Methodist Messenger Prague/Arlington Charge April, 2016

The Great 50 Days No matter what happens, I am never disappointed with the celebration of Easter. It comes at the end of a very

stressful week, but there is nothing like looking out at the gathered people singing “Christ the Lord IS risen today” while

wearing the new Easter outfits.

For Christians, the forty days of Lent come to a glorious end as worshippers gather to remember the day the women

went to the tomb and found the stone was indeed rolled away and Christ was alive! Not only alive, he was on the road to

meet them. For those who “give up” something for Lent, indulge is the first order. If you’ve given up chocolate, you will

grab the first chocolate bar you see.

Easter is a designation for both a day – the day of the Resurrection – and the liturgical season which follows.

According to worship expert Laurence Hull Stookey, “the explosive force of the resurrection of the Lord is too vast to be

contained within a celebration of one day.”

While Lent is a season of 40 days, Easter or Eastertide is a season consisting of 50 days which ends on Pentecost. In

Jewish tradition, one of their great festival seasons began two days after the start of Passover and ended at what was

eventually called Pentecost. This is a wonderful connection to our Jewish heritage.

Easter is not the closing act – it’s the opener! The Great 50 Days reminds us that, again in the words of Stookey,

“Easter Day is the opening of a protracted celebration, even as the Resurrection is itself the opening of a vast new reality.”

What will happen during these next 50 days? Here are a few of the major events of note.

Spring will arrive in Oklahoma. Dirt will be turned and gardens will be planted. Flowers and trees will begin to

bloom. All those little bugs which were victims of the cold and snow of winter will come back to life. And while

watching our favorite television show, we will likely hear those three little beeps followed by a weatherperson telling us

where yet another impending Oklahoma thunderstorm is going to hit.

Earth Day will occur on April 22. According to their website, this particular day has broadened and diversified the

environmental movement worldwide and mobilized it as the most effective vehicle to build a healthy, sustainable

environment, addressed climate change, and protected the Earth for future generations. It has been observed since 1970.

This year, the theme is “Trees for the Earth.”

Forty days after Easter comes a little known or observed day called “The Ascension of the Lord.” Two of the gospels

(Matthew 28:16-20 and Luke 24:36-53) as well as the Acts of the Apostles (1:1-11) record Jesus’ final words to his

disciples before ascending back to God. On Sunday, May 8, we will observe this special day with the beginning of a new

sermon series focusing on the Holy Spirit. More information on that to come in the May newsletter.

Finally, it is the time of year when school comes to an end and students look forward to what comes next. Pianists

will dust off their copies of “Pomp and Circumstance” and mortar boards will be handed out to excited high school

seniors. Graduation ceremonies will take place all across the country and a new phase of life will begin for these young

people. We will observe Graduate Recognition Sunday on May 15.

It is indeed a season of new beginnings. Much will happen in the next 50 days, so what might you do to celebrate?

Turn some earth. Plant a tree. Encourage a high school graduate by attending a graduation ceremony. Spend some time

outside enjoying creation. Just do something different!

One of my favorite hymns is called “Hymn of Promise.” The first verse is especially poignant as we think about this

season: “In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree. In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.”

Winter is past. Spring is here. Let us enjoy this gift of spring which God has given us … at least for the next 50 days.

Until I see you again, grace and peace.

Pastor Derrek

UNITED METHODIST MEN

Information from secretary/treasurer Jerry Opela

The UMM met March 5. Pres. Jack Vaughan presided and Pastor Derrek offered the devotional, “Scripture” from the book 10 Life-Charged Words.

After breakfast, several men helped move the organ back into the sanctuary. Several items of business were settled. There will be a workday after breakfast on April 2nd. The next potato bar will be April 3rd. Some of the men volunteered to be greeters for the Community Easter Service on March 20.

The next UMM meeting will be Saturday, April 2, in the Prague church Fellowship Hall. Jack Vaughan will bring the devotional “Holiness.” All men and boys are invited to attend.

PRAGUE MEMORIALS COMMITTEE

Written by chair Janet Baker

The Memorials Committee met on February 10 in the Conference Room at the Prague United Methodist Church. The committee reviewed various projects and services that were needed for the church.

Services for piano tuning and maintenance, framing of old pictures and historical church documents, silverware, and new pew bibles were selected and approved by the committee.

Money received is in memory of the following people: Milo Foreman, Olene Roberts, Eddie Sargent, Janevieve Bishop, Don Muzny, Charles Holmes, and Gloria Ratcliff.

Arlington UMC Fellowship Supper Saturday, April 9 at 5 p.m. Come and enjoy good food and fellowship.

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UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

The Prague/Arlington UMW met Thursday evening, March 10, with a dozen members present and Pres. Tracy Howard presiding.

