Thoughts from Pastor Angelo... |
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Dear Church Family,
It was about a year ago at this time that my wife and I had found a home just a few minutes from the church that we couldn’t wait to move into. Thinking back on that season of expectation, I find myself feeling grateful for all the ways we have been able to join together in ministry over the past year. Each year, pastors are appointed by their bishop to serve in ministry and I am so thankful that I have been invited to serve Wrightsboro UMC for another year. My family feels like we have fully become part of this church family, and I look forward to a long season of ministry with you.
In this newsletter you will find stories about how God has been working through our ministries over the past several months, along with some exciting news about what’s coming next. Be sure to check out the articles and help us celebrate together.
Lastly, at the beginning of the year, I invited our church family to consider how we might collectively invest in the financial health of our congregation and the growing needs of our ministry. As of this message, I am thankful to report that many in our congregation responded to this invitation and we are slightly ahead of where we were last year in terms of giving to our annual budget. Our goal over the course of the next several months will be to continue in that consistency as well as use any potential surplus months to replenish our “available funds” balance to ensure we are financially healthy and secure as a church. Thank you for your faithful generosity to this beautiful ministry.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Angelo
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MISSIONS AND OUTREACH
MISSIONS
The missions committee is planning an ERT (Emergency Response Team) class in the near future. This training certifies participants to enter in and respond to a disaster area. If you are interested in becoming a certified emergency responder please contact Leigh Parker. A date will be set soon.
METHODOST HOME FOR CHILDREN
WUMC continues to support the Methodist Home for Children with a Pizza Hut gift card for the Halfway House in Lumberton to have a couple of pizza parties. Later in the summer we will be collecting school supplies for MHC children in our area.
FOOD PANTRY; FREE YARD SALE
The food pantry continues to do an incredible mission. Last week they served 39 families on Wed morning. They have been the recipient of a $500 private donation. The people who come for food also come to shop at the free yard sale. We have been blessed with many donations from Lidls and Big Lots. and offer clothes, household items, books, etc. It has been greatly utilized since restarting a few months ago.
SEWING KITS
The adult Sunday School class and UMW have teamed up to make sewing kits for Liberia. These kits will enable young girls to learn a trade and be able to support themselves and possibly younger siblings. The MERCI Warehouse will be sending a shipment to our mission in Liberia in the fall. WUMC will be providing, along with the sewing kits, 102 birthing kits, several boxes of clothes and shoes. Word of this mission has spread in our community and two churches have made contributions of homemade children's clothes.
MEALS ON WHEELS
Meals for 30 to 40 shut ins in our community are being served on the first Sat. of each month. Drivers are always needed.
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CROCHET AND KNITTING FELLOWSHIP
The Crochet and Knitting Fellowship group meets every other Tuesday in the Fellowship Hall from 9:30 am until 11:30 am. Our next meeting is Tuesday, May 24. We are having fun working on our individual WIP's (works in progress), showing what we have completed, and sometimes sharing patterns. Whether you are a beginner or advanced, crochet, knit with needles or loom knit, we have a chair waiting just for you. Please bring your project and join us! Bring a friend! We look forward to seeing you on May 24. Contact Gail Nunn if you need additional information.
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YOUTH GROUP
For the past several months we have been working to get our youth ministry back up and running after a long season without regular gatherings. It’s been fun to see the youth gather, fellowship, laugh, and enjoy conversation with each other. Most recently, our youth blessed our church family with a taco dinner and raised over $300 towards their pilgrimage trip this fall. If you have any desire to volunteer with our youth ministry, we’d love to hear from you! Email Pastor Angelo at angelo@wrightsboroumc.org and we will set up a time to chat! Check out some pictures below from our Taco Night!
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WRIGHTSBORO UNITED WOMEN IN FAITH
United Methodist Women has a new name. We are now United Women in Faith (umfaith.org) The new name came after years of research and declining membership and is an attempt to rebrand us and to refresh the way “we tell our story and updating our programs, recourses and outreach efforts so that we may better serve our current members and are more attractive and welcoming of women of diverse backgrounds and life stages by meeting them where they are.” We are still the official women’s organization for the United Methodist Church and we still advocate for “peace and justice, economic inequality, education, the rights of children, human rights and farm workers' rights. “Love, Faith, and Hope in Action”.
