January 2016

Volume XX Issue 1

“In worship, fellowship and service we seek God’s peace as revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”

The Madison Methodist The Madison Methodist The Madison Methodist

MessageMessageMessage

The United Methodist Church in Madison

24 Madison Avenue Madison, NJ 07940

“at the corner of Drew University”

church@umcmadison.org www.umcmadison.org

Tel: 973.377.1231

God’s House As we begin a new year it is my hope and prayer that we will continue to find ways

of living together within our families, communities, and world. 2015 brought many

challenges that are yet with us. Concerns about violence, injustice and the environ-

ment continue to follow us into yet another year.

So we begin anew in 2016. But do we?

So often what is new is a rediscovery of what is not-so-new. Recently, I re-

ceived an email about a man in New Zealand who decided to build a church. Not

just any church, but a church constructed out of trees. Yes, Brian Cox spent time

travelling the world, looking at different types of trees and then in 2011 began a 4 year project to build a church…that’s

right, out of trees.

What I find interesting is not that he was able to do it. Rather, his ability to see that God’s creation and the worship of

the Creator are linked. Really we don’t have one without the other do we?

It is not a surprise that people who visit this church find it a spiritual experience. Back-to-nature takes on a new mean-

ing. I wonder what it will take for us in the new year to look at the world a bit differently. What will it take for us to

appreciate the gifts God has given us? What will it take for us as a Church, as

Christians, in our communities, our nation and our world to find a better way?

Well, 2016 will give us that chance.

Grace and Peace,

IMPORTANT DATES

Jan 5—Trustees Meeting at 7:30 pm

Jan 10—Youth Council will meet after 10:00am service

Jan 12—Church Council Meeting at 7:30 pm

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Staff & Elected Officers Pastor

Rev. Robb W. Shoaf, Ph.D Student Assistant Pastor

Chelsea Jackson Director of Music & Organist

Susan McAdoo, D.M.A. Director of Christian Education

Kathleen Keane Admin/Editor Natalie Dines Sexton Marlice Borecki

David Green Chair, Church Council Jeff Pfeifer Treasurer David Green Assistant to Treasurer Scot Guempel Financial Secretary Alan Voorhees Finance Chair Gordon Fleming Facility Management Vic Schumacher President, Trustees

Program Facilitators Nurture Ministries

Lisa Moro Outreach Ministries

Jeanne Eisele Witness/Igniting Ministry

Kris Pfeifer Worship Ministries

Lisa Carballo Education/Youth

Kathleen Keane & Chelsea Jackson

Trustees

Vic Schumacher Gordon Fleming Mike Kroeger Luke McKinnon Shin-Ok Ha Wade Merrick JoAnn Van Sciver Nori Tadano

Dan Engel

January 2016

Christmas Pageant 2015

We Had a Wonderful Christmas Pageant!

I want to express heartfelt gratitude to all the people who

worked on the Christmas pageant this year. The children and

adults who provided the talent to present the story of the

birth of Jesus in such a meaningful way should be ap-

plauded. Also, I would like to express appreciation to Nori

Tadano, who directed the pageant. Thank you to both Nori

and Karen Mancinelli for capturing such wonderful memo-

ries.

Sunday School Classes Resume Sunday, Jan. 10 Our regular class schedule will begin again on Sunday,

Jan. 10 and continue through the end of the month. Please

check your emails for special bulletins, teacher assignments

and acolyte responsibilities.

May I wish you a very Happy New Year!

Kathleen Keane

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Other News ... Bits and briefs

January 2016

Coffee Hour Hosts Needed in 2016

T he coffee hour and fellowship time after our

Family Worship service is a vital element of

our ministry. It’s not only enjoyable, but an impor-

tant part of building community. Please visit SignUpGen-

ius if you are able. You can also call /email Natalie in the

office (church@umcmadison.org). Thank you!

Thank You!

T hanks to Susan McAdoo, Donna Conley, Jake and

Katie Antmann for helping us decorate the sanctuary

for the holiday season, and to all who contributed to our

Christmas Flower Fund!

