APRIL 2015 Administrative Council Andy Cheezum Steering Team Patty Muller Trustees Henry Covington, Jr. the MESSENGER Finance Jerry Thomas Treasurer Chad Cronshaw Recording Secretary Sandy Fratzke Staff Pastor Parish Relations Amy Taylor Our Mission Is To Make Disciples For Jesus Christ! April 2015 What if Easter Never Happened? What’s the big deal about Easter? From the beginning there have been those who have doubted the meaning of Easter. On the first Easter the chief priests offered money to the men who were guarding the tomb to keep the Methodist Men secret about it being empty, (Matthew 28: 11-15). Thousands of years later Rodger Vorhauer the resurrection and the empty tomb are still under scrutiny. Methodist Women In contrast, Good Friday doesn’t pose a threat because the world underPhyllis Hoffman stands death. Jesus’ death isn’t the problem for most people; the problem is with Easter because they don’t understand the resurrection. Well, let’s supMemorial Fund Treasurer pose Easter never happened. Would the world be different if Jesus was Lynda Palmatary dead? What if the world was not talking about Jesus’ shroud; rather, the Lay Members to Confer- world was talking about Jesus’ bones? Paul asked this question: “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say ence there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Tom and Mary Scull then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our Evangelism proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain”, I CorinthiScarlett Milliken ans 15: 12-14. If Easter never happened then the Church is in vain. A mega Church Volunteers In Mission could be built with the greatest programs where thousands attend; but, if Larisa Thomas Easter never happened then that Church is in vain. Our faith would be futile; it would be without forgiveness. If Easter never happened then the sins of Worship the world would not be forgiven. Death would be the end result. The world Pastor Mark would not be delivered from its last enemy. This life would be all there is, death wins and there is no hope for the future. Library Coordinator Paul, in verse twenty, gives the world a clear and concise hope for the Harriet Caporin future; “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits Photographer of those who have fallen asleep”, 1 Corinthians 15:20. The world may scruBob Clark tinize the resurrection but let Christians everywhere declare that Easter means Jesus rose from the grave; Jesus is alive!. Therefore, the Church is not in vain, our sins are forgiven, and death has been swallowed in sweet victory. Happy Easter!! Page 2 PRAYER THOUGHTS…. “This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step” (1 Peter 2:21 MSG). The great crisis for the Christian is that commitment to Christ means an earnest desire to serve others—meeting real needs, and seeing the kingdom advance. Without careful attention to our vertical call in Christ, we can find ourselves consumed by the horizontal. The horizontal focus on even kingdom-centered work can lead to burnout and an unhealthy emphasis on our own efforts and work. Desiring to advance Christ’s kingdom, we instead can find ourselves building our own little kingdoms. Jesus is the model of what it means to live a vertical life. Consider spending time to look at events in the life of Jesus in which He chose the vertical before the horizontal. He obviously did not ignore the physical and emotional needs of those around Him. It could be argued that no one ever met human needs as well as Jesus. But He maximized His horizontal impact by starting and staying vertical with His eyes firmly focused on His Father. Even though it meant significant suffering and rejection, He transformed the world around Him…and He calls us to follow in His steps. Holy One, You have invited me to step into a difficult life…one that sometimes seems impossible to do well. Yet, I trust Your heart and know that You have plans to give me a wonderful hope and future as I walk out this journey by following the example You have set before me. Strengthen my desire for more of You, so that You are able to transform me by the renewing of my mind. Then, my horizontal activity will be well-informed by my deepened relationship with You and done in the power of the Holy Spirit. Teach me how to keep my eyes fixed upon the Father. –Adapted from Vertical with Jesus: A 30-Day Journey to Impact Kingdom Living by David and Kim Butts. Prayer Points Praise Jesus, who welcomes the weary. Thank him for lifted burdens (Mt. 11:25-30). Confess that the way you fill your days often ignores Jesus’ offer of rest. Commit to enjoying this rest yourself and sharing it with others. Ask God for a specific way you can eliminate something from your schedule in order to create time for resting in the Lord. Pray that Christians will multiply God’s infinite mercy by befriending people with disabilities, helping released prisoners find work, and sheltering refugees. Prayer Pointer “No time is so well spent in every day as that which we spend upon our knees.” J. C. Ryle –Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. APRIL 2015 Page 3 Ed Parry Scholarship Awards The Centreville United Methodist Men are requesting CUMC seniors interested in applying for The Ed Parry Scholarship to get copies of the paperwork from the church office for fall 2015 - spring 2016. The