Church Staff

Jon Carrell Directing Pastor

Office: 496-2338, ext.: SUMC.Sherman.Pastor@gmail.com

Karen Wells Administrative Assistant Office: 496-2338, ext.: 5

shermanumc@casscomm.com

Director of Youth

Stephanie Carrell Contemporary Worship Director

Devan Pfeiffer Kids’ Place Director

Camp Sonshine Director 496-2338 ext.: 8

Megan Busby Preschool Director 496-2338 ext.: 6

Tony Calhoun Custodian

Missy Branson Karen Wells Nursery Staff

The last three months have been very difficult months for our nation, first, with the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, with the racial tension in our country regarding the death of George Floyd. During this spring, as a church, we have been focusing on our mission statement, exploring what it means to follow Jesus and to invite others to follow Him. Times like these test us as followers of Jesus. They call us to put our faith into action. In 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT), Peter talked about how trials prove if our “faith is genuine.” We are learning if our faith is truly “genuine.” Times like these also call us to be in special prayer. I urge you to be in extra prayer for our community and our nation. It also takes a unique character, and that can only come from the Holy Spirit. When I consider the problems we are facing, I know that we do not possess the power in ourselves to tackle them. There is one who does—the Holy Spirit. We need the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that we have the grace and character to be true followers of Jesus, who will shine in trying times. We are going to begin this summer refocusing on prayer and taking extended time to explore the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is what I am going to be preaching on in the coming months: June 7 Longing for Jerusalem Psalm 122 June 14 A Prescription for National Healing 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 June 21 Are You Bearing Fruit? Gal. 5:22-23; John 15:1-8 June 28 Fruit #1—Love Luke 10:25-37 July 5 Fruit #2—Joy John 15:10-11, 17:13; Phil. 4:4 July 12 Fruit #3—Peace Phil. 4:2-13 July 19 Fruit #4—Patience 1 Tim. 1:12-17 July 26 Fruit #5—Kindness Rom. 2:4 August 2 Fruit #6—Goodness Mark 10:17-31 August 9 Fruit #7—Faithfulness Matt. 25:14-30 August 16 Fruit #8—Gentleness Matt. 11:28-30 August 23 Fruit #9—Self-Control Prov. 25:28; Matt. 26:36-46 May the Holy Spirit work in us, so that we can be the followers of Jesus our community and world need us to be during these desperate days! Blessings, Pastor Jon

Thank you for all the lovely cards and notes. Most of all for your prayers.

Ruth Stanley

Who will you invite to come to church with you this month?

03 Cooper Reed 06 Janet McLay 07 Tom Robinson 15 Gladys Knox 15 Brian Reed 15 Blasé Romence

17 Dawn Oltmanns 18 Ashton Nicole Oltmanns 21 Joe McLay 23 Jake Reed 30 Tanner Diveley

01 Tom & Ellen Robinson 06 Roger & Marsha Branson 08 Gerry & Renie Timm 10 Mike & Addie Copelin 12 Jerry & Dawn Oltmanns 15 Jeff & Heather Kadyk

18 Pat & Loyd Starwalt 21 Myrl & Linda Burgener 21 Ted & Nancy Hodgson 22 Bruce & Cathy Constant 23 Gary & Laurie Stover 25 Joe & Janet McLay

Returning to Church I want to give an update on our reopening plan. As you are likely aware, the state just recently moved into phase 3 of their Restore Illinois plan. As of June 1st, we reopened the church offices and can have up to 10 people gathered together. Our offices are now open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-Noon. Social distancing and facemasks are required in the building. Staff can work in the building. We are also resuming prayer meeting on Thursday nights. We will hold prayer meeting in our pavilion. If the weather is bad, we will use the sanctuary instead on those nights. We still will not be conducting children’s ministries at church. Committees can decide whether they want to hold meetings at church or continue to conduct meetings online. Currently, we are planning on doing one online Bible study on Thurs-days at 10 a.m., and one Sunday school class at 9:30 a.m. outdoors by the well. Social distancing and facemasks will be required for the Sunday school class, and you will need to bring a lawn chair.

