This Sunday

On Sunday we welcome Rev. Thomas Yang into the pulpit.  

Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky appointed Pastor Thomas  to start a Pan Asian multicultural expression of United Methodism in Bellevue, Washington beginning July 1, 2017.  He  is an ordained elder from the Northern Illinois Annual Conference.  Please give him a warm welcome.

More than anything else, Pastor Thomas enjoys a serene morning with a coffee mug in hand. He's a Chicago native, a fitness fanatic, loves Jesus, and his humor is tinged with a spontaneous, unapologetic irreverence. He moved here six months ago (along with his 6-month newlywed wife and 2-year old pitbull puppy!) to start a new faith project that aligns with the Pacific Northwest Conference's mission to Create New Places for New People, particularly for Asian-Americans in the greater Seattle and Bellevue areas. Even though he is an introvert by nature, it only takes a Kit-Kat bar to have him open up to you! Pastor Thomas is looking forward to building relationships and partnering with the people of the Pacific Northwest, discipling all to be Jesus' hands and feet to the world.

If you didn't know, the SUMYT team, is a youth-lead group that plans the SUMYT youth retreat in March. The team is a place where people can make friends, have fun and develop leadership skills. Since there is no budget in the church conference for the team to plan the SUMYT retreat and we have no big source of funds other than registration fees, the team has decided to host a Spaghetti Dinner at Aldersgate UMC on Saturday February 3rd from 5:00-7:00pm to raise additional funds. At the dinner there will be great food, entertainment from SUMYT alumni, a slide show, and a dessert auction, where we will be auctioning off donated desserts. Tickets are $8 for 1 and $20 for 3, and we would be more than happy to take a donation if spaghetti isn't your thing, because it goes toward a really good cause. For more information and to buy a ticket, talk to any of the SUMYT representatives at Aldersgate: Bryce Swearingen, Alison Kirkman, Elyse Browder, and Jacob Yormark.  If you would like to donate a dessert, please email Bryce Swearingen.

Some of our faithful volunteers have retired.  Linda Reichenbach has served as the Aldersgate Financial Secretary for the last  seven year  and it is now time for her to move on to other worthwhile endeavors.   Also, Benny Biesmans, Gerry Cherry and Ted Snyder are retiring as offering counters after many years of service . We are grateful for their hard work and faithful dedication to the job.   

Wendi Brick, the church office manager, has taken over Linda's job as the Financial Secretary.  You can contact her with your questions about your 2017 contribution statement which will be sent to you before the end of January.  Please continue to use the existing Financial Secretary email address: [email protected].

We have a need for 1-2 more people to help count the offering once every 4-6 weeks.  There are already four counters, Al Allot, Dorothy Bennett, Gayle Kreek and Wilma Tucker  (Thank you very much!!!), but we could use one or two others to add to the rotation or work as a substitute.  The counter works with the Finance Secretary (Wendi Brick) to count the offering which involves sorting  checks, counting cash, using an adding machine, and reviewing reports with Wendi.  It takes about an hour.  If you are interested, please contact Wendi in the church office.