A Note from the Pastor

By Rev. Carol Stufflebeam

Dear Friends in Christ, The four seasons remind us of the amazing touch of God upon not only nature but our very lives. The cooler air is so refreshing. During this time, I am reminded of God’s Spirit that also restores our souls. God so desires that personal con-tact with each of us. Prayer is a gift that provides that connec-

tion with our Lord. The Bible addresses prayer numerous times in both the Old and New Testaments. In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet said these words from God. “When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you” (Jeremiah 29:12). In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said spoke these words to His disciples. So I tell you, whatev-er you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). The apostle Paul wrote these words of encouragement to those who followed Jesus in Rome. “

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that

we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Romans 12:12). (NRSV Bible

Each of these verses remind us that God is near and hears us when we reach out to Him. There is such power in prayer, it truly is a gift. I would enjoy sitting with each of

you to delve deep into a conversation about pray. Author Mark Batterson has devel-oped a study titled “The Circle Maker; Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Your Greatest Fears”. I will utilize this book to guide a conversation about prayer

beginning Thursday, October 14th. You may attend either at 8:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Please contact the church office if you would like to purchase a book. They are $5.00 each. I pray you will be able to join me during one of those times. God bless

you each.

Shalom,

Pastor Carol

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Sunday Loose Change Offering

On Sunday October 31st, all the loose change that is placed in the offering plates will be deposited into the Pastor’s Emergency Fund account. These re-sources are utilized to help individuals in our community who need a helping

hand. Your generosity has helped many in our community. Thank you for your faithfulness.

Havana First UMC to Pray for Families

On Sunday, October 10th a Family Blessing will be held during the worship service. Families or individuals on behalf of a family will be invited to come forward for a time of personal prayer.

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Lemon Shake Up Stand 2021

Dankschon! Thank you, to everyone who helped in any way to make the lemon shake up stand at the Havana Oktoberfest possible this year. About fifty different people were involved from setup to lemon prep to serving to take down. Anticipating that there might be a larger crowd this year, we started with 20% more supplies than we used in 2019 and we used almost everything! The weather was beauti-ful, and I think people were just happy to be doing something that felt “normal”. Our net profit this year was $4,069.04, which is the highest in a long time. We will be sending $406.90 to Water is Life for personal water filtration straws and putting $3,662.14 into the general account. It was a great time of fellowship among our members and with the community. We are already thinking about next year!

Congratulations

Jacob & Blair Claussen on the birth of their first child, Reese Ann, who was born on 8/19/21. Proud grandparents are Bruce & Barb Shanle and David Claussen, great grandparents are Lloyd Lounsberry and Pete Claussen.

Church Family Wiener Roast

Sunday, October 10th

Everyone is invited to gather at the river. We have reserved the shelter in Riverfront Park that is closet to the Nature Center for Sunday, October 10th at 5:00pm. This is the 2021 ver-sion of the annual church wiener roast. After 25 years of sharing their home and resources, Sara and Robert are going to have a well de-served retirement from hosting. Bring your lawn chairs, hot dogs to roast (roasting sticks if you have some), and a dish to share. Hot Cider, Hot Chocolate and paper products will be provided by the Ministry Team; a fire will be ready when you arrive. Feel free to bring lawn games. This year there will not be a hayrack ride or hay bales and we will wrap up at sunset since we are in the park.

Bring your friends and family.

Mary’s Office Update

If we missed your birthday or an-niversary, please let the church office know so we can add you to our list. Our goal is to recog-nize all of our church family on their birthday & anniversary. As of November 1st, we will be refreshing our Prayer Lists (for both Oakford and Havana Churches). Please notify the church office 309-543-4725 or e-mail office@havanaumc.org of any person or persons whom you would like to remain on the prayer list by Monday, November 22nd. Please let us know if they should remain long term or short term, otherwise their name may be removed. Newsletter deadline is October 22nd!!

