October 2009
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
We may wonder whom can I love and serve? Where is the face of God to whom I can
pray? The answer is simple. That naked one.
That lonely one. That unwanted one is my brother
and my sister. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that
we belong to each other.
- Mother Teresa
MID-WEEK MORNING PRAYER SERVICE
Do you need prayer? Maybe
you just need a little help with your prayer life (I know I do!!). We are now having a weekly morning
prayer service at the Factoryville church. They are on Wednesday mornings
beginning at 7:00 a.m. These services
will be rather fluid in nature and will contain prayer in all sorts and sizes:
silent; unison; individual; pastor led; laity led; Scripture led; and, most
importantly, Spirit led. We might even
try some ways of praying you never heard of before! Following our time together, there will be
time for you to pray alone, with another individual, or in small groups. These prayer gatherings will be open to
anyone so bring along friends, coworkers, and classmates. Can you think of a better way to start your
day BEFORE you go to work or school?? I
can’t. (“Whenever I happen to be
prevented by the press of duties from observing my hour of prayer, the entire
day is bad for me.” – Martin Luther)
FACTORYVILLE PARSONAGE UTILIZATION
As you may already be aware, our parsonage has recently become vacant after being rented by the same couple for quite a few
years. Not wanting to rush right out and
re-rent it, your trustees, in consultation with the ad council, decided to take
a couple of months to determine what our best course of action would be,
especially in light of our mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ.” One of the major deciding factors was
you. Let me explain. In the spring a small survey was conducted
and a very large percentage of respondents indicated a great interest in small
groups and Bible studies. Looking at
this information, as well as looking back at the report of out Committee on the
Future from about six years ago, we decided that easily accessible and usable
space was needed, and so we have decided to claim the first floor as an
extension of the church providing such space for said groups. In addition, one room will be converted into
a pastor’s office providing a comfortable semi-private counseling area apart
from the main church office. Once it is
determined that the downstairs is sufficient for our needs, we will probably
convert the upstairs into an apartment that can be rented out for income, or
provided to a pastor should that need arise in the future.
There will, of course, be some costs involved with these changes,
details of which will be further explained by the finance committee in our
upcoming stewardship campaign. Also,
renovations and updates will be done as time and money permit, and as need
requires. If you are interested in
helping out with these renovations through the gift of time, service, money, or
needed items, please feel free to approach one of the trustees.
An Open House for our “Annex” is being planned for after worship
on Sunday, December 6th. We
hope you will come, share some fellowship, and visualize our present and future
plans.
Thank you,
John Fiore
Trustee Chair
UGLY QUILTS
We’re back!! Fall is here
and we will once again be gathering in the Dalton church to make quilts for the homeless
through the “My Brother’s Keeper” program.
As a general rule we will be meeting on the 1st and 3rd
Tuesday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m.
Please join us! Don’t know how to
do it? NO PROBLEM! We will be happy to show you. Can’t get there do to work and other
obligations? You can still help. If you find any neck ties around your house,
we are always in need of them, as well as some other items. For a complete list of what can be used, just
give me a call!
Thanks,
Pat Purdy 945-5586
DALTON CHALLENGERS GROUP
The Dalton Challengers’ Group will have its next meeting following
the morning worship service on Sunday, October 25th, followed by
dinner. In the meantime, we have several
fundraisers to mention to you:
- Cutlery
and special gifts: catalogs will be available at the back of the sanctuary
beginning Sunday, October 4th and running for six weeks. If you would like more info, please
contact DeDe Hedrick at 836-5539.
- Calendars:
Our annual calendar promotion is underway.
Listing names in the calendar costs 25 cents and the calendars will
be available for $5.00 each. Order
forms will be in the sanctuary or can be attained from Pat Purdy
(945-5586), and orders must be placed by October 31st.
- Election
Day: We will be selling hoagies and
soup for Election Day. See article
below for details.
