The Ties that Binds NEWSLETTER United Methodist Church Babylon, New York 11702 Phone #631-661-5151 Fax #631-661-3043 E-mail address - babylonumc@yahoo.com Web Page - www.babylonumc.org From the Pastor's Desk FALL 2014 September 18, 2014 Dear Friends in Christ, In a matter of days it will be Autumn. Many of the church programs have started back up after taking the summer off. The 11 am Service is now celebrated every Sunday and will be until the first Sunday of July. Sunday School is held at the 9:30 hour and features a new Senior High Seminar for 9th through 12th graders. Classes now run from the Cradle to Grade 12. Youth Fellowship meets on Sunday evenings for 6th graders through 12th graders. The Bible Studies are up and running: Monday morning and Tuesday evening. The Soup Kitchen is serving a meal every Sunday at noon. James Street Players are in Rehearsal for Scrooge. Look through these pages for the many opportunities for your participation at the church. I am preaching a Series of Sermons dedicated to reacquainting all of us with Jesus: the historical Jesus. On June 28th the Sermon is Jesus: Changer of Lives. We are inviting everyone to come to a Cottage Meeting this fall: a small group forum to hear of the goals of the church and the finances and the future. You will hear more about this in the very near future. The themes of this Program are Toward the 2020 Vision and Enriching our Lives Through Giving. Plan to join us. See you soon, Tom Thomas Carney Pastor
OUR MISSION STATEMENT We are a community of Christ s followers. Our mission is to be worshipping, welcoming, inclusive, caring, growing in faith and to live and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world. Welcome to the 2014 second issue of our enewsletter. Receiving your newsletter via email will help us to save paper, postage and time. If you received this newsletter as printed copy, we can add you to our email version. Complete the information on the outside of the newsletter or email us at babylonumc@yahoo.com. Sunday School - Check the Sunday School page for further information. Our Worship Services are at 8, 9:30 and 11 am. The Chancel Choir will sing at 9:30 and 11 am services. The Infant Toddler Nursery is for all children 3 years and under and is an important element of our church mission. Nursery care is currently under the direction of Sandra Haas and is available at 9:30 and 11 am. Our Infant Toddler Nursery is located in the Education Building. Bible Study Join an open Bible study and discussion group - Monday morning at 9:45 a.m. on summer break until September 8 th. Sharon Niggemeier and Ed Tournu, facilitators. Tuesday Evening at 6:45 p.m. in the library with Rich Santoro, facilitator. For more information, call the church office. ATTENTION ALL MEN OF THE UMC: Come and join the Babylon Methodist Men at their monthly breakfast at the Atlantis Diner. We have a time of fellowship and food and a chance to see what we can do to further the work of the church. There are no other meetings held and we guarantee to get you home in time to pick up the rest of the family for the 9:30 a.m. service. If you are interested, and we hope you will be, contact Bob Dunlop (587-5027) or Neil O'Connell (587-5210). Breakfasts are the second Sunday of the month at 7:30 a.m. Come and help us grow Our Food Pantry needs have increased. We are serving many more families on a monthly basis. Please continue to remember the FOOD PANTRY when you are shopping. Spam, corned beef hash, beef stew, tuna, chili, jelly, peanut butter, dry milk, canned vegetables, canned fruit, juice, spaghetti sauce, instant potatoes, rice(2lb), coffee, shampoo, toothpaste, bar soap, disposable razors, dish detergent and laundry detergent. Bread and margarine can be delivered directly to the food pantry during church office hours. In addition to non-perishable food items, cash donations and supermarket gift cards are needed and gratefully accepted to assist in meeting the current demands of our food pantry Autumn is fast approaching, and The Sharing & Caring Soup Kitchen is in need of some delicious, healthy, hearty soups for the upcoming cold weather seasons. We ask that these be labeled with the date and type, as we put these in the freezer and once frozen, they become unrecognizable. Our patrons love any type of homemade soup. If you would like further information about our mission please call Rose Alfini at 669-4581 or Vicki Troise at 234-2560. Information for the next Newsletter is due on October 30th for mailing on November 12 th. This will be our FALL Edition thru November. Please get your information to Doris in a timely manner. College Students/Parents do we have your college address/email? We can email you a newsletter to keep you up-todate on the happenings at church. The Missions committee would like to be able to remember you too. Parents of the college student please help us by providing their college address, or letting us know they are a commuter student. PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRIES is adding classes in needle craft. Would you like to improve your skills or add new skills? We will be teaching knitting, Crocheting and Quilting to start. The first class is on Wednesday, October 22nd, at 6:30 pm. We will meet in Oakdale at Peter and Jeanne O'Neill's home at 55 Riverview Ct., Oakdale, NY 11769 (for your GPS). Refreshments will be served. Anyone, any age who wants to learn or improve these skills, is welcome. We will supply
