Laity Sunday October 19th is Laity Sunday, where

we remind ourselves that ALL believers are ministers. Look for special ways this Sunday that we put our ordinary church people into leadership roles. This is a good way to re-mind us that Christ never meant for praying, caring and leading to be done only by the professionals. Consider this quote from Henri J.M. Nouwen: “It is important to realize that you cannot get a Ph.D. in caring, that caring cannot be dele-gated by specialists, and that therefore no-body can be excused from caring. Still, in a society like ours, we have a strong tendency to refer to specialists. When someone does not feel well, we quickly think, 'Where can we find a doctor?' When someone is confused, we easily advise him to go to a counselor. And when someone is dying, we quickly call a priest. Even when someone wants to pray we wonder if there is a minister around.”

Worship in October

Oct 5 “Friends In Need” Mark 8:1-9 Holy Communion Oct 12 “Up in the Clouds” Mark 9:2-8 Oct 12 Community Taize’ Service here in the Chapel 7pm Oct. 19 “Choices of the Rich and Famous” Mark 10:17-23 Oct 22 Worship at St. Luke’s Assisted Living 10:30am Oct 23 Nursing Home Worship at Eldercare 9:30, Great Trail 10:30am Oct. 26 “Given to Be Amazing” Mark 12:41-44

Minerva Messenger Minerva United Methodist Church

204 N. Main St., Minerva, OH 44657

Church 330-868-4940, Fax 330-868-4825

e-mail: minervaunc@frontier.com, website: minervaumc.org

Pastor Harley Wheeler

Always a Reason to Praise Habakkuk 3:17-18

“Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet

I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

As October opens up we see around us that our fields are indeed full of food once again. I can only assume, by what I can see from the road that there are plenty of cattle and sheep in the stalls as well. We should remember to praise God when we drive by the high yellow-brown corn. We have lived so long in the world’s breadbasket, and some of us have been disconnected by a generation or two from planting and harvesting. I wonder if we can really grasp what Habakkuk means when he says he will praise God even if the harvest failed and there were no cattle in the stalls. It would seem like a situation where no hope existed. How would one feel like praising? Habakkuk could see in his mind’s eye a time when all choices were difficult, every path led to loss and hardship, and no tomorrow held any promise. We can only think that he was sure God would bring them through; that even if terrible things came, there would be the light of heaven at the end. Even if your world crashed down, you would be surprised by joy among the rubble. Christian hope rejoices in a Savior who can see us through every difficulty, trust Him today! Pastor Harley

Pastor’s Bible Study In October, we will be finishing in the Gospel of Mark. We meet for a wonderful study each Tuesday morning, 10:30am, in the Crosstrainers Room. You are welcome to come even if you haven’t been to any of the previous studies, each day has its own insights, stories and joys.

I would like to say thank you to everyone for being such a wonderful congregation / church family over the first 20 yrs of my being the sec-retary here at Minerva UMC. Needless to say I was totally shocked and humbled to be rec-ognized on August 31st, with a plaque and love offering. Thank you once again for your kindness and generosity. I am looking for ward to the next 20 yrs serving God and this church. Blessings Cheryl

Dear Church Family, I want to thank you all so much for all the pray-ers and cards I received while I was in the hospital the month of August. I appreciate the time Pastor Harley spent with me. Love Barbara Haun

Thanks so much for the prayer shawl. It is a great comfort. Thanks for all the cards and prayers. Thanks to Pastor Harley for his visits. Grace Lutz

Condolences to

The Family of Blanche Morrison Blanche passed away on

September 8, 2014.

Cloyd Dick & Family Olive passed away on September 14, 2014.

Cloyd and Olive had celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on

September 6th.

