Upcoming Events

Saturday, August 2

~ VBS Set-Up on 3rd Floor,

9:30-noon

Sunday, August 3

~ Preacher: Rev. Jessie Larkins

~ CYYAF Team will continue VBS

set-up continues after worship &

planning for Fall Back-to-School &

return of students!

Friday, August 8-Sunday 10

~ Vacation Bible School

Sunday, August 10

~ VBS Leads Worship/Scholarships

~ Worship Team Mtg. at 4:00 pm

Tuesday, August 12

~ SPRC Meeting at 6 pm

~ Finance Meeting at 7 pm

Sunday, August 17 ~ Preacher: Rev. Jessie Larkins

~Nurture Meets after Worship

Sunday, August 24

~ Preacher: Rev. Jessie Larkins

~ Blessing for the Backpacks

Tuesday, August 26

~ UMW Meeting at 6 pm

Sunday, August 31

~ Preacher: Rev. Jessie Larkins

~ Welcome Back Luncheon for Stu-

dents on the Lawn After Worship

Asbury United Methodist Church

Senior Pastor: Rev. Jessie Larkins, jlarkins@nccumc.org

Student Associate Pastor: Ms. Sara Bayles, saradbayles@me.com

Minister of Music: Mr. Jeff Hood, jeff.hood@icloud.com

Administrative Assistant: Ms. Marie Phelps, Asbury.umc@frontier.com

Preschool Director: Ms. Nancy Lehman, asburypreschool@ncrrbiz.com

Nursery Attendant: Ms. Felecia Griffin

Custodian: Mr. Tommie McDowell

806 Clarendon Street Durham, NC 27705 www.asburyunitedmethodist.com asbury.umc@frontier.com 919-286-0711

Asbury in Ministry is published monthly. Request an electronic version by sending an email to: Asbury.umc@frontier.com

Growing in grace and thankful for it!

Volume 4, Issue 8, 2014

Asbury in Ministry

Notes From the Pastor My babies are getting a bit too big to rock to sleep at night, but I still remember fondly the nights when they would crawl onto my lap so that I could read and sing to them. One of the CDs that we acquired along the journey of having young children is an album of lullabies that in-cludes a song called Prayer For This Child. The singer-songwriter Sara Groves prayerfully sings over her child in

the song: “Every instinct in me wants to shield him from pain, to take the ar-rows of misery, heartache, and blame. But in the sorrow I’ve learned to hold on: I only have two eyes - be all seeing. I only have two hands -be every-where. I do not know enough - to be all knowing. I give this baby up into Your care.” As a parent, I’ve had to learn that almost every day includes a leap of faith that trusts God will care for my children at all of the times and in all of the places when the resources of my eyes, hands, and head run out. As I prepare to send my baby off to kindergarten in just a few weeks, I’ve had the words of that song floating in my head. I imagine the even greater waves of emotion that must be flooding the hearts of the parents who will soon come to move their children into dorms at NCSSM and Duke. Certainly this is a prayer that they would understand! St. Teresa of Avila was a 16th century Spanish mystic who is perhaps most famous for these words that she penned to the Church:

Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looksCompassion on this world,Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

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Workshop of Wonders VBS Friday August 8, 5:30—8:00 pm Saturday, 9:00 am—3:00 pm Sunday, 9:30 am—Noon (Leading Worship) Ages: 3-12 Invite your friends, family, neighbors to join us for VBS!!

Call the Office to Sign Up

for a Meet and Greet

with Pastor Jessie!

BRING YOUR CHILDREN! Nursery open Sunday Mornings from 9:30 to 12:30 for all children age 4 and under.

Durham Urban Ministries

Prepare and serve breakfast the third Sunday of each

month. Meet at Asbury parking lot 7:30am. Contact Glenn Lozuke, GLozuke@aol.com

8/17: Want to serve? Ministry team members needed!

Work in the food pantry the first Tuesday of each month

9:30-11 am. Please contact the church office if you would like

to serve at the pantry. See above.

8/5: Cookie Bell, Mary Radford, Dan Shaw, Judy Morris

Donate canned & non-perishable food items, socks, &

men’s clothing to Urban Ministries. Asbury collects items

during office hours and the third Sunday of each month. We

collected 45.6 lbs of food and 1.1 lbs. of hygiene items

in July. Keep up the good work.

Ronald McDonald Room @ Duke Med

Provide comfort & care to patients and families with the

ministry of presence. Keep the room stocked every Monday evening. Contact Debra Hinton:

Debra@insuranacecenterofdurham.com

8/4: Bobby & Jackie

Wingate

8/11: Sonny & Judy

Morris

8/18: Bob & Debra Hinton

8/25: Jim Force & Chris

Boyer

9/1 Joe & Claire Boykin

Mug Ministry

Donate candy or other small gifts to fill the mugs given to

first-time visitors every Sunday. Please bring donations to

the Ralph Mitchell Class Room.

United Methodist Women

Asbury’s UMW has a strong tradition of mission. Come to

their meetings on the 4th Tuesday of every odd month. Contact

Debra Hinton: Debra@insurancecenterofdurham.com

(UMW will meet on Tuesday, August 26 at 6 pm!)

