The Chimes. "Making disciples of Jesus Christ by the sea and throughout God's creation.

Transcription

1 A Publication of Ann Street United Methodist Church The Chimes "Making disciples of Jesus Christ by the sea and throughout God's creation. Rev. Taylor Mills Pastor Telephone: In March, we welcomed Emily Edwards, Andrew Webb and Franklin Sain, II to our Ann St. family. Please take a moment to introduce yourselves. Camp Don Lee Workday, Saturday, April 7th Outreach is partnering with our youth for the annual Camp Don Lee Workday. Camp Don Lee is a Methodist camp in Pamlico County. We help staff get the facility ready for the summer season. This year we will be doing some painting, repairs and maybe grounds clean-up. You do not have to be in MYF or on the Outreach Committee to participate. We will catch the Cherry Branch Ferry on Saturday morning, April 7th at 8:30 am. Please let us know if you plan to join us so that we can make a lunch reservation for you at the camp cafeteria. The food is wonderful! For further information call Oriel Homan at or Julia Royall at th Annual Billy Stanley Memorial Golf Tournament The sixth annual Billy Stanley Golf Tournament is being held Saturday, June 2nd at the Beaufort Club in conjunction with Ann Street youth. Billy truly loved and worked diligently for the youth at Ann Street. He was active in supporting UMYF, so we want to honor his memory by doing what Billy loved to do golf. I hope you will join us in support of youth in our congregation and community. The tournament will be Saturday, June 2nd with a Shotgun start at 9:00 am. Hole sponsors, corporate sponsors, and donations are welcome. Lunch, goodie bags, and snacks are included in the participant registration. Prizes are available for participants. For more information or to register or make a donation please contact Steven and Anna Stanley at or via sstanley1@ec.rr.com. You may also register to play at The Beaufort Club ( ). Brochures are available at the back of the church. Please mark your calendar and join us in person and in prayer on June 2, 2018! Pastor's Bible Study Having finished a series on Lent, there will be a two-week break for the Pastor's Bible Study. However, on April 10th a new series will begin on the Ten Commandments. Please join us Tuesdays at 11 AM in the Fellowship Hall even if you miss a session here and there!

2 From the Pastor: No doubt you are aware of our preschool's stellar reputation and excellence in education. Since 2007 our preschool has been so effectively led by Cathy Brandt. Every month I have been writing in the Chimes to celebrate a different member of our staff and today I write to you about Cathy who not only works at our church but was baptized and confirmed in our church too! Cathy Dufore stayed in Carteret County for college and took her first job with Neuse Mental Health Center sharing her time between New Bern and Beaufort. She married Scott Brandt and moved to Rocky Mount where she opened up and directed the KinderCare Learning Center. Later she also taught children at First United Methodist Church in Rocky Mount. They had four children who are all grown now. Sadly, Scott was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in The family moved to Morehead City in 2007 and Scott died in Upon moving back to the area, Cathy learned that the director position was open at Ann Street UMC Preschool and she responded with enthusiasm! Cathy has a son in Greenville, a son in Raleigh, a daughter in Wash., DC, and a daughter in Morehead City. Cathy's mother, Iva Dufore, lives in Morehead City too with Cathy's sister, Debbie Hults and her family. We give thanks to God for Cathy and her great leadership at our preschool. She rightly enjoys the appreciation of parents, church members, preschool board members, neighbors, and our community. But her favorite thanks come from the preschool children, both current and former, who call her "Miss Cathy." Rev.-Taylor Mills Vision Team Update Mission: Making disciples of Jesus Christ by the sea and throughout God's creation. Vision: With passion ignited by the Holy Spirit, we will grow in disciple-making through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Last month the Vision Team presented their recommended Objectives and Goals to the Church Council. The Council gave their blessing and the Vision Team is now working on a three-part series of presentations to the congregation. On April 8, 15, and 22, the Vision Team will be presenting their findings and recommendations to the church during the Sunday School hour in the Fellowship Hall. All adult classes are asked to attend. We also hope those who do not come to Sunday School will join us for these three sessions. Written and online versions of the report will be ready and available after the live April presentations. Rev. Taylor Mills For Maundy Thursday, March 29th, we will be celebrating a brief worship service in the Fellowship Hall at 6:00 pm. We will be seated at round tables and share Communion around the table with one another. The service will be followed by a potluck meal in the Fellowship Hall. Good Friday, March 30th, will be a traditional service in the Sanctuary at 7:00 pm. There will be a dramatic reading of the Passion story, and the service will conclude with the stripping of the altar and covering the crosses in black cloth. This will take us to Easter Sunday, April 1st. Easter Sunrise Service at 6:30 am on the Beaufort Waterfront. The United Methodist Men will be serving breakfast in the Fellowship Hall following the Sunrise Service. Donations appreciated! Ann St. will celebrate their Easter Services at 8:25 am and 11:00 am with celebratory music, liturgy, and the preached Word of Resurrection! The church office will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Please bring lots of cut flowers to our worship services on Easter Sunday and put them in our "Shared Floral Cross" on your way in. The cross is on Craven Street halfway between our church and Purvis Chapel AME Zion Church. Worshipers from Purvis Chapel will also be putting cut flowers in that same floral cross as they go to their Easter worship. In this way, our two churches can praise God and celebrate our togetherness in the Resurrected Body of Christ.

