Morningside October 2017 Newsletter

Morningside United Methodist Church

October 2017

Holiday Craft Fair, 2017

The UMW Holiday Craft Fair is coming up soon, on Friday and Saturday, November

3rd - 4th, 2017. We will have many holiday vendors with a huge variety of crafts. We will also be serving lunch for fair attendees on both days. In addition, UMW will have tables for our own handicrafts, our bake sale, and our jewelry sale at this year's Craft Fair.

Our UMW group will be looking for many volunteers to help make the fair a success. We will need helpers in the kitchen to serve lunch, and helpers to sit at our tables during the sale. We are asking for donations of handcrafted items for our UMW table - dishcloths, dish towels, ornaments, art work, etc. Any handcrafted items you would like to make for us to sell would be welcomed.

We are also asking for church members to please donate baked items to our bake sale table. Cookies, candy, biscuits, muffins, scones - you name it, someone will buy it and love it! The bake sale has been VERY popular. All profits from the baked goods and crafts go to the kitchen remodel project.

Please mark your calendar now for November 3rd and 4th. Watch for the sign-up sheets for volunteer shifts on the bulletin board in the hall. Listen for the upcoming announcements, and be thinking about what you would like to bake for the bake sale.

If you have questions, please contact Helene Gough, Phyllis Boston, or Teresa Stewart. Thank you for your help and support!

Kenya Mission 2018

Since 2006, United Methodists from Oregon and Idaho have been going to central Kenya. In January, I will be joining a new team of ten, five of whom have been on previous trips. We will work on a variety of projects in two locations about 200 miles north of Nairobi. The projects include several outreach projects of Maua Methodist Hospital and projects related to several schools in the area. Most of these projects require money that we provide, and some need supplies that we can pack and bring with us. You can learn more about the projects we hope to do on Facebook at "OR/ID Kenya Mission Teams".

Thanks to the generosity of Morningsiders, I have a large box of school supplies ready to pack. There are other needs, too, including certain supplies for the hospital, reading glasses, and lots of cash. On the bulletin board in the hall is a list of the items we need. I will be happy to answer questions about anything on the list. The same list explains the details for cash donations and the projects to be funded. You can designate your donation for a particular project if you want.

Our project list is ambitious! The ten of us will not be able to fund it without help, since we are also paying our own expenses for the trip. With you and other friends, we can make a difference in the lives of students, AIDS orphans, babies and their families, and other Kenyans with very limited resources. It is another way Morningside can reach out to the world. Jan Nelson

World Communion Sunday

Your offering empowers international and national United Methodist students to change the world. Your offering helps with the cost of their continuing education.

Offerings benefit World Communion Scholarships, the Ethnic Scholarship Program and the Ethnic In-Service Training Program. Please give generously on October 1.

A New Class at Morningside

"A Christian Justice for the Common Good" is being offered at Morningside UMC beginning Tuesday, October 3rd at 2:30 pm in the Fireside Room.

Everyone is invited to join this new Discipleship Class. Books are available for $15.00, see Pastor Wendy.

Leaders: Pastor Wendy and Jan Nelson

Morningside Financial News

The finance team is grateful that our pledged receipts continue to be up to date and that our un-pledged giving and plate offering also continue to be received as budgeted. Thank you for your faithful stewardship.

One area of our budgeted income that is below our projection is fund raising. We are also dealing with the challenge of an unbalanced budget.

Through September, we have been able to pay all

of our church expenses, with the exception of our apportionments. We are significantly behind in this

area and have paid approximately 20% year to date.

Your finance team does anticipate having one more opportunity for a fund raiser sometime before the year ends to address the shortfall related to apportionments.

In This Issue

Holiday Craft Fair 2017

Kenya Mission 2018

World Communion Sunday

A New Class at Morningside

Morningside Financial News

Joyful Stewardship

Youth Group Barn Dance

Young Adult Meetup

Parent's Night Out

Family Day Picnic Update

School Supplies

Family Enrichment

News from Open Door Churches

Youth Leadership

Youth Activities

Called to Love Workshop

Upcoming Events

October Calendar

Getting To Know Grapes

Worship Schedule

Sundays

10 a.m. - Worship

11 a.m. - Fellowship Time

Childcare is offered for infants and toddlers from 9:30 -11 a.m. every Sunday morning.

