Creating Connections

Through Extending Christ’s Love

FAITH EVANGELICAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MARCH 2021

A Pastoral Letter

Greetings in Jesus Christ, I hope and pray that all of you stay warm and are healthy in

every respect. The New York Times reported “The United States reached a

staggering milestone on Monday, surpassing 500,000 known corona-virus-related deaths in a pandemic that has lasted almost a year. The nation’s total virus toll is higher than in any other country in the world. It has far surpassed early predictions of loss by some federal experts. And it means that more Americans have died from Covid-19 than did on the battlefields of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined” on Feb 22

nd, 2021.

In 2019 census, 65% of Americans were Christian. Even though

it is not easy to apply the same ratio for this matter, we can estimate approximately 325,000 Christians died due to Covid-19 in the past year. When we face the death of a loved one in our family, and among church members, friends, colleagues, and so forth, we are devastated and deeply sad because we know that we can’t be with the loved one anymore. I know that some of our own family members, friends, and other people whom we have known died in the pandemic.

However, the Good News for Christians is that God has given

us Jesus Christ so that we can have eternal life, which means we can’t be separated from our loved ones despite their physical death. We re-cently had an Ash Wednesday service which was the beginning of the Lenten season, reminding us of the beginning and the ending of our lives. We are dust and to dust we will return. It means that we will re-turn to our heavenly God with resurrecting power and will blossom in our eternal life.

The words of God tell us that God has given us eternal life and

resurrection as they are written in John 10:28-30 and John 11:25-26. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will

snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one

who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

(continued on next page)

Page 2

We are not perished because we do have hope from God that God will comfort and strengthen us to overcome all our hardships and sorrows, in which only we can win over death thanks to God. Let us mourn the death of 500,000 with a compassionate and Christ-like heart deeply. In addition, let us reflect where we came from in the beginning and come back at the end. We came from God and come back to our God. Let us try to make our best efforts to be closer to God as we practice our spiritual discipline in this Lenten season. Then, we will join the resurrect-ing hope all together. Take good care of you and your family!!!

With care and love in Christ, Pastor Ko

• Fast from hurting words… and say kind words. • Fast from sadness… and be filled with gratitude. • Fast from anger… and be filled with patience. • Fast from pessimism… and be filled with hope. • Fast from worries… and have trust in God. • Fast from complaints… and contemplate simplicity. • Fast from pressures… and be prayerful. • Fast from bitterness… and fill your hearts with joy. • Fast from selfishness… and be compassionate to others. • Fast from grudges… and be reconciled. • Fast from words… and be silent so you can listen. -Pope Francis of Rome

Page 3

Faith Evangelical United Methodist Church Lent 2021

Pick a challenge for Lent !

Congregation Activity 1 – Lenten Scripture Challenge! Use the Lenten Scripture Calendar to read one chapter a day from Proverbs, Hebrews, and Titus

Congregation Activity 2 – Holy Habit Group! People will gather, read scriptures together, and pray for oth-ers every Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm.

Page 4

Laura Shafer, a chair of the Nurture Committee initiated “Soup Delivery Ministry” which was held on Saturday, Feb 13, 2021. Seven people volunteered to cook the soup and several others also volunteered to deliver the soup to those who want and need it. For those who cooked the soup, for those who got the soup, for those who delivered the soup, all of them shared and multiplied joys to one another. Praise to the Lord for allowing us to have such a great time to care for one another.

Volunteers: Shauna Simmons, Mae Kingzette, Laura Shafer, and Nancy Hails

Mae hard at work decorating the sanctuary for Lent

Page 5

FINANCIAL UPDATE

February 2021 Giving Statistics

Date Weekly Income Income to Date Budget to Date

31-Jan 1077.00 7675.88 13941.63

7-Feb 2426.00 10101.88 16729.96

14-Feb 420.00 10521.88 19518.29

21-Feb 2785.50 13307.38 22306.62

January Budget Status

Expenses $10,403

Income $7,675

Deficit -$2,728

_______________________________________________________________________

BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES 3 GRACE HOUSEMAN 13 PASTOR UZIEL & ANDREA 15 BRIDGET REYNOLDS 15 JOHN & LATHA SANGHA 20 JACOB HOUSEMAN 21 BRYAN SERRANO 23 RICK RUELO 25 MARIA NAVARETTE 27 EMILY TURNER 31 SANDY WIECH

_______________________________________________________________________

The Church Council will meet on Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. via zoom. If you have any questions, please contact Jane Ahrens. _________________________________________________________________

The "Beyond Colorblind" Book Discussion Group will meet on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. This is an ongoing discussion on exploring ethnic rec-onciliation. The group will be discussing chapter 7 about exploring trust-building with ethnic strangers. For more information or to receive the Zoom link, please contact Jane Ahrens.

Expenses Exceeded

Income By

$2,728 In

January

Page 6

Announcements from the Pastor/Staff Parish

Relations Committee

Kevin Leonor has given notice that he is resigning his position as janitor at Faith Church. Kevin has been doing the cleaning of Faith Church for the last three years but feels that with his growing responsibili-ties will not have adequate time to dedicate to this position. We want to thank Kevin for the job he has done including stepping up and replacing Gil Sidner. Anyone wishing to send a personal note of thanks to Kevin can do so by sending a message through the church office.

