The Spire (October 2015) by Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church

October 2015

Issue 1

The Spire A People Place If this is not a place where tears are understood Where can I go to cry? If this is not a place where my questions can be asked Where can I go to seek? If this is not a place where my heart cries can be heard Where can I go to speak? If this is not a place where I can try to learn and grow Where do I go to just be me? If this is not a place where my spirit can take wing Where do I go to fly?

Kinda Like Drinking From a Fire Hose In my very first letter, I want to express to you, The Mt. Pleasant community, something I’m afraid my words cannot adequately convey, my deep sense of gratitude and thanksgiving for how well we have been received, welcomed, and embraced by this church family. We arrived in July with a lot of hopes and boxes, and quite a few questions and fears as to how we would be received especially when following a long tenure by Kevin and Kim. But we soon learned MPC is a different kind of place. It is a place that is incredibly patient as we struggle to learn, remember and properly pronounce people’s names. It is a place that is homey, warm and inviting as people opened their homes to us, shared their laughter and their family stories with us and even included us in special family events. It is a place with a noble purpose, a place where people with deep wounds are able to share their hearts openly as if among friends, and a place of the unquenchable faith from those who have overcome their own demons and now bringhealing and hope to others. Yes I realize it’s only been three months, but speaking for the both of us, it feels like we’ve come home. There is a Greek proverb that says, “Kindness begets kindness.” I believe your kindness to us gave us the confidence to welcome Celina Jensen, an exchange student from Denmark, into our home. I can’t help but wonder what Celina will receive and take home with her. When we first arrived we heard a lot of great stuff about the difference MPC people make in the community and the district. But I’ve learned that people often describe their church and faith work in very glowing terms because they’re either ashamed of the truth or they simply want to tell you what they think you want to hear. The first thing a pastor really needs to do then is separate fact from fiction. Strangely enough, I was given a rare glimpse into the REAL spirit of the church when on July 12th the church responded to the flood in Lincolnshire. In the days and weeks that followed, it became obvious that what I had heard about MPC was greatly understated. When people are in crisis mode, there isn’t time to debate the merits of helping or to seek the advice of authorities. You either know it or you don’t. In an emergency, our true values, attitudes and beliefs really come out. The response from MPC was automatic, deliberate and generous, a natural expression of a healthy faith community. There is so much to say about this, about the people who worked so well together and about the out pouring of time and money that I do not have enough space to capture it all. It is yet another example of the MPC difference. In this my first newsletter, I have tried to convey my appreciation for all you have done for us, my amazement and awe at what you do for others and my excitement at the future we can create together. Pastor Steve

Curtis Dickson and Ruth Fox will be joined in Holy Matrimony on October 9, 2015 at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church

October 1—DerekMoore, Bob Winebrenner October 2—Barbara Pifer October 3—Susie Burge October 4—Barbara Bargeloh, Linda Duckworth October 6—Alec Grygiel October 7—Nathan Grygiel October 8—Tracy Morris, Jay Henry, Joyce Jarrell-Hicks October 9—Polly Province October 10—Melissa Tornabene October 11—Randy Smith October 15—Doris Cook, Jill Fox, Zach Milton October 16—Rich Davis, Allie Moore October 18—Deloris Cox, Patrick Heavner, Robin Morris October 20—Sean Gallager, Dana Whited October 21—Brendan Schwendeman October 22—Bob George October 23—Karen Post, Gina Starkey October 26—John Morris October 27—Matt Moore September 2 — Mark & Shannon Dugan September 4—Frank & Jeanne Hughes September 8—Scott & Teresa Haverty September 4—Frank & Jeanne Hughes September 9—Bob & Jenny Criss, Chad & Timara Smith September 21—Jon & Dana Mader

Jeanne Dye Diemma Parker Ralph Somerville

Community Meal Service Program ….

We are women with a Purpose! "United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church. Mt. Pleasant Church United Methodist Women provide opportunities and resources to grow spiritually, become more deeply rooted in Christ and put faith into action. The United Methodist Women’s Reading Program encourages members to think critically about current issues through an annual selection of member-reviewed books. It offers an excellent opportunity to deepen your spirituality and to broaden your understanding of our mission work. Our meetings begin with a program of devotion and prayer. We discuss how we can support our local,

