March 2016 Newsletter

March 2016 Newsletter

A Message From The Pastors One of the signs that we are getting older is how often we use the phrase: It wasn t like that when I was a kid. The other day as we were walking through a discount store we saw a sign which read: Only 29 days until Easter. It wasn t like that when we were kids. Sure, we had Easter baskets, egg hunts, and some candy, but we never had Easter presents and the candy haul was in no way comparable to Halloween. Our main problem with the commercialization of Christian holidays is the fact that the Church loses control of the celebration; take Christmas for example. The marketing of Christmas decorations and Christmas gifts has pushed the start of the Christmas season to before Thanksgiving. As a result, the season of Advent has all but disappeared. There are many in the church who want to sing Joy to the World on the first Sunday in Advent; and as a result, by the time Christmas arrives they are tired of the season and they are quick to push Christmas aside until next year. As we walked past the pastel bunnies, baskets and candy it would have been easy for us to think that Easter is upon us. In reality we still have 3 more Sundays in Lent, plus Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services before we can start celebrating. Yes, we know how the story ends. We know that in the end love wins. We know that Easter will come whether or not we observe Lent. The problem with skipping over the hard stuff and moving straight to Easter is that there is no resurrection without death. Any Easter celebration that fails to acknowledge the suffering and death of Jesus makes our celebration as empty as the tomb on that fateful morning. It s tempting to skip the ugly parts and go straight to the good stuff, but we have to remember that it is all good stuff. Lent is a time when we contemplate what Jesus has sacrificed for us and a time when we consider what we will sacrifice for Jesus. Lent is important, so don t gloss over it. We promise Easter is coming. It simply isn t here yet. Pastors Bridget and Neil For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1 Page 2

Lent 2016 One Great Hour Of Sharing Unfolding the Mysteries... Join us as we continue our Lenten series! March 6th: Blinded? Enlightened! March 13th: Broken? Whole! March 20th: Conflicted? Resolved! Sunday Mornings: 9:00am Traditional Worship Adult Sunday School Nursery Care (6wks. 3 years) 10:30am Praise Worship Adult Sunday School Nursery Care (6wks. 3 years) Children s Sunday School (Preschool- 5th Grade) Sunday Evenings: 5:30pm Light Supper and fellowship 6:00pm Experiential Worship Children s Church Nursery Care (6wks. 3 years) On March 6th, we will collect a special offering for the One Great Hour of Sharing. This is a crucial Sunday for us because it is the day we come together to empower our disaster relief arm of Global Ministries, UMCOR, for an entire year. If you remember, When tornadoes hit Mississippi, UMCOR was there. When fires ravaged thousands of homes, UMCOR was there. When Syrian refugees needed help, UMCOR was there They were there because of One Great Hour of Sharing. This One Great Hour of Sharing covers the operating costs of UMCOR, which allows UMCOR to be where it needs to be, when it needs to be there, for as long as it needs to be there... and allows UMCOR to funnel earmarked donations directly to the designated project. Maundy Thursday Service March 24th 6:30pm Good Friday Service March 25th 6:30pm Page 3

Church Life All Church Clean Up! Friday, March 18th from 1:00-4:00pm Saturday, March 19th from 9:00am-12:00pm It's time for our Lenten clean-up, to prepare for guests during Holy Week! There will be lots of inside and outside jobs, and jobs for all physical abilities. Let's make Valley View shine for our Lenten visitors! If you cannot make it on the set days, but still want to help, stop by the office and choose a task card to complete on your own time. Contact Tim Williams if any questions at 913-681-1502 or timwilliams1938@yahoo.com. New Movie Group Informational Meeting, March 7th at 7:00pm Calling all movie goers! A new group is forming of folks that like to go to movies and discuss them from a Christian perspective. Join Robin and Rindy Richerson to discuss their experience and make plans to create this group. Candy Donations Needed! We fill over 800 Easter Eggs each year for our Easter Egg Hunt! That is a lot of eggs, and candy! This year s egg hunt will take place on March 26th. Help us fill those eggs by donating a bag of peanut-free candy. Please place donation in the baskets outside the sanctuary. Church Life Easter Flowers We invite you to sponsor Easter flowers! Your gift will help to provide for all of the flowers. Any proceeds beyond the actual cost of the flowers will be given to our Hope Chest food pantry ministry. Flowers can be given in memory or in celebration of an individual or group. Contributions can be in any amount. A list of the sponsorships will be included in the Easter Sunday bulletin. Please submit your information no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 21st, in order to have your contribution included in the list of sponsorships. Easter Egg Hunt Saturday, March 26th at 10:00am Find your Easter Baskets, grab your friends, and join us for an awesome family event! Your toddler, preschool and elementary school children will enjoy our creative twist to the traditional egg hunt. In addition to the egg hunt, there will be activity stations, a photo back-drop for families to take pictures, and more! Adult Sunday School Classes (currently offered) Coffee and Conversation (9:00am) in Fellowship Hall PG Factor (Parents Group) (9:30am) in the Youth Lounge Adult Forum (10:15am) in the Conference Room Open Door Class (10:15am) in the Parlor People in Progress (10:15am) in Off Ct. 38/39 TNT (10:15am) in room 50/51 Valley Viewers (10:15am in room 52/53) Go to valleyviewumc.org (programs/ministries) for a description of each class. Page 4

