The Messenger McMannen United Methodist Church
Fri, June 12 Pot-luck and Social Gathering 12:00 pm McMannen Fellowship Hall. Bring your favorite dish and mingle with your fellow Primetimers Primetimers Exercise at 10:30 am Monday & Wednesdays in Fellowship Hall To receive more information about a Primetimers Program please contact Jim Lore at 384-2102. We are looking for additional drivers for the PrimeTimer s trips. If you are willing and able, please contact Anggie in the church office for more information. Sunday, June 14 8:00 am All are welcome! Volunteers are needed while Anggie, Ed & Calvin are at Annual Conference June 11 & 12 from 9 am to 1:00 pm. (Wednesday is covered, thank you Susan Giles!). If you are able to help, please contact Anggie ASAP. June Committee Meetings Church Council Tues, June 2 @ 7:00 pm (FH) SPRC Tues, June 16 @ 6:30 (E201) Trustees Tues, June 23 @ 6:30 pm (FH)
Our Church Family: Marian Clark; Bobbie Morgan; Emma Jean Phelps; Dean Porterfield; Barbara Rovetto; Delma & Dick Smallwood; Wendell Family; Preschool Families and staff Friends and Family: Scott Anderson & family; Robin Clements; Alida Cockerman; Julie Dowdee; Gary, Pam & Mychal Ellis; Judge Carl Fox; Family of Bill Horrell (Cindy Pratt s dad); Monroe James; Elsie King; June King; Luther King; Rod Mabry; Scott Mann; Grady McCutcheon; Patti Morrison; Betty O Shields; George Paulides and family; Elwood Richard; Louis Rivers; Carl Schmidt; Parker, Melissa & Gene Schumacher; Bill Stephany; Jeff Stutts; Grace Taylor (Katie Wagstaff s mom); Janet Truckner; Laura Turkel; Taylor Wagner; Dawn Watkins (Renee McMannen s mom); Alex Whitaker; Gerri Young; the unemployed and their families; the victims of violence; travel mercies; Residents and staff at C.A. Dillon; Christian Believer Bible study group; Iraqi Christians; our armed forces and military; students taking EOGs and exams. Care Facilities: Mary Berini (Hillcrest); Cordelia Blalock (Emerald Pond); Cleo Fox (Emerald Pond), Sadie Micol (Brookshire), Mildred Neal (Croasdaile Village), Cathy Young The Boys of Summer are singing the National Anthem Sunday, June 21 at 5:00 pm Join us for the game! Order your tickets for $11 from Anggie no later than June 15. It is a regular cycle: summer comes, attendance drops, donations fall. Unfortunately, the church s expenses stay pretty much the same regardless of how many folks are in the pews. If you have to be away, please remember your church and its financial needs. Feel free to mail a check, use the bill-payment function offered by your bank, sign up for automatic draft through the church office or go to the church website to set up recurring (or one-time) payments. No matter how your tithe is received, it is blessed and in turn it will provide blessings. Thank you.
ONE LAST CHANCE! For those who missed the photo opportunities earlier, the last date to get your photos done is JUNE 17. Sign up with Anggie in the church office. You also may submit your own photo to be included, call Anggie for details. CLUBS Movie Night Friday, June 19th 7:00 PM McMannen UMC Fellowship Hall Come enjoy a family friendly movie that focuses on learning to use your unique gifts to contribute to team goals and loving others through action. FREE movie snacks are provided!!!
