The Grapevine
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF NAPA
(707) 253-1411
November 1, 2009
Open Hearts, Open Minds,
Open Doors:
the People of The United Methodist Church
…Pastor’s Column:
How fortunate we are to be able to sit at a table and share a meal with family and friends. So often in the military I was away for Thanksgiving with my soldiers eating and sharing a meal with them in their dining halls. That was my extended family, but just having family and being around them was a blessing.
Not everyone can be home for the holidays for a variety of reasons. Some families and people are toxic and it is best to not be around them. Being alone does not mean you are lonely. However, I will always appreciate being invited into folk’s home for a meal when away from my own family. Setting an extra plate at the table adds to the love and variety of the family meal.
Recently, I saw a sister come by our church parking lot to pick up her brother in the triangle park where the homeless stay. She begged him to come home for a meal and a bath. The brother simply refused saying he didn’t want to come home because family would be getting into all of his business and asking too many questions. As I drove away, she was still giving her brother the invitation to come with her.
That is what the family of God is really about ... giving the invitation, regardless, and looking out for each other’s welfare. Every family has its stuff and issues that do not have to be discussed at the dinner table. We should always ask, “How is it with your soul today?” In the sharing of the food there is the sharing of the love and concern for the person.
Enjoy your meal times during this holiday season and know you are blessed by God. Whether lonely or just alone, know that you belong to the family of God, and may we act accordingly around the table. Be thankful, be loving and be forgiving.
Shalom. Roger
UMW Unit Meeting news
Aletha Silcox reported that she and Joan Feury attended the School of Missions in Reno where they learned about the Sudan , which is the UMW mission focus for the next two years. She said that they would share and discuss the complex situation there in three steps, the first of which is awareness. The Sudan is the largest country in Africa and borders many other countries. The capital is Khartoum. It has 40 million inhabitants. Their belief is that everything has a spirit. The country has many diverse religions with only 5% of the population being Christian. Many factors have contributed to the fighting there which has been ongoing since 1956: over 600 different tribes, dialects, languages, 20 years of drought, poverty, etc. Over 9.9 million people have been killed and 5 million displaced. In Darfur , over 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million displaced. However the dream of peace is in the heart of every Sudanese. We need to center on the positive that is also occurring.
Aletha challenged us to cut out any articles and/or photos concerning the Sudan, date it, and share it with others to increase our knowledge of Sudan, their potential and how we can help. She recommended reading the book “They Reigned Fire on Us from the Sky”. She closed with a prayer.
Book Club Selections for October and November Reading!
The "Just For Fun" Book Club is reading My Stroke of Insight, A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., to be discussed at our November 3 meeting. For our December meeting we selected The Devil and The White City, by Erik Larson. Now that it's raining, cozy up with one of these books and join us! We meet the first Tuesday of each month and Kay Stevens has agreed to host us again in November.
Church and Society/Missions has the following activities planned for this year:
Nov. 14— Napa River Clean-up #2 from Kayaks—We’ll use kayaks from a local kayak rental shop—starts from Kennedy Boat launch.
Dec. 6—A Very Giving Christmas in the Fellowship Hall after worship service
April or May—Reading group reading Picking Cotton, Kingdom of Simplicity
Pie and a Movie group will meet on November 20th at 6:30. No reservations are required...just come, bring a little something to share and enjoy the movie. This months selection will be "Dragonfly" made in 2002. It stars Kevin Costner and Susannah Thompson. This is a supernatural thriller, scary and romantic. A change up from our normal with a surprise ending...come check it out!
Martha Monroe
WORLD COMMUNITY DAY 2009
Friday, November 6th at 11:30 am
The Chapel at The Meadows
1800 Atrium Parkway
Lunch (Optional) at Rebekkah’s Cafe
First United Methodist Church
625 Randolph St. Napa 94559
Office: (707) 253-1411 Fax#: (707) 253-1976
www.napaumc.org
Pastors: Douglas J. Monroe
Roger Kimble, III
Sunday Worship - 9:30 a.m.
Child and Infant Nursery Care is available
Church Office Hours:
Monday—Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
The Grapevine is published bi-monthly.
Editor: Dianne Mahler
Benefit for The Table
Mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov. 19th for a benefit performance for The Table at Dreamweavers Theater. On stage that evening will be “Over the River and Through the Woods”, a comedy about a young man, Nick, who routinely has Sunday dinner with his grandparents. One Sunday the lovely Caitlin O’Hare joins them and Nick’s life gets a lot more interesting! A dessert reception starts at 7pm and the performance begins at 8pm. Reservations are $25 and may be made at FUMC on Sundays after worship, beginning on October 25th. Call Eva Joell for more information.
