Full Circle

Today I want to share a Mother’s Day story that

many of you have heard before, but I believe it is

worthy of repeating. A mother’s influence can

transcend generations. How many of your mothers

now attend or attended Bethany United Methodist

Church, here in Wanchese? Did any of your

grandmothers attend this church? Did your great

great grandmothers attend Bethany? I would not be

surprised if many of you answered yes to all of these

questions.

When Paula and I got married over 42 years ago, we

visited a number of different churches, but she

wanted to worship here at Bethany because this was

her grandmother’s church. Paula remembered her

grandmother, Carrie Green, down on her knees

praying every night and studying for her Sunday

School class. She was the Sunday School teacher. The

large stained glass window in front on the north end

of the church is dedicated to Carrie Green: a

testimony to her dedication Bethany.

So, Paula and I started attending Bethany. Although I

was a believer and a professing Christian, I must

admit, I was in church on Sunday but the rest of the

week I did pretty much what I wanted to do until one

night at a revival when Ralph Brown was preaching at

the invitation of Pastor Dick Lewis. Brother Brown

decided he was going to anoint everyone in the

church with oil and pray for each one of us. I was

playing the piano, so I was not thinking that included

Ken Mann. The truth is for some time the Holy Spirit

had been working on me. It was that wooing we

Methodists call “Prevenient Grace.” God was

pursuing me! All at once a lady pushed me off the

piano bench and said, “Get in line,” and she started

playing. I fell in line and when it came time for Ralph

to pray for me, I surrendered completely to God. I

gave Him everything I had been holding back for

myself. I like to tell folks I still do what I want to do,

but, praise God, I don’t want to do the same things

anymore! Over the past 20 plus years I have shared

the gospel in word and song in many, many churches.

Here is the point of the story. For the past 18 months

I have served as pastor of Bethany because of the

faithfulness of a woman I never knew, Paula’s

father’s mother. Think about this: Carrie Green never

knew me either. She died long before Paula and I

were married. I am here because of Paula who was

here because of her grandmother. If you have ever

wondered if what you are doing is going to make a

difference, the answer is Yes! It might be 100 years

from now or even longer, but know that God is

watching and so are the people He places in your life.

My time with you as

pastor would not

have been possible

without the support

of my wife Paula,

and our family. I

thank them for their

giving spirits. I have

been honored,

proud, and blessed

to serve you. I encourage you to continue to trust in

God. Everything Bethany needs (to be about our

Father’s business) is here, or He will provide it. My

family and I pray you will support our new pastor,

Bradley Williams, as much as you have us and make

him and his family feel welcome at Bethany as well.

May God bless each of you richly. Ken

Mann

Monthly Schedule:

Milah Meekins Circle: Thursday, May 7, 7:00 pm Hosts: Merlee and Martha

Baum / Gibbs Circle: Monday, May 4, 7:00 pm

S.A.L.T. Sisters: Monday, May 11, 6:30 pm

Bethany’s Table: Wednesday, May 20, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Meal Preparation Day Thursday, May 21, Meals packed 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Deliveries 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

United Methodist Men: Thursday, May 28, 6:30 pm Dinner and Fellowship

Special Dates:

National Day of Prayer, May 7 Mother’s Day, May 10 Armed Forces Day, May 16 Victoria Day (Canada), May 18 Ascension Day, May 21 Memorial Day, May 25 Pentecost, May 31

Weekly Meetings at Bethany:

Sunday 8:30 am Morning Worship (Praise and

Worship) 9:45 am Sunday School (Classes for All Ages) 11:00 am Morning Worship (Traditional) Children’s Church (After Children’s Sermon)

(Ages K through 5th grade) SERVICES ARE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. His K.R.E.W

Children and Youth Program Cancelled for now, but keep eye on Facebook and Instagram.

Tuesday 7:00 pm Adult Choir Practice

SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Preschool

Tuesday - Thursday 8:30 am – 12:00 noon

Cancelled until public schools are back in session.

