Vernon United Methodist Church
Our Newsletter

JUNE 2009

ROBERTA'S REFLECTIONS

One of my colleagues tells a story on himself. Pastor Dan was rushing to go to the funeral home to meet a newcomer to town. He tried to fly through an intersection and someone who had the right of way caused him to screech on his brakes. He raised his fist yelled, blew his horn, and raced through. The dust was still blowing as he pulled into the funeral home. He got out, straightened his tie, and grabbed his Bible and hymnal only to see the car he had just cut off pulling in. Out stepped the grieving widow.

"What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1)

The real proof of Christianity is how we treat those with whom we actually come in contact. It may be easier to send money to the needy halfway around the world than to see the demographics of our town change. Knowing the Bible and singing the hymns without being kind to those with whom we live, worship, shop, and work is but a loud clanging symbol to God. This is the toughest part of being a Christian. Believe me, I struggle everyday.

As a Christian I celebrate those in India rising out of dire poverty, in theory. However, I am put to the test when I call Hewlett-Packard and get "Bill Smith" with a Calcutta accent. When my computer fails, he always tells me, "It's no problem". I try to tell him that it is indeed a big problem for me, but he fails to hear the ire it my response. Maybe it is just as good. I am not proud of myself.

"But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see?" (1 John 4:20)

My latest struggle to be Christ like is with a bank. I had not opened a new bank account since 1982. Times have changed. There was 9/11 and the terrorist. Now you have to prove who you are, have numerous forms of identification (the sign outside the church, the bulletin, is no longer "good enough") and know your federal tax ID as well as come up with a User Name you can remember and the hackers can't, a User ID, Password, Authentication pass phrase, etc. Today it asked me for my maternal grandmother's name, my mother's maiden name, and my father's middle name. All this to put the communion offering in, not to take it out!

I am glad I did not have to speak to 'Bill Smith' in Calcutta about this. I will have to go back to the bank branch tomorrow and face the nice bank lady across the desk. She called me by name. She reminds me that I am a witness of Jesus Christ.

My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God's children, and we know him. (1 John 4:7)

Rev. Roberta L. Williams

LADIES BIBLE STUDY GROUP

The Ladies Bible Study Group meets every Wednesday at 11:00 am. 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

CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Why not include the New England Conference School of Christian Mission into your summer plans? Study Food and Faith (Youth, 13-18) or Sudan (children 5-12), have fun, and enjoy the fellowship of other youth and families in the New England Conference. Choose between:

University of Maine, Farmington, July 17-19 or

Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, July 24-26.

Registration deadlines are approaching quickly, so register soon.

If you can't download the attached brochure, desire additional information, or have questions, please contact Rev. Barbara Schreier at (860) 928-0308 or at bstks@sbcglobal.net. We look forward to hearing from you and also to seeing you at school!

Rev. Roberta Williams

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Gaining Ground?

The month of April provided some relief in our financial situation; thanks to a successful tag and bake sale and a good result from the special Easter Offering. We are now almost back on our Program and Ministry plan, even though we still show a deficit. The very successful public supper on May 2nd helped even further. We expect fuel bills to fall rapidly with the warm weather and that should help to eliminate the deficit in the fuel fund. The months of May and June should be a good indicator of how the rest of the year will go. We will count on the members of the 100% club to keep their pledges up to date in the months to come and for those who give in other ways to do their best. We are still climbing the mountain.

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

Dave Howe

MISSIONS

MAY - Baby month:

The playpen has lots of items ---food, toys, clothing, lotions, shampoo, etc. Thank You!!!

These items will be taken to Hockanum Valley Community Council/Tri-Town Shelter/Vernon Social Services for distribution.

JUNE - Pet Month:

Now let's take care of the pets! During this month we will be collecting items to care for those furry friends----cat and dog foods and treats, cat litter, etc. You don't hear this often-CLEAN used towels are welcomed at shelters and vet clinics.

UMCOR Health Kits - Renee Logan and her mini-missionaries have assembled a number of Health Kits which we will be sending to annual conference in June. 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.

Breakfast Buffet:

After a week of experimenting and taste testing to get just the right recipe for the frittatas (there are some people who never wanted to see an egg again), a Breakfast Buffet was held on Saturday, May 16th from 6AM-10AM. We had a great turnout - the kitchen was VERY busy keeping up with the demand for those pancakes and mini frittatas and bacon and sausage. We had a great serving staff, an incredible table clearing/setting duo, a master cleanup man, some last minute shopping runners, some heavy duty preparatory shopping and chopping, and a lot of muffin making. THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make this a success. ---Could be another in the future??????

Proceeds from this event will be used to send local youth to summer camps - Summer Highlights camp and Camp Newhoca - through Vernon Parks & Recreation.

We were hoping to be able to send two youth - we will be sending four.

Chocolate Lovers:

We have more of those Munsen chocolate bars you all know and love. See Renee Logan.

Heifer Project:

We have passed the $200 mark! -keep those clean, refundable bottles and cans coming. Remember, we would like to give a whole heifer this time.

This and That:

· We received an acknowledgement from UMCOR for our earlier donation to the Hospital Revitalization Project in Zimbabwe.

· One Great Hour of Sharing received $66.

· Native American Sunday received $77.

· Peace with Justice - coming up on Sunday, June 6th.

· HVCC has programs to assist the elderly (we don't have any of those!!!) with home repairs and lawn care.

· HVCC/Tri-Town Pantry expressed their gratitude for the items donated from our April food drive - especially since they were able to get matching funds for all items received.

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!

The next meeting of the Mission & Outreach committee will be Tuesday, June 23rd, at 6PM at the Dingles.

Lydia Dingle

Mission garden:

The garden has been planted. Thanks to Jim Haag for roto-tilling the garden. There are tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, acorn & butternut squash, some basil and chives, and a corn patch. If anyone is able to spare an hour or two here and there-we will be looking for help in keeping the garden tended. Please let me know if you are willing to help out.

Lydia Dingle

JUNE SCRIPTURES

JUNE WORSHIP ATTENDANTS

JUNE GREETERS

LAMPLIGHTER DEADLINE JULY/AUGUST ISSUE

Please submit (preferably by e-mail) any articles you have for the July/August issue by Thursday June 25th. Anything not received by 4:00 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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