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Happenings | Pastoral Message | Calendar | Endowment Fund | Photos | Home | Committees
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BIBLE STUDIESWed. morning 10:00 a.m. Studying: John Thursday evening 7:30 p.m. Studying John |
Worship Schedule Sunday 11:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:30
a.m.
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Just for Kids—no Grown ups allowed!!!
Hello, Gwinn UMC children. It sure has been fun getting to know you…those who come to the Children’s Chat time during worship and those of you who I met at VBS. Thank you for helping me to remember your names! If we haven’t met yet…well, I’m looking forward to when that happens. You are all priceless treasures and God loves you very, very much… I just want to let you know ahead of time that the grown-ups in Church have suggested that we do things a little bit different during the Children’s Chat time. Change is sometimes hard so I like to let kids know before it happens. Instead of getting candy every Sunday, the idea is to alternate Sundays when you get candy and Sundays when you so something different…like collect the Noisy offering or maybe you bring in something to give to the grown-ups? or maybe instead of candy, you might get a little gift instead? Those are some of the ideas that are floating around…and I wanted you to have some advance warning. I know that everybody loves candy but there are other good things in life too, don’t you think? And maybe some of you have ideas too about what can happen during that time of our worship. If you have some ideas, please come and tell me before or after church or give me a call some time or write me a note…we won’t make any changes until September so we have a whole month to talk it over and figure it out. I would love to hear your thoughts on this too!!! Pastor Geri
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COMMUNITY MEAL Our Community Meal is usually held the second Wednesday of the month, from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Help is needed, a sign up sheet will be available or you can call Colleen at 942-7706. Attendance at these meals is growing. There were 80 people at September's meal. Word of mouth is always good. Thank you for all your support of this growing ministry. Another very important way you can help is by just attending the meal to sit and eat in fellowship with the community and helping people to feel welcome in our church. Thanks to Dick & Sharron Johnson who purchased take-out containers. Thank you also to the choir, who now practice upstairs in a cold room
so that we can host these meals downstairs! |
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| The Choir is looking for additional members. If you are interested, please contact Fran Gardipee, or the church office for more information. Practice is each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. at the church. We are looking for members to provide special music. Contact the church office for details. |
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FUNERAL COMMITTEE The Funeral Committee will appreciate your help as we serve families of our church with food donations, kitchen help and clean-up help. Where you will help is important for us to know. It helps us in our planning. When a funeral occurs please call: *Kathryn Paris 346-5457 Many that have helped in the past are gone, or are unable physically -- your help is needed and we thank you. When you hear of someone associated with our church dying, please call us so we can serve others in God's name. |
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Counters needed for the worship offering. Please see office for more info. |
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COMMUNITY-WIDE VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL An exciting and unique program is being planned that will allow children in our community to learn about a relationship with Jesus. Our hope is that by joining the ideas and resources of all the churches in our community, we can offer an area wide Vacation Bible School experience built around the "Jerusalem Marketplace" at the time of the Passion Week. To work in conjunction with the Gwinn Centennial Celebration, we’ve chosen June 16 – 20, 2008, to hold the VBS event. The "Marketplace" will be on the 1.5 acre property adjacent to the Grace Lutheran Church in Gwinn. Our hope is to have children from all the area churches as well as children who do not have a church home to participate. In order to accomplish such a grand task, it is important that we have the help and support of the entire religious community . Please attend an organizational meeting at the Gwinn United Methodist church on Tuesday, March 25, at 7:00. At this meeting we will seek God’s vision for this event, and as a team, work through and incorporate ideas and people from throughout the community. We believe this event can shape the hearts of children in the Gwinn and surrounding areas, and inspire in them the desire to seek the Lord as they grow. We hope you will be a part of this Kingdom work. If you have any questions , or cannot attend this meeting but are interested in helping in any way, please call 906-346-5008.
