The Beacon September 2016 OGDEN-HILLCREST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

1061 CHENANGO STREET, BINGHAMTON NY 13901

Joyce K. Allen, Pastor “We proclaim God’s word to the world according to the Gospel of our

Lord Jesus Christ and strive to be Christ-like in all we do.”

Don’t Wait! A pastor waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a long holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but many cars were ahead of the pastor at the service station. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a vacant pump. “Sorry about the delay,” said the young man. “Everyone seems to wait until the last minute to get ready for a long trip.”

The pastor chuckled, “I know what you mean. It’s the same in my business.” …by Judy Crowe

PASTOR’S PAGE

May the God of endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude toward each

other, similar to Christ Jesus’ attitude. That way you can glorify the God and Father of

our Lord Jesus Christ together with one voice. So welcome each other, in the same way

that Christ also welcomed you, for God’s glory. Romans 15:5-7

Autumn is my favorite time of year because it cools down and the world gets colorful. As

someone who went to school for way too many years, I am programmed to think of fall as

a time of new beginnings too. I am praying that as the election season winds down that our

nation has a time of new beginnings this fall. I wish more folks would read their Bibles and

try to live according to the directions to love one another.

The passage from Romans reminds us that God

provides us both encouragement and the endurance to

love one another, even when the other person is not

easily lovable. We are Christians and that means our

job is to glorify God, to love God so much that love is

what radiates out of us. We would live in a very

different world if, even in our own little corner, we

saw others as people that God loves.

Once upon a time, when I was a lot younger and thin

skinned, I was complaining to my Superintendent

about a parishioner that had gotten my goat. He said,

“You have to say to yourself, this is another person

that Jesus died for”. That comment cooled my hot head

down and reminded me who I was working for.

We need one another. We need the encouragement God provides, but a lot of that comes

through God’s people. That’s where worship and fellowship come in, as we give God glory

together we find ourselves energized to get back into the world to serve people and to love

all of the people we meet. How will you welcome others? Come join the welcoming crew

so that we can work and worship together at Ogden.

Peace,

Pastor Joyce

TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY

We will start up again on September 6th at 11am. We meet

each week at the Parish House. We pray together, we study

the Bible and we laugh. A lot. We are finishing up the book

of Isaiah right now, but that will only take a week or two.

Please think about the book we want to study next and come

join in on September 6th.

YOUTH GROUP NEWS

We are starting off with an adventure you won’t want to miss and we

are going to leave right after church on September 11th. We will go to

Nirchi’s in Vestal for lunch and then travel to Chuckster’s in Vestal.

You will be able to play mini-golf, use the climbing wall, zipline,

batting cages, and aeroball attractions. If you are in sixth through

twelfth grades you are invited.

On September 25th we will have our organizational meeting. We will plan other activities

and projects for the fall. We will have Bible study, play BINGO for school supplies, and

we will, no doubt, play “Manhunt” in the church. Please join us and invite some friends

too!

FALL STUDY

This fall you have an opportunity to a book called Three Simple Rules, by Bishop Reuben

Job. It is an insightful work that calls us to mutual respect, unity and a deeper daily

relationship with God. It is a simple but challenging look at three commands, "do no harm,

do good, stay in love with God." Methodists have tried to live by those rules since our

denomination began.

There will be fun, fellowship and a whole lot of learning. We’ll meet for about an hour

every Wednesday evening, starting with the 14th. We will meet at 6:30pm in the Parish

House. Together we’ll decide how many weeks we want to meet and whether an hour or

an hour and a half is better.

You will want to have your own book, so please let the church office know if you need

one. They cost $6 each, but scholarships are available. Let God guide you in your daily

living and watch your life bloom and grow.

DAY OF CARING

The United Way has chosen our church to receive teams of

volunteers on September 9th to do some projects around the

church. They will do yard work and trimming, paint the trim in

the Pine Room trim and paint the room we use for Sunday

school downstairs. How blessed we are to have these folks visit

us for one day of work!

If you want to join in you can. We’ll also need folks to bring snacks and treats for the

workers. The United Way will provide Nirchi’s plain pizza, but we’d like to show our

thanks with a salad and more! If you can help in any way, speak to Jim.

