Skipwith Pilot

Skipwith United Methodist Church March 2020

Rise Against Hunger 3

Lenten Bible Study 3

Easter Schedule 4

Birthdays 4

SOS 5

UMW 5

Circle News 5

Directory Update 6

Condolences 6

Finance 6

Calendar 7

Fellowship Dinner &

Program (back cover)

Inside this issue:

A Pastor’s Musings

--STRENGTHENING OUR SURVIVAL SKILLS FOR THE TURBULENCE AHEAD—

I was blessed to sit with a friend of mine over coffee a few weeks ago. The call came out-of-the-blue, and after significant time had past since the last time we’d done so. The usual jovial twinkle in his eye and the bounce in his step were noticeably missing. He had a pensive look that was marked by a slight wince and slumped shoul-ders, like he was carrying a heavy weight.

We had barely gotten our coffee and sat down when he allowed that “weight” to tumble out of him:

“Todd, I’m hanging on by a thread and the thread is getting very thin. You know I have been on an insulin pump ever since we’ve known each other. It’s increasingly clear that this disease is going shorten my days significantly. Okay, we all die, I get it … and you know I trust the Lord implicitly and I’m OK with however long I have. But EVERYTHING else in life seems to be falling apart too: Our denomination is frac-tured beyond repair (he is a life-long United Methodist) because we can’t manage to do the “main thing” of making disciples for Jesus Christ of “ALL” people-- loving them, accepting them, fully including them, trusting the Holy Spirit to do the work of transformation and healing. Why can’t we do that, Todd? All means all, doesn’t it? We’re all “saved by grace through faith in Jesus”, right? That’s where it all begins and ends, right? With grace? The undeserved, unconditional love of God, right?” “And what’s going on with our country? How does hate and greed and constant lying become the norm?” My friend has worked as a civil servant for over 28 years. “Where is the dignity, and the honor, and the pride in doing the right thing, building each other up …

(Continued on page 2)

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C’mon, it doesn’t make any sense. And how can some of my friends, whom I know have been baptized and trust Jesus as their Savior, condone and accept how we are treating immi-grants? Todd, we’re virtually all immigrants in this country! We’ve all come from some-where else unless we’re indigenous native Americans! What are we doing, for Pete’s sake? Separating families, putting kids in cages, turning our back on the most vulnerable …” My friend went on for another 20 minutes, pouring his pain out. I hardly said a word.

Essentially he was saying, “I am broken!”; “My church is broken!”; “My country is broken!”

Not every one will agree with my friend’s assessments. Probably all of us can identify with his expressed weariness, disillusionment and pain, though. The earth and every living thing are still being redeemed. The Kingdom of heaven has not yet come on the earth. Though I believe there are vivid and real “glimpses” of it every day.

So what do we do? When it all seems to be “coming apart at the seams”, where do we find a foothold? How do we maintain (or re-gain) balance? How do we get into shape spirit-ually, in our relationship with God and one another? I can’t get into good physical condition if I exercise only one day a week and only do one kind of exercise. Likewise, for you and I to face and lead through the challenges of our times, we will need to be intention-al about getting into good spiritual shape/condition. We will need to exercise our faith regu-larly (daily) by engaging in a variety of spiritual disciplines.

Make it a priority to participate in this year’s Lenten Study which begins on Wednesday morning, March 4th, 10:00 am, in the fellowship hall. We will strengthen our spiritual health by re-energizing (for many of us) five essential survival skills: Worship & Prayer; Study; Ser-vice; Giving; Sharing. Our resource will be Adam Hamilton’s book and video, THE WALK: Five Essential Practices of the Christian Life.

The challenges we face are formidable. I shared with my friend that day, that my convic-tion was to draw nearer to Jesus by “beefing up” my spiritual health by being more inten-tional and by practicing a variety of tried-and-true disciplines. I encouraged him, as I en-courage you, to join me.

~Pastor Todd

(Continued from page 1)

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Lenten Bible Study beginning Wednesday, March 4, for 6 consecutive Wednesdays.

Classes begin at 10:00 AM in the social hall Books are $15.

Sign-up sheets are located in the Narthex and

in the upstairs hallway.

TIME TO “RISE” AGAIN

Plan today to link arms with Skipwith Elementary School staff, teachers and student families, and our Brazilian brothers and sister from IABR (the Brazilian Adventist Church), and our Skipwith Church family to feed hungry people! We will gather in Skipwith Elementary School’s newly-renovated cafeteria on Saturday, March 7, 2:00pm – 4:00pm (set-up begins at 12:30) to partner with Rise Against Hunger and pack 13,500 fortified, dehydrated, shelf-stable meals! These meals will then be transported by Rise Against Hunger to identified areas of food insecurity. We will need to raise $4555.00 to fund this fun, hands-on, multi-generational mission event. Your generous gifts are needed! There are “jobs” for every age and ability, so come out and make a real difference as we work together “to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.”

March 1—Joan Middleton

March 1—Darlene Ligon

March 6—Diana Cruickshank

March 7—Peggy Wright

March 9—Ashley (Lauer) Cooper

March 11—Crystal Temple-DeRico

March 12—Ed Albright

March 12—Sonny Harvey

Sunday, April 5 at 9 AM

Thursday, April 9

at 6:00 PM

Sunday, April 12

at 6:30 AM

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March 13—Al Dorin

March 14—Michael Miller

March 17—Megan (Parker) Tabib

March 19—Carol Chambers

March 19—Priscilla Sacra

March 28—Keli Birchfield

March 29—Daniel Peter Graff

March 29—Tim Sparling

Sos NEWS

Come and have lunch with your Seniors of Skipwith friends on Tuesday, March 3rd at Shoneys at noon. We hope our new friends who have joined our church recently will join us for food and fellowship! See you there!

