St. John's United Methodist Church

Take me out to the ball game!

Mike Willett — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:39:24 +0000

Get ready for some All-American fun with your St. John’s family when we head to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester on Sunday, July 28th for the Fisher Cats vs. the Altoona Curve minor league baseball game. The game begins at 1:35 PM, and tickets are just $11.00 each.

Reserve your tickets during coffee fellowship time.

For more information, contact Brenda Borchers at 603-534-7856 or Godcayers4uandme@yahoo.com.

Stress Management for Balancing Body, Mind and Spirit

Mike Willett — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:37:37 +0000

Join us on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 PM in the D F Richard Energy Room at Wentworth Douglass Hospital. We will be having our final session on mindfulness meditation. Come experience meditation to help you remain in the present moment in peace.

Stay for Healing Touch afterward to enrich your experience further.

Questions? Contact Deaconess Jana Marie at 330-1953 or janamari@localnet.com.

News & Notes 5/16/2013

Pastor Mark — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:29:23 +0000

Happy Greetings to you, my Friends,

I hope you’re able to enjoy the unfolding of creation during this season of spring. At every change of season I say “this is my favorite,” but I really think that spring actually rises to the top for me - with Easter, constantly changing flowers and bushes, leaves turning green (with each tree a slightly different shade), and the fresh smell of the air (often mingled with the scent of recently turned soil). It all gives reason to offer thanks and praise to God for life and its re-creation.

I mentioned in a special “News & Notes” about a celebration of life for Barbara Prescott, but I need to share today the news that Betty Haskell has also passed away - yesterday, at Hyder House. Her funeral will be at the church on Monday - visiting hours at 11 AM, with the funeral to follow at noon, followed by a reception in Hartford Hall. Betty and her husband, David, are quite new to St. John’s, but you folks have made a wonderful impression on them, as you have welcomed them here.

And this leads me to mention one more time, the committal service for Lisa Korth, which will take place in Pine Grove Cemetery in Barrington, on Saturday, at 11 AM.

Also on Saturday we will have our May Public Supper - Roast Turkey!! I know that several “regular” volunteers at the supper are going to be unavailable for the supper, so I’m hoping that other folks might just show up to offer a hand. It’s great fun, and I would encourage you to help out if you’re free.

This Sunday is Pentecost - the birthday of the church, and also Confirmation Sunday!! All five members of this year’s confirmation class have decided to be confirmed. They are Samantha DeVita, Ahna McCusker, Alyssa McGlauflin, Garrett Skidds and Emma Whall. Please hold them all in prayer as they make this “shift” in their journey of faith!!

AND, please remember to wear something bright red, orange or yellow to worship - so our congregation will mimic the flames of the Holy Spirit - the gift of God’s presence, given on that first Christian Pentecost, to bring “the Church” into being.

If you, or your child, is planning to apply for one of the Korn Family Scholarships, I want to remind you that the deadline for submission of the application is this Sunday, May 19th. If you’ve misplaced the form, you can pick one up from the metal rack on the outside of Sandy’s office door.

This is a repeat from last week: The New England Annual Conference is seeking donations of new small blankets, lap quilts, and prayer shawls for the ingathering mission offering during the Saturday Worship service. These gifts will be donated in the New England area to hospitals, nursing homes, veteran homes, shelters and globally through the End Hunger Now program. Please send your donation to the NEAC with either Deanna Gallant (our Lay Member of Annual Conference), Jana Marie Whitten (our Deaconess) or me. Want to share ideas, patterns, stories? Check out www.methodistsinmission.blogspot.com. For more information contact A-J Alexander at aaturnleft3@gmail.com

I know some of our congregation love puns, so I thought I’d share some “from my file.”
I tried to catch some fog. I mist.
When chemists die, they barium.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned
veteran.
I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.
How does Moses make tea? Hebrews it.
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

That’s it for today. See you in church!! Peace, Mark

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News & Notes 5/16/2013

Pastor Mark — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:29:22 +0000

Happy Greetings to you, my Friends,

And this leads me to mention one more time, the committal service for Lisa Korth, which will take place in Pine Grove Cemetery in Barrington, on Saturday, at 11 AM.