scholarships worth $1000 are given to assist deserving CUMC youth graduates planning on furthering their education at an institution of higher learning. Selection of the recipients is based on criteria such as: know what one has to do to become a Christian and be able to explain what being a Christian means to the applicant be active in our Centreville Youth Ministries or other Centreville Church functions be pursuing a degree in higher education or trade have the desire and ability to finish their chosen goal have good grades participate in extra curricular activities submit an essay addressing education and career goals, why they are pursuing those goals, how they intend to grow their spiritual walk while attending college In addition to the above criteria, the applicants have a one-on-one interview with the Scholarship Committee to discuss the above criteria and their personal walk of faith. The forms are to be returned to the church office by May 10, 2015. Memorial Garden Bricks It’s the time of year when we will be taking orders for bricks for our beautiful memorial garden. If you are interested in ordering a brick in memory of a loved one, please fill out an order form which is on page 6 of this newsletter. Each brick costs $100. Checks may be made payable to CUMC with “Memorial Garden” in the subject line. Please either mail your order into the church office or drop it by the office during normal business hours. Brick orders will be taken up until Easter Sunday, April 5th. We anticipate the bricks will arrive and be placed in the garden at some point during the month of June. Thank you. Easter Egg Hunt Thank you to everyone who donated plastic eggs and candy for the Easter egg hunt. We were very grateful for your donations! Sincerely, The Sunday School children Page 4 SOUPer Sunday News The 2015 Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Youth Team thanks everyone who made soup and bread for SOUPer Sunday. Twenty-four delicious soups were made. We thank all who Church Cleanup Day made donations and voted for the top three On April 11th, we will have an outdoor cleanup soups. day. Everyone is welcome to lend a hand Donations totaled $827.00. The winning soups mulching, raking, sweeping, etc., around the church property. Please bring rakes, shovels, were 1st Place Jay Carr – Potato Soup, 2nd Place Scott Latham – Zesty Chicken Vegetawheelbarrows, brooms and April sunshine! Also we could use a few chainsaws to ble, 3rd Place Laura Phillips – Chicken Chile. help clean up dead wood along our property line closest to town. Any questions, call Henry Ushers Needed Covington, Jr. at 410-310-2745. Hope to see you all there! Being an usher is a fun way to serve the Lord while playing an important part in helping PasNational Day of Prayer tor Mark and Pastor Robyn during worship services. We are putting together a year-long UshThe 64th National Day of Prayer is Thursday, er Schedule for the Sunday 11 a.m. Traditional May 7th. All are encouraged to attend to pray Service and need volunteers. Men, women and for revival, for our national and local leaders, families are all welcome to serve, but we ask citizens of our county and great nation. Now, that children be high school age to help usher. more than ever we need to cry out for God's help! We will be gathering Thursday, May 7th, Sign-up sheets are posted on the hallway bulleat the Queen Anne's Co. Circuit Courthouse tin boards between the Narthex and fellowship Courtyard in Centreville at 12 noon, rain or hall. You can also contact Head Usher, Bryon shine! There will be more info to follow as the Johnston by email at bjohnstonjr@hotmail.com Day of Prayer approaches. If you are unable to or phone at 410-924-2850. join us, please pick up a Prayer Guide at Church and pray with us "in spiritual presence" New Members Luncheon May 7th, 12 o'clock, noon. Vacation Bible School is Coming! Save the date! April 12th we have new members joining our church! Please come out to meet them and make them feel welcome after "Are you ready to start thinking warm thoughts? Well, VBS is right around the corner! our 11:00 service. If your last name starts with letters A-M, please bring a main dish/ Come out June 22 - June 26 and watch as Centreville United Methodist Church turns into sandwiches. If your last name starts with N-Z, Camp Discovery, where children will be learn- please bring side dishes. The evangelism committee will be providing desserts. We ing about God's plan for all of us through fun would love to see you there!! games and activities. More information to come! If you or someone you know would like Altar Flowers to volunteer, please have them call Allison Harper 410-634-1138 or email Altar flowers are needed for 4/19 and 4/26. alfharper120@gmail.com. Please call Ruth Ann Walls - 410-490-3259. APRIL 2015 Page 5 Page 6 MEMORIAL GARDEN ENGRAVED BRICK PURCHASE Please read the below directions before completing your order form: 1. Bricks may be purchased for any deceased individual, regardless of whether that individual attended or was a member of CUMC. (No pets please) 2. You may purchase as many bricks as you would like. 3. Each brick costs $100.00. 4. All bricks will be 4x8 inches. 5. Your brick can contain up to three lines, including the individual’s name/names and the years of birth and death. Please do not include “in memory of” on your brick as all bricks are in memory of someone in the Memorial Garden. 