2013 june mustard seed magazine

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Mustard Seed Marengo United Methodist Church

The View from Here I wanted to take a moment and comment at the end of five years as your pastor. When you come to such a point, you want to stop and take a look around. It is like coming to the summit of a mountain, you look back on your journey, take pride in having climbed so high and then look ahead. What is next?

We have walked a long way together. Indeed, the accomplishments are too numerous to mention or even summarize. I would ask you, however, to consider how much we do as a congregation, how much happens within and outside of our church every week. I have spoken about being the best church in Marengo for the community.

Over the past five years, we have grown and expanded our ministries, missions, love and faith to include more of our neighbors. The expansion of our PDO program, community ministries, growing children and youth programs, new worship services, etc.

It has been a challenging hike. It has taken a lot to get to this place, but God has led us forward; and now we can think about what is next.

In the near future I see us building our youth and children’s Continued on page seven.

Save the Date!

Summer Drive th

Sunday, July 28 Take a trip into the past and see what life was really like in the 1800s.

VBS

Wesley Woods th

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August 5 to 9 Get your children signed up for a great Vacation Bible School.

Sunday, Aug. 11th If you went last year you are returning. If you didn’t you must go!

VBS 2013 This year’s Vacation Bible School will be held August 5th - 9th from 6:00-8:00 pm.

The kids will have a lot of fun experiencing Paul’s Dangerous Journey to Share the Truth!

The registration fee is $10.00 per child.

Forms are on the Welcome Center table.

If you have questions, call Liz McGowan at 815-568-0992.

MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

SUMMER 2013

Wesley Woods Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013 A day of fun, family, fellowship, good food, and play. Picnic lunch on the beach followed by fishing, swimming, boating, archery volleyball, basketball, hiking, sunning, competitive resting.

ü Schedule of Events: ü Sunday Morning Worship Service at 9:30 a.m. ü Depart Marengo right after church. Drive with family, friends. Pastor Keck will be driving the Church Van. ü Lunch at the lakeside, 12 noon to 12:45 ü Activities 1 PM – 5 PM: Swimming, sunning, play in the sand, hiking, boating, archery, volleyball, basketball, canoes, kayaks, sunfish sailboats, pontoon boat rides, fishing and resting.

Costs: Lunch $8 for age 7 through adult; $4 for ages 3-6; no charge under age 3 Optional Activities with additional fees: Pontoon boat rides: $5.00 per person for 1 hour cruise.

12 people per cruise – 1 PM, 2 PM, 3 PM, 4 PM Sunfish Sailboats: $10 per hour – should have some prior experience (lifejackets provided) Canoes and Kayaks: $8 for whole afternoon. We can organize for shorter times at less cost.

Archery $2 per person for 45 min session. Up to 12 people per session 1 PM, 2 PM, 3 PM, 4 PM Activities with No Charge Fishing: adults (age 16+) will need a Wisconsin Fishing License.

Swimming, Hiking, Sunning, Basketball, Volleyball 2

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MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

SUMMER 2013

Take a trip into the past, Sunday, July 28th as we drive to “Old World Wisconsin”. historic buildings hewn by generations of Wisconsin settlers.

Last year, we took a motorcycle and car ride to Eagle, WI to honor the memory of Ken Dennison. This year, we continue the tradition with a “Sunday drive” to Old World Wisconsin. We will be leaving from the Marengo United Methodist Church following the 9:30 am church service.

From Lake Superior to the Illinois border, and from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan, historians documented many old farmhouses, outbuildings, and small-town structures. Once the research was complete, the amazing construction process of Old World Wisconsin began.

Pack your picnic basket for a picnic lunch when we arrive at Old World Wisconsin. The picnic area is at the Welcome Center, which is not on the main grounds Old World Wisconsin. No food or drink is allowed once you pay your admission and enter. However, there is a cafe on the grounds, The Clausing Barn Cafe.

Piece by piece, workers painstakingly dismantled the old structures. They numbered bricks, boards and logs, and moved them to the site of Old World Wisconsin. In a setting largely unchanged from the rolling prairies the first pioneers found, the buildings took shape once more, reconstructed precisely as they had once been built.

Following lunch we will step back into the past as we move between the many houses, farms and businesses. Trams are available to speed us between locations.

