February 2019 Advocate It s hard to believe that January has flown and today is the first day of February! What a journey we have been on together this past month. On Epiphany Sunday ( Kings Day ), we brought our gifts to the Christ child as we heard the story of the Wise Ones (from Matthew 2). We remembered that they offered gifts of great worth and significance and we brought our gifts of sacrifice and love...beginning with the children and their coin banks, and then to the youth and adults who gave to make a difference in the lives of those rebuilding after natural disasters. Our giving again this year will be channeled through the United Methodist Committee on Relief. To date we have received over $11,000 Praise God from whom all blessings flow! This past Sunday we celebrated Human Relations Sunday and we were reminded of the two greatest commandments: To love God, and to love others (Matthew 22:34-40). We were reminded that there is much work still to do to create the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned and to bring the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached into reality. We have so many big issues facing us as God s global family We need to work together for the good of all, and for generations to come. A phrase from the hymn we sang on Sunday keeps running through my mind We need new eyes for seeing new hand for holding on. Renew us with Your Spirit. Lord, free us. Make us one. (from Help Us Accept Each Other -- UMH 560) That continues to be my prayer I pray these times of worship speak to your heart and give you strength for the living of our days. May we be empowered and encouraged to love God and to love the people God puts in our path each day. In faith, Pastor Lisa
General Conference Update Special Session of General Conference Feb. 23-26, 2019 The Council of Bishops has called a Special Session of the General Conference of The United Methodist Church to be held February 23-26, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The purpose will be to receive and act on a report from the Commission on a Way Forward based on the recommendations of the Council of Bishops. The 32-member Commission was authorized by General Conference 2016 and appointed by the Council of Bishops to examine paragraphs in The Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and exploring options to strengthen the unity of the church. You can read the full report on the United Methodist Website: www.umc.org. Please pray for all those clergy and laity from around the world who will be traveling to participate in this important work. Our own Bonnie Marden is a lay delegate who will be attending. Thank you to Bonnie for presenting an overview of the proposed legislation at a recent Adult Education class on Sunday morning. Then in March, our Bishop, Sudarshana Devadhar, invites us to join in Courageous Conversations about General Conference 2019. The New England Conference is planning a series of Courageous Conversation gatherings to unpack the events of General Conference and help us to process our feelings and experiences together. For part of our time together, we will use a process similar to the circle process format we ve used at Annual Conference. The conference planning committee thinks these gatherings will be vitally important for both clergy and laity as we seek to understand where we are headed and hopes we will plan to attend. Dates will be available in the next Advocate.
Aldersgate Updates Easter Flowers Each year for the Easter Services, yellow mums, white lily s and blue hydrangea plants are ordered to adorn the altar. We invite the congregation purchase a plant and have a dedications published in a bulletin insert on Easter. Plants may be taken home following the conclusion of the second service. We have not yet received the information about the plants for this year from the florist yet, but we will put announcements in the weekly bulletin once we have the pricing and the order forms. Thank you! New Member Class A recent New Member class has started and the next meeting will be on February 3rd. Pastor Lisa will meet with anyone interested in becoming a member between the worship services in the library downstairs.
Adult Study Adult Study The Sunday 9:30 AM Adult study will be doing a six-part series entitled Prayer Coin Daring to Pray with Honest Abandon by Elise Morgan. Books are available in the church office at a cost of $15. Companion book is available for a $15 donation. Sunday Date Topic 1 February 3 Honest (Chapter 4-5) 2 February 10 Abandon (Chapters 6-7) 3 February 17 Pivot (Chapters 8-9) 4 February 24 The Prayer Coin (Chapters 10-11) Opportunities to participate in Adult Studies Sundays 9:30 10:30 am Concord Room. Anyone is welcome to join the sessions. Weekly topics listed above, join any time! Thursdays 10-11:30 am Concord Room Anyone is welcome to join the sessions! Early Bird Bible Study This bible study group meets on Tuesday mornings in the Concord Room at 7:00-7:45. All are welcome to partake in the exploration of Scripture and its life application.
Prayer Partner Ministry I find that I am not quite ready for 2019! I have just finished putting away my Christmas decorations and the ones I really love I will miss and I wonder what life will be like when I prepare for Christmas in 2019! Perhaps that is what happens to us as we age and experience the various questions we face on our journey; we wonder, yet we are a people of hope and are taught not to be afraid for we are never, never, alone. Our loving God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, is with us. And, we are a people of faith and part of a dear faith community, and we are sustained and strengthened by one another and our Savior, Jesus. Our Prayer Partner Ministry continues to bring your concerns and joys to God we have witnessed the miracle of healing; the gentle prayers lifting those so loved into the loving arms of God; bringing the uncertainties and the problems we face to one another for strength in times of trouble. I love our Prayer Partner Ministry and hope several who read this note will decide to join with us. I also invite suggestions as to how we can even make our ministry more meaningful so let me know or let any of us know how to make any helpful change. EVERYONE is encouraged to pray for family, friends, the stranger, our witness within this community and wherever life finds us. EVERYONE is encouraged to pray for our Church Staff our amazing Church Staff! EVERYONE is encouraged to pray for our Church School teachers, leaders, and our delightful students. EVERYONE is encouraged to pray for our Church Outreach that we continue to make life better for those who may struggle to eat and have a safe place to live. EVERYONE is encouraged to pray that the members and friends of Aldersgate find safety and friendship in our church. EVERYONE is encouraged to pray that the message of the Gospel reaches out way beyond our doors and that people know us always as the church with the warm heart and that we are the church that welcome all people. Please continue to add to this prayer request list. God bless you and all you love, and the stranger in 2019. My love to you, Joanne
Outreach News Change for Change The mission coins will now go to the youth 2019 Mission Trip. The YOUTH Event is the National Gathering for United Methodist Youth, it will be in 2019 and traces its roots all the way back to the first YOUTH event of 1988. YOUTH 2019 will provide youth and their leaders with chances to connect with each other, denominational leaders, and connectional agencies to help them discover the wide variety of ministries of the United Methodist Church. St. Paul s Updates There are open months to do St. Paul's Feeding Ministry. Please ask your group to take one of these months on or simply put a group together and Outreach will help you do a night. Much thanks for supporting this mission. Aldersgate has been helping at St. Paul's now for 23 years! Wow, we are blessed with all of your support. JFON: JUSTICE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS Some of us from outreach will be going to the Lowell Clinic this month for the hospitality portion of this program and will be able to tell you how this is going. We want to thank Pam Brewster for her help with this new and great mission.
