Thursday, April 11, 2024

Join Witnessing Whiteness in Fellowship Hall tonight, April 11 at 7pm to watch the documentary “The Color of Fear.”

Sunday, April 14: Kyle Kranes-Rutz will be with us this day to share the message! (Pastor Kim thought she would be back to lead worship, but might be saying goodbye to her family at the airport. No matter what, all will be well.)

Easter Offering Update

Thank you to all who have shared so far in the Easter offering! This year the Easter offering will be shared with Kwasha Molya school in Solwezi, Zambia and Mosaic Services, which provides support for children grades K – 2 in the Maplewood Richmond Heights Early Childhood Center. So far, nearly $2130 has been given. The Easter Offering will be received through Sunday, April 21. Gifts may be mailed to the church or given online or placed in the offering plate. Please note that the gift is for the Easter Offering or place the gift in an Easter Offering envelope.

Looking for something fun to do this summer?

Try leading a Sunday school lesson! The children look forward to Summer Sunday school, when youth and adults lead a lesson or activity of their choice on one or more Sundays in the summer.

These lesson/activities are up to you! You can pick a lesson that you have a particular interest in or an activity you enjoy! The children enjoy seeing all of the different things they get to try out! Please know that you won't be in the classroom alone! You will have support from other adults who are familiar with the children. If you have any questions please reach out to Brittany Link at brittany.l@maplewoodumc.org. Please sign up by May 3rd!

Summer Sunday School Link:

Summer Sunday School Sign Up

Blessing Bag Update

Last Sunday the Children's Sunday School class, with the help of a few adults, put together 100 Blessing Bags. The Blessing Bags have been "summerized" with the hats and gloves taken out and a bottle of drinking water added. Please pick up a couple of Blessing Bags to keep in your car to hand out.

Dear Friends,

Last week while we were driving with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson to visit the great-grandparents, I took the time to write a pastor letter about Easter. But then, when we arrived in Paris, I fell victim to Post-Easter and Grandma on vacation brain all at once and forgot to send it.

In the meantime, there are even more celebrations and words of thanks to share. So, I am catching up beginning with celebrating a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Thank you to Tom Cordeal and his crew for a delicious Easter breakfast!

Thank you to our Children’s Ministry Team coordinated by Brittany Link for decorating the Sunday school area on Saturday.

Thank you to Rachel Ward for her kind and effective leadership of the Easter egg hunt and distribution of the Easter eggs afterward. (Grace under pressure.)

I am grateful to God for a warm good Friday and Saturday, so the Easter flowers were in bloom on Sunday.

Thank you for the hospitality that each of you extended to our Easter guests.

Thank you to Larry and Amy for the beautiful prelude, to our praise band and choir and for the “Leftovers” who sang (and as you heard on Sunday have now become official choir members.)

Then on the Sunday morning after Easter thank you to Charlotte and Dave Phelps and Rev. Steve Wall-Smith for leading on Holy Humor Sunday!

Then on Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t have been more delighted to learn that Rev. Andy Bryan will serve as your pastor beginning July 1. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be truly blessed by Rev. Andy’s ministry and that with his leadership Maplewood UMC faith community will thrive and continue to be a blessing to the community.

This coming Sunday our Kyle Kranes-Rutz will be with us to share the message. It will be good to have Kyle with us and to hear his voice again.

With gratitude,

Pastor Kim

p.s, I snuck in the church to meet with our three confirmands and took a look at the stage. WOW! Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to clear the stage!!

A few (approximate) numbers from Easter Sunday:

50 folks were served Easter breakfast.
20 children were part of the Children’s Easter Egg Hunt
120 people were part of Easter worship.

All of this was in celebration of the ONE Risen Christ!

This Sunday is Native American Ministries Sunday.

This Special Offering Sunday is a denomination wide celebration designed to raise awareness and remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society.

Fifty percent of the funds collected on Native American Ministries Sunday remain in the Annual Conference to develop and strengthen Native American ministries in the conferences. To assist in developing these programs, each conference has a Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM). Learn more about CONAM here.

Twenty-five percent of donations received fund scholarships designated scholarships for Native Americans attending United Methodist schools of theology.

Twenty-five percent of the donations collected are used to create beneficial programs. These funds allow the UMC to partners with existing native ministries to develop new programs on behalf of Native Americans. Some of those efforts include mentoring programs, peer support systems, funding for economic development projects, and restoring traditional and historic ways that bring forth new leaders for Native American communities.

Maplewood UMC will give $100 to this special offering from the Mercy and Justice ministries budget. Additional gifts are welcome and can be shared by or by giving online or by giving via the offering plate on Sunday. Special offering envelopes will be available. Please note on any checks made out to Maplewood UMC or with online giving that the gift is for Native American Ministries. Thank you for your generosity!

Weekend on Wheels (WOW) needs help

Did you know that WOW currently serves 35 families every week? This means WOW provides 35 boxes of cereal, 70 cans of corn, 70 boxes of mac and cheese, and other donations EACH WEEK to our community.

Every single donation goes directly to our families; no donation is too small.

