The Flame The Owego United Methodist Church, 261 Main Street, Owego, NY 13827

Telephone: 607-687-2417 Email: owegounitedmethodist@verizon.netWebsite: www.owegoumc.org Flame Articles to: faithatwork@stny.rr.com

The Flame may be read on our website owegoumc.org – if you are notreceiving your newsletter by email and wish to do so, please let the church

office know so we can add you to the list. Thank You!Purpose Statement: Who We Are – The people of the Owego United Methodist Church are being transformed by the

biblical message and the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, so as to grow and flourish as children of a loving God.What We Are Called to Do – Our purpose is to use God’s empowering spirit through acts of faith, fellowship and

service to share Christ’s love that we may be a blessing to the world for the glory of God.Senior Pastor: Rev. James W. Stevens Editor/Typist: Deborah Borrelli

OUMC Worship Schedule – May 2016Sunday, May 1, 2016 Communion Worship Times: 8:15 & 10:30 am

Scripture: Acts 16:9-15Sermon: “A Vision” Rev. James W. Stevens

Sunday, May 8, 2016 Worship Times: 8:15 & 10:30 am

Scripture: John 17:20-26Sermon: “All for One and One for One” Rev. James W. Stevens

Sunday, May 15, 2016 Worship Times: 8:15 & 10:30 am

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17Sermon: “Have We Suffered?” Rev. James W. Stevens

Sunday, May 22, 2016 Worship Times: 8:15 & 10:30 am

Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31Sermon: “Wisdom” Rev. James W. Stevens

Sunday, May 29, 2016 Worship Times: 8:15 & 10:30 am

Scripture: Psalm 96Sermon: “What’s New” Rev. James W. Stevens

It’s amazing to me how a yard that can be raked up and cleaned out in preparation for Winter can be so completely disheveled by Spring. How is it possible for trees to lose so many branches, twigs, and even limbs, and continue to look like trees? And then there are the leaves – that mystically reproducing biomass that reminds me of the lyrics to an old Don Williams (I think it was a Don Williams song) – “Well you know I’m a rake and a ramblin’ man…” he’s a ramblin’ man because he’s tired of raking, trust me. Because the contents of your yard are alive – grass, weeds, shrubs, trees, and even critters like squirrels and birds – it will always be a mess. Hence the need for “Spring cleaning.”

Life is messy, isn’t it? Living puts us in situations that we aren’t fully in control of, and frankly, we need to clean up after. It might be our own mess; it might be somebody else’s mess, but if YOU don’t start the cleanup, it will never happen.

God understands. He created in perfection, and we started the mess, so He initiated the cleanup in Jesus. Now, whether we made the mess or not, as the body of Christ in this world, it’s our responsibility to initiate the cleanup, in Jesus’ name. What that looks like is reaching out to others with the power of forgiveness (more powerful than the strongest leaf blower, the biggest chainsaw, and the most optioned-out lawn tractor combined), the God given vision for healing and wholeness, and creating order by putting Jesus first, and typically, ourselves last, with others coming created them or not? Betcha thought of something immediately, didn’t you? If not, look to your lawn – it probably needs some attention…in between somewhere. What messes need Spring cleaning in your life, whether you

Love in Christ,

Pastor Jamie

SPRING HAS SPRUNG. . . and so soon will our flowers bloom and the grass grow on the church property. The church needs people with green thumbs and those who love to play in the dirt to keep the church grounds looking beautiful. It sounds more daunting than it is. Please contact Joan Fisher at 687-3188 or the church office at 687-2417

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DortheansThe annual Dortheans SPRING RUMMAGE SALE is coming up! The Rummage Sale will be held on Thursday, May 5th from 4 to 7 p.m. and Friday, May 6th from 9 to 3. There will be a Bag Sale all day Friday.

Please bring your donations in any time, and place them in the hallway between Fellowship Hall and the Barton Education Building.

The Dortheans thank you for your support!

We thank you for your support for our bake sale on Palm Sunday. All proceeds will be used for projects within our church!

The Dortheans and the Youth Group thank you for your support for the Italian Fest which was held on April 16. We thank Earl and Judy Hartman for their planning, shopping, and preparing of the food; the Youth Group advisors/parents for serving the meal and helping with clean up; our ‘honorary Dortheans’ Jack Spaulding and Kevin Bowen for all their help; the Dortheans who set up the dining room, prepared the food and cleaned up.

A portion of the proceeds will go to the youth for their retreat and 5K race at Sky Lake. The remainder will be placed in the General Fund of the church.

