THE TOWERTHE TOWERST. PAUL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

VOLUME 67, ISSUE 7 // JULY 2020

Music CampPre-rehearsal,Pandemic Style!

IN THIS ISSUEDEATHS, BIRTHS, & MEMORIALS ................ 2WE’VE GONE MOBILE .................................. 3JULY OFFICE HOURS .................................... 4ST. PAUL GROUPS CONNECTING ............... 4PASTOR DARREN’S PHONE MESSAGE ...... 4IN-PERSON VESPERS SERVICE .................... 5RE-OPENING PLANS ..................................... 5LA CASITA CENTER DRIVE ........................... 6KRM DISH DRIVE DROP-OFFS .................... 6STILL QUILTING .............................................. 7HCM CURBSIDE FOOD DRIVE .................... 7MOUNTAIN MISSION DONATIONS ........... 7CAMPFIRE STORIES ...................................... 8YOUTH UPDATE ............................................ 8MUSIC SUNDAY: JULY 12 ............................. 9MUSIC CAMP ................................................. 9BLOOD DRIVE ................................................ 10RACIAL JUSTICE RESOURCES ..................... 10WELCOME DUSTIN ....................................... 11JULY STAR THOUGHTS ................................. 11RECONCILING GROUP ................................. 11

DEATHSShirley Hickerson - June 17, 2020 Steve James - June 23, 2020

MEMORIALSOur list of memorials will be in next month’s issue of the Tower.

DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT TOWER ISSUEMonday, July 20 at 5:00pm

Submit articles and/or pictures to Sara Ferebee at sara@stpaulchurchky.org.

STAY CONNECTED!

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JOIN THE WEEKLY EMAIL LIST: To receive Pastor Darren’s weekly email with an update on what’s happening in the life of the church, you can email janet@stpaulchurchky.org, call the church office at 502-459-1595, or subscribe at stpaulchurchky.org.

JOIN THE PRAYER CHAIN: Each week, and as needs arise, we share prayer requests from our congregation and the community. If you would like to receive this email and join this ministry of prayer, email janet@stpaulchurchky.org, call the church office at 502-459-1595, or subscribe at stpaulchurchky.org/prayer-requests/.

Connect with St. Paul Church on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Find updates on upcoming events, and share your pictures and thoughts from your favorite St. Paul Church activities.

ON THE COVERA few of the leads in this year’s Music Camp production of “Malice in the Palace: The Story of Esther” got together for a preliminary rehearsal in advance of Music Camp, which will take place July 27-31 (more information on page 9). Wearing protective face shields, they had a successful socially-distanced, outdoor practice!

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RESOURCE CENTER - WE’VE GONE MOBILEBOB HELVEY, MINISTRY ASSISTANT

The Resource Center has evolved over the weeks of the pandemic from serving hot meals and giving out snacks and canned goods. Since the Thursday group of regular visitors has dwindled to a few and now zero, we have recognized an opportunity to go beyond the walls in the spirit of The Great Commission. Matthew reminds us to go into all the world. We are providing a “cup of cold water” and food in Jesus’ name.

South Louisville Ministries, housed near Beechmont Presbyterian, was one of our first stops. Then on a trip to Shelbyville for another purpose we discovered a pantry that cried out to be restocked. When you’re

mobile one is always prepared with supplies. And that day the cans of food fit into the outdoor pantry as if an order had been placed. It’s like a small library you’ve seen in neighborhoods. There’s a sign that

reads “Give What You Can and Take What You Need.” Douglass Boulevard Christian has one right across the street. So we stocked that one as well.

Recently Highland Community Ministries reached out. Now we have been informed that 4th Avenue UMC has resumed their “soup kitchen.” Within the last few days an organization called #feedthewest has popped up. This group will help

bridge the food desert gap in West Louisville due to Kroger’s closing at 26th and Broadway.

We are able to help feed Louisville’s needy because of your faithful and generous donations. Now it is time to begin restocking our own pantry since we are

evolving into a mobile ministry that serves beyond our walls.

