Christ United Methodist Church

Christ Evangel

Registration will open March 1st

for Vacation Bible School

2019—To Mars and Beyond!

Our amazing space adventures

will take place from July 15-19th.

There are two separate times to

choose from: a daytime (9am-Noon) and an evening (6:00-8:30pm) option.

VBS is open to children from age 4 (by September 1, 2019) through 6th grade and includes daily

snacks, crafts, science, games, songs, Bible stories and more! Sign up online at

www.cumclansdale.org.

There are still many spots to serve! Volunteers can also register online or email Pastor Tawny

(tawny.bernhardt@cumclansdale.org) to get more information!

Volume 55, Issue 3

Pastor’s

Message

2

Mission of the

Month

3

Church Camp 3

Upcoming

Events

4-5

Announcements 6

Volunteers 8

Gift Cards Insert

Finance 7

Inside This Issue

3– Caring Committee Tea

4– Retirement Living 101

10– Daylight Saving Time Begins

11– Deborah Circle

13– Men’s Breakfast Group

14– Blood Drive

14– Board of Trustees Meeting

14– Welcome Team Meeting

18– Supportive Living Options

19– Evening Fellowship

19– Finance Committee Meeting

20– Friendly Seniors

20– Endowment Committee Meeting

21– Cooking for Manna

21– Care Ministers Meeting

22– Caregivers’ Coffee

25– Books Between Friends

27– Abington Adult Day Worship

28– Stitching Sisters

28– Susannah Wesley Circle

31– Mission Committee Meeting

Calendar Highlights

2

Hymns of the Cross This month, we begin the season of Lent; a time of remembrance of Christ’s suffering and death, and of spiritual inventory and repentance in preparation for Easter. The theme of our Sunday worship experiences this year will be “Hymns of the Cross.”

Our faith has been shaped by the hymns we have sung across our lives. Hymns have reinforced our beliefs. Hymns have connected us with God’s presence. Hymns have inspired our actions. Hymns have united us with one another.

Our hymn book, and the supplements, contain many hymns about the cross and Jesus’ suffering and death. Each of the sermons across the season of Lent will feature one of those hymns of the cross. All three of the pastors, the director of music ministry, and the organist, have each picked one of their favorites and will present a Sunday morning message inspired by that hymn. Senior Sunday also falls in Lent and two of our seniors will be sharing their favorite hymns and what it means to them as well.

This promises to be an interesting and inspiring time as you get to hear some voices you do not usually hear from the pulpit and learn a little about the faith experiences of some of the rest of the staff.

Maybe you would like to use hymns this season, yourself, as part of a daily time of devotion. Reflecting on the texts, praying the words, asking God for an application of the message in your life , could be an enriching part of your preparation for Holy Week.

-Gary Nicholson

Has one of your pew "neighbors" not been in church for a few

weeks? Maybe you know that they are off to Florida for the winter, or doing some other traveling. If you don't know, have you reached out,

via e-mail or phone, or a note? There's something special about being missed-and remembered.

3

Mission of the Month: Flood Buckets Our March MOTM is to collect funds to purchase supplies for flood buckets.

If last year is any example, the weather caused many natural disasters-flooding, mudslides, and

forest fires. To get a jump on this, the Mission Committee wants to be

pro-active and assemble flood buckets filled to the brim with cleaning

supplies. This list of supplies is very specific such as one five gallon round

bucket with a re-sealable lid or one 16-40 ounce bottle of liquid

concentrate household cleaner. With your donations, we will purchase

the needed supplies and then assemble the buckets. There is a UMCOR

warehouse in Allentown which is a collection site and we will take the

assembled buckets there for distribution when needed. Our prayer is that this year is one of

beautiful weather, but, just in case... The mission committee thanks you all for your generous

support of our mission of the month.

Are you making summer plans yet? Your pastors

hope you will look at how summer camp might fit

into your plans for your children and youth.

Camp is an amazing opportunity to get outside,

unplug from technology, learn social skills, and

grow more independent. But more than all of that,

we want them to experience Christ in a personal

way. Camp isn’t just for children. There are weeks for kids up through graduation! Did you know that

a week at church camp is equal to a year in Sunday school?! Church camp is such a transforming

experience! If you don’t have camp-age kids of your own, talk to your neighbors, grandchildren, nieces

and nephews!

