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The
page was last updated
Thursday, March 04, 2010
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What's New
The latest news and events in our church life (as of
March 04, 2010) are:
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Church Bulletin - See what's happening at MUMC!
The best way to read the Weekly Reminder is in church Sunday morning.
In case you can't be with us, the current church bulletin for March 7, 2010 is available
here.
The previous bulletin is still available
here.
The calendar of church events (as of
October 1) is available here.
These materials are in PDF format. You will need the
Adobe
Acrobat Reader software.
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Reverend Dave Housten leads the First Friday Bible Study at noon on the
first Friday of every month. The next study date is Friday, March 5th,
at noon, when the topic will be “Contemplation of God: Peace and Life in
Christ (John 14 and John 19:31-34). Bring a
bag lunch and a friend! For further information, please see Rev. Dave.
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Family Game Night is Saturday, February 27th Come join the fun and
fellowship Saturday evening, February 27th. For details, please see
Sandra Barnes or Linda Meyer, and sign up in Fellowship Hall. |
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Dear Friend in Christ,
Allow me to take a moment to share the joy of another milestone
moment with you.
Yesterday, 11 February 2010, our contractor, Clarence Burchnik and
his team finished removing the partitions and temporary attic that had
been in the "Old Sanctuary" for over 20 years. This revealed the
original architectural configuration of the "Old Sanctuary", the place
where our congregation met to worship before our present sanctuary was
built. This will become our new Friendship Hall.
I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see this. The room is just
beautiful, even in its rough state. The vaulted ceiling, the room's most
elegant architectural feature, gives a feeling of uplift and
spaciousness. The graceful spacing of the windows is now apparent. It is
a truly wonderful space. The final pillar of our Miracle Sunday Campaign
is rapidly taking shape! Thank you so much for your encouragement and
generosity.
I want to take a moment to thank and salute those who led our
church in decades past - those who were part of the building committee
who constructed the partitions that we have now removed. The classrooms
were built when our church did not have its present Sunday school wing.
Classroom space was desperately needed, as you could imagine. That
partitioned configuration served our church well for about 25 years.
I do want to point out one thing: it is clear that those who built
those partitions had a vision for the future. The walls they built,
though very sturdy and well designed, never quite touched the ceiling.
They were built to float just a fraction of an inch away from the
vaulted ceiling. This resulted in the ceiling not being marred or ruined
with nails and connections, but carefully preserved. It is as though
they envisioned this day - the day when the congregation would have the
classrooms it needed and once again need the open fellowship space.
That's considerate foresight. I salute them, and thank them.
To see some pictures of the developing Friendship Hall, please
visit
http://www.methodist-motion.org/mumcfamily/id14.html
Mike Maloney has been doing a wonderful job as Project
Manager, and supplies us with these pictures of the site. God bless you
as we share these exciting days together.
Warm regards,
Pastor Tony
12 February 2010
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Dr. James Fleming, World Renowned Biblical Scholar and Teacher is Coming
to MUMC! Dr. Fleming’s seminar on March 20th will be filled with many
pictures of sites where Jesus walked and visual examples of places and
things Jesus knew, bringing the Bible’s message to life in an amazing
way. To read more about Dr. Fleming and his studies, please go to
www.biblicalresources.net/pdf/BRWin09-10.pdf
or
www.biblicalresources.net/index.htm.
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Do you want to get involved in the laity movement?
Anyone interested in being involved with the Methodist Motion
Laity-Clergy Committee is asked to contact Pastor Tony or send an email
to "mm at methodist-motion
dot org". This is just the beginning of
an exciting new concept for Methodists everywhere. A website has been
established and will serve as the catalyst for our mission.
View our Methodist-Motion page
or log on to
www.methodist-motion.org to find out just
what “Methodist-Motion” is all about. The website will be updated
regularly and will include a monthly series with Pastor Tony speaking to
the world’s laity.
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New Spiritual Directions and Elements for Our Evensong Service
Dear Friend in Christ,
I'm inviting us to try something new (well, new to us) and
enriching at our 5 PM Saturday Evensong services. In the spirit of our
Bishop's invitation to experience more of the ecumenical style of
worship of the Taize monastery in France, our November Evensong will
feature some of the elements of this contemplative and prayerful style
of worship. The service will be reflective and meditative in nature, an
interesting contrast to our Sunday morning service. Some of the elements
we will be trying at this service are:
• More focus on prayer and meditation.
• Expanded use of candles and other visual aids.
• Simple, meditative, modern songs.
• A period of Silent Prayer.
• Abbreviated sermon.
• Holy Communion will still be celebrated.
• We continue to welcome and encourage informal attire - come as you
are.
• The service will continue to be celebrated within one hour.
We will work together and dialogue about these new spiritual
elements as we seek to worship the Lord in new ways, while retaining the
uniqueness of our Evensong experience here at MUMC. Please
give it a try, and share your ideas with me.
Please join us for Evensong on Saturday,
7 November 2009 at 5 PM.
Blessings always,
Pastor Tony
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Miracle Sunday
Thank you to everyone who participated in Miracle Sunday
on June 14. We
had a wonderful turnout and encouraging response.
Our Miracle Sunday campaign has now reached a combined total (cash and
pledges) of $85,000. Thanks be to God, and to you! Each of our four
Pillars will be blessed.
* Pillar 1, "Close the Gap" your gifts,
both general and designated, assures that our church's 2009 financial
picture is in considerably better shape than it was at the beginning of
the year. Thank you for keeping your regular pledges to the General Fund
fulfilled and current.
