FROM PASTOR JOHN NEW WEBSITE UP AND RUNNING. Wishing you a Happy St. Patrick s Day MARCH 2017 MARCH COMMITTEE MEETINGS OFFICE HOURS

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1 MEMORIAL S 2017 Rev. John Guliano, Pastor Find joy in the journey. Dear Friends, FROM PASTOR JOHN I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You for all your gifts, understanding and patience while Lisa and I were displaced from our home due to the flood. We are back at home, and things are returning to a welcomed normal. That being said, I will begin resuming my office hours as follows: Monday: 2:00-7:00 pm followed by committee meetings Tuesday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Wednesday: 2:00-6:00 pm Thursday: 10:00-2:00 pm Friday: Pastor s Day Off Please know that I can be available during other times by appointment. Please feel free to call or text me. If you would like a longer appointment during my office hours, please let Carla know so that I can adequately arrange my schedule, as I will be doing visitation also during those times. Blessings, Pastor John NEW WEBSITE UP AND RUNNING For those who were not in the worship service where we demonstrated the new Memorial Church website, go to to view the new site and new logo. You will notice a very different look and feel from our old site. In this modern age, people have begun to lean more on technology as their means for communication. Snail mail still works, but it s slow and some people don t open it unless it s a bill. Some people prefer phone calls, while others rely on social media. Some people check their s daily, and others haven t opened their s for months. No single communication channel works for everyone, so it s important to offer multiple communication channels. As time moves on, most generations will come to lean on the internet for their sole source of information. People, especially those under 40, are going to use a church website as the first spot to check out a church under their consideration. (As people age, cont d. on page 2 COMMITTEE MEETINGS Mar 6 6:30 pm Outreach Mar 13 7:00 pm Mar 16 7:30 pm Mar 20 7:00 pm Mar 27 7:00 pm 7:00 pm Trustees Finance Ad Council Nurture Personnel OFFICE HOURS Monday thru Wednesday 10:00 am 2:00 pm Thursday 10:00 12:00 noon Deadline for the APR issue of Memorial s newsletter is MAR. 27, N. Locust St., West Carrollton, OH memorialchurch1@gmail.com (937) Layout & Editing: Carla Bryant Wishing you a Happy St. Patrick s Day

2 BIRTHDAYS 2 Chad Jones 8 Kora Mattingly 9 Sarah Dunifon 10 Henry Schaffner 11 Andrea Burns 14 Shirley Goodrich 19 Charles Trudell 20 Cathy Jamison 22 Hugh Ginn Erika Mattingly Mike Geise 25 Matthew Schaffner 27 Steve Jamison 28 James Rudd 30 Joe Kelley ANNIVERSARIES 5 Darrell & Shirley Goodrich 9 Kyle & Jaislinn Kittel 11 Bob & Yvonne Bontrager 20 Bob & Gael Spencer 21 Dave & Ruth Roberts 28 Allen & Indy Sumner New Website cont d. from front page this dependency on websites will grow even more.) Visitors need directions and service times, a statement of mission and beliefs, as well as a sampling of sermons. Visitors want to get a feel for the church before they ever take a step in the door. This gets communicated through the language, graphics, and colors chosen to express what the church is all about. So one of the main purposes of a church website is to inform potential visitors about our church. As many of us were taught growing up, first impressions are lasting. That also applies to websites. Secondly, the church website should be an information hub for the congregation. This is the place to check out details about special events and meetings, provide extended learning opportunities, and even transact business such as ordering our very special caramels! So, what s new on this website that wasn t on the old site? A shortened name the new logo says Memorial Church a United Methodist Congregation. Memorial or Memorial Methodist is how we most often refer to ourselves in every day conversations. MUMC has become a mouthful to say and remember. A revised Vision, Mission, and Statement of Beliefs Online sermon recordings A monthly calendar of events and rotating banners advertising upcoming special events. Submission of online prayer requests A Pastor s Blog that includes a review of the sermon notes, with more discussion to come. A Bible Study tab that has a scripture and devotion of the day, as well as research tool for findings words or themes in the Bible. You will also find extended study questions from Sunday s sermon coming soon. In the future, we will be adding a means for transacting business online such as ordering books, registering for event, or even ordering caramels. When you get online to check out the website, you will notice two different ways to access the information. At the top of the screen you will find drop down menus to the different information sections. The second method is to just scroll down the screen below the rotating banners where there are multiple colored blocks labeled with information sections. You can select each block to get to the same information as the drop down menus. The sky is really the limit with the new site. If your committee or group would like to add information or a section to the website, please contact Kathy Garrison or Carla Bryant. If you have any technical issues with accessing the new website, contact Kathy Garrison, and she will assist you. If you find the old website coming up on your computer, it s because the web browser has memorized this as one of your favorite sites. You will need to clear your cookies and browser history to access the new site. It you need help clearing your cookies, Kathy will help you in exchange for one box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. (Just kidding!) 2

