Please know our church and facilities remain closed due to the attempt at physical distancing to curb COVID-19. |
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An Update from Our Pastor |
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November, 2020
Dear Friends in the Chatham UMC,
On Monday, November 2, 2020, we had a joint meeting of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, the Board of Trustees, and the Church Council to discuss and discern next moves for our congregation, especially as it relates to access to our building. We have decided to keep the building closed until at least January 31, 2021. The three committees will convene via Zoom on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 to revisit this decision to reopen the building, and evaluate the protocols, technology and volunteers that it will take to open once again. We came to this discernment by looking at local trends of the coronavirus and information from health departments, hospitals, municipal leadership and church leadership. We have intentionally reached out to other churches in NJ to learn whether or not they have opened and what they have learned from the process. We have learned that a vast majority of Protestant church buildings remain closed, but that creative ministry continues online and in other venues.
The leadership of these three committees have discerned that we will continue to keep our building closed out of an abundance of caution and a desire to spread the Gospel without spreading the virus. We will continue to offer weekly online worship experiences which have experienced a growing, nationwide and global, virtual congregation. We have offered a few outside worship experiences in our back parking lot during the Fall. We have received very positive feedback from those who have attended our outdoor worship experiences which have been meaningful, safely done, and beneficial for our community. We are planning on an online Christmas Eve Service that will be pre-recorded. We are also planning an in person, outdoor Christmas Eve Service at 5PM in our back parking lot. The trustees are looking into purchasing a radio transmitter so that people can stay in their parked cars if they wish and listen to our brief, outdoor Christmas Eve service. We will broadcast through radio and speakers some scriptures, a message of hope, and then delight in the ritual of lighting candles as musicians play Silent Night in our back parking lot.
Dave Meyer and Tom Fountain raised the idea of reaching out to members and friends of our church who might like some help with technology at home so that they can stay connected to the life and ministry that Chatham UMC offers online. If you know someone who might be in this need, please contact Tom at: thomas.fountain@verizon.net or Dave at: drmeyer1@optonline.net
On our Zoom meeting, members of the three committees expressed deep appreciation for the ongoing and creative work and ministry that is being done by our good and faithful staff. There was also appreciation expressed for the faithful and generous people of the Chatham UMC who continue to support and fund the ministries of Jesus throughout this pandemic landscape. We are all grateful for the ways that members of our congregation have reached out to one another with phone calls, texts and Zoom meetings. We are also aware of the stress and anxiety that people are dealing with in light of the pandemic, racial injustice, political uncertainty and the general tumult that is 2020. If you would like a conversation with me, Pastor Sharon, or a congregational care minister, please send me an email or text so that we can line up a time to connect.
I am personally in a place of trust, and hope. Whereas I miss being together in worship, ministry and fellowship, I trust that God is doing something deep and good within our congregation members and our church. I am confident that the Chatham UMC will continue to be brave and faithful, and have a bright future. Future ministry will be done differently and have challenges, but I am confident that God will continue to bless our ministries and our congregation in the months and years to come.
Let us continue to pray daily for our church, our nation and our world. God continues to call us to be brave, faithful and compassionate followers of Jesus, for such a time as this.
With love, with prayer, and with trust,
Jeff
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Visiting Hours for Myrtle McEntee will be this Saturday, November 7, 2020 from 10am-12Noon at Bradley Funeral Home in Chatham. Rev. Markay will say some brief prayers at 11:45am.
Cards of condolence and love can be sent to Myrtle's daughter:
Janice McEntee Owens
529 Saluda River Road
Myrtle Beach, SC 29588
Thank you in advance for your love and prayers for Myrtle's family.
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20 Days of Thanks
Help us create a "Thanksgiving in a Box" for our Chatham Community Food Distribution. For 20 days, you are invited to add a non perishable, holiday food item to a box and remember all that you have to be grateful for this 2020 Holiday Season. You may click on the flier on the right to print a copy at home and to share with a friend!