Grapevine Schedule
The next deadline is November 5th
and it will be mailed out on November 11th.
Please email your articles to secretary@napaumc.org
FINANCES IN A NUTSHELL
As of the September Financial Report (three-quarters of the year) we have fallen even further behind in pledged and non-pledged income -- a total of $37,500 on a year-to-date basis. We have not made an apportionments payment since July. At this rate we will finish the year $50,000 under budget in income.
We can assume that what we see in income reflects the current economic reality -- that people are giving what they can. Of our anticipated annual expenses of $427,000, over half are for payroll and benefits for clergy and support staff. Our share of Conference expenses comes to another 20% of our budget. We spend money on utilities, insurance, janitorial service, maintenance of our buildings -- including the parsonage. And doing what needs to be done costs more every year.
Michael Herzog, Secretary, Napa FUMC Finance Committee
Food Bank Donations
During these trying and hard economic times, food as a basic commodity is scarce for a lot of people and children. Here is your chance to give out of your abundance and bless others. Please bring your canned goods and non-perishables to place in the food barrels, 18 Oct 09 to 15 Nov 09. Anything and everything you do is appreciated as we reach out to the community in love and kindness. Shalom. Roger
BUILDERS NOVEMBER LUNCHEON
Saturday, Nov. 14, in the Kagawa Room at noon, we’ll gather to fill up our slender tummies with a variety of fine food that always appears at our potlucks. Marian Long is planning a program in her year’s theme of “Celebrating Who We Are.” It will feature a panel of delightful seniors, and this month we’re emphasizing some of those who are near or have passed their ninetieth birthdays.
Marian says that Builders have been incredibly blest with about 14 of our church’s “Saints,” and about half of them will be on a panel, telling us surprising stories about their experiences, and things that we hadn’t known about them; OR they may prefer just to answer questions we might ask them, (if we don’t get too personal.)
Here we are, on our second meeting of the new season, and it’s always fun getting together! See you on the 14th! And don’t forget your Builders name-tags.
New Love, New Mercy
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3: 21-24
Our Financial Stewardship Campaign and this year’s theme is New Love, New Mercy based on the Lamentation scripture above. Hopefully over the past few weeks you have noticed the logo and theme related articles in your Grapevine, Sunday worship folder, in mailings from your church, in sermons, and on the banner Susan Edenborough prepared that is hanging in the Sanctuary. During worship Gayle Geren, Hugh Silcox, and Julian Nolan have shared their reflections on the importance of Stewardship giving. Holly Zaccone, Loeta Stocking, and Kayley Ernst have created a Tableau during our Stewardship time – who will complete the cross on November 1st?
Plan to stay after worship for a celebration brunch prepared by Evelyn Lutz. Thanks for all these acts of service.
“I promise to support the United Methodist Church with my prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.” Did you know that you can fulfill 4 of those promises by fully participating in our financial Stewardship campaign? Pray for the success of our campaign so that we may continue to support 2 pastors. Prepare the estimate of giving card you received in your last Grapevine and present it during church on Stewardship Sunday November 1st in an act of witness to your faith.
Our 2010 church budget will be prepared after the Stewardship campaign and is based on your estimates of giving. We will not come door to door and there will be no arm twisting; we encourage you to give out of gratitude for all that God has given you. Either bring your Estimate of Giving to worship, or mail it to the church (and yes, we have extra cards in case you can’t find the one we sent). See you in church!
“Summer and winter, springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Barbara Thompson, Stewardship Chairperson
* * * * * Where Best to Invest * * * * *
Now is not the time to invest in stocks; now is the time to invest in church.
John 4:34 “My nourishment,” said Jesus, “comes from doing the will of God who sent me and from finishing his work.” (NLT)
In these uncertain times, we are all faced with financial worries and concerns about money. For some, it seems to be that saving for the future is futile because the financial market is on a roller coaster. For others, the worry about losing their jobs and ruining their career goals seems imminent. Hardship and recession, anxiety and depression are lurking everywhere. There just doesn’t seem to be any end to the uncertainty and, across the country, millions of families are trying to make ends meet.
How long this economic downturn will last, no one knows. Are we at the bottom? Will there be another bump? Another crash? So where can we invest our resources, time, and talents in something that will have a lasting effect and will endure for the rest of our lives? I think that the answer is simply this: our churches.
Now I know what you’re thinking: this is a Finance Committee meeting, I’m bound to say this because I’m interested in seeing that the church survives this crisis. Yes -- but it’s more than getting the church through a rough patch. What I’m saying is this: in these uncertain times we should draw closer to God, to let the broken world see that our faith can overcome the worst of times. If we are just fair-weather Christians who trust in God when things are going well, then our faith is shallow. However, if we continue to praise God and support Christ’s ministry during tough times, then our faith will be tested, tried, and turn out to be deeper than we have ever known.