With 4 camps in our conference, you will certainly find a program and a week that fits your busy

schedule! Camp scholarships, covering 50% of the cost, are available for any child who needs it. And

because children are often nervous about going alone, we will also give scholarships to their friends to

help make it affordable for their families too!

Pick up a brochure in the lobby or go online to find out more information today!

Camp Innabah: https://www.innabah.org/ Carson Simpson Farm: http://www.csfarm.org/

Gretna Glen: http://www.gretnaglen.org/ Pocono Plateau: http://www.poconoplateau.org/

You can also get involved by giving to the church scholarship fund. Simply write the check to Christ

UMC and put “camp scholarship” in the memo line. You can volunteer to serve as a camp counselor or

go during the off season and help prepare the camp for its many guests! If you are interested in a

scholarship, please contact the church office.

4

Look What’s Been Happening!

Join Us! Are you a caregiver for a

family member, friend or

neighbor? Join us on

March 29th as we share

our experiences. We

meet in the church

lounge on the fourth

Friday of each month at 11am.

On Monday, March 11, Deborah Circle

will meet at the church (11:15am) and go

to Mitzvah Circle (Gehman Rd.,

Harleysville). Bring your lunch. We will

eat there then have a presentation of the

work they do. We will then sort, organize

and pack items which will be distributed

to the needy. We will leave at 1:30pm and

return to the church.

You are invited to join our Friendly

Seniors for lunch, at West Main Diner,

on Wed., March 20, at 11:30am.

Following lunch, we will go to Ice

Concepts in Hatfield. Kevin and his

staff will show us how they make

crystal clear ice and the tools used to

carve beautiful sculptures, out of 300lb

blocks of ice, for weddings and

festivals. Please sign-up in the lobby or

contact Joanne Montana (215-361-

8536).

Note: Wear a warm coat and sturdy

shoes.

The Youth Spaghetti Dinner was a huge

success, bringing in just over $3,000 profit.

Thank you to everyone who helped in this

annual fundraiser for youth missions.

Thank you to our team from Peaceful Living for

volunteering their time to help us with our

children’s bulletin boards!

5

A Matter of Balance

The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services will be conducting a program for us here at church-it's called A Matter of Balance.

Our sessions will run on Mondays, from April 1st through May 20th, 1:30-3:30pm. This is an evidence based program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase physical strength and self-efficacy in adults 55+. Participants learn to view falls as controllable and how to change their environment to reduce fall risks.

This is a mix of light exercises (after the second week), conversation, and problem solving.

If you'd like to join us, please sign up at the kiosk in the lobby.

Join Us!

All women are welcome to attend our meetings. If you are not on our email list, and would like to be included, please send your contact information to Nadene Stauffer (nstauffer@verizon.net) or Suzanne Williams (slwmusic@hotmail.com).

Diapers all sizes

Wipes (non scented)

Onesies

Jackets/coats

Socks

Hats

Shoes

Bibs

Receiving blankets

Crib sheets

Shampoo

Powder

Lotion

Bottles

Pacifiers

Baby toys

Clothing for ages preemie through 18 months for boys and girls - all seasons

The Susannah Wesley Circle will meet Thursday evening, March 28, at 7:00 in Fellowship Hall. This month we will focus on Liberty Ministries, learning more about this special program for incarcerated women. Our mission for the meeting will be to collect items for the infants of the inmates. Please consider purchasing one or more of the items from the following list, and bring it with you to the meeting:

The Annual Lancaster Bus Trip has been scheduled for

Saturday, May 4. Details of the trip can be found on

information sheets, behind the sign-up, in the lobby.

6

Announcements

Endowment Committee Funding Available The Endowment Committee is excited to announce that income from our investments will allow us to fund projects again in 2019. This year the total funds available will be $750. The Committee is currently accepting proposals for project funding. The projects may be for anything in the church and our community that is NOT included in the current year’s budget. An electronic copy of the funding proposal form is online, under the Endowment tab, on the church website. It is preferable that the proposals be submitted utilizing the online tool, although they may be submitted in paper form by downloading and completing the form and submitting it to the Endowment Committee. Proposals will be accepted through April 14th and decision on project funding will be announced by the end of June.

