Nov./Dec The Vision

Transcription

1 Nov./Dec The Vision Greetings in the name above all names, the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have been living in Ashe County now since July, but it did not take four months to figure out how important the arts are to this area. Immediately, it became obvious to my family how blessed Ashe County is to have so many talented artists all giving and organizing their talents so that we can have our lives enriched with various forms of art. There are musicians, painters, sculptors, potters, The Arts Council, festivals, theaters, and everyone in between all working together to make our town, community and culture unique. Being interested in painting and woodworking myself gives me a deep appreciation for those that express themselves through what they create. I believe that we can learn a lot about God through the arts as well. I m reminded of attending The Western North Carolina Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska two years ago. The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Arts was highlighted in one of the worship services. During the Offertory, "Come to the Water, an artist by the name of Stephanie Bell Burke was on stage with a huge canvas and her painting supplies. She started painting a picture as the Offertory was sung. It was hard to tell what she was trying to paint. At one point I thought I saw a profile of a person. A little later it looked like she was painting water. It was really hard to tell what she was trying to create. As the song progressed I remember thinking, "She's running out of time. She's not going to finish whatever it is she is trying to paint!" Her paint strokes seemed rushed and chaotic. I remember feeling embarrassed for her. Then it happened! At the very end of the song and just as the worship team was finishing, she flipped the entire canvas up-side-down and there it was! A beautiful painting of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. Wow! was I ever mistaken. What I thought were mistakes in her painting turned out to be precision and skill. Stephanie got a standing ovation for her worship through art. Everybody had the same experience as I did. We all thought she was running out of time or had somehow mismanaged her canvas and paints. In reality, she knew exactly what she was doing. She was the artist. We were not! As I've thought about that experience of worship, I see great parallels with our own lives. Our lives are like a canvas and God is the painter. Sometimes we feel like our lives are a mess. We feel like God has forgotten about us or we cannot understand circumstances that seem to come our way. Sometimes we even question God. Could it be that we just lack the vision to see the big picture, the finished product. God doesn't make mistakes. God doesn't frantically paint. God takes His time and knows exactly what He is painting in our lives. I'm reminded that God once sent his prophet, Jeremiah, down to the Potter s house for perspective. God was trying to teach Jeremiah that He had a plan. God said, Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does? declares the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. (Jeremiah 18:6 NIV). I'm also reminded of a childhood song by Joel Hemphill I used to sing called, "He Still Working on Me." The message was simple. We are being shaped into beautiful works of art by God s hand. So next time your life doesn't make sense or you question why something is happening remember that God is the artist. We are not. God can see the finished product. Most of the time we cannot. Take courage and rest assured - God is still painting. ~Dan NOV. & DEC. EVENTS Nov. 4 All Saints Day 7:00 pm Administrative Council/Charge Conference Nov. 6 Lunch Women of Bethany Nov. 11 Veterans Day Nov. 6 & Dec. 11 8:30 am Character Award Breakfast Nov :30 am Teacher s Lunch Dec. 2 11:00 am Hanging of the Greens Dec. 9 5:00 pm Children s Play 5:30 pm Stone Soup 7:00 pm Handbell Concert Dec :00 am Lessons and Carols 12:00 pm Covered Dish Christmas Party Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Services 5:00 & 11:00 pm

2 ALL SAINTS DAY On November 3, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday. As part of our observance, we will remember by name those members of our congregation who have died and all those baptized since our last All Saints Sunday. A candle on the altar table will be lighted in memory and honor of those persons. In addition, you will be invited to come to the communion rail and respectfully announce to the community of faith the name of your deceased friend or love one and then light a candle in remembrance of the love you hold for them, and for the story of faith they lived before you. Since our last All Saints Sunday we have lost the following members: Dean Eldreth, Diane Goss, Dean Page, Vickie Stierwalt and Evelyn Trostle Since our last All Saints Sunday we have baptized the following members: VETERAN S DAY This year the service will be held on Sunday, November 11 th. We will be honoring and remembering our veterans who were or are still serving in our military. If you are not sure if your family member is on our veterans list, please send me the names of the veterans you would like to honor or remember and their branch of service by Tuesday, November 6 th. You can contact the church office at or bethanyumcwj@skybest.com Sarah Brandt, Kathleen Corbett, William Judd Crysel, Emma Durr, and Jason Durr Since our last All Saints Sunday we have received the following individuals as members of our church: Elbert Mayo Corbett, Steve and Judy Turner BOUNTIFUL THANKSGIVING ALTAR DISPLAY The time is coming for Dana to create her magic with the Thanksgiving altar. We will need plenty of vegetables and fruit! The veggies and fruit should be brought to the church NO LATER than 10:00 am on Sunday, Nov. 18 th, since Dana uses the Sunday School hour to set up the display. You can let me know what you will bring and I'll tell Dana. Remember that all of the food donated will go to the Ashe County Sharing Center. Here's what you can choose from: Onions, Bell Peppers, Apples, Oranges/Tangerines, Radishes, Potatoes, Bananas, Lemons, Cabbage, Lettuce, Kale, Cucumber, Carrots, Grapefruit, Tomatoes, Rhubarb, Beets, Melons, Mango, Papaya, Small Pumpkins, Decorative gourds, Squash, Turnips, Parsnips, Pineapple, Grapes, Asparagus, Celery, Limes, Pears and Avocados. Thanks, Becky

