Well, April sure turned out to be an interesting month didn’t it? At this point we have already had six weeks’ worth of worship services, all online, and we likely have at least a couple more ahead of us. While I have started to get “used” to this new routine, I have certainly missed gathering together as a church family in person. I don’t know for sure when it will be yet, but I know that it will be quite the

celebration when we can finally gather together again!

What has been crazy is how quickly and completely everything has changed. All of our regular rhythms and routines of being together changed almost overnight. And all of those rapid changes created their fair share of challenges. I imagine we have all used technology more in the last month and a half than we ever have before. Or at least we have used technology for church more than ever before. I know I have spent a lot more time using video editing software and waiting for videos to upload to YouTube or Facebook than ever before...

But, above and beyond the technological challenges many of us have experienced during this season of transition and change, I imagine that the biggest challenges many of us have faced have been emotional or social ones. Even for the most introverted among us, it is hard to be unable to gather together with people outside of our homes. This has forced all of us to get creative about finding ways to stay connected.

I have heard about people doing virtual game nights, or playing cards with one another over Zoom. I have heard about virtual potlucks or dinner parties, where people use video chats to have lunch or dinner together. There was even a celebrity who hosted a virtual prom for high school students who weren’t able to attend their proms due to quarantine. I love hearing about all these innovative ways that people have managed to stay connected and have some fun in the midst of this crazy time.

I wonder how we could harness this same sense of innovation and creativity as a church family… Are there new ways that we could connect together even in this time of being physically separated? Are there new programs or events we could try out to foster a sense of community? Are there new ways we could use technology to reach out to our neighbors in need? As we continue to live under the stay-at-home order, I invite you to join me in thinking about these questions. And if you have any epiphanies or new ideas, please share them with me! I can’t wait to see what new things God might bring out of this season! Blessings,

May 2020

Wesley United

Methodist Church Mission Statement:

!

Pastor Sarah Kiviniemi McIntosh

826 NW 23rd Avenue Gainesville, FL

32609 Office: 372-2845 Fax: 372-9544

We are on Facebook!!!

Pastor’s E-mail:

pastorsarah826@gmail.com

Secretary’s E-mail: Terri Manche

secretary@wumc.cfcoxmail.com

Witness Articles E-mail: Sharren Gibbs

sharren2@cox.net Deadline for articles: 15th of each

month

Website: www.WesleyUMCon23.org

Weekly Sunday Activities

Sunday School Children’s Church 10:00 AM

(at Greentree Park) Adult Ages @ 9:30AM Worship @ 10:45AM

(Sanctuary)

Barbara Baldwin Linda Baldwin

Micke Bergeron Diane Blucher

Agnes Burke Carolyn Clarke

Betty Dees Nancy Hardee

Rachelle Hines Barb Loehr

Beth Loehr-Moody Paula Mathis

Billy Moring Clydia Reichert

Beth Senn Polly Teele Clarence Witt

WESLEY WEDNESDAY SUPPER

You’ve heard it over and over—we will not have a supper meeting this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope so sincerely to be able to get back together in May, but we will have to wait to see how things go.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay in touch with friends and family. It’s always important, but more so now. Isolation is not healthy!

While we are sheltering at home, don’t forget to check out our Sunday Sermons! I have posted them in the church website, and Pastor Sarah also sends out a group e-mail to let us know the address on YouTube.com where they can be found. She includes some hymns to complement the sermon, also on YouTube. I sang along with them this morning, and it was most enjoyable. I hope my neighbors enjoyed it too, because I was sitting beside an open window…

Check it out! Sharren

YOUR REGULAR GIVING TO WESLEY UMC: In this time of sequestering ourselves at home, don’t forget to send in your regular offerings and/or tithes to the church. Our expenses don’t stop and, in reality, neither does our church. You’re just participating in a different manner. So please mail in your offering to the church office. Terri is stopping by regularly to pick up the mail and put it in the office.

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UNITED METHODIST

COMMITTEE ON RELIEF VISION As the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR transforms and strengthens people and communities.

MISSION Compelled by Christ to be a voice of conscience on behalf of the people called Methodist, UMCOR works globally to alleviate human suffering and advance hope and healing.

UMCOR provides humanitarian relief and disaster response in the United States and internationally. Their efforts are targeted in places where natural disasters, war, or conflict have done so much damage that communities are unable to recover on their own. While UMCOR is not a first-response organization, they stand ready to accompany communities in need over the long haul of their recovery, until they are well on their way to establishing a “new normal” after a crisis.

In addition, UMCOR helps communities in the United States and abroad prepare for emergencies and reduce the risk of disasters through a roster of training programs.

They also are involved in global development work. Specific programs address issues of health, sanitation, poverty, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and food security. Many development problems are interrelated, so UMCOR uses integrated solutions to address their root causes. UMCOR seeks to empower local hospitals, schools, churches, and other stakeholders by enhancing their capacity to address these issues.

During this almost world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, UMCOR is active wherever needed, whether overseas or here at home. One hundred percent of your donation goes to programs, not to administration of the organization, so give like your life depends upon it! Because it does.

