Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that 2017 has ended and we are officially entering 2018. For many around the world, 2017 was a tough year. There were natural disasters that swept through Florida and the US Virgin Islands. The political turmoil has seemed unending and inescapable. And there have been a steadily increasing number of events of mass violence around our country. Needless to say, there have been many times where hope felt low in 2017. If you re like me, that just means you are extra excited to see what 2018 has in store! The New Year is always a great time for new beginnings and setting goals for the year that lies ahead. And I think the same holds true for us in the church. The church year has certain rhythms. We had the big build-up through Advent up to Christmas which kept everyone busy. And now we have a little bit of down-time until Lent starts in February. Even though this season is a little bit less busy, there is still a lot going on as we begin 2018. We will kick off our new Birthday Bag mission project where we create birthday-in-a-bag kits to distribute through our friends at Bread of the Mighty Food Bank. Our very own Jan Ripley came up with this idea and pitched it to the mission committee, and I know we are all excited to get it off the ground this month. January will also bring some changes because we will switch over to our new committees that were set at nominations. I am extremely grateful for the dedicated service of all those who have served on the many committees at Wesley. And I know that the new leaders who are stepping up will only add to the amazing work that has already been done. When a new year rolls around, many people have a tradition of creating New Year s resolutions. While we set these with the best of intentions, it is pretty rare that we are able to keep them up past February or March. And that is if we re lucky! I think a better practice we could start is setting an intention for the year ahead. When we set an intention, we are already recognizing that we are setting a goal something to strive toward rather than just something to stick to. (Continued on page 3)
Wesley United Methodist Church Mission Statement: Come join Pastor Sarah from noon to 1:00PM in the Conference Room on Tuesdays. We discuss a variety of themes and topics, but there is always rich discussion. All are welcome and we would love to have you join us! 826 NW 23rd Avenue Gainesville, FL 32609 Office: 372-2845 Fax: 372-9544! We are on Facebook!!! Pastor s E-mail: PastorSarah@wumc.cfcoxmail.com We Three Kings Secretary s E-mail: Terri Manche secretary@wumc.cfcoxmail.com Witness Articles E-mail: Sharren Gibbs sharren2@cox.net Deadline for articles: 15th of each month Website: www.wesleyumcon23.org Weekly Sunday Activities Sunday School Adult Ages @ 9:30AM Children @ 10:45AM Worship @ 10:45AM (Sanctuary) Epiphany
(Continued from page 1) If you are looking for an alternative tradition to setting a new year s resolution, I encourage you to try taking up an intention for 2018. Maybe it s something like having more positive self-talk, or trying to be more generous. Or maybe it s setting a theme word for the year to guide you like love, hospitality, or brave. Whatever it is, I pray that we are able to start this year out centered and excited for all that God has in store for us in 2018! Blessings, Barbara Baldwin Agnes Burke Carolyn Clarke Joan Croft Betty Dees Kay Frazier Marion Holder Helen Martin Pam McCormick Barb Loehr Beth Loehr-Moody Clydia Reichert Dempsey Sapp, Jr Beth Senn Margaret Singh Kim Sugar Polly Teele Lester Wigglesworth Jr George Winburn Clarence Witt WESLEY WEDNESDAY SUPPER Our next Wesley Wednesday supper is on January 10th at 5:30PM! If you are not on the permanent attendee list please call the office by Monday, 1/8. We really hope that more people will come out and enjoy this regularly scheduled fellowship time with your church family! You won t want to miss the yummy dinners we have in store for you!!
7 Small Group Classes 9:30AM Children s Church 10:45AM Worship Service 10:45AM Committee Meetings 6:00PM Choir Practice 7:00 PM 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Gainesville, Florida 32609 352-372-2845 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Communion Sunday 1 Office Closed 2 8 9 Noon Pastor s Class 6:30PM Nightingales 7PM Peaceful Paths Noon Pastor s Class 7PM Peaceful Paths 14 15 Office Closed 16 10AM Morning Stars Noon Pastor s Class 7PM Peaceful Paths 21 22 23 Noon Pastor s Class 7PM Peaceful Paths 28 29 30 Noon Pastor s Class 7PM Peaceful Paths 3 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Trustees 10 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 5:30PM WWS 6:00PM SPRC 17 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Worship 24 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Finance 31 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Ad Council 4 Noon Card Club 11 Noon Card Club 18 Noon Card Club Florida Trail FH 25 Noon Card Club 5 6 12 13 19 11:30 YAHs at Red Onion RSVP by 1/14 20 26 27
ST. FRANCIS HOUSE Mission Statement: The overall mission of St. Francis House is to provide emergency food, temporary shelter, transitional housing, and related support services in a safe, secure environment for people in the Alachua County region who, for whatever reason, find themselves confronted with homelessness and hunger. This ministry was established in 1980 by Father Baker, with a goal to provide the basic necessities to help the impoverished and hungry in the community. Contributions may be marked on your check or envelope and placed in the collection plate or on the altar. You may also mail your checks for St. Francis House to the church office during the entire month of January. Dear Wesley Family, Thank you so much for your generous Christmas love offering and cards. You have made me feel very appreciated. This first year with Wesley has been easy and very enjoyable due to all your wonderful support. Everyone has been so helpful and welcoming and I look forward to many more years with all of you. Terri Manche Dear Wesley Friends, Your generosity and thoughtfulness are far beyond my ability to express adequate thanks. I am greatly touched by what you have done for me. May God bless you richly. Carolyn Clarke I cannot express enough how much it meant to get so many Christmas cards and gifts from my Wesley family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Shane and I truly appreciate how loving and welcoming everyone is, and we are so blessed by each and every one of you. Thank you for going above and beyond to make my first Christmas at Wesley so special I love you all! Blessings, Pastor Sarah
