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Our Vision: “To be a dynamic church, sharing and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ”

Our Mission: “To love God, love each other and extend that love beyond our church”

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R e t u r n S e r v i c e R e q u e s t e d

FIRST UNITED FIRST UNITED

METHODIST CHURCHMETHODIST CHURCH

Ministry TeamMinistry TeamMinistry Team

Ministers

The Worshiping Congregation

Pastor

Chuck Rager

Christian Education Director

Renee Meyer

Administrative Secretary

LaVerne Schimpf

Custodian

Ginny Volberding

Newsletter Editor

Karen Nenstiel

District Superintendent

Cindy Karges

Bishop of Great Plains

Conference

Ruben Saenz, Jr.

Ogallala, Nebraska 69153 www.methodistchurchogallala.com

The MessengerThe Messenger

First United Methodist ChurchFirst United Methodist Church

Pastor’s Page 2

Did You Know….? 3

Meetings This Month 3

United Methodist Women 4

The Last Supper Pageant 5

An Activity Page 6

Young People’s Activities 7

Solid Rock Youth Group 8

Missions Outreach News 9

Spring FunFest Plans 10

Stewards for March 11

IN THIS ISSUE

Sunday,

February 11,

2018

photos by Jeff Peterson

Easter is coming! Easter is coming! Easter is a

BIG day for us who believe in Jesus and seek to follow Him. It is a day

where we most joyously celebrate His Resurrection from the dead and re-

member our own offer of new life once this mortal body dies.

Easter is one of the biggest days of our Christian faith and a day

where more people than normal attend church at the same time. My own

observation, and the observation of other pastors I visit with, is that attend-

ance at Easter is greater than a typical Sunday, but a clear and distant

second to attendance at Christmas Eve. I have some thoughts of my own

as to why that is, but I invite you to ponder it as well.

At the same time, I hope you and yours will be with us in worship on

Easter Sunday, April 1. We will have two services that day: an early ser-

vice at 7:00 A.M. and our regular service at 9:00 A.M. There is no 11:15

service that day.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Chuck

Page 2 March, 2018

“Torch”

The torch primarily

represents the Passion

of Christ, perhaps

because he was

arrested and tried

during the night, when

the Temple guard would

have used torches for

light. The torch also

can symbolize spiritual

enlightenment, or

martyrdom for the sake

of the gospel.

Christian

Symbols

Mar. 4 Greeters Herb & Karen Knudsen Fellowship Arlene & Kim Dahlgrin Acolytes Abigayle Bassett, Sawyer Smith Children’s Moment Jonnie Peterson Ushers Group 10: Cena Graves, Dave Sheldon, Todd Neill, Dave Baltzell, Ron & Sharen Terry Mar. 11 Greeters Ted & Jean Slagle, Ken & Edna Meyer Fellowship Roger & Shirley Rankin Acolytes Emma Spiehs, Tylie Walker Children’s Moment Ginny Steinke Ushers Group 1: Jeff Peterson, Lonnie Peters, Craig Draucker, John Stulich, Jim Persinger Mar. 18 Greeters Jim & Dorothy Glenn, Buck & Judy Markussen Fellowship Ginny & Rod Volberding Acolytes -Amaris Cobaugh, Jamie Biel Children’s Moment Penny Benda Ushers Group 2: Steve Shull, Burrell Albee, Terry Johnson, Jerry Speck, Richard Johnson, Lou Hoak Mar. 25 Greeters Roger & Judi Adkins, Barbara Draucker Fellowship Emma Dickinson (Potato Bar — see page 7) Acolytes Ella Dam, Jasmine Biel Children’s Moment Carmen Troxel Ushers Group 3: Dennis & Teresa Davis, John & Sharon York, Todd & Kim Peterson, Wendell & Ramona Upright Apr. 1 Greeters Dennis & Teresa Davis, Lyle & Barbara Nootz Fellowship Happy Easter Acolytes Ethan Dickinson, Jarrett Bassett Children’s Moment Pastor Chuck Rager Ushers Group 4: Roger Rankin, Pete Peterson, Phil Armstrong, Ken Meyer Apr. 8 Greeters Brian & Claudia Stevenson, Cena Graves Fellowship Ted & Jean Slagle Acolytes Andrea Bassett, Abigayle Bassett Children’s Moment Bea Hatch Ushers Group 15: Jim Glenn, Mike Samuelson, Gerold Radcliffe, Todd Benda, Shawn Haney

If you would like to have your name added to the rosters for any of the service opportunities listed above, please contact the church office.

