October 14, 2022

POLO Trip to Harvey House Belen Today

Do you love history and museums? Are you fascinated by the history surrounding the railroad and the Harvey Houses? Then, we invite you to join our St. John's POLO group (People of Leisure and Others) as we travel down the road to Belen, on Friday, October 14, to visit the Harvey House Museum, and have lunch at Pete's located just across the street. Cost is $5.00 per person, plus the cost of lunch.  We'll meet at the museum, 104 North 1st Street, Belen, at 11:15 a.m., have lunch, and then begin our tour at 12:30 p.m. If you wish to carpool from the church, please meet in the West parking lot by 10:15 am. The museum curators ask that you visit their website, www.harveyhousemuseum.org, before the tour, if at all possible. We hope you can join us for this interesting glimpse into a facet of the history created by the railroads. Please sign up at the Hospitality Center. You may pay Mary Beth or Barbara, or make a check payable to St. John’s, with a notation—POLO. If you have questions, please contact Mary Beth Spletzer, 505-508-4829, or Barbara Stanfield, 505-275-8551. 

Mobile Food Pantry on Saturday

Our next Mobile Food Pantry is Saturday, October 15. Our program is in partnership with Roadrunner Food Bank. We provide up to 50 families with 50 pounds of food - half of which are perishable food items like fresh fruits and vegetables. Volunteers arrive around 9:30 a.m. and distribution begins at about 10:15 a.m., depending on the time the truck arrives. We are usually finished by noon. This is a great way to serve our community and make an impact on those that are food insecure. Here are just a couple of facts about hunger in New Mexico (Hunger in America - NM Study):

1. 89% of clients seeking food from food assistance programs reside in stable housing.
2. 41% of people experiencing hunger water down their food or drink, and 76% purchase inexpensive, unhealthy food as coping strategies
3. More than 50% of the households seeking food assistance include an employed person

If you are interested in helping or have questions, please contact Debby Smith at 505-554-4238 or dysmith0427@gmail.com.

PBS Documentary Screening on Saturday

St. John’s Music Ministries is partnering with Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless and New Mexico PBS to present a screening of an inspiring new documentary called “City Voices: Homelessness to Hopefulness.” The film tells the story of a Philadelphia chorus for those experiencing homelessness. The event is free, and will include a brief discussion afterward. Join us on Saturday, October 15 at 5 p.m. 

The event will also include a special choral performance conducted by Matt Greer and Therese Macali. All singers are welcome to join. For more information, contact Therese at tmacali@stjohns-abq.org.

Mountain Cathedrals Hike at El Malpais National Monument on Saturday

With the cooler weather of Fall, let us meet for a hike in the geologically recent lava flows of El Malpais. We'll walk the east segment of the Zuni-Acoma Trail, which leads directly across the flows. This is an existential landscape appropriate for considering our roles in this world and in God's sight (read Job 37). Time permitting we may visit a beautiful sandstone arch as well. Although the elevation change on this hike is modest and we'll walk no more than 5 - 6 miles, the footing is tricky in places.

Logistics: Meet at 7:30 a.m. in the St. John's UMC East Parking Lot to carpool or drive alone to the hike (will stop at the BLM ranger station for info and restrooms). Plan to return to the church by about 4:00 p.m. Bring sturdy walking shoes, trekking poles if you have them, lunch, water, sun protection and enthusiasm!

Please join us for this hike of meditation, wilderness, and time apart from our normal schedules.

Organizer: Mike Furnish, 505-440-7292; mdfurnish@comcast.net.

Save the date: The next Mountain Cathedrals hike is planned for Saturday, November 19th.

Youth Ministry News

Youth Sunday School is at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays in the youth lounge.  

Solid Ground Youth Group meets each Sunday night from 4-6 p.m. We gather in the SonShine Cafe for snacks and games, then have a big group game, interactive lesson and prayer.  

Youth Fall Retreat to Sacramento Camp is November 18-20, 2022. Please be on the lookout for registration forms.   

The Flamingo Flock: Please be on the lookout for the Flamingo Flock in the next few weeks. The Flock is a new youth ministry experiment to help spread St. John’s cheer to the community. You can ‘send’ the flock to land at a friends home for a few days AND make a love donation to the youth ministry here at St. John’s. The youth will deliver the flock to your friend, leave a note letting them know that this flock was a gift from you only for a few days, and then will fly off to their next destination. The youth hope that this will be a fun way to spread some fun but also be a fun bonding activity for the youth to do together as well. There will be pink Flamingo flight itinerary available the next few Sundays to book your flock or you can contact Pastor Tiffany (thollums@stjohns-abq.org) to book these pink friends! Book them quickly, though, as we will make a trip itinerary for the flock, first come first serve! All donations will be used to fund mission trip scholarships, youth interns, and other incredible youth ministries here at St. John’s UMC. 

