As I look at my calendar, I still can’t believe that it is already April. This year seems to be flying by extra quickly. Last month brought the change of seasons and also the return of daylight savings time. And in the church, we are still journeying together through the season of Lent.

In addition to remembering the life and ministry of Jesus that leads to the cross, the sermons in church each week have been about what we shouldn’t give up for Lent this year. We have talked about not giving up on life, our voices, our church, our neighborhood, sharing God’s love, and we still have plenty more topics to come.

The journey of Lent always leads us to Holy Week, which is such a powerful time for us to be in prayer as we remember the power of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. During Holy Week, we remember the Last Supper, when Jesus broke bread with his disciples for the final time before he was handed over to be crucified. We remember Jesus humbly washing the disciples’ feet, praying in the garden, and carrying the cross for humanity’s sins.

These are heavy reminders to carry throughout Holy Week. But, ultimately, we know that hope comes with them because on the third day comes resurrection and new life! Not even the pain and grief of death can stand against the power of Christ’s love. As I think about this season of Lent, I find myself thinking about that interplay between death and resurrection. Even in the face of death, we always have the promise of new life and resurrection.

As we continue our journey through Lent, into Holy Week, and finally to Easter, I invite you to reflect on what areas in your life you are longing for resurrection and new life? What broken places or hurts do you need God to redeem and resurrect? As we reflect on these questions, may God give us the reminder that we should never give up on hope!

Grace and peace,

Wesley United

Methodist Church Mission Statement:

!

826 NW 23rd Avenue Gainesville, FL

32609 Office: 372-2845 Fax: 372-9544

We are on Facebook!!!

Pastor’s E-mail:

PastorSarah@wumc.cfcoxmail.com

Secretary’s E-mail: Terri Manche

secretary@wumc.cfcoxmail.com

Witness Articles E-mail: Sharren Gibbs

sharren2@cox.net Deadline for articles: 15th of each

month

Website: www.WesleyUMCon23.org

Weekly Sunday Activities

Sunday School Adult Ages @ 9:30AM Worship @ 10:45AM

(Sanctuary)

Come join Pastor Sarah from noon to 1:00PM in the Conference Room on Tuesdays. We discuss a variety of themes and topics, but there is always rich discussion. All are welcome and we would love to have you join us!

Barbara Baldwin Agnes Burke

Carolyn Clarke Joan Croft

Betty Dees John Easter

Betty Holder Cindy Holmes

Paula Mathis Barb Loehr

Beth Loehr-Moody Clydia Reichert

Jan Ripley Sonny Robertson

Buford Scott Beth Senn

Dale Smith Polly Teele

George Winburn Clarence Witt

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER ACTIVITIES

Palm Sunday, 4/14, 10:45 AM in the sanctuary: Join us for a traditional Palm Sunday service. Children of all ages will march down the aisle waving palm branches, which they will place in front of the altar. The Wesley English Handbell Choir will play two seasonal anthems: “O Sacred Head Now Wounded/O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done” and “What Wondrous Love.” The Chancel Choir will sing “The Garden of Tears”.

Maundy Thursday, 4/18, 7:00 PM in the sanctuary: The drama “The Living Last Supper” will be presented. Directed by Sandy Reeves, in the drama each apostle comes alive to give a passionate testimony of his life with Jesus and his reaction to Jesus’ statement "tonight one of you will betray me." As the apostles ponder their relationship with Jesus and their motives for becoming a disciple, all, except one, express fear that they might be the betrayer.

Good Friday, 4/19, 9:00AM to 1:00 PM in the sanctuary: “Walking the Way of the Cross” offers a self-directed opportunity to meditate on the events of that day so long ago. There are a few hands-on activities to drive home what you learn and feel as you visit the ten stations set up around the sanctuary.