Coats/Jackets for the Homeless 42 coats were donated to Mt. Pleasant s homeless program in mid-december, and 20 more went to Grace Marketplace at the end of December. What a difference this will make to recipients! BoGo Basket The basket will be back under the altar after the Christmas Eve Service. Sixty pounds of food were delivered the 1st week of December to various providers. Woo hoo! Birthday Bags Metcalfe will start the Birthday Bag project at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year rather than starting it mid-year. Metcalfe would also welcome more mentors if any of you are interested. White Christmas The basket of Tightie Whities was overflowing! These will be delivered to the schools in early January. Yay! Salvation Army Becky Knight and Cindy Holmes delivered 120 pounds of food items to the Salvation Army s Christmas Basket collection center on Monday, December 18 th. Wow!!! The Salvation Army was very delighted with our generous contribution! Thanks to all who have helped with missions in any way this past year, and a special thanks to Cindy Holmes who is rolling off as the committee chairperson. Thanks for all you do! Nancy Case Our last week for hosting Family Promise was December 3rd-10th. We had three families, a total of thirteen people. One family of four was able to move out in the middle of the week to their new apartment! We had a good week with lots of wonderful meals thanks to our support churches. We have been hosting Family Promise for two and a half years, and have a lot of wonderful memories. We also have forged many great relationships with our support churches. Cindy and I would like to thank everyone who supported us during the last two and a half years with this mission. Also a special thanks for Leslie and Jessie Alday, who have been taking care of doing the laundry at the end of our weeks. Thanks again to our great Wesley congregation! Nancy Slaydon and Cindy Holmes
The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that on November 27 th, work began on replacing the Sanctuary roof and four days later we had a beautiful new roof which matches the roof on Fellowship Hall. It was a no runs, no hits, no leaks event!! Crosier & Son Roofing Company did an excellent job on installing the roof and they kept the grounds around the work site clean and picked up each and every day. The company was a pleasure to work with and they indeed blessed us with an early Christmas present! We continue to repair or replace areas of concern that come to our attention. Over the past month, the threshold at the southeast Conference Room door was repaired. The alarm system developed false security signals causing the alarm to sound at various times, which has been addressed by our professional security maintenance company. And the bathroom sink drain was unblocked and snaked at our 901 NW 24 th Avenue property. Two concerns at the parsonage have been addressed and solutions resolving the issues have been reached at this time. One issue was with the drainage in the master bathroom and the other was a security alarm problem. The Board would like to thank you for your continued support and help in keeping God s House in order during this past year. And may this strong commitment continue for the New Year. Sandy Miller, Chair Wesley Whittlers meet in the fellowship hall on Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4:30 PM. This is not just for veterans anyone can come and learn this fascinating craft! Pastor Sarah proudly wore the Santa head she carved and painted during our Christmas activities. Several veterans have begun attending church here, which means an increase in transportation needs. Are you available? Danny Aguila
The YAHs met at the Weseman home for a covered dish dinner of our favorite holiday recipes to celebrate Christmas. We collected paper goods to donate to those in need, and were joined by Pastor Sarah and her entertaining husband, Shane. Sharren managed to escape the group photo, but we thank her for playing Christmas carols so we could sing along. Following our successful gettogethers in 2017, we kick off 2018 at the Red Onion on January 19th at 11:30 AM. Please RSVP to Donna by January 14. Blessings, ~Donna Back row: Donna, Paula, Jane, Jim, Sandy, Becky, and Cindy Middle row: June, Helen, Joan, Agnes, Mary Jo, and Denise Front, Pastor Sarah and Shane
Our flower arrangements on the altar are looking quite bedraggled lately how about some new ones? In Administrative Council in November, we brought up the subject and several people jumped at the idea and volunteered to furnish flowers in various months that were special to them. February, May, August, September, and November are already spoken for would you like to participate on one of the other months? We need two large identical silk arrangements to place on either side of the lectern. Several businesses in town make these lovely arrangements at a significant discount to religious organizations. We are still working on the logistics of paying for them so we can best take advantage of those discounts as well as the sales tax waiver. We ll let you know as soon as we figure it out. But if you have a special birthday, anniversary or other event you d like to recognize in a certain month, be sure to contact Sharren Gibbs to reserve your month for this special Wesley contribution. We will be enjoying your gifts for several years to come! These pictures are just some ideas, not a catalogue to choose from!
1/3 6:00PM Trustees 1/10 6:00PM SPRC 1/17 6:00PM Worship Committee 1/24 6:00PM Finance Committee 1/31 6:00PM Admin Council 1 st Irma Hales 2 nd Joyce Welsh 5 th Joe Reichert 8 th Paula Mathis 10 th Ron Case 14 th Linda Yaxley-Nosko 20 th Betty Dees Christopher Blake 27 th Paul Humphlett 28 th Jim Nelson 31 st Bob Bulatewicz 19 th Lisa & Matt Alday FUN AND GAMES Join the Canasta card club at Wesley United Methodist Church! Have fun and meet great people! Invite family and friends, the more the merrier! When: Thursdays, 12:00 Noon (except holidays) Where: Wesley United Methodist Church 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Fellowship Hall Call Harley or Pamela Christensen at 352-505-0694 for information. We have wonderful members waiting to teach you Hand and Foot Canasta! Card Club Guidelines Bring a sack lunch and beverage if you wish. Please arrive on time if possible. Please help clean up after the games end. Please give us your email address and phone number in case of scheduling changes. A sign-up sheet will be passed for volunteers to come at 11:30AM to set up and make coffee.