THE FUMC NEWSLETTER. Notes from the Preacher Woman June 2015

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1 First United Methodist Church ~ Great Falls, MT The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 THE FUMC NEWSLETTER June 2015 Volume 6 Follow Jesus, Make Disciples, Transform Lives and Communities. Notes from the Preacher Woman June 2015 One day Toad is admiring Frog s lovely garden and decides he would like a garden of his own. Frog explains that a garden is hard work, but offers to share some seeds with Toad, and shows him how to plant them in the ground, so that soon he will have a garden. How soon? asks Toad. Quite soon, says Frog. Toad wastes no time in running home to plant his seeds. Immediately upon planting the seeds, he addresses them where they lay peacefully in the ground and demands, Now seeds, start growing. He walks up and down a few times, and looks, and the seeds have not grown. Thinking they may be hard of hearing, he bends over close to the seeds, and demands in a bit louder voice, Now seeds, start growing! The seeds do not appear to be listening. So he bends in very close and shouts, NOW SEEDS START GROWING! Frog can hear Toad from his place, and comes running to see what is going on. Toad complains that his seeds are not growing. Frog replies that with all that shouting his seeds are afraid to grow. Leave them alone for a few days, let the rain fall on them and the sun shine on them, he advises, and soon your seeds will grow. But poor Toad is not a patient fellow. He decides that he needs to help them along a bit. Perhaps they are afraid of the dark so he brings candles to comfort them and reads them a story. The next day he sings them songs, reads them poems and plays music for them. Nothing he does seems to have any impact on those seeds. He decides they must be the most frightened seeds in the whole world. You can probably guess the ending of this charming children s story by Arnold Lobel. Impatient Toad wearies himself day after day trying to force those seeds to grow. Nothing he does seems to make any difference. Then finally one day, he falls into an exhausted sleep. When he awakens, the seeds have popped up out of the ground! Frog was right, he decides, gardening is a lot of hard work! It occurs to me that although I would like to think of myself as Frog (wise and calm in the mysteries of growing things) I am probably much more like Toad especially when it comes to growing God s garden. I am not a very patient gardener. Like Toad, my intentions are good I want the seeds to burst into green and grow into all of their potential for beauty and fruitfulness. But somehow I think that if I just work hard enough, or like Toad sing the right song, read the right story, keep a candle going in the dark I can hurry the process along. But there is no hurrying a seed. It s a mystery. Sometimes I can forget that. Seeds are not obstreperous, cantankerous, lazy, or unmotivated they are just glorious potential. In the garden of God, we are all seeds, and we are all gardeners. But none of us (not even Frog or Toad) is Holy Mystery the One that brings forth life and beauty in all its amazing and glorious fullness. At Pentecost, it was this Holy Mystery we call the Holy Spirit that came to frightened seeds and transformed them into authentic and powerful leaders. Sometimes being a disciple of Jesus, a gardener of faith, means letting go of the outcome, and simply letting mystery do its work. I ll try not to get in the way. Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Blessings, Pastor Nancy Inside this issue... All About Us Page 2 UMW News, Missions, Conference News & 4th of July Picnic Page 3 Service Opportunities Page 4 Thank you s & Making Connections Page 5 Birthdays, Bible Study, & Holding in Prayer Page 6 Calendar of Events Page 7 Brother Van House Museum Page 8

2 2 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 First United Methodist Church 610 2nd Ave. North P.O. Box 1444 Great Falls, MT Reverend Nancy Slabaugh Hart office home cell Office Hours Mon.~Thurs. 9 am~noon & 1~3 pm Friday 9 am~noon Your offerings to the Vets fund & our monies from recycling: May Thank you for your support! Sunday Worship Services 9:30 am in the Sanctuary Staff Pastor: Reverend Nancy Slabaugh Hart Administrative Assistant: Hollie King Musician: Sharman Tokerud Custodians: Ed & Patty Taylor Visit us on the web Sunday 8:30 10:45 a.m. May May May 17 (9:30) 82 May 24 (9:30) 62 May 31 Taxi Service Available Diamond Cab Taxi Service is available for Sunday worship service and all church meetings. It is paid for by the church. Call Diamond Cab at Give them enough time to make an appointment for you. Once you are at the church, just sign a voucher for their records.

