WELCOME
WORSHIP
GROW
SERVE
THE VINE NEWSLETTER OF BELLAIRE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
MAKING DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD APRIL 2017 VOLUME 53 ISSUE 4
F R O M T H E PA S TO R And just as Moses li/ed up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be li/ed up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. —John 3:14-17 This month brings us to one of the holiest seasons of the Chris3an year. As Lent draws to a close and we prepare for the Easter feast, we will again recall the final days of Jesus’ life on earth through our Holy Week worship services. On Palm Sunday, April 9, we will shout “Hosanna!” and wave palm branches in the air as we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But the joyous celebra3on won’t last long, for Jesus soon will share a final meal with his disciples, be betrayed by one of them, be convicted of false crimes in a sham trial, be denied by one of his closest friends, and finally be led to the cross where he will give his life for us. There’s a lovely sadness to this Holy Week. We grieve the betrayal and denial of our Lord, and yet can see the beauty of his self-sacrificing love not just for us, but for the whole world. On Maundy Thursday, we’ll hear again Jesus’ command to love one another and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. On Good Friday, we will experience the darkness that overshadowed the earth on the day Jesus died. And on Saturday’s Easter Vigil, we will begin the Easter celebra3on by recalling God’s covenant promises that have stood throughout 3me. I hope that you will join us for at least one of our Holy Week worship services. You’ll find the schedule on the next page. Make this Holy Week a 3me when you lean in to the story and experience it anew in worship. I want to ask you to do one thing as Easter approaches: invite someone to come with you to the Easter service that you’ll aWend at BUMC. Research indicates that the average United Methodist invites something like 0.6 people to church in her or his life3me. That means most of us won’t invite anyone at all. I don’t want our church to mirror those sta3s3cs. We have something too good here not to share it with others or to invite them to come and see. This week, be thinking of who you could invite and when you will ask them. We have created some Easter invite cards that we hope will make it a liWle easier to invite friends, family, or neighbors to join with you in the Easter celebra3on. Come and bring someone with you this Easter at 6:30am, 9:00am, or 11:11am as we celebrate our risen Lord! In Christ, Pastor Seann
Vaca0on Bible School 2017 — June 12-16 This Summer, God will once again bring dozens and dozens of children through the doors of Bellaire UMC to learn about God’s love and what it means to follow Jesus. We’ve heard the proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a whole church to host VBS! We know that BUMC has a heart for children, and we need your help to make sure this summer’s Vaca3on Bible School is a success. If you are willing to volunteer (either beforehand or during VBS week), please contact Pastor Seann at sduffin@bellaireumc.org or (713) 666-2167. We are building teams right now, and there is a place for you to serve!
AHEAD IN WORSHIP HOLY WEEK
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Vigil
Thursday, April 13 | 7:00pm
Friday, April 14 | 7:00pm
Saturday, April 15 | 8:00pm
Sunday, April 16
What do Chris?ans really believe? There’s a lot of confusion about what it means to be a Chris3an, especially about what you have to believe to be a Chris3an. We’ll set the record straight and put all the pieces together in this sixweek series on the Apostles’ Creed from April 23May 28. Throughout the series, Bellaire UMC members and soon-to-be members will be professing their faith publicly as they receive the sacrament of bap3sm, renew bap3smal vows, par3cipate in confirma3on, or unite with this church in membership.
C O N N E C T I N G AT Friday, April 7 5:00-8:00pm
Bellaire UMC Front Parking Lot Local Food Trucks | Snow Cones Music | Games for Kids
Young Adults/Families Sunday School Class — Connec0ng people to people. The Faithbuilders/Faithful Paren3ng Class will begin a new 6-week study on Sunday, April 23 at 10:10am, focusing on Adam Hamilton's Half Truths: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves and Other Things the Bible Doesn't Say. The study will be held in Room 225 during the Sunday School hour and is open to all. Parents: please feel free to bring infants or young children with you. We hope you will join us!
Community Outreach Group — Connec0ng people to service. The BUMC Community Outreach group meets on Wednesday, April 12th this month in Room 123 from 5:30-7:00pm. This group helps lead our church’s efforts with CCSC, SEARCH Homeless Services, and foster care ministry. Join them this month to fill Easter baskets for the 24 children living at the Chimney Rock Children’s Center. This is a great service opportunity for children. Or, serve at SEARCH on Saturday, April 15, dyeing Easter eggs with the residents. Again, all ages are welcome. Please contact Barbara at barbara@nowotnycpa.com for more informa3on.
Methodist Hospital Auxiliary Mee0ng — Connec0ng people to service. Join the Houston Methodist Auxiliary for their April mee3ng at 10:00am on Monday, April 17 at 6565 Fannin. Complimentary lunch and valet parking are provided. You will enjoy the great friendships that form in this group, the opportunity to serve, and great guest speakers. For more informa3on, please contact Gabrielle Montoya at (713) 441-8993.
