THE EVANGEL Vol. 24 Issue 11, November 1, 2019 (USPS 019-947) is published monthly free of charge to subscribers by St. Ste-phen’s United Methodist Church, 2003 West 43rd St., Houston, TX 77018-3009. Periodicals postage paid at Houston, TX. POST-MASTER: Send address changes to St. Stephen’s United Method-ist Church, 2003 West 43rd St., Houston, TX 77018-3009.

Please submit dates, pictures and information for the December Evangel by November 18, 2019, to info@stsumc.org.

On the cover: Even our youngest Trunk-or-Treaters had fun!

UMYF - November will have not one, not two, not four, but three UMYF's. We'll meet on November 3rd at St. Stephen's, November 17th

at Westbury UMC (both at the usual 5-7 time slot), and November 24th for our very first "Late Night UMYF" from 7-9 PM. At late night

youth we'll play a selection of games that will benefit from a little less daylight - it's going to be fun.

Messy Church - Join us on November 19th for our next Messy Church: Messy Sacraments. In the Methodist Church, we have

two Sacraments, Baptism and Communion. Come see what the buzz is about and learn all about these important parts of our faith in a

brand new way. As always, we'll have a diverse selection of crafts and activities, worship that your children can take part in, and dinner

for all of the family.

Messy Christmas - Save the date for Messy Christmas! Our annual festive worship service

will take place this year on Tuesday, December 10th. Expect messy Christmas crafts, engaging

worship, a photo booth, dinner, and more!

Trunk or Treat - We had a great time at our annual Trunk or Treat. Over one hundred children

visited twelve decorated vehicles, two bounce houses, and one zombie shooting gallery (courtesy

Scout Troop 604). We enjoyed the opportunity to meet and show hospitality to our neighbors -

and the weather was great too.

Sea Scouts Garage Sale - Ship 24 will hold a garage sale at the Scout House on Saturday,

November 16. Items for sale will include clothing, shoes, furniture, appliances, toys, craft items

and more. Food will also be available for purchase. If you have items you wish to donate to the

sale, the Scouts will be accepting them at the Scout House the Saturday before the sale from 10

am to 2 pm. For more information, please contact Dana McKeon at sss.jollyroger.24@gmail.com.

Johnson Memorial School News:

October is Fire Prevention Month! The goal of Fire Prevention Month is to raise awareness about fire safety and help ensure your home and family is prepared in the event of an emergency.

Every October, our JMS students walk over to HFD station 13 to meet the firefighters, give them snacks and notes of appreciation, get a

tour of the station, climb into a truck and spray the fire hose! It’s an adventure every year as it is quite common for the alarm to be

triggered and our students see an emergency departure in action! The firefighters are always so kind to bring the truck to JMS after they

have completed their duty in order to ensure all our students have the chance to climb into the truck and spray the fire hose. We also

discuss fire safety at school by conducting monthly fire drills with the goal of always being out of our building in under three minutes,

per the Childcare Licensing requirements. Many students also completed a fire safety scavenger hunt with their classmates to verify that

our building has all the necessary and critical equipment.

JMS students wear their favorite Astros gear to kick off the 2019 World Series!

Brody Leffler won our first-ever Mini Golf Classic for children and youth!

October 9

5pm—Concert- Sanc

All Saints

Sunday Communion

2am—Daylight Saving Time

Ends

5:15pm—1st Sun-day Bible Study-

Great Heights

11:30am—

Fun4 Seniors Luncheon -FH

9:30am—

Senior Activities Day Games & Lunch-FH

10am—Prayer

Shawl Ministry-112

6pm—JMS Open House

8am—GADDs

Work Day

10am—Church Conference- Sanctuary

11:30am— Red Hats Luncheon- Union Kitchen

12pm—Volunteer Appreciation Banquet-FH

10am—The

Gathering Place- FH

6pm—

GriefShare “Surviving the Holidays” Seminar-201

10am—

Homebound Visitation-Choir Rm

11am—VIPs

Luncheon-FH

Sea Scouts

Garage Sale-SH

5:15pm—

3rd Sunday Bible Study

Evangel

News Deadline

9am—JMS

Trike-A-Thon- Ed Bldg Lot

5:30 pm—Messy Church-FH

9:30am—

Hope Mission Group-112

JMS

Thanksgiving Feast & Chapel

10am—Prayer Shawl Ministry- 112

11:30am—

Solitaires Luncheon-FH

8am—

GADDs Work Day

7pm—

UMYF Late Night

Church Office Closed

Church Office Closed

9am-4pm—

Holiday Artisan Market

Worship Times

Celebration Service— Sunday, 8:30 am, Sanctuary Sunday School— Sunday, 9:40 am, Education Bldg Traditional Service— Sunday, 11:00 am, Sanctuary

For a more detailed calendar or to learn more about our church visit stsumc.org or call the church office.

