MAY 2018 BAD AXE FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH THE CHIMES Reading Christians are growing Christians. When Christians cease to read, they cease to grow. JOHN WESLEY GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING, BUT WE DON T. Your church likes to support you, especially during possible turning points in your life. Since these often involve a stay in the hospital, please be sure to call, or have someone call, the church office (989-269-7671) or the parsonage (989-623-0092) to let us know about you. Please include the name of the hospital. We cannot count on the hospital to call, even if you tell them what church you attend. We want to be supportive so please call. Be sure to call whenever you want to talk with the pastor---- whatever the reason. If you would like something sent out as a prayer request to our prayer warriors, p l e a s e c a l l o r e m a i l t h e c h u r c h o f f i c e ( o f f i c e @ b a d a x e f u m c. o r g ) o r P a s t o r P h i l (pastorphil@live.com) CHURCH DIRECTORY We are scheduled to have photos taken for our new church directory on June 18 and June 19. We are continuing to make appointments after both services in the dining room. I n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t m a k i n g y o u r o w n appointment online is available on posters around the church. There is no cost to you for the photo session, and each family will receive a free 8 by 10 photo and a copy of the church directory. If you are unable to attend the photo sessions, you can submit your own photo for the directory for a $10 charge (which gets you a copy of the directory). See Stephanie Krohn or Laurie Tousley if you have questions. RUMMAGE SALE As you are cleaning out your closets, garages,basements, storage units, please remember that our Annual Rummage Sale will be held May 5. Donations can be brought to the church dining room starting Monday, April 30th. If you have larger items that need to be picked up, please call the church office (269-7671) and arrangements will be made to pick them up. This year the proceeds go to the Youth Work Trip. MOTHER S DAY BREAKFAST Join us on May 13 for our annual Mother s Day Breakfast sponsored by United Methodist Men. Omelets, muffins, fruit, and other goodies will be available. EVERYONE is invited! PENTECOST SUNDAY SUNDAES May 20 is Pentecost Sunday. Wear RED to celebrate the birthday of the church, and join us at 11:00 for Pentecost sundaes in the dining room! ATTENTION, HS GRADUATES! The High School Graduation Breakfast is coming soon! Please mark your calendar for June 3, and plan to make this even a priority in your graduation celebration. HS graduate s families can call reservations in to the church office, 269-7671. Please turn in names of BA 1st UMC high school or college graduates to the office by May 6. All graduates will be recognized during the 10:00 worship service on June 3. Also, Thelma Allen Scholarship applications are available in the office; the deadline is May 6 th.
VOLUNTEERS IN MINISTRY If you are unable to fulfill your commitment on your scheduled Sunday, please make arrangements to have your position covered. Call others on the list and see if they can trade weeks with you. If you are unable to find a substitute on your own, call Sharon in the church office during office hours (M-TH 9 AM to 2 PM) for assistance. Altar & Communion: Stephanie Krohn Worship Leader: Rita Wencel May Ushers: Tim Wolfe, Troy Hildreth, Tim Straight, Justin Straight Greeters: May 6: Cherrie Mooney May 13: Kevin/Lori Trepkowski May 20: Roger/Kris Swartzendruber May 27: Bob/Betty Liedke If you are not on the greeter list and would like to be included as a greeter and/or could help on a Sunday where there is only one greeter/couple, please call the church office to volunteer. NURSERY We have a nursery staffed with volunteers. Our young families and a few others are t a k i n g t u r n s supervising the nursery during the 10 AM worship time. Children up to kindergarten age may be taken to the nursery before the service begins, after Children s Time, or when needed. The nursery is located down the stairs at the back of the sanctuary. If you would like to find out how you can help with the nursery, contact the church office or Laurie Tousley. NURSERY VOLUNTEERS: May 6: Sarah Straight & Jill Iskow May 13: Katie & Zac Eskau May 20: Kari Hildreth & Becky Stephan May 27: Mallory Klosowski & Joan Cubitt June 3: Kelli Hass & Autumn Hass Nursery helpers: If you find you cannot be p r e s e n t o n y o u r assigned day, please call one of the other volunteers to cover the nursery for you. Susan Hass and Jean Sommers have offered to be a substitute if you cannot find anyone to change days with you, but you must contact one of them yourself to make certain the nursery is covered.
