METHODIST MESSENGER F IRST UNITED METHODI ST CHURCH FROM OUR PASTOR. Outside the Church Walls

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1 F IRST UNITED METHODI ST CHURCH METHODIST MESSENGER V O L U M E 4 5, I S S U E 5 M A Y I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Pastor s Page 1 Preaching Schedule 2 Church Finances 2 UMW Update 2 Memorials 2 Bulletin Board 3 Education 4 Linda s Corner 4 Graduation 5 May Servants 6 May Calendar 7 Back page 8 FROM OUR PASTOR Outside the Church Walls For we are God s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10, NIV) William Temple was a tremendous priest who would go on to become Archbishop of Canterbury and President of the World Council of Churches. Throughout his ministry he was a champion for the poor and those needing extra attention. A wonderful quote attributed to Temple is, The Church is the only organization that does not exist for itself, but for those who live outside of it. Every church needs to reflect on this statement. While churches need to care for those within their walls, a church ultimately needs to care for those outside church walls. As the church, we are the body of Christ, we are the hands and feet of Jesus. We need to make a difference in the community and world in which we live. A book some of us have been reading for the Healthy Church Initiative process is The Externally Focused Church, by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson. The book calls on churches to reach out in mercy, empowerment, and evangelism. Each of these areas involves care and compassion for those we don t normally see on Sundays. Mercy and empowerment involve assisting others with basic needs in life, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Acts of mercy help a person, or a group of people, in need at a particular moment. Empowerment involves helping others help themselves so they can become self-sufficient. Each of these movements is critical. Evangelism involves bringing an individual to Christ. It might be said that mercy focuses on one time acts, empowerment focuses on a person s entire lifetime, and evangelism emphasizes eternity. While we do many good things in our church to reach out to others beyond our walls, we should never be content. Let us continue to discuss ways we can reach out and be the church for all people. I am always open to your thoughts and suggestions as we head into the final month of spring and look ahead to the summer! Blessings to each of you! Scott

2 P A G E 2 Preaching Schedule by Pastor Scott Meador Being the Church! Acts 2: th Sunday of Easter A Love That Can Change the World 1 John 4:7-12 Mother s Day Carry On... 2 Timothy 3:10-12 Graduation Sunday Thank you for your faithful giving! Monthly Income (4 weeks) $19, Easter Offering $ Slam Mission Trip $ UMCOR $50.00 Music $50.00 Maundy Thursday $35.00 Living Last Supper $ Out of Sight, Acts 1:1-11 Ascension Sunday All the families who recently lost a loved one, we extend our deepest sympathy to you. May God grant you peace in the days ahead Memorials Date Fund In Memoriam Given By March 30 Radio Donald C. Dunlap United Methodist Women April 3 Undesignated Dolores Kelley M/M Ron Wegner April 7 Music Dept. Susie Chesmore Mary Kay Miller Music Dept. Dolores Kelley Sandra and Jim Brown Undesignated Dolores Kelley M/M Bill Stamper Undesignated Donald C. Dunlap Millie Cameron April 14 Undesignated Dolores Kelley M/M LeRoy Greenley April 16 Undesignated Dolores Kelley M/M Doug Derr UMW Update by Phyllis Davis UMW Update: 2017 Apportionments Due are: $41, Paid to date: $ May: No 1st Thursday meeting, but Circles will meet. If you haven t had a chance to make your 2017 pledge; please prayerfully consider what you can share as we have missions around the world. June: Meeting is first Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Reminder: Don t forget to save your pennies and remember the reading program. Thanks!