Pastor: Ken Mann Church 252-473-5254

Home 252-473-3024

Cell 252-305-6402 Email: obxtv@embarqmail.com

Web Site: www.bethanyunited.com Face Book: www.facebook.com/BUMC2016 Email: bethanyuncnetwork@gmail.com Pod Cast: www.bethanyumc.sermon.net

1 - Rodney Wilson 4 – Kenny and Lori 1 - Neil Gray Wells 1 - Hayden Flowers 8 – Billie and Denise 1 – Eva Coronado Mann 1 – Makayla Barnard 14 – Tracy and Katrina 4 - Tracy Leonard Payne 4 - Donna Mederios 18 – Kydd and Dana 7 - Paula Mann Tillett 7 - Crew Basnight Moran 23 – Rob and Lisa 10 - Barbara Tillett Ayers 11 - Andrew Ray 24 – Bob and Bonnie 11 - Hannah Midgette Morrill 12 - Cookie Utz 25 – Jeff and Jenn 13 - Zach Walker James 13 - Marc Basnight 13 - Baron Avery Mann 16 - Tread Willis 17 - Joey Sessler 18 - Kali Jo Beasley 18 - Allen Moran 19 - Rylee Payne 19 - Penny Robbins CUDWORTH CEMETERY 20 - Britton Shackelford Please, remember your 22 - Brent Elliot cemetery dues for 25 - Maison Leonard mowing at the 25 - Mary Gray Cudworth Cemetery. 25 - Joan Gaskill Davis 26 - Cody Dough Brisson Dues are $25.00 per 27 - Evelyn "Tom" Tillett lot, annually. 27 - Linda Mann Make your payment to: 28 - Becky Beacham Cudworth Cemetery Fund P. O. Box 100 Wanchese, NC 27981

THANK YOU The family of Carlton “Corkey” Barkley would like

to thank everyone for their deeds of kindness during his hospital stays and death. The prayers, flowers, visits, food, phone calls and assistance in any number of ways were so appreciated. Bless each and every one of you for your love shown to us at this difficult time in our lives. Love Millie Barkley and Girls

METHODIST RETIREMENT HOMES MOTHER’S DAY SUNDAY Sunday, May 10 The United Methodist Retirement Homes, Inc. (UMRH) is comprised of three life plan communities, one

affordable housing community, a Foundation and a corporate office all working together to offer seniors a lifestyle that meets the needs of each individual. Through our communities Croasdaile Village, Cypress Glen, Wesley Pines and Wesley Ridge, we are proud to serve over 1,000 seniors across North Carolina. We are a faith-based, non-profit organization open to people of all faiths that fosters an active, productive lifestyle emphasizing wellness for younger-minded seniors of today’s generation. Helping UMRH communities achieve these goals is our management partner, Life Care Services, a national leader in retirement housing and development, specializing in developing, marketing and managing senior living communities for over 40 years.

BETHANY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PRESCHOOL We are now accepting applications for the 2020-2021 school year. The children will need to be three by August 31, 2020. Anyone interested in

enrolling a child in Preschool can call Becky Beacham 473-5313 or Denise Mann 216-6373 to get an application. The applications are also on our web page and Facebook page. The Bethany United Methodist Church Preschool meets Tuesday – Thursday from 8:30 am – 12:00 noon. The preschool will begin on the first Tuesday after Labor Day and end on the last Thursday in May. The cost is $100.00 a month.

EASTER BUNNY CAKE

BY: Tess and “Eb” Meekins Eb did a great job supervising! Next year we look forward to him being on the decorating committee! Tess

TITHES AND OFFERINGS The Finance Committee would like to thank everyone for continuing to tithe during this time in which we have to worship online. Also, they wanted to let you know we have set up online given on our Church website. The link

for online giving: https://abundant.co/bethanyunited/give You can also mail your tithes to: Bethany United Methodist Church P. O. Box 239, Wanchese, NC 27981

