January 2018 Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world! New Member Orientation Class Wednesday evenings from 5:30 7:30 p.m. Meal included (5:30-6:00 pm) New Class will begin January 24! We will meet during our Wednesday evening W.A.T.CH program so we can eat together and a er dinner we will introduce prospec ve members to our church as well as the history, polity and beliefs of the United Methodist Church. Following the comple on of the orienta on class you will have the opportunity to join the church during a Sunday morning New Member service. All people wishing to join the Church must have experienced the ritual of Chris an bap sm. We recognize bap sms that were performed at non United Methodist Churches. Please contact Pastor Gary or Pastor Gabe if you are interested in joining Morton United Methodist Church. The Next New Member Orienta on Class: begins Wednesday, January 24 and end on Wednesday, February 7. Meal from 5:30 6:00 p.m. and Class from 6:00 7:30 p.m.
New Sermon Series Love Worship Serve! It s All About You, Jesus! When someone comes to the truth that life is all about Jesus, their life begins to be shaped more and more into the likeness of Him! And as a result, the desire to love Jesus, worship Jesus and serve Jesus grows and deepens. These three words resonate in the life and teaching of our Lord Love Worship Serve! When asked which commandment is the most important, Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself Regarding worship, Jesus said that the Father is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and truth! And worship is never-ending before His throne in heaven. And our Lord made a clear distinction that he was here not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Serving and giving is at the very of heart God and was demonstrated by Jesus! These messages will focus on our response to Jesus and how we can love Him, worship Him, and serve Him more in our lives. January 14 Love Worship Serve! January 21 How Do I Love Thee? January 28 Worth-ship! February 4 We Exist to Serve February 11 It s All About Jesus! Contact Information 420 North Tennessee Avenue Morton, IL 61550 309-266-7174 phone 309-263-1498 FAX info@mortonumc.org www.mortonumc.org Worship Services ~Sunday~ Celebration 8:00 am 9:30 am (Sanctuary) Cross Connections (Gymnasium) 10:45 am ~Tuesday Communion~ 8:00-8:30 am Sunday Christian Education September-May 9:30 or 10:45 am Sunday School Age 2-High School Adult Classes Worship is a posture of life that takes as its primary purpose the understanding of what it really means to love and revere God. Ravi Zacharias Ministry Council Convener: Lay Leader TBA Worship Chair: Norma Westbrook Witness Chair: Deb Rada Youth Leadership: Eric Gordon Education Chair: Lisa Hutchison Donna Uhlman Outreach Chair: Brian Wraight Deb Baker UMM Chair: Bob Barrick UMW Chair: Linda Coon Blood Pressure Sunday January 21 Stop by the Gym to get a free blood pressure reading. It s a great way to care for the gift During the week, our Office Volunteers lend a helping hand in the Gathering Area office answering the phone, greeting visitors, taking messages. Contact Kim Gregurich 253-0908 to volunteer for a morning or afternoon shift or as a substitute.
Connect with God! Volunteer! Join a Class! Connect with People! Use God s Gift! Leaders are Needed! Here s Y Invita on: For more informa on, or to sign up for any of our Connect Groups contact Pastor Gabe gabew@mortonumc.org. JOIN A CONNECT GROUP TO GROW IN YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE! Where to start? Talk with Pastor Gabe or JoAnn Kra. Want to start a class? We can make a place for you. We need some new leaders! Master Hudson's Musings Master Hudson's Musings Christmas Christmas Christmas! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I sure hope you had a great Christmas, I know I did. I wish it was Christmas all the time, gifts and presents and birthday parties for Jesus, this is one of the best times of the year. I guess we can always be excited about the birth of Jesus, it's not every day that God is born right? All I know is all the extra family time is fun time in my book and I always like playing with new toys. Well here's to a new year, 2018. I can't wait to see with this year's going to be like. See you around. Hudson~ Administrative Board Chair: Jim Benckendorf Vice-Chair: Nicole Potts Secretary: Lay Leader: Mike Tewksbury Trustees Representative: (to be elected in Jan.) Staff Parish Chair: Andy Sullivan Staff Parish Co-Chair Finance Chair: Rod Harrison UMW Chair: Linda Coon UMM Chair: Bob Barrick Treasurer: Chuck Birchenough At-Large Member: Joe Dole At-Large Member: Dan Czubak At-Large Member: Paul Uhlman At-Large Member: David Jones Lay Members of Annual Conference Lay Member: Don Chapman Lay Member: Kathy Churchill Lay Member: Lucille Foster Staff Parrish Ben Eyster-2018 Sharon Heritch Allan Hart Carrie Hoefling-2019 Steve Quinn Andy Sullivan Jerry Hesselberth-2020 Bonnie Ricci Jill Uhlman FINANCE 2018 Mel Clauser Jason Berger Pete Monferdini 2019 Nick Gillhouse Steve Zimmerman TBA 2020 Brenda Loudermilk Daryl Lindemann Tm Owen TRUSTEES 2018 Bob Behle Jackie Brown Jarrett Brown 2019 Paul Uhlman Bob Camp Jason Smallenberger Liz Deppe Ex Officio (Parsonage Committee) 2020 Matt Milby Jayson Campbell Mike Shook
