Weekly News & Updates: January 31, 2025 | |
This Sunday - 10am
It is the first Sunday of February. We welcome everyone to celebrate Holy Communion! Jesus invites us all to take part in the special meal he ate with his disciples the night before his crucifixion.
Pastor Rev. Ryan Schaeffer will be preaching from the prophetic book of Jeremiah.
Please enter the building, through the sanctuary doors facing Stockley Gardens.
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Connection Card:
With the seats in the sanctuary
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Worship Volunteers / Flowers Sign-Up:
Click here.
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Children are Welcome
Our Children's Church* takes place each Sunday during worship, following the children's message. Children ages 3 through 5th grade meet down the hall from the sanctuary for an age-appropriate Bible lesson and craft or activity.
Our nursery* is available for children through age 3.
*Our professional workers are CPR certified, and our staff and volunteers are fully background checked.
*Children's church and nursery are optional. You are welcome to keep your child(ren) in worship with you, if you prefer. Activity bags and rockers, if you wish to use them, are in the back of the sanctuary. A baby changing station is in the lobby.
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Messy Church in the Morning
Sunday, February 9, will be our next Messy Church event. This one will be held during our 10am worship service. Our theme is that Jesus is all about love.
Jesus reminds us that the commandment, to love one another as he has loved us, is the most important. We are also reminded that this love extends to people outside our normal friendship and church groups. It is for absolutely everyone, yes, even those with whom we disagree or do not like! How can we extend this love to our enemies today? How different would the world be if we got on with the business of loving one another, challenging hate and reaching out with peace?
To help us really understand this theme, we will have various activity stations set up around the sanctuary. And when everything is over, we will eat soup together. The meal will be soup because it is also Super Bowl Sunday. Get it?! "soup" and "super"?
Everyone is welcome. So, invite someone to come with you.
* Messy Church is a DIFFERENT kind of church! It typically includes a welcome, creative time to explore the Biblical theme through “getting messy” with crafts and activities; a short interactive celebration time involving a story, prayer, and music; and a sit-down meal together at tables. The entire experience is designed for people of ALL AGES! Take a look at our Facebook group page to see previous events.
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Black History Month: Music & The UMC
February is Black History Month. And, in the woven tapestry of The United Methodist Church, African Americans are (and have been) vital. This month, Ghent Church is highlighting just a few whose gifts and offerings have contributed to the world and the church through MUSIC.
*Here is what Minister of Music Nellwyn Beamon had to say about Dr. Carl Haywood.
The first African American church musician to be highlighted for Black History Month is a local - but highly respected and universally known - composer, arranger, choral conductor, and organist Dr. Carl Haywood. Dr. Haywood chaired the music department at Norfolk State University for many years and conducted their choirs to critical acclaim.
My first encounter with Dr. Haywood was at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, in Richmond, at a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Evensong service where the choirs of St. Stephens and Norfolk State combined to provide a worship service of unparalleled beauty and power. To end the service, Dr. Haywood would play his own arrangement of "We Shall Overcome" on the CB Fisk tracker organ - a fitting end to an uplifting service. Rick and I made the effort to attend this service for several years in a row, until Dr. Haywood retired from Norfolk State.
In “The Faith We Sing” hymnal, (#2107) we find an arrangement of "Wade in the Water" by Dr. Haywood. I am afraid that this is the only piece of music in our three hymnals that has been published by Dr. Haywood, although, he has a considerable body of work according to hymnary.org. He also has an arrangement in “The African American Heritage Hymnal,” another United Methodist publication.
In the spring of 2023, during the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival, when I made our organ available for local organists to play, Dr. Haywood somehow received the link (because I did not have his information) and he signed up to play. I was thrilled! He came over, started to put it through its paces, and to my great delight, began playing "We Shall Overcome": and then the F pedal got a cypher, and that put an end to the music-making.
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Attend a small group
One of the gifts the church offers is community, specifically small groups where participants can gather to experience acceptance, belonging, and nurturing, as well as challenge and encouragement, for the journey of faith. Contact the church office for more information on any group.
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Children's Church
This group for ages 3 through 5th grade is each Sunday during worship, following the children's message. It includes a Bible lesson, and craft or activity.
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Youth Group
Our Youth Group is led by Pastor Ryan. We are a fully inclusive faith community, welcoming to all.
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Adult Sunday School
Weekly Bible discussions are in the back of the sanctuary on Sundays, 9 - 9:45am, using the Standard Lesson Quarterly series. Enter through the doors facing Stockley Gardens.
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Other Spiritual Disciplines
In addition to joining a small group, participating in mission work or music ministry, we are encouraged to pray, care for one another, and read our Bible.
