The Messenger. First United Methodist Church Wellsville, NY. December 2013/January Through Worship, Bible Study

Transcription

1 WELLSVILLE FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH God s Love Grows Here... Through Worship, Bible Study and Service FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 79 MADISON STREET WELLSVILLE, NY (585) LOVEGROWS@WELLSVILLEUMC.ORG CHANGED SERVICE REQUESTED The Messenger December 2013/January 2014 First United Methodist Church Wellsville, NY God s love grows here... Through Worship, Bible Study, and Service

2 First United Methodist Church of Wellsville Regular Worship Services 8:30 & 11:00 am Sunday School 9:45 am Phone (585) Fax (585) Sunday, December 22nd Christmas Cantata One Service, 9:45 AM Tuesday, December 24th Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7 PM lovegrows@wellsvilleumc.org Web Page: Serving Christ and Community Since 1852 Our Staff: Pastor.Rev. Stan Scoville Office Manager Mrs. Kim Smith Children s Director..Ms. Patty Peters Music Director.Mr. Evan Farley Organist...Ms. Joy Caldwell Church Custodian...Mrs. Mary Brown

3 Greetings in Our Savior s Name! From Our Pastor December/January Newsletter Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas---some years they especially all seem to run together! 2013 is one of those years! The Sunday after Christmas is the first Sunday of Advent, and Christmas Day is less than 1 month from Thanksgiving Day. The reality is that retailers know this, and so Black Friday sales are beginning before the day after Thanksgiving. And, it seems that some retailers did put out Christmas merchandise earlier this year although it does seem like it is a little bit sooner each year. So, what are we as Christian disciples to do, so that we can be focused on celebrating Christ s love? Here are a few suggestions Thanksgiving Really stop and give God thanks for everything! Enjoy those special people that you are especially thankful for: family, church family, friends. Spend some bonding time with these special people this Thanksgiving season. If possible, refrain from participating in those Pre-Black Friday sales. Enjoy the Thanksgiving meal feast and make a list of all that you are thankful for. If you have to work, give God thanks for having a job, and when you get off work, try to spend some time with those you love. Read some Thanksgiving Scriptures, including Psalms of Thanks. Advent Do not let the mountain of TV, newspaper, and on-line ads consume you! Try to use the Advent season (the 4 Sundays and weeks before Christmas Day) as a time of preparation to celebrate meaningfully the birth of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. When you think about purchasing gifts and spending money on people you want to bless, ask: Now whose birthday is it anyway? This should help direct your gift giving and your purpose---you want to bless people with Christ s love! Prayerfully consider generously giving an extra gift to one of our special offerings as a gift to the Christ child, who was born for the whole world! Have your own Advent ceremony in your home: you might want to light an Advent candle each week, read a Scripture passage, and spend time in prayer. Do something for others during Advent: ring the bells for the Salvation Army, purchase gifts for the Angel tree, help a neighbor in need, bring extra food for the Food Pantry, sing Christmas carols with others in your neighborhood, etc. Christmas: Be deliberate and intentional in remembering why we celebrate Christmas: God in the flesh was born for you and me and for all! Read the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke, and share the day in God s love! As you give and receive gifts, remember that Jesus Christ is the greatest and best gift of all! Enjoy those sacred moments with family and friends! Worship the living Christ on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day! Listen and sing Christmas songs as you remember how much God loves you, still loves you, and was born for you! Enjoy sharing and talking with family members and special friends. Well, I know my column this time is a little bit more preachy than usual! Please know that I sincerely want you to have a blessed Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas! I hope some of my suggestions are helpful. I thank God for each one of you, especially this time of the year! In the Savior s love, Pastor Stan OUTREACH/MISSION NEWS As we approach the Christmas season, there are a few outreach activities deserving of all of our attention. First, we will be erecting an Angel Tree in the sanctuary again this year. Please consider taking a tag or two from the tree and fulfilling the wishes you will find on that tag. In this way, we can help ensure that Christmas will be a more joyous experience for some children in our community who are a little less blessed than others. If you are interested in helping the Salvation Army with its Christmas toy and food distribution, please set aside some time on the 17 th of December to help prepare food baskets for distribution on the 18 th of December to help with the actual toy and food distributions. Please contact Bryan Caldwell or Max Shay if you are interested in helping out. On December 14 th, our church will be preparing and serving a noon meal at the Christian Temple. If you are interested in helping out with this ministry, please contact Max or Bryan for further information. Our winter coat collection effort is in high gear. If you have a gently used overcoat, raincoat or heavy jacket, please consider dropping in the collection box located in the entryway of the church. Your donation could keep someone warm all winter. By the time you read this, the collection effort for the Bath VA will have come to a conclusion. Thanks go out to all of you who have once again demonstrated your generosity by providing needed items for the veterans who reside at the VA Center in Bath. All of us are rightly concerned about the welfare of those residents of the Philippines who have suffered so greatly in the recent typhoon. The outreach team will be donating $500 through the United Methodist Committee on Relief to help address the tragedy there. If any of you are interested in making a direct contribution toward the relief efforts in the Philippines, just go to the UMCOR website at where you can easily make a donation.

