Volume I, Issue 180 September, 2015

330.725.4943 mumc.office@zoominternet.net

C O N N E C T I O N S

This Sunday, August 30, we kick off a 31 week journey through the Bible. Yes you read it

correctly. We are going to get through the whole thing from cover to cover (or sort of). We

will be utilizing The Story which is the New International Version of the Bible divided into

31 chronological divisions or chapters covering all of the major events in biblical history.

Each Sunday morning we will look at a chapter and learn how it applies to faith and daily

life. Our first session will be for ten weeks taking us from Creation to King Saul. Then we

will break until January. Then we will finish up in mid June, 2016.

You can purchase The Story for $5.00 at The Story table or you can purchase a downloadable version. There is a par-

ticipant guide available for a small group or class experience. So here is how it will work.

Read the chapter for the upcoming Sunday. For instance, for this Sunday, read chapter one. It is 12 pages long. It talks

about creation, Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, and Noah and the Ark. Attend worship and then as a follow up

take on a small group experience. You can do this with your family, or other small group opportunities. It is not hard.

You can do it.

The objective is to familiarize ourselves with God’s Word through an easy format that will increase our understanding

and knowledge of God. I am really excited about The Story. I believe it has real possibilities for MUMC. Everyone can

get involved. See you this Sunday. Invite a friend.

Also I want to thank all those who have worked so hard in our “backwoods.” Larry Smith and Rich Heaton and their

crew have done a marvelous job as they have worked throughout the summer clearing trails, spreading gravel, and

making for a wonderful outdoor experience. Our “chapel in the woods” has been refurbished and upgraded through

the work of some of our Eagle Scouts. Greg Fisher and Ben Wittenauer built and installed new benches for the

chapel while Isaiah Coyne constructed a bridge for the one of the trails. Great job!

Pastor Heidi recently attended the Global Leadership Summit at the Willow Creek Church in Barrington, Illinois.

The summit is designed to equip leaders and the church for greater effectiveness through workshops and gifted

speakers.

If you haven’t already, please consider getting connected through text in worship and other social media avenues.

One of our greatest challenges is keeping everyone in the loop in these very competitive and crowded times. Just

like Jesus spoke about the lost sheep in the parable, we seek to keep tabs on all our sheep because each one matters

greatly to us. Your cooperation is highly valued in this endeavor.

May God continue to bless you greatly with his magnificent grace and innumerable and glorious riches!

Dave

Page 2 Monthly Update

By Judy Gorsek, Director

After two workdays at school and loads of time spent preparing at home, our staff are ready for year 45!!

Some preschool classes will have their first day of school on September 9th while others will begin soon thereaf-

ter. We are very blessed with a near full enrollment at this time, but do have a few openings, so please do share

the news: We have a handful of openings in our 5's and PEP p.m. classes. All 3's classes are full with waiting list

as we continue growing steadily!

Our teachers have curriculum planned for this month that supports themes including Apples, Farms, Family,

Friendships and School. Our classes will learn about God through love, sharing and prayer and we will take each

teachable moment to share how God loves ALL of us no matter what our color, shape or size. True to Medina

Weekday Preschool philosophy, our children will "Learn through Play". Children will begin to learn letter recogni-

tion and counting, by having FUN with hands-on experiences, music and loads teacher interaction. Our staff en-

joys our children as they continue to learn and grow in this very special place of Christian love.

We are very excited about this new school year! We welcome back 20 board members led by Chairperson

Jennifer McClafferty, Vice-Chairperson Kira Snow, Secretary Aimee Andrich, Treasurer Susan West, Financial

Secretary Michelle Rabung and registrar, Michele Soworowski. More board members will join the membership in

October. We also welcome 14 floating assistants and 18 staff members! Our newest staff members are:

Sandy Noall as a lead PEP p.m. teacher and Carol Reddick as the assistant teacher! It's going to be another

great year here at Weekday Preschool!

Midwest Mission Trip Participants August 16-22

Thank you to all who helped

make Medina Missions 2015

a success! We had 60+

volunteers singing, sewing,

window-washing, cleaning,

mulching, painting, and scraping!

There are still a few jobs to

finish, so if you would like to

volunteer please contact Jim &

Beth Myers or the Church office.

Page 3 Monthly Update

Young at Heart

Thursday, Sept. 17

11:30am-2:00pm

Dale Rabung Presents:

Bluebirds in Your Backyard

Menu: Sloppy Joes ~ Baked Beans ~ Coleslaw ~ Chocolate Delight

To Register, please sign up at the welcome center to insure

we have enough food!

We are starting our 4th year with our Sr. Adult Ministry, the Young at

Heart. Our program committee has put together an exciting year of pro-

grams that offer a wide variety of interests. We invite you to come and

share in food, fellowship, and friendship each month. Age doesn’t matter—

if you’re available, just come. We welcome each and everyone.