That’s it for today. See you in church!! Peace, Mark

News & Notes (special)

Pastor Mark — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:57:22 +0000

Dear Friends,

I wanted to send a note to let you know about two time sensitive events - so you could make plans to attend as soon as possible.

The first has to do with the funeral arrangements for Barbara Prescott. Her Memorial Service will take place Thursday, May 16th, at 1 PM, at the Wentworth Home, on Central Avenue in Dover (beside Wentworth-Douglass Hospital). It will be followed by Barbara’s favorite - an ice cream buffet.

Then Gail & Jim Korth asked me to share with the congregation that the committal service for their daughter, Lisa, will take place Saturday, May 18th, at 11 AM, at the Pine Grove Cemetery in Barrington. A reception will follow at the cafeteria of Turbocam, on Route 125 in Barrington. It would help Jim & Gail in their planning if they knew if you were planning to attend. If so, please email them at 4korths [at] metrocast [dot] net

While I’ve got your “virtual ear” let me remind you of the Public Turkey Supper this Saturday - and of our Pentecost Sunday celebration this weekend (please remember to wear to worship something bright red, orange or yellow - to mimic the flames of the Holy Spirit).

I’ll be writing my regular “News & Notes” on Thursday. Till then . . .

Peace, Mark

Sermon: “Seeing People for People” by Mark Alley

Todd Warfield — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:52:08 +0000

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 12, 2013

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First Scripture ~ Acts 16:16-34

Listen - MP3

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“Seeing People for People”

Sermon by Mark Alley

Listen - MP3

10.6 MB

Time: 14:42

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9AM PRAISE TEAM

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Altar Flowers

To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Mary C Smith by her daughters Hellen, Blanche and Betty

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Sermon: “Hope is in God” by Mark Alley

Todd Warfield — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:03:24 +0000

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 5, 2013

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First Lesson ~ Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

Listen - MP3

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“Hope is in God”

Sermon by Mark Alley

Listen - MP3

13.3MB

Time: 13:50

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Benediction

Listen - MP3

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Altar Flowers: To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Esther Andrews and Mary Marshall by Harriett O Marshall

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News & Notes 5/9/2013

Pastor Mark — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:59:59 +0000

Dear Friends,

It has been a busy week around the church, and there are allot of things that I want to share with you.

Guy Eaton, Kenny Gallant and Lenny Colongione have been busy working to run an electric line to the yellow storage shed that was moved last fall. That will enable lights and an outlet to the shed. The outlet, in particular is important, so Guy can start the snow blower next winter!! A friend of Lenny’s, Andy Miller, brought the rented power ditch digger, and “treated the church very kindly,” relative to the rental price. The conduit has been run and buried - the hole drilled into the side of the sanctuary building - and next will come running the line through the conduit and connecting it to the electrical panel in the church, as well as the outlet and lights in the shed.

The Eagle Scout Project is about to begin this weekend. Jonathan Hinkley, the Scout, has laid the stage out on the lawn by the bell-tower. They’ll dig the holes and set the sono-tubes (sp?) this weekend. Then next weekend they’ll actually build the stage itself.

Some have asked why we needed a stage. It’s not so much that we were looking for one, but that Jonathan was offering to do a project around our church, and needed something that would qualify as an Eagle project. The original idea was a playground for our smallest folks. After discussions, that idea morphed into this simple stage and seating - so there would be more flexibility of programming. It would also encourage the kids to be more imaginative in their play.

And the “End 68 Hours of Hunger” building is nearing completion!! You can see a picture and read about it in today’s edition of Foster’s. It’s also available at http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/search?Category=SEARCH&SearchCategory=facesofdover%3Bnews0104%3Bgjnews_01%3Bgjnews04%3Bgjcommunity_01%3Bgjsports_01%3Bgjentertainment_01%3Bgjopinion_01%3Bgjopinion04%3Bgjopinion03%3Bgjentertainment03%3Bgjentertainment04%3Bgjcommunity03%3Bgjcommunity04%3Bgjbusiness_01 Wow, that’s a long link, isn’t it!?!?

In case you don’t want to go to that, the important information is that you’re encouraged to come to church Saturday morning at 8 AM (sharp) for the dedication of the building - to Christine Skidds’ memory. Please bring some items to donate to the program. Then there’ll be an open house following the dedication, until 4 PM. A silent auction, games for kids and more - check out the Foster’s article.