* Pillar 2, "Friendship Hall" is
continuing in the planning and price negotiating stage. We expect to be
under way this fall.
* Pillar 3, the beautification of the
exterior of the church through painting. Though this pillar was not
completely funded, careful negotiating will enable us to accomplish the
most pressing items of the task! The painting of the sanctuary and the
repair, painting and needed replacement of some of the wooden trim on
the building took place in August.
* Pillar 4, the Crawford House “Abundant
Life Fund” will be the one pillar that is completely (100 percent)
funded, and a presentation will be made to them this month. Thank you so
very much for your generosity.
Thank you so very, very much for all your generosity. A donor
recognition plaque will be constructed and dedicated this fall, and
contributors will be contacted about details and wording.
If you have not yet participated in the Miracle Sunday “Open Door”
campaign, it’s not too late! Materials
and envelopes are available at the Usher’s table near the main doors of
the Sanctuary. You can also view the
information using the links below.
For a
Description of the Program
For
Questions and Answers
For
Donation Information
For a Donation Card
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Food and Other Needed Donations – Missions & Social Concerns Many
thanks to all who signed up to donate food items to the Hillsborough
Food Pantry for the holidays. All donated items must be in by next
Sunday, 20 December. There are still some line items that need to be
claimed, so please consider helping out if you haven’t already signed
up! We are sponsoring food for five families this year, and the lists
are on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. Thanks a bunch!
In addition to a food pantry at the church where you are welcome to
donate or use the provisions for yourself, donations are collected in
the large basket at the door and are taken to local food banks. Monetary
donations are also appreciated in order to purchase fresh fruits and
vegetables for Crawford House.
Hillsborough Township has provided this list of needed items:
Non-perishable foods such as peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and
cheese, rice, pasta sauce, pasta, fruit cans, tomato sauce, cereal,
condiments, tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, cream of mushroom soup;
Personal Care Items such as toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo and
conditioner, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine care
products; laundry detergent in small containers and dishwashing liquid.
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Bible Study All women of the church are
cordially invited to the home of Alba Lucia on the first and third
Wednesday of each month for Bible Study. A new class will begin in
January. For directions or for more information, please call Alba Lucia
at (908) 904-0749, or email her at alps (at) gosargon.com. Men’s Bible
Study classes led by Stephen Thomas! Nourishment for the body and soul
is provided by Stephen and friends, and you are most welcome to attend
this informal class between church services. For further information,
please call Stephen at (908) 904-0749, or email him at sht (at)
gosargon.com. There is an ongoing First Friday Day Star Bible Study on
the first Friday of every month at Noon. Everyone is cordially invited
to attend and feel welcome to bring along a friend to this informative
and interesting study group led by Reverend Dave Housten. Bring a bag
lunch if you wish!
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As part of the the celebration of Thanksgiving and Consecration
Sunday, Pastor Tony produced a collage of pictures of the MUMC family.
Several poster-sized copies of the collage were placed around the church
and provided many great memories as we had our celebratory lunch
together.
Copies were also available to take home. If you were unable to
attend but would like to view the collage or print your own copy, click
the picture to the right.
Thanks Pastor Tony! |
| Help Us Choose - Your Favorite Sermons - Part
2 Last January, we asked for your help in selecting Pastor Tony's
best-loved sermons. Thank you for your responses! We appreciate your help
and thoughtful replies.
We promised to update you on our progress. It's going slowly, in part
because the selection pool grows every Sunday. The sermons named so far
are:
Ask, Seek, Knock 6/29/2003
Can Faith Help with our Worries?
1/18/2004
Clean Sweep 2/2/2003
Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind
5/19/2002
Come Away to a Beautiful Place 1/9/2005
Do You Have the Healing Touch? 7/20/2003
How Can This Be? 12/22/2002
How Do We Find Jesus? 1/16/2000
How to Pray with your Children 6/8/2003
How to Turn a Setback into a Comeback
7/13/2003
Let There Be Hope! 11/28/2004
Let's Make the Most of the Dash
10/27/2002
Lighthouse of Christ 6/22/2003
Mysterious Blessings: The "All Else"
Principle 2/29/2004
Science Meets Faith series June -
July/2001
Straight Talk for Father's Day 6/20/2004
The Gift We Really, Really Need
12/26/2004
The Message of Easter 4/20/2003
The Positive Power of the Holy Spirit,
Part 3: Dreams and Visions 9/21/2003
The Quest of the Spiritual Scientist:
Life is a Miracle 2/8/2004
The Quest of the Spiritual Scientist:
The Rock that Will Not Move 2/15/2004
The Transforming Power of God 2/22/2004
They Can't Take That Away 4/18/2004
This Is the Day Which the Lord Has Made
10/5/2003
Thoughts on the Afterlife 1/23/2000
Three Words for Troubled Times
2/16/2003
Together through Cyberchurch 1/23/2005
Trust the Treasure That Is You 7/27/2003
Two Reasons I Love the Cross 3/25/2005
Water in the Wilderness, Roses in the
Desert 12/12/2004
We Were Born for This 6/1/2003
What Is a Saint? 11/7/2004
When the Heart Says 'Yes': Deep Down, We're
All Adopted 3/7/2004
When We Bless Our Gifts to God
11/21/2004
Do you have sermons you would like to add to the list? Would you like
to add your vote to sermons already listed? Please send any comments to
visionsofhope at gmail. com. Most of the sermons are available on-line at www.montgomeryumc.org.
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visionsofhope at gmail. com.
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