Newsletter

“Remember the long way that the Lord you God has led you these forty years in the wilderness…”

-Deuteronomy 8: 2

February, 2012

Dear Friends:

            As I look back at the past year, I’m mindful of the many ways that God has moved in our midst. As I reflect on the last year here at TUMC, I’m deeply grateful for the leadership of the church who has served us faithfully. This last year, Cathy Raymond and I challenged the leadership to move from “Preference” to “Purpose” focused ministry. This challenge asked all of our leadership to mindfully move our churches ministry into a season of life where we don’t simply do things because “we always have” or “because we like to”, but rather to do ministry because it meets our vision and mission as a faith community. Our leadership has begun the journey of focusing on our vision of “Become, Grow, & Serve in the Name of Christ” and connecting it to all we do as a church. This has truly led us in a new direction, and into deeper discipleship as the people of God. The beginning of this journey has not been easy, and yet, our leadership has navigated the path with faith, integrity, skill, and humor! We have much to celebrate in our TUMC leaders.

As we begin 2012 and have Chairpersons and team members rotating off, and new leadership joining in, I want us to recognize those who have been a significant part of our leadership teams over the last several years. Please see a full listing on the page following my letter, and join me in thanking our leaders and their hard work. This last Saturday, the 2012 TUMC leadership teams met for a training day, and we are continuing the journey of mindfully living out our vision more fully in 2012. Deep thanks to Cathy Raymond for her faithful leadership and many hours of work with me and our church leaders. As we begin a new chapter in our lives together as a church I’m grateful for the long way God has led us in the past, and very excited to see what God has in store for us in the days ahead. It’s truly a great time to be a part of the TUMC family!

It is my hope that as we journey forward, that you will consider how you might offer your time and talents in service to our church and Tumwater community. I’m confident that God has great plans for us and that the Holy Spirit is in our midst. May we give thanks for that which we have received, and joyfully follow God’s Spirit into the days ahead.

We journey forward together!

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Denise

FAMILY WINTER CAMP AT LAZY F

Lazy F is the sight of the 2nd annual Family Winter Camp, February 17-19, 2012.  This program is designed to bring families together for a weekend escape.  Programming is divided between whole family fun and activities just for kids/adults/teens.  There are a number of guest speakers that will focus on faith and family.  Highlights include: cell phone free family time, snow tubing, snow shoeing, crafts, games, billiards, worship and cookie decorating.  The food is great.  The fun is over the top.  And God is present everywhere. 

 What a great family retreat

How much does it cost?  

$315: Skyline (rooms with 4 beds, private bath and linen)

$290: Ridgeview (rooms with 4 beds, bathrooms are down the hall, provide your own linen).

These rates are based on 2 adults and 2 children.  An extra adult is $75; an extra child is $37.50.

Never been to Lazy F?  Check out the website: lazyfcamp.org   If you have questions or want to talk to someone about Family Camp, call:

Lazy F: (509) 962-2780.  You can speak to Dave, Jenni or Ian.

Cathy Raymond: 412-1404 or see me at church!

Hey folks!   We have a wonderful way to serve those in our community- by donating some food to the Thurston County Food Bank. Specifically, we are looking to collect as many pounds of Peanut Butter as we can. The good people at the Food Bank tell us that they are always looking for sources of protein so we are designating the first Sunday of February- February 5th-as Peanut Butter Sunday! Bring in your jars of the gooey stuff and let us help feed those hungry in our community.

A Hearty Thanks!

The church thanks Sam and Florence Koshi for all their many years of service (at least ten!) in helping with the “Feed the Hungry” ministry, currently held at the Salvation Army kitchens, where TUMC has cooked since July, 2003; prior to that the cooking was on Cherry Street at the Bread and Roses kitchen for a very long time.  Sam and Florence were cooking with us at that facility, too.  After all those years of service, they deserve a thank-you not only for Florence fixing salads and helping with casseroles but Sam as our “expert dessert chef.”  Such service is “behind the scenes” and not known by all in the church; but also be aware that they shopped for a big percentage of the groceries that we have used, faithfully month-after-month.  Thanks to Koshis, who now retire from this ministry in order that others may serve!  Fourth Thursday every month, we provide up to 200 meals to those in need.

Jim Parker

God’s Story, Your story. When His becomes yours by Max Lucado

“Your story indwells God’s,” writes Lucado. “This is the great promise of the Bible and the hope of this book…Above and around us God directs a grander saga, written by his hand, orchestrated by his will, unveiled according to his calendar. And you are a part of it…”

All women of the church are invited!

Our journey begins Tuesday, February 21st from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

GOD rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. 2 Samuel 22:25 MSG

This is our report on the regular and the parsonage loan budgets and expenditures for the calendar year 2011.

