Zion s Staff. November Our Mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

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1 Volume 34 A Monthly Publication of Zion United Methodist Church Number 11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well. Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV) Our Mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Our Vision is to be a vibrant community of passionate believers who, in the love of Christ, will commit to know the needs of the communities around us in order to: CONNECT people with God, GROW people in their faith, & SERVE people s needs. Zion s Staff All Members, Ministers Laura Nothdurft, Youth Director Opal Shanks, Children's Coordinator Pam Reynolds, Administrative Assistant Jamie Sepulvado Director of Music Ministries Brenda Neumeyer, Choir Accompanist & Organist Lucas Shanks, Video & Sound Tech Ken Phelps, Custodian Joel Kidwell, Pastor Welcome to the Season of Thanksgiving! That s right: No matter what Target, Wal-Mart or WestPark Mall might declare, the days immediately following All Hallows Eve (October 31 st ), All Saints Day (November 1 st ) and All Souls Day (November 2 nd ) are not the beginning of Christmas! (Strictly speaking, Christmas doesn t begin until 12:00 AM on December 25 th, anyway ). That leaves us, then, free to explore what it might mean to fully occupy a Season of Thanksgiving leading up to our Thanksgiving Eve Service of Holy Communion at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 when we ll gather to worship and to kneel in Jesus presence and declare, in the same spirit as the sole healed leper who returned to thank Him, Thank you, Jesus, for all of the blessings I have, for saving me, and for making me new each day! Sounds good, doesn t it? I can well imagine many Zion folks also being truly thankful as deer season gets underway when they ll (hopefully!) get to experience God s bounty in a most tangible way, and feel very grateful for it. So why not dwell in a Season of Thanksgiving? Why does the culture move on to Christmas? I have a theory I think that too many people are like the 90% of those who Jesus healed from their grotesque and ostracizing sickness in that they either snub or forget the Grace that s brought them safe thus far and that would lead them home. I believe that folks as-yet unsanctified motives make them prone to get so stuck in their hurts, conceit, and the dangerous idea of feeling self-made that they forget who and Whose they are and they don t return to God the thanks and praise He deserves for His amazing love. Either Jesus is Lord of our lives or not. Following Jesus means not only salvation, but transformation, too. We are either becoming more like Him or not. His call is for us to have our sin-sick souls exchanged for born-from-above change from glory into glory. And perhaps the best tool at our disposal for true transformation into complete holiness of heart and life is to develop the discipline of giving thanks in all cases where thanks are due the first place being to our God and King. Thanksgiving to God for all we have through giving back to God is a main way we should thank we all our God with heart and hand and voices. So during the Season of Thanksgiving at Zion, we ll inform and shape our gratitude by exploring John Wesley s simple rules for money through our use of James Harnish s Earn, Save, Give resources in worship on November 1, 8, 15 & 22. God is generous toward us, and we, who are supposed to be becoming more like Christ, should be generous, too. Because generosity, born of gratitude to God, is a main key to the Faith that makes us well and our total salvation. Also, from November 3 rd through November 26 th, I hope you ll join me in daily reflection upon your thanksgivings in all parts of your life, and return to God each day in prayer and Bible study, remembering to thank God for all of the blessings you have. Happy Season of Thanksgiving!

2 Z i o n N e w s Page 2 United Methodist Women The Zion United Methodist Women will meet Wednesday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Disciple Center. Program Leader, Cheryl Crouch, will present the Pledge Service for Please remember to bring your World Thank Offerings. The 2016 UMW Budget will need to be approved as presented. Please come join us at the November meeting. Serve What an awesome opportunity! S.E.M.O. Food Bank distributes boxes of food to 16 counties in our area. This very important operation relies on volunteer help. It is an awesome opportunity to serve God by helping to feed his people. Please prayerfully consider how you can be a part of this great endeavor, to eliminate hunber in our area. A group of 11 Zion folks went to Miner in September, and filled 430 boxes of food to distribute throughout Southeast Missouri. We all gathered at Susie s in downtown Sikeston for lunch. We had a great day. Please join us whenever you a e able. Thanks, Lea Davis, Serve Team Diaper Drive Graces Women s Leadership Council is sponsoring a Diaper Drive: THE NEED As the cost of basic needs rises, many more families are facing the difficult choice between providing food and housing or diapers for their babies. In families that are struggling to make ends meet, babies often spend the entire day or longer in a single diaper. Without clean diapers, babies are too uncomfortable, and sometimes too unhealthy, to play and learn. DID YOU KNOW An adequate monthly supply of diapers costs $100 per month or more. Infants need up to 12 diapers a day and toddlers need up to 8 a day! Diapers cannot be purchased with food stamps or WIC. Constant crying from being left in a dirty diaper for a prolonged time increases the likelihood of abuse. Infrequent diaper changes can lead to urinary tract infections, Hepatitis A, severe diarrhea and dehydration, viral meningitis or dermatitis. For health and sanitary reasons, most coin-operated laundromats do not allow washing cloth diapers. Most childcare centers require parents to provide a supply of disposable diapers. Experts say running out of diapers sparks a domino effect because it can cause a mother to miss work. HOW YOU CAN HELP United way is hosting a Diaper Drive to provide diapers to lower income families who struggle to make ends meet. Help babies start life healthy and ready to learn. Help us reach our goal of 5,000 diapers! Zion, you can bring your disposal diapers to the Disciple Center until November 29, Thanks you for your support. The New Hope Class The New Hope Class is planning an outing to Marble Hill, Sunday, November 1, after the 10:30 service. Signup sheets for those wishing to go are on the New Hope Class door or call Jonny Deneke at The trip will include a visit to the Mayfield Cultural Center, lunch at the Mayfield Café, and touring the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History, all located high above Marble Hill at the former Will Mayfield College. Mayfield Cultural Center--The Mayfield Cultural Center is a multi-function community cultural and perform-