Haws Avenue UMC Invites You! Friday, April 5th, will be the launch of “Jazz at Haws,” a concert beginning at 6:30 pm. Enjoy an evening of jazz interpretations of Great American Songbook composer Cole Porter, performed by concert pianist, Robert Prester, and jazz singer, Adrinana Samargia Prester.

A free will offering will be collected.

Save the Date for Deborah Circle’s Annual Indoor Yard Sale on

Saturday, April 6, 9am-2pm, in Fellowship Hall. To rent an 8ft. table

($15) contact Gloria Woodland (215) 368-2373. Note—This year,

Deborah Circle will not be taking donations to sell.

Cancer—Now What? is a comprehensive how-to guide that helps cancer patients and their loved ones navigate the medical, emotional, relational, and spiritual challenges of cancer. If you are in need of this type of resource, you can borrow it from the library (which is now located in the lounge.)

Your Care Ministers have added this Book to our Church Library ...

7

Finance

Dear Members and Friends of CUMC,

Shown above is our church financial report for the month of January 2019. Operating Budget

receipts of $40,153 in January fell short of our expenses of $42,975 resulting in a loss of (-$2,832) for

the month. The Mortgage Fund has also fallen short of our mortgage payments by (-$743). Not

included in the above summary report is $6,978 that was received in January for the Encountering

Christ Capital Campaign. The Capital Campaign receipts received since the beginning of the

campaign now total $593,287 or 84.5% of our original three year commitments of $702,380. Also,

not shown above is $4,069 received in January for the Mission-of-the-Month projects. Thank you

for your continuing financial support of our church ministries, missions, programs, and the

Encountering Christ Capital Campaign.

Judi Plummer – Chairperson, Finance Committee

8

March Volunteers

Lay Readers

8:30am 11:00am

3 Anna Shelton

10 Carolyn Bieler

17 Suzanne Williams Deb Scott

24 Terence Hamill Judy Yoder

31 Jill Benchouk Pam Nicholson

Ushers

8:30am Jim Hare, Tony Trifiletti, Jeff Baer, Mark Stauffer,

John Sullivan, and Sharon Moran.

11:00am Greg Plummer, Glenn McCrea, Janis Harrison, Tom

Harrison, Jack Ripley, Dana Ripley, Krystyna Supplee, and Mark

Supplee.

Captain: Phil Woodruff

Sound Technicians

8:30am 11:00am

3 Bill Schaefer Andrew Guenther

10 Steve Fallows Nick Hill

17 Chet Coupe Erich Greiner

24 Ryan Fealy Steph Shuey

31 Bill Schaefer Eric Ohlson

Greeters

8:30am 11:00am

3 Fred &Carol Wynne

10 Carolyn and Dennis Bieler Bob & Barb Tibbits

17 Suzanne Williams/Marge Kramer Flo Kalin/Virginia Hare

24 Fred &Carol Wynne

31 Gerald Weber Nancy Shane

Flowers

3 Blissman Family/ Allison King

10 Nancy Albacker/

17

24 Greg & Judi Plummer/

31

Nursery Volunteers

8:30 9:45 11:00

3 Wendy Clemmer and Sue Weir Carolyn Hadka Hillary McCartney/Paul Bernhardt

10 Liz Zearfoss and B./E. Geesaman Yoshimi Weir Diane Bresser/Alice Neil

17 Kristi Weatherwax and Carolyn Bieler Alicia Sehn Anne Marie Legates/Jan Sawicki

24 Anna Shelton and Jill Benchouk Becky Wagner Julie Arnold/Raquel Prusak

31 Iain Campbell Hillary McCartney Kathy Ellis/Brian Hadka

Reichley Class

Teacher Worship Leader

3 Frieda Bailey Barb Tibbits

10 Marge Kramer Frank Ross

17 Jan Sawicki Bob Tibbits

24 Tom Harrison Barb Tibbits

31 Richard Weand

Circuit Kids

3 Anne Marie Legates/Dana Ripley

10 Kathy Barlick/Paul & Micha Kohl

17 Tina Hooper/Janellen Reid

24 Jean Davis/ Sarah Hamill

31 Nancy Kralik/Dana Ripley