Thank you, Mary Layton

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Birthdays and Anniversaries

Havana UMC Oakford UMC

Birthdays Oct 3 Julie Cook Oct 5 Dana Bryant Oct 6 Sandy Smith Oct 7 Mark Lounsberry Oct 9 Karen Boensel Oct 9 Jame Hahs Oct 12 Lindsey Whitley Oct 18 Dawna Raikes Oct 19 Marty McCandless Oct 19 Dick Moss Oct 19 Rod Shelabarger Oct 20 Susan Brauer Oct 23 Kathleen Bailey Oct 24 Drew Stone Oct 25 Mavis Brauer Oct 26 Hillary Duncheon Oct 26 Roszeta Monroe Oct 26 Mary Fontana Oct 29 Jerry Behrends Oct 31 Ronda Sidwell

Anniversaries 10/13/2018 Charles & Hannah Hobbs 10/15/1955 Pete & Jo Claussen 10/16/1993 Roy & Julie Cook 10/18/2008 Rick & Alix Sherren 10/28/1978 Rick & Karen Boensel 10/30/1999 Gordon & Brenda Watkins 10/31/1987 Kris & Carol Blake

Birthdays Oct 1 Michael Hedden Oct 2 Molly Stinauer Oct 3 Joann Lynn Oct 5 George Caton Oct 6 Erik McDaniel Oct 7 Johnie Meisner Oct 8 Mike Friedrich Oct 8 Jody Coots Oct 9 Jame Hahs Oct 10 Michael Walker Oct 11 Bernie Sarff (1928) Oct 12 Malcolm Lozano Oct 12 Connie Montgomery Oct 12 Pat Thompson Oct 13 Annie Collins Oct 13 Christine Fleming Oct 14 Abby Pherigo Oct 14 Scott Blakeley Oct 14 Barbara Dunton Oct 14 Zoe Porter Oct 14 Haley Yetter Oct 15 Dru Bergman Oct 15 Drake Skaggs Oct 16 Josh Bohm Oct 17 Maddox Gamble Oct 18 Carter Bohm Oct 19 Bill Mitchell Oct 21 Randy Rutledge Oct 21 Brenda Wolters Oct 22 Cheyenne Byrd Oct 23 Robert Williams Oct 24 Cameron Lippert Oct 25 Jane Baar Oct 25 Victoria Oney Oct 26 Portia Brown Oct 26 Jill Friedrich Oct 27 Annette Brown Oct 28 Calvin Friedrich Oct 28 Chase Hughes Oct 29 Kaleb Walker

Anniversaries 10/03/1998 Mark & Christy Smith 10/05/2002 Dennis & Cory Kramer 10/09/2010 Ben and Rachel Daniel 10/15/2011 Stevan & Heather Hofreiter 10/16/1971 Craig and Janice Stephens

Prayer Chain Ministry

If you would like to take part in our Prayer Chain Ministry to receive phone or email prayer requests, please notify the church office or Pastor Carol.

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“Helping men to grow in Christ, so others can know Christ”

Please watch the newsletter for upcoming meetings and events. At this time they are not meeting on a regular basis.

READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR 15 minutes a day to a more joyful you!

October

1. Isa. 11-13, Eph. 4 2. Isa. 14-16, Eph. 5: 1-16 3. Isa. 17-19, Eph. 5: 17-33 4. Isa. 20-22, Eph. 6 5. Isa. 23-25, Phil. 1 6. Isa. 26-27, Phil. 2 7. Isa. 28-29, Phil.3 8. Isa. 30-31, Phil. 4 9. Isa. 32-33, Col. 1 10. Isa. 34-36, Col. 2 11. Isa. 37-38, Col. 3 12. Isa. 39-40, Col. 4 13. Isa. 41-42, 1 Thes. 1 14. Isa. 43-44, 1 Thes. 2 15. Isa. 45-46, 1 Thes. 3 16. Isa. 47-49, 1 Thes. 4 17. Isa. 50-52, 1 Thes. 5 18. Isa. 53-55, 2 Thes. 1 19. Isa. 56-58, 2 Thes. 2 20. Isa. 59-61, 2 Thes. 3 21. Isa. 62-64, 1 Tim. 1 22. Isa. 65-66, 1 Tim 2 23. Jer. 1-2, 1 Tim. 3 24. Jer. 3-5, 1 Tim. 4 25. Jer. 6-8, 1 Tim. 5 26. Jer. 9-11, 1 Tim. 6 27. Jer. 12-14, 2 Tim. 1 28. Jer. 15-17, 2 Tim. 2 29. Jer. 18-19, 2 Tim. 3 30. Jer. 20-21, 2 Tim. 4 31. Jer. 22-23, Titus 1

UM WOMEN MISSION “United Methodist Women shall be a

community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global minis-tries of the church.”