To receive the youth updates or information, please email Pastor Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org. 

WeCare Group This Sunday

Our next WeCare group for caregivers will be Sunday, October 16 at 1:00 p.m. in the Narthex area couches (behind the Hospitality center).

Omelet Bar Mix-And-Match October 23

It’s here again! the next Omelet Bar Mix-and-Match is coming up on Sunday, October 23. Omelet Bar is in the SonShine Cafe between 7:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. You can get a made to order 3 egg or egg white omelet that you can choose to fill with a generous selection of meats and veggies plus a piece of toast with jam or butter. All for just $7 per omelet with a drink included! Bring a friend and enjoy a quality, made from scratch breakfast and great conversation around the cafe tables with folks from all 3 Sunday services! Come back the fourth Sunday of every month!

We need volunteers to take money and be a runner—no running required. Use the button below to sign up to volunteer. If you have any questions, text or call Nancy Douglas de Baca at 505-238-5895.

Class on CCB (Church Community Builder) on October 23

Are you totally confused about how to use the church software to access information? Or maybe you don't even know how to access this program on your computer or laptop/iPad? A very basic introduction to CCB is being offered on Sunday, October 23, 12:15 - 2:00 p.m. in rooms 149/151. The class size is limited to 30 people so RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST! Topics to be covered are: What is CCB? What is the Church App? What are the differences between the CCB and the App? How to find and login to CCB/App? How to find and update my CCB Profile? How to update basic profile information? How to find another person's contact information? How can I print a directory? Please contact Donna Bruce at donnabruce@comcast.net to register.

Family Promise Host Week on October 23 & Additional Ways to Help

Family Promise Meal Sign Up: October 23-30 we need two volunteers to provide a meal and spend time with the families from 5-7p.m. On Saturday, the 29 and Sunday, the 30 we also need someone to drop off hot breakfast meals. The bonding that goes on between the families and volunteers is integral to the success of the program. Use the button below to sign up.

Kitchen in a Box Project: If you have gently used or new household items you want to donate, please check out this project that local Girl Scouts have started. Their project will help families who have graduated from the the program start their lives in their new homes with kitchen supplies. Click here to read more. 

Trunk or Treat & Night Without A Bed: On October 22, Family Promise will be hosting two additional events to raise money and awareness for their program. Click here to read the Trunk or Treat flyer (participants still needed!) and click here to read a flyer about how to participate in Night Without a Bed.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenn Shields at jennshields200@yahoo.com or Linn Furnish at swimsew@comcast.net.

Betty Newman Memorial Service October 29

A memorial service for Betty Newman will be held at St. John’s UMC on October 29 at 10:00 a.m. Click the link HERE to view her obituary. In Lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the St. Johns United Methodist Church Music Program.

Mary Lou Ashwill Memorial Service November 5

Longtime St. John’s member Mary Lou Ashwill passed away on October 12. A memorial service for Mary Lou will be Saturday, November 5 at 10:00a.m. in the St. John’s sanctuary. Please be in prayer for her family.

Memory Café is Back on November 12

We’re back! Memory Café will resume on Saturday, November 12. from 3:00-4:30 p.m. in the SonShine Cafe. This monthly meeting is for people with memory loss and their family caretakers. We are still looking for people to assist in planning and help with meetings. For more information, contact Sharon Jensen at 505-323-7522 or ssmjens@aol.com.

Growing Faith and Belief

St. John's email Bible study will examine how the biblical writers used the words for "faith" and "belief." We seem to think that these are two separate concepts, but in their minds, they are the same: belief = faith. This study will examine fifty-five out of the hundreds of passages in which these words occur. Grow your faith and belief through a daily conversation with the word of God.

A scripture passage and a brief study tip are distributed to most participants by email five days a week. The study tips are made available outside our walls through an archive at www.daily-bible-study-tips.com. We each read at a time and place of our own choosing. Answers to reader questions and other supplements occasionally come out on Saturdays. To receive daily study tips by email, write or call Regina Hunter at drhunter@nmia.com or (505) 294-2877, or you may pick up a study guide in the Welcome Center.

