The GRUENE UMC NEWS
May 2018
Mother’s Day: We remember, celebrate, and pray for Mothers. When we were talking about the sacraments, my theological tutor Rev. Jim Mayfield compared Holy Communion to a mother’s kiss. "Like a mother’s kiss," he said, "It is a reminder that you are loved and cared for, that you are not alone, that you matter, that you belong- that you are part of the family. Long before you could wrap your mind around a concept of “love” you were kissed. On this special day we remember, celebrate, and thank our mother. Those who wake up at all hours of the night and care for children, those who selflessly sacrifice day in and day out for their children and would never use the word “sacrifice” they would use a much better word... “love” - We remember, thank and celebrate those mothers who mother adultssometimes even across country. - We celebrate the mothers who gave their children up for adoption so that someone else could have the chance to be a mother and we pray for those mothers who adopted. - We remember those who always longed to be mothers but never had the chance- we celebrate that longing today and we pray that longing comes to fruition by blood or otherwise. - We celebrate those mothers who are no longer with us. We remember them and the gravity of that loss.
- We remember those to whom the word “mother” doesn’t really conjure up images of warmth- those who have troubled relationships- and so we pray for you this day- for surrogate mothers who show true maternal nurturing, strength, and wisdom… to enter your life. - We pray for and remember those mothers who have lost children. Those for whom today is particularly tender- we remember you, and lift you up today in our prayers. - And of course we are grateful that our Bible teaches us that our personal pronouns do not apply to God. There are abundant images in the scriptures that speak of God as very maternal and feminine. We learn of a God who is a mother hen or eagle whose wings protect its offspring. We have all kinds of images of God giving birth and nurturing her children- It is in this image we were made and because of this we know what it means to mother and for that we thank God. Thank God for Mothers! Rev. Dan Harrington
This Month • Mother/Son Event • Vacation Bible Party • New Safety Certification • Mission Update • Senior Sunday
Office Volunteers Needed! The Office Angels need volunteers to help fold Sunday bulletins on Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m. If you have an hour to spare on Friday mornings, we would LOVE to have you Join us. For more information, please contact Nadia at the church office at (830) 625-7200 or email at nadia@grueneumc.org.
Item of the Month This month Steve’s Pantry is collecting insect repellent and canned soup. These donations will help benefit our friends who visit Steve’s Pantry. Please drop your donations off in the baskets in the gathering space at the church. Thank you in advance for your donations and support!
NURSERY NOW HIRING! The nursery at Gruene United Methodist Church is looking for people who would LOVE to show God’s love to our youngest members (ages newborn– 4yrs.) here at Gruene. The hours are Sunday from 9am-12:30pm and one night during the week for a few hours. The pay is based on experience. Any questions, contact Nursery Director Brandi Carnes at brandi@grueneumc.org.
The Benefit for Ms. Blanca was a huge success! She has been having some knee issues which have hindered her from working any of her 3 jobs. GUMC/GTLC was able to raise $3450 dollars to help her during this difficult time. Much thanks to GUMC, GTLC, Jordan Minor and the Bottom Dollar Band, Pastor Dan, Pastor Aaron, Children’s Ministry, Nursery Ministry, volunteers, and all those who came out to support her! Was easy to do with some great music , frito pie, and dessert! God is good ya’ll and so are YOU!!
By Pastor Brock
Gruene Tree Learning Center
NEWS
by Rebecca Goossens
April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. - William Shakespeare
My goodness this April has been a month of growing… you name it… we are doing it…
Butterflies…check
Tomatoes…check
Praying Mathis…check
Squash…check
Radishes…check
And of course… Children of GOD!
