NEXUS Long Island East District United Methodist Women April 2015

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2 President s Message Dear Sisters in Christ and Others who may read this, As I sat to write this message to you, I kept remembering something my cousin who is Presbyterian had said to me one Easter that I had visited her. It was so real for me that I frequently repeat or refer to it whenever I get into conversations about religion with persons of other faiths or denominations. I had included parts of our conversation in a Nexus a few years ago. And so instead of writing something new to express my feelings about this Christian Season, I decided to make this testimony again and hope it will become yours also. By the time you receive this Nexus, the dates designated as Easter on the calendar will have come and gone. But for United Methodist Women and I hope for all who claim designation as Christians, no matter the particular denomination, I hope that even though the date for the celebration of Resurrection Sunday/ Easter for this year has passed, the meaning of the events of that week, lives permanently in our hearts and minds. And so each morning when we awake to the dawn of a new day, each afternoon when the sun may be at its highest peak, providing us with a blanket of warmth, and each evening as we see a magnificent sunset, I hope we are reminded of the gift of Easter, that we have been given. My hope for us all is that we continue the celebration in our minds and hearts of the magnificent gift which was only possible through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No matter what the calendar says, Easter comes each day for me. May it also be so, for you! As it was so joyfully testified to by my Presbyterian cousin, and as many of you probably have read during your bible studies, it has been pointed out by so many of the writers, that in spite of the similarities, of so many of the religions practiced worldwide, Christianity has one fundamental difference from all the others. The prophets and holy ones upon whom the other religions were founded, can usually go to the place(s) where these persons (the founders) were buried. And in some cases the bodies are still there and can actually be seen. Or, the bodies have been preserved and can be visited by their followers. And so they follow a person who was human and died a death as we all must die, and is now found, seen in the tomb. Not so with Christianity. We can visit the place where Jesus body lay. But the body is not there! We serve a Risen Savior! That is the foundation of our belief, the essence of who we are! With the Joy of Resurrection Sunday fresh in our hearts, we prepare for the spring meeting of the LIE United Methodist Women. Come join us at Commack on April 25 th. In keeping with the spirit of our Purpose, we don t wait to be asked to serve when there is a need. The Commack UMW they did not wait to be asked to host this meeting, they ASKED to host. Just another example of living our Purpose! I do want to say thank you to all Units who have hosted during my tenure as President and to those who will come forward to host in the future! As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or a need to share, feel free to contact me by whatever mode is comfortable for you. Grace H. Bryant, LIE President (H), (C), Glhb2003@yahoo.com

3 A NOTE FROM THE LI EAST TREASURER Thank you to the units who have sent in remittances for the first quarter. A check in the amount of $2, has been sent to the conference treasurer. All units are reminded of these important dates. Please do not wait until the end of the year to submit your pledges. The sooner they are received, the sooner they can be sent to the many missions that are supported by our organization. Suggested dates for the remainder of this year are June 15, September 15 and December 15. In order to qualify for 5-Star recognition, unit monies must be received by September 15. In order for receipts to count for 2014, unit monies must be received by December 15. These deadlines will be observed. Thank you Mary Munkenbeck Treasurer, LIE UMW mhmunk@aol.com

4 Long Island East District TEAM MEMBERS DISTRICT OFFICERS and COORDINATORS OFFICERS: President Grace Bryant 728 Franklin Street Westbury, NY / (H) 516 / (C) glhb2003@yahoo.com Vice President OPEN Secretary Judy Mitchell 519 Church Street Westbury / (H) 516 / (C) judymitchell52@yahoo.com Treasurer Mary Munkenbeck 93 Brook Street West Sayville, NY / (H) mhmunk@yahoo.com MISSION COORDINATORS: Spiritual Growth Garydiane Morrison 150 West Columbia Street Apt. 4F Hempstead, NY / (H) 516 / (C) Garydianem@msn.com Education and Interpretation Jeanne O Neill 55 Riverview Ct. Oakdale, NY / (H) 516 / (C) joneill05@optonline.net Social Action Serena Richardson 400 Rose Avenue W. Hempstead, NY / (H) 516 / (C) cheroke700@gmail.com Membership, Nurture & Outreach Open Program Resources Gladys Louie 1809 Nostrand Avenue East Meadow, NY / (H) 516 / (C) Communications Kira Bryant 728 Franklin Street Westbury, NY / (C) KEB22002@yahoo.com NOMINATIONS: Mable Jo Robinson, Chair 711 Jefferson Street Westbury, NY / (H) 516 / (C) Barbara Becker 14 Hallock Road Patchogue, NY / (H) 631 / (C) BJbeck1@optonline.net Geri Sheridan 96 Evergreen Lane East Patchpgue, NY / (H) IMMEDIATE PAST OFFICERS Dorothy Kim 26 Slocum Avenue Port Washington, NY / (H) 516 / (C) dorothyskim@yahoo.com Hazel Nolan 27 Herbert Avenue Port Washington, NY / (H) Revised SCL