During different crises in the past, the Church continued to flourish because it was needed to help heal and support those who were broken in the world. At the time of the Black Plague, many churches became hospitals in Europe. After the Reformation, the Church combated ignorance and poverty by setting up parish schools for young people, to make something better of themselves through the power of knowledge and education. And during the last Great Depression, churches ran soup kitchens, clothing centers, and support groups that enabled small communities and many families to overcome the hardship of the times.
In these uncertain times, we need to invest in the Church, because the Church ultimately brings out the best in humanity through faith, hope, and love to the many people who are struggling.
The Christ we serve is the Lord of all Compassion. So let’s use these times as an opportunity to show the world who Jesus is, by investing in our churches and applying our faith in meaningful and supportive ways.
Prayer: Gracious God, the world is hurting and our economy is struggling. People that we know have lost their jobs, while others are losing their hard-earned savings. In the midst of all this uncertainty, let Your Church become a constant haven of salvation and support, kindness and compassion, charity and love. In Christ’s Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
(A Four-Minute Devotion by John Stuart, pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church, Knoxville TN -- February 2009. Modified slightly by Michael Herzog for use as a devotional message at the October Napa FUMC Finance Committee meeting.)
G.R.A.P.E. Express News
In September and October we learned about the Lord’s Supper. We baked unleavened bread, told the Last Supper story with puppets and made plaques with symbols to remind us of the bread and juice. Last week, we made 15 bag lunches with PB & J sandwiches (grape jelly of course), an apple, a Rice Krispie treat and a box drink and shared our supper with our neighbors at the Hope Center.
Our next lesson will be “The Boy’s Lunch (Feeding the 5,000)”, November 1, 8, 15 and 22. The lessons will center around John 6:9—There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people? Want to make “bread and fish parfaits”? or “crunchy bites”? Or perhaps grow crystals to show how things multiply, or perhaps tasting different breads and fish sounds fun. These are some of the activities that we may do in Creation Station. Maybe watching a Veggie Tale movie—Lyle the Kindly Viking—in Holyword Theater and talking about sharing is more your style.
If you are between the ages of 3 years and 5th grade, please come and ride the GRAPE Express. We have room for you and your friends if you’d like to bring them.
If you are an adult and if any of these activities speak to you, please contact Vicki Poli, Susan Edenbourgh or Dianne Mahler. We always have a need for teachers. If you’re a little nervous to teach on your own, we can pair you with an experienced teacher. For the safety of our children, we must ask that all new volunteers complete an application and be finger-printed. The church will reimburse you for the cost of the fingerprinting. Just stop by the church office and pick up a form with instructions. It’s quick and easy.
Stay tuned for more news in this space about our annual Christmas pageant. We will present the pageant on December 20th during the worship service. G.R.A.P.E. Express riders and parents—please start thinking about if you want to be part of the pageant. We will start rehearsing Nov. 29th during the Sunday School hour.
VOICES - Young Moms Need Support:
We have two active Mommy and Baby groups now at VOICES. Our work is around developing healthy parent and child relationships and supporting these sometimes very young, first time moms. Just like with our regular youth, these moms sometimes come up short financially at the end of the month. As part of my ministry, I like to have emergency "rations" available. I, and the program facilitator for the PACES (Parent and Child Education Support), Amber, would appreciate it if any of you (individually or as a group) would make up individual bags for us. Each bag should contain the following:
1
bag would consist of:
1
Big can of powdered formula $28.00 (organic) Shelf life: 2yrs
3
jars of baby food (1 meat, 1 veggie, 1fruit) $.68-$1.50 Shelf life:
6-10 months
Small box of rice cereal $2.00 Shelf Life: 1 yr.
Since we will be keeping these bags over a period of time, we would appreciate it if you would get items with the longest shelf life possible.
Any questions, please call me or Amber at the VOICES number - (707) 251-1577.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Linda S. Powers
Best-in-Class Taglines Selected by 4,800+ Nonprofit Professionals
Maplewood, NJ -
The United Methodist Church's advertising and welcoming tagline - Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors. The people of The United Methodist Church - has been selected as a best-in-class tagline in the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards.
The tagline was selected as the winner in the category "Religion and Spiritual Development." The United Methodist Church was lauded for delivering "a tagline trinity that supports its applied faith mission and is warm, enthusiastic and embracing."
