News & Notes 9/26/08
September 25, 2008 St. John’s Church “News & Notes”
Happy Autumn, my Friends,
Though I’ve seen it in years gone by, I’m borrowing this piece from the most recent issue of St. Mark’s UMC, Kittery newsletter: “My church is composed of people like me. We make it what it is. It will be friendly, if I am. Its pews will be filled, if I help fill them. It will do great work, if I work. It will make generous gifts to many causes, if I am a generous giver. It will bring other people into its worship and fellowship, if I bring them. My church will be a church of loyalty and love, of fearlessness and faith, and a church with a noble spirit, if I, who make it what it is, am filled with those things. Therefore, with the help of God, I shall dedicate myself to the task of being all the things that I want my church to be!” That’s an interesting and challenging piece, isn’t it? Do you agree with it?
Sound Tech Ministry: St John’s needs some special people to learn to operate the Sanctuary sound system for occasional special events, such as weddings, funerals and memorial services. If you are interested, please contact Pastor Mark, or Bob Johnson at 207-384-4471 or bobj (at) gwi (dot) net.
The Mission Trip Orientation meeting will take place this evening, and it’s not too late to decide to attend, or to decide you have questions about attending. Why not come to hear the story - in Hartford Hall, beginning at 6:30 PM. There are folks coming from First UMC in Rochester, and First UMC in Portsmouth, and possibly St. Mark’s UMC in Kittery, too.
Donna Capern asked me to share this next item with you: There’s a great concert taking place tonight - Friday, September 26 - at 7p.m. at the Portsmouth Christian Academy Gym on 20 Seaborne Drive, Dover. The artist, Mikal, is an Afro-Caribbean musician from Belize, and PCA students and staff were very impressed with him when they met him during a recent missions trip. Mikal’s music is a combination of gospel, reggae, pop, hip hop and rap. It will be a great evening! A $7 donation is suggested.
Tomorrow evening we have our next Public Turkey Supper!! I hope everyone can help out in some small way!! Of course, there’s always coming to supper as a patron!! Great food being served from 4:30 till 6 PM!
Remember that we’ll have our next “Blood Pressure Clinic” during Coffee Fellowship - between services - this Sunday. It’s one of those basic ways to keep track of our well-being. Check it out!
Our Office Manager, Sandy, will be on vacation next week, and I’ll be leaving early Tuesday morning for a Continuing Education event in Kansas - so the office will be a lonely place next week. If you have need for a pastor while I’m away, Rev. Deb Shipp, from First UMC in Portsmouth, will be covering for me. You can reach her through one of our Lay Leaders - Bill McWilliams and Betty Small. The answering system at the office will be checked periodically through the week, so you can leave messages.
I will begin a “course” soon for Cub Scouts’ “God and Country Series”. There are two young men who have asked me to take them through the course, and we’d love to have any other Cub Scouts that might be interested join us. We’ve decided that the first meeting will be Thursday, October 16th, at 3 PM. If the day/date/time are not convenient for your Cub Scout, and he’s interested in the program, speak to me soon.
“Wild Wanakee Women: For All Seasons:
Women should be able to get away from it all and not feel guilty! That’s why God created Wanakee. Come to Wanakee during your favorite season - yes, you can now choose which season to visit. It will be a great weekend to connect with other women - building new friendships and rekindle old friendships. Come with your mother, sister, friend, or come by yourself. A lot will be offered. The agenda for the weekend is what you want to make it. You decide your activity level with seasonal activities such as hiking, snowshoeing, swimming or reading, movie watching, napping. Becoming an official Wild Wanakee Woman will give you friends for life and a well deserved break in any season! October 24-26; February 6-8; May 1-3; Summer (Wed-Sat) Camp TBA Space is limited to 15 participants in the up coming Oct. 24-26 Wild Wanakee Women Weekend. Place: Wanakee’s red farmhouse; Time: 7:00 Fri. - 11:00 Sun.; Cost: $75; Reserve your place soon. Call the Wanakee UMC office 603-279-7950
Finally, this may come as a surprise to those not living in Las Vegas, but it is a very spiritual city, with more Catholic churches than casinos! Not surprisingly, some worshipers at Sunday services will give casino chips rather than cash when the donation tray is passed. Since they get chips from many different casinos, the churches have devised a method of turning the chips into cash. They send all their collected chips to a nearby Franciscan monastery, where the patient and detail-oriented men sort and count the chips. The chips are then taken to the casinos of origin and cashed in. This is done by the chip monks.
That’s all that I have to share today. I’ll see you in church on Sunday!! Peace, Mark
From the General Board of Church & Society
Election guide compares Democratic and Republican platforms with United Methodist Church positions on key social issues
Guide can be downloaded from Web at www.umc-gbcs.org
A 2008 election guide that compares the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties with the United Methodist “Social Principles” and Book of Resolutions is available. The guide was prepared by the Washington, D.C.-based General Board of Church & Society (GBCS), one of the denomination’s four international program agencies.
The guide can be downloaded from GBCS’s Web page at www.umc-gbcs.org. It is available in a comprehensive 14-page version and six bulletin inserts that address specific subject areas: “Economic and Environmental Justice”; “Civil and Human Rights”; “Health and Wholeness”; “Peace with Justice”; “Women and Children”; and “United Nations and International Affairs.”
The guide is intended as a discernment tool. “As United Methodists, we are called to transform the world,” the election guide’s introduction states. “Part of that transformation is made through faithful advocacy, community involvement and leadership.”
The United Methodist Church does not advocate a strictly two-party system. As a consequence anyone accessing the election guide is encouraged to seek out details on other political parties and candidates, too. A list of parties and links are included in the guide.
The GBCS Web site, www.umc-gbcs.org, contains more information, including articles, statements, and resources, on the issues covered in the election guide. The General Board of Church & Society’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education and Leadership Formation, United Nations and International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center at the United Nations.