T HE W ARM H EART THE NEWSLETTER OF ALDERSGATE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Aldersgate Church is a caring and affirming Christ-centered fellowship, lay-led and community focused.
V OLUME 3, I SSUE 4
M AY 1, 2016
F ROM P ASTOR S YLVIA LAUGHTER FOR THE SOUL A man who flew his own plane got tired of the long auto trip from the airport to his country place, which was situated on a lovely lake. So he had the idea of equipping his plane with pontoons so he could land right in front of his cottage. However, on his first trip up to the country with his newly equipped plane, he headed for a landing at the airport just as he always had done in the past. Old habits are hard to break. But as he was going in for the landing it dawned on his wife what was happening and she hollered, “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t land this thing on the runway. You don’t have any wheels, you’ve got pontoons on it!” Fortunately, her warning shout was in time and he pulled up from his landing pattern and swung the airplane around and headed the plane for a landing on the lake. After the plane landed safely on the lake, he heaved a really big sigh of relief and turned to his wife and said, “That’s about the stupidest thing I’ve ever done!” Then he turned, opened the door, stepped out, and fell directly into the lake. I don’t know that this story relates any great spiritual truth, but it made me laugh. There has been a great deal of research that seems to indicate the health benefits of laughter. That’s really not too surprising. Don’t you always feel better after a good, long, hard laugh? I am so glad that God, our Creator, saw fit to make us with the ability to laugh--not at the expense of others---but able to laugh at ourselves and the really comical things we see in the world around us. Have you laughed today? Grace & peace, Pastor Sylvia
N EW P ASTOR I NFORMATION The Reverend Randall (Randy) Blanton has been appointed to Aldersgate. Randy is a 1990 graduate of UNC Charlotte, and a 1994 graduate of Duke Divinity School. Randy and his wife, Gina, have two daughters—Madeleine who is 17 and a rising freshman at Wake Forest, and Lillian, 13, who is a rising high school freshman. The Blantons will be moving into the parsonage on June 28th, and Randy’s first Sunday will be July 10th.
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F INANCES RECORD OF OUR FAITHFULNESS AND STEWARDSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS
BY OUR GIFTS AS OF: Offering Received Budget Over (Under) Budget Bldg. Fund Balance: 15,002 By Our Presence Sunday School 8:30 A.M. Worship 11:00 A.M. Worship
MONTHLY
YEAR-TO-DATE
03/31/16 03/31/16 43,397 137,499 51,761 155,283 -8,363 -17,783 Bldg. Receipts: 9,128 Bldg. Loan Balance: 21,264 03/03 03/10 03/17 03/24 160 149 150 137 119 102 127 154 131 119 117 194
M AY F ELLOWSHIP M EAL It’s time for a Celebration of Summer! Plan to join your church family on Wednesday, May 18th, at 6:00 P.M. in Epworth for a meal of sloppy Joes, hash brown casserole, slaw, and ice cream sandwiches. The children’s ministry of Aldersgate will be in charge of the program and our youth will be helping with the meal. All proceeds from this Fellowship Meal will be contributed to our youth for their summer outing to Carolina Cross Connection! The cost for adults and youth: $5.00 Children ages six and under: $2.00 Reservations are due on or before Monday, May 16th.
