E-MESSENGER UNION  UNITED  METHODIST  CHURCH    

200  BROOKLINE  BLVD.    HAVERTOWN,    PA      19083  610-­‐789-­‐1700                        Fax  –  610-­‐789-­‐0136  

Unionhavertown@verizon.net        www.unionhavertown.org    

MARCH 2013

HOLY WEEK Sunday, March 24: Palm/Passion Sunday 9:45 a.m. – Sunday School 11:00 a.m. – Worship Service – Choral Cantata “Journey to the Cross” Thursday, March 28: Holy Thursday Tenebrae and Lord’s Supper 6:00 p.m. – Meal in Fellowship Hall – ALL WELCOME! 7:30 p.m. – Community Holy Thursday Worship at Union. This will be our traditional service of the Last Supper, Tenebrae and Stripping of the Altar. Friday, March 29: Good Friday 2:00 p.m. – Good Friday Worship at Llanerch Presbyterian Church. The church will be open for prayer from 12-2:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. - Community Tenebrae Worship at Temple Lutheran Church Saturday, March 30: 1:00 p.m. - EASTER EGG HUNT - Invite your friends to join you for the Easter Egg Hunt.

We’ll have a craft and story, hunt for eggs, share a snack, and have a visit from the Easter Bunny.

5:00 p.m. - Evening Praise

Sunday, March 31: Easter Sunday 7:00 a.m. - Sunrise Service in Fellowship Hall, light breakfast to follow 9:45 a.m. - Bible Study for all ages

11:00 a.m. – Easter Worship – “Why are you Weeping? Whom Do You Seek?”

MARCH WORSHIP

Friday, March 1: World Day of Prayer

1:00 p.m. - World Day of Prayer Service, Hope United Methodist Church.

Saturday, March 2: 5:00 p.m. - Evening Praise Sunday, March 3: Third Sunday in Lent 9:45 a.m. – Sunday School for all ages 11:00 a.m. – Worship Service – Holy Communion “Do You Want to Be Made Well?” Saturday, March 9: 5:00 p.m. - Evening Praise Sunday, March 10: Fourth Sunday in Lent / One Great Hour of Sharing Offering / Girl Scout Sunday / Daylight Saving Time Begins 9:45 a.m. – Sunday School for all ages 11:00 a.m. – Worship Service – “Do You Wish to Go Away?”

Saturday, March 16: 5:00 p.m. - Evening Praise Sunday, March 17: Fifth Sunday in Lent 9:45 a.m. – Sunday School for all ages 11:00 a.m. – Worship Service – “Will You Lay Down Your Life?”

12:15 p.m. – After Church Fellowship

Saturday, March 23: 5:00 p.m. - Evening Praise Sunday, March 24: Passion/Palm Sunday

9:45 a.m. – Sunday School for all ages 11:00 a.m. – Worship Service – Choral Cantata “Journey to the Cross

Thursday, March 28: HOLY THURSDAY 6:00 p.m. – Fellowship Meal in Fellowship Hall PLEASE BRING A COVERED DISH TO SHARE 7:30 p.m. – Holy Thursday Community Worship, at Union

Saturday, March 30: 1:00 p.m. - EASTER EGG HUNT 5:00 p.m. - Evening Praise

Sunday, March 31: Easter Sunday 7:00 a.m. - Sunrise Service in Fellowship Hall, light breakfast to follow 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School for all ages 11:00 a.m. – Easter Worship – “Whom Do You Seek?”

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EASTER LILIES ORDER FORM If you would like to present a plant as a memorial on Easter Sunday, March 31, please complete the form and enclose with your payment. The cost this year is $8.50 each. Please make check payable to "Union Methodist Church" and note it for "Easter Plants" ... also include your envelope number if you have one. DEADLINE FOR

ORDERING IS SUNDAY, March 17th

RETURN TO THE CHURCH OFFICE. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I would like: #___________ Easter Lilies Total amount enclosed $____________ My envelope number is #____________ Presented to the Glory of God in memory / honor of: ____________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ As a gift from: ___________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _____ I will pick it up after the Easter Sunday Worship Service. _____ Please give my plant where it will bring cheer.

