Grace and Peace to you, Lindenwald Church,

As we approach the fall, my prayer is that you have had a good summer

and that you are excited to see what God has for us in this new season of

our church. As you know, we are beginning a journey of transition this fall

that really started over the summer. Starting on September 15th we will be

going to one service as church where, together, we will continue to seek

the face of God and grow in our authentic voice of worship here at Linden-

wald. Along with this we will be going to a new governance system called

the accountable leadership model which will help us in the work of making

disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This official

change will happen on the 1st of January, 2020. And, finally, at the heart of

all of this is the continued movement and growth of our church culture in

seeking to live out of the power of the Holy Spirit in all ways. This is

marked by a humble desire for the gifts of the Spirit, a high expectation of

God’s presence, and worship that allows for moments of spontaneity as

well as liturgy.

Throughout this time we should keep a few things in mind:

First, Jesus Christ, our Good and Great Shepherd, is leading us. With our

positive vote last July we officially said to God, “Lord, we want to go into

new places with you!”. Our Lord honors that faithful desire and he will lead

us and carry us through this season. Now, to be led by the Lord is to step

into change as we move from one place to another. These changes are not a

condemnation on what we have done before but, rather, the next step in

the growth process. We are only able to move forward into these new

areas because of the good work that has been done in the past. Christ has

led us to this place and he will continue to lead us forward.

Second, The Holy Spirit, our advocate and comforter, is within us. In times

of transition we may find ourselves impatient or uncomfortable as we

await the place and the promise of where the Lord is leading us. In these

moments we should remember that God has given us a comforter in the

Holy Spirit. We can trust him with our prayers and our concerns but we

can even trust that when we don’t have the words to pray , the Holy Spirit

intercedes on our behalf with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8: 26-

28). If we place everything in his hands then we can trust he will work it all

for his good.

Finally, God, our Good Father and our Peace, is over all. As we move

through these changes, while they may not feel drastic, they are changes

and we will have moments of “Letting Go”. We will be letting go of sched-

ules, some ways of doing worship, the committee system. As we grieve and

let go of these seasons we thank God for how he used them to bring us to

this moment and we set them down in gratitude. The second stage of tran-

sition is the “Neutral Zone” where we will begin to step into new areas that

feel unformed and shaky. This will happen in the next year. During this

season we will need patience, prayer and a good measure of grace for one

another as there will certainly be mistakes and frustrations. These things

always happen during transition. As we come to the end of the Neutral

Zone we will enter into the “New Beginning” as some of these changes take

a clear shape and become more foundational in the life of our church. This

will be a time of rejoicing because God will have prepared us through the

journey to receive the new promises he has for us.

Remember 1 Thessalonians 5:24 where Paul is discussing how God will

complete his work of sanctification in us and he boldly proclaims, “The One

who called you is faithful and he will do it!”. We are being led through new

changes by a God who has promised to complete the good work that he has

begun in us. He will not leave us nor forsake us. All he asks of us is faithful

endurance.

The last thing to say to you is that our God would not be doing this in our

midst if he did not love us. This season is a sign of God’s great love for us.

He has seen your faithfulness and your desire for him and so he is at work

among us to bring us ever closer to him. I cannot tell you how grateful I am

for your prayers and your faithfulness during this season. I am excited to

be your pastor and to be going through this season with you.

May God continue to bless Lindenwald Church as we go deeper together in

the Lord!

In Christ,

Pastor Rob

September—October, 2019

Lindenwald UMC . . . a Stephen Ministry Church

Our Mission Statement: The LUMC exists to make disciples!

Winds of the Spirit

FREE COMMUNITY MEAL

Feeding the Body & Soul Community Meal offers

a free meal to those who may be hungry and

have no food. This meal is free and open to the

public and will be served from 5:00 to 6:30pm

on Saturday, September 21st & October 19th.

Our food pantry is also open during those

hours and bags of groceries are given to those

in attendance. Transportation is available, if

needed.

PRAYER DRIVE THRU

Upcoming dates for the Prayer Drive-Thru is

September 5th & October 3rd from 4:30 to

6:00pm (weather permitting), when we open

our parking lot to our community for drive

thru prayer. As you're driving home, stop in

and our prayer team will listen to your request

and pray with you.

FOOD PANTRY

The Church would like to thank everyone who

faithfully donates food to our pantry each and

every week. Your generosity allows us to contin-

ue this important ministry to feed those in need

in our community. You are greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

UMW CIRCLE MEETINGS

Genesis Circle—Meeting on September 10th - 6:00pm @

Bee’s Buffet/Fairfield and October 8th—6:00pm at a location

to be determined.

Mizpah Circle—Meeting on September 12th and October

10th at 1:00pm in Room 204.