Our inventory is low and WOW is in critical need of the following food items to continue to serve our families:

PAPER REAM BOXES to put the food in
cereal
boxes of Pop Tarts/Toaster Pastries
pasta sauce
pasta noodles
canned vegetables (corn/green beans/peas/carrots)

ramen
cans of kid friendly pasta (like Chef Boyardee)
boxes of granola bars
hearty soup
chicken noodle soup
jelly
canned fruit

Donations can be brought to the church and placed in the WOW basket in the room behind the sanctuary. You may also Email Naomi Warren at naomi.warren@mrhschools.net to arrange a drop off time for your donation at the MS/HS campus at 7500 Lohmeyer (the old 7539 Manchester Rd).

Food donations via Amazon.com can be purchased at any time .

**NEW DATES TO THE CALENDAR ARE IN GREEN

**Thursday, April 11

9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Church office open

9:00 a.m. - 2 p.m. Second Time Around Shop

6:00 p.m. Women's AA Group

6:00 p.m. Praise Band Practice

6:45 p.m. Witness Whitness Movie

7:00 p.m. Choir Practice

** Saturday, April 13

10:30 a.m. - Women's AA Meeting

**Sunday,April 14

9:00 a.m. - Prayer time in Pastor Kim's office

9:45 a.m. - Children & Youth Sunday School

9:45 a.m. Adult Discussion Group

11:00 a.m - Worship - In-Person and

online Link: maplewoodumc.org

5:00 p.m. Scouts

***Monday, April 15

9:00 - 11:30 a.m. Community Unity Team Meeting

**Tuesday, April 16

9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Church office open

1:00 pm. Prayer time via Zoom.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3745711178pwd=dktsaWkwNlNhVjRmOHpjTFNqR1dqQT09 Meeting ID: 374 571 1178

Passcode: 674257

6:30 p.m. Witnessing Whiteness Study

**Wednesday, April 17

9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Church office open

**Thursday, April 18

9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. Church office open

9:00 a.m. - 2 p.m. Second Time Around Shop

4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Scouts

5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Community Unity Dinner

6:00 p.m. Praise Band Practice

6:00 p.m. Women's AA Group

7:00 p.m. Choir Practice

To see the entire calendar - click below https://73855810.view-events.com

Prayers for...

... Madaleaze Cramer's friend, Cynthia, who is experiencing critical health issues.

...Linda Vawter’s sister, Shari, Continued healing for back, a path forward for help with headaches, appropriate work for nephew Allen

...Peg Chulick: Grateful grandson Brian back at teaching, continued prayers for Jer’s strengthening of his heart and vision.

From Nancy Thompson- Please pray for my son, Peter Munshaw, to find appropriate employment.

...Karen Raborn healing of hip issues

...Zambian government to provide vaccinations for Kwasha School children so they can reopen school during cholera epidemic.

...All the strife in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine

Continuing prayers for ...

...Skip Reynolds's comfort and peace

...Shay Blackwell - for relief of nerve pain and dizziness

... Nina Berry - for Chad to be happy and healthy.

...to everyone who helped in any way with the Maundy Thursday Supper - for those who brought soups, accompaniments, and desserts; for those who helped with set-up and clean up. I am sincerely grateful for all the hands that made this happen.

Charlotte

What to Expect During April

Sunday, April 21, 9:45 a.m. Coffee with Pastor Kim in the chapel room next to the office. You are welcome to come just to chat or to ask questions you have, including questions the Christian faith, church, baptism, or membership. Hope to see you there!

Sunday, April 21: New Sermon Series begins. “Make Good Choices!” Those are the words that would follow our kids out the door during their teenage years. Actually, they are words that are good for all of us to hear in all stages of life, whether we are heading out the door or staying home! While we can’t know the future, the direction and quality of our lives are determined in large part by the decisions we make. During this sermon series, we will lean into scripture to find wisdom for making decisions and identify some good questions to ask that will guide is in making large, small, or in-between-sized decisions.

MUMC Kids

Last Sunday was Holy Humor Sunday, we started out day with a service project of making 100 blessing bags, and then we tricked the Kid's with Brown-E's (Maria also made real Brownies for everyone to enjoy!) and they we hid 100 small ducks throughout the sanctuary!

I hope everyone can join us next week for our Spring Party! We will have all of our Easter decorations and games out.

Putting items in the Blessing Bags (all 100 of them)

Children still had time to discuss their Sunday School lesson

The end of February Maplewood United Methodist paid 100% of it MO Conference apportionments for 2024 ($25,698.) Thank you for your faithful giving to make this possible.

DEADLINE for the church newsletter is MIDNIGHT EVERY TUESDAY: send articles via email only to jbrx10@yahoo.com.

The Sunday morning worship bulletin will be sent via email at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday

For more information about Maplewood United Methodist Church, go to our website (maplewoodumc.org ) or Facebook page (facebook.com/mumcstl)

The church office is open Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 9 a.m. til 1 p.m.

Office Phone: 314-781-5902. Pastor Kim Shirar: 314-651-9999 Email: pastorkim@maplewoodumc.org

‌If you prefer not to receive this weekly newsletter please click unsubscribe below

https://em-ui.constantcontact.com/em-ui/em/page/em-ui/email#