Perry Peeper. LMI Discovery. The. Mark Your Calendar. Looking Ahead. 2.5 Bringing in the Harvest Ladies Luncheon Leadership School

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1 February 2017 The Perry Peeper Monthly Newsletter Perry Memorial United Methodist Church 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20 (NRSV) LMI Discovery I am happy to report that the LMI Team is back to regularly meeting and that the Team has entered an exciting phase of, I can only say, discovery. The question before the Team and the church: How do we make disciples around here? We are figuring out how Perry s ministries and activities fit into making disciples. The Team has developed four action categories for making disciples: Connect, Interact, Teach, and Yield (C.I.T.Y. for short). The Team listed all of Perry s various ministries under one of the four categories (no mean task). We discovered that it isn t easy to classify some of our ministries, but we are assigning them to only one C.I.T.Y. category so that we can see how they fit as part of a disciple-making system for Perry. The Team then asks of each ministry/activity the following questions: What is the purpose of this ministry? What are the ministry s strengths and weaknesses? How could we tweak this ministry to better make it part of a disciple-making system? As the Team works through the ministries, we began to see simple, easy ways to make them better at making disciples. The discovery: instead of looking at ministries just as a mission of mercy or an outreach ministry, we additionally asked, How do they better shape and form disciples? A simple reframing of context is incredibly insightful. Creative ideas began to flow Mark Your Calendar 2.5 Bringing in the Harvest 2.16 Ladies Luncheon 2.18 Leadership School 2.25 Shepherd s Table 3.6 Looking Ahead Egg Factory Begins Continued on page 2...

2 (see Amy s article on page 3 and Wayne & Mitzi s article on page 8 in this issue). We are far from done, this will take time. I am asking the congregation to do two things: Please remember to pray for the LMI Team once per week. Please do ask a LMI Team member how you think you could be involved in helping the Team s efforts ask them what is going on? Once again, the LMI Team includes: Wayne & Mitzi Richmond, Barry Spurlock, Joyce & Dr. Kelly Pitsenbarger, Amy & Rick Crawford and the pastor. The LMI process has, is, and will continue to bear fruit. Soon, we will reach the point that we will need to expand into Child Teams to continue the never-ending process of making disciples. I envision that every single Perry person will be asked to participate at some level in this life-transforming endeavor. Grace to you all, Pastor Scott 2

3 Good Sam Ministry Requests for assistance with basic needs have been a little different this month. Two individuals came to the church requesting assistance with gas for their vehicles. One gentleman needed gas to get to work in Beckley. We were able to provide him with a full tank of gas thanks to Jerry Carter s willingness to serve by following him to the gas station on a busy morning at Perry. A mother came by the church in need of gas to get her child to Charleston for a doctor s appointment. In addition to gas for her vehicle we also provided her with enough money for tolls and lunch. She was both shocked and grateful for the unexpected extra. In addition to filling tanks with gas we also provided assistance with utility cut-off notices for two families. Food box donations went out to five families struggling to put enough food on the table. It often reminds me of just how fortunate I am and makes me keenly aware of the amount of food often wasted. May we never forget to Serve Community in Christ s Love. Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. -John Wesley Grace to you this day! Mitzi Richmond Love one another Perry Packers Update Did you know you can plug in to Perry by participating with our backpack ministry? You know, plug in...become connected with Perry, be involved with Perry, all by joining us on Wednesday s at 6pm. You can start serving others by helping us at backpacks! We have a great time, the youth helps and kids are always running around and it has been determined that none of us can count! Seriously, every week we are running back to the room to get an extra granola bar or ramen noodle. Consider joining us - it doesn t take long and we have a good time showing love and giving hope to these children and their families. February food items are juice boxes and Vienna Sausage. Thanks! Amy Crawford B I N G O We are truly blessed to spend an hour a month with the wonderful folks at Raleigh Rehab Center. Their faces light up when we enter the room and we know most of their names, their likes (and their dislikes) and would like to do something special for them for Valentine s Day. Bingo will be on February 11th and we want to shower the residents with as many Valentine cards as possible so we are asking you to help! Please bring signed cards to church by Sunday, February 4th for a minimum of 22 people. We will have a basket on the table out front to put them in...and please join us! You will enjoy every minute :) Yours in Christ, Susan, Deanna, Willa and Jeannie 3

