On October 6, 1774 after a contentious election in the United Kingdom that saw the

beginnings of the American Revolutionary War, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist

movement, wrote the following words to his communities of people called Methodists:

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election and advised them in

faith with all earnestness,

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”

John Wesley’s words are still as wise and meaningful 250 years later in speaking to our

own time. As we all move on from our election that led to half our country celebrating and the other half feeling bitterly defeated, John Wesley’s words remind us that we are to approach these times through our faith, with our faith, and in faith.

In scripture, we have these words written to a divided community: “Be agreeable, be

sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless - that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.” 1 Peter 3: 8-9

So, how do we move forward? In this season, we are called to stop and remember that we all have something to give thanks for in our lives. As we open our eyes and hearts to realize how God is working in our lives, in small ways that we may not even notice and in sometimes very dramatic ways. My hope is that we carry around with us a list of why we are thankful for our many blessings large and small. If not, take some time today to write down all the many things to be thankful for so that in those tough times of life when it seems really dark, we can remember and let the light of our blessings give us and others hope. Realizing that giving thanks isn’t about us. We have been blessed to be a blessing to others, so let us give thanks for all the opportunities we have to live out our faith through our daily prayers and our service to others.

As we approach this season, may we remember the words of hope written by the apostle

Paul: Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is the will of God in Christ concerning you.



In God’s love,

Pastor Tim

Help with worship services is needed! If you're willing to be a liturgist, usher and/or AV tech, please contact the office by calling 715-344-3557, emailing stpauls@stevenspointumc.org or by stopping in.

Our biggest need is the for 8:30am service!

If you have already signed up to volunteer, there's no need to contact the office unless you'd like to switch times.

The schedule is already completed through December 1st. Start dates would proceed after that.

Thank you for your willingness to serve!

Volunteers are needed to help with phones and greeting visitors on Kristen's upcoming vacation days.

Day volunteers are needed is December 30.

Hours needed are 9-12 and 1-4. If you are willing to help, please reach out to the office.

Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving! We will be celebrating the holiday of gratitude by holding a dinner, where everyone is welcome. Family gathering is what this day is about. We will have wonderful food and fellowship, located at the church in Hazel Caulkins fellowship hall. We will gather at 1:00 pm and eat at 2:00 pm. Because there is no end time to our time of thanksgiving with one another, there will be no clear end time to our gathering. Please RSVP by November 25 to let us know you are planning to join us. Feel free to bring a dish. Any questions please call/email Audra at 262-388-0366 or audraobrien931@gmail.com

Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year comes to a close, a new church year begins. Christ’s birth ushers us into new ways of living and loving; and yet, the world as we know it spins madly on. And so, we invite you to move through this Advent season as if you are entering a sacred new chapter, holding fast to the reminders that will bolster you for the journey ahead. As you journey through this season, may you find words for belovedness and hope. May you find words for beginning again. For no matter what you are facing, no matter what this new day brings, love is your beginning.

How you can connect with "Words For The Beginning" at St. Paul's:

• Pick up an Advent Devotional and Advent Calendar - See the Advent Display in Gathering Area
• Join us for our Advent Experience on the first three Wednesday nights in December for Food, Fellowship, Informal Worship, Music, and Activities for ALL Ages - Supper is at 5:30 pm and Worship, music and activities from 6-7 pm
• Help Build a Creative and Interactive Advent Display for the Gathering Area 

For more information on the Advent Season at St. Paul's, visit our website: www.stevenspointumc.org; call us at 715-344-3557; email us at stpauls@stevenspointumc.org.

ADVENT SUNDAY WORSHIP SCHEDULE

This season's Advent worship services are on December 1, December 8, December 15 and December 22. Services will be held at 8:30am and 10:30am, with our 10:30am service streamed live on Facebook. Our children’s choir Good News Singers, for ages 2 through 12 and older, will rehearse from 9:45am until 10:15am. Our Children's Chapel is scheduled for 10:45am.

Join us this Advent season for preparation and celebration!

ADVENT CENTERPIECE WORKSHOP

St. Paul's Family and Discipleship ministries invite you to join us for an Advent Wreath Workshop following the 10:30 am worship on Sunday, December 1st, in Fellowship Hall. We'll have fresh evergreens, Advent candles and all the supplies needed to create an Advent centerpiece for your table. If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact Laura Courtright at lauracourtright@gmail.com or call/text at 715-340-4523.

POTLUCK SUNDAYS

Join us for fellowship and a delicious potluck on the first Sunday of the Advent Season.