Thank You Kevin

The Pastor/Staff Parish Relations Committee is looking for individu-als interested in applying for the Janitor of Faith Church. The duties will include but not be limited to the general cleaning in and around Faith Church. Some of the weekly duties include collecting and taking out the garbage, mopping as needed, vacuuming as needed, cleaning and stock-ing the bathrooms, dusting, etc. Anyone interested should contact Rod Kingzette or the church office.

______________________________________________________________________________

Updates from Missions and Outreach

Our January 5th Sunday offering for "Joy in the Harvest" for Lowell & Claudia Wertz was $370 collected combined with the Faith Church tithe, totaling $500. Thank you to all who gave!

EASTER MISSION

Missions and Outreach has decided to collect paper goods, for Yorkfield Food Pantry. The pantry gets some food from the Illinois Food Bank, but are in need of paper goods. Please bring your donations to the wooden box in the narthex of the church by Easter. Contact Nancy Hails if you need your paper goods donation picked up from your home. Faith Church’s Easter tithe will also be going to York-field Food Pantry. So look for sales this month and stock up on paper goods for Yorkfield Food Pantry!

Page 7

Faith Church will be part of the Prairie Central District come July 1, 2021

Bishop Sets New District Boundaries

At our recent virtual annual conference session on November 14, 2020, the Northern Illinois Annual Conference voted to reduce the number of districts (and district superintendents) from six to five, ef-fective July 1, 2021. You can find the letter sent out on November 18, 2020, explaining the history and process of this action here. Let me remind you that the Book of Discipline states that the annual conference decides the number of districts and the bishop, in consultation with the Cabinet, draws the lines for the districts (par. 415.4). On December 17, 2020, the Cabinet and I approved the redistricting plan. Click here to see the full redistricting plan and interactive map and click here to see lists of churches in each district. As you can see, the names of the districts are Lake North, Lake South, Prairie Central, Prairie North, and Prairie South. I am setting the boundaries of these districts as of December 31, 2020. In addition to setting the boundaries, I am also announcing the following appointments to these new districts, effective July 1, 2021: Prairie South – Rev. Brian Gilbert Prairie North – Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer Prairie Central – Rev. Jeffry Bross Lake South – Rev. Jacques Conway Lake North – Rev. Brittany Isaac I thank you for your spirit of cooperation in making this change. Again, I encourage you that you not let redistricting be a distraction as much as an opportunity to align anew so as to fulfill our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Sincerely, Bishop Sally Dyck

List of Churches in the Prairie Central District

Addison: Good Samaritan Geneva Roselle Algonquin: Christ Glen Ellyn: First Schaumburg: Our Redeemer’s Antioch Hebron Schaumburg: Our Savior’s Aurora: Bethany of Fox Valley Ingleside: Joyful Spirit Schaumburg: Salem Korean Aurora: First Nueva Vida Itasca: The Center South Elgin Community Aurora: Flowing Forth Joliet: Cristo Es El Camino NFC St. Charles: Baker Memorial Aurora: Wesley Joliet: Grace Villa Park: Calvary Barrington Joliet: Hope Wauconda: Federated Church Barrington: Salem Joliet Ingalls Park West Chicago: First Bartlett: Good Shepherd Joliet Trinity West Dundee: First Batavia Lake Villa Wheaton: Aldersgate Bensenville: First Lombard: Faith Wheaton: Gary Bolingbrook: Crossroads of Faith Lombard First Winfield: Community Bolingbrook: Friendship McHenry: First Winfield: South Asian Carol Stream: St. Andrew McHenry: Mount Hope Wood Dale: Community Cary Naperville: Community Woodridge Crystal Lake: First Naperville: Grace Woodstock: First Elgin: Cornerstone Naperville: Hope Indian NFC Elgin: First Naperville: Naperville Korean Elgin: Journey of Hope Naperville: Wesley Elgin: La Luz de Cristo Naperville: Wheatland Salem Elk Grove Village: Prince of Peace Oswego: Good Shepherd Elmhurst: Christ Oswego: New NFC Elmhurst: Faith Evangelical Plainfield: First Elmhurst: First Plainfield: Sharon Fox River Grove: Community Ringwood

Page 8

March 7 Way of Love: Learn Luke 13:1-9 Third Sunday in Lent March 14 Way of Love: Bless Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Fourth Sunday in Lent UMCOR Sunday March 21 Way of Love: Rest John 12:1-8 Fifth Sunday in Lent March 28 Way of Love: Worship Luke 23: 1-49 Palm/ Passion Sunday April 4 Way of Love: Go Matthew 28:1-10 Easter Sunday

Faith Evangelical United Methodist Church “Creating Connections through Extending Christ’s Love” 111 W. North Avenue Elmhurst, IL 60126 630-941-0212 email: faithelm@gmail.com web page - www.feumc.org

March 2021

Pastor Eun Young Ko Hannah Leonor, Church Office Manager Worship Service 10:00 a.m.

All are welcome to join us

each Sunday

at 10 a.m. for our Worship Services