Thanks go out to everyone who helped wrap up our Fellowship Firepit Season with a Bonfire Blowout!! After finally extinguishing the blaze, cleaning up the popcorn, and paying the Pizza man; we were able to donate the leftover collection to the Food Pantry in the amount of $57! Thanks to all, and let's do it again next year!! Lisa Herr & John Ross

Dear MUMC Scholarship Committee, I am so excited and honored to have been chosen for the John & Gertrude Len-non Memorial Scholarship. the $1,000 scholarship money will be of huge help for pay-ing for school and minimizing my debt! God Bless, Sarah Smith

To Our Medina United Methodist Church Family, I would like to thank you for a wonderful 6 years of ministry. My family always was made to feel like we were at home and always surrounded by your love and prayers. We were sad to leave you but excited for our new adventure serving God in the Butler area. We also wish to thank you for the generous love offering which you gave us. It was not expected, and shows us how appreciated we are. Heidi is in for a wonderful congregation to serve. in Christian Love, Brandon, Johnna, Kyler and Kaden

Dear MUMC Staff, Thank you for the flowers and the love and support you gave to our family during the time of loss of our mother, Marlene. The Jividen Family

Dear Medina UMC, Thank you so much for putting together a wonderful care package for me as I go off to Kent State University this fall! It warms my heart to know I was thought of and thanks to you I received everything I need to start my freshman year. Please keep me in your prayers throughout my college career. May God continue to bless you all! Thank you again, Elizabeth Crowley

Singer-songwriter, Chip Richter will be re-

turning to our church for a family concert

here at the church on Sunday, October 11th

at 1:00 p.m. Chip’s family concerts serve up

stories, songs, and smiles “Family Style” fea-

ture something on the menu for everyone.

It’s a recipe for “more fun than a kid should

be allowed to have” as Chip delivers healthy

portions of love and laughter for all ages to

enjoy! You can visit www.chiprichter.com to

learn more about Chip and his music. In ad-

dition to his concert, Chip will performing a

couple of songs at both the 9:30 and 11:00

a.m. worships that morning. A light lunch will

be served between the 11:00 a.m. worship

and the start of the concert. The concert is

free and a goodwill offering benefitting the

Youth Group’s mission trip fund will be taken

during the lunch. This is a great event for

the whole family-children, parents and

grandparents alike and we hope to see you

there!

Women’s Community

Bible Study II Corinthians & Romans

Tuesdays beginning Sept. 15 (morning session) 9:30-11:15 a.m.

or (evening session) 6:30-8:00 p.m.

To register or for info, contact: Pat Sooy (330-421-0493) patsooy@aol.com)

or Nancy Cupps (330-769-2433)

Page 4 Monthly Update

Many thanks for these recently donated items for our church

library:

Tea Time with God given by Rich Surrena in memory of

Shelley Surrena—A collection of short devotions to warm

your heart and refresh your spirit.

Praying God’s Word given by Rich Surrena in memory of

Shelley Surrena—A Beth Moore book to help readers

break free from spiritual stumbling blocks.

A Nest of Bluebirds given by the Ohio Bluebird Society

and Dale Rabung—Children can learn about one of God’s

beautiful creations, the bluebird.

Jesus on Trial given by Bernie Martel—A book of power-

ful arguments demonstrating the Bible’s truthfulness.

The First Days of Israel given by Bruce and Jackie

Davey—The story of Moses’ life and the epic chronicle of

his people.

Do you have books/DVDs/CDs to donate to our church li-

brary? All donated materials should reflect Christian values.

Items need to be in new or gently used condition (no torn

bindings, loose pages, yellowed pages, highlighted/underlined

passages, etc.) and of current interest to today’s readers. In-

formation should be up-to-date. Donated materials will be

added to our library collection if they are needed. Materials

not needed or too worn/out-of-date may be returned to the

donor (if you leave your name and contact info), disbursed to

mission locations, or donated to local nonprofits such as Pro-

ject Learn, Goodwill, and Life’s Treasures. Receipts for tax

purposes can be provided if you have given us your contact

information. Drop off donations in the church library along

with your contact information or call Marcia Young (330-722-

5436) to arrange for items to be picked up at your home.

Monetary donations are always welcome. We always main-

tain a wish list of books to purchase as funds become avail-

able.

Confirmation Parents and Students Confirmation will be held on Sundays during

the 11am service starting Sept. 27th. Con-

firmation is a two-year commitment in

which the youth will learn what it means to

be a Christian and a United Methodist. At

the end of the program they have the op-

portunity to make a personal choice to con-

firm their baptism, commit their lives to

Christ, and join the United Methodist

Church. If you have a youth that is in 7th or

8th grade and interested in joining the

class, please contact Pastor Heidi!

Youth Youth Group will be meeting 6-7:30pm on

Sunday nights beginning September 13th.

Youth Group Kick-Off

Tailgate Party September13th

6-7:30pm Come for food, fun & fellowship!

Parents: let Pastor Heidi know if

you’re able to tailgate!

Upcoming events:

September 13: Tailgate Kick-Off!