Camp Michigamme Schedule for 2008 June 6-7 Family fishing June 8 Michigamme Day June 15-21 Senior High June 22-23 Teddy Bear June 22-28 Science Explorations June 29-July 2 Elementary Mini July 6-12 Summer Games July 13-19 Music Camp " Adventure Camp " Sr. High Adventure Camp July 20-26 Junior High July 27-Aug 2 Elementary August 3-9 Family August 22-24 Scrapbooking
JAMMERS begins October 4, 2007 Helpers are needed.! .
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Camp Michigamme Trustees announce planned
construction of a new staff cabin to replace aging facilities. The unit
will be built this spring with volunteer work crews from the District. It
will include two bedrooms, bath and shower, small kitchen and living
space. Funding will come from donated materials, cash gifts, and reserves
from the 2004 club offerings as necessary.
Volunteers are needed from local churches. The five weekends in May of 2008 have been reserved for construction crews. Some prefabrication of trusses and wall panels will be led by Mary Pollard of Norway UMC. A volunteer electrician and plumber would be especially helpful. If your church group or organization would like to help, please contact executive director Jim Daly at 906-458-3310, or email: jimdaly51@yahoo.com.The vision for a year-round use facility at Camp Michigamme continues and at this time the camp has received $53,713.00 in dedicated funds held separately. If you would like to raise funds for the staff cabin or contribute to the year-round use building project, please send your gifts to Camp Michigamme, 111 E. Ridge, Marquette, MI 49855. Indicate "staff cabin" on the check memo line. For more information please contact trustee chairTom Anderson at 906-482-2780, or email: anderson810@gmail.com.
WANT ADS Ushers and Greeters... happy, friendly people who can greet people—both members and visitors—who come to the Worship Service and make them feel welcome. Also, handing out bulletins is very important and very much needed. Please sign up at the back table and please go ahead and sign up ahead of the Sunday you choose to serve so we will know we can count on you.Home and shut-in Visitors. Sociable and caring people to visit those who can’t make it to church. Possibility of carrying bulletins, cards, and eucharist to them. Training will be provided! Please let Pastor Geri know if you are interested. 346-6314 or 346-3441. Visionaries needed! One time conversation or the chance to work with a group to put together a Mission Statement for Gwinn UMC. Short term commitment…the goal is to have something for the Ad Council when they meet in March. Call Pastor Geri if you have a dream for our church…346-6314 or 346-3441. Youth Group planning. Requirements: Care and compassion for 7th through 12th graders. Past experience with Youth Groups or a desire to be sure that our young people have positive church experiences at this important time in their lives. This is the brain-storming stage…in preparation for next fall. Ideas, outside the box, are appreciated! Call Joedy Marjomaki if you are interested in helping to put this together…346-6272. Artistic Director: Looking for a visually creative person who will assist with designing and coordinating the many bulletin boards and display areas around the church. This position will provide the opportunity to work with many of the committees and work groups of the church. Ideal for someone who enjoys interior design and likes to look at aesthetically pleasing vistas. Call Pastor Geri if you would enjoy sharing your visual gifts with the Church. 346-6314 or 346-3441.Re-cycling coordinator: Do you care about ecology and recycling? Gwinn UMC needs a dedicated person who will take the recyclable paper from the Church office up to the Lutheran Church once a month—first Saturday of the month, although I understand the garage up there is often open during the week. The position could lead to other conservation projects if the desire and the willingness is there! Please call the office if you are willing to help out in this way...346-6314 Scanner Specialist: The Church has many documents that need to be scanned into the computer for safe storage and long term archiving. If you enjoy converting old-fashioned paper into techno-bits and bytes, please call the office and we will set you up to do data conversion! 346-6314 Mission Workers: There are sometimes mission opportunities in the Gwinn/Sawyer/Skandia area that get called or e-mailed into the office at the last minute. We are going to start a Mission e-mail chain to inform interested people of these opportunities for mission. If you are interested in being contacted about them, please call the church office and leave your e-mail. You can pick and choose the projects that you have time, energy and interest in…no commitments are necessary! |
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Ushers needed for April and May!!!!! Sign up sheets are at the back of the sanctuary. |
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Noisy Offering: Second Sunday of the Month |
MAY may seem a long way
away but… it’s never too early to LOOK AHEAD!