Children s Educa on and Music January Important Dates 7 Sunday School Resumes 10 WATCH resumes 19 Methodist Kids (K-6) Paint Night Sunday School Sunday School resumes on January 7. Rotation 4 also begins. Won t You Be My Neighbor Art Nancy Aune Computer Andy Sullivan Drama Vicki Bennett Dance Kate Loudermilk Storytelling Lindsay Franklin Movie Kylie & Jacqueline Pfeifer WATCH Meals in January 10th Cook: Clean-up: Snippets 17th Cook: Clean-up: Worship 24th Cook: Clean-up: Nurture-Outreach-Witness 31st Cook: Clean-up: Ad Board Methodist Kids Paint Night! On Friday, January 19, at 6:00PM, Canvas Connections will be helping us find our inner Picasos, Monets, and DaVincis! All kids, aged K-6, are invited to come and paint their masterpieces. There is a fee per child. Cost is $10 each. Space is limited, so RSVP to Miss Amy ASAP! Snacks and drinks will be provided. Sunday School Needs in Elementary Rotation 5 and 6 have a few holes! Please prayerfully consider filling in for one rotation. 2/18-3/25 Lent - Delivered By God *Media Production *Puppets 4/8-5/13 Jesus and Discipleship *Nature Juarez, March 10-16 Please spend time praying for our team as we begin preparing for our mission trip. Jayson Campbell, Nikki Campbell, Eric Hansen, Carrie Hoefling, Marj Orth, Kristen Schick, Amy Smith, Zack Smith, Rudy Urbano, and Pastor Gabe Wanck,
Thoughts Recently, in a staff meeting, Pastor Gary was leading us in a really nice discussion on Mary s situation when she was told she was highly favored and was going to become the virgin mother. Somehow, the conversation wound around to that feeling of knowing, deep in your bones, the grace, love and mercy of God. I made the comment that I had never experienced that overwhelming sense of God s grace without great turmoil either preceding it or being directly linked to it. I won t try to speak for you but, for me and every Bible character I can think of, the experience of God s grace runs hand-in-hand with hardship. However, I m either really dumb or this relationship is easy to forget. In the last few weeks, my wife has had terrible pains that were being caused by a giant gallstone. Being in the hospital waiting for the surgery put life on hold and, now, life is sort of stumbling along with her being so exhausted and physically limited in the recovery process. Combine this with suddenly adding a dog to the family (who, I guess, is still getting used to his new home and pees on the carpet every couple of days and runs down the street every time we open the door like regular people instead of like FBI agents) and Christmas shopping and extended family stresses and a 3-year old starting to really test her boundaries and extra bills and spiritual attacks on the youth group and its leaders and I am feeling an extra dose of tension and stress. Right now, this is leading to me feeling an excess of burning anger. The Lord has brought me soooo far with a temper that used to rage out of control at the drop of a hat. Lately, I feel it almost all the time simmering under the surface. I just feel angry. Yet, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. My circumstances are kind of hard. Right now, my circumstances FEEL extremely hard (not in proportion at all). So, how do I give thanks? Perhaps, by remembering that every time I have deeply experienced and been changed by God s unfathomable grace, turmoil has been connected. Perhaps by confidently confessing that God is refining me in this and will use it to conform me more to His will. I have enough stories of this happening to fill a TV series. I need to remember. I write this out because, maybe, somebody reading can relate. Maybe somebody out there needs to remember too. Youth Group Teaching In youth group, we just finished a 10-week teaching series called Friends That Matter. This is done by Cadre Ministries and provided the kids and leaders with a lot of tools to consider when building up friendships. We talked about the power in transforming relationships by praying together, reading the Word together, loving others together, and doing life with Jesus at the center of it all together. I m praying that God will use this to shape the habits of some of our kids and multiply God-honoring relationships in our church and schools. After the break, there will be more opportunities for students to lead and teach and I m looking forward to what God is able to do. Service Projects On Saturday, December 16, some of the youth went to TAPS animal shelter in Pekin for a service project. There was some messy, smelly work involved but also a chance for good conversation with each other and good interaction with some cute animals. On Wednesday, December 20, the youth group went to Morton Villas nursing home to do crafts, paint fingernails, sing Christmas carols, and happily interact with the residents there. On January 13, we are planning on another service project that is yet to be determined. Summer Mission Trip We finally have an organization to partner with on our summer mission trip to the Houston area! The youth pushed for a change from Washington D.C. to Houston after Hurricane Harvey. With all the craziness down there, it was very difficult to get in contact with anyone. However, now we know we ll be working with Attack Poverty Houston and detailed plans are underway.
