Central United Methodist Church 5144 Oak Street | Kansas City, MO 64112 (816)753-1844 | centralcares.com
IN THIS ISSUE: august 2011 Central United Methodist Church celebrates Christ’s unconditional love that changes lives every day, as together we reach up to God, reach within ourselves, and reach out to the world.
A Note from Jim | 2 “Ending the Cold War” | 3 Youth Mission Trip Recap | 4 CECC Goes to Conference | 5 Campus Ministries Update | 6 Cabaret Photos | 7 Construction Update | 8
a note from jim Dear Partners in Ministry, Wow! It’s August already. The past week has been significant. We had a lot of sacred fun in our worship; enjoyed our first Cabaret; and our VIM team is in Haiti. Plans are being made for fall. Construction has started in earnest. ugust will be significant. We’ll welcome new ECC families and college stuA dents. We’ll host a furniture giveaway for international students (Aug. 18). We’ll enjoy a movie night (Aug. 28) with loads of fun. We’ll pull together our ministry teams and finalize plans for fall. By mid-month the choir and bell ringers will begin rehearsing again. Our new building addition will begin to take shape. We will have great worship. You will hear a great deal about Serve2011 (Sept. 10 & 11). This month will make clear that we are all partners in ministry. Everyone needs to share in a ministry team. We need teachers, greeters, hospitality providers, singers, ringers, group leaders, people ready to serve in the community, and people who will undergird our Mission with prayer. Please be in prayer about how Christ is leading you to serve through your church. As our building takes shape, I have a sense of urgency about our ministries. New buildings attract visitors. When they come we must be ready to welcome and include them in a full range of ministries that are well organized, effective and faithful offerings of the love of Jesus Christ. I know you will help us be the Church in the finest and most faithful ways possible.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO SHARE IN A MINISTRY TEAM. WE NEED TEACHERS, GREETERS, HOSPITALITY PROVIDERS, SINGERS, RINGERS, GROUP LEADERS, PEOPLE READY TO SERVE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND PEOPLE WHO WILL UNDERGIRD OUR MISSION WITH PRAYER.
Stay Cool!
Jim Simpson | Pastor
August Worship Schedule August 7 & 14: Jonah Jim has two messages from the book of Jonah. The first message (August 7th) will help us understand the core character of the church and will be accompanied by Holy Communion. The second message is rooted in a famous sermon on Jonah by Dr. Eugene Lowry. Jim called Gene and asked him to collaborate with him on August 14th with jazz music and Gene’s wonderful presentation of Jonah. This should be interesting.
August 21 Why We Pray (an invitation to reach higher and deeper)
CENTRAL MESSENGER | AUGUST 2011
August 28 A God Carrier (a phrase borrowed from Desmond Tutu and an invitation to be contagious)
A note about September 11: Our preacher at the 10:50 service will be our Congressman and UMC preacher, Rev. Dr. Emanuel Cleaver, II. On the tenth anniversary of 9-11-01, we are privileged to have Rev. Cleaver sharing his reflections and the Gospel. Let’s fill the church for this occasion!
couples ministry
Ending the Cold War Early in July, we had the opportunity to attend the Better Marriages Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico along with about 400 other people who were all there to focus on “building better relationships, beginning with our own.” The time we spent with other people who are growing their own relationships in healthy ways was refreshing. Of course the sessions were enlightening and helpful to us in our own relationship, but the atmosphere created by 400 people focusing on building positive relationships was just electric!
way? If one of you can ask forgiveness and be forgiven for your part in the disagreement, the situation will warm up in a hurry. But so often neither party feels “wrong” or to blame and it is too difficult to say the words, “Please forgive me.” As simple as it may sound, asking forgiveness is the best way to heal the hurts, but we’re all human and find these words difficult and sometimes almost impossible to say.
The Stricklands suggest some ways to get close again: -Start by discussing the ideas in the section above. One of the general sessions was presented by Jay and Laura -Answer the following questions: Laffoon, humorists and relationship educators, who helped us take a look at how we use words in our relationships. They When the conflict is over, I feel--------made the point that “when we realize that the words of our When I see that you are reluctant to be friendly----mouth or the tone of our voice has “cut” our partner, then the What I wish would happen is that you would--sooner we address the issue the more quickly the cut heals. What I could do to end the cold war is----When we admit our mistake immediately, the healing begins immediately. However, if we wait for an hour or two, often the -Talk about your responses using “I statements”; avoid “you healing takes longer. If we wait days or weeks to address the statements”; avoid “using expert opinion”. -Try not to get back to the original problem. Avoid explaining words of our mouth, the scar can be permanent.” why you did what you did or said what you said that contributed to the conflict. Concentrate on your feelings now and your desire to get back together.
