The Paulinian focus BI-MONTHLY NEWSLETTER ST. PAUL S UMC MAY-JUNE 2018 Breaking News: Pastoral Change in July! Sunday, April 29 th, George Cark, chair of our Staff/Parish Relations Committee, announced that Bishop Bickerton intends to appoint a new pastor to St. Paul s at the Annual Conference session in June. The new appointment takes effect on July 1 st. Lillian M. Hertel will come to St. Paul s as a Probationary Member of the Annual Conference. Pastor Hertel is a second career pastor that has been serving the last two years at West Hills UMC in Huntington Station on Long Island. We hope to have a full biography available in the near future. Reverend Upole is staying on Staten Island and will be appointed to serve the congregations of Summerfield UMC and Woodrow UMC. Annual Conference appointments are made annually by the resident Bishop in consultation with the respective District Superintendents. Individual pastors and congregations are part of the consultation process but final decisions the Bishop s alone Watch for more news as information becomes available... Calendar 5/6- Communion 5/9- Bible Study @6pm 5/13- Ascension Sunday 5/16- Bible Study Church Council Meeting @7:30pm 5/20 Pentecost 5/23- Bible Study @6pm 5/27- Peace with Justice Sunday 5/28- Memorial Day 6/3- Communion 6/10- Annual Conference 6/12- Trustees Meeting @ 7:30pm 6/17 Musician Recognition Sunday 6/20- Church Council @ 7:30pm 6/24- Pastor Joe Vacation 6/27- Worship Committee Meeting @7:30pm
Food Pantry News We ve have served many families in recent months. Our growth can be attributed to the grace of our Lord as well as the dedication and service of our beloved Jean Stricklin. Faithful supporters can donate food as well as cash. We do try to supply meat to many, including Chicken, Beef, Sausages, Ham Slices and Hot Dogs. A special Thank You to those who continue to donate their time to organize/put food away, go shopping and make set-ups for our families in need. If you would like to volunteer to help in the food pantry, Contact Jean Stricklin through the church office. (718) 227-2485 Many hands make light work - John Haywood Matthew 25:40 Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Music Ministry Opportunities Whether through participation in traditional choirs or our new Praise Band, we encourage those with musical ability and interest to consider joining the Music Ministry here at St. Paul s.. Traditional Music Alternative/Contemporary Contac Organist/Choir Director, Nancy Paugh (718) 984-3965 if you want to participate in the music offerings of our choirs and instrumentalists at our 10am Traditional Worship Service. Soloing, singing with the choirs or playing an instrument to enhance service music and hymns are great ways to deepen the worship experience for both others and oneself. New choir members (Gr.2 & up) and instrumentalists are always welcome. Sunday School Contact Pastor Joe if you want to participate in providing the music that permeates our new Contemporary Praise Worship. If you like to sing, or play guitar, bass, drums (or another instrument) and are willing to devote a couple of hours weekly to practice, we welcome you to consider becoming part of the Praise Team. All children are welcome in either worship service. For those parents who desire their children to learn basic Christian Education, St. Paul s offers Sunday School. At present, parents and children are invited to begin in the 10am service and be dismissed to the Sunday School after the Children s Time with Pastor Joe. The approximate time is 10:15am. Our Sunday School welcomes children from age 4 up to 14. Sunday September 9 th is Rally Day our Sunday School starts up after being on break for the summer. Reinventing St. Paul s Coming Soon Work on windows is already underway Trustees will be receiving drafts of the handicap - accessible ramp sometime in May
