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Many of the hymns found in the United Methodist Hymnal carry with them rich backstories coupled with timeless lyrics. Beginning Sunday, June 16th and running throughout the summer months, a sermon series will launch focused on various hymns, how they came to be, and what lessons they have to offer. What’s nice about this sermon series is that it’s episodic, which can be helpful for church members who are frequently in-and-out of the Thinking with the problem is the need to hurch due to summer plans. One hymn that will be featured in the sermon series is “Amazing Grace,” written by John Newton in 1779.

According to Hymnary.org, the story goes that Newton, having gotten his start in the British Navy, eventually became captain of a slave ship. God, however, had a different plan for Newton’s life: over the course of four years, Newton nearly drowned, married a very religious woman, and started reading Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ (an instrumental book in the spiritual development of John Wesley as well). Through these turn-of-events, Newton came to leave the slave trade; began working alongside famous abolitionist, William Wilberforce; and eventually entered seminary after having discerned a call to ministry.

Can you imagine the soul searching which Newton had to undergo in order for such a radical shift to occur in his life? Perhaps similar to the Apostle Paul’s calling, Newton attributed his conversation solely to the grace of God. He came to conclude that God redeemed a “wretch like [him]” for the sole purpose of showing just how powerful and transformative is God’s grace! This was, similarly, what made Paul’s conversion so compelling to his contemporaries, who were astonished that Paul would suddenly cease his witch-hunt of Christians and become a part of the very community he was persecuting!

I wonder: are you the same person today as you were 10, 20, or even 30 years ago? Few of us have likely undergone as radical a shift as Newton or Paul; however, some may have. Regardless of how extensive the change(s) which has occurred in your life, might God’s astonishing grace has been at work in the midst of such growth?

When in 1779 Newton put pen-to-paper and wrote about his religious conversion, his words captivated first Britain, and eventually early North American Christians as well. To this day, its tune and lyrics remain in the common knowledge of most Americans (even the non-religious!).

I leave you with the first stanza of the hymn for your own reflection today:

Amazing grace (how sweet the sound) that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

Grace and Peace, Pastor Scott

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Colleges/Universities

Emily Bloom: Bachelor of Music Education from University of Illinois ~ Urbana-Champaign Daughter of Donna Meyer

Morgan Compher: Bachelor of Business from Miami University of Ohio

Daughter of Valerie and Bob Compher

Casey Figueredo: Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from University of Iowa Niece of Carlos and Mary Figueredo

Meredith Goodale: Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Wichita State University

Daughter of Lisa and Ed Goodale

Adlai E. Stevenson High School

Devin Smith, Daughter Of Lucy And Edward Smith Will attend Western Michigan University in the fall

New Trier Township High School

Katrina Abuls, Daughter of Cherie and Peter Abuls Will attend Syracuse University in the fall

Caitlin Kacena, Daughter oof Radka and Petr Kacena Will attend Boston University in the fall

8th Grade ~ Central School ~ Glencoe

Caroline Halwax, daughter of Jeannie and Joe Halwax Hannah Kaplan, daughter of Jennifer and Alex Kaplan

Both will attend New Trier Township High School in the fall

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Do you ever wonder what difference our participation with

Family Promise North Shore makes? Take a moment to read these

inspiring words!

Here are messages from two recent guests about their stays

through Family Promise:

• “Thank you to the Pastors/Rabbis for opening your church/synagogue doors to us. The hospitality that was shown to my kids and [me] was deeply felt. I would have to say that [child’s name] is definitely a hip baby now. Thank you for stepping in and holding [child’s name] for me, changing him, feeding him and putting him to sleep. I really do appreciate it. My heart is overwhelmed with appreciation towards you all. “

• “Family Promise … gave me the opportunity to build a routine for my children. This has been a long road for us. I want to say thank you for giving us a chance. Thank the volunteers for the encouraging talks. Thank you for being a wonderful program for women, families, and men with children. Thank you for giving us a step to walk further and a standard for us to reach.” “Being in this program has really taught me so much. It has taught me patience, perseverance,

independence, commitment, and discipline. Since the beginning of the program, you had me

pushed beyond the limits. I thought I couldn't reach especially when it came to saving.”