Wish List for St. Paul Resource Center Pantry: Canned fruits and vegetables Peanut butterCanned meats Canned soupSnacks Vienna sausagesChef Boyardee canned products Bottled waterTote bags Small backpacks Toiletries ShampooLotions ToothpasteToothbrushes Feminine products

If you have items to donate, please call or text Bob Helvey at 502.396.3705. I can meet you at church or pick up your donations in our “mobile van.” After we resume office hours, you can also drop off items there as well.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:40

Weekly Phone Message from Pastor Darren

During this time of separation due to the coronavirus, Pastor Darren has been sending out an uplifting message by phone on Wednesday mornings. If you are not receiving these calls and would like to be included, please contact Janet Fore at janet@stpaulchurchky.org or leave a message at the church office at 459-1595.

vecteezy.com

Beginning July 1, St. Paul will offer limited office hours.

Mondays and Wednesdays10:00am-1:00pm

This is for our front office only. Most staff members will continue working from home, as they are able. All staff members remain

accessible by email and phone.

Guidelines for entering facilities:

• Please wear a mask at all times• Maintain social distance• Stay home if you feel ill

OfficeOffice open

(sometimes)

St. Paul Groups Still Connecting!COVID-19 can’t get St. Paul down! Lots of St. Paul small groups are still active and connecting via online methods, such as Zoom meetings, Facebook Rooms, and Google Duo calls. Some connect for formal meetings, some for study, and some simply to stay connected and see familiar faces.

A few of the groups that have worked to stay connected include: Christian Action, Wednesday Women’s Bible Study, Kaleidoscope, Thursday morning Women’s Discernment, Guided Meditation, Teresita Book Group, and Vine and Branches Sunday school class are just a few small groups working to stay connected during this time of physical separation.

We’d love to hear about ways your small groups are staying connected right now. Email Sara Ferebee at sara@stpaulchurchky.org to share your stories and your Zoom meeting photos!

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Step 1, June 22. Highland Community Ministries preschool opened and is doing well.

Step 2, July 1. The main office will begin having limited office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am - 1pm. Please wear a mask when entering the building and maintain social distancing. Hand sanitizing stations will be available.

Step 3, July 8, In Person Vespers Service begins from 6:30 -7pm in the Youth Center. Vesper Service Guidelines:

1. Please register to attend. The service is limited to 30 persons. You can register by calling the main office on Monday and Wednesdays from 10am -1pm where you can talk with Janet Fore. You can also email her at Janet@stpaulchurchky.org. Once we reach the 30 person capacity we will stop taking reservations. Please only attend if you have confirmed a reservation through email or phone.

2. Masks are required. A mask is provided if you don’t have one.

3. Please practice social distancing when entering the building and attending the worship service. The

building will open 15 minutes prior to the service beginning at 6:30pm.

4. Take your temperature before you attend the service. If it is above 100.4 please plan to attend another time. A no touch thermometer will be available if someone needs to take their temperature at the service.

5. Hand-sanitizing stations will be available. Restrooms will be open, but a simple wipe down must be done by user afterwards.

7. Seating is spaced to observe social distancing. Families and members of the same household can sit together.

8. Music is part of the Vespers experience, but we won’t have congregational singing. Step 4, Music Camp, July 27-31. Karla Temple and Lori Elbert are working on the guidelines and will share those soon.

Our Health and Wellness Team will meet July 18 for another meeting to discuss next steps of reopening, especially related to worship.

Re-Opening Plans

In-Person Vespers ServiceWednesdays at 6:30pm, Youth Center,

beginning July 8

Registration required.Seating limited to 30 people.

Details on how to register and guidelines listed below.

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Kentucky Refugee Ministries Dish DriveDrop-off Information!

To support Kentucky Refugee Ministries, we invited you to gather your spare dishes, silverware, mugs, and glasses and hang on to them until we could collect them on-site at St. Paul.

We are finally ready to accept your donations!