CCSC Azalea Dinner — Connec0ng people to service. The Azalea Dinner is one of CCSC’s major fundraising events of the year. Please join us at the Silent Auc3on, Dinner and Live Auc3on on Thursday April 27th at 6:00pm. We are trying to have several tables represen3ng BUMC that evening. Individual 3ckets are $95 and couples are $180. If you would like to be part of a Jubila3on Table, it is $150 per person (10 per table), and the name will be in the program. We will be turning in names and checks on April 13 (this is important if we want to sit together). Please join us for this fun evening for a good cause. For ques3ons contact Ted and Gabrielle Pate (713-667-6310) or Sue Zinni (832-778-7830).
BELLAIRE UMC Volunteers Needed for CCSC Back to School Registra0on — Connec0ng people to service. Help 900+ underserved families register their children for CCSC’s Back to School program. By registering in May, each child will receive grade-appropriate school supplies and a voucher for a new uniform and shoes to begin the school year well-prepared. Volunteer at Bellaire UMC any3me Monday, May 1 through Thursday, May 4 from 8:30am-1:30pm (shiss available if needed). Please RSVP to Cathy Brown at (713) 961-3993 x215 or seasonal@ccschouston.org with your contact informa3on and days you can volunteer.
Men’s Ministry Event — Connec0ng people to God. Join with other men from Bellaire UMC on Saturday, April 22 for a morning of inten3onal prayer for our church, community, and world. Come for breakfast at 8:30am. We will begin our prayer 3 m e at 9 : 0 0 a m . Co nt a c t Ke n n e t h S coW Pe t e r s at kspeters@bellaireumc.org for more informa3on or to RSVP.
Bellaire United Methodist Seniors — Connec0ng people to people. Tuesday, April 25, 2017: We are going to visit the Brookwood Community in Brookshire to have lunch and shop in their gis shop and wonderful nursery. The bus will depart from the west parking lot at 9:30am, and we will return around 2:00pm. Lunch costs $25 each and needs to be paid by Sunday, April 9. We will have plenty of space on the bus to bring back what ever you wish to purchase. The bus will depart the west parking lot at 9:30 AM. We should be back at the church about 2:00 PM. Sign up in your Sunday school classes, call Tom and Sandra Williams at 713-703-1153, or email us at tandswms@aW.net. Monday, May 1, 2017: Join us in the Family Life Center at 7:30pm to be entertained by Bill Sharber’s Texas Ever Lovin’ Cloggers. Admission is free or you can give a voluntary love offering. These folks can really dance up a storm with a lot of toe tapping energy. They always have some kind of surprise number that is totally outside the box. The Cloggers have competed and won awards all over the country and in Europe. They have a very loyal following here in Houston. Our previous audiences have numbered over 300. Come early to get a good seat. This is live entertainment at its best, a real HOOT! Friday, May 12, 2017: Let us take you out to the ball game as we head to Sugar Land to watch the Skeeters play the Lancaster Barnstormers at Constella3on Field. The 3ckets are $15 each. We will plan to eat at the stadium. The game 3me is 7:05 PM, so we will leave the west parking lot at 6:15 PM to allow for traffic and 3me to seWle into our seats with our eats. Reserve your seat by paying for your 3cket by Sunday, May 7. Sign ups begin in mid-April. Le@: Delicious Dessert Bar for teachers at Cunningham Elementary School, one of our community partners. Thanks to all who helped! Far Le@: The BUMC Heritage Sunday School collected 50 jars of peanut buWer and jelly for residents of the SEARCH Northline Facility.
C O M M U N I T Y PA RT N E R S About CCSC The Chris3an Community Service Center (CCSC) is a coali3on of churches working to reduce the effects of poverty in the local community. Our Christ-centered ministry accomplishes this through various resources: volunteerism, in-kind dona3ons, opera3ng a resale shop, and cash dona3ons from the private, nongovernmental sector to include church, individual, founda3on and corporate support. The ministry’s focus is to apply core business principles to the accomplishment of its mission so the agency is returning value to the community in an efficient and effec3ve manner.
How CCSC Helped in 2016 • Basic Needs—CCSC provides community members in crisis immediate relief with every day necessi3es. • Emergency Services-Central and Emergency Services-Southwest offer food, clothing, hygiene items and financial assistance, helping our neighbors avoid homelessness and substandard living condi3ons. Employment—CCSC invests in individuals interested in reaching self-sufficiency through hard work. JobNet helps unemployed and underemployed persons access job search tools and provides skillbuilding training. • Martha’s Way cul3vates talented entrepreneurs through hands-on voca3onal training and job leads. • Youth Services supports children and teens, one of our most vulnerable popula3ons. Back To School promotes academic preparedness; Jingle Bell Express addresses play, literacy and hunger; and the Louise J. Moran Vision Care Program provides vision-related services to underprivileged students.