FORGIVENESS IS THE BEST WAY TO HEAL THE HURTS, BUT WE’RE ALL HUMAN AND FIND THESE WORDS DIFFICULT AND SOMETIMES ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY.
This reminded us what our couple leader friends, Bea and Jim Strickland, have written about “getting over the Cold War”. You’ve had a conflict with your partner. You’ve said what you had to say, and so did they. Maybe you resolved something, or maybe not, but there are some bad feelings left over. Your relationship is just not the same as it was before the disagreement. It happens to all of us from time to time – that period of cold withdrawal after conflict. You are civil to each other but you just can’t quite get relaxed and have the old rapport. How can we shorten the time of coldness? What can we do to get back together again so that we can enjoy each other in an easy
They remind us that no great conclusion needs to come from the discussion. As you hear your partner’s ideas you can begin to understand the problem more fully and have a new awareness and a renewed closeness. Keep growing!
Clark and Ruth Achelpohl
GREAT DATES
Great Dates at Central will be held on Saturday, August 20th at 5PM. The cost is $15 per couple. This session will offer a chance to focus on “getting back in the swing” of living our lives after a different pace over the summer months. Please contact Betty in the CUMC office to let her know whether you will be attending so that we may plan for childcare. You may reach her at 816-7531844 or office@centralcares.com. We look forward to seeing you!
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central culture “The Group” Summer Meals August 14 - Tafts; August 21 - Hickams; September 11 - Stewart-Jones
Interested in signing up? E-mail Carla at cjwarriner@yahoo.com.
before
Mather Class August Schedule August 7
Judy Akers | Executive Vice-President of Della Lamb What’s New with this Mission of the Methodist Church?
August 14
Caitlin Mason | Head of Central’s Campus Ministry Program The Importance of Storytelling
August 21
Barbara Shelly | Member of Central’s VIM Program Haiti: One Year Later They went; they worked. Now Barbara will tell us how things have changed…or have they?
August 28
Dr. Warren Carter | Professor of New Testament, Saint Paul School of Theology (DVD) The Dead Sea Scrolls: What are they? Where do they come from? Who wrote them? Why do we care?
Sunday Morning Christian Education at Central United Methodist All classes meet at 9:30am on Sundays. The Pastor’s Class
Age 3 - Kindergarten Room 105
1st - 5th Grade
Adult Bible Study Class
Room 206
The Mather Class
6th - 12th Grade
Wesley Hall “A class for all ages studying the Bible, our community, and the world.”
Room 107
Youth Room
“The Nest” (Nursery)
CENTRAL MESSENGER | AUGUST 2011
after
Youth Mission Trip The youth group’s summer mission trip on June 2426 was spent right here in Kansas City. We were the first group to participate in the Village Volunteers program in conjunction with the City of Prairie Village. We got our hands dirty doing yard work on Friday. The rain on Saturday kept us indoors but we still worked hard cleaning the “sticky stuff” from the floor of the tower room. Come upstairs and see how nice it looks! We spent time in fellowship and fun Friday and Saturday evening. After two days of hard work, Sunday was our Fun Day at Worlds of Fun. Is was great to welcome the visiting youth who participated. We also want to thank the parents and staff who helped make the weekend a success, a special thanks to Kyle and Cara Megan for braving the heat at Worlds of Fun. The weekend gave everyone a chance to learn more about themselves, learn more about each other, and learn about the good works of God. Remember, we meet August 14 and 21 for youth group.
outreach CECC’s 2011-2012 Program Begins August is the beginning of the 2011-12 school year for the children and teachers at Central Early Childhood Center. During the second week of August teachers will be hard at work preparing and setting up classrooms for new students. During the first week in August many of the teachers and the directors will be attending the Christian Early Childhood Association‘s 43rd annual summer seminar. This year’s conference was organized in part by Central member, Maggie Holley. At the conference the teachers will have an opportunity to attend classes on topics ranging from music and movement ideas to helping parents with separation anxiety and many, many others. On Tuesday Donna Brown and Trina Taft will attend the Director’s conference where CECC will be recognized as recipients of the Sue Murray Grant (second year in a row!). The funds from this grant were used to help purchase cribs for additional infant classrooms. CECC is excited to be continuing to provide care for more infants and toddlers as we have re-assigned some of the classrooms to better fit this need. We are also excited to be providing more consistency for children in their schedules as we now offer options of MWF, TR or M-F. The program still has a few openings. Please contact the directors for current information. Classes begin on Wednesday, August 17. Parents will attend an orientation on the evening of August 15 where they will meet with teachers, directors, and Pastor Jim Simpson. The children will have their own orientation on August 16. At this time they will meet their teachers and classmates and have an opportunity to explore the classroom with their parents. We are looking forward to another great year with exciting possibilities!