UMM Meeting - Meeting on Saturday, September 14th—

9:00am @Perkins Restaurant in Fairfield.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

There are many committees within LUMC that are seeking vol-

unteers to help throughout the year. Please contact the person

at the number listed to see how you can help.

• Fundraising Committee: Matt Hoffman @ 513-919-1981

• Van Drivers: Ed Gebhart @ 513-266-8605

• Nursery/Youth: Lisa Gebhart @ 513-203-3587

• Community Meal: Carrie Titus @ 513-235-0733

• Prayer Drive-Thru: Freda Halderman @ 513-829-2375

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Community Ice Cream Social on Saturday, September 7th

from 2:00pm –3:00pm in the church parking lot.

• Stephen Ministry Training begins on Tuesday, October 8th

@ 7:00pm in Fellowship Hall. Please see the attached for fur-

ther information.

• The UMM will have their annual Fish Fry on Saturday, Octo-

ber 12th @ 3:00pm in Fellowship Hall. Watch upcoming bul-

letins for more information.

STEPHEN MINISTRY—CARING CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

When someone you know is hurting, it can be tough to know

what to say. There is no magic formula, but here are three

caring phrases that can make a difference:

1. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”

2. “That sounds so hard.”

3. “ I’m here and I’m listening.”

A caring word spoken with sincerity, a smile, an attitude of “I

SEE YOU” can make a difference in someone’s life who is

experiencing difficulties. We are all caregivers in some form

or another to others. Caregiving can, also, be in the form of a

planned, one-to-one caring relationship between a person

who is hurting and a trained Stephen Minister.

Since 1996, Lindenwald UMC has been offering STEPHEN

MINISTRY training classes for those members who have a

calling into a deeper Christian caring ministry. These folks

are STEPHEN MINISTERS and are available to meet on a

regular, one-to-one basis, for as long as necessary, with any-

one who is hurting. If you are interested in this rewarding

opportunity, please contact Neil or Julia Hayes @ 867-1027,

Nancy McCormick @ 374-3179 or Pastor Rob @ 863-8822

for more information.

*******************************

Deepest sympathy to the family of Lowell Jackson, who

passed away on August 19th.

LUMC Children/Youth Program

The Children's/Youth Program is in need of volunteers .

Contact Lisa Gebhart @ 513-203-3587 for information.

We have partnered with the UMC Food Ministry to pro-

vide food for our Children's/Youth Program. They are

providing them with a variety of cereal , breakfast and

lunch items, fresh fruits and vegetables, along with milk

and juice.

***************************************

Our new Service Time begins on Sunday, September 15th.

Sunday school will meet at 9:00am. Gathering Time will be

from 10:15-10:30am in the Sanctuary and the Worship Ser-

vice will begin at 10:30am.

The church office will be closed on Monday, September

2nd in observance of Labor Day.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

Volunteers need in the Children and Youth Ministries: How can the

children and youth meet Jesus if we don’t tell them? Do you have two

or more hours a month where you can come and be a part of

discipleship for the next generation! Here’s how you can help!

- Our Children and Youth Wednesday night program will resume on

September 4th. The program is growing with lots of youth who want to

come to a safe place, eat a healthy meal and most important to learn about our Lord and

Savior.

We are looking for volunteers to assist with children and youth K-12th. Come and sit with

a child or youth, become a mentor, come and assist teachers in the bible classroom and

we are searching for van drivers, too.

-Other opportunities: Come and help at our Children Sunday school once a month either

at the 9:30am or 11:40am service. The lesson plan will be ready- no planning involved.

Come and let a child know that Jesus loves them! Please pray about volunteering with the

children and youth.

Our children and youth need you!

By: L isa Gebhart

Children and Youth Newsletter

V

O

L

U

N

T

E

E

R

S

N

E

E

D

E

D

:

V

o

l

u

n

t

e

e

r

s

n

e

Volunteers Needed!

September/October Newsletter 2019

On Wednesday, June 5-7th we sent 13 children and youth to the beautiful Camp Wesley

in Bellefontaine, OH. The kiddos had an awesome time at Camp Wesley! Love hearing

all the stories on the ride home. All the kids loved learning more about God, the Bible

verse Roman 8:39, had fun playing gold rush, made s’mores, swim in the pool, the lake,

adventure island, crafts, loved all the camp counselors and most of all the yummy camp

food! Thank you Camp Wesley for all the fun!!

On June 8-10th we had a wonderful time at the Youth Conference at Lakeside, Ohio! We

had 11 teens that enjoyed worship service, concert, and prayer walk, two bible studies

talking about the worship service and preparing for Teen Sunday.