4 UNITED METHODIST MEN Hey guys, there are lots of times to volunteer during the holidays. At this writing, volunteers are needed to ring the Salvation Army bell on Saturday December 14th. Our final breakfast of the year will be held Sunday December 14th, the Caldwell crew will be cooking. UMM...where all men and boys are welcome. ~Alan Forsberg NAOMI CIRCLE NEWS Greetings from Naomi Circle! It has been a couple busy months for us. Here are the highlights. October's meeting was a delightful travel-log of Ecuador presented by the Brandes' and Scoins' Thank you so much for sharing your trip and souvenirs. Novembers' meeting enabled us to get to know each other better. What is shared at circle stays in circle so don't even guess. It was fun and the refreshments provided by Gloria Shay delicious. For December we are challenging ALL women of the church to "Treat Yourself to Lunch Day ". In this busy season we all need a little something special. Please plan to put it on your calendar and ask a friend to join us. Date: Monday December 16, 2013 Time: 11:30 am Place: The Beef Haus What : Please bring your smile and a $5.00 Christmas item Something new for the New Year! We will try having day time meetings. We hope to meet on the fourth Tuesday from 2-4 pm. Until then have a Thankful Thanksgiving for all God has provided and a Blessed Christmas for the Greatest Gift Given, Jesus Christ Our Savior. God Bless You, Sue and Diane Why Ministry Shares Matter In an article published in a previous edition of the Messenger, I discussed the connectional nature of our church s relationship with other United Methodist churches. In that article, I stated that the main way the United Methodist Church (worldwide) supports the ministries of the church is through the collection of ministry shares, a method of giving that proportionally allocates the church-wide budget to conferences and local churches. I noted that in this way, through our connected congregations, we accomplish what no single church, district or annual conference ever could hope to do alone. If you have been paying attention to the recently instituted monthly finance reports concerning our church, you may have noticed that our church has not paid its ministry share for more than a year. There are many reasons for this failure to pay. But the fact is that our failure to pay, if replicated church-wide, would mean many critical general connectional ministries would be seriously curtailed or even abandoned. Allow me to mention a few of those ministries. The World Service Fund is the heart of our denomination-wide ministry, underwriting Christian mission and ministry around the world. It strengthens our evangelism efforts, stimulates church growth, expands Bible studies and enriches spiritual commitment. The Africa University Fund continues the development of the first private university for young men and women from all over Africa. It offers post-secondary education for students through colleges of agriculture and natural resources, management and administration, theology, education, health sciences, and humanities and social services. The Black College Fund helps these institutions to maintain solid academic programs, strong faculties and well-equipped facilities. The focus never veers from a commitment to maintain academic excellence based on the Christian perspective of community service and social responsibility. The Episcopal Fund, among other things, pays the salaries of our bishops; provides funds for Episcopal residences; provides pension and health benefits for bishops and their families; and provides pensions for surviving spouses and minor children of deceased bishops. As we reach the end of another church year, we ask that each member of our local congregation prayerfully consider the need to once again fulfill our obligation to pay ministry shares. It is my belief that as a connected United Methodist congregation, we must do everything within our power to insure that obligation is met. Bryan Caldwell

