March 16, 2015 CHUMites attending the St. Patrick s Celebration In Delano on Saturday, March 14th March 27th Final Friday Event College Hill will be hosting a Final Friday event from 5:30-8:30pm at Interfaith located at 829 N. Market. Dale Krebbs will be showing his photo art featuring 50 of his classic photographs of Planes, Plains and Automobiles. There will be wine, snacks and music to make your visit more enjoyable. You are all invited so we hope to see you there! Pastor Kent s Blog - http:littlerev.wordpress.com/ Email - kent.little@collegehillumc.org Phone # - (316) 683-4643 Webpage - www.collegehillumc.org Congrats... to Nancy Rusanowsky for being the overall winner in the women s division of the 5K! College Hill United Methodist Church A Reconciling Congregation Wise in the Ways of the Spirit, Bold in the Ways of Justice, and Graceful in relationship with all Creation. Church Services 8:30am - Sanctuary Traditional Celebration 9:40am - Fellowship Hall Art & Soul Celebration 11:00am - Sanctuary the Body Worship Sunday - March 22, 2015 Fifth Sunday in Lent SERMON Saving Jesus from the Crazies Lenten Sermon Series - Saving Jesus Rev. Kent H. Little
March 15, 2015 Attendance 247 Total Budget Giving $18,803. 00 Our Sympathy To Lucretia Stetler in the death of her son, Bruce Stetler. Congratulations to Laura Snell in the birth of her baby boy, Elijah Santos Snell, on Friday, March 13. He was born 19.5 in. long and weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. Proud Grandma is Debbie Snell. 90th Birthday Card Shower This Sunday we will celebrate the 90th birthday of Vera Schesser during Meet & Greet in the Parlor. Those helping serve have requested that everyone bring in a birthday card and place it in the basket provided as you come to the Parlor to enjoy Vera s birthday cake and wish her a happy day. Happy Birthday, Vera! Your Help is Needed Our CHUM Youth fixed brown bag sandwich lunches on March 5th for the United Methodist Open Door Homeless Shelter. We now have four more dates to fill: May 7, June 4, July 2 and November 5. Thanks to the Communicators for taking the Sept. 3 date! Can you or your group help! Sign up at the bulletin board across from the Library or contact the church office. Thank you! Candy Needed We are in need of candy to be put in the Easter Eggs for our CHUM children s Easter Egg Hunt. TGIF - March 20 @ 6:30pm Hog Wild Barbeque 662 E. 47th St. S Everyone is welcome to join us for dinner and conversation! For more information contact Janice Rich, 265-4879 On Sunday, March 22nd, we will have all 3 church services at the usual times and locations. However the 11:00am church service will have a different format for this one Sunday. We hope that you will come and try out this service and see if it is for you. Saturday, March 19 7:00-9:00pm Church Parlor This month, for the first time, we have Tracey and Curtis coming to CHUM to entertain us with great music from the 70s and 80s. Join us for light refreshments, drinks and music. A goodwill offering will be accepted. Bring your friends and family. It is always a fun evening! Applications for Summer Rec Employment The applications for working in the Summer Rec program this summer will soon be available in the church office or online. To work this summer you will have to be going into your sophomore year of high school or older. Summer Rec will be held June 1 - July 9. If you have any questions, contact Brian Sutton in the church office for more details or questions. Children s Clothes Needed Lloyd Hanna works closely with the Guadalupe Clinic through his work with his Medical Loan Closet. They are in great need of children s clothes. He is willing to deliver them to the clinic if you wish to package and label them and drop off to the church office. Please make sure they are marked for the Guadalupe Clinic when you bring them. We will contact Lloyd to pick up and deliver them to the clinic. Email Prayer List Please join our email prayer list to be informed of concerns of our church family that come in during the week. As a congregation, we are called to be a support to one another. Leave your email and Email address in the office or with Jo Lynn Lewis. Alice Keech Circle Join Alice Keech Circle Wednesday, March 18, at 10:00am in the Parlor. Following light refreshments, Gerry ReQua will bring our annual Prayer and Self Denial program. This year the title is A Gesture of Gratitude and we will learn about deaconess and missionary services. Also Ella Rogers- Hungria will tell us about her experience at this year s LEAF event in Topeka. Everyone is invited to join us. Nursery will be provided. Rebecca Circle The next gathering will be held on Tuesday, March 24. The meeting will begin at 6:30pm. Spring/Easter Flower Orders Spring/Easter flowers will decorate the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall on Easter Sunday, April 5. They are $15 each and can be given in honor or memory of a loved one. The deadline to order will be Wednesday, April 1. Please pick up a form in the church office, fill it out and return it with your payment. The flowers may be taken home after the 9:40am or 11:00am service on Easter morning or left behind to be delivered to CHUM s shut-ins. Thanks Cheryl Harvey We appreciate Cheryl s help in filling the birdfeeder in the Trinity Garden several times each week. Cheryl, the birds thank you and we thank you...they are fun to watch from the Parlor!
SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS NOTES AGAPE, Rm. 201 - Nancy Wiebe led a lesson on the "myth-making brain." Shelly finishes follows the potato queen day with public service to the youth auction. No birthdays this week. Knopps treat next. ARCHITECTS, Rm. B1 Hoped that those with some Irish background wore their green - it s fun to do! Thanks to Lilaha for being our pianist as we sang Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross. We had a note from Nancy McFall Wagner (Frances daughter). She had heard from Betty Adams asking about our class. Let Betty hear from you if you can. We discussed where we will give our Mission Fund but will decide later - Mission Sunday is the 29th. Sunday we host Meet & Greet and will celebrate Vera s birthday - she s hitting a big one! Lilaha has decorated our room in an Irish motif and of course it looks great! Enid continued with Dr. Graham s book, which hit home for all of us. Great discussion. Thanks Enid! BUILDERS, Rm. 305 - Chapter 19. Jewish Scholars and Qumran Ritual Practices - as we had a gab session. Keep Kent M, Ulrichs, Charlie M., and Bill M. in your prayers. Mary has treats Sunday. COMMUNICATORS, Rm. 301 - Thanks to John Brewer for his devotion on what brings us to church each week. We prayed for Debbie Snell s newborn grandson Elijah with an elevated temperature in the hospital. The class continued our video series by Lysa Terkeurst entitled Unglued. Remember the upcoming Movie/Dinner social March 29 th. Marilyn has devotions Sunday. CONTEMPORARY STUDIES, Rm. B5/7 - Twenty-seven leprechauns made it to class before St. Patrick's Day! Happy Birthday Wishes for Bill Cather and Keith Williamson. Sympathy to Lucretia Stetler in the death of her son, Bruce. Prayers and good thoughts sent to Bob Eades after Dee's report, and to Mary Lou Martin, after Carl's report. Keith Williamson reviewed our chapters on Time and Wisdom. Tabletalk focused on burdens and blessings of Time as life's most precious commodity, and Wisdom as elders are the only ones free to tell the truth. Sunday, read about Sadness, Dreams, and Limitations. DOUBLE CIRCLE, Rm. B4 - We had a small class of 8. Don opened the class and Betty gave reports on those not present. Our prayers are with the ill and the traveling! Tom gave devotions with the Irish Blessing. Dr. Brake was back from his trip and continued with the lesson on the Holy Spirit in John 16. Christ has given us understanding and guides us through life with the Holy Spirit. Blessings to all! TRAVELING COMPANIONS, Chapel @ 11:00am - Join us for discussion on spiritual development and personal growth. VICEROY, Rm. B3 - On Friday, the day of the crucifixion, men beat and tortured Jesus. What kind of men were capable of this inhuman treatment of another human being? Adam Hamilton wrote, "This reminds me of Abu Ghraig prison. What could possibly lead these men and women to do this?" In World War II, why would people treat the Jews that way? In the 50's and 60's, why were students beaten and killed in the south? Am I capable??? Thanks CHUM for the free blood pressure checks offered every 3rd Saturday and Sunday. One of the ladies recently checked for blood pressure was advised she needed to go to the emergency room immediately. She spent several days in the hospital getting stabilized and is now doing fine. She is grateful this was being offered and probably helped save her life! THANKS to those who volunteer this service at CHUM! March 22 NO UMY UPCOMING CALENDAR March 29 Bowling ($10.00) 2:00-4:30pm April 1 No Wednesday Night Activities April 12 Sardines 2:30-4:00pm April 25 Theme Table Dinner 4:00-8:00pm May 3 Skating ($5) 1:30-4:00pm April 5 Easter Sunday No UMY April 19 AIDS Walk ($20 includes dinner) 4:00-7:00pm April 26 Dodge Ball Tournament 5:30-8:00pm May 10 Mother s Day Graduation Sunday @ CHUM 11:00am No UMY in afternoon
Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Permit 583 Wichita, KS Address Service Requested Volunteers Needed for Annual Conference June 9 and 10 Twelve people are needed to help distribute handheld voting machines during the registration period on Wednesday morning. There would be an informational meeting on Tuesday, June 9, either in the afternoon or evening to go over the process. On Wednesday, June 10, you would need to be at Century II by 7:30am and should be finished by 10:00am. Twenty volunteers are needed to count ballots from the first round of delegate voting. Hopefully this would take an hour or less to do the counting. This would probably take place Wednesday afternoon, June 10. The exact timing is dependent