Easter Sunday, 4/21, 10:45 AM in the sanctuary: Celebrate the miracle of the risen Savior with hymns, special music, scripture, and a special sermon on this glorious day in the Christian calendar. The Chancel Choir sings “A Classic Easter Alleluia,” and the congregation joins in on those oh-so-loved Easter hymns. Bring cut flowers, either the store or your garden, to make our wooden cross bloom. Join us!

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Heifer International's mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.

Dan West was a farmer from the American Midwest and member of the Church of the Brethren who went to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as an aid worker. His mission was to provide relief, but he soon discovered the meager single cup of milk rationed to the weary refugees once a day was not enough.

And then he had a thought: What if they had not a cup, but a cow?

That "teach a man to fish" philosophy is what drove West to found Heifer International. And now, nearly 70 years later, that philosophy still inspires our work to end world hunger and poverty throughout the world once and for all.

How it Works

We empower families to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity – but our approach is more than just giving them a handout. Heifer links communities and helps bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. Our animals provide partners with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs, and honey can be traded or sold at market.

When many families gain this new sustainable income, it brings new opportuni-ties for building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings, and funding small businesses.

Passing on the Gift

The core of our model is passing on the gift. This means families share the training they receive, and pass on the first female offspring of their livestock to another family. This extends the impact of the original gift, allowing a once impoverished family to become donors and full participants in improving their communities.

The goal of every Heifer project is to help families achieve self-reliance. We do this by providing them the tools they need to sustain themselves, thanks to the generosity of donors like you.

You have the power to give a hungry family the training it takes to feed them-selves and their children; to give a young girl a chance at an education; to empower a woman to have a voice in her community. Together, we can change the world, one family, and one community at a time. And it all starts with a gift.

Thank you to Sharren Gibbs for volunteering to bake for Gainesville Police Department. They already recognize her as the “Cookie Lady” after only one visit!

Heads up...I would like for us to show our appreciation to the teachers at Metcalf Elementary during Teacher Appreciation Week which is May 4 - 10 by presenting each teacher with a gift card. It could be to a restaurant, movie theatre (Regal), gas card, grocery store, or VISA or MASTERCARD. Please put it in the offering plate (clearly marked for Metcalf teachers) if this is something that speaks to you.

Kindness cards are back out on the cabinet in the Narthex for you to take. See me or Paul Humphlett for ideas!

There are a few Blessing Bags still available on the cart and on the side of the cart is a list of items that go into the bags if you would like to provide some of the items. Dollar Tree is an inexpensive source for many of the items.

Don't forget to distribute the prayer shawls to people in need. Susie Aguila, Sena Bergeron, and Jan Ripley have been making some lovely designs. Take a few moments when you enter the Sanctuary to admire them. Thank you, ladies, for keeping this going!

Nancy and Ron Case have continued to deliver the BOGO basket items to Bread of the Mighty Food Bank for us. Thank you to them and to all of you who contribute to this mission.

Some of us will be working to organize the clothing items that have been donated to our Veterans. We will keep you updated!

We will provide snacks to Gator Wesley during Dead Week...the week before Finals. Our Kitchen Staff funds will be used for this project and Donna Weseman will do the shopping for us.

Our next Missions meeting is April 10...all are welcome to attend!

Cindy Holmes

“Storytelling for Veterans and Friends” Free, Fun Learning Experience and

Confidence-Builder! starts Thursday, April 4th, at 10:00 AM in the conference room.

Learn how to tell stories for your own enjoyment and to entertain

your friends! We will start by learning how to tell the stories of

others and work into telling our own stories. The class will run

for six weeks with a potential to meet monthly afterwards just to

tell stories for our own enjoyment. Do join us … you may find

your undiscovered talent!

Nancy Case

ALACHUA GIRLS ACADEMY Girls Academy goody bags will go over to the academy close to Easter, which is April 21st this year. This year will be funded by donation only since we will not have a budget. Just as a reminder, you can bring your donations to the closet in the conference room. Suggestions for donations include word search games, pens, pencils, sharpeners, hair barrettes, nail polish, key chains, costume jewelry, tooth-brushes, toothpaste, crackers, cookies (individually packaged). Items should be small enough to fit into a small gift bag. Thank you, everyone, for your continued prayers for this ministry.

