Mt. Hope United

Church of

Christ

2400 Mt. Hope Church Rd.

Whitsett, NC 27377

Office: 336-697-1561

Fax: 336-697-1449

e-mail:mthope@triad.rr.com

website: www.mthopeucc.com

church pastor

Rev. J. Lloyd Spencer Cell: 336-420-6030

Home: 336-447-4169

e-mail:jlspencer1@triad.rr.com

Office Hours: 9:00 a.m.-Noon

church secretary

Shirley Connor Office hours:

Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Thurs. - Fri., 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

consistory president

Dallas Belvin

choir director / organist

Tim Hucks

custodian

Brenda Currie

Mt. Hope Messenger March, 2016

FROM THE PASTOR

What a strange time of year. One day it will be sixty

degrees and the next day it will be thirty. The weather is so

unpredictable. There’s one thing that isn’t so unpredictable

about this time of year. Easter! It’s the time of year when we

start looking at Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Sunrise

service, and the Easter celebration. They always come around

about this time every year. Year in and year out we know that

all those things will be on us and we’ll always find some way

to celebrate.

Have you ever asked yourself what Maundy Thursday,

Good Friday, Sunrise service, and the Easter celebration mean

to any of us during the rest of the year? Maybe it’s just me, but

it seems that the year has enough things to deal with without

taking the time to think about the things that this time of year

brings to us.

Is that the way it should be? The more I think about it the

more I realize that we too often pigeon hole things based on

the time of year or on what we absolutely have to deal with.

Maundy Thursday isn’t just a special celebration that we have

once a year. It’s a constant reminder of the fact that fellowship

is so important to all of us and that we need to remember the

message of Jesus every day of our lives. Good Friday should

be a constant reminder that even the most faithful of us can

betray the things we stand for and be a constant reminder that

we really need to be on our best watch to see that it doesn’t

happen. Our Sunrise service should be a constant reminder that

the spirit of the universe is always alive and well and can be a

part of our lives if we let it. The Easter celebration should be a

constant reminder that we can be part of a power greater than

we are that not only brings new life to us, but brings new life

to those we reach out to.

It’s a crazy time of year, but what a difference it can make

if we allow it to become a part of our lives all year long.

Lloyd

Mt. Hope United Church of Christ

Consistory Meeting

January 21, 2016

Members Present: Gloria Apple, Dallas Belvin,

Simon Clark, Elizabeth Craft, Bennie Gerner, Dee

Greeson, Joe Hughes, Dora Moore, Linda Shue and

Becky Stafford

Trustees Present: Wesley Reece, Stephen Shue

and Randy Underwood

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. A

quorum was established and Dallas welcomed all.

Devotions: Dallas Belvin presented devotions on

challenge and change. He read Exodus Chapter 1

verses 8-14. Dallas closed with prayer.

Trustees Report:

The trustees thought to check the heating

system to make sure it had enough Glycol in it

to protect from freezing. It did not and they

have since corrected.

Thanks go to Bennie Gerner and Cliff Greeson

for taking care of our recent potable water

problems.

Trustees priced new handicap toilets and

handrails for both the men’s and women’s

bathrooms in the new fellowship hall. $600 and

the trustees would install them. Church

women’s group to fund.

Floor work in progress.

Unit for new parlor will be taken care of by

Kay Heating & Air, this will be by donation.

They have cleaned the mold on the wall and

the trustees believe this will take care of it.

Pop-Off valve for boiler room is completed.

Steeple leak is work in progress.

The trustees will put ice melt on the walkways

tonight in preparation for the upcoming winter

weather.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes were read and a

motion was made and seconded to approve them as

written. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Joe Hughes presented a report

on December. The beginning balance in December

was $34,525.31 and the monthly income was

$23,628.96. Expenses were $26,860.01. This

resulted in a closing balance of $31,294.26. General

consensus to combine both Community Resource

accounts.

A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report was

made and seconded. Motion carried.