From Pastor Joe A Note from SPRC \ Grace and peace to you all from the God who creates us in love, redeems us in love, and sustains us on our journey in love. With the announcement of a pastoral change coming after Annual Conference, I prepare for a new adventure in ministry as I move on to serve the communities and congregations of Summerfield and Woodrow. I am thankful for these past years serving here at St. Paul s. During my 35 years pastoring I have served 19 congregations organized in 7 appointments. Every congregation presented challenges and opportunities, successes and failures, lessons learned, regrets and rewards. These past 7 years at St. Paul s contained all of that. I regret that I was not able to lead St. Paul s to the revitalization that I had envisioned and laid out in the From Surviving to Thriving plan. Hopefully, the elements of that vision that we were able to implement laid a foundation to build upon as a new pastor comes to offer her gifts and graces. In his correspondence with the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul urges the congregation to remember that the true leader of the church is not a particular pastor, but Jesus Christ. When there is a change in pastor some are sad, some are glad, and some can be both at the same time. It is appropriate to celebrate the positive contributions of a pastor who is reassigned to ministry elsewhere and to welcome the new pastor with excitement and eagerness. Each pastor is different, and the congregation should try to avoid comparing a new pastor with the former pastor. Give your new pastor an opportunity to display her/his own gifts and graces. Don t make assumptions based on prior experience. Start with a clean slate and get to know your new pastor and let him/her get to know you. Share your personal stories, be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Let things of the past go and trust God that the future of St. Paul s is radically open if you are ready to cooperate with the movement of the Holy Spirit. I cannot adequately thank you all for the welcome I received when I arrived 7 years ago to pastor St. Paul s. Over these past 7 years (can it really have been that long?) we have had many ups and downs together. I hope that in the final wash there have been more ups than downs and that we all can look back with joy and thanksgiving for what God has done among us and through us, and often in spite of us. I want to say a special thank you to our Praise Band: Tom Doty, Saul Diaz, and Bill Levay. Our Saturday practices were always worship for me and your dedication these last 2 years in the Contemporary/Praise service has been a highlight of my time as pastor at St. Paul s. I will miss making music in the context of worship with you most of all. Saint Paul s United Methodist Church would like to bid farewell to Reverend Joseph Upole. We thank you for filling us with the goodness that you have spread amongst the congregation. We appreciate your kind teachings that made us better disciples of Christ your patient and constant service to this church is undeniable. We are a stronger church due to your impact. We wish you the best in your next appointment. We pray that you find peace in this move and God s blessing be on your family during this transition. And once again, thank you so much. Saint Paul s UMC SPRC Committee Jesus said, Let the children come to me Come join us for Sunday School at 10am and bring a friend! Grace and peace, Pastor Joe
ANNOUNCEMENT Our Sympathy goes to the Family of Carol Ann Gregory nee (DeSantis). To Our Friends at St. Paul s, May God smile on you at Easter and always! Thank you for your prayers Joan & Charles Siclari Thank you to the Chapman Family for your donation to the Food Pantry in Memory of Andrew John (AJ) Clark. Your generous donation is truly appreciated. Get Well prayers to Andy Berardi after injuring his arm. Thank you to all who helped make St. Paul s hosting of the Lay Servant School a success. Request for updates to church records: If you have a change of address or change your telephone number, please help us keep the church records up-to-date and submit these changes to the church office (718-227- 2485) or our church membership secretary, Nancy (718-984-3965). Also, if you have any news or prayer requests that you would like to share please contact our Pastor, Nancy or the church office. -Thank you Thank you, to the members of our church for making the St. Paul s Spaghetti Dinner such a big success. The food was delicious, and a good time was had by all. Thank you, Mike Fedele for setting up the tables and chairs. Thank you, Noelle Steele for all your help with the dinner and a big thank you to our little waitresses Shannon, Ava & Emma, they did a great job! xo Thank you to all who helped make