A big Thank You to the Music Department of this church for another
phenomenal Advent and Christmas season. We appreciate so much their gifts and
their sharing with us to set the meaning for this wonderful time of the year.
The Mowrys would like to thank those of this congregation who extended such warm greetings
through the Christmas season by their cards, personal statements, and gifts.
Thank you for making the holiday brighter and bringing joy into our lives.
Ron &
Sue
Disciple Recognition
Members of our Disciple classes will
be recognized in our 9:30 service on January 20th as they complete a
half year of their study. Those who are in our Disciple I, II, III, & IV
classes will be affirmed for their dedication to Bible study.
Opportunities for Bible Study
The New Year offers many
opportunities for all ages to study the word of God. A new study for men will take place weekly beginning
Sunday, January 6th from 6:30-8:30pm and bi-weekly beginning
Saturday, January 12th from 7:30-9:00am. Crosstalks will resume their study of Acts on Tuesday, January 8th
from 10:00-11:30am. All are welcome! Parent
Growth Group meets every other Monday from 9:30-11:00am beginning
January 14th and is open to all parents. Child care is provided for
a small fee. Youth of the church
are invited to be in study on the 2nd and 4th Monday of
every month from 7:00-8:00pm. Call the church office (238-6135) for more
information about any of these studies.
Notes from
our Nurses
Happy New Year! Do you know what time it is? The holidays are over, your cookies are all gone, and you feel like you’ve gained 20 pounds over the holidays. Sound familiar? You quickly decide to exercise more, eat better foods, and quit smoking.
Before making your New Year’s Resolution, think about things first. To be successful in keeping your resolution, make sure you have a strong initial commitment to make a change. Have planned coping strategies to deal with problems that will come up. Keep track of your progress. The more feedback you receive the better you will do. Don’t try everything at once. You will have better luck if you focus on one or two goals. Once a resolution has been made, then make a plan. Break down your goals by days, weeks, or months. Remember, progress takes persistence and does not come all at once. Good luck!
Blood Pressures will be taken between
services only on January 27. See you there!
Gail Spence & Betsy Mowry
Stephen
Ministry
Are you or someone you know going
through a crisis in life? These crises happen in all of our lives at one time
or another. They include such things as depression over the loss of a job,
grief at the death of a loved one, or stress due to the necessity of
hospitalization or the birth of a child.
When crises come, it is helpful to have someone who cares for you.
Our congregation has trained over 30 lay people since the
Stephen Ministry began here in 1995. We
offer a ministry of Christian caring for those in need. When a crisis happens,
contact one of the following persons for more information on how to start the
caring process: Bev. Wells (572-1415),
Hildi Fitzpatrick (572-5004), Jim Boyer (572-4976), Karen or Mark Milia
(572-0602), or one of the pastors.
Thank you for your generous giving!
The families of West Side Community House had a very Merry
Christmas because of your giving so much to the annual Christmas
collection! Other churches of the
district also gave, and the total response this year was wonderful!
Thank you’s are in order to Russell McKee and Deb Bohlander who filled their cars with gifts, and to Ginny McKee, Dolores Huhn, Viola LeCastro and Alice Waltz , who joined Eleanor and Deb Bohlander to help unpack all the “goodies.”
Thanks to everyone, many tables were filled so the children were able to choose their family gifts to take home before Christmas. The Seniors also received many gifts and Bingo prizes.
Thanks also to the members of the Executive Board of UMW who gave presents to a “special angel family” who had suffered sickness or loss during the past year. Each member received some clothing and a game or puzzle.
Thanks to all of you for bringing happiness to many adults and children at Christmas.
W.S.C.H. Advocates
Viola LeCastro, Alice Waltz, Eleanor Bohlander
Myrrh Sunday exceeds expectations: The Holy
Spirit is at work at SUMC
A typical report on the Myrrh portion of this year’s annual
stewardship campaign would include the 250-300 of each grocery item and the
$200+ that were given to the Strongsville Food Bank. This was very impressive
and the Food Bank thanks everyone for their generous support.
Another kind of report, one which is just as important,
needs to be shared with our church family. I am not an expert on the Holy
Spirit and struggle to understand him and allow him to work in me. However, I
want to share with you some examples of times I experienced the Holy Spirit
working during Myrrh.