3 Let us remember in our prayers and thoughts those connected to our church family serving our country in foreign lands: SSgt Joshua W. Jones Rusty Cotterman, (SF) Alexander Heller, USN Michael Hart (NG) CPT. Wade Sokolosky,Jr. (US Army) Sarah Heller, USN Our Ann St. Family, Hugs, cards, calls, notes, wonderful food and members of the Quest class stepping up to do the lessons for Sundays, and then visits from our brothers and sisters of Ann Street have all been greatly appreciated! Dan and I are awed by the examples of God s love you have shared with us. Each of your actions has encouraged, sustained and comforted us. So far (we think) 2018 has been a very challenging year. You have made it much easier, and best of all has been your prayers! We ask that you continue them. Thank you, thank you, thank you for ministering to us. How fortunate we are that God has used you to blessed our lives! Dan and Fran Dear Ann St. Friends, I don t have the words to express how thankful we are for the prayers, cards, flowers, and food during this difficult time. What a blessing it is to be a part of Ann St. UMC. Thank you so much. Alan and Polly Conrad Reported Monthly Church and Sunday School Attendance for March :25 am :00 am 580 Sunbeams 30 K-2 NR NBG's MS/HS NR Young Adult 30 Challenger 40 Reach Out 49 Quest 56 Thelma Ward--24 Robert Safrit 67 Gift, tithes, and offerings for March $52, Scholarships 2018 The Wesleyan Circle will award scholarships to graduating high school seniors or current college students who are furthering their education in a 4-year, 2-year, or community college. The applicant must be active in the programs of Ann Street UMC to qualify. The deadline for completed applications is Wednesday, May 16, The application is available in the church office and is also posted on the Ann Street UMC website Please call Anne Wilson ( ) if you have questions. Loaves and Fishes Benefit Hosted by Fat Fellas When: Friday, April 27th, 11:00 to 1:00 Where: 1700 Live Oak St. (in front of Thrift Store) Menu: BBQ, Fried Chicken, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Hush Puppies Delivery: 5 or more plates can be delivered Tickets: $10.00 can be purchased at Church Office, at Sip & Chat or contact Curt Barry at Proceeds will go to Loaves & Fishes Counseling Ministries and recovery/transition houses. When: Time: Where: Cost: The Chatham Rabbits in Concert at ASUMC Saturday, May 5th 7:00 to 8:30 PM Fellowship Hall $10.00 per person; $15.00 per couple; $20.00 per family Come and join us for a great gospel and Blue Grass concert. Proceeds will go to the youth for their summer mission trip to Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville, NC. Refreshments are free! Tickets will go on sale Sunday, April 8th. Though this is a fundraiser, we do not want finances to prevent anyone from attending. If you need assistance, please contact Pastor Taylor through the church office.

