CHURCH OFFICE 210 E. Spring Street Sigourney, IA 52591 Phone: 641-622-2641 e-mail: sigumc@windstream.net Newsletter Sigourney United Methodist Church Richard Pippert, Pastor PASTOR'S RESIDENCE 405 E. Spring Street Sigourney, IA 52591 Phone: 641-622-2229 e-mail: richsigumc@windstream.net cell phone: 319-530-7071 May, 2014 From Pastor Rich Our Defining Story For our group study and sermon series during Lent, Sigourney UMC focused on Adam Hamilton s The Way Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. We concluded the series on Easter Sunday, April 20, with a message entitled Your Defining Story. That morning I asked the same questions posed by Pastor Hamilton: What is the narrative that shapes the way you view the world? What determines your life mission and ultimate destination? How do you face adversity? I reviewed the events of Maundy Thursday when Jesus went to the garden to pray and the disciples fell asleep. After celebrating His last meal with His disciples, Jesus was betrayed by one of them Judas and another of them Peter denied knowing him three times. The next day Jesus was crucified. Pastor Hamilton quoted theologian Paul Tillich s belief that forgiveness is the divine answer to our existence but offered his own opinion that an even greater answer implied in our existence is Jesus death and resurrection. I reminded the congregation that the story of Jesus resurrection did not end with His appearance to the disciples, the women, and a group of men who walked home with a stranger, dined with Him, and left their dining table to tell others that Jesus is alive. The story continues with our own defining stories. Earlier in our study we looked at a person who was sick, paralyzed, unable to walk. Because the house where Jesus was preaching was full, some of the man s friends carried him up to the roof, dug a hole in it, and lowered him down to see Jesus. Jesus saw the faith of the man s friends and healed him and forgave his sins. The man who was healed did not say a single word. It was because of the faith of his friends that he was healed. This fact points to the importance of being stretcher bearers. Continued page 2 Worth $10 We re taking a temporary break from our hidden names contest this month. To read the rest of the story see page 10 of the Newsletter. In This Issue May Events... 2 It s Never Too Early to Start... 3-4 The Friendship Year a Summary & Pics... 5 Women s Page... 6 Youth Group Updates & Sunrise Pics... 7 This n That... 8 Personal Expressions 50, 64 & 75 Years... 9 Because You Asked & The Rest of the Story... 10
Page 2 Upcoming in MAY Printed below is a list of meetings and other events taking place in May. Please post this list at home. Ladies, please see also the Women s Page for other items of interest to women. Sunday, May 4: Building Fund Campaign Commitment Sunday. Wednesday, May 7: Trustees meeting. Sunday, May 11: Mother s Day. We will recognize the mothers and other women of the church in both services that morning. Saturday, May 17: Southeast District Meeting and Pre-Iowa Annual Conference training from 12 noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 18: Special offering received for Golden Cross Sunday. Monday, May 26: Memorial Day. Church office closed. Our Defining Story continued from page 1 Pastor Hamilton pointed out that we all need friends like that, whose faith is strong even when ours is weak, who are friends not just in word, but in deed. Those friendships don t just happen; you must invest in them. So, I ask: who are our stretcher bearers? Whose stretcher bearer are you? I pray that your defining story is carrying the message of God s love and the message of Easter -- that Jesus lives into the world around us. We all need stretcher bearers in our own lives and we, in turn, need to be stretcher bearers for others. May we proclaim Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed!! Pastor Rich Southeast District Conference and Pre-Iowa Annual Conference Workshop The Southeast District Conference and Pre-Iowa Annual Conference workshop are scheduled for Saturday, May 17 from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 309 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant. A workshop will be held at 12:00 noon with a Filipino lunch available for a free-will offering to missions. Golden Cross Offering On Sunday, May 18 we will receive a special offering for Golden Cross Sunday. The purpose of the Golden Cross offering is to celebrate health and welfare ministries and their role in spiritual well-being. 