In the early stages of the committee’s attempts to define
Myrrh, it was difficult to put together a design that would allow your gifts to
be effective in helping others. Someone on the committee suggested that Myrrh
be based on the grocery items that the Food Bank needs all year long but does
not receive in adequate quantities. Not only did this idea help with the
design, but other aspects of Myrrh flowed from this concept. I believe the Holy
Spirit was working here.
Then came Myrrh Weekend! The quantity of grocery items at
the worship services was something very special. Someone said that he was
nearly moved to tears by what was happening. Those who were going to be absent
from worship that day brought their gifts in early. This was truly the Holy
Spirit at work.
Following worship, we had to move all the groceries from the
chancel to the atrium, sort and box them. In one hour it was done and all waste
materials taken away. Even though only a few general appeals for help had been
made, children, youth, and adults of all ages came to help. The activity was
more like a party than a chore. The only explanation I have is that the Holy
Spirit provided.
Myrrh Sunday wasn’t the end of the Holy Spirit’s work. On
Monday morning he provided enough people with cars, vans and trucks that we
were able to move all the groceries to the food bank in one trip, check
expiration dates, shelve, and clean up in 1½ hours; Another unimaginable event.
I hope you understand now why I believe the Holy Spirit was
with us during the Myrrh campaign. Many people were involved in many ways and I
thank God for them. However, the results were far greater that any committee,
individual, or group could have done alone. The Holy Spirit provided. So, watch
very closely for the Holy Spirit at work in what you do. He is here in this
church family. Call on him to be with you as you do God’s work.
Al Turek,
Myrrh Committee
Christian Education
News
As I was sitting and praying for inspiration on
what I should write about for the Wesley News, the song "Jesus Loves the
Little Children" kept going through my mind, so I began to write it
down. Sing it with me now...
"Jesus Loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and Yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the
world."
Now reach back into your childhood
memories. Do you remember singing that song in Sunday School? I
do. It was one of my favorites.
In
Matthew 19:14 Jesus says, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not
forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Can't you just
see Jesus as you did as a little child? His open arms and warm smile
beckon you to draw closer. You look into His eyes and there you find pure
love and acceptance.
1
John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God..." Return
now for just a moment to that same image you had of Jesus. This time see
Him from an adult perspective. Can't you still see that warm smile and
those strong arms reaching out to you? How precious are God's children to
Him, no matter what age they are.
I think one of the most important reasons why
people become involved in children's ministries is because they realize how
important and life transforming those early church experiences are to
children. They know that just a simple song can create memories that will
stay with a child for the rest of his/her life. What a privilege it is to
be a part of our children's ministry at SUMC.
Debbie Burd,
Director of Christian Education
Thank
You! Thank You! Thank You!
A special
thank you to everyone who helped with the Christmas play. Thanks also to
the children and youth who took part in the program. You did a fantastic
job!
Another special thanks to Matthew Milia, one of our high school students, for creating and
filming the sneak preview video for the Christmas play. Way to go Matt!
A huge
thank you to COE members, Lynn Tinnirello,
Sharon Casey, and Wayne and Johanna Brooks for the three
years they served on the committee. Their time, devotion, and talents
were greatly appreciated!
Looking
Ahead
It's
Coming!
Adult
Sunday School starts January 6, 2002 at 9:30 and 11:00 am.
9:30 Leaders - Jim Boyer and Bob Koszkalda
11:00 Leaders - Phil and Debbie Burd
Both
classes will be studying Traveling Light, a book based on the 23rd psalm written by Max
Lucado. These classes will last nine weeks.
Youth Auction 2002 Draws Closer!
Don't forget that the youth of our
church committed to mission will be conducting an auction on April 14 from 12-3
in Tiber Hall. We request three things:
first, your prayers for the success of this endeavor that will allow
financial resources to be available to those willing to dedicate the time to
spend on mission work. The second is donations of new goods or services
to be auctioned - some of our best sellers last year were sport event tickets
and household services. The third is that you attend the auction and
consider bidding on some of the unique, one-of-a-kind items or services that
will be offered. Please mark April 14 on your calendar today!!! Contact: Debbie Smith at 878-5147.
God’s love reaches Angel
Tree children
The Logos Junior& Senior High Students and Angel Tree
thank you for your generous support of Prison Fellowship Ministries! The SUMC congregation has once again let the
light of Jesus Christ shine brightly into the lives of children and families who
need to know that God loves them. With
your help, we were able to reach out to more than 60 children in 28
families. Thank you for making a real
difference for the cause of Christ. God
bless you!
