Knoxville Notes. December Faith Hope Love in Action

Transcription

1 Knoxville Notes December 2015 Faith Hope Love in Action As another year is coming to a close, we look back at the wonderful ways God has used us as United Methodist Women to fulfill His Purpose. We are so thankful for the ministries that we have supported, and the ways we have been blessed by each one. We have had some great retreats, meetings, workshops, and training. We have listened and been inspired by many musicians and anointed speakers was truly an amazing year for UMW! And now we turn to look ahead at all that 2016 has in store for us. This newsletter is full of useful information about upcoming events. Be sure to read about what is planned for S.I.S. this year. See what quilters are being asked to do. What is your legacy? Our district officers are asking for needed information and reports. Is your unit up to date on all their reporting? Read what Sara Orellana from Narrow Ridge has to say about hearing God s calling. Enjoy some photos from the Annual Meeting. And check out the new list of District Officers for As for the officers from the 2015 team, we wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas, and we look forward to working side by side with each of you, as a community of women, next year!

2 CHRIST at Christmas (for a UMW member) Coming to UMW District & Conference Events in 2016 with commodities!!! Two way Blessings! Hearts of love for the underserved women and children in our world Realizing each of us is making a difference through mission giving I will do my best daily for Christ! Sustainability Resources at (click on brown square on homepage) Thankful for our connection with our local unit, district, conference, nation and world. Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world. Malala Yousafzai, youngest Nobel Prize laureate ( I am Malala is on 2016 UMW reading list) Merry Christ-filled Christmas! From your servant in Christ, Sue Faith Hope Love in Action

3 News from your Conference SISTERS IN SERVICE MARCH RIVER PLANTATION CONVENTION CENTER ROOMS AVAILABLE AT FAIRFIELD INN SPEAKER and MUSIC BY: BETH GREEN Your SIS Committee is busy planning a colorful event for March 12-13, We hope you will plan to bring a few young women on local unit scholarships with you to our event to introduce them to United Methodist Women having fun in contemporary Worship. The SIS Speaker/Musician, Beth Green, is sure to inspire and entertain all who attend the event at River Plantation Conference Center in Sevierville. The brochure will be available late December or early January with complete details. Greetings and blessings, response subscribers, The digital edition of response magazine is up and running, and as print subscribers you have free access to digital issues! To access your free digital subscription, please visit There you will be able to access your subscription by entering your address or response subscription account number. Your address will work if you provided it when you subscribed to the magazine; if not, enter your subscription account number (found on the top of the address label on your magazine next to "#RSP"). You will receive a notice each month once new issues are available. You will also have access to the digital archive. Digital response allows you to read the magazine on your tablet, e-reader, phone or computer. It s also available for download to read offline. Spread the word: One-year digital subscriptions are available for $20 15 percent off the print price. Or consider giving response as a gift! Thank you for reading response and continuing to put faith, hope and love into action for women, children, youth and families around the world. Sincerely, Tara Barnes, interim editor, response magazine response@unitedmethodistwomen.org

4 It s Your Name, What s Love Legacy Got To Do With It? The National UMW Office is introducing a new member driven storytelling project called Our Stories: A Living Timeline. This project may seem familiar; it picks up where We Make It Happen: A Living Timeline left off during Assembly Telling our personal stories as United Methodist Women members will be a great way to celebrate our collective impact on women, children and youth as we near our 150th Anniversary. As your 150th Conference Team, we would like you to submit your stories to us, to be shared in a Holston Conference Video a Book The Holstonian your districts newsletters. We want to share the Legacy of those who have gone before, or the women, children or youth who are leaving a legacy now. Will you consider sharing pictures, a story, a reason, an impactful why, to our legacy story for other women to enjoy? Start collecting and keep watching for more information. Telling our personal stories as United Methodist Women members will be a great way to celebrate our collective impact on women, children and youth as we near our 150th Anniversary. Attention Quilters!! United Methodist Women are actively preparing for the church s 2016 General Conference in Portland, Oregon, May As in previous General Conference meetings, United Methodist Women will again have an active role in the General Conference prayer ministry. One prayer ministry activity planned is to offer quilted finger prayer labyrinths for delegates and guests. We are seeking UMW members that enjoy quilting to assist us by making the finger labyrinths. Each labyrinth will be tagged with a card identifying that the labyrinth is handmade with love and prayer by United Methodist Women. Please circulate this request among the UMW with whom you have contact. Share that anyone interested in quilting the finger prayer labyrinth squares should GCprayer@unitedmethodistwomen.org with an estimate of how many they might be able to make and to receive further instructions for shipping the completed labyrinths by the deadline. Deadline for submission of labyrinths is January 15, If there are questions, me at GCprayer@unitedmethodistwomen.org To see a pattern of the labyrinths, go to