November Dates for UMW (United Methodist Women) meetings are:
November 5 - 10:00-11:30 a.m. Executive Board Meeting - Kagawa Room
November 12 - 10:00 a.m. Patricia Riddell Circle - Kagawa Room
Contact: Doris Forsythe 944-2654 or Lois Nelson 257-3160
1:00 p.m. Judith Newton Circle meets at member’s home
Contact: Ann Thieme 258-1800
1:30 p.m. Lillian Wallace Circle meets at member’s home
Contact: Annabelle Mieth 224-0259
November 9 – 7:30 p.m. Susana Wesley Circle at member’s home
Contact: Donna LaPoint 226-2932
November 14 - 1:00-3:00 p.m. Sarah Crosby Circle— Kagawa Room.
Contact: : Joan Feury 255-0494 or Laura Brooks 255-5203
November 19 –10 a.m. Unit Evening Meeting – Kagawa Room
Program: “Together at the Table & World Thank Offering”
Contact: Joan Feury 255-0494 or Barb Thompson 255-0457
All are welcome to come to any meeting! Bring a friend.
Fun and Fellowship Committee would like to thank everyone for making our celebration of the “Saints Among Us” so successful. From the wonderful service, with Martha’s ‘Time with the Child’, to the beautiful table settings and cakes in the Fellowship Hall, it was wonderful! Thanks Joanne and Holly! Our honorees seemed very pleased. Each of them will be mailed a certificate in honor of the occasion (technical difficulties prevented the presentation on Sunday).
Look forward to our next events including The Supper Club, Chile Cook-off and Talent Show! As usual, the Book Club and Movie Night will continue to meet. We hope everyone can find something to participate in!
If you would like to join our fun group, we meet the first Tuesday of each month in the Parlor. Come on in!
Volunteers
We still need a head usher and a van driver. If you are interested, or if you need more information, please call the church office at 253-1411. Also, the Committee on Lay Leadership is filling vacancies on various committees. Please call Doug or the church office and let us know where your special gifts can be used. Thank you!
FUMC Youth Perform
Singin’ In The Rain
Justin-Siena HS Theatre
Justin-Siena High School Theatre is in rehearsal for the musical, “Singin' in the Rain”, to be performed the weekends of November 6th and November 13th. We have two high school students and one middle school student from FUMC family in the production. Mary Kate Francis is the lead female role of Kathy Selden. Christopher Marks has two parts, Young Don and The Butler, along with singing/dancing in the ensemble, and William Francis will be cast in the role of young Cosmo. Tickets will be for sale after October 5th at www.justin-siena.org. Buy your tickets early as Justin-Siena sells out all their theatre productions.
HELPING the HOMELESS
Project Homeless Connect on November 20th helps homeless people not just learn about available services, but actually gets them some services on the spot. Many caring volunteers are needed to help make this happen. To volunteer, contact Katie Meehan-Rubin, Volunteer Center of Napa Valley, 252-6222 or katier@volunteernapa.org.
Organizers: the Volunteer Center in partnership with Community Action Napa Valley.
Fun
and Fellowship Committee thought
we would share some of the comments given to us by our
Nonagenarians. So from time to time we will do this in the
Grapevine.
This month we share from John Hoffman...the question
was..
What
has been the biggest surprise in your life so far?
John
wrote: "The rapid rise in technology, the advancement in
electronics and equipment such as miniaturized portable television,
phones, GPS devices and moving picture cameras.”
Don Perry writes: "The volatility of the stock
market"
Elsie McPherson shared..."Discoveries being made
in medical science. Also travel and discoveries being made in
space.
Just some thoughts from our "Wise Owls"
Martha Monroe
Mission Statement
The First United Methodist Church unconditionally welcomes all people in greater Napa wherever they are on their faith journey. As a congregation rooted in scripture, tradition, experience, and reason, we promise opportunities to grow in the Spirit and to become active followers of Jesus Christ.
Sunday Worship Service: 9:30 am
Coffee, cookies, lemonade and friendship are served at 10:30 am
Adult Bible Study: 10:45 am Parlor
Sunday School for 3 years old through 5th grade—10:45 am
Youth Group—11:00 am
Come and see what your church has to offer you this year
Nov. 1 Scripture: Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6; John 11:32-44
Rev. Doug Monroe Communion and All Saints Day Cathedral Choir
Nov. 8 Scripture: Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Psalm 127 or 42; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
Rev. Roger Kimble Special Music
Nov. 15 Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:4-20, 2:1-10; Psalm 113; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8
Rev. Roger Kimble Cathedral Choir
Nov. 22 Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-12; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37
Rev. Doug Monroe Thanksgiving Sunday Bonner Bells
Nov. 29 Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36
Lay Speaker, Michael Herzog First Sunday of Advent God’s House Band