The Messenger May 2015

HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday 8:00 am - Plover, 202 Smith St. Sunday 9:15 am - Havelock, 752 Dean St. Sunday 9:15 am - Sunday School/ 10:30 am - Pocahontas, 306 2nd Ave NW Pastor Jerry Miller email: pastorhopeumc@evertek.net cell Ph. 712-335-2273 Church Office Mon.-Fri. Hours: 8:30-4:30pm email: hopeumc@evertek.net Ph. 712-335-3663 Fax: 712-335-3406

Keep in touch with Hope UMC: hopeumcia.org Hope UMC—Pocahontas, Havelock & Plover

SPECIAL OFFERING SUNDAY, MAY 24TH

From Membership to Discipleship

The Leadership Team of Hope UMC is reading and discussing the

book Shift, Helping Congregations Back Into Effective Ministry. We are reading and discussing a chapter each month to discover how we can apply what we are learning about Effective Ministry Practices. Last month we discussed Shift 3: From Membership to Discipleship. The church exists to “make disciples,” not just “members.” So what’s the difference? Membership says, “It’s about me.” Discipleship says, “It’s about God and others.” Membership is about a commitment to live as a disciple. The role of the church is to help you do that. It’s all about making disciples. That is our purpose as the church. Discipleship is about a lifestyle of worship. Discipleship is about relationships. It is formed in relationships. To be grow-ing in maturity as a disciple includes developing a heart and a passion, for serving others. How can we begin to make this shift? Discipleship is about becoming like Jesus. This is different from learning about Jesus. It’s about transformation, not education. Discipleship is a lifelong journey. No one retires from becoming a disciple. Small groups for study, prayer and service are a vital part of making and maturing disciples of Jesus. As we build rela-tionships, study God’s word, pray for God’s direction, pray for and serve others, we will be growing and maturing as disciples of Jesus Christ. I am enjoying this learning opportunity with the Leadership Team as we strive to be faithful and fruitful for the kingdom of God here in Pocahontas County. ‘Bring a friend with you to worship, Pastor Jerry

Hope UMW : May 2015 Matthew 6:6 [ NRSV ] Bible Verse: "But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. " 1. Poc. Cntr serving, up-date : Committee #1: ( Connie, Martie N., Dixie). 2. May Altar flowers (Pocahontas): Truth Circle. 3. Food Pantry ( UMDO) Remembrance Days are April 6 and 13. Due to a late request by Upper Des Moines Opportunity, they also need Ham-burger, Chicken & Tuna Helper. The other list will be found elsewhere in the Messenger. 4. April 16, UMW met at 1:00 p.m. in the Friendship Room. The business meeting was opened by Dixie. Prayer concerns were addressed. Beverly read the minutes and Dixie gave a short treasurer's report from Sue in her absence. Both were approved as read. Brief officer reports were given. The program began with a Call to Worship, Scripture, and devotions by Dixie. Judy T. then presented a very interesting view of the Roma people. Following DVD viewing, unit study discussion, picture & Response maga-zine presentations of their ways of life, we all emerged with many facts of the Roma way of living. To mention just a few- Did you know : The Ro-mani (rhymes with hominy) language has been spoken for over 1000 years but didn't have a written alphabet until 1971; The Romani people were treated just as the Jews during the Holocost in WWII; Are believed to have begun their migration from India around the year 1000 due to war and per-secution; Used to be referred to as Gypsies; Live in many parts of the world today; Are an ethnic group who do not have a "home land" today; A settle-ment of the Roma live in Eastern Iowa; Or that these people are the largest single minority group in Europe. Thanks Judy for such an enlightening program! Truth Circle served a delicious cake & ice cream dessert after the program. 5. May 21st UMW meeting will be a light Breakfast at 9:15 served by Peace Circle. The program and worship center with devotions will be given by Peace Circle. 6. An Executive meeting will be in the Friendship Room at 8:30, May 21. 7. Kitchen Clean-Up A huge thanks to the Kitchen "Genies" who've made or will make our kitchens s*p*a*r*k*l*e*! The Pocahontas Center genies are Judy Timan, Mary Lou Johnson, Shela Blomker, Joan Reinhart, Dee Smith, Ernella Van Horn, Monica Plantz, Bev Hopkins, Beth Wiemers, Donna Hull and others if I've missed your names. Havelock and Plover still have dates to choose for their cleaning missions. 8. Please make corrections, in your 2015 UMW Program Booklets :

Senior Recognition: Please join us on Sunday, May 3rd, as we cele-brate our graduating Seniors with a potluck dinner at the Pocahontas Center at 11:30am, following the service. The Seniors being recognized this year are:

Molly Hopkins, Dominic Johnson, Bryce Long, Jordyn Radig, Nick Wiemers

Congratula-

It was a joyous Sunday on April 19 when the confirmation class was received into membership. Also recognized were long time members of Hope UMC. Those who were recognized, and the year they were received into membership are: Eldon and Eileen

Hawk 1947; Kathleen MacVey, 1946; William Boysen, 1932; Joy Martens, 1934; Darvin Hauswirth, 1945; Kenneth Hartsock, 1945; Jean Hartsock, 1949; Cliff Cook, 1954; Harlan Edge, 1954; LaVon Hanna, 1955; Berniece Hiatt, 1935; Irene Shossow, 1937; Imogene Sandy, 1940; Lorene Anderson, 1942; Lavonne Severson, 1943; Myrtle Saylor, 1943; Mary Lou Johnson, 1944; Jeri Hammer, 1948; Bill Plantz, 1949.