4 YOUR TRUSTEES Trustees have an important role in our church they make sure that everything is operating within the church and parsonage along with making important decisions as to what to repair, when to repair it and what can hold off for another time. I would like to introduce you to your Trustees for this year: John Peplowski Don Crook Ray Nixon Rob Williams Shelia Cooper Karen Jones Larry Ford Jim Whitmer They are always diligent with issues and we will be having 2 clean up days this year at the church. One will be in the Spring and one in the Fall. Meanwhile, if you see something that needs to be brought to our attention please let any one of these folks know and they will bring it to the committee. Susan Winston Chairman SOUTHERN DISTRICT LEADERSHIP SCHOOL Saturday, February 18 th 10a-1p Concord UMC, Athens, WV If you are in leadership or you want to help your church thrive, then you need to attend the Southern District Leadership School. It will be a broadbased training for lay and clergy leadership. Classes in Area of Outreach and Reaching Deeply: -Community Engagement -Evangelism -Spiritual Formation Classes in Age-related Ministry: -Children's ministry -Youth ministry Classes in Administrative Ministry: -Finance -Trustees -Staff/Pastor Parish Relations All church leaders, committee members and anyone interested in serving in a leadership position in the future are urged to attend this training. It is vital to Perry s future that we have well-trained leadership. Please let Pastor Scott or Mitzi know if you will be attending so we can get you registered. Perry is enrolled as a qualified organization to receive funds from the Kroger Community Rewards program. By enrolling in Kroger s Community Rewards program and selecting Perry as your organization to support, Perry will receive a percentage of the amount of your purchase. That s all there is to it. Enrolling has never been easier! Just bring your information to the office and we will get you enrolled. Provide us with the following information: Name Address Phone number address Kroger Plus card number If you don t have an address we can create one for you! If you don t have a Kroger Plus card we can also do that online! 4

5 Perry Pathfinders update January has been a quiet month for our youth group. Our older youth are now in their own room, which they love! The younger group meets in the Fellowship Hall and they are growing in number! Both groups are working on lessons on prayer. The older youth are breaking down the Lord's prayer and working on scripture verses. The younger group is having fun with lessons, games and crafts on prayer. We continue to work on the calendar for the youth. There are activities we are working on and fundraisers in the works. We are also looking to do more mission work this year. So, if anyone has any ideas on ways for the youth to get involved in missions please contact Kim. We thank you all for your love and support!! Love you all!! Love and Blessings, Perry Pathfinders Getting an Early Start on VBS!! Hero Central 2017 Date: June 14-17, 2017 Now is the time to start working on VBS! I know its February but we need servants to help!! There is a servant sign up sheet on the bulletin board. Please sign up so that we can start working on it. We will schedule a VBS meeting in the near future. Watch your bulletin for the date! You may even get a phone tree message from Flame, Hero Central s mascot. REMEMBER: In keeping with our Safe Sanctuary Policy, Every servant working with children and youth must complete an authorization to conduct background check form every year! Thanks, Kim Cummings Dear Church Family, FROM THE HEART Thank you so much for everything you have done for me. I have been with the church for six years now, and I am truly grateful to God that I am lucky enough to say that. I love my church family. -Bailey Pace Thank you for everything you all have done. T, E, & W (This is from a family receiving weekly backpacks) Birthdays Tina Lester Jerry Crouse Amy Winston Marty Cooper Zoe Crook Jay Granger Cami Adkins Cindee Arnold Rob Williams Sue Maynard Hulda Vest Sue Adkins Anniversaries Kelly & Joyce Pitsenbarger