5 Article from Hazel Nolan UMC Port Washington UMW Thinking about WAM Woman s Advocacy Ministry and my service to Women in prison I recall my introduction to the need by a long-ago UMW guest speaker, Minister Elinor Hare. Elinor recycled herself from hairdresser mother before answering the call; she was introduced to the plight of prison-bound women by a Chicago-based Catholic nun and challenged to discover whether a need to serve this community existed in NYC. The result, Elinor felt a call to serve; her prison ministry evolved into WAM; her enthusiasm and energy generated interest and support. There were volunteers to man the office, interpreters to assist non-english speaking women in their court appearances, prayer partners, providers of infant and baby clothes and even organizers and hosts of Christmas party s for children of incarcerated Moms. Elinor identified a need and I and many others helped her to fill it. I introduced WAM to my UMW and our Port Washington congregation and many of us committed to answer the call: prayer partners, baby showers, Christmas shopping and more. I also continued a close relationship with Annie Bovian, Executive Director of Women s Advocate Ministry for more than 10 years, who recently retired. Annie was a guest preacher at many of our UMW Sunday Services; we have supported WAM yearly and many of our UMW women have had prayer partners. In addition to our sending our annual pledge money we have sent care packages throughout the years to incarcerated mothers. We felt good about our service. Imagine how the women we helped responded to our outreach of love and hope. Now, years later. Elinor and Annie have retired and I and my co-volunteers have run out of steam; WAM is no longer the dynamic, energy-driven organization it used to be. But the need is still there, and new servants are still responding to the call. Not in the same way, perhaps but in a Christ-centered way, still. My advice; don t be afraid to share your faith; your life will be richer for your service to others. Even though I ve slowed down a little, I m still a Christcentered social activist and I ll always continue to be one Written by Nancy Sutherland Dear Linda, What I can tell you all about my prayer partner,is that she is an inspiration to me. I accepted the invitation to write to a women convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, just about 10 years ago. I didn't know that our relationship would grow and be maintained this long. I just wanted to give to someone in need and thought a little card or letter would be no problem for me to generate. The cards and letters are no big deal to send off. The connection to another women who has almost no freedom and little hope of release is most humbling. My prayer partner has sought GOD'S forgiveness and is living in a state of gratitude for his unconditional pardon and love. She struggles to stay positive in a very crazy and hostile environment. She reminds me how much freedom that I can take for granted. She is living a Christian lifestyle while living with a lot of angry and broken hearted women. She asks me for very little but it is my joy to send her some socks, soap or candy to lift her spirits. She sends me concern and caring for my challenges here on the outside. She often inspires me to draw closer to GOD as a source of strength. I have a deeper sense of gratitude every time we connect through the mail. She is truly grateful for my little bit of support and my gratitude is for her example of hopefulness. She does not often write about her despair or frustration. Instead her notes to me are hope driven and full of positive expectations for her life. She has done a lot while incarcerated to secure education and training. Her long, maybe even endless confinement stirs me to reduce my own self pity for unmet needs and to follow her in confidence to walk with our GOD and remain sure of his plans for us all. I would urge all my church family to extend themselves to a soul with very little joy in their lives. It comes back ten fold and prompts me to be strong and to BELIEVE.

6 Port Washington UMW News The Port Washington UMW is helping to Imagine No Malaria with fundraising during the month of March until the April 25 th deadline. We decorated theme boxes for the congregation, the confirmands, friends, and neighbors to fill and return by the end of April. They will be returned on April 26 when we look forward to celebrating UMW Sunday with guest speaker Ms. Penny Gadzini and hosting a Brunch for our congregation after our service. More Social Action Just a short thank you to Hazel Nolan, our immediate past Social Action Coordinator, for her article on the Prison Ministry. And, another thank you to Nancy Sutherland for her article about her experience as a prayer partner to an incarcerated woman. There continues to be a need for this ministry and we in the East will continue to try to do our part. Make sure you join us for our Spring meeting at Commack to hear more about this. We will also do our part in collecting new clothing items needed for the SAFER (Survivors Advocate for Emergency Response) Program. The SAFER Program provides services to victims of rape, sexual assault and/or domestic violence in Nassau County Hospitals. Advocates provide emotional support, while advocating for victims as they undergo sexual evidence collection kits. In some cases the police will take the victim s clothing as evidence. The advocate will then provide the victims with new underwear (size 8), socks(size 9-11), sweatshirts and sweatpants (size xl with drawstrings)when they leave the hospital. We will be collecting these items at our District Meeting April 25, 2015.