Meals4kids Report: Gloria reported next bagging

will be Thursday Feb. 4th at 7pm.

Stewardship Report: Simon reported they are not

meeting until closer to the first Hot Dog Lunch.

Evangelism Report: Dallas reported they only

have three people left on the Evangelism

Committee so they will be asking for help.

Old Business:

Youth doing good.

Rev Nora Foust will try to put together

something for the Consistory to review.

City Water & Sewer, work in progress.

Safe church policy- all paid nursery workers

have completed training.

Constitution revision, work in progress.

Elizabeth Craft working on getting nursery

workers more training. TV/VCR, work in

progress.

Legacy Planning, work in progress.

New Business:

Mt. Hope & UCC projects, will advise when

something comes available.

2016 Communion Schedule Sunday Feb 14,

Thursday March 24, Sunday June 12, Sunday

August 7, Sunday October 2, and Saturday

December 24.

Brown boxes were put out for Betty Tucker

and she was most appreciative.

With the leadership of Cliff Greeson and all

that helped sell soup or purchase it, we raised

over $1100.00 for the General Fund.

Howard Coble Center is opening in Pleasant

Garden to have a place for children with

special needs to go and get to do things. Please

check out this great mission.

Pastor’s Report:

Association Board of Directors will be having

their “Spring Gathering” in Lexington at Mt.

Tabor UCC on March 5th. They offer classes

for churches to attend. We had a group last

year that went and got a lot of good ideas out

of the sessions they attended. Rev. Spencer

encourages anyone to attend. It is $5 per person

and $20 for group of five. Deadline for

registration is Feb 19th.

Shannon Levens wants to join our church and

will be baptizing Sophia Levens on Sunday

January 24th.

Wednesday February 10th at 7pm will be Ashe

Wednesday.

Personal note, he has finished therapy but is on

unofficial therapy now.

Lifted up prayers for those in need.

Search Committee: Dallas gave the Consistory an

update on the search for a replacement.

Dallas closed in prayer.

Meeting adjourned at 9:27 p.m.

Next Consistory Meeting is February 11, 2016 at

7pm.

Respectfully Submitted, Gloria Apple, Secretary

March will be a busy month for us all. Our

circles will meet jointly on Tuesday March 8th at

7:00 in the Parlor. Our topic of study will be

Waters of Justice and Righteousness and the

background Scripture will be Amos 5: 21-24.

This will also be the week of the chicken

pie/barbecue supper. We will be helping with the

chickens in the kitchen on Friday as usual, and

some extra--talented people will be making dough

and pies at other times during the week. Also, we

will be making our usual pies and cakes to serve at

the supper. It takes each one of us to make the

supper a success. Hopefully, you can take a break

the next week!

Jaynee, Dee and I thank each of you for your

willingness to help the Bereavement committee. In

February we said goodbye to Betty Neese and we

were able to provide comfort and a welcoming

place for the extended family to gather following

her funeral. Thank you to each one who contributed

food and time to make this possible.

We will be observing Holy Week beginning

Sunday March 20, and Easter on Sunday March 27,

I pray that this will be a special time of spiritual

renewal for each of us and for our Congregation.

Love and blessings, Elizabeth Craft

Greensboro Urban Ministry: On

February 8, 2016, we sent 231

Pounds of food to Urban Ministry.

This was for the months of January

and February. Thank you for

donations. They were most appreciative of our

donation. As we are in the Lenten Season we are

reminded that God gave his only Son for us. What

will you give for Lent? How about food for the

needy? There is a basket in the Narthex for your

donations and a monetary container is there also if

you would like to make a cash donation. Containers

are also located in the Breezeway and at the Portico

entrances. The collection dates for March are March

6th, and March 13th, but you can bring food anytime

as the collection containers are there all the

time. We pray for God's blessing for all of us as we

support this much needed ministry. Happy Easter to

you and your Family!

Friends and Neighbors

We met at the Church on February 16, 2016.