3 ing arts center. The building has undergone a beautiful restoration and houses the Mayfield Bakery and Café. The menu can be found at mayfieldbakery.com/ menus/. The views from the 2 nd floor dining room are impressive. There is no elevator in the building so if you have trouble with steps please indicate that on the sign-up sheet. After lunch, the group will go next door to the Bollinger County Natural History Museum. The exhibits present Missouri s historic and prehistoric past. The only dinosaur found in Missouri was discovered close to Glen Allen. The Hypsibema missouriense is the state dinosaur of Missouri. But there are exhibits on other subjects, such as the Civil War, the Ice Age, and geology, besides dinosaurs. There is a small charge to enter the museum. Quote from Trip Advisor reviewer about the museum: This hidden gem holds a treasure trove of information! Daily Devotion The New Hope Class has been reading from the daily devotion book My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers and has found it to be full of thought provoking, and sometimes in-your-face statements. For nearly seventy-five years, countless millions of Christian the world over have trusted the spiritual companionship of Rev. Chambers s classic which addresses a wide range of topics, including discipleship, faith, love, and obedience. There are two versions available. The original edition for $3.00 and an updated language version for $5.00. You can order a copy and have it ready to start the new year by signing up on the sheet posted on the New Hope Class s door or by calling Debbie Deneke, Payment can be made when you receive your copy. Z i o n N e w s Page 3 If you are looking for a daily devotion which perhaps goes a little deeper than Upper Room and Guide Posts, consider ordering a copy of My Utmost for His Highest. Zion Flag Display It has been observed and overheard from time to time comments about the flags that are flown on Zions hillside. Hearing the comments one could infer that there is a lack of understanding why we post flags periodically throughout the year; aside from they look nice. So we hope this article will explain the story and significance of the Flags as well as document why and how the Flags came into existence. Around 2009 someone had asked a question why we don t have flags to remember those who have served in the military that were members of Zion. This question was then passed on to what was the Witness committee, of which I was a member, with Kathryn Miller, as Chairwoman. A question was presented to the congregation if there was any interest in a flag project. Eventually it generated significant funds that were donated anonymously, by request, for the specific purpose of a flag presence, on-thehill. The total dollar amount donated was approximately $1500. Now the question became what to do and how to do it. After investigating possible styles, vendors, shipping costs, it was finally agreed to purchase 30 flags with unique foam-core poles from Younghouse. It was decided to place flags on-the-hill in 2-rows of 15 each. Several failed attempts were made at installing flags, which did not stand up well even in the lightest of storms. There were quite a few embarrassing disasters. In the summer of 2010, Ron Abernathy, Gerald Hitt, Jerry Marshall, Ron Deneke, the late Glenn Keiffer, and Robert Wendell who donated his concrete mixer, dug and planted concrete footers. Additionally; Gerald made storage units that properly store the flags and poles securely. Thanks to Gerald, without which they would probably be standing in an out of the way corner in the storage barn and eventually destroyed. So far the flags have withstood 5 years of use and are still in quite good shape. Generally the flags are flown for weekends of Memorial Day, July 4th, and Veterans Day November 11. Flag Day June 14 is another possible day flags could be posted; but it should be noted, Flag Day we honor the flag, the other holidays we honor people who have served. Additionally, Ron Abernathy hosts the placement of flags of service personnel on grave markers in the cemetery. Anyone interested in participating in this project contact Ron Abernathy or myself. Charles Ryan

