THE FAIRHAVEN MESSENGER T he newslett er f or Fairhav en United Met hodist Church Summer, 2012 KIDS DIVE DEEP AT VBS V BS 2012 is over now, but the sounds of children s joyful laughter and exploration are still echoing in our hearts. With 96 children registered, this was by far the biggest Bible School in recent memory, nearly reaching the capacity of our building. When we realized how much the attendance was increasing, we quickly formed an extra age group and the activity center leaders and helpers gave up their break time to be able to have enough sessions for all the groups. Even though there were many more children, the week went very well, with interesting science activities in Exploration Station, fun music at the Choral Reef, lots of novel crafts in Aquatic Arts, fun snacks and heartwarming mission stories at the Divers Diner, scripturally themed active games at the High Tide Hangout, and special Bible tales at the Underwater Passage. Ocho (the octopus puppet) and his fishy friend Oogle brought us all an Ocean Insight each day summing the day s message up in a single, easy to remember phrase. Our teens and adults worked well as a team to ensure that every child entrusted to us came away with a deeper understanding of scriptural truths and feeling loved and respected. What fun to share the joy of loving and being loved by God with our energetic young explorers! Article by Jean Sansonetti; photos by Garine Isassi
Page 2 THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON ANNUAL CONFERENCE A b r i d g e d f r o m t h e R e p o r t b y T h o m p k i n s H a l l m a n, L a y M e m b e r The 228th annual session of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference was held May 30 June 1, 2012 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. The theme of the meeting was Developing a New Generation of Disciples. The message during the opening Worship Service on Wednesday morning was brought by Rev. Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr., pastor emeritus at St. Luke Community UMC in Dallas. He spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were concerned as to who would be the greatest among them. Like us, they failed to check their egos at the door. We need to be open to the new things God is doing in our midst. It s not about us but what God is doing in our lives. Divisions of racial, sexual, or other things many cause us to miss our blessing. The State of the Church Address was given by Bishop Schol on Wednesday afternoon. He addressed two hardcore issues about discontinuing churches and homosexuality. He addressed the misconception that he and the Cabinet were responsible for closing 40 area UMC churches in the last 10 years. Instead, almost all of the discontinued churches were by action of the churches charge conferences that voted to close them because they did not have sufficient resources to pay their expenses. Their loss is a loss for all of us because the churches represent people s lives and faith journeys. He pledged that the conference will continue to work with congregations that are facing challenges by starting a new Small Church Initiative. Citing his experience at General Conference and biblical study, he said he personally believes that gay and lesbian people are children of God, loved by God and saved through the love of Jesus Christ. Further he will fulfill his responsibilities as a bishop to uphold the Book of Discipline and he also wants pastors to be pastoral to the needs of the people in the communities they serve. Reflecting the actions of the General Conference he said it would serve no purpose to bring this issue before this conference. The world did not say about the early Christians, See how they agree with one another, it said, See how they love one another. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake greeted and thanked the United Methodist Church during the Wednesday evening worship service. She applauded the BWC for efforts to support The Journey Home, a Baltimore program to make homelessness in the city rare and brief. The guest speaker at this service and the Thursday morning service was Clif Christopher who focused on stewardship by both congregants and clergy. Thursday morning also included the 2020 Vision session and the Service of the Saints. During the Vision session the conference adopted bold goals in four areas: Discipleship train and support congregations to make new disciples so that our conference-wide average is one new disciple for every 10 worshipers, and have a third of the average worship attendance involved in at least one small group annually; Leadership involve 8% of the conference s lay worshipers in a leadership development experience by 2014; Congregational Development increase the number of highly vital Acts 2 congregations from 22% to 40% based on the Call to Action 2010 metrics; Mission build 500 units of permanent, supportive housing for the homeless. The name of Rev. Ed Schell was called during the Service of the Saints. Rev. Schell passed on November 25. 2011. He was the Executive Secretary emeritus of the American Methodist Historical Society and is responsible for making the collection and museum at Lovely Lane Church the word recognized repository that it has become. Kenda Dean, ordained Elder in the BWC and professor of youth and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary, spoke during both Thursday afternoon and Friday morning sessions. She spoke of the myth that young people will save the church. Only Jesus Christ can save the church. If they have had a religious experience they are likely to continue in the church. Hope makes us young. In Jesus Christ every person is young. Tell your faith story; talk about it in your home. In business sessions at the conference, BWC members adopted a 2013 budget of $17,086,722 with a benevolence factor of 17.75%. The budget factor represents about 11.5% of all local church spending. The recommendation of the Commission on Equitable Compensation was approved, as was the Policy and Procedure regarding Sexual Misconduct Abuse or Harassment for BWC. A team will be created that will study the best ways to organize and do campus ministries within the BWC. The Rev. Rodney Smothers was nominated for the episcopacy in four ballots. Thirteen candidates were presented for Commissioning, one for recognition as associate member, two for recognition as Deacons, and 9 for ordination as Elders.