Relay for Life will take place at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds on Friday, May 20th, beginning at 4:30 P.M. We would like to see a large group of Aldersgate survivors participating in the Survivor’s Walk which starts at 6:00 P.M. If you would like to participate simply type “Relay for Life Cleveland County NC 2016” in your search engine and it will take you directly to our page. Follow the prompts to register online. You can also register by emailing, texting, or calling me, and I will take care of the registration for you. If you contact me, please be sure to let me know your t-shirt size. T-shirts can be picked up at our campsite (T-32) the evening of the event. As in the past, Communion will take place at our campsite at 8:00 P.M. Luminaria forms will be available in the narthex and in the church office. Please place completed forms along with your payment ($10 per Luminaria) in the offering plate or drop it by the church office. Contact info: (email)
[email protected] or (phone) 704.284.0937. Also, each year we pay tribute to church members who have survived cancer and to those who we lost to cancer. If you would like to be recognized or if you would like to have someone recognized, please contact the Gay Bowen in the church office. Thanks! Jeanne Patterson
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Sunday Worship Schedule Unless Noted Otherwise: 8:30 A.M. Informal Worship - Sanctuary 9:45 A.M. Sunday School for all ages 11:00 A.M. Traditional Worship - Sanctuary
Monday, May 16th 6:00 P.M. God’s Vision Bible Study - Fellowship Class 7:00 P.M. Disciple III - Middle High Classroom 7:00 P.M. Trustees - Bible Classroom
Sunday, May 1st 3:00 P.M. Choral Society Concert - Sanctuary 5:00 P.M. Youth - Epworth
Tuesday, May 17th 5:00 P.M. Stephen Ministers - Fellowship Classroom 6:00 P.M. 3F Basketball - Gym 7:00 P.M. Scouts - Scout Room
Monday, May 2nd 6:00 P.M. God’s Vision Bible Study - Fellowship Class 7:00 P.M. Disciple III - Middle High Classroom Tuesday, May 3rd 5:00 P.M. Stephen Ministers - Fellowship Class 6:00 P.M. 3F Basketball - Gym 7:00 P.M. Scouts - Scout Room Wednesday, May 4th 8:00 A.M. UMW Set Up - Epworth 5:30 P.M. Service of Communion & Healing 5:30 P.M. Cherub & Junior Choir Rehearsals Thursday, May 5th 6:00 P.M. UMW Women’s Celebration - Epworth Sunday, May 8th MOTHER’S DAY/UMW SUNDAY 10:30 A.M. One Worship Service - Sanctuary 5:00 P.M. Youth - Epworth Monday, May 9th 6:00 P.M. God’s Vision Bible Study - Fellowship Class 7:00 P.M. Disciple III - Middle High Classroom Tuesday, May 10th 10:30 A.M. 4:00 P.M. 5:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. 7:00 P.M.
Morning Circle - Fellowship Classroom Circle of Joy - Small Dining Room Joan’s Circle - Fellowship Classroom 3F Basketball - Gym Scouts - Scout Room
Wednesday, May 11th 12:00 P.M. Circle of Hope - Small Dining Room 5:30 P.M. Service of Communion & Healing 5:30 P.M. Cherub & Junior Choir Rehearsals Thursday, May 12th 5:30 P.M. UMM - Small Dining Room Saturday, May 14th 7:00 A.M. Country Breakfast - Epworth Sunday, May 15th 5:00 P.M. Youth - Epworth
Wednesday, May 18th 5:30 P.M. Service of Communion & Healing 5:30 P.M. Cherub & Junior Choir Rehearsals 6:00 P.M. Fellowship Meal - Epworth Thursday, May 19th 6:30 P.M. Emmaus Board - Middle High Classroom Sunday, May 22nd 5:00 P.M. Youth - Epworth Monday, May 23rd 6:00 P.M. God’s Vision Bible Study - Fellowship Class 7:00 P.M. Disciple III - Middle High Classroom Tuesday, May 24th 6:00 P.M. 3F Basketball - Gym 7:00 P.M. Scouts - Scout Room Wednesday, May 25th 5:30 P.M. Service of Communion & Healing 5:30 P.M. Cherub & Junior Choir Rehearsals Sunday, May 29th 9:45 A.M. Fifth Sunday Brunch - Epworth Monday, May 30th MEMORIAL DAY-CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED 6:00 P.M. God’s Vision Bible Study - Fellowship Class 7:00 P.M. Disciple III - Middle High Classroom Tuesday, May 31st 6:00 P.M. 3F Basketball - Gym 7:00 P.M. Scouts - Scout Room
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B IRTHDAY C ELEBRATION !
Virginia Byers
Catherine Porter & family
Boyce Hanna
Joan Hanna
Blanche Teele; Kassie & Jeanne Patterson
Vera Gettys, Oletta Triplett, & Ruby Price
Charles Duval
Edwin Ford
Carl Lynn
Myrtle Pruitt
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V OLUME 3, I SSUE 4
S O M UCH F UN F OR E VERYONE !
Bill & Susan Young
Bill & Ruth Young
Jacquie Brunnick
Libba Minus
Louise Neal & Katherine Harry
Kenny Cox, Marcella Cox, & Jeff Cox
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A ND T HE F UN C ONTINUES ...
