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March 2016 Newsletter
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A Message From The Pastors
One of the signs that we are getting older is how often we use the phrase: “It wasn’t
like that when I was a kid.” The other day as we were walking through a discount
store we saw a sign which read: “Only 29 days until Easter.” It wasn’t like that when
we were kids. Sure, we had Easter baskets, egg hunts, and some candy, but we never
had Easter presents and the candy haul was in no way comparable to Halloween.
Our main problem with the commercialization of Christian holidays is the fact that
the Church loses control of the celebration; take Christmas for example. The
marketing of Christmas decorations and Christmas gifts has pushed the start of the
“Christmas season” to before Thanksgiving. As a result, the season of Advent has all
but disappeared. There are many in the church who want to sing “Joy to the World”
on the first Sunday in Advent; and as a result, by the time Christmas arrives they are
tired of the season and they are quick to push Christmas aside until next year.
As we walked past the pastel bunnies, baskets and candy it would have been easy for
us to think that Easter is upon us. In reality we still have 3 more Sundays in Lent,
plus Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services before we can start
celebrating. Yes, we know how the story ends. We know that in the end love
wins. We know that Easter will come whether or not we observe Lent. The problem
with skipping over the hard stuff and moving straight to Easter is that there is no
resurrection without death. Any Easter celebration that fails to acknowledge the
suffering and death of Jesus makes our celebration as empty as the tomb on that
fateful morning.
It’s tempting to skip the ugly parts and go straight to the good stuff, but we have to
remember that it is all good stuff. Lent is a time when we contemplate what Jesus has
sacrificed for us and a time when we consider what we will sacrifice for Jesus. Lent is
important, so don’t gloss over it. We promise Easter is coming. It simply isn’t here
yet.
Pastors Bridget and Neil
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1
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One Great Hour Of Sharing
Unfolding the Mysteries...
Join us as we continue our Lenten series!
March 6th: Blinded? Enlightened!
March 13th: Broken? Whole!
March 20th: Conflicted? Resolved!
Sunday Mornings:
9:00am
Traditional Worship
Adult Sunday School
Nursery Care (6wks.—3 years)
10:30am
Praise Worship
Adult Sunday School
Nursery Care (6wks.– 3 years)
Children’s Sunday School (Preschool-
5th Grade)
Sunday Evenings:
5:30pm
Light Supper and fellowship
6:00pm
Experiential Worship
Children’s Church
Nursery Care (6wks.– 3 years)
Maundy Thursday
Service
March 24th 6:30pm
Good Friday
Service
March 25th 6:30pm
Lent 2016
On March 6th, we will collect a special
offering for the One Great Hour o f Sharing .
This is a crucial Sunday for us because it is
the day we come together to empower our
disaster relief arm of Global Ministries,
UMCOR, for an entire year. If you remember,
When tornadoes hit Mississippi, UMCOR
was there.
When fires ravaged thousands of homes,
UMCOR was there.
When Syrian refugees needed help,
UMCOR was there
They were there because of One Great Hour
of Sharing.
This One Great Hour of Sharing covers the
operating costs of UMCOR, which allows
UMCOR to be where it needs to be, when it
needs to be there, for as long as it needs to be
there ... and allows UMCOR to funnel
earmarked donations directly to the
designated project.
Easter Flowers We invite you to “sponsor” Easter flowers! Your
gift will help to provide for all of the flowers.
Any proceeds beyond the actual cost of the
flowers will be given to our Hope Chest food
pantry ministry. Flowers can be given “in
memory” or “in celebration” of an individual or
group. Contributions can be in any amount. A
list of the sponsorships will be included in the
Easter Sunday bulletin. Please submit your
information no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday,
March 21st, in order to have your contribution
included in the list of sponsorships.
Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday, March 26th at 10:00am Find your Easter Baskets, grab your friends, and
join us for an awesome family event! Your
toddler, preschool and elementary school
children will enjoy our creative twist to the
traditional egg hunt. In addition to the egg hunt,
there will be activity stations, a photo back-drop
for families to take pictures, and more!
Adult Sunday School Classes
(currently offered) Coffee and Conversation (9:00am) in
Fellowship Hall
PG Factor (Parents Group) (9:30am) in the
Youth Lounge
Adult Forum (10:15am) in the Conference
Room
Open Door Class (10:15am) in the Parlor
People in Progress (10:15am) in Off Ct. 38/39
TNT (10:15am) in room 50/51
Valley Viewers (10:15am in room 52/53)
Go to valleyviewumc.org (programs/ministries)
for a description of each class.
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Church Life Church Life
All Church Clean Up!