Bring your dish donation to St. Paul throughout the month of Julyon Mondays or Wednesdays, between 10:00am-1:00pm.

Come to the glass doors near the elevator, ring the buzzer, and someone in the office will let you in. A box will be available in the lobby, just inside the door, where you can place your donation.If you have a donation but are unable to bring it to the church, please call or text Joanne Milo

Fleshman at 502-552-7291 to arrange a pick-up.

Our July mission focus is La Casita Center.

Their mission: “La Casita strengthens the prosperity of Louisville’s Latinx community through education, empowerment, support and wellness. La Casita works intentionally to build a community based on solidarity and mutual respect.

La Casita Center enhances the well-being of Louisville’s Latinx community through education, empowerment, advocacy, and wellness. La Casita Center works intentionally to build a thriving community based on mutual support and respect.”

During the month of July, we will be collecting several specific items La Casita has a pressing need for at this time. The following items can be dropped off at St. Paul on Mondays and Wednesdays, between 10:00am-1:00pm, beginning July 1. Come to the glass doors by the elevators, ring the bell, and someone in the office will let you in. A box will be available in the lobby, just inside the door, where you can drop off your donation.

• cloth face masks for adults• Tylenol (regular, NOT children’s)• disinfectant wipes or spray• feminine pads• Vick’s Vaporub

If you would like to do more to help La Casita, please go to: www.tinyurl.com/LaCasitaFood. This link provides a Google form that is regularly updated to reflect the center’s most urgent needs, including instructions for creating a food basket, which would be delivered to one of the families served by La Casita. Once you fill out the form, you will be contacted about where to drop off your donations!

La Casita also needs volunteer delivery drivers! If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering, please go to this form: www.tinyurl.com/LaCasitaDrivers !

Every Month a MissionJuly Focus: La Casita Center

June Focus: Kentucky Refugee Ministries

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Highlands Community Ministries’ Curbside Food Drive!Sunday, July 19, 1-3 pmHCM’s Food Pantry1228 E. Breckinridge St. at Barret Ave.Front EntranceDrive-up and our volunteers will unload from your vehicle!

Seeking donations of the following non-perishable food items, new and unopened toiletries, and gift cards:

Hearty Soups/Stews + CrackersMac and CheesePasta + Hearty SauceCanned TunaCanned MeatToilet PaperBar SoapShampoo$25 Gift Cards to Walmart and Target for Back to School (no supplies, please)

If questions, please call 502/451-3695 x200. Thank you for helping make our community a brighter place!

In their homes, Faith Quilters have kept sewing and have kept in touch via monthly round robin emails. They say that they find quilting to be calming and productive in these strange times. They do sorely miss in-person work days. Their spring batch of 60 quilts went through Project Linus to local Child Protective Services where there is rising need.

One of the quilters has maintained the shared sewing materials, making them available safely and as needed. With St. Paul resuming limited office hours, Faith Quilters will be happy to accept donations of cotton fabric. Beginning July 1, cotton fabric can be dropped of at St. Paul on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10am-1pm. Come to the glass doors by the elevator, ring the buzzer, and someone in the office will let you in. A box will be available in the lobby, just inside the doors, where fabric can be dropped off.

Still Quilting!

United Methodist Mountain Mission Pick-upSince 1943, the United Methodist Mountain Mission has served eastern Kentucky through eight opportunity stores, located in Barbourville, Burkesville, Irvine, Harlan, Hazard, Jackson, Pineville, and West Liberty.

UMMM supports these communities by providing used clothing and household items at reasonable prices, local employment, and spiritual encouragement. For more information, visit www.methodistmountainmission.org/

The Mountain Mission truck will pick up items from St. Paul on Tuesday, August 4. If you have clothing or household items you would like to donate, you may drop them off at St. Paul on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 10:00am-1:00pm. Come to the glass doors near the elevator, ring the buzzer, and someone in the office will assist you.

