The Weekly Connection
July 29, 2021
|
|
In this edition of the Weekly Connection:
Worship
- Worship Information
- Worship Times
- HOMECOMING!
- Link to the Order of Worship for Sunday
- Video of Last Sunday's Service
CIA: Mission & Outreach
- Teacher Breakfast
- I-58 Mission:
- Let's fill the Pantry!
- Backpack Buddies
- Blood Drive
Connexion Groups, Team News & Spiritual Growth
- Wednesday Night Supper
- Church Council
- Bible Study - Mark
- Upper Room Connexion Group
- Senoia Prayer Walk
- Read It & Reap
- Ladies Eat Out (LEO)
- Our Hymn - A Closer Look: "Blessed Assurance"
SUMC Info
- SUMC Online Giving
- Church Calendar
- Church Staff
|
|
Sunday, July 25, 2021
9th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture:
Proverbs 31:8-9
|
|
Sunday, August 1, 2021
10th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture:
Acts 17:22-34 & Timothy 1:12-17
|
Please observe social distancing and please wear a mask if you are not vaccinated. Visit the CDC site for more information:
|
|
Worship Notes:
Sunday Worship Services in the Sanctuary:
In person at 9:30
OR
11:00AM either in person or on Facebook Live
10:00AM Adult Sunday School
Our 9:30am service is a 30 minute service, more contemplative in nature.
Our 11:00am service provides another opportunity to worship
in the traditional setting with the talents of our gifted musicians.
Children and Youth Sunday School will resume at the beginning of the school year
|
|
Are you ready for HOMECOMING?
We are!
Mark your calendar for September 12th. Big plans are under way and we hope you are as excited as we are
|
|
Use this LINK for a printable copy
of the 11am Order of Worship
|
|
Or mail your offering to: Senoia UMC, P.O. Box 98, Senoia, GA 30276 |
|
The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ
for the transformation of the world.
|
|
CIA: Missions and Outreach |
|
New School Year Teacher Breakfast |
|
Start of the New School Year Teacher Breakfast
Every year Senoia UMC provides a local school with a Teacher Breakfast. This outreach effort is always well received and greatly appreciated. We need volunteers to make this a success again this year.
Arrive at East Coweta Middle School at 7:45am, Tuesday, August 3rd. Park in front and use the main entrance. There is enough food but we would love for you to be there to show our support. Bring a mask in case it's needed.
|
|
Drop by Saturday the 31st with a bag or two of groceries!
Let’s fill the truck! We’re restocking shelves as we prepare
to reopen for weekly indoor devotion and grocery shopping in August.
WE CAN’T WAIT!
|
|
The SUMC goal of 50 Backpack Buddies bags a month is off and running!
We have September and November open for volunteers to pack for our area children.
While the goal is fifty bags a month, Backpack Buddies can always use more! If you want to help any time, please contact Doug Kolbenschlag or Jon Morris and we can help you make it happen!
Information on the needed items is in the Narthex.
|
|
Hello all,
Senoia United Methodist Church, the Senoia Optimist and the American Red Cross are hosting an upcoming blood drive. After the drive ends we will need help, about 6pm that evening, putting the tables and chairs back in place. Please let Ashley know if you can help.
Please join our lifesaving mission and schedule an appointment today!
Drive Details:
Site: Senoia United Methodist Church
Address: 229 Bridge Street, Senoia, GA, 30276
Room Name: Fellowship Hall
Date: Mon August 2, 2021
Time: 1:00: PM - 5:00: PM
There is a severe shortage of blood. Please schedule an appointment for our up coming drive on August 2 from 1-5 pm at SUMC. Thanks for your support. Your donation will save lives.
The need for blood is constant and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community. Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime.
Thank you for supporting the American Red Cross blood program!
Download the Red Cross Blood Donor App on the App Store, Google Play or text BLOODAPP to 90999. Schedule appointments, view your blood type and results of your mini-physical, and track your donations.
|
|
Connextion Groups, Team News
and Spiritual Growth
|
|
Wednesday Night Suppers will be starting on Wednesday evening, September 1 at 6:00 in the Fellowship Hall.
The men of our church, United Methodist Men, have graciously volunteered to host these meals each month on the first week of the month, which will be a Grill Night. When the weather becomes too cool to grill, it will be a pancake meal. And we’ve all had their pancakes!! Yum! Watch for more details on this in upcoming weeks.