Today, Old World Wisconsin's historic farm and village buildings comprise the world's largest museum dedicated to the history of rural life.

The museum's more than 60 historic structures range from ethnic farmsteads with furnished houses and rural outbuildings, to a crossroads village with its traditional small-town institutions. The efforts of countless historians have preserved an amazing slice of true Americana .

Please let us know that you will be coming by filling out the enclosed registration form. If you have been before, you know you long to go back. If you have never been before, get ready to experience an amazing trip into the past.

To create this museum, researchers traveled throughout Wisconsin in search of authentic 3

MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

SUMMER 2013

Sunday Summer Schedule Sunday, July 7th Susan Geisler will bring us the message from our Annual Conference Meeting by preaching on the topic, “Who Is My Neighbor”. There will also be a report on the proceeding of our annual meeting of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Join us as we share in the message from conference.

Sunday, July 14th Erick McKnight, our new Director of Youth and Family Ministries, will lead our service and deliver the morning message. Erick’s text for this Sunday is taken from Matthew 5:38-48. The title for his sermon is “A Man Named Dove”. Our Rosebud Mission Team will be commissioned at this service.

Sunday, July 21st “What Do You Stand For?”is the worship theme of the youth mission trip to Keansburg, NJ. This Sunday, the youth and adults who traveled to the Jersey shore to work on the homes in the Keansburg area will return to tell their stories. Join them and hear what God accomplished on this trip and adventure of faith.

Sunday, July 28th Old World Sunday! The history of the Methodist Church and worship is a fascinating story. We will remember our worship history in this service and then invite everyone to take a Sunday Drive to Old World Wisconsin. Pack a lunch and join the caravan to Eagle, Wisconsin.

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MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

SUMMER 2013

Sunday Summer Schedule (continued) Sunday, August 4th This Sunday we reflect upon the presence of God among us as reflected in Hosea 11:1-11. God is not a distant, uncaring cosmic force, but, as Hosea puts it: “I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you.” We will also receive a report back from our Rosebud mission team.

Sunday, August 11th The theme for our Vacation Bible School is Paul’s dangerous journey to share the truth. We are all invited

by God to take a journey. Will you say yes or no to God’s invitation? You are also invited to travel up to Wesley Woods following the Sunday morning service.

See more details in this newsletter.

Sunday, Aug. 18th to Sept. 1st What do you value? How do you evaluate other people? How do you evaluate yourself? We all have our value systems, which guide our thoughts and decisions.

Over the next three weeks we will explore the value systems of the world and compare them to those of Jesus Christ. So what do you really value?

Sunday, September 8th This is our return to two services and fall kick off for our Sunday School programs. This Sunday we worship at 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. We also begin a new study on “Radical Hospitality”. Prepare yourself for a warm and exciting welcome to Rally Day 2013.

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MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

SUMMER 2013

RED DOOR FUND – A NEW FUTRUE FOR MUMC CAPITAL DEBT In a survey by our Northern Illinois Conference many churches that have never made a late payment of their mortgage report that their banks are unwilling to refinance existing loans.

Sometimes this is the result of new regulatory requirements placed upon banks after the recent financial crisis in the industry. Banks have tightened lending standards such that local churches are finding it difficult to renew their mortgages. Northern Illinois Conference of United Methodist Churches began investigating the possibility of developing an innovative capital debt refinancing option for its member churches early in 2012. In a collaborative effort with William Blair Inc. and Wintrust Community Banks, our Northern Illinois Conference has arranged for a long-term $25,000,000 master mortgage collateralized by Conference assets for the purpose of paying off outstanding mortgage principal of qualified local churches. Establishment of the Red Door Refinance Program was approved by a special session of Northern Illinois Annual Conference on March 16, 2013. A special board for The Red Door Fund was organized by NIC for the purpose of administering the refinancing program and making payments to Wintrust.

The program is limited to qualified member churches that have paid 100% of their conference apportionments in each of last 3 years and have never defaulted on their existing bank mortgages. Marengo United Methodist Church met all criteria for participation.

included pledged gifts, a $1,000,000 construction loan, and individual short term loans in the amount of $400,000. In September 2005 the construction loan was converted to a $900,000 mortgage renewable in 5 years with Harris Bank of Marengo, and the individual loans were recorded as subordinated mortgages requiring semi-annual payment of interest only for terms of 3 to 5 years. In September 2010 the bank mortgage was renewed with BMO Harris of Crystal Lake for $718,778.20. BMO Harris Bank declined to include the subordinated mortgages in their primary mortgage with Marengo United Methodist Church.

