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THE MESSENGER a publication of Wesley United Methodist Church
1070 South Street, Elgin, IL 60123
April 2020
Issue 112
Dear Wesley family,
We are living in an uncommon and transforming time. The news and guidelines from our President, governor, and health officials are unprecedented in our lifetime. There is a great sense of uncertainty and nervousness throughout ALL the world--including our nation and our community.
I want to remind you that despite all of this, we are a people of faith, hope, and love! God’s grace is sufficient for us--for our every need, (2 Corinthians 12:9). In everything we do, we act in love, even as God has poured out his love into our lives and keeps stirring it up in us to do good works by his Spirit (Galatians 5:22). If, during this time, fears or worries come into your mind, please acknowledge them. Let your mind express what it feels, but do not let it control you. We know that God has given us emotions to express our feelings, but we as Christians are then instructed in the scripture to cast all of our anxiety on Jesus because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). His promise says that when we pray about everything, we will experience the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. “ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:6-7).
As our Bishop Sally Dyck said, people of the UMC are starting our second week of “sheltering in place.” She remarks, “Sheltering in place is for our own health and safety as well as for the health and safety of others, but remember we have another shelter: the shelter that comes from God.”
Epworth UMC has already had two Sundays of only online worship through Facebook, which some members of Wesley have joined. I want to let you know that for people in our congregation who do not have a Facebook account, I will be sending emails with links for both the hymns and the sermons that I will record at home. These can be watched at any time. They will also include the Wednesday Bible studies and the Maundy Thursday Service. In this way, everyone can receive God’s word.
Regarding the merging process with Epworth, we received on April 2nd a second version of the proposed “Plan and Agreement of Merger.” The merger leaders will meet on Sunday to deal with all the suggested corrections so the Special Charge Conference would be shorter, and the leader will be able to get the Notice and Plan and Summary out to the membership right away.
Please bear in mind that while we will be able to worship together through this virtual connec-tion, the real expenses of the church continue, and so we ask that you also continue to support the church’s ministry through your offerings. These may be mailed to the church.
I am including with this letter a coronavirus response from our Bishop Sally Dick: https://www.umcnic.org/news/coronavirus-response; and a message from our bishop about Easter Service: https://www.umcnic.org/news/bishop-message-about-easter-services.
As your earthly pastor, I call you to be persistent in your prayers for the whole world. Like-wise, I plead God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon each of you and your families, and to let you know that The Almighty is with you always and will continue to hold you in the palm of His hands, through Christ Jesus our Lord!
By His Grace,
Pastor Noemi Meza
Querida familia Wesley:
Estamos viviendo en un tiempo poco común y transformador. Las noticias y directrices de nuestro presidente, gobernador y funcionarios de salud no tienen precedentes en nuestra vida. Hay una gran sensación de incertidumbre y nerviosismo en TODO el mundo, incluida nuestra nación y nues-tra comunidad.
¡Quiero recordarles que a pesar de todo esto, somos personas de fe, esperanza y amor! La gracia de Dios es suficiente para nosotros, para todas nuestras necesidades (2 Corintios 12.9). En todo lo que hacemos, actuamos con amor, incluso cuando Dios ha derramado su amor en nuestras vidas y sigue incitándonos a hacer buenas obras por su Espíritu (Gálatas 5:22). Si durante este tiempo te vienen a la mente temores o preocupaciones, por favor reconócelos. Deja que tu mente exprese lo que sien-te, pero no dejes que te controle. Sabemos que Dios nos ha dado emociones para expresar nuestros sentimientos, pero a nosotros cristianos, se nos instruye en las Escrituras para que toda nuestra an-siedad sea entregada a Jesús porque El cuida de nosotros (1 Pedro 5: 7). Su promesa dice que cuan-do oramos por todo, experimentaremos la paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento. “No se inquieten por nada; más bien, en toda ocasión, con oración y ruego, presenten sus peticiones a Dios y denle gracias. Y la paz de Dios, que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, cuidará sus corazones y sus pensamientos en Cristo Jesús” (Filipenses 4: 6-7).
Como dijo nuestro obispo Sally Dyck, la Iglesia Metodista Unida están comenzando su segunda se-mana de “refugiarse en el lugar”. Ella comenta: “El refugio en el lugar es para nuestra propia salud y seguridad, así como para la salud y seguridad de los demás, pero recuerde que tenemos otro refu-gio: el refugio que viene de Dios.”
Epworth UMC ya ha tenido dos domingos de adoración en línea a través de Facebook, a los que se han unido algunos miembros de Wesley. Quiero hacerle saber que para las personas en nuestra congregación que no tienen una cuenta de Facebook, estoy enviando por correo electrónico enla-ces para los himnos y los sermones que grabo en casa. Estos se pueden ver en cualquier momento. También incluirán los estudios bíblicos de los miércoles y el servicio del Jueves Santo. De esta mane-ra, todos pueden recibir la palabra de Dios.
Con respecto al proceso de fusión con Epworth, hoy Abril 2, recibimos una segunda versión del “Plan y Acuerdo de Fusión” propuesto. Los líderes de la fusión se reunirán el domingo para tratar con todas las correcciones propuestas para que la Conferencia de Cargo Especial sea más corta, y el líder podrá enviar el Aviso, el Plan y el Resumen a los miembros de inmediato.