I would like to take a moment and share with you about our “Community Meal Service Program”. The program is an extension of our work with the Mid-Ohio Valley Adult Drug Court. The program offers opportunities for drug court participants to be part of a culinary team that is responsible for comprehensive food services at community meal events. The benefits of the program for the participants are: 1. Earn credit toward Drug Court fees 2. Receive training and work experience 3. Obtain Food Handlers card 4. Engage the community in a positive way St. Paul’s United Methodist Church of Parkersburg provides a community meal and worship service every Sunday afternoon. We discovered that they needed help preparing and serving the meals. Our group began proving the food service twice a month back in March of this year. We have since taken on a 3rd Sunday and are scheduled through the end of the end and the first quarter of 2016. The group also provided food service for the Community meal on May 30, 2015 here at Mt Pleasant Church. And to date there have been well over 500 meals served, over 600 volunteer and participant hours given, and close to $1000 has been credited to participants drug court fee’s. If you are interested in being part of the culinary team,

national and global ministries. Our yearly fundraisers have supported the purchase of new tables and chairs for the Fellowship Hall and needed items for the kitchen. It also has provided support to the Nicaragua Mission, Old Mutare Mission Outreach in Zimbabwe; Compassion Child Ministries; The House of the Carpenter; ing disaster relief buckets; and providing assistance to those in need. We also sponsor events to promote fellowship such as our Friendship Tea and Spring Fling Ladies Banquet. There are also opportunities available to participate in the Spiritual Growth Retreat; Day Apart; Fall District United Methodist Women’s meeting; and Fall State United Methodist Women’s ConferMembership is open to all women of our Church. We welcome any new ideas and suggestions and hope you will be able to join us at our next meeting on Tuesday, October 13, at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Sunday Morning Worship 8:15 am and 10:45 am

304-489-1965

SundaySCHOOL Time 9:30 am for all ages 0-3 Year olds ~Nursery Preschool~Rm#103 1-3 Grades~RM#101 4-5th Grades~Rm#E-3 Middle School~Rm#E-1 Senior High~Youth Room Adult Classes—Conference Room, Rm#104, Rm#107

Place

ence.

SERVICE TIMES and

Contact Info

Celebration of Mission Event; purchasing and prepar-

Mission Moment

from Genesis to Revelation in 24 Weeks! Join us as we learn together!

SAK PAK This is our 2nd year serving Mineral Wells School. Our list this year consists of 77 students, 40 siblings, and 53 families. Our budget is still $5.00 per child per weekend. The Energy Express collected over 6,300 items with an estimated value of $2,400.00. Thanks to Cassie Hitt for talking to Connie Dellinger and organizing such a terrific fundraiser. This was a community service project in which several volunteers went to local businesses and collected food. On September 12, the 1st Annual Golf Tournament was held. We received a profit of $2,800. It was a wet and drizzly day but the golfers played and had a good time. We had 32 golfers…15 golfers were not from our church. This opened communication to others about our SAK PAK program. One golfer who was not in the tournament asked why we were there and then gave us a donation. Thanks to all the volunteers that spent the day helping with this tournament. A special thank you to Doug Williams and Josh Dellinger for all the time and energy they spent working on this project. I would not have been able to do it without them, since I know nothing about golf. I am excited to say there will be another golf tournament next year. We received a $2,000.00 grant from the Sisters Health Foundation. Thanks to our grant writer, Melissa Tornabene. She worked hard at filling out forms and more forms for several grants to help with this worthwhile project. The next fundraiser will be the “Fall Festival” at Mineral Wells School on November 14, selling Rada cutlery. I have knives in stock if you need something just contact me. This is an ongoing fundraiser. Christmas Ornaments will also be available. More about that at a later date. If you have an idea for a fundraiser please let me know. I am always looking for something new. There is an L dollar series collection. Look at your dollar bills. Each one is marked with a letter. We collect the “L series” for Lunch SAK. You can put those in one of the manila envelopes in the back of the pew or in the little church box on the Welcome Center. It takes $5.00 per child per weekend. With 117 children it costs $585.00 per weekend or $2,340.00 a month. We have already used all the food collected from Energy Express. We meet every other Wednesday to fill bags for the children. There are several volunteers that help sort, count and fill bags. We have regular volunteers and some that come when they can. Some come for community volunteer hours and others come to have fun and fill the need in our school. I want to take this time to thank each and every one that has helped pack, donated money, helped with a fundraiser, made dinner, donated food for the teachers, and prayed for SAK PAK. The families that I have met have been touched and blessed by this program. Our October pack schedule is October 7, and 21. Come, fellowship, eat, pack and pray for our families. We sort and count at 4:30, eat at 5:30, pack at 6 and are generally finished by 7:15.

Sherry Hinton

Join us for the Harvest Festival … October 25th, 5:00-8:00 p.m. Bring your favorite Chili Recipe and Pumpkin Recipe to be judged! The Pumpkin Recipe could be a dessert, main dish or side dish. Be creative! There will be games and crafts for the kids including Decorate a Pumpkin Contest ...White Elephant Bingo for adults. (Bring a gift in a bag…it can be something funny, a prank, etc.) An Adult Fall Centerpiece Contest. The dinner menu will be: Chili, crackers, peanut butter sandwiches, vegetables and dip, pumpkin desserts. Everyone is Welcome! Come enjoy the fun and fellowship!