Newsletter Deadline

Thursday, Oct. 12th by 9:00 am

October Birthdays

10/1 Matthew Melton

10/3 Lori Phillips

10/3 Tim McCormick

10/8 Rev. Michael Powell

10/9 Brace Langenwalter

10/12 Maryann Lundy

10/13 Bunnie Maxey

10/13Geraldine Hammond

10/13 Katie Molesworth

10/14 Dale Beeman

10/15 Sally Lilley

10/16 Gladys Sinanan

10/20 Emma Wiseman

10/22 Jessica Minahan

10/22 Marie Dierks

10/24 Carlee Hunt

10/27 Del Funk

10/27 Eugenia Hernandez Trejo

10/27 Lupe Hernandez Trejo

10/27 Hugh Nelson

10/27 Wes Carr

10/28 Betsy Strobel

10/28 Jim M Johnson

10/29 Gary Patterson-Sterling

10/29 Lois Sanders

Oct. Anniversaries

10/10 Matt & Teresa Stewart

10/14 Gary & Allen Patterson-Sterling

10/22 Dave & Linda Ruble

In our prayers are those with...

Health Concerns, Illness, Loss of Loved Ones:

Luella Price, Geraldine Hammond, Royal Tarter, Gladys Sinanan, John Estelle, Lyle Dragoo, Jean Anderson, Lillis Larson, Dick Riley, Glen McCall, Dorothy Green, Robert Kuenzli, Jerry Perry, Ken Amend, Joy Willhite, Paula Kent, , Maggie Johnson, and Elisa Reckendorf

Joyful Stewardship

Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others.

Be good servants of God 's various gifts of grace.

I Peter 4:10

Stewardship - Caring - Generosity - Compassion - Sharing. These are the sentiments that come to my mind as I begin to reflect on our stewardship theme this year, "Joyful Stewardship," as it relates to areas in our lives such as Creation, Relationships, Time & Talents and Financial Resources. I am reminded that stewardship is not a chore or a matter of budgeting, rather, it is about how I live my life. It is about how I am called by God, influenced by the life of Jesus and guided by the Spirit to joyfully care for creation, be compassionate in my relationships, generous with my time & talents and share my financial resources. It is always easy to engage in joyful stewardship - no; yet when I open my heart to God's calling for joyful stewardship it provides an opportunity to grow in my faith and discover a deeper satisfaction than caring for my own desires. You are invited through worship in the month of October and your time of personal prayer and reflection to listen to how God is calling you to Joyful Stewardship.

Blessings, Pastor Wendy

Youth Group Halloween Barn Dance

October 28th, 7:30-9:30

The youth council has reserved a nice old barn just south of the Oregon Garden in Silverton for a Halloween SPOOKTACULAR Dance Party! This will be a super fun Open Doors Churches collaborative event! We can't do this alone, and are looking for volunteers to form a barn dance committee! Please let us know if you would like to be part of this fun event and join us in the planning! For more information, contact David Deckelmann at 503-508-5085 or via email.

For details of youth group activities visit their Facebook page.

We have steadily been growing over the last year and currently our youth ministry serves over 50 youth from FUMC, Morningside, and Keizer Clear Lake. To continue our great programs and events, we could benefit from the following donations:

Juice, Gatorade, or lemonade mixes
Candy, Granola bars, cracker packs, or bags of chips
Plastic or cloth table clothes (all sizes)
Pizza coupons
Paper cups, plates and napkins
Neutral colored throw pillows and bean bag chairs

Thank you!

Young Adult Meetup
September 20th, Wednesday - 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Are you look for a place to come and chill? Join us for our next meetup this September as we gather and hang out with one another. We'll also be talking about activities we want to do together as a group.

October 4: New Year / New Possibilities - Join us at 6:30pm in the basement of the MICAH building as we talk about what the new year holds and how our faith can guide us.
October 14: Haunted House Night - Join us on October 14 at 7pm at 999 Locust Street NE Salem for a spooky filled night.
October 18: Spiritual Practice Night - Turning to our Faith in Times of Stress. 6:30pm in the basement of the MICAH building.

Please invite your friends and bring a dish to share!

If you have any questions feel free to send Pastor Alyssa an email, text, or call at 541-619-3983. I look forward to seeing you!

Parent's Night Out

Please join me in thanking and welcoming our Parents Night Out leadership team, Braden Shribbs, Carlee Hunt, Janet Adkins, Lupe Hernandez and Jan Nelson! These great individuals will ensure that activities are planned and supplies available each month for the children of our community to enjoy an evening of fun!

We still need volunteers for various roles each month. There isn't only playing but also registration, preparing snack and preparing crafts ahead of time like cutting and so forth. If you are interested in any of these please let me know, Yajaira, or sign up on the bulletin.

This is our most popular program the entire school year having more than 20 children attend every month and we need your help to ensure we can keep our doors open to them.