FROM THE PASTOR:

“Questions, Questions…How Do You Answer?” We’ve noted that Jesus often answered a question with a question. Now, I’m sure, that was somewhat frustrating to the one who was asking, but there was surely a reason for that. It seems that in most cases, Jesus was redirecting the questioner to that which was most important. I also think that Jesus knew that, with His guidance and direction, we would find a lot of answers within ourselves. Perhaps you’ve noticed that in this Lenten season, we have been considering the questions of Jesus from John’s Gospel. It’s an interesting exercise to look through all of the Gospels and make note of the many questions that Jesus asked. There are

20+ questions in John’s Gospel alone. We can’t get to all of them, but these are questions that help us on the path of life and faith. I believe that they are good Lenten questions, for it is in this season that we especially consider our walk with Jesus and what that means in the living of our days. I’ll give you a couple of my questions that I hope we can take some time in the future to explore together. I think, in fact, that these will make good Eastertide questions as we live out the joy and the promise that is life in the Lord now and for always. Here are my questions. Maybe you could make note of your responses. I would love to talk with you about these!

What life lessons have I learned? Where do I see God in my daily journey?

Please join us for worship this month. We are strongest when we are a family, whole and serving our God together! When you are not here, you are missed. Lenten Blessings to all, Pastor Mary Jane

YOU ARE ALL IN MY PRAYERS ON THIS …….

YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY NEWS MARCH 2013 FROM OUR YOUTH COORDINATOR, TIMOTHY WOTRING: After Jesus rebuked his disciples who were blocking people from bringing their children to see Jesus, he said, “‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” This verse helped me develop my own style of youth ministry: listening, learning, and relearning everything that I have been taught through interacting with children. At Union I have been blessed to work with these youth and children as we strive for God’s Kingdom. In February our Children’s Ministry, UH3 was re-introduced at Union. We met after church the first Sunday and affirmed the mission of the group was to give elementary aged children a chance create projects for those in our community as well as participating in fun activities. So far, we went bowling and had a blast. For March, we are meeting on March 2nd at 1:30pm to bake treats for the dogs at the SPCA. Then on the 16th also at 1:30pm, we are going to personally deliver them to the SPCA. We are doing projects with the SPCA because if God cares about creation, so should we.

The Middle Schoolers still meet every Wednesday night for Youth Group. We are still learning what it means to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom through discussion, games, and prayer. We meet at 7:30pm until 8:30pm. Let the Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers in your life know about what’s happening at Union!

Events: 2nd UH3 meeting at 1:30pm 17th Gretna Glen Free Night for Youth, Leave Union at 3:45 p.m. 16th UH3 meeting at 1:30pm 30th Easter Egg Hunt at 1:00 p.m. and…. a Holy Saturday Fire Pit Celebration with BBQ at 7:00pm

Grace Brogan Matthew Shaw Lindsay Brogan Sue Owen Betty Parsons Yuki Ishida Anita Radke Edythe Flanagan Joan Consul Caroline Schaible Matthew LaDue Herman Kirby George Keller Mary Hankins Doris DuVal Joy Bennett Jim Brodie Daniel LaDue Janet Tyler Lois Flounders Stephanie Brunelli               MEETINGS Thursday, March 7 (7:00 p.m.) Stewardship Task Force Tuesday, March 12 (7:00 p.m.) Trustees Thursday, March 14 (7:00 p.m.) Worship Committee Monday, March 18 (7:00 p.m.) Leadership Team

WEDNESDAY MORNING

BIBLE STUDY HAS RESUMED!

All are invited to a study of James from 10 – 11:30 a.m. in the church lounge.

COMMUNITY DINE

AROUND 2012-2013

Cost: $7.00. Please make your reservation by calling Pastor Mary Jane by the Wednesday prior to the luncheon.

Second Mondays, 12:00 Noon Luncheon dates: March 11 - Annunciation BVM Church April 8 - Union UM Church May 13 - Temple Lutheran Church June 10 - St. James UCC

MESSENGER SPONSOR Please consider being a sponsor for the Messenger. Sponsors cover the expenses related to printing and mailing the Messenger ($100), so that we can share church news with visitors, friends and neighbors, as well as church members. If you would like to sponsor a future edition, contact Barbara Drake or the church office.

