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Thursday, February 8, 2024

Dear Shawnee UMC Family,

Please join us for Worship

this Sunday

in-person or on Facebook Live at 10:30am.

The Scripture for Pastor Phyllis' message will be:

Luke 5: 27-32

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The Tuesday Lectionary Group invites you to share some of your favorite scriptures, which we will then share with all members.

Please email them to:

maryann13fenstermacher@gmail.com.

Here are this week's scriptures for study and meditation:

Psalm 82:1-8 God takes his stand at the divine council; he gives judgement among the gods: "How long will you judge unjustly by granting favor to the wicked? Give justice to the lowly and the orphan; maintain the right of the poor and destitute! Rescue the lowly and needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked! They don't know; they don't understand; They wander around in the dark. All the earth's foundations shake. I hereby declare, "You are gods, children of the Most High--all of you! But you will die like mortals; you will fall down like any prince." Rise up, God! Judge the earth because you hold all nations in your possession.

Genesis 25:29-34 Once when Jacob was boiling stew, Esau came in from the field hungry and said to Jacob, "I'm starving! Let me devour some of this red stuff." That's why his name is Edom. Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright today." Esau said, "Since I'm going to die anyway, what good is my birthright to me?" Jacob said, "Give me your word today." And he did. He sold his birthright to Jacob. So Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate, drank, got up, and left, showing just how little he thought of his birthright.

John 7:3-13 Jesus' brothers said to him, "Leave Galilee. Go to Judea so that your disciples can see the amazing works that you do. Those who want to be known publicly don't do things secretly. Since you can do these things, show yourself to the world." His brothers said this because they didn't believe in him. Jesus replied, "For you, anytime is fine. But my time hasn't come yet. The world can't hate you. It hates me, though, because I testify that its works are evil. You go up to the festival. I'm not going to this one because my time hasn't yet come." Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.

John 7:9-13 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers left for the festival, he went too--not openly but in secret. The Jewish leaders were looking for Jesus at the festival. They kept asking, "Where is he?" The crowds were murmuring about him. "He's a good man," some said, but others were saying, "No, he tricks the people." No one spoke about him publicly, though, for fear of the Jewish authorities.

PRAYER REQUESTS

If you would like the prayer team to pray for you or anyone you have concerns for, please email Julie Italiano at

jbitaliano4@gmail.com. She will send it on to the prayer team.

You may also send prayer requests to Connie Perry in the office at connie@shawneeumc.org, or call the office at (913) 631-2280.

You may also pick up a paper copy of the prayer list at the church.

LECTIONARY NEWS

Lectionary readings for

February 13, 2024

in Room 304 at 10:00am

Genesis 9:8-17

1Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15

Psalm 25:1-10

Zoom ID 991 9640 5385

password 061620

Come join our Faith and Fellowship Meeting

Thursday, February 8, 2024, at 10:00

Common Ground and Chapel

All women of faith are invited to come, socialize and participate in our service of Pledge to Missions and Service. We look forward to seeing and meeting you.

Ambassadors Luncheon

Our next luncheon is

February 12, Monday

Come at 11:00 am. Eat at 11:30 am

Main course: Pulled Pork

Bring a covered dish to share and your own plate and silverware

Drinks and bread provided

Program by Mary Carter, a dietitian, to talk about nutrition, of course!

Come and join the fun with friends, good food, and to learn ways to eat better for good health!

Do you enjoy C.S. Lewis?

Two books have been added to the church library by Lewis.

1. SUPRISED BY JOY The Shape of My Early Life

Described as a remarkably frank and beguiling account of a conversion.

2. TILL WE HAVE FACES A MYTH RETOLD

This timeless tale of two princesses - one beautiful and one unattractive -

C.S. Lewis reworking the classical Cupid and Psyche.

You can find these books in the library on the round table.

I would like to thank everyone for all the phone calls, cards, prayers, etc, that I received from my SUMC family, while off with my back problems and my surgery and recovery. A huge thank you especially to Changsu and the prayer team.

Once again I find there is no one like this church to rally around you when you need them most. And nothing like the prayer team to get those prayers out when you need them most. Thank you again friends.

Mary Self

FINANCIAL NOTES

A significant category in our annual operating budget is TRUSTEES. The Trustees are tasked with keeping our buildings and facilities in order and running smoothly. Items in this budget category include maintenance & repairs, utilities, insurance, furniture & fixtures, and cleaning. This category represents 27% of our Annual Operating Budget. It’s a big component of our budget, but we do need to maintain our “older” building to continue our mission work in our community.

The Board of Trustees does an excellent job of managing these funds and taking on unexpected projects. You may have seen our most recent example - repairs to the gym floor and wall caused by an HVAC pipe leak in the north wall of the gym. The leak was found, but not before water was underneath a large portion of the gym floor. It was not caused by a “flood,” but a slow leak over some time. The floor and base board were removed to determine the extent of the damage. The water damage was relatively major, so the Trustees filed an insurance claim. In addition, during the investigation, termites and extensive termite damage were found on the west wall of the gym.

The good news is that the insurance company inspected the damage and has already paid us for the claim. The REALLY GREAT news is because church members have volunteered their time & energy to make the repairs ourselves, the funds received will cover the repair of the leaking pipe, our expenses for the gym floor, and our deductible. Although termite damage is not covered under insurance, the insurance payment for the water damage will most likely cover the termite remediation as well. The Trustees and volunteers really stepped up to get this work accomplished and we should all be grateful for that. Special thanks go to Marianne D’Amato, Roger Chalk, Kent McCreight, Tom Sullivan, & Kevin Metcalf for all their time and energy spent in the gym. (I apologize if I missed a volunteer)

PS - Since the trustees needed to rent a machine to pry up some tiles in the gym, they also utilized the machine to tear up the tiles in the basement hallway from the gym to Fellowship Hall. We were informed when we laid the epoxy top layer over the tiles that the tiles would not be an issue. But some of the tiles were causing unevenness in the epoxy top layer; they are being removed and the epoxy floor is being replaced.

The Trustees do an excellent job all around the church and work diligently to stay within the budget. We certainly thank them for all the work and care they put into our church.

As always, we try to be transparent about the church’s finances. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to anyone on the Finance Committee.

Steve D’Amato – Finance Chair

913-515-6200

CHURCH COUNCIL

The Church Council minutes from the January meeting are attached.

Please click the link below to open.

Church Council Minutes

Copies are also available in the church office.

BOOK CLUB

The Book Club will meet on February 22 at 1 pm. DeLores will lead the discussion on The Book of Rosy by Rosayra Pablo Cruz. She will share experiences from Guatemala.

Our March meeting will be on March 28. Connie will lead the discussion of Worth It by Britt Barron—this book is not in the library. Hope I will have info about getting it at the February meeting! The other book should be easily found: A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner.

Please bring or wear your favorite scarf!

As always, everyone is welcome!

Connie Mitzner

913-481-9495