Sunday, May 4: Youth Group Activity...Dead River Walking! After church we will go to some mutually agreed upon Fast Food Venue and then on to search for New Life at the Dead River...Kristy Gollakner will be our tour guide.Annual Conference will be from May 16 to May 18. We will do another "Seat Cover" Collection so start watching for Sales! (All donations will go to children in the Upper Peninsula) |
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Want to get a daily Devotional
online?
Just go to http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/email/ to get The Upper Room delivered to your e-mail address. It's the same as the printed version that is available at the church. |
Grant Application Forms for the Gwinn United Methodist Church Endowment Fund are available in the church office. | ||
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S.H.O.P. Sanctuary Hour of Prayer 9:00 to 10:00 Sunday mornings All are welcome to come and pray for this church and for God’s work through us in the world. SHOP will temporarily be re-located to the Sunday School room next to the Choir Room so that the children can practice for their program in the Sanctuary during the first three Sundays of December. That room will be ‘converted’ into a Prayer Room for the duration and then, on Sunday, December 23, SHOP will take back the Sanctuary! Thanks to everyone involved who has shown both willingness and flexibility as we embrace a new activity in our church while maintaining one of our cherished and traditional programs.
YOUTH PROJECT – Refundable
Cans and bottles are being collected to help fund our Youth program.
Please put them in the brown bucket by the parking lot door.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UMW News No news at press time.
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Committee of the Month—the Worship Committee Someone once compared the fine art of Liturgical Worship to baking bread: A little bit of candle lighting by the acolytes to get the stove going, a dab of color through the paraments and the altar settings, a few cups of choir music and Children’s music, greased by the assistance of the liturgist, leavened by the yeast of the Holy Spirit, kneaded and pounded by the Proclamation of the Word, heated by the warmth of God’s love, drizzled with the frosting of people’s prayers, served by the Ushers and shared with all who attend, fragrant with the service of God’s people in the world. And it is the Worship Committee who gathers together all of these various elements to make a recipe for Sunday morning worship as well as for all of the special Worship events of the Church Calendar. In order to avoid the problem of "too many chefs in the kitchen," the Worship Committee includes people who are responsible for all the various facets of worship. They meet with Pastor Geri and review previous worship experiences to identify strengths and weaknesses. This is especially helpful to the Pastor who is still in her first year of doing worship on a weekly basis….We learn from our mistakes and develop new ideas for future reference. Then the Committee looks ahead to make decisions and plans for the Worship that is coming up. Our focus is on the Church seasons and how we can faithfully reflect on and worship within the context of Advent, Lent, and Pentecost. We are people who live in the world and must follow the calendar of the world but, at the same time, we live the rhythms and cycles of the Church year which eternally circle around the birth, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as presented to us in the Gospels as well as the lessons that the Apostles have left to us in the New Testament. Watch the colors on the altar change with the seasons and listen for the themes of each season in our hymns and prayers and sermons! Worship is often called The Work of the People and that is why you will find yourself approached to assist with things like ushering and reading the Scriptures (aka, being Liturgist). Sunday morning worship doesn’t happen just because the Committee meets and sets it up. We need everyone to participate through their prayers and their gifts and their service. If you have any questions about Worship or feel moved to be of assistance in any way, you can contact any of the people on the committee who are listed below. They stand ready to share the joy of baking bread and making worship for God who loves to hear from us on Sunday mornings! WORSHIP COMMITTEE Chairperson Barb Merlo Communion Steward Peg York Ushers and Greeters Judy Courtright Liturgist Chair Darcia Mattson Acolytes Jill Paris Altar Guild Catherine Stephenson, Mary Jo Dollar Organist Barb Trombly Pianist Sue Hewson Choir Director Fran Gardipee
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Stewardship as a Spiritual Practice! The Joy of Christian Stewardship
