Fundraising is a Ministry!

Did you know that about 5% of our annual budget is funded through fundraisers?

Using approximate percentages: 85% of our Operating Budget is supported by your tithes and offerings and other seasonal giving. 12% of our budget is supported through Building Use contributions. Only 3 to 4% is funded through events designed to raise money for the church.

This is a very healthy balance! We never want to significantly rely on money-making events to fund the ministry God has called us to do. However, fundraisers are important for more than just making money. Fundraising events give us an additional opportunity to interact with people from our surrounding community and to build relationships which may open the opportunity for evangelism—sharing God’s love with those around us.

I am thankful for all the volunteers who spent many hours organizing and carrying out the train show. The money raised will certainly help to fund ministry, but the relationships that were established or renewed will go so much further as we strive to extend Christ’s love through our communities.

With that in mind, I want to encourage each person to find a way to support Ruby’s Plant Sales and the “Whole In One” Golf Tournament, which are the next opportunities we will have to both raise money and build relationships.

Please keep an eye on this newsletter and on your weekly bulletin and electronic communications for ways you can help. The ministry of Fundraising is important for the relationships we build, as well as for the funds that are raised.

Blessings,Pastor Kent

The Cross & Flame The United Methodist Church, Branford • 811 East Main Street, Branford, CT 06405

(203) 488-0549 • umcbranford1966@gmail.com www.umcbranford.org • www.facebook.com/umcbranford

May 2019

“Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit converge to change hearts and lives.”

Pastor’s Ponderings

BELIEVE Series Continues

Grounded in carefully selected scripture—like The Story—Believe is a church-wide spiritual growth ex-perience for all ages, taking each person on a jour-ney, showing how to think, act, and be more like Jesus. Each chapter focuses on one of the 10 core beliefs, 10 key practices, and 10 essential vir-tues that have unified believers around the world for over 2000 years.

After Easter, we will resume Believe with 10 weeks focusing on Key Practices. The final 10 weeks on the theme of 10 Essential Virtues will be scheduled for early Fall.

Copies of the text are still available (in Connector Hall) for $5 each.

“Wireless communication is nothing new. I’ve been praying for 75 years!”

MAYMay Birthdays1 Roger Gagné Richard Robinson, Jr.2 Allan Lang M.E. Solomon6 Savannah James8 John Nickou10 Beth James12 Andrew Wolek16 Christopher Blossom Hayley Gregoire23 Andrew Rezman25 Ben James Tony Luzzi28 Louise Lind31 Morgan McMahon Susan McMahon

May Anniversaries5 Robin & Andrew Wolek 15 Alice & George Klein23 Judy & Michael Loukides

SUNDAY SCHEDULEWorship & Sunday School - 9:30am

(No Sunday School on 1st Sunday of the month)

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Tues thru Thurs 9:00am-2:00pm

NEWSLETTER DEADLINEThe 20th of every month - please send articles to

Lori Cartwright at loriahlcart@gmail.com

Missed a Sunday? Unable to attend worship?You can catch the weekly sermon video at

www.umcbranford.org

May EventsMay 8, 5:30pm: Learn & Play BoardMay 12: Second Sunday Stewardship: Blessing Bags (see article on page 3)May 13, 12:30pm: Mother’s Day LuncheonMay 15, 6:16pm: Prayer MeetingMay 15, 7pm: Faithful StewardsMay 19, 2pm: District ConferenceMay 25, 8am: Men’s BreakfastMay 25, 9am: Plant SaleMay 29, 7pm: Finance CommitteeMay 31, 6pm: Community Dinner

WEEKLY CALENDAR

SUNDAYS:9:30am Worship Service/Sunday School 11:30am Communion at Artis

MONDAYS:10am Monday Morning Quarterbacking4:30pm Sewing for God

TUESDAYS:7-8:30pm Pastor’s Bible Study Group7:30pm AA meeting

WEDNESDAYS:10am Learn & Play Chapel10:30am Prayer Shawl Ministry11am Faith Talk at Artis

THURSDAYS:10am Pastor’s Bible Study Group7:30pm Al-Anon meeting

SATURDAYS:7pm AA meeting

“Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit converge to change hearts and lives.”

“Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit converge to change hearts and lives.”

Learn & Play enjoyed a busy Easter and Spring season. The children read and learned the story of Jesus from His entry on a donkey thru His appearance after the Resurrection. We have been watching our caterpillars getting ready to transform into butterflies and are still hoping that our tadpole will eventually turn into a frog. We have the oldest tadpole in history…over a year old now and still no legs!

Our children and families had fun at our Family Easter Event on April 13. We had crafts, Ms Sandi from Turn It Up Music leading us in fun songs, and an egg hunt. Unfortunately, it had to be held inside because of the weather but I don’t think anyone minded. The kids were happy to search their classrooms for eggs!

The children also hopped in a fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy and did a unit on disability awareness. We raised about $300 to help MDA.

During the month of May we will continue our Fruits of the Spirit theme with our last fruit, self control. Our Bible stories will be Jesus and the Miracle of Many Fish, Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand, and Jesus Walks on Water. Our traditional themes will be Rainbow fish, picnics and community helpers.

