THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF MACEDONIA OCTOBER NEWSLETTER 2017 Flood Buckets The Bucket Brigade has been successfully completed with 175 buckets delivered to New Castle Mission Barn! There were also 75 health kits delivered. The Mission Barn will forward these items to UMCOR where most needed. Seven other churches participated in the bucket collection. Many thanks to everyone who donated supplies, money and time to support this mission. A special thanks to Chris Bunn who drove his trailer to Pennsylvania loaded with all the buckets and health kits. Due to the severity of this hurricane season there continues to be a great need for additional buckets and health kits. We have been asked to be the collection point for ongoing collections. Watch the bulletin for further updates for the next packing date.
Open M's Food Pantry Helps People Every Day! For October Open M has asked for hot chocolate mix and/or tea bags. What could be simpler! Think of children coming home in the rain after a hard day of learning. A cup of hot chocolate is a simple comfort and we can make it happen. Remember for November: We're Macedonia and we can do it! We can provide 420 boxes of Hamburger Helper (or the generic form) for the Christmas baskets! Starting November 1 we'll be stacking them to the rafters. Watch for sales and let's get excited! DINNER OUT UPDATE Dinner Out is continuing to serve the needs of our 125+ dinner guests each week. The guests are greeted with a warm welcome from our volunteers and other dinner guests. The dinner is served from 4:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. every Thursday, but there are many volunteers who work before and after the meal also. Our volunteers commitment to Dinner Out is what has made this food ministry the success it has been for the past 6+ years. We have been struggling the past several months to meet our volunteer needs each week. In order to continue serving this community meal each week, we need more volunteers involved in this church ministry. Our needs range from preparation with set up, help in the kitchen with food prep & dishes, serving, clearing tables, and clean-up & tear down at the end. If you are able to volunteer 1-2 hours once a month or more please contact Linda Jahn by phone (330) 467-2722 or e-mail (RockyLj1@roadrunner.com). This ministry is self-supporting and does not require any money from the church s General Fund. If you would like to donate to this program, please put your donation in the offering plate or contact Jill Marlow at (330) 467-3169. To those who have helped this ministry, thank you for serving God in this way. Linda Jahn (Scheduling Rep) Behind the scenes many of our church family members serve, care and use their talents to make our church beautiful. **Some women saw that our green altar cloths were in bad shape and just made new ones to beautify our worship experience. **Hundreds of ears of corn were donated for our Open M lunch and for Dinner Out, thrilling all those we served. **Some Sundays no one signs up for altar flowers so beautiful artificial bouquets were made so that the altar would always look complete. **Members of our church are often helping older members by visiting, calling to chat, bringing food, helping with chores and making it possible for them to stay in their homes longer. Look around. What do you see that you could do to help our church or its people?
Kids First Corner Trunk-n-Treat - We are looking for individual packaged candy and fall decoration donations for Trunk-n-Treat. Donations can be dropped off in the Holbrook Room in the box labeled Kids First dropoff. We are also looking for volunteers for our Trunk-n-Treat event on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 1-3 PM for the following: Refreshment area (need 2-3 people) Craft area (need 2 people) Traffic control and spotters (need 2 people) Greeters (need 1-2 people) Games (need 5+ people) We also need trunks (decorated car trunks) and folks to pass out candy! Please let Zeeba know if you can help make this year's Kids First Trunk-n- Treat event the best ever! Music Notes We have openings for you in our music ministry. Please consider the following: Although striving for musical perfection is a worthy cause and we try to do our very best, there are other more important concerns when participating in our music ministry. Our church family, as well as you as an individual, will gain much if you choose to participate in worship through music. The number one thing to remember about participating in our music ministry by singing or ringing in a choir is that it is an act of worship an offering to God! Other important benefits for individuals in our music ministry are the fellowship and joy that only can be found through participation in music ensembles. Youth Handbell Choir, for youth in intermediate grades through high school, rehearses at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Youth who have some experience reading music (especially those who have taken piano lessons, and/or participate in choir and band at school) and are interested in ringing are encouraged to contact the director, Jim Storry. Chancel Choir rehearses at 7:30 pm on Thursday evenings in the Choir Room. Membership is open to those of high school age through adult. The only requirement for participation is a desire to sing in praise of God. It is helpful to be able to read music, but not essential. For additional information, please contact the director, Jim Storry. Please consider becoming part of our music ministry this season. Limitless Tribes Tribes is an intentional time for you to invite your friends to join in competing against other tribes in the arena games. Each week we ll do some similar things. We ll start at 4pm by splitting into Tribe Times where we ll discuss some things and work on tribe goals. Afterward, we ll enter The Arena where tribes will compete against each other. Finally, we ll share a meal or snack. The Tribes finale will be a trip to Fun-n-Stuff where the winning Tribe goes for FREE!!! October 1st Push Cart Races October 8th Pinnacle Dodgeball Night October 15th Fun-n-Stuff Tribes Celebration FINANCE REPORT FOR END OF AUGUST AND STEWARD- SHIP CAMPAIGN Thank you to everyone who paid up delinquent pledges after the first half. We ended August in very good shape and were able to put $3,000 in our Building Reserve Fund and pay $5,000 towards apportionments. Fall is Stewardship season and we plan to kick off our campaign with an All Church meeting on Finance. We will make a presentation, answer questions and will explain apportionments and fund accounting. The meeting is scheduled for Sunday, October 8th, between services and will begin promptly at 10:40 We should be able to get through the "meat" of the meeting by 11 so second service folk can skedaddle and then we will stay to take questions. Some of the presenters will stay to talk to any second service congregants who have questions after their service ends. We will send out a letter with a pledge card. Consecration Sunday will be October 22nd when pledge cards will be returned during the morning services. Watch for more financial information in the weekly Bulletins and in possible email blasts. Sue Ellen Utley, Finance Chairperson
