may 2016 newsletter -...

FAITHnews

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE

NORTH SCOTT UNITED METHODIST CHURCHES

MAY 2016

April showers bring May flowers… or so the old saying goes. I associate rain showers with storms and I think of beauty when I imagine flowers. There are many parallels between our Christian walk and old sayings. This time of year we tolerate cool and rainy days, knowing that beauty is about break out all over. In our walk with Jesus we go through dark days with the knowledge that something better is around the corner.

One of the misconceptions we have is that if we are Christian we will not have bad days. It is easy to assume that ‘with Christ for us, who can be against us?’ translates into ‘to know Jesus means no problems’. That is about as far from the truth as you can imagine. There is no promise of a trouble free life. In fact Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” My cross definitely looks different from Jesus’ but it still can be

From the PASTOR’S PEN ELDRIDGE UMC

604 S. 2nd St.

Eldridge, IA 52748

563-285-8526

McCAUSLAND UMC 210 Hughes St.

McCausland, IA 52758

563-225-6161

PASTOR Rev. Ronald L. Carlson [email protected]

OFFICE MANAGER/EDITOR CJ Albertson [email protected]

Deadline for the June issue of FAITHnews is May 18th, please!

for MAY & JUNEfor MAY & JUNEfor MAY & JUNEfor MAY & JUNE

School is ending and kids are home all

day so we are specifically targeting "Kid

Friendly Items" to be distributed to

families over the summer while kids are

out of school. These type items would

include: kid friendly cereals, granola

bars, canned meals (i.e. spaghettios,

ravioli), macaroni and cheese, juice

boxes, graham crackers, and pop tarts.

As always, your generosity is greatly appreciated!

check out the displays in the Gathering Area. You can tell by the thank you notes from teachers and staff that we have already made a big difference, so let’s ‘finish strong’ on this worthy project! Your support is greatly appreciated!

We’re Still “CHANGING A CHILD’S STORY” Funding for our YEAR-LONG local ministry initiative, “Change A Child’s Story” is still needed. $5.00 buys a book and we’re hoping to buy TWO books for EVERY elementary student in the North Scott District this year--that’s about 1900 students equaling $19,000 from our combined churches!!! And don’t forget that we want to place readers in every classroom at least once--time is running short on the school year, so speak with Joyce (Eldridge) or Karen (McCausland) to set up your visit. In McCausland, please take a few minutes to drop by the Literacy Table outside Pastor Ron’s office and browse through the books. In Eldridge,

PASTOR’S PEN (CON’T.)

troublesome.

We all have trouble in our lives. There are very often difficulties that we need to face in life. Faith in Jesus does not mean we will not have problems. It means that we will not be alone when we face our trouble. We are not alone in the dark rainy days of our lives. We have a travelling companion, and he carries an umbrella!

When things stink out loud don’t look for someone or thing to blame. When the rains come into your life, look past them. When you do that you can see the beauty that is coming. There is beauty promised to us by Jesus. Beauty that can come in many different forms just like the May flowers.

Grace and Peace

Scrip Program coming to EUMC

Vaca�on Bible School June 27th-July 1st; 9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

At Weird Animals VBS, preschoolers (ages 4-5) and kids in

elementary grades K-5 will be introduced to some weird

characters like Axl, the axolotl (“Say what??”) salamander,

Fern the leafy sea dragon, Milton the mole, Shred the tenrec,

and Iggy the lizard. Even though these friends are different,

God loves them just as he loves us! Kids will discover that

God’s love is one-of-a-kind! So come and join us for an

exci�ng week with some Weird Animals!

Register online today at h=p://www.eldridgeumc. Printed forms are available in the church office.

Gradua�on Sunday, May 8th

Join us in worship on Sunday, May 8th, as

we congratulate Kyle Apple, Jennifer

McLain, Grace Martens, Ethan S�lson and

Walker Gentz on their gradua�on from

North Sco= High school.

• No asking families to sell unwanted or

unnecessary products to family and

friends.

• Earnings add up fast! It's easy for a single

church family to generate $600 to $1,000

or more per year.

• Everyday family purchases become con-

sistent earnings for your church.

And the benefits for par�cipa�ng families

are fantas�c too:

• Scrip giJ cards are perfect for following a

household budget.