3 MARY REBEKAH CIRCLE Mary Rebekah Circle will reconvene Monday, March 13, at Scrambler s Marie, at 12:00 noon. We have their private dining area reserved. The program will be presented by Marilyn Harper and Barb Hamm on the 2017 UMW Reading books. The books are excellent this year: Falling Into Place by Hattie Kauffman and Why Women Should Rule the World by Dee Dee Myers are just two of our books. Please bring your annual pledge. We will be voting on the budget for There will be time for prayer concerns, devotions, prayer, and fellowship. If you have questions or need a ride, call Barb Hamm ( ). BIRTHDAY CARRY-IN DINNER Did you know we are celebrating your birthday, immediately following worship on March 19? That s right... your birthday and everybody s birthday here at Memorial! It s our annual Birthday Dinner Carry-in. We are all invited! Mark your calendar for Sunday, March 19 and help make this a great birthday party for all of us. Please bring a covered dish or two to share. Coffee, punch and tea will be provided. Thank you for your prayers, cards, calls and visits leading up to and following my surgery in February. So blessed to have such a wonderful church family. Pat Reynolds The Nurture Committee would like to thank everyone who participated in the Adults Valentine s Pizza/ Movie night held on February adults attended this event! We were able to donate $161 to the Children s World Vision program! A very special thank you to Kathy Garrison for all she continues to do with our new website. Appreciated! West Carrollton Lions Club ST. PATRICK S DINNER Saturday, March 18, 2017 Memorial United Methodist Church Serving Hours: 4:30-7:00 pm Adult $10.00 Child (10 & Under) $5.00 Your choice of Cornbeef & Cabbage OR Chicken & Noodles QUOTES FROM U2 s BONO Stop asking God to bless what you re doing. Find out what God s doing. It s already blessed. To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater. Sometimes religion gets in the way of God. At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action. Whenever I see grace, I m moved. 3

