May June newsletter 2015

Circuit Rider
Fir st Uni te d M et ho dis t
M a y/J un e 20 15
Chu rc h
of
Fo rt
Lu pt on
Pastor’s Page
Friends,
We have been having a nice increase in attendance on Sunday mornings recently, and I
am really thankful for that! I love to see you all on Sunday mornings – and I know you
are busy people. Thank you for being here. There's an old Puritan saying, "Good
Sabbaths make good Christians."
I know, even when you have not had a tiring week, or haven’t stayed up late the night
before, or whatever, sometimes getting up and going is a tough thing. You have many
options for Sunday mornings – so I’m really glad that so many of you are choosing
coming to church on Sundays.
I remember when Rich and I were young adults -- when reading the newspaper Comics
and eating breakfast until noon on Sunday seemed like the best thing! But I know now
that we were missing out on a lot of great ideas, great challenges for living, great people,
and by the way – worshipping God! We had friends who were in church who seemed
pretty normal. They had many friends of different ages, many rather interesting
activities, and I thought about that. But we weren’t from Chicago. Finding a church
without our families there seemed overwhelming. Family was an essential element for
us – and our families were from Ohio and Iowa. So for the most part, we didn’t do much
about it.
Of course we all know we are supposed to observe the Sabbath: it’s in the Bible. Jesus
did (he went to synagogue). In the Ten Commandments it states that we are to
remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). Jesus, when rebuked by the
Pharisees for plucking grain from a field on the Sabbath, criticized those who made a
fetish of Sabbath observance. Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for
humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). But Jesus never said to
forget the Sabbath.
But now we have things happening on Sunday that were not happening in the Bible
times. Many stores and businesses are open seven days a week and people need to work
to make ends meet. Farmers have to plant, manage, and harvest whether it is Sunday or
not. Many children’s sports activities are scheduled on Sunday, and I don’t believe
parents should prohibit their children and teenagers from benefiting from sports because
of Sunday schedules.
But really, Sunday is for worshipping God. It’s not so much about rules and not always
about whatever else is happening in our lives. It’s about God, and we have scheduled
Sundays for worship. For many, the rest of the week isn’t quite right unless we have
come to worship God. Somehow, if I can’t sing a song of praise on Sunday morning, it
doesn’t seem like I have worshipped. At this point, we don’t have a worship service on
another day. If that would be beneficial for you, please let me know.
Here’s the thing I think we don’t always want to admit – I think a large part of God’s
plan for worship is that we’re supposed to go to church for each other. That’s the reason
the writer of Hebrews said, We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful
and to do helpful things. 25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for
worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially
since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer. (Hebrews 10: 24-25)
We at First UMC of Fort Lupton are a great worshipping group. I thank you for making
time for worship and for being such a great example to our young people.
Pastor Kay
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Circuit Rider
From Director of Facilities & Maintenance
Just wanted to share a few
things in the life of the
church and Miracle House.
This time of the year the
temperatures inside and out
fluctuate greatly. People
have come to me and said
for example, “Anthony, the
heater is running and it is
hot outside.” I want to explain that this big building
holds heat and cold, so even
though it may seem hot outside the inside of the church
may not be warm yet. Always, bear with me., I am
watching the heater and the
air conditioning very
closely. You may also no-
tice I have installed thermostat tamper proof covers
over the basement thermostats and one at the Miracle
House to prevent people
from tampering with the
settings. As we transition
into summer the air conditioning units will soon be
operating.
I want to also share with you
that the sound system and
the terrible feedback sound
are being addressed. Neena
is working with Allen Baca,
who is an audio service expert.
The trees on the north side
had to be removed. Their
roots were pushing into the
basement and causing cracks
in the foundation. I know
they are beautiful and it
breaks my heart to remove
them, but it’s for the greater
good of the church.
My last topic is about the
grass here at the church and
Miracle House. It has been
brought to my attention that
the grass has bare spots and
weeds. I am trying my best
to weed and feed spots and
replace with grass seed.
Thank you all for your input.
Hello Friends:
I just wanted to send you a friendly reminder that our church is trying to reduce the
amount of trash we send to our landfills. We now have a large recycling receptacle located next to the trash can in the dining area. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with
the items that can and cannot be recycled when using the receptacle.
Also, I would like to discourage the purchase of any Styrofoam cups, bowls, or plates, as
these are neither recyclable or earth-friendly.
Let’s all do our part to be good stewards of this beautiful planet that God has created for
us!
In God’s Love, Jennifer
Blessings in a Bag (supplemental food for children in food insecure homes).
