June, Vol. 21, No. 6 HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

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1 FOR THE JOURNEY June, Vol. 21, No. 6 HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. - Matthew 28:18-20 On Sunday morning, May 18 th we had a surprise visitor show up between the worship services. As our Band of Hope was warming up in preparation for the MP3 music ministry time, we had the doors open to let in the delightful, fresh, Spring air, when a small bird decided to fly in and join us! Of course the winged visitor immediately went up to the ceiling and settled on the window ledge behind the large cross. There was nothing we could do at the time except hope the bird might decide to fly back out the open door (unlikely) or at least make its presence unknown during the MP3 time and the ten thirty worship service! Indeed the bird behaved (at least none of you said anything if he didn t) and we had worship without incident and without me having to improvise the bird s presence into the morning message (I was ready just in case). After worship the bird did not show any sign of wanting to come down and we all had things we needed to get to right away so I decided to let the bird stay and would take on the challenge of bird eviction on Monday morning. After much Googling, I learned that birds are attracted to bright sunshine and don t like being sprayed with water very much. I was considering how our Board of Trustees might react to me firing a super-soaker water gun towards the church rafters as I awoke that Monday to a downpour of rain and a forecast for a wet, dark day. There was no way that bird was going to leave the shelter of our sanctuary in those conditions so I waited until Tuesday. Sadly, the little bird didn t have that long and was discovered dead on the chair that you sit in every Sunday (let s see if people try out a new seat this Sunday!) was discovered dead on the floor. All kidding aside, it was pretty sad. Here was this beautiful creature that God had created to soar through the air and bring beauty and song to the world that was too afraid to leave the shelter of the church to do what he was designed to do. I wish I could have, for a moment, turned into a bird and beckoned him to follow me out into the world. I wish I could have shown him that he didn t need to be afraid, that God had bigger plans for him. I wish I would have baptized him with that super-soaker in the hopes that he would go out into the world and bring glory to God just being the amazing bird that God meant him to be.

2 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. - Jesus Jesus calls us not only to come and discover and celebrate the presence of God in a place or event we call Church, he calls us also follow him into the world and soar with God s Spirit as we were created to do. Jesus knows it can be scary to leave our shelters and to do something different. He knows that it s not easy to take him to work with us. He knows it s challenging to always honor him in our relationships with family, friends, neighbors and even our enemies. Jesus knows it s a struggle for us to re-purpose our time and our money for the goals of God s Kingdom. That s why he promises to be with us through it all. Follow me is his call. Let s never be satisfied to just come to Church on a Sunday morning (and let s be honest, for some of us even this is a challenge during the Summer months as we are tempted to let our attendance and giving drop our Finance Committee gets nervous this time of year when it comes to paying the bills! Let s work together to change that.) Jesus calls us to go out into the world to share and demonstrate the Good News in every aspect of our lives, for we were made to soar, not to cower in fear and death. So let s be the Church of Hope together - every day! Yes even out there and out loud! - Pastor Robb Outdoor Worship Service: June 29 Bring your camp chair and join us for an outdoor service on Sunday, June 29, at 9:30 a.m. If you have one wear a Hope UMC t-shirt of any vintage. We will be gathering on the west side of the church, off the lower level door. Christian Camp Songs with guitar will be sung! Afterwards join us for a smore s gusboard by the campfire. (Sign-up for an ingredient on the clip board in the hall.) In the case of inclement weather the service and sharing of smores will be indoors.

3 MINISTRY VOLUNTEERS FOR JUNE June 1 June 8 June 15 June 22 June 29 Lay Readers Cyndee Kaiser Lynne Larabee John Weiland Janet Carson Cheryl Muller Children s Sermon Diana McGinley Allie Athas Annie Allen Corey Fritz Andi Phillips Host Team 9:30 Bob Schwartz Cheryl Muller Pat Miller Judy Ganong Gary & Becky Gochanour Cyndee Kaiser Shirl Gillette Shirl Gillette Sara Sessions Coffee Fellowship Nursery Volunteers Allie Athas Kelly Bischof Sandra Hysel Sharon Fortune Annie Allen Anna Nyland Fritz Family Sharon Fortune Ulla McClintock Bobby Nyland HOPE CHURCH STAFF Pastor.... SS & VBS Volunteer Coordinator Office Manager... Pianist.. Choir Director Rev. Robb McClintock Renee Marino Betsy Larson Andrea Blaeser John Weiland... FOR THE JOURNEY articles should be submitted to the church office by the 20 th of each month. Contributions are welcome. Pastor s Office Hours Walk-in Office Hours are generally 11AM to 3PM, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, depending upon other meetings and scheduled appointments. Appointments are welcomed and can be made at anytime, day or evening. Appointments can be made for the office or elsewhere at your convenience. Tuesday mornings are reserved for prayer and study with a group of pastors unless an appointment is made in advance for that time.