Friday, March 18th
from 1:00-4:00pm
Saturday, March 19th
from 9:00am-12:00pm It's time for our Lenten
clean-up, to prepare for
guests during Holy
Week! There will be lots of
inside and outside jobs, and
jobs for all physical abilities. Let's make Valley
View shine for our Lenten visitors! If you
cannot make it on the set days, but still want to
help, stop by the office and choose a task card
to complete on your own time. Contact Tim
Williams if any questions at 913-681-1502 or
New Movie Group
Informational Meeting,
March 7th at 7:00pm Calling all movie goers! A
new group is forming of folks
that like to go to movies and
discuss them from a Christian perspective.
Join Robin and Rindy Richerson to discuss their
experience and make plans to create this group.
Candy Donations Needed! We fill over 800 Easter Eggs each year for our
Easter Egg Hunt! That is a lot of eggs, and
candy! This year’s egg hunt will take place on
March 26th. Help us fill
those eggs by donating a
bag of peanut-free candy.
Please place donation in the
baskets outside the
sanctuary.
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Special Needs Ministry
February was full of fun at Evening Care! We
started the month with our annual Super Bowl
Chili Supper. The TNT Sunday School class
helped serve our meal, and we played Super
Bowl themed games in the gym. We had a
Valentine's Dance with the Harvest Moon
Band, and our Evening Care Talent Show was a
huge hit! To remind us of warm weather in
winter, we had a luau party too! We celebrated
February birthdays and collected food for the
Hope Chest as well.
We look forward to these events in March:
March 3: BINGO!
March 10: March Madness Gym Games
March 17: St. Patrick's Celebration, Collect
canned goods for Hope Chest, March Birthdays
March 24: No Evening Care, Maundy
Thursday
March 31: Easter Egg Hunt, Spring Crafts and
Evening Care Bakery
Tone Chime Choir meets at 6:30pm each
Thursday - all are welcome to participate.
Starz Sunday School meets at 9:30 am each
Sunday in off court room 39. All are welcomed
whether you are a member of Valley View
UMC or not.
UM Women
United Methodist
Women
All women are invited. Go
to valleyviewumc.org for
additional meetings later
this month.
Joy Circle will meet on Tuesday, March 22nd
for lunch at Hy-Vee followed by an afternoon of
work in the Hope Chest. This is hosted by
Virginia Poindexter.
Monthly Meeting and Guest Speaker
Saturday, March 19th at 7:30am
Join the Valley View United
Methodist Men for breakfast and to
hear our own Dick Smith talk about
his work with the Dream Factory.
Since 1985, the Dream Factory of
Greater Kansas City has remained
dedicated to making dreams come
true for critically or chronically ill
children. As a 100 percent volunteer
organization, granting dreams is our mission;
smiling children is our vision; and in more than
two decades, our devoted volunteers and
generous business supporters have created
thousands of smiles. We are proud to say that
more than 85 percent of the funds raised or
donated to the Greater Kansas City Chapter of
the Dream Factory remain right here, granting
the dreams of deserving children in our
community.
UM Men
VBS! VBS! Do We Love It? Yes! Yes! Yes! Vacation Bible School at Valley View UMC
will take place June 6th-10th (9:00am-12:00pm)
Last year we reached over 250 children during
VBS. We need you to help us make this year
even better than last year. We need age-group
leaders and station leaders. Please consider
serving one or all of these exciting days. Contact
Janet Loos at 913-642-4400 ext. 320 or
Weekday Program Enrollment
Valley View UMC Preschool and Parent’s Day
Out enrollment for the 2016-17 school year has
started! Enrollment is on a first-come, first serve
basis. The M-W-F morning 4 year-old classes
fill up quickly. For more information, please
contact Leona Murphy at the Preschool, 649-
5897 or Shelley Dopp, with Parent’s Day Out,
383-9146.
Family Easter Worship
Sunday, March 27th We encourage families to celebrate this special
day by worshipping together as a family. There
will be no children’s Sunday school that day.
We will have activity bags for children to use
during worship. Nursery care will be provided
for children ages 3 and under.
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Children’s Ministry Student Ministry
Take Stock In Our Youth! Watch the e-new and bulletin for information
about how you can help support our youth on
their mission trip!
Study the Social Principles of the
United Methodist Church
Begins Wednesday March 16th at 10:00am
or March 17th at 6:30pm The Social Principles of The United Methodist
Church are the product of ninety-eight years of
legislative decisions made by lay and clergy
members of The United Methodist Church and
its predecessor denominations. The Social
Principles are prayerful and thoughtful efforts
on the part of many General Conferences to
speak to complex and controversial issues in
the global community from a sound biblical
and theological foundation. They are a call to
faithfulness and are intended to be instructive
and persuasive in the best of the prophetic
spirit.
