THE CIRCUIT BOARD St. Matthew s United Methodist Church July 2016 Join us for worship on Sunday mornings Traditional Worship 8:15 & 11:15am Modern Worship 9:45am Classes & Studies for all ages In This Issue A Note from Pastor Neil St. Matthew s Upcoming Events Music Ministries/ Worship Schedule St. Matthew s Upcoming Events July 4 Independence Day Church Office Closed July 18-22 VBS/KAMP Among our congregation WDS Update UMW Corner July 10-16 ASP Mission Trip July 24-30 JP Mission Trip New Sermon Series Michelo Project July 11 Junior High Manic Mondays Begins August 9 Kindred Project Prayer Group Happy Birthday Doris! New Members July 15 20s/30s Dinner Church July 17 Senior High Summer Slam August 12 Bridge Group August 19 20s/30s Dinner Church NVMHI Thank You Disciple 1 Bible Study www.stmatthewsumc.org
From Pastor Neil s Study Since the beginning of 2016, St. Matthew s Church Council has been working very hard to discern God s dreams for the future of St. Matthew s United Methodist Church. We spent five hours together on a Saturday in February, and have spent 30-45 minutes at every Church Council meeting since then. Our goal has been to have a deeper understanding of God s will for our church community; increasing our clarity about God s mission and vision for the future of the church; and developing a list of priorities, desired outcomes, and next actions for 2016 and beyond. The Council s work is ongoing, and I want to thank the members of the Church Council for their faithfulness and commitment to St. Matthew s. As the Church Council has been discussing what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and how we should respond to Jesus commission to make disciples of Jesus Christ, I have been thinking about my own call to ministry and my personal mission in life. There are many facets to Christian discipleship and I believe that I am called to lead the churches I serve to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But over the years I ve become increasingly convinced that my primary purpose in life is: to be continually transformed by God s love and grace and help to others experience the life-changing power of God s love and grace through Jesus Christ. This is the person I want to be and the difference that I believe God is calling me to make in the world today. I m telling you this for two reasons: one, because I believe that God s love and grace really does change lives; and two, because I want to encourage you to think about your own personal mission in life. It has been a valuable (and challenging) exercise for the Church Council to think and pray about why we are here and I think it is a valuable (and challenging) exercise for every follower of Jesus. What is your mission in life? Why are you here (on earth at this time in history)? What difference is God calling you to make in the world right now? Here s what I know about myself, and I m wondering if it might be true for you: I get caught up in the busyness of life, and I forget why I m doing all the things I m doing. So, on a regular basis, I need to take a step back and remember who I am and why I m here. At the end of my life, I don t want to look back and discover that I didn t fully experience the transforming power of God s love and grace and didn t do my part to help others experience it too. These may seem like obvious questions, but I hope you ll take some time to consider: Who are you? Why are you here? What has God called you to do with your life? For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) In Christ, New Sermon Series starts July 24 On Sunday July 24, the pastors will begin a new sermon series called Words To Live By. During this series we will consider some of the basic words of Christian life, words like: hope, love, faith, service, holiness, compassion, and courage. We will not only try to understand what they mean for our lives today, we will also be challenged to embody these words in daily life. Our goal is to live lives that exemplify these essential characteristics of Christian discipleship. Please join us.
Among Our Congregation June In Sympathies St. Matthew s mourns the loss of the following people. Please continue to hold their loved ones in your thoughts and prayers. St. Matthew s member Frankie Hull Stacy Adams, brother of Debbie Creekman Rita Holtslander, mother of Al Holtslander Capt. James F. Brooke III, father of Ed Brooke June Births McCarroll Robert Moberly, son of Jessica and Evan Moberly and grandson of Bill and Cathy Moberly William Howard June Baptisms July Prayer Focus We are therefore Christ s ambassador, as though God were making his appeal through us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 UMW events are open to all women. Circles meet at various times during the month to accommodate our busy schedules. If you are interested in more information, please contact Sandy Plate at 703-425-4470 sdplate@verizon.net or Karen Cogan 703-978- 1640 karen.cogan@verizon.net UMW July Events July 13th: Wednesdays on the Lawn sponsored by the UMW. Come join us Pork BBQ will be served! Note: NO CIRCLE EVENTS IN JULY Happy Birthday Doris Woodring! A very special birthday blessing to Doris Woodring, who turned 106 on June 9th! Many thanks to all of you who sent cards to Doris. Doris sends her love and gratitude and looks forward to celebrating her 107th birthday with all of you. Coming in September: Disciple 1 Bible Study Do you want to grow in your faith and discipleship? Would you like to know more about God s Biblical story from Genesis to Revelation? Then maybe the Disciple 1 in-depth Bible study is for you. Reverend Anne Hough is offering to lead a study group, beginning in September, if there are enough people interested. If you would like more information, or want to register, please contact Anne at eaehough@gmail.com or 540-256-4372.
