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THE VINE NEWSLETTER OF BELLAIRE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
MAKING DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD JUNE 2017 VOLUME 53 ISSUE 6
F R O M T H E PA S TO R You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. —Deuteronomy 11:18-19 I am deeply grateful to serve a congrega4on here that is interested in inves4ng in the next genera4on of faithful Chris4ans. I’m not sure how o<en you've thought about that—passing on the faith to those who will come a<er us. As my own children get older each day, it becomes ever more clear that they just absorb ideas and informa4on from their surroundings. With two pastor parents, our children will inevitably grow up in church. They’ll undoubtedly absorb some of the prac4ces and ideas of our common faith. But the reality of our world is that our children will be confronted with many compe4ng narra4ves that have nothing to do with Jesus or the church. It’s incumbent upon us as parents—and upon the broader “us” as church—to ensure that all our children are instructed in the faith. I’ve just returned from this year's session of the Texas Annual Conference. If you’re not familiar, the Annual Conference is a yearly gathering of all the pastors of our region of Texas as well as lay representa4ves from each congrega4on. On Tuesday evening of this year’s conference, evidence of Bellaire UMC’s work in training up the next genera4on of faithful Chris4ans and church leaders stood up at the front of the Commissioning and Ordina4on Service. Trey Burns, a member of this congrega4on since childhood, was commissioned by our bishop as a The Rev. Trey Burns with parents Kay and Rick. Provisional Elder in the Texas Annual Conference. This is the next step on his journey to full-4me ordained ministry—a journey in which many of you have walked alongside him. We will celebrate God's work in Trey’s life as he begins his first pastoral appointment on July 1 as the associate pastor at Faith UMC in Spring, Texas. As part of his opening Episcopal Address at Annual Conference, Bishop ScoU Jones challenged our churches to be places that “love all the children.” We are already invested in ministry with children. Whether it’s through Sunday School, VBS, Power Camp, our partnership with Cunningham Elementary, ZOE Ministry, or the School for LiUle Children, our church has an impact on hundreds of children each year. But I can’t imagine that we’ve completed our work. And I wonder what God would have us do next to deepen or broaden our work. So I’m going to spend these summer months taking Bishop Jones’ charge to heart and exploring how I personally—and how we as a church—can more clearly show God’s love to all the children who reside in the shadow of our steeple here at the corner of Bellaire and Newcastle. I look forward to partnering with you in this great work of passing it on to the next genera4on. In Christ, Pastor Seann sduffin@bellaireumc.org
AHEAD IN WORSHIP JUNE 18 Pastor Seann will preach from Ephesians on what it might look like to be imitators of God. We will celebrate our fathers in the faith on this Fathers’ Day, and we will celebrate the sacrament of bap4sm with the Bates family at the 11:11am Tradi4onal service.
JUNE 25 The Rev. Elizabeth Duffin will be our guest preacher in the 9:00am and 11:11am Sanctuary services with a message about the cost of following Jesus in our everyday lives. At the 9:00am service we will commission our UMARMY Mission Team for their mission trip.
JULY 2 Jordan Payne, Director of Student Ministries, will have just returned from UMARMY, our summer youth mission trip. Jordan will share stories from the trip as well as a message of obedience rooted in faith from 1 John 4.
JULY 9 - AUGUST 13 On July 9, Pastor Seann will begin a teaching series through the epistle to the Gala4ans. Each week in worship, we will explore one chapter of this leUer in which the Apostle Paul outlines a theology of jus4fica4on by grace through faith, explores Chris4an freedom, and highlights the fruit of the spirit.