4 Commission on a Way Forward INTRODUCTION On the afternoon of March 11, 2018, a presentation was made in the Fellowship Hall about the Commission on a Way Forward, an ad hoc commission established in 2016 by the General Conference of The United Methodist Church to do a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph of the Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and explore options that help to maintain and strengthen the unity of the church. The presentation was given by some Ann Street UMC members and the Pastor, most of whom had attended an identical district-level event at Garber UMC in New Bern on January 29. Their goal was to inform the congregation of the Commission's work and how it might affect local churches including Ann Street. The presenters were Phil Wilson, Anne Wilson, Julia Royall, Matt Dawson, Rachel Wyman Dawson (Annual Conference Member), John McLeod (Lay Leader), and Taylor Mills (Pastor). The Commission was moderated by three bishops. It's 32 members were chosen by the Council of Bishops to represent diverse ideological positions, a balance of clergy and laity, and United Methodists from the United States and all around the world. They are responsible to the Council of Bishops and they will present their recommendations to a special session of the General Conference in February of As you read the following updates from their ongoing work, please receive these three questions that our bishop, Hope Morgan Ward, offered the people at Garber UMC in New Bern: 1. How does this model allow us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and strengths and to love our neighbors as ourselves? 2. How would this model keep us faithful to our mission to make disciples for Jesus Christ? 3. How does this model allow us to multiply our Wesleyan Witness and expand our mission in the world? THREE MODELS The Commission has provided three possible models for how they believe the denomination might treat LGBTQ inclusion: 1. Affirm the current Book of Discipline language and place a high value on accountability. The church policy book says the practice of homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching" and lists officiating at a same-gender union or being a "self-avowed practicing" gay clergy member as chargeable offenses under church law. 2. Remove the Book of Discipline's restrictive language and place a high value on contextualization. This sketch also specifically protects the rights of those whose conscience will not allow them to perform same-gender weddings or ordain LGBTQ people. 3. Create multiple branches that have clearly defined values such as accountability, contextualization, and justice. This model would maintain shared doctrine and services and one Council of Bishops. TWO SKETCHES More recently, the Commission provided two sketches that provide avenues for unity, contextualization, and mission: 1. ONE-CHURCH MODEL gives churches the room they need to maximize the presence of United Methodist witness in as many places in the world as possible. The One Church Model provides a generous unity that gives conferences, churches, and pastors the flexibility to uniquely reach their missional context in relation to human sexuality without changing the connectional nature of The United Methodist Church.

5 2. MULTI-BRANCH MODEL is grounded in a unified core that includes shared doctrine and services and one Council of Bishops, while also creating different branches that have clearly defined values such as accountability, contextualization, and justice. The five U.S. jurisdictions would be replaced by three connectional conferences, each covering the whole country, based on theology and perspective on LGBTQ ministry (i.e. progressive, contextual, traditional branches). Annual conferences would decide which connectional conference to affiliate with; only local churches who choose a branch other than the one chosen by their annual conference would vote to join another conference. The Commission continues to meet through the rest of this year. Neither the Ann Street UMC presenters nor our pastor has a direct impact on the Commission's recommendations. However, the Commission can be reached directly through the following channels: FOR MORE INFORMATION umc.org/wayforward facebook.com/umcforward SEND FEEDBACK TO COMMISSION Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga Director of Communications Council of Bishops mmulenga@umc-cob.org