Completed boxes (having all 20 items on the list) will need to be dropped off at Chatham United Methodist Church- 460 Main Street. Our collection day of completed boxes will be Saturday, November 14th 10:00 AM - 12 noon.
If you wish to make a monetary contribution, checks can be made payable to Chatham United Methodist Church. Please specify COVID Relief fund on the memo line.
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Thank You!!
The CUMC Office received at note this week from MedShare; they are grateful for the medical equipment that was recently donated by CUMC. Thank you to those that participated in this drive.
On the left is a photo of CUMC Volunteers visiting and helping at the MedShare Headquarters February 2020.
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Thursday, November 5th
To view last night's Prayers Live @5 on Facebook Please Click Here. You don't need to be on Facebook to watch this link.
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Sunday, November 8th Online Worship Service
We invite you to our online worship service. Service is posted weekly on Facebook, YouTube, and our Website by Saturday mornings.
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If you would like to help create our Sunday online worship, please scroll down to CUMC Outreach and sign up today! |
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Sunday Zoom “Virtual Coffee & Conversation”
Join Us at 10:00am by clicking below:
Meeting ID: 680 233 812
Password: 015665
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Wednesday, November 11th
Prayers Live at Five on Facebook
All are invited to tune into a brief Facebook Live event each Wednesday at 5:00 pm. If you have prayer requests that you would like lifted up, you can type them into the comments section of the FB Live event or you can email them to Pastor Jeff at revjmarkay@earthlink.net.
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You are invited to participate in some contemplative practices and prayer by clicking on the link to our Chatham UMC Facebook page:
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Prayers lifted on November 4, 2020
For those who want to join hundreds of others who have been praying for the following people and situations, keep reading, and thank you.
Intercessory Prayers emailed or shared with us this week:
A Time of Silence together...
- For Jane recovering from cataract surgery.
- For Lee, wherever he needs God’s blessings the most.
- For Susan as she recovers from surgery.
- For Tom as he cares for her.
- For those living with mental illness and the stress and pain that families go through.
- For families in need of reconciliation.
- For families in need of healing.
- For our nation as we practice the imperfect art of democracy.
- For Steven for healing in his life.
- For Jean as she grieves her husband Joe.
- For Frank in celebration of his birthday.
- For Hal’s cousin in Iowa. We are thankful for Your healing in his life.
- For Cousin Brian, thanks that he is home from the hospital,
- For his mother Maryann
- Thanks for plans for Barbara, Lizzie and Nathanael’s to drive home together for Thanksgiving. Bless them with travel mercies.
If you have people and situations that you would like lifted up in prayer, please email them to: revjmarkay@earthlink.net and indicate whether you want the prayers to be confidential, or shared with the greater Chatham UMC community.
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The scriptures and prayers that are being shared this week for you and your communities are below:
Scripture:
Matthew 5:37 New Revised Standard Version
Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’;
anything more than this comes from the evil one
Prayer:
Living and Loving God,
Let us say yes to You at the beginning and end of each day.
Let us say yes to Your love and yes to Your presence throughout our day.
Let us say yes to You doing something good within each one of us.
We pray in Christ. Amen.
Music Video:
Lord, Jesus Christ
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Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let not my doubts nor my darkness speak to me. Lord Jesus Christ, your light shines within us. Let my heart always welcome your love. |
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Youth, Kids, and Music News... |
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Sunday School always welcomes new friends to join our active groups. Zoom log-in info for the following online classes will be emailed at the end of each week. If you would like to be added to the distribution group or have questions about which class is right for your children, please email Karen at youthchatumc@optonline.net.
PreK / Early Elementary - Sundays at 9:30am on Zoom. Last week, the story of Lazarus taught us that Jesus understands what it’s like to feel sad and his story can bring us hope and joy. This week our topic is Found. Like the shepherd who cared about his lost sheep and the woman who cared about her lost coin, God cares about lost people and doesn’t want us to be lost from knowing God’s love. God will always find us. What role do we play in helping find lost people?