SUMMER BOOK CLUB Join Pastor Seann in reading a couple of great books this summer: The Good and Beau9ful God, by James Bryan Smith and Epic of Eden, by Sandra Richter. You can find the books from Cokesbury, Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your favorite bookseller. Get a copy today and start reading. Pastor Seann will send emails along the way as we read, and all are invited to aUend a Sunday a<ernoon discussion on each book. Email Pastor Seann at sduffin@bellaireumc.org if you want to make sure you’re included on the email series. Dates for book discussions: Sunday, July 16 — 3:00pm — The Good and BeauFful God. Sunday, August 20 — 3:00pm — The Epic of Eden
PROJECT ZOE Exci4ng news! On the next page is a photo of 31 of the 107 orphans that Bellaire UMC is sponsoring through the ZOE program. The children in our group have been mee4ng since January. They named their group Twisungane, which means "teamwork", and they are located in the Gi4 region of Rwanda. Because members of Bellaire UMC made generous dona4ons to ZOE last fall, these orphans are making a journey of transforma4on. They now know that their future has great poten4al—thanks to God’s love, their ZOE mentors in Rwanda, and the people of Bellaire UMC.
To these children, we are their “Hope Companions.” Members of Bellaire UMC learned about the ministry of ZOE last September when ZOE Director, the Rev. Gaston Warner, preached during Sunday services. ZOE is an organiza4on that provides the opportunity for orphans and vulnerable children to have a chance at life through a three-year empowerment program. Children joining the ZOE program are living in extreme poverty situa4ons. They usually have no parents or birth documenta4on and have suffered mul4ple traumas in their young lives. Using a model developed in Africa by Africans, ZOE gathers young people into mutually-suppor4ve working groups and helps them with life skills training and resources. The orphans work together to pull one another out of poverty and into a sustainable future. With the help of ZOE and sponsoring organiza4ons, orphans in Africa, India and Guatemala learn how to farm and grow crops, how to raise chickens and goats, how to keep cows and sell their milk, and how to open small shops that sell shoes and clothing. These young people are becoming fully selfsustaining. They move from being beggars to bosses, from a problem to a solu4on—all while living in their own community and knowing God’s love. ZOE was chosen by the Texas Annual Conference of Methodist Churches as the “Advance Special Ministry” in 2015, and members of Bellaire UMC stepped up to be a sponsor last year. What does it mean to be a sponsor? We have commiUed to support this group of orphans for 3 years, which is the length of 4me that ZOE needs to help them become a self-sustaining work group. It costs $8,000 per year for us to make this happen. We have fully paid for 2017 and already have some commitments for 2018. As the partner of the Twisungane working group, ZOE will send us reports on how these orphans are progressing. We are also encouraged to visit our group and show them the love of God firsthand.
Helping Orphans and Vulnerable Children Be Secure | Be Healthy | Be Connected | Be Prepared
WANT TO HELP? Here’s how:
Pray for the orphans of Twisungane. Thank God for them, and believe in them. Make a donaKon that will help us conKnue to support these orphans and their journey. You can make a gi< on Sunday mornings by no4ng it in the memo line of your check or on an offering envelope. The July communion rail offering will support our work with ZOE. Go on an upcoming trip to visit our young friends in Rwanda. ZOE regularly organizes these trips, and we will share informa4on about those opportuni4es as they arise. ParKcipate in “GiRs that Help.” You can find copies of the Gi<s that Help catalog in the Connec4on Center. For more informa4on about ZOE, please go to www.zoehelps.com. Contact Steve Smith at (713) 703-1093 or steve@roveroaks.com if you have ques4ons, want to make a dona4on, or would like to consider making a future trip to Rwanda. With our help and the help of the ZOE team in Rwanda, these children can make an incredible journey of transforma4on. Thank you!
4TH OF JULY
SEA SCOUT FUNDRAISER
Come to the Connec4on Center on Sunday, June 18 or 25 to support Sea Scout Ship 1701 and their brisket fundraiser. They are raising funds to support their ship, Star of Hope Mission, and New Hope Housing at the University of Houston.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH GROUP The BUMC Community Outreach Group will meet from 5:30-7:00pm on Wednesday, June 21. Contact Barbara Nowotny at barbara@nowotnycpa.com for more informa4on on how you can be part of this group that helps lead our church’s efforts with CCSC, foster care ministry, SEARCH, school partnerships, and more.
SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL In October of 1517, academic and Catholic cleric, Mar4n Luther challenged the sale of indulgences by placing his objec4ons on the door of his university’s chapel door and challenging his fellow academics to a scholarly debate. Thus began the Reforma4on. Join us in the Fellowship Hall for a church-wide Sunday School series on the Protestant Reforma4on beginning June 18, ending July 30. We will explore the religious, poli4cal, economic and social forces that converged in Western Europe in 1517 to bring about a major change in the Chris4an world. What were the theological and ins4tu4onal changes that occurred? Why Mar4n Luther rather than some earlier religious reformers? We will compare the early development of some of the major modern denomina4ons concluding with the Methodist connec4on. All are welcome as individuals or as SS classes. Contact Ellen Bell at johnellenbell@gmail.com for more informa4on.
Make plans to aUend this year’s City of Bellaire 4th of July Celebra4on. Bellaire UMC will once again have a lemonade stand in the park following the parade. This is a great opportunity for us to connect with our neighbors and begin to build meaningful rela4onships. We need your help to make this a successful event. Please contact Pastor Jim at jlove@bellaireumc.org or (713) 666-2167 if you are interested in serving.
VISITING MISSIONARY The Rev. George Miller is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving as coordinator of interna4onal and migrant ministries for the United Methodist Church in Germany (Evangelischmethodis4sche Kirche in Deutschland). Rev. Miller will visit Bellaire UMC on Sunday, July 23. He and his wife Heike, who is also a pastor, will share some about their work in worship and in a special Sunday school presenta4on.
STUDENT MINISTRIES INTERN Miller Boyle is a junior in college and is joining us from Abilene, Texas as our summer student intern. At the end of the summer, he will be joining the staff of Wylie UMC as the Associate Youth Pastor. We are excited to have his leadership and enthusiasm be a part of the ministry at BSM this summer! Make sure to welcome him on a Sunday morning. SUMMER YOUTH SCHEDULE Sundays 4:30-5:30pm Junior High Bible Study 5:30-6:15pm Youth Praise & Worship 6:15-7:00pm Dinner 7:00-8:00pm Senior High Bible Study Tuesdays 6:00-9:00pm Open Gym FLC 6:00-8:00pm Holy Yoga at St Luke's (Meet at FLC and drive over)
WELCOME HEEYEON
We are pleased to welcome Heeyeon Cha as our new organist for the Tradi4onal Worship service. Heeyeon holds a Master's degree in Organ Performance from the University of Washington where she studied organ and harpsichord with Dr. Carole Terry and Dr. Douglas Cleveland. She recently served as the pianist at Calvary Korean Bap4st Church in Houston and the interim organist at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena. In the fall, she will aUend the Moores School of Music, University of Houston to pursue a Cer4ficate in Music Performance degree in Organ Performance. She is currently studying organ with Dr. Robert Bates. Heeyeon was born in South Korea, and resides in Pearland with her husband Sang Kim and their most adorable girls, Irene and Isabella.
NEW MEMBERS Please join us in welcoming the newest members of Bellaire UMC! Pictured below from le< to right: Will & Natalia Liles with daughter Annabelle (not pictured: daughter Camilla); Ricardo Guinea; Marcus Jauregui; George & Kathy Jolly.
Financial Stewardship Update Year-to-Date Financial Snapshot Income through May 31: Expenses through May 31: Difference:
$485,505 $457,031 $28,474
Thank you for your faithfulness in suppor4ng the ministry of Bellaire UMC! Each gi< makes a difference and helps us fulfill our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transforma4on of the world. Lives are changed at this church and in our city because you give—including your own. Thanks to your generosity and our Finance Team and ministry leaders in being careful with expenses, we are right on track financially for the year and are current on all commitments. Of course, summer is a historically low giving season because many people have travel plans or other ac4vi4es that prevent them from being present in worship. You can make a difference this summer by ensuring that your generosity con4nues. If you have ques4ons, 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-Kme giR or to set up recurring contribuKons. 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