Lay Readers

8/3: Denise Glymph

8/10: Fran Boyd

8:17: Clarence Hill

8:24: Don Utley

8: 31: Mary Lou

Johnson

Nursery Parents

8/3: Chris Boyer

8/10: Julie McCray

8:17: Mary Radford

8:24: Judy Morris

8: 31: Gail Johnson

Media System

8/3: Max Elkins

8/10: Max Elkins

8:17: David Radford

8:24: Kyle Vipperman

8: 31: Kyle Vipperman

Acolyte

Ethan Lozuke

Greeters

8/3: Mary Radford & Evelyn Ham

8/10: Denise Glymph & Judy Morris

8:17: Claire Boykin & Mary Radford

8:24: Bill & Julie McCray

8: 31: Sonny & Judy Morris

Ushers

8/3: Glenn & Ethan Lozuke, Bill

McCray, Clarence Hill, Todd

Herrington, Bobby Wingate

8/10: Jimmy Pulley, Don Utley,

Joe Boykin, Sonny Morris, Steve

Miller, LC Meachum

8:17: Willena Warren, Evelyn Ham,

Denise Glymph, Ginger Mann,

Margaret Averett, Sharon Ellison

8:24: Grover Glymph, Bobby

Wingate, Sonny Morris, Joe

Hemmerle, Don Utley, Jimmy Pulley

8: 31: Anne Hemmerle, Cookie Bell,

Claire Boykin Virginia Lozuke, Evelyn

Ham, Ginger Mann

MISSION

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES Sunday 9:45 AM

Study Opportunities: Marvin Reep SS:

“God Was Here and I Was Out to Lunch”

Ralph Mitchell SS Classes: “If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat”

Intergenerational Class: “Forgiven”

YOUTH/CHILDREN SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES:

Sunday 9:45 AM

Elementary Age and Youth: Come for the time of fellowship, study, and ministry! We are currently meeting on the 3rd floor of the Education Building.

Prayer List: Sarah James, Janie Lampley, Jean Vickers, Doris McAdams, Clara Bobbitt, Alda Chalmers, Mandy Lanier, Marie Robeson, Arnetta Herrington, Homer Riley, Janice Beeson, Margaret Grady, Campsa Dotson, Nathan Gattis, Jane Dailey, John Hood, Mary Ann Beck, Ira Slater, Debora Estreet, Wallace Beeson, Richard Owen, Nancy Williams, Al & Idia Piacentini, & unspoken

CHANCEL CHOIR

Every Wednesday night choir

practice at 7—8:30 pm.

WORSHIP CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Hello friends! It’s good to be back at Asbury! Many of you will ask me “How was your summer?” My summer was a wonderful time of learning and serving but I’m ready and excited to be back in Durham. I am especially looking forward to this next year of ministry together! August at Asbury is always an exciting time of Vacation Bible School and back to school happenings. During this month I invite you to join my in praying for the students in and around our church and com-

munity. We have several students in our congregation that are heading back to school, as well as the children in the Asbury Preschool Family, the students across the street at Duke that will move in mid-August, and just a few blocks away from our church students at EK Powe, the North Carolina School of Science and Math, and Durham School of the Arts. Let us be in prayer for all the students, teachers, and school personnel in our community that are beginning a new and exciting adventure. God’s grace be with you,

Sara Bayles

August 24, 11:00 Worship Children and Youth, bring your backpacks forward for the Children's Message and let us pray for you as you begin a new school year!

WELCOME BACK STUDENTS LUNCHEON ON THE LAWN!

Following worship on August 31, we will have simple sandwiches, games, and fellowship on the lawn and play-ground. Students from the Duke Wesley Fellowship will join us in worship that morning and students from Duke and NCSSM will be invited to come worship with us and experience the fellowship and love of Asbury Church. Please plan on staying after worship to grab a bite to eat, to meet and greet with students, toss a round of cornhole, let your kids play on the playground, and let Durham see the life that is happening at Asbury!

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One of the great mysteries of our faith is that very often the way that God answers the prayers of parents for their children is through the Church. Where my hands, and eyes, and knowledge run out, there stands a body of folks who will love my children with the love and care of Christ, and who have promised to nurture them towards healthy discipleship as adults. When one local congregation made baptismal promises of love and care over my children and welcomed them into the Body of Christ, they were making that promise on behalf of the entire Body of Christ in the world. In less than one month, within a mile radius of our church building, there will be upwards of 3000 students liv-ing and attending schools in our neighborhood on a daily basis. As a church planted in a community of students we are invited to consider how God might be calling His body to be hands, feet, eyes, and heads for these young people and their parents. Many of these children who are far away from home have had baptismal promises made over them and now that responsibility to love, care, and nurture their discipleship comes to us. For many students who have never experienced a community of grace, our engagement in their lives through hospitality and other forms of outreach might be a first opportunity to know the love of Christ. In this newsletter you’ll find a few examples of where and how we are working to engage the children and students in our midst. I invite you to pray for our Vaca-tion Bible School, for the mission to children that the VBS will undertake, for all students starting school, and for the new students to our community this fall. I also hope that you’ll be in prayer for our congregation to become a peo-ple so faithful to its calling that God would trust the children, youth, young adults and families of our community to our care. Blessed to be in service with you,

Pastor Jessie