February

2020

SERVANTS FOR THE MONTH OF

FEBRUARY

USHERS - Mark & Sue Sangwin

GREETERS

February 2: Don & Jean Schaefer

February 9: Bob & Becky Bryant

February 16: Jim & Ann Tell

February 23: Brent & Valerie Bryant

LITURGIST

February 2: LeAnn Patton

February 9: Heather Carr

February 16: Greg Zarr

February 23: Lisa Bringle

Note to Greeters: & USHERS

Please greet at the Front

AND

West Doors of the church.

If there is only one Greeter, we ask that

one usher cover the second door.

Thank you!

Please contact Pastor Kim or Lois in the church office, if you

have a prayer request. Please note, if it is confidential or

should be forwarded to the prayer chain.

Church Inclement Weather Policy

Wondering if there will be Church

on Sunday?

Check one or more of the following:

• AFUMC Facebook Page

• Check with a fellow member

• Notification will be sent to your email address

•Radio Stations KCHE 92.1 & KAYL 101.7

Stay Connected

Stay in Touch

Website:

http://www.aureliafumc.org

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/aurelia.fumc3

31 Valor Road

Aurelia, Iowa 51005

712-434-5994

afumc4all@newulmtel.net

Finding Our Way on the Path

Gather Together To worship, praise, learn and have fun in community.

Grow Together

Through small groups, special activities and worship.

Give Together Time, talents, gifts, presence and witness.

Go Together

Outside the walls of the building to transform our community.

Glorify Together Proclaim together the power of our God, our Savior, our leading Spirit.

Together

We can live lives of faith more fully.

AURELIA FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

BUILDING FAITH ALONG THE PATH TOGETHER!

Aurelia First 2020 Vision

We feel God is calling us to maintain the trust of past generations to bring Jesus to future

generations. To accomplish this we will strive to take Jesus to the streets of Aurelia, honor the min-

istry God is calling us to do with sound stewardship, and expand the Holy Cows and Sunday School pro-

gram, both inside and outside of our building.

Building Pathways to You!

Aurelia First Mission

Statement

Aurelia First United Methodist Church

empowers disciples to live and grow in

grace and faithfulness by

offering Christ to the Aurelia community and to the world in

Christian friendship.

We are on a journey to deeper faith together!

With prayer and reflection, we let the statements on this page guide our steps. We pray for the journey

and those who will join us along the way. Praising

and thanking God for the journey, we step out in faith and discipleship!

“Do not worry about anything, but in

everything by prayer and

supplication with thanksgiving let your

requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will

guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

Join in on the Happenings in the Church

Join us for Sunday School!

Pre-K through 3rd grade

Leave following Front Porch Time until

10:45 am

4th Grade and over–Leave following

Front Porch Time until 11 am

Service

My heart and soul were not hope-less, but they

were definitely hindered from letting me fully experience

that faith in a God who loved us enough to gift us grace and

guidance. It is likely that you can experience this step

toward more complete hope in the Lord as well. Reach for

God, for the hope that is only attainable through the source

of our help and shield. Revel in that hope. Stay in that

hope. Share that hope. We cannot take on the troubled

nature of our current culture alone, but together – together

with each other and with God, we stop being at a loss of

what we say or do. Together we seek the will of God in how

to be God’s beacon of hope in 2020; in Iowa; in Cherokee

County; in Aurelia.

Let your hope, grown and enriched by God, propel

you from a mindset of being overwhelmed by the world, to

a place of resting in the reassurance of your place in

transforming the world.

Be blessed, be a blessing and take someone on the journey

with you!

Pastor Kim

PASTOR I’m just going to jump right in and be completely honest

with you. I have thought for three weeks about what tidbit I would

share with you in the February 2020 newsletter. Three weeks!

Yet, I sit here this evening, several days after I should have

submitted this to Lois, and I still am not sure exactly what I should

put into words to be shared. Over the last day or so I have come to

a possible scenario as to why this is so hard for me, even if I am not

exactly sure what to say. Just perhaps, you might find you can

understand a bit of what might be going on in my thought process.

Folks, if you haven’t noticed, our world feels a little shaky

right now. Neighbors are killing neighbors, strangers are spewing

hate at strangers while having no idea the context of their life,

people with abundance are screaming for more, the grieving are

left to their own devices, childhoods are being torn apart by adults

who lack accountability, mental illness is rampant with no effective

plan in place to curb the onslaught, people continue to sell each

other to the highest bidder, families and neighborhoods are torn

apart by addictions too numerous to mention, respect and dignity

seem lacking in many situations, and this is just the tip of the

iceberg. Add to all of that our denomination, our larger church

body, is ripping at the seams and we feel helpless to change the

trajectory. All of this and more come together to place us in a

frame of mind that leaves us tired, frustrated and even a bit

hopeless as we face our day and sometimes by the end of that day,

struggle to make sense of any of these things, much less make

sense of it all. Sometimes hope for tomorrow is the farthest thing

from our minds.