The Potluck will be Sunday, December 1 after the 10:30 service. Please bring your favorite dish to pass. Return on the first Sunday of the month through May.

All are welcome! Sign up sheet in the narthex to help in the kitchen.  

ADVENT EXPERIENCE

"Words for the Beginning"

Please join us each Wednesday in Advent for a free supper, time together with scripture, an Advent message, and an intergenerational activity!

Dates and Times: 12/7, 12/11, and 12/18 from 5:30 - 7:00pm.

Each service will take place in the Hazel Caulkins Fellowship Hall.



All are welcome!

Need help with your holiday baking? You are in luck. There will be a Cookie Walk on Sunday, December 15, 9:15am-12:00pm in Hazel Calkins Fellowship Hall. The proceeds from this sale will benefit Church Camp Scholarships. If you would like to contribute to this sale or if you have any questions, please contact Yvonne Chojnacki at 715/340-9333.

Growing Kindness will also have items for sale. Twenty-five percent of their sales will go toward Camp Scholarships.

BLUE CHRISTMAS SERVICE: A SERVICE OF

HEALING AND WHOLENESS

Sunday, December 15 at 2:00pm

Christmas is a season filled with images of happy families and joyful people. However,

not everyone feels this way. For some people, this season is a real struggle and they need the reassurance and comfort that our faith provides.

Perhaps you are grieving the loss of a loved one, struggling with an illness, or just

needing some encouragement in this current time. Maybe you are wondering how you will get through the holidays. In this time, we will be offering a Blue Christmas Service to provide a time of comfort through reflection and meaningful music. Please e-mail

(tobrien@stevenspointumc.org) the names of those you are grieving, a brief description of a situation you are struggling with, or a prayer that you have and we will lift them up during the service.

We will be offering this service in person in our sanctuary as well as streaming it live on

our public Facebook page. Please come for this time of hope and renewal through this worship of healing and wholeness. Let us come to gather in the good news of this season, “God with us: Immanuel!”

Please plan to join us for our Christmas Eve worship services as we celebrate the birth of hope, peace, joy, and love again in our world. Both of them will include the lighting of the candles.

Christmas Eve worship services: 

4:00pm - Family Worship with the Good News Singers

6:00pm - Traditional Worship with the Chancel Choir and other special music

Please mark your calendars and plan on attending our annual church conference on

December 14th at 2:30 pm. This year our District Superintendent, Rev. Park Hunter, will

be our presiding Elder. Also, all of our circuit churches: Port Edwards UMC, Wisconsin

Rapids UMC, Marshfield Wesley UMC, Amherst/Buena Visit/Wild Rose UMC’s, and St

Paul’s UMC have been asked to hold our church conferences on one day so that our

District Superintendent can lead them all. In order to do this, Rev. Hunter will be starting

in Marshfield in the morning and working his way through all our churches throughout

the day. I invite you to come hear Rev. Hunter as well as a message from our new

Bishop, Dan Schwerin. Our Accountable Leadership Board will also have a presentation

on our mission and vision statements and how our church will be moving forward in

growing disciples.

GOOD NEWS SINGERS

Our children’s choir for ages 2 through 12 and older is returning soon! The choir sings, play bells, learn to play ukuleles, recorders and other instruments. Rehearsals will occur on Sunday mornings from 9:45-10:15 am, starting November 3 through Christmas Eve. For more information please call/text Audra at 262-388-0366 or email her at audraobrien931@gmail.com.

FLY HIGH

Fly High has begun a new study entitled "The Christmas Letters, Celebrating Advent with Those Who Told the Story First" by Magrey deVega. 

In The Christmas Letters, Magrey deVega invites you to hear about the miracle of Christ’s birth from those who first told the story. The letters in the New Testament, known as the Epistles, contain the first attempts by the church to understand and celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation. They point us to the origins of what we believe about Jesus, fully human and fully divine. By spending time with these holy, ancient words this Advent, you’ll come to know the meaning of Christ’s coming like never before.

Read the New Testament letters, Romans, 1 John, Philippians, and Colossians as your first Christmas letters of the season and find within them an invitation from God to deepen your understanding of the Incarnation and embrace a fuller commitment to Jesus Christ.

We will meet at noon in the Thomas Coke Room for this four-week study. The next meeting is November 15. We welcome anyone who would like to join us. The cost of the book is $13.50. If you have any questions, contact Yvonne Chojnacki at 715/340-9333.

WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY

Our women's bible study has returned! Join us Tuesdays at 7:00pm as we learn about and discuss the life of David. The next meeting will be November 19.

