THE CLARION JUNE 2018 CLARE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Making Disciples of Jesus by Helping People Know God Grow in Faith and Share Godrsquos Love

family camp

Highway Cleanup Do you have a passion for Godrsquos green earth Do you like to see it clean and natural Do you cringe when you see so much trash alongside the road Then you may just be the right person to organize our Highway Cleanup program Our long time organizers Dr amp Mrs Bremer are moving out of the area and are no longer able to organize the cleanup of 2 miles of US 127 just north of Clare If you are interested please let the office know

CLARE UMC STAFF AND SCHEDULE

Pastor Pastor John G Kasper pastorjohnclareumcorg

Office Manager Judy M Bailey jbaileyclareumcorg

Youth Director Rachel MacGregor rdpotter89gmailcom

Organist(815) LuAnne Humphrey Pianist Christian Clark

Choir Director amp Childrens Choir Director Tracy Lubs

Clare UMC Preschool and Child Care Center Director Melonie Kingsbury

MAmkingsburyclareumcorg phone 989-386-4815 Church Office Hours

Church Office phone 386-2591 930-noon amp 1-400 pm

Monday ndash Friday Worship Services 815 amp 1100 Impact Zone(Sunday School)

915 AM Adult Sunday School 930 AM

Sept ndash May MISS A MESSAGE Want to ldquohearrdquo it again Would like to share it with a friend Manuscripts of Sunday messages are now available on our website wwwclareumcorg Messages will be posted by Wednesday following the Sunday it was given and will be available 4 months following

A BIG THANK YOU To Sharon and Duffy Doxtader for your very generous donation of a new computer for the Preschool amp Child Care Center and almost every Sunday the early service participants enjoy Coffee Hour with delicious food provided by you Whenever someone needs help you are at the head of the line God bless you for your faith and your service

Plan To Attend

This Service Of

Dedication And

Consecration for

Our New Preschool

And Child Care

Center

With our own

Bishop David Bard

God has blessed us with a beautiful very usable new preschool and childcare

center We will consecrate this new facility to the Glory of God and dedicate its use to the care and instruction of our little ones on Saturday June 23 at 2 orsquoclock in the afternoon The service will take place in the parking lot on Pine Street If weather does not permit it will take place in the worship center Bishop David Bard will attend and participate Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this service of dedication amp consecration

BBBB Begins June 6 2018 at 830 This mean B reakfast B ible at B ig B oy All are welcome We follow the Upper Room for Wednesdays Which provides study questions as we enjoy breakfast All of you ladies are welcome to join us More information contact Darlyn Turner 386-3704 or Jeanne Shelander 386-2063

CELEBRATING GRADUATES IN OUR

CHURCH FAMILY

On Sunday May 20th

we celebrated those

Graduates that are a part of our church

Family

Those Graduating Preschool Paul Bailey William Klenke

Those Graduating High School

Madison Walter daughter of Jim amp Terri Walter (Clare)

Peyton Hubel amp Cami Miller granddaughters of Dexter amp Judy Hubel

Jack Moore grandson of Colene Moore(Clare)

Austin Shurlow grandson of Wilma Phillips-Shurlow

(Beaver Creek Ohio)

Those Graduating College

Melonie E Kingsbury [CMU Early Education amp Master of Arts]

Nick Montini[Michigan State Degree in Finance]

(grandson of Robert amp Carolyn Musser)

CHURCH FAMILY CAMP AT

CAMP LIVING WATERS JUNE 17-22

Join us for

Visitorrsquos Day on

June 20th

Dinner will be at

6 pm

Come join the

fun

A wise personrsquos heart makes his speech wise and it adds persuasiveness to his words

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the bones Proverbs 1623-24

New English Version

You know some of the songs and sayings of our childhood when you really think about them can leave you scratching your head In

fact they can actually be a little misleading and even disturbing For example we have all heard the childhood saying ldquoSticks and

stones may break my bones but words will never hurt merdquo I donrsquot know about your experience but that has not been true for me I

think that should say ldquosticks and stones may break my bones but words can shatter my soulrdquo

Our words have incredible power Every one of us could go back to significant moments in our lives when somebodyrsquos words deeply

inspired and breathed life into us We can also go back to other moments where somebodyrsquos words have deeply cut and wounded

us The words in our past echo in our present and they continue to shape our lives today And the words that we speak to others shape

their lives

Your words canhellip Affirm and encourage hellip Divide a family hellip Build someonersquos self-esteem hellip Tear down a personrsquos self-esteem hellip

