TOWER TALKS First United Methodist Church of Warren A church for the whole family of God Published on August 17, 2016 Special Points of Interest: Adult Sunday School Resumes: Sept. 25 Change of Address Charge Conference November 1 Fast Track Disciple Class Starts Mid September Greeters, Ushers, Lay Reader Schedule Merry Widows Trunk or Treat Youth Group Inside This Issue: Pastors Pen 2 Music Department Fall News 3 & 4 Messy Church 5 Prayer Concerns 6 Announcements 7 Old Village Car Cruise In continues 8 United Methodist Women 9 The first annual Old Village Picnic made history! With a record number of volunteers, hundreds of hours of planning and preparation, support and encouragement, and a few hours of clear skies between rainfalls Warren First UMC greeted our neighborhood guests with food, fun, and free stuff! Door prizes, cakes and cookies, grilled burgers and hot dogs, cotton candy and snow cones, classic cars and live music were enjoyed by our neighbors and friends! The Picnic Committee is so very grateful for all the ways you helped make this happen! Thank you!!! PS and the congregation is very thankful for the Picnic Committee: Ashley Staple Rebekah Vernarsky Emma Knakal and their coordinators for Security, Entertainment, Food, and Donations: Frank Vernarsky Paul Sadowski Rosalie Hall Linda Sadowski and all the coins in the noisy collection!
TOWER TALKS Page 2 The Pastor s Pen Where are you invited to take the next step in your journey? Who or what extends the invitation? I ve been watching so many of you at work being invitational being people who are open to letting other people in and making other people feel welcomed and wanted. And I ve been busy watching how you invite with generosity and eagerness. Jesus offers us invitations all the time. Usually we hear him speak to us from scripture with a simple, Come! Come and follow. Come and eat. Come and rest. Come and pray. Jesus invites us to enter into a relationship with God as he tells us where we can find God in us and around us. The rule of Love is right next to us, in us, as close to us as our breath. Our work together as the body of Christ, the Church, is to introduce people to Jesus so that they may know how great God s love is for them. We are to introduce our neighbors, friends, family, and co-workers to this love that transforms us into unlikely vessels of that same love. It is the most amazing work! And it is the core work of the church, this faith community. We do it in very human, imperfect ways. Love is messy. Life is messy. God is the one who take chaos and turns it into the most amazing creation. This new church year begins with a Kick-Off Sunday on September 18. I want to invite you, and I want to invite you to invite others, to think about a new beginning and how this study or that prayer group or Sunday worship will introduce us to God s great love and help each of us come closer to living as our authentic selves, partnered with God s love. On Wednesday, August 31 and Wednesday, September 7 from 7-8 pm you are invited to come to share those things issues, attitudes, current events that make you angry or sad, that you want to see changed. We will listen to one another and those things that injure our hearts and minds and spirits, even our bodies. On Sunday, September 11, I am inviting those who want to learn more about organizing with other congregations to make a difference in the metropolitan Detroit area. Come for a simple meal at 5pm and hear Bob O Brien, director of the Detroit Regional Interfaith Voice for Equity (DRIVE) share their mission to build a coalition of clergy, congregations and allies, acting and advocating to create a just, equal and equitable community through congregation-based organizing. On Wednesdays, beginning October 5 th from noon-1pm, we will host a drop-in Brown Bag Bible Study which will look at the Sunday readings for each week (the lectionary readings include a passage from the Old Testament, a Psalm, an Epistle, and a Gospel). We will explore the readings using various Bible study methods and resources. Then, I am inviting a small group (10-12) individuals to participate in A Geography of Grace, a small group program meeting for a total of 12 sessions that will last 2 ½ hours each, led by myself and a co-facilitator. Through this curriculum, we will learn how to listen deeply to one another and how to create spaces that are safe for honest sharing and self-discovery. It promises to be a significant contribution to the fabric of who we are as a congregation. These safe spaces, or circles of trust, will use story, art, music, and poetry to explore themes from geography and nature which offer us metaphors that speak to the inner life and help us map our lives together. An introductory session will be held on Sunday, October 2 at the parsonage from 6-8:30 pm. A commitment to all twelve sessions is required to create the community for our journey together. Contact me directly at 248-912-4660 or smyoumans@gmail.com if you have any questions. As the weeks pass, you will find new invitations and events to invite others. From Wednesday night Messy Church to Friday night Old Village Car Cruise-Ins to Monday night Covenant Bible Study or Sunday morning Fast Track Disciple, you are invited to step out in faith to explore and expand your own journey and learn how God invites the world to know him through you! I hope you will come! Yours in the journey, Pastor Susan
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TOWER TALKS Page 5 Messy Church & Bible Study Classes Come One! Come All!!! Time to THINK ABOUT joining our 9:00 a.m. Adult Sunday School Class. We meet in the Library and will start our study on September 25. There is not lots of preparation each week. Our usual weekly pattern is to read one chapter and reflect on the questions regarding that reading. A sign up sheet and study book title will be posted soon in the Fellowship Hall on the sign up table. Please ask Lora Quick if you have any questions. Fast Track Disciple Class Once again WFUMC will offer a Fast Track Disciple Class this fall, meeting in the Parlor. This course covers the entire Bible in just 26 weeks. We read about 50% of it, focusing on the main events. This is a GREAT way to learn more about the Bible, God & your faith in a relatively short time. Richard Knakal and an as yet un-named person with be co-facilitating this course. The cost is $40 for the workbook. We will start in mid to late September and go into April. Last year's time of 8:45-10:00 a.m. Sunday mornings seemed to work well. Please talk to Pastor Susan or Richard Knakal if you have questions and sign up for this course. Covenant Bible Study Orientation starts Monday, September 12, 2016 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Library. Class will run Monday evenings September 19 November 7, and will resume in January 2017. Questions, please see Mike Rivard.