4 Preaching the Word Date Text Message 6/1/14 * Matthew 10:16-31 Follow (pt. 3) No Fear 6/8/14 John 13:34-36 Follow (pt. 4) Follow Wear Colossians 3: /15/14 Mark 8:27-38 Follow (pt. 5) The Fine Print 6/22/14 (Allie Athas,Preaching) Matthew 26:6-16 6/29/14 (Outdoor Worship Service) Mark 10:32-45 * Communion Sunday Follow (pt. 6) What I Want to Want Follow (pt. 7) Servant Leadership V.B.S. Orientation Session and Light Brunch June 8 th 10:40am Come join us this day for a one hour session to help prepare for our Wilderness Escape this summer. This invitation is open to anyone that has volunteered or is thinking about volunteering for V.B.S. this year. We will answer any questions you may have. Anyone entering 6 th grade or older are encouraged to be a part of this ministry. We will start off with a light brunch, watch some VBS clips and maybe have some visitors from the Holy Land, but most of all we will have hands on with the materials that we will be using during the week of VBS. We will go over descriptions of positions that are needed to make our VBS week a success. Please, if you have any questions about this meeting, or want to know more and cannot attend-please contact Renee Marino. Come! Join us! Hear about the excitement to come with Moses and the Israelites this summer!

5 THE FLAMINGOS ARE COMING! The annual Hope Flamingo Fest is being hosted by the Middle School Youth this year from June 1 June 7. Those of you who have played before know what fun it can be, and those who have not will soon find out! We will have rule sheets and a sign-up clipboard in the narthex. All money raised through our fundraising activities go to help cover the costs of our activities and each year we vote on where to donate the lion's share. This year the MSY has chosen Hope UMC itself as the recipient as a thank you for all our church home does for us! NURTURE TEAM NEWS Do you wish you just had that extra hand to help you with spring yard work or a household task? Do you need a ride to service or errands? These 2 groups are for you Handy Helpers Taxi Team The listings are now available through the office. Just call (715) or Hopeumcec@yahoo.com and someone will give you contact information.

6 Thank you to the following members for all their time and help with this year s Spring clean-up. Jan Lorenz Sandy Hysell Lynne Larabee Joey Bohl Kay Lee Renee Marino Chuck Lorenz Mark Hysell Mike Larabee Rich Swanson Dan Johnson Jacob Marino Spring is here and summer is approaching for our enjoyment! Something else that will be enjoying the seasons will be our church grounds the grass Please feel free to sign up on the clip board if interested in mowing the lawn. You need to be at least 21 years of age to use the equipment. If you are interested but not sure what to do, please call Ed Gumbert ( ). He will set a time with you to have a mow clinic at the church, to demonstrate and teach you the basics. Also, we, as Trustees, are asking for donations to fund the lawn mower with fuel for the season. If you are able to donate, please put it in a church envelope and place it in the collection plate on Sundays. Thank you!!! Trustees Committee

7 Mission Notes: Summer Worship Schedule 9:30 a.m. The mission committee will again be collecting donations for flood buckets. The cost per bucket is around $50, and the buckets are greatly needed at this time of year. Pastor Robb will take the money we collect with him to annual conference in June. Watch for the display in the narthex. Checks can be made out to Hope with flood buckets on the memo line. Can you help with items needed for V.B.S.? We are in need of a few things to be borrowed or donated to V.B.S. There are camels on the Moses Tent of Needs in the main entrance at Hope. We will be continually adding items as time goes by. When taking a camel with the items listed, please write your name down on the clipboard nearby. When returning, please bring camel attached to item and place in the bin next to the tent. These items are not listed on camels we need any amount we can collect: Cool whip containers - any size with lids Greenery, they can be live or artifical plants, trees, or flowers in clay pots. Solid or stripped sheets, blankets or cloth for decorating. Decoration that would help accent the theme of the Holy Land adventure. **Please make sure to put your name on anything that you want returned**

8 Womens' Bible Study is reading a series Women of the New Testament. The group meets at 6:30 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month in the library at Hope. Please contact Cindy Hanson at for more information.

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10 REGISTRATION FORM (ONE FORM PER FAMILY) August 3 rd - 7 th Youth/Child s Name Grade entering for school year Age 1: 2: 3: 4: Mailing address: Parents Mother s Name: Contact phone number Father s Name: Contact phone number Do you give permission for photographs of the youth/child named above, taken at Hope UMC to be used for displays within the church, for advertising of church programs within the community, or on the church web-site or social media? (Please circle one) YES NO There are various opportunities to volunteer for before and during the week of VBS this year. Would you like to be contacted and hear how you can help? YES NO In case of emergency, who should we contact if parents cannot be reached? Please provide name, phone number & relationship to child/youth: Allergies or other medical conditions: Home church: Name of special friend your child might like to be with: Forms can be returned to: Hope U.M.C, Attn: VBS, 2233 Golf Road, Eau Claire, WI *2 weeks prior to VBS you will receive a confirmation letter with more information.