The week of June 16^th through June 20^th the Garfield UM Church will be turned into an island paradise for this year’s Vacation Bible School.  Each evening the fun will begin at 6:30 and continue to around 8:00.

This is sure to be a week of excitement and learning.  We will explore the ABCs of being a Christian with lessons, crafts, and snacks with a tropical theme.  You will leave each evening with a new tool that will help people come to Christ.

Children of all ages are welcomed and encouraged to attend and adult volunteers are needed.  See Pastor Katie or Jeannette Kuhn with questions.

 

 

Mark the day on your calendars everyone! June 22^nd begins the new teen/young adult bible study at Garfield United Methodist Church. The group is for ages 13-30 and will begin its study discussing The Top13 Questions About God. This book explores questions about God that teens and young adults may encounter on a daily basis as they attend school, college, and work.

To celebrate the occasion the youth has planned an entire weekend of festivities. Following vacation bible school starting June 16^th, the celebration kicks off with a prayer vigil scheduled Saturday June 21^st starting at 12pm-12am Sunday morning. This will give everyone an opportunity to take some time out of their day and provide prayer and support for our youth.

Then return to church Sunday morning for GUMC’s annual youth Sunday, where everyone who attends will certainly be blessed by the talents and gifts presented by our youth! Be sure to bring a change of clothes because the fun doesn’t stop here. Afterwards, the church will be having a farewell lunch with Pastor Randy and his family. After the meal there will be lots of activities going on outside including games, volleyball, and a water slide(so you might wanna bring a swim suit)!! All of this will lead up to the first Bible Study meeting of our new group starting at 6pm. There will also be activities and a study for our younger youth at this time.

After Bible study ends there will be movies and more fun for the remainder of the night with activities going on until midnight. Not only will this be a fun day for the youth in our community, but we are also hoping to have a visit from the Board of Childcare.

So, help the youth of Garfield celebrate this event by inviting youth of all ages. Kids we encourage you to invite friends, parents we encourage you to ask your kids. We are inviting youth from anywhere and everywhere so please come prepared to celebrate our new Bible Study and ready to have lots of fun!!!!

 

As we move forward as a single station church, it is time to reevaluate our vision, hopes and dreams for Garfield. You are invited to come to a "Catching A New Vision" session on July 19th from 9:00 am to Noon. We will spend time in Bible Study and prayer, and share our hopes and dreams for our congregation as we move forward. All are invited to attend.

 

--Submitted by Pastor Katie

Beginning July 1st, we welcome Philip Reid as our youth director. We will pay Philip a small stipend (mostly to help with gas money) to plan, lead and run our Kings Kids ministry. He will participate in worship at least once a month, help integrate our youth into places of leadership during worship, plan meetings for Kings Kids twice a month, facilitate special events like the Rock-a-Thon, trips to Baltimore Blast, and other things.

We are so blessed to have Philip stay at Garfield and take on this new role.

 

On Tuesday, June 24^th at 7:00 p.m. at the church there will be a planning and forwarding committee meeting to explore the feasibility of a parsonage at Garfield. 

Those on this committee are encouraged to attend.  Your input is needed and wanted.  If you are not a member of this committee but have input, please see one of the committee members.

 

Garfield applied for financial assistance in the form of a grant from the Baltimore-Washington Conference. We received a $12,000 grant that will help fund pastoral expenses from July 1, 2008 to July 1, 2009. We will be able to reapply for the grant to help us for the next five years.

If you have questions about the grant, please see Pastor Katie or Larry Lovell.

 

We will be starting a Worship Committee this July to help evaluate, plan, and lead worship each Sunday. Planning special services, helping to bring in special music or dance groups, and planning sermon series, this committee will meet monthly beginning in July. Please see Pastor Katie or Jeannette Kuhn if you are interested in serving on the worship committee.

 

 

 

 

As we prepare to say good-bye to Pastor Randy and his family,  we will celebrate his 12 years of ministry at  Garfield Church with a luncheon in the church social room immediately following worship on  June 22nd.

This event will give us a chance to reflect on his guidance, closeness, friendships and caring for this community,  and offer the opportunity for all of us to thank the Reid family for their kindness and Love. 