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From Tracy Lawson McKeithen, Executive Director of Family Promise Chicago North Shore:

”With your help, we continue to serve and house families. Alexandria is in her apartment in Des

Plaines, Dominiquica is in her apartment in Skokie, and De'Erin moves in her apartment in Evanston

tomorrow. We have two other families that are now looking for apartments and hope to move in

next month.”

Thank you to everyone who volunteers for NSUMC with Family Promise. There are many ways

you can support our mission with this life-changing organization: some that bring you face-to-face

with the families we host, and others behind the scenes. Contact Kathy Cole for more information:

colemarketing@comcast.net or (847) 687-7464.

Family Promise: Helping Families in Homeless Situations Regain Stability

www.fpcnorthshore.org (847) 475-4500

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3 – Jim Shults

4 – David Langenbach

10 – Leonia Burton

16 – Gabe Moskow

17 – Adam Paseltiner

18 – Justin Artman,

Elizabeth Holt,

Dale Pate

20 – Nancy Haynor

25 – Lisa Goodale

28 – Jane Johnson

Mother’s Day celebration at NSUMC is always a specially

MAY 12, 2019 - Mother’s Day at North Shore United Methodist Church is a happy occasion for all. Featured here are grandmother Carolina Ibarra with daughter Jessica and granddaughter Caroline as they celebrate this special day with their church family.

➢ Rabbi Bruce Elder, whose mother passed away May 18.

➢ The Goodale family, Lisa's mother Marjorie Carlson has transitioned to hospice.

➢ Stuart Phillips, who is staying at Glenview Terrace.

➢ Walter Holt

JUNE 2 IS GRADUATION RECOGNITION SUNDAY. This is an important day for

all in the congregation, especially for the young people. There will be

special prayers and sharing time for graduates.

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Key dates in June to remember

Sunday morning worship is offered on a weekly basis, 10 AM until 11 AM, followed by a time

of fellowship. On some Sundays, an Adult Forum, during which themes of interest to the

NSUMC congregation, is offered.

Saturday, June 1 10 AM SPRC meeting

church library

Sunday, June 2 10 AM confirmation class.

11 AM, fellowship NIC Annual Conference begins this evening.

Monday/Tuesday, June 3-4 NIC Conference in session.

Saturday , June 8

6-8 PM Confirmation Banquet. Sanctuary & Barbee Hall

Sunday , June 9 10 AM Confirmation Sunday worship,

followed by a special reception to honor confirmands

5-7 PM Chicago Northwestern District Pentecost Worship Service at Elston Ave.

United Methodist Church

Monday, June 10 7 PM Finance committee meeting

church library

Friday, June 14 6:30 to 10 PM Movie Night

Barbee Hall

Saturday, June 15 9 AM Trustees meeting

10:30 AM Church Council meeting Barbee Hall

Sunday, June 16

10 AM special outdoor worship service

11 AM to 1 PM BBQ in honor of Father's Day

NOTE: The special outdoor

service on June 16 will be a time for all of us, as a

congregation, to celebrate the raising of a rainbow banner outside of the

Greenleaf Avenue entrance as a sign that this

congregation remains a safe and welcoming place for the

LGTBQ+ community

Sunday, June 23 Adult Forum following worship service: "Ted Talk Discussion"

Mary Figueredo and Lisa Goodale discussion leaders.

Barbee Hall

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Sierra Leone Photo Exhibit opens . . .

he North Shore United Methodist Church enjoys a long-time relationship with Dr. and Mrs.

Samuel Kormoi, directors and founders of PRHeSS, an organization focused on the

improvement of the standard of living of the citizens of Sierra Leone, West Africa. Beginning

May 5 and going through June,2, NSUMC hosts a photo exhibit of the people of Sierra Leone. The

exhibit was created by professional photographer Jeff Pearcy. The service on May 5 (opening day

of the exhibit) was based on the idea presented in Luke 10: 25-37 – the love of neighbor. This

sermon on that day was a conversation between Rev. Scott S. Himel and Mr. Jeff Pearcy entitled

“Seeing the People of Sierra Leone.” The service was followed by a time of fellowship and an

adult forum led by Mr. Pearcy.

