First United Methodist Church - Wausau Wisconsin
Monday, August 21, 2017
Live and Share God's Love
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CareMilestones Confirmed: On June 4, we rejoiced with four young people confirming their faith and joining with us in membership. We celebrate with James Duginski, Hannah Marquardt, Cooper Stamp, and Wynter Tesch.
 Deaths: We grieve this month with the loss of these members of our church or of our families.
Carroll Pieper, long-time member of our congregation, died on June 9. We pray for his wife, Duaine, and their children as they grieve.
Bob Rybarczyk, long-time member of our congregation, died on July 7. We pray for his wife, Gloria, and their children as they grieve.
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I would like to invite you to read the blog that I’ve been writing and posting online for the past few years. “Fierce Joy & Hope” is mostly about everyday happenings that I try to look at from a faith perspective. I put a link on the church’s Facebook page (facebook.com/ WausauFUMC) when I post a new entry. Or you can go directly to the blog by typing
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Besides coming to church to worship, in what ways do you serve God with other people? |
Why Wear Nametags?
Put yourself in the place of a first time visitor in our greeting time, with names being handed to you by everyone. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone were wearing their name tags?
Now imagine you’re a new pastor to this church next July ...
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Click here to download the 2017 Downtown Memory Café Schedule |
Remember Our 1st Sunday Birthday Table
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On the first Sunday of every month, we set up in the Parlor a small table with a copy of the newsletter birthday list, and some birthday cards and envelopes. Take a moment during Coffee Hour to write a greeting. Those who are homebound are indicated (as in the newsletter) with an asterisk, which indicates someone who might especially appreciate being remembered by her or his church family. |
Home Visit...
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Fair Trade Coffee. Our United Methodist Women maintain a cabinet of Fair Trade Coffee for sale. This is coffee that is grown by small farmers using sustainable methods. Will buying this coffee save the world? No. Can it make a difference? Yes. Look for the UMCOR sticker on your purchase. This sticker indicates that a percentage of this sale will go to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, so each purchase comes with a giving bonus. |
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Aluminum Cans. One of the more obvious ways that we can show stewardship of creation is simply not to throw as much into landfills. Where something can be recycled and reused in a different form, it should be. We should all be doing this at home and work, but recycling aluminum cans through the church is especially useful. Our Missions Team has taken on the task of redeeming those cans, and all the cash raised in this way is dedicated to mission projects.
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Cookie Cookbook Report
Thank you to all who purchased cookbooks as part of our fundraiser for the parking lot. We sold nearly all the books we ordered and raised almost $1,000. Thank you especially to Nancy Runner for organizing and administering this project in September. A few cookbooks are left and can be purchased from the office.
And thank you to all of you who baked cookies for or delivered them to our local police and fire departments on 9/11 as a gesture of our gratitude to them.
Downtown Memory Cafe Programs for 2016
Our Memory Care Council has been busy, and most of our programming for this year is already planned. If you’ve been wondering about getting involved, take a look at the next few months and do so.
March 17: Feelin’ Lucky. Some Wheel of Fortune and shamrock-making. Try the luck of the Irish.
April 21: Folks and Jokes. Humor month. Folk guitarist Steve Loftus and a lot of humor.
May 19: Our Fine Feathered Friends. A visit from the Raptor Education Group.
June 16: ”I Do.” A wedding-themed program, accompanied harp and violins.
Cans for Missions
The Guatemala Mission Trip is paid for! But keep bringing your aluminum cans to the church!
All proceeds will support our church’s outreach projects.
Visitation Team Report
As most of you know, we have been working to establish some new systems to help our members to be more intentional about caring for each other. Here is what we’ve done:
- Established the core of a Visitation Team, people who have taken on this role as a regular commitment.
- Established an updated Visitation List, with a weekly record of who has been visited most recently, which is available to any member who wishes to make a visit. Both lists are in a marked mail box by the office door.
- Begun a monthly birthday table, available the first Sunday of every month in the Parlor, with a list of members and friends who have birthdays that month. All members are encouraged to stop at the table and send a card - especially to those who may not be able to make it to church regularly themselves.
It’s a start. And we are just starting. If you’re interested in joining the Visitation Team or have other ideas, let either Arlene Trull or Pastor Jerry know in the Office: (715) 842-2201.
Giving by Not Throwing Stuff Away
Sometimes giving to others requires sacrifice. There’s nothing wrong with that: giving sacrificially for others’ sake is what Jesus taught us to do, after all. But sometimes it is incredibly easy to make a difference, and the only thing keeping us from doing so is absent-mindedness. Here are some examples:
Milk Moola - Do you buy milk at Kwik Trip? If so, save the caps of the jugs. Those can be redeemed for money by the Harbor House Ministry in Superior.
Labels for Education / Box Tops for Education - These little labels, found on General Mills boxed foods and Campbell’s Soup cans, can be redeemed by Northcott Neighborhood House in Milwaukee.
Pop Tops from Aluminum Cans - Those little tabs, when given to the Ronald McDonald House, become cash. And, so long as you’re pulling the tabs off the cans, bring the cans in, too.
Aluminum Cans - We all know that these can be redeemed for cash, but most of us don’t bother because the few cans that we have won’t be worth the gas to drive down to the redemption center. But if we all brought our cans in to the church, they would add up. This year, the proceeds of those cans will be used to fund the mission trip to Guatemala.
Bring your cans to the recycling bin in the kitchen. Receptacles for all the other items are in baskets prominently displayed in the Parlor. See? Ridiculously easy. All you need to do is remember.
A Resource for Cancer Patients:
Cleaning for a Reason
One of the stresses of cancer is the weariness that comes from the treatments. It’s just hard to keep up with everything when you’re tired.
Nationwide foundation “Cleaning for a Reason,” has a new affiliate in Wausau. This group provides up to four free house cleanings for cancer patients. If you know someone who qualifies and could use this service, contact:
mariearnold@execcleaning.com
715-506-0970
Nationwide foundation “Cleaning for a Reason,” has a new affiliate in Wausau. This group provides up to four free house cleanings for cancer patients. If you know someone who qualifies and could use this service, contact:
mariearnold@execcleaning.com
715-506-0970
Yoga
Every Monday at 6:00pm
One of the best-kept secrets in our church is the yoga class that meets every Monday. Led by our own Maggie Schoenfeld, suitable for people of all ages and body types, yoga is a powerful way to nurture both body and soul. A suggested donation per session is $8, part of which supports our congregation’s Health Ministries Fund.
Senior Parking Spots
Now that the snow and cold weather have arrived (in force!), we ask you to think twice when you parking at church Sunday mornings. We have many senior members who find it difficult and even unsafe to walk very far in this weather. A few years ago, the Trustees designated the row of parking spots closest to the building as “Senior Parking”, and marked this with signs. Out of concern for those who have a more difficult time, please park as far from the church building as you can, to allow others to park closer. Remember, we can park on the street, and in the Y lots across the street
