BEYOND THE GREEN DOORS
The newsletter of the
Peterborough United Methodist Church
43 Concord Street, Peterborough, NH
February 2020
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
Weekly
Sun Worship Service 10a
Mon Confidential Meeting 6-8p
Tue Office Hours 9-12
Tue Bible Study 10a
Wed Office Hours 9-12
Wed Bible Study 10a
Wed Choir Rehearsal 11a
Wed Life Groups 4p
Thu Office Hours 9-12
Sun Free Community Breakfast 9, 23 8a
6 First 12 Video Conference 10:30a
11 Prayer Shawl 1p
11 Administrative Council 6:30p
13 First 12 Meeting 10a
21 Open Mic Night 7p
22 Hundred Nights Dinner 3p
25 Newsletter submissions due
29 Men’s Monthly Breakfast 7:30p
CHURCH FAMILY CELEBRATIONS
Birthdays:
Belle Southwick 2/5
Priscilla Crowe 2/21
Matt Keenan 2/26
Membership Anniversaries:
Arnie Johnson
PUMC BOOK GROUP – February 25th @ 1 PM
The next meeting of the PUMC Book Group will be on Tuesday, February 25th. This month’s read is The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen. Please click the link to get a brief review of the book! https://n.pr/3aZ1tk2
All are welcome to join in the discussion! Stay tuned for the location of the February book group meeting. If you would like to read this month’s book, check out your local library, interlibrary loan, state library download, or on-line purchase sites. Hope to see you at the next book chat!
HUNDRED NIGHTS WEEKEND DINNER – February 22nd
Hearty crockpot stew, green salad, veggies and hummus, cheese and crackers, and cookies to go. That’s a little something for everyone! The next weekend meal for the guests at the Hundred Nights Drop-In Center will be on Saturday, February 22nd. Please think about helping out on this dinner! See the sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the fellowship hall. Many thanks!
DID YOU NOT KNOW?? by Kathleene Card
Luke 2:41-52
41 Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
42 and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.
43 After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
44 Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
45 but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions,
47 and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
50 But they did not understand what he said to them.
51 He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus advanced (in) wisdom and age and favor before God and man.
It is difficult, at times, to imagine that Mary and Joseph traveled for an entire day before missing their son, Jesus. The scripture gives us evidence that they “thought he was in their company” and when “they could not find him” among their relatives, “they went back.” Luke seems to want us to know that this is unusual, that the obedient son of Mary and Joseph, who is entering the first stages of adulthood, will not be content to stay wrapped in the safety of his immediate family.
So, this “pre-teenager,” who we have been told is both fully human and fully divine, is venturing into adult relationships in a way that “astonished” his mother. Honestly, Jesus is displaying characteristics of pre-teens that we know well. They have a sense of curiosity that beckons them away from the familiar and into the unknown. Parents, on the other hand, cannot understand why children want to leave. I think we tend to overlook the ordinary move toward independence that Jesus may have been feeling and we go too quickly into his “divine knowing.” If we can stop long enough to examine the natural curiosity of the pre-adult, we can begin to connect more fully with our own adolescent children. We can be less “astonished” and more responsive. Mary’s initial reply is instinctive. She accuses Jesus of “treating” Joseph and her poorly. She is acting as many mothers would who see their child causing his or her family “to search anxiously.” When Jesus corrects his mother and asks, “Did you not know?” her response is to “treasure all these things in her heart.”
If we believe that God’s intentions for us and for our children are good, we can be less reactive and more proactive—especially within our churches. We are probably no more ready to have our children grow up and enter difficult conversations than Mary and Joseph were. But the “hot” topics are out there, and our children are being challenged to “know” about things that need to be explained in ways they can understand. While no one has the wisdom of Jesus, all need to feel welcomed into God’s house. So, we need to ask, “What is happening in our church community? Are the young people invited to “sit among the teachers listening to them and asking questions?” “Did you not know,” they need to feel welcomed? “Did you not know,” their questions can move our hearts into deeper understandings?
CAMPFIRE CONNECTIONS WITH WANAKEE
February 9th – 5:00 – 7:00 pm
St. John’s UMC – 28 Cataract Ave., Dover, NH 03820
Please join Wanakee leadership for an evening of camp-style fellowship and worship. The evening begins with pizza at 5 pm, followed by worship based in conversation. Sing your favorite fireside songs, discuss relevant topics of faith and spirituality, and share in communion. All are welcome!
PLANS FOR MISSIONS DURING 2020
The Missions Committee met on January 22 to plan activities for the year. First, we plan offerings for the 6 special United Methodist Church Sundays with emphasis on UMCOR (in April), Peace with Justice (in July), and Human Relations Sunday. More on specifics as we progress through the year. We are also considering special offerings for MATS and Shelter from the Storm. We will also continue our regular monthly $25 donation to the River Center helping them support our community.