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The annual senior banquet will be held August 9 at 6:00pm in the gym. Here, we will honor our nine graduating seniors and send them off into their next adventure. Attendance will be limited to 75 participants, but the event will be live streamed on Facebook for others to view.

More information on the Back to School Bash will be provided as it becomes available, along with information regarding fall Sunday Night Youth Gatherings.

If you have any scheduling questions concerning future Youth activities, please contact Mary Paige Taylor, Director of Youth Ministry, at marypaige@stpaulchurchky.org.

YOUTH UPDATE!

Join us for Campfire Stories August 3rd - 7th! Each day we will learn about a parable that Jesus told. There will be a video posted/emailed every day where we read the parable and talk a bit about how it applies to us. Parents with rising 1st - 7th graders can sign up using the Google Form here: https://forms.gle/C9ScRLN3RtUwCx3YA

We will provide each “camper” with a Campfire Stories activity bag! Each bag will include a craft and/or activity for each day that relates to the parable. For Tweens (rising 6th/7th graders), we will take time to meet via Zoom for group discussions about how these relate to our lives today.

More information will be provided on these activities as we get closer to the date. Please have sign-ups completed by Monday, July 27 so we can arrange pick up and drop off of activity bags. Have kids younger than 1st grade? All the videos will be posted so you can watch the videos and discuss with your younger children! We will post a few activity suggestions for younger kids throughout the week as well. Questions? Email Mary Paige Taylor, Director of Youth Ministry, at marypaige@stpaulchurchky.org for more information.

* Depending on local/state and church regulations, there will be an option for socially-distanced small group activities.

Campfire

Learning the parables!

StoriesWho? Rising 1st-7th gradersWhen? August 3-7Where? Wherever you are comfortable*

Do you have a kid or tween at St. Paul? If so, then you should be subscribed to the “St. Paul Kids” email list! In this socially-distant, transitional time, we want to make sure we are keeping everyone in the loop. If you are not receiving emails from “St. Paul Kids” and you have a child/children that are rising 6th graders or younger, please email marypaige@stpaulchurchky.org and we will add you to the list. We promise not to spam your inbox. Also, make sure you are following the St. Paul Kids page on Facebook (facebook.com/stpaulchurchkids/)!

Plans are still in the works for our annual kids’ summer music camp, which will take on a slightly different look this year.

Our new targeted date for in-person camp will be Monday-Friday, July 27-31. The worship staff is still discerning how to make this the rich experience our children have come to anticipate, while still being COVID cautious. Registration may be limited this year due to spacing during rehearsals. We are excited to put together a video production of “Malice in the Palace: The Story of Esther” that will serve as our virtual worship on Sunday, August 16.

Please be aware that plans remain fluid as we pay attention to regulations and JCPS school decisions. Recently, a few cast members got together for some outdoor, social-distancing, preliminary practice, adorned with plastic face shields!

Summer Music Camp Update!

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Worship and Music Celebration SundayWorship is one of the core things that St. Paul Church does, and does well. As we gather together for corporate worship, we gather into God’s presence, hear from God’s word, respond to God’s word, and then are sent out into a world in desperate need of the presence and light of God. Worship is a foretaste of heaven and a reminder of who we are, whose we are, and our place in God’s Kingdom. We all feel the loss of not being able to gather together for worship as we have always done, and while we have found new and innovative ways to join together in spirit on Sunday mornings and in small groups in person during the week, we all look forward to the day we will be able to return to our regular worship gatherings whenever that can safely happen.

July 12th should have been our annual Children’s Music Camp, one of the worship staff’s favorite Sundays of the year. Since we cannot have that performance, we wanted to take a look back at some of the wonderful offerings of worship our music ministry has provided for St. Paul. We have pulled audio and video files from previous worship services and special events and compiled them into the worship service for July 12th. On this Sunday you will hear: The Bells of Saint Paul, handbell ensemble; Music Milestones, preschool music class; members of the Koinonia Worship Team; Chancel choir; Youth choir; Excerpts from Music Camp 2019 (Oh, Jonah) and Wesleyan choir, grades 4-6.