6-7:30pm

20: MYF meeting

6-7:30pm

27: Sundae Sunday

6-7:30pm

October 4: Laser Quest

1-4:30pm

11: Lunch fundraiser for Chip

Richter Concert (Time TBA)

18: MYF meeting

6-7:30pm

25: Drive-by-Prayers

6-7:30pm

Looking forward to learning and

growing with you!!

Turbans for Warmth

Saturday, October 10, 2015

9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. We will gather to make turbans for cancer patients.

Pattern and material will be supplied.

Things to bring: Thread (any color), cutting board, scissors.

We need people who like to cut out patterns, hand sew and

sew with a machine (bring your portable sewing machine).

This is a very enjoyable time together.

Hope you can come!

Questions? Call Susan in the Ministry Office 330-725-4943

or e-mail mumc.care@zoominternet.net

Page 5 Monthly Update

Fall Sunday School for Children and Youth

Fall Sunday school for children and youth starts next Sunday. There are classes for ages 2-6th grade at 9:30 a.m. as

well as a senior high youth class at 11:00 a.m. Parents, please take some time on 8/30 to complete a new Sunday

school registration card for your children. These cards provide us with important information we may need while

your children are in Sunday school Cards will be available in the classrooms and at the registration card table in the

lobby. The Sunday school class with the most completed registration cards turned in by 9/13 will be rewarded with

a donut breakfast during an upcoming Sunday school class! Please note, On Labor Day Sunday, September 6th,

we will have Sunday school for our two year old-kindergarten classes only. If you have questions or are inter-

ested in volunteering in our Sunday school ministry, please see Lynn Foster.

Women’s Retreat Keep it Simple Spiritually (KISS), a one day retreat for women, will be held at the church on Saturday, October 17th, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. In our busy daily lives, we may find it hard to carve out time to spend in fellowship with God. During the retreat, Rev. Sharon Seyfarth Garner will share some simple spiritual practices that can help us connect with God even when we are on the go. We will learn about compassion meditation, explore how we can pray through contemplative coloring and have the opportunity to make a prayer bead bracelet. Additional information and registration materials will be available in September.

About our retreat leader…Rev. Sharon Seyfarth Garner, Director & Founder of Belly of the Whale Spiritual Direction & Retreat Ministries is dedicated to meeting others wherever they are on their journey of faith and partnering with them toward a deeper, more meaningful spiritual life. Sharon has been an ordained United Methodist pastor for over 20 years and is ecclesiasti-cally endorsed for the specialized ministry of spiritual direction. She has graduate certificates in Spiritual Direction (Ignatian Spirituality Institute), Diversity Management (Cleveland State Univer-sity) and Ecumenical Studies (World Council of Churches). Sharon is a member of Spiritual Direc-tors International and the Fellowship of United Methodist Spiritual Directors & Retreat Leaders. Sharon also enjoys being with her family, playing cards with friends, backpacking, singing loudly, making pottery and taking walks with her husband and dog, Bear.

Fall Women’s Bible Study Sessions

Both the Wednesday night and Thursday morning women’s Bible study groups will start their fall sessions in Septem-ber. The Wednesday group begins on 9/9 at 6:30P in room 209 with the Thursday group starting 9/10 at 9:30A. The 6 week video study will be Beth Moore’s Breath which examines the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Ramona Gellick and Diane McElroy will facilitate on Wednesday nights and Evelyn Crowley will lead the Thursday group. Booklets that contain listening guides for each session will be available at the first meeting of each group for $10. For more information, please contact one of the group facilitators or Lynn Foster in the ministry office.

Planning is underway to offer Disciple bible studies for 2015-16

Disciple I – Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study: This 34-week study is the foundation to the Disciple series. You must take this course before signing up for any of the other three studies. Disciple I is a broad survey of the entire Bible. By the time you finish this study, you will have read a little more than two thirds of the Bible and learned a lot about God and how He speaks to us today through His Word. Disciple III – Remember Who You Are: In the Old Testament Prophets and the Letters of Paul, this 32-week study examines the connection between memory and identity as the people of God. Participants will find common themes, including calls to remember, calls to repent, calls for renewal and calls for community. These classes will be held on Monday evenings and are scheduled to begin on September 28th at 7:00 p.m. Sign-up sheets will be available on September 6th in the lobby by the Welcome Center. You can also contact the church office (330-725-4943 or mumc.office@zoominternet.net) to express your interest in participating in either of these studies. If you are interested in finding out more about Disciple Bible studies, please contact Larry Donat donatl@zoominternet.net or Dave Gehring-degehring@zoominternet.net.

Aug. 30 Creation: The Beginning of Life as We Know It

Sept. 6 God Builds A Nation

Sacrament of Holy Communion

Sept. 13 Joseph: From Slave to Deputy Pharaoh

Sept. 20 Deliverance

Sept. 27 New Commands and a New Covenant

Medina United Methodist Church Non-Profit Organization

4747 Foote Rd. Presort Standard

Medina, OH 44256 PERMIT #6

330.725.4943 Medina, Ohio

Mailed 8/27/2015

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Inside This Issue

Sunday Worship

8:15 am (Traditional) 9:30 am (Contemporary) 11:00 am (Traditional)