yarn, needles and hooks, patterns and fabric. We are limiting the class to 20. Please register with Priscilla Schelgel at 631 667-8252, or Marlene Downing at 631 242-8740 or Jeanne O'Neill at 631 750-3488 or joneill05@optonline.net. Please RSVP by Oct. 18th. See you then VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Help with sending newsletters, Update collections in the library, Weed the church yard, help at Rotary food collections to benefit our food pantry, Teach and Substitute at Sunday School Call the church office for additional information and/or offer to help in other areas. OUR PARISH FAMILY BAPTISM Finn William Grieco, son of Andrew and Tiana on August 24 th. DEATHS Frank Galati on September 1st; Julian Poole on September 19 th. We extend our Christian sympathy to his family and friends. UPDATE: Zachary Smith, son of Jeff and Patti, has been diagnosed with Dense Deposit Disease and C3GN. They are both rare conditions that affect the way his kidneys function. Currently there is no cure for these conditions. Zachary goes to Stony Brook Hospital every 2 weeks for treatment. If you would like to keep up to date on his progress and treatment please visit the blog his parents have set up. Go to www.careforzachary.tumblr.com. His parents are collecting aluminum tabs from soda and canned products. The tabs are sold to a scrap metal company for money. The money is sent to a foundation in Iowa that funds research for Zachary's condition. Between tabs and cash donations, $500 was sent to Iowa in November. Thank you for your continued support. Hospital Visitation Due to the Hospital Privacy Act, it is vital that you call the church office when loved ones in the hospital wish a visit from the pastor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEWS FROM OUR TRUSTEES Progress is rarely fast, but I am pleased to say that two major projects that have been pending, for what seems to be a long time, are finally moving forward. The first bit of good news is that we have buyers for the property in Medusa, NY. This is the 110 acre property with a house and a barn located up in Albany County that Bob and Carolyn Millard inherited from her Aunt and Uncle. The Millards generously donated this property to the Babylon United Methodist Church to use as best needed. The Trustees accepted this gift this gift over two years ago with the intent to sell it and use the proceeds to invest in our church. We have had several offers during this time, but there were always issues which prevented the sale. This is a unique and rustic parcel of land split by a road. The house is located on one side of the road and the barn and pond are across the road. The adjoining neighbor wants the parcel with the barn, which is basically low swampy land. A second buyer placed a bid on the other parcel. So the Trustees had the property surveyed and divided along the road. On August 20, 2014 there was a special charge conference held for the specific purpose of voting on the sale of this property. After some discussion the sale was unanimously approved by those church members who were present. We are very grateful to Bob and Carolyn Millard for their very generous donation. This will be a big help enabling the trustees to meet their mission of stewardship of the buildings. Trustees are responsible for maintaining all the physical structures but there is no line in the budget for major repairs/construction. All funding comes from donations and bequest or fund raising. This most generous donation will certainly help to keep our church in good repair. Thank you Carolyn and Bob And speaking of repairs, after few delays the work on the steeple is about to resume. So far the wood on the belfry has been redone with primed cedar or Azek, which is a plastic composite which will never need painting The roof over the boxes has been sheathed in copper and will outlast all of us