Communion Home Ministry

If you would like to receive communion delivered to your home or know of someone who you think would like to receive Communion, please contact Tiffany (thollums@stjohns-abq.org). We are forming teams to go and share this important sacrament with those who cannot join us in person.  

If you are interested in serving in this important ministry, please contact Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org.  

Call For Acolytes

We are hoping to start having acolytes again at our 11 am worship service. If your child or youth is interested, please contact Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org. Also, if you would like to help with this important ministry, contact Tiffany.  

Families of Faith Nursery Care by Reservation

Families of Faith is a time for families with young children (babies to grade 5) to gather and strengthen our walk with Jesus. Join us each Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for a free family-friendly meal in the Sonshine Cafe (please note the location change), Kids will be shepherded to Bible Club and NewSound rehearsal for spiritual growth through games, music, and fun. Parents will enjoy fellowship, book studies, and games. Childcare for ages 6 weeks to 3 years will be provided. Contact Tiffany Hollums at thollums@stjohns-abq.org or Therese Macali at tmacali@stjohns-abq.org for more information..

Should you decide to attend Families of Faith on Thursday nights and would like to have a spot available for your little one, 0-3, in the nursery, please email our Nursery Manage Jenna Hamilton by 2 p.m. on Wednesday to reserve a spot at jhamilton@stjohns-abq.org.

Write a Letter to Our 2022 Confirmands

Confirmation is a very important journey of faith in which young people commit to learn and study about what it means to be a Christian and to join the life of the church as an adult in the faith. These confirmands, (below) have been meeting since last Fall and have been so faithful in coming every Sunday for 2 hours to learn what it means to confirm their faith. On Sunday, November 6, they will be confirmed and we wanted to invite you, their church family, to write them letters welcoming them to the church, share wisdom, prayers, or favorite verses. There will be red bags with the confirmands names at the Hospitality center where you can place these letters and the confirmands will receive these at the reception on November 6. Thank you for investing in the lives of these amazing individuals as they take this important faith step. 

Our 2022 Confirmands:

• Henry Eaton
• Alanah Hamilton
• Dylan Jones
• Zander Mauck
• Illuminata Hime-Penasa
• Lily Lybarger
• Alejandro Quinlan
• Scarlett Sharp

Needs for Fall Festival & Trunk or Treat

Mark your calendars for the Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat October 30 from 4-6 p.m.  Please invite your friends and bring clothes to donate for the APS Clothing Drive! We have several needs to make sure this event goes off without a hitch, including:

• Donations of candy, stuffed animals (for the ‘Monster Walk’) and prizes are needed. Please bring them to the Hospitality Center in the Narthex or the registration table in the Abide service.  
• We are also looking for someone who would be willing to pick up bales of hay and pumpkins to bring for the festival. If you could help, please contact Tiffany (thollums@stjohns-abq.org).  
• Trunk or Treaters are needed to come and decorate their cars, set up with fun candy to give to children and even set up fun games in the parking lot during the festival. This would be a wonderful activity for a Sunday school class, small group, or family to do together. Dress up, decorate your car, hand out candy and join in the fun. There will be a sign up poster at the Hospitality Center starting this Sunday to reserve your space. Interested? Please contact Tiffany (thollums@stjohns-abq.org).  

Changes to Children's Chapel

Children’s Chapel is offered during the 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. worship services in the Children’s Chapel upstairs. Children begin worship in the service and then are dismissed following the offertory. Children’s worship bags are provided (huge thanks to the United Women of Faith who make these amazing bags).  

1. Children’s Chapel will return to being offered every week following the offertory. If families would like to have children join in communion, they are welcome to come and check out their children early from Children’s Chapel.  
2. New Children’s Chapel registration cards will be available on the registration tables and also in the children’s bags for families to fill out for their children attending Children’s Chapel. Kids who bring these cards with them will receive a fun prize each week! This is to help us to register children and ensure that children are checked in and out safely and efficiently.  
3. There will be a children’s table in the Abide service at 9:30 a.m. for children to sit if adults are in a Sunday school class during the 9:30 a.m. time. We are currently learning about the parables of Jesus in creative and fun ways.  

VAMOS Employment Preparation Program Partnering with St. John's 

Starting this October, St. John's will be partnering with Mandy's Farm to provide classroom space and professional internships for the VAMOS Employment Preparation Program. The VAMOS Employment Preparation Program is designed to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are navigating the transition from high school to adult life (14+ years of age) without access to long-term services. VAMOS students participate in workshops and learning experiences focused on building soft skills, self-advocacy, benefits counseling, financial literacy, social-emotional growth, and tools for adult living. 