We have great news to share. We received a $5,000. grant from the Community Foundation Littler Youth Fund for the 2015 and
2016 school year. God is good. We have been serving 80 to 90 children each week and only have 4 more weeks of school left. We
have been able to focus on giving the children more protein this year due to the United Power and Chip Grants that we received for
this school year. This week the children are receiving 2 milks, a V8 juice, a top ramen soup, a cereal, a cereal bar, a fruit cup, a 6 oz.
can of lasagna, a 6 oz. can of Pork & Beans, an Energy bar, and soda crackers. They receive the food on Friday after school. The Fort
Lupton firemen are delivering the bags to the two schools, Butler and Twombly. Thank you Firemen.
First United Methodist Church
of Fort Lupton
306 Park Avenue
Fort Lupton, Colorado 80621
303-857-2257 l 303-857-2814 (fax)
E-Mail: office@fumc-fortlupton.org
Web page: www.fumc-fortlupton.org
Electronic Giving Authorization
I would like to make my gift electronically from my bank account. I hereby authorize the First
United Methodist Church of Fort Lupton to establish monthly automatic payments of
$______________.
From: Checking________________________
Savings:_______________________
Starting: Month/ Year____________________
Signature:___________________________________
Name (print):________________________________
Bank/Credit Union Name:_______________________
Routing Number:______________________________
Account Number:______________________________
Please attach a voided check
Day of Month for withdrawal (please check one):
5th______________
25th __________
split between dates________________
Should you desire to stop your electronic payment, simply inform the church in writing at least 10
days prior to the scheduled date of payment. You may resume your giving at any time.
This information is held in strictest privacy. If you have any questions please contact Rob Payne,
Robin Anders or Mariann Johnston.
About Our Finances
Thank you for being such a giving and generous congregation. FUMC is well known for how we give to
support a variety of ministries in our town, in our church, and in the Conference. We have been depended upon for scholarships, food, mission funds, and soon we will have a homeless shelter across the
street in the Miracle House.
While setting a budget for 2015 we were challenged with many significant increases and have set a
budget of $231,108.00. This budget amount is about 10 percent higher than what we budgeted for the
prior year. This supports a new position in our children’s ministry, an adjusted salary for our maintenance
director, and our aging building. We are a faithful church as we have seen many times in the past and we
pray that you support this growth.
However, at this time we are a little short in the giving we need to support this growth. Also we have had
some unexpected fixes to the building that we had not anticipated. Looking down the road we have to
prayerfully replace/repair the boiler system in order to keep this beautiful building warm for the winter.
God loves a cheerful giver and
United Methodists are givers.
United Methodists support missions around the world. You can
find the cross and flame logo on
schools, universities, community
centers and seminaries across the
United States. The United Methodist Church name is on the side
of hospitals, retirement homes and
a university in Zimbabwe, Africa.
Men and women trained and commissioned by the denomination
serve in mission in most nations
around the globe.
But guess what?
While it takes significant funding
to support denominational ministry, on average only 2 cents of
every dollar given to local
churches in the United States go to
fund this expanse of ministries.
Those pennies combine in seven
apportioned funds, the budgets of
which for 2014 total
$150,078,000, to support the
worldwide ministries and mission
of the denomination and operations of the general agencies, 13
seminaries, 11 historically black
colleges, bishops, the Judicial
Council, ecumenical and interreligious ministries, and jurisdictional and General conferences.
Of the remaining 98 cents, 7 cents
supports jurisdictional, annual
conference and district ministries
and 6 cents goes to The Advance,
World Service Special Gifts, Special Sundays and other recipients
designated by the giver. The bulk
of every dollar - 85 cents on average - stays in the local church.
Being connected through giving
allows United Methodists to be a
part of many ministries that few
could do alone or even with several other congregations.
(from the Interpreter, July/August
2014)
We are coming into summer, when income usually goes down because we let our lives change for a few months and enjoy the other pleasures
in life like family vacations or added work in the fields. We would like you to consider giving something extra to help us through these growing
pains as we carefully manage the church budget. We have the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) option available to those who would like to donate
on a monthly basis and not have to worry about writing that check. This option is FREE to the church and you, there are no fees here (another
blessing) and is simple to do. We have the information available in the newsletter and at the church. We are also working on setting up a debit
card transaction option and hope to have this available soon (fees will apply).
If you have any questions at any time about our financial position at the church I would be available to talk with you in person. I am excited
about the growth opportunity the Lord has given us and the paid staff we have to lead us in that direction. “All of you together are Christ’s body,
and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” I Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)
Thank you again for your generosity. Robin Anders, Finance Committee
Page 4
Missions 1st Quarter of 2015.
“May our Lord Jesus Christ…. Comfort
your hearts and establish you in every
good word and work” Thessalonians
2:16-17
As First United Methodist of Fort Lupton
we proclaim Jesus Christ as our Savior
and endeavor to spread the word to all.
