This Week
Time for Prayer and Community
We invite all people to join us at 10AM on Sunday, June 27, 2021 in the Sanctuary to enjoy masked, heartfelt, community!
CUMC Covid-19 Protocols
Please Click Here to read Chatham United Methodist Church
Covid-19 Building Protocols for Indoor Time of Prayerful Community
Our goal is to spread love, but not the virus!
Thank you for your consideration of others.
Greeters and Ushers needed!
As our church re-opens for Sunday morning worship beginning June 20th, we invite you to be greeters and ushers, and to set up and prepare for refreshments following our worship time. Please use this Sign-Up Genius link to indicate the dates you are willing to assist us. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904094CA8AE2BAB9-summer. Thank you!
We Remember...
Kay Lauver, long time member of the Chatham UMC, entered Life Eternal on June 14, 2021 at the age of 90. Pastor Jeff spoke recently with her husband Ray over the phone and shared expressions of care and prayer on behalf of the church.

Cards of love and condolences can be sent to:
Ray Lauver
700 Carolina Meadows
Apt 232
Chapel Hill NC 27517
Save the Date!
Summer Fellowship!
Please join Kate and Steve Davis at their home for a fire pit and S’mores Fellowship on Sun 7/25 from 6-8 pm. Limited to 15 attendees. (Steve’s Mobile# 973.738.4728)
Please follow this link to sign up.
Music News
Thank you to all of our musicians for making music this past season during the pandemic. You contributions to our outdoor services and our online ministry have been invaluable. You are appreciated. Keep on the lookout for the beginning of the music program season in September!
To view Music Director, Peter Hill’s thank you video click below:
Our latest piece of online music is Peter Lutkin’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You from members of the Covenant Choir. Take a listen:


Members of our Ukulele Orchestra will meet during this on the second and fourth Saturdays of June, July, and August. The next meeting take place on Saturday, June 26th.

If you would like to hear music that all of our CUMC musicians have made online click on this link: http://www.chathamumc.com/music/ and enjoy!
Library News
Book Review
The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World
 
How did a religion, whose first believers were twenty or so illiterate laborers in a remote part of the empire, become the official religion of Rome, converting some thirty million people in just four centuries? In The Triumph of Christianity, early Christian historian Bart D. Ehrman weaves meticulous research into an eye-opening, readable narrative. He shows how a handful of charismatic characters used a brilliant social strategy and an irresistible message to win over hearts and minds one at a time. In doing so Ehrman upends the way we think about the single most important cultural transformation our world has ever seen—one that revolutionized art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics, economics, and law. (from the book cover)
 
The Triumph of Christianity is a captivating book, and especially insightful were Ehrman’s comments about the conversion of pagans to Christianity. Worshiping just one God and believing in an afterlife were major attractions for the pagans, who typically worshiped multiple gods and with no afterlife. “Christianity was a religion of love and service….all people were on the same footing before God”, as Erhman writes. This would have been attractive, especially for people who felt oppressed, rejected, or demeaned. And that Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 CE certainly had a wide-ranging influence on its early growth as well.
 
The Triumph of Christianity is highly recommended, especially if you’d like to learn how the early Christian church grew and why it succeeded.
 
Reviewed by Ronald Yarger.
Upper Room
July/August Upper Room is now available outside by the rear door entrance and on the information ledge inside the building.
Online Church Community Directory
SIGN UP to join the online church community directory at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/sQILS5n/CUMConlinedir 

After signing up please wait for your Welcome Email with the instructions for creating your own login.

The CUMC online church community directory is LIVE at https://members.instantchurchdirectory.com/

If you would like a PDF version contact Zrinka Cvetkovic in the church office.
Community Announcements
Chatham Borough and Township, as well as Madison, are co-hosting the event, which starts at 6 p.m. on the Lum Lawn of the Chatham Train Station's south parking lot.
Please join us Wednesday, June 30 for an evening celebrating and reflecting on the cultural diversity in the Chathams and Madison. We anticipate a great lineup of speakers and performances! We hope to see you there! Parking available at the ECLC parking lot.
Latest Newsletter is Out!

The Senior Center of the Chathams is an independent, 31-year old non-profit organization located here in town and offer a wide range of programs, activities, and services to older adults in Chatham and the surrounding areas. Click Here to read the latest newsletter and learn about their fantastic programs.
CUMC Outreach
Volunteers are always needed
Altar Flower Dedication
The Fall 2021 Calendar is now available on the bulletin board outside Jeff’s office; dedication forms and envelopes are located underneath the calendar. By donating altar flowers on Sunday, you help add the beautiful gift of flowers to our Sanctuary. Cost of donating flowers is $40 check made out to CUMC; please specify Altar Flowers in the memo line.
Donating flowers is a wonderful way to honor, celebrate, or commemorate a special occasion or a loved one. Flower arrangements are created by Chatham’s Sunnywoods Florist; you may choose to take the flowers with you after the 10:00 service or specify to have them donated. Flowers donated are brought to our church members at home or in care facilities. The colorful bouquets not only brightens their day, they offer spiritual support and reminds recipients that they are so very important to our church community. Weekends from September through December are available for 2021. Please note that we will be starting flowers in September and not during the summer. Please reserve your weekend today! Questions, please email Eileen Ruggiero at chatumc@optonline.net.
CUMC Community Food Pantry 
The community support and need of our 24/7 pantry has grown.
For updates on our current needs you may visit our dedicated Facebook page and Website. These sites are updated weekly with accurate information on what our current needs are and how to best support our efforts before you shop. Thank you all for your continued care of one another and making our Pantry a community staple.
Help keep our food distribution sustained:
Bread Ministry: If you would like to be involved in our Bread Ministry, please contact Hilary Stannard at: 973-650-8715 or
Communities of Care do you wish to receive a call, a text or an email from someone at the Chatham UMC community? Please email the church office by clicking here.
We offer links to resources you may need to help you or your loved ones through this "storm" of Covid-19. Because CUMC has always been a loving community of dedicated ministry, we know you are also seeking ways to give back to those in need.
All submissions for next week's CUMC Weekly E-news are due by Tuesdays, 2PM. Submissions may be emailed to Zrinka Cvetkovic.
460 Main Street
Chatham, NJ 07928
(973) 635-7740
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