We began our meeting with meditation. Pat Branson

had the devotions. She read stories about Love and

sharing that love with others.

We sent cards to the sick and prayed for good

health for them.

Doug Clapp led us in singing Happy Birthday to

those who had birthdays in February and returned

thanks for our lunch.

Thank you all for your donations of food which

will be sent to Urban Ministry.

Dottie and Nancy had the program. They read

and shared stores about love since it was Valentine's

Day week. Then we all enjoyed lunch together at

CIAO's.

Our March meeting will be Tuesday, March

15th. We will watch the movie "The Bucket List"

and have a BAR-B-Que lunch furnished by the

committee. Please bring a desert or drink. Hope to

see you then.

Valentine's Day was a joyful time for our Youth

and Leaders. We visited our homebound friends:

Annie Lee Apple, Robert Ingold, Denny Ingold,

Coy Amick, Evelyn Neese, Helen Whitsell along

with other residents of Clapp's Nursing Center,

Greensboro Retirement Center, Ashton Place

and Clairebridge. Everyone we met received

various candies, well wishes and big hugs by our

participants. We felt though, we received the

greatest blessings through these visits. We

concluded with lunch at Steak N Shake.

On Sunday, February 21st, we celebrated the

baptism of little Sophia Marlene Levens. Sophia is

the daughter of Cole and Shannon Levens. She is

the granddaughter of Beezer and Amanda Levens

and the great-granddaughter of Pat Levens and

Nancy Phipps. Sophia was born on December 22,

2015.

On this same Sunday, Sophia’s mommy,

Shannon, became the newest member of Mt. Hope

UCC. We are happy to welcome Shannon to the Mt.

Hope Church family!!

Cole, Shannon & Sophia Levens

Sophia Marlene with Rev. Spencer

Request for desserts for the

Chicken Pie & BBQ Supper. We are hard at work on the

details for the upcoming supper

on March 12 and wish to

remind everyone how much our

guests enjoy your delicious

homemade desserts. We need

your support with desserts and

hope you will plan on making a couple of your

favorite recipes to share with our guests. Many

thanks.

One Great Hour of Sharing, as part of Our Churches

Wider Mission, is the special mission offering of

the United Church of Christ that carries God’s

message of love and hope to people in crisis. The

UCC works with international partners to provide

sources of clean water, food, education and health

care, small business micro-credit, advocacy and

resettlement for refugees and displaced persons, and

emergency relief and rehabilitation. OGHS also

supports domestic and international ministries for

disaster preparedness and response. We will be

receiving the One Great Hour of Sharing offering

during the morning worship service on March 13th.

Daylight Saving Time is

Sunday, March 13th. Don’t

forget to set your clocks

ahead one hour before you

go to bed on Saturday

evening!!

March 20

9:45 a.m.- Sunday School

11:00 a.m. - Palm Sunday Service

March 24

7:00 p.m. – Maundy Thursday service

March 25

7:00 p.m. – Good Friday Service

March 27 - Easter Sunday Morning

7:00 a.m., Sunrise Service

8:00 a.m., Breakfast

11:00 a.m., Worship

Quilt Raffle: The Mt. Hope quilting ladies have

made a quilt that is being raffled for the Howard

Coble Children’s Center. The costs are: $1 per

ticket or $5 for six. Tickets are available through

March 10th. The drawing is planned for March 11th.

A picture of the quilt is available in the Breezeway.

See Brenda Currie for tickets.

CPR Class: The Garden Club has planned a special

class featuring CPR, Heimlich Maneuver, and major

fire and safety precaution. This class will be taught

by Byron Greeson and will take place on Tuesday,

April 15, at 7: 00 p.m., in the new fellowship hall.

Anyone is welcome to attend. This is a good

opportunity to brush up on these skills and

procedures. There is no fee to attend. The Garden

Club will hold their regular meeting following the

class.

