Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
June 2017
THE
4360 Jackson Drive, Jackson, WI 53037 262.677.2345
email: [email protected] website: www.newhopeucc.com
email: [email protected] or [email protected]
SUMMER HAPPENINGSSUMMER HAPPENINGS
Sun., June 5 Worship Time Change to 9:30 a.m.
Wed., June 7 Consistory Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Sun., June 19 Father’s Day
Sun., July 3 Worship Time Change to 10:15 a.m.
Mon., July 4: Independence Day
Sun., Aug. 28 at New Hope
following the service
Sunday Worship Services - 9:30 am
June 4 through August 27
SUNDAY SCHOOL STAFF
APPRECIATION!
We extend a heartfelt “Thank You” for all the time, effort and talent you have put into each week’s Sunday School lesson! Our children have been blessed by your participation in our Christian Education program.
Director & Coordinator: Alicia Halfmann
Teachers:
Emily Fait
Holly Kunkler
Christine Shelsta
Paul Shelsta
Helpers:
Sam Budnik
Easton Wiedmeyer
FOOD PANTRY DONATIONS:
We thank you for all the donations of food items that you have made throughout the years!
For now, we are asking that you please hold off on bringing in any more items. The Community
Outreach Team is doing some re-organizing and will let you know about any changes that are made.
June 2017
2
Pastor’s Message
The dawn laughs out on orient hills
And dances with the diamond rills;
The ambrosial wind but faintly stirs The silken, beaded gossamers;
In the wide valleys, lone and fair,
Lyrics are piped from limpid air,
And, far above, the pine trees free
Voice ancient lore of sky and sea.
Come, let us fill our hearts straightway
With hope and courage of the day.
Noon, hiving sweets of sun and flower,
Has fallen on dreams in wayside bower,
Where bees hold honeyed fellowship With the ripe blossom of her lip;
All silent are her poppied vales
And all her long Arcadian dales,
Where idleness is gathered up
A magic draught in summer's cup.
Come, let us give ourselves to dreams
By lisping margins of her streams.
Adown the golden sunset way
The evening comes in wimple gray;
By burnished shore and silver lake Cool winds of ministration wake;
O'er occidental meadows far
There shines the light of moon and star,
And sweet, low-tinkling music rings
About the lips of haunted springs.
In quietude of earth and air
'Tis meet we yield our souls to prayer.
“Going Green”
We planted a garden for the first time in the last 10 years—that’s because Sandi and I
found the “fountain of growth”! Actually we can save some money AND eat organically
grown veggies—yum! yum!
There’s something sacred about a garden; being outside, breathing fresh air, hands in the
soil, watching a little seed turn into an orange carrot or green lettuce. We garden— we
touch creation.
Perhaps in a broader sense, all of creation is “God’s Garden” — God tends to it, nur-
tures it, weeds it and eventually harvests. Each of us is then challenged to grow and be
productive.
Pain-free gardening to all!
“Green” Rev. Jim
Now there was a river
flowing out of Eden
to water the garden . . .
Genesis
Hang dry
Get a clothesline or rack to dry your clothes by
the air. Your wardrobe will maintain color and fit,
and you'll save money.
Your favorite t-shirt will last longer too!
Wash in cold or warm
If all the households in the U.S. switched from
hot-hot cycle to warm-cold, we could save the en-
ergy comparable to 100,000 barrels of oil a day.
Only launder when you have a full load.
A SUMMER DAY BY LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY
June 2017
3
1 Darryl Kranz & Ed Forrester
5 Pat Herbst & Erica Fairbrother
8 Tim Smiley
9 Jim Lenz
10 Jenny Weyer
12 Mackensie Pauers & Mckenzie Will
15 Emmett Gross & Sarah Lundberg
19 Katie Meier & Cheryl Phetteplace
23 Sue Lenz
26 Amy Schneider
29 Jenny Bateman
21 Jeff & Kimber Wiedmeyer
23 Steve & Kimberly Ingram
30 Bruce & Cindy Endlich
Paul & Christine Shelsta
Member News
The Prayer Shawl Ministry will not be meeting during June, July or August. They will resume their meetings in September.
Enjoy your summer!
Mission & Outreach
Remember in Prayer…
Please take a moment out of your busy day to say a prayer for healing in the lives of those who are in need of spiritual, physical or emotional healing and support; that they may feel God’s comfort and love!
Especially:
Ty Teadsdale-recovering from tonsil & adnoid removal surgery & replacement of ear tubes
SHAWLS & HATS
If you know of someone in need of a Prayer Shawl or is going through chemotherapy and could use an ador-able hat to keep their head warm, they are available
in the sanctuary for the taking.
PLEASE let Karel Bretsch know who the item is for so she can add it to her records or put a note on the desk in the office with your name and the name of the person you will be giving it to.
GRAVESIDE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR
DORIS R. SCHMIDT
There will be a graveside memorial
service for Doris R. Schmidt on
Sunday, June 4, 2017, at 1:30 pm.
The brief service will be held at Peace Cemetery on
Hwy P and Cedar Creek Road in Jackson, just south
of the old Friedens Church building. Both Doris's
and Ben's ashes will be buried at that time.
All are welcome.
Our deepest sympathy and prayers of comfort go out to Nancy Holmes and family
on the death of her mother.
