From the Pastor's Desk
An old story is told about two paddleboats. They left Memphis, Tennessee about the same time traveling down the Mississippi River towards New Orleans. As the traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail’s pace of the other.
Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. The race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats raced through the Deep South. One boat began to fall behind because there was not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back an enterprising sailor took some of the ship’s cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the fuel, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but in the process they burned their cargo.
God has entrusted us with very precious cargo: children, spouses, family & friends. Our job is to do our part to make sure our cargo reaches our destination. Yet often times in our competitive and aggressive world, we get so caught up in the “race of life”, that we end up destroying that which is most precious to us.
What kind of priority are you making of the people God has placed in your care? How much of your cargo do you sacrifice along the journey?
What are you doing to enhance your loved ones lives? What are you doing to show them Christ and His grace?
Blessed are those who recognize and take seriously their God given responsibilities.
By the way – one of the means through which we can enhance the spiritual lives of those we love is to make sure we are making family worship of the Lord a priority.
See you in church next Sunday.
May God’s blessings fill your home.
Jeff
As your pastor I want to be able to serve you when you have a need. If someone in your family has been hospitalized, if you would like me to stop by for a visit, have a need, or if you are homebound and would like communion brought to your home, feel free to let me know. Please don’t assume that I already know about your situation.
As a general rule hospitals no longer inform pastors of parishioners who have been admitted. Because of this I must depend upon you or your family to call at either the church office or our home. Thanks for your help,
Jeff
Henderson Settlement Trip Aug 1-8
This past Feb. I was asked by Pastor Denny Livingston (Forest UMC) to be a part of the mission team back to Henderson Settlement. My last trip was in 2006 and I am excited to be a part of this team. There are currently 4 other people from our church that will also be a part of this team; Chris Rodabaugh, PJ Noascono, Amanda Noascono and Jeff Holland.
During our week in Frakes, KY we will mainly be working on “finish-up” projects left by other teams. These types of projects are very rewarding and the people appreciate all we do to finish this work.
As our church is in “REFOCUS”, perhaps Christ is calling you to Missions this year. To be the Hands and Feet of Christ in Appalachia, KY the hills are calling.
If you would like more information please contact me.
-Ray Petty.
Mission Trip to the Worthington Children’s Home
The care and up keep needs of the United Methodist Children’s Home
on the Worthington Campus are very much like those of your home. Safety, maintenance, mowing, snow and ice removal, landscape, proper equipment, dependable transportation, among others, are essential. The difference is in the size of our property and our family!
We’re blessed with a beautiful parcel of land containing 47 acres. There are residential cottages; a school, Chapel, and administration buildings; Wesley Family Services; the expressive arts building; clinical offices; a
dining room and other buildings.
We have a dedicated facilities manager and a hard-working staff, yet our own resources are quite limited. That’s why we seek your help. Here is a list of high priority needs:
Pick-up truck-new or late model 11/2 ton pick-up with factory mounted tow-bars.
Passenger Van-New or late model 12 passenger van with safety features.
Dump truck– New or late model 2 ton hoist-bed dump truck.
Tractor– New or late model tractor with front loading hoist and rear PTO.
Riding Mowers-Two new or late model riding mowers with hydrostatic drive.
Bulk Mulch-Truckloads of bulk mulch for the season.
Organized groups of volunteers -for landscaping, mowing, trimming, edging and weeding throughout the season. painting, power washing, deep cleaning, window cleaning, blacktop repair,
parking lot striping and more.
Walnut Grove would like to take a day mission trip to the children’s home again this year. The date we have been given is May 15th. We will work at our own pace so if you get tired….have a seat. Anyone is welcome to join us in being the hands and feet of Christ. If you are interested, there is a sign up sheet in the narthex if anyone is interested or contact Tim Garmon. If you wish to give money for this purpose– please contact Tim or mark your offering “children’s home.”
Interested in Becoming a Member of Walnut Grove ?