We are counting down to the end of our school year. It seems like the school year has just flown by. We will have graduation and our family picnic on Wednesday, June 19th. It’s always sad to see our Pre-K children graduate and move on, but we know that they are well-prepared for their future years of schooling.

Looking ahead: Summer Camp is now registering three and four year olds for nine weeks of fun summer activities from June 24 – August 22. Part time and full time openings are still available, if you know of anyone that may be looking for one to nine weeks of summer activities for their child.

cont’d

LOOKING FOR YOUR TABS!!

Collecting soda can tabs is an easy way to support the Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Just remove the tab from each can before it goes in your recycle bin. Then place them in the collection jug in Connector Hall.

SEWING FOR GODMondays 4:30 to 6:30 pm

We have a few tops ready to layer and prepare for quil-ting, so if you can spare a few hours, come join us as we sew and fellowship gether. All the quilt tops are easy to make. Even if you don’t sew – come join us, as we can always use someone to press.

On the 27th, we will be making Teddy Bears for the Holiday Fair. As always, all supplies are provided. Any questions, please see Rosemary.

This year’s theme is the Adventures of Eric Carle. Each week, we will focus on a different book and plan activities and special visitors. Water play will be included daily.

Looking way ahead: We are currently registering for Fall classes. Limited openings are still available in our Preschool and Pre-K classes, as well as our infant and toddler rooms. Full time and part time schedules are available. If you know of anyone looking for a quality program with a Christian component, please have them contact us for more information.

LET’S DO LUNCH!

Women’s Mother’s Day LuncheonMonday, May 13 · 12:30 pm

Eli’s on the Hill • 624 West Main Street, BranfordOrder off of the menu

RSVP: Sign-up sheet in Connector Hall

Next month: TBA

Congratulations to Brian Wolek,who graduates Cum Laude (with Distinction) from Northeastern University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering this month! He plans to work for one of his profes-sors as he looks for a full-time job in the Boston area.

Please send info about any other church members who are graduating from college or high school to Lori C. at loriahlcart@gmail.com

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Church Family OutingNew Britain Bees vs. Sugar Land Skeeters

Sunday, June 23 at 1:30

Mission Mats and Blessing Bags

As part of our Mission project of making “plarn” (plastic) mats for the homeless, we would like to be able to hand out a “Blessing Bag” with each mat. We are asking for you to go through your drawers and all those travel size toilettes you’ve been hanging on to and thought you would use some day, those treasures would make a great addition to a Blessings Bag! (Please, only new unopened items in good condition!) Nothing in your drawers?...Your local dollar store has many of the items on the list. There are also many other items on the list above which would be a blessing to someone in need! Please prayerfully consider donating.

May Sharing Table

We will be collecting the items for the Blessing Bags as part of our sharing table for Second Sunday Stewardship on May 12. Please help by bringing in your items and placing them on the table in Herr Hall. Of course, this is our share table for the month and you are all welcome as part of Spring and on our way to Summer…to bring in any extra plantings, seeds, small plants…whatever you have too much of and would love to pass on!

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

- Matthew 25:40

Tickets are only $8 and are available at the church office.

“Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit converge to change hearts and lives.”

Now that we have a start...we could use more help!!! Mike Cartwright, Diane Nerkowski and Pastor Kent have started to plan an event to be held on the Branford Green for about 3 hours on a Saturday or Sunday. We want to invite different health-related agencies—physical, mental, nutritional, etc.—to be present and provide some healthy activities for people of all ages.

And that is where we need your help. What activity can you lead? Simon Sez? Relay Races? Exercise? In addition to the information tables, we would like to have a different activity every half-hour. Please contact Mike, Diane, or Pastor Kent and let us know how you will help.

We will need set-up and clean-up help, pop-up tents, and other materials. Please put your thinking caps on and let us know what other ideas you have!

Office Hours and Pastor’s Availability

Pastor Kent will be in the office or around the church building on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 8am to 1pm (with the exception of being at Artis from 11-11:30 am on Wednesdays).

He welcomes anyone who wants to stop in and visit during those times.

If you would like to be in touch or schedule an appointment outside of those hours, Pastor Kent can be reached on his cell phone or by email:

(845) 522-1233 UMCBPastor@gmail.com

“Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit converge to change hearts and lives.”

Caring CallMinistry

Would you like to receive a daily “Caring Call”?Are you willing to make a daily “Caring Call”?

A caring call is an opportunity to check in with some-one who is living alone and may not have family nearby.

A caring call is an opportunity to connect with some-one on a daily basis. to hear a voice say,

“I just want to make sure you are okay.”

A caring call acknowledges that we are the Body of Christ, and He calls us to care for one another. Anyone interested in receiving and making a “Car-ing Call” is invited to sign up on the form in Connec-tor Hall or to contact M.E. Solomon (203) 453-6118 or Jennifer Sygiel (203) 811-1177. As a participant in this ministry, you will be part-nered with someone else on the list who you will agree to connect with once a day at an agreed-up-on time. You will also be asked to provide a 3rd party contact person just in case the “Caring Call” goes unanswered. An unanswered call is also a Pastoral Care concern for our church, so Pastor Kent will also be notified, which will give him the opportunity to respond as well. M.E. and Jennifer are also available to answer any questions you may have.

FRIDAY, MAY 31 · 6 PM