For a list of recurring events, please see the next page.

*Register for events at stsumc.churchcenter.com.

FH=Fellowship Hall Sanc=Sanctuary

Parkinson’s Yoga Class—Mon., 11:00 am, 101 Line Dancing—Tues., 9:30 am, FH Ladies’ Bible Study—Tues., 9:30 am, Room 201 GriefShare Support Group, Tues., 6:30pm, 201 Men’s Bible Study—Wed., 6 am, 112 Senior Games—Wed., 9:30 am & 1 pm, Café Pastor’s Bible Study—Wed., 2:30pm, 112 Handbell Choir Practice—Wed., 6:15 pm, 101 Chancel Choir Practice—Wed., 7:30pm, CR SongPlay—Thurs., 9:15am, Room 101 Sewing 101—Thurs., 4 pm, Room 202 Beginner sewing class for youth & parents Men’s Prayer Breakfast—Fri., 6 am, Denny’s Restaurant @ 34th & 290

Food Pantry Sunday—2nd Sunday Bring non-perishable food for MANNA. The Gathering Place—2nd Monday, 10:00 am, FH - A ministry for persons with memory loss and their caregivers Senior Activities Day Luncheon— 1st Wed., 9:30 am, FH Homebound Visitation—2nd Wednesday, 10 am, Choir Room Hope Mission Group—3rd Wednesday, 9:30 am, Rm 112 Sonrise Choir Practice—Last Wednesday, 6 pm, Sanctuary VIPs Luncheon—2nd Thurs., 11 am, FH RSVP to Peggy Bickel at 713-957-0255 Solitaires Luncheon—Last Fri., 11:30 am, FH Next Luncheon: Nov. 22 (due to holiday) Red Hats Luncheon—1st or 2nd Sat., 11:30 am, (Location varies) Next mtg: November 9 at Union Kitchen, 3452 Ella Blvd RSVP to Annie Brew at 281-999-3766.

Bible Study & Sermon Discussion—1st & 3rd Sunday, 5:15 pm, Great Heights Brewing Company, 938 Wakefield Dr. Youth Fellowship—1st Sun. at St. Stephen’s, 3rd Sun. combined with another church Prayer Shawl Ministry—1st & 3rd Thurs., 10 am, Rm 112 (This group knits & crochets items given to comfort the sick & grieving.)

Garden Angels Dirt Diggers (GADDs) Workday—Every other Sat., 7 am (DST), 8 am (ST)

Next workday: November 9, 8 am

Fun4Seniors Luncheon—on a Monday of every other month (varies), 11:30 am, FH RSVP to Fun4Seniors at 713-274-4050. Next luncheon: November 4

FH=Fellowship Hall SH=Scout House For more information, visit stsumc.org.

Deux Voix Concert - Come see world-class

musicians, Deux Voix, at St. Stephen's on

Saturday, November 2, at 5 pm. We will

perform a variety of works from the Baroque

to the present time along with some jazz

standards. St. Stephen's is underwriting the

concert so your cost of admission is a

donation of any size that will go directly to a

newly established scholarship fund for area

students. To find out more about the

musicians, concert, and the scholarship

visit: https://stsumc.churchcenter.com/

registrations/events/319052

2019 Outstanding Mature and Young Adult Awards - Sunday, November 3, is the last day to turn in your nomination form for a young and a mature member of St. Stephen’s (individual or couple) whom you believe has provided outstanding service to the church in 2019. Nomination forms and collection boxes are available in the Narthex (sanctuary foyer). Award recipients will be announced at the Volunteer Appreciation Banquet on Sunday, November 10, following the 11:00 service. All are welcome to attend! Bring a side dish to share (veggies, salad, etc.). We’ll provide the main course and dessert. GriefShare “Surviving the Holidays” Seminar - November 12 at 6 pm in Room 201. Facing the holiday season can be difficult when you’ve lost a loved one. St. Stephen’s invites you to attend this free seminar which will provide practical holiday coping strategies and hope for brighter days ahead. Refreshments will be served and each participant will receive a Holiday Survival Guide.

