MUMC February Newsletter
February 2021
From Pastor John...
I missed the January Newsletter, but I promise it was for good reason! So far 2021 has been a whirlwind of activity, even if things have been fairly quiet at the church. Jack joined our family on January 5th, and things haven't been the same since. While we have had a judicious use of the phrase "it's a good thing you're cute" typically at about 3am in the morning, we couldn't be happier to have him here with us.
>>Read more here
Peace,
Pastor John
Remember you can forward newsletter on to folks that might be interested and they can subscribe to our email list to stay up-to-date on things.
Monthly Calendar
Mondays
7am-7:30am Scripture Reading on KDWD 99.1
Tuesdays
4pm Centering Prayer Live on our Facebook Page
Fridays
7am-7:30am Scripture Reading on KDWD 99.1
Sundays
Online Worship on our website (click on the link for Sunday's date)
9am Facebook Worship
10:10am Worship in the Sanctuary
Other Church Events
2/1: 3pm-5pm The Food Pantry is open in the Fellowship Hall
2/3: 6:30pm Church Council on Zoom & in person
2/8: Celebrate Recovery Meal
2/11: 7:15pm Baptisms at the Pool
2/17: Ash Wednesday (more info TBA)
2/21: 1st Sunday in Lent
Community Calendars
Marceline School Calendar
My Country 99.1 Community Calendar
Office Hours
Beth: By Appointment, call the church office 660-376-2444
Pastor John: Monday all day, others by appointment (or stop in)
Thank You!
Emily and I wanted to take a quick moment and say thank you to everyone. You have been incredibly supportive and helpful since we got home with Jack. We're looking forward to when we can share him with you and he can show up for worship and you can meet him.
This year for Lent we're collecting donations for the Pregnancy Resource Center. You can donate diapers, formula, and money.
For diapers they need larger sizes most, but can use all sizes.
For formula they need the specialized formulas that help with allergies and other things
Monetary donations are always a plus!
You can bring all donations to the church, and we'll have an option (coming soon) to make your donation online with your regular giving.
Christmas Giving
Through all of your Christmas donations, we were able to give to many different places as a church. Below you'll see where we were able to give. Some places we would normally collect offerings through the sharing table and other places through the Summer, but this year we were unable to do that. However, our Christmas Giving made up the difference and then some.
$125 given to each of the following groups and agencies
Della Lamb, Cornerstones of Care, Epworth, Kingdom House, Rainbow Network, Re-Start, Society of St. Andrews, & Camp Jo-Ota
$1,000 Given to our sister church in Mozambique, Betulah UMC
$400 Given to Celebrate Recovery
$154 Given to the Ministerial Alliance
$350 Given for Christmas Baskets
This gives us a total of just over $3,000 that we gave during Christmas to support others!! This is amazing, and goes a very long way to support so many.
Year End 2020
The last year was a difficult one for many reasons. At different points we were meeting online only, in the parking lot, at Ripley Park, in person at multiple services, and so on. By the end of February 2020 we were starting to look at a year with increased attendance, more participation in small groups, and we were looking at starting a capital campaign. However, everything changed in March.
Since March, measuring attendance has been a challenge, although for 2021 we have a system worked out to measure both in person and online attendance. Most of our Sunday School classes and small groups stopped meeting. However, our kids classes continued to have Sunday School materials sent to them, along with a wide variety of other activities. As we moved into the fall, the kids and youth worked on a wonderful Christmas program and started meeting back in person.
While Orpha Circle has had limited in person meetings, they have been continuing to work and have provide many opportunities to help others in our community, especially Pioneer and Bristol Manor. We've also had several folks that have put projects together to reach out and provide support to our schools! I'm sure that I'm missing a few things in all of this.
For as many challenges as 2020 brought, as a church we stepped up, got creative, and worked on showing that we can continue to be God's people, serving him and others, even in challenging times. It was truly an incredible year.
Financially, support of the church remained incredibly strong, more so than I was expecting or planning on. Below you'll see how our giving and expenses turned out. In a normal year we expect to have about $155,000 in offerings and $155,000 in expenses. The past year ended with much lower expenses (as expected) but even higher giving (which is a great blessing!).
Offerings Received in 2020: $158,787
Expenses in 2020: $147,380
That's more than $10,000 in difference. That's important for us as it means we have a solid starting point for 2021. We don't yet know what this year will bring, but we are in a good place to meet those challenges.