Thank you for your support of these fundraisers which play an
important role in meeting our church’s financial obligations, and in supporting
ministry and mission in our community and throughout the world.
MaryLou Williams-Davis
SHARE FOOD PROGRAM
The
SHARE program is available to everyone – there are no income qualifications or
limitations. The only thing they request
is that people do two hours of volunteering per month. One meeting of My Brother’s Keeper quilting
would meet this requirement, as would volunteering to
help with the food pantry. There are
many ways to meet this guideline, but it is only a guideline, not an essential
element. If you are interested, please
contact Pat Purdy at 945-5586. The next
order is due October 10th, with pick-up on Saturday, October 24th.
MILLER’S ORCHARD EVENTS
Miller’s orchard has two upcoming events that you might be
interested in:
- On
Sunday, October 25th they will be having their annual Christian
Concert & Wristband Night from 6 to 9 pm. This event includes unlimited corn
cannon, apple slingshot, pumpkin cannon, throwing contests, hayrides, a
worship service, and night maze or Haunted Harvest.
- On
Sunday, October 11th will be the Cancertacular
Fall Fun Fest in partnership with Cancertacular
(a non-profit group children’s cancer support effort) from 5 – 9 pm which
will include Miller’s regular admission as well as pizza and hoagies from Gemma’s in Scranton. Cost for this event is $13.00 in advance
or $15.00 at the door.
FACTORYVILLE SUNDAY SCHOOL
The Factoryville Sunday school will be selling embroidered polo
shirts and t-shirts as a fundraiser for its mission project (TBD). The polos will be
$15.00 each, and the t-shirts will be $12.00 each.
ELECTION DAY FOOD
If you are like me, you have nasty habit of eating, so here are
two opportunities to do eat on Election Day:
- Dalton: The Dalton Challengers’ class will hold
their hoagie sale on Election Day, November 3rd. We will be selling American hoagies
(with or without onion) and tuna (with or without lettuce and
tomato). Orders are due by
Thursday, October 29th.
Order blanks are available in the back of the sanctuary. Call Margaret Wanick
at 587-5755 for more info. Orders
can be picked-up at the church from 11:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.
- Factoryville: Factoryville UMC will be hosting its
semi-annual Election Day Dinner on Tuesday, November 3rd. Although the menu has not been
finalized, it will probably include: Roast beef with mashed potatoes
and gravy, baby green lima beans, candied carrots, cole
slaw, rolls, homemade pies and beverage. Be sure to vote and then
join us for a good meal with your friends.
PIANO LESSONS
Jackson Fiore will be teaching piano lessons at the FUMC on
Wednesday afternoons and evenings beginning September 23rd. If you or your child would like to take
lessons, you can reach him at 836-5945.
EATING FOR MONEY
The Dalton
church has one more date to “dine-out”.
We have Tuesday, October 13.
Remember we need to dine between 5 and 8 p.m. We can receive up to 20% of the first
$1000.00 made that evening by everyone eating out, not just the church members. You can mention that you are from the church,
that way they know we are supporting the program. Thanks to everyone who “dined-out” last
spring. We made about $550.00. It’s good to make money eating without us
doing the cooking and cleaning up!! We
appreciate your help. See you at
Friendly’s!!!
The Dalton U.M.C. Family Ministries Team
FACTORYVILLE MUSIC/TALENT SHOW
The Factoryville church will be hosting a music/variety/talent
show (I’m not sure what to call it) on Saturday, October 17th
beginning at 7:00 p.m. This program will
consist of various members and friends singing, playing instruments, or maybe
even dancing or telling jokes, to their embarrassment and others
enjoyment. Why not embarrass yourself as
well? Talk to Bonnie Jayne on an
upcoming Sunday before worship, or call her at 869-1938.
BIBLE STUDY
Bible study started on September 13th and we have spent
several weeks doing an overview of Paul discussing who he was and how and why
he wrote, doing an in-depth look at a couple of his letters. We also talked about a couple of letters that
he might not have written. We are taking
a two week break and will begin again on Sunday, October 18th with a
new topic. The discussions take place
from 6 till 7:30 with coffee, tea, and desserts. Come out and join us!