Work people into a frenzy hellip Disrupt unity hellip Bring comfort hellip Create panic hellip Express love hellip Incite violence hellip Inspire confidence

hellip Spread mistrust hellip Communicate value hellip Destroy reputations hellip Resolve conflict hellip Wound deeply hellip Bring healing

King Solomon wrote ldquoThe tongue has the power of life and deathrdquo (Proverbs 182) Letrsquos let Godrsquos word give us some practical

encouragement for using our words wisely

1 Use words to bless and speak life into others

ldquoKind words are like honeymdashsweet to the soul and healthy for the bodyrdquo (Proverbs 1624) Itrsquos about sensitivity and love and kindness

ldquoWorry weighs a person down an encouraging word cheers a person uprdquo (Proverbs 1225)

Recently I was on a pastorrsquos retreat with a good mixture of older and younger colleagues At the end of the retreat one of the young

guys about 30 looked at one of the older guys in his early 60rsquos and said ldquoYour words of affirmation have meant more than I can tell

you I so wish I had that when I was growing uprdquo ldquoAt the baptism of Jesus a voice out of heaven came and saidhellip This is my dearly

loved son who brings me great joyhelliprdquo (Matthew 317)

When we speak words of blessing we need to be as specific as possible Here are some ways that you could speak blessing to people

A birthday card hellip A hand written note hellip An encouraging e-mail hellip Face to face conversation hellip A text message with a

short prayer

2 Learn the art of good delivery

In baseball what is the difference between a good pitcher and a great pitcher DELIVERY To use another analogy the most

dangerous part of any airplane flight is the landing And just before the airplane lands they will talk about the plane being ldquoon

approachrdquo The approach is critical for a successful landing Our approach with words is critical to successful relationships

ldquoWords satisfy the soul as food satisfies the stomach the right words on a persons lips bring satisfactionrdquo (Proverbs 1820)

Especially when we are engaging a courageous conversation or resolving conflict our words matter even more Our tone and the kinds

of words we use make all the difference in whether we put people on the defensive or we create openness for a meaningful

conversation

Irsquove begun learning 3 phrases that I think are helpful to have a courageous conversation

ldquoLet me share with you what I am observingrdquo That statement isnrsquot accusatory or condemning Itrsquos simply sharing

observations about the situation

ldquoHerersquos my concernrdquo This is simply sharing personal concerns about the situation

ldquoCan you help me understandrdquo This statement acknowledges that you may not have the whole picture And it invites the

other personrsquos perspective

Proverbs 2515 really is a verse about the art of good delivery ldquoPatience can persuade a prince and soft speech can crush strong

oppositionrdquo

I know I need to work at being clear and still ldquosoftrdquo in my communication How about you

Letrsquos be lavish with words of blessing and affirmation and work hard on the art of good delivery What we say matters but ldquohowrdquo we

say it matters just as much

With you on the Journey

Pastor John

Out Live Your Life Between Easter and Ascension we have learned that Jesusrsquo Answer to the questions of life is the restoration made possible through

the death and resurrection of Jesus Jesus is the Answer Now it is our turn At Pentecost the Church was empowered to take Jesusrsquo

Answer to the world To accomplish that we should take a lesson from the first church and Out Live Our Life

Out Live Your Life

June 3 Annual Conference Weekend Guest Speaker

June 10 Communion Sunday ldquoBring the Breadrdquo ndash Acts 222-37

June 17 Fatherrsquos Day ldquoStand Up for the Run Downrdquo ndash Acts 61-7

June 24 ldquoThe Mission Field across the Tracksrdquo ndash Acts 8

July 1 Communion Sunday ldquoPray First Pray Mostrdquo ndash Acts 121-19

Vital Church Initiative Update

Many in our church have been busy putting some of the prescriptions we were given into place so that we

can be ever more vital in Making Disciples of Jesus by Helping People Know God Grow in Faith and Share

Godrsquos Love

We have made progress on transforming the Welcome Center into an Information Station A Sign-up Station with Mother

Hubbardrsquos Cupboard underneath is being constructed

A Workshop on Conflict Transformation Skills is being scheduled for early September with Rev Melanie Carey leading the

training

The Administration Team Staff Parish Relations Committee amp the Vision Influence Team are reading the book Congregational