Submerge (4th-8th grade) - Sundays at 10:30am on Zoom. We continue diving deeper into some familiar Bible stories with “13 Very Bad Days, and how God fixed them.” This week we’ll look in the book of Acts at a bad day Stephen had. It was his first sermon and he had a tough audience. Should he avoid the things that would offend them and risk being harmed or tell the truth – the whole truth? Did Jesus save him? Who else was in that audience? We’ll dive deep into the story for answers. Have a Bible handy as well as a piece of paper, markers, and a fist-sized rock.
Submerge / Tween Time: Join us Thursday at 4:00pm on Zoom to hang out, play some games, connect and help each other thru this time of social distancing.
High School Discussion: Sundays at 11:45am on Zoom. We continue the unit on “MEANING – Why Are We Here?” and this week our session title is Beauty All Around. What is it and why is it so easy to miss? Beauty is spiritual food. It nourishes the soul and enriches our appreciation for the world around us. Yet, many would point to a world that is deeply troubled and filled with ugliness, pain, and suffering. Do the overwhelming problems of our world seek to obscure our ability to see beauty, or to render beauty as simply something to distract us from the world as it really is? Or does beauty hint at a longing for restored wholeness that reveals a unique aspect of God’s glory, something that reaches humanity in the deepest parts of the soul. This week’s Key verses: Psalm 8
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The Chatham UMC Ukulele Orchestra will meet again for their next online sing and play-a-long on Saturday, November 7th at 11:00 a.m. For ukulele music and/or more information please contact Peter Hill at petepiano@mac.com.
If you are interested in being an online part of our other music groups: Youth Musicians, Praise Band, Covenant Choir, Wind Ensemble, Wesley Ringers, and Ukulele Orchestra, all are invited! Our online music program welcomes musicians from New Jersey and the wider world.
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CMP Annual Wreath and Card Sale!
Looking for a beautiful wreath to adorn your door this season? Look no further since the Annual CMP Wreath sale is here! There are variations of sizes and options this year and proceeds benefit CMP. Please place your order by November, 15th. Wreath pickup/delivery is November 30th.
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CUMC Outreach
Volunteers are always needed
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We Need Your Help!
We’re reaching out to all church members for pre-recorded Gospel readings through November. (Please remember to film Sunday’s Gospel message by the previous Tuesday!)
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We are hoping that you can send in one or more videos that can be filmed in a few seconds on your smart phone:
1) A video of you dropping a leaf, and saying what you'd like to let go of.
2)A video of wind chimes that you may have outside your home, or in your neighborhood.
3) A video of you, and or your family looking in the camera and saying: "Peace be with you."
Please take these videos holding your phone in a horizontal position so that it takes up the whole screen when edited. Please add one or two seconds before and after you speak so that it can be edited in with other videos in the online worship experience. Please sent these videos to Jeff Markay at revjmarkay@earthlink.net, or text the video to my cell phone: 973-769-5266. |
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Volunteers are needed to pick up excess bagels from Chatham Bagel at 260 Main Street each day at 2:00pm (their closing time). Chatham Bagel has been an important partner in supplying our Wednesday Food Distribution efforts with fresh bread. Please help us keep this effort supplied!
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Pop Up Food Pantry
NEW WAYS TO DONATE!
Take what you need or leave what you can at our two pantry shelves. The shelves are now located across from the CMP Playground and are winter ready!
Help keep our shelves filled.
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Bread Ministry: If you would like to be involved in our Bread Ministry, please contact Edit Ostrom at: nyuszi@mac.com or
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We offer links to resources you may need to help you or your loved ones through this "storm" of Covid-19. Because CUMC has always been a loving community of dedicated ministry, we know you are also seeking ways to give back to those in need. |
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All submissions for next week's CUMC Weekly E-news are due by Tuesdays, 2:00 PM. Submissions may be emailed to Eileen Ruggiero.
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460 Main Street
Chatham, NJ 07928
(973) 635-7740
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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