5 From Verna McLain, Secretary News from your District Officers ATTENTION: SECRETARIES AND PRESIDENTS: I still do not have the list of officers from several churches. Please them as soon as possible to Verna McLain at vmbmhas@gmail.com, or mail to 4125 Woodlawn Pike. B-4 Knoxville, TN It is very important to Knoxville District UMW and Holston Conference UMW and to you to have the officer list. NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST- All presidents, vice presidents, secretaries, treasurers, and circle leaders get the Newsletter free by mail. If other members want the Newsletter by mail, send $5 to me. (The price is now $5 instead of $2.) If you want to receive the Newsletter by , please indicate that. Or if you want the Newsletter both ways, I need to know. Thank you so much. Verna McLain, Knoxville District UMW Secretary From Nancy Dayton, Treasurer Treasurers Notes It s about what our money can do. In addition to your unit pledge, if there is extra money your unit can make a remittance that is designated for many missions. UMCOR, Wesley House, Jubilee Project and Partners for Children are just a few. Designated funds go directly to the named charity. One example is UMCOR. For 75 years (1940) UMCOR (The United Methodist Committee on Relief) has provided development and relief efforts. This year UMCOR has been involved in South Carolina, Nepal, Syria, Iraq and the Ukraine. In all cases the goal is to alleviate human suffering. Unlike most relief organizations, UMCOR was designed so that 100% of all donations go directly to the intended projects. You can find the projects at Many churches in the Holston Conference made school kits and thousands of hygiene kits for UMCOR this year. When this goes to press the Knoxville District s year has ended. Each church's final remittance for the year 2015 was due to the district by Nov. 20. Our remittance to Holston Conference is the first week of December. Any remittances made to Knoxville district after Nov. 23 will be credited to the first quarter of As a note, I am giving up the P. O. Box, It was empty more often than not and time consuming to check. So please mail future correspondence to my home 8305 Shoregate Lane, Knoxville, TN May the magic of Christmas bless you and your family. Nancy Dayton, Treasurer Knoxville District

6 From Sharon Grigsby and Mary Lou Heath, Program Resources Co-Coordinators Greetings to all UMW sisters: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is approaching! Hopefully you enjoyed a good Thanksgiving with your family and friends. (What you ate too much!?!?) If you haven t already done so, please reply to the request for the number of books read by ladies in your unit, send a list for 2015 to Mary Lou or Sharon. The book highlighted this month was also mentioned by Nellie Bragg earlier this year. Finding God in a Bag of Groceries is a book written by Laura Lapins Willis about her experiences while working in the food pantry in Sewanee, Tennessee. This book gives a glimpse into the lives of several of the people who receive bags of groceries. This is a true story that chronicles the pathway taken by Mrs. Willis as she tries to determine her life s direction. If you ve volunteered in a food bank and distributed bags of groceries to those in need of this kind of help, you will connect with this book. If you haven t, this book will may stir up your volunteer spirit! Nellie has informed us that books from 2011 list can be counted thru We wish for each of you a most Blessed and Peaceful Christmas. Mary Lou Heath Sharon Grigsby Program Resources Co- Coordinators From Danielle Meyers, 2016 Vice President Hello Ladies, We need to find a church for our 2016 Knoxville District Annual Meeting. This meeting will be in November and we would like a church that has plenty of rooms and parking available. We would prefer one where we haven t held the annual meeting or one that we have not utilized in the last few years. Please let me know if you are interested. You may contact me at: Danielle Meyers Home Cell dmeyers@utk.edu

7 From Glenna Hutchison, 2016 Membership, Nurture, and Outreach Coord. REMINDER to UNIT PRESIDENTS, SECRETARIES, and/or MNO COORDINATORS: Thank you for those local Units who have mailed me your 2015 Membership Census Form. There are several Units who have not sent me your Membership Form. Please complete this form as soon as you can and mail it to me. I just need three numbers from you: Number of members you reported as of Nov. 30, 2014, Number of new members added, and Number of members lost (death or other reason). Mail it to: Glenna Hutchison 9611 Washington Pike Corryton, TN If you have questions regarding this form please call: Thank you for your prompt response. Mark Your Calendar December 12 January 8-10 January 30 February 27 11:30am District team Christmas gathering at Puleo s on Merchant s Drive National UMW Leadership Development Days (LDD), Lake Junaluska 10:00am District Meeting at Ebenezer UMC Time Apart at Bookwalter UMC (Speaker Teresa Atkins McClure) Watch for more information in next newsletter! March April Conference Sisters In Service Retreat, River Plantation Convention Center, Sevierville, Tn Conference Spiritual Enrichment Experience, Lake Junaluska Holston Conference UMW website: Knoxville District UMW website: Check us out on Facebook too!

