Vernon United Methodist Church
Our Newsletter

JULY/AUGUST 2009

LADIES BIBLE STUDY GROUP

The Ladies Bible Study Group meets every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. at the church. On the last Wednesday of the month we meet at a local restaurant for an hour of study followed by lunch. We are currently studying women in the Bible. Dorothy Stromberg usually makes the end of the month reservations. All are welcome to join and come when they can.

Phyllis Goehring

CONGRATULATIONS

We congratulate VUMC's graduating high school senior, Michelle Robertson. She will be attending the University of Rhode Island in the fall.

We also congratulate our college students, Becca, Jes, Michael and Stephanie for a successful year. We look forward to hearing about Jes's semester in Australia!

MISSIONS

JUNE - Pet Month:
The collection bin is overflowing! Thank you!

JULY- Toothpaste and Toothbrushes:
We have a number of mission areas in need of toothbrushes & toothpaste --- local shelters, Dr Forbes in Nicaragua, missions in Guatemala and Haiti. Individually wrapped toothbrushes are most requested; however, if you find a great bargain on a package of several toothbrushes - we will find the right home for them!

AUGUST- School Supplies:
Yes, we are finally just ending this school year - but look ahead to the next year. Pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, pads, rulers, etc. -we will take them all. Backpacks- sure, why not? Although we have not received a request, it is likely that the town will again be looking to outfit children with back-to-school clothing as well (we will keep you updated)

UMCOR Health Kits:
Reverend Roberta delivered the approximately 40 assembled Health Kits to the collection site at Annual Conference. A BIG "Thank You" to Renee Logan and Kylie and Sierra Bowman for assembling these kits throughout the year. This is one of our on-going projects so check the collection boxes in the Jerusalem room to see which items are needed to complete more kits.

Heifer Project:
We have half of a cow! Help us to purchase a whole cow (and maybe a few chickens or other animals). Bring in those empty refundable bottles and cans. - Maybe you have friends or neighbors who don't want to be bothered with turning in their bottles & cans - let them know that VUMC is happy to accept them. Our team of Tyler/Tucker has also received additional donations simply by talking to others standing in line at the redemption centers --some will just hand over a bag of bottles and cans, some will give their redemption slips.

Solar Cooker Project:
This project is in the area surrounding Darfur in Africa. In the acknowledgement received from JWW for VUMC's contribution to this project the following information was included: "We have successfully completed outfitting our first two refugee camps, Iridimi and Touloum, and are now training in a third camp, the Oure Cassoni camp, home to 28,000 refugees. Your donation will help the project at Oure Cassoni and provide replacement cookers for the first two camps."

Some of you may have seen or even tried solar cooking- possibly on a camping trip. These cookers are becoming ever more important in areas where other sources of fuel are scarce, expensive, or even non-existent. They not only provide a means to cook food but also to boil water that would otherwise be unsafe to use or drink. UMCOR now has a mission to provide solar cookers in Haiti - there are missions to distribute and promote the use of solar cookers in other areas of Africa, in India, and in Pakistan.

This and That:

· The Parks & Recreation Department thank VUMC for sponsoring four summer campers --- a result of the Pancake Breakfast in May.

· Wednesday, July 29th: VUMC will be serving at Cornerstone Soup Kitchen.

· Sunday, July 19th: Blanket Sunday - donations will be sent to Church World Service for the purchase of blankets to be distributed in emergency and disaster situations both nationally and abroad.

Red Cross Blood Drives:
For an appointment to donate, call 1/800-GIVE-LIFE (448-3543). More than 600 blood donations are needed EVERY DAY in Connecticut!

Although the Mission and Outreach Committee will not be meeting over the summer months, its work will continue. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me or any of the committee members.

MISCELLANEOUS

Mission garden:
The garden is having a rough beginning -lots more rain and lots less sunshine than we would have expected. The weeds, however, are flourishing, especially since it has been too wet for working in the garden. BUT we need to do some tending to the garden! Anyone having a bit of time to help out - please let me know.

Landscape:
Thank you to Carolyn Waltman. She has been working on putting down edging around the landscape beds and has also contributed a water "spreader" for the downspout on the front corner of the building.

Annual Church Picnic:
Sunday, July 19th at the Dingles, 102 Campbell Ave. following service. All are welcome to bring family and friends. Hotdogs and hamburgers and soft drinks will be provided. "Pot-luck" will provide the rest.

Lydia Dingle

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Back On Track:

The month of May was 'recovery month' in many ways. We cut the deficit in the Program & Ministry account in half and have begun to work on the deficit in the fuel fund as fuel costs decline. All in all, we are basically back on the financial plan for the year. That is good news!

The challenge now is to keep our pledges up to date during the summer months and to pray for a successful public Ham & Bean supper in August. The date for that event is August 22, so put it on your calendars and begin now to think about how you can make it a success. We must all do our best to keep costs under control in these difficult times.

Fund balances at the end of May 2009, are as follows:

Dave Howe

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Adult and child Sunday school classes have ended for the year. Thanks and appreciation to Dave Howe for leading the adult study class throughout the year.

Children's classes ended with a presentation to the congregation. The children showed off their paper dolls and prayer chain.

During the summer childcare will be provided as needed, during the service. Anyone interested in volunteering should talk with Lydia or Kathy Jo.

Kathy Jo Winters

JULY SCRIPTURES

JULY WORSHIP ATTENDANTS

JULY GREETERS

AUGUST SCRIPTURES

AUGUST WORSHIP ATTENDANTS

AUGUST GREETERS

LAMPLIGHTER DEADLINE
SEPTEMBER ISSUE

Please submit any articles you have for September (preferably by e-mail) by Friday, August 29th. Anything not received by 6 p.m. on that date will not be included in the newsletter. Thanks for your cooperation.

Roger White - editor, pro tempore

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