CELEBRATIONS Huron County Medical Care Sheri Vincent Marlene Murdock Mary Orr KEEP IN YOUR PRAYERS Meadow Lane Assisted Living Gladys Hamilton Apt. #8 Thelma Dibble Apt. #3 Bill MacAlpine Apt. #18 Doris Western Apt. #19 Lakeview Extended Care Evelyn Graves OUR NEXT NEWSLETTER WILL BE A JUNE/ JULY ISSUE. PLEASE PLAN AHEAD! STAY IN TOUCH LISTEN LIVE! You can listen to our 10 AM service live each Sunday on WLEW 1340 AM. You can also listen to our 10 AM service each Sunday on your computer, phone, or tablet from anywhere in the world. Go to thumbnet.net to listen live or to download an app that will allow you to listen l i v e o n y o u r a n d r o i d o r A p p l e devices.wherever you are on Sunday morning! MAY BIRTHDAYS 1 Bob Liedke 4 Gerald Vincent 7 Mary Jo Mantey 11 Lynn Abke 12 Dave Brickel Macy McCracken 14 James Hass Noah Krueger 15 Lois Liedke 18 Mae Hoffman Phil Tousley 20 Kelly Hunsanger 21 Chuck Mantey 22 Sydney MacAlpine Lola Morin Tim Straight 23 Autumn Harris Don Liedke 24 Bill Sturgill 25 Renee Krueger 28 Jessica Cubitt 30 Margo Mestack 31 Emma Walsh MAY ANNIVERSARIES 6 Kent & Elaine Paul Gary & Connie Rochefort 8 John & Cherrie Mooney 12 Curt & Connie Myers 22 Jim & Rita Wencel 23 Brian & Dawn Cubitt 25 Jeff & Stephanie Krohn 27 Chuck & Jennifer Harris 31 Tim & Michelle Straight If we have missed your birthday or anniversary please call the church office (269-7671). In the happy moments: PRAISE GOD. In the difficult moments: SEEK GOD. In the quiet moments: WORSHIP GOD. In every moment: THANK GOD.
submitted by Kathie Abke, UMW President The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. - Socrates We really do like things to remain the same, like our favorite comfy shoes. Change is one of the hardest realities that we face every day. But like Pastor Phil reminded us in his sermon last Sunday, the only one who never changes is Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Not so much with anything else. The United Methodist Church is going through changes in the combining of the West Michigan and Detroit Conferences into the Michigan Conference, and reducing the number of Districts from 12 to 9. This change is being addressed by United Methodist Women all over the state, as leadership on the District level has been shaken up with the change of District boundaries. At first, it seemed like a doom and gloom scenario with our new District consisting of the east side of the thumb, and extending west to include 44 churches in the Flint area. Some of our existing Mission Team members are now in another District. But after the District 6 Organizing Conference in Lapeer on April 22 nd, the air is filled with excitement and anticipation as we build new relationships and help women in our new East Winds District forge a creative, supportive fellowship (from our PURPOSE) beyond our familiar local units. A mini-meeting after the Conference with a few of our Blue Water District leadership members along with a member of the Crossroads (Flint) leadership team, gelled this excitement and anticipation. How wonderful it would be if every member of our District could meet together, and experience the fellowship that God created for us as sisters in Christ, serving Him together from our individual churches! (We kind of do that at our Annual District Meeting, which will be held on October 13 th in Lapeer). Hmmm Wouldn t it be grand to take a carload? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** Bad Axe United Methodist Women met together on April 19 th for the first time since January. It was wonderful to be back together again discussing how we are serving and how we might be able to serve God through our fellowship. Sharon Sturgill reported that the Annual Soup Supper held on Maundy Thursday was well attended and $456.00 was made, with $152.00 of that profit going to support the Youth Mission Trip. *** Kathie Abke informed the group that she is going to attend the UMW Assembly in Columbus, OH on May 17-20, along with Judy Chasney from Harbor Beach, and other women from our District. This is like the General Conference of United Methodist Women. We re not sure if anyone from Bad Axe has ever attended. We re hoping to be able to share this experience with Bad Axe, Harbor Beach, Port Hope and Ubly UMW units on May 24 th at 7:00 p.m. at our church. *** Registration of our women in the UMW Census online is going well. So far, 25 of our women have been registered. This registration will allow us to be counted as United Methodist Women of Bad Axe First United Methodist Church, and receive communication on issues regarding women, children and youth. Another change. But it s all for good. ***We re looking forward to honoring our Graduates and their families with breakfast on Sunday, June 3 rd. Women of the church (and friends) are invited to lunch the last Tuesday of each month. We meet at 11:30, buy our own lunch and just catch up on visiting for an hour or so. It s a fun time to see old friends and meet new friends. Please join us! Tuesday, May 29 @ The Gathering Place
