Messenger Simpson March, 2019 United Methodist Church Words from our Pastor 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 NIV As I write this I am hurt, angry, and grieving. Yesterday the special Called General Conference of our United Methodist Church, which was chartered to find a way forward for the denomination in an increasingly diverse world, turned down the One Church Plan preferred by a majority of U.S. delegates and chose instead by a slim 3% margin the distinctly homophobic Traditional Plan, which denies the full participation of our LGBTQIA sisters and brothers in the ministry of our church and significantly increases the penalties for anyone violating its rules. My colleague, Rev. Dr. Todd Gile, put it this way, the Traditional Plan is no way forward but rather a regressive step backward denying the voice of half of the church, ignoring the differences in cultural and ministry settings, and stubbornly [clinging] to a few [verses] of scripture while neglecting the whole. I have always seen the United Methodist Church as a big tent with room for diverse ways to read and interpret scripture, reflect theologically, worship, proclaim the Gospel, and reach out in mission and social witness all within the framework of Christcentered Wesleyan thought. With the action of the Called General Conference the tent seems a whole lot smaller today. There are still questions about whether the denomination s Judicial Council will find parts of the Traditional Plan in violation of the United Methodist Constitution. And I m sure there will be continued legislative wrangling at the regularly scheduled quadrennial General Conference in April 2020. But as it is, the Plan is set to go into effect January first of 2020. So what do we do today? In a message published the day before the Called General Conference opened, Indiana Bishop Julius Trimble recalled his wife s words as she taught their daughter to ride a two wheel bike, Hold on to the handlebars and keep peddling. I remember saying exactly those words to my daughter as I ran behind her wobbly bicycle over 30 years ago. And that s what I m going to do and I hope you will do as well: hold on tight to the immediate and eternal good news of Jesus Christ for every single one of God s children, and keep on doing what we do reaching out to a hurting world with grace, hope, and love. The ride may be wobbly for a while, but I have faith in the redeeming power of God s Holy Spirit and in you. Shalom, Pastor Dennis
Simpson Church Messenger Page 2 Sunday April 21st at 10:30am Wednesday, March 6th, 7:00 pm Service of Ashes Thursday, April 13th, 7:00 p.m. Maundy Thursday Service Foot Washing and Eucharist Sunday, April 14th, 8:45 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Palm Sunday Service Sunday, April 21st, 8:45 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Easter Service Sunday, April 21st, 10:00 a.m. Easter Brunch Sunday, April 21st, 10:30 a.m. Easter Egg Hunt 1400 Eggs filled with candy, money and prizes! For Ages Infant - 5 th Grade Everyone s invited to the potluck Easter Brunch at 10am before the Egg Hunt. Join us for Easter service at 8:45am or 11am. Candy Donations Needed Plastic Easter eggs will be available in the annex starting Sunday March 24th. Please feel free to take as many dozens of eggs as you would like: fill them with candy, stickers, money ect. and return them to the church no later than Monday April 14th. Thank you all for your continued participation in this event! ANNUAL UMM LENTEN BREAKFAST March 9th, 7:15 a.m. March 16th, 7:15 a.m. March 23rd, 7:15 a.m. March 30th, 7:15 a.m. April 6th, 7:15 a.m. April 13th, 7:15 a.m. Trinity UMC Aldersgate UMC St. James UMC Centenary UMC Central UMC Old North UMC If you have any questions please see Randall Crayner, 424-5976 GERANIUM SALE TO BENEFIT WEEKDAY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Colors are red, salmon, pink, hot pink and white.. Our plants are zonal geraniums. They are started from cuttings not seed, which makes them stronger plants for the growing season. Cost per plant is $5.00. Orders and money need to be turned into the church office or to Jean Hartman no later than Sunday, March 31st. Make checks payable to Weekday Christian Education. Pick up dates will be April 25th.
Simpson Church Messenger Page 3 Lenten Study Schedule for 2019 Meal is served from 5:30-7pm March 26th April 23rd May 28th June 25th July 23rd August 27th September 24th October 22nd November 26th December 17th This meal is free and open to anyone in the community. Come enjoy a fabulous meal and get to know those people that live, work, play and worship in your community. Want to volunteer to help with this meal, contact Barbara Adams. I often call Peter the Charlie Brown of the Disciples. He was far from perfect. He didn t have all the answers. He fell asleep in the garden at Gethsemane and denied even knowing Jesus not once, but three times. But it was Peter, the Rock, on whom Jesus chose to build his church. And Jesus still builds his church on less than perfect human beings us! This Lenten season join with me in getting to know more about Peter s life, character, and faith. And in doing so to hopefully gain new insights into our own walk with Jesus. The four part study is based loosely on Adam Hamilton s new book, Simon Peter: Flawed but Faithful Disciple. We will meet at 10:00 am on Sunday, March 17 th, and 24 th, and April 7 th and 14 th. - Pastor Dennis PRAYER SHAWLS The UMW is in need of additional prayer shawls. If you are needing the pattern please see Charlene Brawner. Spring colors have been requested. EASTER BRUNCH Easter is right around the corner so think about Easter Breakfast on April 21st. There will be a sign up sheet in March for breakfast casseroles, sweet breads or rolls, juice and fruit. Be thinking of what you would like to bring. Thank you in advance.