NEWS FROM SPPRC COMMITTEE Greeting all! I think by now most everyone knows Pastor Ken Mann has decided to not continue as our pastor due to health reasons. Ken will remain with us as pastor until May 30. After that, he will return to his position as a member of our church. In our time of need, Ken

really stepped up where God needed him. No doubt, he has been an asset to our church. We will wish him well and forever be grateful for how he gave of himself, above and beyond. Ken has shared with us the Christian love instilled in him by God. But now, we have a new pastor coming: Pastor Bradley Williams. Pastor Williams and his wife will move into our parsonage on June 1 and his first sermon will be Sunday, June 7. Pastor Williams is 60 years old, has adult children, and presently is serving at Sharon UMC in Aydlett, Currituck Co. You can go onto to www.sharonumc.com and see some of the videos has been doing during the down time we've all had due to the coronavirus. In about a week, a couple of us from the SPPRC will travel to Currituck to meet with him. Then, on May 20, he and his wife will come to Bethany to meet with the SPPRC, and see the church, the parsonage, and Wanchese. Thank you, Craig Parker, SPPRC Chairman

Greetings from your Church Council. I hope all is going well with each of you and everyone is staying safe and taking necessary precautions to prevent spread of the Covid-19 virus. This has been a very unique situation for us all, and it still seems surreal that we have to battle an enemy we can't see or feel. This all has been happening so fast it seems like we

have to make decisions on the fly, something I am not personally fond of but we play the cards we are dealt. It has been difficult conducting business over the phone or through email or text, but we are adapting. I like to do business the old fashioned way (which is face to face) with committee members so we can discuss at length the ramifications of each decision we are charged to make concerning the betterment of our Church. As I write this, an announcement was released yesterday concerning our new pastor who will be stepping into the pulpit soon. The SPPRC has been busy since Ken’s announcement trying to get the positioned filled at a very awkward time of the church's life. The General Conference in May has been postponed and possibly the Annual Conference in June will be too because of the virus. Also Finance and Trustees have both been busy adapting to the daily challenges that they have been presented with. Thanks to all the committees for their hard work. I would like to wrap this up with a couple of personal thoughts that I believe are relevant to these times of uncertainty. First we serve a Lord who is orderly: chaos and fear are not His desire for us. In this time of a pandemic, we serve a God who is in control. We occasionally have our faith tested as did many people we read about in the Bible. Truly I say to you at this time, “Love thy neighbor as thyself," and we will all get through this just fine. Thanks, Bill Wilson, Chairperson of Church Council

NEW PRAYER CONCERNS All of God’s Children Saved and Unsaved

All Unspoken Prayers

American Soldiers

Doctors

Elected Officials

EMS Workers

Essential Workers

First Responders

Healthcare Workers

His K.R.E.W. Children and Youth

Hospital Staff

Law Enforcement Officers

Local Churches

Local Restaurant Owners and Staff

Nurses

Nursing Home Workers

Pastors

President Trump

Those Battling Addictions

Those In Prison

Those Who Have Coronavirus

Truck Drivers

Unemployed People

2020 Graduates

Logan Bonner

Elizabeth Chabay

Kyle Gaskill, Jr.