Dear friends at MUM Church, Thank you for the pratyers, cards, Rev. Harley’s visits and the paryer shawl. My life has truly slowed down, but I find my strength returning slowly. My memory is a challenge as is focus. May God bless you. Diane Phillips

Thank you to the members of our church and Pastor Har-ley for the Kid’s Bible, given to me during church. I am now in 4th grade. Jordyn Alexander

Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The falling of a tear, The upward glancing of an eye When none but God is near. James Montgomery

PRAYER CHAIN

If you wish to have someone put on the prayer chain, please contact the church of-

fice and/or Jennie McClellan (330-868-6834) or Kay Hilverding (330-868-4728)

with your request. Your request will be han-dled with great care and will be passed

along the chains and referred to the church office for email purposes.

Blessings to you all.

PRAYER CONCERNS: Pat Alexander, Marilyn Arnold, Blake, Andy Bratu, Family of Dale Cameron, Eva Mae Carter, Family of Angie Conley, Marcia Kay Criss, Lily Croston, Alexa Daulbaugh, John Davis, Joe Evans, Families in Crisis, Marissa (Hawk) Essick, Jim Felger, Gary Fry, Mike Geibel, Gary & Janese (Gotschall) Ramsey & Family, Margaret Gotschall, Barb Griffith, Kymberlie & Emelyn Guthrie & Family, Kim Hale, Helen Hart, Ray & Barb Haun, Norma Hill, Carli Irons, Barb Jamison, Jeff, Jobs, Marie Kail, Paul Kail, Helen Kintigh, Rick Lau-ener, Dan Lutz (Mineral City UMC), Grace Lutz, Buddy McNutt, Dorothy Middleton, Minerva UMC’s Food Pro-gram, Harold Moore, Linda Moore, Michael Moran, Har-vey Morgan, Family of Blanche Morrison, Mike Newton, Kelly Oberlin, Faye Pearson, Diane Phillips, Brandi Pitts, Tyler Roach, Amy Roberts, Roger, Paula Rogers, Jim Sabo, Bill Simmons, Dorothy Smith, Georgette Stone, Sherrie Tennant, Carol Tice, Stan & Lori Ujcich & Family, Norma Vestrand, Sandi Wagner, Steve Warth, Family of Emily Waseman, Family of June Waseman, Jean Wheeler, Bob & Carol Allmon & Fami-ly/Karen Jackson & Family, Prayers for our children and teachers Our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Marines–AC3 Nicholas G. Albery (Naval Air Station Oceana, VA), AM3 Zacha-ry D. Albery (Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, WA), Jesse Clark (Germany), Lewis Gibson (Korea), Bran-don Jenkins (Texas) , Aaron King, Kevin Kowars (Texas), Dan Lutz, Eli Maurer (Coast Guard Academy, Connecticut), Josh Miller(Texas), Sgt. Michael Murphy (Hawaii; USMC), Russell Nero (Air force Reserves-Leaving for Afghanistan), SA Devin Pennock (Great Lakes, IL; Navy), Kevin Price (Japan), Mitch Soles (Fort Sam Houston, TX; Navy), John Stehulak (Afghanistan),

SORRY! I MISSED YOUR BIRTHDAY! These birthdays were accidentally omitted from the September newsletter: Sept 23 Kathy Price Sept 30 Jennifer Hart, Steve Warth, Eden Wheeler

Dear Church Family, Thank you so much for all the prayers and especially for the two prayer shawls for my dear friend and her little boy, who had head surgery. I am happy to report prayers are being answered and he is doing extremely well. Thank you for keeping them in your thoughts and prayers! God is so good! Kasey (Staib) Adelman

