MEMORIAL UMC’s MISSION…

We are CALLED by Christ to GROW in faith, BUILD relationships, and SERVE all people.

WEEKLY CALENDAR

SUNDAY JUNE 14 
Second Sunday after Pentecost 
10:00 a.m. R.L. Pope Class Pre-Recording on WGOS AM 1070
11:00 a.m. Live Worship Online via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070
Hymns:
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven (UMH 66, vv. 1, 2)

Holy Spirit, Truth Divine (UMH 465, vv. 1, 2, 4)

MONDAY – FRIDAY
10:00 a.m. “10@10” Weekday Devotions via Facebook

TUESDAY
5:30 p.m.  Outdoor Yoga in the Church Back Yard (Weather permitting)

WEDNESDAY
The Weekly Update via Facebook

SUNDAY JUNE 21
Third Sunday after Pentecost
10:00 a.m. R.L. Pope Class Pre-Recording on WGOS AM 1070
11:00 a.m. Live Worship Online via Facebook and on WGOS AM 1070

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…

Peace and justice in our nation, state, and city
Delores Davis
Shelley York
Dwayne Faircloth
Grant Brinkley and Family
Trent Turner
Kaylee Turner
The Family of Baxter Gallimore
Michelle Smith
Brandon Rorie
Rob James
Josie Laumann
Peggy Lawrence
Finley Price Family
Our First Responders, Medical Community, and Essential Workers
All those affected by Coronavirus
Debbie Mayer-Mathews
Robert Miller
Kim Henderson
Andrea Cain and Family
Evelyn Tew
Dave Ogren
Dallas Hutchens
Tyler Oldaker
Tim Priska
Chris Eddinger
Tracy Brinkley
Our UM Missionaries
All Military Personnel
The United Methodist Church

NO STAR OF BETHLEHEM IN 2020 

Due to uncertainty and potential risks associated with Coronavirus, the Star of Bethlehem drive-through nativity event, usually held in December, has been canceled for 2020. Thank you for your understanding during these unusual times.

As a reminder, the Bargain Treasures and Gifts Galore events also have been cancelled for 2020.

CLERGY AND STAFF ARE AVAILABLE

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

FINANCIAL GIVING OPTIONS WHILE THE OFFICE IS CLOSED

Thank you for your ongoing generosity to Memorial. While the office is closed, there are three options for making gifts to Memorial:

The address for mailing checks is:
Memorial UMC
P.O. Box 428
Thomasville, NC 27361-0428

Online gifts can be made securely at https://onrealm.org/mumctville/give/now which can also be accessed from our website homepage.

Electronic funds transfer (EFT) giving can be set up for your recurring tithe. For information on how to arrange this, please email or leave a message for Peggy May, Financial Secretary, at pmay@mumctville.org or 336-472-7718.

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.)

PANTRY ITEMS NEEDED

Thank you for your continued giving to CCM. Current needs are listed below. You may drop off donations at the church, placing them on the Mission Racks in the breezeway.

Food Items: Hygiene Items:
canned meat
canned potatoes
pasta sauce
mixed vegetables
crackers
cereal
soap
deodorant
shampoo
toothpaste
toilet paper

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.

FEATURED DEVOTION

We close this week’s eNews with a 10@10 devotion shared by Lynda Hepler on March 30, 2020.

I always like to begin my devotion time with a prayer.  Will you please join me:

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.

Many of you have been like me this past week and added and new job title to your resume: home school teacher! Many parents and grandparents are navigating the waters of homeschooling for the first time. At my house, in helping my youngest daughter Payton with her studies, the biggest challenge has been time management, making sure that she spends at least 30 minutes on every subject and keeping a record of all of it to be turned in to the school. The challenge is keeping my child focused on completing all her assignments given the many distractions at home, namely the iPad and Nintendo!

For her PE class she is supposed to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and keep a journal of her activities. Payton used to be very athletic, going to gymnastics and competing in Special Olympics state gymnastics every year. But not so much anymore. Especially at home, it’s like pulling teeth to get this girl to go outside. And forget about playing; it’s not going to happen. So every day we walk to our mailbox. We live way back off the main road. I’d say our driveway is probably four-tenths of a mile long. This past week we were walking back to the house and we noticed all the trees budding and the colorful flower blooms everywhere. We saw a bush along the drive with these long white flower petals on it and discovered that it’s a thorn bush. I remembered seeing that thorn bush back in the winter when everything was dry, brown, and dead looking. Now it is vibrant green with flowers growing.

It’s surprising how quickly the blooms are fading and the leaves are coming out in just a few short days that I’ve been watching the plant change. The thorns are huge! When I look at them I think of several passages in the bible. First and foremost, I’m reminded of the crown of thorns the Roman soldiers made for Jesus to wear as they made fun of him during his trial. We’ve always seen pictured and used a crown of thorns that is dry and brown, but I imagine that during this time of year in Israel during the festival of the Passover, it was a time of changing seasons from winter to summer. In late March the flowering trees and bushes are beginning to transform into the hardy drought resistant plants for the summer season. I can imagine the Roman soldiers cutting branches of a thorn bush similar to this and fashioning it into a crown. This crown is green, possibly with a few lingering flower petals and new spring leaves. This crown appears to be full of new life. The crown of thorns is a symbol of suffering and death and yet it is suddenly filled with signs of new life. Jesus is the means by which we receive new life. In this season of Lent and especially on the first day of statewide mandated quarantine, I hope you will join me on this spiritual discipline of fasting from personal contact and social distancing, to be a time where we can step back from all the chaos, slow down, and spend time with God.

Another story that comes to mind as I think about thorns is the Parable of the Sower. The children will remember how the sower scatters the seeds among the ground. Some land in the thorns, and as they try to grow up among the thorns they are choked out and wither and die. Many of us may feel like we’re living in the thorns now or, more so, in the days to come with the quarantine. We may feel our freedom is being choked by this time of isolation. As part of our self-reflections and spending time with God, I ask you to look for God Sightings each day. Look for ways you see God’s love in action. It may be in God’s creation, like the thorn bush, or it may be through the thoughts and actions of others.

To close, I’d like to share a few words written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, pastor and teacher during the time of the Holocaust. He was imprisoned in the concentration camps for conspiring against Hitler. Here is what he has to say about freedom. I found his words to be very appropriate for our time today. Bonhoeffer writes:

Responsibility and freedom are mutually corresponding concepts. Responsibility presupposes freedom substantively – not chronologically – just as freedom can only exist in the exercise of responsibility. Responsibility is human freedom that exists only by being bound to God and neighbor. … Daring to do what is right rather than what you may simply want at the moment, not hovering about in what might be possible, but courageously seizing what is real, it is not in the flight of thought but solely in deeds that one finds freedom. Leave your anxious hesitation behind and go forth into the storm of events borne only by God’s commandment and by faith, and freedom will welcome your spirit rejoicing.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.

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