themessenger

February 8, 2008

A publication of Manchester United Methodist Church

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Feature Article:
30 Hour Famine


Nancy Cooper
Youth Director

who would have known that something that started out so small would grow into something so significant for our youth?

In This Issue:
Letter from Carl
Our Financial Commitment to Christ
Ministry and Fellowship
Living Our Christianity
Worship
Our Church Family

I never cease to be amazed at what our youth are capable of. In the last two months, they have been busy collecting coins for the Conference Youth Service Fund to help youth around the state and world with projects that are beyond their budgets. Who would have known that pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters could add up to $345.75 in such a short amount of time? They also made Christmas a whole lot brighter for five young women and their children who are a part of Epworth’s Independent Living program. By the time you read this, they will have completed their annual “Souper” Bowl collection where they will have collected dollars and canned goods for Circle of Concern,

They will also be busy collecting donations and preparing for their 30 Hour Famine where they will make a real difference in hunger around the world. In the past 10 years our youth have collected over $66,500 for World Vision through 30 Hour Famine. Who would have known that something that started out so small would grow into something so significant for our youth? Just five years ago we had 15 participants. Last year we had over 50! And who would believe that teenagers would willingly go 30 hours without food in order to better understand world hunger and make a difference? (Learn more about 30 Hour Famine.)

Our youth have no problem living out Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” They really do want to make the world a better place. They continue to do things year round to make a difference in their world. Please help them as they practice kingdom living.

Nancy

Rev. Carl Schenck
Senior Pastor

the proposed cclc is a facility to enable programming that will draw more people into this faith community and into a faith in Jesus Christ.

Be sure to read Carl's blog, Faith and Empire.

Dear Friends,

Over the next two months there will be an increase in communication about the proposed Community Christian Life Center. The current plan (always subject to change!) is to be ready for a congregational vote in late March.

The decision we make about this project will have a major impact on our future as a church. Most decisions we make have an impact on the immediate moment, but few long range implications. Churches make key long-range decisions every five to ten years. Often these decisions involve building questions, though these strategic decisions can be about worship offerings, staffing, or other major questions.

We now live in a fully-developed area. There are essentially no new housing developments in the core areas from which most of our membership is drawn. This does not mean there is no one in this area that needs the ministry of the church. There are people all around us in crisis. There are marriages in trouble, there are youth at risk, there are seniors needing services, and there are poor people even here in West County. According to the best social research available, approximately 35% of those persons are facing life crisis without the benefit of a church or other faith community. Another 30% or so of those people have no active involvement in a faith community.

The proposed CCLC is a facility to enable programing that will draw more people into this faith community and into a faith in Jesus Christ. I am convinced that we should build this facility and provide programming in it that will help us reach those without a church home or faith in Christ. Looking at similar facilities across the midwest has convinced me that there is no single thing we could do that would be as effective in ministry to our neighbors as a fully programmed Community Christian Life Center.

As you learn of town hall meetings and other opportunities to better understand this proposal, I hope you will participate. We need a thorough airing of the pros and cons. Only in this way can we come to a broad foundation on which to make a good decision. Please participate in these events.

I also ask you to pray for guidance for the leaders and members of the church as we approach this critical choice.

I also hope you will be in worship this week.

Grace and Peace,

Carl

Please join me in thanking Tim Vicente, and the Stewardship Ministry team, for another great year of stewardship learning. The team’s creative, thought-provoking programs and messages emphasized The Power of Us. We were reminded of the many ways our combined commitments of Prayers, Presence, Gifts and Service give thanks and glory to God.

MUMC has been blessed by your responses:

*Includes all sources of revenue.
Figures current as of January 25, 2008.

MINISTRY and FELLOWSHIP

Please send all submissions for the Messenger to the following new email address:

themessenger@manchesterumc.org

Thank you!

June 12 – 16, 2008

MO-Hab Riders will ride on the Katy Trail End-to-End for their 11th season. This year’s ride will follow a Friday through Monday format. Thursday afternoon is travel day as we will begin in Clinton, MO on Friday, June 12 and conclude in St. Charles on Monday, June 16. Come see Missouri from a very unique perspective.

The ride is a charity ride to support MUMC’s Habitat for Humanity St. Louis project.

To learn more about MO-Hab Riders, attend our planning and information meeting on Sunday, February 10, at 7 p.m. in Room 141.

Perform with One Voice

Individuals who believe they fit the criteria, or anyone with questions, please contact us by filling out the Contemporary portion of the service signup insert inside the Sunday bulletin, or you may call Wanda Kuntz, Contemporary Music Director at 636.200.4714.