WALK FOR LIFE Walk For Life is a fund raiser for the Women’s Care Center , a non-profit, pro-life organization sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in everything they do. The Center provides free pregnancy testing, options education, ultrasounds, physician referrals, programs to avoid at-risk sexual behavior, testing/treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, baby items and equipment until the child turns one year of age. Will you prayerfully consider supporting the 2015 Walk for Life on October 18th at Parkersburg City Park? Lunch and registration will be ongoing between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Entertainment will be provided and a testimony from a client will proceed the 2-mile walk . Walk so others can say, “Thanks to the Women’s Care Center’s help, I got to meet my daughter (or son) early this afternoon. She’s changed my life.” Walk for Life Pledge Forms are available at the Welcome Center. There’s no need to collect money. Just write down the mailing information for all of your sponsors and we’ll send a pledge reminder to them. Can’t make it on Walk day? Walk on your own another day and submit your pledge form to us. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Jane Carder ~ 304-489-2199. Mt. Pleasant UMC walkers raised $1,295.00 last year. Let’s do even more this year! May God bless the 2015 Walk for Life!

Weekly Happenings Mon-Fri 9:00 am-Noon Monday 9:00 am Wednesday 10:00-Noon 6:30 pm 6:30 pm Thursday 10:00 am 6:00-7:30 pm 6:00 pm 6:30 pm Friday Sunday

10:00-Noon 6:00 pm 7:00 pm

Monthly Gatherings 1st Monday 7:00 p.m. Tuesdays 6:30 pm 2nd Tuesday

7:00 pm

Preschool Weight Watchers Food Pantry S.T.O.M.P. Youth Sanctuary Choir Women’s Bible Study Food Pantry Cub Scouts Boy Scouts Praise Team Food Pantry Rising Stars S.T.O.M.P. Youth Trustees Addiction Recovery Prayer Group United Methodist Women

Special Happenings October 7th Special Speaker for SAK PAK 7:00 pm October 9th

October 28th 5:00-8:00 pm

Ruth Fox and Curtis Dickson will be united in Holy Matrimony Harvest Festival

Join us at Mt. Pleasant UMC every Friday at Noon (or pause wherever you may be) as we pray for our Nation and its Leaders!

FROM THE TRUSTEES .After the flood. The flood relief efforts are winding down. We are cleaning up the church and putting things back where we think they belong. Thanks for all your help and although we are getting back to “normal”, let us not forget those that were directly affected. Their struggles will continue. In June, we painted most of the parsonage and replaced all of the carpet. Several projects left to finish within the next month: Blinds for the front windows, replace doors in the sunroom and adjust the back steps. Work on the kitchen here at the church took a break during the flood relief. We will be finishing the wall behind the stove, putting up racks, hooking up the threebay sink and installing a stainless steel countertop on the island. Within the next couple of months, key access to the church will be changing. Information will be forth coming prior to the changes. It’s that time of year again. Nominations for committee positions. This may be hard to believe, but only three lucky members will be appointed to the Trustee class of 2017. There is also a forth opening (One year remaining Class of 2015). So, get your name in early and join the Mt. Pleasant Trustees. Thanks,

Greg Cappadona

College Care Packages Schedule … We will be sending our first Care Pages of $10 Gift Cards to our College Students October 4th. We have 18 students this year. If you would like to participate, you may give your donations to Daneen Moore or the church office. The students names and addresses are available at the Welcome Center. If you would like to send them a card any time to let them know you are thinking of them and praying for them I’m sure they would appreciate it. October 4th

$10 Gift Cards

November 29th

Box of goodies ~ brownies, cookies, etc. for finals

February 7th

$10 Gift Cards

April 17th

Box of goodies ~ brownies, cookies, etc. for finals

PLEASE put these dates on your calendars and help support our college kids. SPECIAL THANKS to all those that participate!

Daneen Moore

with Style!

Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church P.O. Box 37 Mineral Wells, WV 26150 Return Service Requested

October Greeters 8:15 am Worship Service October 4 ~ Dave & Betty Jo Pryce Morehead October 11 ~ Bob & Debbie Sheppard October 18 ~ Eddy & Ruth Ann Sheppard October 25 ~ Kelly Sheppard

10:45 am Worship Service October 4 ~ Jim Bennett and Lisa Smith October 11 ~ Chris, Brenda and Ian McKnight October 18 ~ Jon & Dana Mader October 25 ~ Cathy Barker and Lisa Smith

October Acolytes 10:45 am Worship Service October 4 ~ Addison Deems Abby Francisco October 11 ~ Garrett Cline Lucie Cline October 18 ~ Cameron Fallon Chase Offenberger October 25 ~ Bryce Smedley Olivia Smedley