Member Wanda Clark presented an

outstanding program on the book Refuse to do Nothing by Shayne Moore and Kimberly McOwen Yim, a text about human trafficking. She told us that 27 million people in the world are slaves. The national human trafficking hotline is 888.373.7888. Forty percent of cocoa sold in the US is slave grown, but buying from Fair Trade, guarantees that one is buying from free producers – not slave owners.

Margaret Parks offered a report on a “Response” magazine article concerning the founding of UMW, always an interesting subject.

A number of business issues and announcements were dealt with. April 9 will be the annual district Spiritual Day Apart. This will be the first such meeting in our new Crossroads District. At our April 14 unit meeting, we will have UMW guests from Chandler, and possibly Stroud. April is kolache baking month! Baking dates are April 16 and April 30. UMW Sunday is April 17.

On March 20, the Ministerial Alliance’s Community Service will be 6 pm at the Prague church. Janet Baker started filling in her list of foods needed with volunteers from the unit meeting. She then signed up more volunteers after the Prague service, March 13.

All ladies are invited to attend the April 14 meeting, 6 pm in Prague Fellowship Hall.

UNITED METHODIST YOUTH

Written by Youth Team Leader Tina Thompson

OCU Youth Service Day, working in playground

We started the month with a visit to OCU, where the youth learned about the degree programs and scholarships that OCU offers; they also went on a campus tour, including a visit to the dorms. We ate at the cafeteria, where they have a wide variety of foods to choose from, including pizza and ice cream! We spent the afternoon at an elementary school, cleaning up and moving wood chips and digging up trees; the weather was beautiful and the kids worked very hard!

Dr. Neff finished the series that he was teaching at Quest, going over the history of the church. He will be back with us on April 17th & 24th teaching our Sunday School about the books that didn’t make it into the Bible. This class is not limited to youth; any adults who would like to attend are welcome!

Robert Thompson and Riggy Howell took a

group of kids to WinterJam; a Christian concert featuring many different bands. They ate at Cici’s Pizza and then enjoyed hours of fantastic music.

Wanda Clark

Gage Powell Robert Thompson

Wanda Clark, Montrey Bond, Lucille Sargent and Paola Rovesti

The youth helped bake pretzels to sell to the church. Over $600 was raised for prison ministries and New Day Camp (a camp for children who have a parent in prison).

Kolache baking is coming up in April; we usually have many youth help with this wonderful fundraiser for the UMW.

The week of March 20th was Holy Week, with many activities that included youth: a special Lenten Quest program, the all-church services in which youth participated, and a special program for the confirmation class. 3

We had another trip to the Food Bank where we packaged food. This was a very rewarding mission time. We had six adults and two youth work together for this event, where we packaged 6969 pounds of food. That is enough to fill 1818 Backpacks, the equivalent of 5807 meals!

THIRD SUNDAY of LENT: BLACK HISTORY MONTH OBSERVANCE

Molly Madison Abbey Seth

The children’s sign class, including Molly Pruett, Madison Belase, Abbey Warren, and Seth Pruett, signed “How Can I Keep from Singing?” at both the Arlington and Prague services.

Will Capron played “Blue Bells of Scotland” on his tuba, accompanied by Barbara Holman on the piano. Band director Kathy Eby, who teaches and directs Prague’s band students stands at right.

Nilar Shaver, guest soloist, sang “The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow,” in honor of Black History month.

Sara Martin offered the children’s sermon to ten young folks who came forward for the lesson.

FIRST QUARTER SPECIAL GIVING REPORT During the first quarter of 2016, the following special gifts were received by the Prague and Arlington UMC’s and passed on to some very worthwhile causes:

Human Relations Day offering – $199 45th anniversary celebration offering to Project Transformation – $900 Pretzel baking (split between New Day Camp and prison ministry in Boley) –

$625

One Great Hour of Sharing for UMCOR – $251 Easter lilies ($5/lily to Youth Force) – $200

Thank you for your generosity. 4

Community Easter Service a real success

Nearly 200 people packed the Prague sanctuary for the Ministerial Alliance community Easter

service on Sunday, March 20. The program included musical selections from five individuals and one group as well as the sermon by Rev. Nathan Howard of Pleasant Home Baptist Church.

Musical numbers from the UMC included Kathy Eby singing “The Holy City” and Diana Kinzey singing “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.” Barbara Holman led worship and Jo Sands was the pianist. Other participants included Derrek Belase, Sharon Capron, and Joe Ann Pritchett.

The offering, benefitting the Ministerial Alliance benevolence fund, was $3,458.50 leaving a nice balance in the account going into the hot summer months when utility bills will likely be high.