MORTON UNITED METHODIST WOMEN CHRIST-Centered AND MISSIONS-Focused WOMEN OF FAITH UMW Board Linda Coon, President Open, Vice President Carrie Hoefling, Secretary Nicole Potts, Treasurer Traci Sullivan, Education/Interpretation Sarah Losey, Social Action and Kitchen Coordinator Mary Barrick, Membership Cheri Patterson, Spiritual Growth Linda Clauser, Program Resources Erin Jones, Nominations Kathy Churchill, Products Barb Howard, Funeral Dinners Kathy Dallinger, Communications Circle Leaders ABIGAIL Erin Jones 262-0065 Carrie Hoefling 370-7856 HANNAH Diane Kovach 241-3424 JOANNA Mary Barrick 360-3689 Lauren Middleton 530-9133 RUTH Lois Lichti 263-0562 SARAH Kathy Dallinger 266-7811 Melissa Smallenberger 264-2891 JANUARY 2018 UMW BOARD MEETS NO BOARD MEETING IN JANUARY Next UMW Board Meeting is on February 7, 2018 in the Youth Room ABIGAIL HANNAH JOANNA RUTH SARAH CIRCLE MEETINGS January 24 9:15 a.m. NO MEETING in January January 9 - Assemble Birthday Boxes - 7:00 p.m. January 17 - Seasons - 11:30 am January 15 Assemble Dream Center Bags 7:00 p.m. Other Dates to Remember: February 2 Prayer & Self Denial Service Coffee & Fellowship 9:30 a.m. Service & Program 10:00 a.m. February 23-24 IGRC UMW Spiritual Growth Retreat Iliopolis, Illinois March 4 Morton UMW Sunday Our UMW will lead worship. April 14 Morton UMW Every Daughter Brunch April 20 IRD Spring Gathering @ Morton UMC We are now able to provide year-round ordering of the Terri Lynn products. You may be familiar with their assorted nuts and fruit items. These sales are an integral component of our Morton UMW missions
United Methodist Women BOOK CLUB All meetings are held in the Gathering Area at the Church 6:30 p.m. January 29 Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim March 26 These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881-1901 Arizona Territories by Nancy E. Turner May 29 The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood CONTINUE COLLECTING THOSE CELL PHONES! These phones are wiped clean and programmed for 911 calls. They are then given to women to use in case of emergency. The donation box is labeled and on the counter in the Welcoming Area of the church. Any time you have a phone you need recycled, please consider giving it to this worthwhile cause. Please keep this ministry in mind if you are getting rid of your old one. If you have any questions, please contact Linda Clauser (357-0449). Thank you!! There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all bap zed by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body. (1 Corinthians 12:12 13, 18 20) It is me to turn over the leadership of our wonderful UMW to another willing servant. As of January 1, 2018, our new president will be Linda Coon! I am so thankful for her dedica on to our local as well as our district UMW. There aren t enough ways to say thank you for the support I have received while serving this amazing group of women. Every project, every mee ng, every opportunity was met with enthusiasm and willingness to work hard. We have laughed, cried, prayed and served with each other. Our accomplishments have been varied and many! It has been a pleasure to work with a group who is so ready to give God all the glory. May the Lord con nue to bless each of you. My prayers are for much success in the future. In Christ, Cathy Bowen THANK YOU!! It s been a very successful Fall for the UMW fundraisers! Our Craft Sale earned $11,121 towards missions and the UMW Cookie Sale earned $1,661. These two events, along with pledges from our members, enabled us to distribute $16,000 in December to 27 local and international mission organizations. Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity!