At The Beach: Spend Your Summer In The Son at McMannen UMC! Preschool Mini Camp June 23 25 9 AM 12 PM Registration Deadline June 15 Preschoolers ages 2 thru 5 The cost is $25/child or $50/family. Registration is open at www.mcmannen umc.org Please contact Jackie with any questions at jackieb@mcmannenumc.org Fun Fridays Families will meet at the McMannen UMC playground from 9:30 11:00. Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy some unstructured fellowship. No organized activities will be planned but water will be provided. Every Friday beginning June 5th September 4th
Benjamin Shields Micol Graduated Cum Laude on May 15, 2015 from Appalachian State University Bachelors Degree in Business Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and a minor in Supply Chain Management Son of Mark and Lynn Micol, grandson of Giovanni Mike Micol and brother of Sam George Cooke Will graduate from Riverside High School June 10 Son of Deann Cooke and Fred Cooke and brother of Henry
McMannen Preschool News Visit our website to pay tuition or donate to the scholarship fund online! Mcmannenumc.org Do you know anyone who is looking for a preschool for the fall for their child? McMannen Preschool is a culturally diverse half-day offering to children ages one to five. Things that distinguish us from other preschools are our small class size, the ability to give your child one-on-one attention, Christian-based curriculum and a family connection that extends long after your time at McMannen ends. We hope you will give us the opportunity to share more about this wonderful school and ministry. Give us a call, send us an email, find us on Facebook or stop by any weekday morning between 9:30 and 11:30. Please continue to collect the labels so next year s preschoolers are able to take advantage of the great educational opportunities offered by this program. Thursdays starting June 18 2:00 pm Betty Ray s home All are welcome! Lead by Pastor Ed Call Anggie in the church office for the address
Last month, I shared with you in this newsletter a spring Building Update at McMannen. By Building Update, the article went on to say, I was not describing construction of a physical edifice using bricks, wood, and steel. Instead, I described how we are building people; how we are building our community. Here s an excerpt from last month s article: We have decided as a congregation to focus our building efforts on a new generation of disciples, mostly consisting of children, youth, young adults, and young families. It s a big project, but one that God has equipped and entrusted us to accomplish together. We can do this as one mission, but I must admit that it s too big to tackle in one Newsletter article. Indeed, this work is too big to be adequately described in one newsletter article. If we were building a building, we expect to see bricks and wood and dug-up ground. If we were building a building, we would not expect the roof to be built first, but rather the foundation, and then the walls. It is important to know, when you build a building, what to expect and what not to expect. If you saw the roof going up before the walls, you would have a problem. Likewise, as we build a new ministry to youth and young adults, if we see some things before others, we would be working out of sequence. We need to lay a strong foundation. So, this month, I want to share with you some reflections on what NOT to expect during this building journey. Next month, we will look at some of the positive expectations that are likely to be fulfilled as God guides our journey. What NOT to Expect During This Church-Building We do NOT expect the same-looking ministry that we used to have - Every church I have ever served tells some form of a glory days story. These stories usually begin with the phrase, When we first came to the church,... or When we were in youth group, we would always... and then end with some variant of maybe we should try again or I just wish people today would be able to experience that. Usually, the moments described are not ancient core Christian practices such as studying scripture together, worshiping together, or experiencing mission together. Such practices are timeless. Instead, the moments typically involve a setting for fellowship or an activity that was well-suited for the context (we had a bowling team; our youth group would hold a car wash). Unfortunately, times have changed. Experiences are different. What was a wonderful experience in 1965 or 1975 or even 2005 cannot be repeated. It was a wonderful experience then, and we celebrate its contribution to our foundation, but effective ministry in 1920 was different looking than effective ministry in 1960, and the same holds true today. We do NOT expect a rapidly filling sanctuary Our church s mission is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and to live it out in loving witness to whomever we meet with the purpose of changing hearts and strengthening the community of believers. Our United Methodist Church s mission is to Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. One of the many activities in which disciples of Jesus engage is public worship together with other Christians. When a church is engaged in Outreach, building relationships with other Christians and sharing the gospel with non-christians, the church is continually inviting others to worship, but is patient to wait for the Holy Spirit s timing. Such timing does not occur when we want, but rather when the individual is ready. On most occasions, a person must feel a sense of belonging before they change their beliefs. Early Methodists often invited others into their class meetings and accepted them as members of those classes long before those class members experienced salvation and began to worship.