We look forward to Easter donations of baskets for the children at MATS, Shelter From the Storm, and New Life Home.
Sometime in May we will be doing a fundraiser for our sponsorship of Arun. Hiel missed out on the cupcakes last year, so we may offer them for sale again this year. As summer closes, we will again look for donations for the back-to-school backpacks that we provide. That will be followed by our community outreach opportunity at Peak into Peterborough in October. We also plan to continue our collection of gifts for children at New Life Home during the Christmas season.
The Mission Committee would also like to acknowledge all the work that members of our congregation do in support of our community. We plan to highlight some of these activities in coming newsletters, so look for more information about:
• Friends Forever International
• Habitat for Humanity
• Holiday Stroll Fair Trade Sale
• Hundred Nights Dinners
• MATS and Shelter From the Storm
• Monadnock Hunger Walk
• New Life Home
• River Center Donations
• Sunday Food Offerings Basket
• (Let us know if we missed something!)
Thank you for all your support during 2019 and we look for another great year in 2020. Peace and Blessings to all!
UPPER ROOM
The UMW has in the past provided for the subscription for the Upper Room. Since the UMW has decided to be less active this year, we had a need to provide funds for the subscription. Thanks to generous donations, we received sufficient funds to pay for the subscription. Thanks and blessings to those that donated!
SUNDAY SCHOOL PIZZA NIGHT
Thank you to everyone who came out for the first Sunday School Pizza Night! A huge thank you as well to those who helped in the kitchen by serving, cleaning up, and so much more! It was greatly appreciated. We had an amazing turn-out with 13 children and 10 adults. It was so much fun making our own pizzas, toasting s’mores, singing and socializing! To have the children and families together, getting to know each other more and just enjoying themselves was a gift. We are looking forward to more events like this soon!
PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES
Come one – come all! Pray for someone – be prayed for by someone. Opportunities for prayer abound here at PUMC. Contact Dr Phyllis Porter to sign up for either opportunity.
Prayer Partners
What is the prayer partner program? When you become part of the program, you will receive the name of someone for whom to pray and at the same time someone will receive your name and pray for you. It’s just that simple.
Prayer Chain
We also have a prayer chain. This provides a mechanism for prayer in an acute or crisis situation. If you are a member of the prayer chain you will be contacted and asked to pray for someone or some situation that is of immediate concern. Persons on the prayer chain are expected to call their contacts as soon as possible. To institute the chain call either Phyllis Porter or Pat Woodward and they will activate the chain.
PUMC MEMBERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
If you are searching for a church where you can live daily the joy of faith in Christ, we want you to know that we welcome and desire your membership at Peterborough United Methodist Church.
Fill out the connection card in the pew and give it to the pastor or put it in the offering plate, and you will be contacted.
You may join:
• By confession of faith and baptism
• By transfer from another United Methodist Church
• By transfer from another denomination
• Join without joining – affiliate
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN
The UMW met on January 7th to elect officers and plan the meetings for the year. Officers elected were Susan Lindquist, Secretary and Laura Constantine, Treasurer. A president or co-presidents is still needed.
The Annual Salad Supper is planned for June 2nd and the Christmas meeting is to be held on December 1st with snow dates of Dec 2nd or Dec 8th. Could you host one of these meetings in your home? Please let Susan, Laura, or Carol know if you are willing to be a hostess. A breakfast meeting with the men in late April and a craft night in October are also being investigated.
Exit Bags for MCVP – The bags were first provided for the women and now the need is for exit bags for the children that are impacted by having to leave a domestic violence situation. In February, Susan will be setting up a box in fellowship hall that will have sticky notes with the needed items for the bags. A few more bags need to be sewn. The directions and materials will be available. Your help with this important project is really appreciated.
Carol Owen
Want to contact someone and don’t see their info listed? They should be in the church directory, or contact the church office at 924-4294 or email info@PeterboroughUMC.org and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Everyone is invited to contribute to the newsletter! Send in your thank yous, birthdays, photos, events, testimonials, prayer submissions…
Please submit all materials for the next newsletter (March) to our editors by the LAST TUESDAY, February 25. This is the newsletter that will be released March 1 and cover until Sunday April 5. Send to Melissa French at 924-4294 or email info@PeterboroughUMC.org, with the subject “Newsletter submission.” Thanks!
Want to subscribe? You can email or call the office (above) to get a print copy of the newsletter, or visit https://www.peterboroughumc.org/about_us/contact_us/subscribe/ to get it in your email.
PETERBOROUGH UMC COMMUNICATIONS
In addition to “Beyond the Green Doors,” Peterborough UMC offers the following ways you can keep in touch.
We are at the church. Come visit us, Sunday at 10 am!
We are on the web: http://www.PeterboroughUMC.org
We are on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pumcnh/
This newsletter was compiled by Melissa French. Any concerns with content can be addressed with Reverend Card.