Candy Arey & Reese Arey
Jamie Mosteller
Matt Arey
Katherine Rankin
Hal Crowder & Mary Ann Trice
An effort was made to get as many birthday folks and others in the newsletter as possible. If you have a photo from the evening that you would like to share, please email it to
[email protected] and it will appear in the next issue of The Warm Heart.
2016 H OMELESS S HELTER M EALS Aldersgate will provide meals for the Cleveland County Rescue Mission (Men’s Shelter on Buffalo Street) Heart to Heart (Women & Children’s Shelter on Washington St.) and the APC Shelter on Washington Street the second Sunday of each month. May 8 - Seekers Class June 12 - Bible Class
July 10 - Hunter Class August 14 - AUMC Youth September 11 - Sanctuary Choir October 9 - Chancel Choir November 13 - Fellowship Class December 11 - UMW
Meals should be packaged separately for the men and women’s shelters, and delivered by 6:00 P.M. to the Cleveland County Rescue Mission. To obtain a head count for the two shelters, please contact Jocelyn at 704.751.1255 toward the end of the week. To obtain a head count for the APC shelter, please call 704.481.0043. Remember to include juice and/or milk for the children. Thank you for participating in this ministry. Contact Jeanne Patterson 704.284.0937 or Garnette Walls 704.487.0413 with any questions.
V OLUME 3, I SSUE 4
U NITED M ETHODIST W OMEN Attention all Ladies! You are cordially invited to a Celebration of Women on Thursday, May 5th in Epworth. This is an opportunity to honor all the females we love whether living or deceased. (Including, but not limited to, mothers, daughters, relatives, neighbors, friends, employees, etc.) The celebration is a ladies dinner party with Hat-i-Tude! Time to break out your favorite hats (old or new) along with gloves, pearls, antique jewelry and clothes to match! The fun begins with a photo opportunity at 5:30 P.M. followed by dinner at 6:00 P.M. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Attention all Gentlemen! This is the perfect opportunity to purchase tickets for those special ladies in your life especially since Mother’s Day is May 8th! Sunday, May 8th, is UMW Sunday. Women from our church family will lead us in one worship service at 10:30 A.M. Hope to see you there!
U NITED M ETHODIST M EN Our annual Methodist Men’s (Howard Shuford Memorial) Golf Tournament will be July 16, 2016 at the Cleveland Country Club. The money raised through this tournament gives us the ability to help members who are in need. There are two ways to contribute: First, is for all golfers (male and female) to come play in the tournament for a $60 green fee. Bring your own team, we need all the teams we can get; Second, is to become a hole sponsor for $100. All the money we raise goes back into Aldersgate. We have the reputation of running a good golf tournament, so come find out for yourself. Our next country breakfast is May 14, 2016, and our cooks are preparing their usual wonderful meal. We are recognized as the best breakfast in the county and our attendance improves each month. Come find out for yourself. Men, and if you are a male and a member of Aldersgate, you’re automatically part of the Methodist Men! Join us Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 5:30 P.M. in the small dining room in Epworth; you will enjoy being with Christian men, eating a good meal, and be on your way home by 7:00 P.M. Men come be a part of this devoted group of men and find out for yourself how active we are.
Y ARD S ALE T O B ENEFIT C HRISTMAS S TORE 2016 It’s spring and this is the time of year to do a little spring cleaning! As you clean out those closets and basements, be thinking of items you could donate to the 2016 Christmas Store. If you have any articles that you would like picked up and stored, you are asked to contact Kathy Norman
[email protected]/704.480.1403 or Tammy Shuford
[email protected]/704.473.3614.