Tenga en cuenta que, si bien podremos adorar juntos a través de esta conexión virtual, los gastos reales de la iglesia continúan, por lo que le pedimos que también continúe apoyando el ministerio de la iglesia a través de sus ofrendas. Estos pueden ser enviados por correo a la iglesia.
Incluyo con esta carta una respuesta de coronavirus de nuestro Obispo Sally Dick: https://www.umcnic.org/news/coronavirus-response; y un mensaje de nuestro obispo sobre el Servicio de Pascua: https://www.umcnic.org/news/bishop-message-about-easter-services.
Como su pastor terrenal, les invito a ser persistente en sus oraciones por el mundo entero; del mis-mo modo, le ruego a Dios que derrame Su Espíritu Santo sobre cada uno de ustedes y sus familias, y que les haga saber que El Todopoderoso está con ustedes siempre y continuará sosteniéndolos en la palma de sus manos, a través de Cristo Jesús nuestro Señor. Por la gracia de Dios, Pastor Noemí
It’s with sadness in our hearts that we had to say “goodbye” to our dear sister, Mary Peterson.
Yet, we know she is at home with our Lord and that we will see her again. She passed away on
Sunday, March 15, 2020. Because of the pandemic, only a small family funeral service was pro-
vided on March 20th. However, Glen her husband hopes that once the pandemic clears, we can
have a celebration service for her with all her church family and friends.
Easter will soon be here, and we remember that Jesus has arisen from the dead. Let the hope of the resurrection be in our hearts,
and take comfort. We will see Mary and all our loved ones, again. “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” — Jesus
Prayers for Family & Friends Shirley Fletcher, Gwen Kleinschmidt, Gloria Smith, Jack Kramka, Irmgard Tausanovich, Christina
Freund, Cinda Bates, Lincoln Zick, John Smith, Esther Smith, Eric West, Jim & Pat McCusker, Cliff
Rot, Flora Breslich, and the family of Glen Peterson.
ONLINE SERVICES
Look for the Pastor Meza’s email coming to your mailbox on how to easily connect to all
the upcoming services: Sunday morning, the Wednesday Lenten bible study, and the
Maundy Thursday service. These will be pre-recorded and you can access them at anytime.
No Facebook or Zoom account is needed. There will also be a link for you to click to
listen to the hymns provided for the services.
April Birthdays 10 Gloria Smith 26 Bill Nelsen 26 Guadalupe Villarreal 29 Clemente Villarreal
FYI: Comparison of Proposals to General
Conference 2020 Click this link:
General Conference 2020
During the month of April, because of the pandemic, we
will not be meeting for our regularly scheduled outings:
Ruth Circle, Steeple People and Vashti Circle.
Thank you for your prayers.
Card of appreciation received:
The United Voices of Children
(UNC) is deeply grateful for
your congregation’s support of
our 5th Sunday appeal. This
effort makes a difference in the
Northern Illinois Conference
(NIC) and in the lives of our
children and youth. To God be
the Glory! — Lillye Hart
To all Wesley people: As Chair of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, I am pleased to inform the Wesley family of Pastor Noemi’s appointment starting July 1, 2020 to the El Redentor del Calvario (The Re-deemer of Calvary) Church. It is located in Jefferson Park in the Chicago Northwest district. It also has a dual language congre-gation. I appreciate that many of you have expressed concern about our pastor’s future in view of the current merger pro-cess. We wish her all the best in her new adventures. — Peace, Dan Gardner.
We will be having our Church Conference on May 10, 2020, at Wesley UMC, and taking a
very important church vote to approve the merger with Ep-worth UMC. All members are
encouraged to vote, either in person or by proxy. More information is to come.
A note from Gary Newton: 1) As Chair of the Finance Committee, I would like to remind people to continue to send in their pledges and tithes to cover our on-going church expenses. These can be mailed to Wesley. 2) Please let us know if you have any thoughts concerning Wesley’s investments in view of our upcoming merger. If you think we should share investment monies with the two other UMC churches in town—First UMC and Cornerstone, please let the SPRC committee know any amounts you’d like to pledge to them, as we should be in a position to do this in two months.
1 2 3 4
5 Palm Sunday
6 7 8 9 Maundy
Thursday
10 Good Friday
Gloria Smith
“Happy B-Day!”
11
1212 Easter SundayEaster Sunday
13 14 15
16 17 18
1919 20 21 22 23 24 25
2626 Bill NelsenBill Nelsen
“Happy B“Happy B--Day!”Day!”
Guadalupe V.Guadalupe V.
“Happy B“Happy B--day!”day!”
27 28 29 Clemente V.
“Happy B-Day!”
30
SUNDAY
MORNINGS: 8:30 Choir Practice 9:30 Sunday Service
10:30 Fellowship
11:00 Sunday School
12:00 Spanish Service
.
Tuesdays
Hispanic
Bible Study
7:00 p.m.
Wednesdays
Vashti Circle
7:30 a.m.
.
Saturdays
Bells Practice
3:00 p.m.
Hope Practice
4:00 p.m.
APRIL 2020 CHURCH CALENDAR
Wesley United Methodist Church
1070 South St. Elgin, IL 60123
Phone: 847-742-7256
Email: [email protected]
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