Our income budget for 2011 was $156,220, and we received $154,441.  Our revised budgeted expenses for the year were $161,331, and we spent $152,543.  (The budget was revised when we got a revised apportionment request, and learned actual amounts for fire insurance and employee benefits). Both income and expenses are below expectations, but we stayed within our income, thanks to the careful management by our Treasurer, Sharon Black. The expense item that was behind the most was apportionments, although December was our best month for the year in payments. The conference asked for $23,638 and we paid $13,425. We are working on a plan with the District Superintendent to get back to paying apportionments in full again (as we did in 2009 and 2010).

For the parsonage loan, we received pledges and gifts of $15,513 and paid $15,674.  For 2012, we have a very good response in pledges to pay the loan for the year. At this time, our expected income for regular current expenses for 2012 is $154,100. A 2012 detailed budget will be adopted later in January by the Church Council.

Our restricted Endowment Fund balance with the United Methodist Foundation of the Pacific Northwest is $15,492.80.  Interest on that fund can be used for new ministries.

Thanks to all for great stewardship!  Following is a more detailed summary of the year.

-Jim Parker, Finance Chair

Fundraiser for homeless kids:  Big Shoe 6

“And the king will answer them, truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  (Matthew 25:40)

The Entertainment Explosion performing troupe is holding its 6th annual benefit fundraiser for homeless kids at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, February 26 (2 PM).  Apart from helping with disasters around the globe, we have our own local mission needs, and this certainly is one of them!  Over the past five years $104,000 has been raised; the monies go to local school districts and to Community Youth Services for needs for these kids (shoes is an example need, and one reason that our shows are called “A Big Shoe”).  Homelessness among children locally unfortunately continues on the rise.  The show is ”The Golden Age of Television – 1948-70″ this time, and I will be participating in several acts.  The Entertainment Explosion group is a performing troupe of folks over 55, and those of you who have attended in the past can witness to having had fun.  The YMCA Music Matters band will also be playing their upbeat songs in the lobby at intermission.  Tickets are $13 or $16, and can be purchased over the phone from the Washington Center box office at 753-8586.

Jim Parker

Facts about CPR

*Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in adults. Most arrests occur in persons with underlying heart disease.

*CPR doubles a person’s chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest.

*75% of all cardiac arrests happen in people’s homes.

*The typical victim of cardiac arrest is a man in his early 60′s and a woman in her late 60′s.

*Cardiac arrest occurs twice as frequently in men compared to women.

*CPR was invented in 1960

*There has never been a case of HIV transmitted by mouth-to-mouth CPR.

*In sudden cardiac arrest the heart goes from a normal heartbeat to a quivering rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF). This happens in approximately 2/3rds of all cardiac arrests. VF is fatal unless an electric shock, called defibrillation, can be given. CPR does not stop VF but CPR extends the window of time in which defibrillation can be effective.

*CPR provides a trickle of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart and keeps these organs alive until defibrillation can shock the heart into a normal rhythm.

*If CPR is started within 4 minutes of collapse and defibrillation provided within 10 minutes a person has a 40% chance of survival.

FIRST AID AND CPR CLASS!

WHEN:         SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2012

TIME:            8:30 AM TO 12:30 AM

SIGN UP SHEETS LOCATED IN THE NARTHEX. OPEN TO FIRST 40 PARTICIPANTS.

CONTACT JOHN GANCEL OR EILEEN HATTELL IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

The Faith We Sing

You may have noticed in our Sunday church bulletin that we are singing more songs every week from a source labeled TFWS. This is The Faith We Sing hymnal, a supplement to the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal. This hymnal includes hymns written in the past 15 years, praise and worship music, global music, African American spirituals, Taize chants, and some of our old favorites. At the present time, we have just a few of these books. They show only the words and melody lines for the songs. We would like to expand the number of these hymnals by 50 copies (plus four large print copies) so that more people can use them during the service. Of course the words for these songs are shown on the screen, but many people would like to be able to see what the melody looks like so they can follow along better.

We’d like to ask the congregation to consider helping us cover the cost of these new hymnals by donating the cost for one or more of them. An order form will be available in the next few Sunday bulletins and via email that you can fill out, and you may, if you wish, commemorate your gift with a bookplate ‘in memory of’ or ‘in honor of’ whomever you would like to recognize

Keep your eye out for the order forms over the next few weeks. The hymnals are currently on sale for a short time, and we will be asking for a donation of $13.50 per book to cover costs.

Thank you for contributing to the music ministry at TUMC!

Dana Mettler  2/4/1971

Linda  Marvel-Mies    /8/1944

John Gancel     2/15/1963

Frances Broadbent     2/18/2010

May Heltsley    2/19/1939

Kathy Clark      /20/1950

Karen Boyd      2/22/1935

Allison Hattell    2/24/1992

Ed & Donna Miller            2/1/1976

Larry & Louise Mugartegui           2/10/1956

Walt & Helen White        2/12/1955

Tumwater United Methodist Church
1401 Lake Park Dr. SW

Tumwater, WA 98512

TumwaterUMC@Comcast.NET

360-786-1416