The Messenger

First United Methodist Church

Washington, MO

July 2008

From Your Pastor –

If you’ve ever been on a cruise, you know that it takes a while for a large ship to turn in the water and change course. For the past year the lay leadership of our church has joined me in the process of attempting to change the course of our church in terms of giving and attendance. When I arrived at First UMC 12 months ago, giving to the basic operating expenses of our church was down by several thousand dollars per month. At the end of last year it appeared that this trend was beginning to reverse, but since January 2008 the downward spiral has continued to date. Our combined attendance at both services presently hovers around 130, and it has been at that level for several years.

I recently formed a special leadership team to address these concerns and seek to change the course of our church. During the next year there will be some new and innovative programs implemented at First UMC which we hope will enable our church to increase its giving and attendance. I invite you to be in prayer for your church as we attempt to fulfill The Great Commission given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ when he said, “Go and make disciples.” The church is not in business to raise money and only tend to the needs of our members. The church is intended to be a mission outpost from which we launch out into the surrounding community and seek to involve people in worship, study and service.

In the coming year you will be called upon to serve your church and give sacrificially so that we can fulfill Jesus’ command to go and make disciples. It is important that every member of the church be willing to support this mission by your prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. The body of Christ needs all of its members pulling together in order to fulfill its mission. I believe that First United Methodist Church of Washington has a bright future ahead. But success is not going to just fall into our lap. We are going to have to put forth some effort if we are going to see our church grow and bear fruit for Jesus Christ. Will you join me in this effort? Let us “attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God.” (William Carey, founder of the modern missionary movement)

- Jeff Carr

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July Birthdays

July 2 – Matt Cooper, Jessica Dotson, Chuck Martin

July 3 – Becca Brehe

July 5 – Jeanette Raab, Brendan Smith

July 6 –Molly Derner

July 7 – Ahrianna Settle, Melvin Henniger, Lauren Yeary

July 8 – Abbey Hook

July 11 – Maggie Lohmeyer

July 13 – Jessica Crowell

July 14 – Barb McKenney, Ken Luechtefeld

July 15 – Rose Brakemeyer

July 16 – Ollie Whyte

July 17 – Josh Benz

July 18 – Samantha Zumsteg, Wyonia Goebel

July 19 – Tonya Bremerkamp, James Schrader

July 20 – Peter Coulter, Tom Miofsky

July 21 – John Lintzenich

July 22 – Brett Matzes, Tim Woodstock

July 23 – Harold Ward

July 24 – Jenny Driemeyer

July 25 – John Lee, Chris Brehe

July 27 – Cassie Benz

July 28 – Marie Hug, Bryan Lee, Tim Zumsteg

July 30 – Jim Murphy

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July Anniversaries

July 3 – Bill & Brenda Schrader

July 3 – Adam & Dana Vogel

July 8 – Dale & Debbie Borgmann

July 19 – Tom & Gail Miofsky

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July Altar Flowers

July 6 – In remembrance of Mary Murphy’s birthday from Jim Murphy

July 13 – In honor of Tom & Gail Miofsky’s Wedding Anniversary

July 20 – In honor of Harold Ward’s birthday from Evelyn Ward

July 27 – In honor of Sam and Tim Zumsteg’s birthdays from their grandparents, Mike and Christy Eckert

If you would like to provide altar flowers

for our church services please sign up on the chart in the church office. Please indicate if you wish to have the flowers given in honor

of or in memory of a loved one. The cost is $20.00. Payment may be placed in the offering plate – be sure to clearly mark it “Altar flowers”.

There are many dates open on the calendar.

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Address Changes:

Clay Saucier

Cedarcrest Manor

324 Fifth Street

Washington, MO 63090

Bruce Miller

Cedarcrest Manor

324 Fifth Street

Washington, MO 63090

July Ushers:

Provided by the Mission/Outreach Committee

Marie Hug, Chair

Thank you to our

Summer Sunday School Volunteers

Date Activity Leader Assistant

June 1 Paint flower pots & pot plants John Lintzenich Marie Hug

June 8 Scavenger Hunt Beth Brehe Becca Brehe

June 15 Celebration of Fathers Laura Carder Jamie Smith

June 22 Deliver plants to nursing home John Lintzenich

June 29 To be determined Kathy Rogers

July 6 Letter to WW II Veterans Jenny Potter

July 13 Things that Fly Ed Adams Beth Brehe

July 20 Banners Shelby Boehmer

July 27 Banners Shelby Boehmer

August 3 Puppet ministry Jean Weekley Christy Eckert

August 10 A picture of Jesus Marty Coulter Becky Coulter

August 17 Sign Language Jo Matzes

August 24 To be determined Cindy Lohmeyer

August 30 To be determined Arlys Dayton Linda Booher

Thanks to all of you for volunteering!