6 Our Faithfulness in Giving January 1, 2017 Pledges & Tithes $4, Good Sam Shepherd s Table $ Total $4, January 8, 2017 Pledges & Tithes $1, Apportionment $1, Good Sam $50.00 Shepherd s Table $60.00 Total $3, January 15, 2017 Pledges & Tithes $2, Apportionment $1, Good Sam $25.00 *Backpack $ *Shepherd s Table $ Total $5, *BAF Feed Our Friends Initiative January 22, 2017 Pledges & Tithes $2, Shepherd s Table $ Good Sam $75.00 Youth Fund $20.00 Paula Whalley Memorial $50.00 Total $2, Our Faithfulness in Attendance January 1 st Worship Service 63 January 8 th Sunday School 10 Worship Service 38 January 15 th Sunday School 14 Worship Service 94 January 22 nd December Shepherd s Table Prayer Requests Sunday School 17 Worship Service 77 Note: There was no book/ Bible study during the month of January Pray for Debra Lambert, Macie Lambert, Niki Trail, Jacob Jones; that God be with us and heal us by Jacob Jones Kathy Cales. She is very sick with pneumonia Ulcers in my stomach and having tests for cancer Pray for my whole family. Bless you by J. L. L. Kenny Chamberlain by Arlene Mann Please continue to pray for my daughter Kathy Cales. She is still in Morgantown, been there since She has 2 children who need her by Sharon Gill Please pray for my mom. She is really sick by Kara Ramsey Please pray for the Cardona family Our Faithfulness in Prayer Sara Shawver (Tammy Leak) Theresa Meadows (Jewell & Jim Whitmer, Rob Williams) Bree s Grandma (Bree Cummings) Family of Edith Sanderson (Pastor Scott) Ginger Neely (Lynn Mayberry) Stan Presley (Annette Presley) Family of Paula Whalley (Pastor Scott) Family of Randall Brammer (Pastor Scott) Karen Jones (Amy & Rick Crawford) Stan s sisters, Becky & Robin (Annette Presley) David Williams (Rob Williams Metzger Family (Barry Spurlock) Anna Hall (Deanna Hall) Family of Randy Lee Wayne Zelaska (Chris Stover) Miranda Acord (Tammy Leak) Sheryl Tabor (Kelly Pitsdenbarger) Willa May (Susan Winston) Virginia Arnold (Bob Arnold) Ben Spurlock (Barry Spurlock) Shepherd s Table Backpack Ministry Youth Meetings Choir Rehearsals Those still grieving from losing their loved ones Unity in our country Leadership of our country The Bishops way forward Drug addiction, homelessness, joblessness Those caught up in hateful ideologies Those affected by acts of terrorism Those affected by acts of violence Our Country LMI Team Amy & Rick Crawford, Joyce & Kelly Pitsenbarger, Mitzi & Wayne Richmond, Bailey & Barry Spurlock, Pastor Scott 6

7 Open your Hearts AND Wallets to Jesus!!! If that headline doesn t catch your attention, I don t know what will. I say that jokingly, of course, lest I align myself with the prosperity gospel television prophets that are on Pastor Scott s naughty list. However, what the Finance Committee and I present to you here is a very serious matter: ($8,601). I m no accountant, but I know that bold red parenthesis around a number with $$$ is not a good thing. That figure folks, is the overall LOSS in the church s accounts for calendar year Despite this loss, the church remains financially strong for the time being and we continue to do so many wonderful ministries with such a small group of faithful. Last year alone, we provided THOUSANDS of meals during Shepherd s Table, gave out HUNDREDS of Backpack Ministry meals, and donated over $38,000 to ministries outside our own congregation, just to name a few of the great works we did. I would wager that few, if any, other church s in West Virginia and beyond do so much good with so few and so little. And yet, we press on. Given the amount of expenditures we have in the way of ministries, one would think that there would be plenty of places to make up a loss like the one we saw last year. You would be WRONG! The ministries of this church and the basic maintenance and upkeep of our facilities are vitally important to our community and God s Kingdom and there is nary a line item on our budget that can or should be reduced in order to offset a yearly financial deficit. As the new Finance Committee Chairman, it is my duty to bring you such information and to see to it that our ministries (I.E. the WILL of our church and the directive of the Charge Conference) are funded. I can assure you that the Committee is well-aware of the trends in attendance, giving, and expenses over the previous years and has already met this year to discuss how we go forward in 2017 to achieve our goals. It s no secret that the funding for these ministries come from US, the congregation of Perry, and that it is our duty as Christians and as members of Perry Memorial United Methodist Church to support our church in a variety of ways, including financially. I have no doubt that we will continue to do so in the 2017 calendar year. In addition to our in-house ministries, Perry will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of regional, national, and international ministries that are helping to provide immediate aid and love to folks in need. Please begin to pray for and consider supporting the Day of Hope, New Vision Depot, UMCOR Sunday, and the Southern District Church & Community Worker through upcoming special offerings. Please also remember that your support of these special offerings should not come at the expense of your regular pledged gifts/tithes. It is so vitally important that we dutifully and regularly support our own mission station of Perry so that we can continue Serving Community in Christ s Love. Thank you all for supporting Perry and I pray you will continue to do so. If you have questions or suggestions or would like to have input on the Perry s finances, please join us at our next Finance Committee meeting or see me for more information. Respectfully, Rob Williams, Finance Committee Chairman 7