The Social Principles are a call to all members
of The United Methodist Church to a prayerful,
studied dialogue of faith and
practice. Studying the Social Principles
provides opportunities to examine your own
theology and ethics and to practice
discipleship.
The study led by Pastor Bridget will begin on
Wednesday, March 16 at 10:00am and
Thursday, March 17 at 6:30pm
Social Principles Study
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Mission Opportunities
Hope Chest Food Drive The Hope Chest, our food pantry, has an
upcoming opportunity to
collect groceries from
customers at the Hy-Vee
across from the church. We
have had this opportunity
several times in the past, and
it has been tremendously
successful. Our next date is Saturday, April
23, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We will need
volunteers to help collect groceries and let the
shoppers know about the Hope Chest's
ministry by providing handouts. Sign-ups
for this mission project will be available
around the first of April. This could be a
great chance for families with young children
to help our food pantry in a small block of
time. If you have any questions about the
plans for the day, please feel free to email
Anne Marley at [email protected].
Adult Mission Trip 17 Adults are leaving for a time of mission
and service and traveling to the Chatham, IL,
Methodist Distribution Center. The group
will leave Sunday, March 13th, and return on
Thursday, March 17th. Please keep this group
in your prayers.
Save The Date
Sunday, March 6th: One Great Hour
Of Sharing special giving Sunday.
Thursday, March 24th: Maundy
Thursday, services at 6:30pm.
Friday, March 25th:
Church Office Closed
Good Friday, services at 6:30pm
Saturday, March 26th: Children's
Easter Egg Hunt, 10:00am
Sunday, March 27th: Easter Sunday!
Services at 9:00 (traditional) and 10:30
(praise).
Monday, March 28th:
Church Office Closed
Saturday April 23rd: Hy-Vee Food
Drive for Hope Chest
June 6th-10th: Surf Shack VBS!
Stay up-to-date with all events at
Valley View on our website!
Staff Information
Pastors
Rev. Neil Gately Rev. Bridget Gately
(913) 642-4400 ext. 313 (913) 642-4400 ext. 312
[email protected] [email protected]
Office Dee Hetlinger Amy Woodworth
Business Administrator Scheduling &
Administration
(913) 642-4400 ext. 310 (913) 642-4400 ext. 311
[email protected] [email protected]
Children Janet Loos Leona Murphy
Director of Children &
Family Ministry Weekday Program Director
(913) 642-4400 ext. 320 (913) 649-5897
[email protected] [email protected]
Shelley Dopp
Asst. Weekday Director
(913) 383-9146
Youth and Recreation Special Needs Ministry Jamey Bentley Angie Beck, Twylia Church,
Director of Youth
and Recreation
Ginni Duggan and
Julie Drew
(913) 642-4400 ext. 321 (913) 642-4400 ext 322
[email protected] [email protected]
Music Ray Martin Mary Haas
Worship Leader Chancel Choir
(913) 642-4400 ext. 316 (913) 642-4400 ext. 316
[email protected] [email protected]
Tina Gadwood Jan Barger
Handbells Organist
(913) 642-4400 ext. 316 (913) 642-4400 ext. 316
[email protected] [email protected]
Custodians Dave Wapelhorst Javier Ruiz
[email protected] [email protected]
Hope Chest Food Pantry
Michelle Hess
(913) 642-4400 ext. 316
From The Church Office
Worship Bulletin:
Printed Prayer List If you are hospitalized or ill
and wish to be on the printed
prayer list, please have a
family member or friend
complete a prayer card
indicating your permission, or call the church
office at 913-642-4400 and request to be put on
the printed list.
Publication
Deadlines
The March newsletter
deadline is Tuesday,
March 22nd, at 5:00pm.
The Valley View E-News
and worship bulletin
deadlines are each
Monday at 12:00pm. Please e-mail information
to Janet Loos in the church office at
Inclement Weather & Building Closings
If the Shawnee Mission School District cancels its
activities due to weather, Valley View cancels its
activities as well. Check our home page at
valleyviewumc.org or listen to the recorded
message on the main office phone (913-642-4400)
for weather related cancellations.
Valley View United Methodist Church
Purpose Statement
We are a Christ-centered community, sharing God's
love. Come as you are!
Mission Statement
Valley View United Methodist Church is a welcoming
congregation, growing in grace, being transformed by
love and serving as disciples of Jesus Christ.