XYZ Extra Years of Zest Upcoming Events for January 2018 January 5 Game Day @ 11:00 a.m. We will play Yahtzee lunch will be provided. January 9 lunch at The Flame in Metamora We will leave the church @ 10:45 a.m. and meet Kerry there. January 19 Movie Day we ll show Wonder Woman in the Youth Room with popcorn. January 28 MJHS Musical Beauty & the Beast cost $3 Meet at the MJHS at 1:30 p.m. We will go out a er for an early dinner following the musical. Walking for Exercise Monday, Wednesday & Friday @ 8:00 a.m. in the Gym. Pickleball Thursday @ 10:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. in the Gym. Mike G., Mike T., John, Lynn, Robert, Mel, Paul, Eugene, Gabe, Gary, Don S., Andy, Don P., Don C., Raymond, & Charles: What a joy it was to host your Men s Retreat hear at Menno Haven a couple of weeks ago. It was a tremendous gift that you all took time out of your retreat to do service projects around the Menno Haven facilities. It s amazing what 30 energetic & skilled men can do in an hour or two! Thank you!! Thank you!! You are greatly appreciated! NOMINATIONS Kristen Schick-2018 Steve Brenkman-2018 Carlotta Ramsey-2018 Gary Feldman (Chair) Nancy Hill-2019 Dave Jones-2019 Lynn Losey-2019 Mike Tewksbury (Lay Leader:) Lori Walters-2019 Suzanne Behler-2019 Char Troyer-2019 Blood Pressure Sunday January 21
Building Fund November 2017 Ending Cash Balance: $165,708.71 Certificates of Deposit (CDs): $1,219,554.07 Morton UMC Building Commi ee Church Conference The Building Committee met on December 11, 2017. The Building Committee sends an expression of gratitude to those who attended and voted on our motion to complete our expansion project. The questions raised, the discussion presented and the success of the vote all point to an engaged congregation who is truly focused on completing this project to the glory of God. Design The team continues to discuss re-purposing of current space. A motion was passed to request bids for an asphalt shingle roof as an alternative to the previously proposed steel roof for the purpose of comparisons. Finance The financial report included a recap of the Church Conference numbers and a review of a graph which shows our progress toward meeting the $1.9 million and $1.5 million goals in order to break ground. (As previously presented, the $1.9 million represents cash on hand, and the $1.5 million is in 3-year pledges.) The pace of giving at this point shows that we should meet our stated goals by the end of December or early in January, 2018. Timeline As a result of the congregational vote on December 10, the architect will be directed to create construction documents and submit them for sub-contractor bids. Remember, you can contact any member of the building committee with questions and/or comments: Steve Zimmerman, Mike Tewksbury, Chuck Birchenough, Kirk Schick, Bob Lichti, Tim Beutel, Joe Crowe, Dan Czubak, Dave Jones, Jayne Benckendorf, Paul Uhlmann, Jan Sampson, Cathy Bowen, Maureen Lyons, Matt Milby, Sam Churchill, Jim Rada, John Ackerman, and Jason Potts. Steve Zimmerman and Mike Tewksbury Building Committee 2018 Steve Zimmerman Mike Tewksbury (co-chair) (co-chair) Maureen Lyons Matt Milby Kirk Schick Dave Jones Jayne Benckendorf Tim Beutel Jim Rada Paul Uhlman Bob Lichti Joe Crowe Chuck Birchenough Jan Sampson Cathy Bowen Jason Potts Dan Czubak Sam Churchill John Ackerman