As for worship services, starting on June 7th

, I am excited to announce that we will begin holding outdoor worship services at the pavilion, weather permitting! (If the weather is bad, we will not hold service and will send notification by email and Facebook.) We will have 3 services at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 11 a.m. Social distancing and facemasks will be required. When you park, we ask that you park every other parking place whenever possible. We ask people to bring lawn chairs and to sit together as families, keeping at least 10 feet apart from other people at all times. We ask that everyone sit at least 25 feet away from the microphone up front. Please sit in the designated painted areas. There will be a few outdoor benches available for some families to use if someone does not have a lawn chair. For those who desire, they can remain in their vehicles and roll down their windows. If you do so, please park as close to the pavilion as possible in order to be able to hear the service. We ask everyone else to park closer to the church to allow room for those who wish to remain in their vehicles. The newest bathrooms by the offices will be the only bathrooms available.

While we certainly understand that everyone is going to be excited to see everyone, we want to remind you that we cannot have hugs or handshakes and need you to continue to practice social distancing before and after services. We also remind people to stay home if they are not feeling well or think they might be ill. We want people to be safe, and worship services will continue to be shown online as well. We want everyone to make their own decision on whether they are comfortable in coming back to church yet or not.

Eventually, we look forward to the state moving us into phase 4. We hope that this takes place around the beginning of July. At this point we would be able to have up to 50 people together and could resume having worship services at church if we desire. Likely, we will continue to hold services outside at the pavilion during the summer if we find it works well since it is considered safer than being inside. We would just use the sanctuary on days the weather was bad. We also plan on resuming Camp Sonshine at this point as well. Committees will continue to have the option on whether they want to hold meetings at church or continue to conduct meetings online. Additional Sunday school classes may likely resume at this point, and children’s ministries could be resumed. Social distancing and masks would continue to be required in the building and for services outside.

As for “normal” operations and services at the church, that will not occur until we reach phase 5. This likely could be quite a while until we reach this point. We will try to be patient and keep moving toward this point. For now, though, we celebrate the fact that we can worship together on June 7th, even if it is quite different.

Blessings,

Pastor Jon Carrell and the Sherman United Methodist Church Council

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

COLLEGE

Grace Abbott, granddaughter of Nancy and Jer ry Abbott, graduated from St. Raymond Cathedral in Joliet Illinois.

Wyatt Addison Arnberger, son of Carmen and Kevin Arnberger, graduated from Williamsville Junior High.

Katherine Chase Branson, daughter of Melissa and Chad Branson, graduated from Williamsville Junior High.

Trisha Carrell, daughter of Stephanie and Jon Carrell, graduated from Williamsville Junior High.

Kennedy Holley, daughter of Amanda and Joe Holley, graduated from Williamsville Junior High.

Naomi Caroline Roberts, daughter of Melissa and Troy Rober ts, graduated from Williamsville Junior High.

Brenden Abbott, grandson of Nancy and Jer ry Abbott graduated from Zionsville High School in Zionsville, Indiana. He will be majoring in Engineering at Indiana University.

Audrey Fuiten, daughter of Kent Fuiten; Kim and Larry Russo, graduated from Williamsville High School. She will attending Southeast Missouri State University and majoring in Nursing.

Lukas Isaiah Roberts, son of Melissa and Troy Rober ts, graduated from Williamsville High School. He will be attending Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and majoring in Engineering.

Oliver John Romence, son of Michele and Blasé Romence, graduated from Williamsville High School. He will be attending Illinois College and majoring in Criminal Justice and Business Management.

Ethan Reid Wells, son of Karen and Peter Wells, graduated from Williamsville High School. He will be attending Indiana State University and majoring in Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Sarah Nunez, daughter of Laur ie and Gary Stover , Sr ., graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. She is pursing a career in Physical Therapy.

Tiyanna Russell, niece of Stormy and Wes Zwiefel, graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Food and Nutrition Science. She is applying for Physician Assistant Programs to become a PA.

Megan Smith, daughter of Lynn Evans, graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor ’s of Science in Psychology. She is working for SPARC as a Residential Services-Case Supervisor.

Christina Evelyn Wells, daughter of Karen and Peter Wells, graduated from Hope College with a

Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics and Business. She will be working as a Health Consulting Analyst for Mercer in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Congratulations Class of 2020! We are so proud of you. Can’t wait to see what great

things the Lord has planned for you. Jeremiah 29:11

Kids Place News

What a whirlwind these past few months have been! We miss everyone, but hope that everyone has been safe sheltering at home. Never did we think the school year would end as it did.