The youth enjoyed seeing Lake Erie, rode bikes, played mini golf and most importantly

grew closer to God! The kids participated in a Lakeside challenge that was created by our

youth counselor Ed Gebhart. Each team had to find examples of finding God’s love by

the following items: Love, Grace, Power, Creativity, Wisdom, Patience, Faithfulness and

Peace.

.

It was a very tight race, Group C won! Thank you to Lisa, Gayle and Ed for making this

trip so successful to our youth. Here’s the Bible verse from the teen conference: John

14:27 (NIV) 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the

world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Upcoming Events:

On Wednesdasy, October 23rd we are hosting the Lindenwald Community Trunk or

Treat at the Lindenwald Splash pad from 6pm to 8pm. We are looking for volunteers to

come and decorate your vehicle and pass out candy. Please contact Lisa at 513-203-3587.

It was a lot of fun last year!

Reserve your ticket today for Snakes Alive! Wednesday, October 30th

We are excited to announce to have Rick from the Creation Museum! Rick will showcase

20 different reptiles for an interactive program where you will get to see and touch many

live non-venomous reptiles. This is a FREE dinner and show event and you Must have a

ticket to enter the dinner and show. Please contact Lisa at 513-203-3587 for your free

ticket!

Summer

Shine:

Shipwrecked- Rescued by Jesus

Wow! We had a wonderful Summer Shine: Shipwrecked- Rescued by Jesus on July 8th- 12th. Each year we bring in more kids and teens to learn more about Gods love and grace. We had an average of 60 kids from K-12th that came in each day.

It was such an honor and privilege to watch the teens to be the light of Jesus for the

week. The teens showed the light of Christ through the opening and closing ceremony,

by being group leaders, taking over the craft room, the bible room and taking charge

with the sports!

Each day the children and youth journey to learn how when you are lonely, when you

worry, when you struggle, when you do wrong, when you are powerless that Jesus will

always Rescues us!

I have to say, watching the teens, and the kids I would get emotionally on how they are

learning to light the way to others.

This program is so successful from all the volunteers that came out each day to help shine the light of Jesus Christ. Thank you all for your love and support

Youth Sunday On Sunday, August 11th we had a privilege

to watch the Teens take over the Sunday service. The teens became

our greeters, ushers, choir and playing adult hand bells, children time, acolytes and so

much more. Ed Gebhart, our youth counselor, brought in the word of Christ! It has been

such a blessing to watch the teens grow closer to our Lord and Savior and watch them on

their faith journey. We are so very proud of the teens in their accomplishments!

Alive After 5!

On Thursday, June 6th we had an honor in volunteering with Park Ave UMC on a

beautiful night for Alive after 5! Thank you Park Ave UMC for having LUMC joins the

fun at the Main Street kid zone. We had so much fun watching the kids make

tambourines, and playing with the hula hoops and so much more! Thank you to Ray,

Edie and Autumn for your help!

4th of July Parade Love this time of the year where we celebrate the biggest and awesome parade in

Hamilton, OH! Yes correct it is the 4th of July parade. LUMC had an honor and privilege

to be in the 4th of July parade. We had so much fun in waving and saying “Hi” to our

neighbors in the community. We would like to “THANK” Ray Kissinger for all of his hard

work in decorating his pickup truck! Ray did an outstanding job! Everyone loved the

signs and the church steeple on the back! Thank you all who came out to be in the

parade! We had so much fun!

Amaizing Grace Kettle Corn- July 4th

4th Of July!

Our children and youth and all the volunteers had a wonderful time at the Amaizing

Grace Kettle Corn at the downtown Hamilton. We are raising funds to send kids and

youth to Camp Wesley 2020! Thank you to all the volunteers that came out to help on

such a long and hot day!

Faith Fest 2019

Wow! We had an awesome

time at Faith Fest 2019 this

year with Amaizing Grace

Kettle Corn on June 20, 21,

22! There was lot

of singing

for our Lord

and Savior,

lots of vendors,

crafters, and

food truck.

We are raising

funds to send

youth to Camp

Wesley and

Lakeside, OH

2020! Thank

you all who

volunteered!

Teen Guard

Our LUMC Teen Guard crew did a wonderful job

during the week of Summer Shine: Shipwrecked! Our

teens stepped up and volunteered in the Bible room, craft room, sports, music, group

leaders, opening and closing ceremony and so much more. The teens enjoyed Teen After

hours on Wednesday and Thursday night. On Wednesday we had spaghetti for dinner and

went swimming and on Thursday we went to Jungle Jim’s and CiCi’s. The teens had so

much fun staying the night at church playing hide and seek playing cards, and making

new friends! We are so proud of our Teens!

Our Teens had an honor in helping at the July Prayer Drive Thru!

STEPHEN MINISTRY AND YOU!