October Birthdays 2 Diane Binnig, Oscar Marteney 3 Josh Davis, Gerald Fallot 4 Jerry Lewis 5 Bruce Kellogg 6 Ed Felger, Steve G. Warth 7 Kelly Decker 8 Debbie Albaugh, Michael Wadsworth 9 Deborah Albery 11 Shirley Warth, Andy Bratu, Ashley Terrell 12 Andrew McNutt, Harry Cunningham 13 Diana Walborn, Ayme Hying 14 Randy Reed 15 Larry “Butch” Hawk 16 Martha Gotschall 17 Rod Romano 18 Amie Fankhauser, Eric Eddy, Whitney Betz 19 Walt Miller, Matt Miller 20 Jonathan Fankhauser, Dillon Long 21 Nancy Pearson, Kristyn Sanor 22 Todd Ellis, Roger Dieringer, Kasey Adleman, Shari Courtheyn 24 Diane Granger, Harley Wheeler 25 Cristin Rettig, Sara Felger 26 Kathy Sanor, Ronda Bryan 30 Eva Mae Carter, Alyx andra Nightingale 31 Ruth Feiock, Angie Wilson, Ken Waseman, Angie Sanor, Andrew Shaffer

Deadline for the November Newsletter is

October 17. Please be sure your in-formation is submitted

by the deadline.

We would like to thank everone for their thoughts, pray-ers and cards after Steve’s accident and hospital stay. Thanks to Pastor Harley for his visits and prayers. We are truly blessed for our church family and friends. Thanks again, God Bless, Steve & Shirley Warth

October Greeters Oct 5 Diana Walborn Oct 12 Sandra Morgan Oct 19 Ken & Joyce Rogers Oct 26 Louise Criss, Ginny Vandegrift

October Anniversaries Oct 2 Corey & Marissa Essick Oct 3 Dan & Melia Danner Oct 4 John & Pat Alexander Oct 6 Carl & Ruth Felger Oct 6 Ryan & Heather Smith Oct 12 Jon & Beth Parker Oct 12 Brad & Lorissa Cox Oct 14 Brody & Teri Hollar Oct 15 Richard & Sandra Cunningham Oct 20 Larry & Mary Ann Hawk Oct 27 Troy & Kasey Soles

October Ushers Marty Mong, Ken Rogers, Jim Smith, Gary Stoffer

October Nursery Attendants Oct 5 Jessie Kirkpatrick, Cindy Sperry Oct 12 Sarah Russo Oct 19 Laurie McClellan, Cristin Rettig Oct 26 Joe & Carolynn Herstine

October Altar Flowers Oct 5 OPEN Oct 12 OPEN Oct 19 OPEN Oct 26 OPEN

Just want to thank all of you so much for your thoughts, prayers, beautiful prayer blanket and everything you did while I was in the hospital and since returning home. You are truly wonderful caring examples of God’s love. You gave such wonderful support to my family, as well as myself, and we will always thank God for knowing you. Special thanks to Pat Miller and Marty & Sandy Mong for their visits to the hospital and rehab.—sorry I lost your phone numbers Marty & Sandy. We pray god’s blessings will always be upon you—thank you once again. In God’s Love, Dave Miller & Family

Produce News Our September 11th Produce Distribution was one of our biggest yet! Our very busy volunteers served 213 families with a total of 643 family members. Amazing Job Every-one! We had our annual site inspection by the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank and we passed with flying colors! So we are good to go for another year! Thank you volunteers for caring enough to be a part of this ministry here at Minerva UMC. Great Job! Blessings, Cheryl Our Next Distribution Date is Thurs, October 9th.

Thanksgiving Food Drive for our Christmas Food Baskets

Kishman’s case load sale runs Oct1st thru 14th, so start stocking up on those canned goods Here is what is needed this year: canned fruits , canned veggies (corn, beans & peas), baked beans, soup, pasta, pasta sauce, pancake mix, syrup, peanut butter, jelly, crack-ers, soaps (face, hand, dish, laundry), Kleenex, toilet paper, tooth-paste, packaged potatoes, flour, etc. What we DON’T NEED: cereal, sugar & paper towels.

Please plan to bring your filled grocery bags in on

Thanksgiving Sunday, November 23rd.

Our job is to love others without stopping to in-quire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy. Thomas Merton

Dinner after church, Sunday Oct 5th, sponsored by your Youth.