Special thanks go to Vivian Bull for her beautiful

handmade Story of Christmas figurines. Also special

thanks to Marlice Borecki who makes all of our jobs so

much easier! Lisa Carballo

Live Nativity Show

On Sunday Dec 20, we held our Annual Open

House together with our first live nativity show. It was a

wonderful way to start off the festival season. Our youth

dressed in costume and we managed to capture some

great pictures.

Fair Trade Coffee Sale — Feb.7

During coffee hour in the church library

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January 2016

February Newsletter Deadline: Jan. 21

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

3 8:30 am Early Service 10 am Family Worship 5 pm The Gathering

4 Church Office re-opens

5 7:30 pm Trustees Meeting

6 7:00 am Men’s Breakfast

7 8 pm Chancel Choir

8 8 pm AA

9

10

8:30 am Early Service 10 am Family Worship 5 pm The Gathering

11 8 pm AA

12 7:30 pm Church Council 8 pm AA

13

7:00 am Men’s Breakfast

14 8 pm Chancel Choir

15 8 pm AA

16

17 8:30 am Early Service 10 am Family Worship 5 pm The Gathering

18 Office Closed ML King Day 8 pm AA

19 8 pm AA

20 7:00 am Men’s Breakfast

21 8 pm Chancel Choir

22 8 pm AA

23

24

8:30 am Early Service 10 am Family Worship 5 pm The Gathering

25 8 pm AA

26

8 pm AA

27 7:00 am Men’s Breakfast

28 11:30 am UMW outing 8 pm Chancel Choir

29 8 pm AA

30

31 8:30 am Early Service 10 am Family Worship 5 pm The Gathering

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January 2016

United Methodist

Women From the

Student Assistant Pastor

Nativity scene figures made by Palestinian refugee women in

the 1960s grace our Sanctuary windows, thanks to Vivian Bull.

Advent Festival 2015

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New

Year! In the midst of Advent, the month of December was also a

busy time for the Church, filled with festivals, pageants and pro-

jects!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Angel Tree pro-

ject headed by Jeanne Eisele and Outreach. Our youth wrapped

these gifts on December 13th and they were graciously received

by both Family Promise and Roots and Wings.

The youth have also completed their Book Study on Shane Clai-

borne's The Irresistible Revolution. We hope to continue the

youth book study program, and pick it up again in the Spring.

Looking ahead, there will be a Youth Council Meeting on Janu-

ary 10th, in the sanctuary, after the 10 am service. Youth, parents

and all others interested are encouraged to attend as we will be

discussing Spring Projects.

Also, at the end of January and beginning of February the youth

will host our annual Souper Bowl of Caring event. During this

project we will collect canned goods and monetary gifts for the

Food Pantry. Any contributions to this project would be greatly

appreciated!

Lastly, as we embark on a new year, I want to bring attention to

the Church Blog, and encourage everyone to consider reading

and submitting to it. Blog submissions can be anything, and can

range from songs and photos, to poems and prose. Submission

anonymity is an option, and posts can be about anything, includ-

ing: a particular Bible verse you love, where you do or don't see

God working in your life/the world, or questions of faith you ex-

perience.

The blog can be viewed at umcmadison.wordpress.com and is

meant to serve as a form of outreach and engagement with the

world, and be a space for questions and explorations both for

writer and reader. Please contact me if you are interested in post-

ing!

As we settle into a new year and Church season, I hope we can all

take time to slow down, rest, and lean into the love and peace of

God.

In peace

Chelsea

The Naomi Circle of United Methodist Women had a joyful

day on Thursday, December 17, at the Morristown United Meth-

odist Church for the Music at Noon series featuring The Christ-

mas Singers with Patricia Ruggles. During the month of January,

the series will continue on Thursdays at 12:15, and the Naomi

Circle plans to return on Thursday, January 28, 2016, for a pro-

gram of chamber music. We will leave the Church parking lot at

11:30 am, so please call Laurie at 973-377-9407 if you would like

to join us.