Janet Baker and Sharon Smith were responsible for coordinating the beautiful reception which followed the service. Barbara Holman decorated tables. Sheila Powell, Vicki Pfeiff and Diana Kinzey assisted with set-up, serving and clean-up.

It takes a communal effort from our two churches to host such a large event. Good work to all who assisted in making this year’s community Easter service a success!

Kathy Eby Diana Kinzey Rev. Nathan Howard Raul Tapia First Baptist Praise Team

Confirmation Class to culminate in special service on April 10

Three young people from the Prague church have been participating in an intense confirmation experience since September with bi-monthly classes since February.

Gage Powell will be confirmed on Easter while Leslie Clark and Riley Waltonbaugh will be confirmed on April 10. During the services, confirmands will remember their baptisms, make their own profession of faith and officially become members of the congregation.

Confirmands will be communion servers on April 3.

According to a recent United Methodist News Service article, “Confirmation is an opportunity to respond to the grace of God available to us, as acknowledged in baptism, and to promise to live as a person of faith.”

“What God offers us must be accepted in repentance and faith,” This is Your Baptismal Liturgy states. “Confirmation and reaffirmation are our responses of commitment, profession of faith, and rededication.”

Class sessions focused on John Wesley, the means of grace, scripture, spiritual gifts, church organization and other related topics. Participants also led the Good Friday service, attended confirmation camp at Camp Egan as well as the Interfaith Tour in OKC and read the book Sleeping with Bread.

This year, two new features were included in the class. Each session began with the introduction of a new spiritual practice and an online discussion board allowed participants to reflect on questions in between sessions.

The class was facilitated by Pastor Derrek, Rev. Sharon Capron, Tina Thompson and Rebecca Bond. 6

Native American Ministries

special Sunday coming up

Did you know that when our churches

support Native American Ministries Sunday, we equip seminary students and empower Native American congregations to find fresh, new ways to minister to their communities with the love of Christ?

There are over 18,000 known Native people in The United Methodist Church. The largest group are members within the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, but Native United Methodists and ministries may be found from the tip of Florida to Alaska.

Native people serve the church in every capacity: laypersons, seminary professors, district superintendents, conference directors, employees of general boards and agencies, Christian educators, lay missioners and pastors. Native churches have the highest percentage of female pastors in the denomination.

On Sunday, April 17, you will have the opportunity to assist our Native American brothers and sisters through the third of six special offerings collected by the United Methodist Church each year. Proceeds from this offering nurture mission with Native Americans and provide scholarships for United Methodist Native American seminarians.

Fifty percent of the offering remains in the annual conference to develop and strengthen local Native American ministries. The remainder of the funds are then distributed equally between the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry to provide scholarships for American Indians attending the church’s schools of theology and the Native American Urban Initiative of the General Board of Global Ministries.

Offering envelopes will be provided in the April 17 bulletins to receive your gifts for this important offering.

United Methodist Women Sunday to be observed April 17

The mission and ministry of our charge’s United Methodist Women’s unit will be celebrated in worship on Sunday, April 17 during worship services at both churches. UMW members will lead all parts of the service and special Mission Recognition Pins will be awarded.

For nearly 150 years, women in the UMC and our predecessor denominations have organized for action and mission. According to a recent article by UMW General Secretary Harriet Jane Olson, “For United Methodist Women, legacy is not just something that we receive, it is something that we build. We build it today by prayer and Bible study, by Mission Giving and by participating in advocacy work locally and globally.”

The Prague and Arlington combined UMW unit is a very active group of mission-minded women. Currently they are in the process of Kolache backing – 750 dozen kolaches sold with proceeds benefitting missions. Last year, the UMW unit, in conjunction with the United Methodist Men, purchased a new dishwasher/sanitizer for the kitchen. Monthly unit meetings include spiritual growth lessons, book reviews and Response Moments by Margaret Parks which summarize pertinent articles from the mission magazine of UMW.

Guest preacher for UMW Sunday is Rev. Mary Gaudreau, director of emotional and spiritual care for the Oklahoma Conference of Churches in OKC. As a deacon in full connection, Rev. Gaudreau is a national leader in preparing for and responding to disasters.

She previously worked for the United Methodist Committee on Relief from 2005-2013 and before that, Circle of Care. As a licensed

marriage and family therapist and trained theologian, she brings a unique perspective to this important work.

On Friday, April 23, Rev. Gaudreau will be honored by Oklahoma City University as a “Distinguished Alumni” during their homecoming festivities.

Our UMW unit is also active beyond Prague and Arlington. Unit president Tracy Howard also serves as the Crossroads District UMW treasurer. Pastor Derrek is the keynote speaker at this year’s conference UMW annual meeting held on October 1 at St. Luke’s UMC in OKC.