Many blessings,

Joyce Welsh

All ladies are invited to attend the Ladies Banquet, which will be a Birthday Party celebrating the 150th Birthday of United Methodist Women.

Church Women United will meet May 3rd for World Friend-ship Day at St. Peter’s Church, located on County Road 241 South (SW 170 Street) in Archer, Florida.

Spiritual Enrichment Day was March 9th at First UMC. Four ladies from our unit attended. All were blessed with songs from a much newer Methodist Hymnal and inspired by speaker Bonnie Russell, from Sisterhood of Grace. Susie Aguila

Nancy Case commented at Administrative Council that she had attended a day of training held last month and they discussed activities to bring younger people into the church. United Methodist churches – actually churches in general - are losing so-called “Millennials” because we don't do what they relate to, such as the following:

#1 Millennials tend to learn about the Bible through stories rather than reading or attending formal study classes,

#2 connection to contemporary music is very important, and

#3 fellowship around the table is very important to establish relationships, i.e., Wesley Wednesdays, church suppers and pot lucks with friends invited.

Clearly, doing these things at Wesley are very important. Nancy Case

I happened by the conference room and caught the ladies of this year’s Women’s Bible Study enjoying pizza and home-baked desserts on the last day of their fascinating study. I overheard several people say how much they enjoyed this study, even liking it best of all the women’s studies! Remember, you can never have too much of the 23rd Psalm…

Clockwise from lower left: Sandy, Donna, Denise, Irma, Barbara, Mary, Yvonne, Diane, Ruby, and Linda.

WESLEY WEDNESDAY SUPPER

Our next WWS is on April 10th at 5:30 and on the

menu is one of our favorites—fried chicken! Come

join us for a good dinner with a good visit with your

church family. Please RSVP by Monday, April 8th. You know the drill—if you are

on the permanent list but won’t be there, let us know. If you’re NOT on the

permanent list, but want to come, just let us know. Dinners are $6.00 each.

Don’t forget our annual picnic supper on Wednesday, May 8th. Danny and the

Veterans (isn’t that a new boy band?) are grilling hamburgers and hotdogs, and

we’ll have baked beans, coleslaw, and a salad bar to go with them. And for dessert,

watch for the ice cream sundae bar. Oh, YEAH! What a great way to start the

summer! As usual, please RSVP by Monday, May 6th.

Ladies’ Banquet Mark your calendars!! On Saturday, May 4th, at noon, we will have our annual Wesley United Methodist Women's Ladies’ Banquet. All ladies are invited to attend. This year we are having a birthday party, and are reinstating the

wonderful tradition of a covered dish dinner, so bring a covered dish to share. Whatever recipe you use (including those recipes Publix uses!) should serve at least 10-12 people. Larger recipes are also okay. Yes, there will probably be some left-overs, but I’ll bet someone will know what to do with them. Dessert will be provided. Dress for an old-fashioned birthday party – we might even play some games! Mary Melvin, a UMW Deconess, will be our Speaker.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Red Onion restaurant.

On April 12th at 11:30 AM we will gather at Piesano’s for

some fabulous Italian food. Please get your RSVP in by April 7th. And on May 10th let’s meet at Cedar River Seafood.

Blessings, Donna

June, Ruby, Sandy, Janis, Donna, Cindy, Becky, Denise, Irma, Donna, and Paula

The character trait for February was courage, demonstrated by the little fellow with the aide, who was the last to get his award. When the guidance counselor called his name, he shot up out of his seat and started doing laps around the Media Center! They just let him go until he tired himself out then took his hand and he calmly received his award. I was so impressed with everyone's patience to accept that he needed to do this. And I love seeing the family come to celebrate Elijah’s accomplishment. Amazing grace, Cindy Holmes

2019 cast of “The Living Last Supper” Top row, left to right: “Nathaniel”-Danny Aguila, “James the Lesser”-Skip

Manasco, “Andrew”-Derek Mallard, “Judas”-Alex Reeves, “Peter”-Chuck Adams, “John”-Ernest Muhammed, “Jesus”-Darryl Davis-Schulz, “Thomas”-Jim Harris, “James”-Kurtis Robinson (Sonny Robertson standing in for photo), “Phillip”-Paul

Humphlett, “Matthew”-Chris Blake,“Thaddeus”-Harley Christensen, “Simon the Zealot”-Chris Robinson .

