Please enjoy our newsletter for June 2017.
Beyond the Green Doors
The newsletter of the Peterborough United Methodist Church
43 Concord Street, Peterborough, NH
June 2017
STRAIGHT TALK WITH PASTOR LENA
Dear Family and Friends;
And the conversations have begun!
Our “Knowing Our Why” sessions were filled with great conversation, discussion, laughter, explanation and insight. Our perspectives and positions were challenged as we did a little soul searching and perhaps we were even stretched a little. And above all, we dared look into the mirror of reality to answer the question: Does PUMC exists for Pleasure and Preference or do we exist for Purpose and Projection? This is the question we will be focusing on throughout the summer months as we prepare for the second installment of these sessions coming this fall, “Naming Our Why.”
Through the process of these sessions we were able to come up a couple of suggestions to start the ball rolling: 1. If our WHY is “Love” and our HOW is “Nurture, Heal, Care and Serve,” then our WHAT could be the Prayer Shawl ministry Or 2. If our WHY is “Hope” and our HOW is “Spreading the Good News” then our WHAT could be…?
SO! Here is our summer assignment: Let’s grab our pencils, notebooks, and Bibles, and get our Brains in Gear! Let’s spend time in prayer and meditation as we walk through the first part of the Kairos Circle: Observation, Reflection and Discussion in preparation for the Naming Our Why sessions this fall. Above all, let’s keep the conversation going – not just within the four walls of PUMC, but out in our communities! Someday soon, it will be said: “PUMC – It’s What’s Happening: Love is happening; Hope is happening; Healing is happening; Discipleship is happening; and…!” AMEN!
“God WORKETH” indeed!
Pastor Lena
*Extra copies of the workbooks are available upon request or can be downloaded from our website.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
Tue 6 UMW Salad Supper 6p
Fri 9 Funeral Doris Parry 2p
Fri 16 Open Mic Night 7p
Sat 24 Men’s Monthly Breakfast 7:30a
Sun 25 Sizzlin’ Sunday Potluck
Tue 27 Prayer Shawl Group 1p
Wed 28 Newsletter due
Weekly
Sun Worship Service 10a
Sun Adult Bible Class 11:15a
Thu Choir Rehearsal 6:30p
CHURCH FAMILY CELEBRATIONS
Birthdays:
Jeanette Regis Jun 21
Clara Regis Jun 30
Membership Anniversaries:
John and Violet Banks 43 Years
Sandra Banks Proulx 43 Years
Gladys Bugler 3 Years
Karen Dreyer Ravndal 26 Years
Courtney Dunning 20 Years
Ed and Gail Hernandez 3 Years
Nathan Luscombe 20 Years
Michael Robidoux 3 Years
FUNERAL SERVICE HONORING THE LIFE OF DORIS PARRY
We will be holding a funeral service honoring the life of Doris Parry on Friday June 9 at 2 pm at PUMC.
LETTER OF JAMES BIBLE STUDY
Watch for a Late Summer Bible Study on the Letter of James!
In this “how to” book on Christian living, James will challenge you to live a more godly life by putting your faith into action.
While there will be a sign-up to assess interest and availability, the study will be offered on a drop-in basis, expected to begin mid-July.
Short on time? Just show up. The passage under consideration will be read aloud prior to discussion of it.
Prefer to be prepared? Read the passage in advance and think about it during the week; to go a bit further, reread the whole letter (a whopping five pages!) each week.
Desire to dig still deeper? Do some research on the target passage, looking up meanings of words, checking cross references, comparing commentaries and other translations. All of this and more can be done online.
Can’t make every session? Not a problem. Come when you are able. If you haven’t been part of a small study group recently, this is the perfect opportunity to try one. No obligation to continue if you find it isn’t for you.
Reap the rich rewards of digging into God’s Word and applying it to your life!
FIRE SAFE
We keep our membership and trustees files stored in a fire safe cabinet. With the influx of records from Grace we can no longer fit all of our records. We would like to purchase another cabinet, which runs a minimum of $500. We would like to ask for donations to help purchase this item. Please specify “fire proof file” if you would like to put a check in the offering.
PRAYER CORNER
No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved. James 1:13-16, NRSV
“Temptation tests the things we hold dear. If we withhold things from God, those are the lines along which temptation will come.”
— Oswald Chambers, If You Will Ask
Lord, strengthen me with heavenly courage,
that I may fight against pleasures and vanities that harm the soul.
I do not expect or ask that trials and sorrows should cease.
I ask only that, in your strength
I resist the temptation to seek consolation in sin.
For I know that only by clinging to the gospel of righteousness,
and by grasping at your eternal grace,
can I ever experience true and lasting joy.
