a time when we are more accessible than we have ever been, we are more connected to people than we have ever been, and we understand even more the interconnectedness of our planet. And yet, we have never felt more alone and more isolated as a people than we do today. We have lost the essence of Koinonia. You are invited to help us reimagine community, reimagine relationships, and reimagine the church. Over the summer we will explore how we can build koinonia here at Wesley. Each week we will explore a different biblical idea of koinonia and apply it to our contemporary society. We will be challenged to build koinonia within our church community but also in our neighborhoods. What can you do to build a sense of community where you live?

3 May 27 th In the Beginning Then the LORD God said, It s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper that is perfect for him. Genesis 2:18 June 3 rd The Family After she was baptized, along with everyone in her household, she said in a surge of hospitality, If you re confident that I m in this with you and believe in the Master truly, come home with me and be my guests. We hesitated, but she wouldn t take no for an answer. Acts 16:15 June 10 th Institutions Then he said, The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren t created for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 June 17 th Let s Get Connected Celebrate with me. Luke 15:6 June 24 th Koinonia Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. Acts 2:46 July 1 st Removing the Walls But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was wrong. Galatians 2:11 July 8 th Being a Visionary Leader I was in the city of Joppa praying when I had a visionary experience. In my vision, I saw something like a large linen sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came all the way down to me. Acts 11:5 July 15 th Polarization So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as Christ s representatives, Be reconciled to God! 2 Corinthians 5:20 July 22 nd Addressing Bad Behavior... to proclaim release to the prisoners. Luke 4:18 July 29 th Learning to Pay Attention Look at the birds in the sky. They don t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren t you worth much more than they are? Matthew 6:26 August 5 th Doing One s Part Why do you see the splinter in your brother s or sister s eye but don t notice the log in your own eye? Luke 6:41 August 12 th Clear, Calm, and Connected And Jesus said, Come. Matthew 14:29

4 The June UMW Meeting will be a Unit Meeting (encompassing all three Wesley UMW Circles) held at the home of Mari Curless at 6:00 p.m. on June 11, The program will be a review of the 2018 UMW Assembly with the theme of The Power of Bold. This will be a pot luck meeting so, all women are invited to join us for an evening of good food as well as wonderful fellowship. If there are any questions, please contact Mari Curless or Vicki Martin. Mari Curless: Vicki Martin: HANNAH CIRCLE: Hannah Circle will meet in the church parlor on June 28 at 1:00 p.m. Ladies are invited to attend this daytime circle and enjoy fellowship with like-minded women.

5 BOY SCOUTS TO HONOR HERB JOHN This year s Three Fires Council Recognition Dinner will recognize outstanding volunteers, Scouts and Silver Beaver recipients including Wesley s own Herb John! You can join in this celebration at Two Brothers Roundhouse on Thursday, June 21, Cocktail and social hour begin at 6:00pm. The cost is $50/person for the evening and you can register at CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP Wesley UMC has a Caregivers Support Group that meets the third Thursday of each month for lunch, at noon at Mother s on Galena (unless otherwise posted). If you are a caregiver for a loved one or a friend, or are working for a company that places caregivers in homes of those in need; if you have been a caregiver; or if you anticipate being a caregiver and want to come and commiserate with us, you are invited to join us. All are welcome, men and women, young and old. We offer one another support, compassion, and a willing ear to listen. For more information, contact Wendy Evans at wendy-evans@att.net, or stop and chat at church on Sundays. WESLEY GARDENERS Please sign up to help care for Wesley s gardens. There is a sign up sheet in the Narthex, you can sign up for a week or multiple weeks of your choice. Thanks to those who have already volunteered! TUESDAY NIGHT CRAFTERS Tuesday Night Crafters will meet June 12 at 7:00 p.m. at Vicki Martin s home. The technique learned at this meeting will be a braided paper fold which can be used on greeting cards or scrapbook pages. Anyone interested in this or any type of crafts is invited to join the Crafters for an evening of fun and fellowship. Please contact Vicki ( ) with questions or to confirm your attendance. MUG CLUB BREWINGS Enjoy a cup of coffee and conversation. This is a social group of men with lots to talk about and too much time on our hands. We have not had too many solutions, but we ve had lots of fellowship. We invite you to join us! For more details call Herb at or check with any of the other men who are regular attenders! Mug Club Brewings meets: Where: Colonial Café at West Plaza When: Every 9am On the third Thursday of the month we meet at Bruce Lindgren s 2pm. WESLEY GOLFERS Calling all Wesley golfers! We invite you for an afternoon of golf and fellowship on June 24th at Valley Green Golf Course in North Aurora. Details coming soon! Please contact Ralph Breazeale with your reservation. Phone: jrbreeze47@comcast.net June 24th Details Coming Soon

6 CHANGE THE WORLD SUNDAY Thank you to all those who participated and helped Change the World! Our Change The World Sunday was held on May 20th. We had over a dozen volunteers who did work at the Starke s home, local parks and the home of a neighbor of Wesley Church, Ms. Terra Chapman.