Our local UMW unit is pleased to report that in response to our

annual letter of information and appeal for support, we realized

the sum of $765. Our sincere thanks go out to all who responded,

and to everyone who has been a friend and continued to support

UMW over the years with their prayers, presence and good

works. These funds will help greatly in our being able to con-

tinue to make a pledge to the Gateway North District of United

Methodist Women and to support other worthwhile local pro-

grams, such as the Neighborhood Center and United Methodist

Homes. Another annual outreach project of our local unit is the

distribution of home-baked cookies for house bound members of

the congregation, and this year we distributed 10 plates with a

poinsettia plant from the sanctuary.

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January 2016

OUTREACH MINISTRY TEAM Connectionalism: a Methodist tradition since Wesley

Honoring God’s gift of Jesus by sharing with others

Christmas decorations are coming down but the celebration of

Epiphany reminds us of the wonderful generosity of our congre-

gation and friends during the Christmas season. The Church

School Baby Shower for Jesus filled a pack-n-play with many

essentials for families who are clients at the Interfaith Food Pan-

try. These much needed items included formula, diapers, wipes,

baby snacks and baby food for all ages and stages. It was an

extra special offering at Christmas to fulfill the needs for some

very young Food Pantry clients.

The Angel Tree donation project led by our youth brought in

thirty gift packages that were then wrapped and delivered for the

joyous holiday celebration where current and former Family

Promise guests gathered. In addition, gift cards were shared with

the young adults supported by Roots & Wings. Holiday gift

giving helps us turn our hearts to others less fortunate or who

are struggling just to fulfill the basic needs of life

The Advent/Christmas Offering is shared by two organiza-

tions. Roots & Wings, a non-profit support organization pro-

viding young adults who age out of foster care with safe hous-

ing, educational support, counseling, and life skills in order to

empower them toward self-

sufficiency. Global Refugee

Relief Advance #3022144

supports the efforts of UM-

COR and General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) to ad-

dress the global refugee and migration crisis in the Middle East,

Africa and Europe. Through direct service and partnership work

for relief response, trained representatives are monitoring the

treatment of migrants and providing support to address immedi-

ate and long term needs in refugee camps and for migrants seek-

ing asylum.

Our church is a connectional church

“Connectionalism constitutes one of the fundamentals of Metho-

dism, a tradition since Wesley, a central feature of our practice,

an essential in our identity. Connectionalism has expressed it-

self, … Through general agencies and their counterparts on ju-

risdictional, conference and congregational levels, United Meth-

odists have done their work, made their witness, carried on their

mission, and undertaken ministry. ..., Christian unity and inter-

religious concerns--knit United Methodism into a giant communi-

cation and programmatic empire.” [Essay by Russell E.

Richey, Questions for the Twenty-First Century Church

(Nashville: Abingdon, 1999)]

One word unique and basic to United Methodism is

“connectionalism.” All United Methodist leaders and congrega-

tions are connected through the broader church structure by cove-

nantal accountability that allows us to be in ministry and mis-

sional outreach around the world. The current refugee and mi-

grant crisis in the Middle East, Africa and Europe is an example

where our global connections work well to meet emergency

situation while planning for sustainable measures to address these

issues over time.

A recent note from Michael Nausner, former Associate Pastor

here at UMC in Madison and Drew PhD graduate, who is a Pro-

fessor at the Methodist Seminary in Germany, stated: “There

is very, very good work going on in spite of the logistic chal-

lenges churches and NGOs are facing. We’d have to sit for a

long time if I wanted to tell you just a fraction of all the fantastic

encounters and mutual enrichments that are taking place amidst

overwhelming challenges to provide decent housing for so many.

We are regularly having refugees visiting our services in Unter-

hausen (Germany), our Christmas celebrations, and our German

classes on a weekly basis. An abandoned police building next

door houses two dozen Syrian refugees who have become our

friends. They are with us every week for German lessons and

occasional meals. Earlier this week they in turn invited our stu-

dents for “Arabic food night” in the neighbouring Catholic

Church. Students and teachers are also meeting with them at

other occasions, going to the doctor with them or to authorities.

