PRAYER CONCERNS

If you or a loved one would like to be added to the prayer list, please contact Lorna McCullough at 336-259-5814. If you put a name on the list, please keep in touch to let us know how that person is doing, as names are removed after three weeks. During the coming week, please pray for:

The United Methodist Church
All Military Personnel
Our UM Missionaries
Tracy Brinkley
Chris Eddinger
Tim Priska
Tyler Oldaker
Dallas Hutchens
Dave Ogren
Evelyn Tew
Andrea Cain and Family
Kim Henderson
Robert Miller
Debbie Mayer-Mathews
All those affected by Coronavirus
Our First Responders, Medical Community, and Essential Workers
Skip Price and Family
Margaret Jones and Family
Finley Price Family
Peggy Lawrence
Josie Laumann
Rob James

We extend our prayers and sympathy to the family of Fran Cook, who died Friday May 1, 2020. A memorial service for Fran will be held at a later date. Read Frances Cook’s obituary here.

HOMECOMING SUNDAY ONLINE – MAY 17 @ 11 AM

SUNDAY MAY 17
NOTE THE TIME: 11 AM ONLINE
MUMC’s FACEBOOK PAGE and on WGOS AM 1070.

It is a long-held tradition at Memorial to honor members who have died since the previous year’s Homecoming gathering. This year, we will continue this tradition and will read the name of loved ones from the pulpit, light a candle, offer our prayers, and give thanks for their contributions to our church and community. Due to the current restrictions on gathering for worship, our service will be broadcast online on Facebook Live and aired on WGOS AM 1070 at 11:00 a.m.

10 @ 10  WEEKDAY DEVOTIONS

WEEKDAYS AT 10 AM LIVE VIA MUMC’s FACEBOOK PAGE
VIEW PAST 10 @ 10 DEVOTIONS HERE.

Your ministerial staff offer daily messages of hope, and opportunities for connection and reflection. Tune in to 10 @ 10 on our Facebook page weekdays at 10 a.m., for 10 minutes of good news. Don’t have Facebook? Missed a 10 @ 10? View past videos HERE.

MUMC’S ONLINE CHURCH DIRECTORY 

Your church directory is available to you ONLINE. Please use the Instant Church Directory to stay in touch AND … please login to verify that your contact information is correct. (Birth dates are very helpful for our records!) 

• To view the directory online, go to members.InstantChurchDirectory.com to log in.
• To view the directory on your smart device, go to the App Store, search for Instant Church Directory, and download the FREE app to begin.

FIRST-TIME LOGIN:  Create a Login by entering your email address (as listed in the directory), setting up a password, and following instructions in a confirmation email message.

TROUBLESHOOTING: Contact Susan Frye at sfrye@mumctville.org if you are not listed, if you are unable to sign in, or you have other questions about the directory.

UPDATING YOUR DIRECTORY INFORMATION: Please check your information in the directory. You may update the information yourself. Please ALSO notify Susan Frye at sfrye@mumctville.org of updates, so she can update all church records. (If you like, Susan will be happy to make the updates in the online directory too. Just ask.)

UMW SCHOLARSHIP – DUE MAY 30    

Attention MUMC High School Seniors! The United Methodist Women (UMW) Scholarship application deadline has been extended to May 30. Applications are due by email due Susan Frye at sfrye@mumctville.org by May 30. The application is available HERE. 

WOMEN’S RETREAT RESCHEDULED  

The Women’s Retreat originally scheduled for late May has been rescheduled for September 4-7. Mark your calendars for this special opportunity, and contact Lynda Hepler to confirm your registration or with questions.

