T h e C a t a w b a

C u r r e n t “Our mission is to follow the example of Jesus, by growing

in God’s love and grace, by sharing love and concern for

all people; and by inviting others to join with us.” Physical/Mailing Address:

207 E. Central Ave.

PO BOX 186

Catawba, NC 28609

Telephone Numbers:

Church Office 828-241-4868

FLC 828-241-9473

Pastor’s Cell: 704-460-1513

Email:

Pastor Stephen:

SShytle@wnccumc.net

Church Office:

Angela Dean

ADeanCUMC@gmail.com

WORSHIP TIMES:

8:30AM/10:30AM

Sunday School/Small Group

9:30AM

Office Hours:

Monday-Thursday

9am-4pm

October 2019

Special Events in October

BEE Healthy 5k -Saturday, Oct. 5th

Register under our kid’s ministry Superstars to help them win

$1,000

UMW Sunday-Sunday, Oct. 13th 10:30am Worship

The Corner Table/ECCCM Hunger Walk-Sunday, Oct. 20th 3pm

Laity Sunday-Sunday, October 27th 10:30am Worship

Our Annual Charge Conference-Sunday, Oct. 27th

following 10:30am Worship

Hebrews 10: 24—25 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one

another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

From your Pastor’s Heart: Being Ready

William sat on the bleachers waiting for his turn in the pool. The swim coach was

evaluating the kids who came to try out for the team. When it was his turn, he

swam the length of the pool using the free style stroke. After a break, the coach

then asked him to swim back using the back stroke. I had no idea he knew that

stroke, and was so proud of him for doing it so well. After another break one of

the teens on the team tried teaching William the breast stroke. He struggled and

failed over and over. And after 10 minutes, he got out of the pool very upset.

When I asked why he was so upset, he said, “This is hard, I’m scared, and I want

to go home!”

We often see ourselves differently than others do. I saw a strong, capable

swimmer doing better than I’d ever expected. But William saw himself different-

ly. He felt the struggle, was afraid he might drown doing the breaststroke, and

was concerned about getting water in his ears the whole time he swam the back

stroke.

The bottom line is that he didn’t think he was ready. But I said, “This is only an

evaluation. Let’s see what the coach thinks.” After talking with her about Wil-

liam’s concerns, she said, “I’m impressed by what you can already do and I think

you’re ready to join the team.”

And that seems to be exactly the way God works. God doesn’t call us when we

think we’re ready. God calls us when He thinks we’re ready.

From the burning bush God called Moses to confront Pharaoh and bring the Israelites

out of Egypt. Moses focused on all the reasons he wasn’t ready, but God saw something

in Moses that Moses wasn’t able to see in himself.

William thinks he should be a perfect swimmer… or know exactly what he’s doing…

or that it should come to him quickly and easily without much effort. But that’s not

what it means to be ready. Being ready doesn’t mean that we know everything there is

to know. It doesn’t mean being perfect. And it doesn’t mean that it’ll come easy.

It means God thinks we’re ready for the struggle… ready to learn… ready to grow….

because God thinks we’re ready to do something greater for God’s kingdom.

The coach assured William that, although it would be hard at first, it would get easier

as he grew in strength and instruction. And she assured William that she would be there

to encourage him, teach him, and make sure he didn’t drown. With each of his con-

cerns, Moses received the same assurance from the “Great I Am.”

It’s not about whether or not we think we’re ready… it’s about what God thinks.

What are you going through? What is God calling you to do? What struggle or difficulty

are you facing? You may not think you’re ready, but God just might. And He’s there

with you, offering encouragement and instruction… and He won’t let you drown.

From your Pastor’s Heart: Being Ready (cont’d)

God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

calendar

October S

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All K

ids &

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LC

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8

9

All D

ay W

ork

day

10

11

FL

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12

13

10:30

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Worsh

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15

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ee

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16

17

18

FL

C C

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19

20

FL

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eserved

4:3

0pm

-GY

T’s M

eet

in FLC

until 6pm

21

22

23

24

25

FL

C C

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26

27

La

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:30

am

*C

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:45

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28

29

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Town of Catawba Trunk or Treat on Main Street

6-8pm

31

*R

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New

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GYT Ministries

The CUMC Meth-

odist Men met for

their monthly

meeting on Sun-

day, September

8, 2019. Fourteen

(14) members and

one guest were in

attendance. After

breakfast and dis-

cussing several

prayer concerns

in our church and

community,

Pastor Shytle

closed the meet-

ing with prayer.