Junior & Senior
High Logos Classes & Teachers
“After Christmas”
There is a story of a father who ordered
a kit for a tree house as a Christmas gift for his son. Late Christmas Eve, as
he tried to put the pieces together, he discovered to his dismay that he had received
a kit for a sailboat. His letter of complaint to the company brought this reply
in January:
“While we regret the inconvenience this
mistake must have caused you, it is nothing compared to that of the person out
on a lake somewhere trying to sail your tree house.”
—Anonymous
Joys & Concerns of the Congregation
Births
Congratulations to
Mike and Kathy Linard on the birth of their daughter, Lindsey May Linard, on October 3rd. Proud grandparents are Chuck & Darla
Walter.
Baptisms
We rejoice at the
baptism of Riley Elizabeth McGreal
on Sunday, December 9th.
Riley is the daughter of Terence & Lisa Semelsberger McGreal.
Deaths
Pearl Emch,
a longtime member of our congregation, entered the church triumphant on
December 8. Pearl was a member of
Friday Fellowship and sang in our Sanctuary Choir. A memorial service will be
held at SUMC on January 12 at 11:00. The
prayers and sympathy of the congregation are extended to her son Ken Emch and
family.
The
prayers and sympathy of the church are also extended to Ray Richards and
Dorothy Richards upon the death of their brother and brother-in-law, Elmer R.
Richards; to Anne Riggs and family upon the death of her son-in-law, Vance
Dimmick; to Joe & Karen Musarro and family upon the death of Joe’s aunt, Vi
Anthony, on December 1st; and to Marcy Palmer and family upon the
death of her father, Harry Ausprung, on December 3rd.
From our church’s mailbox
Dear Congregation,
Thank you to all my church family. The visits, cards, flowers and prayers all helped to make me do
so great.
Love & praise,
Marilyn Verbsky
To the people of Strongsville UMC,
Thank you so much for the time and effort spent on providing
delicious meals for our family.
Everyone’s kindness was very much appreciated. Wishing all a wonderful holiday.
I know our family will celebrate each other and be very thankful for our
blessings!
Shalom,
The Herren Family
Dear Congregation,
Thank you very much for the roast beef and rolls. Your
kindness was very greatly appreciated during my time of recovery. God bless.
In Christian Love,
Sharon Lash
Dear Congregation,
My wife and I would
like to thank everyone who sent prayers, cards, and phone calls during my
health problem. Thank you all and God
bless.
Bob Ralls
Thank you…
The Ecumenical Tea for women from all the churches in
Strongsville was held at SUMC this year.
About 135 women attended, some from outside of Strongsville. The themes of the tea were the meaning of
the Chrismon Tree and the celebration of Christ’s coming. I want to extend a special thank you to each
one of you who helped with the tea for making this event a successful spiritual
experience. It was truly an effort of
sharing talents and time for the glory of God.
Hope all of you had a blessed Christmas!
Marge Turek
A whole new year is
mine today…
May I be wiser, Lord
I pray!
I’d strengthen
friendships, old and true,
And learn to cherish
new ones, too;
To keep on learning
and to grow
A little better as I
go.
To cast aside each
grudge and grief,
And hold fast to a
firm belief
That life is joyous,
gracious, good,
When lived in terms
of brotherhood!
To welcome fun, and play
awhile,
To lighten work with
a happy smile!
To thank the Lord and
every day
Remember Him, and
kneel to pray
In gratitude for
strength and health
And blessings which
are all my wealth!
This year’s a gift
from God to me
To spend, or use, or
set me free…
A whole new year is
mine today…
May I be wiser, Lord,
I pray!
Lilita Pinney
Habitat for Humanity benefits from inmates’ work
Habitat for Humanity
of Greater Cleveland has just completed its second year of a partnership with
the Grafton Correctional Facility that has resulted in 6,000 volunteer hours a
year for Habitat. Inmates from the
correctional facility have been working in 6-man crews to help Habitat with
many of its projects in the Cleveland community. The inmates have now installed heating systems in over 15 houses,
run electrical conduit, and assisted with framing houses. In addition, they have helped address many
challenges at the 87,000 square foot Habitat headquarters – an old warehouse
building originally constructed in 1904.