3 P A G E 3 Youth Fundraisers Thank you to all who ordered pizza from the youth group. The proceeds are going towards their mission trip in June. There is still popcorn available for purchase in the Welcome Center. Additional fundraisers will be coming soon! Card Shower Please help Eileen Humes celebrate her 100th birthday on May 5, by sending her a card. Her address is: 2850 Brandon Diagonal Blvd Independence, IA Wee Care Preschool Classroom Associate Wee Care Preschool (which is associated with Immanuel Lutheran Church) is looking for a classroom associate for the school year. Associate s degree preferred; high school diploma, experience with children, and an active member of a Christian church is required. Please send cover letter, resume, and references to 512 5th St. NE Independence, IA or weecare@indytel.com. Buchanan County Success Center Graduation! Congratulations to the graduates of the Buchanan County Success Center. Their ceremony will be held on Friday, May 19 at 6:00 pm in Fellowship Hall at First United Methodist Church. Foreign Exchange Student Opportunity! Our community has a very exciting opportunity for the school year! We have been invited to take part in the PAX (Program of Academic Exchange) foreign exchange program as a school district and a community. There will be an informational meeting at Immanuel Lutheran on Tuesday, May 16th at 7:00pm. Contact Shalon Frye at the high school if you have any questions. (Immanuel is hosting the meeting, but not coordinating the program!) To the family of Dolores Kelley YOUTH GROUP NEWS Summer Mission Trip is June to Columbus, OH. Fundraising is currently taking place. We have eleven students going from our church! You re Invited! Rev. Dean and Marvalyn Kelly will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on June 3 from 3-6 pm. Location is: Third Reformed Church 708 East 13th St, Pella. Rev. Dean is a former pastor of FUMC. Baccalaureate Baccalaureate is Wednesday, May 3rd at 7:00 pm. The ecumenical gathering is for the seniors and families in the community to celebrate in a worship setting the accomplishment of finishing high school. A message will be given by Pastor Scott Meador.. It will be held at the Independence High School Auditorium. Refreshments will follow the service.

4 P A G E 4 Education Update by Sarah Rothman To celebrate Mother's Day, our Sunday School children will sing during the service. Please make sure that they attend Sunday School leading up to that day so they are familiar with the songs. The final Sunday School class will be on May 21st. Weather permitting, we will have games outside that day. Many thanks to all of the volunteers who have made our After School Kids' program such a success this year! We meet twice a month, focusing on an activity the first Wednesday and our reading mission on the third Wednesday. Consistently reaching children, this outreach program continues to grow. THANK YOU to Josh and Melanie Schwartz, their crew of helpers, and the youth who helped for all of the work they have done to update the second and third floors of Charterhouse. The change over the last two years is remarkable! We look forward to showing off our progress at Vacation Bible School this summer. Vacation Bible School this summer will be July 9-13 at FUMC. More details will be coming, but mark your calendars now! If you are available to help, please contact Linda Stamper or Sarah Rothman. Have you heard the call to get involved, but aren't sure what you can do to help? Teaching or helping with Sunday School is a great way to get to know children in our church; user-friendly curriculum is provided. Can't devote every Sunday to teaching? Pick just one month instead! We need enthusiastic leaders for: September, October, January, February, March, April, and May. We also are looking for ideas for music, especially classic children's songs that you may remember from your youth. We would love to get a new person involved in leading the annual Christmas program, too; each Sunday in November and December we work with the children to put together a fun program that highlights the Christmas story and the talents of our kids. If any of these options interest you, talk to Sarah Rothman for more details! Linda s Corner by Linda Stamper Oh my gosh!!! The school year is about over. The time has gone by so fast. By the time you read this, there will only be two more Wednesdays for the After School Kids. There are so many to thank for helping make this a great time for the kids as well as the adults who helped out. Many of you provided snacks, money and some came and listened to the children read. We met on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. The first Wednesday was led by Sarah Rothman with bible stories and crafts. The third Wednesday, Melanie Schwartz organized a reading program in which the kids read and helpers listened to them. They also received books which were donated by the UMW. The annual conference encouraged churches to help out children by listening to them read and give them their own books. Besides Sarah and Melanie, thanks goes to Molly Rothman, Don Smith, Nancy Steckelberg, Betty Hare, Jeanne Wiggins, Miriam Smith, and Susie Galpin for their dedication and being here on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday to organize and help out with everything and anything that needed to be done to make this a success. And of course thank you to Pastor Scott for entertaining the children with games and getting them all excited and energized for the snack time and lessons. As you can tell, it takes a whole family to have a good program that will serve others. Some of you may have heard of the song, What a difference you made in my Life, by Ronnie Milsap. We all hope that the After School Program is doing that. It was so neat to see a little person hug an adult who told them they did a good job reading and kids who were excited just to see a certain adult show up and getting a hug from a little one before they left, saying see you next time. To hear them ask questions about God and for them to be excited to learn how God works in their lives. They planted tomato seeds a few weeks ago and on May 17th will take them home and watch them grow. Hopefully it will remind them that as the plant grows and develops and changes, they will see that they too are growing and developing and changing into someone different. Seeds were planted, now we hope and pray that the seeds planted will develop into people who love and serve the Lord. This is what we hope to achieve with the After School Kids Program Thank you!!!