5 An Encouraging Note from Dot James... ANGELS I was pondering what to write this time to encourage all of you when my son Marty stopped in to see me. He said Mom, you re never alone, your angel is always with you! Just what I needed to hear for the message. Bill Burr of the former Caneadea & Belfast area used to do healing services with me until he moved to Waxachackie, Texas. At the end of the healing service he d go downstairs and come up and say They re still there and I d say How tall are both of them? and he d reply, Oh, I don t know, 8 or 10 feet! with their swords raised. Our church is well protected; Bill sees angels all the time. There are three kinds of angels. Human angels, like Sid, who put up with me for 55 years, left-handed and all! (And I m writing this on Veteran s Day making me think of my Veteran husband of WWII. As Sally, Dr. Coch s former nurse, said to me last week, Keep busy Dot, that s the key don t take time just to sit and think to become sad! ). Bad angels that came to earth with the enemy to harass us. If you feel cold, that s a bad angel. Good angels that go from heaven to earth to help us. If you feel warmth that s a good angel! I have two good angel true story books on my dining room table, and also hear about the good angels people have seen on Christian television. The first angel I saw was in the 80 s after our son Terry s death. My Mom had taken his death very hard and lived alone in Olean. I would call her every day. I went to the phone, picked it up and dialed 1-372, when I felt someone staring at my back (I knew Sid was out running). I turned to see a beautiful big angel with its wand. I was so stunned I couldn t talk and the angel didn t either and didn t move! Then I heard the phone go gong I turned around to hang it up, and when I turned again the angel was gone! I called the minister at the Scio Methodist Church and told him. His reply was That s nice Dot! (Not a lot of belief in his voice!) So I called another minister in Wellsville and there was complete silence. Finally, I said Are you still on the line? and he said I never saw an angel! Happy for me, but disappointed he had never seen one. The second angel I saw was when I was listening to the minister s sermon when all of a sudden an angel appeared in the pew isle and put it s hand on the curved back of the pew in front of me. When the couple in front of me stood up to leave after the sermon. I told him what I had seen. He thanked me for it. That couple also moved away! The third angel I saw was when Sid and I went to Pat Robertson s 700 Club in Virginia Beach. We were about to eat at a seafood restaurant when this man came to our booth while we were looking at the food menu. I looked up and he gave me a compliment on how my hair looked. (Sid was sitting right across from me reading the food menu.) I thanked the man, but he kept standing there and gave me a second compliment on the dress I had on. I was almost ready to say buzz off! when the Lord spoke to me and said Be kind to strangers they may be angels unaware! Then he left. The fourth angel I saw was a couple years ago. I came down the hall and there sat a man on my davenport. He put his hands on his knees and rose up halfway and disappeared nothing said! I thought, where have I seen that man before? And the Holy Spirit witnessed to me it was the man that appeared to us on our 25th wedding anniversary at Virginia Beach. Last, but not least, for ten years my best friend and I would take a trip together in the summer for a couple of days. She became a widow very early in life and had four kids in school. We met in Wellsville in the 40 s, I lived in Olean at the time. Our husbands were friends. I too had four kids and we both had lost a son. She lived a quarter-mile from me. We went to DuPont gardens in Wilmington, Delaware. It a was a package deal; motel, buffet at the country club and a play there. The play got over around midnight and neither of us was sure how to get back to our motel! I didn t want to go around the city too much, because I didn t want to run out of gas and we arrived at our motel too late to put gas in the car as the buffet started at a certain time. We finally decided to go up this little hill, as we could see a traffic booth and two lanes on each side. There was no light in the traffic booth and it was raining cats and dogs. I stopped the car and turned around. All of a sudden a bright light shone and a man came out of the traffic booth and walked to our car. I put the window down some, he said Can I help you? We told him we were from out of town and lost! He replied Oh, no problem, go down this hill, turn right and your motel is two blocks away on the right side. We thanked him, followed his instructions and there we were at our motel! Before we retired for the night, my friend said You know, Dottie, I believe that man was an angel As she said that, the Holy Spirit witnessed to me it was so! Like Marty said, there are angels all around us! In Agape Love, Dot James P.S. If any of you have a story you want people to hear for encouragement, contact Kim in the church office and she ll let me know. She s my human angel trying to figure out my writing each month!

