United Church of Warsaw

Two important goals will be accomplished this fall. One goal was to expand our ministry to the community, and we are doing that through a new community program to help people get better jobs and lead better lives, made possible through a faith-based initiatives U.S. Labor Department grant. The other goal was to update our computer and telephone system in the church offices to make our daily work more effective.
We Can! is the name of the community program we are beginning as partners with Angel Action and the Community Action Program of Wyoming County. Jeff and Linda Thomas are our church coordinators for this program. Our goal is to help people find employment that will provide adequate income and a chance for advancement while increasing their ability to be responsible for themselves and their families. Some of the ways members of this church can volunteer to participate in this ministry are these:

• Provide training and mentoring in life skills, including household management, budgeting, and parenting skills

• Assist with emergency transportation, child care, and clothing needs

• Help give leadership to support groups

• Provide leadership and professional development skill training and mentoring

• Help people develop skills for writing resumes and going on job interviews

• Offer employment to participants in the program when they’re ready

For a few weeks we’ll give you an opportunity on Sundays to fill out an interest survey to tell us you are interested in at least learning more about how to participate. Or just call Jeff and Linda at 786-5735 or call me at the church.
Every day at the church office we use the telephone system and the computers to accomplish our work. Both systems and the equipment have been outdated and inefficient for a long time. The trustees have been working on changing that. Recently Joe Hess helped us change our phone and internet service so that we have access to high speed internet and wireless computer technology. That is already going. We are still in the process of updating the phones themselves to make life easier and more efficient for all of us.

We also desperately needed new software for our financial accounting work. We decided to purchase software that will also allow us to manage information about our church membership that will all be interactive with financial records as well (with password-protected access, of course). When it’s going, and when we have the information in the system, our daily work of doing mailings and contacting people for various needs will be more efficient. That new software requires newer computers. One will be donated, and the other will soon be purchased. A special to thank you to Sandy Corey who (as our new treasurer) researched software and helped get this project underway.

Eight teens met on September 17 to organize a fall confirmation group, led by Jimmy Reader and Hans Kunze. The teens will each ask an adult in the church to serve as a mentor or partner with them in this process. The group will meet three times, for 3-hour sessions after church on Sundays, during the fall to learn about scripture reading, prayer, worship, the Christian life, and the responsibilities of active church membership. Teens ready to be confirmed will meet with the Session at their December meeting and will be confirmed before Christmas. Please pray for everyone involved.

Healthy churches empower their members to take on new leadership roles in order to support and expand the ministry of church staff. We very much appreciate the work of our organist, Irma Hurst, and our choir director, Barb Meyer. Other people in our congregation also have talent and interest in giving leadership to our broader music program.
This fall, Deb Baker will be the coordinator for children’s music, especially through the Sunday School. And Cindy Flint will work with instrumental music with the children. Also, Cassandra Blake and Alison Ghise will be piano accompanists. We want to thank all of them for their willingness to serve.
Also, the Praise Chorus will add an accompanist, Lynn Saxton, to support the work of Barb as their director.
We are always looking for more ways to not only improve our music but to expand the number of people participating and giving leadership. If you want to volunteer or have other ideas, please contact the pastor, the worship committee chairperson (Deb Baker), or the music staff. Thank you.