~Hope UMC History Committee~ The time is approaching for the annual Christian Family retreat, our 52nd year! This will be held July 13-16, at the wooded, lovely Creighton University Retreat Center near Griswold, Iowa. All facilities are air conditioned and handicapped accessible. Call (712) 623-2874, Roger Ehmke. Registration is due July 1. Christian Family Retreats were started by E. Stanley Jones, Missionary to India. Mary Turner will be attending. She would be happy to bring others with her. (712) 335-3701

omitted names: Truth Circle-Amy Miller, and Pat Nelson; UMW Women-Amy Miller; Committee # 1 — Ellen Hotovec, Jamie Kakacek, Athena McCutchen; Committee # 2 — Paula Clark, Angie Cook, Kammi Shearer. Also September 17 mtg. will be at 6:00 p.m. and the November 19 mtg. will be at 2:00 p.m. Thank you. Closing Thought: Never forget how empty life would be without God, family and friends who love us! Enjoy the Spring, UMW Pres. Dixie Gottsch

Summer 2015 Lake Okoboji U.M. Camp! Without a doubt, UM Camp Okoboji is the greatest camp around! Their 100 years of service is solid proof! If you have never been to this camp, once you experience UM Camp Okoboji, you will want to return again and again. We want everyone who wants to go to camp to be able to go. The church asks that parents or guardians pay 25% of the cost of camp if they are able to. We also can not stress enough that if you are not able to pay the 25% ~ DO NOT let this stop you or your children from attending camp! There are many funding resources available to allow anyone who wants to go to camp to be able to go. Please bring ALL camp registration forms to Pastor Jerry [unless you are paying 100% of the cost yourself]. Let him know at that time if a scholarship is needed in order for someone to attend camp. If you have any questions about camp, please talk with Pastor Jerry. 712-335-3663 Thank you. *The last day of Sunday School at the Pocahontas Center will be Sunday, May 10th, Mother's Day. Sunday School will re-sume again after Labor Day. Joy Bells Remember to invite all family and friends to come and listen to

and enjoy the bells. May 6 - Arlington Place, Pocahontas, 4:00 pm May 13 - Pocahontas Manor Care Center, Pocahontas 4:00 pm

VBS NEWS!!!!!!! Save the dates July 20-23!!!!!

We are teaming up with Ingham Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camps for VBS Day Camp this summer!! At Day Camp, kids will encounter a week packed with Christ-centered activities, games, arts and crafts, songs, skits, and Bible-based lessons. A team of Christ-centered, trained, and energetic staff from Ingham Okoboji Camp will be leading the week's activities here at Hope UMC, Pocahontas center!!! One of the responsibilities of our church family will be to provide the staff with Host Homes. What a wonderful way for us to serve these young people as they serve the children of our community that week!! :) If you are interested in finding out about hosting VBS Day Camp staff in your home, please contact Moira Hopkins 776-2697 or Heidi Freeburg 335-9911 as soon as possible. Also, if you would like to be praying for our summer VBS Day Camp, you can be praying for the children from our community that will be attending, that they would be "Transformed" for Jesus, and also for the staff that will soon be starting their training to come and share the love of Jesus with our children!!! :) Please be watching future bulletins and Newsletters for more VBS Day Camp news!!! Join us this summer and be Transformed!!!! Hope UMC Library News: In the process of cataloguing and organizing the Poc. library , several duplicate books/videos were discovered along with some old hymnals and bibles that are no longer needed. These will be placed on a table in the Fellowship Hall. They are "free to a good home", so take a look! Items not receiving a new home through our church family will be donated to a good cause.

UPPER DES MOINES FOOD PANTRY Bring your contributions for the Food Pantry to church with you on May 10th (or any Sunday) or stop out at Upper Des Moines on Hwy 4 North, in Pocahontas, and help to stock their pantry! Requests for May: Spam, Hamburger Helper, Body Wash/Shower Gel, Paper Towels, Toilet Paper 

Bernard & Dawn Gathers 5/3 Terry & Cheryl Brisbois 5/11 Gary & Mona Zhorne 5/24 Duane & Beth Wiemers 5/25 Jim & Kari Swanson 5/26

Carol & Leo Hallman 5/28 Bill & Sarah Hubbell 5/28 Donnie & Carol McLain 5/29 Sue & Donn Wasko 5/29

Members celebrating Anniversaries & Birthdays!