The next meeting

is scheduled for

Sunday, Oct. 6th.

Mike Lemons’

team will provide

the meal, and

Pastor Shytle will

share devotions.

Methodist Men NEWS-UMM

The Methodist Women

met Sept 17th with 8

members present. Steph-

anie Robinson from Safe

Harbor presented our

program. UMW Sunday

will be October

13th. Belinda Worsham,

president of the UMW

Catawba Valley Dis-

trict, will be our speak-

er. Our "Change for the

Better" offering for the

fourth quarter will be do-

nated to World Thank

Offering. Pecans have

been ordered and we

hope will be available for

purchase at the Veterans

Day Parade, November

9th. Prices will be $11.00

for large pieces, $12.00

for halves, and $13.00 for

chocolate covered. We

also hope to have baked

goods, kitchen knives,

and cake flavorings for

sale at the Veterans Day

Parade. Our next meet-

ing will be October 15,

2019 at 7:00 pm. Donna

and Dian will be hostess-

es.

UMW-United Methodist Women

MINISTRY NEWS

Happy Fall GYTs!!

Thank you all who came out for the first meeting! We enjoyed having you and playing a get-to-know you game

and hearing some ideas for our theme this year!

Some dates to come and join GYTs:

Oct 6- First Rally Night 4:30-6pm in FLC

Oct 20- meet in FLC 4:30-6pm

Oct 31- Happy Halloween. Come to Town of Catawba

for Trunk or Treat 6-8pm.

As always invite your friends too!

See you soon, Blessings Breanna

and Stephanie

OCTOBER EVENTS

Our next ALL DAY Service day for ECCCM is com-

ing up on Wed., October 9th. If you can give an

hour or 2, please sign up on the Workday Sheet in

the Narthex.

You are cordially invited to UMW Sunday

during our 10:30 AM Worship on Sunday,

October 13th.

The Annual Hunger Walk coming up on Sunday, October

20th at 3pm. This event will benefit The Corner Table and

ECCCM. You can also fundraise online at

www.ecchungerwalk.com.

Our Annual Church Charge Conference will be on

Sunday, October 27th following the 10:30am Wor-

ship. We thank God for our 2019 year, approve and

pray over the 2020 documents, commitments and leadership.

Please make plans to attend. Thank you.

October Celebrations

Shannon & Laura Epps 2

Brian & Shelley Morrow 3

Tom & Elsie Young 7

Michael & Christina Jenkins 7

Terry & Susan Hoyle 9

Roger & Sandra Penley 17

Derek & Kristan Sigmon 18

Larry & Lisa Peeler 19

Steve & Kim Wike 21

Chris & Emily Lacroix 25

Sean Simmons 3

Whitney Little 4

Linda Powell 6

Peyton Swink 6

Patrick Brice 6

Hal Gatewood 7

Larry Pope 12

Terry Hoyle 16

Lisa Peeler 17

Elsie Young 18

Cameron Bixby 19

Teresa Coe 20

Jase Burris 23

Tim Lawing 23

Robin Little 23

Duane Bixby 25

Freddy Pope 25

Fred Travis 25

Kaitlyn Penley 28

Pat Lail 29

Paul Matthews 29

Wendy Benfield 30

Betty Jones 31

Billy Sharpe 31

Celebrating a Birthday Celebrating an Anniversary

We would love to celebrate with you! Please contact the church office if we are

missing your special day. Thank you.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Tuesday, October 1st

2:30 PM—7:00 PM

September 19, 2019

Letter to Members of Catawba United Methodist Church

From Catawba UMC Administrative Council

Recommendation to allow Building Fund Money to be used for Facility Maintenance

Dear Fellow Members of Catawba UMC,

For over a year now, your Finance Committee and the Administrative Council have been discussing whether it is a wise use of our money to continue to hold all the funds in our Building Fund designated only for use towards building a new building. At the last Administrative Council meeting held on July 9th, Council decided that it was time to present this question to the membership of Catawba UMC, especial-ly since the Administrative Council in 1998, with the support of membership at that time, placed this restriction on the Building Fund. Please read the following Background Report and Proposal.

