The Epistle. St. John UCC; 409 Park Ave., P.O. Box 156; Bolivar, Ohio FRIENDSHIP MISSION SPIRITUALITY June 2016

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1 St. John UCC; 409 Park Ave., P.O. Box 156; Bolivar, Ohio FRIENDSHIP MISSION SPIRITUALITY June 2016 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. In order for any church to be a place where people want to visit/attend, that church needs to be both distinctive and welcoming. Visitors should find within a church something that speaks to them, something that they can identify with. They also need to believe that they can be truly a part of the congregation and that they will be heard. Some of the ideas that I have had regarding helping St. John to be distinctive include wagon rides for neighborhood children, a reading program ( and meals) for elementary students, free lawn services for our neighbors who cannot keep their yards maintained, and outreach (and perhaps an English as a Second Language program) to the migrant community in our area. them. Not all of us can participate in all of these programs. But all of us CAN participate in some of Blessings, I invite each of us to be the change you want to see in the Bolivar community. Pastor David+ NEW SUMMER HOURS FOR WORSHIP SERVICES BEGIN ON SUNDAY, JUNE 5 AT 9:30 A.M. 1

2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Pg. 5 Towpath Walk Pg. 1 Pastor s Page/Summer Hours Begin Pg. 6 Employee of the Year, Graduation Pg. 2 Calendar Pg. 7 All You Can Eat Breakfast Pg. 3 Birthdays, Volunteers, Thinking of You Pg. 8 Committee Reports Pg. 4 Remembering our Military Pg. 9 Consistory Report Pg. 4 Happy Anniversary/Open House Pg. 11 Treasurer s Report May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Communion Sunday 6 7 New Summer Hours begin Clothes Closet/ Pastor s Pantry 9:00-Noon, 5:30-7:30pm Study Group 7pm 14 Flag Day 8 Bolivar UMC Lunch 11:30am St. Paul s Community Dinner 5:00-6:30pm Consistory, 7:00pm Father s Day 20 Ladies Lunch, 11:30am, Wendy s Clothes Closet/ Pastor s Pantry 9:00-Noon, 5:30-7:30pm Epistle Items Due Study Group 7pm th Anniversary of the United Church of Christ. Notes: Pastor David s vacation June

3 COMMUNION SERVERS FOR JUNE: Chris Stevenson and Chris Carpenter June Birthdays June 8 Carol Kinsey June 8 Kathy Mizer June 9 Hallie Carpenter June 10 Connie Burris June 23 Barb Berens June 23 Chris Mase Serving in June Liturgist SERVING IN JULY Acolyte Coffee Hour June 5 Dale Duerr June 5 Max Liturgist McCoy June 5 anyone June 12 Ron Gauding June 12 Julia Felgenhauer June 12 - June 19 Carolyn Birk June 19 Hallie Carpenter June 19 anyone June 26 Arline Mase June 26 Deisy Felgenhauer June 26 Greeters Bell Ringer June 5 Barb & Chris Berens June 5 Camden & Luke McCoy June 12 Mary & Carolyn Birk June 12 Hallie Carpenter June 19 Dale Duerr & Charles Regula June 19 Max McCoy June 26 Gretchen Deubner & Max McCoy June 26 Julia Felgenhauer (Please try to find a replacement if you are unable to serve.) Esther Simon Helen Hall Russell Ross Ron Gauding Fred Miller Bill & Lucile Lebold David Mase Crystal Weaver Holly Myers David Vandall Scotty Trambaugh 3

4 Serving our Country Here and Abroad Gabe Hixenbaugh is the grandson of Chris and Clare Stevenson recently deployed to Dubai. Mike Fender is serving in Afghanistan 2 nd or 3 rd tour. Close family friends of the Stevenson s. If you have someone to add to our prayer list for active duty military, contact the church office. During this Memorial Day weekend let us be mindful of our military men and women that have fallen in battle, or died following their time in service. Congratulations to Joyclin and Bob Ely on their 65 th Wedding Anniversary on June 3, The family of Bob and Joyclin Ely are inviting family and friends of St. John UCC to an open house on Saturday, June 11 from 2:00 4:00 p.m. at Georgio s in Bolivar, Ohio 4

5 WALK 2016 Towpath Walk on April 17, 2016 Following worship services we gathered for a walk on the Towpath followed by seeing the new born lamb at the barn at the Duerr s. 5

6 Congratulations to Mrs. Heidi Swinford and Mr. Ron Gauding for being recognized as "2016 Employees of the Year" by the Tuscarawas Valley Ruritan Club. Mrs. Swinford and Mr. Gauding, along with principals Mrs. Knowles and Mr. Phillips, were invited to the Ruritan dinner meeting on May 17th where they were presented a special plaque in their honor. Congratulations to our recent high school graduate, Amanda Lee Houdeschell. Amanda graduated with honors from GlenOak High School and has been accepted into the Honor s College at Cleveland State University. Amanda will be majoring in Non-Profit Administration. 6