• Families can shop both in-store or online

with par�cipa�ng retailers.

• Scrip giJ cards are just like using a credit/

debit card, but without the fraud risk.

• Scrip program earnings are greater than

credit card rewards (typically 3 – 15%).

Top Reasons Scrip is Perfect for

Churches

Scrip is a powerful fundraising tool that enables families to raise funds

just by ordering giJ cards from your church’s scrip program to use for

their everyday shopping. When they order those giJ cards, they’ll

receive the full value of what they paid, and they’ll earn an immediate

rebate percentage of what they spent – typically between 3% and

15%, depending on the retailer. For example, you could buy bagels

from Panera Bread for an early morning bible study and earn 9% for

your church!

Scrip fundraising offers the families in your congrega�on a way to

contribute more to your church’s mission by shopping smart and us-

ing scrip to pay for their household spending. Plus, a scrip program is

easier to manage than other fundraisers. Once families get started,

they can just keep shopping with scrip all year round.

Here’s how our Scrip program will work:

1. Obtain an EUMC Scrip order form by clicking on the Shop-

WithScrip icon on our church website (www.eldrigeumc.org), or

printed copies are available behind the Scrip lockbox located next

to the mailboxes in the gathering area.

2. Turn in the completed order form (with payment a=ached) to the

Scrip lockbox located next to the mailboxes in the gathering area.

3. Orders will be placed every Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m.

4. GiJ cards will be available to pick up from the office on Sundays

aJer worship service or Tuesday-Friday 8:30-12:30 p.m. within 7-

10 days aJer ordering. Call the office if you need to make alter-

na�ve arrangements for pick-up.

To Keep In Mind HiSET (GED) MENTORING -- Our trained & experienced team of HiSET mentors at Eldridge United Methodist Church is ready to help YOU attain your high school equivalency certificate--FREE! We meet Monday nights from 6:30-8:30 in the EUMC library. Call the office at 285-4314 for more information. INGATHERING -- McCausland’s UMW is sponsoring Ingathering again this year. Health kits are being highlighted for April and May. These include a hand towel, bath size bar of soap, large sturdy comb, new toothbrush in wrapper, nail file or fingernail clipper, washcloth and 6 band aids (3/4”). ARE YOU SAVING? • Travel-sized toiletries from motels & inns for

distribution in our Christmas gift bags at the Salvation Army meal site.

• Campbell Food UPC codes; Tyson Labels;

General Mills “Boxtops for Education” • Books your children have “outgrown” to be

donated to the Food Pantry.

HOW ABOUT HELPING US MOW? We have several open slots on our yardwork sign-up sheet. The most pressing would be May 22 thru June 4. If you could help us out with that or any of the open slots later in the summer, please check out the sheet on the bulletin board at the back of the Gathering Area. Upcoming “yard angels” are:

* Randy Kinney Now - 5/7

* John Veldhuis-Kroeze 5/8 - 5/21

* ??? YOU ??? 5/22 - 6/4 * Dennis Eudaley 6/5 - 6/18

DEADLINES FOR EUMC PUBLICATIONS -- If you have something for the “announcements” sections in the weekly bulletin, please have it to the office (hard copy or email) no later than Wednesday of that week. If you have something for the monthly newsletter, “FaithNews”, please have it to the office (hard copy or email) no later than Wednesday of the week following the 15th. Deadline for our next newsletter (the JUNE issue) is Wednesday, May 18th, please.

PIGGY BANKS for PIGGY BANKS for PIGGY BANKS for PIGGY BANKS for

MOTHERS DAYMOTHERS DAYMOTHERS DAYMOTHERS DAY

In recent years, it has become a bit

of a tradition for families to take home a

piggy bank, save their loose pocket

change and then place the filled bank

on the altar on Mother’s Day. All

proceeds go to benefit the Humility of

Mary Shelter in Davenport. If you

didn’t get a bank, feel free to write a

donation check -- simply put “Humility

of Mary” on the memo line and place in

the offering plate. Your thoughtfulness

is greatly appreciated by the women at

the shelter!

Happy Mother’s Day!