Leadership in Anxious Times and will discuss each section at coming meetings

The Communication Temp Team is being organized to review all non-electronic communication and will be reviewing other

churchrsquos bulletins and newsletters and so forth to ldquobetter uprdquo ours An Electronics Communication Team is being organized to review

and oversee our electronic communications ndash email website Facebook etc

The Connection Team is organized and reading the book Fusion to better connect with our guests

The Worship Design Team will be looking at other churchesrsquo worship orders and how they design worship over summer More

frequent meetings to review our worship experience will begin in September

The Administrative Team is preparing to review and help assimilate our mission vision and core values into the life of the

church

Please pray for your church leadership as they lead us in this transformation process

ldquoMOTHER HUBBARDrsquoS CUPBOARDrdquo WE WILL BE COLLECTING IN JUNE

SNACK CRACKERS Animal Crackers Graham Crackers Cheese Crackers Wheat Crackers

For our Preschool and Child Care Center

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE DONATIONS YOU HAVE GIVEN IN THE PAST IT IS VERY HELPFUL AND APPRECIATED

1 Larry Wyman Jr 23 Lucas Bongard 2 Carolyn Bradley Riley Crawford Braden Johnson Karen David 3 Robin Humphrey Janet Hicks 4 Jean Williams 29 Kay Moser John Miller Deb Gloss Lois Lippold Ruth Owens 5 Carey Wyman Macy Tyler 6 George Bradley Liam Gallagher 7 Bruce Dingwall Caleb Kasper Bailey Hubel Eddie Hubel Mike Moline Mabel Krause 8 Ty Turner Myrna Smith 11 Karen Moore 13 James Brown 14 Barb Dingwall Lyndsey Koch Lucy Monzo 15 Bobbie Schunk Hannah McNeill Eleanor (Ellie)Brown Jeffrey Brown 16 Bill Droomer Phyllis Shields Mitchell Hilyard 18 John Koch Larry Seiter 19 Tricia Moore 20 Alisha Anderson Jennifer Krause Lindsey Hopkins Marcia Wyman Denny Tucker 21 Darlene Schunk 22 Suzanne Bailey David Teall Ryan Willman

Thank you Dear Church family Thank you so much for the Birthday Party and all the lovely Birthday cards Irsquom still getting them in the mail Thank you for thinking of me I also want to thank you for the many hugs and congratulations that I received last Sunday during the Coffee Hour I also want to thank my daughter Cathy Frederick for planning the whole party Thanks again church family for all the help Blessings for our church Donna Heckman Dear church family We would like to thank you for all your prayers cards and the beautiful flowers The flowers were my motherrsquos favorite color Thank you so much The family of Shirley Burns thanks you all for your kind expressions Cindy amp Jim Lutocki Randy amp Cyhthia Burns Jeff and the late Penny Burns Bill amp Chris Burns Dear church family I am overwhelmed by all the love you have shown me My precious girls put on a wonderful ldquoSurprise Birthday Partyrdquo and it was quite a surprise I thought I was going to my grandsonrsquos party Wow It was wonderful to see how many people came It was so nice to have all of you come and help me celebrate turning ldquo60rdquo Thank you so much for helping me celebrate and making me feel so SPECIAL Thank you to my 4 beautiful loving girls Jennifer Seibt Stephanie Brown Suzanne Bailey and Jackie Betzer and each and every one of you that attended I also want to thank-you for the many gorgeous birthday cards (Irsquom still getting cards thatrsquos awesome)lovely gifts birthday wishes and the turning 60 advice God Bless you all Judy Bailey

Our church is hosting Chrysalis in July Chrysalis is a three day retreat for teenagers to strengthen their faith and help them learn leadership skills On Saturday June 23rd the people involved will be at our church for training and seeing how our church is set up The girls Chrysalis is July 13 - 15 with adults arriving Thursday afternoon July 12th to prepare The boys Chrysalis is July 27 - 29 with adults arriving Thursday afternoon July 16th to set up Both the Education building and the main building will be utilized although Sunday services will be held as normal During these weekends there will be people in and out of both buildings all times of the day and night (there will be people sleeping in both buildings) Please keep the young people who will be coming to participate in your prayers If you have any questions please feel free to contact Karen Mater