Special Needs Ministry February was full of fun at Evening Care! We started the month with our annual Super Bowl Chili Supper. The TNT Sunday School class helped serve our meal, and we played Super Bowl themed games in the gym. We had a Valentine's Dance with the Harvest Moon Band, and our Evening Care Talent Show was a huge hit! To remind us of warm weather in winter, we had a luau party too! We celebrated February birthdays and collected food for the Hope Chest as well. We look forward to these events in March: March 3: BINGO! March 10: March Madness Gym Games March 17: St. Patrick's Celebration, Collect canned goods for Hope Chest, March Birthdays March 24: No Evening Care, Maundy Thursday March 31: Easter Egg Hunt, Spring Crafts and Evening Care Bakery Tone Chime Choir meets at 6:30pm each Thursday - all are welcome to participate. Starz Sunday School meets at 9:30 am each Sunday in off court room 39. All are welcomed whether you are a member of Valley View UMC or not. UM Women United Methodist Women All women are invited. Go to valleyviewumc.org for additional meetings later this month. Joy Circle will meet on Tuesday, March 22nd for lunch at Hy-Vee followed by an afternoon of work in the Hope Chest. This is hosted by Virginia Poindexter. UM Men Monthly Meeting and Guest Speaker Saturday, March 19th at 7:30am Join the Valley View United Methodist Men for breakfast and to hear our own Dick Smith talk about his work with the Dream Factory. Since 1985, the Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City has remained dedicated to making dreams come true for critically or chronically ill children. As a 100 percent volunteer organization, granting dreams is our mission; smiling children is our vision; and in more than two decades, our devoted volunteers and generous business supporters have created thousands of smiles. We are proud to say that more than 85 percent of the funds raised or donated to the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the Dream Factory remain right here, granting the dreams of deserving children in our community. Page 5

Children s Ministry Student Ministry Take Stock In Our Youth! Watch the e-new and bulletin for information about how you can help support our youth on their mission trip! VBS! VBS! Do We Love It? Yes! Yes! Yes! Vacation Bible School at Valley View UMC will take place June 6th-10th (9:00am-12:00pm) Last year we reached over 250 children during VBS. We need you to help us make this year even better than last year. We need age-group leaders and station leaders. Please consider serving one or all of these exciting days. Contact Janet Loos at 913-642-4400 ext. 320 or janet@valleyviewumc.org. Weekday Program Enrollment Valley View UMC Preschool and Parent s Day Out enrollment for the 2016-17 school year has started! Enrollment is on a first-come, first serve basis. The M-W-F morning 4 year-old classes fill up quickly. For more information, please contact Leona Murphy at the Preschool, 649-5897 or Shelley Dopp, with Parent s Day Out, 383-9146. Family Easter Worship Sunday, March 27th We encourage families to celebrate this special day by worshipping together as a family. There will be no children s Sunday school that day. We will have activity bags for children to use during worship. Nursery care will be provided for children ages 3 and under. Social Principles Study Study the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church Begins Wednesday March 16th at 10:00am or March 17th at 6:30pm The Social Principles of The United Methodist Church are the product of ninety-eight years of legislative decisions made by lay and clergy members of The United Methodist Church and its predecessor denominations. The Social Principles are prayerful and thoughtful efforts on the part of many General Conferences to speak to complex and controversial issues in the global community from a sound biblical and theological foundation. They are a call to faithfulness and are intended to be instructive and persuasive in the best of the prophetic spirit. The Social Principles are a call to all members of The United Methodist Church to a prayerful, studied dialogue of faith and practice. Studying the Social Principles provides opportunities to examine your own theology and ethics and to practice discipleship. The study led by Pastor Bridget will begin on Wednesday, March 16 at 10:00am and Thursday, March 17 at 6:30pm Page 6

