This fun event will be open to all in the neighborhood.
BJC Children's Hospital will have helmets available for purchase for $10. If you would like to purchase a helmet, please let us know how many by emailing eventsfumc@gmail.com or call 314-961-4133.
{news_extended} ]]>++++Weekend Schedule of Events:++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Friday, April 27, 9:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Staff Interviews
7 to 8:30p.m. Member Focus Group
Saturday, April 28, 9 – 10 a.m. Church Council Meeting
10:15 a.m. - 3 p.m. - ALL CHURCH WORKSHOP (All Worshippers Welcome)
Sunday, April 29 9 -9:30 a.m. Coffee and Donut Fellowship
9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Sunday School Hour
10:45 -11:45 a.m. Shared (joint) Worship Service
Noon-12:30 p.m. Reading of the HCI Report (All Worshippers Welcome)
+++++Town Hall Meetings: For questions and discussion. Pick one or come to all ++++++
Sunday, May 6 12:15 - 1p.m. Potluck Dinner
1- 2:30 p.m. First Town Hall Meeting
Saturday, May 12th 8 - 9:30 a.m. Second Town Hall Meeting
Wed, May 23rd 6:30 - 8 p.m. Third Town Hall Meeting
++++++Church Conference Meeting, District Superintendent Presiding+++++++++++++
Tuesday, June 5 7- 7:30 p.m. All Church Member Vote
• This meeting is to vote to accept or reject the HCI Prescriptions (Recommendation)
• Must be present to vote
• Only Members can vote
We welcome Roselyn Lindsay as our new student pastor for the 2011-12 school term. Roselyn is a second level student at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves. She will be cultivating her skills in leading worship, preaching, pastoral care, and small group intentional faith formation. Look for her to be leading a study in the PALS class soon. Please be sure to extend a warm hand of hospitality to Roselyn!
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]]>Our District Superintendent, Rev. Kurt Schuermann convened the Church Conference where the vote was taken.
As we all know, this is not an easy project to undertake and complete, but all agreed that having an elevator will make it much easier for members and families and guests to get around the church, will make it possible for those with mobility issues to worship with us more comfortably, and will enable us to be the church for many who could not join us in the past.
We will speak more of Phase III of "Growing on God's Promises," and how you can do your part to bring this dream to a reality later this year, as the construction drawings are completed, the building permit and other city approvals are received, and the necessary coordinations are completed. (This would be a good time for all of us who have made financial pledges to Phases 1 and 11 of "Growing on God's Promises" to check and make sure we have done all we pledged to do.) Thank you for all you do in this church to witness for Jesus Christ.
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A new YouTube video of setting up for Room at the Inn at our church is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMP7qB-t7Qo It fe.atures Joan Ballam, who is our coordinator. Our next time to host RATI is July 29-30. Contact Joan if you can help.
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMP7qB-t7Qo.
{news_extended} ]]>Kingdom House is a United Methodist social service agency located just south of downtown that offers comprehensive support services to meet the needs of low-income families living in the Near Southside. Clients receive brief counseling, case management, access to the food pantry and thrift store, referrals to other services, participation in the Annual Neighborhood Christmas Shop, and the United Way's "100 Neediest Cases" Program. Kingdom House also provides daycare for children from 3 months to 6 years old, programs for youth, employment placement services, job skills training, programs designed to prevent child abuse and neglect for at-risk families, and a senior companion program.
Volunteering at Kingdom House By Linda Shantz
I believe I have been volunteering once a week in the infant room of Kingdom House’s daycare area since fall of 2004, mostly because I wanted to devote my time and energy to a place where I knew it would be needed. My thinking at the time was to help the very young know someone cared about them. But I learned fairly quickly that the most important thing I was doing was to support the staff who care for the children up to 40 hours a week. The teachers there have opened my eyes to many things: problems associated with living below the poverty level, mostly involving the families of the children; both the difficulties and joys that come with being African-American; and amazing ways of dealing with challenges with faith and humor. I have seen many changes in staff, and it has been my pleasure to work with everyone. A few of the women have become personal friends. My appreciation for the strength of these women grows with every day I work there.
If any have questions about my volunteer experience, please give Linda Shantz a call at 962-5131.
