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Aldersgate United Methodist Church
5767 Sellger Drive Norfolk, Virginia 23502
Phone: 757-466-8999 Fax: 757-466-8999
Parsonage: 757-962-1982 Pastor’s Cell: 757-506-8298
e-mail: joyce@aldersgateumcnorfolk.hrcoxmail.com
web page: www.aldersgatenorfolk,org
Church Photo Album: www.picasaweb.google.com/mmcmdz
Youth: www.blazehr.blogspot.com
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Newsletter
Vol. 18 Issue 3
March, 2015
Message from the
Pastor
New “Visioning”
Team formed
Ham & Cabbage
Dinner
Reservations for
our Annual
Bunny Breakfast
and
Egg Hunt
Youth Updates
I will send down the showers in
their season, they shall be showers
of blessing….Ezekiel 34:26
St. Patrick's Day trivia
Dear Folks,
As we face up to some of the realities of this congregation’s situation there may be feelings of dread, fear,
even anger. This is all natural, but if we let those feelings get control of us as individuals and as a congregation they will choke the life out of us.
The only power strong enough to resist these negative impulses is
Jesus and his love. The only power that can cast those off and triumph over them is Jesus’ love.
As we work together, pray together and discuss together what we
will do to “right the ship”, it is in Jesus Christ that we will find our
help, our direction and our motivation. This means we ask Jesus
what he would have us do. And Jesus is pretty clear about what his
followers are to do…..
You may know that St. Patrick used shamrocks to teach about the
Trinity, but did you know these other facts about him?
• St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. (His parents were Roman citizens living in
either Scotland or Wales.)
• He was kidnapped and sold as a slave at age 16. After escaping six
years later, he joined a monastery in England.
• March 17 is the date of St. Patrick’s death, not his birth. He died in
461 A.D.
• The color originally associated with St. Patrick is blue, not green.
• The harp, not the shamrock, is the national symbol of Ireland.
Forgive
Have mercy
Do unto the least of these
Keep no one from Jesus
Feed his sheep
Preach the “good news”
Heal the sick
Cast out demons
God’s will is not a mystery. We make it hard in order to avoid doing his will. We do these things for love of God and love of our
neighbor. This is the motivation. Because Jesus first loved us, so
now we love him in return with humble, grateful obedience.
Since the love required is more than we can muster on our own we,
in faith, cast ourselves upon Jesus. This is simply practicing our
faith. A simple trust in the power of Jesus to make what we do add
Continued on pg. 3
Pastor...............................Rev. Walton “Tony” Forstall
Lay Leader……………...Beverly Cooper
Choir Director…………..Peggy Muse
Organist………………...Nancy Redburn
Youth Director.................Guy Willis
Secretary.......................…Joyce Russo
Office Hours........9 AM—Noon
Sunday School........9:30 AM
Worship Service...11 AM
Sanctuary Choir - Wednesdays......6:30 PM
Youth Meeting....Sundays....12:30 PM
ANNUAL BUNNY
BREAKFAST
AND
EASTER EGG HUNT
Saturday, March 28th
9:00 AM
All are invited—-friends, relatives, neighbors
Infants—5th Grade Donations of wrapped candies, small toys, and cash appreciated.
Pastor’s message
Continued from pg. 2
up to more than we could have ever done on our own.
Jesus says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35)
This applies to churches as well as people. If we serve our own interest we shall have our world here and only here. If we lose our life in
service to Christ will live forever.
As a church we want to leave a legacy of lives transformed by Jesus by
sharing his love and invitation to come to him.
Pastor Tony
Please fill out and return
I/We plan to attend the Bunny Breakfast and Easter Egg
Hunt on Saturday,
Deadline for reservations
Name __________________________________________
# Adults __________________
# Children _____________ Ages of Children ____________
(children ages infants– 5th grade)
Don’t forget to
turn your clocks ahead
on Saturday
evening, March 7th before
going to bed.
New “Visioning” Team Formed
A special thank you to the 31 people that took the time Saturday
morning (2/21)and braved the elements to come out and listen
to Rev. Wayne Snead’s presentation.
As a result of that meeting, 16 people signed up to be on the
Visionary Group / Committee to look at and propose some solutions to “Leave a
Legacy.”
Reverend Snead was introduced and the following are some of the highlights of his
presentation:
Reverend Snead talked about diversity and different ways a church can
raise money other than donations from the attendees, such as opening your church
to a preschool or after school programs.
People do not just show up our your doorstep any more to visit a church, 9
out of 10 people now will look up a church’s website and check it out before visiting a church.
Are we going to leave a legacy or are we going to close our doors and
give up? We want to leave a legacy for the next generation.
When a church starts struggling financially they develop a shrinking mind
set of cut backs and eliminating programs. We develop blinders and concentrate
on what we can’t do, when we need to focus on what we can do.
We need to develop other sources of income: a preschool, after school
care, affordable and safe child care is very important, rental income.
The number one thing that people are looking for at a church is friendship
or mentorship. Take a look at your history. How many visitors have come in the
last twelve months, and how many of them came back for a second visit?
Reverend Snead showed charts of 10-year statistics for membership / attendance, Sunday School attendance, Expenses, apportionments paid, baptisms,
members received by Profession of Faith. He also showed graphs of Community
Diversity and the Top 10 Mosaic Segments.
It was suggested to have meetings and Bible Studies at a local restaurant
such as Panera’s. This way you can meet people outside your group and show the
grace of God and invite them to your study or church.
Reverend Snead has a favorite saying: KISS (Keep It Simple and Spiritual).