3 Advent at Bethany it is a season filled with special worship and music services that honor God and help prepare our hearts to receive the Christ Child. Each Sunday a new candle is lighted on the Advent Wreath to mark the weeks until Christmas Eve when we light the Christ Candle. Advent begins on December 2 nd. December 1; 10:00 am Decorating the Sanctuary Everyone is encouraged to come and assist to decorate the sanctuary for Advent and Christmas. This is not limited to Worship Committee Members. SPECIAL THANKS-A word of appreciation is offered to Don Church and Job Hopkins who will be creating the evergreen wreaths, providing and erecting the fir trees for the church and sanctuary. December 2; 11:00 am Hanging of the Greens Service The first Sunday of Advent our worship will include explanations of the greenery and the Chrismon symbols. December 16; 11:00 am Lessons and Carols Service The Service of Lessons and Carols is of British origin consisting of lessons (beginning with the Old Testament and working through to the beginning of the Gospel of John) each followed by a carol or Christmas anthem. The retelling of the birth of Jesus in story and song will be presented by the Chancel Choir and the Ding-a-Lings. This special program will be part of the worship service at 11:00 am. Please stay afterwards for the Bethany Christmas Covered Dish Lunch. December 24 Christmas Eve Worship There will be two worship services one at 5:00 pm and the other at 11:00 pm. The format of the 5 pm service is informal and less structured. The children are invited to bring a favorite stuffed toy. A second worship service will be held at 11:00 pm with a more traditional format. Both services will include the sacrament of Holy Communion. Christmas Loaves Christmas is a time of sharing so share some fresh baked loaves to friends and visitors during our Christmas Eve Worship.

4 Bethany Christmas Programs Sunday, December 9 Once Upon a Christmas Light The children and youth of Bethany will present their Christmas musical production, Once Upon a Christmas Light, on Sunday evening, December 9th at 5:00 in the church sanctuary. On that first Christmas Eve, Stellar and the stars at Galaxy Productions are ready for another bright and starry night. But they ve heard that this is the night the Holy Savior will be born. They hold a star search to determine which star is worthy of lighting the sky above the manger on this, the greatest night of all. After many dramatic twists and turns we learn that through the love and light of God, we can all be the brightest and the best. Stone Soup Supper At 5:30 pm following the children s program, everyone is invited to the Stone Soup Supper. Please bring items for the soup to the kitchen on Sunday morning cut up and ready to go so our chef can begin preparations. Parents, be sure to bring your children. We will be looking forward to a very special guest who will have a surprise for them! Everyone is invited to stay for the Ding-alings Handbell Concert that follows. (Please consider bringing three or four can goods or a gallon size bag or two of cut up vegetables so there is plenty of soup for everyone.) Bethany Ding-a-Ling Christmas Concert The Bethany Ding-a-Lings will present their annual program of sacred and secular holiday music on Sunday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary. Bethany s Adult Handbell Choir has been performing together since 1986 and their Christmas concert is a favorite seasonal event. Performing on four octaves of handbells and three octaves of hand chimes, the choir is under the direction of Jane Lonon. The program will include sacred and secular favorites of the season with several selections accompanied by Allison Weaver on piano and organ. Other accompaniment instrumentation will include Kaylee Money on flute, Charlie Vitale on oboe, John Chapman on horn and harmonica, and Joe Clark with a vocal solo. The concert will open and close with an array of holiday piano sections by Joyce Kilby, and as always, there will be a few surprises! Invite someone to share this evening with you at Bethany as we celebrate the Christmas season with the sounds of music season with the sounds of music.