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The Messenger Page 11 The Messenger Page 11

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STEWARDS FOR MARCH, 2018

Page 10 March, 2018

Fun Fest will be here before you

know it! Saturday, April 28, the First

United Methodist Church will be

holding a huge Garage Sale, an

amazing Bake Sale, a thriving Plant

Sale, a Country Store filled with

homemade candy, jelly, honey and

lots of other goodies as well as a

Silent Auction.

We will start the morning with an

“all you can eat” Waffleman Break-

fast of waffles served with butter,

fresh whipped cream, and six syr-

ups plus pork sausage links as well

as coffee and juice. The Event will

be held at the Keith County Fair-

grounds.

And we need your help…….

We have reserved the building

at the Keith County Fairgrounds for

April 26 and 27 for the purpose of

accepting donations for the Garage

Sale. As we do not have storage

space, donations may be dropped

off at the Fairgrounds from 8:00 am

to 4:00 pm either of those two days.

Please keep in mind that we cannot

accept old television sets, old com-

puters, any old electronic equip-

ment, or any old mattresses. All

donations must be in clean, usable

condition.

There will be sign-up sheets in

Hess Lounge if you are interested in

helping with breakfast, the garage

sale, the bake sale, or the country

store.

You may contact Dennis or

Teresa Davis — they will be coordi-

nating the Breakfast Volunteers, Jo

Teaford, Shirlee Knispel, Dorothy

Glenn, Judy Cross, or Judi Adkins

would be the contacts for the Silent

Auction, Barb and Lyle Nootz or

Shirley and Roger Rankin for the

Bake Sale, Jean Slagle or Bonnie

Taylor for the County Store, Mona

Radcliffe or Ramona Upright for the

Plant Sale, and Nancy Drake for the

Garage Sale.

Last year Fun Fest used the

profits to tithe to the general Church

fund, provide additional support to

Christian Education, add money to

the Boiler Fund, purchase a new

roof for the Parsonage and Garage,

and buy new Church entrance doors

and a new door to the bell choir

room with crash bars and add a

crash bar to the door across from

the bell choir room.

Let’s Get Ready for Spring FunFest Again!

Many people look forward to

the Fun Fest plant sale, donated

houseplants, garden art, flower

pots, perennials, bulbs, garden

tools, etc. make this a successful

sale. Each donated item is so ap-

preciated! If you have questions

or have house plants that need

some tender loving care now call

Mona Radcliffe at 284-4555 or

Ramona Upright at 284-4715.

Hope to hear from you!

FunFest Plant Sale

Special Days This Month

About nine years ago Ogallala

U.M.C. installed the elevator. It is a

tremendous asset for us to have. It

certainly puts in motion (pun intend-

ed) our church Mission Statement:

“To love God, love each other and

extend that love beyond our

church.” It is a gesture of care and

love embraced by every person that

uses the elevator. However, the cost

of owning The elevator did not stop

with the installation expenses. There

are repairs, maintenance, licenses

and inspections that cost money.

Did you know?

In 2017:

We had a repair bill from

O’Keefe elevator in January of

Page 3 The Messenger

Finance Committee on Thursday, March 1, 5:00 p.m.

Board of Trustees on Wednesday, March 7, 7:00 p.m.

FunFest Committee on Monday, March 12, 6:00 p.m.

Administrative Council on Wednesday, March 21, 7:00 p.m.

Meetings This Month

2:00 A.M.

Sunday, March 11,

2018

Set your clocks

ahead one hour

$2136.92 to fix a damaged sensor —

not covered by maintenance agree-

ment.

We had an Elevator Mainte-

nance Agreement fee in February

from O’Keefe for $250.00

We had the Annual State In-

spection fee of $769.50 in March.

We had the second installment

of the maintenance agreement in

August for $250.00.

That is a total for 2017 of

$3,406.42.

I might add that there is also a

Five Year Inspection in addition to

the Annual Inspection. We had the

Five Year Inspection done in Janu-

ary 2016, and the cost of that was

$1,890.00. This is State mandated

and does not replace the annual in-

spections.

We must have the inspections

done to keep the elevator properly

licensed by the State. We need to

have the license current for our in-

surance to cover the elevator.

It is good that we have the eleva-

tor. It truly helps us fulfill our Mission

Statement. It also costs money to

keep it operational.

Rev. Chuck Rager

• World Day of Prayer, March 2, 2018

• Third Sunday in Lent, March 4, 2018

• Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 11,

2018

• Daylight-Saving Time begins, March

11, 2018

• Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 18, 2018

• First day of spring, March 20, 2018

• Palm/Passion Sunday, March 25,

2018

• Holy Week, March 25-31, 2018

• Maundy Thursday, March 29, 2018

• Good Friday, March 30, 2018

services have been added.