4 Z i o n N e w s Page 4 Zion United Methodist Church Council Meeting September 30, 2015 The meeting was called to order by Chip Sepulvado, chairperson, with a prayer and devotion entitled "The Core Calling of Every Christian". Also present were: Joel Kidwell, Kevin Denton, Jane Shinn, Susan Nothdurft, Brenda Neumeyer, Opal Shanks, Donna Taake, Wayne Deneke, and Laurie Burns. SERVE: Kevin Denton reported on our Great Gordonville Give Away. He had hoped for a bigger crowd but felt that those who did come were very much appreciative. Council members felt like it was very successful and a blessing to many. The serve committee will be having a meeting next week to discuss pros & cons for next year, if we decide to continue doing this. Also there was quite a bit of food left over. The juice is being used for Sunday morning Fellowship & Hospitality and the cooked sausage patties have been frozen. It was suggested to offer this for $2/lb. Joel will get the word out by social media to contact Jane Shinn if interested. Also our Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner is coming up on Sunday, October 11th following our 10:30 worship service. The invitations have been sent out, we're just not sure how many to expect. SPECIAL EVENTS: Pastor Joel mentioned that the Central Methodist University Choir tour will be in our area on Friday, Nov 20th. If they perform at our church we would need 12 homes to host 24 people for that night. Donna Taake made a motion for our church to host them, Susan Nothdurft seconded, with all in favor. CHICKEN N' DUMPLING MEAL - CHARTER DAY: Donna Taake made a motion to celebrate our Charter Day on Saturday, June 11, 2016, by making Chicken N' Dumplings. Kevin Denton seconded, with all in favor. This will be a scaled down version of our Memorial Day Supper so we can carry on the tradition. MEN'S SMALL GROUP STUDY: Kevin Denton & Kirk Miller are planning a breakfast on Saturday, October 24th to try to get our men interested in a small group study. EVENING PILOT SERVICE: Chip would like to try meeting sometime during the week, maybe once a month to begin with. We could meet downstairs, have a very laid back service, with a short message, some prayer requests and music. It was suggested to maybe try this starting in January NEW SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS: Pastor Joel was approached recently by a young woman in our congregation with the desire of a Sunday School Class for young mothers. Donna Taake and Donna Gross will be teaching this class, they met last Sunday for the first time. RETREAT: Pastor Joel would like to have some kind of a retreat maybe in January for all our church leaders. NOMINATIONS: Pastor Joel reported that he's working on it and it's coming along. GROW: Opal Shanks asked for our prayers for her work among us as Zion s Children's Coordinator. She and Pam Doran just returned from Group Publishing s KidMin Conference in Chicago, and they are full of new ideas. FINANCE: Brenda Neumeyer reported that the Budget deadline was today. She wants to hold a finance meeting the 3rd week of October, so she'll have more information to report at our next meeting. CONNECT: Jane Shinn reported that they had a meeting last week for Fall Festival which is October 25th from 3-6 pm. Plans have been made for a bounce house, Date Worship 8:00 10:30 Total # Reached In month Sunday School Budget Trustees Sunday School 9/ , / , , / , Building Fund 10/ , Pastor s Discretionary Fund: $366.00; Hope Children s Home: $10.00; Communion Rail Love Inc.: ; Amen Center: $55.00; Chaddock Children s Foundation $120.00;