The MUMC Contemporary Music Team (One Voice and One Voice band members) will begin leading two worship services Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Due to the additional commitment, we are now expanding and are looking for new members.

Responsibilities will include:
Rehearsal at 7:30 a.m. on the Sunday scheduled to play and Wednesday evenings (6:30–8:45 p.m. for vocalists; 7–8:45 p.m. for instrumentalists)

Vocalists (all voice parts), and bass players are also needed.

How to join:
One Voice and Band members are chosen based upon the following:
Musical ability:
Singers:  ability to read music, accurate pitch, sense of rhythm, good memorization / diction
Instrumentalists:  ability to read chord charts, willing to improvise
Stage Presence: Self-confidence, posture, pleasant appearance
Experience: Ability to minister in spite of pressure; comfort level being in front of people
Calling: Is this person already a worshipper and called to lead others?
Attitude: Ability to be a team player with a positive, cooperative attitude
Character: None of us are perfect, but members of One Voice and the One Voice band should desire to live lives that reflect their love for Jesus Christ
Timing:  Does the person feel they are ready for praise and worship ministry?

Tuesday, February 19
5:30 p.m. Fellowship
6 p.m. Dinner

Cost: $12 per person for dinner and entertainment.

Reservations required by February 16. Please make check payable to MUMC and mail it to:

Elma Grotha
612 Hanna Rd.
Manchester, MO 63021

Want to make 2008 a year to grow stronger in your faith? Start an Adult Small Group. In the early days of Methodism, John Wesley emphasized the importance of small groups who would come together for Bible study, to serve in mission, pray for each other, and gather socially for fellowship. One of our sister churches, Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, attributes their success and growth (they’ve grown to 13,000 members in 15 years) to small groups, with over 1,400 people currently involved in a small group ministry.

One of MUMC’s existing Adult Small Groups who meets in their homes on a regular basis to support, encourage and challenge each other in their faith journey is willing to share their experience, and help spawn additional adult small groups.

Did you know that MUMC now offers TWO contemporary services? Enjoy them at 9 a.m and 10:30 a.m. Both feature the same music, worship, and message.

What is Stephen Ministry?
It is a system through which members of MUMC are trained & organized to help provide Christian caregiving to members of our congregation & community.

Why Stephen Ministry?
We have many needs for care in our congregation & community: People experiencing divorce, grief, a terminal illness, loss of a job, relocation, an empty nest, retirement, hospitalization, loneliness, or any other stress or challenge in life. No need to suffer silently when they can be connected with a trained Stephen Caregiver in strict confidentiality.

Who are Stephen Ministers?
Stephen Ministers are members of MUMC who have gone through 50 hours of training in providing high-quality Christian care to individuals experiencing a crisis or challenge. A Stephen Minister is assigned to someone in need to share the load. Stephen Ministers are CARE GIVERS, not cure givers. God provides the cure.

New classes begin Wednesday, March 5 following the Meals and Ministries dinner, from 6:30 – 9 p.m.

Meals and Ministries

Please visit our website for more information and menus.

Module IV of our popular Meals and Ministries program began Wednesday, February 6. Please join us for a hot meal and a class to nourish both the body and spirit.

Basic Practices of Spiritual Formation | Rev. Carl Schenck
Lent has traditionally been a time to practice more intense spiritual disciplines. In this class we will read a book on spiritual disciplines as well as examine the reasons for practicing the disciplines and the major disciplines used by United Methodists. Participants will be encouraged to actually use the disciplines as well as learning about them. Disciplines are defined as ways of knowing God's grace, and include prayer, fasting, and more.

What's for dinner?

Here's the menu for some upcoming classes:

February 13 Fettuccini alfredo with chicken breast, bread sticks
February 20 Chili All-Ways
February 27 Pork loin, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits
March 5 Ham, scalloped potatoes
March 12 Lasagna, bread sticks

All meals include salad, vegetables, desserts and beverages.

New Member Class

For more
information or to make reservations,
contact Betsy Vicente at 636.200.4720.

Sunday, March 2
2–4:30 p.m. Orientation in Room 133
Childcare provided (must be scheduled
one week in advance)

Join on Saturday, March 8, or Sunday, March 9.

Reservations required.

Summer Starts in February!

For more information, contact Nancy Cooper at 636.200.4719.

For childcare reservations, contact Sally Cleveland at 636.200.4743.

Summer fun in February? Yes. That’s what MUMC Youth and their parents will be experiencing on Sunday, February 10. Starting in a summery Fellowship Hall, we will enjoy a Summer Snack Supper, including camp skits and campfire songs. Following the light meal, parents will attend a short parenting workshop on helping youth and the benefit of camps, retreats and mission work in youth development. Surprises are planned for the youth.