Your Missions Team at Work. In April, your Missions Team voted to help several different groups in and around our city. In our Church community we helped fund a partial scholarship for a youth participating in the Appalachia Service Project mission trip this summer. (www.asphome.org) The SOS food bank was awarded $2000 to continue their great work feeding the community. We donated $1000 to the United Campus Ministry at Texas State. Rev. Todd Salmi engages the college students with bible studies, worship, food ministry, yoga and more. Find out more about what they are doing at UCMtxstate.org or on FB at Texas State United Campus Ministry. We also sent $2000 to River City Advocacy to become a sponsor for their “To Heck with the Blues” fundraiser. River City Advocacy (RCA) offers free peer to peer counseling, counseling sessions on a sliding scale, and a free art and creative expression work area. Please consider supporting them at their fundraiser on May 6th from 3-7 pm at Tavern in the Gruene. There will be table games, live music, face painting, a silent auction and a food truck. (www.rivercityadvocacy.org)
Kate Gideon and Vicky Stanley returned from their Kairos prison trip April 15th. The Missions Team supported them monetarily and additionally many individuals throughout the congregation prayed for them, and baked dozens of cookies for them to share. Vicky had this to say about the experience, “The Kairos experience is a beautiful spiritual one. God is so present in that space and is felt by all. To see these women begin to believe that God does love them and forgives them is so amazing. The tears and the joy are wonderful to behold as the love is offered over and over again in God's name. I truly believe that God changes lives on these weekends. The ladies receive so much support and ongoing events to keep them moving along God's path. What amazes me is what I walk away with over and over again; stronger faith, love, caring and the honor of seeing His work.” Kate added “Our Gruene family graciously donated over 350 dozen cookies!!! We were covered in your prayers and we felt your presence the whole weekend! Having the prayer chain draped around our ladies in white and our "gathering space", seeing the names of our friends and family from Gruene was comforting and all felt the love!! We will never be able to express it in words...Church, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!” If you have ideas to share with your Missions Team, join us the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm in Steve’s Pantry or contact Pastor Aaron at aaron@grueneumc.org or Sarah Krull at srkrull4@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Missions & Muffins (M&Ms) Update THANK YOU!! to Everyone who donated and helped us with the Recycled Treasures Sale. We made about $2,000 which is a little less than previous years, but still a great help to support our Missions. Watch for our next Fundraiser coming up in October – the Fall Arts & Crafts Vendor Faire! Our May 10th meeting will be a luncheon at the home of Judy Ahrens. For more information or to join the Google Group email list, please send an email to laura.mcfall@att.net. Or you may request to join the messaging group by clicking here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/missions-and-muffins. M&Ms are now “Prime Time”! By popular request, an evening group of M&Ms has formed for those who would like to participate but are not available on Thursday morning. Prime time will meet on the THIRD Wednesday evening at 6:30pm. The next gathering will be on Wednesday, May 16th , 6:30pm, at the Gruene Haus in the Augusta Apartments. This group is being led by Kendel Marrou and Kate Gideon.
Administrative Council Meeting
Sunday, May 20th at 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 20th Gruene United Methodist Church would like to invite you and your senior to Senior Recognition Sunday on May 20th. Please send a picture and the name of the school/military branch of service they will be attending next year to Alyssa Rowe at alyssa@grueneumc.org. We will have a special time during worship service where we will celebrate and recognize their accomplishments.
Rev. Dan Harrington - Senior Pastor Dan@grueneumc.org
Brandi Carnes - Nursery Director brandi@grueneumc.org
Rev. Brock Gillman - Associate Pastor brock@grueneumc.org
Amy Howell - Children and Family Ministry Director amy@grueneumc.org
Rev. Aaron Carter - Associate Pastor aaron@grueneumc.org
Alyssa Rowe - Director of Student Ministries alyssa@grueneumc.org
Nadia Hoffman – Administrative Assistant nadia@grueneumc.org
Rebecca Goossens - GTLC Director gruenetreelearningcenter@gmail.com
2629 E. Common St. New Braunfels TX 78130 (830) 625-7200 Fax: (830) 625-7208
www.grueneumc.org OFFICE HOURS M-F, 8:30 - 4:30
SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES 8:30, 9:40 & 11:00 a.m. (Main Building) 9:50 a.m. (Motown) “Come…be you, be filled , be loved. Go…be joy, be hope, be love. Be His! ”
See What’s Happening There are so many fun and exciting groups here at Gruene! To find out what’s going on, check us out on the Gruene UMC facebook page or on our website, www.grueneumc.org.