TOWER TALKS Page 6 PRAYER CONCERNS... Assisted Care Doug Anderson Windemere Park Assisted Living, Rm. 608, 31800 Van Dyke, Warren, MI 48093 Charles Hepner Habor Chase, 13400 19 Mile Rd., Ambrosia Rm. 2 Sterling Hgts., Mi 48313 Wilma Martin Windememere Park, 31800 Van Dyke, Rm. 250, Warren, MI 48093 Jean Minter Sunrise Assisted Living, 46471 Hayes Rd., Rm. 216, Shelby Twp., MI 48315 Eileen Shidler 36725 Utica Rd., Apt. 239, Clinton Twp., MI 48035 Lois Thomas Father Murphy Nursing Ctr., 8444 Engleman, Rm. 217, Center Line, MI 48015 Ruth Totton Autumn Woods Nursing Ctr., 29800 Hoover Rd., Room 359-B, Warren, MI 48093 Continued Prayers Active Duty: Sean Boesman Germany Bradley Cornett WA Carl Dorff Ft. Hood, TX Vincent Farmilo Germany Andrew Rivard MI Matthew Seilicki CA Vincent Von Lau Army Erik Wilt Japan Teresa Wilt Reserves, TX All those in active military service Names removed from this list remain on the prayer team s weekly prayer list. Questions? Please see a member of the prayer team or contact them below. Lora Quick: 586.243.1715, prayergramma@gmail.com Dorothy Collins: 586.264.7152 Dot McLean: 586.264.1649, dorothym@ameritech.net Church: 586.264.4701, contact@warrenfirstumc.org Usher Volunteers needed for the February & August Team. If you would like to help serve on Sunday mornings, please contact Keith Anderson at 586.536-1656 or by E-mail:cleatus81@yahoo.com. Ushers Schedule September Jack Johnson Michael Wilka Carl Misch Robert Knakal Greeters Schedule Sept. 4: Jan Waud Sept. 11 Elaine Newman Sept. 18: Linda & Paul Sadowski Sept. 25: Janine & Phil Heavin Sept. 4: Sept. 11: Sept. 18: Sept. 25: Lay Readers Schedule Lora Quick Rosalie Hall Sylvia Holmes Doug Belles MCREST Church September 4: Kensington @ Redemption, Sterling Hgts. September 11: Ministerial Alliance @ Greater New Hope, New Haven September 18: St. John Lutheran Church, Fraser September 25: Christ United Methodist Church, Fraser Counters September Phil Heavin Paul Latham Lucy Latham
TOWER TALKS Page 7 Church Announcements... Change of Address Please make the following changes to your 2016 Church Directory! New Phone Numbers Gary & Mary Knowles 931.516.0016 Birth Announcements Genevieve and Gwendolyn twin daughters of Alison Hass and Neil Muchez were born on July 18, 2016. Congratulations! Deaths Gus Bakalis age 87, died July 30, 2016. Surviving are his wife Alfreda of 62 years; children, John Bakalis, Gail (John) Meerschaert and Laura (Cal) Abtlanalp; and several loving grandchildren. A service celebrating his life will be held at Warren First UMC on Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. with the Rev. Susan Youmans officiating. Internment will follow in the Memorial Garden. William Olsen age 84, died August 1, 2016. Surviving are his wife Ruth of 61 years; daughter Jayne (Willis) Baker; granddaughter Anne (Patrick) Grogan; and several loving great grandchildren. A service celebrating his life was held on August 13, 2016 at the Detroit Opera House in Detroit. Barbara J. Hunter-Hacker age 83, died August 5, 2016. Beloved wife of the late Dale Hacker & the late James Hunter. Dearest mother of Rick (the late Jeannette) Hacker, Colleen (George) Colden, Craig (Mary Beth) Hacker & Paul (Tammy) Hacker. Survived by 7 loving grandchildren & 15 loving great grandchildren. A service celebrating her life was held on August 10, 2016 at the Wujek Calcaterra & Sons Funeral Home with the Rev. Susan Youmans officiating. Internment at Christian Memorial Cultural Center Cemetery. To all present Lay Readers and anyone interested in becoming a Lay Reader I will be working with the Lay Reader schedule now and in the future. I would appreciate your confirming your desire to continue if you have been a Lay Reader and appreciate your letting me know if you are interested in joining the schedule. If you know there are dates between now and the end of the year that you will not be available, please let me know that also. I will try to complete the schedule to the end of the hear in the very near future. Please include your email address, if you have one, when you reply to my request for confirmation or interest. You may email me at: carole.wesner@gmail.com Carole Wesner Thank you corner To all our FUMC church family, friends, choir and Pastor Susan: So much appreciation and gratitude for your many, many prayers, cards, flowers and visits both at the hospital and home. It has been a weary 5 months of tests, more tests and finally major surgery, and now recovery! But, I can see the light at the end of the road, especially when it turned out NOT to be lung cancer! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Most Sincerely, Jan Loch
Warren Old Village Cruise-In TOWER TALKS Page 8 More Ways to Serve... The Cruise In for Friday, August 19 th has been canceled due to the Woodward Dream Cruise. Please join us on the 1 st and 3 rd Fridays in September and October from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in the East lot at Warren First. Bring your favorite wheels and show them off. Bring a non-perishable food items to benefit Gleaners Food Bank. Refreshments are available. Contact Paul Sadowski at 586.201.3949 or Mark Piccalo at 586.405.8248 for more info. *Please remember there is no alcohol permitted in the building or on the church grounds! Youth Group Meeting on these Sunday s in the Youth Room from 12:00-1:30 p.m. September 18 October 2 & 16 November 6 & 20 December 4 & 18 Youth Leaders: Paul & Linda Sadowski 586.201.3949 Trunk or Treat Save the date... Saturday, October 29, 2016 4:00 6:00 p.m. East Lot & Fellowship Hall (Outdoor Movie is planned at dusk.) SAVE THE DATE... Charge Conference Theme: Let the Children Come! Tuesday, November 1, 2016 6:00 p.m. Dinner Fellowship Hall 6:15 p.m. Staff Parish Meeting Library 7:00 p.m. Conference Fellowship Hall
TOWER TALKS Page 9 The United Methodist Women s Annual In-Gathering Project Backpacks will be collected for children in need in Macomb County during the month of August through Labor Day Sunday. Please bring your donations to church starting Sunday, August 14. A collection box is located in the Narthex. September: Mission Team Wednesday, September 7 @ 9:30 a.m. Library Circles Tuesday, September 13 @ 9:30 a.m. 1. Lydia Janine Heavin 2. Ruth Pat Conrad 3. Grace RuthAnn Anderson 4. Hope Bev Stout @ her house 5. Faith Fellowship Hall @ 10:00 a.m. 6. Deborah Circle September 20 @ 7:30 p.m. Contact Byron Pietras-Kiefer for more info. Fellowship: Tuesday, September 20 @ 9:30 a.m. Guest Speaker: Rev. Judith May............................................................................... October: Mission Team Tuesday, October 4 @ 9:30 a.m. Library Circles Tuesday, October 11 @ 9:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m. Deborah Circle October 18 @ Calendar Dessert & Tea @ 7:00 p.m. Contact Byron Pietras-Kiefer for more info. Fellowship: Calendar Dessert & Tea Tuesday, October 18 @ 7:00 p.m. Fellowship Hall Tickets: $5.00 for a delicious dessert and entertainment by Rick McMurry s Irish Band. For tickets see a United Methodist Women member or call Carol Shinn 586.264.3992................................................................................ November: Mission Team Tuesday, November 1 @ 9:30 a.m. Library Circles Tuesday, November 8 @ 9:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m. Deborah Circle November 15 @ MCREST Contact Byron Pietras-Kiefer for more info. Fellowship: Tuesday, November 15 @ 9:30 a.m. Library............................................................................... Merry Widows Wednesday, September 28 @ 1:00 p.m. at Kerby s Koney Island, 6004 E Twelve Mile Rd, in Warren We will be planning our fall activities! Wednesday, October 26 @ 1:00 p.m. Location to be announced! Bev Stout & Carole Franks
TOWER TALKS Page 10 KICK-OFF SUNDAY September 18, 2016 10:30 a.m. Worship Dedication of Teachers 11:30 a.m. Greet new Director of Family and Outreach Ministries! Volunteers Needed: for: Sunday Morning Children s Ministry for: Youth Group Adventures for: Messy Church for: Confirmation Mentors