Recently we have had some people express interest in becoming memebers of our church Pastor Jeff is going to be offering some orientation classes for those who have such an interest. If you are interested in knowing more, please contact Pastor Jeff as soon as possible
Sound System Campaign
There is a need to replace our present sound system. The Trustees have begun a campaign that will last until the first Sunday in May to help finance this project. The new system will replace our older outdated system. The recording system is in need of being replaced so DVD’s can be produced as well as VHS tapes. This ministry has been non-functional for quite sometime. Also our church has not been able to reach out into the community with our services because of poor communication between here and the radio station. So what needs to be done? A new system is needed. Two companies have given estimates of almost $20,000. The goal of the trustees is to finance this project so our recording ministry may continue; our outreach through the radio; and so we can have much better communications to all here within. This project needs our prayers and financial support. The goal of the trustees is to have the cost of this project financed totally before the actual project begins. May 2nd will be the target Sunday we will meet God’s goal for our sound system to be financed. In the next few weeks, until May 2nd, we can accomplish this. Place your giving in the envelopes marked “sound system” which are provided in the pews and help this project become a reality.
May Volunteers May 2nd Liturgist-Sharon Good Head Usher– Bill Good Greeter– Carol Rush Flowers– Dan & Cheryl Reese Acolytes-Rebecca & Sarah Bash Nursery 1st– open Nursery 2nd– Kaity Oestreich & Haily Bradley YF food servers– Krista Roby & Sherri Breidenbach May 9th Liturgist– Sharon Good Head Usher– Bill Good Greeters– Jerry & Joyce Jolliff Flowers– Jason & Jodi Thiel Acolytes– Dave & Caiden Schutz Nursery 1st-Tiffany & Haley Breidenbach Nursery 2nd-Shelby Stump & Nate Ruhlen May 16th Liturgist-Sharon Good Head Usher– Bill Good Greeters– Dan & Cheryl Reese Flowers-Robert, David, Jon Bash Families Acolytes– Isaac & Landon Holland Nursery 1st-Tiffany & Haley Breidenbach Nursery 2nd-Carlie Stump YF food provider- Tanya McElree May 23rd Liturgist-Sharon Good Head Usher– Bill Good Greeters-Dean & Anetta Lenhart Flowers-Kevin & Renee Ridgeway Acolytes– open Nursery 1st– open Nursery 2nd– open May 30th Liturgist-Sharon Good Head Usher– Bill Good Greeters– open Flowers– Jon & Karen Bash Acolyte– Zachary Thiel Nursery 1st- Open Nursery 2nd– Holly Ruhlen
Church Council Notes From the April 8th meeting. Pastor Jeff reviewed the 5 year Ministry Outreach Plan now completed by the Refocus team. This plan was approved. Several adults will be joining membership in May. Looking ahead to graduation time-list of names to be posted on the office door. Discussion was held to gain people’s wishes for summer worship hours. I t was decided to leave the hours the same-9 am Traditional and 11:15 Contemporary. Jill, children’s ministry coordinator spoke of camp locations under consideration. She will work with Sherrie Breidenbach on this. Vacation Bible School will be held evenings June 27th through July 1st. Attendance at evening children’s programs is dwindling. Special events go well(trunk or treat, adventure at Camp Berry, the overnighter) so next year she will concentrate on that type of event maybe once per month. During Sunday mornings the focus will be on teaching Bible content and focus on fellowship and faith at those events. The regular Sunday evening programs will continue as they are until the end of the school year. Tim and Vickie Garmon co-mission chairs reported the travel to Worthington Children’s home again this year. A trip to Henderson Settlement in KY is planned. The new Jr. High Sunday school class is in the southeast corner basement room. Jr. Church This month will be the last for Jr. church until after the fair. On May 9th the kids will be helping put on the Mother’s day program. We have some favorite songs we would like to sing. Come and listen. One of the lessons in April was about helping others. We kept a list of our “deeds”. We were very proud of our accomplishments done as a friend of Jesus. Our reward was a nice bag of goodies! If time permits for practicing, the kids will play tone chimes one more time. This time the selections (hopefully) will be patriotic. May 22nd is the target date. Thanks to Judy, Karen and Breanna for helping this year. I, as well as the kids appreciate it very much. Have a joyous and fun-filled summer and see you after the Hardin County Fair! -Nancy