So far this year we have given for the 1st
quarter of 2015:
Hope at Miracle House-$310.00
Ministerial Alliance-
$25.00
Paden’s missionaries in Argentina$75.00
Fort Lupton Food and Clothing Bank$50.00
Our Congregational Care members have
visited the shut ins, sent cards to the sick,
the grieving and the absent.
The Kiva Account continues to support
people all over the world with a hand up
to start a new business and we continue
to be reimbursed so we can help another
person.
The mission’s collections for the next 3
months will be:
April: Peace with Justice
May:
Ministerial Alliance
June:
Human Relations Day
Adventures in Christian Living continues
to help people with groceries, personal
products, medications, gas and rent. We
also have contact people to Rise (help
with utilities).
If interested our next meeting is May 14th
at 7 pm.
United Methodist Women
We have been very busy this year & have already started planning for theturkey dinner &
bazaar! We had our annual Spring Brunch April
11. Nearly There (2 men who played guitars &
sang) gave a John Denver Tribute. Very enjoyable. 9 churches represented /38 in attendance/
$416 in donations for Blessings in a Bag.
Our designated UMCOR (United Methodist
Committee On Relief) project this year is health kits. These help
people all over the USA & other countries. It’s fun & inexpensive to do. Ask a UMW member about it. They are due May 17.
We provided desserts for Earl Harris funeral & assisted the
Mark Espinosa family in setting up their catered lunch. We have
given 6 crosses to new babies—Cayden Guildner (grandson of
Gary & Donna Howard), Ella & Emery Manternach
(grandchildren of Mike & Marilyn Bangert), Isabella Tijerina
(great granddaughter of Marty & Carol McDermott and granddaughter of Mindy Bucher & Abigay Tijerina, and Presley &
Brooks Ceretto( grandchildren of Sharon Ceretto). UMW supports many organizations——Blessings in a Bag, Pregnancy Resource Center, Warm Hearts Warm Babies, Ft. Lupton Food
Bank, Preston Ranch, Padens, Nation to Nations, Hope @ Miracle House, & Adventures in Christian Living. UMW meets
quarterly Thursday @ 6:30 pm & Mary Circle meets
3rd Monday @ 7 pm. Come join us anytime & see what we all do
for our church, our community, & missions. Submitted by
Page 5
May 2015
June 2015
May Birthdays
05/03
Stacey Thieman
05/04
Sam Duarte
05/07
Jim Edens
05/08
Carolynn Saar
05/10
Paige Gaul
05/11
Dave & Vicki Wamsley
5/24
Dawn Ceretto
05/12
Todd & Audrey Schroder
5/26
Genevieve LeBlanc
05/13
Ricky & Mindy Bucher
5/30
David Wamsley
05/15
Tom O'Neil
05/15
Floyd Robley
05/18
Claire Kokoszka
05/19
Joni Purifoy
05/22
Pat Garrett
05/22
Neena Hagans
05/22
Megan Anders
05/23
Devin Cummins
05/25
Nonnie Hunziker
05/29
June Birthdays
Courtney Bucher
Angel Gross
Ashley Gross-Bueker
Josh Pelis
Steve Dickinson
Cameron Payne
Wendy Faulhaber
Gwen Ceretto
Krista Payne
Mike Ceretto
Kolton Johnston
June Dailey
Charlotte Fike
Kira Norby
Jacque Kerr
Carol Duarte
Shawn Johnston
Merle Mullet
Amanda Reid
Jordan Sarazen
Page 6
Janet Lee
06/02
06/03
06/03
06/04
06/04
06/09
06/11
06/12
06/12
06/14
06/17
06/18
06/18
06/20
06/21
06/22
06/22/
06/23
06/29
06/30
May Anniversaries
June Anniversaries
150 Year Quilt Dedication
Page 7
The dedication of the 150th year commemorative quilt on April 19, 2015, reminded us that the
Methodist Church in Fort Lupton began in 1863. Meetings were held in private homes then a
church was built on the corner of 9th Street and Denver Avenue, the land was donated by the
UP Railroad. The pioneers who came before us endured many hardships, coming to an unknown country, leaving family and starting anew. The greatest reward was freedom of religion.
Supplies were scarce and each scrap of cloth was saved and made into a quilt to warm the family members and also made for gifts for special events. When the First United Methodist
Church celebrated their 150 years, the commemorative quilt was begun. Members of the church
were given the opportunity to make a square showing what the church meant to them. On the
top of the quilt is a picture of the 1st church building which is at this time Erlinger Funeral
Home, the Methodist symbol of the Cross and flame and then a picture of our existing Methodist church built in 1916. Next year will be the 100 years in our existing church building.