5 P A G E Graduates Ryan Adams Kirstie Martin Emma Meador Becca Lang Grace Bertelli Tia Whited Mason Wood Andrue Wright Congratulations to these High School Seniors and to anyone graduating from college or completing other training. You re Invited! Here is a list of open houses for the graduating seniors. Grace Bertelli - Saturday, May 20th 5-8 pm th St Independence Mason Wood - Saturday, May 20th 3-6 pm. River s Edge nd Ave SW, Independence Emma Meador - Sunday, May 21st 2:00 pm. Heartland Acres Swan Lake, Independence Becca Lang - Sunday, May 21st 2:00 pm. Heartland Acres Swan Lake, Independence Andrue Wright - Saturday, May 27th 1-4 pm. FUMC Fellowship Hall nd St SE, Independence Tia Whited - Sunday, May 28th 6-7:30pm Greeting/open house with the band Brazilian 2Wins starting at 7:30 pm Rebecca Court, Independence

6 May Ministry Servants May 7 May 14 May 21 May 28 Don Smith Ron Gitsch Bill Stamper Eunice Hamilton Chris Smith Ann Gitsch Linda Stamper Megan Rasmussen Lloyd Davis Ron Melick Lloyd Davis Ron Melick Lloyd Davis Ron Melick Lloyd Davis Ron Melick Talon Decker Delaney Martin Campbell Schwartz Tyler Osborne Tate Wood Sophie Bertelli Noah Schwartz Collin Wilson Missions Memorial Committee Mark Penne Cheryl Penne Education Committee Children s Sermon Communion Pastor Scott Sarah Rothman Merry Christensen Joye Bowers Emma Meador Joye Bowers Emma Meador Sydney Schwartz Sydney Schwartz Cora Krueger Cora Krueger Jim Bond Craig Marino Steve Miler Jeff Haight Sally Bond Shirley Marino Virginia Miller Stephanie Haight

7 P A G E 7 Sunday Worship Schedule 9:00 a.m. Worship 10:00 a.m. Coffee Fellowship 10:15 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Radio Broadcast 95.3 FM KQMG ******* Wednesday Music (Times may vary during the summer months) Jim Brown, Music Director 6:00-6:50 p.m. Chancel Choir 6:50-7:20 p.m. Good News Singers 7:20-7:40 p.m. Band or Quartet 7:45-8:30 p.m. Hand Bell Choir May 2017 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT See worship schedule Fellowship Hall reserved Mother s Day See worship schedule Graduation Sunday See worship schedule See worship schedule 6:00 pm Committee meetings 7:30 pm Ad Council Memorial Day-Office Closed 9:30 am Staff meeting 7:00 pm Priscilla Circle 9:30 am Staff meeting 9:30 am Staff meeting 9:30 am Staff meeting 3:30 pm After School Kids 7:00 pm Baccalaureate 9:00 am Hannah Circle 1:00 pm Eve Circle 3:30 pm After School Kids 6:45 Youth Bible Study 6:00 pm Success Center Graduation in Fellowship Hall Fellowship Hall Reserved M E T H O D I S T M E S S E N G E R

8 First United Methodist Church 313 2nd Street Southeast Independence, Iowa RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Phone: Webpage: Our Mission... Meeting, Maturing, and Moving in Love as we make disciples to grow God s Kingdom. Church Staff Pastor Dr. Scott Meador, , pastor.scott@indytel.com Office Manager Susie Galpin, , fumcoffice@indytel.com Ministries Coordinator Linda Stamper, , blstamper@indytel.com Treasurer Chris Smith, , fumcchris@indytel.com Director of Music Ministries Jim Brown, , jimbo4te@gmail.com Organist Mary Schubich, , schubichme@indytel.com Sound Technician Tim Dryml, , tdryml@indytel.com Church Office Hours Monday - Thursday 9 a.m. - Noon 1-3 p.m. Custodian Gloria Irvine, , glojirvine@gmail.com