Corey Jackson

Colby Moore

John Snider Jackson Utz

ONGOING PRAYERS

Myra Alexis Ted Hemilright

Sharon Ambrose Diane Hirsch

Ethan Basnight Louis Johnson

Marc Basnight Susan Johnson

Christian Brown Billy Jean Ketterman

Matthew Cabana Paul Leary

Jack Cahoon, Sr. Andrew Mallory

Algie Campbell Babs Meekins

Frank Carpenter Edward “Eb” Meekins

Mattie Daniels Carpenter Janice Midgett

Nathan Cartwright Rev. Tom Miss

James “Heavy” Daniel Terry Rogers

Bunnie Daniels Alex Ross

Tifanie Daniels Mary Ross

Wade Davis James and Kathy Ruhle

Joel Diaz Tony Sawyer

Joe Doak Kristin Scarborough

Winnie Dowdy Ricky Scarborough,

Sr. Milah Jo Elliot Betsy Schecter

Bradley English Tom Slater

Donna Garrison Hank Stock

Dionne Glover Jim Tawes

George Gundaker Barbara Tillett

Jean Hall Nick Thompson

Shirley Vaughan

LOST LOVED ONES Family of John Marriner Family of Viola Midgett

Those who lost their lives to COVID-19

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

7:00 pm

Baum / Gibbs

Circle

7:00 pm

Adult Choir Practice

7:00 pm

Milah

Meekins

Circle

Hosts: Merlee

and Martha

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

6:30 pm

S.A.L.T. Sisters

7:00 pm

Adult Choir Practice

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

7:00 pm

Adult Choir Practice

1:00 – 3:00 Bethany’s Table Preparation Day

Bethany’s Table 3:00 – 4:00 Meals Packaged 4:00 – 5:30 Deliveries

Newsletter Articles Due

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

7:00 pm

Adult Choir Practice

6:30 pm United Methodist Men Dinner and Fellowship

31

The good Lord works in mysterious ways.... How many times have you heard that expression?! The worship committee met earlier in the year to discuss ideas for our upcoming church services. Two of the ideas mentioned were about changing up the usual Palm Sunday routine involving the children and youth and the desire to display a cross in the yard of our beautiful church during Holy Week. These ideas appeared to be a hit!! They were approved by all and we joked about how we had plenty of time to finalize those ideas as we still had a couple of months before Palm Sunday!! Thankfully, one rainy Sunday evening, mid-March, we put one of those ideas into action!! Our fantabulous His K.R.E.W. kids sat around the tables and began tracing their hands. Close to 300 of them to be precise!! At the time, they had no idea what these "hands" were for and WE had no idea our world was about to be rocked by this virus called COVID 19. That was the last time we were able to gather with our youth, as every church door in America with 100 or more in attendance would be closed by the end of the following week. The good Lord works in mysterious ways.... He knew at that worship meeting what would be taking place before Palm Sunday’s arrival. Those precious, traced "hands" became the sea of praying palms displayed in our church yard on Palm Sunday morning. What began as an idea for the people in our congregation to bring forth their prayer concerns, turned into prayer concerns coming from people all around the country!! Florida, Utah, Arizona, even Haiti! How AWESOME is our God?! That second idea: the wooden cross. Two phone calls is all it took! One to Craig Parker and the other to Denise Mann. Next thing you know, the very next day: I might add— the cross stood tall in the yard and was wrapped in the appropriate colors for Holy Week, beginning with Good Friday. That cross served as a bright reminder that He is with us always, even on the darkest night. The

good Lord knows what He is doing, when we do not. Thank goodness He works in mysterious ways. By: Laura Mann

PALM PRAYERS

PURPLE LIGHTS FOR LENT

GOOD FRIDAY

EASTER

EASTER AT BETHANY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

During this time of quarantine, life has changed for all of us. One person who has put her time to good use is Ann Mihovch. A professional seamstress, Ann started making masks after a trip to the doctor in Elizabeth City. She made masks for her daughter-in-law, Pam,

and herself out of fabric cartoon with Blue’s Clues on it characters before the. When the nurses saw the masks, they immediately wanted some, and a new mission was launched. As of press time, Ann has made over 400 masks.

Each mask has a layer of flannel between outer layers

of cotton fabric. Providentially, Ann had just bought

10 yards of flannel and she has “gobs and gobs” of

cotton material that people have given her over the

years. Finding elastic has been a challenge. Her son,

C.C., ordered a roll that has not been delivered yet,

so she has been using rubber bands. They are not as

tight as the hair bands that some people are using.

Gallop Roofing bought enough masks for all of

their employees. Ann just received an order for 100

masks from a lady in Duck who wants to give them to

her customers. She cuts out a large stack of masks at

once so that when she is ready to sew she can make

one in about seven minutes. She makes something

difficult for most of us look easy. Ann is helping our

community stay healthy.

Jessica Davenport has found her job with the Dare

County Social Services Department challenging in a

different way during this trying time. Her regular role

is to help people with emergency financial needs.

When people find they cannot pay power bills, rent, a

car payment, or car insurance, under the right

conditions the county can offer assistance. As one

might expect, now the needs are overwhelming the

resources, especially since the end of the fiscal year

will be in June and funds are already quite depleted.

Jessica praises the Outer Banks Interfaith Community

Outreach, an organization that has helped those

people who might have fallen through the cracks.