Christian stewardship is an act of worship that gives us great joy…for in returning to God what is His, we dedicate ourselves to Him. This is the true spirit of stewardship, which lifts and lightens our hearts and puts zest into our lives. A fruitful stewardship is a partnership with God. And the joy it brings is a measure of its good. It is a joy to bring people to Christ…a meeting and mingling of souls that brings joy to the believers. It is a joy to educate others in the Lord’s work, for there is a fulfillment and pleasure in mixing and chatting and confiding as we teach the WORD. It is a joy to build needed churches, nursing homes, schools, colleges, and other institutions to ensure growth of missions and ministries. There is joy in our hearts when we work and worship together with others. We experience the excitement of being partners with the Lord. To be a good steward is to continually rediscover our personal responsibility for managing God’s gifts. And in this are many satisfactions. When we manage our time and abilities so that we return a full measure of the moments God gives us for His work, we are joyful stewards. When we invest our resources responsibly, we are joyful, for we are "Laying up treasures in heaven." When we improve our relationships with people…at home, at work, in society, and in the church…we are in joyful harmony with the Lord. To devote a responsible, creative share of what we have been given to God’s special purposes, through His Church, is truly an act of worship. To be able to come to His Church each week and offer there a week of abilities well used…time well spent…possessions and resources well distributed…relationships well cultivated…and the Gospel well proclaimed…this is indeed the goal of stewardship. We have so many opportunities to share this joy at Gwinn United Methodist Church!
Down and dirty State of the Finances for 2008:
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Something worth Talking About! April’s topic: Here’s a fun topic….What does the "United" in United Methodist mean? Who or what and why is that part of our name? Yes there are historical reasons but this is worth talking about because different people have different thoughts about what it means to be United as Methodists. Think about it and talk to each other. I’ld love to hear your thoughts and ideas, especially as we prepare for the vote on the creation of a new Great Lakes Conference. Let me know what you think! Pastor Geri January: Shall we continue to advertise in the Mining Journal? The Decision is NO...this expense will cease. But in its place, please keep an eye on the Journal because we are submitting Announcements for community activities, i.e. Community Meals, Easter Monday party, etc. That are showing up free for nothing! We are also looking at perhaps getting a sign that will face the on-coming traffic but that’s a whole other thing to talk about! February: Christmas Eve Worship Services: The Worship Committee is still open to your comments and suggestions. March: Memorial Committee Undesignated Funds...A number of ideas have come out of discussion on how to use the undesignated Memorial money that is entrusted to the Church. For example, padded folding chairs for the Fellowship Hall. Or maybe a sign for the Church yard that will face the traffic in both directions with changeable lettering so we could ‘advertise’ our activities that way. We are at the top of the hill on a straight away so a good sign would have high visibility. There was also mention of new lights for the Fellowship Hall to enhance the beautiful paint job. The Memorial Committee has a lot to think about...they are meeting once a month right now to see about working their way through some of these ideas. Other committees have to be ----------------------------------------------------- Endowment Committee Notes from the Endowment Committee
Webster defines endowment as "the act or process of furnishing with an income." If the church is to remain on the frontier, it must plan for future as well as present mission and ministry; but unless these plans include ways of funding this mission and ministry, they may be only empty dreams. The concept of endowment funding says to the church and to the community that the church is here to stay ... that it is both planning and funding for the future. Endowments have provided a major source of funding for many institutions in our society for years, helping to ensure present and future financial stability. One thoughtful church member reasoned, "Those persons who preceded me in this church left a rich heritage. What will I leave as a heritage for future generations?" Is it possible that a part of that answer might be found in a carefully thought-out and designed funding plan that will address the future as well as present needs and opportunities of the church? Endowment funds are a good way for your church to say:
A gift to the church through one’s will or estate plan can be a meaningful testament to one’s faith and an inspiration to family and friends. Consider these possibilities:
An elderly member was discussing her "stewardship philosophy" with a planned giving counselor. "My church has always been an important part of my life, and I want to always be a part of my church." One of the ways she accomplished this during her lifetime was through her generous and faithful contributions from her current income, but she gave her stewardship conviction permanence as she established an endowment with the remainder of a life income gift. "Now," she said with a great deal of satisfaction, "I will be a part of this church every year even after I am no longer here to make my contributions." If you are interested in learning more about Endowment giving here at Gwinn United Methodist Church, please talk to any of the Committee members listed below: Mark Breit (346-4236) Sue Wakkuri (346-7342) Brooke Jacobson (360-6083) John Maki (250-8509) Pat Stine (346-5400) Brian Rice (346-3425) Darcia Mattson (darciadear@hotmail.com)
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GWINN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Goals and Objectives for 2008 Are Approved!