United Women in Faith meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month but we do not meet in June and July. Our recent events and projects include a baby shower for Hannah Nguyen, the Mother’s Day candle burning , and delivering 23 boxes (about 1150) books to Wrightsboro Elementary School for the children to select books to take home for the summer and keep. Our last event before the summer break will be on May 27 when we will be serving lunch to the staff of Wrightsboro Elementary School. For questions and further information contact Eva Czepiel lefty1210@atmc.net
The Wrightsboro UMW participates in the national UMW Reading Program. To complete the Reading Program you must read one title from each of 5 categories. We have purchased 15 titles to add to our collection and several are children’s books. The books are located in the Welcome Center and a list of titles in our collection is available, including titles that can be borrowed from the NC Digital Library.
Eyeglasses: The UMW is collecting eyeglasses to take to the Merci Center in Goldsboro. If you have old eyeglasses that you never wear, consider donating them and place them in the basket provided in the Welcome Center.
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UNITED METHODIST MEN
The UM Men will be meeting on Sunday, June 12th at 8:00am in the Fellowship Hall. Everyone is invited to join them for breakfast.
Thank you to all who participated in the Boston Butt Sale.
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FOOD PANTRY
With our partnerships and your generous donations, we provided food for 400 people in April with 114 of those being children. If you know of anyone in need, please let them know we are open on Wednesday from 8:30-10:00am and Thursday from 4:30-5:30pm. If you are interested in helping, please see Alfred Jarvis or Claudia Campese.
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CRAFTY FRIDAY
Crafty Friday meets on Friday at 9:30AM. We have had a busy this spring as we made Styrofoam cup Easter Bunnies and filled them with candy for the Wrightsboro Elementary School Staff. For Easter we also made Easter Bunnies from Tootsie roll pops for the Wrightsboro UMC children and we filled hundreds of Easter eggs for the church’s Easter egg hunt. Our most recent project was the teacups for Mother’s Day. Our next project will be a gift to the fathers for Father’s Day. We invite you to join us you don’t have to be crafty and you bring your own project as it is as much about the fellowship as it is about the project.
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CHURCH LIBRARY
In the visitor’s area there is a church library with books ranging from study guides to novels to bibles. Most of the books are gifts from members that want to share with others. Please feel free to borrow any of these books. Below is a sample of what you can find.
The Word of Promise NKJV Bible on CD
Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins
Peace With God: The Secret of Happiness by Billy Graham
Hope Again: When Life Hurts and Dreams Fade by Charles Swindoll
The Source of My Strength by Charles Stanley
How to Hear From God by Joyce Meyer
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Prayer Chain
Have a prayer concern?
Who do you contact?
Email the church office and we will email it out to the Prayer Chain. Note that the Prayer Chain is a different list from those receiving this Newsletter. If you would like to be on the Prayer Chain email list, contact the church office. Just remember that you are committing to pray for the members of our church and their family and friends.
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APP & Website
Wrightsboro UMC has an APP! it can be found in the app store of our phone or tablet. We also have a new website.
www.wrightsboroumc.org
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Like us on FACEBOOK
or
Follow us on INSTAGRAM
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May Birthdays & Anniversaries
1 Pansy Rumley
4 Marsha Hayes
8 Lisa Ash
10 Todd Parker
13 Stephanie Capotosto
14 Ronald Oswandel
14 Freda Stephenson
18 Mary Lou Keefer
18 Cheryl Parker
20 Adyn Kivett
21 Jerry Gossett
22 Laura Jones
22 Gene Wheat
30 Donna Fisk
24 Jerry & Debbie Gossett
31 Mike & Freda Stephenson
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The 2022 Flower Chart, found on bulletin board in hallway, is now available. If you would like to have an arrangement grace our altar area in honor or memory of someone just go and sign up on the chart. You can also contact Suzanne at 762-2583. The cost is $49.00.
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Greetings Church Family – I hope everyone is doing as well. Thank you for allowing us to serve the church in this way each month. We consider it a privilege to be charged with such responsibility, and we make every effort to be good stewards. At all times, financial information is available in the church office or by request.
For the month of April 2022:
Total funds taken in: $25,354.06
Total funds spent paying bills: $28,572.83
Deficit for end of month ($3,218.77)
Our current mortgage payout is $319,600.51
Apportionments are paid at this time.
For those who prefer, please remember you can always make your tithes and offerings online through the church website. You may also mail your tithes and offerings to the church or drop in the basket for those who are attending our 10:00AM Sunday service in person.
Thank you for your faithful tithes, your donations, your gifts, and your prayer. It has been truly amazing to see your support for the church.
Jim Timmons
Finance Chair
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