Loving Hearts Food Pantry needs:

cereal, canned fruit, jello, tuna, canned meat, chili, soup, spaghettios,

ravioli, jelly (we have plenty of peanut butter), and spaghetti sauce.

School’s out – so remember the local food pantry when you’re shopping! Students who are involved in the free meals program at school will be missing their healthy meals during the summer break. Food pantry requests are always high this time of the year. If you can help by purchasing any of the above items, you may bring the items to church and place them in the shopping cart in the vestibule. Some of our church members who volunteer at Loving Hearts will make sure the food gets delivered on a regular basis. Much thanks from your Mission/Outreach Team!

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Flower Club:

The church is in need of volunteers to help maintain the flowers by the front entrance doors. The trustees have put a watering can near the door so please feel free to give the plants a sprinkle when they look like they could use it.

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN’S NEWS

By Arlys Dayton

July schedule for the UMW circles:

· Faith circle will not be meeting in July.

· Supper Club is not meeting in July & August – they’ll resume in September.

· Charity Circle will not have a formal meeting but is planning on going out together for lunch at Wine Country Gardens in Defiance. Anyone interested in going should meet at 11:00 AM in the parking lot of the old JCPenney store. We will car-pool from there.

In August we will be having an “All-Member Picnic” on August 19^th at 6:00 PM under the pavilion, at the church. I hope all members that are able will plan to attend. It’s a wonderful time of fellowship when we are all able to gather together.

“Heads up” for our fall Rummage Sale scheduled for Sept. 11, 12 & 13. We ask everyone to start saving up those “treasures” for our sale.

BUSY BUDDY NEWS

· Saturday, July 12th, 4:30 pm.  Dinner and outdoor fun at Jean Weekley's!  Bring your swim suit, if you want, and a side dish.  Sign-up at church for your dish.  Meat (BBQ) will be provided.  We will enjoy a lovely evening in a beautiful setting!

· Saturday, August 16th, 6 p.m.  Olympics at the Lintzenich's.  Join us for carry-out Beijing (you can pay your share that evening), followed by our 2nd annual Busy Buddy Olympic games!  (we promise you won't hurt anywhere when you leave!)  Bring an 8X11" construction paper "flag" representing your fictional country.  Dale's country is "Bee-rovia"!  There will be a FABULOUS PRIZE for the best flag. 

· Saturday, September 20th, 5:30 pm.  Dinner at our own Methodist Pavilion.  Mark your calendar.  More later!

If you are 50 years old or older and would like to join our Fellowship Group, please come!  We promise you won't regret it!  For more information, contact Dale Lintzenich--239-4843, dlintzenich@charter.net.

Youth Group News

Youth Group Leaders: Ben & Andrea Lohmeyer

· Middle School and Senior High Youth groups are on break until the fall.

FIRE PROTECTION MONTH

By Bob Eade

The month of July is National Fire Protection month. All public buildings, regardless of purpose, including our church, are subject to certain fire safety regulations. Among the national, state and local fire safety code requirements are the need for outwardly opening exterior doors with panic bars, fire extinguishers, safety glass in doors and fire rated doors. Fortunately our church meets these requirements. Unfortunately, a fire rated door offers no fire protection if the door is open. Please help keep our church safe by closing all class room, sanctuary and office doors should you be the last to leave at the end of a day. Special recognition will be given to anyone who can provide the location of all fire extinguishers in the church.

