United Church of Warsaw

Updates:

Hearts for Honduras

On Palm Sunday, April 1^st, following worship, more than 70 people picnicked in the Fellowship Hall on hot dogs, salads, and fried ice cream. Joining us were many of the missionaries who recently spent two weeks in Honduras. Judy Toner, Jim Carter’s sister, presented a power point program as she discussed the many projects she and the other missionaries worked on diligently in several Honduran villages, including the building of a one room school house. Our financial support for these projects was put to immediate use and was greatly appreciated.

One Great Hour of Sharing: Who is My Neighbor?

Success!!! Almost $1500 has been received in donations for this project! Both of our denominations will benefit equally from our generosity.

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Sewing Circle News:
Please call Sandy Corey (786-8456) or George Ann Carter (786-2169) with the number of quilts that you have finished. We hope to have them displayed in the sanctuary sometime after Rev Cran arrives before Benevolence distributes them.

There is plenty of fabric available to make more quilts. Please help yourself.

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Coming Events:

Sign-up sheets for an up-coming community brunch to benefit our youth program and for our annual strawberry social will be found in the East Room following worship on Sundays during the month of May. Please help in whatever way you can to make these events successful.

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In our effort to minister to the needs of our congregation, we are attempting to assess those needs in two areas.

• Shut-Ins desiring visitation
• Those needing transportation to out-of-town medical appointments.

Volunteers would be needed in both areas. Please share your need and/or your willingness to volunteer with any Deacon. Thank you.

The Benevolence Allbright Family Baby Shower scheduled for May 5 from 2-4 pm in the Fellowship Hall must be rescheduled. The baby’s father, Andrew, is required to attend a military deployment meeting on May 5. Updated information about the shower will follow.

One decision made at the December joint board meeting was to establish a long-range planning group to look at 5-year plans for maintenance of our historic buildings. Trustees and elders will form a group to recommend a strategy for what needs to be done and how to raise the needed funds to ensure the buildings continue to be attractive and in good repair for many years to come. Please contact Steve Perkins if you have suggestions for the group.

We practice our work as stewards of all God has given us in many ways. One stewardship practice is regular giving through the church to support the work God has called us to do through our congregation and mission work beyond our community.

You may return your pledge of money and pledge of time by putting it in the offering plate any Sunday or returning it by mail or in person to the church office. We hope to receive all the pledges before the end of December. Thank you for your help with this annual process.

Sandy Corey gave a word of encouragement to folks during worship a few weeks ago:

“Well, it’s that time of year. The “S” word is upon us. No – I’m not talking about the fluffy, white, cold stuff; I’m referring to “Stewardship.”

Giving of our time, talents, and treasure, is the underlying theme of stewardship. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to focus only at this time of year, when actually we should be concerning ourselves with being a steward all 365 days of the year.

Giving of our time is a relatively easy thing to do. How many times have we seen the same people giving their time over and over again? I would like to ask all of you to reflect on this, pray about it, and ask yourself, ‘Isn’t there more that I can do with my time to help here at church, at school, in the community?’

Challenge yourself to sign up for something you have never done before. There are many opportunities right here in this church. Our Thanksgiving dinner is just around the corner, pies need to be made, turkeys need to be cooked. The church needs decorating for Advent and Christmas. A work day has been scheduled just for that. When is the last time you came to one of these work days? Have you ever come? Refreshments need to be made for the “Flash of Brass” concert. Gifts need to be bought for families not as fortunate as yours or mine. The Board of Benevolence has challenged each of us to make an Operation Christmas Child shoebox by November 17.

Soon, the nominating committee will be looking for members to fill seats on all the boards. Maybe the right person for this is you!

The next time an opportunity arises, ask yourself – Do I have the time?”