January 2025
937-426-3988 / www.aleyumc.org
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A Message from
Pastor Abby Lightle
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What can you give thanks to God for from 2024? Where can you see God at work throughout this past year in your life? When did you experience points of difficulty or pain? What was an unexpected joy in 2024?
Self-reflection is important if we desire to grow into all that God has created us to be. The Oxford dictionary offers two definitions for “reflection”; first, “throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it”, like seeing an image in a mirror. This is recall, we see it - or think of it - but it doesn’t change us. The questions I posed at the beginning are recall questions, encouraging to you think back and identify something or someone. Recall is often the first step in reflection, and too often that’s where we stop. If we look at the second definition offered by the Oxford dictionary, “reflection” is defined as "Serious thought or consideration”, moving beyond what we simply recall and considering the implications and effects. Often when we self-reflect we skip this second part. It’s more difficult. It requires more emotional investment. Quite frankly, it takes time and that’s the one thing we never seem to have enough of and we can’t manufacture more. This second part of reflection requires that we pause and rest, and most of us aren’t good at that.
Personally, I’m really good at keeping myself busy and full of things to do. There are people that need help, there are things that need done, there are events to schedule, there are calendars to fill, there are games and performances to attend, there are supplies to shop for, there are family events, there are ______________. Perhaps you can relate. As a society we don’t rest well - and I’m not just referring to rest in terms of sleeping, but rest in terms of relaxing and engaging in things that fill our spirits and allow us to “be” instead of “do”. We seem to have turned rest into a reward, we say things like “I don’t have time to rest”, or “there’s to much to do”, or “I can rest when I’m dead”. If we’re waiting on there to be more time in our day, enough to get done, or less needing done before we take time to rest, then we will never rest. This is not how God intended for us to live.
After God created humankind, God rested (Gen. 2:2)…the God of the universe and all creation rested. If rest is needed by the God of creation, then it is needed by us - who were created in God’s image and likeness! Also, we were created on the sixth day and the seventh day was one of rest, that means our very first day of existence was one of rest; God demonstrated the importance of rest from the very beginning. David writes many Psalms about resting in God, such as Psalm 23:2 “He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.” Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, NLT) and throughout Scripture Jesus often withdrew to rest and pray. There are many more times in Scripture where authors are reminding us of the importance of rest - and yet it’s often the last thing we find ourselves doing now.
Rest allows us to take a big, spirit-filled, soul-filling, deep breath. Rest gifts us ability to move beyond recall and into serious thought and consideration when we self-reflect; to process through where we’ve been and where we’re going. Rest encourages us to let down our guard and be safe in God’s presence. Rest provides opportunity for play and fun. Rest gives a deeper opportunity consider how God has been active in our lives and what God might have next for us. Rest is essential for full self-reflection.
Whether you make formal New Year resolutions or not, I pray you prioritize more rest. I pray you process through where you’ve been and where you’re going. I pray you find more fun and play. I pray I pray you reflect upon the last year(s) and how it’s impacted you. What has made you different than you were one year ago and how do you feel about who you are now? How do you hope to have grown one year from now and how will you get there? Where might God be leading you?
Pastor Abby
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STAFF-PASTOR PARISH RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Pastor Abby’s Renewal Leave
Even pastors need a good break from their normal responsibilities to avoid burnout – more than just annual vacation days. The United Methodist Church recognizes this and allows for “professional formation leave”, also called “renewal leave,” during one year out of every four. Those leaves are for at least one month and can be more.
With the full support of District Superintendent the Rev. Jenn Lucas, Pastor Laurie and the Aley UMC Staff-Pastor Parish Relations Committee, Pastor Abby will take renewal leave from Jan. 19 to Feb. 26, 2025. Then she returns to Aley.
The past four years have been exceptionally busy for Pastor Abby, especially for a newly appointed and ordained Deacon. When Aley had no Elder lead pastor, she stepped up as its only pastor and helped keep the church focused on its mission. She helped Rev. Wendy Lybarger (temporary for six months) and Pastor Laurie transition to lead pastor. Let’s remember how the Youth At Aley mission has grown under Pastor Abby, as well as community outreach activities.
Pastor Laurie will fill in for Pastor Abby, who has done extensive planning for Pastor Laurie and the YAA Team so the youth program will function as normal. And, they have talked a lot about what will need to be done with her other duties. Pastor Laurie said the planning Pastor Abby did for her will be a huge help.
