Ramona United Methodist Church
The Valley Spirit
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
August 2011
Pastor Steve’s Reflections Inside this issue: Potluck Sunday, Aug. 14th
2
UMW
2
Friendship Circle
2
Wednesday Summer Picnics
3
Fall Festival
3
SCRIP
3
News From Your Lay Leader
4
Sunday School News for August
4
Calendar/This Month’s Volunteers
6
LPLC
7
Trustees Update
7
OUR VISION: An inclusive community of faith, learning and serving for the glory of Christ.
“Wait until summer,” he said, “Things will slow down and you will have some spare time to catch up on all this work.” He was a fellow pastor and mentor of mine. I believed him. But, unless he meant next summer, or some other summer in the future, and not the last fourteen, he was wrong. Mentors aren’t always right you know. He remained a mentor to me for several more years, but not in the way you might think. It eventually evolved into a “photo negative” sort of thing in which I would pose a problem to him, he would give an answer, and I could then eliminate that suggestion from the list of options. Actually, very helpful in that way. But, that’s another story for another time.
on the sign remodel going on out by the highway. Then I came into the building and noticed the two former nursery rooms are well underway with their transformation into a meeting room and learning center. The Sunday nursery has been moved to the preschool building. In addition we have obtained an excellent price on new carpeting thoughout the sanctuary and office space and the new ductwork has been completed. Plans to upgrade the A.V. system in the sanctuary are coming along and will enable us to serve more people by providing a quality venue for our local talent and a gathering place for our community. And that’s just some of the physical stuff. There are new things going on all the time.
I am writing this after returning from a two week “vacation,” and looking at all that is going on around the church. Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening while you are in the midst of it all. It can be frustrating when you imagine that things should or could be going at a more rapid pace. But, after being away for a while, you see things with fresh eyes. It’s the old forest and trees metaphor.
Have you noticed our webpage? Every time I look at it there are noticeable improvements. We now have sermons recorded and posted, so those missing a Sunday can stay caught up. Good news for our families that may be home bound at the moment. Also, for friends and relatives that may not be able to attend on a regular basis. It is also loaded with helpful links to keep us current on not just our congregation, but on the whole United Methodist movement. We now have a very positive outreach service with our webpage.
As I returned from vacation and began to look around I could not help seeing tremendous changes for the better going on all over the place. The first thing I noticed was the sudden progress
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