The meeting will be a hybrid model, with both in-person and Zoom options. See you there!

Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85348918132?pwd=ajhpSTdCa2RHUm9KdHh2WU9rakxtdz09

SENIOR TIME BY SENIORS

Please consider joining this group. They meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 11:00 am. Bag lunch at noon. Discussions are wide ranged.  If you have a particular request, we’ll do our best to work it into a session. The next meeting will be on November 19.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact:

Barb Munson 715-340-2368 barbm72446@gmail.com

LIFT: LIVING IN FAITH TOGETHER

November 20 at 5:30pm

Join us for a light supper and fellowship! We will hear scripture, participate in activities, engage in conversation, eat—and, of course, have fun!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact:

Tonya at discipleship@stevenspointumc.org

MONTHLY PRAYER BREAKFAST

Next date: Thursday, December 5 @ 7:00 am

Everyone is invited to gather at 7:00 am on December 5 for a simple breakfast, time of prayer, and a short devotion. We will conclude our time together with open Communion. Our time together will last about 45 minutes to an hour at the most, so it is the perfect way to start your day and the month with prayer. 

FRANCISCANS DOWNTOWN MISSION IN ACTION

Did you know there is a place for homeless and those in need to have a free lunch and conversation? The FRANCISCAN Center is located across the street from the library on Main Street. It is open Monday-Friday, noon till 3 p.m. The Franciscans sponsor this facility with the amazing help of volunteers who donate their time to listen, to converse, to feed and sometimes offer a couch to rest upon.

Being curious, Tom and I walked in one day and talked to Richard, a volunteer, asked questions and I said, what can we do? He said they were looking for someone to do a meal on Thursdays. Well, no problem. I can do that on the third Thursday of every month. I was invited to a meeting to plan for the tenth anniversary of this center, met other volunteers, and soon I was also sharing cooking responsibilities with a gal named Amy on the fourth Thursday of the month as well as my meal on the third. It has worked out well.

I am blessed to have the resources to do this mission and fill a need that they had. We feed between 30-40 guests each day. They are so grateful. Some come to eat and go, many others stay and want to converse. They know they are in a safe environment.

I have a list of folks who are willing to donate a product for the main meal or donate baked goods. If you would like to contribute at some point, please contact me. I don’t ask very often.

During something for yourself gives satisfaction, but doing something for others gives meaning. Being in Mission, wherever, however, is such a good thing.



Blessings, Bonnie Lund

SENDING DISASTER RELIEF AFTER HURRICANE

HELENE AND MILTON

Midwest Mission works closely with UMCOR in efforts to send hope and relief after two hurricanes tore through many states in the southeast. Please consider learning more about their ministry and donating to help those in need.

Learn more here: https://www.midwestmission.org/at-midwestmission

A SPECIAL REQUEST

HELP PROVIDE FURNISHINGS AND EQUIPMENT FOR AN OBSTETRICS CLINIC IN AWOROWA, GHANA

For the past two years, our “Mission in Action” Team has been building an obstetrics clinic in Aworowa, Ghana, to provide prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care to the women in the area. Our building has been completed, but we currently lack furnishings or equipment.

Fortunately, The World Outreach Fund and MedShare (both non-profits located in Atlanta, Ga.) have agreed to partner with us to send a large container shipment of supplies and equipment. Our team needs to raise $18,000, and The World Outreach Fund will donate $13,000 to cover the cost of shipping. MedShare will donate the equipment and supplies.

It is estimated that the value of the shipment will exceed $250,000. Our Team’s goal is to send this shipment by the end of February 2025. To accomplish this goal, we ask you to consider the following:

A. Consider a 2024 end-of-the-year donation of $250. Or

B. Consider a January 2025 donation of $250

C. Consider sending any amount you can afford.

D. Our goal is to find 72 individuals, churches, or organizations willing to donate $250 by the end of January 2025. However, any amount is appreciated.

Donations should be sent to St. Paul’s UMC, 600 Wilshire Blvd, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 54481. Checks should be made payable to St. Paul’s UMC. Put Ghana Clinic in the message line. Individuals may also donate online. Go to stevenspointumc.org and select “give” in the upper right-hand corner. Scroll down until you find Ghana Mission.

Please help us meet our goal.

Thank you!

Barb and John Munson

Mission team – Fundraising Committee

If you have questions, send a note to barbjohn@charter.net., or call us at 715-340-2368 or 715-340-4855.