BLESSINGS ON YOUR BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to the following people with March birthdays: Bev Schmitt 03/03 Hannah Shappell 03/05 Richard Shappell 03/05 Sue Copple 03/07 Stacy Martin 03/31

If we have missed your birthday, we apologize. Please call the church office to add your birthday to the list.

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

Fri. March 1 – World Day of Prayer. The worship service, planned by women of France and observed around the world, will be held at 1 pm at Hope UMC, Havertown. Sat. March 9 - Spiritual Life Retreat Our District event is at St. Matthew’s UMC in Valley Forge from 9 am – noon. The program features Sharon Hachtman and Barbara Skarbowski sharing their work as deaconesses in this 125th year anniversary of deaconess work in Methodism. Tues. March 12 – Noon lunch & Program Share a simple lunch of soup and bread as we focus on the United Methodist Women’s Call to Prayer and Self Denial.

Sat. March 30 – 1 pm Easter Egg Hunt Come help the children with crafts and enjoy watching them hunt for eggs. Donations are needed: plastic eggs filled with candies or just candy to fill the eggs saved from last year plus cookies and juice. Helpers are needed to set up at 10:30. Looking ahead April 6 - Mission Celebration at Olivet UMC, Coatesville 9-4. April 21 – Sunday evening 6 pm covered dish supper and mission program. May 11 – Flea Market May 14 – Buffet lunch and presentation by Rev. David Ryan on Congo Partnership. June 6 – Strawberry Festival

Lenten Food for Thought Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, the largest relief organization in the history of the world, has shared the following thoughts in his book, The Hole in Our Gospel. Being a follower of Jesus Christ requires much more than having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world. If our personal faith in Christ has no positive outward expression that shows Christ’s love to those around us, it has a hole in it. The “whole gospel” as described in Luke 4 and Matthew 25 involves preaching the good news to the poor, showing compassion to those in need and working for justice for all of God’s children. If every American churchgoer tithed, we could literally change the world because we would have the money to end extreme poverty, provide primary education for all children, bring clean water to the world’s poor, and provide basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world. Imagine how stunning it would be to the watching world if American Christians gave more than all the governments of the world combined because they took Jesus seriously when he said to love our neighbors as ourselves.

STAFF

PASTOR. . . . . . . . . . . . .MARY JANE KIRBY MINISTER OF MUSIC . . . . .YUKIKO ISHIDA ORGANIST . . . . . . . . . . .JOSE MELENDEZ YOUTH & FAM. MINISTRIES. . . . . TIMOTHY WOTRING TREASURER. . . . .. . . . . . . . TOM McALPIN CHURCH SECRETARY . . .CYNTHIA L. KLINE MESSENGER EDITOR . . . .BARBARA DRAKE

MISSION AND OUTREACH

One Great Hour of Sharing The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is dedicated to alleviating human suffering in the U.S. and around the world by providing

humanitarian relief when war, conflict, or natural disasters disrupt life so much that communities are unable to recover on their own. In addition, UMCOR is involved in development work addressing health, sanitation, poverty, and sustainable agriculture. Each year on the 4th Sunday of Lent, we participate in the One Great Hour of Sharing. The gifts received in this offering make it possible for UMCOR to be ready to help when needs arise, and enable UMCOR to devote 100% of donations designated for a specific purpose to be used to meet those needs. Our One Great Hour of Sharing offering will be received on March 10. To find out what UMCOR has done recently, you can go to www.umcor.org. General Board of Global Ministries Since 2008, our United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) has helped to organize 574 new worshipping communities worldwide. Thomas Kemper, General Secretary of GBGM, reports that this far exceeded the goal of 400 new churches in 4 years. Our giving to our Connectional Ministries apportionment has helped to start these churches in Honduras, Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Mongolia, Nepal, Senegal, Malawi, Latvia, and Lithuania, to name a few of the places where people are hearing the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time.