100% of this offering stays with the Iowa Annual Conference to fund grants to local churches and community groups ministering in these areas. Annual Conference Project: 2014 Potpourri Mission Booth Each year at the Iowa Annual Conference in June the pastors and lay members bring donations of money and other items from their congregation to support specific projects in the Mission Booth. One of the projects offered this year is STOP HUNGER a meal-packaging project providing meals to feed the hungry in the US and/or Africa. The cost of each meal provided is 25 cents. How many meals can Sigourney UMC donate? If you Continued page 8 CHURCH FINANCIAL REPORT 4-24-2014 At the end of April we will be 33.3% of the way through the year and will have spent 33.5% of our 2014 budget. With one Sunday remaining in April, budget income received to date is $65,427.40 or 31.1% of income anticipated for the year and 94.1% of income anticipated through April 30. Attendance/Giving for March/April S. School Worship Budget Income March 23 29 97 $5056.60 March 30 41 125 $4057.50 April 6 35 142 $5665.00 April 13 30 135 $3584.65 April 20 19 270 $2701.00 April 27 27 126 $----------
Page 3 Missions Updates by Bev Bucklin Thanksgiving Ingathering It s never too early to start You can begin gathering items needed for the kits now! It s never too soon to start. I already have quite a stash gathered. It s smart to watch for sales on the kit items and stock up. Our church is going to focus on preparing School Kits and Health Kits again this year, however if you d like to prepare a Birthing Kit or Layette Kit, I m including the information for those also this year. The first Saturday in November is the day that our church s kits are taken to Mt. Pleasant for processing. Our goal will be to prepare at least 200 kits before November, 2014. Last year we took 390 kits to Mt. Pleasant a record number for our church. Do you think we can top that? Anyone and everyone is encouraged to help with this project. Watch for sales and begin gathering items for the kits. Keep these two pages for future reference Keep these two pages for future reference Keep these two pages for future reference. KITS KITS KITS KITS HEALTH KITS Health kits help disaster victims reclaim their dignity and self-respect and are used as teaching tools with children. When people can maintain personal hygiene, their overall health improves. 1 new hand towel (15 x 25 up to 17 x 27 ) 1 new washcloth 1 bath sized bar of soap in wrapper (3 oz. or larger) 6 band aids (3/4 ) 1 large, sturdy comb (not pocket sized) 1 new toothbrush in original sealed wrapper (no child sized) 1 nail file or fingernail clipper (no emery boards or toenail clippers) Lay out hand towel and lay washcloth flat in center. Place rest of items on top of washcloth. Fold sides of towel to cover items. Fold 1 end of towel so it covers all items. Grasp bundle of items and roll over rest of towel tightly. Place tightly rolled bundle in zip lock bag. (Value: $12 plus $2 shipping) SCHOOL KITS School kits provide tools for education, which changes lives. In countries where children don t have books, school supplies or classrooms, a school kit may be their only educational resource. 3 notebooks approx. 8 ½ x 11 wide ruled 1 2½ eraser (210 to 250 sheets total) spiral or bound 1 blunt scissors (metal) 1 30 cm. metric ruler 1 hand pencil sharpener 1 box of 24 crayons (ONLY 24) 6 unsharpened pencils with erasers Place all items in the cloth school bag that the church provides. Place all loose items on top of paper. Turn items sideways and slide into cloth bag. Fold over top of bag so loose items don t fall out. Do not put loose items in ziplock bags. (Value: $11 plus $2 shipping) More kits on the next page
Page 4 KITS KITS continued LAYETTE KIT 1 receiving blanket 1 undershirt or onesie (small size) 2 diapers and 2 diaper pins 1 baby wash cloth 1 lightweight gown or sleeper (small size) Wrap all items in the blanket and pin. Place in appropriate size zip lock bag and let all the air out of the bag.) (Value $20 plus $2 shipping) BE SURE TO LABEL THESE KITS FOR NIGERIA ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, SO THEY WILL NOT GO TO UMCOR. UMCOR BIRTHING KIT 1 hotel-size bar of soap (1 oz. and up) 1 pair of clean latex gloves 1 square yard of clear 4-mil plastic sheeting 3 pieces of clean string, each 12 inches long 1 clean single use razor blade (carefully wrapped in paper or plastic for protection) 2 flannelette receiving blankets, each 1 square yard Place these items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag. From the Mission Field Editor s note: The Mefors are Medical Missionaries to Zimbabwe. Emmanuel is a doctor and Florence is a nurse. They visited Sigourney UMC in the summer of 2012 to talk about their missions work, and the past two years we have provided them with a small gift of support from our Missions Fund. Printed below is their newest communication with us. