News and Events
There's always something going on at Wilson United Methodist Church! Here's info on some up-coming events.
Join the Fun and Support the Youth at WWW - Dec 2
The youth are on the move, and you are invited to help them reach their goal! As the youth begin to prepare for their mission trips this summer, they will be doing several fundraising activities to help them get there. The first one is coming up on Wednesday, December 2, when the youth will be preparing and serving the WWW (Wonderful Wednesday at Wilson) dinner at 5:30 pm. ALL are invited to come, share in a great dinner, AND put a bid on the silent auction items. It's going to be tons of fun! The youth welcome your monetary donation for dinner, and invite you to have some fun bidding on the silent auction items. With Chrismas just around the corner, you won't want to miss this, so mark your calendars now!
Children's Christmas Program - Dec 13
Join us on Sunday, December 13, 4:00 pm for the Children's Christmas Program. It will be a wonderful time together experiencing the Christmas story and sharing in refreshments and activities. Mark your calendar now!
Christmas Unlimited Toy Drive - thru Jan 3rd
Each Christmas Wilson UMC, along with Wilson Christian Preschool, helps provide gifts for children of families in need through Christmas Unlimited. This is a private, non-profit organization located in Colorado Springs. Last year this organization served over 11,000 children. Its mission is to improve quality of life during the Christmas season for those families who cannot afford to pay for Christmas presents for children ages birth to 12 years old. Toys are distributed to parents in a store-like environment, allowing them to select gifts for their children.
If you would like to help, you can pick a paper ornament from the Christmas tree in the Taos room, or simply bring an appropriate toy. Each ornament designates a boy or a girl and a specific age. The toys may be new or gently used, and should be placed unwrapped under either tree. This year we will continue to collect gifts through January 3 for those of you who like to shop after Christmas and find bargains. Please contact Jill Weis, 598-5128, if you have questions. Thank you for sharing the joy and spirit of Christmas!
Disciple Bible Study - Jan 2010
Ready for Bible study? Have you been wanting to do in-depth Bible study? We are ready to form a Disciple Bible Study to begin in January. Are you ready? We like to hear of your interest! Contact the church office (598-0407 or wilson@wilsonumc.org ) for more information.
All-Church Sledding Day - Feb 20, 2010
It’s not too early to plan for a day of sledding! Saturday, February 20, 2010, will find us at John Wesley Ranch for an awesome day of sledding and fun! Put this date on your calendar, and we’ll see you there!
Stewardship
Our stewardship goals take on many different forms, in addition to our fiscal responsibility for our church. We continue to seek willing Wilson workers to help do various maintenance tasks around our church. Jim Butts has a list that he updates almost daily of things that need to be done around Wilson. We also seek to increase our support of Westside CARES as the needs of others less fortunate continue to grow.
Welcoming Congregation Award
Congratulations Wilson United Methodist Church!
You have been awarded the "Official Welcoming Congregation" award from the United Methodist Communications. As a part of the Rethink Church campaign, we applied for the award in June and were awarded the designation in July. We are highlighted in red on the Find-a-church.org website as a welcoming congregation! We will continue to participate in the four-year Welcoming Congregation Recognition to help move our congregation toward a permanent welcoming lifestyle. This four-year process will help us develop new programs and enhance our welcoming. As a part of the Rethink Church campaign, we will also be participating in the national UMC Open House month in September. We want our congregation to live the Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors theme by inviting friends, relatives, associates and neighbors. Then, we will need to welcome those who visit. Be ready to share your enthusiasm for Sunday School, Bible study, worship, and all the other ministries that you are involved in. We want our community to know what we have to offer and how they can participate.
What is "RETHINK CHURCH"?
The RETHINK CHURCH campaign is about challenging those outside the church to envision a church that is not a static institution, but a movement of people empowered to take ministry into the world. It is simultaneously about asking the people of The United Methodist Church to see their local church in a much broader way: not tied solely to their worship on Sunday morning but in all the ways, locally and globally, they are making a difference in people’s lives.
What if church were not just a building? Not a noun, but an action verb?
Jesus gave the Great Commission, and told us to "Go into the world" doing the things that he did: teaching, healing, feeding hungry people, speaking out about injustice, and calling the world to more faithful living. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples to begin a movement. The early Christians did not see themselves as "church." Until Paul and Peter agreed upon a division of labor, one attending to Jewish followers of Jesus and the other taking the gospel to the Gentiles, the followers of Jesus spoke of themselves as the people of "the way." In too many places, we have lost that sense of being a movement and have convinced ourselves it was enough to gather in our buildings and wait for people to come and find us. Jesus sent the disciples, and sends us, out to meet the world. We do that when we encounter the world at its points of greatest need. The term we are using for these touch points is "doors." Jesus consistently used a door as a metaphor to present opportunities to engage and invite his listeners to be part of the building of God’s kingdom here on earth.
We are called to not only "go into the world" and encourage other people: friends, neighbors, coworkers, and any others that we may come into contact with, but to also provide encouragement and support for our brothers and sisters in Christ as they also attempt to impact the world for Christ.
Once In a Decade - Passion Play Trip Details
The German village of Oberammergau survived the Black Plague in the 17th century, and the thankful villagers promised God they would show their gratitude by putting on a Passion Play depicting the events of the last weeks of Christ’s life. And to ensure future generations would always remember, they vowed to present the play every ten years. In 2010, some 370 years later, the Oberammergau Passion Play will be presented daily all summer long.
Keith and Mary Ann Watson are taking advantage of this once in a decade event to partake in what, for them, will be a once in a lifetime opportunity. They don’t know where they will be in another ten years, but in 2010 they will be hosting a travel group for a nine-day European trip sponsored through Educational Opportunities. The tour will include travels in areas of Austria and Germany and will include one day at the day-long Oberammergau passion play. They also will add on another seven-day Switzerland extension. Keith and Mary Ann would love to have others travel with them.
The "Alpine Wonders and Oberammergau Passion Play" trip will leave Denver on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, for nine days. Those who choose to travel with them on the Switzerland extension will lengthen the trip for another seven days. Educational Opportunities arranges the flights, ground transportation, and tickets for the passion play and other tours.
If you are interested in information on this trip, contact the church office.
"Yellow Shelf" Book Exchange
The Education Committee is sponsoring a "Yellow Shelf" book exchange. This is how it works: bring your books that you have read and would like to pass on, place them on the yellow shelf and see if there are any books of interest to you to read. There's no checking out, no card, no cost - just browse and see if there is a book you'd like to read.
Remember this works differently than our regular church library! You are welcome to bring novels, study books, children's books, etc. The Education Committee will maintain this shelf and weed out books as needed. Please do not bring magazines - this is for books only. The "Yellow Shelf" is located at the end of the hallway leading to the new addition. Come check it out! Questions? Contact Nani Arning.