Weseman family celebrates and learns together

Carmen bakes bread while Jim Arnett reads

Cindy Holmes’ books and The Bern wait

for her on the patio

Joyce Welsh gardens and babysits

I’ll give you one guess — yep, the Wesemans!

Sharren and Eleanor TRY to read on the patio

Well, you’ve probably guessed this, but the YAHs will not meet for lunch any-where in the state. I hope you all have found a way to enjoy spending time alone at home. Hopefully, we’ll see you in May! Donna Weseman

WESLEY MUSIC LOVERS’ GROUP Our music lovers’ group has met for seven months. The members have set a strong foundation to

go forward in a meaningful way, and the depth of musical knowledge our members have is incredible.

We all are teachers to one another, based on our own musical interests. The diversity of our members’

ages has provided richness and joy to those who are involved.

We would enjoy learning from you and others you may know about the origin of the music, favorite

singers, and songs that represent that unique type of music. Please let us know if you can assist us in that

way.

Our members have expressed a need to

“broaden their horizons” and learn a variety of

musical genres unfamiliar to them; therefore, we

now want to reach out to church members and the

community at large for individuals that specialize in

the following types of music:

We offer a “heart felt” thank you to church

members and veterans who have given the wonder-

ful support we have needed.

Blessings, Harley and Pamela Christensen

Pop Orchestra Patriotic

Classical Sound Tracks Christmas

Jazz Show Tunes Love Songs

Blues Easy Listening Instrumental

Rock & Roll Opera Blue Grass

Soul Christian 20’s

R&B Gospel 30’s

Country Symphony 40’s

Folk Latino 50’s

Dance Irish 60’s

MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS Good day everyone,

This is Jim writing from the music department of Wesley. It has been a month now since I wrote my last article for the Witness and more than a month since we went to war against the dreaded Covid-19 virus. I trust that you are keeping up the good fight and staying safe. I certainly miss seeing you all and also miss our times of worshipping together. I am thankful for Pastor Sarah’s sermons on Sunday and hope you have been watching. The choir loft looks so empty though.

However, I do have some things to share with you this month. My love of music is very eclectic in nature. My first love is sacred choral music, but I like lots of other genres, too. One area that I like listening to is the music from the war years in the 1940’s. As I was looking across the YouTube a few days ago I saw the name of Dame Vera Lynn. She was known as the Forces’ Sweetheart from England as she gave outdoor concerts for the Brits in Egypt, India, and as far as Burma. She has a strong voice but can also sing phrases so beautifully. She is known quite well for her renditions of The White Cliffs of Dover, a Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and There’ll Always Be an England. But there is one song that I believe she is best known for, and that is We’ll Meet Again. As I listened to this song, I thought how appropriate this is for us today. The lyrics of the main chorus are:

We’ll meet again Don’t know where Don’t know when

But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day Keep smiling through

Just like you always do ‘Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.

If you need a bit of a “pick-me-up” some afternoon, I challenge you to look this

up on YouTube and give it a listen. It will be good medicine for your soul. By the way, I was fascinated to learn that Vera is still with us at 103 years old.

A song with a similar theme is the song we last shared in church together way back on March 15.

If you remember we sang the hymn, God Be You ‘Till We Meet Again: God be with you till we meet again;

By His counsels’ guide, uphold you, With His sheep securely fold you;

God be with you till we meet again. I trust that you are journeying with GOD every day. We are in

his hands and I’m sure that before long we will be meeting again and having a great celebration. BELIEVE…. Blessings on you and your families, Your affable choir director, Jim Arnett

May Meetings 5/20 6:00PM Finance Committee

5/27 6:00PM Administrative Council

No other in-person meetings—are there

any virtual meetings scheduled?

FUN AND GAMES Join the Canasta card club at Wesley United Methodist Church! Have fun and meet great people! Invite family and friends, the more the merrier! When: Thursdays, 12:00 Noon (except holidays) Where: Wesley United Methodist Church 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Fellowship Hall

Call Harley or Pamela Christensen at 352-505-0694 for information. We have wonderful members waiting to teach you Hand and Foot Canasta!

Card Club Guidelines

Bring a sack lunch and beverage if you wish.

Please arrive on time if possible.

Please help clean up after the games end.

Please give us your email address and phone number in case of scheduling changes.

May Birthdays 3rd Kaitlyn Omdahl

7th Polly Teele

11th Rachelle Hines

25th Sandy Reeves

26th Alex Sanders

31st Mary Jo Davis

May Anniversaries

2nd Dale & Linda Smith

23rd Lee & Steve Holder

MEMORIAL DAY SALUTE, MAY 24

As we do on every Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, we salute and remember our Wesley veterans, most who served and lived long and fruitful lives, and especially those who gave their lives during combat or

during other periods of military service. Semper Fi! Semper Fortis! This We’ll Defend! One Over All! Semper Paratus!

This beautiful and moving slide show will also be featured on the WUMC website at WesleyUMCon23.org. and on FaceBook