Over the last few years we have been working on putting together a budget that closely matches our offerings and expenses. For 2021 we have that budget put into place. Below you'll see those numbers. The expense side is higher than this offerings, but not by a lot. That is a number that is within our grasp, however, given the challenges we still face, we don't expect that we will reach that number this year as we expect our expenses to still be down.
2021 Budget
Offerings: $155,000
Expenses: $159,000
Your continued support of the church, means that we can continue our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is, perhaps, more important now than it has been for a very long time. While challenging, this year promises to be one where we can continue to make a difference in the lives of our church, our community, and neighbors and friends, and so many others. Let's continue to journey that we have started, and see where God leads us.
Do you remember this picture from back in the summer? With the way January ended, there's way too much sun in that picture. But, this is the green space that we need to do something with. Last spring we had the trees removed in preparation for being able to do something back here. We want to be able to do a lot back here: play games, eat, worship, hang out, serve our community, and more. What do you want to do back here? Reply to this email, or email the church with your ideas. We're going to be working what to do, and we want your help to figure it out.
Celebrate Recovery
Starting last month, we’ll be back to providing a meal once a month at Celebrate Recovery. We have folks who will be heading that up each month, but we need others that will help provide food. Click the link to sign-up, or sign-up in the Sanctuary. This is something easy that we can do that helps a lot of folks.
Sign-Up
If you took the challenge last year to read the Bible in a year, we have more options this year! If you aren't up to doing the whole Bible (and that's okay because that's a giant commitment) we have different options for you. Click on the link to find options for the full year reading, short daily readings, or a link for an app that will give you lots of options (as well as being the best Bible app I've seen).
Birthdays
January
2 - Georgia Smith
2 - Tiffany Heller
2 - Paige Meyers
3 - Janet Daniels
5 - Jack Pinkston
6 - Carson Coe
6 - Franklin Coe
7 - David Lindbloom
7 - Edna Shoemaker
7 - Glenn Lindbloom
8 - Scott Newman
10 - Caleb Gullett
13 - Jessica Noker
13 - Jason Sibley
13 - Eleanor Logue
15 - John Renshaw
19 - Nolynn Stallo
20 - Bill Arthur
21 - Ron Eakins
22 - Jill Gordon
24 - Janice Yates
24 - Karen McKinstry
27 - Brianna Teeter
29 - Evan Groman
30 - Margaret Carlson
30 - Evan Burgener
February
1 - Julie Sheerman
2 - Enzo Anthony
3 - Mary Beth Switzer
4 - Kara Robinson
4 - Kyle Lake
5 - Barbara Dorrell
6 - Candice Coe
6 - Austin Tarpening
8 - Sydnee Brooks
8 - Haydn DeWeese
8 - Jack DeWeese
8 - John Sheerman
11 - Erica Jones
14 - Garry Belt
19 - Alan Coe
20 - Jodee Stanley
23 - Tanner Sims
25 - Jackie Schmitt
Jan & Feb Anniversaries
1/7 - Pat & Shelly Brackey
1/6 - Steve & Shelly Lake
2/1 - Roger & Lynn Fellman
2/5 - Joe & Sharon Sportsman
2/15 - Harold & Carol Logue
Prayer List
Ongoing Concerns
Covid-19 Pandemic, Front Line Care Workers, Youth, Young Adults, Newcomers
Linda Ewigman, Kenny Mauzey, Gene Taylor, Kara Robinson, John Christy, Bob Hundley, Colt Parris, Johnny Helton, Gary Taylor, Kenny Bailey, Angie Builder, Bob & Pat Magee, Kyle Lake, Pearl Miller, Zoe Tolliver, Amber Carmichael, Nathan Cook, Sarah Cavanah (married to Brad), Bobby & Rita Peterson, Joan Sportsman, Shane Cavanah, Dan Brooks, Wayne Heins, Ruth Farris, Linda Korte, Mary Sayler, Tom Hoover, Lynn Fellmann, Mark Ewigman, C.A. Lain, Steve Yates, Thomas Wellman
Economy, Families, Nation Leaders
Pioneer: Mabel Worley
Bristol Manor: Annie George
Lenior Woods: Ed McLachlan
Military Service
Patric Munson, Nick Cain, LTC John Casey Welch, Tyler Nanneman, Jeffrey Tucker, Kelly Tucker, Brandon Wellman, Heath Floray, Steve Graves, Michael Pyrtle, William Leukenotte, Kerry Lowrey