The Easter Egg Hunt will be held

on Saturday, March 19th. More

information will be available

soon!

Thank you: Thanks so much to my church family

for the loving support you have given me and my

family the past few months. Your thoughts, prayers,

cards, calls & generous assistance were very much

appreciated. Love, Betty Tucker

Thank you: Special thanks to the ladies for

preparing food, serving, and the cleaning up of the

meals for the Howar Lambert and Betty Neese

funerals. The families were so appreciative. What

an awesome and caring group of ladies! Thanks

again. The Bereavement Committee.

Condolences: Our prayers and sympathies also go

out to the family of one of our life-long members,

Howard Lambert, who went home to be with the

Lord on Tuesday, January 26th. Howard was a

faithful and well-loved member and will be greatly

missed. His funeral service was held on Friday,

January 29th, and he was buried here at the church

cemetery. Please keep the family in your prayers at

this time.

Condolences: Our heartfelt Christian sympathies

go out to the family of Betty Neese who passed

away on Thursday, February 11th. Her funeral

service was held on Sunday, February 14th, here at

the church. Betty was the mother of Lori Arrington

and Roger (Diane) Neese. She was the grandmother

of Colby and Jacob Arrington. Please keep the

family in your prayers at this time.

Condolences: Our Christian sympathies go out to

the Pat Levens on the death of her sister, Rachel

McFarland, and also to Rocky Royal on the death of

his brother, Clem. Please keep both of these

families in your prayers.

Condolences: Our Christian sympathies go out to

the family of Mary Neal who passed away on

Saturday, February 13th. Mary was the mother of

Brian Neal (Emily) and grandmother of Mikayla

Stevens, Katelyn, Lyndsey & Jordan Neal. Please

keep the family in your prayers.

GOING TO CHURCH

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love

this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to

read it. If you’re spiritually curious, there is still

hope!

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a

newspaper and complained that it made no sense to

go to church every Sunday. “I've gone for 30 years

now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard

something like 3,000 sermons, but for the life of

me, I can't remember a single one of them so, I

think I'm wasting my time and the priests are

wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”

This started a real controversy in the “Letters to

the Editor's” column. Much to the delight of the

editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote

this clincher:

“I've been married for 58 years now. In that time

my wife has cooked some 64,000 meals. But, for

the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a

single one of those meals. But I do know this...

They all nourished me and gave me the strength I

needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me

these meals, I would be physically dead today.

Likewise, if I had not gone to church for

nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”

When you are DOWN to nothing....God is UP

to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the

incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God

for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

March Birthdays

1st Katelyn Neal

2nd Janet Welker

3rd Tim Craven

4th Mike Vollle

6th Gloria Belvin

7th Jaynee Brown, Michael Johnson

8th Austin McDade

9th Tammy Reece, Emily Smith

10th Mitchell Clendenin, Jacob Szychowicz

12th Lillian Clapp, Ruth Harris

13th Brianna Chapmon, L.B. Friddle, Alan

Sawyer

14th Hayleigh Bradsher, Conner Chapmon, Bill

Starr

15th Dana Andrews, David Blakesley, Tiffany

Cauthren, Gregory Whitesell

18th Donald Nance

19th Dewey Greeson, Ashley Phipps, Tony

Whitesell

20th Charles Greeson, Peggy Kilby

21st Shannon Neese

22nd Shelby Andrews, Orville Woodard

23rd Philip Lowe, Rick Morgan, Bridget Roberts

25th Jacob Sowers, Jr.