7 ALL - YOU - CAN - EAT COUNTRY BREAKFAST St. John United Church of Christ 409 Park Ave., Bolivar Saturday, June 4, :00-11:00 a.m. Breakfast will consist of: Scrambled eggs, ham or sausage, biscuits and sausage gravy, pancakes, fruit, juice and coffee. Cost: $6.00 ages 11 and up $3.00 ages 6-10 Under 6 free 7

8 COMMITTEE REPORTS Mission Committee The Mission Committee met on May 16 th with four people in attendance. We discussed adding fresh fruit to the menu for the homeless shelter meal and the possibility of providing soup during the winter months. Also under discussion was how to get more people involved in the actual preparation of the meals. The flyers for the School Supply project have been delivered to the schools for inclusion in the report cards of students who may need help in the fall. The Give-Away will take place on August 13 th. The last of the crackers for the backpack program have been delivered but donations will still be accepted (the crackers will keep!) Reminders for donations will resume at the end of August. The need for a Kitchen Committee was discussed and an invitation will be put out to the congregation for anyone interested in helping in this area. Since we could not identify any group that was previously involved in ordering flowers for the altar, we also discussed the logistics for having the flowers prepared by the new florist shop Kelli s Blossom Barn. Her prices are similar to what was paid in the past. The only problem to be worked out is having the flowers delivered to the church at a time when someone is there to open the door. Suggestions from anyone would be welcome. If someone would like to form a group to coordinate the ordering and placing of the flowers, that would also be welcome. The next meeting will be July 18 th at 10 a.m. If there is someone who is interested in coming to a Mission Committee meeting but can only attend in the evening please let us know. The meeting time can be adjusted. Clothes Closet In March and April the Clothes Closet had a total of 41 customers and receipts of over 104 dollars. We had several people come who had never been to the Closet or Pastor s Pantry. We always enjoy having new customers and offering coffee and cookies to those who come to shop or just browse. Members of the congregation are always welcome to come for coffee, cookies, and fellowship when we are open. Please stop by to say hello and chat. Some of the clothes which we are unable to use or do not have room to store are taken to the collection box at the Bolivar fire station. Our next open dates will be June 13 th and 27 th. 8

9 CONSISTORY MINUTES, MAY 19, 2016 Members present: Rev. Houdeschell, Cathy Fenstermaker (Vice-Pres.) Carolyn Birk, Missy Jones, Chris Carpenter, Chris Stevenson (Sec.) In the absence of Ron Gauding, Cathy called the meeting to order. Rev. Houdeschell opened the meeting with prayer. MINUTES: After several corrections to the minutes, a motion was made by Missy and seconded by Carolyn to accept the minutes. Treasurer s report: No report was available. COMMUNICATIONS: Susan renewed the Church webpage, and has forwarded the bill onto Paula to be paid. PASTOR S REPORT: Rev. Houdeschell submitted some ideas for consideration that might be implemented to give St. John more exposure in the community while providing help to those in need. Included in the discussion were ideas to help children in the community through programs like the Loving Heart Foundation. Working with other churches who are also involved with various programs would be helpful in these efforts. Outreach to the migrant community was also part of the discussion. Rev. Houdeschell also presented some ideas that he would personally like to explore. OLD BUSINESS: Altar flowers: After contacting a local florist, Cathy reported that altar flowers would remain approximately the same as before for a basket. The cost for vases is still being estimated. The flowers would need to be picked up on Saturday, and could be stored in the refrigerator in the church. Someone would be contacted to open the church if necessary. Rev. Houdeshell will be contacting members who have not lately attended services. Cathy would like to establish a committee to handle kitchen organization such as funeral lunches and other projects. 9

10 Newspaper ad: The cost of an ad on the Church directory page in the Times-Reporter is approximately $20.00 per month. Special events are published free of charge. After further discussion, a motion to put an ad in the newspaper was made by Carolyn and seconded by Missy. Financial report: In an effort to make it easier for all committees to provide an accurate accounting of their projects to the church, a financial form was created for this purpose. The form will also be available for any other financial projects. After some changes to the form, a motion was made by Chris Carpenter and seconded by Missy to accept the form as changed. NEW BUSINESS: The Altar committee will be notified to take the single candle off of the altar. Rev. Houdeschell explained that the candle does not have any religious significance for the United Church of Christ and so removing it will be ok. Summertime hours: The hours for Summer worship will begin June 5 th with the service beginning at 9:30. A motion to approve the hours was made by Chris Carpenter and seconded by Chris Stevenson. The meeting was concluded with the Lord s Prayer. The next meeting will be June 16 th. 10

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