{news_extended} ]]>Our church provides the services on the third Sunday of the month in odd-numbered months: January, March, May, July, September and November. The first service this year will be on Jan. 16.
Members are needed to escort the residents from their rooms to the service and back again. We ask that members arrive at Bethesda Dilworth, 9645 Big Bend Boulevard, at 2 p.m. The service begins at 2:30 and is over by 3. Most members will be finished by 3:30 p.m.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Rhonda West at 314 832-7110 or rscovell@sbcglobal.net.
{news_extended} ]]>Rehearsals on Wednesday evenings (7:30-9:00 p.m.) are fun and aesthetically stimulating, and singing regularly for services is always a joyous honor. In addition, in the upcoming months, the Chancel Choir will sing its annual Christmas Candlelight Concert (4 p.m., Dec. 12, 2010), a Lenten Concert of music to celebrate the 25th birthday of our harpsichord (4 p.m., April 3, 2011), and an ecumenical concert with five local church choirs singing Rene Clausen’s beautiful A NEW CREATION with orchestra (3 p.m., May 15, 2011).
Have you considered becoming part of the Chancel Choir? Would you like to “try it out” to see if it’s the thing for you? Please don’t hesitate. The choir welcomes voices in all vocal ranges. It does help if one has had some prior experience, but Director of Music Bob Hutcheson very patiently (usually!) teaches the choir and works to help them sound their best. Feel free to contact Bob for information at church, at home (314-821-0325), or via email (roberthutcheson@hotmail.com). You’re almost certain to enjoy the music making and the camaraderie that is part of serving in the Chancel Choir!
{news_extended} ]]>The importance of the well was well stated by the District Superintendent of the Massinga North District of the United Methodist Church in Mozambique in the application for the project, “Water is the source of life in most rural and urban communities. Our church is located in an area where safe water does not exist, and this is added to the burden of absence of health units to assist nearly 2450 people living in the boundaries of Chiphongo UMC, particularly children, women and elderly people, known to be the vulnerable group for diseases and particularly water-borne diseases. We witness many deaths as a result of lack of this useful natural resource.”
On October 15th, Carol Kreamer, Coordinator of the Mozambique Initiative and Tom Mitchell, Chair of the Mozambique Initiative visited Chiphongo for the dedication of the well. This photo was taken at the celebration.
Rev. Joao Damiao Elias led the service of dedication and everyone took turns pumping water and washing hands and faces and drinking. Later Carol shared with Pastor Sarneta of Chiphongo UMC the difficulties in putting this well there year after year. Pastor Sarneta said, “I thank you Carol for making this happen.” Carol told Pastor Sarneta that the message was the same at Webster First. Pastor Sarneta said, “It is God's love that made us really friends though we have never seen the people who gave the well. May God bless you and all the hands that made this well possible.”
The project is the culmination of a discussion between a couple of members of Webster First during a capital funds drive, when it was decided that we should include our Covenant Church in the effort. This led to a commitment by several members of the Work Area on Missions and a church wide appeal to raise the funds.
{news_extended} ]]>We hope you’ll take time to explore the site, clicking on the headings, the drop-down menus and the links at the bottom of the page.
We expect the interactive calendar to be a great help, whether you’re new and want to know what’s going on at our church or you’re already a member and want to check whether that meeting is really tonight or next week. If you click on the calendar or the word “calendar” in the upper right hand corner of the website, it will bring up a full-month view of the calendar. Hover your cursor over a date, and an information box will pop up to tell you more about the event.
Check out the listings under “Get Involved” and see what’s going on for adults and youth. The youth tab includes children’s activities.
Remember, a good website is only as good as the information provided to your web manager. For the time being, that person is Jerri Stroud. If you’re sending something to the church office for the Circuit Rider that you want everyone to know about, send it to Jerri, too, and we will post it on the website.
If you see things that are wrong or that need to change, let Jerri know by e-mail or by phone. If you click on the word “contact” on the front of the site, you will get a form to send a message. Jerri is under the “other” category.
At this point, the website is still a work in progress. We expect to add more features in coming weeks as more work is completed and we learn more about how to update and maintain the site. With everyone’s help, we can make this a great communications tool for our church.