Young families with children may have had 3, 5, 7, or 15 years of time during which weekly life patterns have emerged that will not change overnight. A Sunday morning routine involving church is a difficult one to adapt to for families where one or both parents are working, and where a day off now is less relaxing for parents and children because of expectations to attend worship. Don t give up! God s Word is still accomplishing its purposes! Wait upon the Lord! We do NOT expect more hands to make the work of the people easier Our church is a busy one! Many hands make for light work. The church could not accomplish that work without the humble offerings of effort given by so many dedicated congregants. Tempting as it may be to imagine, we are not to covet the strong backs and able hands of those new to our community. The church is indeed a place where we are called to use our many diverse gifts for service, but disciples and guests new to our community must be invited to discover and apply their gifts not under threat of guilt or compulsion, but as expressions of their authentic selves. The last thing a young parent may want to do is volunteer in the nursery on their one weekly day of rest. The last activity a burned-out professional banker may want to do is to be expected to manage church finances. God provides, but God provides on God s timing. We do NOT expect a radically changed 11:00 Sunday Worship Service to attract newcomers With our value of showing love for who is already here accompanying our value of showing love to those we meet or about to meet, such a tactic would not demonstrate love for both. We will not be trading in the organ for an electric guitar on a consistent basis anytime soon. Such a change might be welcomed by some, but would be unwelcome to many other faithful McMannen disciples. That said, churches thrive when they offer different styles of worship at different times, so new musical styles or new worship formats may pop up at other times or places. We do NOT expect young families or singles joining existing Sunday School classes or small groups (although some might) While an existing class may welcome and fully be accepted by some new people, overwhelming empirical evidence demonstrates that long-running classes find it almost impossible to significantly attract newcomers. An existing class simply has too many unperceived barriers to entry. Differing life-stages, inside jokes, prerequisite knowledge, unknown names, or well-entrenched patterns of interaction unique to the group combine so that a newcomer will have a hard time feeling accepted, no matter how welcoming the group tries to be. Groups that grow in numbers are groups that intentionally divide to grow, and decide to recruit and welcome newcomers during a fresh start. Have you found yourself hoping for any of these effects of our church building? Are there other expectations that, if you really thought and prayed about them, might be altered if you shared them with God and listened to God s vision? I hope that you will continue to pray for one another, and for God s direction during this time of shared ministry to those we are about to meet. I hope you will also continue to show the love for one another that God has taught you throughout your lives. Finally, I hope you will continue to share with your church family the joys and concerns God is bringing to your heart. Pastor Ed
Download our calendar information: A file can be downloaded and imported into any calendar program that will let you import a commadelimited text file. Most calendaring software, like Outlook, Lotus, etc. has this feature built right in. Simply click the ICAL symbol on the calendar (bottom left corner) on our mcmannenumc.org website to download it to your hard drive. Then open your calendar software and import it. Please always refer to the calendar on the McMannen website for the most up-todate informa on.
July 6 10 9 AM 12 PM Infants 5th grade This community wide event promises to be mountains of fun! Join our climbing team register to be a part of Everest VBS today! Go to www.mcmannenumc.org or www.groupvbspro.com/vbs/ez/mcmannenloveskids to register today! Registration must be received by Friday, June 12 to guarantee your child will receive a t-shirt. Adult and teen volunteers needed!! All volunteers must register online also. Only $25/child or $50/family for this five day event!!!
4102 Neal Road Durham, NC 27705-2320 919-383-1263 Fax: 919-383-0546 www.mcmannenumc.org Church Office Hours: Monday-Friday: 9 am - 1 pm Sunday Mornings 8:45 am - Worship (in Neal Chapel) 10 am - Sunday School 11:00 am - Worship (in the Sanctuary) Come and Worship! D eadline for the next newsletter, The Messenger, is Monday, June 22 9 am for all events through July. Staff Ed Priestaf, Pastor pastored@mcmannenumc.org 919-274-8061 Calvin Dickenson Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries & Outreach calvind@mcmannenumc.org Jackie Bolen Director of Preschool jackieb@mcmannenumc.org Anggie Thompson Office Administrator anggiet@mcmannenumc.org Floalice Reaves Organist John Benton Director of Music Ministries johnb@mcmannenumc.org Mission: To proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and to live it out in loving witness to whomever we meet with the purpose of changing hearts and strengthening the community of believers.