5/2 Kathy Rhinehart

5/4 Lloyd Keppy

5/5 Michael Kintigh Linda Reickard

5/7 Joyce Orcutt

5/8 Pat Yost

5/9 David Dix

5/14 Debbie Fordham

5/16 Travis Berhenke Stacy Muhs

5/17 Ken Nestler Karen Voelkel

5/20 Kortney McDermott

5/21 Larry Haugland

5/22 Dale Carey

5/24 Jeremiah Lehman

5/25 Samantha Nixon

5/26 Susan Ames

5/27 Richard Heiman Tim Reickard Doug Reynolds

5/1 Al & Jan Mercy

5/21

Lothar & Lori Foit Jeff & Becky Newmeister

5/27

Boise & Daisy Schoonover

5/29

Dan & Becky Esbaum

5/30

Ron & Shirley Gusta

Birthday &Birthday &Birthday &Birthday &

Anniversary Club Anniversary Club Anniversary Club Anniversary Club

April Club Members Sondra Bulazo Dennis Eudaley Leona Lightner Mike Shaw

2016 Contributions to date: $440.00

If we are missing you in

our birthday and/or

anniversary tributes,

please contact the

office to give us your

date(s).

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. X2 “THANK YOU” to everyone involved in any way with this year’s RUMMAGE SALE! As a result of all the items donated for sale and everyone’s help, proceeds of $2,737 will go toward the church’s ap-portionments and Change a Child’s Story initiative. The remaining sale items were distributed to the following organizations: -World Relief (refugees and Immigrants) -Free Clothing Closet (Grace UMC) -Winnie’s Whishes (Churches United) - -Salvation Army -North Scott Library book sale - -Discovery Shop (Cancer The PANCAKE BREAKFAST was also a great success, taking in a record total of $1488 including donations and tickets sold. We also provided free tickets to some shoppers, HiSET students and Wonderful Wednesday kids/families. Expenses to-taled only $157.53 thanks to 88¢ eggs and some ‘on-hand’ supplies. Special thanks to our egg mak-ers, Stacie Kintigh & Dave Prochaska, our youth helpers, all the men who make it happen and to “A Few Good wo-Men”! The final amount raised for the Community Outreach Fund is $1,330.37. AMEN!

Special Thanks to Janalee Keppy (rummage sale) &

Keith Riewerts (pancake breakfast) for their preliminary

planning and efforts to pull together such a large undertaking.

S.U.M.M.E.R. IS COMING You can tell it’s almost summer at EUMC be-cause many activities here at the church are going on ‘vacation’. Both the Thursday morning and Monday evening Bible Studies have finished up as well as “The Story” bible study which concluded with the end of ...well…’the story’. Additionally, this past week was the last Wonderful Wednesday, Chimes have stopped their ringing since Easter, and the May meeting marks the last UMW get-together of the year (May 25th). But don’t go away! Sunday School for kids and adults still meets after worship service, the men still have breakfast at Argo on the 2nd Saturday of each month (7:30 am!) &, frankly, we miss you when you’re not around. Stay in touch everybody!

PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR: • Ken Nevenhoven - advancing cancer concerns

• Darrell Crain (Cory’s father) -- struggling with cancer

• Jan deJongh -- (cousin of Jan Veldhuis-Kroeze) - advanced cancer

• Roberta Gimmy -- Cancer issues

• Bill Grother - various health concerns

• Donna Haas (family of Riewerts) - cancer has recurred

• Melissa Kilzer - 2nd ablation procedure set for May 26

• David Kintigh -- Shoulder surgery in May; Awaiting kidney transplant

• Benecio Martinez (great nephew of Keith Riewerts) -- brain tumor

• Fred McNair - health concerns

• Evelyn Nester (wife of former McUMC pastor) - pancreatic cancer

• Christie Nevenhoven - radiation treatments daily thru May

• Ron Roe - liver cancer

• Harry Tuttle -- health concerns

(Prayer requests will remain in the bulletin for 4 weeks unless the church office is notified differently.)

Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The

whole world's a choir - and singing! Spring

warblers are filling the forest with sweet

arpeggios. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and

perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with

blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair

and beautiful lover - come to me!

Brittany BunchBrittany BunchBrittany BunchBrittany Bunch

Mission FundraiserMission FundraiserMission FundraiserMission Fundraiser

Eldridge United Methodist Church

June 8, 2016 5pm-7pm

Adult plate- $8

Child plate (under 10 years)- $5

Supper includes

spagheR and meatballs,

salad, and bread.