3 3 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 The Mission Team is partnering with the U.M.W. in supporting Helping Hands at First English Lutheran. If you would like to help, donations of tuna, peanut butter or pasta would be appreciated. Also, GFHS and CMR can always use school supplies. THANK YOU for your support! The Yellowstone conference is always doing great mission work and are always needing help to accomplish this wonderful work. Please go to missions To see if you can help. News & Events The Western Mountains District UMW Spring Meeting was held in Choteau on April18.Our mission in action project was a collection of food for the Choteau Food Bank and a love offering was taken for UMW Missions. UMW unit from First UMC received awards as a 5 Star Unit, a Mission Today Award and an Honor Unit Award. These awards are displayed on the board in the Van O' Hall. There will be no regular unit meetings or Circle meetings during the Summer months. Have a wonderful and save summer. Hope to see you at Sunday Worship Services! Our next meetings will be an executive meeting on Aug. 26 and Unit Meeting on Sept. 2 Below are just a few things you may be interested in: UMCOR Kits Ken Koome, a missionary in Angola, needs a truck Join a team going to Angola Stitching Relationship Retreat Helen Shepard, Missionary in Mongolia Campus Ministry Mission trip to San Francisco And just recently the Nepal earthquake Pentecost 2015 Processional with downtown area Churches FOURTH of JULY PICNIC: It comes so fast, doesn t it? We ll have a meeting of the HOLLIDAY MEALS MINISTRY team soon to start planning this, but please put this community event on your calendar and help where you can. Summer will soon be here officially, and we hope the picnic is part of your summer as well as your garden and travel plans!

4 4 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 Service Opportunities Coffee Fellowship~Hosts are needed for Coffee Fellowship gatherings. The coffee makers are always ready to plug in. Tea, ice and cold drink mixes are available for hosts who wish to prepare them. Beyond that, a host is asked to provide a simple treat for about people. Help is always available for anyone who doesn't feel they know the ropes. To take a turn, please sign the sheet on the wall outside Van O. Hall. Thank you to Coffee Fellowship Hosts! Liturgist~A liturgist, who participates in the worship service, may read announcements, scriptures and calls to worship, while the minister preaches the sermon, offers prayers and blesses sacraments. To volunteer please call Darlene Bratten at or Jeanette Butts at June 7 & 14 Joyce Miller June 21 Jeri Browne June 28 Maryellen Bindel Communion Stewards~To volunteer, call the church office at (9:30) Linda Carpenter Worship Greeters~To volunteer, please call Cheryl Kingery. You will need to be at your post by 9:15 am. Thank you to our May Worship Greeters. June 7 Leonard & Suzanne Waring and Cheryl Kingery June 14 John & Linda Lewis and Jeri Browne June 21 Ken & Karen Thornton and Jeri Browne June 28 Ray & Sue Watson and Darlene Braaten Kitchen Laundry~Sign-up sheets for monthly kitchen laundry duties can be found outside of the kitchens in Van O. Hall on the first floor and the Social Hall on the second floor. June Laundry is Jeanette Butts. Loaves & Fishes Fund~This fund is for short-term assistance for members of the congregation and people in need in the community. If anyone is interested in making a donation to this fund, please send it to the church office. Nurture Outreach~For some members of our congregation who are home bound or just can t get out as they used to, a card, phone call or visit can make a big difference when they are feeling a little down or missing family and friends who live far away. If you need the name of someone who could use some TLC, call Maryellen Bindel at Did you know? First United Methodist Church has an active hospital visitation program that has been in place for more than 15 years. The program consists of two teams and we do the visitation on Mondays and Fridays. When one of our church friends is in the hospital, a member of the visitation team will drop by to say hello and let them know they are in our prayers. It is always helpful to Pastor Nancy and to our visitation teams to know if we have church friends in the hospital. The Visitation program is just one way that we nurture and care for our flock. Please contact the church office at to let us know when someone is in the hospital. Can you help? From time to time we have jobs (large and small) that need doing around the church. If you can volunteer a little time, expertise, and elbow grease, here is a partial list of Honey dos needing attention: WEED CONTROL. We need help keeping the weeds in the parking lot sprayed. WATERING. The flowerbeds on the south side are watered by hand. AND if you have perennials you would like to share, we can always use a few more. WALL PAPER REPAIR there are several places in the church in need of some TLC regluing wall paper would be a big help. LAWN MOWING. We have the mowers if you have the time. Sign up sheet is available in the office. EDGING/TRASH pick-up. Maintenance of the yard is much easier if the lawn is edged. COMMUNION RAILS. The first Sunday of the month, the rails need to be put in place and then taken down. It isn t hard but those suckers are rather heavy. Could you help? CHILDREN S PACKETS. Do you have a little extra time to make sure there are coloring sheets, colors, stickers or other quiet activities for children during church. BIRTHDAY CARDS every other month. This would be putting a small greeting in the card and addressing the envelopes. SACK LUNCHES. We are always in need of folks to help us put together the sack lunches that we give out during the week. If you can assist in packing, in providing supplies, or donating toward cost. You can see a report in the newsletter of how many people we are serving in our community.