4 Well, my dear furry Methodist friends, how have you been? Whoops, you are not furry! You folks mean so much to me that sometimes I think of you as part of my honest-to-goodness furry family. I do apologize if I have offended any of you. That would make me sad. (Have you ever seen a sad mouse? Oh, alas, it happens, and I never intend to hurt anyone s feelings.) Let me tell you that I get a gigantic smile on my furry little face when I see so many of you in church on Sunday mornings. (Have you ever seen a mouse smile? It happens, you know! I smile even bigger on the inside!) And, what s really so heart-warming is when I see you clapping along with me to that bouncy, spirited praise music Jeanette plays at the start of worship! (Have you ever seen a mouse clap? It happens, you know!) If I didn t have a dreadful fear of getting stepped on, I d be dancing around all over the place when I hear the praise music. So, what s stopping you folks? Heehee... (Have you ever seen a mouse dance? Yes, indeed, that happens as well!) Thank you very much for doing that Valentine s pizza/movie thing last month... always one of my favorites as far as crumbs go. And, it was so nice to see so many of you sharing your friendship and having lots of fun! So, how s your lovin going? I haven t asked you that in awhile. I truly hope that you are loving and respecting all of your brothers and sisters, regardless of any differences. And, I hope you are being kind. Are you being kind? Kindness is an amazing way to shine His light! HOMEBOUND Connections Rhoda Biel, 10 Wilmington Place; 10 Wilmington Ave., Apt. 318C; Dayton, OH Sherry Even, Sayre Christian Village, 580 Greenfield Dr., Apt. 228-C; Lexington, KY Mary Oldham, 5302 Grouse Court; Dayton, OH 45424; Betty Schaeff, 7847 Lois Circle, Apt. 304; Centerville, OH 45459; Gerri Jo Trudell, 1920 Waterstone Blvd. #103; Miamisburg, OH 45342; VERA TALES Happy St. Patrick s Day & Love from your churchmouse, Vera O Mouse P.S. This P.S. from last March is worth repeating! I overheard Jeanette telling the choir a joke the other day, and I m going to share it with you. Why did Mozart get rid of the chicken? Cause the chicken kept saying, Bach, Bach, Bach, Bach, Bach... (Have you ever seen a mouse laugh?) KROGER REWARDS We will be receiving a quarterly check from the Kroger Rewards program for $ We thank you for supporting this ongoing fundraiser for our church. If you have not linked your Kroger Plus card to Memorial UMC, you can go to Kroger s website, Kroger.com, click on Community and then click on Community Rewards to create an account. You will be led step by step. SERMON SERIES & BIBLE STUDY Beginning this Sunday, March 5, Pastor John will begin a Lenten sermon series based on the book, How s Your Soul?. On Tuesday, March 14, from 10:00-11:00 am, Pastor John will lead a How s Your Soul? book/bible Study. This study will take place on Tuesday mornings throughout the Lenten season. 4

5 NEEDING TO TAKE IRA WITHDRAWALS? Be thankful that you don t already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to? Are you at least 70 1/2 years of age? Are you required to take Required Minimum Distributions [RMD] from an IRA? Are you interested in saving some money on federal income taxes? Are you interested in giving more money to the church or other charities? If you can answer yes to all of the above, you might want to continue reading. In 2015, Congress and our past president signed into law the ability for these individuals to be able to transfer money, up to $100,000, from their IRAs directly to a qualified charitable distribution [QCD], receiving credit toward their RMD. Although the money transferred counts toward satisfying the RMD for that particular year, it would not be counted as income thus reducing their tax burden. For example, Marvin is required by RMD rules to withdraw $20,000 in If he plans to give $15,000 to his church [or other qualified charities], then he can ask his IRA sponsor to give $15,000 directly to the church from his IRA. In doing so, Marvin can claim that donation toward meeting his required withdrawal of $20,000, and he does not have to claim that donated $15,000 as income for federal tax purposes. If he is in a 25% tax bracket, he would owe taxes on that $5,000 owing $1,250 [$5,000 x 0.25 = $1,250]. That gives him $3,750 to spend as he wishes. Should Marvin decide not to take advantage of this tax provision, being in a 25% tax bracket, he would need to use all of the $20,000 withdrawn from his IRA to provide the church with the $15,000 donation [$15,000 donation + (25% tax on $20,000 = $5000) = $20,000]. For further information, please contact your retirement or tax advisor. A good article titled Charity Can Count Toward Your IRA Withdrawal appeared recently [2/6/17] in the Wall Street Journal, and I have posted it by the financial reports in the Church hallway. The Finance Committee is also considering the possibility of holding an informative workshop on this and other estate planning options. If you might be interested, please contact Mark Berner or the Church Office. EASTER FLOWER ORDER FORM When ordering, make your check payable to Memorial UMC and write Easter Flower on the memo line. Your order and payment must be received in the church office by Wednesday, March 30th. With your flower purchase, you will be able to honor or remember your loved one(s). Name Phone Offering Envelope # Lily $8.00 Each Quantity (Green Foil) Mum $8.00 Each Quantity (Cannot Guarantee Color) Hydrangea $11.00 Each Quantity (Cannot Guarantee Color In Honor Of In Memory Of 5