The UMW will meet on Wednesday, Oc-tober 6th at 1:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. The pledge service will be presented by Ruth Anne Beaty.

All women and their friends of our church are invited to join. This is a great organiza-tion providing a lot of excellent services to our church.

September 19th the following 3rd Graders were presented with

Bibles

Kynsley Layton Annabelle Procarione

Haidyn Wherley Avery Skaggs

Davis Snedeker

October Acolyte Schedule 10-3-21 Zach Marshall

10-10-21 Mason Dietsch 10-17-21 Madelynn Snedeker

10-24-21 Kynsley Layton 10-31-21 TBA

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Sharing Our Blessings with

Others for August (Havana)

Total mission giving for August was $498.34 Dollar General Literacy: $108.34 UMCOR: $200.00 Liberia Scholarships: $10.00 Adult Mission/SRP $30.00 Heifer International $40.00 Undesignated $35.00 Our Conference, Our Kids stands at $15,352.50, receiving $75.00 during Au-gust We want to thank all of you for your amazing and ongoing support of the church.

Weekly Prayer Topics

Oct. 3 Give wisdom, patience, en-thusiasm and encouragement to our ministers as they work throughout our community

Oct. 10 Inspire us to support our local

food pantries and charitable missions, both physically and financially and with food do-nations.

Oct. 17 Remind us to be faithful to

our church in the ways we promised – by our attendance, our service and our gifts

Oct. 24 Encourage us to support each

other, to reach out to some-one, to acknowledge a job well done.

Oct. 31 Help us to change the world –

one life at a time.

October Missions

Children’s

Mission

Offering The children’s mission offering this month will go to UNICEF. Every day, children die needlessly from preventable causes – and they don't have to. UNICEF takes proven, low-cost methods that save children's lives and makes them available regard-less of income, ethnicity, or location. By making a tax-deductible dona-tion to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to-day, you can provide children with: • Lifesaving vaccines and insecticide-

treated bed nets • Emergency relief following natural

disasters • Educational opportunities and

School-in-a-Box kits • And much more

World Communion Sunday

Our October mission of-fering will be for World Communion Sunday. This is one of the six

church special Sundays of the United Methodist Church. World Commun-ion Sunday provides scholarships for U.S. racial and ethnic minority students and international students at both un-dergraduate and graduate levels. Through his sacrifice, Jesus offers us the bread of life. Please give generous-ly on World Communion Sunday.

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Upcoming Calendar of

Events for Both Churches

Every Sunday: 8:30 a.m. - Oakford UMC 10:30 a.m. - Havana UMC Day Time Weekly Event 10/3 6:00 p.m. - Youth Group 10//4 6:30 p.m. - Missions Meeting 10/6 1:30 p.m. - UMW Meeting 6:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir 10/10 5:00 p.m.. - Church Wiener Roast 10/12 6:00 p.m. - Finance Meeting 10/13 6:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir 10/17 6:00 p.m. - Youth Group 10/19 7:00 p.m. - Ladies Night Out 10/19 7:00 p.m. - PEO Meeting 10/20 6:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir 10/24 6:00 p.m. - Youth Group 10/26 6:00 p.m. - Trustees Meeting 10/27 6:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir 10/31 6:00 p.m. - Youth Group

Bible Study will be October 14th and 28th

8:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

MYF News Flash

The Youth Group meets every Sunday, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. in the youth room on the third floor. It will be a time of conversation,

fun, and fellowship. Bring a friend.!!

The Youth will not meet, Sunday, October 10th at the church, every-one is invited to come to the Church Wiener Roast from 5:00-6:00 p.m. at Riverfront Park.

Havana First UMC Children’s Church Kick-Off

Beginning Sunday, October 10th, the children will be able to partici-

pate in Children’s Church during the worship service. This will take the place of the traditional Sunday School class. The children will join their parents in worship, then

following the Children’s Moment they will go to the fellowship hall for Children’s Church. All chil-dren in Kindergarten - 6th grade are invited to participate.

All ladies in the church are invited to an

evening of good conversation and fel-lowship on Tuesday, October 19, 6:30 p.m. We will watch a short Women of

Faith video prior to our time of conversa-tion. The blessings that come from gath-ering together are significant. I hope you

will be able to join us. Please bring a friend.

