The Front Pew Volume 8, Issue 6

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1 In this Issue... The Front Pew Volume 8, Issue 6 June 2017 Stone Column 1 Birthdays & Anniversaries 2 Christian Education 3 Announcements 4 Congratulations to College Grads! 4 History 4 Calendar 5 Breakfast Book Club 7 The Stone Column I woke up this morning contemplating the letter w. My waking query was, why is it called double u when it looks more like two v s? My first instinct was to consult google or siri, but I wasn t awake enough to muster the initiative necessary to pick up my phone. Hours later, I still haven t bothered to look for a definitive answer. I was less intrigued with the question and gave more mental energy to discerning where the question came from; Did I have a dream about the alphabet? I attempted a scan of the mental hard drive. No remnants of a subconscious nocturnal narrative rose to the conscious surface. My uninspired hypothesis is that the name of the letter has less to do with its appearance and more to do with the sound being more like a u if you were to make the vowel into a consonant. I ve used Google two or three times already today and I still haven t been tempted to search for an answer. I imagine, by now if you ve read this far you have probably stopped to look it up yourself. The reason I haven t is that I appreciate a good mystery. It s ok to leave some things up to the unknown. I don t really have a lot invested in this double u or v conundrum. The greatest mystery of all, in my mind is God. When it comes to the Eternal Mystery, I m all in. Since it is completely beyond my abilities to process, I m at peace with asking questions and appreciating the wonder of not knowing. The name of God is itself a mystery. No human constructed language can adequately communicate that which is beyond our ability to contain in written form. Nor can it be contained orally. Centuries after Hebrew became a written language vowel points were added. Still the tradition of not uttering the Lord s name orally was maintained in written form vowel points are not used with the letters representing the name of the Lord. Imagine if we were to read a story about tigers, but the author who greatly admires tigers only writes tgr to honor them. Centuries later someone reading the story out loud may not know how to pronounce this word. So rather than get it wrong and insult those who have grown to revere tigers they simply say big striped cat whenever the letters tgr appear. The same is true when reading God s name in Hebrew Scripture. The letters Yod Heh Vav Heh, often represented in English as YHWH are not spoken. The reader instead says Adonai in Hebrew or The Lord in English. Aside from reading scripture many people utter the name of God as Yahweh. But we really don t know if we are saying it correctly. Personally, I think God is gracious and forgiving (even to those who say Jehova which is just plain wrong). Now I wonder, why do we represent the Hebrew Vav as W? Maybe I was having a conversation with God in my sleep. I guess it will remain a mystery. Peace & Blessings, Eric

2 Page 2 3 Jodi Shaw 4 Linda Wehrman 5 Philip Jezierski 6 Manila Sanders 7 Meghan Felch 8 Ted Lind, Sr. Julian Stone 9 Jared Greshow 11 Jan Bovee June Birthdays 14 Andrea Jump Colleen Tomczak 15 Frank Jackson Janessa Hilger 19 Jessica O Dell Marie Pierce 21 Dave Maillette 22 Neal Felch 25 Josh VanTol 7 Joe Todey 29 Emily Frasik 30 Kenton DeShaw June Anniversaries June 1 Peter & Charlotte McGrath June 2 Don & Marjorie Holsinger Ted Lind, Jr. & Jenna Briggs- Lind June 7 Brent & Cora McKeon Robert & Marie Pierce, Jr. June 8 Jason & Angie Lewis June 9 Bob & Remy Holmes June 12 Ken & Shari Schott The Front Pew June 13 Eric Lewandowski & Janelle Lind June 16 Bill & Hope Bertelsen June 20 Kerri & Ray Meeks June 21 Andy & Brenda Kemp Dave & Judy Maillette June 26 Bob & Ruth Harvey 16 Katherine Bruck St. Luke s United Methodist Church Mailing Address: 206 Scheurmann St. Essexville, MI Telephone: (989) Fax: (989) Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Office office@stlukesumcmi.org Contact Information Pastor: Rev. Eric A. Stone pastor@stlukesumcmi.org A/V Coordinator: Andrew Felch av@stlukesumcmi.org Church Accountant: Donna Gross accountant@stlukesumcmi.org Christian Education Worker: Gloria Gonzales & Kelli Stojic christianed@stlukesumcmi.org Music Director: Melissa Rookus music@stlukesumcmi.org Office Staff: Cora McKeon office@stlukesumcmi.org Organist: Vicki Ahlberg-Ives organist@stlukesumcmi.org