So, that’s one week of each month! But we need to ensure that we have enough volunteers for the remaining 3 (or 4) weeks each month.
Watch here for a list of opportunities of ways to volunteer in small ways to make our Wednesday Night Suppers extraordinary. If you have thoughts of any sort, contact me, Barb, and we can go over your thoughts. I’m excited about this as I know a LOT of you are also!
|
|
Church Council meeting is this Sunday, August 1st, immediately following the 11am worship service. |
|
Bible Study with Barb
Bible Study with Barb continues on Wednesday, August 5, at 7:00, either in person in the Fellowship Hall or via Zoom.
This week we will discuss Mark 14, joining Jesus on Thursday of his last week, which we call Maundy Thursday. The plot against Jesus comes to a head; Judas betrays Jesus; Jesus eats his last supper with his 12 disciples and prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then, Jesus is arrested. So much of what we know is in this chapter, yet there are so many small nuances to be learned.
We have wonderful and meaningful discussions each week. Consider joining us as we learn more about Jesus’ last days here on earth with his disciples. I’m sure you will enjoy it.
Call or text me, Barb at 419-680-2103, if you have any questions. I hope to see you on Wednesday evening!
Join Zoom Meeting
Password: ashley
Meeting ID: 196 787 919
***********************************
|
|
Upper Room Connexion Group
Our great new Connexion Group, the Upper Room at SUMC, meets every Wednesday morning, at 10:30 in the JOY Room off the narthex at the front of the church.
All you need is a copy of The Upper Room devotional booklet. On Wednesday morning, we read that day’s devotion together and discuss it, as well as any of the devotions from the previous week that we read, which maybe spoke to us.
This is a wonderful group and is open to all of our church family and any guests you would like to include. Call or text me, Barb at 419-680-2103, if you have any questions. See you Wednesday!
***********************************
|
|
Senoia Prays Walk
Our Senoia Prays Walk will gather on Saturday morning, August 7, at 9:00 in the church parking lot.
As usual, we’ll casually walk around the church grounds, neighborhood, and downtown area and lift up prayers for those things or people we see along the way. As always, you will not be required to pray out loud. Sometimes, those brief, quiet ‘breath prayers’ are all that is needed! And rest assured, this is a leisurely walk, not a brisk exercise walk.
It’s for anyone and everyone! Call or text me, Barb at 419-680-2103, if you have any questions! See you on August 7!
***********************************
|
|
Read It and Reap
The Read It and Reap Book Club is gearing up again after a summer hiatus.
We’ll meet as before, on the 2nd Monday evening of each month. For August this will be Monday, August 9, at 7:00 in the JOY Room off the narthex at the front of the church building. This is open to all those who love to read and discuss the topics of each book.
August’s read is The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson. There is still time to read this before we meet on the 9th, as it is a really interesting and easy read. Even if you have read this for a different book club you may belong to, we’d love to have you join us for the discussion and hear your thoughts.
Call or text me, Barb at 419-680-2103, if you have any questions. I hope to see a lot of you readers on the 9th!!!
***********************************
|
|
Ladies Eat Out
Another wonderful eating and fellowship gathering pre-Covid was our Ladies Eat Out (or LEO).
We will be starting this back up on Thursday, August 19, at 11:30. This is for all ladies of the church. We gather each month, on the 3rd Thursday of the month for lunch, at various eateries around Senoia and Peachtree City. There’s not much to it: you simply have to love to get together, talk, and eat! A great time is enjoyed by all each month.
Watch for the specifics for August in next week’s Weekly Connection. Call or text me, Barb at 419-680-2103, if you have any questions.
***********************************
|
|
History of Hymns: "Blessed Assurance"
BY C. MICHAEL HAWN
"Blessed Assurance"
by Fanny J. Crosby
The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 369
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of his spirit, washed in his blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Tune composer Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908) played a melody to Fanny Crosby and asked, "What does the melody say to you?" Crosby replied that the tune said, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!" and proceeded to recite the entire first stanza of the now-famous hymn. Knapp was one of several tune writers that worked with Fanny Crosby. It was not unusual for one of her texts to be inspired by a preexisting tune. Knapp was the composer of more than five hundred gospel hymns and tunes.