Volunteers Needed for Children’s Church

We are beginning a new ministry called Children’s Church on Sun-day, October 10th. We need volun-

teers to teach and assist on a rota-tion for this ministry. Please pray about how you might be involved, then call Pastor Carol. Thank you.

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Remember

Our

Shut-Ins

Riverview Estates 200 N. Schrader, Havana Shirley Lynn Room 30

Em’s Haven of Rest 719 S. McKinley, Havana Curly Yetter

Lodge at Manito 1303 S. East Ave, Manito 61546 Rosie Moore Ann Simmering Apt. 132 Glendora Stout Apt. 128

Mill Creek Alzheimer’s Special Care Unit 3319 Ginger Creek Drive, Spfld. 62711 Shirley Brown

Concordia Village Care Center 4101 W. Iles Avenue, Spfld., IL 62711 Ruth Brauer

At Home

James Marshall PO Box #85 Topeka, IL 61567

Mary Raikes Countryside Estates 19080 Sunny Acres Road, Box 12 Petersburg, IL 62675

Karen Short PO Box 228 Oakford, IL 62673

Betty Sinnock 17385 E US Hwy. 136 Havana, IL 62644

Kenny Brown Villas of Holly Brook, Apt. 23 3401 Hedley Rd. Springfield, IL 62711

In Our

Prayers

Havana - Connie Atchison; Simon Bentzinger; Ron Botsford; Annette Brown; Kay Curtis; Wan-da Daniels; Debbie Duitscher; Linda Estep; Bill Foster; Dixie Hilst; Daryl Hofreiter; Luke Jones; Lexy Meyer Fortney; Faye Noll Family; Judy O’Grady Family; Jo Pedigo; Kevin & Connie Roper; Cody Shawgo Family; Wanda Shawgo; Kylie Tomm; Todd Turner; Rosemary Watson; Bill Watts; Debbie Webber; John Yackley Family Oakford - Bill Bailey Family; Dottie Blair; Ruth Brauer; Kenny & Shirley Brown; Clara June Claussen; Harley Claussen; Marty Claussen Fam-ily; Esther Fricke Family; Lee Garfat; Luke Jones; Rod King; Todd Lynn; Doug McGinnis; Lottie Mudd; Kalynn Pherigo; Ryan Plowman; Raquel Reed; Brian Satorious Family; Karen Short; Larry Shoemaker; Scott Smith; Susan Up-ton; Craig Wolff Family; Debbie Woods Bishop Frank Beard; DS Nic Showalter; DCFS; all those serving in the military; all those affected by natural disasters, the coronavirus; People of Afghanistan and the families of the 13 service

members who died in Afghanistan; the Christians & others who are being persecuted and executed throughout the world and…

Please notify the church office of anyone you would like placed on our prayer list or of any changes that should be made. Thank you!

Condolences Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Craig Wolff (father of Lindsey Whitley) who passed away on 9/1/21, Larry Shelabarger who passed away on 9/9/21, Marty Claussen who passed away on 9/12/21 and Billy Bailey who passed away on 9/15/21.

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The Messenger Published by:

First United Methodist Church 101 S. Broadway St., Havana IL 62644

Church phone: (309) 543-4725 E-mail: office@havanaumc.org

Website: havanaumc.org Rev. Carol Stufflebeam - Pastor

Pastor’s Cell Phone: (217) 204-8826 Mary Layton - Secretary

Published to keep the members and fr iends of Havana First United Methodist Church informed about i ts ministry within the world community. Deadline for art icle submission is the 20th of each month. Please consider "sponsoring" a part icular month by covering the mail ing cost for that month. Sponsorship is $60 per month.

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PAID Havana, IL 62644

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First United Methodist Church 101 S. Broadway St. Havana, IL 62644

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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This month’s newsletter is unsponsored. If you would like to sponsor the newslet-ter for a particular month, please contact

the church office at 309-543-4725

Ronald McDonald House Mission

The youth group (MYF) is col-

lecting the tabs off of aluminum cans for Ronald McDonald House. These tabs generate mon-ey that helps support the families who have children receiving med-

ical care in the hospital. It is a sig-nificant support for families. We want your help in collecting these tabs. A container is placed outside the church office for you to de-

posit the tabs you collect. Thank you for supporting the youth group.