3 Page 3 Christian Education News June 2017 June :30-8:00 p.m. We will be taking kids on awesome adventures alongside some of their favorite Bible heroes to discover the qualities that make us truly heroic in God. Click here to register. For more information, contact Edythe Juve or Kelli Stojic. Hard copy registration forms are available at the Welcome Center. WOMEN S BIBLE STUDY Starting the week of June 4, we are offering a Women s Bible Study called, Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out and Lonely, by Lysa TerKeurst. Rejection often finds its way into our hearts at an early age. Perhaps as a child you were teased mercilessly for your hair or clothes, or you received an injury and couldn't play the sport you loved and had to watch from the sidelines...these wounds dig deep into our sense of self, and can resurface in surprising ways as an adult. However, this doesn't have to be the end of the story. In Uninvited, Lysa shares honestly from her own struggles with rejection and gives readers concrete truths to combat the lies our old Enemy hurls our way You are designed for a love without limits, a love that will never let go. We will have two meeting times throughout the week, to be decided. Please see Gloria Gonzales or Brenda Scramlin with any requests or questions.

4 Page 4 The Front Pew Short History of Woodside Avenue Methodist Church The Woodside Methodist Church served the cause of Christ for 97 years on the corner of Woodside and McLellan Streets in Bay City. The first building was erected about A parlor was later added on and included a kitchen. The church basement was added between 1906 and The stained glass windows were installed between 1917 and The first recorded pastor at Woodside Church was Rev. A. Richards, who served The Ladies Aide Society was reorganized into the Women's Society of Christian Service in 1942, and also that year a Methodist Fellowship was organized. Average Sunday School attendance was 109 in Church membership was 209 by the end of The first church organ was purchased in In all, Woodside Methodist Church was served by 29 different pastors. Rev. Glenn Atchinson was appointed to Woodside Church in 1965 to lead the congregation through a building program to relocate the congregation to 206 Scheurmann Street in Essexville. The Saginaw Bay District suggested this move, as they felt Essexville needed a Methodist Church. The Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren denominations merged in 1968, and the church name was changed to St. Luke's United Methodist Church. College Scholarships St. Luke s is once again planning to offer scholarships to our college students, but we need your help! Please consider contributing to the scholarship fund. Scholarship applications can be found at the mailboxes in the main hallway. Congratulations to our Graduates! Spencer Halk Central High School Nick VanTol Saginaw Valley State University Amanda VanTol Northwood University We will be recognizing our graduates during worship on Sunday, June 11th. If you or your graduate isn t listed here, please let the church office know ASAP. We also ask that you provide us with information and details about schooling, accomplishments, and plans for the future. Please get this information to us by Thursday, June 7 at the latest!

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6 St. Luke s United Methodist Church 206 Scheurmann St. Essexville, MI Return Service Requested Phone: (989) Fax: (989) office@stlukesumcmi.org s t l u k e s u m c m i. o r g Breakfast Book Club Saturday, June 17 th at 10:00 a.m. Join in a light breakfast and lively discussion of our next selection: Vinnie s Diner by Jennifer Allee. When a freak accident leaves Allie stranded in the desert, she needs help. But little does she know, accepting help means embarking on a harrowing journey of self-discovery and making the ultimate decision between life and death. Books are available to borrow from the Church library, located in the north/south hallway. Read and return so others may enjoy. All are welcome!