DALTON CHICKEN BBQ
The
annual chicken barbeque was a success - but it could have been better.
Anyone who didn't come missed out on a delicious chicken dinner, with
macaroni salad prepared by our own Pastor Brian. We sold approximately
200 dinners. We would like to do better next year. From comments
from guests that last several years, it seems our chicken barbeque is one of
the few with a salad bar. This year, the salad bar came close to selling
out. So, the opinion poll is open. Would you prefer to see the
barbeque held in the summer (with a great deal of competition from other
organizations) or in the fall when it's cooler. Please pass comments on
to Margaret at 587-3755 or Pat at 945-5586. You can also pass comments on
in person. I know which one I preferred.
Thank
you,
Pat
Purdy
YOUTH GROUP LEADER(S)
After much prayerful consideration and inner debate, Gena Lengel has decided it is
time to step down. I am sure this was
not an easy decision for her to make as she truly loves each one of the youth
and has grown very attached to them. I know this feeling is mutual and she will be
missed by the youth. I give thanks to
God for Gena and all the gifts she has been blessed
with, and her willingness to share those gifts.
I also thank Gena for her incredible energy
and spirit, and ask everyone reading this newsletter to thank her as well.
That being said, it is time now to move forward into a new
era. Who will lead this journey into the
unknown of tomorrow? I don’t know. And so I ask you, “Is God calling you into a
new adventure? Is God calling you to ‘boldly
go where no one has gone before’?” Some
may say that leading a youth group is a place “where angels fear to tread,” but
knowing our youth, and knowing how much they love God, I say, “Angels have
nothing to fear, but the demons of this world better watch out.” So what say you? Are you up to the challenge? If so, or if you just want to talk about the
possibility, give me a call.
Pastor Brian – 351-1619
A.E.M. THANKSGIVING SERVICE
The Abington Ecumenical Ministerium’s
annual Thanksgiving worship service will take place on Sunday, November 22nd
beginning at 7:00 p.m., at St. Gregory’s church in Clarks Green with the Rev.
Craig Sweeney delivering the message. If
you like to sing, you are invited to participate in an ecumenical choir. Look for a practice schedule in upcoming
bulletins. For that evening’s offering,
both money and non-perishable food items will be accepted, with the food going
to the A.E.M. food pantry (housed in Dalton),
and the money going to Habitat for Humanity.
FACEBOOK
Social networking is quite popular these days and sites like “Facebook” are growing exponentially. Are you using any of them? PB is.
He is on Facebook and you can view his profile
or add him as a friend by going to:
facebook.com/pastorbrianlucas .
Both churches are also on Facebook as
open groups so anyone can join up to stay abreast of any and all event
postings.
SAFE SANCTUARIES
If you have not yet participated in Safe Sanctuaries training,
there are upcoming opportunities:
- A
basic training course will take place at the New
Milford church on Tuesday, October 20th from 6 to
9:30 p.m.
- An
advanced course (to become a trainer) will take place at the New Milford church on Tuesday, October 27th
from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Advanced
training does require having taken the basic class.
There is no cost for either course, but pre-registration is
required. Registration can be done by
visiting the Wyoming Conference website and clicking on the Safe Sanctuaries
link, or by calling the conference office at 800-799-9664.
ALL SAINTS’ DAY
November 1st is All Saints’ Day when we remember those
who have gone before us to become part of the “great cloud of witnesses” that
surrounds us. If you have a name you
would like mentioned in the worship service that day, please give it to Pastor
Brian by October 24th.
LITURGISTS, USHERS & ACOLYTES
If you would like to be added to the list of liturgists, ushers,
or acolytes for 2010, call either church office and let us know.
