Linden Letter Linden Heights United Methodist Church June/July 2018

Transcription

1 A Note from the Pastor Linden Letter Linden Heights United Methodist Church June/July 2018 Luke 11: 9-10 So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. This past week I was giving God thanks for a blessing that I have recently received. As I drove down the road (I often pray while driving!) it suddenly occurred to me that this particular blessing was God s response to a very specific prayer request that I had made two years ago. The need for my particular request had come to me through Bible study. I prayed earnestly and fervently for this blessing, but heard nothing from God. I finally decided that God wanted me to figure it out on my own or that maybe I really didn t need this particular request. Eventually I told God that it was in God s capable hands and I dropped the subject. Imagine my surprise when I realized this week that God had just answered that prayer from two years ago. I believe that God answers our prayers, every single one of them. God may not answer them the way that we want. God may not answer in ways that we understand right now. God may not answer in the time frame that we want, but God does answer our prayers. If God had given me what I asked for two years ago, I wouldn t have known what to do with it. It was the wrong time. I wasn t prepared or equipped to receive what I wanted. Now I am prepared. Now I have a better understanding of what to do with this blessing. Now I know how God wants me to use this gift given to me. It wasn t the right time then. It is now. This week I invite you to look back at prayers that you have offered in the past (even the recent past if you want!) and see how God has answered them. How do you see God working in your life now? How have you seen God s timing to be so much better than yours? How has God blessed you? I hope that you will join me in giving God thanks for God s faithfulness to us and for the wisdom, timing, and generosity of God. God s peace to you all! Pastor Alicia Mission & Outreach For our June mission collection we are collecting dry goods for the Christus Victor food pantry. We will be collecting things like rice, cereal, instant breakfast packets, crackers, etc. for the food pantry. Please place donations in the grey bin located in the breezeway.

2 In July and August we will collect school supplies. It is our hope to have a special event in August where we can invite families in our community to come and play games, have a snack, and select some of their own school supplies. If you would be interested in helping plan this event, please contact the pastor. This spring we collected gift cards for local fast food restaurants to give to the fire fighters and police officers in our community. We also collected gift cards for shoes for children in need in our community. Thank you for you generous support of these mission and service efforts! The flea market was a tremendous success this year! God blessed us with a beautiful day and it was a wonderful outreach into our community. I d like to thank everyone who donated items to the Linden Heights flea market table and all of the food items. We would not have done so well financially without your donations. The flea market made approximately $2, to go to the church s general fund. My thanks to all the people who volunteered their time, whether you worked marking prices on the flea market items, helped set-up tables, sold items at our flea market table and flower table or helped clean up. I d like to especially thank Bryan Sullivan for cooking the pit beef and pit turkey this year. Thanks to the food crew who spent the day cooking hotdogs, slicing meat and wrapping food. Last, but not least, thank you to the congregation for all of your prayers for sunshine and a successful flea market. I sincerely believe God answered our prayers. Deb Singer Worship News Summer Schedule Our summer worship schedule begins on June 17th. We will have a combined worship service at 10 am. Children and their families are once again invited to sit up front so that the children can see and fully participate in the worship service. Activities that connect to the theme of the worship service will be provided for the children. Theme for Summer Worship: Throughout the summer we will have some fun looking for ways we can encounter a message about God and faith in popular musicals. We will begin on June 17th with a 6 week look at the movie The Greatest Showman. Later in the summer we will explore The Sound of Music and The Lion King. We will show the movie one evening before the series begins. Movie Night: Our first summer movie night will be Friday, June 15th at 6:30 pm and we will watch The Greatest Showman. Celebrate the end of school with a great movie, popcorn, and some beverages. Bring Back Water: Throughout the summer people travel around visiting family, friends, camping, and going on vacation. You are invited to bring back a small container of water from wherever you happen to travel to this summer. We will be using the water as part of our worship service on September 9th. Summer Lay Readers & Communion Servers: The pastor is currently creating the summer schedule for lay readers and communion servers. All children, youth, and adults are invited to read scripture, lead a prayer, and serve communion. If you would like to be a part of the worship team, please fill out the Opportunities Sheet and drop it in the offering plate or give it to the pastor. Schedules will be out by the end of this week.