During the 2007 Gwinn UMC Annual Charge Conference in late November, the following Strategic Plan was approved. That means that these goals and objectives have the full and complete support of the membership…and that know what we want to get done in 2008. Please read this over and ask God to show you how you can be involved with living out the mission of the Gwinn United Methodist Church in the coming year as we seek, serve and grow as Disciples of Jesus Christ! The Gwinn United Methodist Church engaged in a strategic planning process in 2007 with the endorsement of the Administrative Council. The process was led by the Pastor Parish Relations Committee (PPRC). Members of the congregation participated in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to provide input into the plan. After review by the PPRC, the committee completed the following goals, objectives and ideas for implementation to guide future direction of the church over the next three years. The following goals and objectives, designed to be measurable, time-specific and do-able, are proposed to continue growth of the church in living out its mission: seeking, serving and growing as disciples of Jesus Christ. Goal #1 Grow the Church to minister to the community and the world. Objective 1: Increase Youth and Young Adult participation by starting and/or supporting 3 activities for and with them between now and May, 2008. Objective 2: Develop a strategy for welcoming newcomers to the church and the community by Sept. 2008.Objective 3: Create an opportunity within the next 60 days for men to start a Men’s Group—possibly after Church or during Soup and Sandwich.Goal #2 Strengthen our congregation to more fully serve as the body of Christ. Objective 1 : Establish two new ways to increase effective communication between committees and between committees and the congregation by 10/31/2008.Objective 2: Grow awareness of the strengths of our congregation in order to build our Christian family by implementing two new formats for sharing faith by 12/31/2008.The PPRC presented the results to the Administrative Council at its November meeting. The Council approved the plan for presentation at the Charge Conference. From there, it will be forwarded to committees and to the congregation for planning purposes.
These Goals and Objectives are intended to lead us into the future. If any of them sound interesting to you...please ask God to show you how to be a part of this work of Jesus Christ. To assist people in sharing their gifts of time and talent and service, the next page shows a complete list of the 2008 Committees and their members. Starting in February, the Newsletter will highlight specifically people on each committee so that everyone will know who to talk to about their hopes and dreams for Gwinn United Methodist Church. In the meantime, talk to each other. Reach out to people who share your interests and let’s see what gifts the Holy Spirit has for the world, to be given through us. Praise the Lord and Pray for the Church!