A new duty for Jessica is working at the call center,

answering the COVID-19 hotline for the county.

Predictably, most of the calls are about when and

how anxious homeowners can reenter the county.

Jessica is helping our community stay connected.

An online news service, obxtoday.com, featured

an article on April 19, 2020, explaining a way in which

a Wanchese boatbuilding company, Croswait

Composites, was helping in the COVID-19 crisis. At

the suggestion of his wife who is a RN at the Outer

Banks Hospital, Aaron Croswait rallied his crew to

manufacture intubation boxes. The boxes will be

used to protect healthcare workers from contracting

the virus as they insert tubes into patients’ airways.

Croswait’s automated routing tool machines (called

CNC machines) are normally used to produce precise

pieces for the boatbuilding industry. They have now

been put to use in cutting out clear lexan for the

intubation boxes.

To read the article by Jody O’Donnell and to see

photos of the process and the finished products, go

to

https://www.obxtoday.com/top-stories/croswait-

marine-services-in-wanchese-making-intubation-

boxes for covid-front-lines/

From the Church Historians

By Wayne and Nancy Gray

This quote by Christian apologist C.S. Lewis in 1942

recently made the rounds on social media. What an

eye-opener! In recent news broadcasts, we often

hear the word “unprecedented” when describing the

hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That statement is actually not accurate. Solomon

wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be

again, what has been done will be done again; there

is nothing new under the sun.” Since the beginning,

the world has known many plagues and difficult

circumstances. As a matter of fact, the Bible says we

should expect such things.

Perhaps you remember a relative talking about the

influenza outbreak during World War I. My

grandfather, Roger Beach, was so ill while serving in

the U.S. Army in France that he was sent home to

Illinois to recover. Some estimates say that 50 million

people died worldwide. What effect did that

influenza have on the Outer Banks? Historian David

Stick did not cover the WWI era in his research. One

might think that the Outer Banks were so isolated

and sparsely populated that the Spanish Flu did not

have much impact here. However, we have to

remember that all the villages were connected by a

well-run transportation line of steamers and mail

boats. It is not recorded how the influenza touched

Dare, but it would not take much to spread a deadly

virus.

We do know for certain that Currituck was greatly

affected by the influenza. We have recently read the

book The Way Things Were written in 1978 by Edith

G. Parker that we checked out from the Dare County

Library. Edith Parker was born in Halls Harbor on the

Currituck Sound in 1903. Her mother, Bertie

Montague, a native of Roanoke Island, met her

father, Isaac Gallop when he was a mail carrier. At

age 19, he ran the mail boat that left Harbinger and

went to Kitty Hawk, Colington, and finally to Manteo

where he met Bertie. The book is fascinating and

tells of the old ways of farming, fishing, hunting, and

housekeeping. We highly recommend it.

Here is an excerpt from The Way Things Were in

which Mrs. Parker describes the devastation that the

influenza had on her community. We’ll let her speak

for herself:

Another terrible time I failed to mention was the

flu epidemic that struck during World War I. It was

called Spanish Influenza, and was said to be brought

to our shores from a ship that had arrived from Spain.

It spread like a wildfire and plunged this country into

one of the worst plagues I have ever known. There was

no medicine to cure it. It went so fast there was not

enough help to tend the sick. It hit our section of the

country in the fall of 1917.

It was wartime and lots of country people had moved

to the cities for the high wages being paid there. Those

that couldn’t move tried to find work in their slack times

off the farm. Norfolk was our calling card at the great

naval base and shipyards. They were taxed to the

utmost with work and needed all the workers they could

get. Papa helped them out for a few weeks.

The flu struck and people began dying. Those away

were sent back home for burial. They said more people

died from the flu than were lost in the war. The old, the

weak, infirm and expectant mothers never had a

chance. Neither did many of those who had previously

been healthy. It was a pneumonia-like virus. But there

was no known cure.

As many as four from one family were sent back at

one time for burial. The man I was to marry went to

work there in the shipyard and came down with it. As

soon as he was well enough to stand up, he started for

home. He said when he got to the train station, there

were rows and rows of pine boxes with caskets

containing bodies piled high waiting to be shipped to

various places back to their homes for burial.