All youth and their parents are invited and encouraged to join the festivities. This is also a great time to invite parents and youth not already involved in MUMC. Everyone can enjoy a night of summer fun.

Registration will open for all summer opportunities and some fill fast. Parents will want to bring calendars and checkbooks.

Snack supper starts at 5 p.m., at a cost of $3 per person. The evening will end at 7 p.m. Childcare is available for younger siblings.

Christmas Poinsettias

Thank you to everyone who purchased a Poinsettia to help brighten the Christmas Eve services. The following people gave in memory or honor of loved ones.

Marilyn Winterberger: in memory and honor the Brandt, Feldkamp, Patton and Winterberger Families
Ted, Dianne, Alissa and Lindsay Pavlovich: in memory of Nicole Lynn Pavolvich
Mark, Deidre and Sophie Kroll: in memory of Judy DeJong, Deidre’s mother and Sophie’s “Memaw”
Charles and Carol Shaffer: in memory of our parents
Grace Godbold: in honor of Grace Schenck
Betty Morrison: in memory of Jim Morrison
Chuck & Gail Joyner: in memory of our moms, Anne Joyner and Muriel Chase
Chris Kennedy Family: in memory of our family members spending Christmas in heaven
Kay, Richard, Michael and Cindy Kreder: in memory of Waldo Kreder
Emmrich and DeBruin Families: in memory of Charles and Clare Moeller
His Loving Family: in memory of Len Corkhill
Gloria Fortenberry: Bob Fortenberry
The Klebe Family: in memory of Charles & Grace Ingersoll and Connie Walkwitz, Kurt & Mary Klebe and Richard Klebe
Carol Leach: in memory of Randy Leach
Ken and Corrine Thompson: in loving memory of our daughter, Ann

Tuesday, February 26
7:30 p.m.

Admission
$10 advance
$15 at the door

Hear the 75-voice a cappella Concordia Choir conducted by Rene' Clausen. Experience one of America's finest choirs, seen nationwide on public television and heard in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and on Garrison Keiler's "A Prairie Home Companion." Learn more at the Corncordia College Choir website.

Tickets are on sale now. Call the MUMC office at 636.394.7506 to order today!

Saturday, February 23
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Room 141

The Sarah Scrapbooking Circle and Mom-to-Mom Cropping Group will be hosting an all day crop to help you organize, get started, or catch up on your albums! Bring your laptop to work on your digital projects! Invite your friends/neighbors and come join us part of the day or all day for fellowship, fun, and preserving your cherished memories! Bring your favorite snack to share with the group!

Please RSVP by February 20!

Look for more details on this summer's Vacation Bible School program soon!

MUMC’s Trivia Night will be held February 29 at 7 p.m. at Spazio at Westport (at Hwy. 270 and Page). Tables seating up to 10 people will be sold for $120 ($12/person). We are planning on another sold out event so get your tickets early!

Tickets go on sale February 3 in between church services and will be on sale for four Sundays or until we sell out. Tickets may also be obtained by phone or email. The event is sponsored by the MUMC Christian Couples Fellowship Class and benefits Epworth Children & Family Services and the Shalom House/Metro Homeless Center.

Youth in our church will be fasting for 30 hours on February 22 and 23. This is an annual event where they fast, reflect on hunger and poverty throughout the world, and commit to raising money to help the millions of starving and hurting children in some of the world’s poorest countries, offering them a hope they could not otherwise have.

You can help too! Besides helping financially, individuals are needed to be prayer buddies for our Famine participants – to specifically pray for individual youth and write a note of encouragement for them to receive in their final hours of fasting.

Everyone is also invited to join the Youth as they break their 30 hour fast with a “poverty” dinner of beans and rice following worship on Saturday, February 23. This is a great opportunity to donate the money you have spent on a weekend dinner out with the satisfaction of knowing it will feed many hungry people. Just $30 will feed a child for a month.

Youth can find out more at our website.

Music Makers Learn Message Behind Their Mission Musical

by Ed Heins

we learned that it doesn’t matter where you are from, you are still a person like everyone else.
11-year-old natalie folkins

The 4th and 5th grade kids in the MUMC Music Makers choir are learning more than the lyrics of their Heart to Change the World musical they’ll perform in April.

The multicultural musical tells a story about inequalities among people throughout the world. Its message urges people to become “God’s hands and feet” to work to narrow the gap between haves and have-nots.

The kids opened preparation for the musical with a kick-off event early in January. Rather than musical practice, the kick-off focused on the musical’s message of inequality around the world in distribution of wealth and food.

Eleven-year-old Natalie Folkins said, “We learned that it doesn’t matter where you are from, you are still a person like everyone else.”