Let’s keep Pastor Abby in our prayers while she is on renewal leave. If you have any questions, please contact me. Teri and I attend the 10:30 service, and my contact information is in the Aley directory – or call the church office for my number.
Chuck Manker, Chair, Staff-Parish Relations
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SERMON SERIES
"Identity - Discovering who you are in Christ"
01/05/2025 "I Am..." - Pastor Abby (Holy Communion)
01/12/2025 "I Am..." - Pastor Abby
01/19/2025 "I Am..."- Pastor Laurie
01/26/2025 "I Am..."- Pastor Laurie
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As we celebrate Karen's retirement and we work to make sure that those that receive support from this ministry continues without a break in care. We do ask that you also consider a couple of things, (1) keep Karen in prayer as she finds new ministries to be part of in 2025 (2) pray for those that are passionate about this ministry to step forward to be part of the new team that will support the Caring Ministry and (3) We find the right person to lead this ministry into the New Year. If you have questions or want to be part of this ministry, please contact Pastor Laurie @ pastorlaurie@aleyumc.org
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Family Ministries at Aley | |
Youth At Aley (YAA)
As we move forward to 2025 we have some great events planned for students in grades 6-12! Taco Thursday, Fun in the Dirt!, Neon Night, Spring Retreat, Mission Day, and a Red’s Game, just to name a few! Keep an eye on the ‘Get Involved’ page for upcoming signups.
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Confirmation - If there is enough interest, we will be offering Confirmation again the spring of 2025. Confirmation is a time in which youth can dive into what it means to be a believer in Christ, the purpose of the Church, Baptism & Communion, and the purpose and meaning of Scripture. We’ll look at the Old Testament, the New Testament, and what it means to be United Methodist. It also provides a safe time to ask questions and wrestle with parts of faith that can be difficult or confusing. No questions are off limit at Confirmation. We may not have definite answers to questions asked, and students may walk away with more questions than answers, but Confirmation is a safe place to ask those questions and talk them out. In Confirmation we’ll look at all of this and together talk about how it might impact our lives and shape who we are as individuals and community. Students are expected to attend all Confirmation gatherings. At the end, if they're ready, each youth will have the opportunity to publicly 'confirm' their intention to live out their baptismal vows and join the church through a covenant of membership to become a full member of Aley United Methodist Church and more importantly a member of the Universal Church. For more information, check out the Confirmation section of the “Youth” page on Aley’s website, https://www.aleyumc.org/ministries/youth
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Don’t forget that on Wednesday’s grades 6-12 are now meeting 6-7:30pm in our newly renovated youth space!! Enter door 2 and head up the stairs. We’ll spend some time together in a large group and some time together in breakout groups divided by grade. Wednesday’s are a great time to get to know other students and have some fun while exploring our faith journeys and engaging in faith-based discussion with others all in a safe space.
Sunday mornings we meet to take a little deeper dive and grow deeper with God and each other from 9:40-10:20am.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Abby (pastorabby@aleyumc.org)
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Kids Ministry
Every Sunday, kids are offered several different experiences to encourage their faith journey.
Please contact Susan Grinkemeyer for more info about our Kids Ministry! (kids@aleyumc.org)
| Nursery Ministry - volunteers are needed to care for our youngest kids in the nursery during the Sunday school/ Fellowship hour and the 10:30 service. We want to set up a 6-8 week rotation schedule so that no one volunteer is needed too often. If you are interested, please contact Susan Grinkemeyer (kids@aleyumc.org, 240-357-5190) |
Tired of winter already?
Let's head for the beach for a luau,
some beach games and a movie
"Moana 2"
Kids (K -5th grade) and the
youth are invited too!
January 31, 2025 from 6-9 pm
RSVP by Jan 26.
Go to web page & click on Get Involved
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YAA’S MISSION
At YAA, we desire for students to explore and embody sacred, authentic, and shared love, value, and belonging. It’s both about the environment created for students when they walk in the door at Aley UMC and the environment students create and carry with them throughout their days. Each component of the mission is connected to the others and helps students live into Aley UMC’s mission to “Love God. Love People. Make Disciples.”. At YAA we aim to create a community in which students experience and embody sacred love, sacred value, sacred belonging; authentic love, authentic value, authentic belonging; shared love, shared value, shared belonging.