If you haven’t come to dinner with this group yet, you are really missing out. Everyone is

welcome and we simply meet and eat and laugh together. In September we’ll go back to

one of our all-time favorites, The Red Oak Diner. We will meet there at 6pm on September

23rd. Don’t stay home if the cost is an issue. Pastor Joyce has been given money for

someone who may need it, so speak to her and she’ll quietly help you.

Choir practices resumes

Thursday, September 8.

Come to sing and ring together and make music for God.

Bellaires 6:15 pm

Sanctuary Choir 7:30 pm

Chapel – Youth Choir practice, Sunday, September 11.

Choir Sings Sunday, September 11.

Sunday, September 11

Well, it sure has been a hot summer and hopefully

everyone has been able to stay cool!

We have been quite busy at the thrift shop this year and

because of that we have been able to do the following

things:

Donated to the Sky Lake Campership Fund, Donated to the churches General Fund,

purchased a new clothes dryer for the parsonage, supplied the tent for June Fest, supplied

desserts for some of the dinners, donated clothes to those who needed them for job

interviews, and also donated for turkey vouchers for Thanksgiving and for blankets on

Blanket Sunday.

So though our shop may be small, we are mighty in what we are able to do for others.

We have also welcomed some new volunteers this year; Pam Kleese and Gladys Hughes

and we are so thankful to have the aboard!

Stop in and say hello and take a look around! You might be surprised at what you may

find.

Don’t forget:

THE CHURCH MOUSE

It’s almost fall! That makes me very happy. This summer was awful hot for

a mouse. Thankfully your church basement is nice and cool. The weather

worked to my advantage though, because several times they moved the pizza

party inside due to the heat. And you know what that means? A full belly for

this mouse.

There was a summer funeral on a hot day too. My friend Bill Smith lived a good long life

and I will miss him. He was always in the back row of the choir with a good song to share.

I knew Bill’s spirit was here the day his great granddaughter was baptized. Little Harper

Revy came all the way from California to be with family. Reed Shepard, son of Julie

Harrison Shepard and her husband, Robert, was baptized in August on another good hot

day. God bless Harper and Reed!

Barbara McKane has spent the summer recuperating at the Susquehanna Nursing Home.

She’s working out daily and is more than ready to go home! Carol Harrison is back to

church after being sick a long time. I am glad she’s back because she likes animals like me.

Send your prayers to Kiki and Dave Durgin over in Sweden. Dave flew over to see Kiki

after she took a fall. Send your prayers along as she gets better day by day.

I snuck into a car headed for Vacation Bible School so I could

see what goes on over there. All I can say is WOW! There

were over a hundred kids and sixty adult helpers. The front of

the church looked like a cave with stalagmites and creatures

galore. The best part was all the kids learning about how very

much God loves them. With five churches working together

it is a first class VBS.

The only other sneaking I did this summer was down to the big park where they had our

church picnic. As I suspected, the food was delicious and plentiful. Then they had the

Pound Auction. It was so much fun. I liked how Don Crampton would bid and then his

friend Joe Gould would out bid him. We all went home full, happy and blessed for the

money we raised for missions.

People were here the other night with their calendars and I can tell this place is going to be

busy all the way till Christmas. I better rest up so I can keep up with all the excitement and

all the eating!

Methodius Mouse

We had a great time during the picnic at Port Dick Park on August 11. The Mission

Committee ran a “Pound Auction” and earned $135 to be donated for

Missions/Apportionments. Look for upcoming Autumn Mission events in the October

Beacon.

CHOW® Hunger Walk 2016 Sunday, September 18, 2016 Binghamton University, behind the East

Gym

Registration at 1:00 p.m.,

Walk Starts at 2:00 p.m.

Entertainment, games and food! Just follow the signs!

Bring your Team – family, friends, co-workers, fellow

students, congregants – and Walk to Fight Hunger in

Broome County!

Did You Know?

CHOW® feeds about 3,000 people each month in Broome County through its network of

food pantries and supplies more than 20,000 meals monthly to the area’s community meal

sites.

For every dollar donated to the CHOW® Hunger Walk, CHOW® can purchase $7 worth of

food or provide four additional meals

Dear Friends,

We are walking earlier this year by a month, it should be nice

weather for walking. It’s for a great cause and we always have a

good time. I would like to invite you to sign up to join me, walking

for this worthy cause. The walk is about 2.5 miles, there are

refreshments afterwards. Please talk me in church or contact me at

home 723-2991 Thank you ! – Bill Judd