Have you considered the impact STEPHEN MINISTRY

can have on your life? Our Stephen Ministers at

Lindenwald United Methodist Church can “listen” and

give “confidential” care to you during difficult times.

You could, also, answer the call from God to become a

STEPHEN MINISTER—ministering to others inside

and outside our church.

You ask: “What exactly is STEPEHN MINISTRY?”

“What does this ministry do as part of the overall

Lindenwald United Methodist Church ministry team?”

Our congregation's STEPHEN MINISTRY equips lay

people to provide “confidential” one-to-one Christian

care to individuals in our congregation and community

who are experiencing difficulties in their lives—short-

term or long-term.

A STEPHEN MINISTER is...

• A child of God who walks beside a person who

is hurting.

• A congregation member with gifts for

compassion and one who feels called into this

role.

• A lay person who has received 50 hours of

training in learning the best methods of

providing, emotional, and spiritual care to

others.

• A caring Christian friend who listens, cares,

prays, supports, and encourages.

• **Someone who will “be there” for his/her care

receiver, meeting faithfully for approximately an

hour weekly for as long as there is a need.

The last item above ** describes the formal role as a

STEPHEN MINISTER. In it we are formally assigned a

care receiver and we care for them as explained. In

addition, every Stephen Minister cares for people he/she

has identified as needing loving Christian care. A

STEPHEN MINISTER has a sensitivity to hurting

people, the desire, and the ability to offer care to them.

STEPHEN MINISTERS, also, enthusiastically serve in

many additional ministries at Lindenwald United

Methodist Church. Some of these include: church

service Prayer Team, Community Meal, Prayer Drive

Thru, visiting our Home Blessed Members and the sick

in hospitals, homes, care facilities, and many others.

When formal training has been completed, monthly

Supervision/Continuing Education sessions for all

STEPHEN MINISTERS is conducted to review and

receive help from our peers to better care for our care

receivers. Never are the names nor personal facts of a

care receiver revealed. On-going education is provided

during these monthly meetings with up-to-date and

timely educational topics presented by Stephen Ministry

Leaders, guest speakers, and joint sessions with The

Presbyterian Stephen Ministers. We, also, join with the

Presbyterian Stephen Ministers for social events.

Our present STEPHEN MINISTRY team consists of 8

active STEPHEN MINISTERS:

Gayle Grueninger, Sandy Neal, Sis Rimer, Edie Simons,

Dale Titus, Julia Hayes, Leader; Neil Hayes, Leader,

Nancy McCormick, Leader. Any of these STEPHEN

MINISTERS will be happy to share what STEPHEN

MINISTRY means to them.

“The harvest is great, the laborers are few.”

STEPHEN MINISTRY at Lindenwald United Methodist

Church is now seeking additional STEPHEN

MINISTERS. Does this caring ministry appeal to you?

Have you heard about this ministry or experienced it,

and have thought, “Maybe I will do this someday, but

not this year?” Or maybe you have not previously felt

the call to STEPHEN MINISTRY. There are so many

people to care for inside and outside our congregation.

As your fellow LUMC Christians, we urge you to

seriously consider saying “YES” to STEPHEN

MINISTRY. The blessings and joys that you will give

hurting people will be equaled by the blessings and joys

you receive by caring.

A new STEPHEN MINISTRY training class is

beginning on October 8, 2019. The training class

will be on Tuesday evenings in our LUMC

Fellowship Hall from 7-9 p.m., and will continue

weekly into late February. There will be

substantial time off for Thanksgiving,

Christmas, and New Year. We will train jointly

with the STEPHEN LEADERS of the Hamilton

Presbyterian Church.

We urge you to consider being a part of this ministry.

We will be glad to discuss this further with anyone who

is interested. Contact one of our STEPHEN

MINISTRY LEADERS: Julia Hayes—513-867-1027;

Neil Hayes—513-867-1027; Nancy McCormick—513-

374-3179.

Your friends in “Win, Equip, Send,”

Julia, Neil, Nancy

Contact Information

Phone: 513-863-8822

Email: lumc@lindenwaldumc.org

Website: www.lindenwaldumc.org

We’re on Facebook!

Church Office Hours

Monday through Friday

8:00am—2:00pm

Newsletter Deadline: Fifteenth day of month

Bulletin Deadline: Wednesdays—12:00 PM

LUMC Staff

Senior Pastor Robert Ulmer

Children & Youth Director Lisa Gebhart

Choir Director/Organist Nancy McCormick

Office Manager/Adm. Assistant Vickee Campos

Custodian Ray Kissinger

Treasurers Joyce Magly, Suzete Miller

Financial Secretaries Jerry Smith, Carrie Titus

Lindenwald United Methodist

3501 Pleasant Avenue

Hamilton, Ohio 45015

Return Service Requested