5 Women of Bethany The Women of Bethany hosted a Salads/Sandwiches/Sweets lunch on September 9 th. We had wonderful participation and very generous donors. We raised $1220 dollars to use for many efforts in the community and beyond. Thanks to the generosity of so many, we have been able to donate this year to the Sharing Center, The NEST Alliance, Shoes for Kids, Ashe Memorial Hospital Employees Assistance Fund, Imagination Ashe, Ashe Services for Aging, UMCOR, and Manna Fest. In addition, we have offered help to our youth and contributed towards the purchase of our new screen and sound system in the fellowship hall. Thanks to the hard work of Alice Atwood and Linda Wylie, the supply closet is always stocked and the flowers on the patio flourish. We are well aware that we could not do all of these projects without the financial help of so many and the endless hours of dedication by the women of the church. As 2018 begins to wind down, we offer our thanks and appreciation to so many. The Women of Bethany will have its final gathering on November 6 in the fellowship hall. Peggy Exum's son Tony will prepare our lunch, and we look forward to this time together one last time this year. Becky Reminder!! PLEASE add items to our mitten tree. We will start decorating a tree near the front entrance with children s items such as: mittens, hats, gloves, underwear, and sweat suits. These should be new clothes in all sizes which will be given to our local schools for children in need. Money gifts may be given through the Sunday Offering. Please mark your check and/or envelope with Mitten Tree. Bethany Youth Recapping the 2.5 years as your Youth Director. When I decided to be the Youth Director at Bethany, I was able to accomplish many things but this would not have been possible without the support from the church members and those that desired to see it flourish. Through these past years the youth were able to participate in Stop Hunger Now, purchase gifts for the Children s Community Christmas project, visit and give gift bags to the home bound for the holidays, and assist the church and the community with area clean ups. Through our many fundraisers we had over the years, the youth have been able to enjoy various activities like going to Tweetsie, tubing, attending the Resurrection Rally in TN, but most of all they were given the chance to travel to Plymouth, NC to assist the needs of the residents there. Our last events we have scheduled for this year are: Sunday, November 11th, youth group from 5 to 6:30. We will be meeting at the church and work on decorating the gift bags for our shut-ins which we will be delivering on December 1. Sunday, November the 18 th, the youth will go to eat at Monte De Rey immediately following the worship service. After we have had a time of fellowship we will go shopping at Walmart and Dollar Tree to purchase gifts for this year's boy and girl selected for the Children's Community Christmas Project. We will also purchase items to place in gift bags for our shut-ins. We will tentatively return back to the church around 2:30 pm. Wednesday, November 28 th we will meet at Bethany by 6:00 pm and use the church van to travel to Family Central and plan on wrapping gifts until 8:00 pm. We should be back to the church by 8:30 pm. If anyone would like to travel separately, please let me know in advance. Saturday, December 1 st, we will meet at the church at 10:00 am. We will go caroling and deliver gift bags to our shut-ins. We plan to return to the church around 1:00 pm. Thank you to everyone for allowing me the opportunity to work with your youth these past few years. I hope everyone is in prayer for the needs and the future of the youth program. Mr. Les IMPORTANT DATE! Bethany s Administrative Council and Charge Conference is scheduled for Sunday, November 4 th at 7:00 pm.