Page 3 HOMECOMING SUNDAY: SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 R ev. Glenn A. Young, Jr. returns to Fairhaven as guest preacher for our Homecoming service on Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 10:30a.m. Rev. Young served as pastor of Fairhaven U.M.C. from 1978 87. It was under his leadership and guidance that Bible school began at Fairhaven. This endeavor helped to grow the membership and continues to flourish and help grow the membership. He, along with Craig Sansonetti and others, helped to develop plans for the Fellowship hall that we utilize and share with the community. Rev. Young is especially proud of his role in taking some of the children to Appalachia. Rev. Young is the proud grandfather of 5. His daughter Jenny, who was 3 when she came to Fairhaven is now the mother of 3. She and her family, as well as Mrs. Young (Jan) will be attending Homecoming. Take advantage of this great opportunity to come back, if you've been away, to help celebrate the occasion of our 44th Homecoming. Dinner will be served immediately following the service in the Fellowship hall. Jacquee Strawther, Homecoming chair Pearl Green, Homecoming chair, emeritus SUMMER SANDWICH OLYM PICS ON AUGUST 26TH J. SANSONETTI I n the spirit of the recent Olympics, the Fairhaven Sandwich Team is gearing up to go for the gold on Sunday, August 26th after the worship service. This relay event features a first leg of placing delicious meat and cheese on bread with speed and precision. The sandwiches are passed on to the zippers, who amaze the audience with their dexterity and firmness and deliver the sandwiches into the waiting boxes. Critical to the success of the team is the support crew, which smoothly delivers supplies out of the kitchen so teams have a steady supply of raw materials. They also ensure that no delays are caused by buildup of the finished product and all materials are properly refrigerated overnight. Meanwhile the bag-stuffing relay event takes place at the opposite end of the venments, and snacks are deftly inserted into the sturdy regulation-sized brown bags, along with applesauce and spoons. Support crew members also pitch in for this event, swiftly moving completed bags to the finish line. There will be two winners at the end of the event the residents of the homeless shelter on Gude Drive in Rockville, who will have nourishing lunches for two days and the team members who will share in the joy of working together and competing in the Summer Sandwich Olympics. These amusing and fruitful activities bring together the fun-loving, caring members of Fairhaven, who feed hundreds of the hungry people in our community. So plan now to bring the proper footwear and your best game to the event.
Page 4 CHOIR SUNDAY HELD JU NE 3 RD The Children s Choir The June 3rd worship service was a service of music presented by the Fairhaven music program. Pictured here are the choirs (and trio) participating in the service. The Bell Choir The Gospel Choir Bill, Tom, and Terry The Sanctuary Choir
Page 5 NO POWER? NO PROBLEM T he power outages that affected much of the Washington DC area after the derecho storm on June 29 affected Fairhaven, too. Power was still out on Sunday, July 1, but that did not prevent Fairhaven from holding its Communion service. The service was held in the Fellowship Hall, which was brighter and cooler than the Sanctuary. VBS MISSION PROJECT The mission project during VBS was collecting items for the families staying at The Children s Inn at the National Institutes of Health. The Children s Inn is a home-like environment for sick children and their families. Pictured at left is the collected items at Fairhaven at the end of VBS, and below is Jean Sansonetti delivering the goods to The Children s Inn. AUGUST BIRTHDAYS 5 Judi Johnson 8 Ian Murrell, Mason Ellis, Grace Ridgley 11 Amelia Ettinger 14 V.K. Prasad 15 Xavior Manigault, Garine Isassi 18 Lloyd Branison, Caitlin Phillips 24 John Nesbit 30 Margaret Mapother 31 Andrea Faris MESSENGER STAFF Ellen Voorhees, Editor Ida Pearl Green, Distribution Ed Strawther, Photography
The September issue of The Messenger will be published after Homecoming. The deadline for the issue is September 3rd. Fairhaven United Methodist Church 12801 Darnestown Road Gaithersburg, MD 20878 Tel. 301/330-5433