Avoid Black Friday madness this year and have more fun shopping on Small Business Saturday! Bring your Christmas list to the Holiday Artisan market, benefitting the Animal Justice League. A variety of artisans and vendors will be participating, including Jenni Cave with Feathers and Thorns jewelry, so you’re sure to find something unique for that special someone on your list! There will also be food trucks and music to enjoy while you shop. Bring your four-legged friends and stop by St. Stephen’s booth for a Blessing of the Animals!

September 29 53 121 85

October 6 46 120 83

October 13 46 102 71

October 20 35 108 80

October 27 45 109 85

It's always so hard to choose what to write about for our newsletter! Do I talk about the kinds of testimonies about God people are routinely making during our Bible study at Great Heights Brewery? Or maybe I should highlight up-coming events, like the concert on Nov. 2 or Church Conference Nov. 9. May-be I should go deeper into the sorts of things we're talking about in worship right now, and give some context on the Book of Romans to enrich our wor-ship time together. Or perhaps I should use this space every month to plug our Discipleship Pathway booklet and website (always available in the Nar-thex or at stshtx.org/discipleship). Or I could remind people that, on the dis-cipleship page is a form to fill out if you're interested in serving in worship, around the building, in outside missions, with children and youth, or in many other ways. Another thing I could do is point out that, as a church, we are bringing people to Christ and making disciples in a big way! This year alone, 13 people have publicly professed to follow Jesus for the first time in our church. That's a big deal!

As you can see, there is a lot going on here at St. Stephen's, and I don't think I always do a great job reminding you what incredible work you're all doing. I am so blessed to be your pastor. Thanks for reading the newsletter! The first 2 people to send me an email with the subject line "I read your article" get coffee on me. Paz, Nathan nathan@stsumc.org

Dorothy Artz, Ruth Austin, Lloyd Barenscheer, Wendy Balli, Brianna Beaulieu, Carolyn Belk, Rhonda Boehm, Sandra Bonnin, Debbie Bradley, Cris Bustos, Arlene Caler, Gloria Collins, Janet Cummins, Allen Ebelt, Walter Ebelt, Earl Fallen, Rod Fisher, John Ford, Carolyn

Geno, GriefShare participants, Kathleen Heath, the Hensley family, Charm Hernandez, Elizabeth Hickerson, Paula Hicks, Leif Hoijer, Jack A. Hunt, Vanessa Huse, Dorrie Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Howard & Cathy Klaire, Penny Loy, Evelyn Luce, Bobbie Luedke, Wayne

Meyenberg, Tracy Miller, Danny Niederhofer, Brenda Paulk, Rogers & Jane Roberts, Kyndall Rollins, Barbara Smith, Sherry Snook, Ned Speers, Billy Stephens, Terry Sullivan, Hazel Swearingen, Preston Taylor, Kevin Thompson, Sam & Gwen Wachel, Kenneth Walker, Todd Wilson, Linda Wren

Allen Clutter, Keanna Piercefield

We believe that prayer works, and we seek to be a congregation that prays regularly. To help us to direct our prayers, we will be updating our prayer list weekly. To be added to the prayer list, please fill out a prayer card in the sanctuary or send an email to info@stsumc.org. Please let us know when and how God answers.

Join Rev. Lindsay Smith for a new Bible Study Tuesdays at 9:30am! Lindsay shares news about her new position at Strawbridge

UMC with the Elementary Sunday School on September 29.

MANNA's Resale Store and Food Pantry are now open. The resale store is located at 6760 Antoine at W. Little York, and is open Monday-Friday from 10-5 and Saturday from 9-5. The store has clothing for the family, toys, housewares and much more, and offers seniors age 50 and older a 25% discount each Wednesday. The MANNA Food Pantry is located at 5706 W. Little York, and is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9-11:45 am. The food pantry now serves all zip code areas of Houston. A Community Food Fair is held on the 2nd Saturday of each month with fresh fruits and vegetables, and more! Come early for the best selection. For more information, please visit manna-houston.org

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HOUSTON, TX