– Thomas à Kempis, c.1380-1471
SIZZLIN’ SUNDAYS SUMMER BARBECUE & POTLUCK
This summer we will be starting a new fellowship initiative. We will be holding potluck barbecues immediately following hymn-sing worship service on the last Sunday of each month.
On Sizzlin’ Sundays we will still have opening prayer, offering, and testimony time, but the main part of the service will be non-traditional, laid back, and mostly singing.
Please join us on June 25th for our first Sizzlin Sunday.
YOUTH NIGHT
PUMC is starting a youth night. This will be a fun time, but we are seeking munchies, and chaperones. Please contact Pastor Lena if you are interested.
CHURCH FAMILY TREE
We are starting a church family tree. We intend to use this ministry to make food for the sick. If you are interested in coordinating this effort, or being in the phone tree when a need is seen, please contact Melissa French or Pastor Lena.
SUMMER FELLOWSHIP SIGNUP
On the bulletin board near the kitchen is a signup for coffee hour over the summer.
If you sign up you can do as much or as little as you please, from just coffee to giant bowls full of watermelon and tiny happy sandwiches.
You are welcome to sign up as an individual or a committee.
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN RUMMAGE SALE SUCCESS
Many thanks to everyone who pitched in to donate clothing and goods, set up tables, sort and arrange stuff, make and post signage and flyers, bake up goodies, and show up on the day of the sale! It was a great success. The UMW treasury was enriched by $640.25 – more than enough to send our $360 sponsorship fee to World’s Children for Arun Hanamanthu’s annual boarding house and school tuition! The check has been sent, the excess will be decided on at the June meeting of the UMW.
This event was approached with a bit of trepidation, but with the Lord’s help and the many hands of our congregation, it came off very well! Special thanks to Sue Poplin and Karen Keenan for their guidance and organization!
THIS WONDROUS FAITH JOURNEY
Dear God,
In this wondrous FAITH journey,
Thank you for walking with me,
With my always searching Mind,
With my sometimes hurting Heart,
With my sometimes wounded Spirit,
In this always wondrous journey called Life.
A Journey with an open ended destination,.
A journey of Detours, U-Turns, S-turns, and Rest Stops.
A journey down many roads, some smooth, some rough,
Some seemingly impassable through the debris and pot holes,
A journey filled with Your wondrous and beautiful Amazing Grace,
A journey filled with Expectation, Hope, Faith, Love, Joy, and Peace.
A journey with many surprising and wondrous answers to those questions,
A journey with many opportunities to grow in knowledge and understanding.
A journey of becoming who I am to be for You God, for myself, for the world.
A journey to take with You because You care, You understand, You Love.
Your loving promise to walk with me is forever with me in my Heart and my Soul. Thank You.
Lucy Jane Benton
ADULT STUDIES
Dear Church Family,
I want you to know that the Adult Bible Study will resume on Sunday 4 June 2017. We will be studying God’s call that is documented throughout the Bible. Some of those called include: Deborah & Barak, Gideon, Samson, Moses, Ezekiel, and several others. Whether a military leader, prophet, or priestly follower each had his or her challenges to becoming who they were.
Each overcame issues that limited them but gave themselves to God’s call in the final analysis. This should be a moving study as each one of us has felt God’s call at one time or another and responded in a unique way. Hopefully this will renew the feeling of God’s mission for us in our faith journey as we strive to become true disciples of Christ to transform the world.
In addition, I wanted you to know the Covenant Discipleship Group has completed our covenant and are meeting each Wednesday at 6:30 PM in the Red Room Nursery. We do have one more position open if anyone is interested in joining our group. Our goal is to further our life in Christ, providing support to one another, and holding each other accountable to the Covenant to which we have committed ourselves. If you are interested in joining our group or just want to explore the concept just ask me, I have several books on the subject and am happy to loan them out.
Jim Poplin
14 Prayer Shawls off to Cheshire Med in Keene! Thank you to our prayer shawl group for making these lovely gifts. PUMC – Love and Prayer, it’s what’s happening!
BEYOND THE GREEN DOORS
Church leaders should not be the only ones contributing to the newsletter! Send me your birthdays, photos, events, testimonials, prayer submissions…
Please submit all materials for the next newsletter (July) to our editors by the last Wednesday of the month, June 28. This is the newsletter that will be released on Sunday July 2 and cover until Sunday July 30. Send to Melissa French, with the subject “Newsletter submission.” Thanks!
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: http://www.facebook.com/peterboroughunitedmethodist/
This newsletter was compiled by Melissa French. Any concerns with content can be addressed with Pastor Lena.