Mission Celebration On April 6, we all have the opportunity to meet and thank missionaries who have taken the message of Jesus around the world. The mission celebration will be held at Olivet UMC in Coatesville from 9-4. This event is co-sponsored by the Conference Mission Committee, led by Rev. David Davis, and our Conference United Methodist Women. Our church will be recognized for being in a covenant relationship with Becky Parsons, our missionary in Roanoke, Virginia. In past years we had that covenant relationship with Steve and Debbie Wolford, and through personal contact with them when they were on furlough from Zaire, we learned much about the aviation ministry in Africa. We look forward to the time when Becky can come to share with us what is happening in the poverty-stricken areas of Roanoke. If you can’t get to Coatesville on April 6, plan to attend the covered dish supper and mission program at Union on April 21, when Barbara Drake will share highlights from the Mission Celebration. Interfaith Hospitality Network Delaware County IHN is in the midst of a time of intensive recruiting of new churches to serve as hosts and reviewing and updating all policies and procedures to be sure they are in agreement with the National Family Promise guidelines. If you have any suggestions for improving the program, talk to our coordinator Bev Kester or Board members Mary Jane Kirby and Barbara Drake. Union’s next hosting time will be the week of April 28. Donations are always welcome to help move families with children out of homelessness.

BULLETIN SPONSORS

NEEDED! The cost is $10. per week. You may choose to sponsor the bulletins in memory of a loved one, in honor of someone, or in thanksgiving for a blessing; whatever you choose! You will be sent the bulletin in the mail with a note for payment. Please sign up on the pages in the narthex. There are plenty of Sundays available.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER World Day of Prayer Service, Hope United Methodist Church, Friday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m. This year’s country is France. This is a vital time of worship for our Church and Community. If you would like to participate in the worship time, please talk to Pastor Mary Jane.

GIRL SCOUT SUNDAY After you are done eating those last cookie crumbs from the Girl Scout thin mints, bring your thanks and welcome to the Girl Scouts on Sunday, March 10. We will be honoring past and present Girl Scouts and Brownies in our 11am worship service. If you have memorabilia from your days as a Girl Scout or Brownie, be sure to wear them or bring them with you to share in the service of celebration.

It’s that time again. This year Daylight Savings Time begins on March 10th. Don’t forget to set your clocks one hour ahead on Saturday night, March 9th.

WHEN IS THAT WII WINTER OLYMPICS?

Well, this year it is actually going to be held in the spring! We will hold a Wii Olympics on Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m., so save the date!

HEALTH MINISTRY

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Have you had a colonoscopy in the last 5-10 years? Finding polyps before they become cancerous is life saving.

BOOK SIGNING! You are invited to a book signing and talk about the exciting new resource, A New New Testament, edited by Hal Taussig. To be released on March 5, Dr. Taussig will speak and sign copies of the book at St. Luke Church in Bryn Mawr on Thursday, March 14th at 7:30 pm. Please pass on this information to interested friends and colleagues. This event is sponsored by the United Methodist Churches of the Main Line and Havertown.

The Son of Jerusalem (Isaiah 53)

Up springs the sainted sapling, Rising out of ragged root, Planted in an arid land, Neglected as naught, They despise, reject him— Such little account, And wound him—for us. He makes us whole, Brings us Shalom, Saves us from ourselves. What insult does he suffer? What judgment will he know? What grave will hinder him? What justice takes him home? The Light beams forth from darkness— No sin can thrive For Jesus lives As Savior for all. --Bunnie Bryant

One of the most vital questions that we are asked is: Do I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior? And then: Will I unite with His Church to honor and

serve Jesus and this world? If you have been attending Union and have not become a member of this faith community, please know that you are most welcome to unite with this fellowship. New member classes will be held soon. Please speak to the pastor today and let her know of your interest. We will find the best time for our get-together!

Please attend the Faith Sharing Training and

Rally on March 9! KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. H. Eddie Fox is the Executive Director of the World Methodist Evangelism Institute. LOCATION: Bethany United Methodist Church (1208 Brookside Road, Allentown, PA 18106) Schedule 8:30 a.m. - Registration & Coffee 9:00 a.m. - Training 1:30 p.m. - Rally COST: $10/person including all materials & boxed lunch.

WORSHIP AT DUNWOODY:

March 24 Pastor Mary Jane will be leading worship at Dunwoody Village on Sunday, March 24 at 2 p.m. If you would like to attend with her and offer support from our church family and if anyone would like to come along and read scripture or sing a solo, please speak to her ahead of time.