We thank you for your generous support of our Seed Project. We sent 111 packets of vegetable and herb seeds to Jackson Area Ministries. A special Thank You goes to Miss Johnson’s and Miss Milligan’s Sunday School class for making the seed collection a successful class project!

Please stop by the Missions table and read the Thank You cards from the Head Start children who had a better Christmas because of your generosity.

You will also find a gift receipt for the $312 we sent to the UMCOR Blanket Sunday. That was enough to purchase 62-1/2 blankets for people in need all over the world. There is also a list of all the places where the blankets were sent.

The Missions project for this month is Personal Hygiene Kits for Haiti. Please read the information and instructions carefully (below), as all kits must contain the same items. We thank you in advance for your support. The kits will be collected through Sunday, May 15 and can be placed on the Missions table in Fellowship Hall. If you would prefer to donate money toward the purchase of items for the kits, please see Melody Patterson.

PERSONAL HYGIENE KITS FOR HAITI – Personal Hygiene Kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster. Health kits are also used as learning tools in personal hygiene, literacy, nutrition, and cooking classes. When people gain the knowledge and materials to maintain personal hygiene, their overall health improves.

Kits to Sustain Everyday Life – The following kit is used in places where people do not have ready access to many essential supplies for everyday life. Please follow the directions exactly. Include all items listed; do not add items that are not on the list. Extra gifts, though given with the best of intentions, render a kit unusable and must be removed. NOTE: All items must be new.

1 hand towel (15” x 25” up to 17” x 27”) 1 washcloth 1 wide-tooth comb (large and sturdy, not pocket sized) 1 nail file OR fingernail clippers (NO emery boards or toenail clippers) 1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz and up) 1 toothbrush (single toothbrush in original wrapper) 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

Place these items in a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.

The Mission Committee is again supporting the Tioga County Rural Ministry’s “Soap for Hope” project. They are in need of laundry soap, dish detergent, body soap, toothpaste/brushes, etc. You will find a receptacle on the Mission/Garden Share Table in Fellowship Hall to place your donations in.

With the arrival of spring, many of you may be working on your lawns and in your flower gardens. If you have plants which you would like to share with others, please bring them to the Garden Share/Missions table in Fellowship Hall. Please include the name, planting suggestions, and any other pertinent information for each plant. If you are thinking about purchasing new plants for your garden, please visit our table and consider choosing plants from there. Your free will contributions will be used to support camperships for our youth who attend Sky Lake.

Real maple syrup

Mark Your Calendars OUMC Family Pancake Breakfast

Men, women & children - all are welcome!Saturday, May 14, 2016in OUMC Fellowship Hall

8:00 am to 10:00 am

$5.00 - Adults - $3.00 ages 12 and underSponsored by OUMC Men’s Group

Questions/directions – call the Church Office at 687-2417_____________________________________________________________

Open to the Public

Artificial Floral Arrangements and Wedding DecorationsNext time you walk through the church, stop and look at the many floral arrangements – in the narthex, the altar area, the entryways. Linda VanDeMark arranges these flowers to beautify different areas of our church. She has quite a collection, and many items are available for loan out for your event. Also, Linda is accepting donations from any event (weddings, showers, meetings) in which you have arrangements, greens, flowers that you can share. In Linda’s words, we can happily “pay it forward” also.

Please feel free to contact Linda VanDeMark at 607-642-3696.

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Do you know what the hand is spelling below? Would you like to know?

The hand is spelling “Jesus”. A faster way to spell Jesus, using both hands, is to open your left hand, palm side up, and touch your palm with the index finger of your right hand. Then do the same in reverse. Open the palm of your right hand and touch it with the index finger of your left hand. This indicates the nails in his hands.

Would you like to learn more? Linda VanDeMark holds sign language classes for beginners at her home on Tuesdays. Please talk to Linda, Marcia Johnson, or Joe Borrelli for details.

For the Mission Committee Grocery Bag Project

Thank you for the food donation – it was awesome. It helped us so much. The food you provided will help many in our

local community. As times are still tough, it is people likeyou and your church who continue to provide.

Thanks again! – Tioga County Rural Mission

AMBA Wellness Program Coming in May!

The New York State Women, Inc. Susquehanna Chapter (formerly Owego Business and Professional Women) is sponsoring its annual AMBA Wellness Program on Saturday May 21, 2016 at the Owego United Methodist Church at 261 Main Street from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The AMBA Wellness Program includes blood tests for Coronary, Liver and Kidney, Anemia, Diabetes and other types of diseases. The cost for the full AMBA panel, including the NYS Women, Inc. sponsorship fee is $47.00. The following optional tests are also available for an additional fee and require a separate script from a physician: Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), TSH, Vitamin D25, Hemoglobin A1C, and Insure Colorectal Kit.