6 Five Projects At their February meeting, the Church Council favorably considered a set of five possible facilityimprovement projects. The Trustees thus began initial research on these projects. Specific plans and prices are forthcoming. The feasibility of these projects will depend on their scope and the availability of funding (in coordination with the Finance Committee). It is conceivable that funding sources will vary depending on the project. Some might involve capital fundraising, special offerings, memorials, and such. No completion targets are set at this time. But for the purposes of planning and communication, the Council put them in this relative order of priority: 1. Flooring for the Fellowship Hall (and adjacent hallways) 2. Church building security system 3. Stained-glass window restoration (one section of windows at a time) 4. Television ministry equipment upgrades 5. Pipe organ upgrades (The organ is in good repair. This is an upgrade proposal brought by our staff musicians to the Trustees in April of 2017.) Please join us for The United Methodist Women Sunday Service to be held on April 29 th at 10:30 am. Pray for Confirmands Julia Royall and I are having a great time leading some of our middle-school youth through Confirmation. We anticipate having the ceremony on Pentecost Sunday. Please pray for these young disciples of Jesus Christ! Preschool news! The preschool will once again participate in the St. Jude Trike a Thon the week of April Each day in their classrooms the children learn about bicycle safety. On Friday, April 20 the children will demonstrate what they have learned by riding in an obstacle course set up by parent volunteers. The obstacle course includes a zig zag course, a railroad crossing, a car wash, paying attention to traffic lights and signs, and much more. The Beaufort Police Dept. will have officers here to review the safety rules and help participate in the morning events. Donations may be made on line at stjude.org/trike. Families are never charged for services while at St. Jude Children's Hospital. Our grand total for the Book Fair was $2, The preschool received $1, in free books. John Rosemond, nationally syndicated columnist and author of multiple parenting books will be here Sunday, April 22 from 2:00 to 5:30. He will present a program on the Ten Mistakes parents make. His seminars are Biblically based and all parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, etc. are invited to attend. Registration is open to the public and may be made through the preschool The fee to attend is $10 per person or $15 per couple. Happy Easter!

7 Youth and Children Corner Hello Ann Street. Spring has sprung and what a beautiful time of year it is on the Crystal Coast. We have some fun things going on in the month of April that we wanted to share with you all and let you know about opportunities to serve! Events April 7th Work Day at Camp Don Lee with MYF and the Outreach Committee April 13th-15 Middle School retreat to Camp Don Lee April 15th High School Movie night Every Wednesday Children s Choir (3rd-5th grade) 3pm-5pm in the Eure Building VBS June 18th- 21st 9am-12:30pm. Details coming soon! Opportunities to Serve MYF (Sunday 5-8pm) We are always in need of volunteers for MYF. Middle School and High School youth gather on Sunday nights for fun, fellowship and food. Come check it out and experience all the fun we have at MYF while learning about Jesus and how to serve others. Sunday School (Sundays 9:45-10:30 am) The 3rd 5th grade Sunday School class is looking for teachers. We provide the curriculum and you provide the fun! The Middle School Sunday School classroom is looking for teachers. We often go to the coffee shop and hangout out, do a devotion and enjoy time together. These kids are amazing! Please let Julia Royall know if you would like to serve or have any questions!

8 The Chimes April 2018 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Permit # 10 Beaufort, NC Sunday Worship and Study Opportunities 8:25 AM and 11:00 AM Worship Services 9:30 AM-9:45 AM Sip and Chat 9:45 AM-10:30 AM Sunday School Ann Street United Methodist Church 417 Ann Street Beaufort, NC Church office hours: Monday-Thursday 8:30 am -noon 1:00 pm -4:30 pm Friday 8:30 am-noon OFFICE and STAFF INFORMATION office, FAX, Preschool address: office@annstreetumc.org Web page: Polly Conrad, Administrative Secretary, Rhoda Allred, Assistant to the Pastor for Visitation, Kathy Ausband, Financial Secretary, Julia Royall, Children and Youth Director, Cathy Brandt, Preschool Director, Joe McCreary, Director of Music, Kandice Davis, Organist, Lee Jones, Custodian