On May 13, 2013, Marengo United Methodist Church was invited to participate in the Red Door Loan Program. The Red Door proposal was to refinance our outstanding bank mortgage with the inclusion of the $400,000 subordinated mortgages for a term of 20 years at a rate of 4.6% fixed for 7 years. A special church conference for Marengo United Methodist Church was held on May 21, 2013, to consider the Red Door proposal. By unanimous consent our church agreed to accept the Red Door refinancing proposal. The total mortgage principal financed will be approximately $1,068,500 including payoff costs with BMO Harris and a small loan origination fee from Red Door. By capturing the savings of current low interest rates we are able to put our capital debt on a more favorable footing for the long term with much less risk of refinancing issues over the next 20 years. By our connection with the Northern Illinois Conference our church will benefit from the greater protection afforded

Marengo’s capital debt originated with the 2004-2005 church building program cost of $1,700,000. Financing of this building program

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MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

SUMMER 2013

“Red Door Fund” continued by the Red Door loan.

Our monthly mortgage payment to Red Door will be about 13% higher than our old averaged monthly mortgage cost for our capital debt.

This is entirely due to the fact that the $400,000 subordinated mortgage is now included in a mortgage requiring payment of principal over the next 20 years. The good news is that we can now see an end point for our mortgage.

Red Door refinancing has allowed MUMC to return needed funds to the four families in our membership who made it possible for us to build the 2004 church addition with their participation in financing that addition. The addition has played such a wonderful part in our current ministries at MUMC. We are profoundly appreciative of the willingness of these families to extend the maturity of their short term loans for the past 3-5 years.

Please notice on the May 2013 Year to Date financial report that building fund giving is down considerably from the May 2012 Year to Date. With the Red Door program MUMC can see an end to our mortgage and that is exciting. On behalf of MUMC, the Finance Team would like to thank all of the faithful givers to the building fund over the past several years as we could not have met mortgage payments monthly without you. With the news of an end is it time for you to step up and give to the building fund and help us reach that end? Think of what a great day it will be when we can celebrate reaching the end! Won’t you feel better celebrating knowing you were part of the giving?

After many months of preparations, we are in the last stages of restructuring MUMC's capital debt with the help of Northern Illinois Annual Conference's refinancing program via their Red Door Fund. Money has recently been released to us for payoff of all four subordinated mortgages on church property. Direct wire transfers to pay down our outstanding mortgage principal with BMO Harris Bank have allowed us to request a final payoff letter from the bank for loan closure on July 1, 2013.

Red Door has deferred principal payments on our new loan until November 2013 to further assist us in handling the transitional cost and cash flow.

See the special enclosed church financial statement to say up to date on our church finances.

“The View from Here” continued ministries with the help of our new Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries, Erick McKnight. But I also see us becoming more intentional about welcoming and reaching out to those who are in need of a church family.

are the Body of Christ, alive, active and well.

Now, as I look forward, I see us concentrating on welcoming our neighbors into a relationship with Jesus Christ our church community. Thus, this fall, we will be focusing on developing the “fruitful practice” of Radical Hospitality. But until then, don’t forget to enjoy the summer.

We have done a lot of work bring Jesus Christ to the people around us. Our church increasingly touches the lives of our neighbors with the love of Jesus Christ. We

Pastor Keck 7

MARENGO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Relay For Life Report Thank you to all who supported us on our Relay for Life. We received an award for the best campsite with our Luau decorations, which will make an appearance at the church this Sunday. While we still don't have the final number since we still have donations coming in, to date our team has raised $5,082.58 and the event total to date is $51,921.68 for continued cancer research. Our team ranked 2nd out of 20 teams for donations.

Next year's walk is June 13-14 in Huntley. Team Rainbow Warriors will be walking again. If you are interested in joining the team next year, contact Deb Oakes at 815-263-1563 or doakes67@gmail.com. Together we can help make 'More Birthdays' Thanks again for all your support.

Deb Oakes

Marengo United Methodist Church 119 E. Washington Street Marengo, Illinois 60152

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SUMER 2013