Parish Nurse Focus for October the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2 NIV Medications are used to maintain a certain level of health and or to prevent an illness or cure a physical condition. For example, when your doctor orders a drug for blood pressure or diabetes, a specific level of that drug needs to be in your system to attain the desired outcome. Therefore in order to reap the most benefit, it is important to understand why you need the medication, how to take it, how to store it and what to expect from it. Don t be afraid to ask questions because the more you know, the more compliant you will be with your treatment. Consider some of these questions. Why are you taking the drug? How will it affect you? Are there any side effects? Should you drive when you are taking the medication? How quickly will you see results? Do you need to take the entire prescription? Can you take the pill with something other than water? If you have difficulty taking pills you might even ask if it comes in another form. Medications do not last forever so take them as directed and if the prescription is not to be completed, ask about an expiration date. Over-the-counter medications will have an expiration date printed on the box and bottle so check the cough medicine you bought last year before taking any this year. Out of date medicine will have lost its strength to combat your illness so check your cupboards regularly and dispose of old medications. Also be aware of possible interactions that can occur between some foods and other drugs. Taking medication with hot drinks may change its chemical structure while alcohol will change its absorption. With certain cholesterol, blood pressure or cardiac medications, you should never eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice as it will increase the blood level of the drug and cause adverse side effects. To be sure you do not create potentially harmful interactions, talk with your pharmacist about any items you should avoid. Medications are to be helpful, not hurtful. Learn as much as you can to get the greatest benefit from them. (Source: US Food and Drug Administration, www.fda.gov/drugs) Launchpad: Preparing for Change is a monthly series of informal discussions concerning potential life changes as we age. Your Parish Nurses coordinate these programs and Panera s provides a light breakfast, courtesy of Vista Springs. Men and women meet the first Wednesday of the month at 10:00-11:30 AM in the Holbrook Room. The seventh and last talk in our series is: October 4th- Social Media: Influence on our Family. Sexting, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Flash mobs, Facebook and Messenger: understanding the use and potential effects on our family. Presented by our Youth Pastor Paul Sheneman. Please join us at 10:00 AM! For questions, please call Wanda Jesson in the church office. *Free senior Flu vaccines from Walgreen's available during the Oct 4 Nurse's talk. Bring your Health Insurance/Medicare card. The trustees have purchased an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator that shocks the heart to save a life of someone during a heart attack) as a gift in honor of the 150th Anniversary. Parish Nurses will be teaching CPR classes here in October. Everyone is welcome to attend for the small fee of $10 to cover the cost of the book and supplies. Daytime and evening dates and times will be available. Please call Wanda in the church office at 330-467-3169 if you would like to join a class.
The United Methodist Church of Macedonia 1280 East Aurora Rd. (Route 82) Macedonia, Ohio 44056 Rev. Russ Ham, Pastor Paul Sheneman Youth Director James Storry, Music Director Joanne Taylor, Organist Mary Lord, Handbell Director Zeeba Mercer, Children s Ministry Jill Marlow, Treasurer Wanda Jesson, Secretary Jeff Dotson, Custodian Mary Jacoway, Custodian Sunday Worship - 9:30 Traditional 11:00 Redefine (Modern) Sunday School 9:30 and 11:00 Life Quest 10:45 AM Return service requested Phone 330-467-3169 FAX 330-467-3170 Emails: check web site Internet www.umcm.org Check us out on Facebook! Operation Christmas Child time is here! Check out the OCC display in the Narthex where you can pick up your informational brochures and free shoe boxes that are on the table. Don t forget a $9 donation for shipping is requested. Collection time begins October 29th and ends November 12th. YOU can give joy, delight and God s love to a special child. Most important of all is to pray for everyone involved with Operation Christmas Child. Please call Mary Lord at 330-467-7305 with any questions. Christmas Already!! The annual stained glass sale will take place on November 5th and it will be a great time for you to shop early for Christmas. Picture in your mind, new tree ornaments and sun catchers to grace your home or to give to others. There will be new pieces this year and many items can be used all year, not just at Christmas time. This sale is the only way we can fund the stained glass ministry (giving angels for baptisms, doves to the families at funerals and large crosses for weddings). Mark your calendar for November 5th at 8:45 to 11:00 AM in the Holbrook Room. Family Movie Night Saturday, October 14 at 7 PM Movie Night is ALWAYS family friendly and is for ANYONE and EVERYONE. You certainly don't have to have young ones to attend. Movie night is a very casual atmosphere where you're welcome to come in your sweatpants or pj's! So grab your favorite snuggle blanket and pillow and join us for a fun filled evening! In Matthew 25:36 Jesus instructed his disciples, "I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Sometimes being in the hospital can feel like being in prison. And a visit can provide prayer and support to you. So when you need a visit, please do not keep it a secret. When you are scheduled for surgery, or go to the hospital, please have someone notify the church office. If your church does not know, we cannot do as Christ commanded us - to look after and to visit you.