Follow the Leader! You are invited to join us for our Summer Skills program as we all learn more about what it means to Follow the Leader. Our scriptures this summer are John 14:6 I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me and Matthew 22:37 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. The dates for Summer Skills are: July 10-11-12, July 17-18-19, July 24-25-26, and July 31-August 1-2. All four weeks are Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. Registration information for families will be available later this month. We need YOU! Whether you can help for one day or one week or one hour a day or one hour a week; we need you! Our current needs are for floaters folks who will float around the church and help out as needed; age group helpers folks who want to help with a specific age group but not have to do any planning or preparation; and buddies folks who can come during lunch and eat and visit with a group of children or play outside with a group of children after lunch or come during art/crafts and assist a child who may need extra help. Pray about how you can help and talk to Katie Eskau or call the church office to get signed up! There will be an organizational meeting on May 20 th at 11:15 in the library.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:11-13 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. -Philippians 4:4-9 A Warm Wind from the East Last Sunday afternoon I got to scratch something off my bucket list. I was present at an authentic historic event. It wasn t just something I saw on live TV by the way, I was there. If you haven t guessed by now, I m referring to the organizing conference of our brand-new District in an equally new Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. And it was exciting. Seriously. To be honest, I wasn t expecting that level of positive energy. So, I have been wondering what happened. Was it so engaging because we got to choose a name for this new configuration? Maybe, but I think there was more than just that going on. It could have been the sermon, or the fact that two of my grandkids read scriptures from Jeremiah and Philippians. It s always good to spend some time with Laurie Tousley, Kathie Abke, Andy Sommers, and Dale Cubitt. But even that doesn t explain it. I have since come to understand that it was a great day Sunday because I got walloped with a bucketful of hope. There was some hope available in the form of visioning a future for United Methodism in this part of the world. But I encountered a deeper hope, the kind that rings like a bell and strikes deep chords within. I felt hope as I encountered people that I knew from a long time ago. There were people there who knew my family of origin and my extended family as well. A friend from my childhood at Ames United Methodist Church who became my District Superintendent when we were in the Upper Peninsula was the host pastor. There were many others I knew, and the gathering reminded me of other friendships I have known through the deep blessing of serving Christ with the people of God. I was reminded that even during times of great change, we are always rooted in our history and surrounded by God s love. Change is difficult. But we are not alone. I am thankful and humbled to remember the depth of God s love for us. He was with us in the beginning, He is with us now, and He will be with us forever. I really felt that presence very strongly at the first meeting of the East Winds District of the UMC. I believe that we are on the threshold of something truly amazing! So stay tuned. Blessings, Pastor Phil
Bad Axe First United Methodist Church 216 E. Woodworth Bad Axe, MI 48413 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Everyone is welcome to join us for our Sunday worship services which are celebrated at 8 AM and 10 AM. If you are unable to join us in person, listen to the 10:00 service on the radio at 1340 on your AM dial. You are welcome to contact us at the church office, M-Th, 9 AM to 2 PM. Church phone number is 269-7671. Our website can be found at http://www.badaxefumc.org Our church email is office@badaxefumc.org *If you would like to be added to the list of people who make a commitment to pray, please notify us at this address - BAFUMC.Prayer.Request@gmail.com *To join the church information grapevine, send an email asking to be added to GrowingAndSharing@gmail.com *To receive The Chimes Newsletter by email, send a request to be added to the email list to TheChimesNewsletter@gmail.com *For questions and comments about the newsletter or to contribute information, please contact Laurie Tousley (editor) at mrs_tousley@hotmail.com