Why CCSC MaXers In 2016, CCSC touched lives in the following ways: • 30,278 Clients were supplied with nutri3ous food packages.* • 841 Households received electricity, water, natural gas or rent assistance. 285 Persons received medical assistance for eyeglasses, dental services or prescrip3on medica3on 7,886 Persons were provided with gently-used clothing.* • 3,156 Pounds of produce was harvested for clients at the CCSC Garden. • 532 Job-seekers aWended workshops, computer training and coaching sessions, with 26% gaining employment; 216 clients created personalized development strategies with the Client Services Connector. • 369 Mo3vated entrepreneurs par3cipated in a 42-hour unique voca3onal training program; 47 job leads were shared with graduates 6,603 Students started the academic year with new school supplies and school ayre. • 2,776 Children received new toys, books and family food packages for Christmas 2,038 Students received vision screening; 497 were provided professional eye exams with 455 receiving new prescrip3on glasses. *Includes duplica3on Thank you BUMC for being a member church of CCSC. You helped make the above things possible!
EASTER OFFERING 2017 Our annual Easter Offering provides an avenue for you to give a special gis that will make an impact on United Methodist ministries throughout the world. Each year, our connec3onal commitments (also called appor3onments) support a variety of United Methodist ministry partners working to meet basic needs around the globe. This year’s Easter Offering will help us fulfill those connec3onal commitments by focusing on one of our ministry partners—the World Service Fund. The World Service Fund helps to build new churches, train clergy and lay leaders, increase the number of young clergy, and pay missionary salaries. It also helps to expand Bible studies, provide leadership for youth ministry, con3nue a proud tradi3on of coopera3on and dialogue with other faith tradi3ons through interdenomina3onal and ecumenical work, and express the church’s commitment to God’s reign through advocacy for jus3ce. Willie Berman is a United Methodist missionary in Reynosa, Mexico just across the border from McAllen, Texas. He leads a ministry called Manos Juntas (“hands together”) that seeks to share the gospel with and meet the basic needs of people in his community. Each year, dozens of mission teams from across North America travel to Manos Juntas to partner in this work. Since 2008, Willie and his teams have changed countless lives through job training programs, home and school construc3on, Chris3an educa3on classes, Bible schools, medical clinics, scholarship programs, nutri3on programs, and much more. This is just one example of the thousands of missionaries and ministries supported by The World Service Fund that are having a similar impact in local communi3es throughout the country and around the globe. Would you please prayerfully consider making a special gis this Easter over and above your regular giving? Every gis makes a difference, and you can make your Easter Offering in the church office prior to April 18th, or by placing it in the offering plate on Sunday. You can also give online now at www.bellaireumc.org/give. Our goal for this Easter Offering is $10,000, which represents just over half of our congrega3on’s annual commitment to the World Service Fund. Every dollar given beyond our goal of $10,000 will be invested in youth ministry at Bellaire UMC, primarily funding scholarships for UMARMY, our youth summer mission trip. I have no doubt that the people of Bellaire UMC can rise to this challenge and support this vital fund that underwrites meaningful ministry throughout the United States and around the world. We are preparing for the Easter celebra3on and God’s gis of new life. Will you join me in suppor3ng these life-changing ministries as we make this special offering? In Christ, Pastor Seann
Financial Stewardship Update Year-to-Date Financial Snapshot Income through March 31: Expenses through March 31: Difference:
$296,661 $270,668 $25,993
Thank you for your faithfulness in suppor3ng the ministry of Bellaire UMC! Each gis makes a difference and helps us fulfill our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transforma3on of the world. Lives are changed at this church and in our city because you give. If you have ques3ons, please feel free to contact Elizabeth Lloyd, the BUMC Business Administrator, or Pastor Seann at (713) 666-2167. Thank you! Have you considered giving online? It’s an easy, convenient, and secure way to make a one-0me gi` or to set up recurring contribu0ons. Learn more at www.bellaireumc.org/give.
4417 Bellaire Blvd, Bellaire, Texas 77401 www.bellaireumc.org 713-666-2167 Bellaire United Methodist Church
THE BELLAIRE UNITED METHODIST NEWSLETTER USPS 048-820 is published semi-monthly by Bellaire United Methodist Church. Periodical postage paid at Bellaire, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address change to, The Bellaire United Methodist Newsletter, 4417 Bellaire Blvd., Bellaire, TX 77401, 713-666-2167; FAX 713-663-6397. Second Class Postage Paid at Bellaire, TX 77401