November 2011 Anchor Newsletter

A publication of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church ● Williamsburg, IA

No. 11 ● November 2011

Vision Statement: ...to be a church where you can SEE Christ

No 611 on Wednesday, November 23rd. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Don’t forget to set your clocks back

1 hour on Sunday, November 6th.

Help Needed! Community Thanksgiving Dinner We will need a lot of help to make this year’s Community

Thanksgiving Dinner a meaningful day for everyone. You can

help through food or monetary donations, volunteering to serve

that day or by just inviting someone that would enjoy this

dinner. Contact the church office or sign up at the Sign-up

Station if you would like to volunteer for a shift or to bring a pie

or salad to share.

The first Sunday in November is traditionally All Saints Sunday. This is a day we remember and

celebrate those who have died and joined the people of heaven this past year. I hope everyone will come

and celebrate this special day with us on November 6th at each of our Sunday morning services. As a

congregation, we will remember the lives of Marv Doschadis, Phyllis Jellings, and Kathryn McCallister,

the three members of our church who passed away this year. We will light a candle for each of these saints

from our congregation.

There will also be other candles that we will light in memory of other loved ones. On top of celebrating our members, I

will be remembering my grandma who died in March. She was the first death in my family since Grandpa died in 1987. It had

been a long time since I had been part of the family that lost a loved one. Until March I had either attended or officiated too many

funerals to keep count, but it was very different to be ministered to instead of ministering to the family. I was blessed to receive so

many condolences and support.

I am learning, as I still miss Grandma Hahn, that mourning the loss of a loved one and celebrating their life is not

something that ends with the funeral. The people we remember will always be a part of our memories. We will cherish the lessons

and love they gave to us throughout our lives.

All Saints Day is a special day to continue to remember and celebrate our loved ones. As we join together that Sunday

morning we can again share stories about those we love who are no longer here with us. We can mourn together as a community as

a way of supporting one another. We can be reminded not only that our family member was loved by others, but also that we are

loved by our faith community as we mourn.

However, we also must celebrate together. The scriptures share that eventually God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

We will no longer mourn because we will be reunited with our saints and join them in heaven. So we can celebrate the new life

promised to them and the new life we look forward to as well. All Saints Day is also to be a day of celebration for the hope that is

given to us through Jesus Christ. We can be reminded that even in the darkest times, God does amazing things. Even when it

appears to us that death is the end, God brings the light of eternal life.

Let’s gather on November 6th to remember and celebrate our saints. I hope you can come to remember and mourn those

close to you who are now with Christ in heaven, but I also hope you will come to show support to others who have lost loved ones

recently as well. Together, the community on earth and the community of heaven will join to praise God for this life and the life to

come.

By

Rev.

James

Parks

SPUMY Thanksgiving Pie Sale Our youth will be selling delicious pies from

Red Wheel, which is right here in Belle Plaine,

Iowa. We are excited to offer a wonderful variety at

a lower price of only $10 per pie. Pies will need to

be pre-ordered and pre-paid by Wednesday,

November 9th. Youth will start taking orders Wednesday,

November 2nd and the pies will need to be picked up on

Sunday, November 20th. Thank you for supporting our youth!

“A Savior Is Born” Our church is offering a Pre-Advent Study called “A Savior

is Born” which will be DVD and discussion led. There will not

be a book, but participants can read optional scripture readings

between the sessions. This study will help us prepare our hearts

to celebrate the birth of our Savior in our frantic,

consumer-driven society.

This 4-week study will be offered Sundays, Nov. 6th, 13th,

20th, and 27th at 9:30am in the Pastor James’ office and at

6:00pm in Classroom C. You can also participate on

Wednesdays, November 9th, 16th, 30th, and Dec.

7th at 10:00am or at 6:21pm in Classroom C.

All adults are welcome to participate in one of

these small groups as we prepare to celebrate the

coming of the Christ-child!

College Care Packages Shortly after Thanksgiving, the Nurture Team we will be sending care packages to our

St. Paul’s college students. We will be doing it a bit differently this year - rather than

asking for goodies and various miscellaneous donations, we are asking the congregation

to give a monetary donation. With the proceeds, we will be showering our kiddos with

various gift cards for places like Casey’s or Wal-Mart. There will be a College Care

Package Box located in the sanctuary where donations can be placed - or you can drop

it off to the church office. Please feel free to contact Teresa Fleming, Holly Osweiler,

Phyllis Whitehead or Jackie Hahn if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you so

much for helping make our college students feel loved and appreciated.

