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Thoughts from Pastor Dave: A year ago Kristina and I came to meet you. It’s been an exciting year as we have gotten to know one

another. This is a great place, a loving church and wonderful community. We are so very glad to be

here at Pleasant Hill UMC.

When I first arrived I started asking questions, lots of questions. I wanted to learn the heritage and

personality and priorities of the church. By asking questions I learned many of our people were involved in our community and several volunteered to deliver meals, work in the food pantry and

rebuild the Tucker that today houses the food pantry. I discovered the people setting up the worship space every week in the CLC were tired and when I asked about using the sanctuary for worship at

8:30 they jumped on the idea. I learned that people here had great ideas about ministry and a passion for others

and when set free they represented the Love of Christ and together we have provided shoes to Della Lamb, bibs to senior citizens, raised money for the Lay Clergy, helped lead the way for Bright Futures, sent students to nursing

school in India, built a well on Mozambique and are adopting families that live in Nicaragua.

It is our pleasure to serve Jesus at the Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church. I wonder what the next year will bring?

Dave

Connecting People to Jesus Christ

Every so often we need to be reminded of something we already know but had forgotten or had not paid attention. A few years ago our bishop wrote a book about the practices of fruitful congregations. Jesus expects our church and all

churches to be fruitful, to make disciples and to transform the world starting in our own community. Bishop Schnase

said there are 5 practices of fruitful congregations and some churches needed to work on these practices if they hope to become fruitful. The five practices he identified are:

Radical Hospitality

Passionate Worship

Intentional Faith Development

Risk-Taking Mission and Service

Extravagant Generosity

Radical Hospitality is more than shaking someone’s hand on Sunday morning; it includes making a space for every

person who wants to come into a new or deeper relationship with Jesus through our church. We wear a nametag so others will know our name. We set in the middle of the pew so others who come later can fill in the sides. Those of

us who can take the parking spaces farther away from the door do, so visitors and those who need a close space

(those with mobility problems or families with young children) can find them. We escort people to a classroom or the nursery instead of pointing that direction, and radical hospitality includes making our church building comfortable,

welcoming and accessible to every person. A year ago we had approved plans to move a wall that was limiting the size of the foyer and would return the

sanctuary to its original concept. The plan included freshening the ceiling and flooring in the center hallway and foyer. Quickly it became apparent we needed to relocate the library so we could build a refreshment center. But

these plans did not meet your standards for hospitality. At a meeting I could not attend, your church council

impressed me with a desire to improve our restrooms an build an area for refreshments and conversations. Since then I too have noticed our seniors who use a walker or a cane attempt to use the restroom only to realize it was

impossible to navigate the space, and because the distance to the ADA restrooms is too great– I have heard some say they would need to wait until they got home. In the heritage of this church I understand why you feel we must

fix this.

Someone asked me about the CLC, if we don’t use the space for Sunday morning worship why do we have it? I wasn’t here when the church built the Community Life Center but its more than one large room; it is a complex that

also provides classrooms and ADA restrooms and a great kitchen. The CLC allows for 6 classrooms, the hospitality room, a large fellowship-gym area and a small chapel. It allows us to provide space for the youth loft, the music

room for the choir and bell choir, adult and children’s classrooms. Many groups including the Snappy Seniors used

the hospitality room. The fellowship/gym houses the Sharing of the Green for the Lay Clergy, the Harvest Dinner, Baccalaureate for the high school, Zumba on Tuesday & Thursday, Men’s basketball on Monday evenings, Scout

banquets, Volleyball, Pinewood derby, Wedding receptions and the list goes on and on.

Pastor Dave

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7 THINGS WE SHOULD SAY TO GUESTS by Thom S. Rainer

1. “Thank you for being here.” It’s just that basic. I have heard from numerous church guests who returned because

they were simply told “thank you.”

2. “Let me help you with that.” If you see someone struggling with umbrellas, young children, diaper bags, purses

and other items, a gesture to hold something for them is a huge positive. Of course, this comment is appropriate for member to

member as well.

3. “Please take my seat.” I actually heard that comment twice in a church where I was speaking in the Nashville area. The

first comment came from a member to a young family of five who were trying to find a place to sit together.