BEAUTIFICATION, LAWN CARE and LANDSCAPING

By Bob Eade

Due to the amount of rain we had this spring and the good effort of our lawn mowing contractor, the church grounds have taken on the appearance of a well maintained park. (A tip of the hat to our Flower Lady, Dixie Stone, who makes the front entrance so inviting.) Several members have asked about missing or dying shrubs and trees that may need to be replaced. The Trustees are aware that some of the landscaping needs attention and will be replaced. Our resident tree and shrub expert, John Lintzenich, informs me the best time to replace those items is in the fall. Please let the Trustees know if you are available to help when planting time is here.

HELP WANTED

Cleaning Person: The church is looking for a cleaning person. The job would be approximately 4 hours per week. If you are interested or know someone who is, please

call Bob Eade at 239-0456. He can give you more information about the position.

Kitchen Clean-up Day

Monday, June 30 at 9:00am

The church kitchen is long overdue for a deep cleaning. We’ll need lots of help to accomplish this task. The more people that participate, the sooner the job will be done! If you can help, please call Linda Booher at 636-433-5719.

NEW CHURCH MEMBERS

Please welcome our 14 new church members!

2008 Confirmation Class

On Sunday, May 18, the following young persons were confirmed in the church, after completing weeks of Confirmation Classes:

Dean Brehe

Micki Brehe

Kortney Brueggemann

Peter Coulter

Jordan Hart

Donny Woodstock

New member Sunday

On Sunday, June 1 these people joined the church:

Greg and Laura Miller – The Miller’s have attending occasionally for several years. Laura is Jean Weekley’s daughter. Please add their address to your church directory:

4125 Mealer Lane

Washington, MO 63090

390-8242

Daniel and Susan Cozza – After attending about a year, The Cozza’s transferred their membership here from Cedargrove UMC. The Cozza’s have a 7 year old son named Colton. Address:

104 Hilltop Court

Washington, MO 63090

239-5545

Roger and Wyonia Goebel – The Goebel’s have been attending for several months.

Wyonia has transferred her membership here from the Salem in Ballwin UMC and Roger comes to us from the Lutheran faith.

Address: 3001 Fox Trotter Lane

Washington, MO 63090

390-2122

Sue Nunley – Sue has transferred her membership here from Christy Memorial UMC in St.Louis.

Address: 70 Rabbit Trail

Washington, MO 63090

239-4441

Andrea Lohmeyer – Andrea has been attending FUMC since she was married to Ben Lohmeyer in 2006. The couple is expecting their first child in August. Ben and Andrea have been serving as our Youth Group leaders the past year.

Temporary address: 2 Creekside Place

Washington, MO 63090

636-221-2260

“Money Matters”

Whenever we support any cause with our hard earned money, we want to know how our money is being spent. This is certainly true when it comes to the church. The information printed below is intended to give you a picture of how your money is being spent by your church.

The church is not a money making business, it is in the business of making disciples for Jesus Christ and helping persons who are in need. The week of June 14-21 a group of our Senior High youth went with their adult sponsors to Lacrosse, Wisconsin where they spent the week doing work projects for families who were in need of assistance with household repairs. This kind of mission work is a fulfillment of Jesus’ command to “do it unto the least of these”. We are happy to be able to support our youth as they involve themselves is such risk-taking mission work.

Treasurer’s Report, May 2008

Total receipts 15,947.72

Total expenses 18,218.32

(-2,270.60)

Expenditures

Debt retirement 4,256.04

Staff Payroll 9,626.55

Education Committee 248.60

Finance Committee 65.60

Missions Committee 1,000.00

Office Expense 426.45

Building Maintenance 1,119.51

Evangelism Committee 162.62

Worship Committee 115.00

Miscellaneous 1,197.95

TOTAL 18,218.32

There are no “fluff” items in our monthly expenses. We are only talking about basic operating expenses to keep the doors open and be in ministry to our members and the larger community.

As you can see from the above figures, we are currently operating at a deficit, and have been doing so every month since January 2008. Our Finance Committee works diligently to try and make ends meet, but the simple fact is that we are not receiving enough in gifts and pledges to fulfill our ministry goals at the present time.

If you have not made a pledge to the church for 2008, please consider doing so. If you are behind in your pledge, please make every effort to become current. Our church can fulfill its ministry to make disciples for Jesus Christ only if our members and friends support the work with their financial gifts.

Thank you,

Rev. Jeff Carr