Traditional Worship Music Schedule All July 8:15 & 11:15 Solos & Ensembles All August 8:15 Solos & Ensembles 11:15 Sanctuary Choir Michelo Project in Swaziland The Michelo Program in Manzini, Swaziland, was inspired by a Rotary Club Study Tour to Africa in 2007. Dr. Lois Wilson, a dentist in McLean and Michelle Peters, a Special Education teacher at Poe Middle School were asked by St. Joseph s School to assist in the program for 120 disabled students and provide dental care for these students. The first few years were spent educating the teachers by sending Fairfax County teachers for 3 weeks of training for those who teach the disabled. Michelle asked Nancy Cappel to participate in 2011 by taking chimes and teaching music to the children. This year will be the 5th year to teach music and present our 2nd annual musical, The Rock Slinger and His Greatest Hit. St. Matthew s is sponsoring a mission team to paint the dorms, build handicapped showers for each dorm, work on much needed plumbing throughout the campus and dig a well. Carol Trost, Jim King and Scott Bailey are participating on the mission team. The UMW Craft Fair funds, the UMM Christmas Tree sales and donations from many St. Matthew s members have gone toward the work of this team. Many women at St. Matthew s have helped with making health kits for girls. We will be taking these kits to girls who board on the campus. Pam Godlove wanted her children, Brooke and Carter, to be involved in a mission using money donated in memory of her husband Brian. The 170 students who board at St. Joseph s will receive a string backpack filled with a pair of flip flops, playing cards, puzzles, hacky sack balls, jump ropes and frisbees. Each bag will say God Loves You. Michelle is spending three months at St. Joseph s working to assign the disabled children to the level suited for their learning style. She has worked with the government in Swaziland to provide more assistance for disabled children. Michelle, Lois and Nancy want to thank all of you at St. Matthew s who have worked on our projects and given freely to the Mission Project through the Michelo Program.
St. Matthew s Weekday School Things are very quiet around the WDS! School is out and Summer Camp is now a wonderful memory! Summer camp was a big success. We had 52 campers each week and we even had a wait list! Weekly theme (Heroes and the Olympics) were incorporated into our daily activities, Opening Bible story, arts & crafts, science & nature, music & story, playground time and even our snacks! Each week we had a special guest come and lead a class with the campers, week 1 Andrew Gause Martial Arts and week 2 Jump Bunch. Summer camp would not be complete without Water Play! The campers enjoyed pools, a sprinkler, water tables and games. TEACHERS NEEDED! St. Matthew s Week Day School is looking for an Assistant Teacher for the 5-day Four Year Old Class and Substitute teachers for all classes. If you are interested or know someone that is please contact the WDS office, 703-978-6242 or email gvivian@stmatthewswds.com for more information. St. Matthew s NVMHI Ministry Thanks Rev. Cindy Rogers The St. Matthew s Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute ministry team extends loving thanks to Rev. Cindy Rogers, chaplain at NVMHI, for ten years of ministry together. Cindy is retiring this year from NVMHI, a facility for patients with serious mental illness. She has built a wonderful ministry there including worship for a wide variety of faiths, an ecumenical worship service, special music (including some musicians from St. Matthews), Bible studies, and spiritual consultation opportunities for patients. St. Matthew s members began worshiping with the patients ten years ago, preparing the space for worship, leading music, leading a prayer/healing service following regular worship, serving Holy Communion, and providing Bibles for patients as needed. Through these years of worshiping and celebrating together members of the St. Matthews team and the patients have enriched each other, learned to call one another by name and formed a special kind of worshiping community. We have grown as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you, Cindy. We have been changed through the opportunity you offered us to share in ministry with you. We hope for the opportunity to continue this ministry with the new chaplain.