Charlotte Gillhouse 01/01 Luke Loudermilk 01/03 Greg Schwarzentraub 01/03 Robert Townsend 01/03 Russ Johnson 01/04 John Ackerman 01/06 Rick Curtis 01/06 Avery Swearingen 01/06 Joshua Hutchison 01/07 Andrea Mammen 01/07 Harrison Ricci 01/07 Jean Destefano 01/08 Kenzie Wenzel 01/08 Aubrey Werries 01/08 Tom Wraight 01/09 Vincent Harrison 01/10 Liam Walles 01/11 Austin Armstrong 01/12 Julie Fields 01/12 Abigail Gashaw 01/12 Charlotte Gillhouse 01/12 Luke Loudermilk 01/12 Greg Schwarzentraub 01/12 Robert Townsend 01/13 Russ Johnson 01/13 John Ackerman 01/14 Rick Curtis 01/14 Avery Swearingen 01/15 Joshua Hutchison 01/15 Andrea Mammen 01/15 Anna Rupprecht 01/16 Gary Baker 01/17 Colleen Dierker 01/17 Kim Gregurich 01/17 Jared Walters 01/17 G. Dean Shull 01/19 Seth Walters 01/19 Lori Walters 01/20 Bryce Bennett 01/21 Eugene Dahl 01/21 Slater Wright 01/21 Steven Epley 01/22 Maxwell Freidinger 01/22 Logan Loudermilk 01/22 Norma Myers 01/22 Sheri Mitchell 01/23 Thomas Davis 01/24 Brenda Loudermilk 01/24 Kay Modugno 01/24 Cameron Shook 01/24 John Veltman 01/25 Aaron Brasel 01/26 Jean Bridge 01/26 Carmen Jonas 01/26 Jodi Sullivan 01/26 Gabe Weyland 01/26 Bruce Brown 01/27 Alika Gilbert 01/27 Ryan Gillhouse 01/27 Philip Holler 01/27 Gail Renner 01/27 Betty Proctor 01/28 Kristen Schick 01/28 Addison Bennett 01/29 LaRelda Birky 01/29 Josephine Gordon 01/29 Jacqueline Harrison 01/29 Raymond Schmidt 01/29 Tyler White 01/29 Riley Gashaw 01/30 Robert Mutters 01/30 Paula Barrick 01/31 Robert Bowen II 01/31 Adam Kumpf 01/31
Administrative Notes: Flower Ministry Please contact the church office if you would like to donate flowers ~ thanks! January 7 Wally & Lois Beeler January 14 Open Date January 21 Open Date January 28 Open Date January 31 Wally and Lois Beeler Attendance December 3 464 December 10 487 December 17 412 December 24 670 Hospitalized Francis Lynn, Charlotte Gilmore, Carol Davis, Thelma Robertson, Robert Mutters Average 508 Financial Stewardship Report GENERAL FUND November- 2017 General Fund $ 43,123.02 $52,855.04 INCOME EXPENSE Year to Date $583501.21 $618,313.42 INCOME EXPENSE General Fund Ending Cash Balance: $145,724.75 Our Expenses for November 2017 exceeded our Income by: $9732.02 Sympathy To : Mary Alice Evans and family. Mary Alice brother, Evan Lewis, died November 25. Gene and Linda Dahl whose son, Denny, died on December 4. ATTENTION: FOOTPRINTS CREW We are folding Footprints on Thursday, January 25th in the Gathering Area Mike Tewksbury and family. Mike s grandmother died on December 13. Dan Hill and family, Dan s mother, Louise Hill died December 20. The family of Lois Frank who died December 20. January 12, 2017
BULK RATE NON-PROFIT ORG. 420 North Tennessee Avenue Morton, IL 61550-9706 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED U.S. POSTAGE PAID MORTON, ILLINOIS PERMIT NO. 26 Place Label Here MORTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MINISTRY STAFF LEAD PASTOR Gary Feldman garyf@mortonumc.org ASSOCIATE PASTOR Gabe Wanck gabew@mortonumc.org MINISTER of MUSIC & EDUCATION Amy Smith amys@mortonumc.org MINISTER of YOUTH Eric Gordon ericg@mortonumc.org MINISTER of CONGREGATIONAL CARE JoAnn Kraft joannk@mortonumc.org MINISTER of CROSS CONNECTIONS MUSIC/ BELL CHOIR DIRECTOR Kerry Brenkman kerryb@mortonumc.org XYZ COORDINATOR: Lynn Zimmerman zimmo5@comcast.net OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Shelli Koener shellik@mortonumc.org Barbara Maison (part-time) FINANCIAL SECRETARY Shelli Koener info@mortonumc.org CUSTODIAN Russ Johnson russj@mortonumc.org ORGANIST Jane Chapman A/V COORDINATOR Nick Graff NURSERY COORDINATOR Leslie Wenzel FOOTPRINTS EDITOR Kim Gregurich 420 North Tennessee Avenue Morton, Il 61550 office: 309-266-7174 FAX: 309-263-1498 email: info@mortonumc.org www.mortonumc.org 12 9 3 CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Monday Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Friday 8:00 a.m. - Noon