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We send you greetings from Mutambara, Zimbabwe. We give thanks to God for seeing us through since the beginning of this year. Most of all, we give thanks to God for making it possible for our friends (14 VIMs) from the Dakotas Conference to visit Mutambara earlier this year in February. The visit was well planned. Prior to that visit, the Liebes, in their previous visits to Mutambara had developed interest not only in the hospital affairs but also in the farm unit of the mission center. And so they started mobilizing and sensitizing people to develop interest and make up their minds, not only to donate whatever they could, ranging from hospital equipment, medical and surgical consumables, to education materials for the (Value: $8 plus $2 shipping) Elementary, Middle and High Schools and farm equipment and implements like the tractor, planter, sprayer and harvesters; but also to join them in their visit to Mutambara as VIMs. And so it took two years of planning and getting things together so that the Sea Container eventually arrived in Mutambara in early February and their visit actualized the same period. All units or sections of the Mutambara Mission Center felt the impact of the visiting team. There were agriculturists with technical knowledge, builders, painters, teachers/ school administrators, health personnel. So everyone had a place of interest to spend time for the period. It was very important to revive the farm section of the mission. And so a lot of teaching on use and maintenance of the tractor and accessories were done. Emmanuel & Florence Mefor Editor s note: Anyone who would care to help the Mefors in their mission work may give to them through Sigourney UMC. Place your gift in the offering plate or bring it to the church office. Please mark MEFOR in your check memo. Thank you.
Page 5 Friendship Company United by Kay Witte, director Another year of Friendship Company has quickly gone by. It was a wonderful year. Having enough help and people who really are interested in working with children is such a blessing. If one chooses to evaluate the program by numbers, we were down compared to other years. If we choose to evaluate the program by the needs of the children and how well we ministered to them in the time we had we were way up. I believe God brings those children to us who need what we offer. This year we were able to have small group time, and because we had enough help, this was very beneficial. Once the children knew someone had time and wanted to hear what they had to share, they opened up. We had an extensive study on getting acquainted with the Bible and what it is all about. Each child was given his or her own Bible, and on the last day they were able to take their Bibles home! Our last day included class time from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. followed by a supper for the children and their families. Prizes were given throughout the evening. The children concluded our evening by singing three of their favorite songs: The Creation Song, I am a Promise, and I ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy. As I work on plans for another year I am trusting in the Lord to guide me. I am hopeful for another wonderful year with the kids God brings to Friendship Company. I am believing that we can make a difference. To Our Volunteers Weekly Volunteers Jenny Andrews Merle Lane Don Borts Sherry Luers Dortha Borts Pastor Rich Tracy Donald Pat Reynolds Dorothy Jacobs Shoe Box Ministry Volunteers Cyrena Buschmann Merla Morse Martha Richardson You were a volunteer You made a difference. Thank you so very much for supporting me and for showing up every week to work with the kids. And especially for showing Jesus love for them. Kay Witte