6 Rev. Dr. Cathy Hall Stengel Mountain View District Superintendent 65 E. 1st Street Corning, NY Phone: First United Methodist Church 79 Madison Street Wellsville, NY Phone: (585) November 24, 2013 Dear Members & Friends of First UMC Wellsville, Bishop Mark Webb and I, as part of the Upper New York Cabinet, have held your pastor, Rev. Stan Scoville, in prayer these days as he has made the decision to retire at the end of December. We also hold you, as a congregation and community, in prayer as you learn this news and move into a period of transition. Rev. Stan Scoville s ministry in Wellsville will come to an end December 31, At that point, an interim pastor will begin January 1, This interim pastor will serve until June 30, You will be hearing more about this pastor in the coming weeks as things are firmed up, decisions made, and announcements are prepared. I met this evening with your Staff Parish Relations Team (SPRT) and we talked at length about the coming weeks and months. I will be in regular contact with Truett Sweeting, the chair of that team, throughout this transition period. While this interim pastor is serving, I will be working with the SPR Team and church leadership to gather as much information as I can about the needs and desires of your church and community. This will help to inform the process of appointing a pastor to your church as of July 1, Please do not hesitate to ask questions about this process you can be in touch with me, with your SPR Team and other church leaders. It is a process of prayer, discernment, conversation and it is a process towards the next chapter of ministry for all of us. I hope and pray that these coming weeks will be a celebration of Stan s ministry and relationships in Wellsville enjoy! I pray that you will feel the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing comfort, courage, and encouragement! Blessings to you this day, and always. Peace in Christ, November 25, 2013 Dear Church Family and Friends: After a great deal of thought, prayer, and soul searching, I have decided to retire, effective January 1, I count it a privilege to have served as your Pastor for these past few years, and I thank you for your prayers, love, and support. As I enter into retirement, I look forward to God s direction for this next chapter in my life! I want nothing but the best for Wellsville First United Methodist Church, and I pray God s richest blessings to be outpoured! I pray the church will grow in God s grace: spiritually, numerically, and financially. In Christ s Love, Stan Stan Scoville Cathy Hall Stengel

7 FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH December Prayer List: 1 Pastor s Wife & Family, Shut-Ins 2 Staff/Parish Relations Team (SPRT) 3 Women s Bible Study 4 Jail Ministry (Max/Stan) (Diane) 5 Office Manager (Kim) 6 Men s Bible Study 7 Pastor Stan 8 Pastor s Wife & Family, The Hospitalized 9 Children s Director (Patty) 10 AA, NA, ACA 11 Jail Ministry (John/Larry) (Ruth) 12 Youth for Christ 13 Gil s Hills 14 Pastor Stan 15 Pastor s Wife & Family, The Sick 16 Music Director (Evan) 17 Custodian (Mary) 18 Jail Ministry (Ron/Alvin) (Eila) 19 Committed Prayer Warriors 20 Choir & Praise Team 21 Pastor Stan 22 Pastor s Wife & Family, The Unemployed 23 Organist (Joy) 24 Worship Services 25 Revival in Our Community 26 Families Who Have Lost Loved Ones 27 Welcome Room Volunteers 28 Pastor Stan 29 Pastor s Wife & Family 30 Healing of Broken Relationships 31 Church Families FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH January Prayer List: 1 Revival in Our Community 2 Choir & Praise Team 3 Men s Bible Study 4 Pastor 5 Pastor s Family, Shut-Ins 6 Women s Bible Study 7 Sunday School Teachers 8 Jail Ministry (Max) (Ruth/Jessie) 9 Youth for Christ 10 Gil s Hills 11 Pastor 12 Pastor s Family, The Hospitalized 13 Office Manager (Kim) 14 Committed Prayer Warriors 15 Jail Ministry (John) (Diane/Jessie) 16 Music Director (Evan) 17 Custodian (Mary) 18 Pastor 19 Pastor s Family, The Sick 20 Healing of Broken Relationships 21 Welcome Room Volunteers 22 Jail Ministry (Ron) (Eila) 23 Organist (Joy) 24 Worship Services 25 Pastor 26 Pastor s Family, The Unemployed 27 Church Families 28 Children s Ministry Volunteers 29 Jail Ministry (Max) (Ruth) 30 AA, NA, ACA 31 Families Who Have Lost Loved Ones