All will you

T

Rev. Scott S Himel speaks with photographer Jeff Pearcy

about the creation and development of the photo exhibit

featuring the people of Sierra Leone.

During the Adult Forum on May 5, photographer Jeff

Pearcy recounts to the congregation of the North

Shore United Methodist Church the specifics on how

he was able to capture , document, and develop the

exhibit of the people of Sierra Leone. The exhibit is

currently accessible in Barbee Hall until June 2, and

may be visited Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout

this period of time.

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The complementary celebration to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, was brought by the Spanish and Portuguese to Latin America. Catholic Europe has celebrated this day on March 16 (St. Joseph’s Day) since the Middle Ages. Europeans often still celebrate Father’s Day on March 19, though many countries in Europe and the Americas have adopted the U.S. date – third Sunday of June. Father’s Day is a celebration of fathers, currently extended to include fatherhood in different forms (stepfathers, foster fathers), paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.

Of interest to many is to learn that Father’s Day was not celebrated in the United States prior to the 20th century, except for Catholics following their European traditions. The creation of the day was most certainly instituted as a complement to Mother’s Day.

On December 6, 1907, around a thousand children became fatherless in the West Virginia town of Monongah. A mining disaster which has been described as “the worst mining disaster in American history” killed 361 men, 250 of whom were fathers. Grace Golden Clayton was mourning the loss of her father in the nearby neighboring town of Fairmont. She suggested to her pastor, Robert Thomas Webb (Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South) to honor the fathers killed. A sort of “Father’s Day observance” took place at the Fairmont church on July 5, 1908. Due to a number of extraneous circumstances, the idea never went any further than the memorial service.

Sonora Smart Dodd is credited with the official creation and development of the celebrations for Father’s Day in the United States. Her father, William Jackson Smart, was a Civil War Veteran whose wife died in the late 1800s, shortly after moving to Washington and left him with six children to raise. Sonora got the idea for Father’s Day after hearing a sermon at her church (Centenary Presbyterian Church) about the newly-formed Mother’s Day. Sonora arranged in developed Father’s Day celebration at the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910.

Interesting enough, for the first few decades of the 20th century, Americans resisted the celebration of the day, seeing it primarily a way for merchants to benefit from it by replicating the financial success Mother’s Day had brought them. In 1913, a bill to accord national recognition of the day was introduced in Congress. Even though Pres. Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane, Washington in 1916 and wished to make it an official holiday, the Congress resisted his proposal. In 1924, Pres. Calvin Coolidge made a recommendation that the day should be recognized throughout the nation but stopped short of making it into a proclamation.

For 40 years, Father’s Day laid dormant until 1957, when Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal pointing out that Congress had ignored fathers while mothers had been honored starting several decades prior. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson wrote a proclamation in 1966 honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. The holiday was finally enacted into law in 1972.

Happy Father's Day

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KICHEON AHN (key-chon ahh-nn) will serve as seminary intern of our congregation beginning this September through May of 2020. Kicheon just finished his second of three years at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and comes to us highly recommended by the seminary's Field Education office. He is on the Master of Divinity degree track and is training to become an Elder in the United Methodist Church.

Originally from South Korea, Kicheon came to the U.S. two years ago to attend seminary. He comes from a line of Methodist pastors and aims to follow in that tradition. During his undergraduate education in South Korea, he took a temporary leave of absence to serve in the military for almost two years, as is the custom for all qualified citizens.

Kicheon brings a passion for connecting people to an experience of the divine, a desire to see the church reach out into its community, and a yearning to learn more about U.S. culture. Pastor Scott and Deacon Barb noted after interviewing Kicheon that he is very well spoken, polished, and easy to talk to.

Look for a full interview of Kicheon in the September issue of the Chimes. Until then, let us hold in prayer Kicheon as he prepares for this next step in his seminary education!

