Wesley United Methodist Church December 2021 Newsletter What’s inside: From the Desk of Pastor Zeke Thanksgiving Celebration Missions Update
From Pastor Zeke Page 1 From the Desk of Pastor Zeke “Gifted” ‘Tis the season to figure out what gift you are going to give the significant people in your life. Are you one of those amazing gift givers? You know, the ones who have been watching and planning and inquiring so that they can find the perfect meaningful gift for someone they care about. As I reflect on all the gifts I have received in my lifetime, some of the most meaningful gifts have not been the most expensive. Mostly the most amazing gifts I have received were made by others for me or came with a meaningful story as to why that gift was given. Gift-giving comes with its share of stresses and challenges. This Advent, as we journey yet again toward the manger and celebrate the coming of the Christ-child, I want to invite you to think of God’s greatest gift to the world. Why is the gift of Jesus especially meaningful to you this year? In our world, there is so much division, frustration, anger, violence, and unrest; how can we the church offer our neighbors a different kind of gift? How do we embody Jesus to our neighbors? Christmas time is a perfect time to invite a neighbor or friend or acquaintance to church. People are more apt to attend a church service during Christmastime. I would like for each of us to invite one person to church this Advent. They may say no and that’s ok. However, what if they say yes. We are often fearful about inviting others but this Christmas I invite you to reach out to someone else. Invite them to come worship with you. Be brave and act on faith. If we all join together and do this, it holds great potential. I believe the gift of Jesus to the world is the greatest gift ever given. Jesus is the gift that never tarnishes or grows old. Jesus is the reason for the season. So may we all have the courage and the faith to invite others to experience that same extravagant gift of God’s Son. Won’t you share this gift? -Keep the Faith Strong, Zeke Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
Facility Information, UMW, Cantata Page 2 Thank you to everyone who attended the baby shower or sent gifts for Deborah, Daniel and their baby girl. Facility Information The ugly water pond has been replaced with flower bed with fall flowers and plants. A little more work to be done, then it will be finished. A reminder that the lights over the steps going down to the covered walk are on a timer. The lights under the covered walk are on a wall switch the needs to be turned on when arriving for a night meeting or activity, but turned off when you leave. Christmas Cantata Sunday December 19 during 9:30AM service. We hope to see your there! UMW is collecting scarves, hats, gloves and socks for kids in our local community who need them. You may place any you bring on the lattice in the hallway just down from the office. Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
Thanksgiving Celebration Page 3 A good time was had by all who attended the Thanksgiving gathering. It was great to see everyone there. Thank you to One Council for organizing and running the evening and to Dr. McClure for being our keynote speaker. A Christmas List with a Twist When I was a kid, I would engage in the tradition passed down from generation to generation of preparing a Christmas list for Santa of things I wanted. I long ago ceased that practice, but think maybe it’s time to embrace it again – with a twist. The twist is that my list won’t be filled with stuff I want. Rather, it will contain those things I pray others will receive. Prayers for healing for those who are ill. Prayers of hope for those who despair. Prayers for wholeness for those whose lives are broken. And prayers for all that they will come to know the Lord Jesus like they have never known him before. I wonder what might happen if you were to create your own Christmas list of prayers for others. While I’m not certain about the outcome, I know this. Life would change for a lot of people. And it would change for the better. - Bishop Mueller Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
Financial Letter Page 4 Dear Wesley Family, In this Thanksgiving season, I am so thankful for each of you and the blessing you are to me and to our church. Everyone at Wesley is an essential part of the church. I have found Wesley to be a church filled with loving, faithful Christians who welcome others with open arms. Wesley continues to be a powerful presence in our community through our work with the blessing box food, school backpack program, and community garden. We will deliver fifteen boxes of food for a Thanksgiving feast to families at Carnall Elementary. We continue to host the scouting ministries at Wesley which are a true blessing to many young people in our community. We support local and national ministries through our communion offerings. Wesley is making a difference as the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. This Sunday, November 14th, we had our first communal meal since the outbreak of Covid. It was so great to gather together as a church family and laugh and enjoy the fellowship. We continue to improve the facilities at Wesley. Most recently, we had all of the carpet in the hallways of the church and the aisles in the sanctuary cleaned. They look wonderful. These are all good things about our church of which we should be so proud. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, churches across the state have struggled in many ways. I have been so proud of Wesley for keeping the faith through this difficult time. Members of Wesley have been patient as we tried to figure out how to be the church in this moment. We are steadily coming into what will be our new normal for church. However, we have faced some loss and challenges over the past year. Since October 2020, Wesley has lost twelve faithful members. We have also not had anyone join our church in the same time. Additionally, over the last six months, our average weekly offering has been $3,008.47 while it has taken roughly $3,334.27 per week to keep the church running. These expenses include utilities, insurance, salaries, and other regular expenses from the general budget. This estimate does not include capitol improvement or other unexpected expenses. The current balances in our accounts are: General Budget Capitol Improvements Emergency Mission Memorials $4,128.45 $8,840.83 $2,748.87 $6,650.95 I give you these figures to be transparent about the financial reality of Wesley, to encourage -Financial Letter Continued on Next Page Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
Financial Letter, Advent Wreath Page 5 -Financial Letter Continued you to continue in your faithful giving, and to ask you to be in prayer for the mission and ministry of our church. You are essential part of Wesley. Thank you for your continued generosity and support. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns that you would like to discuss. Keep the Faith Strong, Rev. Zeke Allen The Advent wreath began as a German and Scandinavian home devotional practice used to mark the four weeks of Advent. Families would light a candle for each past week and the current week at their dinner or evening time of prayer. The configuration of candles, whether in a line or a circle, did not matter. Neither did the color of the candles (all colors are used in homes in Europe). What mattered was the marking of time and the increase of light each week in the face of increasing darkness as the winter solstice approached. As Advent wreaths began to be used by congregations on Sundays in some places in Europe and America beginning in the late 19th century, several adaptations were made to make them work better in public worship spaces. Candles needed to be larger and more uniform than the "daily candles" handmade or purchased for home use. They also needed to be more uniform in color to fit with other décor in the sanctuary. That is why candles used in the Advent wreath are usually purple or blue, to coordinate with color of the paraments used during this season. This shift in context from home to public use also made it important in the eyes of some for the candles to be given a meaning more that simply marking time and increasing light. This led to special ceremonies being developed for lighting these special candles each week. -Advent Wreath Cont. Next Page Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
Advent Wreath Cont. Page 6 -Advent Wreath Cont. As this practice began to catch on by the mid-twentieth century, several church supply houses who sold Advent wreaths and candles for public worship also developed resources, banners, and bulletin covers assigning a theme to each week, and thus each candle, based on scriptures from the one-year lectionaries used at that time. Those themes were Hope, Love, joy, and peace. Today, almost no one uses those one-year lectionaries, so those themes may not always fit the scriptures we hear in worship. The one exception is the Third Sunday of Advent, where the current lectionaries have continued to support the centuries old observance of "Gaudete" or "Joy Sunday." That is why church supply houses often offer rose or pink colored candles for the wreath for use on this day. So how may we talk about the meaning of the Advent wreath today? We can reclaim the original home use of marking time with the hope of increasing light as we await the return of Christ, that day when "The city no longer has need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it, because the glory of God illumines it, and its lamp is the lamb." And we can develop meanings or themes for each week based on the focus of the scriptures themselves. After all, the candles and the wreath are an accessory, not an end in themselves. Their meaningfulness comes from how we use them to point toward Christ, the world's true light, who was, and is, and is to come. REMINDER—1 Council has a meeting December 16th at 6:30 in the Win-One classroom across from the kitchen. We will reflect on a year passed & look forward to a new year. Anyone is welcome to attend 1 Council meetings. Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
Missions Page 7 Missions Don’t forget to bring in your change jars on Sunday, December 5th. All change collected that day will go to the Community Rescue Mission. Thank you to everyone who donated food items for our Thanksgiving Meal Kits. We were able to provide 15 families from Carnall Elementary food for their Thanksgiving meal. Wesley truly made a difference in so many lives in our community this Thanksgiving. Wesley UMC Newsletter December 2021
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