4. “ Here is my email address (or phone number). Please let me know if I can help in any way.” Of

course, this comment must be used with discretion, but it can be a hugely positive message to a guest.

5. “Can I show you where you need to go?” Even in smaller churches, guests will not know where to find the nursery,

restrooms and small group meeting areas. You can usually tell when a guest does not know where he or she is to go.

6. “Let me introduce you to _______ .” The return rate of guests is always higher if they meet other people. A church

member may have the opportunity to introduce the guest to the pastor, other church staff and other members of the church.

7.”Would you join us for lunch?” I saved this question for last for two reasons, First, the situation must obvi-

ously be appropriate before you offer the invitation. Second, I have seen this approach have the highest guest return rate of any one

factor. What if our church members sought to invite different gests 6 to 12 times a year? The burden would not be great; but the

impact would be huge.

Summer School/Parent’s Day Out is up and running! We’ve had a great first month and are making

new friends and enjoying the opportunity to play and craft together.

We have been walking to the library on Wednesdays for story time and it has been lots of fun! We hear a fun story, make a craft and have a special snack.

For the month of July we will have Patriotic fun and do some fun American (red/white/blue) crafts. We are also going to learn about reptiles and amphibians and Ocean animals. We will end our summer school with a “Beach party” during the

week of July 21st.

We will be closed during the month of August for teacher training and room set up and then classes will start back up in September.

We still have some openings for our Pre-K and Preschool classes for fall. If interested, please feel free to call the

Rainbow Kingdom office for more info. Please like our Facebook page to see some of our activites. We are also on the PHUMC website. phillumc.com

I am still looking for someone who would be willing to paint our Rainbow Kingdom girl in front of the church. Please let

me know if you might be interested in taking on this task. Thank you!

Yours Truly from the Rainbow,

Teresa Vaughan and the Rainbow Kingdom Staff God Bless You!

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our friend and staff member

Maurice O’Neill. We will miss him but we also wish him the best as he moves into the

next phase of his life.

Thank you Maurice for your many years of service. What a blessing you have been and

what fun we have had. PHUMC will continue to pray for you and your family.

God bless you !!!

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Foreign: FIRE WOOD FOR MISSIONS

Richard Ingels is compiling a list of adults who would like to use their chainsaw skills to raise money to

help send our church members on mission trips. He has a lot of seasoned logs that can be sawed, split,

stacked and sold in the fall as firewood. If you are interested in the sawing phase of this project, please

let him know. He will try to schedule this when the summer temps allow. His phone number is 540-3983

VBS MISSION PROJECT Money for Secondary School Educational Scholarships will be collected as part of our VBS program

this summer. Rainbow Network has a high school sponsorship program with 1,000 kids currently in that program. Most rural areas

have no or low-performing grade schools and no high schools at all. High School students are sent to the high school in the nearest

city. Transportation, supplies, and tuition is more than poor families can afford. The congregation will also have opportunities to

help with the collection for this project on July 26th and August 2nd. Once the money has been sent, we will have the opportunity to

communicate with these students and to meet them when we take our mission trip in January.

HOUSE BUILDING PROJECT Just as the houses through RainbowNetwork are built one concrete block at a time, we continue to collect one concrete block at a

time. We have over $1600 to build our first house. Special donation envelopes are in the bulletin the 2nd Sunday of each month. If

you feel led to give on another Sunday, there are envelopes available in the foyer by the two house representations or find one in the

back of the pew..

BICYCLE CART GARDEN MARKET

This will be a available every Sunday beginning in July for anyone to bring their surplus garden produce. Donations will be

accepted for the Missions Program.

DESSERT AUCTION

WOW, $1,054.00 received from our dessert auction. A huge thank you to all who brought desserts and all who bought desserts!