That would remind me to mention the USPS Letter Carrier’s food drive this Saturday as well. You can leave a bag of donated non-perishable food items by your mailbox “for the letter carrier to deliver to a local food bank or pantry.”

Let me mention one more time that there will be a party to celebrate our out-going District Superintendents’ ministry on our District for the last eight years. It’ll take place at the Eliot UMC on Saturday, May 11th, beginning at 2 PM. Everyone is welcome. I know of a couple of St. John’s folks who are attending, and would love to have more join us.

Our first service this Sunday will be a bit different in format. Our Worship Committee has decided that on the second Sunday of the month (most months), the first service will be more “contemporary” - a style that has theoretically gone out of favor over a decade ago (we’ve moved on to “emerging worship”). What it means, though, is that there will be less liturgy (i.e. calls to worship and collective prayers read from a bulletin). The Praise Team’s leadership of singing will not be sung before the service - but will be included within the service. It will be less formal - perhaps more interesting to 20 & 30 somethings . . . although my past experience is that many 50 & 60 somethings liked it equally as well. After worship on Sunday, let me know what you think.

The Middle School Sunday School class wants to thank the whole church family again for your support of this year’s Heifer Project fundraising effort. Thanks to your generosity, families all over the world will be receiving chicken and duck chicks, pigs, sheep, bees, cattle, and other animals that will provide them and their communities with much needed sustainable food, clothing, and sources of income. And……because you raised more than our goal of $1,000 - over $1,200 in fact! - our teachers Jim and Wendy were saved from being taped to a wall (Boo!) but our pastor Mark Monson Alley did honor his commitment to be taped to a wall if we achieved our goal. The taping occurred last Sunday afternoon at the church. This link will take you to a page on our church’s website where you can see some pictures from the taping.
http://www.stjohnsdover.org/sjd/20130508/heifer-project-goal-achievement-pastor-taping.html

We get another “turn” at providing supper for our neighbors once again, on Tuesday, May 14th, at the Dover Friendly Kitchen!! Rita Murphy would love to have your help - especially with baking desserts. They can be left at the St. John’s kitchen anytime before 2 PM on the day of the dinner. Thanks!!

With Memorial Day occurring on the weekend that we would normally have our May public supper, we’ve moved the date up a week. So our Turkey supper will be Saturday, May 18th!! The sign-up sheets are on the rolling bulletin board in Hartford Hall. And the supper is only nine days away (from when I’m typing this message). I hope we have a great turn-out to help!!

We have committed to providing work teams four work teams to work at Dover Children’s Home - on May 14, 21, 23 & 28 - from 9 AM till 2 PM each day. The details of our work, plus the sign-up sheet are hung on the Outreach bulletin board in Hartford Hall. Please don’t wait for someone to call you. Just sign up soon, and show your support to this ministry, and for the kids of DCH.

The New England Annual Conference is seeking donations of new small blankets, lap quilts, and prayer shawls for the ingathering mission offering during the Saturday Worship service. These gifts will be donated in the New England area to hospitals, nursing homes, veteran homes, shelters and globally through the End Hunger Now program. Please send your donation to the NEAC with either Deanna Gallant (our Lay Member of Annual Conference), Jana Marie Whitten (our Deaconess) or me. Want to share ideas, patterns, stories? Check out www.methodistsinmission.blogspot.com. For more information contact A-J Alexander at aaturnleft3@gmail.com

Here’s the last of the PARAPROSDOKIANS that I have to share with you… They are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous.
A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
Where there’s a will, there are relatives.
I’m supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

That’s all for this week. For those Moms who won’t be able to be with us in worship this Sunday, let me take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful day!! God bless!

See you in church. Peace, Mark

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Heifer Project Goal Achievement Pastor Taping!

Mike Willett — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:07:01 +0000

Annual Senior Trip

Mike Willett — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:35:11 +0000

St. John’s Seniors, it is that time of year again. The Annual Senior Trip is going to be on July 31st.

We will be going to see the Hallelujah Girls at the Newport Playhouse in Newport, RI with a buffet lunch and a Cabaret Show. Flyers are available in the narthex.

The deadline for reservations is June 30th.