Pam Pringle, chairperson, stated, “With the changes in health insurance, many people find themselves with high deductibles to be met before any services are covered. While this has been a valuable program for many years, it is even more so now, as those unable or unwilling to spend hundreds of dollars for routine testing can still get the screenings needed to maintain their health.”

Anyone participating should contact their physician for permission to have the test results sent to their office. For further information or to schedule an appointment, call 1-800-234-8888 by May 20, 2016.

The NYS Women, Inc. Susquehanna Chapter is a state organization whose mission is to build powerful women personally, professionally, and politically, and to make a difference in the lives of working women.

For the June FlameSunday, May 22, 2016

The (Almost) Last Word

Deborah Borrelli, Editor

As so many of you know, I care for elderly people mostly in their homes. Families struggle with aging parents. So many want to avoid sending them to nursing homes, and thus an industry of care-giving companies has exploded over the past years. And I don’t think it’s done exploding.

So many of the people I’ve cared for have some form of dementia and it’s so hard to find a way to connect with them. One lovely lady came alive one evening when I talked to her about the books on her shelf. I pulled an old book of poetry down and asked her if she liked poetry, and if so what her favorite one was. Not expecting much, she told me she remembered one about a tree that had a ‘nest of robins in her hair’. So I looked up the poem, and it was in her book. As I read it to her, not only did she remember the one verse, she finished the poem when I got to the last verse. I’d like to share that poem with you, in her honor. It is titled, simply,

TREES

I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressedAgainst the earth’s sweet flowing breast.

A tree that looks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wearA nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree.

– Joyce Kilmer

Are we missing your birthday?Please let the Church Office know!

May Birthdays1.

2. Molly BerwaldSusan CummRichard B. Tiffany

3. John Larnerd

4.

5. Ann EastonCarolyn Gwin

6. David Wold

7. Arlene HoweTrisha Welch

8 9.

10. Vincent ContiKatie (Amidon) NearyVivian Verno

11. Diane Nickels

12. Rev. Rachel (Barnhart) Morse

13.

14. Helen Amidon

15. Beth (Lynch) NeiraD’anna Short

16. Nelda LynchFinn Barbuto

5/16

17. John David HarperDanielle Knapp

18. Rachel FlanaganCorrine WhitmoreNatalie Braman

19.

20. Michael YanchusCharles Gilbert

21. Kendra Kallin

22. Curt ThomasSandy Stephens

23. Ellie Heil

24. Beulah RussellKenneth Taggart

25.26. Rob Barnhart

Denise Corcoran

27. Kevin Riddleberger

28.

29. Mark Peterson

30. BettiJo BogartDavid Conti

31.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat1

Communion

2

5 pm—Weight Watchers

3

10 am—Craft Group7 pm—Worship

4

 8 am—Men’s Grp.7 pm—SPRC

5 Dorthean 4 to 7 pm

7 pm—Chanc. Choir

6Rummage Sale 9 am to 3 pm4:30pm—Celebration Choir Rehearsal

7

8Happy Mother’s Day

No Sunday School

9

5 pm—Weight Watchers

10

10 am—Craft Group

11

8 am—Men’s Grp.

12

6 pm—ACT Dinner7 pm—Chanc. Choir

13

4:30 pm—Celebration Choir

14

8 to 10 am -Pancake Breakfast

15  Pentecost -

Remember - wear red

Rededication ofRenovated Bldgs.

16

5 pm—Weight Watchers

17

9 am—Ministerium10 am—Craft Group

18

8 am—Men’s Grp.1 pm—Dortheans

19

6 pm—ACT Dinner7 pm—Chanc. Choir

20

4:30 pm—Celebration Choir

21

22

Flame DeadlineLast Day of

23

5 pm—Weight

24

10 am—Craft

258 am—Men’s Grp.1:30-6:30 pm

26

6 pm—ACT

27

Holiday Weekend—

28

May 2016Every Sunday8:15 am & 10:30 am—Worship Services8:30 am– Cherub Choir Rehearsal9 am—Sunday School for all ages9:30 am—Fellowship Café11:30 am—Hour11:30 am—Teen Choir Rehearsal11:30 am—Teen Choir

Sunday School

Watchers

Group7 pm—Trustees

— Red Cross Blood Drive

Dinner7 pm—Chanc. Choir

No Choir Rehearsal

Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus

Christ. Romans 5:1