6. Bricks will be placed randomly throughout the garden. There is no guarantee that bricks purchased by the same person will be placed together. 7. Please fill out the below order form, detach it, and drop it by the church office. You can also mail them to Centreville United Methodist Church, 608 Church Hill Rd., Centreville, MD 21617. All order forms must be received no later than April 5th for the order of engraved bricks. 8. Please make sure your writing is legible and all spelling is accurate. 9. Fill out completely and detach the below order form. Please copy this form and submit a separate order form for each brick you wish to order. —————————————————————————————————————————- ENGRAVED BRICK ORDER FORM Please make checks payable to: Centreville United Methodist Church ($100.00 per brick) Your name:__________________________________________________________________ Phone #:________________________Email address:________________________________ Information on brick: Please fill out below the information to be included on the brick. You may include up to 15 characters on each line including letters, spaces, or punctuation. Please submit this order form along with your payment to the church office. APRIL 2015 Page 7 Volunteers In Mission : Helping to Provide Outreach Opportunities for the Congregation By Larisa Thomas We are a small committee to help our church fill the big wants of a world in need. We meet once a month now on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:45 PM in the Purple Room. This month we will be meeting instead April 21st at 7:45 PM. Come join us to help make a difference! Opportunity: Rebuilding Together - April 26th Home by Home, Block by Block, Rebuilding Together is rebuilding homes and communities nationwide. Rebuilding Together believes that everyone deserves to live in a safe and healthy home. It brings volunteers and communities together to improve the homes and lives of lowincome homeowners. Its focus provides critical repairs, accessibility modifications and energy efficient upgrades at no cost to service recipients. For 11 years CUMC has been involved with this home renovation project in Queen Anne’s county. It is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in our community in one day. Our project this year is in Queenstown. Our church is again under the excellent leadership of Bill Hood, who has patience and knowledge galore. Our projects will be replacing a door and frame, replacing a floor, and replacing the tread on a deck. Please register if interested on the VIM Board across from the church office! Opportunity: Working in Crisfield – June 21st-June 25th Most of us will remember Hurricane Sandy by the photos and news images we saw from the devastation that was left behind. Our own Maryland town of Crisfield was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, and is still struggling to be rebuilt. If you are interested in joining a work party to help our fellow Marylanders recover from the tragedy, please contact Larisa (info below). Our Missionary Update: We are going to the Congo! This year CUMC will be supporting missionaries in the Congo! How did we come upon the Congo? The Central Congo Partnership is a United Methodist mission initially began in 2001 between the Central Congo Conference in Congo, DRC (Africa), and Peninsula-Delaware United Methodist Conference (that is our Conference!). Today (2014) the partnership also includes both Eastern Pennsylvania (another District of Bishop Johnson’s) and Western North Carolina UM conferences. Some of the projects that are being run in the Congo by the Partnership are agricultural projects, MPASA Clinic and Nutrition Center Project, well digging, the cataract project, new partnership projects, Mbundi Technical School, updating communication abilities, and establishing a conference resource center. So for 2015, a new year, a new foot forward internationally! Stay tuned for information about our new missionaries next month. You will also be receiving the missionary donation envelopes during the next month at the church services, as they did not make it into the envelope boxes this year. Send in your $5/person. For $5 you can personally be responsible for spreading the love of Christ to those whose lives are definitely harder than ours! Cont. on next page Page 8 Cont. from previous page Thank You: For Supporting our Pancake Breakfast VIM held its annual Valentine Pancake Breakfast on February 14th. We were able to raise $354 to go toward our VIM fund. These funds support the Our Haven Homeless Shelter, the Backpack Program, the Missionary Fund, and many other mission-minded projects. Thank you for coming out and supporting us! You can contact me at Larisa97Thomas@atlanticbb.net or 410-758-2144 to RSVP for any activity or come suggest other service projects. The Centreville United Methodist Men will be having their Spring Chicken BBQ on Wednesday April 22. Cost for the dinner will remain at $7. Come and volunteer if you are not busy on the 22rd. Noon to 3P.M. Call Rodger at 410-739-5397 The Methodist Men return all money raised to fund CUMC programs/projects such as our cabin at Camp Pecometh, three $1,000 scholarships for 2014 and several smaller budgeted donations to various church activities. We thank you for your past support and hope you will order