This is a real blessing for those who feel God leading them to visit La Quesera. Their stories when they return will be living proof

Our Military:

SFC Jon Robert Nicholls

Ben Williams-Iraq

MM@ Jordan Crofut-Oahu, Hawaii

Jared Schlenker Alaska

Josh Riemer-Mooresville NC

Anna Chandler Missouri National Guard

Chris Swett-Japan

Mason Palacek-USMC South Korea

Travis Franklin– National Guard

Trevor Williams

Robert Ragsdale-USAF

Brett Wheeler-USAF– New Jersey

MM2 Kevin Harrald, USS Enterprise

Current Prayer List:

M.E. O’Neill

Elton Leimkuehler

Elizabeth Garry

Barbara Ross

Shyann Jellison

Bollinger Family

David Leimkuehler

Maurice & Janet O’Neill

Rick Wallace

Stacie Beneze Abby Oltman

Judy Somerhiser Teresa Mullin

Kathy Simms

Wanda Adams Teresa Mullin

Davis Family

Clint & Amber Ralston Caitlyn McVey

Shanon McVey

Jamie Kelly

Kayla Kelly

Charlotte Ron & Julie Allee

Beverly Cunningham

Grant Carver Jim Niebaum

Marjorie hurst

Nadine Ingels Marietta Prewitt

Ed Russell

Brenda Willis Tom Hess

Baker

Brenda Sanders

Baker

Mark your calendars! Our Harvest Dinner is Saturday, November 7th! I am looking for

volunteers to help me in different areas of the dinner as well as an assistant coordinator

(aka partner in fun!). Let me know if you would like to be a part of this important part of

our church history and out-reach to our community. Tracy Young 913-980-2348.

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United Methodist Women Thank YOU! I would like to thank all of the ladies that helped on UMW Sunday! I would especially

like to thank our speaker for the morning worship services, Kara Myers! I would also like to thank

the following ladies for their help in the worship services: Beverly Kincaid, Denise Ingels, Nancy

McConnell, Sandy Carroll, Linda Supulver, Kit Maynor, Charlotte Dennis, Bobbie Connell, Donna

Hofschild, Darlene Mayfield, Beth Brant, Arduth Baker, Jeanie Moore, Susan McCombs,

Zoan Burris, Tracy Young, Joyce Neibaum, Jennifer Comstock, and Jaylene Graham.

I would also like to issue an invitation to any lady in our church family that would like to be a part of UMW. If you have questions

or just want to attend a circle meeting, I would encourage you to contact me or any of the other leaders.

Thanks, Enid Lawson Chandler 816-987-5794

UMW July Schedule:

July 12: Gabe's Babes will have a field trip to the Country Keepsake Tea Room in Belton. Lunch will be at 1 pm. Contact Enid

Lawson Chandler for info and reservations. 816-987-5794

July 16: Bookies, contact person Jeanie Moore

July 20: Friendship Circle, contact person Susan McCombs

July 23-26: Mission U

OTHER OPPROTUNITIES & HAPPENINGS AT PHUMC

Snappy Seniors

Come enjoy lunch and a patriotic program with us on July 17th in the Hospitality Room. Lunch is served at 12 noon and the program

will start at 12:50. We don’t care if you’re 55 or 95! Come have fun with us!!!!

Food Pantry Update

Thank you for your generous donations of food, money, & delivery of food to the pantry. We served 89 families last month and with

the kids home for the summer the need has increased. Our needs this month are: spaghetti, canned pasta, tuna, soup, peanut butter,

and juice. The drop box is marked “Food Pantry” in the foyer.

Thank you again!

LOOKING FOR PEOPLE to come start a new class! 50 Plus Dance/Exercise: We will stretch, and incorporate some easy dance

moves mixed with some Zumba moves, doing a gentle workout, FRIDAY 10:30-11:20 a.m. STARTING JULY 17 in the CLC.

$3:00, FIRST CLASS IS FREE. Let’s get moving!!

Prayer Walks @ 7:00 the 1st and 3rd Mondays of July and August. We will begin by reading from one of the gospels and having

a devotion, then we will walk and pray somewhere in town and come back together at the end for a short time of discussion and re-

flection. Meeting locations will be announced.

Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church Scholarship Application Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church is offering scholarships to Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church members who are

attending a college or technical school this fall 2015. Applications are due July 15, 2015 and will be awarded in August.

If you are interested in applying, applications are available in the church office.

Please welcome Mike Beckner to PHUMC. He is taking the Director of Music Ministry position.

Mike is a near life long resident of Cass County. He grew up in Harrisonville, and after spending some time in Iowa & the Northland of KC, he settled in Pleasant Hill with his wife and family in 1997.

Before joining the staff at PHUMC he served 16 years as Minister of Music at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Independence. Prior to that, he was tenor section leader and then Director of Music

at Hillside Christian church in Gladstone.