Next General meeting will be

March 8 in Fellowship Hall at

noon. Circle 3 will serve lunch,

Janice Cerny will give devotions and

Bonnie Taylor will give the pro-

gram. All women are welcome to

attend.

Mona Radcliffe

UMW President

. . . to the following persons who worked and/or

furnished food for the Doug Parks funeral luncheon on

January 30, 2018:

Linda Sheldon Vern Schimpf Pam Abbott

Mona Radcliffe Vicki Snogren Roberta Rager Marge Blaase

Donna Messersmith Beverly Schroder Ginny Steinke Barbara Nootz

Jean Slagle Chris Snyder Judi Davis Ruth Hermance

Bea Hatch Bev Johnson Barb Jeffres Connie Heinis

Christine McKnight Shari Schlichtemeier

Thank You . . . .

Page 4 March, 2018

United Methodist

Women March

meetings

UMW General

Thursday, March 8

12:00 noon

Fellowship Hall

Circle 1

Thursday, March 22

9:00 a.m.

(Lawler)

Circle 3

Thursday, March 15

2:00 pm

Hess Lounge

Circle 5

Monday, March 19

6:00 pm

Hess Lounge

The Ogallala United Method-

ist Women give a monetary dona-

tion to Epworth Village at York, Ne-

braska, every year in December to

help with their many services. The

name has been changed to Little

Jewels Child Care and Enrichment

Center. Funds are still needed to

carry out their mission, and we will

continue to support them. In addi-

tion to the name change some new

Our Christian love and sympathy to the family of:

Dorothy Sexson, who died on February 25, 2018.

Condolences also to:

Bonnie Johnson and family at the death of her father.

Dorothy Glenn and family at the death of her father.

The March wind roars like a lion in the sky,

And makes us shiver as he passes by.

When winds are soft, and the days are warm and clear,

Just like a gentle lamb, then spring is here.

~~Author unknown

The Messenger Page 9

Mi s s i o n s O u t r e a c h

The Missions Outreach Committee

is proud to continue facilitating the

Bless the Badge campaign. This mis-

sion has been so well supported and so

much appreciated by the recipients, that

continuing on the mission is an obvious

choice. Thank you to everyone who has

shown their support of our emergency

personnel. Keep them in your prayers

as they protect us each and every day.

What fun at the Family Fun Night.

We hope everyone enjoyed the sweet

treats our committee served. Special

thanks to the Ragers for sponsoring the

goodies for this event. Left over treats

were shared with our Youth Group and

the Bless the Badge campaign.

Sincere appreciation for everyone

who supports the efforts of our Missions

committee. Without your continued

prayer and support, we could not reach

out to others.

In Christ’s name,

Gigi Berol

MOC chairperson

TUESDAY,

MARCH 20

Since your newsletter editor is no longer in the church office every day, it has become more difficult for her to be aware of all the hustle and bustle happening in the church family. Sooooo… we need your help in shar-ing and spreading the latest news.

If you have ideas, pictures or arti-cles to submit for the April, 2018, issue of The Messenger, please have them turned in no later than Tuesday, March 20. Please respect this deadline so that the newsletter can be prepared and distributed in a timely manner.

Submissions may be made to the

Church Office, or you may e-mail them directly to the newsletter editor at:

ogallalaumcnews@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for your help!

C h u r c h C a m p N e w s

Ogallala First UMC has funds which

are designated to help children and

youth share the life-shaping experience

of Church Camp. Scholarships are

available for young people who wish to

attend one of Nebraska’s United Meth-

odist Camps this summer. The camps

are: Camp Norwesca near Chadron;

Camp Fontanelle near Fontanelle; and

Camp Comeca near Cozad.

A Camping Scholarship application

is included in this newsletter. If you

need more applications, they are availa-

ble in Hess Lounge or the Church Of-

fice.

Please note that the deadline to

submit the completed applications is

May 4, 2018.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” ~~St. Catherine of Siena

* * * “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

~~C.S. Lewis

* * * “We live and die; Christ died and lived!”

~~John Stott

Page 8 March, 2018

SOLID ROCK

YOUTH GROUP

PIZZA MAKING

FUND RAISER

Special thanks to those who

helped on pizza-making day:

the parents, Roger Rankin, Gail

Hayford, and Terry Johnson.