Two students will work more intensively with college students

from Damascus who show promise to be able to enter university

in Germany within a year or two. ... In Vienna the UMC is right

now taking in two Syrian refugee families into their church fa-

cilities… There are many, many examples like that. Amidst an

increasing amount of inflammatory rhetoric holy human encoun-

ters are taking place and friendships emerge. Not too few people

find a new meaning in their lives working for and with refugees.

...And, yes, the money to the outreach advance [Advance #

322144] certainly is well spent. The Germany [UMC] Central

Conference some months ago has started to offer financial sup-

port to churches who actively work with refugees.”

You are part of this connection through your financial contribu-

tion to our local congregation and through special donations

such as the Christmas Offering. One-hundred percent of our

giving to an Advance Project will go directly to support that

effort.

While one person, one congregation could not stretch their re-

sources far, together with many other Methodists around the

globe, our efforts pay off in outreach ministries. Thank you for

your continuing support of Outreach Mission.

Other Outreach News

Human Relations Day is January 17, 2016 and is one of

United Methodism’s six churchwide Special Sundays. Human

Relations Day calls us to extend a helping hand to those in cri-

sis so they can overcome formidable obstacles. The offering

supports Community Developers, United Voluntary Services

and Youth Offender Rehabilitation programs.

In Christ’s service,

Jeanne Eisele

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Wade Merrick The Hunter Family

Blazier Family Patricia Luts

Our Church Family People we remembered in prayer

January 2016

Known Birthdays in January

Pledge Envelopes ready

Benjamin Engel

Jason Grzymala

Julie Guempel

Devin Koep

Greg Kroeger

Lauren Kroeger

Lucas Liston

Danielle Lozier

Erik Paul Manz

Alexsander Scott Merrick

Elizabeth Miller

Thomas Paddack

Dylan Pfeifer

Maggie Price

Lynsey Studer

Stephen Robert Van Sciver

Glenn David Walling

Janine White

News from

Family Promise

This Christmas season, our Church made the holidays

brighter for Family Promise families with the Angel Tree

project sponsored by the Youth Ministry. The gifts noted

on each Angel were purchased, wrapped by the youth on

December 13 and delivered to Family Promise in time for

the Holiday Party on December 17, which took place at

Bethlehem Church in Randolph. The families, staff and

volunteers celebrated the holidays with good food, pic-

tures with Santa, crafts and lots of fun with Sprinkles the

Clown.

At the Advent Festival on December 5, a variety of house

pins, designed by Lucinda a formerly homeless woman,

were sold, resulting in $135 in proceeds to benefit Family

Promise.

Our first date to help with the families hosted at St. Vin-

cent’s Martyr Church in 2016 will be the week of

February 15, 2016, when our Church will be asked to

provide volunteers to help on Friday and Saturday,

February 19 and 20 for the following times:

Friday, February 19, from 5:30 to 7 pm – 2 or 3

volunteers are needed to provide dinner;

7 pm to 9 pm – 2 volunteers needed to provide compan-

ionship;

9 pm to 8 am – overnight volunteers are needed;

Saturday, February 20, from 11:30 am to 3 pm – 2 volunteers needed to provide companionship and help with lunch Please let me know if you’re able to help with any of the above

dates or need further information.

Laurie Hagerich

Pledge envelopes are ready for pick-up.

Envelopes can be found on the table in

the front of the sanctuary. If you wish

to have your own numbered envelopes

please call Natalie in the church office.

The Gathering services will resume on January 10 at 5:00 pm.

The Gathering Service

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Worship Schedule

Early Morning Worship 8:30 a.m.

Family Worship & Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Childcare is available for infants and toddlers.

Coffee and Fellowship 11:15 a.m.

The Gathering 5:00 p.m.

Do you receive our weekly email updates?

If not, please send an email to the church office (church@umcmadison.org)

to be added to our email distribution list.

Check our website for more information: www.umcmadison.org

Christmas Eve Pageant 2015—The Team!