After inspecting the steeple we found that years of water leaking in through the weathervane mounting pipe had rotted the entire top of the spire. The excess moisture had also made the shingle spongy to the point that they would not hold paint. We are now awaiting the arrival of a new spire that will be lifted into place once the current spire is removed. This should be very interesting to watch Once the new spire arrives, things should move along quickly. We will be back in shipshape order in time for the season of Advent. UNITED METHODIST WOMEN HAPPY FALL Finally cool, crisp air and beautiful colors on the trees A big THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all you wonderful ladies who helped set-up, prepared delicious desserts and help clean up for Walter Skuggevig's Memorial Service. You women are indeed a God Send More Thank You's to Jan Oakes and Miriam Circle on the program on magazines. And thanks to Priscilla Circle for providing the breakfast goodies. Our UMW general meeting was on Sept. 13th. Jan also provided very interesting information on donuts according to your favorite, and flowers according to your birth month. This information revealed your personality type The UMW Executive Board will meet on Wednesday October 1st. at 7:00 pm. October is UMW Month. UMW will host coffee hour on Oct. 12th. Oct 12th is also Blanket Sunday and we still need someone to co-ordinate the program. Ushers are still needed for the 9:30 and 11:00 am services. I will have a sign up sheet. On Saturday Oct. 25th, New York Conference UMW will have their annual meeting, from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. This will be held at the Bible UMC 1201 Carll's Straight Path, Dix Hills. Registration fee is $30 and includes a continental breakfast and luncheon. I have registration forms, so please contact me if interested. (631) 587-1481 or see me in church. Flowers for October is Priscilla Circle, November is Miriam Circle and December is Anna Circle. My term of office as your president will be up in December. I am not able to do a second year. It is not a hard job and you will have plenty of help. I pray the one of you ladies will consider the job to keep our UMW unit running. Any questions, please call me (Janice Guy) at (631) 587-1481. UNITED METHODIST WOMEN READING CLUB CaroleAnne Gravert, UMW - Priscilla Circle, has been selected to become a reading program book evaluator for the United Methodist Women There are specific guidelines decided at council and at committees which determine how books will be selected and in what areas. CaroleAnne has been a librarian at the public library, for special libraries in journalism (she has a Pulitzer Prize), and is currently a school librarian and science coordinator. CaroleAnne leads the monthly Book Club which reads book from the official yearly program, as well as books off the list which are interesting, thoughtful, and encouraging spiritually. Some books are beautifully illustrated children's books, perfect for bedtime sharing. Everyone is welcome to participate in the Book Club, whether they have read the book or not - and books do not need to be purchased - books chosen for the Book Club are available at the public library. Check out the UMW Bulletin Board for details about October's title - email her for questions - caroleannegravert@yahoo.com. Meetings are the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7 pm in the church library. Come on down and see what it's all about ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Send A Hug Around The World
Blanket Sunday October 12 A Special Collection for the Church World Service Blanket Program An opportunity in mission for our church community Organized by our United Methodist Women Church World Service purchases the blankets for $5 each for those in need throughout the world Make your checks payable to United Methodist Women and put the word Blankets on the memo line. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mission News Our Mission group met and set up our schedule and hopes for the coming months. Hopefully, we are still looking to increase in number. The Mission field is so wide and varied, but the workers are few. Come aboard and join us for The Lord needs you Thank you to all the people who generously gave to the school supply drive. St. Christopher's was so grateful. God bless you and thanks again. Any new College students in their first year, please notify our church office with your full name, address and e-mails. Missions wishes to keep up with you. In the past former students commented how much it meant to them while they were away to be thought about. We are once again planning to celebrate another Christmas Child Drive. Boxes will be available starting in October of this year for distribution. For further information contact Jean Morse, 969-3242. Last year s total collected from our church for delivery was 162. For all, please remember this is collected through Samaritan's Purse, directed by Franklin Graham. Missions is asking our Congregation for input: What kind of family functions, both economical and fun that you would like to see happen within our Church confines? These would be monies raised to help further the Mission causes in our Community and elsewhere. 631-667-0039 and share your ideas--we want to hear from you. Please see or call Joan Coyle at The Coat Drive is on hold, but when we have definite news, you'll be the first to know it. God bless you all and thank you for your efforts and love.