“ We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help

and our shield. Our heart rejoices in God because we

trust his holy name. LORD, let your faithful love sur-

round us because we wait for you.” Psalm 33:20-22

CEB

This. This is where we start! We cannot bury our heads in

misguided hope that tomorrow all those things that overwhelm us

will be gone. Instead, we face hope headlong, calling on God to be

our shield from all that which sucks our souls dry. As we feel the

strength that comes with hope begin to build, we reach to those

around us, to share our hope. When hope is shared it multiplies,

and when hope multiplies the most amazing things happen;

people, churches, communities – they change, for the better. And

then they reach out to the next place where hope has dried up, and

the hope grows again.

Pastor Kim observes her Sabbath on Mondays. If

there is a pastoral emergency on a Monday, please

contact her at her cell number by call or text. If she

is unavailable at that time, she will respond as soon

as possible. Please know she will respond to emails

on Tuesday upon her return to the office.

Pastor Kim Dewey Cell: 712-887-0263 Kim.Dewey @iaumc.net

With extreme budgetary restrictions there are soon to be

significant changes in the way the Iowa Annual Conference

is able to do ministry effectively. It becomes apparent then that

there will be changes at the local level as well.

Please join us for an informational meeting to be held

Sunday, February 16, 2020

11am—1pm in the

Aurelia First Fellowship Area.

We will look at change that is coming as soon as this summer

within the Conference and the potential that brings for tangible

and meaningful ministry at the local level. When change is

in the air, being informed is the key to smooth and successful

transition. Don’t wait for the rumor mill to kick in, be the

one in the know! A meal will be provided during the presentation

with an opportunity for free will donation.

Please join us to see the potential in the future of Aurelia First!

INFORMATIONAL

MEETING WITH

MEAL PROVIDED

OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDY DURING LENT

Beginning Thursday, February 20 the following studies will be offered.

Each Thursday will offer two opportunities to partake in each study.

Which opportunity will you participate in? Maybe both?

“It’s a book on prayer for everyone else. It’s for the church outsider. The recognized sinner. The baptized and confirmed Christian. The faithful

churchgoer. The follower of Jesus who feels like she falls short and the Pharisee Christian who thinks he doesn’t.

This book is for those who, just like my friend, have a crazy life. It’s for those who have a bunch of questions and very few answers when it comes to prayer. It’s for everyone who isn’t look-ing for a textbook explanation, a

theological discussion, or even a definition of prayer. But instead is looking for a

conversation about prayer they can understand and relate with. A conversation that meets them right where they are, not where they feel like they should be.

This book is for everyone else who is curious about prayer.

This book is for everyone else who wants to talk with God.

This book is for me. This book is for you. “

WEBER, ADAM. TALKING WITH GOD: What to Say When You Dont Know How to Pray. Place of publication not identi-fied: WATERBROOK PR, 2018. xvii-xviii.

https://www.amazon.com/Talking-God-What-When-Dont/dp/1601429460/ref=sr_1_1?

keywords=talking+with+God&qid=1579818260&sr=8-1

Paperback—$13.19 Kindle—$10.99 Audible—$14.69 or 1 credit

“Our most important beliefs, whether expressed in the Apostles’ Creed or in other ways, affect our understanding of what it means to be human and our convictions about values, morality, and relationships. Ultimately our most deeply held beliefs or con-victions shape our goals, ambitions, hopes, and dreams…

In the end, belief is a decision of the will. I choose to believe certain things. Thir-ty-five years ago I decided that I believed the tenets expressed in the Apostles’ Creed. That decision has had a significant impact on my life every day since—on the person I married, the career I chose, the way I see right and wrong, how I parent my children, what I do with my time and money, and how I face adversity. Those beliefs have led me to say no to many things I may have said yes to, and yes to things I might otherwise have said no to.

For Christians, the beliefs expressed in the Apostles’ Creed are foundational. In this book we’ll consider those beliefs and begin a conversation about what Christians be-lieve, why they believe it, and why it matters.”