8 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Our Annual Meeting was held on November 14th at Fountain City United Methodist Church. The UMW of Fountain City were wonderful hosts. The following was written by Marie Perelman, President of the UMW at Fountain City UMC: On Nov. 14, our UMW welcomed women from throughout the Knoxville District to the Annual Meeting & Officer Training. Almost 130 ladies enjoyed continental breakfast while learning about Susannah s House, Narrow Ridge & Creation Care. Local officers received training and encouragement from District Officers while others enjoyed quiet time in our chapel experiencing focused prayer stations. Our plenary included Rebecca Ownby s inspiring solo accompanied by Kim Meade on piano. Christ UMC brought 2 viewpoints on the future of UMW, our viability for younger and older women officers were installed. Doug Shipman and volunteers served a delicious light lunch before everyone left for home. Many thanks to the men and women, boy scouts and staff, and UMW members who worked diligently to make our church so welcoming and warm to women from across the city and surrounding areas. For a look at the program and reports from the Annual Meeting, go to

9 THANK YOU FOUNTAIN CITY FOR HOSTING OUR ANNUAL MEETING! THANK YOU Knoxville District UMW for opening your hearts to embrace the incoming participants at Susannah s House by underwriting the costs for the new-comers bags. These bags will be delivered shortly after January 1, Together, through the contents of the bags, we can help these young women. The bags are filled with Life Recovery Bibles, Jesus Calling, and other personal items. And we can help through our prayers for their healing from addictions. Shown helping to prepare the bags are Sharon Grigsby and Glenna Hutchison.

10 Hearing God's Call - through Creation By Sara Orellana I'm a "newbie" to the Holston Conference. When I heard God's distinct call in Miami Florida 18 months ago, directing me to sell my home and move to unincorporated Grainger Country, Tennessee, it was not what I was expecting to hear! But when God calls, I have learned to obey and hang on! Since moving to East Tennessee, I have had the good fortune to live and work at Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center ( and be the newest member of Beeler's Chapel UMC in Washburn. God has blessed me with a deep love and concern for Earth. When still in Miami, and serving as President of my church's UMW unit, Earth Care was always a part of our program. I remember how much we appreciated content-rich, spiritually-focused, and timely program ideas! I met several of you (including Sue Clapp, Glenna Hutchison, and Sharon Grigsby) at the Conference's Social Action Workshop on August 8 th. Here are a few program ideas which have 'sprouted' since that time: Applying the UMW "Practical Planning Guide for Sustainable Meetings" "Human Healthy and Earth Healthy Foods" (Sustainability Principle #4) "Shrinking our Carbon Footprint - Paper Use and Waster Reduction" (Sustainability Principles #8 and #11) Climate Change (I was trained by Al Gore's team September 2015) Personal and Group Retreat Opportunities at Narrow Ridge My personal call to East Tennessee and Earth Care Tailored programs based on your Unit's Environmental concerns It is a joy and a privilege to meet and get to know you, and to live in this beautiful place I now call home! I am humbled on a daily basis by the demands of living off the grid...awed by the beauty of the East Tennessee land I live on...and inspired by the transformation in students and others who spend time at Narrow Ridge. You know, the climate is changing much faster than we are. I want to share that context and understanding in a way that makes it personal to each of us. Personal relationship...with each other...with Earth...makes us unable to harm the one-ness of Earth, because we harm ourselves in doing so. Please feel free to give me a call or send me an - I will happily come to your UMW meeting, or arrange a tour or event with you here at Narrow Ridge! Peace and grace - Sara Sara Orellana ssorellana01@gmail.com

11 Knoxville District Officers for 2016 Sue Clapp, President 6704 Circle Road, Corryton, TN (865) Danielle Meyers, Vice President 384 Strader Road, Powell, TN (865) Verna McLain, Secretary 4125 Woodlawn Pike B-4 Knoxville, TN Nancy Dayton, Treasurer 8305 Shoregate Lane, Knoxville TN (865) Marci Villanueva, Communications 7451 Earl Gray Way, Corryton, TN (865) (at. ) Mary Lou Heath, Co-Secretary, Program Resources 958 Bishop Knoll Lane, Knoxville, TN (865) Sharon Grigsby, Co-Secretary Program Resources 5303 Circle Road, Corryton, TN (865) Nancy Cantrell, Spiritual Growth 2024 Locarno Drive, Knoxville, TN (865) Ruby Coffman-Jones, Education & Interpretation 8504 Cambridge Woods Lane Knoxville TN, (865) Pat Bellingrath, Social Action 801 Bluff Drive, Knoxville, TN (865) Glenna Hutchison, Membership, Nurture, & Outreach 9611 Washington Pike, Corryton, TN (865) Mary Brockett, Chair of Nominations 805 Tully Road, Knoxville, TN (865) Pat Collier, Nominations 7924 Eldin Way, Powell, TN (865) Jackie Hill, Nominations 8703 Terri Circle, Knoxville, TN (865) Wanda Ledford, Nominations 6705 Greer Road, Knoxville, TN (865) Shirley Napier, Nominations 2615 Delrose Drive, Knoxville, TN (865) Heidi Parunak 407 E. Morelia Ave. Knoxville, TN Marie Perelman, Archivist & Historian 5116 Briarcliff Road, Knoxville, TN (865)

12 Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Knoxville, Tn. Permit No. 582 Knoxville District United Methodist Women Verna McLain, Secretary 4125 Woodlawn Pk. #B4. Knoxville, Tn ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Next Newsletter Submissions are due by: January 23, 2016 Please send all Newsletter Submissions or requests to receive the newsletter online to: Marci Villanueva at United Methodist Women Purpose The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose Purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.