United M ethodist Womens Assembly

Every four years the global organization of the United Methodist Women assemble as a group to worship to study to acquire current information on social issues and to share loving woman-ship As this assembly first was held in Columbus Ohio and as UMW is celebrating 150 years as an organization the event once again returned to Columbus Ohio on May 17 18 19 and 20 2018 Over 5000 women came together from all over the United States and all over the world Using the theme The Power of Bold Mary the mother of Jesus was shown to be a BOLD woman when she accepted her situation to give birth to Jesus Mary was a BOLD woman again when she asked her son to take care of a shortage of wine at a wedding So were speakers Leymah Gbowee Michele Alexander and Marian Wright Edelman when they describe the Mass Incarnation and Crimination on women Other highlights included the ordination of United Methodist deaconess and home missioners the dance performance from the Korean Methodist Women the speeches of the nine women Methodist bishops Two buses took 88 Michigan United Methodist women to Columbus Ohio These are BOLD women who want to make our world a better place

A Rummage Sale Extraordinary The annual spring rummage sale held this year May 10 11 12 was a sight to behold Many of you must have really accomplished a super Spring Cleaning at your home as the church basement was FULLSo full we were forced to open an extra room to hold the items Our revenues were much higher than in past years A total of

$251110 was received These funds will be used for UMW missions both local national and global United Methodist Women are called to support mission work where it is needed

NOW ONE LAST LITTLE THING There were a few items left over 128527128527128527 The

plan is to donate these to the His Helping Hands (formerly Love Inc) annual rummage sale held at Browns Corners Church June 25 thru 29 We will be delivering on Mon June 25 if you would like to help Call Jeanne 386-2063 Fall rummage saleOctober 11 12 13

The Conference of the UMW will offer the opportunity for spiritual growth and global study at Mission u This three day event will be held at Albion College July 19 20 21 for a cost of$20000 Some financial help is available For more information contact DARLYN or Jeanne

continuedhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip

There are no scheduled UMW meetings for June July and August However there are some possible field trips in the works Some of these

included Cross in the Woods at Indian River Heifer Village at Howe Shipshewana in IN the Hosta Garden in Tustin and Colleens new home in Grand Ledge For more information call DARLYN

Organizing Mission Endeavors Is Not A Job For The Clare United Methodist Women It Is A CALLING When Pastor John asked for help in organizing our congregation to collect the items needed in the Human Dignity Kits the UMW stepped right in These Human Dignity Kits are one of many that the MidWest Distribution Center in

IL provides for disaster victims all over the world This year the Michigan Conference is asking all churches to bring these kits to Annual Conference in June at Traverse City During the last month Clare church members very generously contributed the seven items or money needed in these kits A total of around forty kits were collected On Sunday May 26 during worship service these kits were blessed that they may provide comfort to those in need

Funeral Dinners Providing a funeral dinner has been a very long time endeavor of the Clare United Methodist Church The funeral dinner can be a healing time for the family and friends of the deceased Many times the family and the

deceased have been involved in activities of CUMC for many years however occasionally the family of the deceased had no church affiliation and CUMC steps in to provide that comfort Coordinating these dinners are the Clare United Methodist Women As of June first there have been seven funeral dinners provided Help is always welcomedfrom men and women If you are being lead by the Holy Spirit to provide your services contact DARLYN or the church office

If you would like to car pool contact

Jeanne Shelander 386-2063

Preschool and Child Care Center Building Update

Written by Team Building Member Steven Kingsbury Over the few months we have taken a vacant piece of property and converted into a wonderful facility to house our Churchrsquos Preschool and Child Care Ministry During the past two weeks we have received

final approvals from the Electrical Inspector the Plumbing Inspector the HVACMechanical Inspector and the State Boiler Inspector Next week the State Fire Marshall the State Health Department and the State Preschool and Child Care Licensing Division will complete their inspections which we anticipate based upon preliminary reviews will proceed without issue or concern In just 9 short months our Church has accomplished a lot and within the next couple of weeks all of the hard work obedience sacrifice generosity and commitment will be rewarded with the opening of the new facility that will ministry to families for generations to come

We still have a few things to complete Bill Stanley will be completing the final paint touch up our builder will be completing the installation of the door closers for the required one-hour fire rated steel doors along with a couple of other tasks our HVAC contractor will be completing the installation of the air conditioning units and our masonry contractor will be completing the pouring and finishing of the cement porch and sidewalk on the north side of the building We have also been blessed with the donation of a complete cleaning of the building during the first week of June which if all goes as planned will be just before the opening of the new facility

There a number of tasks that remain that need to be completed which if you are interested in helping with we would truly appreciate your assistance These remaining tasks includehellip