Small Groups and Member notes Single Ladies Dining Out The group will get together for dinner on February 23rd at 4:30 pm at Good Thymes in Lowell! Note the changed time! This is at 1278 Gorham Street, Lowell! You will love their good home cooking! Deadline for reservations is Thursday morning the 21st at 10am. Ladies thank you for your help on the reservations. Please continue to call us to reserve you place! It was much more pleasant for us. PLEASE continue to decide by the 21st if you are going and reserve your spot by calling or talking with Ardie Deitz or Betsy Campbell. We hope you can join us. Garden Club Please join the garden group for our once-a-year meeting on Sunday, Feb 24, at noon in the Concord Room. We ll look over our new seeds and decide what to plant in the vegetable garden this year. We d love to hear your ideas! If you re interested but can t make the meeting, please contact Lee Williams at or v.l.williams@comcast.net. Book Club The group meets the last Tuesday of the month at 7pm in the Concord room. All are welcome to join the fun! February Bear Town by Fredrik Backman March-The Library Book by Susan Orlean April-Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
HOWDY Y ALL! JOIN US FOR AN OLD FASHIONED HOE DOWN! on February 16 th 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm SADDLE UP in your Western duds. Don t have any? That s a-ok. BE READY to square dance, line dance and snack on some grub! We will also have a movie for young children in the Concord Room. WRANGLE SOME FRIENDS AND COME ON DOWN TO THE ALDERSGATE RANCH!
Confirmation Class Please keep the following students and their mentors in your prayers during their confirmation journey: Jack Dorsey - Dave Jones, Declan Hughes Dan Ward, Anika Jenkins - Jane Vooys Sarah Marson - Vera McCrea, Alyson Mireault Angela Hughes, Justin Randall Jim Ortolf, Sofia Rodriquez - Charles McCrea and Shaylee Wright - Sherri Panneton. Our next confirmation class is Sunday, February 10th from noon - 1:30 p.m. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall. Junior Youth Group This fellowship group is for youth in grades 5 th 8 th. Our mission is to provide your children with a safe, healthy and loving environment to help them grow and experience Christianity. Friends are always welcome! Altitude Fun! Friday, February 8 th from 6:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. We will travel to Altitude Trampoline Park in Billerica, MA. Please bring $15.00 and go on line to fill out the waiver at www.altitudeparkma.com. St. Paul s Feeding Program 5th 8 th grade Wednesday, February 20 th from 3:30 6:00 p.m. More information to follow Am I Normal? Friday, February 22 nd from 6:30 8:00 p.m. 5 th 8 th grade Growing up can be hard! We will explore how to deal with the pressures of being a teenager. Bring a snack to share.
Senior Youth God Squad This fellowship group is for youth in grades 9-12. We are a fun group of spiritually focused youth who celebrate Christ s presence among us by engaging in community and group activities, church participation and mission projects. Hoe Down! Saturday, February 16 th from 6:30 8:30 p.m. We will begin setting up at 4:30 p.m., we will order pizza for dinner. Come join us for square dancing, line dancing, food and fun! Fundraiser 6:31 Practice Sunday, February 24 th from noon 1:30 p.m. We will eat pasta and practice for our worship service on Sunday, March 3 rd. OUR NEXT SERVICE IS: FEBRUARY 10TH! at 6:31p.m. Everyone is welcome!
Ushers Keith Cruickshank (8:30 a.m.) Sergei Leary/Dave Jones(10:45 a.m.) Greeters 2/03 Bill Ben 2/10 Lisa Jill 2/17 Evelyn Dawn & Dave 2/24 Robin Nadina Acolytes 2/03 Sofia Ashley 2/10 Sofia Erin/Sara 2/17 Declan Katie 2/24 Alex Samuel Communion 2/03 Jayne, Dan V. (8:30) Dan W., Wendy, Nate, Lee(10:30) 2/10 Janice, Charles (8:30) 2/17 Vera & Dan V.(8:30) 2/24 Cheryl B. & Joanne.(8:30) Readers 2/03 Roger David 2/10 Nancy Don 2/17 Walt Kathy 2/24 Charles Ben Contact Us! Pastor Lisa s email address is revlisabc@gmail.com. The Church Office email is aldersgatechelmsford@verizon.net and the email for Cheryl Ortolf, For upcoming events, see Aldersgate s Online Monthly Calendar at www. aldersgateumc.us Paper copies are also available on the Welcome Desk. Office hours are Monday-Friday 9am-2pm.