News & Notes 3/24/08
Dear Friends,
Several of our High School youth and their advisors went to work earlier this week, and painted their classroom below the sanctuary. Two-tone blue - looks fresh and clean - they did a terrific job!! You might want to check it out soon. It’s the first classroom on the right when you go into the lower level of the sanctuary building. Great job folks!!
Last week you might remember me writing a special “News & Notes,” to see if anyone had any information about Barbara Kennedy, a woman who had been part of St. John’s Church in years gone by, but who had died in New York, with no apparent family connections. Well many of you helped with information, which we passed along to the people in Sunnyside, NY. I don’t know if it was the information that we provided or not, but we received word that her family was found, and she was buried next to her husband last Friday. Thanks for your help.
Our April Public Supper will take place this Saturday, from 4:30 till 6 PM. You folks have done wonderful at signing up to provide parts of the meal, and even to work on the supper. There are a couple of glaring holes though - kitchen help at 9 AM, and kitchen help at 2 PM. If you can help out, please just show up at one of those two times!! See you at the supper.
Did you read the article in Wednesday’s “Foster’s” about the increased call upon local Food Pantries? St. John’s Church has been faithful through the years in helping to meet the needs of our neighbors - including our support of the Dover Cooperative Ministries Food Pantry. Thanks for doing this. As the article points out, our continued support is vital. We normally designate the third Sunday of the month as Food Pantry Sunday, but your donations are welcome anytime. Non-perishable food items and personal care items - as well as financial gifts - are always needed. They can be placed in the cabinet to the left as you enter the narthex.
Women’s Retreat - with Tina Luce - is coming in just a little over a week. If you haven’t done so already, check out the blue brochures on the windowsill outside Sandy’s office.
Looking ahead:
-We’ll have our “Friendly’s Ice Cream” Fund raiser on Wednesday, May 7th, between 5 _ 8 PM, at the Friendly’s on Central Avenue in Dover. St. John’s will get a percentage of the sales. -there’s the Spring Clean-Up day around the church on Saturday, May 10th - look in the Bell-Wether for details. It would be great to have LOTS of folks help out!!
-Members of the Confirmation Class will be received into membership of the church on Pentecost, May 11th
-Our spring Rummage Sale will take place on Friday, May 16th and Saturday, May 17th - once again, look in the Bell-Wether for details
These next two things are included in the Bell-Wether, which will be mailed out tomorrow, but I wanted to get the word out as soon as possible: The next gathering for the “20’s, 30’s & Thensome” group has been scheduled for Sunday, May 18th, beginning at Noon, at our church. Promoted as the “Summer Kick-Off Cook-Out,” the gathering will include a fiery game or two of wiffle-ball (and T-Ball for the small children) as well as a time to share fellowship around the table . . . the picnic table, that is! All who come are encouraged to bring your own meat to cook on the grill, as well as a dish and/or drink and/or chips to share. Paper plates, cups and napkins will be provided. “20’s, 30’s & Thensome” is the young adult group of St. John’s Church. We hold periodic events for fellowship and fun, and may (as time moves on) become the catalyst for small group experiences, Bible Studies, support groups, etc.
As this group looks ahead, we’ve also planned for an adult outing to attend the 6 PM Portland Seadogs at their home game against the Trenton Thunder on Saturday, June 28th. General Admission seats (which are the only remaining seats for sale) are $7 for adults. The “catch” is that we need to order the tickets very soon. If you would like to attend the game, could you speak to Lisa Perrine, Kiki Sylvester or Bekah Hollis by May 10th at the VERY LATEST! We’d love to have a huge caravan of “20’s, 30’s & Thensome” from St. John’s traveling to Portland in June!!
The United Methodist News Service, a unit of UM Communications (UMComm) will provide multimedia coverage of General Conference, posting stories, UMTV video reports, radio-ready audio reports and photographs throughout the assembly. To receive e-mails containing the English-language news stories that the news team produces as they are posted, sign up at www.gc2008.umc.org/DailyNews. Those who want to receive the news in one daily e-mail package at the close of the day can subscribe to the General Conference News Digest at www.gc2008.umc.org/DailyDigest.
Nearly 20,000 UMs Respond to Music Surveys
In the months leading up to General Conference, the General Board of Discipleship
(GBOD) conducted a series of six online research surveys about the opinions of
UM pastors, musicians, worship leaders and laity on a variety of subjects related
to UM worship, congregational singing, The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and
The Faith We Sing (2000). The surveys generated 19,091 responses. “These studies
and research surveys are valuable in finding out what the people, pastors, and
musicians think about these and other issues related to worship, congregational
singing and our hymnal,” said Dean McIntyre, director of Music Resources at GBOD.
The surveys revealed that the top three favorites in the UM Hymnal are “Amazing
Grace,” “Here I Am, Lord” and “How Great Thou Art.” The top three favorite hymns
from The Faith We Sing are “The Summons,” “I’ll Fly Away” and “As the Deer.”
The top hymn (currently in the hymnal) requested to include in a new hymnal is
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” Seventy-five percent of respondents would like
to have healing services in the hymnal. Forty-three percent want more praise
choruses in the hymnal; 34% do not. 28% prefer to sing lyrics on a screen; 70%
prefer to use a hymnal or songbook. Seventy percent are comfortable using male-only
language for God, while 25% are comfortable using female language for God and
42% are comfortable using male or female language for God. While some surveys were open to all UMs, because of the specialized nature of the information requested, others were open only to pastors and chief musicians. In 2007, the Boards of Directors of GBOD and the UM Publishing House (UMPH) proposed legislation to the 2008 General Conference to develop a revised hymnal for the United States. The research and reports of the General Conference Music Study are available at www.gbod.org/worship/musicstudy and the more recent New Hymnal Surveys are available at www.gbod.org/hymnal. - GBOD
“Nine-year-old Joey, was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday
school. ‘Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt .. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then, he radioed headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.’ ‘Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?’ his mother asked. ‘Well, no, Mom. But, if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!’” Faith is like that sometimes, isn’t it? God moves in our lives in ways that just defy reason. That’s what grace is all about - loving us even though we don’t deserve it!!
Have a great weekend. See you in church! Peace, Mark