NO BARGAIN TREASURES & GIFTS GALORE IN 2020 

Due to uncertainty and potential risks associated with Coronavirus, both the Bargain Treasures sale (usually held at the end of August) and Gifts Galore (usually held the first Saturday of November) have been canceled for 2020. We anticipate continuing these traditions in 2021.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

MASK MAKERS NEEDED

The Memorial UMC Sewing Ministry, in collaboration with First United Methodist Church of Lexington, has sewn 2400 (!) cloth face masks. More masks are needed. If you can help out, pick up ready-to-sew mask kits from the shelving in the church breezeway. Contact Katie Conant if you have any questions about this project. Thank you for your help! Beneficiaries of these masks include Piedmont Crossing, Davidson and Thomasville Pediatrics, Thomasville and Lexington Hospitals, Trinity Food Pantry, Lexington Sheriff’s Office and Police Department, Lexington Healthcare, Lexington City & Davidson County Schools, YMCA, Dr. Arnold, Pastor’s Pantry, Grace Episcopal Pantry, Open Hands, food preparers & lunch delivery services, Dialysis Center, and nursing homes.

CLOTH FACE MASKS BENEFIT SALE

Memorial’s Doris Link is selling handmade cloth face masks for $5 each, with all proceeds going to offset medical expenses for her daughter’s journey toward a kidney transplant. You may reach Doris at dlinksewgirl@gmail.com. She wants you to know she may be slow to respond to email as she is also working, but she will follow up with you to arrange delivery and payment (cash is preferred). Fabric options are shown in the photo at left, numbered so you can let her know your choices.

DONATIONS FOR CCM

Your ongoing generosity to Cooperative Community during a period of unprecedented need is sustaining many. Thank you for continuing to give.

GIVE BY MAIL: Make checks payable to Memorial UMC, noting “CCM Food Drive” on the memo line. Send to the church at P.O. Box 428, Thomasville, NC 27361.

GIVE ONLINE:
1. CLICK HERE to access the Financial Giving online form at our website, www.mumctville.org.
2. Fill in the amount you want to contribute.
3. At the end of the Fund/Budget Fund line, click the DOWN ARROW/TRIANGLE ICON and select Cooperative Community Ministries. (Do NOT select the + ANOTHER FUND button.)
4. Select GIVE ONCE or GIVE MULTIPLE TIMES, depending on your preference.
5. Select GIFT DATE to select a specific day or use the default of Today.
6. Enter your email address and click CONTINUE.
7. A new page will open where you enter your financial information. Click GIVE and you’re all set. The site is safe and secure. Additionally, you can use this same website to do your tithing and church offerings.

P.S.

Congratulations to Patrick and Lisa Moore on the recent birth of their daughter, Amelia Grace Moore. Keira is the big sister, and Steve Moore is the grandfather.

We miss the choir at the 11 a.m. worship service… and the choir misses the choir too! Chancel choir members have recently been gathering via Zoom for fellowship.

A DEVOTION FOR YOU 

We close this week’s eNews with the 10@10 devotion that Lynda Hepler shared on Easter Monday, April 13, 2020.

I always like to begin my devotion time with a prayer. I use the same one each week, so the words become familiar:

Father, you created us and put us on earth for a purpose. Jesus, you died for us and called us to complete your work. Holy Spirit, you help us to carry out the work for which we were created and called. In your presence and name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we begin our reflection. May all our thoughts and inspirations have their origin in you and be directed to your glory. Amen.

There’s a poem I want to share with you written by Kristi Bothur. Some of you may have seen it online recently week. It’s a nod to Dr. Seuss and is titled “How the Virus Stole Easter” (at https://www.thissideofheavenblog.com/ blog/how-the-virus-stole-easter). Here’s the poem:

 ‘Twas late in ‘19 when the virus began,
Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.

People were sick, hospitals full,
Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.

As winter gave way to the promise of spring,
The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.

People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.
They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.

April approached and churches were closed.
“There won’t be an Easter,” the world supposed.

“There won’t be church services, and egg hunts are out.
No reason for new dresses when we can’t go about.”

Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.
The world was focused on masks and on tests.

“Easter can’t happen this year,” they proclaimed.
“Online and at home, it just won’t be the same.”

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.
The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.

The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.
The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.

“Pooh pooh to the saints,” the world was grumbling.
“They’re finding out now that no Easter is coming.

“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.

“That noise,” said the world, “would be something to hear.”
So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.

And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.
It started down low, then it started to rise.

But the sound wasn’t depressed. Why, this sound was triumphant!
It couldn’t be so! But it grew with abundance!

The world stared around, popping its eyes.
​Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!