As you have probably noticed, Spring arrived recently. Come and enjoy breakfast with your sisters and brothers on Tuesday, March 24th. We will meet at 8:30 AM at Bob Evans. Come and enjoy a good break-fast!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Susanna wesley CIRCLE

The Susanna Wesley Circle will meet on Tuesday, March 10th at 7:00 PM.

LUCY HATCH CIRCLE The Lucy Hatch Circle will meet on Tuesday, March 10th at 10:00 AM. Gene Kelly and Annamae Secrest will be our hostesses.

For the past few years the Lucy Hatch Circle has donated the proceeds from the Barney All Auction to the United Methodist Family Services Scholarship Fund. We have donated over $2,000 to the fund. Our guest speaker will be Jill Gaynor. Jill is the Annual Giving Officer at UMFS. She will share some information about the services including the education programs and the Scholarship Fund. The program will be presented before the meeting.

Please bring Pop Tarts for the Backpack Ministry.

UMW The UMW Quarterly meeting will be on Saturday, March 14 at 10:00 AM in the social hall. All ladies are invited to attend.

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Finance Report Reported figures as of January 31, 2020 Funds collected to date for FY 2019-20: $136,771 Funds expended to date for FY 2019-20: $156,775 Funds still required to meet current obligations (negative is good): $20,004

Megan Parker Tabib 7702 Biscayne Road Richmond, VA 23294 Audrey & Ben Kern Annabelle, Franklin 11307 Eastcliff Drive N. Chesterfield, VA 23236

Judy Brantner Imperial Plaza 1713 Bellevue Avenue C915 Richmond, VA 23227 Ron DePue 5404 Beverly Lane Williamsburg, VA 23188

Our heartfelt love and condolences To the families of: Norman Tatum Deceased February 7, 2020 Doris Zimmerman Deceased February 16, 2020

Have you considered using common

stock as a gift to the church? Have you

been reading about using part of your

IRA for charitable gifts? If you are inter-

ested, call Jenny at the church for more

info.

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March 2020 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 10 AM Sunday School 11 AM Worship 3:30 PM AA

2 11:30 AM OA 7 PM Alanon

3 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 12 Noon SOS Luncheon 12 Noon AA 6 PM AA

4 10 AM Lenten Bible Study: A Living Hallelujah 11:30 AM OA 1:30 PM Dance 7:30 PM Brazilian Church

5 12 Noon AA 7 PM OA 7:30 PM Choir rehearsal

6 7 2—4 PM RISE AGAINST HUNGER 9:30 AM— 2 PM Brazilian Church 11:30 AM Recovering Couples

8 10 AM Sunday School 11 AM Worship 3:30 PM AA

Daylight Savings Time

9 11:30 AM OA 7 PM Alanon

10 10 AM Lucy Hatch Circle 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 12 Noon AA 6 PM AA 7 PM Susanna Wesley Circle

11 10 AM Lenten Bible Study: Paying Attention 11:30 AM OA 1:30 PM Dance 7:30 PM Brazilian Church

12 12 Noon AA 7 PM OA 7:30 PM Choir rehearsal

13 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 6 PM NA 6 PM Singles Group

14 9:30 AM— 2 PM Brazilian Church 10 AM UMW 11:30 AM Recovering Couples

15 10 AM Sunday School 11 AM Worship 3:30 PM AA

16 11:30 AM OA 7 PM Alanon Pilot Deadline

17 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 12 Noon AA 6 PM AA

18 10 AM Lenten Bible Study: Here I Am, Send Me 11:30 AM OA 6:30 PM Fellow-ship Dinner & Program 7:30 PM Brazilian Church

19 12 Noon AA 7 PM OA 7:30 PM Choir rehearsal

20 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 6 PM NA 6 PM Singles Group

21 9:30 AM— 2 PM Brazilian Church 11:30 AM Recovering Couples

22 10 AM Sunday School 11 AM Worship 3:30 PM AA

23 11:30 AM OA 7 PM Alanon

24 8:30 AM SOS Breakfast 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 12 Noon AA 6 PM AA 6:30 PM Skip-with Green Townhouse Asso.

25 10 AM Lenten Bible Study: Where Your Treasure Is 11:30 AM OA 1:30 PM Dance 7:30 PM Brazilian Church

26 12 Noon AA 7 PM OA 7:30 PM Choir rehearsal

27 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 6 PM NA 6 PM Singles Group

28 9:30 AM— 2 PM Brazilian Church 11:30 AM Recovering Couples

29 10 AM Sunday School 11 AM Worship 3:30 PM AA

30 11:30 AM OA 7 PM Alanon

31 10 AM AA 11:30 AM OA 12 Noon AA 6 PM AA

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2211 Skipwith Road PO Box 32104

Richmond, VA 23294

SKIPWITH UNITED METHODIST

CHURCH MARCH 2020

Phone: 804-270-6560 Email: skipwithumc@verizon.net

Website: www.skipwithumc.com

Non-Profit Org. U. S. Postage

PAID Richmond, VA

Permit No. 2039

Return Service Requested

Love God

Follow Jesus

Serve Others

FELLOWSHIP DINNER & PROGRAM

Wednesday, March 18 6:30 PM

Bring a dish or two to share with your friends and

enjoy an evening with your friends at Skipwith!

Paul Sacra Command Decision:

From:

St. Catherine’s Girls School

To: Skipwith Social Hall