LOOSE COINS

The Loose Coin Offering for November goes towards Midwest Mission Distribution Center. The money collected will help our missions reach as many people as possible. Be sure to label your envelope so your coins/currency will be deposited into the correct account. Thank you for supporting this ministry.

VISITATION

OFFERING COMMUNION TO ALL



One of the responsibilities, among many, that I take very seriously as a pastor is visitation. I consider it a sacred time to visit someone in the hospital, nursing home, or in their own home. It is time where I can get to know someone better and really talk about spiritual issues one on one.

For some people who can’t physically make it to church or watch the stream of our service it means that they go without the Sacrament of Communion, which is our way of visibly showing our connection to God and each other as the body of Christ.

If you would like to receive communion, please let me know and I will arrange a time for a visit where we can share communion together. I want you all to know that I am here for you. If you are struggling, need to talk, or have any need whatsoever for a pastoral visit please call/text me on my cell phone (262-388-4635), at the office (715-344-3557), e-mail me (tobrien@stevenspointumc.org) or write me a note (600 Wilshire Blvd).

I will continue to make visitation my top priority and continue to respond to every request as quickly as possible. It is an honor to be here as your pastor and I’m committed to being here for you as a pastoral presence representing the Good News of Jesus Christ that gives us hope and heals us all.



Pastor Tim

ITEMS NEEDED FOR

REFUGEE FAMILIES

Several new refugee families are joining our community and could use your help providing important needed items.

Current needed items:

Paper towels

Toilet paper

Dish soap

Laundry soap

Dryer sheets

Shampoo & conditioner

Please continue to pray for all the refugee families in our area who are working hard to adjust and make a new life in our community.  If you have any questions, please contact Mary Schultz on the refugee support team at 715-345-1438 or schultzmf1@gmail.com. Donated items can be brought to the refugee room at the church.

ONE BIG TENT

“Connecting the church to the community through the love of God”

One Big Tent, our joint ministry of area congregations reaching out to our neighbors in need,

continues to grow as we are helping more people out of our offices (1039b B Ellis St.) in downtown Stevens Point.

One of the neighbors we helped recently came in because she had lost her job, was behind on her rent, and she needed food for her and her three kids. Like the majority of our neighbors who we help, they are often just one paycheck away from homelessness. We were able to get her an emergency food box from the Interfaith Food Pantry as well as give her a list of other food pantries and food resources for her and her children. Connecting her with Operation Bootstrap we helped her with part of her rent and we also connected her to some job development resources. However, the main thing we did was listen and provide a compassionate safe place as we walked with her through her crisis of worry and fear about her future for her and her family.

This neighbor’s story is unfortunately not unique in our community. There are so many people struggling around us and the power of this ministry is that all it takes to help them is to have an open heart and a willingness to listen. This is why this ministry exists so that we can build relationships with those who come for help as we listen to their stories and walk with them in their need. We also work hard to connect them with local non-profit agencies and community resources/information that already exist to support people when they are struggling. However, when no one can help then we are the safety net to keep people from crisis situations like homelessness.

I would like to ask for your continued support of this important ministry in our community in the following ways:

1) Please pray for our vision, our new community steering committee and those in need as we work with them, as well as our companions and clergy who give their time to help find solutions.

2) Consider if you would like to be a companion talking with and working with people to

help them. We offer training and only ask people to volunteer for a 3-4 hour shift once a

week. Also, we pair you with a clergy person who is there to support you. For example, I

(Pastor Tim) volunteer every Wednesday with a member from Beloved Community and

Good Shepherd from 8:00 a.m. to noon. If you are interested, please talk with Pastor Tim.

3) Come be a part of One Big Tent’s ministry, Laundry Love. We need volunteers to be at

the Southpoint Laundromat on Wednesdays from 10-Noon and Thursdays from 5-7 pm to

give out laundry sheets and quarters to help people clean and dry their clothes. Please talk with Pastor Tim if you want to be involved with this ministry.

4) Consider being a member of our One Big Tent Board as a representative of our

congregation helping to guide our organization. This board meets on the fourth Thursday

of every month at 5:00 p.m. here at our church.

5) When it is appropriate, we do provide financial support to help with rent assistance, car repair, buying medicines, etc. We work with people to identify what they can contribute and we make up the difference with what they owe. We could use your financial support to help us meet these needs. If you would like to make a financial contribution, please make the check out to our church and put, “One Big Tent” in the memo line.

Thank you for your prayerful and generous support of this important ministry to make God’s love real to all our neighbors.



Pastor Tim