3 Annual Conference Worship Service: Bishop LaTrelle Easterling gave a wonderful sermon at our opening worship service at Annual Conference. There were so many requests for copies that her sermon has been published to the Baltimore-Washington Conference website. If you would like to hear what our bishop had to say, please visit The link to her sermon is on the large scrolling headline part of the page. NEW Scriptural Choral Drama Team: The pastor is forming a new ministry team of 8-15 people that will present scripture in worship in a visual way. Some of the presentations will involve speaking the words of the scripture, some of the presentations will be silent. No experience is needed, just a desire to be creative and help people hear and see the scriptures in a new way. If you are interested or would like more information, please speak with the pastor or indicate your interest on the Opportunities Sheet. New Mid Week Worship: Many people travel on the weekends during the summer and cannot be in worship on Sunday. To help meet the needs of those who are away on weekends, we will be offering a mid-week worship service opportunity. We will have one service in June and two in July and August. Dates and times will be announced shortly. If would like to help plan these services, please attend a meeting on Wednesday, June 13th at 7 pm. Miss a Sunday? Don t forget that the sermons are recorded and posted to our website! Children & Youth News Sunday School News We are finishing up a great year in Sunday school (our last day is June 10 th ). This year we: packed 60 boxes for Operation Christmas Child, made and sent valentines to our shut ins, joined friends and neighbors for our Trunk or Treat and Easter Egg hunt, presented a Christmas pageant with the Chancel choir, shared Sunday school songs (with help from Ms. Vanessa!), during our Family First services once a month, plus many more activities. A special THANK YOU to our loving and faithful teachers: Ms. Cathy, Ms. Barb, Ms. Sarah, Ms. Patti, Mr. Sam, and Ms. Ruth. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday mornings in worship and in September when Sunday school resumes! Have a fun summer! Last Day of Sunday School is June 10th! Children and youth will worship with their families and the church family throughout the summer. We look forward to being together for worship! Vacation Bible School - June 25-29, :45 a.m.-12:00 noon. Registration is open! We hope your children and your neighbors children will attend our VBS: Rolling River Rampage: Experience the Ride of a Lifetime with God! Along the river children will discover that life with God is an adventure full of wonder and surprise, and that they can trust God to be with them through anything. Our rafters will experience God s love as they explore different Bible stories, learn verses, make crafts, play games, sing songs, and gain friends! Registration forms are available at the Linden Heights UMC website ( or in the church office. The cost is $20 per child or $35 per family. If you wish to volunteer, or have any questions, please talk to our director Barbara Yingling or Pastor Alicia ( ).

4 VBS for Youth Our youth will have the opportunity to participate in a VBS extension program. Youth will bring a lunch with them in the morning. We will eat lunch together after VBS is over and will then travel to different locations Monday-Thursday to participate in different service projects. Youth will return to the church at 4 pm. On Friday we will do something recreational. Parents of interested youth should speak to the pastor for details and to get a permission slip. If you would be interested in serving as a chaperone for one or all of the days, please speak to the pastor. College Scholarship We offer a one year college scholarship for graduating seniors enrolled in a two or four year college. Applications are available on the table in the narthex and are due by June 30 th. Fellowship Opportunities Paint Night/Day: Paint Nights have become a fun way to create a piece of art while spending time with friends and family. We have a paint night, actually a day, scheduled for Sunday, July 1st 1pm- 3pm. We will be creating a beach scene. Cost is $25 per person and includes all of the materials and instruction. Please fill out the Opportunities Sheet and place it in the offering plate along with your payment. You can make out a check to Linden Heights and we will write one check. Deadline for registration is June 27th. Mom s Facbook Group: We are reactivating the facebook group for moms. This is a closed group, so whatever is shared on the page is not seen by the public. We want to use this group as a place where moms can share their experiences, support one another, engage in study, and participate in devotionals. If you would like to be a part of the group but aren t on it yet, please send a friend request to the pastor s facebook page (Alicia Loar Vanisko) so that she can add you. Iron Birds Ball Game: Once again we will go as a church to watch the Ironbirds play baseball. The game is Friday, August 24th and there will be fireworks after the game. We currently have 40 tickets reserved but they are going fast. If you reserved tickets and have not yet paid for them, please do so as soon as possible. If you would like to go but haven t yet asked for tickets, please call the pastor now. We need to have a final commitment to the Iron Birds, including full payment, by the end of the month! Other Church News On June 1 st Bishop LaTrelle Easterling set the pastoral appointments beginning July 1 st Rev. Alicia Vanisko has been reappointed to Linden Heights for another year. Directory Updates are available! You can pick one up on Sunday morning on the table behind the sanctuary. If you need us to mail you one, please call the church office at and we will gladly mail you a copy. We are arranging a summer photo session for those who would like to have a photo included. Please contact the pastor if you need your picture taken. We still have pictorial directories available for purchase. They are $10 each and can be gotten at the church office.