The program is currently meeting in the Youth Room from Monday through Thursday from 3:00-5:00 p.m. St. John's and Mandy's Farm are also partnering to provide a professional internship opportunity through the St. John's Food and Garden Ministry, also starting this October. VAMOS participants will be learning everything from cooking, food safety and service with St. John's own Tim Nuzum. 

For more information or to make a donation to this program, please go the the Mandy's Farm VAMOS page and click "donate now." You may also contact the VAMOS Program Coordinator Rachel Minnaar at rachel@mandysfarm.org for more information: https://www.mandysfarm.org/program/vamos-program/

Opportunity to Volunteer for Short Term Exchange Student House

Linn and Mike Furnish are planning to host 1 - 2 students with the AFS program and invite other St. John's families to consider this opportunity to enlarge their horizons. Contact them (505-884-6626 or swimsew@comcast.net) for more information or use the contacts below to directly contact the New Mexico AFS team.

AFS New Mexico is looking for Holiday Host Families for 11th-grade level exchange students attending Menaul School. Students are from Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland and Thailand. Dates for Hosting are holiday periods when the dorms are unavailable: Thanksgiving - November 18 - 27; Winter Break - December 20 – January 9; Spring Break - March 17 - 26. Families complete the AFS Hosting Application process, provide a bed, three meals a day, and the same care and support that they would give to their own child. AFS Students may be a part of any domestic travels your family has planned.  If you are interested in a short-term hosting opportunity, contact Anne Downing at drdavrome@gmail.com. For more information visit www.afsusa.org/host.

October Special Offering: World Communion Sunday

In October, Christians throughout the world remember the unity in Christ that Holy Communion brings to us. We also have the opportunity to provide scholarships to needy students around the world. Students such as Clarice in the Congo, who hopes to improve health care in her community through a degree in Public Policy, Dillozon in the Philippines as he studies to be a much needed doctor, Johnny from Peru as he studies to be a pastor, and many more. As we take communion this Sunday let us especially remember that even in our very fractured world, we are One in Christ. Please give generously this month.

Navajo Christmas Airlift

The Christmas Airlift began in 1985, when Dick McColley, in his role as President of the Honeywell Flying Club, researched and considered various community service opportunities that would allow General Aviation Aircraft pilots to assist the underprivileged at Christmas. His attention eventually centered on the Navajo Reservation, which is heavily rural, and with much of the nation living without many of the comforts so much of our country takes for granted. In addition to the rewarding aspects for the pilots, the tradition of giving truly shares the spirit and meaning of Christmas with the Navajo people. Click here to read more about this program.

We have an opportunity to become involved with this fantastic opportunity through the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) unit of which St. John's congregant, Larry Zentner, is a member. During the month of October we will be collecting items to give (the items will be delivered the first of November). Click here to see and print a shopping list. 

For any who are interested, there is also the opportunity to create "shoebox gifts" for the children (much like the Samaritan Purse "Operation Christmas Child" boxes we've filled in the past). Here is a list of possible items for the shoebox. Please pick and choose what you wish to include but remember it must fit in the shoebox you provide.

Questions? Contact Donna at donnabruce@comcast.net.

Help Support the Zuni Weekend Meals Program

Did you know? St. John's assembles a total of 90 Zuni Weekend Meal Bags per week?  In other words, 45 students at Zuni have been identified as suffering from food insecurity, and each of those students is given two meal bags to take home for the weekend. That's a lot of food, and it takes money to keep this program going for these children who rely on it. So, during October, we're collecting the following donations for this project (all single-serve sizes): macaroni and cheese cups, shelf-stable chocolate milk, packets of cheese-and-crackers, packets of goldfish crackers, microwavable ravioli, and veggie cups, such as corn, peas, and green beans. Please drop off your donations at the Hospitality Center. If you'd like to support this program --- but would prefer to leave the shopping to us ---your monetary donation will be much appreciated! Please make checks payable to "St. John's UMC", with "Zuni Meals" on the memo line. Thank you!

St. John's United Methodist Church

2626 Arizona Street NE | Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110

Office Hours (call only): Monday - Thursday, 9a.m. - 4 p.m.

Friday, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Pastor 24-Hour Hotline | (505)808-1624

Pastor care is available for after hours emergencies. Any congregational care needs, please send those to Pastor Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org as we all work together to love one another well.