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| Soup & Sandwich Each month from October until May on the third Sunday, we will ‘break bread together’ after worship at our Soup & Sandwich time. Watch for sign up sheets and get ready to make your favorite soups and sandwiches to share with your brothers and sisters in Christ! If you don’t cook, that’s OK too. We always need people to help with cleaning up afterwards. | |||
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Preacher’s Corner Preacher’s Corner We have the whole month of April this year to celebrate the Season of Easter. Yes, Easter is more than just the one day when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. It’s also a Season of the Church that lasts for 50 days and...some people talk about Easter being a Way of Life. The Jesus Way of Life, where we seek to live out the miracle of new life that the Resurrection experience brings to all of the world. The preaching for the month of April will revolve around this New Life that Jesus offers: what does it mean, where do we find it, how do we live it. There is so much to learn! Please come to worship where you can spend time with the "Word of God for the people of God" as we travel together through Easter!April 6 Psalm 116, 1 Peter 1: 17 – 23, Luke 24: 13 – 35 Jesus as the Unexpected, Unsuspected Guide to New Life Jim Morris will be preaching this Sermon as part of his training as Lay Speaker. Please come and support him in this new adventure which is part of his New Life! April 13 Acts 2: 42 – 47, 1 Peter 2: 19 – 25, John 10: 1 –10 The Shepherd stands at the Gate. Jesus IS the Gate! April 20 Psalm 31, 1 Peter 2: 2 – 10, John 14: 1 – 14 What does Christmas have to do with Easter? April 27 Psalm 66: 3 – 20, 1 Peter 3: 13 – 22, John 14: 15 - 21 Because I Live, You Also Will Live
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Leave a Legacy Planned gifts of kindness are gifts from the heart to ministries of the church. People of God are called to be good stewards, responding to God’s grace in Christ through making financial gifts to others. A planned gift during your lifetime or a bequest in your will directs valuable funds to the ministries of the church. Legacy Program The Endowment Committee announces the Legacy Program as another opportunity to help us be in mission in our church, our community, and the world. Please read the flyer enclosed in this month's newsletter, then pray, asking God what He would have you do......A fruitful stewardship is a partnership with God. And the joy it brings is a measure of its good. If you would like more information on the endowment fund please see any of the committee members: John Maki, Mark Breit, Tom Kevern, Shirley Rice, Dick Johnson or Pastor Geri. |
Adopt-a-Highway
Our first Adopt-A-Highway roadside clean-up effort for 2008 will be Sunday, April 20th, meeting at the City Insurance Agency parking lot at 2 p.m. Ken will show the new required safety video (and have sigh-up sheets) in the fellowship hall after worship services on the Sundays beforehand. Call Ken Courtright, 346-4226, with any further info-questions. Rain/Snow date will be April 27. |
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Just as people gather together as
congregations, we as United Methodists are connected together in an
international organization. Together we can do more than any single
individual, church, district, or annual conference could ever do by
itself. We are indeed the connection. We are together. We are the body of
Christ for the world.
United Methodists everywhere identify with the need to be in mission. We desire to be in mission together, and as United Methodists, the mandate is to be in mission together, everywhere, all the time! The United Methodist Church continues to fulfill John Wesley’s adage to “Do all the good you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can.” Funding is mission, an expression of our stewardship, and an expression of our connectedness. Apportionments provide for us avenues for giving in order that we not only can be strong local churches and annual conferences, but that we can be connected together, seeking to be in mission together, seeking to be God’s people at home and around the world. Taken from comments by the Rev. L. Jonathan Holston, Superintendent, Atlanta-Decatur-Oxford District, North Georgia Annual Conference to May 10 plenary, General Conference 2000.In 2000, a new apportionment formula was constructed which reflects our Wesleyan heritage and foundational theology by recognizing important differences in abilities to share gifts with others. Instead of distributing assessments across annual conferences through membership counts and spending, less allowable deductions, the new formula bases apportionments, in part, on differences in the earnings of an annual conference’s resident population and differences in the costs of operating and maintaining a local church and annual conference. The net result of these differences is a determination of an annual conference’s financial strength—its ability to share with others, given its commitments and obligations to maintain basic church operations. This new approach enables annual conferences to share gifts in proportion to their abilities. The foundation of this new formula rests upon a focus upon what each annual conference can do in shared mission and ministry. It replaces a system that ignores financial abilities and stresses credits due for benevolences shared locally, leaving greater responsibilities with those less able to support benevolences at any level. A careful examination of what we are about as a church and an awareness of our biblical teachings leads to an awareness that the apportionment formula is an important part of our stewardship responsibilities. As better stewards of all of our gifts, the general church must seek improvements in how we share our resources. The Task Force believes that the new formula reflects a significant step toward such an improvement.