5 This spring we repaired the Carrilon. The Carrilon has not worked for several years. We had the broken player replaced and all of the software updated. The total cost of the repair was $3785. The funds for the repairs came from memorial donations, from direct contributions, and from the trustee improvement fund. Over the past several months we have replaced two computers in the church that had stopped working. We replaced the computer in the office back in January. We replaced the laptop used for worship just last week. We are excited to have technology that works and that can interface with the other technology in the church. The keyboard that Dan uses at the early service is not functioning fully. We hope to replace it in the near future. ** If you would like to help offset the cost of the carrilon or the worship computer, or if you would like to contribute towards the new keyboard, you can make a donation to the church and mark carrion, computer, or keyboard in the memo line. ** Church Leadership We have many active ministry teams that handle the day in and day out operations of our church community as well all of our programmatic and educational activities. Below is a list of the people who serve as the chairpersons of each ministry team. If you would like to be a part of any of these teams, please contact the individuals listed (their contact information is in the church directory), contact the pastor, or call the church office. If you have questions about the church or our ministries, please feel free to speak to these church leaders! Church Council- Dave Conrad Church Council Recording Secretary- Mary Ann Erdman Education Ministry- Barb Yingling Endowment- Andy Johnson Evangelism- open Family Ministry- Sarah Hamlin Finance- Wade Walters Financial Secretary- Gail Discher Lay Leader- Kelly Erdman Lay Member to Annual Conference- Saleem Gauhar Member Care- Open Mission Ministry- Open Staff Parish Relations Ministry- Greg Erdman Sunday School Superintendent- Ruth Snyder Treasurer- Rick Schwartz Trustee Ministry- Bob Guthridge Worship Ministry- Alicia McBride Lawn Mower Teams are currently being scheduled. In order to be good stewards of our financial resources, we take care of the mowing and trimming of our lawn ourselves. If you would like to be a part of a team that provides this service for the church, please sign up on the sheet outside of the sanctuary doors or contact Bob Guthridge through the church office. Team members commit to about three hours of work a month during lawn cutting season. Membership Records It would be good to have all of our church membership records in an electronic format in addition to our paper documents. This is quite an undertaking for a church that is over 100 years old! If you like data entry work, or even if you don t but would like to help anyway, please talk to Pastor

6 Alicia or call Kathy in the office. We hope to coordinate work efforts over the summer and get as much of it done as possible. Small Groups Summer & early fall offerings from your Linden Heights Prayer & Healing Ministry Team Wednesday Evening Prayer & Healing Group No meetings on June 6,13 & 20. Wednesday, JUNE 27, last regular meeting at 6:30, Parlor SUMMER BREAK, July, August, early September Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 12, resume regular meetings at 6:30, Parlor Sunday Afternoon Prayer & Healing Fellowship Group Sunday, JUNE 3, last regular meeting, 2:00 McBride s SUMMER BREAK, the rest of June, July, August & early September Sunday, SEPTEMBER 16, resume regular meeting & start new study*, 2:00 Crossland s * New study to be announced soon!!! Resting In God For those who have yet to attend one of these soaking prayer sessions, they feel like a mini retreat. In less than an hour, many experience a peace so profound they are in no hurry to leave the room to go back out into the world. Some even fall asleep! Music, scripture, poetry, hymn lyrics & entries from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young work together to create a sacred, restful atmosphere that helps participants to release the burdens of their heart to God and receive in return His comfort, strength and peace. In quietness & trust is your strength. Isaiah 30:15 Summer Break, June & July Wednesday, August 15, 7:00 pm, Parlor, resume monthly sessions. Theme for August Session: Like a Well Watered Garden: Never Thirsty Annual Fall Retreat: Friday, October 12 - Sunday, October 14, 2018 Men and women are invited to join us for a weekend of fellowship, music, fun, relaxation, and Middle Creek Manor, near Fairfield, PA (between Emmitsburg MD and Gettysburg PA). These retreats have been taking place for almost 30 years, and those who have attended highly recommend the experience to everyone. In addition to sessions related to the retreat theme, each retreat affords great fellowship, good lodging and food, lots of music, much laughter, and stimulating discussions, plus time to just relax and enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery and fresh air. The theme for this year s retreat is I Am With You. We will be exploring this promise of Christ throughout the weekend in several ways. Register before September 15 for a $20 discount! Cost for the entire weekend including all materials, accommodations and meals, beginning Friday around 5:00pm supper (you may arrive as early as 3:00) thru Sunday lunch is $155 if received prior to September 15, After September 15, the fee is $ If you would like to learn more and/or register, please contact Ann Buckley at or ab1963@verizon.net. When you register, we will provide you with complete driving directions