When Emily and Brian Howard relocated to this area, Emily was returning home. Although she was raised Catholic, she spent her youth participating in St. Matthew s handbell choirs. Emily is now a librarian at South County Middle School. Brian, a native of Pennsylvania, works as an attorney with Vinson & Elkins. The Howards met in Ann Arbor, MI and are now the proud parents of 11-month-old Will. They enjoy exploring all of the kid-friendly fun available in this area. Welcome Howards! The Kinard family is an Air Force family who are now on their seventh posting. Sam is a native of Ft. Walton Beach, FL, and works for Inova. Jon is a native of Centreville, AL, and is stationed at the Pentagon. Kate is ten years old and already active here in our children s programs. The Kinards were invited to St. Matthew s by Todd Creekman who met them at his grandson s orchestra concert. The Kinards attended Disciples Path class and are already active volunteering in worship. Welcome Kinard Family! Angela and Bill Culbertson were invited to St. Matthew s by their friend Annette Landers. Angela was born in DC and grew up in Maryland. She now works as Senior Vice President for Human Resources at NFCU. Bill is a native of Gates City, Virginia, and works in real estate. The Culbertsons attended the Disciples Path course and look forward to participating in Bible studies as well as Dinner for the Seasons dinner group. Welcome Angela & Bill!
Jennifer Felsher felt an open, friendly atmosphere when she visited St. Matthew s. A lifelong United Methodist, she is a native of Collierville, Tennessee. Jennifer works as an Associate Project Director at BLH Tech, Inc. She is the mother of three one daughter and two sons who are in their late teens and early twenties. In her spare time Jennifer enjoys cooking, gardening, reading and hiking. Jennifer was a member of Pastor Grace s Disciples Path class. Be sure to extend a warm welcome to Jennifer! Virginia 2016 Annual Conference Summary The United Methodist Church is a worldwide network of churches, connected in mission. The Virginia conference is one piece of this connection, and their annual meeting was held in Roanoke June 17-19. Our three pastors attended and the laity representatives were Bob Hull, Lyle Minter, and Beth Lanthier (alternate for Scott Bach-Hansen). We had 2.5 full days of meetings, worship, and celebrations. The body voted by acclamation to nominate the Rev. Dr. Ted Smith to be considered for Bishop. That decision will be made in July at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Rev. Tom Berlin and lay leader Martha Stokes presented information on the special commission on human sexuality that will be appointed by the Council of Bishops. The UMC is at a critical point with decreasing U.S. membership, increasing international membership, and deep division over the issues of same-sex marriage and ordination of lesbian/gay clergy. We also celebrated as new clergy were ordained and others retired. We said farewell to Bishop Cho, as he prepares to retire. You might have participated in creating kits for conference. Virginia churches sent 52,016 kits and the conference attendees contributed 10,039 pounds of canned/ boxed food to the Roanoke area Rescue Mission. Members approved a 2017 budget of $32,000,000, which is a 0.96% decrease from 2016. In Virginia, at the end of 2015, membership was 327,647, (a.46 % decrease); worship attendance was 98,253 (a 4% decrease); and reaffirmations of faith were 4,010 (a 6 % decrease). The conference has a longer summary online: http:// www.vaumc.org/pages/news/2016vanews/2016vanews_2016acwrapup. You can also watch recordings of the conference, including the worship services and Bible studies.
St. Matthew s United Methodist Church 8617 Little River Turnpike Annandale, VA 22003 www.stmatthewsumc.org St. Matthew s United Methodist Church Staff Senior Pastor: Neil Hough Associate Pastor: Grace Han Associate Pastor of Senior Adult Ministries & Visitation: Bill Moberly Senior Administrative Assistant: Nancy Manning Director of Youth Ministries: Mike Fujiura Director of Welcoming Ministries: Lynne Studeman Director of Children s Ministries: Carrie Schwab Preschool Ministries Coordinator: Christine Moser Director of Communications: Liz Dutton Bookkeeper: Andrea Crews Finance Secretary: Jackie Dinker Office Assistant: Kim Lauer Director of Music: Nancy Cappel Assistant to the Director of Music: Abby Madden Handbell Director: Tammy Freeman Organist: Carol Workman Modern Worship Leader: Abby Madden Worship Media Coordinator: Dan Burrer Office Resource Assistant Volunteer: Claire Adams Weekday School (WDS) Director: Gail Pepin-Vivian WDS Business Administrator: Laura McLean