on when the bishop takes the vote. Preferably volunteers are not delegates. Counting of ballots will be done during the session. Contact the church office is you can help. Funeral Luncheons Luncheons after funeral celebrations are an important ministry of our church. They give families, many whom come from a distance, an opportunity to gather and share stories in a relaxed setting. Over and again, we are profusely thanked for this service. Commonly these meals are provided by the Sunday school class or other group in which the deceased was involved. For others without that association, a dedicated group has provided the lunch. To eliminate the overwork of the same people, we are in the process of forming several teams of volunteers to prepare and serve the meals. Expenses are usually If you would like to be on a list to be available to be called for service, please leave your name with Jo Lynn Lewis or with the church office. Artist in the Parlor Please be sure to stop by the Parlor this month to see the beautiful work by Kelly Mullen. Corrosion is a major theme in this collection of photographs currently on display. The aim is to capture the visible disruption of a subject, while maintaining its inherent purity. Through this set of work, a range of images exemplifying aesthetic deterioration are provided, ranging from the rust and wear and tear of every day objects to the intrinsic cycle of growth, decay and erosion found in the natural world. Kelly Mullen is a local artist with work often seen at the Go Away Garage. Kelly is currently involved in Marketing and Communications and focuses on Web design, technical writing and marketing.
March 9 th Minutes from the combined meeting of Staff Parish, Church Council, Finance & Trustees My inviting all our administrative committees to have this joint meeting is to help us into a continuing conversation about our church in terms of who we are, why we are, what is our purpose, and where we think we would like to go and grow as a Progressive Christian Community. Part of this comes out of my concern with who we are and/or who we claim to be or who we would like to be and where we would like to be going. Our current statement, although we do not use the Grace Beyond Belief much if at all anymore, we do, at this point, still claim the remainder of the statement. I know there were many hours, thoughts and prayers put into this current vision statement. While I believe it does express values and beliefs we hold firmly here at CHUM, I also know many do not know our statement and many who know it do not exactly what we mean by it. How many of you could share this if someone asked you on the street this morning what your church s vision/ mission statement was? The purpose of College Hill United Methodist Church is to develop a Christian community wise in the ways of the Spirit, bold in the ways of justice, and graceful in relationship with all creation. Based on conversations with many of our members, even though we have it on our walls, in our bulletin, and newsletters, I am not sure we have good ownership of the statement and certainly do not seem to be clear about what it means or how we live this out as a church. While not being able myself to find a clear definition of the statement I attempted to define it for us in a sermon series dealing with the statement section by section this last January, but is still not embraced by our community, in my opinion. Tonight I want us to do some serious brainstorming and conversation around who we believe we are as a church and community of faith? What makes us unique? Who would we like to be as a community? Where would we like to go? Does this statement still express our dream, vision, and purpose? If so, how do we develop a clear and concise vision and practice in living it out? If not, what would? Last Friday I polled via Social Media College Hill UMC Facebook, my personal Facebook page, and CHUM Twitter Account, asking not only persons with connection to College Hill but also friends and acquaintances who I know that are not affiliated or have relationship to CHUM this question, Describe what is one of the most important things that comes to mind about College Hill UMC for you? Who are we for you? Comments received were: *A place to be accepted by all. To have others unconditional love regardless of who you are! *Acceptance, total acceptance, surrounded by love, surrounded by faith no matter what, no judgments. *One word: family. *An all-inclusive sharing of love and compassion. Intentionally progressive and inclusive. *A judgment-free community where everyone is always