26th Betty Jean Clary, Nathan Presgraves, Dorie

Whitman

28th Megan Gardner

31st Brittany Clark

March Anniversaries

12th Bob & Dottie Deeter

20th Trevor & Jessica Bolton

25th Steve & Sandy Gardner

March Events

1st 6:30 p.m., Meals4Kids Volunteers

6:30 p.m., Garden Club (Parking lot)

7:00 p.m., Search Committee

2nd 6:45 p.m., Handbell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

3rd 6:30 p.m., Creative Worship Team

7;00 p.m., High Lonesome Strings Jam

Session

6th Collecting for Urban Ministry

9:45 a.m., Sunday School

11:00 a.m, Worship, Gideons

Representative

7th 9:00 a.m., Quilters meet

8th 7:00 p.m., Joint Ladies’ Meeting (Parlor)

9th 6:45 p.m., Handbell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

12th 4:00 p.m, Chicken Pie/BBQ Supper

13th Collecting for Urban Ministry

Daylight Saving Time

9:45 a.m., Sunday School, Children’s

Music Practice

11:00 a.m., Worship, One Great Hour of

Sharing Offering

14th 9:00 a.m., Quilters meet

15th 7:00 p.m., Consistory

16th 6:45 p.m., Handbell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

17th 6:30 p.m., Creative Worship Team

19th Easter Egg Hunt

20th Palm Sunday – First Day of Spring

9:45 a.m., Sunday School

11:00 a.m., Worship

21st 9:00 a.m., Quilters meet

23rd 6:45 p.m., Handbell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

24th 7:00 p.m., Maundy Thursday Service

25th 7:00 p.m., Good Friday Service

27th Easter Sunday

7:00 a.m., Sunrise Service

8:00 a.m., Breakfast

11:00 a.m., Worship

28th 9:00 a.m., Quilters meet

30th 6:45 p.m., Handbell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

CHICKEN PIE &

BARBECUE SUPPER

Are you ready to work on our

spring Chicken Pie & BBQ Supper?

We need you, and it’s time to get

started! This year the date is Saturday, March 12. We have

already begun work, and will appreciate everyone’s help as

we go forward so we will be prepared for our guests. Check

out the schedule posted here to see when workers will be

needed and help by volunteering. It is a good way to get

involved as well as serve your church and community. New

workers are always welcome. Just show up at any of the

work details; someone will be glad to show you what needs

to be done. A lot of work is involved, but it is also a time of

good fun and fellowship. We especially need help at the

pits on Tuesday night and Friday morning. We also need

help with the chickens on Friday morning at the church and folks to dry dishes and help clean up Saturday night.

Please commit to serve in one of these positions.

Invite your friends and neighbors to join us Saturday,

March 12. We will begin serving earlier at 4:00 p.m. Eat

in plates or take-out trays will be available at $8.00;

barbecue will also be sold by the pound for $7.00.

Thanks for your support of this church event. It’s very

rewarding to see the fellowship and teamwork as everyone

works together on this project.

If you have questions or suggestions, call Clifton

Greeson at 697-1930 or 336-580-3790.

Supper Work Schedule (When Workers are Needed)

All day Tues. March 8

Buy staple supplies, food and

paper products. Set up tables

and chairs

7:00 pm Tues. March 8 Clean pits at Phipps’ residence

2:00 pm Wed. March 9 Pick up chickens. Make pie

dough at church

Thurs. Mar 10 Pick up pork

2:30 pm Thurs. Mar 10 Cook pork at the pits

10:00 am Thurs. Mar 10

Cover tables, wrap silverware,

wash trays & tea jugs, fill BBQ

sauce bottles, get kitchens ready

6:00 am Fri. March 11

Cook chickens at church. Work

on table decorations.

10:00 am Fri. March 11

Ladies prepare cooked chicken

for chicken pies at church

10:00 am Fri. March 11 Chop BBQ and clean up the pits

7:00 am Sat. March 12

Make chicken pies, 50 gallons

of tea, slaw and cook beans. Set

up both kitchens, make final

preparations, decorate

Fellowship Hall and tables

3:00 pm Sat. March 12

Set up both dessert areas, cut

desserts, get ice and set up to

serve tea and coffee, set up take

out area.

3:00 pm Sat. March 12 Prepare to start serving @ 4:00

8:00 pm Sat. March 12

Take down tables & chairs, put

food away, clean up