May the Lord Bless you in your new appointment.

 

 

It’s Hard to Believe

I’m thinking back over past newsletter articles I’ve written to you, and it strikes me how many times I started an article with those words ‘It’s hard to believe’. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner again. It’s hard to believe spring has sprung. It’s hard to believe summer is right around the corner. It’s hard to believe Easter has come and gone. It’s hard to believe, I guess, a lot of things. The way time comes and goes. The way a holiday sneaks up on you and then it’s gone. The way the cars pile up during rush hour in Wolfsville. (OK, maybe that ones pushing it, but I have made that comment a time or two when traffic really was backed up downtown.) But I will tell you this. There is nothing harder for me to believe right now than the fact that twelve years has passed and I am writing my last newsletter article to my dear friends in Wolfsville!

I know you’re tired of hearing it, but can you believe it? (I hear those of you out there that are saying ‘it’s only been 12 years!) But seriously, as I look back over these 12 years, I can’t help to think of some of the things that have happened in that time. In these 12 years, my babies that I brought to Wolfsville have all but grown up, and I’ve watched your babies grow up too. In these 12 years, Eileen and I have nearly reached a milestone celebrating 25 years of marital bliss this September. Go Eileen! In these 12 years I went back to Shepherd and finished my degree so I could go to Wesley and get my Divinity degree to be a preacher. What a lot of prayers you all sent up during that time. And that’s just in our personal lives. In our churches, we watched them grow as well, adding people to our rolls and to our seats on Sunday mornings. We participated in worship as babies and children and others were baptized and celebrating holy communion together. We prayed together for many people and many different things over the years. We witnessed the results of those prayers as well, seeing people come home from hospital and war, hearing of others being set free from sin and bondage and being saved. Some of our prayers along the way weren’t answered as we hoped, and there were some of times of deep sadness as some of our loved ones went before us to be with the Lord. A drive through our cemeteries brings back wonderful memories of great friends. In these 12 years, we’ve done a lot to our church buildings too. We’ve restored, remodeled, added on and added to. We’ve done things over, done again, and done things well. during those times of building, we had some trying moments and challenging moments, some loud moments and some fun moments, but not once did I ever witness a fist fight break out so we have to say through it all it was good! Oh yes, I just can’t help but to say its hard to believe 12 years have passed, lots had been accomplished, and now we all move ahead to start a new chapter.

That’s what we’re all doing now. Again, it’s hard to believe, but Salem moves on finally realizing their dream to be a station church. And Garfield steps up to go on your own with a full time pastor. And we move to a ‘city’ church to try a whole new thing. It’s all kind of hard to believe, but I know this: that it has all been so good, and I have been proud and privileged to be there with you through all of this that seems a little hard to believe.

But then again, I guess it’s not so hard to believe, because of the one we believe in! It has been the Lord of all that has brought all of this to us. It has been our great God that has given to us all these great things. He has gone before us, He always came behind us. When we needed, He upheld us and saw us through. He always provided just what we needed when we needed it. He always kept before us the hope of great things as we followed after Him. He always kept a promise in our heads that He had more to do with us. It really is true, He who did not withhold even His Son, but gave Him freely so we could be saved, will He not withhold one good thing from us? He never has withheld a thing, and He never will as long as we continue to follow after Him. And when we are following after Him, all things can be accomplished and believed! So those are my closing words to you. Continue to follow the Lord. Follow hard after God! And I daresay what you might be talking about in another 12 years when you’re thinking wow; it’s hard to believe what God has done!

My beloved family at Salem, Garfield and the Wolfsville community, the pleasure has been all mine. What a great place for a new pastor to start and learn. How you have loved and cared for us in so many ways. I hope I can leave a part of myself here, as I surely take a part of you with me. It’s been so hard preparing to leave, but I go knowing there is someone far greater than me that watches over you. He is the one that does everything good and causes us to say boy, it’s hard to believe!

And so, on behalf of all the Reids, thank you!  God bless you, each and everyone! And see you next time!