8 UPCOMING EVENTS: Sunday, December 8 Church Charge 12:30 PM Wednesday, December 11 Lifeline Screenings October 2013 OCT Y-T-D Operating Budget Income $ 12,638 $ 150,684 Expenses: Pastor s Package $ 8,027 $ 69,694 Other Staff $ 4,824 $ 60,389 Maintenance & Supplies $ 2,330 $ 18,110 Teams $ 210 $ 2,959 Ministry Shares $ 0* $ 0* All Other Expenses $ 1,666 $ Saturday, December 14 Salvation Army Bell Ringing Meal at Christian Noon Sunday, December 15 Men s 7:30 AM Special Offering for Ministry Shares; Last Day to order Christmas Poinsettias Monday, December 16 Naomi Circle Treat Yourself to Lunch The Beef Haus, 11:30 AM Tuesday, December 17 Salvation Army Food Basket Preparation Sunday, December 22 One 9:45 AM; Christmas Cantata Tuesday, December 24 Christmas Eve 7 PM; Special offering for Philippines Typhoon Relief Total Expenses: $ 17,057 $ 165,943 Income less Expenses $ (4,419) $ (15,259) * No Ministry Shares have been paid this year. MEN S FRIDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY We are starting a new study series Nov. 27th which will run for 13 weeks, leaving out the weeks of Christmas and New Years. The title is Meeting GOD and the writer is J I Packer who has written many books on the subject, some of the lessons are titled WHO IS GOD?--GOD REVEALS HIMSELF--GOD'S WONDERFUL GOODNESS--PLEASING GOD--GOD'S TRIUMPH. Men, if you have nothing else to do on Friday mornings through the winter, come and join us at 9:OO am each Friday through February in the library. For more information see Max Shay.

9 Food Pantry Please bring in your nonperishable grocery donations for the Salvation Army food pantry on the 1st Sunday of each month; the collection box is located just inside the sanctuary to the right. Giant register tape & Campbell Soup label collection bin is located in the Welcome Room. Thanks for your continued help! Altar Flowers To purchase an altar flower arrangement, please sign up on the flower chart by the bulletin board. Choose an available Sunday; be sure to write In Honor, In Memory or In Celebration of, and the person s name, along with your name in the given by space. We order from Hannigan s Florist in Belmont. The cost is $15 each. You may pay with cash or a check made out to FUMC. Place it in the offering plate in an envelope marked Altar Flowers or you may bring it to the Church Office, Mon.-Fri., 9 am 3pm. You may take your arrangement after the 11 AM Service. Thank you for helping to provide beautiful flowers for our Sunday Services! December Birthdays Pearl Ware 3 Jan Gustafson 7 Barb Stormer 9 Michael Horton 14 Paul Boyanski 17 Elva Cornell 20 Victoria Stormer 20 Peg Ball 21 Kevin LaForge 22 Logan Milligan 22 Alan Forsberg 27 Joyce Reynolds 31 Jessie Stark 31 January Birthdays Alvin Ware 1 Lillian Fox 4 Gloria Shay 6 Shelia Smith 9 Patty Peters 12 Charles Fuller II 14 John Walchli III 21 Cynthia Miles 22 Edgar Hamlin 24 Ethel Morrison 26 December Greeters Barb & David Caldwell January Greeters Cathy & John Lewis December Counters Barb Stormer & Michele Barry January Counters Gloria/Max Shay & Alan Forsberg December Anniversaries Charles & Mildred Brocious 4 Allen & Sue Hunt 10 Robert & Gail Bouldin 12 Bill & Gloria Hamlin 14 David & Lois Miller 28