How is your church making an impact with Missions? People are interested in active, involved churches that are trying to make an impact in the community.
Continued on pg. 5
Visioning Team
Continued from pg. 4
Aldersgate’s
Sanctuary Choir will present their
Sunday, March 29th
11 AM Worship Service
When you develop a plan you then need to follow through and implement it. No
plan is any good if it is not implemented.
Be wise in using the resources that we have.
Contemporary services (age 35-55) in the district seem to attract the most people.
At the rate the church is going from a financial prospective, if we do nothing, we
risk closing the doors in as little as 24 months. We need to come up with a plan
for the future.
The Circle of Friends Class will be
selling Easter
Lilies to be placed in the
sanctuary for Easter.
Please check out your Sunday bulletins for more
Information.
thanks
Reverend Snead recommended that a group comprised of some 6 or 7 volunteers
meet and start working on some of our problems that could easily be tackled.
Take about 4 or 5 things that the church could accomplish in the coming year.
Come up with a plan and commitment. Aldersgate needs a clear path to become
stabilized but first needs to devise a plan.
The following people signed up to be on the group / committee: Vic Supper, Barbara Harrell, Michele Floyd, Cynthia Stanley, Lucinda Williams, Mel Manuel,
Ann Manuel, Vernon Williams, Millie Hanson, Barbara Hogwood, Ben Hogwood, Beverly Cooper, Nancy Redburn, Mary Ellen Gillespie, Greg Dziagwa
and Kathy Dziagwa.
Understand that this is “short fused” however, those people that were at Saturday’s meeting understand the urgency in following through and taking advantage
of the momentum from that meeting.
This first meeting will be in conjunction with the finance committee and be relatively short. If you can make it – great! If not, there will be plenty of other opportunities.
New Church Directory
On the table in the Social Hall is the
draft for a new church directory.
Please…...check your information and
make any additions, deletions and/or
corrections.
Remember not only to check your address-also
check your zip code, phone number and email address.
Thanks.
The Church Office
Greg Dziagwa
Church Council Chair
The Next “Visioning” Team meeting will be Tuesday, March 10th at 7 PM.
If you are interested in more information please see Greg Dziagwa.
Ushers
Birthdays
3/12
3/18
3/20
3/22
3/25
Cynthia Stanley
Kevin Floyd
James Field
Shirley Henley
Hazel Williams
3/27 Betty Reid
Becky Repass
3/30 Marguerite Windley
3/31 George Wilson
If we missed your wedding anniversary for March
please let the church office know
Remember in Prayer
Home: Larkin and Jane Jones; Jim Mahone; Shirley
Briggs; Pat Sauer and Earl Henley.
Jimmie Powers, John Floyd
Counters
3/1
3/8
3/15
3/22
3/29
Lawn Maintenance
The Ballentine—Ed Weddle
Gardens of VA. Beach—Jackie Wilkinson, Milton Midgette
Chesapeake Place—Beulah Eatmon
Hermitage Eastern Shore—Bob Bloxom
Sentara Village S.—Shirley Henley
Sun Stream Health Care—Stella Reynolds
Clair Bridge of VA. Beach—Charles Williams
Dominion Village of Chesapeake—Jackie Pace
If you know of others in the congregation who need to be included on this
prayer list, please call the church office.
Altar Flowers
3/1
3/8
3/15
3/22
3/29
Communion— No Flowers
George and Pat Wilson
Jim and Norma Richardson
Vernon and Hazel Williams
Mel and Ann Manuel
Newsletter Deadline will be
FRIDAY, MAR. 20th
Mel Manuel, Ben Hogwood
Debbie Supper, Vernon Williams
Millie Hanson, Gary Albertson
Neal Windley, Michelle Floyd
Kevin Floyd, Randy Thrasher
3/2
3/9
3/16
3/23
3/30
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 1
Team 2
Scripture Notes for March
3/1 Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38
3/8 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22
3/15 Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21
3/22 Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33
3/29 Cantata
Scripture
Youth Updates…
WINTON CLASS ANNUAL
Ten of us left the church Friday afternoon and drove to
Blackstone Conference and Retreat Center. The youth participated in Family Group sessions with kids from other
churches and enjoyed the great
live music of a band called Brightwork. They played a big game of
dodge ball and had a dance. This
year's speaker was Kori Robins (who
went to Deep Creek UMC as a
youth). She was great. We went to
worship on Sunday morning and
stopped at the Va. Diner on the way
back.
Jimmy Wilkinson
HAM AND CABBAGE DINNER
Blaze honored Tammy and Randy at the Virginia Diner this afternoon on our
way back from the annual Blackstone Youth Retreat. The plaque read:
"Presented to Tammy and Randy Thrasher in Grateful Appreciation for Your
Years of Devoted and Loving Service to Blaze Youth Ministries 2015.
Donations: Adults $9.00
Children 4-12 $4.00
Children under 3—FREE
Saturday, March 14th
5:00 - 6:30 PM
Dinner includes: Jello Salad, Green Beans, Oven
roasted Potatoes; Cornbread, Dinner rolls and
Delicious homemade desserts.
Tickets are available from any class member
Invite your friends, neighbors and come join us to celebrate
this St. Patty’s Day meal.
Homemade Easter Eggs available from Heritage UMC...
Peanut Butter, Butter Cream, Coconut and Chocolate
Cream
1/2 lb- 6 assorted ; 15 Assorted ….
1/2 lb eggs can be personalized. Call the church office
for more info.
Don’t forget to wear something green!
See Mel Manuel if you would like to volunteer to help set-up.