Your blessed pastor, Randy

 

Are You Ready to Rumble?

I am a baseball fan, but Chris is a hockey fan. And if I want him to come to a baseball game or two with me, I have to sacrifice and go to a hockey game with him. Do you know what the best part of the game is? Right before it begins! The lights dim down, fans are on their feet, the announcer’s booming voice fills the arena and all you can hear is “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble.” The deep base shakes you to your core as fireworks go off and hometown hero’s skate to the ice, the anticipation builds and

you know that it is going to be a great game. While the phrase, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” was originally a phrase announcer Michael Buffer used to get boxing and wrestling matches started, it has become a signal to our society. When we hear those words, our hearts beat faster, the blood is pumping, and we know something is going to happen.

When I think of rumbling, I am taken to Paul and Silas as pray and sing hymns in Acts chapter 16. After Paul drives an evil spirit out of a slave girl, he and Silas are stripped, beaten and severely flogged before being imprisoned. With their feet in stocks, Paul and Silas begin to pray and sing hymns, while the others who are imprisoned listen. And then the rumbling begins!  As an earthquake shakes the ground, Paul and Silas are set free along with the other prisoners, and watch as their jail cells are thrown open. The jailer runs in, sure that the prisoners have escaped and begins to take his own life, until Paul stays his hand. Paul tells him that all the prisoners have stayed, and the jailer marvels at their faithfulness. Right then and there the jailer and his whole family give their life to Christ and begin to live a transformed life.

As I write this newsletter, my blood is pumping, my heart is pounding, and I know something is going to happen! I feel much like I do at the beginning of a hockey game, the players are on the ice, the anticipation is building, God has something good in the mix! Our God is calling, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!” Let us get ready to use you for His glory, ready to grow the church of Jesus Christ at Garfield, ready to break any chains of bondage that are holding you back. The question is, are you ready? Are you ready to rumble?

May God bless you and your families

--Grace and Peace, Pastor Katie

 

Income	2007	2008
Month	12236	8137
YTD	32263	34553
Expenses	2007	2008
Month	10557	10205
YTD	31125	37723
Sunday School/Missions	2007	2008
Sunday school	260	196
YTD	779	923
Missions	3029	1105
YTD	3544	2178
Attendance	2007	2008
Worship	506	329
YTD	1336	1516
Sunday School	129	88
YTD	260	407

 

For the summer, our soup and study will get bread! Switching to sandwiches, we will begin studying Rich Stevenson’s Secrets of the Spiritual Life on July 4^th. Meeting from noon to about 1:30, the study will be eight weeks long. Please see Pastor Katie for details of if you need a ride. All are welcome to attend.

 

Garfield’s Dinner Theater (Mystery of the Missing Leis” performed by our youth was a HUGE success.  Over 100 people came to solve the mystery and support our youth.  And as always the youth did not disappoint, the food was wonderful served by willing hands and the program (written by our own Pastor Katie and performed by our youth was a delight.

But with all the good food and all the good fellowship and seeing the talents of our youth, the best part was that the youth raised over $1,000 for the UMCOR toward US tornado and hurricane relief.

 

Scripture is filled with many famous — and infamous — fathers and sons. Match the name of each father on the left to the name of his son on the right.

 1. Noah          A. Dan

 2. Jacob        B. Jonathan

 3. David         C. Ham          

 4. Saul           D. Solomon

 

 

We pray the Lord’s prayer each Sunday but do we ponder the words?  Each word has specific meaning of thanksgiving and praise. But one part reflects on us.  When you come to the part of the prayer where it say “forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me, do you think about the way you forgive?

 

 

My Father Is A Christian

My father is a Christian;
He leads our household well;
With instruction from the Bible,
Right behavior he’ll compel.

Yet he steers us with compassion;
His gentle love is true;
He conforms to our Lord Jesus,
So we know just what to do.

He teaches us with purpose,
Guides us in all Godly ways,
So we will take the right path,
And serve our Lord with praise.

I’m glad you’re a Christian, Dad;
You help me see things clearly.
I’ll always look up to you,
And love you very dearly.

By Joanna Fuchs

Poemsource.com