Hamilton, Adam. Creed: What Christians Believe and Why: Exploring the Apostles Creed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016. 14-15.

https://www.amazon.com/Creed-What-Christians-Believe-Why/dp/1501813714/ref=sr_1_1crid=16NVG6B4WT20I&keywords=creed+adam+hamilton&qid=1579818363&sprefix=Creed+Adam+%2Caps%2C200&sr=8-1

Hardcover—$12.41 Kindle—$9.99

Links are provided after each description for Amazon purchase. Many of you will also

have resources for used books in good condition. If you would rather Pastor order the

book for you, please let her know by SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH, so that they may be

ordered to be picked up BEFORE class.

NEW REGULAR SEGMENT IN OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

There are so many people who keep our Aurelia First family of faith moving! There are a broad spectrum of folks who together, help us carry out those calls of God each and every day. We would like to start letting everyone know how valuable each and every one is to this ministry. Highlighting one volunteer a month means that we will never be done with this endeavor, and what a positive statement that is for us to be able to declare! When you see our dedicated disciples around the church or out and about, make sure to give them an extra bit of thanks for their tireless work dedicated to the glory of God.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– Dr. Seuss

As of January 16,2020

•General: $ 17,498.08

•Fellowship: $ 256.60

•Designated Savings: $ 6,311.92

•Miscellaneous Fund: $ 3,454.90

•Morlan Fund: $ 99,575.59

Balance of $ 18,944.00 yet to be paid on

2020 apportionments

Balance of $ 27,295.03 yet to be paid on

2018-2019 apportionments.

January 5: 56

January 12: 66

January 19: No Church

January 26: 48

101 Average Weekly Worship Facebook

Livestreaming Engagements.

WORSHIP

ATTENDANCE

UMW MEETING

The United Methodist Women met Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019 with 12 members present. Bonnie Lewis called the meeting to order using Psalms 118:24, “ This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Ann read minutes from our October meeting—approved as read. Thank you goes out to the harvest dinner committee for a successful day last Sunday, with a wonderful meal enjoyed by all. Correspondence was “Thank You” from the Cassie Wiseman family. Deanna gave treasurer’s report, motion by Becky to accept it, se-conded and passed. Old business: Dee and Diann attended the Spiritual Growth Study held at Grace Methodist in Spencer. Our school supplies were delivered to the Ingathering New Business: Discussion held on whether to continue Mary Circle meetings in 2020. Imagene moved we dissolve Mary Circle and combine busi-ness with UMW. There will not be circle meetings unless a special need arises for a work meeting. Pastor Kim seconded the motion, motion passed. Details for our Christmas Celebration were discussed. It will be Dec. 4, 2019, decisions were made for the menu, the serving time is 6:30 with music program to follow at 7:15. Ticket price = $7.00. On Dec. 18 we host the commercial club coffee downtown. All mem-bers bring Christmas cookies, please. Reports received from Mission Coordinators: Annette Blake on “ Mission Together” with US and Poland. Diann M.: Read from Response Magazine; using Mt 5:14-16, “Be a Light and Shine”, showing your commitment to the Lord. Deanna reported on the Spencer study: Put Jesus first always, And Be Persistent until things work, and “Think outside the box”. Deanna thanked the ladies for working on the funeral lunch today. Ann served lunch. Ann Peterson, Secretary