our Maundy Thursday Shepherd s Pie Dinner a memorable event. Thank you to all who participated in and attended our combined Good Friday Service at AME Zion Church Choir Notes: Choir rehearsals will be held @6:30pm, through May. During May, June and 7/1, choirs will rehearse at 9:15am before our Sunday service. New members/returnees welcome! If if anyone is interested in learning music for, and participating in the Ocean Grove (NJ) Auditorium s Annual Choir Festival on 7/8, please contact Nancy Paugh. Junior Choir Berardi, Andy Berardi, Christopher Berardi, Olivia Berardi, Emily Boschi, Sarah Thank you to our St. Paul s Musicians Senior Choir Sayers-Basirico, Jody Basirico, Jon Basirico, Sophie Berardi, Cheryl Berardi, Eileeen Berardi, Emily Beyer, Arlene Bolten. Holly Deppe, Carly Ann Diaz, Saul Laverie, Janet Gordon, Kaitlin Gordon, Camryn O Keefe, Ashley O Keefe Catie O Keefe, Jill Instrumentalists Basirico, Jon (Drum) Diaz, Saul (Guitar; Praise Band) Doty, Tom (Drums; Praise Band) Levay, Bill (Trumpet; Bass; Praise Band) Levay, Mike (Trumpet; Bass; Praise Band) O Keefe, Ashley (Flute) Paugh, Nancy (Organist/Choir Director) Upole, Pastor, Joe (Guitar; Praise Band)
Once again St. Paul s UMC will be participating in the collection Health Kits for UMCOR Pre- K Emma Eisenbraun High School Carly Ann Deppe Tottenville High School Calvin Fox Easton Easton Area High School 2yr Post High School Kaitlin Gordon Freehold Regional High School District Workplace Training Program College Lauren Conniff Villa Nova University Kristen Scotti College of Staten Island Christopher Wilson The College of Saint Rose Albany, NY Bachelor of Science in Biology NYPD Police Academy Ronald Wolfgang Assembly Directions Set the $1.00 for toothpaste aside to be included in a separate envelope. Lay out the hand towel flat on a table. Lay the washcloth flat in the center of the hand towel. Place all remaining items on top of the washcloth. Fold over the sides of the hand towel to cover all the items. Fold over one end of the hand towel so that it covers all the items. Grasp the bundle of items tightly and roll over the remainder of the hand towel tightly. Place the tightly rolled bundle in the plastic bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal the bag. All items must be new. Do not wash any of the items as they will be considered used. Please remove all packaging, unless otherwise specified. All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations. Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that kits contain only the requested items, nothing more. Do not include any personal notes, money, or additional material in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and will delay the shipment. UMCOR is now purchasing toothpaste in bulk to be added to health kits before shipping to ensure that the product does not expire before they are sent. Do not put single dollar bills in each kit. Collect all money for toothpaste and shipping, then place it in a separate envelope and send along with the kit donations. Health Kit Materials 1 hand towel 15x25 inches to 17x27 inches 1 washcloth 1 comb comb needs to be sturdy and longer than 6 inches. No pocket combs or picks please 1 metal nail clipper -No emery boards, please 1 bath-size soap- 3oz and larger sizes only. No ivory or Jergens soap due to moisture content. Do not remove from original packaging. 1 toothbrush Adult size only, do not remove from original packaging. 6 adhesive bandages- ¾ inch to 1-inch size 1 plastic bag one-gallon size sealable bag only $1.00 to purchase toothpaste Please bring to St. Paul s UMC by Sunday June 3 rd.
St. Paul s United Methodist Church 7558 Amboy Road Tottenville Staten Island, NY 10307 Church Phone: 718-227-2485 Parsonage Phone: 718-984-1542 Fax: 718-689-2004 E-mail: saintpaulsumc@verizon.net Website: www.stpaulsumcsi.org Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED The Paulinian May- June 2018 The Weekly Schedule 9:15am Choir Rehearsal 10am Traditional Worship 10:15am Sunday School 11-11:30am Fellowship/coffee time 11:30am Alternative/Contemporary Worship 6:30pm Choir Practice on Thursday s Food Pantry open 9am - 1pm on Thursday & Friday (Please call during office hours to schedule an appointment) Pastor off and Office Closed on Mondays Office open most weeks on Tuesday - Friday 9am - 2pm