7 and a helpful guide for what you will need to bring. We hope to see some new faces. Space is limited, so don t wait until the last minute! Monday Night Bible Study The Monday night group is continuing with Drive Through History: The Gospels a video-based study of the history, archaeology, geography and art surrounding the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, filmed in the Holy Land, showing the places where Jesus traveled and taught. 7:00 p.m. Mondays in the Parlor. Tuesday Men s Group The Tuesday night group is studying Adam Hamilton s series, The Call, an examination of the life and teachings of the apostle Paul. Hamilton travels to the places where Paul taught and established churches and challenges participants to respond to God s call in their lives. 7 p.m. Tuesdays in Fellowship Hall. A Letter from the Pastor about the Commission on the Way Forward Over the past year I have been posting information about the work of the Commission on the Way Forward. Information has also been available on the Baltimore-Washington Conference website and in the published Conference newspaper. I know that some of you have been keeping up with this information, and some of you have no idea what I am talking about. It is time for us to have conversations about what is happening in our denomination and how it will affect the global church and our individual church. Below is a BRIEF review of what the Commission is and what is happening in the denomination in the next year. There is also information on what will be happening here at Linden Heights. The United Methodist Church structure consists of conferences. We are the Linden Heights charge conference. We are part of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, which consists of churches in Baltimore City, Washington, DC, Maryland, west of the bay up through Allegany County, and parts of the panhandle of West Virginia. All Annual Conferences across the globe are members of the General Conference. General Conference meets once every four years to report on the work of our churches, review and modify our Social Principles, and review and modify our Book of Discipline (the rules that govern our denomination). In 1972 language was put into the Book of Discipline stating that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings and preventing the ordination or marriage of non-heterosexual individuals. The denomination has argued over this ever since. At the 2016 General Conference the Council of Bishops was asked to establish a special commission to discuss the issues of human sexuality. The Commission was also tasked with creating a plan for a way forward for our denomination when we are so sharply divided on this issue. Members of the Commission were selected and have met over the past two years. They presented three options to the Council of Bishops for review. The Council of Bishops has affirmed one option over the others. This option will be presented as legislation at a special called session of General Conference March 23-25, The decisions of General Conference will directly affect the local churches one way or another. I think that it is incredibly important that everyone in the church be aware of what is going on in our denomination. I want you to know the details of how the Commission was established and how it conducted business. I think you should know the details of the three plans presented and know why the Council of Bishops affirmed the one plan. You should know how the decisions of General Conference could potentially affect the local church. We need to be in conversation with one another about all of this, but conversation, especially around subjects where people disagree, and sometimes strongly disagree, can be challenging, unproductive, hurtful, and divisive. I don t want our conversations to have these kinds of results.

8 This is what I am asking of you. 1. Pray. Pray for General Council, pray for God to open your heart, pray for the bishops, pray for the leaders of the annual conference, pray for pastors as we try to help our churches navigate these conversations, pray for our church. The Council of Bishops has asked that everyone pray every day between 3:23 and 3:25- the dates of General Conference. If this doesn t work for you, any time will do! 2. I will be inviting the leadership of the church to several information sessions over the summer to make them aware of the ins and outs of all that I have talked about in the paragraphs above. I am asking leadership to be present, if at all possible, at these sessions. Dates will be published shortly. 3. I will hold information sessions, starting in September, to give detailed information to the entire congregation. I am asking that you attend those sessions so that you can be informed. 4. I will be holding training sessions for everyone in the fall around the topic How to talk about difficult things. I personally believe that training is in order so that we all have the tools that we need to talk about the issue of human sexuality and to talk about whatever General Conference decides upon in March. I really believe that this type of training can help us avoid hurtful, divisive, non-productive conversations as we talk about difficult things. I want you to come to these training sessions. This is what I promise you. 1. I am praying. For the Commission, for General Conference, for the Council of Bishops, for Bishop Easterling, for wisdom, and for you. 2. I am educating myself about all of the intricate ins and outs of the work that has been done and the work that will be done so that I can keep you completely informed. 3. I will listen to your concerns, your questions, your thoughts and your feelings. 4. I will love you in Christ even if you and I don t agree on everything. (We likely won t, and that is okay!) 5. I will serve God as faithfully as I can and will serve as your pastor to the best of my ability. 6. I will do my very best to help us discuss, pray, study, and discern together God s will for Linden Heights now, in one year, in five years, and in ten years. I personally believe that God is up to something special in our church and that if we love God, love one another, and love our neighbor, we will do amazing things for the kingdom of God here in our community. May God s love and peace surround us all, Pastor Alicia