Sybil Kinney 5/2 Heidi Freeburg 5/3 Brad Arnold 5/4 Beth Wiemers 5/4 Darvin Hauswirth 5/5 Anna Hopkins 5/8 Mysti Waterman 5/10 Donn Wasko 5/10 Angela Cook 5/14 Justin Peters 5/14 Kris Hauswirth 5/14 Philip Minkler 5/18 Madison Cooke 5/18

Floyd Nielsen 5/19 Ryan Baade 5/21 Lori Barth 5/22 Olivia Anderson 5/24 Marty Rotert 5/25 Bob Reinhart 5/25 Colton Freeburg 5/26 Amy Miller 5/26 Kay MacVey 5/28 Doug Anderson 5/29 Hailey Ferguson 5/30 Carmen Hubbell 5/31

New Members ~ Jordan Beneke, Cole Bennett, Gage Bunda, Colton Freeburg, Joe Hopkins, Braxton Long, Breyanne Minkler, Logan Poss, Ryan Speer, Maja White, Stewart & Morgan Anderson Baptisms ~ Braxton Long and Jonathan Anderson

Lectionary Scriptures May 3 Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8 May 10 Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17 May 14 Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 May 17 Ascension Sunday Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 May 24 Pentecost Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 May 31 Trinity Sunday Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17

Save Campbell Soup Labels _for Education ( UPC bar code symbols ) and Box Tops for Education . Thank you for your continued support. These may be placed in the shoebox found on a north kitchen shelf at Pocahontas: labeled soup labels / box tops for Education. These are used for mission support.

Worship Attendance at Hope UMC DATE  POCAHONTAS  HAVELOCK  PLOVER  TOTAL 

March 29  82  18  23  123 

April 5  109  49  47  205 

April 12  88 

April 19  153  31  68  252 

 88   

April 26  67  14  36  117 

WORSHIP ASSISTANTS †

Leadership Team Meeting Notes April 9, 2015 Pocahontas Center, 7:00 pm Attendance: Pastor Jerry, Chris Radig, Allan Frevert, Ray Timan, Don Ferguson, Moira Hopkins, Elaine Cook, Linda Ferguson, Sharon Hauswirth, Gary Zhorne and Judy Pursley. Pastor opened with a reading from the Shift book that we are study-ing. It deals with shifting from membership to discipleship. He then said a prayer. Minutes were approved as read. Allan gave a combined Treasurer’s Report. We have received $825 less in contributions in 2015 than we did in 2014. We had two Sunday services canceled due to weather. This may account for difference. The trustees line items of Fuel and Utilities and Maintenance - Center Repair-Up Keep were both lower the first quarter. Allan made the motion to ap-prove the Treasure’s Report. Don seconded. Treasurer’s Report was ap-proved. Pastor called attention to the two questions we were to answer on the chapter of shifting from membership to discipleship. 1) What section of the chapter captured your interest most and why? 2) What is the one thing that we should do first to start this shift from membership to disci-pleship? Each of us gave our answers. A lot of discussion followed. Re-sponses were given to the Education Ministry Team for follow up. Read chapter four for the next meeting. Ministry Team Reports: Worship: Pastor reported that they will do a direct mailing of the New Summer Worship hours. Education: Moira said April 19th will be Confirmation with 10 youths involved. May 3rd is Senior Recognition. The team is working on VBS. Evangelism: Elaine said that they met Tuesday. There will be a link to an online survey for 25-60 year olds sent out by email. A follow up arti-cle will be in the May newsletter. Fun and Fellowship will have movie night on April 15th in Emmetsburg. “Do You Believe?” is going to be shown at 7:00pm. If you want to carpool meet at the Poky Center at 6:00pm. Missions: Pastor told us that they are going to be collecting supplies and money for Cleaning Buckets and Layette kits. The Mobile Food Pantry was discussed. We will need volunteers to work. The first day for it will be April 22nd. Distribution is from 5-7pm. Food will arrive at the Expo Center around 11:00am and needs to be off loaded. These volunteers need to be able to lift 40lbs. Evening workers need to show up at 4:30pm. Trustees: Don said that the Trustees have been working at all three cen-

ters and the parsonage. Some of the items worked on include the Plover bathroom and a new railing at the parsonage. To be done is carpeting the steps at the Pocahontas North entrance, installing envelope holders in the pews, extending the hand rail on the inside sanctuary ramp and landscap-ing around the sign. Havelock has a short in the wiring to their outdoor sign that has been shut off. The entryway at Plover needs painting. They also need a new vacuum. Clean Up Day at all three centers will be June 6th. We will clean, cut branches, paint etc. Finance: Allan said that a quarterly report will be sent out. They are go-ing to be aggressive in seeking donations to the Foundation. They will put half of the amount from the CD’s due to mature this year in a Bal-anced Fund and reinvest the balance in the Building Trust Fund for one year. A letter from our District Superintendent was shared, thanking us for paying 100% of our apportionments for 2014. Next meeting will be on May 14th at 7:00 pm. Pastor closed with prayer. Submitted by, Judy Pursley, Leadership Team Secretary

SPECIAL OFFERING MAY 3RD

SPECIAL OFFERING MAY 17TH

*To celebrate and support rural life and rural minis-try. *100% retained by the Iowa Annual Conference

to fund grants to local churches, rural net-works, and community organizations.

PEACE with JUSTICE Sunday May 24th