Page 6 Women s News The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 103:8 NRSV June Scripture from UMW Bible Verses for 2014 GENERAL MEETING There are no UMW meetings during the months of June, July and August, but all of the church women are encouraged to assist with the all-church Fourth of July Food Stand on Friday, July 4. 4th of July Homemade Ice Cream & Bake Sale Homemade ice cream and baked goodies will again be sold by our church on the 4th of July to raise money for the Thanksgiving Ingathering Mission Project. We will be grateful for any donations of homemade ice cream, baked goods, and garden produce. If you are willing to donate ice cream, goodies, or your time to work this event, please let Bev Bucklin know by June 16th (bucklin@iowatelecom.net). Please bring your baked goodies or ice cream to the church by 9 a.m. on the 4th of July. (If you need to drop them off a day early just leave them in the church kitchen with a note). If you re willing to work, we will set up at 8:30 a.m. and begin selling in our church yard (or inside if it is rainy) at approximately 9:00 a.m. If you can t work or donate items, remember you can still stop by and buy some delicious ice cream and baked items. Remember, we are better together! The Unthinkable Continued from page In those moments, we're also as close to the God who has created us as we'll ever be, because we're open and receptive to God. We discover strength to get through the day strength we didn't believe we had, strength from beyond ourselves. We discover a resilience we didn't know we had, a kind of hope that disregards the evidence of the present moment. A hope not of ourselves. This is not a God of the gaps. It is more like theologian Paul Tillich's teaching that we stand before the God who is the ground of our being. I've also come to the belief that God neither causes these terrible things to happen nor prevents them. They are the natural results of an ordered creation. But in the midst of such events, God stands with us, comforts us, gives us strength and holds us in an embrace of love. I believe as I have said that God is always there for us. Rev. Hollon continues, We see this God in the faces of those around us who pull together to offer aid and comfort, healing and understanding. This is God at work in the midst of tragedy. The Psalmist reminds us that, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18, NRSV) We were created to flourish, not to live in a chaotic world, claims Isaiah. (Isaiah 45:18-19) The creation that can seem so capricious is the creation God gives us. In this creation, God's desire is for us to flourish. And I hold fast to the claim of Paul who wrote, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39, NRSV) When the unthinkable happens, I am thrust into the arms of unthinkable love love built even more deeply into the foundations of creation, love that is the ground of our being. When the Unthinkable happens, I pray that we will experience the presence of God surrounding us and even holding us in his hand. Pastor Rich
Page 7 Sunrise Service Pictures Hungry for Christ UMYF Youth Group NEWS By Jaci Jarmes God's Not Dead! On March 26, a group of 24 youth and parents viewed the movie, God's Not Dead, at the theater in Oskaloosa. We all thought it was an excellent movie, and we encourage you to see it. We have continued our study in small groups, diving into the scripture and taking a close look at our lives and our faith. Youth Group Leads Easter Sunrise Service As the sun came up on Easter morning, the youth group led a beautiful celebration of our Risen Savior! The service, including the music, scripture and the message, was all planned and led by the youth. We were excited to welcome Julia Mohr to give the message. Julia spoke about God's love for us and encouraged all to be "Sold Out to a Living God!" Following the service, the youth group parents prepared and served a delicious breakfast. We were excited to have so many people join us for worship and breakfast. If you were not able to attend the service, but would like to view the video, please let us know. In the meantime in the next column we ve shared a few pictures provided by Denise Mohr. Garage Sale! On Saturday, June 7th, we will be hosting a garage sale in the church basement! If you would like to donate towards the sale, you can drop items off in the double Sunday School room or let us know and we will pick up your items. Thanks for all of your help! Above: Julia Mohr encourages the Easter Sunday congregation to be Sold Out to a Living God! Above: Casey Jarmes shares the children s message at the Easter Sunrise service. Above: Khloe Snakenberg, Rylie Shettler, Brooke Donald, and Maddie Schwenke, accompanied by Pam Schwenke, lead the congregation in the Sunrise Service praise and worship time.