5 5 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 Making Connections I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the ladies who do the hospital visitation month in and month out. They are: Carol Perry, Lee Mattingly, Athlene Stokke, Carole Hull, Joyce Miller, Jeanette Butts, and Mary Bryant. I appreciate their help and their faithfulness. Sue Watson, Hospital Team Coordinator I wish to thank Clarence and Opal Borske for helping Ray and me with the Rescue Mission every month. Thank you so much. Sue. FAMILY PROMISE: Thanks to the two dozen people who made a wonderful Family Promise week May moving/ setting up beds, providing meals, overnight hosting, and general assistance. Ken and Karen Thornton provided dogs to wear out both boys and dogs Friday night and then a great Saturday morning breakfast; thanks. The meals were all great and appreciated. We re hosting again July 26-August 2, and we d appreciate your help in the midst of summer vacations and other travels. Please, if you think you might be able out serving meals or overnight hosting, take one of the short Family Promise trainings at the Central Christian Church, alley door: Tues. 6/2, 6pm; Sat. 6/20, 10am; Tues. 7/7, 6pm; Sat. 7/18, 10am. We always need more help given people s other commitments, and we invite you to join us in these rewarding adventures! Coffee and Conversation meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the Van O. Hall. Please join us for coffee, treats and fellowship. Questions, please call John or Linda Lewis at Masters Men meets Wednesday mornings at 8 am in the Van O. Hall with a light breakfast and fellowship. Questions, please call the church office at Chatty Hatters will meet June 8 & 22 in the Van O Hall at 1:00 p.m. TGIF Flock Group will meet on June 26 (4th Friday) in the Van O Hall for a potluck meal. All are welcome but I do need a head count so that we have enough food. For questions, please call Sue at Faith & Film, will be June 28, 2015, 6 p.m. at Shirley Tonkin's house. We will watch The Identical starring Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. Please join us and bring a snack to share. Mission Moment update on the sack lunch program. We have served over 130 people with a sack lunch since the start of the new year!! In the sack lunch we provide; Vienna sausages, apple sauce, crackers and a drink for those in need. If you would like to contribute funds, supplies or help to put the lunches together, please contact the church office or Cheryl Kingery. Thank you for helping with this wonderful mission project!