BACKGROUND

Catawba United Methodist Church was experiencing a period of growth in the late 1990’s that filled the sanctuary to capacity on many Sundays. The church embarked on a project to expand and explored several options, including buying land and construct-ing a new sanctuary. An architect was hired and the church began a fund-raising project for a new building.

In October of 1998, the Catawba UMC Administrative Board voted to designate monies in the Building Fund for use only for a new building, with future building maintenance to be funded from the General Fund. It was intended that the balance in the Building Fund as well as new contributions made to the Building Fund would be spent on a new building.

The building project never progressed to the point of purchasing land or contracting for a building. During the years after 2000, the growth of the church slowed and the Building Fund became mostly dormant. The Building Fund balance is currently over $90,000. There are no plans in Catawba UMC’s foreseeable future to build a new building.

PROPOSAL

The Finance Committee and the Administrative Council are proposing that the church remove the restriction that prevents spending funds from the Building Fund for maintaining and improving our current facilities. We believe that it is not in the best interest of the Church to restrict all of the Building Fund monies to the construction of a new facility when we need funds now to assure that we can continue to use our current facilities for many years to come. We believe that our members place great im-portance on being able to continue to worship in the current sanctuary and to utilize the current Family Life Center for as long as possible. To that end, we recommend allowing the Administrative Council to judiciously use money in the Building Fund to maintain and improve current facilities as needs arise. Our current operating budget sometimes limits the amount we can spend on maintenance of facilities. Our current alternatives are either to cut items from the operating budget to pay for upgrade pro-jects or to depend on new fund-raising campaigns to raise money for special projects.

From Your Finance Committee

The Trustees recommend that these maintenance and improvement projects be addressed in the near future:

• New outside doors with panic bars for the FLC building (a safety and security improvement). Estimated $2000 to $4000 per double door.

• New roof on the pitched portion (center section) of FLC. Estimated up to $40,000.

The Trustees also recommend that we make plans to fund these projects:

• Renovate the bathrooms in the sanctuary building

• Replace the sanctuary roof (20+ years old)

• Replace sanctuary carpet

• Replace heat and A/C units at FLC

PLAN OF ACTION

These steps will be taken in preparation for a Church Conference, to be held in October, to vote on the recommen-dation to remove the restriction that prevents spending funds from the Building Fund for maintaining and improv-ing our current facilities.

This letter has been made available in the Narthex with a comment page. Please provide your comments and opinions to the Finance Chair or Church Administrator in writing or by email before October 14th. Suggestions from the membership will be helpful in making the final presentation at the Church Conference.

Finance Chair – Rob Powell – email: robpowell.lkn@hotmail.com

Church Administrator – Angela Dean – email: adeancumc@gmail.com

We plan to hold a discussion during our Charge Conference on Sunday, October 27th following the 10:30am Wor-ship and we value your thoughts. Your participation in this discussion is highly encouraged and we look forward to your attendance.

Any member who wishes to continue the restriction towards a new building on a specifically-identified Building Fund contribution made by that member or a deceased member of that family may do so by filling out the request at the end of this letter and submitting it to the Church office. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

In the event that church membership approves removing the restriction on the Building Fund to be used for a new building, I request that the below listed contribution(s) to the Catawba United Methodist Church Building Fund be held only for use to build a new building:

Amount of contribution: $_______________ Date of contribution: _______________

Contribution in (honor of/memory of): ________________________________

Contribution made by ________________________________

Signed:___________________________________________________________ Date: _______________________

From Your Finance Committee (cont’d)

Catawba United Methodist Church 207 E. Central Ave. PO BOX 186 Catawba, NC 28609 Phone: (828) 241-4868 E-mail: ADeanCUMC@gmail.com Website: www.catawbaumc.org

Visit our website, www.catawbaumc.org for up to

date information and happenings.

Contact the Church Office at (828) 241-4868 or

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