Uncle Peter’s family lived in Norfolk at the time. His

family came down with it. He had two sons so sick that

a hospital made room for them. Durwood was his

oldest son and Gussie, the younger of the two, was my

age. Durwood finally recovered, but Gussie didn’t.

Uncle Peter wrote Papa a letter. He said he had spinal

meningitis and was not expected to live. He couldn’t

leave the rest of his family, but wanted to send Gussie

back home. He asked Papa to look out for him and see

he had a proper burial. But Gussie never got here. The

authorities would not allow the body across the state

line. He was sealed in a metal coffin and buried there. I

never saw his grave, although we had played together

many an hour when we were small. The gravediggers

and undertakers were kept busy around the clock.

Some people died in our neighborhood and some

were left orphans. The thing that impressed me most

was the way people stuck together. If it had been

yellow fever or bubonic plague, I believe the people

would have reacted the same way. Every able-bodied

person pitched in to help those who couldn’t help

themselves. Sometimes, whole families would be taken

sick at the same time. There was one thing in our favor.

The disease struck before winter set in and fires were

not needed for warmth. The sick depended on the well

for food and drink.

Dr. Griggs worked day and night. It was impossible

for him to attend everyone. Mama started out sending

me to different houses with food and doing what I could

to help. I was the first one in our family to come down

with it. So I was put upstairs.

Mama was worried about Papa catching it and was

anxious to keep him from any contact with it. On the

12th day of my siege, Mama came down with the flu. So,

Mama came to bed upstairs and I had to get up and try

to cook for the others. In no time, Irene, the baby, was

sharing the bed with Mama. Sibyl, Bertie and Pranzie

followed suit. They all three shared one bed. Uncle Ed

and Buddy were next. Upstairs they went. That left

Papa and Bradford. They soon followed the others, but

they stayed downstairs.

I was so weak I could hardly walk. My head roared. I

felt so strange and could hardly pull up and down the

stairs. I spent my time doing what I could for the

others—trying to get everyone to eat or drink

something, rubbing chests in pneumonia cure to relieve

their congestion. No one had any appetite. Half the

time, by the time I got their food fixed, they couldn’t

stand the sight of whatever it was they had asked for.

But I had an angel of mercy. Mrs. Cora Basnight, who

would come every other day with a pail of food. It was a

very welcome sight to me, just to see her coming down

Halls Harbor Road. Our house was not the only one she

kept up her good works for. She worked where she was

needed most until the epidemic passed and never

contracted the illness herself. There were very few

people whose lives it did not touch, and the effects of it

lasted for weeks.

…When it was finally all over, it was like a great storm

had passed. The wonder of it was that we were all still

alive.

COLORING PAGE

Christian Symbol VIOLET—The violet, a symbol of humility, is used most often to refer to the Virgin Mary, whom St. Bernard (1090-1153) described as “the violet of humility.” The purple flower also is sometimes used to express Christ’s humility in assuming human form.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Did anyone see the great photograph of Bonnie

Morrill at her potter’s wheel in the May 2020

edition of Our State magazine? It was included in

an article about Manteo in the Welcome Home

Downtown section. Written by Katie King and with

photography by Chris Hannant, a paragraph reads:

“Wanchese Pottery. Bonnie and Bob Morrill have

been selling their pottery out of a cottage on

Fernando Street for almost 30 years. Visitors can

sometimes see Bonnie at work at her potter’s wheel

inside the shop. ‘The connection to the community

that they have, the welcoming spirit that they have,

is just an example of the type of merchants we have

in town,’ Malcolm (Fearing) says.”

Bonnie Morrill demonstrating how to make

“The Clinging Cross” to Bethany His

K.R.E.W.

Bible Quiz While 70 Israelite men were commissioned as prophets at the tent of meeting, two others, Eldad and Medad, were reported to have prophesied in the camp — not following “proper” protocols. Who defended them?

A. Moses B. Joshua C. Jethro D. The Lord

Answer: (See Numbers 11:24-29.)

Return Service Requested

Bulk Rate U.S.Postage PAID Wanchese, NC Permit No. 3