5 November 2015 Zion News photo booth, games, food, finger printing by Cape County Sheriff Dept. and wagon/buggy rides. TRUSTEES: Wayne Deneke reported that the windows are scheduled to be put back in this next Tuesday. Also they accepted the proposal to have pavestones put around the new sign on Hwy 25, which it looks like they starting working on today. TECHNOLOGY: Pastor Joel reported that we've moved to the upgraded version of Clover Site and it's working much better. Chip feels that we need a core team of about 5 people to sit down and get CCB (Church Community Builder) going. Our next meeting with be Wed., October 28th at 7pm. Opal Shanks closed us with prayer. Faithfully submitted, Laurie Burns Council Secretary Three Generations of Ministers Part 2 Last month, I wrote at length how laymen (and later women) are called and work into full-time ministry. One of our 13 was the late George Nothdurft ( ). A son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Schleuter) Nothdurft, George was raised and educated in the Zion church area, he began his ministerial career before and after graduation in 1911 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Warrenton College, Warrenton, Missouri, then, to the University of Michigan with a Master of Arts degree in He would graduate from Garrett Seminary in Chicago with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. During some of these years he served as a student pastor at Grand island-palmer, Nebraska; at Stover-Florence, Missouri; Chelsea (near Ann Arbor), Michigan and Francisco (near Traverse City) churches. He was ordained deacon in 1911 and elder in During Rev. Hartman Bau s pastorate ( ) here at Zion, George and Rev. Bau s daughter, Lillian, were school mates. George told me that when the Bau s were transferred to Huntingburg, Indiana, he sent a card to Lillian and she wrote back. Later, when George went to visit his sister, Minnie, in Cincinnati, he also took a side trip to visit the Bau family. George asked Lillian to marry him, and, she accepted that Christmas, (I didn t want to be too conspicuous, he said.) Exchanging letters, they did not see each other again until they met in Saginaw, MI. where her father was serving Tuscola Avenue church. George and Lillian were married on October 10, 1910 by her father and the Saginaw District superintendent. Three boys were born to this union: Milton (1914), Donald (1920) and Harold (1926). Sadly, Lillian died at 46 in She is buried in Page 5 Ann Arbor, MI. Her parents were retired there. Her father died in 1941 and her mother in Both are buried beside Lillian. At the time Milton was a student at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA. George s brother and sister, henry and Minnie, took care of Donald and Harold. Why will be explained later. In 1911, he was appointed to Chelsea, MI.: Salem church. Rev. George began a notable pastorate of seven years. Rev. Nothdurft was a good pastor, a good mixer, good with the young people. The desire became evident for a special meeting place for the church s social functions, and the basement was enlarged. Nothdurft organized a standard Bearer Society composed of young women. It was a missional group... George served churches in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa as a ministerial member of the West German and Central German Conferences. In 1922, the American German-speaking conferences were merged into the Englishspeaking conferences. George transferred into the then Upper Iowa Conference (northeast Iowa) while he was serving Calmar-Ossian churches. When Lillian died, according to George, the bishop and district superintendents (cabinet) would not allow a middle-aged single or widowed minister to be appointed to a local church! (He never explained why and I didn t ask. Also, my research didn t find an explanation!) With that decision, he would be appointed for the rest of his career in education and fund-raising work for various colleges and the Board of Methodist Missions across America until he retired in Returning to Gordonville, he continued fun-raising across America; served as a retired minister in several area churches; in 1963 traveled with son, Milton, to South America on a preaching mission that helped establish a Christian school in memory of Lillian; and lived with Marvin Deneke for a few years. This author met him in 1970 when he came to Sioux City, IA to fill in for son Milton (who was serving St. James church) while the younger Nothdurfts went on a study leave in England. That friendship led to a three-year residency and active member of Zion on my own ( ). In 1975, he returned to Sioux City, to be closer to his son, Milton and daughter-in-law, Bernyce. He died on January 26, 1976, was returned home

6 Z i o n N e w s Page 6 and is buried in Zion s cemetery near his brother, sister and parents. The third generation will tell of two of George s sons who followed him into the ministry. Sources: Information provided by George to author during October, 1975 interview, 1977 Iowa Conference Journal memoir and Salem church history. Rev. Lyle Johnston Hi. My name is Hannah Shinn, and I just turned 13 years old. Some people say its big deal. Well, in honor of my 13th Birthday and childhood cancer awareness month, I have decided to raise money for 13 ipads for kids who are going through chemotherapy for the "Be Wyatt Kind" Fund, devoted to giving ipads to kids who are battling Cancer. The Be Wyatt Kind Fund started when a 3 year old boy named Wyatt Glastetter passed away, becoming another victim of cancer. His mom decided to start a fund that was devoted to raising money for buying ipads for kids who are going through the same thing that Wyatt did. Wyatt used to LOVE his blue ipad and this is where his mom came up with the idea. When you re fighting a battle that is a life or death situation, chemotherapy, and medicine, you don't really have anything to do while going through these things. This is where the ipads will go-giving the child something that's not about cancer. I decided to do this because I realized that I have things easy in life- From my education, to a meal and a bed to look forward to every night. I'm pretty healthy, I only get a colds once in a while. I don't really need anything for my birthday. This year, I just wanted things. I didn t really need things. Other kids need things more than I do. So please help me raise money for all these kids who are going through this rough time- they will appreciate it. My goal is to fill a foot-tall jar full of money for all the kids who really need it. Please help me fill my jar. Really- all I want for my birthday is knowing that some kids somewhere in a hospital with cancer are playing on their ipad happy as can be! Thank you for helping me make a difference in someone else s life. Love, Hannah Shinn 3099 Ridge Road Jackson, MO Please make checks payable to: Christy Shinn or Be Wyatt Kind Fund

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8 NON-PROFIIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 226 CAPE GIRARDEAU MO ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED 3652 State Highway Z Gordonville, MO Sunday School: 9:15 Worship: 8:00 & 10:30 Phone Fax Pastor Joel s cell Web site: Church zionumc@showme.net Pastor Joel s cydwel@icloud.com Become a Friend of Zion: Zion United Methodist Church (Gordonville)