His “Day job” is in information Technology. Please welcome Mike to our worship team.

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Be in prayer for our LOGOS Campers— A great team of adults and youth will be travelling to the YMCA of the Rockies for GenOn/LOGOS camp,

July 12th -18th. Please be in prayer for them as they travel, as they experience the mountains, and as they renew and

refresh their faith.

Our group includes: Julie McBride, Robert McBride, Susanne Dierking, Aly Knisely, Lizzie Bohon, Cole

Serage, Dylan Ryerson, Jake Winger, Fletcher Reeves, Kaitlin Dierking, Tory Long, Tara Conrad, Amanda Wesche,

Jaryd Smith, and Derek Smith.

A special treat—This group will be sharing their week with us after they return. Maybe they will bottle up

some of that cool, crisp mountain air, too! Amen!

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“Oh the Places we will Go…” Summer Mission Trip to the Quad Cities—July 5th-10th Mission trips bring our “faith to our fingertips.” Please be in prayer for our awesome summer mission team

as they travel to “the Quad Cities”—Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois. They will be

working in local neighborhoods doing community gardening, volunteering in food pantries, and

serving in many ways.

Our team is: Cliff Conrad, Nancy Miller, Elias Peters, Emily Peters, Fletcher Reeves, Tory

Long, Tara Conrad, Dawson Sivils, Evan Miller, and Kirsten Thompson.

We are SO PROUD of this team and are excited to hear their stories when they return.

AND—SPECIAL THANKS to YOU for all of your love and support of our youth, their

fundraising efforts, and for your prayers as we are a part of these special camps and trips this summer. The biscuits

and gravy breakfasts…the sub sandwiches…and all the wonderful donations, have helped us on our way! We love

being part of the PHUMC team!!

Children & Spring is here…. See what’s

popping up

What’s the SUMMER-DEAL with Sunday Youth? Senior Highs:

*Sunday morning Sunday school---JOIN US with Jeff and Carrie or Keith and

Tina (9:45-10:45) for lots of super-cool conversation and studies!

*Wednesdays with Julie McBride—Julie’s Bible studies are HISTORIC! It’ a

“Wednesday deal” from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Junior Highs: *Sunday morning Sunday school---SUPER AWESOME and AMAZING with

Kim Cleveland! (8:45-10:45) Definitely don’t wanna miss this!

*Working on a couple of special “extra” things, too!

We have been having a blast with Sunday FunDay events with our friends from Hope Methodist in Lone Jack.

We will have a mid-summer event with them on Sunday, July 19th. Be watching for details coming soon!

AND—there are promises of some special SURPRISES ahead! Really!

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VBS 2015

What is G-Force? Let’s just say it is all about movement!

What does it mean to MOVE, ACT, CARE, FOLLOW, and SHARE? That’s G-Force!

Register TODAY and practice using GOD’S FORCE in YOU! It’s VBS 2015!!

Learn a special Bible verse each day…make crafts…hear great stories…play games…enjoy

science experiments…experience great lessons…sing and dance…WOW!!!

Who are we looking for to join us on this adventure?

* “Older” 3 year olds-4th graders

* 5th & 6th grade newspaper reporters, editors

* 7th-12th grade activity assistants ~class ages are determined by the grade JUST COMPLETED in school

* Adult volunteers to help with snacks, recreation, hospitality, Bible studies,

decorating, “comforting,” and everything yummy!

Sunday, July 26th -Thursday, July 30th

VBS Opening at 5:55 p.m.—

Evening ends at 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, August 2nd will be - a VBS program in both worship services

Registration forms for children, youth AND volunteers are now available…on displays in foyer

areas. INVITE FRIENDS! You are not gonna wanna miss this!

Questions? Contact Nancy 699-3371 or e-mail at [email protected]

JOIN THE FORCE!!!!

mailto:[email protected]

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Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

Pleasant Hill, MO

Permit No. 41

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church

1300 Lexington Road

Pleasant Hill, MO 64080

816-540-2072

Rev. David Owsley, Senior Pastor

Services: 8:30 and 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School: 9:45 a.m.

DATED MATERIAL Mailed at

Pleasant Hill, MO

July 1, 2015

We’re on the Worldwide Web at: www.phillumc.com

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