Please make plans to engage with us around this service at our regular 10:00am time on Facebook Live and invite some friends to watch with you.

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Sunday, July 12, 9:00am-1:00pmYouth Center1) Make an appointment. Go to Redcrossblood.org. We would prefer no walk-ins.2) Use Rapid Pass on the day of donation. It will expedite the process once at St. Paul.3) Wear a mask during donation, as required by Red Cross. Masks will be available on

site as well. Temperatures will be taken prior to entering the Youth Center.

Donated blood will be tested for COVID-19 antibodies. Donors will receive test results in 5-7 days after donation.

Can’t donate? You can still help out! Our St Paul members who cannot give blood are encouraged to donate a $10 gift card from a local business that will be a “thank you” to those who are giving blood - win-win for both the donor and local businesses!

Gift cards can be mailed to St. Paul or to:Ruth Ann Whitehouse1805 Parkridge Parkway, Louisville, KY 40214

We plan to show the Sunday morning Online Worship Service in the Youth Center during the blood drive so no one misses out on worship!

Blood Drive

The Spiritual Formation Team has compiled a Racial Justice Resource List, which can be found at the St. Paul website, under the Connect tab: stpaulchurchky.org/racial-justice-resource-list/. This list contains links to resources from the United Methodist Church, as well as books, films, videos, podcasts, and articles to support those who would like to learn more about racial injustice and how to respond.

In addition, the Spiritual Formation team is starting a weekly Zoom sharing group to pray for racial justice in our community and country. Recent events have led many white Americans to reconsider their own unconscious biases and to become aware of the advantages we enjoy simply by virtue of our skin color. If you are seeking a safe place for honest, holy conversation, prayer, and discernment about what actions Christians could be taking to create meaningful change in our community, please consider joining us via Zoom at Noon on Mondays in July. Contact Cullen Hornaday at cullen@stpaulchurchky.org or 502-419-6723 for more information and a link to join the group.

Racial Justice Resources and Prayer Group

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July Star Thoughtsamidst a pandemic

Remember that star word you got way back in January on Epiphany Sunday? A lot has changed in the world since then. A global health

crisis has caused us to physically distance ourselves, while social unrest in response to racial injustice has challenged many of us to

explore our own hearts and seek out ways to support our neighbors.

Welcome Dustin and Family!Rev. Dustin Woods and his wife Emily began their ministry at St. Paul on Sunday, June 28, with Dustin serving as liturgist for our online worship and receiving a stole as a gift from the congregation.

Dustin and Emily are pictured here with their sons Wesley, Max, Thomas, and Jonathan. Dustin will preach during the July 5 worship service. His St. Paul email address is dustin@stpaulchurchky.org.

A newly formed group at St. Paul church has been accepted as a reconciling group by the Reconciling Ministries Network. The Christian Action group is made up of about 25 St. Paul members who started meeting and holding events early this year around issues of the climate crisis and the United Methodist Church positions on gay marriage and ordination.

As part of its application to become a reconciling community within St. Paul, the Christian Action group submitted the following “welcoming statement:” “The Christian Action Group, a Reconciling Community of St. Paul United Methodist Church of Louisville, KY welcomes and affirms people of every sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, immigration and economic status, and ability. We seek to live the credo of the United Methodist Church – Open

Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors. We support marriage equality and full pastoral privileges for all persons regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation.”

The Christian Action group has been meeting by Zoom every other Wednesday and for more information you can contact the chair, Paul Wesslund at paulwesslund@gmail.com.

Christian Action Group at St. Paul Becomes a Reconciling Community

How might you engage with your star word now - in the midst of this unusual period?

We’d love to hear what your star word is saying to you right now.Email Sara Ferebee at sara@stpaulchurchky.org with your thoughts and reflections.

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THE TOWERTHE TOWERST. PAUL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

VOLUME 67, ISSUE 7 // JULY 2020VOLUME 67, ISSUE 7 // JULY 2020