April Worship Information

The four Sundays of April will feature some great celebrations as we move into the liturgical season we call “Eastertide,” the fifty days following Easter leading up the celebration of Pentecost on May 15. Each week contains its own kind of blessing. Don’t miss any of them. April 3 Holy Communion Arlington – Joe Ann Pritchett

preaching Prague – Cantata: “Champion of

Love” April 10 Confirmation Sunday Luke 18:18-30 “Believe, Belong, Become” April 17 UMW Sunday Hebrews 11:1-3 “Meaning, Purpose, Hope” Rev. Mary Gaudreau preaching April 24 Psalm 23 John 10:1-10 “The Good Shepherd” Rev. Sharon Capron preaching

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QUEST stations of HOLY WEEK

The Last Supper garden of Gethsemane at the cross at the tomb

HOLY THURSDAY

The tables were set. soup, sandwiches, fruit, cookies and Trey Brian Barbara Kathy Diana Paula Derrek sweet breads Litle Robert Trey GOOD FRIDAY

Leslie Clark, Gage Powell, and Riley Waltonbaugh, this spring’s confirmands at Prague, read scripture for Good Friday service at the Arlington church

APRIL 2016

Friday, April 01 5 – 7 pm Confirmation Class &

Dinner

6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon 7 – 11 pm at The Flame

for 6th – 12th graders BD Billy Bruce

Saturday, April 02

7am United Methodist Men

BD Debbie Martin

Sunday, April 03 9:15 Arlington worship

9:30 Prague Sunday school

10:30 Arlington Sunday school 10:45 Prague worship

Noon UMM Potato Bar CANTATA “Champion of Love”

Monday, April 04

Tuesday, April 05 6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon

Wednesday, April 06

11 am Arlington Ladies Day Out

Quest 3:45-5:30 pm Recreation 3:45-4:15 pm Sign & Music 5:30-7:00 pm Dinner & Class

7:00-7:30 pm Worship 6:30 pm Vocal Choir practice

7:30 pm Bell Choir practice

BD Jerry Opela

Thursday, April 07

Friday, April 08

6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon 7 – 11 pm at The Flame

for 6th – 12th graders BD Will Capron

Saturday, April 09

UMW Spiritual Day Apart at Grace

UMC, OKC 5 pm Arlington Fellowship Supper

BD Eric Capron

BD = birthday WA = wedding anniversary

Sunday, April 10 9:15 Arlington worship

9:30 Prague Sunday school

10:30 Arlington Sunday school 10:45 Prague worship

Confirmation for Leslie Clark & Riley Waltonbaugh

BD Cade Anderson

Monday, April 11

BD Ryder Cale Carver

Tuesday, April 12 6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon

BD Nancy Redding

Wednesday, April 13

11 am Arlington Ladies Day Out Quest, vocal & bell choirs

Thursday, April 14

6 pm United Methodist Women

BD Danielle Morgan

Friday, April 15 KOLACHE MEASURE & MIX

DAY #1

6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon 7 – 11 pm at The Flame

for 6th – 12th graders

Saturday, April 16 KOLACHE BAKING DAY #1

Sunday, April 17 UMW SUNDAY

NATIVE AMERICAN special offering 9:15 Arlington worship

9:30 Prague Sunday school

10:30 Arlington Sunday school 10:45 Prague worship

BD Janette Smith WA Flint & Tracy Howard

Monday, April 18

Tuesday, April 19 6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon

BD John Coleman

Wednesday, April 20

11 am Arlington Ladies Day Out Quest, vocal & bell choirs

Camp Promotion Night

Thursday, April 21 2 pm Parkland birthday party

BD Terri Tackett

Friday, April 22

6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon 7 – 11 pm at The Flame

for 6th – 12th graders BD Rhyan Waltonbaugh

Saturday, April 23 BD Richard Hefner

Sunday, April 24

PSALM 23

9:15 Arlington worship 9:30 Prague Sunday school

10:30 Arlington Sunday school 10:45 Prague worship

BD Lena Pruett

Monday, April 25

BD Katie Hefner BD Charlene Kimery

Tuesday, April 26

6 - 7 pm AA & Al-Anon

Wednesday, April 27

11 am Arlington Ladies Day Out Quest, vocal & bell choirs

BD Ryan Hefner

Thursday, April 28

Friday, April 29

KOLACHE MEASURE & MIX DAY #2

6 – 7 pm AA & Al-Anon

7 – 11 pm at The Flame for 6th – 12th graders

Saturday, April 30

KOLACHE BAKING DAY #2

Saturday, May 7

Kolache Festival

Sunday, May 8 Mother’s Day

Sunday, May 15 Graduate recognition

Baccalaureate

May 30 – June 2

OK Annual Conference

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