The BUMC Wellness Initiative - Yoga and Fellowship Service Schedule September 27-9:30am: Outdoor Fellowship Service October 4-9:30am: Outdoor Fellowship Service October 11-9:15am: Yoga Class October 25-9:15am: Yoga Class November 1-9:30am: Fellowship Service November 15-9:15am: Yoga Class November 22-9:30am: Fellowship Service Fellowship Service: Playground next to Sanctuary, unless weather forces us inside Yoga: Fellowship Hall - $10/person - beginner level - bring yoga mat or beach towel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ATTENTION ALL 6TH THROUGH 12TH GRADERS JOIN MYF
UPCOMING MEETINGS: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 TH FELLOWSHIP HALL 6:30PM-8PM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5 TH FELLOWSHIP HALL 6:30PM-8PM ALL ARE WELCOME COME JOIN U S F O R F E L L O W S H I P, F U N, COMMUNITY SERVICE AND MORE MYF SCHEDULE - 2014 September 9/28 - MYF Meeting October 10/5 - MYF Meeting 10/18 - MYF at the Babylon Street Fair 10/19 - MYF Meeting 10/24 - Setup for Halloween Event 10/25 - MYF/Church Halloween Event November 11/2 - MYF Meeting 11/8 - MYF at Food Drive 11/9 - MYF Meeting 11/23 - MYF Attends JSP/Dinner ($15 for both)
December 12/5 - Lock-in, 8pm-8am 12/14 - MYF attends Candlelight Service, MYF/Church Reception after 12/21 - MYF/Church Caroling January 12/29-1/3 - NYC Outing (date, event - TBD) 1/4 - MYF Meeting) 1/25 - MYF Meeting ATTENTION ALL 6TH THROUGH 12TH GRADERS Sunday School News October 2014 THANK YOU from VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL VBS is a huge undertaking that needs many hands and lots of talented volunteers to run effectively. I would like to send a huge THANK YOU, to everyone that makes the week of VBS possible AND a very important THANK YOU to the members of the congregation that helped support the mission of VBS by donating supplies and offering help. In Faith, Christen O'Connell - 2014 VBS Co-coordinator
Barbara Blaskopf- Co-coordinator Matthew Halversen- Music Linda Iacona- Art Karen Thompson- Pre-K Teacher Jenni Elsmore- Kindergarten teacher Jenn Keegan- 1st grade teacher Samantha Cronk- 1st grade teacher Ann Ieva- 2nd & 3rd grade teacher Alison Izzo- Pre-teen teacher Teddy Plezia- Recreation Linda Symington- Decorations Sunday School Offering Envelopes will be distributed to all Sunday School students. All participants are expected to give something back and an offering is taken in every Sunday School class. These funds help to offset the cost of curricula, supplies, and allow us to explore new opportunities in Christian Education. Please contribute what you can. Additional envelopes are available in the Sunday School Office. SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS are always needed and appreciated. Please stop by the Sunday School Office if you are interested in assisting. Helpers: Michele Wiatrak Sara Halversen Jen Muka Bella Canon Samantha Wiatrak Andrew Werner Sarah Wiatrak Kailey Tenn Kaitlyn Iwasiuk Kaitlyn Hart Thomas Iwasiuk Richie Izzo Thomas Whatmough Julianne Scrogham Bridgette Thompson Sarah Smith Jenny Halversen NEW PROGRAM: SENIOR HIGH SEMINAR An optional program for students in grades 9 and up focusing on: Spirituality Fellowship Service Want to know more? Come and visit us on Sunday morning at 9:30 or speak with Rich Santoro Children may be registered for Sunday School at any time. Please see Linda Symington in the Sunday School office (2nd floor- Education building) Friends and visitors are always welcome.
Proudly Presents A Musical by Leslie Bricusse who adapted the classic Charles Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol into Scrooge. A Special Christmas Offer from James Street --- All tickets for these performances are $15