AT THIS YEAR’S CONFERENCE, TEACHERS WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND CLASSES ON TOPICS RANGING FROM MUSIC AND MOVEMENT IDEAS TO HELPING PARENTS WITH SEPARATION ANXIETY.
New and Returning Friends Attend CECC’s Summer Program Central Early Childhood Center had another successful summer program. This was the first year that we offered the same schedule (days and times) as our regular school year program. This was to provide continued care for our ever-growing list of full-time families. All in all, 43 children attended on part-time and full-time schedules. Six students were brand new to the program (including a set of twins!) and a few returned from last summer. Many have already enrolled in the fall program resulting from such a positive experience this summer. The teachers really did a great job planning a variety of experiences. The children enjoyed building new friendships, water “Splash Days”, building new vocabulary, cooking, exploring nature and so much more.
The Central United Methodist Women met for a Unit meeting in July. and fulfilled two of our ongoing responsibilities with a report on legislative matters in both states, and a Special Offering for the Call to Prayer and Self Denial. The offering this year is going to help support retired missionaries and deaconesses. Since we are expected to know about the political happenings both nationally and in our states, it was an opportunity to see what the legislatures in MO and KS are doing, and remind us to vote our conscience. We also took the UNITED opportunity to send our monetary support to a United Methodist Women’s undertaking to offer support to METHODIST Joplin relief, as a part of the work of the MMC and Umcor, who are both helping. There was some discussion WOMEN that it would be appropriate to invite all women in the church to a meeting to become more informed about human trafficking in the US. State Legislatures in Indiana are ahead of us in being concerned about the 5,000 young girls who were transported to Dallas hotels for the Super Bowl. This problem is certainly one that we should be aware of, and fight against. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be our World Thanks Offering which occurs at the same time as the church’s Thanksgiving Dinner.
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outreach Campus Ministries: Back to School! It’s that time again, back to school already! I am sure many of you are finding yourselves asking “where has the summer gone?” I know it’s been busier than expected and I am actually looking forward to getting back into the school year rhythm!
LET’S REALLY SHOW UMKC STUDENTS THAT WE ARE A SAFE PLACE WHERE LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE CAN BE FOUND BY ALL! We have exciting things happening in college-age ministry at Central! I’ve been in touch with some of our students who became regulars last year at our Wednesday Night Dinners. They are eagerly anticipating getting back to school and can’t wait to see what you all are cooking up this semester! Look for the opportunity in the next few weeks to commit to helping out with our weekly dinners by bringing a main dish, a side, or dessert to pass. Ask any one of our veteran volunteers; Barb Shelly, Lori-Beth Hamline, Jan Leonard (just to name a few!) Cooking for the students is much easier than you would think. It’s even more rewarding if you stick around for dinner and introduce yourselves to the students. They are really longing for relationships with people other than their peers!
Save the Date: Serve2011 On September 10, 2011, United Methodists from around Missouri and the nation will commemorate the tragic terror of ten years ago with expressions of love through community outreach projects. Central UMC will join with Broadway, Country Club, St. James, and St. John’s UMCs in several community service projects on that Saturday. Plans will be finalized soon. There will be a giant potato drop, probably some painting/repair projects, and we will have less strenuous projects for folks who need to pace themselves. We will have worship and prayer. Please mark your calendars and plan to be part of our witness of love and service to the community on that day! More details to come!