December 2019

FINANCE REPORT

December Contribution $ 14,893.85

December Expenses $ 14,268.94

Total Ahead/(Behind) $ 624.91

AURELIA FUMC 2020 BUDGET 2019 2020

EXPENDITURE Budgeted (Actual) Budgeted Amount

Staff Salaries & Benefits $10,176.28 ($9,516.34) $12,696.28

Pastor Salary & Benefits $71,247 ($71,247.24) $72,066.56

Sunday School/VBS $500 ($205.51) $500.00

Apportionments Includes District Giving $21,274 ($10,636.98) $18,944.00

Pastor Annual Conference $500 ($500) $500.00

Pastor Cont Education $1,500 ($1,500) $750.00

Pastor Mileage $1,200 ($1,200) $2,000.00

Pulpit Supplies Lay Speaker $600 ($578) $600.00

Lay Leadership Development N/A $500.00

Office Expenses $2,200 ($2,322.44) $2,200.00

Finance - Supplies $150 ($95.34) $150.00

Mission & Outreach $500 (600.02) $500.00

Custodial Supplies $350 ($25.32) $350.00

Grounds: Snow/Yard Care $2,250 ($900) $2,250.00

Gas & Electic $7,100 (6,236.12) $7,100.00

Security Deposit Box $25 ($25) $25.00

Repairs Maint - Church & Parsonage

$2,250.00 ($1,332.64) $2,250.00

Telephone/Internet $2,400.00 ($2512.74) $2,400.00

Property Insurance $6,350 ($5,768) $6,350.00

Copyright License $200 ($195) $200.00

Accompanist $1,400 ($1,300) $1,400.00

Devotional Magazines $75 ($69) $75.00

Music Ministries $400 ($0) $400.00

Worship Supplies, Candles, & Dé-

cor

$175 ($67.22) $175.00

Technology/Website N/A $250.00

Miscellaneous Expenses N/A (19.55) N/A

Totals $132,822.28 ($116,852.46) $134,631.84

Total 2019 Sunday Offering (Including In-Kind Giving) - $104,793.45

Total 2019 Apportionments still owed - $10,637.02

Total 2018 Apportionments still owed - $16,658.01

Total 2019 Noisy Offering Giving - $ 2,839.84

2019 Yearly Average Attendance - 59.1

DECEMBER ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL

MINUTES

The Aurelia First United Methodist Church Ad Council met Wednesday, December 11, 2019. Pre-sent for the meeting were Pastor Kim Dewey, Dan Bringle, Anita Zarr, Lisa Bringle, Diann Meender-ing, Bob Bryant, Bonnie Lewis, Chris Carr, Brent Bryant, and Don Handy. Chairman Bob Bryant called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM. Pastor opened with a devotion and prayer. Dan motioned to approve minutes, Brent second-ed. Minutes were approved. Balances as of November 30, 2019: General Fund:$17,350.38 Fellowship:$586.24 Designated:$6,026.15 Miscellaneous Funds:$5,395.48 Morlan Funds:$99,287.80 Brent Motioned to approve the Treasurer’s Re-port, Don seconded. Treasurer’s Report was ap-proved. Finance Report for November 2019: Total Income: $6,985.72 Expenses:$8,101.75 Brent Motioned by to accept the Finance Report, seconded by Anita. Finance Report was approved. Committee Reports: Education/Youth Ministry: Live Nativity is on Sat-urday and everyone is very excited. Sunday is the Sunday School Christmas Program. Youth Ministry is looking forward to Risefest and doing a Mission-ary Trip closer to home. It will likely be something

to do with the flooding that has taken place. The date is scheduled the last week in July 2020. Worship: Dan reported that Facebook is up 500% in one week. Our website is up as well. People are watching regularly. Last week alone was around 1300 visits to our service. Praise Band has a new person who has joined. Confirmands are interest-ed in being in the tech booth and getting more involved in service. Trustees: Back parking lot lights are done. People are very pleased with the addition. The refrigera-tor needs replaced. Don motioned to replace the refrigerator from the current Morlan Funds up to $1500, Brent seconded. Motion passed. Ladies will pick a refrigerator out. Dan is willing to get the refrigerator if needed. A furnace will need to be replaced at some point. We have a total of 7 fur-naces. We need to have a plan in place to shovel with other activities at the church such as UMW. Right now, there is really no protocol in place to request additional snow removal for other church activities. It was decided the protocol will be to contact Don Handy should there be a need to have additional snow removal. Safety: No report SPRC: No report Missions: No report UMW: Christmas Program went very well. Enter-tainment and food was excellent. No meeting is scheduled until March. UMW will serve Communi-ty Coffee on the 18th.

31 Valor Road, PO Box 295 afumc4all@newulmtel.net 712-434-5994

DECEMBER ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL

MINUTES CONTINUED

Bakers and Takers: Becky and Bonnie are going to wait and go out in January to visit new community members. Bonnie will go and visit people around the Live Nativity to let them know about the event Saturday night. Student Loan: No Report Pastor’s Report: Pastor has been around to visit our home bound and those in our care centers and assisted living. Live Nativity is Saturday even-ing, we have Sunday events, and Christmas Eve Service is at 6:00 PM. We need an accompanist for Christmas Eve in case anyone has someone in mind. December 29th is 5th Sunday Celebration with activities. A snack food potluck will follow. Confirmation is going well and the confirmands want to be more involved. Confirmation will be on Palm Sunday but confirmands will also help with Holy Week activities. Pastor will be taking them on a field trip in February to Sioux City. All are wel-come! Holy Cows is going well and we are reach-ing out to families who have another church. Pas-tor Kim will have an Open House on January 5th, 2020 from 3-6PM at the parsonage. January 5 is also State of the Church Sunday. Pastor has re-ceived her certificate and she is now Official. Old Business: Diann asked if a light was going to be added to the island in front of the church. Don responded the plan is to install a light at some point. Chris asked about a date for construction for Pastor’s Office. Don is looking for matching rock before building a wall. New Business: No new business