This quilt was made by Mary Jean Brewer (angel & cross), Jan Brown (scrap books), Vickie
Ceretto (Dove), Lucile Dahlberg (Velva Whitney, hankie), Hidi Fankhauser (round stained
glass east window), Sue Hubert (stained glass window), Charlotte Jones (Jacobs’s ladder &
star), Verna Mullet (Methodist symbol) and Evelyn Viken (squares of stained glass). The quilting was done by Vickie’s Quilting Shack in Kirby, AR. The quilt will be hung in the church in
a custom made frame.
Hi, Rob Payne and I am your new Church Treasurer. I am excited about my new position and
hope that I can help make our church continue on its path of success. My background - I was
raised in this church by my parents, Bob & Kathy Payne and my grandparents. My great, great
grandfather helped build our church. It is important to myself and family to be involved in the
church and to serve our Lord as he guides us. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in business and
have spent 15 years in the hardware business. My experience includes: management, inventory
counter, depositories, personnel development, accounts receivable, account payable and cash
flow. All business conductors includes strong ethics, discipline and integrity. My work ethic is
very positive and focus on task at hand. I look forward to being a servant leader in this loving
and caring church family.
SuzAnn McCrumb is my name and youth is my game. I am your
new Children's Director, I am very excited about my new position, and I hope I can
help grow the children’s attendance in our church including maybe some parents. I
love this church . Darrel and I and Victoria call this church our home. We have always been involved with the youth starting with Nursery Sunday School and moved
up to Senior High Youth Group and loved every minute. Thank you so much for trusting me to fill this position and I am so happy in my heart to be doing The Lords Work.
Genevieve LeBlanc found a Book of Devotions from her mother Mary Nordell. I thought the church
might appreciate the thoughts of members that are no longer with us.
Women's Society of Christian Service
Book of Devotions
Prepared by members of the WSCS of the Fort Lupton United Methodist Church
Fall 1969
"Take advantage of every opportunity, lest you miss the supreme one."
Read Psalm 46
Psalm 46: 10 Be still and know that I am God.
Make room for silence in your life. It is an aid to peace of mind. We push too hard and are tense and
high strung people, though we try to cover it up. Most of our troubles come because we can't be still.
Peace of mind doesn't mean escape from the world but a more effective participation in it. With a little
quiet time, I'm ready to try to cope with most any situation.
Prayer: Our Father, help us to live each day as it comes and to do our best. In Jesus' name. Amen
Thought for the Day: Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune
at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm. - Robert Louis Stevenson
Wish List
Please leave items by office door.
Hoover Vacuum cleaner bags # Y
or Z
Clorox clean up wipes
Lysol toilet bowl cleaner
Paper towels
Air Freshener spray
M—Fold hand towels
Copy paper
Colored copy paper
Small tissues for pews
First United Methodist
Church of Fort Lupton
Coming Up:
May
Friday, May 1st
Tuesday, May 5th
Happy May Day
11:30 am
Worship Planning Meeting
5:30-7:30 pm
Fundraiser for Mission Trip @ Branding Iron $10 adult/
$5 children under 12
Wednesdays
10:00 - 11:00 am Bible Study in Adult Classroom “ Jesus in the Gospel”
Thursday, May 7th
6:00 pm
Sunday, May 10th
National Night of Prayer @ Rec Center
Happy Mother’s Day
Monday, May 11th
7:00 pm
Foxy Quilters
Wednesday, May 13th
3:30 pm
Christian Life Club (CLC) going bowling
Sunday, May 17th
9:00 am
Recognition Sunday
Monday, May 18th
6:30 pm
Many Blessings
7:00 pm
Mary Circle
Tuesday, May 19th
7:00 pm
Full Church Council
Wednesday, May 20th
1:15 pm
Lunch Bunch
Thursday, May 21st
2:00 pm
Mission Trip Cook Day
6:00 pm
Mission Trip Cook Day
7:00 pm
Finance Meeting
Monday, May 25th
Office Closed
9:30 am
Memorial Day Celebration @ Hillside Cemetery
Saturday, May 30th
5:30 pm
Mission Trip Potluck
Sunday, May 31st
9:00 am
Send off for Mission Team
June
Monday, June 1st—Saturday, June 6th
Mission Trip to New Mexico
Monday, June 8th
7:00 pm
Foxy Quilters
Tuesday, June 9th
11:30 am
Worship Planning
7:00 pm
Trustees Meeting
Sunday, June 14th
Monday, June 15th
Happy Father’s Day
6:30 pm
Many Blessings
7:00 pm
Mary Circle
Tuesday, June 16th
7:00 pm
Executive Council
Saturday, June 20th
9-2:00 pm
Hope @ Miracle House Garage Sale