While it wasn't in our plan, we know that it was in God's plan.

The teachers from Kid's Place have been meeting weekly through zoom meetings, and our biggest take-away from everything that is happening is how many things we have taken for granted. There are days that are hard- the kids aren't behaving, lessons don't go right, and certainly days where some of us don't feel like working. This time has given us a rejuvenation, and without a doubt, we cannot wait until the day we open our doors to kids again. What a happy day it will be!

Kid's Place registration for the 2020/2021 school year has been postponed and will hopefully happen in July. We will keep everyone updated via the web-site, sumckpcs.com.

One thought that has been so reassuring to me, our staff, and families during this time, has been that we are being prayed for by members of SUMC. Thank you for continuing to do this. It means more than you know!

Devan Pfeiffer, Director

There are so many unknowns during this time, so I will share with you what I do know. Our plan at the moment, is to open Camp Sonshine when phase 4 begins in Illinois.

We could not be more excited for this day to come! It is going to be different from a normal summer at camp, but we are going to make the best of it.

Our theme this summer is "Mic Drop"-- We worship God in church with songs of praise, but that is just one part of worship. Worship can happen anywhere and at any time, regardless of the circumstances of our lives. Worship can happen when we sing, when we pray, and when we show love to others.

We picked this curriculum months ago, well before we knew the situation we would currently be in. We will be teaching the kids all about different ways they can worship outside of the church. I hope you have found ways to worship while we can't be inside the building, too.

Several things have happened that I can only credit to God for having a plan for camp this summer. I had to cut our numbers back. WAY back. As in, we are only able to take about half as many kids as we normally do. We had enough families step up and give their spots to those who truly need them, that I didn't have to turn any of our current families away.

Last week, one of our families planted the mission garden so that we are still able to have it this summer once the kids start coming. I had plans to get it done, but it rained...and rained...and then I decided that we just wouldn't have the garden this year. Two days later, this family tilled, planted, and put up the fence, so that we could still have it this summer. We are so blessed by the kindness and generosity of others.

Please continue to pray for the program, our staff, and families. We cannot wait to start camp this summer!

Devan Pfeiffer, Director

Camp Sonshine News

It has been quite the unique last few months! While our 2019-2020 school year came to an unexpected end back in mid-March, the health, safety & well-being of our SUMC Preschool families is, and always will be, a top priority. We are saddened that we missed out on the last 10 weeks of the school year with our students, but we are thankful that all of our SUMC families have remained well during this unparalleled time. We continue to pray daily for our students, SUMC Preschool families, extended SUMC church families, and our Sherman-Williamsville community. Although we did not get to finish out our school year with our traditional end-of-the-year celebrations, we continue to be hopeful, as we make our way forward in this new normal, that we will be able to gather with our 2019-2020 SUMC Preschool families later this summer to honor our graduates and celebrate all of our students' achievements this past year.

In the meantime, we are currently enrolling for our 2020-2021 school year. Please visit our website at www.sumcpreschool.com. We offer two classes for children aged 3-5. Our Preschool class meets Tuesday & Thursday and is open to children who will be 3 by fall 2020 and are potty-trained. Our Kindergarten Readiness class meets Monday through Thursday and is open to children who will be 4 on, or before, September 1st, 2020 and eligible for Kindergarten in the fall of 2021. If you would like more information about our program, or to arrange a tour, please call us at (217) 496-2338 ext 6 or email us at sumpreschool@gmail.com. We look forward to welcoming you to our wonderful SUMC Preschool Family!

Stay well and have a happy, blessed summer!

Megan Busby

SUMC Preschool Director

June - 2020 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4

6 pm Trustees Meeting.

7 pm

Prayer Meeting in Pavilion

5 6

7 8

5:30 pm

Finance Meeting

9 10 11

7 pm

Prayer Meeting in Pavilion

12 13

14 15 16 17 18

7 pm Prayer Meeting

in Pavilion

19 20

21 22 23 24

6 pm KP/CS

Board Meeting

25

7 pm Prayer Meeting

in Pavilion

26 27

28 29 30 “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matt. 4:19 (Berean Study Bible)