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Parents, come join other parents as we dive into the same themes our kids and students will be exploring on Sunday mornings 9:40-10:20am. Kids will meet in the kids wing, students will meet in the youth space, and parents will meet in the hospitality room behind the dividers. This is a great chance for your whole family to
intentionally grow as individuals and together as a unit, imagine the great conversations you can have on the way home, to lunch, or to the ball field after church.
Join us weekly on Sunday’s 9:40-10:20 in the hospitality center.
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From your Finance Committee | |
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms". - 1 Peter 4:10
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Is your giving on autopilot?
We often think of ‘autopilot’ as something for airplanes (and now maybe for cars). But you can also put your giving on autopilot by setting up a recurring contribution.
Recurring contributions help us better plan our
income flow as well as reduce your use of checks, envelopes, or stamps.
You can also put your support of Aley on autopilot by selecting us as your charity of choice through many available rewards and giving programs such as the Kroger Community Rewards program
(search for Aley United Methodist Church)
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Aley Mission Team
If you are leading a mission of Aley, or representing Aley when you go to serve at a mission, please remember to fill out our short “Mission & Outreach” form to share that information with us. The form is found linked at the bottom of the Mission & Outreach page on Aley’s website - https://www.aleyumc.org/ministries/mission-outreach
When you fill out this form it helps us know what ways Aley members are active in the community, on behalf of Aley. It also helps us know how we’re doing with our goal of having 20 members in mission/outreach each week. Lastly, it helps the mission team know what opportunities you might be interested in and if we need to provide more/less opportunities for members to participate in mission/outreach.
Keep an eye out for details about our 2025 first quarter all church mission opportunity to serve at The Dayton Dream Center! Second quarter we’ll be packing shelf-stable, nutritious meals for those experiencing food insecurity around the world, stay tuned for a save the date coming soon!
When we do missions, we reach outside of Aley UMC to embody and share Christ. Our missions meet a need and build relationships, in a way that is focused and purposeful in the name of Christ.
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Leadership Moving Aley Forward...
2025 is here and your Leadership is ready to prayerfully move Aley UMC in the best direction for meeting the mission of the church. These are your leaders and a couple of open spots that we pray you will prayerfully consider joining:
Administrative Council for 2025:
Chair: Nancy Williams
Lay-Leader: Gail Simpson
Finance Chair: Garth Cooke
SPPRC: Chuck Manker
Trustees: Troy Heogar (pending vote by Trustees)
Lay-Delegate to AC: Paul Bauer
Lay-Delegate to AC: Gail Simpson
Council Secretary: Bill Noble
At-Large Members:
Joanie Kodya
Heather Nye
Jean Lockwood
Marilyn Rodney
Need:
(1) person to serve a remaining 2025 term (1 year service)
(2) person(s) to serve as Alternate Lay-Delegates (train under the current Delegates)
Finance Council:
Chair: Garth Cooke
Vice Chair:
Finance Secretary: Mary Wesch
Treasurer: Beth Copenhaver
Asst. Treasurer: Phil Bown
Committee Secretary:
Bookkeeper: (non-voting) Christy Riel
Council Chair: Nancy Williams
Lay Leader: Gail Simpson
SPRC Chair: Chuck Manker
Trustee Chair: Troy Heogar (pending vote by Trustees)
At-Large Members:
Kendall Rogers
Carl Herting
Lisa Clinch
Need:
(1) person to serve a remaining 2 year term
(1) person to serve a full 3 year term
Staff-Pastor(s) Relations Committee:
Chair: Chuck Manker
Vice-Chair: Cynthia Shisoff
Lay Leader: Gail Simpson
At-Large Members:
Mike Derenzo
Bonnie Essex
Beth Collins
Donna Bogard
Ken Wetmore
Need:
(1) person to serve a remaining 2 year term
Thank you! to those that have faithfully served their terms and are ready to move onto other ministry areas of service. And
Thank you! to the Lay-Leadership Committee that makes the calls and prays over those that have been asked to serve, your willingness to make sure we have leadership ready to serve each year.
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We would like to celebrate all of those whose birthdays
are in January 2025
Happy New Year &
Happy You this year!
You are special to us &
deeply loved by God...
Have a great You day!
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