Stay to Enjoy a Dinner of savory Italian Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Grape Salad, and Smoked Mac and Cheese.

Along with this and your dessert you will have the satisfaction of helping us with our Operation Christmas Child AND other Christmas projects like Adopt a Family.

The youth just ask that you leave a free will offering for the meal. They will spread your gift to others this Christmas Season!

Outreach Opportunities Coming Up! Here Are Some Opportunities to Reach Out And Touch Someone’s Life.

Calvary mission Item of the month for October is tuna / canned meat.

Help Canton Calvary Mission feed the less fortunate in their area.

Adopt-a-Child or Adopt-a-family through the Minerva Salvation Army. Help provide Christmas gifts for families less fortunate in our immediate area.

Donating blankets for kids through the Salvation Army. Watch the upcoming holiday

sales for inexpensive blankets/throws and help keep some little ones warm this winter.

Christmas Food Bags

Annual Mitten Tree Start stocking up on those hats , gloves & scarves.

Read the Gospel of Mark with us this Fall! We will have preaching from this, the shortest of the Gos-pels this fall. So let’s read it together! Try to cover these passages anytime during the week. Allow the Holy Spirit to move us, individually and as a whole body of believers, to questions, learn-ing, and a new sense of call. Week of October 5 Mark 6:30- 7:37 Week of October 12 Mark 8:1-9:13 Week of October 19 Mark 9:14- 10:31 Week of October 26 Mark 10:32-11:33 Week of November 2 Mark 12:1- 12:44 Week of November 9 Mark 13:1- 14:26 Week of November 16 Mark 14:27- 14:72 Week of November 23 Mark 15:1- 15:47 Week of November 30 Mark 16:1- 20 When you read the Gospel of Mark, some-thing always seems to be happening, it definitely not seems like a series of slow Thursday afternoons! There are storms, hungry crowds, intimidating demons, vis-its to the hometown, widows making offerings, rich men grasping their wealth, children getting hugs, and often, the Son of God walks through a world without love. We can share the adventure with Jesus, by reading, preaching, hearing, and praying through the Gospel togeth-er this fall.

Rides to Church Our church van is ready to save you the trouble of

getting that car warmed up in the morning. Rides to Church and Sunday School are available,

call the church office, 868-4940 to arrange for pickup.

Our drivers for the past few months have been: Chris Collins, Denise Freeland, Greg Peach,

Katie Ruesser, and Rick Stauffer. Thank you team!

If you would like to be one of our drivers and are between the ages of 25 and 70, contact Pastor Harley or Rick Stauffer

to get signed up.

October Thankfulness and Giving We will be having a stewardship emphasis in the last two Sundays in October as we look at the

stories of the Rich Young Man and the Poor Widow. As we finish this beautiful summer, our church can be glad for a fine Vacation Bible School, a new

Children’s Choir, a Food Ministry that serves many hundreds, and a Work Mission Trip to rural Kentucky. These are in addition to weekly worship, study, sacred music and good Christian fellowship and caring. The work of Minerva UMC is a result of God working through you and through your gifts.

Working together, we can do so much more!

Community Taize Service We will host a

Community Taizé Service here in the Chapel

at 7pm Sun., Oct 12th. These are beautiful services of candlelight,

prayer, silence, and song. (Sorry, no preaching!) The service lasts just about a half hour,

with cookies to follow.

This is a great opportunity to slip away for more spiritual refreshment before your busy week.

Chances are you haven’t tried one of these ser-vices yet, so you are urged to come and see

what it is all about.

RALLY DAY Thanks to the 37 kids

who came to Rally Day to enjoy the games & sweet treats.

Our theme is “Life is Sweeter with Jesus”.

We are going to be studying character traits.

Our first character trait was COURAGE,

in honor of 9/11.

Dear Friends of Canton Calvary Mission: Mark your calendar for Friday, November 14,

and join us for “A Night of Magic for the Mission!”