Family Day Picnic

At the end of August, we had our Family Day Picnic where we served hotdogs, fruit, dessert and had various Parents Night Out and Messy Church activities plus gave away school supplies to members of the community. We had close to eighty people attend this event from all over Salem.

This is a great event that we wish to repeat again and could not have been accomplished without the great leadership of our Christian Education team, Karna Johnson, Jannie Crossler-Laird, Lura Morris, Margie Lowe, Teresa Steward and Eva Johnson.

School Supply Donations

Our annual school supply drive was able to provide all the families who came for the picnic their schools supplies for the year, over 30 children.

Additionally, we had a ton of leftover materials which were donated to Morningside and Faye Wright elementary schools. We donated supplies for over fifty children. Thank you to the support of Vergie Olson who helped lead this.

Family Enrichment

Starting in the summer and continuing into the fall we started our new curriculum "Mind in the Making" which focuses on the 7 essential skills: focus and self-control, perspective taking, communicating, making connections, critical thinking, taking on challenges, and self-directed and engaged learning.

Our family group continues to grow from when we started it. We have families from all over Salem with various family dynamics, most of whom do not attend our church on a regular basis. A special thanks to the Marion & Polk Early Learning Hub, Inc. and our Morningside Foundation who continue to assist in grants and donations to ensure that we can provide a meal and child care for all of our classes.

Our team consists of Margie Lowe and Yajaira Hernandez facilitate the various curriculums, Teresa Stewart and Jannie Crossler-Laird prepare all of our meals and Fabiola and Noemi ensure the children have a great time!

Open Door Churches

The Open Door Churches board met on September 25 at Keizer Clearlake UMC. Here are a couple of items from our meeting. Pastor Wendy and Rob Chenoweth were in attendance from Morningside if you have questions.

Open Door Churches Charge Conference is on Sunday, November 12 at 1:00 at FUMC. We will gather to celebrate the ministries of the past year, hear goals, visions and dreams for the coming years and vote on the clergy salaries. (Morningside will be scheduling their own All Church Conference at another time.) Each local congregation board needs to review the amount of money they are contributing in 2017 for clergy salaries and the amount they will be contributing in 2018.

The Open Door Churches webpage is being built at this time and will launch in October or November.

Sarah, our Communication Coordinator, is building a solid infrastructure for communication and will be assisting churches as needed with developing their own webpages.

Youth Leadership - Reverend Jeff Lowery

September 1 marks a change in leadership in our youth programs. Heather Hawkins has transitioned to working with young families and I (Jeff Lowery) will be leading the Open Door Youth program. I'm excited to be a part of such a great program and deeply appreciate all of the great work that Heather and the youth council have done to make youth ministry in Salem so strong. I am looking forward to getting to know the families and youth better as we work together to grow in our faith. Although I have been a part of the youth ministry program here in some capacity for the past few years I thought I would tell you all a little bit more about me as I step into a larger role.

I grew up in a United Methodist Church in the suburbs of Chicago but have lived in the Pacific Northwest for almost 20 years. I am an Ordained Deacon in the United Methodist church and received a Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Il. I moved to the west coast for my seminary internship in youth ministry at Wesley UMC in Yakima, WA. Over the years I have worked with youth in a variety of ways including the past 7 years as director and founder of the youth mission trip program L.A.S.T. (Learning and Serving Together).

I live in Portland with my wife Eilidh, who is a pastor, and our 12 year old daughter Paige, who is a 7th grader at Sellwood Middle School. For the past 5 years we have been appointed to start a new United Methodist congregation in the Sellwood neighborhood. When I get a little free time I love to play music and have been playing guitar and writing songs since I was a teenager.

Pastor Jeff

Upcoming Youth Group Activities!

October 1, 8, 15, 22 Youth Group at the Regular Fall Time

12:30-2:00 @ First UMC

October 28 Halloween Barn Dance 7:30-9:30 p.m.

October 29 No Youth Group this Sunday

February 10 Save the date Annual Youth Auction

October 21, 2017
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

All are invited to join us for this powerful, practical training workshop. Come find out how your warm welcome and acceptance can make all the difference to gender-nonconforming young people, adults, and their families. Our workshop leaders will be Revs. Jim and Bonnie Parr Phillipson.

First United Methodist Church of Salem
Micah Building
680 State Street, 2nd floor worship space

Salem, Oregon

Cost $5 (includes snacks!)

Register online by 2:00 pm October 16 th

https://umoi-reg.brtapp.com/CalledtoLove

For questions, contact Laura Metzger at [email protected] or the First United Methodist Church office, 503-364-6709.