Simpson Church Messenger Page 4 BLANKETS FOR CHEMO BUDDIES The Hub on Franklin will be hosting a fleece blanket making event on Saturday, March 23 from 2-4 pm to support the Chemo Buddies group in Evansville. Chemo Buddies provides these blankets as a source of comfort for patients during their chemotherapy treatments. All ages and abilities are welcome to help! If you can tie a knot, you can make a blanket! Thank you to the UMW group for donating enough fleece for us to make 10 blankets! If anyone else would like to donate money or fleece for additional blankets it would be greatly appreciated! Please respond to the Facebook event or let Andrea/Alex Narang know if you are planning to attend so we can have enough materials for everyone to participate. Also, we would appreciate anyone that would be willing to let us borrow good fabric scissors for cutting the blankets. UMW DISTRICT NEWS All United Methodist Women, please save April 13 to attend the Southwest District 150th birthday celebration of UMW at Simpson UMC. We will have women dressed in clothing from the "early days" up to the present time. Our guest speaker will be Rita Gaither Gant, who is a former UMW National President. A brunch will be served. We will end the celebration with cake and ice cream. Even if you have not attended a UMW meeting before, please come and see what we're all about. SAVE THE DATES Tuesday, April 9, 6:00 p.m. Good News Jail & Prison Ministry Annual Banquet Northwoods Church 9920 N. Green River Road RSVP: 812.421.6268 or scott.bailes@goodnewsjail.org The church has received passes to shop at the Columbia Employee Store in Henderson until March 27th. You can pick up one of the passes in the annex. Columbia Sportswear Company. Employee Store, 2480 US Hwy 41 North, Henderson, KY MARY RUTH CIRCLE The Mary Ruth Circle will meet on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in the usual place. This will be our Prayer and Self-Denial Service. Come and share fellowship and worship with us. See you then!
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Each Sunday: 8:45 am Traditional Worship Service 10 am Sunday School 11 am Contemporary Worship Service Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 10 am Sunday School 12 pm Confirmation Class #1 4 6:00 pm Trustee Mtg 5 6 am Men s Bible Study 6 6:30 am Musgrave Grp 7 Noon Senior Lunch 5:30 pm Kairos 8 9 7:15 am UMM Breakfast @ Trinity UMC 10 10 am Sunday School 12 pm Confirmation Class #2 11 12 6 am Men s Bible Study 13 6:30 am Musgrave Grp 14 Noon Senior Lunch 5:30 pm Kairos 15 16 7:15 am UMM Breakfast @ Aldersgate UMC Daylight Savings Time 17 10 am Sunday School & Lent Study 12 pm Confirmation Class #3 18 6:00 pm Finance Team 7:00 pm AD Team 19 6 am Men s Bible Study 20 6:30 am Musgrave Grp 21 Noon Senior Lunch 5:30 pm Kairos 22 23 7:15 am UMM Breakfast @ St. James West 24 10 am Sunday School & Lent Study 12 pm Confirmation Class #4 25 26 6 am Men s Bible Study 5:30 pm Community Meal 27 6:30 am Musgrave Grp 28 Noon Senior Lunch 29 30 7:15 am UMM Breakfast @ Centenary UMC 31 10 am Sunday School
Simpson UMC 2201 W. Illinois Street Evansville, IN 47712 Return Service Requested Phone: 812-423-7636 Fax: 812-422-9241 E-mail: admin@simpsonchurch.net Mission Statement Through the power of the holy Spirit our mission is to SEEK OUT and WIN people to Christ through our words and actions, MAKE DECIPLES who are learning and growing in the faith, and EQUIP PERSONS TO SERVE Christ. Win, Disciple, Serve Pastor & Staff Pastor Rev. Dennis C. Adams Administrative Assistant Mrs. Kimbra Reich Director of Community & Family Ministries Mrs. Lindy Floyd Director of Music Mr. Mark Wallace Pianist, Organist Mrs. Teri Nolan Custodian Mr. Harold Cross Nursery Ms. Courtney Schoenbachler Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Traditional Service 8:45 a.m. Contemporary Service 11:00 a.m. 1st Carol Huffman 2nd Brett Allega 3rd Edythe Patterson 3rd Sandy Ford 7th Steven Boyer 7th Andrea Narang 8th Laura Vadbunker 9th Kathy Peaugh 10th Rosemary Gulley 10th Jacob Conner 10th Joseph Conner 11th Teri Nolan 15th Lillian Avery 19th Sue Nolte 22nd David Deer 23rd Mike Murphy 24th Charlene Brawner 24th Bonnie Vance 25th Anthony LeBarron 26th David Nolan 29th Darren Keller 29th Alex Narang 8th David & Sharon Deer 23rd John & Notomi Berg 30th Don & Mary Lehmann If you do not see your birthday or anniversary listed, please call the church office at 423-7636 so we may correct our records.