our dinners for April 22rd. APRIL 2015 Page 9 Meet the Middleton Family! Janese grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where she was active in sports and band. After high school graduation, she decided she wanted to get out on her own and attended Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in Westminster, Maryland. During her senior year at WMC, she worked in a group home for people with developmental disabilities and took American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with a few of her clients. She fell in love twice that semester, both with ASL and with her future husband, Jason. After graduating in 2004, Janese decided to make Maryland her permanent home and moved into an apartment in downtown Baltimore. She began volunteering at The Maryland School for the Deaf in Columbia, Maryland, and enrolled in the Interpreter Preparation Program at the Community College of Baltimore County, graduating in 2010. Janese and Jason married on Wye Island in 2006 and briefly moved to Easton when she began working for Deaf Independent Living Association (DILA) before accepting a position as a full-time staff interpreter for the Baltimore County Public Schools in 2007. They returned to Baltimore and Janese continued working for the county until their first son, Jonas, was born in 2011. She then began working for an interpreting agency located in Baltimore, where she currently provides community interpreting for the surrounding areas. She also worked for the Community College of Baltimore County as an interpreter beginning in 2012, and currently teaches ASL at Chesapeake College. Janese and Jason, who is originally from Cordova, moved back to the Eastern Shore in August 2013, and welcomed their second son, Miles, that December. After a long search, they are happy to call CUMC their home. Good Friday Prayer Vigil Please write your prayer concerns here, and bring them to the church on or before Good Friday. A box will be provided outside each service. These concerns will be lifted up during our Good Friday prayer vigil and offered at the Cross during the service that evening. ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10 Month In Pictures APRIL 2015 Page 11 THE SAMARITAN FUND For those of you who may not be aware, CUMC has a Samaritan Fund which is a very important part of our ministry at the church. The purpose of this fund is to provide assistance to anyone in need who might contact us for help paying bills or obtaining temporary shelter. (In other churches you may have heard this called the “pastor’s discretionary fund,” which is essentially the same thing.) In order to maintain this fund we rely on the generous gifts of everyone at the church. Below is the current balance in our Samaritan Fund. If you see the fund running low please consider contributing even a small amount to help us reach out to those who are most in need. Thank you and God bless you! CURRENT BALANCE IN SAMARITAN FUND: $800.00. Meet Our Team Rev. Mark Farnell, Pastor Robyn Brown, Associate Pastor Tammi Clark, Office Manager Ken Laing, Youth Director Renee’ Carroll, Sunday School Superintendent Nancy Cook, Chancel Choir/Handbells Avis Wheatley, Organist Kelly Nelson, Nursery Director Barbara Meeks, Cherub Choir Jennifer Gragg, Newsletter Charlene S. Brown, Membership Secretary Mark.Farnell@centreville-umc.com Robyn.Brown@centreville-umc.com Tammi.Clark@centreville-umc.com Ken.Laing@centreville-umc.com Renee.Carroll@centreville-umc.com Nancy.Cook@centreville-umc.com Avis.Wheatley@centreville-umc.com Kelly.Nelson@centreville-umc.com Barbara.Meeks@centreville-umc.com Newsletter@centreville-umc.com GC.SmallwoodBrown@centreville-umc.com “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well” James 5:15 in our prayers Billy Foster Centreville United Methodist Church 608 Church Hill Road Centreville, MD 21617 www.centreville-umc.com NON‐PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 48 Chestertown, MD RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Centreville United Methodist Church SUNDAY WORSHIP Contemporary—8:40 a.m. Traditional—11:00 a.m. Nursery Services Available SUNDAY SCHOOL Adults - 9:50 a.m. Children - 9:50 a.m. Contact Information (410) 758-0868 Fax (410) 758-1248 www.centreville-umc.com APRIL AT A GLANCE March 30th - April 3st - Labrynth April 2nd - Maundy Thursday 7:00 p.m. April 3rd - Office Closed for Good Friday Good Friday Service 7:00 p.m. Prayer Vigil 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. April 5th - Sunrise Service at Millstream Park 6:30 a.m. April 6th - Church Office Closed Trustees Meeting 6:30 p.m. April 9th - Steering Team 6:30 p.m. April 11th - Church Clean-up Day April 12th - New Member Luncheon April 14th - UMW Meeting 1:30 p.m. UMM Meeting 6:00 p.m. April 15th - Lay Leadership 7:00 p.m. April 19th - New Worship Service Begins at 7:00 p.m. April 20th - Finance Meeting 7:00 p.m. April 21st - VIM Meeting 7:45 p.m. April 22nd - UMM Chicken BBQ April 26th - Rebuilding Together April 27th - Worship Meeting 7:00 p.m. ASP Meeting 7:00 p.m. April 28th - Administrative Council Meeting 6:30 p.m. Scan for Online Giving All dates are subject to change. Please confirm with the Calendar, Church Office or Ministry Chair. Making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transforma on of the world.
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