While Habitat has
benefited from the inmates’ work, the partnership has helped the inmates,
too. They’ve gotten valuable
construction and work experience, and several have gained employment upon their
release partly due to their experience and recommendations from Habitat
supervisors.
As Dennis Cocco,
Board of Trustees Chairman, writes in his update, “Habitat for Humanity is the
essence of people loving people!”
Just in time for the
playoffs….
“Church Football”
Draw play
– what many children do with the bulletin during worship.
Benchwarmer
– those who do not sing, pray, work or apparently do anything but sit!
Backfield in
motion – making a trip to the back (restroom or drinking fountain)
during the service.
Two-minute
warning – the point at which you realize the sermon is almost over
and begin to gather your belongings.
Sudden death
– What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes
“overtime.”
End Run
– Getting out of church quickly, without speaking to any guest or fellow
member.
Blitz
– the rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.
Souled Out
Something
to Think About
by Greg
“Oh come,
let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout
joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.” Psalm 95:1-3
Last weekend eleven youth and three adults went to
Camp Wanake for our annual retreat. At the same time, a special needs camp was
taking place, giving us the privilege of sharing eating facilities with these
wonderful people. During our Saturday lunch, one of the camp directors invited
our group to join with their camp in a square-dancing session. Not all of us
shared equal enthusiasm; I could think of about a million other things I would
rather do than square-dancing. But I’m never one to back away from an
opportunity to look like a total goof-ball, so I decided to give it a shot.
It was a blast, and we have the pictures to prove it. But what moved us the
most (and what ties this experience to the above verses) is something that
happened after the dancing shoes came off. One of the members of their camp
named Paul (who also goes by the name Batman, right Allison?) got up and
decided to serenade us as a gift for joining them in their evening activities.
He plopped in a Christmas CD, and began to half sing, half lip-sync the words.
I must say that the words were quite powerful, including the narration between
songs. As Paul sang to us, several of us started crying. At first this confused
me. I didn’t understand the significance of what was happening. But then I saw
one of Paul’s friends sitting in the middle of some of our youth. He was
teaching us how to worship.
The thing about these wonderful people is that nobody ever taught them how to
hide their emotions. When they hear about Christ’s coming to a sin-sick world,
and taking all of our sins in order to bridge the gap between us and our
heavenly Father, they can’t help but show some emotion. So that’s what they
did. They praised God with their hands, their feet, their facial expressions,
with dancing and laughing and crying....sounds a lot like King David. They
ministered to us. They praised their King with no inhibitions, no worries about
what other people were thinking--- nothing---it was pure worship. After you see
people truly worshiping God, you begin to realize how much of our worship time
is spent wondering what other people think. We don’t want to look undignified
(there’s a great worship song that tells us that being undignified when we
worship isn’t such a bad thing). In other words, most of our worship is not
actually for the benefit of God, it’s for the benefit of the people around us.
At the end of the evening the roles were reversed: eleven youth and three
adults with special needs were ministered to by a group of people who didn’t
have a need in the world.
Friday, January 4th
New Year’s Party
Watch bulletin for details
Sunday, January 6th
Souled Out - 6:30 - 8:00pm
Sunday, January 13th
Souled Out - 6:30 - 8:00pm
Monday, January 14th
Bible Study - 7:00 -
8:00pm
Saturday, January 19th
- Monday, January 21st
Senior High Ski Trip
Sunday, January 20th
Souled Out - 6:30 - 8:00pm
Sunday, January 27
Souled Out Coffee House -
6:30 - 8:00pm
Monday, January 28th
Bible Study - 7:00 -
8:00pm
Youth Bible Study
Check it out! On the 2nd and 4th Monday of every
month, from 7:00-8:00pm, there is a Youth Bible Study at the church. Learn what
it means to say you are a Christian and how to share your beliefs with others.
You can come anytime and you are welcome to bring your friends. Talk to Greg if
you would like to know more.
Youth Ministry Mission Statement
Our mission is to equip youth with a solid
foundation in Jesus Christ, with excitement for spiritual growth, that they may
be alive in their faith and make a difference for Christ in the world.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The Wesley News is published
monthly by the Strongsville United Methodist Church. Deadline for articles is
the 15th of every month for the following month’s newsletter. Articles can be
mailed or dropped off in the church office (Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm) or
e-mailed to either Steller5@Adelphia.net or BevW@StrongsvilleUMC.org
views since 01/18/2002
Free counters provided by Honesty.com.