welcome, questioning is encouraged, thinking is celebrated, and differences are the norm. *We are family, no matter who you are! *A rock in the disaster that is Kansas and the Christian right for that matter. Rock on CHUM. *A place of feeling like we belong to something bigger. *Acceptance and unconditional love. *A theology and practice based on the most accurate understandings about Judeo-Christian principles and the Jesus that embodied them. *Authentic worship/music; thoughtful, challenging messages. Unconditional love and friendships. An oasis with no false pretenses, with connection to a bigger body working for worldwide justice and relief. A voice of Reason in a Sea of Insane Self-promotion. Love. *Unconditional acceptance. *A place where cognitive dissonance is questioned!?? A safe, welcoming place to be, grow and take part. Community. Be who you are! Acceptance, love, growth, dialogue, laughter. *A place where God welcomes all who enter with inclusion in their hearts. *Open doors open hearts are not just words. They are in full practice to all who enter! *A place where I belong and the talents I bring to the table seem to be appreciated. *My Lifeline. My Family. Generous application of God's love without all the shaming, angry, and religious dogma. *CHUM welcomes everyone. Family. *My description is safety, security, and peacefulness. I feel all those at CHUM. Life. *The reason I still want to attend worship and study...thank you CHUM for being in Wichita. *Family
Dividing yourselves into groups around tables I want you to spend some time, I ll let you know when time is up, thinking about these 4 questions by group. Try to come to a consensus, let s say 20 words or less, a concise sentence, a statement that captures the question and CHUM as you understand us. Who is CHUM for you? Welcoming family where you can be yourself, you can think and love people different from yourself What makes CHUM unique? Our church thinks outside the box. All are welcome and you do not need to leave your brain at the door. Why do we exist? Purpose? Who would we like to be as a community? A place where everyone belongs together to be love, do justice and experienced the Spirit. Provide an accepting diverse judgment free community to allow everyone to start and or continue their spiritual journey in order to become an authentic being. What is CHUM s Dream and Vision? Where would we like to go? Intentionally inviting with unconditional acceptance and questioning with respectful dialogue. I would like us to keep in mind that I believe this is not a one-time meeting designed to give us the answer we need, we will not come out of tonight s meeting with all the answers to our questions. This is a beginning again to embrace and grow into who we are and who we would like to be, tonight is the re-beginning of a process, this meeting is not our destination. In each of our monthly administrative meetings these four questions will be at the top of our agendas. I want us to spend a few minutes each month in our various committee meetings from here on out to address these questions and work on how we answer the questions relative to our own committee and ministry area in the church. Each quarter we will reconvene in a joint meeting to continue the conversation and share our conversations with the entire congregation through presentation, email, publication, and newsletter. The next joint meeting will be June 8, 2015. Also shared at this meeting was the ongoing conversation in our church community about the possibility of restructuring of our Sunday morning worship schedule as two services with a Sunday school hour separating them. This discussion has been going on for many years as to how, what, if, should we do something like this. I believe with the current makeup of our congregation and attendance numbers moving to two services has many advantages for our community. It is suggested that through this summer, perhaps June, July, and maybe August we experiment with two services and see how it feels and what we think of it as we glean input from the congregation and then make a decision next fall as to what our wishes are. Moving to two services has the potential to enhance our attendance for our more traditionally structured service as well as our contemporary style gathering. In the next several weeks, as we receive feedback we will decide on how we will determine times for each element of our Sunday morning structure. It is an exciting time to be a part of our community as we move into a new future of thriving not just surviving! Hop on board and Find Your Place at CHUM!