A large assortment of desserts

will be sold separately.

Song of Solomon 2:12-13

General Operating Fund

Trustees (Building) Fund

2016 Pledges: $138,710.00 $23,600.00 ($1,967/mo)

Anticipated 2015 Growth: $23,293.00

TOTAL: $162,003.00

Received in 2015:

January $14,549.00 $1,257.00

February $10,517.01 $ 955.00

Percentage of 2016 pledges received: 28% 15%

($13,500/mo)

March $12,623.66 $1,296.66

EUMC Monthly Stewardship & Finance Update

STEWARDSHIP(stoo’-erd-ship) noun: The careful and responsible management of something something entrusted to one’s care.

Le� u� c�n�� t� �� g�o� “s��w�rd�” � ha� Go� $%ea�e� �n� &r�'i)e� u�.

Friends-

Several months ago, I got back from my first step in missionary training with Youth With A Mis-

sion. I spent September through February taking a course called a Discipleship Training School.

DTS is a 5 month, two phase course through YWAM that includes 3 months of classroom �me and

Biblical basics, and 2 months of overseas outreach.

Throughout the whole 5 months of my DTS, God was faithful to confirm my calling to missions

and con�nue growing me to become an effec�ve long-term missionary to the na�ons. To that end,

God has put on my heart two courses over this next year that will strengthen my founda�ons for

ministry and raise me up to be more effec�ve for the gospel. Both schools are at YWAM Montana, where I did my

DTS. The summer school I’ve been accepted to is called Equip, and it’s a six-week Biblical leadership school. AJer

Equip, I’ll come home for 6 weeks and then I’ll go back to Montana to do a nine month course called the School of

Biblical Studies. SBS is a book-by-book study of the Bible. All this is with the goal of providing a Biblical founda�on

for a life in missions. My heart for missions is to share and live the gospel through a really prac�cal way—women’s

healthcare and midwifery.

I am currently support-raising for the cost of these two schools. I believe that the Lord has asked me to be

willing to be trained and sent to the na�ons, and that He will bring people alongside me to support that vision for

the gospel. I’d like to extend to you an invita�on to SpagheR Supper Missions Fundraiser to raise funds for my next

year of missions training (see ’ad’ elsewhere in this newsle�er). Come join us for spagheR, silent auc�on baskets,

and more informa�on about my missions journey up to this point and my vision for the future. I also would like to

acknowledge everybody who is working to put this event together—know that everything you do is so very appreci-

ated. If you have any ques�ons about how to further support me or about my mission work in general, feel free to

contact me at [email protected] or (563) 370-7488.

Always, Brittany BunchBrittany BunchBrittany BunchBrittany Bunch

Assisting in McCausland

DATE GREETERS ACOLYTES USHERS LITURGIST CHILDREN MESSAGE

TREATS A/V

5/1*

Gary & Bea Abbas

Michael Kintigh;

Riley Greenwood

Lynn & Laura Reth

Ryan Riewerts

Becky Esbaum

Carol Haugland; Janalee Keppy

Ben Kinney

5/8

Apple Family

Michael Kintigh; Riley

Greenwood

Crain Family

Linda Tubbs

Steve Sorensen

Popelka Family;

Trish & Jess

Ben Kinney

5/15

Dee Childers;

Dennise Wullweber


Greenwood

Kathy Dawson; Leona

Lightner

Donna Eudaley

Keith Riewerts

Kelly Cronkleton;

Paula Bryant

Ben Kinney

PIANO

Kathy Dawson

Sally Riewerts

CJ Albertson

5/22

Jan & Flo Veldhuis-Kroeze


Greenwood

Sondra Bulazo;

Stacy Muhs

Lynn Reth Susan Ames

Kathy Dawson; Leona Lightner

Ben Kinney

Linda Reickard

5/29

Jan Mercy;

Cindy Irwin Michael Kintigh; Riley

Greenwood

Dee Childers; Norma Neilson

Sylvia Sorensen

Joyce Orcutt

Sondra Bulazo; Linda Reickard

Ben Kinney

Kathy Dawson

LITURGIST 5/1, 8 & 15: Karen Pacha

LITURGIST 5/22 & 29: ??? OPEN ???