CHURCH CONFERENCE
I don’t know if you have ever thought of it or not, but our traditional
way of doing church conferences puts tremendous demands on the district
superintendents in terms of time and travel.
Last year, a different method was put into practice, and will be used
again this year. Geographically related
churches will come together as a cluster at one location. Much of the “business” formerly handled at
church conference will be taken care of by the church Ad Councils and merely
reported at the conference and lifted up there for affirmation. There will also be time to worship with and
learn from sisters and brothers from other churches. Our church conferences have been scheduled
for Sunday, December 6th from 3 to 5:30 p.m. (including fellowship
time) at the Chinchilla U.M.C. The P./S.P.R.C.’s
of each church will meet individually with the D.S. but will also take place at
centralized locations on one day. Ours
will be at the Wavely U.M.C. on Saturday, December 5th
with Dalton
meeting at 10:15 and Factoryville at 11:00.
Please mark your calendars appropriately.
THE GREAT ELM PARK COOK-OFF
The United Methodist Men of the Elm Park U.M.C. will be hosting a
cook-off at the church on Saturday, November 7 from 5 till 7 p.m. Judging will take place in various categories
of entrees, side dishes, etc. with desserts being provided by the Elm Park
youth. Interested in participating? PB
has an application, or you can contact Jack Daubenhauser
(343-9729) for more info.
VBS FUNDRAISER
Just in time for the
holidays! We’ve discovered Arbonne and hope you’ll join us with this new Fund-raiser
for Vacation Bible School. Arbonne is an all
natural skin care line and we’ve selected a few items for this event hoping
that you’ll pamper yourself or someone you love. Great ideas for gift giving! Fund-raiser runs from October 11th
thru November 1st with pick up on November 15th. Please see Chandra Lenz (Dalton) or Jennifer Beemer (Factoryville) for
more information.
FACTORYVILLE FINANCE COMMITTEE
Members and friends of the Factoryville U.M.C. will be asked to
make their stewardship and financial commitment for 2010 in November. The Finance Committee met to determine the
process and timeline to accomplish this task.
The process will be essentially the same as last year’s effort –
books containing information on the stewardship and financial life of the
church will be circulated among the members under the direction of neighborhood
stewards. It is the goal of the Finance
Committee to have the “campaign” completed by November 30.
In the meantime, the budget based on plans for the coming year is
being constructed, neighborhood stewards are being sought, and routes for
distribution of the books are being planned.
Please help if you are asked and know that your assistance and your
support is what makes possible the difference our church makes in our community
and in our lives.
Nancy McGuire,
Finance Comm. Chair
A.E.M. HEAT FUND
Several years ago, the A.E.M. established a heat fund to assist
folks who were in need, and your past generosity has enabled us to do just
that. With increasing fuel costs, higher
delivery minimums, and increasing unemployment, we anticipate the need will be
on the rise once again. If you would
like to make a contribution to this fund, just make out a check to your
respective church, include “A.E.M. Heat Fund” on the memo line, and place it in
the offering plate.
BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT
Trinity
Lutheran church will host two upcoming evenings of Bereavement Support with
Anita Guzek, LSW of Compassionate Care Hospice. Tuesday, October 20 and Tuesday, November 17
at 7 pm downstairs in the church, Anita will host an open support group for
adults. This group is open to the public and is an informal,
confidential, safe place to discuss issues and concerns related to grieving the
loss of a loved one.
Anita is a licensed social worker and Bereavement Coordinator from
Compassionate Care Hospice. For more information, you may contact Anita
at 346-2241 or call the office at 587-1088. There is not a cost, and
registration is not required. Additional
dates will be scheduled based on participation.
Anita will also have a Parish Health Ministry Community program at Trinity on
Tuesday, November 10 at 7 pm entitled "Living With
Hospice."
BLOOD DRIVE
The
Clarks Summit U.M.C. will be hosting a blood drive on Friday, October 23 from 1
to 6 pm. If you are physically able to
do so, please consider making a donation of life.
