Wesley United Methodist Church June 2022 Newsletter The very last What’s inside: “From the Desk of Pastor Zeke” Churchwide UMM Golf Scramble Informational on Disaffiliation
From Pastor Zeke Page 1 From the Desk of Pastor Zeke Thankful “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” -Colossians 3:12-15 I’m not great at goodbyes. One would think that being a UMC pastor would eventually, after enough moves, make it easier- but it doesn’t. It has been such an incredible privilege to serve alongside the people of Wesley UMC in the last four years. I have tried to serve and lead with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,” just as it mentions in Colossians 3. However, I have left many things undone and made my share of mistakes and missteps along the way. For those things, I ask for your forgiveness. Ministry has its share of blessings, burdens and comes at great cost many times. I am so grateful for the grace and love many of you have extended to me these years together. As I have reflected on our time together, a lot has happened in four years. Wesley held a mortgage burning to celebrate paying off the debt. We endured a global pandemic as a result of Covid-19, which would take the lives of a few of our members. In addition, many other long-time, faithful members of Wesley have gone on to glory joining the church triumphant and that has been terribly difficult for all of us. Wesley has engaged in meaningful mission including the building of the community garden on the Carnall Elementary campus; providing food for hungry school children at Carnall, Beard, and Cavanaugh Elementary through the backpack program; distributing fresh produce throughout town from our Farmer’s Market ministry; and giving funds to various local mission organizations around town through our communion offerings- to name a few. Wesley has endeavored and completed many wonderful projects to improve the church, including: a complete landscape overhaul; new carpet, tile, and blinds in the entryway and foyer of the sanctuary; Wesley UMC Newsletter June 2022
Pastor Zeke Cont. Page 2 Pastor Zeke Continued refurbished bathrooms in both main buildings; new roof, new blinds in the Fellowship Hall, Win One Class, Children’s Class, and Gleaners Class; new carpet, paint and blinds in the pastor’s office; and all the carpet cleaned throughout the church. One of my greatest regrets is that I was not able to lead in a way that saw Wesley grow in numbers and members. However, I celebrate what I believe is considerable spiritual growth within the people of Wesley. I have seen roots of faith deepen within the folks of Wesley as we have sought to better understand who we are in light of God and who we are to be in this world. I delight in the diversity of belief and theological views within the church family. I believe we are a good cross-section of faith within our denomination and that is to be celebrated. So for all of these things, I am incredibly thankful. Thank you for the privilege of being your pastor these past four years. Know as I leave later this month and prepare for my next charge that my heart is both full and empty- full of gratitude and love from each of you and empty knowing I have to say goodbye to so many people I have grown to love and adore. I will be in prayer for Wesley and for Jana Green as she leads you. Whatever the future holds, I ask you to please, now and always, keep the faith strong. -Zeke Cavanaugh Elementary School presented Zeke with this wonderful appreciation award for his ministerial contributions to the students at Cavanaugh Elementary over the past 4 years. Wesley UMC Newsletter June 2022
UMM Golf Scramble Page 3 UMM Golf Scramble There were 24 participants for our second golf outing. We are growing this event every time we do it. We do not focus so much on “who’s the best, lowest scores, best clubs, balls or material objects of the game” but focus on enjoying each others fellowship, encouragement and what God has allowed us to share while we are in this world. Therefore, everyone is a winner while playing golf with us! Our rules aren’t necessarily aligned with the USGA or R&A, but rather WWJD. We had a great time not only getting to play golf, but even better—sharing in a fish fry with all the fixins, plus wonderful desserts: blackberry cobbler (Prepared by Wesley’s Joe Collinson) and coconut cream pie (furnished by the ladies of Cavanaugh). Yum! We thank Suzanne Gibson and Carrie Miller for handing the beverage carts, keeping us hydrated and all others helping with the fish fry. Closest to the hole winners were Dale Dunn, Billy Higgins, and Blanche West. Team Scores: • • • • • • 57 — Dale and Edith Dunn, Denver and Shyla Dunn 58 — Mike Gibson and Billy Higgins, Chistopher Welch and Steve Christian 60 — Buddy and Janie Allen, Blanche West and Paul Vieth 60 — Zeke and Zeb Allen, Chris and Gladys Rink 64 — Jack and Charlotte Godfrey, Joe and Twana Collinson 70 — Justin and Ben Cates, Jeff and Renee Black Let’s do this again in the Fall! - Steve Christian Wesley UMC Newsletter June 2022
UMM Golf Scramble Page 4 Wesley UMC Newsletter June 2022
Open Meeting Page 5 Wesley & Cavanaugh Open Meeting Wednesday, June 8th, 6:00PM Wesley Fellowship Hall There will be a video message from Bishop Gary Mueller on the “Current Landscape and Options for the Future” within the United Methodist Church. Pastor Zeke will have a question and answer portion to hopefully be able to answer any questions you have. We hope you can attend. Annual Conference 2022 Zeke, Carrie Miller, and Renee Black all attended Annual Conference in Hot Springs June 1-4. The theme this year was Reset, Repair, Renew. Many great discussions were had concerning the future of the UMC, we heard some great reports on all the amazing things going on within the Arkansas Conference and we passed a resolution concerning Responsible Fire-Arm legislation. A copy of the resolution will be sent to U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Little Rock; U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Rogers; U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro; U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock; U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, RRogers and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, RHot Springs. If you would like to know more about the resolution, Arkansas Online has a story (www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/ jun/04/methodists-ask-arkansas-congressional -delegates/) It was a wonderful few days of great discussion, fellowship and learning. The trip was capped off by attending the Running of the Tubs tub races. Wesley UMC Newsletter June 2022
Missions Page 6 Missions Farmers Market - A HUGE thank you to Billy Higgins for taking over the responsibilities of coordinating Farmers Market pickup this summer. I know that this mission is in GREAT hands and I am so thrilled to know that it is continuing. Pickup and sorting kicked off June 4th at Wesley. They delivered fresh produce to 10 Blessing Boxes around Fort smith. Billy said they revisited 4 of the boxes later that evening and each of them were empty so there is most definitely a want and a need for fresh produce in our community. If you would like to help pickup, sort or deliver please get with Billy Higgins from Wesley or Carolyn Ratterree from Cavanaugh. Sorting location Schedule: June 11 — Cavanaugh June 18 — Wesley June 25 — Cavanaugh - Carrie Wesley UMC Newsletter Community Garden - The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance planted watermelons at our community garden at Carnall Elementary. They should be ready for harvesting mid to late July so everyone be on the look out for harvesting information within the next couple of months. ZEKE’S LAST SUNDAY IS JUNE 12TH. Please join us for his last worship service at Wesley at 9:30am, then say your “until we see each other agains” at a pot-luck in honor of Zeke at Cavanaugh UMC at 11:30. There will be a box for each family to give him a farewell/good luck card. June 2022
Shoal Creek Camp Page 7 Wesley UMC Newsletter June 2022
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