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I N O UR T HOUGHTS
AND
P RAYERS
PERPETUAL PRAYER LIST
RECENT REQUESTS
Robert Addington, Jr. Walter Benton Dale Converse Jeff Cox Ashley & Samantha Dauphinais James Davis Connie DiLeo David Dycus Faith Sharers Graham School The Griffin Family Keith & Freida Hawkins Abigail Haynes Randy Hutchinson Mary Kachner Carl Lynn Polly Matthews Cortney Pierce Janice Poston Thomas Prevatt Stark Family Roy & Ruth Swofford Harold & Billie Watson Linda Watson Rebecca Watson
If you wish to add or remove a name from our list, contact the church office, otherwise names will remain on the list for a month. Mary Ann Bartrug Jeremy Cox Edwin Ford Horace Lanning Carl Lynn Belinda Martin, friend of the Bumbaughs Martha Morrison Kat Reynolds Amy Self Janet Swann, friend of Charles & Judy Eslinger Sandra Wine Dino’s Family
SYMPATHY
We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families of Sarah Dumas, & D.L. McDonald, uncle of Martha Winn. May they know the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
M EMORIALS & H ONORARIA Memorials for Cecile Browning: Mary Anne Davis, Memorials for Sarah Dumas: Mr. & Mrs. Jim Irons, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Dumas Memorials for Robert Hoyle: Mr. & Mrs. Eric Greene, Charles Duval, Mr. & Mrs. Dale Winn, Memorials for Nita Mauney: Mr. & Mrs. Eric Greene, Mary Anne Davis, Mary Jane Puckett, Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Henry, Memorials for Bob Reynolds: Mary Anne Davis, AUMC Morning Circle
S PECIAL T HANK Y OUS ! To Our Dear Aldersgate Family, Thank you for all the calls, cards, visits, gifts, and food during this difficult time with mother’s illness. She loved you all so very much, and we felt your hugs and prayers. Aldersgate is truly a loving FAMILY. We have been so blessed by you. Love, The Family of Juanita Mauney To all the many “helping hands” who planned & worked so hard to make this the best birthday party ever! It was a lovely time and all the many hands that worked to hard to make it special, thank you for your love and caring! Sincerely, Jacquie Brunnick
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T HOSE S ERVING O UR C OUNTRY Aaron Allen Charles Barefoot Brandon Edwards Troy Goss Justus Henkel Julia Jablonski Rob Jones Colby Kiser
James Lovelace Sadie Lovelace John Lewis Rom Meares Dillon Peeler Scott Richard Rebecca Witter
H APPY B IRTHDAY ! 1st Mike Mackaman Jim Sotelo
10th Annie Melton Don Miller
2nd Helen Pack Jordan Packard Patty Weathers
11th Bailey Cantrell Sharon Lipscomb Camden Wease
3rd Rick Davis Constance Lord Lynne Rockwell
12th Dina Braddy
4th J.B. Young 5th Stephanie Crosby David Lynn Aaron Simmons 6th Mary Kachner 7th James Edmondson Alan Shuford 8th Robert Addington Louise Neal Thomas Prevatt Landon Weathers 9th Ramsey Brooks Chris Daugherty Matt Morris
13th Phineas Garlock 14th Mary Ann Bartrug Tom Cannon Nanci Christensen 15th Patricia Noggle 16th Tyler Trice Phil Weathers 17th Julia Strachan 19th Ann McCraw Jo Strickland 20th Hayward Morrison Bill Young (Susan’s) 22nd Katherine Bridges
23rd Brandon Garlock Alex Goforth 24th Mike Carlisle 25th Marcella Cox Melissa Medlin 26th Max Blankenship Ian Morris 27th Bill Young (Ruth’s) 28th Shannon Gentry Dorothy Lynch George Shipley 29th Altman Anderson Clay Lutz
30th Cam Blanton Harriette Greene Paula Peeler 31st Bryan Carlisle
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Shelby, NC 28152 Permit No. 27
T HE N EWSLETTER OF A LDERSGATE U NITED M ETHODIST C HURCH 1207 West Dixon Boulevard Shelby, NC 28152 704.487.8491 Return Service Requested
W E’ RE
ON THE WEB!
www.aldersgateshelby.com
S ELF S CHOLARSHIP F UND The Self Scholarship was established in memory of Carlo and Iva Self, charter members of Aldersgate, by their children. The fund is used to provide assistance to active Aldersgate members who are enrolled in graduate or undergraduate studies. The interest from this fund is used to help our students with college expenses. Any college student who is a member of Aldersgate may apply for a grant. Applications are available in the narthex and in the church office, or contact Gay Bowen to have one emailed to you. Deadline to return applications is Friday, May 13th.
A T TENTION A LL H IGH S CHOOL & C OLLEGE G RADUATES ! If you are graduating from high school or college, please contact Gay Bowen in the church office with your information so that we might recognize you in the near future.