Ten-year-old Ethan Williams learned, “Wherever you’re from, there are people in need.”

During the opening session, the kids were assigned to different regions of the world.

Ethan, who is Pastor Chris’ son, said Africa was designated as the poorest region, with the Middle East, second, and South/Central America, third. The number of choir kids assigned to each area mirrored the population in their region.

The kids were given chocolate “coins” representing the wealth of each region. Then, the 80% of the coins were given to 20% of the population, mirroring the realities of real life.

The regions then elected leaders to attend a World Summit to decide how to lessen the inequality.

Lori Borger, director of the children’s music ministry, said, “The world leaders decided to pool all their resources and give each person in each group one coin. They decided to save the rest and put them into a ‘world bank’ until they earned enough to again evenly distribute one coin to everyone.”

The kids also were told the difference between offering a “helping hand” and giving a “handout.”

Eleven-year-old Lauren Walters said a “helping hand” means giving someone assistance in a way that helps them eventually take care of themselves.

Natalie’s family belongs to MUMC. Lauren was invited to join the Music Makers choir by Natalie. The two are 5th grade classmates at Henry Elementary School.

The Music Makers’ upcoming musical is providing kids a spiritual lesson as well as a chance to put on a performance.

Ethan said, “There are people in need all over the world, even in your neighborhood or in the church.”

The MUMC music program has done the Heart to Change the World musical in the past. Lori said, “I’d like to do it every other year so that every child that crosses my path could have this experience. This message of tolerance, understanding and mission outreach is so important in our world today.

“And this is just such a fun, yet deeply meaningful, enriching project for these kids to be a part of.”

The performance of the Music Makers’ musical is scheduled for Sunday, April 6, starting at 3 p.m. Be sure to mark your calendar and be sure to attend, and invite a friend!

February 9 and 10
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

Saturday, 5 p.m.
Rev. Chris Williams (Chapel)

Sunday, 8, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Traditional
Rev. Carl Schenck (Sanctuary)

Sunday, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Contemporary
Rev. Chris Williams (Fellowship Hall)

February 16 and 17
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17

Saturday, 5 p.m.
Rev. Debby Peebles (Chapel)

Sunday, 8, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Traditional
Rev. Debby Peebles (Sanctuary)

Sunday, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Contemporary
Rev. Carl Schenck (Fellowship Hall)

February 23 and 24
Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42

Saturday, 5 p.m.
Rev. Debby Peebles (Chapel)

Sunday, 8, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Traditional
Rev. Carl Schenck (Sanctuary)

Sunday, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Contemporary
Rev. Chris Williams (Fellowship Hall)

Sarah and Ryan Bader on the birth of their son, Dutch William Bader, on January 10. Proud grandparents are Kent and Susan Simons.

Andy and Marci Belval on the birth of their son, Nolan Matthew Belval, on January 22. Brothers are Jason and Ethan. Proud grandparents are Jim and Sue Belval and Penny Taylor.

The Whitaker Family on the loss of Betty Elliot. Grandmother of Dana, Jared, Jason, and Jeffrey Whitaker. Mary Ann Whitaker (Rod Whitaker) is their stepmother. Great Grandmother of Crus, McKensey, and Landon Whitaker.

Mary Beth (Jim) Merlotti and James E. (Anita) Dunn on the loss of their mother, Mary Rose Dunn, on January 18. Grandmother of Todd and Liza Merlotti and Andrew, Ellie, and Carolyn Dunn.

February Menu
Canned chicken and dumplings
Canned carrots
Fruit cocktail
Brownie mix
Optional:Deodorant

Staff:
Rev. Carl Schenck, Senior Pastor
Rev. Debby Peebles, Associate Pastor
Rev. Chris Williams, Associate Pastor
Rev. Steve Harbaugh, Minister of Adult Education
Dr. John Ward, Pastor Emeritus (Retired)
Peggy Andereck, Interim Children’s Education Director
Sherry Boland, Handbell Program Director
Lori Borger, Children’s Choirs and Drama
John Cargile, Organist
Tiffany Conway, Interim Circle of Friends Preschool Director
Nancy Cooper, Youth Director
Dennis Crosson, Program Director
Phil Estes, Business Administrator
John Guiney, Youth Director
Wanda Kuntz, Contemporary Music Director
Kevin McBeth, Director of Music Ministries
Kimberly Smith, Finance Director
Betsy Vicente, New Member and Volunteer Coordinator

Article Publication:
Articles submitted to The Messenger on the 1st Friday will be published on the 4th Friday of the same month.
Articles submitted to The Messenger on the 3rd Friday will be published on the 2nd Friday of the following month.
Please email submissions to themessenger@manchesterumc.org.