Wesley United Methodist Church February 2023 Newsletter What’s Inside: Note from Pastor UMM Events UWIF Calendar & More
Note from Pastor Jana Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. It is one of my favorite seasons of the church. There have been times in my life when I have felt a flurry of emotions over things happening. Lent is a grounding season. It allows us to experience our human emotions without shame. We are able to feel and be openly vulnerable with God. It is a powerful season. Following our lectionary (The lectionary is a series of Scripture readings for specific days of the year. The United Methodist Church uses the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a three-year cycle of readings.), many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: Nicodemus comes to him in the veil of night, he approaches a Samaritan woman at a well, he heals a man born without sight. In these stories, each person is seeking a new beginning, a different life, a deeper faith. What unfolds is an exchange filled with questions and exploration. Often, an unveiling occurs—assumptions are disrupted, a new perspective is revealed, mystery grows. The sermon series is called Seeking. It is founded on questions. Many of our weekly questions feel restorative. Some feel like a charge or challenge. Some questions are hopeful and curious. Our questions won't necessarily lead to answers, but they can help us find clarity and a new perspective. Ultimately, we pray they lead to a new beginning, a restoration, a wider grace. Like the characters in our Lenten scriptures, we are also seeking many things: clarity, connection, wonder, balance. We are seeking our calling, the sacred, and how to live as a disciple. Throughout the turbulence of the past few years, many of us are asking big questions about our lives and our faith. Throughout this season, I hope you will continually ask yourself: what am I seeking? What is God seeking? This Lent, you are invited to engage in the spiritual practice of seeking. Stay curious, open, and nimble. We pray that these questions will create a safe space to explore—to be drawn more deeply into the fullness of life, into the heart of God. In Christ, Jana
We had about 40 at the Trivia Night hosted at Goddard on the 22nd. We had a lot of fun with the different questions and team names. Wesley Wanders did a great job representing Wesley UMC. The cover photo for our newsletter is a picture of Charlie with all the prizes for the night. Charlie and Genie (member at Goddard) did a great job running the answers in for all the teams. We will look at having another Trivia night in the fall sometime. It was wonderful to see all the different congregations represented.
Lent - February 22nd - April 2nd Ash Wednesday - 6:30 at Cavanaugh UMC Maundy Thursday 6:30 at Cavanaugh UMC Good Friday 6:30 at Wesley UMC Community Lenten Services begin Feb. 26th Sundays at 5:00 (More information to come) This Lent we are working on a daily devotional. This is a great way for our church to share our faith. There is a list of scriptures and sign up. The list is at the church to sign up or you can email Pastor Jana at jana.green@arumc.org to sign up. The devotions do not have to be long or super scholarly. Think of your Upper Room devotions. I am excited to journey through Lent with you all. Often we make a mess of our lives and wonder if there is any redemption. This study helps us to see our mess through the eyes of Christ to find redemption and restoration. Using Scripture, devotional tools, and the writings of Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, St. Augustine, John Wesley, Evelyn Underhill, and others, Berlin encourages reflection and meditation through our own brokenness. Only then can we focus on the cross as the place where we truly surrender control, leave our mess, and find
Planning Meeting Recap from Jan. 29th Finding and Celebrating God’s Joy We know the last few years have been difficult. We are tired and exhausted over all of the changes. We know that community was greatly missed during Covid. It’s easy to get stuck with an attitude that is of gloom. Psalm 118:24 tells us “This is the day the Lord has made; Let us Rejoice and be glad in it!” That’s what our leadership team has decided to do! We choose a theme of Finding and Celebrating God’s joy in 2023. This means we want to want to have opportunities to be in fellowship with one another. Also, it means being intentional of celebrating God’s joy as we serve our community. Some of our fellowship plans will include outreach to those in the community. That means inviting our neighbors to events, but also we will have a missional moment at some of the events as well. Go ahead and mark the dates down in your calendar. We ask one more thing of you. Please be praying over these dates. We want to grow together as a church and become a bigger light in the community. Pray for your church leadership as they plan these events. Pray that we will find God’s joy and celebrate it well.
In February, we will collect for Clearinghouse. Remember to bring your change February 5th. School will start back this month and they will need extra support. In the fall semester, we made roughly 700 bags that were distributed to Bell, Beard, Carnall, and Cavanaugh Elementary schools. Bishop Merrill Arkansas Annual Conference has received a new bishop. Bishop Laura Merrill began her position in January 2023. On Jan. 28th, there was an official installation service at Pulaski Heights UMC. Bishop Merrill is from Texas and has a great background in the church and her work. Check out arumc.org to learn more about her. In the meantime, pray for our new bishop and her leadership.
Trustees Update Worship Scriptures 2.5.23 Matthew 5:13-20 2.12.22 Matthew 5:21-37 2.19.22 Matthew 17:1-9 2.26.22 Matthew 4:1-11 Wednesdays In July 2022, we followed the Book of Discipline procedures and had approval from the District and held a charge conference. The charge conference gave an unanimous vote to sale the parsonage. Part of the reason is that we felt that future pastors would choose the Cavanaugh parsonage over ours. It was looked at the benefits of selling vs. renting. The conclusion was that in the long term, it would be better to sell. After fixing up a few minor things. We put the parsonage up for sale. After a few months, we were able to sell the parsonage. The money from that sale will go into a capital improvements fund. 20% of the proceeds will be saved for future housing needs for the pastor. Otherwise, we will be able to use funds for maintenance upkeep. Soon, you will be seeing some projects being completed around the church. This is great news for Wesley as we won’t need to tap the general fund for such repairs. Big thanks to all who made this happen.
February Calendar February 1st Bible Study In Person 12:00 (Cavanaugh UMC) Zoom at 6:30 February 5th Worship 9:30 Small Groups 10:30 February 7th February 8th Boy Scouts 6:00 - 8:00 Handbells 5:30 Choir 6:30 Bible Study In Person 12:00 (Cavanaugh UMC) Zoom at 6:30 February 12th Worship 9:30 Small Groups 10:30 February 14th Boy Scouts 6:00 - 8:00 Handbells 5:30 Choir 6:30 February 15th Bible Study In Person 12:00 (Cavanaugh UMC) Zoom at 6:30 February 16th Let’s Do Lunch (Cavanaugh UMC) 10:30-1:00 February 19th Worship 9:30 Small Groups 10:30 Sweetheart Banquet 5:30 at Cavanaugh UMC February 21st Boy Scouts 6:00 - 8:00 Handbells 5:30 Choir 6:30 February 22nd Ash Wednesday 6:30 at Cavanaugh UMC February 26th Worship 9:30 Small Groups 10:30 Lenten Community Services 5:30 February 28th Boy Scouts 6:00 - 8:00 Handbells 5:30 Choir 6:30 Prayers: Let us know how we can be praying for you. We have a prayer list that is sent out and on the bulletin. Presence: Worship Date Sanctuary Online Total Jan. 1 27 Jan. 8 36 Jan. 15 30 Jan. 22 30 Jan. 29 28 Gifts: Date 10 37 13 49 11 41 13 43 16 44 Jan. 1 $2975 Jan. 8 $7507 Jan. 15 $1780 Jan. 22 $1060 Jan. 29 $1531 Service: Worship: 9:30 Sunday school 10:30 Mission: Backpack Ministry, blessing box and more. Witness: We all have gifts to share and we are all ministers. May we go out into the world to share our love of Christ. Go forth as a witness serving Jesus and Loving Neighbors. General Missions $98
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