Page 8 iphone Culture by Nathaniel Mason, LDM Young Adult and Generational Ministries Conclusion of an article in the April Newsletter We confuse impersonal communication with intimacy. I have over 500 friends on Facebook. I ve almost always had jobs that were public and social in nature, so I do meet a lot of people. I ve met all 500+ people, and if I take the time to think back, I can tell you where and how I met them all. But to call all of them my friend is a bit of a stretch. We have this desire to feel connected, and when you remove the physical presence of others, you remove social inhibitions. This creates the nasty habit of oversharing. Tweens are born with this horrible practice ingrained in them, giving them the ability to text and check their social media 24/7. We have created monsters. Sociologists Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor came up with the Social Penetration Theory. I encourage you to Google it for a bit of instant information, but to oversimplify it, healthy long term relationships follow a pattern. They use the analogy comparing an onion to our concept of self. The more time we spend with people, the more layers of ourselves we peel back and show them. In return the people we are building this relationship with will reveal more of who they are to us. This gradual sharing builds a relational foundation that will make the relationship stable. If people go too deep too quickly, it is a very shaky relationship. It builds a false sense of trust and knowing. With these rushed relationships the first time there is conflict both parties feel hurt and betrayed. The relationship will dissolve as quickly as it was formed. I once witnessed a thirteen year old boy text a girl he had met once at a lock in. I reiterate, they met face to face only one time. They texted, he asked her out, she said yes, they got to know each other, they fell in love, they became Facebook friends, she got jealous, they broke up. From beginning to end this all took roughly 36 hours. The best way to address this issue is to show our youth how to develop positive relationships by developing relationships with them. This mandate goes out to the entire congregation. Every person who goes to church needs to reach out to these kids and establish a bond with them. One that is patient and respectful. I promise that a thirteen year old boy will not confess his love to an 80 year old snow bird in 36 hours. We need to give them the opportunity to practice this relationship building so they know what a healthy one looks like. All of the relationships youth build in the secular world are temporary. Teachers are with them for a year. Coaches are with them for four years at the most. Church provides an opportunity for the youth to build life long bonds. The problem of smartphones and technology has long been apparent. We may have not realized how deep the problem goes, but we knew it was there. Going forward I believe we need to get back to our Wesleyan roots. John Wesley was a strong advocate of Spiritual Practices. He fasted one day a week. He often took vows of silence. We need to get back to these Holy Disciplines, but we need to update them to our modern age. Challenge your youth to taking a weekly vow of Technology Silence. Get them to commit one day a week to set their phones down completely. Step away from the computers. Ignore social media. Get them to practice being present just one day a week and then see what habits they form. Annual Conference Project: 2014 Potpourri Mission Booth Continued from page 2 would like to donate, please put your check in the offering or bring it to the church office. Please indicate in the check memo the number of meals & Stop Hunger. Additional items being collected include: Wash cloths, dish cloths and dish towels. School supplies, Christian puzzle books, juice boxes, macaroni and cheese. Crayons, markers, kid-safe scissors and glue sticks. Socks and underwear sizes 2T, 3T and 4T for a Southeast District project. Pop tops from aluminum cans for Ronald McDonald House. Thank you for your support. All donated items and funds will be delivered to Annual Conference by Pastor Rich and Don Borts.
Page 9 LONGTIME MEMBERS HONORED 50 th Wedding Anniversary Pastor Rich recently presented membership recognition certificates to Phil Shaver (pictured above) and Frank Jacobs at the Sigourney Care Center. Frank has been a member of Sigourney UMC for 64 years, and Phil has been a member for 75 years. Open House for Emily Danowsky Sunday, May 18, 8-11:30 a.m. Masonic Webb Lodge (next to the church) We invite our Church Family to please join us for breakfast on graduation day as we celebrate the high school graduation of our daughter, Emily. Rick & Beth Danowsky Commencement Ceremony, May 18, 1 p.m. Sigourney High School Emily will attend the University of Iowa this fall, majoring in medical services. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to come and share with you. We enjoyed our time with you and are so appreciative of your warm welcome and encouragement to our family. We are very excited to minister to the African people and feel blessed to share that passion with you! Blessings! Andy & Stephanie Abrams & family Wayne and Judy Frank will mark their 50 th wedding anniversary on May 26. Wayne Frank and Judy Suntken were married on May 26, 1964 at the First Reformed Church in Meservey, Iowa. They spent their first several married years at Iowa State University and then moved to Osceola, Iowa in 1967. In 1969 the couple started farming west of Sigourney; they retired from farming in 2005 and moved into Sigourney. When asked about their years together, Wayne and Judy had this to say: It s been a great ride. Praise the Lord!!! They are parents of a son, Robert W. (Tina) Frank, who lives in Keota and works for Stutzman in Hills, IA. and a daughter, Christine M. (Natches) Carter, who lives in Sigourney and is a teacher/coach in the Sigourney Schools. Grandchildren include: Megan (Kevin) Morrison, who works as a nurse at South English Care Center, Patrick Frank, who is a junior at ISU, and Jordan Carter and Leah Carter, who attend Sigourney Schools.