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Stewardship as a Spiritual Practice Stewardship as a Spiritual Practice!
"Discipline" is one of those words that has different meanings in different contexts. Yes, we "discipline" our children to teach them right from wrong. At the same time, athletes and musicians ‘discipline’ themselves in their exercise regimes and practice routines in order to be the best that they can be. In some churches, they practice the communal "discipline" of Stewardship campaigns and annual pledge commitments as a way of expressing their faithfulness to God and their Church community. They have pledge drives where people talk to each other about tithing. There are moments in mission during worship where people may testify about how God has made it possible for them to give way more than they ever thought possible. And there is a sense of everyone being a part of the process….they are practicing a community "discipline." Here at Gwinn UMC, we are more like the athletes and musicians…we "discipline" ourselves in private practices of Stewardship. Each person and each family makes their own personal commitment to God, in terms of time and talent and money. This is sometimes on an annual basis, sometimes week to week but always with the privacy of the person being foremost because after all…in the end it is between you and God, how you use the gifts that God has given. I have come to respect the Gwinn UMC way of dong things…it takes a lot of faith to put together an annual budget without knowing if the congregation is committed to making the budgeted money available to the church or not. History at Gwinn UMC shows that when there is a need at the Church for a big ticket item…new roof, renovation of the kitchen, painting and carpet for the parsonage…the people of the church are moved to a generous outpouring that has made these things possible without accruing any long term debt. What a blessing! And what a lesson in trust for me, your Pastor. At the same time, I miss the communal "discipline" of shared conversations and public testimonials…but…I know that talking about money is a very sensitive, even intimate activity so I will keep my peace and be respectful. I was taught a long time ago…if it works, don’t fix it! And what we are doing works just fine…The one thing that we do offer as a corporate "discipline" is the use of Offertory envelopes. This is a lot of words leading up to the following announcement Offertory envelopes will be ready for the Sundays in December. They will be in the entryway. Please save us mailing costs by picking up your box and taking it with you. We have tried to tailor the list for those families that want envelopes. If you get a box and don’t want it…let the office know and we’ll take your name off the list. If you don’t get a box and DO want one…let the office know and we have extras that we can get to you. Thank you now and always for your gracious and generous offerings, in all of their many forms, to the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor Geri
In the midst of all this “money talk,” it is vitally important that we remember from whence come our gifts. It is God who grants to us the ability to earn and accumulate that which belongs to God from the beginning: money and wealth. As the Scripture says in 1 Chronicles 29:12: “Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.”
Because all that we have belongs to God, our goal in using that which
belongs to Him is to glorify Him. "So, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31) Last May at our Detroit Annual Conference, Dr. Donald Messer spoke to
those in attendance at the Board of Church and Society dinner about his
work with the church combating the global AIDS pandemic that continues to
afflict us in the world. He challenged us to meet the goal of raising $8
million (or $1 per member of the church in the US) for the global AIDS
fund of the United Methodist Church by December of 2008. Peace and Prayers |
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Food Pantry Activity: The Food Pantry has
"re-designed" itself during the month of October. We have set
specific hours and designed specific guidelines for those who use the
Pantry. The shelves have been re-organized and old items disposed of. A
new list of ‘needed’ items is printed below. We are seeking to serve those who have the greatest
need and your help is greatly appreciated! Jesus told Peter: "Feed my
sheep" and our Food Pantry is a gracious act of service to those who
are hungry.
Items needed: pancake mix syrup toilet paper personal items such as – flour sugar paper towels soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. FOOD PANTRY – Since January 1, we have given away 90 bags of food and paper/soap products. Praise God! Donations are always welcome...Church funds are used exclusively for food items If you donate non-food (soap, toiletries, etc.) please buy smaller items so we can give to more people. Thank you for your generosity! |
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his page was last updated on: 04/01/2008