CENTRAL MESSENGER | AUGUST 2011
We will also be having a day of outreach on August 20th which is move-in day for our students in the dorms. We will be breaking up in to several groups to hand out water. We will need you to donate cases of bottled water between now and then. If anyone has a few Radio-Flyer wagons they could lend us, that would be great too! We will also have a group of people sharing refreshments and information on our community from 3-5pm that same afternoon. Please sign up to help out! Let’s really show UMKC students that we are a safe place where love and acceptance can be found by all! Opportunities to help out College-Age Ministries in August: -Donate cases of bottled water between now and August 20th. -Lend us your wagons for water distribution! -Sign up to help pass out water in small groups on Saturday, August 20th from 10:00-noon. -Sign up to offer hospitality at our open House on Saturday, August 20th from 3-5pm. Bring your best smiles! -Sign up to make one main dish, side, or dessert this semester! Know that you are a blessed community and it has been a pleasure working with all of you to extend God’s kingdom of love and grace! Peace,
Caitlin Dally Mason | College-Age Minister Healthy College-Age Ministry (HCI) Update: July 19th, the College-Age Lay Ministry Team met to take part in the first step of our congregational assessment with the Missouri Conference. We have undergone a “self-study” that helps us examine our history in college-age ministry and our tactics on reaching young people. Your college-age ministry is presently funded strictly from Missouri Conference College-Age grants. In order to receive future grants we are participating in this assessment process. Please be in prayer for Campus Ministry at Central as we ask God to move in big, loving ways this year so that we might let all students know that they are loved children of God! We look forward to conference representatives joining us on October 23rd to share how we might better ministers to the college-age community. Thanks for your support!
central culture
MUSIC MINISTRY
A SMASH HIT!
Thanks to all who supported the Music Ministry of Central by attending our show! I am so proud of the cast as well as our congregation for coming together for a weekend of fun, cupcakes and songs! Get ready for Fall, Central: it is going to be an amazing season from your Music Ministry. I am so excited!
-KYLE LINSON
FINANCE REPORT
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS
budget of the church. The revenues to the church have been stagnant for nearly a decade, while the expenses have continued to steadily increase, mostly due to the expenses associated with an old church (i.e. repairs, high electrical/gas bills). For years the church has borrowed from its savings account to fund this shortfall. That savings amount is running low. We know there is strong support for the church as seen by the nearly $1,000,000 raised for the building addition in only 16 months. So we believe an education of our day-to-day financial sitThe finance committee would also like to make you uation may help you re-evaluate how you can support aware that we will be conducting a stewardship edu- the church. Look for more details on the campaign in cation campaign this fall to support the operational next month’s Messenger. We recently received the midyear financial report for the church. We currently have a $17,000 shortfall from our budget. Expenses are on track, but revenues are down, mostly because pledges donations are slow to come in versus budget. So we really need your assistance paying your tithes throughout the year and not holding off to pay your pledged amount in December. On a positive note, July revenues have started off strong. We had one of the best weeks of the year in mid July.
8/1: Mary Frances Glore, Scott Leigh, Doug Sell, David Weigel 8/3: Dustin Cooper 8/4: Russell Bradley, Carol Cooper 8/6: William Spies 8/7: Josephine Lenger, Braydon Miller 8/8: Elton Hamilton, Matthew Warriner 8/9: Erin Case 8/10: Tina Akula, Joy Bates, Erin Brockman, John Pinkston II 8/11: Grant Andersen 8/12: Janice Chronister 8/13: Patrick Chen 8/14: Willodean Johnson, Hilary Lemon, Victoria Sanders 8/15: Roger Hunt, Tracy Trupka 8/17: Diane Hunter 8/18: Milton Adams 8/19: Larry Williams 8/20: Benjamin Hurley, Galen Wienstroer 8/21: Emily Haverkamp, Morgan Weinstroer 8/22: Anna Divine, Barbara Warriner 8/23: Lydia Brush, Janet Ferrett, Hildegarde Fowler, Courtney Jones 8/25: Avery Mayes 8/26: Sallee Griggs, Larry Taft 8/27: Ryan Gonzagowski, Ashley Morris, Mary Jean Walker 8/29: Ruby Webb 8/31: Belle Kath, Emily Taft
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UPCOMING: Dr. Eugene Lowry will join us on August 14 for the second sermon in a twopart series on Jonah.
Central United Methodist Staff
Our VIM team made it safely to Haiti! Please continue to keep them in your prayers; they will return August 5.
Jim Simpson | Senior Pastor jim@centralcares.com
Kyle Linson | Dir. of Music & Worship Arts kyle@centralcares.com
Justin McCoy | Organist/Pianist justin@centralcares.com
Donna Brown | Dir. of Central Early Childhood Center
central_ecc@yahoo.com
Caitlin Mason | Campus Ministry caitlin@centralcares.com
Abby Carr | Publications Assistant abby@centralcares.com
Steve & Greg Cutelli | Evening Receptionists Lisa Wynn | Sunday Receptionist
Building Committee Update Things are moving along nicely with building construction. Our loan is in place and our permits have been approved. The construction fence is up, trees are down and dirt is getting moved. Finally, we can actually see things happening.
Work over the next month will be excavation and foundation work. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact any of the Building Committee members. Submitted by Roger Odneal