Each saint in each nation, the tall and the small,
Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!

It hadn’t stopped Easter from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine
Stood puzzling and puzzling. “Just how can it be?”

“It came without bonnets, it came without bunnies,
It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.”

Then the world thought of something it hadn’t before.
“Maybe Easter,” it thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

And what happened then? Well….the story’s not done.
What will YOU do? Will you share with that one
Or two or more people needing hope in this night?
Will you share of the source of your life in this fight?

The churches are empty – but so is the tomb,
And Jesus is Victor over death, doom, and gloom.
So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer,
As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.

May the world see hope when it looks at God’s people.
May the world see the Church is not a building or steeple.
May the world find Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection,
May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.
May 2020 be known as the year of survival,
But not only that –
Let it start a revival.

I just love that, and thank you to Kristi Bothur for writing it and allowing others to share it.

What does Easter mean to you? What is you most memorable Easter? I believe 2020 will be very memorable for us for years to come. We’ll look back and say, “Do you remember when we were quarantined and couldn’t go to church?” and then you’ll finish the story with something special that happened. We are Easter people. For us, every day is living a resurrection day because Jesus came to be with us in a new way.

A man named J.S. Whale said something like this, “The Gospels do not explain Easter; Easter explains the Gospels.” This Easter event changed everything – even how we count our days. In our current calendar we used to mark the calendar as BC (before Christ), and AD (after death). But scholars have changed AD to CE, which means Common Era. We are living in the days of Christ!

On Easter this year, the churches were empty just like the tomb. Have you sat and thought about that? Let’s think about the symbolism of empty churches and an empty tomb. Jesus rose from the grave; he didn’t stay there. Maybe Jesus is trying to tell us something, I wonder? If this COVID virus has done anything, it has made us be more intentional in staying connected as a community of faith, rather than worship being a rote action that is a part of our weekly schedule. I know that I have taken for granted our worship time together. I have missed seeing faces and sharing hugs with you. I have missed the voices in the choir and praise team. Yet God is doing something in all this – yes, making us appreciate the gift of worship.

I left the church building on Easter Sunday at around 12:20, after we packed up the equipment for the online service. I looked at our Facebook page to see that the online service already had over 750 views, and it had over 1200 views by the next morning. People are hungry for God’s message of hope and salvation. Many friends and colleagues have been sharing personal Easter messages and greetings with each other.

Just like Mary, the other women at the tomb, and the disciples, we have the privilege and opportunity to share the good news, the gospel of Jesus, with others. It is this Easter event that helps us make sense of the gospel message. Jesus taught us to love one another, and he showed us the ultimate love by dying on a cross and rising on the third day, giving us the promise of eternal life with Him.

As we embark into this season of Easter and prepare for the next great mystery of Pentecost, let it be for us a time of spiritual revival, so that when the quarantine is lifted and we are free to come back together to worship, we may fill God’s houses with the church. During this time may we continue to be the hands and feet of Christ, love one another, and take care of one another in whatever ways we can. Live as Easter people. Be a witness to God’s incredible love through your actions. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

YOU CAN WATCH AND READ ALL 10 @ 10 DEVOTIONS HERE.

CLERGY AND STAFF ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU

You may contact members of the staff directly or by calling the church office at 336-472-7718 and following the instructions on the recording. Here is a list of staff phone extensions and email addresses, for reference:

Danny Leonard, Senior Minister – Ext. 16; dleonard@mumctville.org
Peggy Finch, Associate Minister – Ext. 15; pfinch@mumctville.org
Rodney Denton, Minister of Youth and Young Adults – Ext. 18; rdenton@mumctville.org
Lynda Hepler, Minister of Children and Families – Ext. 11; lhepler@mumctville.org
Brian Russell, Director of Contemporary Worship – Ext. 20; brussell@mumctville.org
Danny Frye, Director of Music – Ext. 12; dfrye@mumctville.org
Susan Frye, Secretary – Ext. 14; sfrye@mumctville.org
Peggy May, Financial Secretary/Treasurer – Ext. 13; pmay@mumctville.org
Jarry Oldaker, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds – Ext. 17; joldaker@mumctville.org