6 Children s Christmas Project Anyone can volunteer starting on Monday, November 26 th beginning at 9 am. Names will be available soon for the Ashe County Children s Christmas Project. 1,000 children in need will be provided gifts and clothes this year. To sponsor a child, volunteer for gift wrapping or distribution; please sign-up on the sheet that will be provided on the bulletin board in the future or you may contact Don Church. Gift deadline is November 26 th. Please bring your items to Bethany prior to November 26 th or drop off at Family Central. Please continue your prayers, sponsor a child, make a money donation, sign-up to wrap gifts, and/or volunteer to provide snacks for the volunteers. Operation Christmas Child There is still time to help us gather items for our Christmas Shoeboxes. Many items can be bought at the Dollar Store. It s fun looking at what s available. You may even have a good, clean item at home. Items must fit in the shoe box. Helping these children far away is a blessing to you and the surprised child If you are not a shopper, please consider a donation through the church. We ll do the shopping. Please give your prayerful considerations to this project. Few Suggestions: Bandanas, scarf, ball cap, small doll, flashlight with batteries, ball, books, doodle pad, school supplies, combs, soap bars, cars/trucks, plastic figures, small purse, hair items, jewelry. No liquids or perishable items. Thank you, Judy B. Manna Fest Because We Care Ministries is an interdenominational, non-profit, Christian relief ministry. This organization seeks to meet the critical needs not only of hunger, poor housing, lack of schools, and poor living conditions of Nicaragua but also the great spiritual needs of the people. You can assist by feeding a family of eight for a week for only $ Please make your contributions to Because We Care. The Appalachian District will be sponsoring an ERT Class on Saturday November 10, at Pisgah UMC. The cost is $30.00 for the class and $12.00 for the Background check. The class will start at 9:00a.m and will concluded at 5:00pm. You must register online at least a week before the class. Please spread the word to anyone who would like to become certified or needs to be renewed. wncreg.brtapp.com/ertbasictrainingpisgah1 1_10_18 International Survivors of Suicide Loss-On Saturday November 17 th from 10:30am-2:30 pm the Ashe County Library will be having a Survivors of Suicide Loss Event. There is more information located on the bulletin board. Annual Can Food Drive Now through December 8 th. Each year the Volunteer Initiative places boxes at locations where the community can donate canned food and non-perishable items for those in Ashe County. Bethany will have a box in the Fellowship Hall for your donations. There is more information located on the bulletin board. Madrigal Dinners Looking for a fun, different, musical way to start the holiday season? The Ashe County Arts Council is once again sponsoring two evenings of Madrigal Feast Dinners on November 16 and 17. The dinners take place at Jefferson Landing beginning at 6:00 p.m.; reservations are required. Tickets are $40 per person and the evening includes your meal, wassail, a Jester, the musical program, and lots of merriment! Put a group together of your Bethany friends and enjoy the music! Bethany members are Joe Clark, Jane Lonon, Becky Marsten, and Carolyn Trinkle. For reservations, call the Arts Council at

7 4 9 5 H W Y S O U T H November December 1 Jim Judson 1 Grady Lonon 3 Kay Ness 2 Marlene Everhart 6 John Crecelius 3 Pat Morrison 7 Al Hines 5 Hannah Lemly 10 Jason Pennington 6 Michael Everhart 11 Laura Shepherd, James Sheets 9 America Everhart, Jeanette Herman 14 Garvey Pennington 10 Edd Dickens 15 Pat Considine, Molly Hanes 11 Christopher Richardson 19 Keith Greer 12 Courtney Ayiola 23 Drew Jackson 16 Michael Howell Michele Lemly, 25 Rick Sloop Joshua Weaver, Susan Brown 27 Lizzie Hanes, Nathaniel Kilby 19 Jackson Krider 28 Aaron Chapman 27 Jerry Abreu, Matt Lonon 30 Megan Edwards Claycomb, Karrah Shepherd Happy Anniversary! November December 7 Bryce & Suzie Lewis 8 Kenneth & Jean Greer 18 Mac & Susan Brown 17 Edd & Betsy Dickens 22 Garvey & Marsha Pennington 24 John & Nancy Edwards 24 Keith & Michele Lemly 27 John & Ginger Chapman 28 Don & Theresa Church and John & Char Crecelius 29 John & Tammy Edwards 31 Burt & Sandra Prange

8 Bethany United Methodist Church 495 Highway 194 South, West Jefferson, NC Church: (336) Website: bumcwj.org Pastor: Dan Money Adult Choir Director: Grady Lonon Bell & Children s Choirs: Jane Lonon Secretary/Treasurer: Marilyn Miller Youth Director: Les Miller Organist: Allison Weaver Pianist: Joyce Kilby Custodian: Michael Houck Lay Leader: Don Church Sunday Wednesday Chime Choir 9:30 a.m. Wednesday Night Dinner...5:45 p.m. Sunday School.. 9:45 a.m. Adult Choir Practice...6:30 p.m. Worship Service..11:00 a.m. Adult Handbell Practice.7:30 p.m. And he led them out as far as Bethany and he blessed them. Luke 24:50 Bethany United Methodist Church 495 Hwy 194 S. West Jefferson, NC 28694