Special Membership Recognition Plan to join us on Sunday, Nov. 20th as

we recognize members of our

congregation who have been faithful to

St. Paul’s for the past 50 years. We

recognize Phyllis Caskey, Jim & Jane

Dietze, Dwight Gildemeister

and Carroll & Pat Scott and give

thanks to God for the role they

play in the body of Christ.

50

Years

God’s Creation Greeting Cards

and 2012 Calendars During November, our kids will once

again be selling 2012 wall calendars,

pocket calendars, 12 packs of greeting

cards and 12 packs of Christmas cards. For

only $10, you can enjoy the beauty that

God has graciously provided every time

you use one of these high quality products.

Pre-Teen and Teen “Guys Only”

Sunday, November 13th 1:00-4:00pm

All guys 5th-12th grade are invited to an

afternoon of “guys only” fun and fellowship

with Jed, Jason K., Jeremy, Jason S. and Pastor James.

NFL football on the big screen, video games, snack food,

and hopefully an outdoor game of football will all be a part

of this time of guy bonding! Invite your friends, bring a

snack to share and don’t miss this event!

2nd Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Saturday, November 19th, 11:00am-2:00pm

You and all other Iowa County residents are invited to our

2nd Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner!

Reservations are needed for this family style dinner with

seating at 11:00am, 11:45am, 12:30pm, or 1:15pm (a slight

change from last year). Please call the church office to

make your reservation by Friday, November 11th. If you

have someone special you’d like to invite,

contact the church office to have an

invitation mailed directly to them. New

this year—we will be providing live

entertainment for your enjoyment.

Kids’ Not-so-Lock-In

Friday, November 18th 5:00-11:00pm

Our 3rd-6th graders can enjoy a night of food, fellowship and spiritual

focus without the effects of not getting any sleep. The kids will enjoy

supper, songs, games and Bible lessons until 9:00pm, when we will

end the night watching the motivational movie “Soul Surfer” on the

big screen. Parents, please RSVP to Pastor Helen at

[email protected] or at the church office by Wednesday,

November 16th to sign up your kid(s) for this awesome event!

*Parent volunteers are still needed, especially with dinner, so let

Pastor Helen know if you can help.

Community Thanksgiving Service On Monday, November 21st at 6:30pm, we will gather at

First Lutheran Church of rural Conroy (right across the street from

Fireside Winery) for our Community Thanksgiving Service. Our

brothers and sisters from other area churches will join us as we praise

God and give thanks for the blessings God has given us.

We will take an offering at the service which will go to the

Iowa County Ministerial Association which helps to meet the needs of

the people of Iowa County who find themselves in financial crisis.

We will also be collecting food items all month for the families in our

community served by our Iowa County Food Bank. You can bring

these donations to the service or place them in the grocery carts in the

entryways.

Some ideas for nonperishable items to bring in are macaroni

and cheese, spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, peanut

butter preferably in plastic jar, cornbread mix, nutritious cereals,

oatmeal, canned fruit, soups that are a meal, chili, and Kleenex.

The Mission Team wants to remind us that Christmas is

not our birthday. Christmas is the celebration of the birth

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, instead of

focusing on all of us and the gifts we will receive and buy

for others, we should be mindful about giving a gift to

Him. This year we are again challenging everyone to give

an equal gift to Jesus that you give to everyone else. So

whatever you spend on gifts for others, you can give the

same amount to our Christmas Love Offering. You can

give your gift by placing it in a Love Envelope during the

month of December or you can give it at our

Christmas Eve service. This year the

Christmas Love Offering will go to share

God’s love with the people of Puerto Rico.

2012 Mission Trips to Puerto Rico We will be offering 2 adult mission trip opportunities in 2012 for those

16 and older. Our first trip will be Tuesday, Feb.7th-Thursday, Feb.

14th and we will be focusing on work projects in San Juan. Our second

mission group will be in Puerto Rico Saturday, June 23rd-Saturday,

June 30th and will help with a kids camp and may also do some follow

-up work projects. The cost is an estimated $700 per person before

fundraisers, depending on flight cost. If you are interested in the Feb.

trip, contact Pastor Helen at [email protected] or the church

office for more information about flights and upcoming fundraisers.

New Series for Wednesday Night Women’s Group No matter how good life is, most Christians thirst for something

more. We long for lives that are more fulfilling, more rich, more

meaningful, and more joyful. Without resorting to “have-tos,”

“should,” or “thou shalts,” Treasures of the Transformed Life

helps us identify our individual thirsts and shows us

how to experience more than we could ask for or

imagine. Ladies, join us Wednesday nights starting

November 2nd during 611 for our next women’s Bible

study series as we delve into this 6-week series.