Installing door stops to protect the walls and the door hardware

Painting the wall that encloses the sewage lift station in the basement bathroom

Installing the screens on the main floor windows

Helping clean up the parking lot and

Helping with the child friendly landscaping of the grounds As recently as Tuesday (May 29

th) we had a few other jobs that needed to be completed (installation of the coat hooks in

the Preschool cubbies varnishing of the cubbies installation of the remaining hand soap dispensers hand towel dispensers and toilet paper hangers) but a member of our Church family has already volunteered to take care of these tasks

There likely will be other items that come up over the next couple of weeks and possibly throughout the summer months so if you are interested in volunteering in an area not mentioned above please contact the Preschool Director or any member of the Building Committee

Finally well over $250000 has been faithfully donated in support of this building project which is a wonderful blessing and affirmation of the mission To complete the building project authorization was granted by the Church to borrow sufficient funds to complete the project which will be paid back over time from the funds generated from the preschool tuition and childcare fees Additional financial donations are also very much still welcome and encouraged to continue to help keep this self-sustaining ministry affordable for young families

Family amp Friends of Tom Franklin (Memorial Service for Tom will be on June 9 11 am here at Clare UMC) Family amp Friends of Ed Newman Family amp Friends of Mason Lippold Family amp Friends of Stewart Gerow (Deb Bongardrsquos father)

You are all in our thoughts and prayers

80TH BIRTHDAY CARD SHOWER FOR MYRNA SMITH Myrna is turning 80yrs old on June 8th If you would like to send her a card Myrnarsquos address is Prestige Place 684 Ann Arbor Trail Clare MI 48617 Also mark your calendars and join us in celebrating Myrnarsquos birthday after the 1100 service on June 3rd There will be birthday cake served please stop by and wish Myrna a ldquoHappy Birthdayrdquo

Ed Newman has been remembered with memorial gifts

to the churchrsquos Memorial fund from Dr Dave amp Colleen Bremer Jon amp Vickie Warren Joyce amp Dick Swan Colleen amp James Allen Duffey amp Sharon Doxtader Joyce Schellhas Betty amp Cynthia Mussell Marge amp John Bob amp Joy Mussell Dick amp Mary Roe Peggy amp John Dillon Bob amp Barb Seiter Tom amp Esther Rodabough Earnie amp Kelly Start Milca Tina David Dawn amp Margaret Start Bill amp Pat Zinser Tom amp Margie VanHoose Kevin amp Karen David Chris amp Janet Smith

85TH BIRTHDAY CARD SHOWER FOR MARCIA WYMAN Marcia is turning 85yrs old on June 20th If you would like to send her a card Marciarsquos address is 480 Witbeck Dr Clare MI 48617 Also mark your calendars and join us in celebrating Marciarsquos birthday after the 1100 service on June 17th There will be birthday cake served please stop by and wish Marcia a ldquoHappy Birthdayrdquo 90TH BIRTHDAY CARD SHOWER FOR RUTH OWENS Ruth is turning 90yrs old on June 29th If you would like to send her a card Ruthrsquos address is 1001 Maple St Clare MI 48617 ldquoHappy 90th Birthday Ruthrdquo FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN Coming Sept 27-28 2018 Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is a Christian non-profit that provides nutritionally complete meals specifically formulated for malnourished children Volunteers will help pack the meals locally The financial commitment is due in August Prayerfully consider helping through your church offering for FMSC More info at wwwfmscorg Sue Neff is available with more information and to answer questions

Thanks for all the cards and prayers and flowers During a time like this we realize how much our Friends and relative really mean to ushellip Your expression of sympathy will always be remembered The Newman family amp Barb Everts(Love You) Thank you for your kind expression of sympathy it is gratefully acknowledged and deeply appreciated by the family of Stewart Gerow We(the family of Mason Lippold) Would like to express our sincere gratitude for the wonderful service and visitation before and after the memorial service The food was also very much appreciated We are overwhelmed with all the love and support that has been shown to us and our family at such a difficult time Thank you again Rod amp Pam Lippold

His Helping Hands Yard Sale

at Brown Corners Church

SALE

June 28 29 8am-11am 30

8am-12pm

Drop off donations

June 25 26 9am-5pm

Groups of volunteers can

sign up to help sort Mon-

Wed 9am-1pm or 1pm-5pm

Come with some friends

from your church and have a

good time together If you

have a group that can help

please contact Cindy at 989-

539-2064 with the day and

time youll be coming This is

such a big undertaking so

many hands are needed

Thank you ahead of time for

your help