COOKIES: 1-Olive & Connie; 8-Ellen; 15-Luella; 22-??? OPEN ???; 29-Marlys

MAY CLEANERS: Lindles

MAY LAWN CARE: Dick & Jolayne Milefchik

“Many hands make light work!”

Eldridge UMC

IMPORTANT!! New Mass Email In an attempt to improve our bulk email and thereby work more efficiently, we

would like for you to sign up for our new email server. Very soon we will be

‘fazing out’ our current system and only using this newly formed email group

to send all mass communications, weekly bulletins, and newsletters. If you

currently get these items and wish to continue to do so, please follow this link -

- http://eepurl.com/bztakL -- to access the sign-up form. After completing the

sign-up, you will receive a confirmation email; once you respond to that you

will be on our new email list! If you experience any problems doing so, just

ask Pastor, Brenda or CJ to help you out. If you were receiving “The Story”

updates, you are already on the new list and don’t need to re-register.

Have you signed up

to bring

Altar Flowers yet ?

Shhhhh…… North Scott High School will be using Eldridge UMC for Advanced Placement testing from 7:30am-noon on May 5, 9, 10, 12, & 13. Please be especially quiet when entering the church during these times & avoid use of the Gathering Area & Kitchen.

Other Ways to “Stay Connected”

6411 N. Howell Davenport, IA 52806 Cell -- 563-528-2502

[email protected]

Church Contacts: PHONE - 563-285-4314

[email protected]

PASTOR [email protected]

..and FACEBOOK!

Pastor Ron Carlson

“Remind” for TEXTS (Will be used only for Weather Emergencies and

Important Time-Sensi ve Communica ons)

You are invited to become a part of REMIND a free,

safe and simple messaging tool that will be used to

share updates and important informa�on immediately

via TEXT. You can subscribe by text or email. All person-

al informa�on is kept private, and your phone number

will not be seen, nor will you see theirs. To receive

messages via text, text @mccauumc (for McCausland)

or @eldridumc (for Eldridge) to 81010. Please note

standard text message rates apply. If you prefer to re-

ceive these message by email, the new mass email ac-

count outlined in the ar�cle above will now serve that

purpose.

EUMC is at facebook.com/NorthSco*UMC.

McCausland is at facebook.com/McCauslandUMC.

We will be u�lizing this resource more & more for shar-

ing and other possibili�es. If you are on Facebook we

encourage you to like our page(s).

..and WebPage! The EUMC Webpage is found at

www.eldridgeumc.org We will soon use the webpage as the portal to access

the monthly newsle=er along with the many other

items of informa�on and interest that you will find

there. Keep alert for these changes!

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 9:00/10:10 EUMC Worship / Sunday School 9:30/10:30 McUMC Youth Sunday School / Worship 4:30 Choir Practice

2 Office Closed

5:00 Yoga 6:00 Lions Club 6:30 HiSET PFLAG

3

6:00 BSA mtg. at EUMC

4 9:00 Yoga

5 7:45-12:15 NSHS AP testing here

6

7

8 Graduation Sunday 8:00 Choir Practice 9:00/10:10 EUMC Worship / Sunday School 9:30/10:30 McUMC Youth Sunday School / Worship

9 Office Closed 7:45-12:15 NSHS AP testing here

5:00 Yoga 6:30 HiSET


11 9:00 Yoga


6:30 EUMC Finance Mtg. & Admin Council


14 7:00 Men’s Break- fast in Argo

15 NO Choir Practice 9:00/10:10 EUMC Worship / Sunday School 9:30/10:30 McUMC Youth Sunday School / Worship

16 Office Closed


17

18 9:00 Yoga

19

6:30 McUMC Admin Mtg. 7:00 UMW (McUMC)

20

21

22 8:00 Choir Practice 9:00/10:10 EUMC Worship / Sunday School 9:30/10:30 McUMC Youth Sunday School / Worship

23 Office Closed


24

25 9:00 Yoga 7:00 Last UMW at EUMC until August

26

27 28

29 8:00 Choir Practice 9:00/10:10 EUMC Worship / Sunday School 9:30/10:30 McUMC Youth Sunday School / Worship

30

MemorialMemorialMemorialMemorial

DayDayDayDay

31

MAY

Pastor Ron on Vaca�on

may 2016 newsletter -...

Documents