Joys and Concerns: Young people in church and being active Two families who have lost their homes to fire. Is there an Outreach project we can to help the fam-ilies? Brent suggested a basket on Christmas Eve to donate to the families. Chris suggested a match through the Morlan money for our families in need. The match request will need to go through the Trustees. Brent will keep us informed on any fundraisers for our families. Chris also suggested a free will donation at the Live Nativity and any pro-ceeds can go to the families The school contacted Pastor Kim with a family who needs help. There are three girls; one in mid-dle school, high school, elementary and an 8 month old. Pastor Kim will keep a list of items needed or cash is accepted. Everyone joined together to recite the Lord’s Pray-er. Bob adjourned the meeting at 7:58 PM Respectfully submitted, Lisa Bringle, Interim Recording Secretary

”Whitespace. It’s the space on a page left unmarked. Untouched. Whitespace makes art beautiful. Whitespace is an important concept taken from the world of art and design. Whitespace is not blank—it breathes beauty and gives the eye a place to rest. Without it, clutter takes over the art. Our souls are canvases too, longing for quiet and beauty. Just as beautiful art needs whitespace, we need whitespace: spiritual whitespace. Our souls need rest. To find the balance and beauty. Spiritual whitespace makes room—room in our hearts for a deeper, more intimate relationship with God, room in our lives for rest, room in our souls for rejuvenation.” Bonnie Gray, Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest

FEBRUARY ANNIVERSARIES

Feb 5 Dale & Joyce Doescher

Feb 10 Rick & Dee Keith

Feb 14 Peg and Boyd Grashoff

Feb 26 Ron & Sue Jones

Happy Anniversary

Birthdays This Month

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS

Feb 1 Gary Lewis

Feb 4 Angie Bruce

Feb 4 Lois Smith

Feb 5 Becky Bryant

Feb 6 Eveline Will

Feb 6 Jan Radke

Feb 9 Greg Zarr

Feb 10 Roman Redig

Feb 11 Tyler Fordyce

Feb 12 Kent Ahnemann

Feb 12 Sue Jones

Feb 13 Erica Lockin

Feb 14 Donna Reed

Feb 14 Kelley Jensen

Feb 15 Pat Peterson

Feb 16 Nick Beazley

Feb 18 Katie Bryant

Feb 22 Barritt Kolpin

Feb 25 Keisha Lockin

Feb 26 Camrin Meyer

Feb 26 Mary Dowdy

Feb 27 Dylan Fordyce

Feb 28 Sonia Galvin

Noisy Offering Each week after the Children’s time,

the youth gather an offering of

quarters and other loose change to

benefit a mission.

February’s offering will go to:

Aurelia Daycare January’s Noisy offering raised

$ 106.52 for

As of January 21st

Mid-Sioux Opportunities

Cherokee

Many thanks for the labor of love offered by those who teach our young disciples about Jesus and His amazing

love. We greatly appreciate the many unseen ways you

enrich the ministry of Aurelia First!

“Love recognizes no barriers.

It jumps hurdles, leaps

fences, penetrates walls to

arrive at its destination full of

hope.” - Maya Angelou

Information for the March AFUMC Newsletter is due by February 18. The newsletter will be assembled on

Thursday, February 20.

February 2020

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1

2

9:30 am Worship Service with Communion

11-1pm Confirmation

3 4 5

3:30-5:30pm Holy Cows

6

9am-1pm office open

7 8

9 10 11 12

3:30-5:30pm Holy Cows

7pm Administrative Council Meeting

13

9am-1pm office open

14 15

16

11-1pm Information Meeting

2pm Worship at the Gardens with Confirmands

4-6pm Junk Food ‘n Jesus

17

Confirmation Field

Trip to Sioux City

18 19

3:30-5:30pm Holy Cows

20

6:30am Creed Study

9am-1pm office open

10am Prayer Study

6pm Creed Study

7pm Prayer Study

21 22

23

24 25 26 ASH WEDNESDAY

Early Out— Holy Cows

7pm Ash Wednesday

Service

27

6:30am Creed Study

9am-1pm office open

10am Prayer Study

6pm Creed Study

7pm Prayer Study

28 29

Kim – vacation 2/3-2/11 Kim – vacation 2/3-2/11 Kim – vacation 2/3-2/11

Kim – vacation 2/3-2/11

Aurelia First United Methodist Church Box 295 Aurelia, IA 51005