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), blind at the age of six weeks, was a lifelong Methodist who began composing hymns at age six. She became a student at the New York Institute of the Blind at age 15 and joined the faculty of the Institute at 22, teaching rhetoric and history. In 1885, Crosby married Alexander Van Alstyne, also a student at the Institute and later a member of the faculty. He was a fine musician and, like Fanny, a lover of literature.
An author of more than 8,000 gospel hymn texts, she drew her inspiration from her own faith. Crosby published hymns under several pen names including "Ella Dale," "Mrs. Kate Gringley," and "Miss Viola V. A." Her hymn texts were staples for the music of the most prominent gospel song writers of her day.
Frances Jane Crosby's hymns have historically been among the most popular songs sung by Methodists. "Blessed Assurance" (1873) is one of the ten most popular hymns sung by United Methodists according to Carlton Young, and it is one of eight Crosby hymns in The United Methodist Hymnal.
"Blessed Assurance" was published in 1873 in the monthly magazine edited by Joseph Fairchild Knapp and Phoebe Palmer Knapp, Guide to Holiness. Editor John R. Sweney included it in Gems of Praise (Philadelphia, 1873), and Knapp also chose it for "Bible School Songs" (1873). Perhaps the biggest boost came when it appeared in Gospel Songs, No. 5 (1887) by Ira Sankey and was sung extensively in the Moody and Sankey revivals in Great Britain and the United States. It has been a part of Methodist hymnals since 1889.
This hymn has inspired many singers ranging from those in evangelistic crusades to theologians. Don E. Saliers, William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship Emeritus at Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta, borrowed a portion of the opening stanza for his liturgical theology text, Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine (1994). If one enters "foretaste of glory divine" into a Google search, numerous sermon titles appear that incorporate this phrase. YouTube renditions of the hymn abound.
Crosby captured the poetic essence of the Wesleyan understanding of Christian perfection in the phrase, "O what a foretaste of glory divine!" The entire hymn is focused on heaven, a place where "perfect submission" and "perfect delight" [stanza 2] will take place. The earthly existence is one of "watching and waiting, looking above" [stanza 3]. As we submit ourselves to Christ and are "filled with his goodness" and "lost in his love" [stanza 3], we are remade in Christ's image and are moving toward Christian perfection.
This hymn appeals to the senses in a rich way. Not only do we have a "foretaste of glory," we experience "visions of rapture [that] burst on my sight," and we hear "echoes of mercy, whispers of love" [stanza 2].
The refrain calls us to "prais[e]. . . my Savior all the day long," echoing I Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing."
Because of her long life, Fanny Crosby had an extraordinary relationship with several United States presidents, even penning poems in their honor on occasion, and she was influential on the spiritual life of or a friend to Presidents Martin Van Buren (8th), John Tyler (10th), James K. Polk (11th), and Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th). She addressed a joint session of Congress on the topic of education for the blind.
Middle class women in nineteenth-century United States had little voice in worship, however. One of the only ways for a woman to claim the authority to be heard was by direct personal revelation from God. Fanny Crosby readily claimed God's personal revelation as a source for her hymns; her personal revelation then became a communal inspiration as Christians throughout the world sang her hymns and confirmed her faith experience as their own.
Dr. Hawn is distinguished professor of church music at Perkins School of Theology. He is also director of the seminary's sacred music program.
|
|
Thank you for your faithful giving.
We are able to accept credit and debit cards online at:
It is super easy. We want to encourage you not to go into credit card debt
but wanted to offer a convenient way to support your church.
|
|
Sunday 8/1
9:30am Worship
10:00am Adult Sunday School
11:00am Worship
12:15pm Church Council
Monday 8/2
1:00pm Blood Drive
Wednesday 8/4
7:00pm Bible Study With Barb
Thursday 8/5
7:00am AA
Saturday 8/7
9:00am Senoia Prayer Walk
|
|
Rev. Ashley Jenkins, Pastor
Barb Combs, Director of Programs
Jim Preece, Organist/Choir Master
Lee Berry, Administrative Assistant & Finance Secretary
Bereatha Brooks, Nursery Coordinator
Polly Watson, Housekeeping
Gail Noble and John Felbinger, A/V Technicians
Jon Morris, Facebook Live Technician
(770) 599-3245
Office Hours:
Open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9-3
You are kindly requested to wear a mask
upon entering the building
if you are not vaccinated.
Thank you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