7 Message from your President Concerning Membership, Nurture & Outreach Greetings UMW Sisters, A copy of the 2014 Local Membership Census Form was included in the January 2015 NEXUS in an effort to have them completed and returned, so that the information can be forwarded to Conference. We have included another one in this NEXUS. To date I have only received Census forms from (8) units. I have included a copy of the Units who reported last year. If your Unit has asterisks next to your name I have received this year s report. For those who do NOT have asterisks, please fill out and send or me the information. Only (24) Units reported their numbers even though I think we have about (40) active Units. We would love to hear from all who did not report numbers last year also. Please make every effort to return the forms to me by April 15 th in order to ensure that we as a District can meet Conference deadlines. If you have any questions regarding the form, please do not hesitate to contact me. Also, please note that we need a MN&O District Coordinator. Thank you for your cooperation. Grace

8 Membership Counting Form NYC UMW Long Island East Local Unit Membership United Methodist Women is the largest Protestant women s organization in the world. Make sure that your members are counted and help the New York Conference report its real numbers. This is the form that Long Island East has created for our use. Please return this form or information to: Grace Bryant LIE District President 728 Franklin St. Westbury, NY Glhb2003@yahoo.com Unit Name Unit Address Person Completing Report Position in Unit Person s contact information UMW Members 1. Number of members January 1, Number of members added during Number of members removed by death - 4. Number removed by other reasons - 5. Number of members December 31, 2014 = Please respond by April 15th. We need to compile the information for our whole district. Thank you for your help!

9 The entire Spectrum has been forwarded along with the NEXUS to those who receive the NEXUS online! Please note the following pages in the SPECTRUM. PAGE 7 Josephine Gibson Memorial Scholarship 2015 Application for Mission u PAGE 8 A word about Mission u PAGE 9 Mission u Courses and Instructors Names PAGE 10 Registration for July 23-25, 2015 NYAC Mission u PAGE 11 Registration for Saturday Only at Mission u

10 2015 Spring District Meeting April 25, 2015 Commack United Methodist Church 486 Town Line Road Commack, New York Pastor Lynda Bates-Stepe Victoria Roberts Theme: My Past is My Best Asset Registration / Breakfast 8:30 AM Program/Meeting 9:00 AM 12:00 PM We will be collecting donations for The SAFER Program. [new underwear (size 8), socks(size 9-11), sweatshirts and sweatpants (size XL with drawstrings)] As always we also will be collecting box tops for the Red Bird Mission. Directions: Take Northern State Parkway to exit 42N toward CR-66 N/Northport onto Deer Park Rd. Keep right onto E Deer Park Rd (CR-66). Continue on (Rt-25) E Jericho Tpke. Turn left onto Town Line Rd (CR-4). or Take LIE to exit 53 toward Sagtikos State Pky/Bay Shore/Kings Park onto Express Dr S. Take ramp onto Sagtikos Pkwy N toward Sagtikos Pky North/Kings Park/Sunken Meadow Pk/Northen Parkway. Continue on Sunken Meadow Pkwy N. Take exit SM3W toward Jericho TPK West/S Huntington onto (Rt-25) W Jericho Tpke. Turn right onto Town Line Rd (CR-4)

11 April 15, 2015 April 18, 2015 Spiritual Practices Wesley Fellowship Meeting 7:00 PM 10am-2pm Woodbury UMC Setauket UMC 577 Woodbury Road 160 Main Street Woodbury, NY Setauket, NY RSVP RSVP April 25, 2015 July 23-25, 2015 LIE District Spring Meeting Mission u, WCSU Midtown Campus Commack UMC 181 White St. 486 Townline Road Danbury, CT Commack, NY Lodging (TBD) April 25, 2015 August 15, 2015 Commack UMC Ubuntu Day of Service Fashion Show Metropolitan District 1:00-4:00 PM Location TBD $5.00 per ticket LIE District Officers Team Meeting Date June 17, 2015 Location: Home of Grace Bryant Time: AM Local Unit Officers are welcome to attend