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church

803 Clearview Drive, PO Box 559,

Williamsburg, IA 52361

Phone: 319-668-2288

Website: www.stpaulsumcwilliamsburg.com

Lead Pastor: Rev. James Parks

● Email: [email protected]

Associate Pastor of Discipleship:

Rev. Helen Parks


Director of Congregational Care: Teresa Fleming


Administrative Assistant: Sonja Parsons


Facility Manager: Jason Kersten


Discipleship Assistant: Jennifer Schwenke


Coordinator of Children’s Discipleship: Tina Schafbuch


Preschool Coordinator: Jodi Geels


Choir Director: Steve Manning

Organist: Sue Heitmann

St. Paul’s UMC office hours:

9:00am to 3:00pm Mon. - Fri.

Editor: Sonja Parsons

Deadline for news for the December

ANCHOR is November 23rd. Email info to

Sonja or drop it off at the Church.

Congratulations to Ryan

& Kasey Jones on the

birth of their son, Nolan

David on October 13th.

Also congratulations to

Jason & Jen Schwenke on

the dedication of their

daughter, Piper on

October 16th.

Joys & Concerns

Vital Statistics Worship Attendance

October 2 275

October 9 211

October 16 232

October 23 278

Welcome New Members

Tammy Fields Dustan & Jackie Hahn L-R: Alice Heitman,

Donna Heitman, Sue Schafbuch Aaron & Tonya Sandersfeld

(Regan, Jaret)

Nolan David Jones

Thank you to the members of the Wednesday

morning Bible Study for their help in moving to

the new library. It was much appreciated.

Carol Uhlmann

Judges: Steve Baughman

& David Fleming

Dave Brummond

Kaleah Shoemaker & Jed Rebelsky

Macey Kent & Kaeden Schwenke

L: Hayrack Ride

R: I-POG’s

with items for Tailgate

Challenge

L: Teresa Fleming, receiving 1st place

medal for

Chili Cook-off R: Truckbed with

items for Tailgate

Challenge

SPUMY

NEWS

We are having fun at Sunday Morning Club! We have learned

about Gratitude using the Parable of the Whiny Workers from

Matthew 20:1-8. We have learned about Compassion using the

Parable of the Roadside Rescue from Luke 10:25-37. And there

is still more fun ahead!

We are going to start gearing up for our Christmas musical,

scheduled December 11th. We will be practicing on Wednesday

nights (along with our Bible, Activity, Recreation, and Service)

as well as on Sunday mornings.

Kids, you are doing a FANTASTIC job memorizing your Bible

verses Wednesday nights! We’ll give you a break on

memorization over the holidays and jump back into our Bible

Memory Verses next year.

Remember to be THANKFUL this month. There is SO much we

have to be thankful for. Thank God for our awesome Children’s

Ministries and pray for your leaders. Have a wonderful

Thanksgiving! - Tina and your Leaders -

THANK YOU LEADERS!! Roger, Dee, Jackie, Haylee,

Sonja, Gloria, Jodi, Kelli, Kristin, Jeff, Karla, Kim, Tonya,

Angie, Houston, Vaughan, Mindi, Stephanie, Marci, and

Kevin

Wednesday, Nov. 2nd 5:45-7:21pm—611 Potluck & SPUMY

Sunday, November 6th 9:30-10:20am—Sunday Morning Club

Wednesday, November 9th 5:45-7:21pm—611 Meal & SPUMY


12:00-4:00pm All guys 5th-12th grade are invited to an afternoon of

“guys only” fun and fellowship with Jed, Jason K., Jeremy, Jason S.

and Pastor James. NFL football on the big screen, video games,

snack food, and hopefully an outdoor game of football will all be a

part of this time of guy bonding! Invite your friends, bring a snack to

share and don’t miss this event!


Saturday, November 19th 10:00am-2:00pm—Volunteers needed

for Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Sunday, November 20th 9:15-11:45am—Pie Sale Pick-up

Wednesday, November 23rd—No 611, enjoy Thanksgiving break



Thanksgiving Pie Sale

This year we will again be selling delicious pies from Red Wheel.

We will be taking orders November 2nd-11th and delivering pies on

November 20th. For every pie order you bring in on your own, you

raise $4 (you will need to pick up these pies on Sunday, November 21st

and delivery them).

“You are young, but do not let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example

to show the believers how they should live. Show them with your words, with the way

you live, with your love, with your faith, and with your pure life.” 1 Timothy 4:12

The ANCHOR (USPS 100-090) is published monthly by St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 803 Clearview Drive, Williamsburg IA 52361

Periodical Postage Paid at Williamsburg, IA

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The ANCHOR, PO Box 559, Williamsburg IA 52361

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Williamsburg, IA

Documents

November 2011 Anchor Newsletter