Mission Opportunities Hope Chest Food Drive The Hope Chest, our food pantry, has an upcoming opportunity to collect groceries from customers at the Hy-Vee across from the church. We have had this opportunity several times in the past, and it has been tremendously successful. Our next date is Saturday, April 23, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We will need volunteers to help collect groceries and let the shoppers know about the Hope Chest's ministry by providing handouts. Sign-ups for this mission project will be available around the first of April. This could be a great chance for families with young children to help our food pantry in a small block of time. If you have any questions about the plans for the day, please feel free to email Anne Marley at annem@ssdla.net. Adult Mission Trip 17 Adults are leaving for a time of mission and service and traveling to the Chatham, IL, Methodist Distribution Center. The group will leave Sunday, March 13th, and return on Thursday, March 17th. Please keep this group in your prayers. Save The Date Sunday, March 6th: One Great Hour Of Sharing special giving Sunday. Thursday, March 24th: Maundy Thursday, services at 6:30pm. Friday, March 25th: Church Office Closed Good Friday, services at 6:30pm Saturday, March 26th: Children's Easter Egg Hunt, 10:00am Sunday, March 27th: Easter Sunday! Services at 9:00 (traditional) and 10:30 (praise). Monday, March 28th: Church Office Closed Saturday April 23rd: Hy-Vee Food Drive for Hope Chest June 6th-10th: Surf Shack VBS! Stay up-to-date with all events at Valley View on our website! Page 7

Staff Information From The Church Office Pastors Rev. Neil Gately Rev. Bridget Gately (913) 642-4400 ext. 313 (913) 642-4400 ext. 312 neil@valleyviewumc.org bridget@valleyviewumc.org Office Dee Hetlinger Amy Woodworth Business Administrator Scheduling & Administration (913) 642-4400 ext. 310 (913) 642-4400 ext. 311 dee@valleyviewumc.org amy@valleyviewumc.org Children Janet Loos Leona Murphy Director of Children & Family Ministry Weekday Program Director (913) 642-4400 ext. 320 (913) 649-5897 janet@valleyviewumc.org leona@valleyviewumc.org Shelley Dopp Asst. Weekday Director (913) 383-9146 shelley@valleyviewumc.org Youth and Recreation Special Needs Ministry Jamey Bentley Angie Beck, Twylia Church, Director of Youth and Recreation Ginni Duggan and Julie Drew (913) 642-4400 ext. 321 (913) 642-4400 ext 322 jamey@valleyviewumc.org eveningcare@valleyviewuumc.org Music Ray Martin Mary Haas Worship Leader Chancel Choir (913) 642-4400 ext. 316 (913) 642-4400 ext. 316 ray@valleyviewumc.org mary@valleyviewumc.org Tina Gadwood Jan Barger Handbells Organist (913) 642-4400 ext. 316 (913) 642-4400 ext. 316 office@valleyviewumc.org office@valleyviewumc.org Dave Wapelhorst office@valleyviewumc.org Custodians Hope Chest Food Pantry Michelle Hess (913) 642-4400 ext. 316 office@valleyviewumc.org Javier Ruiz office@valleyviewumc.org Worship Bulletin: Printed Prayer List If you are hospitalized or ill and wish to be on the printed prayer list, please have a family member or friend complete a prayer card indicating your permission, or call the church office at 913-642-4400 and request to be put on the printed list. Publication Deadlines The March newsletter deadline is Tuesday, March 22nd, at 5:00pm. The Valley View E-News and worship bulletin deadlines are each Monday at 12:00pm. Please e-mail information to Janet Loos in the church office at janet@valleyviewumc.org. Inclement Weather & Building Closings If the Shawnee Mission School District cancels its activities due to weather, Valley View cancels its activities as well. Check our home page at valleyviewumc.org or listen to the recorded message on the main office phone (913-642-4400) for weather related cancellations. Valley View United Methodist Church Purpose Statement We are a Christ-centered community, sharing God's love. Come as you are! Mission Statement Valley View United Methodist Church is a welcoming congregation, growing in grace, being transformed by love and serving as disciples of Jesus Christ.