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Daily Prayer Starter
"God, you have given me the gift of another day.
Help me to be loving to others, to Earth, and to myself..."
Adapted from Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion
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Congregational Care
In response to Christ's call to love one another, we want the members of our congregation to care for one another. In-person visits, prayers, phone calls, and mail are examples of the ways we reach out to one another.
To send a prayer request to our pastor and congregational care team, click here to fill in our Connection Card.
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Resources
Want to read the whole Bible this year? Take it one day at a time.
Looking for adult or children's New Revised Standard versions of the Bible? Click here.
Get practices and reflections to help you pray.
Read The Upper Room daily devotional. Click here.
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Music Ministry
All are welcome to join our Music Minister, Nellwyn Beamon, in the music ministry of the church. Contact Nellwyn Beamon for more information.
Worship Singers Singers are always welcome to help lead the songs in worship each Sunday.
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Organ Music at GUMC
Our Organist Brad Norris plays for our 10am worship services on Sundays. His next date is Sunday, March 2, for Transfiguration Sunday.
Violin Music
Violinist Chris Taylor plays during our 10am Worship. His next date is TBA.
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Gathering Jam
Once a month, usually on 2nd Sundays, all ages are invited to bring an instrument or use one of ours and play along during the gathering part of our service at 9:45am. The next Gathering Jam Sunday is February 9.
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Get involved with mission work
We seek to live lovingly and justly as servants of Jesus Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being a compassionate presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel.
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Little Library
Do you have a book you're finished with? Are you ready to read a new one? Then check out our book box! Our Little Library is on Raleigh Ave.
Although GUMC no longer places food in the box, you may see that others in the community continue to do so.
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Food Donations
We collect non-perishable food, drinks and hearty snacks to benefit those who are hungry, including those experiencing homelessness, families, or individuals. Some food will be taken to Ghent Area Ministry on Colonial Avenue. The rest will remain at Ghent for those who ask us for help. Please place your offerings in the basket by the altar each 4th Sunday or contact the church office to make arrangements for drop off.
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Homeless Committee
The Homeless Committee of Ghent UMC meets to coordinate efforts to positively impact those experiencing homelessness.
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Preschool Ministry and Leadership Updates | |
Preschool
Ghent UM Preschool teaches toddlers to students in Pre-Kindergarten. Learn more about our half-day program by visiting GUMP's page at ghentumc.org/connect/our-preschool/
The next consignment sale is during the weekend of February 21-23.
GUMP’s Harris Teeter number is 5347.
Questions? Contact Director, Ann Robertson.
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Leadership Team
Our next Leadership Meeting is TBA. All are welcome to attend. It will be after worship.
A Zoom link will be made available. Contact the church office if you need the link.
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UMC Has Not Stopped Working to Dismantle Racism | |
Agency’s top exec offers new year’s hopes for 2025.
Read his commentary.
A Prayer for the New Year: Renewing Our Commitment to Justice, Equity, and Reconciliation
In 2024, at General Conference, the members approved the updated Article V - Racial Justice.
You Can Help.
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START with prayer. We are asked to pray for Dismantling Racism efforts, as well as, all persons of color who suffer at the hands of injustice, oppression, and white supremacy.
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The General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) has a compiled a list of 8 things church leaders and members can do to help anti-racism progress. One way is to denounce false notions of “two equal sides.” Click here to learn more.
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Click here for resources, events, and more.
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Giving News
Our giving represents an act of worship in which we thank God for our blessings and acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God. Click here to learn about the various ways to give.
Your pledge figure for 2025 can be emailed back to the church or put into the offering plate.
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UMC Market - iGive
Shop thousands of stores, any time, to support Ghent Church. UMCmarket, powered by iGive, helps you generate a donation to Ghent United Methodist Church when you shop online at thousands of retailers. Click here to join and shop.
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UMC News: World, VA, and Local | |
*COVID-19 Mitigation Plan for all in-person Ghent UMC Happenings (Updated March 23, 2022) Our call is to love our neighbors and to do no harm.
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Jesus is for everyone. No exceptions.
A Word of Welcome from Ghent UMC
Ghent United Methodist Church is called to the affirmation of the sacred worth of all people. We embrace as a gift the diversity of our neighborhood and the world. We acknowledge our human family's diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, language, age, faith history, theological orientation, economic status, education, marital status, abilities, and any other defining feature, real or perceived. Click here to read the message in its entirety.
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How can I get in touch with church staff and the Pastor?
The church office hours are Monday-Friday, 9am to noon. Rev. Ry is scheduled to be in the office 9am-12pm on Thursdays and Fridays. You may also make an appointment, if needed.
Click here to access email addresses or call the church office at 757-622-2843.
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