Bottom row, left to right: “Magdalene”-Sena Bergeron, “Narrator”-Kimberly Harrell, “Mary” Sandy Reeves.

Ernest K. Emurian’s “The Living Last Supper” will be presented on Thursday, April 18

th at 7:00pm in the sanctuary of Wesley United Methodist Church located at

826 Northwest 23rd

Avenue, Gainesville, Florida. This presentation is FREE and open to the public. Call 352-372-2845, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm or go to www.wesleyumcon23.org for more information.

“The Living Last Supper” is a live dramatization of the gospel story as depicted by the famous 1498 fresco, “The Last Supper,” by Leonardo da Vinci. During the play each apostle comes alive to give a passionate testimony of his life with Jesus and his reaction to Jesus’ statement "tonight one of you will betray me." As the apostles ponder their relationship with Jesus and their motives for becoming a disciple, all, except one, express fear that they might be the betrayer.

This drama was first presented in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Palm Sunday in 1954. Since its publication, the play has been presented by countless groups across the nation and internationally. Wesley United Methodist Church first presented this play beginning 1990 to 2004. The play was revived in 2016, and has since been presented annually by a cast and crew of volunteers as a source of hope and inspiration to the community.

The Sisters in Faith circle of the UMW has been active this quarter—we cooked dinner for the residents at Ronald McDonald House, and provided welcome teddy bears, too. The teddies are still wrapped in plastic because they need to be “sterile” for the residents, as many of them are immunocompromised. You can see in the photo that it was St. Patrick’s Day when we cooked: pulled chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, and cake!

Sharren, Cindy, Paula, Nancy, Donna, Sandy, and Becky

While talking about what we planned to give up for Lent, we decided to go through closets and drawers and “give up” 40 items from our homes to our favorite charity. Here’s one donation on the way to the Salvation Army thrift shop!

In light of the recent decision out of General Conference that LGBTQ people interpret as a "You're not welcome" sign, I proposed that our church make a banner for out front with some-thing like "Welcome,... God loves you and we do too!" with the rainbow stripes on it. Sherry also proposed that it could have images of children of different races on it too. In any case, the rainbow stripes should be on it somewhere

rather than a traditional arched rainbow so it clearly speaks to the LGBTQ people in our community. We have always had and valued LGBTQ people in our church and I want them to know that we still love and value them as members of Wesley.

Nancy Case

4/3 6:00PM Finance Committee

4/10 6:00PM Combined Mission and

Care Team meeting

FUN AND GAMES Join the Canasta card club at Wesley United Methodist Church! Have fun and meet great people! Invite family and friends, the more the merrier! When: Thursdays, 12:00 Noon (except holidays) Where: Wesley United Methodist Church 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Fellowship Hall

Call Harley or Pamela Christensen at 352-505-0694 for information. We have wonderful members waiting to teach you Hand and Foot Canasta!

Card Club Guidelines

Bring a sack lunch and beverage if you wish.

Please arrive on time if possible.

Please help clean up after the games end.

Please give us your email address and phone number in case of scheduling changes.

5th Emily Newstadt

6th Yvonne Hodges

8th Tom Adams

10th Shaina Boyle

11th William Weseman

12th Mary Harris

15th Jessica Alday

18th Barbara Baldwin

22nd

Sara Reeves

16th Linda & Richard

Crenshaw

19th Sandy & Robert Reeves

28th Diana & Keith Holder