8 COLLEGE BOX MINISTRY As Pastor Scott mentioned in his article on page 1, the LMI Team has begun the process of taking a close look at the ministries of Perry. I must say that it was quite the eye opener as we began to discuss the College Box Ministry. The question was asked...what is the purpose of this ministry? Hmm...the purpose is to stay connected with Perry folks who have ventured off to college. To let them know that we haven't forgotten about them, that we are praying for them and to help them stay connected with God. Next question...how is this ministry helping to make disciples of Christ? Ummm...its not, because Wayne and I have taken it upon ourselves to prepare the boxes for the past several years. We do it without involving others. What we now realize is that we have robbed the congregation of an opportunity of discipleship. So guess what? That will no longer be the case. We are going to involve all who are interested in participating with this ministry. This ministry is an outreach ministry to college students. Each semester boxes are filled with goodies that college kids love to eat (chocolate), inspirational quotes, scriptures, prayers and sometimes even trinket toys are enclosed. We currently have six students receiving boxes. Our next mailing will be just before Valentine s Day and we are asking the congregation to assist with the packing of the boxes. Below you will find a list of suggested items to go in the boxes. You don t have to follow the list; however, please keep in mind that the boxes are 7x7x6 in size so please don t bring anything oversized. will include the Valentines in the college boxes. We will pack boxes on Sunday, February 12th immediately following the 10:45a Worship Service. Please bring your items of donation and then help us fill the boxes with LOVE from Perry. Suggested items for College Boxes: Chocolate/Candy Bars Ramen Noodles Almonds Fruit Snacks Hot Chocolate Gum/mints Inspirational Quotes Pop Tarts Cereals Pistachios Chips Cookies Scriptures Prayers All items must be individually wrapped and in single servings. Please give us names of college student you may know who could benefit from this ministry. Bailey Pace Robbie Ortiz 112 Cavan Court 72 Fairfield Manor Shady Spring, WV Morgantown, WV Bailey Spurlock Amanda Redlinger MSC 1977 MSC 1619 WVWC WVWC 59 College Ave 59 College Ave Buckhannon, WV Buckhannon, WV Alexis Schmidl Katie Peplowski MSC 1891 Freshman North 3161 WVWC Box College Ave 399 Thundering Herd Dr Buckhannon, WV Huntington, WV Please consider plugging in to the College Box Ministry. Thanks, Mitzi & Wayne Richmond Boxes of Valentine s Day cards will be available Sunday, February 5th. Pick up some cards, sign them and bring them back on the 12th and we 8

9 Sunday Services 9:30a Adult Sunday School 9:45a Children s Sunday School K-5th Grade 10:30a Meet & Greet 10:45a Family Worship Service 1 6:00p Pathfinders/ Cubs 6:00p Backpacks 6:30p Choir Practice Bringing in the Harvest! 5 6 6:00p Cub Scout Committee Meeting 7 6:30p Scouts 8 6:00p Pathfinders/ Cubs 6:00p Backpacks 9 6:00p United Methodist Women Meeting a-4p Scout Leader Training 6:30p LMI 6:30p Choir Practice 12 Scout Sunday 8:30a Worship Service & 10:45a Worship Service 13 6:00p Shepherd s Table Meeting 6:30p LMI 14 Valentine s Day 6:30p Scouts 15 6:00p Pathfinders/ Cubs 6:00p Backpacks 6:30p Choir Practice 16 1:00p Ladies Luncheon :30a-1:00p Southern District Leadership School :30p Ruritan 6:30p LMI 21 6:30p Scouts 22 6:00p Pathfinders/ Cubs 6:00p Backpacks :00p Shepherd s Table Setup 25 11a-1p Shepherd s Table Meal 6:30p Choir Practice :30p Scouts 6:30p LMI 9

10 The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself -Mark 12:31 Serving Community in Christ s Love Perry Memorial UMC PO Box 1264 Shady Spring, WV Physical Address: 202 Livingston Street Shady Spring, WV