This annual dinner and auction for Canton Calva-ry Mission will be held at First Christian Church, 6900 Market Ave. North. The evening will in-clude a silent auction, live auction, dinner and lots of magic by Magician Jeff Conley and his friends! Tickets for the buffet dinner are availa-ble now for $30.00 by calling the Mission at 330-454-8610, through the web-site www.cantoncalvarymission.net , by e-mail to Marie_calvary@ameritech.net or stopping by the office at 1345 Gibbs Ave. NE, Canton.

Doors open and Silent Auction begins at 5:30pm, with program at 6:45pm and dinner at 7:00pm.

The Live Auction will begin at 8:00 p.m.. Tables will seat 8 – bring your friends and fami-

ly. Great gifts for the holidays! Help make

“Magic for the Mission!”

UMW meeting Saturday, October 4th

Malvern UMC 930am-115pm

Pastor Allen Hill will be speaking on their group’s Mission Trip to Zimbabwe

The Ladies of Minerva UMC

On Sept. 13 the ladies of Minerva UMC met at Clas-sic 57. Seven women gathered for great food and meaningful discussion. Devotions were based on Psalms 46:10. Manh suggestions as to topics pro-jects to pursue. At our next meeting Oct. 11 we will meet with some fo the officers of the Tuscarwas Dis-trict UMW. They will share t he mission work of the

UMW and how the UMW operates in our conference.

Tea or Coffee?

October 11, 9am

Classic 57

Come find out what UMW is all about.

It’s for ladies of all ages: young, old, retied, working, moms, grand-

mas and singles. There’s something for everyone.

Questions? Call: Mary Staib 868-1191 or Laurie Peach 868-2616

The Youth Group will have a

Bonfire & Hayride Sunday, Oct 19th, 6pm

at the home of Tom & Denise Freeland,

1855 Whitacre NE. We’ll have great fun with a scavenger hunt, outdoor

cooking and time with friends old and new. Kids plan to come to this event!

Annual Turkey Dinner

November 2nd, right after church.

A good time was had by all in attendance at the Youth Event at the Pearson’s on Sun, Sept. 21st.

Men’s Fishing Derby October 5th Come out to Chuck Pearson’s place for a

church men’s (& boys) fishing derby and cookout. Anyone, young or old can come,

so bring your friends and relations! Cornhole, beautiful surroundings

and good food will be there for all, so even if you don’t plan to fish, come on out!

This 6pm event will go on rain or shine Sunday, October 5th.

For more information call Pastor Harley 440-417-8075. Chuck’s house is at 5168 Canton Road NW,

going toward Carrollton.

*Prizes will be awarded for largest, smallest, and

most fish caught.

October 2014

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

615p Joyful Noise

730p Harmony HB

2

7p Choir

3 4

Wesley Hall

Reserved

930a Ladies to

Malvern UMC

5

915a Sunday Schl

1030a Worship

1145a Lunch

6 7

1030a Bible Study

5p Salvation Army

Dinner

7p DAR-parlor

8

615p Joyful Noise

730p Harmony HB

9

8a Produce Del.

9a Produce Distr.

5p Feed the Team

7p Choir

10 11

9a Women at

Classic

12

915a Sunday Schl

1030a Worship /

Social Hour

7p Taizé Service

13 14

1030a Bible Study

7p Shepherding

Team meeting

15

615p Joyful Noise

730p Harmony HB

16

7p Choir

17 18

19

915a Sunday Schl

1030a Worship

20 21

1030a Bible Study

630p SPR / DS at

Malvern UMC

22

615p Joyful Noise

730p Harmony HB

23

7p Choir

24 25

26

915a Sunday Schl

1030a Worship

Wesley Hall Re-

served

27 28

1030a Bible Study

29

615p Joyful Noise

730p Harmony HB

30

7p Choir

31

Parents of College Students! Please get those updated addresses in for your kids.