7 CONGRATULATIONS This year we had 6 confirmands. They really worked hard. We are extremely proud of all their accomplishments and we can t wait to see what the future holds for them and all the blessings that will come their way. We also celebrated the baptism of Isaiah & Faith Burnett. Confirmation Class Isaiah Noel Burnett Cody Alexander Cook Ashley Marilee Costa Tara Leeann Geyer Adam John Karl Isaiah Burnett, Adam Karl, Nadjate Yacoubou, Tara Geyer, Ashley Costa, Cody Cook Cody Cook s confirmation ceremony Rev. John Bell, Adam Karl & Wendy Connell

8 We are thrilled to announce the hiring of Wesley's new full-time Discipleship Coordinator, Mollie Foster! Her first day will be June 4th. Mollie was born and raised a Kansas farm girl, but tremendously enjoys exploring the Chicago area! She is a graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas with a B.A. in Liberal Arts and Leadership Studies. In 2006, Mollie completed a year of service through AmeriCorps in Denver, Colorado, working with homeless youth in a transitional housing program. Prior to entering seminary, she served as the full time Director of Youth Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Leavenworth, Kansas from Mollie Foster is currently a Master of Divinity student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and will graduate in May, She spent the summer of 2015 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa as an Intern at Wesley Methodist Church and studying at Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary. Mollie served as a Chaplain Intern through the NorthShore Health System from Over the past two years, she has been the Pastoral Resident at First United Methodist Church in Evanston developing a Young Adult Ministry. Mollie enjoys being with good company, coffee, baking pies, traveling, repurposing furniture, and all things sports. (especially Kansas basketball. Rock Chalk!) Mollie is passionate about providing a way for others to live out the love of Christ and live into their own calling to the fullest capacity. She is excited to serve and join the Wesley United Methodist family!

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10 There will be one worship service on June 17th at 9am in the sanctuary. Step off for the parade is at noon. We are looking for volunteers to march in the parade with Wesley. We will gather at the parade lineup starting at 10:30am. Please John if you would like to march with us!

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13 A.L.I.C.E. TRAINING The conference has provided a one-time only viewing of an active shooter training for staff and volunteers at all conference churches. Our scheduled showing is Wednesday, June 13 th at 2:00pm in the Gathering Place. If you volunteer regularly at the church and have not yet registered, please Jenny at jennifer.wumc@gmail.com or call the church office at to let us know you will attend. Here is further information provided by the conference on the content of the training: The framework of the Active Shooter on-line course being offered to Conference churches centers upon the nationally recognized methodology entitled ALICE. ALICE* stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evaluate. The ALICE practice is emulated by local, State and Federal agencies (e.g. FBI, FEMA, Department of Education and Department of Homeland Security). The ALICE on-line course provides a proactive response options to fill the time gap between when a violent event begins and law enforcement arrives. The essential objective of the course is to authorize and empower individuals with the tools necessary to increase survivability during a violent event. *NOTE: As is explained in the on-line course, the acronym ALICE offers various alternatives which dictate a response being dependent upon a given situation. Consequently, the appropriate action may not correspond to the specific sequence of the words appearing in the acronym ALICE. Viewing the on-line course is worthwhile if just to gain this very valuable understanding. BUILDING EXPENSES Take a look at the pie chart showing average building expenses over the last two years. After the new boilers have been installed, we ll do a comparison of the costs from last winter to this next one. SECOND QUARTER GIVING STATEMENTS Second quarter giving statements will be mailed in early July.

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16 Trustee Update Capital Campaign improvements are moving along nicely. A milestone was accomplished with the removal of the old boiler on May 22 nd. The company was quick and efficient. The removal of the boiler took two full days. You can see the progress in the photos below. The last step is to brick in the 2-foot diameter hole left when the giant exhaust flue was cut away from the chimney. The final bids for the installation of the new boiler and a more efficient water heater are in and awarding the contract will be done soon. Our goal is to have the work under way by the first of July. Preschool staff and volunteers have been clearing the red preschool room in preparation of the asbestos tile removed on May 29th. Remediation of the foundation leaks will then be addressed. Gutter repairs will also be done to redirect rain water away from the classroom foundation. The final work to be done in June is the addition of 16 blown in insulation over the third-floor classrooms. This will be a very busy summer! Wally Loague Mary Terrell

17 JUNE BIRTHDAYS! MAY YOUR BIRTHDAY WISH COME TRUE!

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