Thanks to everyone who bought

pizzas to help support the

activities of the Solid Rock Youth

Group this year!

photos by Renee Meyer

The Messenger Page 5

The First United Methodist Church of Ogallala will present the Last Supper Easter

Pageant in Ogallala on March 29 and 30. The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the

United Methodist Church. located at 5th

and North Spruce St. This is the reenactment

of the Di Vinci’s Last Supper portraying Jesus and his twelve disciples. Each disciple

challenges his own soul for the answer to the statement, “One of you here, betrayed

me.”

First United Methodist

Church, Ogallala

Last Supper Easter

Pageant

March 29 and 30, 2018

7:00 pm MDT

What a great way to share the Easter season with the people of Ogallala. Each of

you can be a part of this pageant. We need volunteers for ushers, meals, baby sitting,

publicity and prayer partners. If you would like to help, please contact Judi and Roger

Adkins (284-2326) or call Vern at the Church Office (284-8455).

Please consider sharing

an Easter Lily to be placed

on the alter on Easter

Sunday. Bring it to the

Church Office before

Easter Sunday and pick it

up after church if you

want to take it

home. Thank you.

The Last Supper Pageant

An interesting legend is associated

with the painting “The Last Supper.”

Some say Leonardo da Vinci used a

rival’s face for Judas. Then when the

painter tried to create Jesus’ face, all he

could see was that of his enemy. Sup-

posedly, da Vinci was able to complete

Jesus’ face — and the entire master-

piece — only after making peace with

his enemy and repainting Judas.

This tale shows the necessity of

forgiving other people so we can accept

Jesus’ forgiveness for ourselves. As

Jesus says in Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV),

“For if you forgive other people when

they sin against you, your heavenly Fa-

ther will also forgive you. But if you do

not forgive others their sins, your Father

will not forgive your sins.”

~~adapted from Hot Illustrations for

Youth Talks by Wayne Rice

The “Art of Forgiveness

Page 6

March, 2018

Answer: D (Matthew 27:51)

A Bible Quiz

A. Mary’s headdress — she tore it as a traditional Jewish sign of grief

B. A Roman guard’s sash — Peter grabbed and ripped it in anger

C. Jesus’ robe — the soldiers divided it among themselves

D. The temple curtain — torn in two from top to bottom

According to Matthew’s account, what was torn when Jesus died?

An Activity Page for Younger People

It’s time for the high school seniors,

and those already in college, to begin

thinking about scholarship applications.

Ogallala First United Methodist Church

offers three scholarships, due to the

generosity of several former and current

members:

1.) The Dowling Family Scholar-

ship is given in loving memory by the

Phil and Betty Dowling family. Mr. and

Mrs. Dowling were long-time Ogallala

residents and faithful members of the

Ogallala UMC who believed in support-

ing area youth and their community.

2.) The Draucker Family Scholar-

ship Fund was established by the

Draucker family of Ogallala. The pur-

pose of the Fund is to provide financial

assistance for members of the Ogallala

UMC who wish to further their educa-

tion following graduation from high

school.

3.) The Haggard-Samp Scholar-

ship was started and dedicated to the

memory of Marge Haggard from the

Haggard family, and in honor and

memory of Rod Samp, by Rod’s family

in 2003. Combining the assets provid-

The Messenger

ed a scholarship to be offered each

year to an Ogallala UMC student high

school graduate.

To receive these scholarships, the

applicant must be a member of the

Ogallala UMC. The recipient may be a

graduating high school senior or a stu-

dent already attending a post-

secondary school or any adult (of any

age) who is enrolled, or planning to en-

roll, as a student during the ensuing

school year. Students who receive a

scholarship in one year are eligible to

apply in future years. Any student may

apply for all these scholarships by filling

out just one form, but he/she must apply

to be considered.

Scholarship application forms are

included in this newsletter and will also

be available in the Church Office. Com-

pleted applications should be returned

to the Church Office no later than Fri-

day, March 30, 2018.

If you have questions about the

scholarships, please see Pastor Chuck

or one of the committee members

Becky Plate

Scholarship Committee Chair

Page 7

SONSHINE SINGERS

will rehearse on Friday,

March 9, 4:00-4:30 p.m.,

and Sunday, March 11

at 8:30 a.m.,

and sing

in the 9:00 a.m. service

Scholarship Applications Are Now Available

Emma Dickinson will be

holding a baked potato bar on

March 25th as part of her

confirmation project.

Chili, pulled pork, and all the

fixin’s will be served along

with salad and a dessert. It

will be $6 per plate or free will

donation. It will take place

downstairs immediately

following the 9:00 a.m.

service.