6 6 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 Holding in Prayer For Healing: Beckie Frisbee, Sue Eppers (friend of Eleanor Scurlock) Isabella & Olivia Goldsmith (daughters of Sarah & Jeff Goldsmith), Pete Cladouhos, Steve Carpenter, and Clarence Borske Jr.. For Continued Prayers: Taylor Brown (grandson of Lee Mattingly), Trevor Atcheson (friend of Beverly Constan) Donna Lee (Mother of Della Wichman), Gary Bender (Uncle of Beth Morrison), Jean Guile, Darrold Martin, Ernest Hampton, Claire Stone (Granddaughter of Ruth Stone), Gary Stuart, Linda Stuart, Lou Bryant, and Jeanne Evenson. For Strength and Support: Our love and prayers are extended to the family and friends of Char Robbin who passed away on May 26. The funeral will at First United Methodist Church on Saturday, May 30 at 10:00 a.m. Call, or put a note in the offering plate to submit a prayer request to the church office. First United Methodist Church in Great Falls is pleased to offer a preventive health event. Life Line Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will host their affordable, non-invasive and painless health screenings on 6/5/2015. Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to: blocked arteries which is a leading cause of stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hardening of the arteries in the legs which is a strong predictor of heart disease; atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat which is closely tied to stroke risk; and a bone density screening, for men and women, used to assess the risk of osteoporosis. Register for a Wellness Package which includes 4 vascular tests and osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount). All five screenings take minutes to complete. In order to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, please call or visit June Birthdays Jeri Browne 6/3 Lindsay Taylor Cooper 6/5 Brittany Deffenbaugh 6/6 Lindsey Taleff 6/6 William Braaten 6/7 Tom Duffy 6/7 Evelyn Fetherston 6/11 Beckie Frisbee 6/17 Ruth Buller 6/19 Andromeda Abarr 6/20 Gary Ulmer 6/21 Sharman Tokerud 6/23 Norma Hooker 6/24 Kyle Herda 6/25 Josephine Arthur 6/27 Bill Patterson 6/28 Millie Olsen 6/30 B.J. Oswood 6/30 Happy Birthday!!! We will be updating our church directory this month. We are wanting to have pictures of our members. If you have a photo you would like us to use please it to the church or bring it in as We can scan it. If you would like your picture taken by the church office just give us a call to set up a time. Please submit your pictures by July 1st. Thank you! Join us on Wednesdays for small group Bible Study at 6:30 p.m. in the Brown Parlor. New folks are welcome to join us. We are working on the study of the book of Acts. Come grow your faith.

7 7 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 J u n e Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat SH~Social Hall Van O~ Van O. Hall Brown~Brown Parlor :30 am TOPS (Brown) 8 am Masters Men 6:30 pm Youth Group 6:30pm Bible Study (Brown) :00 am Life Screening event-sh 6. 12:00 pm Private Graduation Party-Van O 7. 9:30 am Worship Fellowship following service 8. 1pm Chatty Hatters 9. 7pm Maintenance Mtg. (Brown) 10. 7:30 am TOPS (Brown) 8 am Masters Men 6:30pm Youth Group (Van O) 6:30pm Bible Study (Brown) 11. 6:30 pm Wine & Conversation (Bert & Ernie's) :30 am Worship Fellowship following service 15. 6pm Girl Scouts (SH) :30 am TOPS (Brown) 8 am Masters Men 9:30am Sarah Circle (Brown) 6:30pm Youth Group (Van O) 6:30pm Bible Study (Brown) concert (Meghan Wakeley) Sanc. & Van O :30 am Worship Fellowship following service 22. 1pm Chatty Hatters 6 pm Girl Scouts (SH) :30 am TOPS (Brown) 8 am Masters Men 6:30pm Youth Group (Van O) 6:30pm Bible Study (Brown) Annual Conference in Helena June 17-20, :00 pm TGIF Flock 27. Vets Offering 28. 9:30 am Worship Fellowship following service 4pm Leadership Team Meeting-Van O

8 Postmaster send address changes to The FUMC Newsletter P.O. Box 1444 Great Falls, MT Worship Services are at 8:30 & 10: 45 a.m. 8 The FUMC Newsletter June 2015 The Brother Van House Museum will be open this summer every Tuesday from June 16 up and including July 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. Bring yourself and your guests to see a home that is over one hundred years old. Because Brother Van lived there from 1910 to 1919, we have some lively stories to tell about him and the house.