Page 10 Because You Asked About Apportionments In the February Newsletter, we began a series of articles intended to help members understand apportionments and what it means to be a connectional church the principle that all leaders and congregations are connected in a network of loyalties and commitments. This month we will look at the Board of Global Ministries and the Board of Discipleship, which are a part of the Conference Missions Budget. Did you know Our church supports mission and ministry work with Hispanics and the Iowa/Nigeria project. The Board of Global Ministries supports mission work and ministry development in the annual conference. This includes areas of parish development, Hispanic ministries, Iowa/Nigeria Partnership, Justice for Our Neighbors, disaster preparedness and response, mission education, Volunteers in Mission, and community and institutional ministries. Your support of Sigourney UMC provides a mission budget for the Iowa Conference. Sigourney s share of apportionments for the Board of Global Ministries is $1,739 for 2014. Our support enables people to live as Christ s disciples in the world. The Board of Discipleship has responsibility to lead and assist the congregations of the conference in communicating the redeeming love of God in Christ, inviting persons to commit their lives to Christ and enabling persons to live as Christ s disciples in the world. The Board provides support and resources to local congregations through regional and conference-wide experiences in five core areas: Christian education, evangelism, spiritual formation, stewardship and worship. Sigourney UMC s share of apportionments for the Board of Discipleship is $47 for 2014. Thank you for your support of Sigourney UMC which provides for mission, ministry and discipleship-making throughout Iowa and the World. Pastor Rich Worth $10 The Rest of the Story Have you ever launched a plan with a specific purpose in mind, only to watch with some dismay as it succeeded in a way you never expected. Such is the case with my hope to increase the visibility of the church Newsletter by offering $10 to three people each month who found their names hidden in the text of the Newsletter. Of all the things I have attempted at Sigourney UMC, this little project has certainly generated the most comment -- some people loved the idea; others hated it. Awareness of the church Newsletter has increased because of it. Just not in the way I anticipated. Here s how it all came to be About six months ago someone not the first person to do so came into the church office and mentioned that something was taking place that they did not know anything about. When I shared with them the fact that we had written about it in the previous two Newsletters, the response was Oh, I don t read that. This concerned me for three reasons one, we sincerely try to keep all of the members informed about what is going on at the church; two, except for the church bulletin, the Newsletter is our main vehicle of communication with the church body here; and three, producing the Newsletter is abit of work and if it isn t helpful to the congregation, I wondered, Could my time in the church office be better spent on something else? However, before I was prepared to suggest throwing in the towel on your Newsletter, I wanted to see if we could come up with some fun thing that might increase awareness of it. About midnight one evening The Plan came to me: Why not offer the possibility of a prize for those who open up the Newsletter and read it a reward for our faithful readers and perhaps a magnet to draw others who have not read it regularly. My one size fits all prize was a $10 bill. No church funds are used for these $10 rewards; a private donor supplies the $30 each month. And no one is responsible for this project other than me as your Newsletter editor. If no one claims their prize for that month it is donated to a church project right now the youth group missions trip. The winners names are drawn from our mailing list. I randomly select 3 numbers from a box. The first number indicates the page number of our mailing list, the second chooses the column on that page, and the third selects the name in that column. Like I said earlier, The Plan has generated a lot of discussion about and awareness of the Newsletter. I m giving it a rest this month and will decide soon if I want to continue it in future issues, but I thought it was important for everyone to at least know the rest of the story. Sandy Nieuwsma, Newsletter Editor