We have no right to our possessions; they have been entrusted to us for the
good of all. Let us then invest with the Lord all that has been given to us,
for have nothing that does not come from God. ~fifth-century monk Paulinus of Nola
June 2017
4
USHERS
*4 Donna Poole, Chelli Rettmann,
Amy Schneider, Angel Buettner
11 Sheila Smiley, Andy Gross
18 Aaron Halfmann, Steve Ingram
25 Kirk Krueger, Donna Poole
COUNTERS
4 Bruce Endlich
11 Russ Dobberpuhl
18 Gary Kranz
25 Sue Lenz
Schedules
GREETERS
4 Larry & Lynn Koziol
11 Russ & Pam Dobberpuhl
18 Doug & Laurie Alfke
25 Sue Lenz
MUSIC TECHS
4 Matt Schneider
11 Andrew Haese
18 Matt Schneider
25 Brian Smiley
For God so loved the world that God gave God's one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
-John 3:16
Worthy by Marchaé Grair
Sometimes, I struggle to believe in my own worthiness.
I see my flaws and I reason that I'm undeserving of any
good because of my bad.
Am I really worthy of love and care when I don't always
return every call or every favor? Am I really worthy of my
laughter when I've caused others tears and sadness? Am I
really worthy of spiritual redemption when I've had so many
missteps in the process of finding it?
In the depths of my doubt, the Spirit whispers a reminder,
courtesy of "Worth," one of my favorite praise songs.
The chorus says:
"You thought I was worth saving. So You came and changed my
life.
You thought I was worth keeping. So You cleaned me up inside.
You thought I was to die for. So You sacrificed your life.
So I could be free. So I could be whole. So I could tell everyone I
know."
Who am I to question my worthiness when I've already
been declared worthy by God?
Before I took my first breath, God loved who I was, who I
am, and who I will become.
God's call for me is to embrace a spiritually abundant life,
despite my shortcomings. Thankfully, my worthiness isn't
something I get to decide.
Worth isn't some kind of currency exchange of good or bad
deeds, where I can try to make up for the things I wasn't or
perhaps will never be.
Heaven already thought I was worth saving. Thank God
that makes me worthy enough.
Prayer:
When I question my worth, I'm thankful that through Jesus
Christ, I've already been given my answer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marchaé Grair is the Digital Content Manager at
the United Church of Christ and editor of the
UCC blog, New Sacred.
CLEANING
4 Amy Schneider and
Scott/Donna Poole
18-- Nancy Holmes/Sandy Ross
and Dean/Julie Endlich
June 2017
5
The summer after my freshman year in
college I worked as a lifeguard. In those
days, kids could earn enough in a summer
job to pay for a year of school, if we were
willing to live at home ... or if we had no
choice.
That August I learned of a high school kid I
knew slightly. He went to a school that was
even lower on the economic scale than
mine. His name was "Pig," which is just
about all you need to know in order to
know all about him. "Pig Raggio."
The only way Pig could ever go to the sum-
mer camp that had meant so much to me
was if someone provided a scholarship, but
Pig didn't have wealthy friends to make
that kind of contribution.
Somehow, that August, God pointed out
that Pig had me. I could provide the money
needed for Pig to go to camp. So, I did,
anonymously. I don't recall the struggle of
making the decision; I do recall the feeling
afterwards. Giving that money away, mon-
ey I'd earned that summer, I might not
have enough to fully cover the upcoming
year's school expenses. Oh, I could make
it, maybe, if I didn't go on a single date, or
to a single movie all year, and if there were
no lab fees and no surprise textbooks re-
quired. It was scary.
Still, I felt good about giving that money,
even as I wondered about tuition for the
Spring semester. Come Spring term, I
could be a reluctant college dropout.
Late that October, I was offered a job refer-
eeing basketball games in the Knoxville
Rec League. Two nights a week, Decem-
ber through February, I got all the exercise
I needed, received more than my quota of
verbal abuse ... and earned more money
than I'd made all summer long.
By the way, Pig had a great week at camp.
More than that, I learned at a 20th class
reunion, that Pig had a life-changing week
there. I also had a memory I would treas-
ure for the next five decades, a memory of
a time I sacrificed boldly, even dangerous-
ly, to do what I felt God wanted me to do.
Ah, to be young again.
This year, Debbie and I discussed what
God might want us to do in the Gifted
Past, Bold Future capital campaign at our
church. We determined an amount that
seemed appropriate, a faithful amount de-
termined by prayer and a careful assess-
ment of our finances. Living with that for a
while, we felt we'd made a good decision.
When I suggested, a couple weeks after-
ward, that we consider a slightly greater
amount, neither of us felt compelled to
make that increase. The original figure
seemed right.
Driving home from one of our early cam-
paign meetings, Debbie made a counter-
proposal. "I'd like for us to increase our
gift," she said. Then she named an amount
five times greater than our original figure.
"Please don't talk that way while I'm driv-
ing!" I replied.
When we pulled into the driveway, I ex-
plained. "My role as pastor of Pleasant Hill
Church is about to end," I pointed out. "It
wouldn't be healthy for us to continue our
investment in the church after this year, so
this would need to be a one-time gift, not a
three-year pledge. And though we have
planned for my retirement, the first year's
finances contain some uncertainties just
because we haven't traveled this path. This
is a time for us to be cautious, not crazy."
"Both of those points are true," she replied.
A couple mornings later over coffee, I re-
sumed the conversation. "Well, I think this
new amount is exactly what we need to
do," I said. So, that amount is the one on
our commitment card. I feel these days as
brashly audacious as a college freshman.
I just hope God remembers I don't have
the knees to be a basketball referee any-
more.
A NOTE FROM THE OFFICE
If you have noticed that you are not listed on the birthday or anniversary lists each month,
please call or email the office with the missing information!
677-2345 [email protected]
By Dr. Dave Fry
Be sure to check the bulletin boards in the Narthex for information on church and community activities!
Consistory Meeting minutes can be found outside the office door.
June 2017
6
Kid’s Korner