STAFFING UPDATE: It was recently announced that the Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC)

decided to eliminate the position of "Church Administrator" in order to create a new position with

significantly increased computer responsibilities entitled, "Church Administrator & Computer

Programs Specialist." This change led to Peggy Bucklin no longer working at our church, and the

recent hiring of Marjorie Kemp for the new position. Peggy served our congregation for 12 years. If

you would like to send her a farewell card, you may do so by mailing her at her home address (2718

W Central Road, Glenview, IL 60022).

-Scott S. Himel, NSUMC Senior Pastor

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Presents Dinner and a Movie Night

“LA LA LAND”

Dinner provided – Bring a friend!

“From its opening traffic-stopping number to its romantic ending, La Land is a love letter to the city of Los Angeles — as well as to the classic movie musicals of the ’40s and ’50s.”

― PEOPLE MAGAZINE

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Pentecost is the Christian festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit - in the form of flame - upon the disciples and other followers of Jesus Christ. The day is often referred to as the "Beginning of the Christian Church." Ceremonies of confirmation into the Christian faith

are often planned on this day by many churches. In commemoration of the day, consider coming to worship at NSUMC wearing a red article of clothing.

This past May 19, 2019 we commemorated 25 years of service to the United Methodist

Church by Deacon & Youth Minister, Rev. Dr. Barbara Javore. The worship service on that

morning was led by Rev. Dr. David Heetland of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary in Evanston,

where Dr. Javore received her Doctorate of Divinity. In her honor, the seminary has

established a scholarship for future doctoral candidates. Below, find some photos of the

occasion.

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An Amazing Experience

GIUSEPPE VERDI’S REQUIEM MASS is, without a doubt,

one of the most powerful, brilliantly-written musical setting of

this text, ever been created. Worldwide, audiences are dazzled

by the beauty and power of this piece – both musical and

emotional. It is a piece requiring great forces of impeccable

artistry to be properly and convincingly executed.

A Requiem Mass is ordinarily the setting of the Latin text used in the Catholic funeral mass for the dead.

Even though the Defiant Requiem was dedicated to the memory of those Jewish prisoners who died in

the Nazi concentration camp at Terezin, Czech Republic in WWII, its original purpose was that of an

“artistic uprising” of the Jewish prisoners in that camp against the oppressive Nazi forces.

The rebellion was led by Jewish Czech composer Rafi Schächter, who, with one single smuggled score,

selected and trained 150 singers and orchestra members, taught them the entire score by rote, and

performed the work 16 times in 1944 without ever giving a hint to the Nazi forces of the musical

revolution they were facing. A small musical detail some in the audience may not have noticed was a

famous Schubert’s song played for a moment in the background and which may have been part of Rafi

Schächter’s beliefs and strength in the uprising: (translation of the first verse offered below)

You lovely art, in how many gray hours,

Where I was stricken by life

You ignited my heart for warm love,

You brought me to a better world,

Brought me to a better world!

A small group of NSUMC members (Lisa and Ed Goodale, Mary and Carlos Figueredo, Walter Calhoun,

Scott and Rev. Dr. Barbara Javore) attended the performance. NSUMC choir director Andrew Moore was

one of the members of the large chorus performing. Several short stories told by a few surviving singers

(recorded some decades ago), played throughout the performance, making what is already a deeply already

a deeply emotional piece of music into an agonizing display of sentimental bravery.

WORK SETS YOU FREE

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The

TAFF Senior Pastor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Scott S. Himel Youth/Children’s Ministries. . . . . . . . Rev. Dr. Barbara Javore Choir Director. . . . . . . . Andrew Moore Organist. . . . . . . . . . . . Tomoko Shibuya Church Administrator/Computer

Programs Specialist . . Marjorie Kemp Custodian . . . . . .. . . . . Rick Short Chimes Editor. . . . . . . . Carlos Figueredo

The due date to submit articles for the July Chimes is June 20.

Please use the following email address to submit articles Figueredo–carlos@comcast.net