Friday, January 29th, 2021 |
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Looking For A New Loo?
The Oxford Dictionary defines Loo thusly: /lo͞o/ noun INFORMAL•BRITISH a restroom or toilet.
Several months ago, as part of our Church planning process, the Trustees prepared a long list of potential improvement projects that really need to be completed as we continue our faith journey. This list was presented to the Church Council with the request to help prioritize the improvements. The number one ranked improvement calls for renovating the upstairs restrooms to modernize them and make them more functional for both able bodied and disabled “users”. This turned out to be a daunting task given the physical constraints and of course the high costs of doing this kind of renovation work. After much deliberation and reiteration of alternatives, your Church Council directed the Trustees to go forward with a plan that calls for converting the two restrooms from our current, separate, men’s and women’s into two unisex restrooms that largely will meet Americans with Disability Act guidelines. In order to provide required maneuvering room, each restroom has been conceptually designed to have a single toilet with new vanity sinks along with many sorely needed upgrades to the floors, walls, lights, doors and fixtures. Armed with conceptual level sketches, the Trustees next met with a construction contractor (who happens to be formerly from England, hence the term “loo”), and he provided us with a budget level construction estimate for the improvements.
FAQs
But What About The Cost? Glad you asked! The Church’s Finance Committee has determined that due to the gracious giving of our members during 2020, when compared to lower than budgeted expenses for the year has resulted in finishing the year in the black. This surplus, helped out mightily with several grants that we received and with additional partial funding from the Trustee’s Building Fund, has given us confidence that we are in a position to go forward with the next steps.
So What Is next? Church Council has directed Trustees to finalize the design and obtain firm bids so that we can make our number one priority a reality!
Do We Really Have All The Money Needed? Well, we think we may have enough, but the need for a supplemental fund raising campaign will be evaluated once firm costs are determined. Also, there are still many more items on the Trustee’s list of needed improvements.
Who Will Complete The Construction? We will award the construction contract to the firm that provides us with the best combination of cost, schedule and confidence that they will provide a quality final product.
What Will The New Restrooms Look Like? We will be preparing drawings and will have them posted in Happenings and at the Church in the next few weeks. Our goal is to have restrooms that are modern, easy to clean, and something we will all be proud of for many years to come.
When Can We Expect To Have The Restrooms Completed? It is our hope that the work can begin towards the end of spring or into the summer of this year, but the current construction market conditions are such that it may take a while to get it started. Total construction could easily take a full month.
Stay tuned for further updates.
Penn Gildersleeve, Trustees Chairman
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Scout Sunday on February 7
We will observe Scout Sunday on February 7 at the 10:30 service. United Methodists have had a long partnership with Scouting and believe participation in Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H or Campfire Girls to be important in the formation of young people’s Christian values and life skills. We look forward to having Scouts Cami Thomas and Will Zapotoczny as liturgists and Scoutmasters John & Ann Thomas as ushers.
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Ministry Jottings
Coming to Terms
“You then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you look down on your brother or sister? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. . . . each of us will gave an account of themselves before God. Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another.” – Romans 14:10, 12 & 13 [CEB]
Because of both Biblical examples and modern psychology, we realize that we often replay our hurts with people other than those who have hurt us. While we might keep trying to get what we never got from someone else, we also keep the trespass alive by reenacting it on others nearby until we can humbly know what it is to be hurtful – the first step towards forgiveness. We express what has been done to us over and over until we come to terms with it. The coming to terms is called healing, surrender, letting go, or forgiveness.
My message this Sunday is “Who’s in Your Dungeon?” In addition to the Romans’ passage above, we’ll be looking at Jesus’s parable about the servant who was forgiven a debt by the king but then didn’t turnaround and forgive a debt owed him. Instead, he threw the man into jail – or a dungeon. Perhaps there are people in your mind you are telling to “repay the debts against you.” When they can’t, you throw them into the dungeon – the dungeon of you soul. Deep down you know you should forgive and release those prisoners, but you don’t know how to do it. Join me on Sunday as we look at how you can set free from your dungeon those people and things you keep there.
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Nathan Jensen Adding New Role – Assistant Online Worship Producer
We have been blessed that Jessica Coons, our office manager, has also been our online worship producer since we began our online worship service almost a year ago. She has produced the service every week, and we are now fortunate that Nathan Jensen is adding to his roles in becoming our “assistant online worship producer”. We will be able to continue to offer the online service when Jessica is on vacation or ill. Nathan will also be producing about one service every other month just to keep his skills fresh. You might note some style changes between the two of them as they will be using different software so that this important ministry can continue to happen. A big “thanks” to both Jessica and Nathan!
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New Emergency Shelter Season, New Common Location, New Year, and more News!
From Tim Clancy,
EChO Emergency Shelter Program (ESP) Coordinator
$80,000 Operating Grant
EChO received the great news that Jefferson County Human Services approved our full request for funding the EChO Emergency Shelter Program from January 1, 2021 through April 30, 2021 - providing almost $80,000 for staffing, operating expenses, and guest assistance. This will assure that we will be able to continue to provide for paid overnight hosts (the most difficult position to fill) and our other expenses necessary to run the 1892 Bancroft Farmhouse in a warm and safe manner.
New Location Improves Our Operations
Being in one location for the entire season has really provided the opportunity to make the Shelter safe for Guests and Volunteer Hosts.
- The strict protocols regarding wearing new masks every night,
- The private rooms for each guest,
- The move from community dining to private room service,
- The constant flow of fresh outside air (due to the many windows cracked open in the old farmhouse),
- And the many HEPA air filters throughout the farmhouse
All make a big difference in making guests and volunteers feel safe and comfortable.
Recent Use Information
After startup on November 18, the Emergency Shelter Program is now operating smoothly, and guests are warmly received, fed, and given a warm safe place to sleep. The Shelter was open for 28 of 31 nights in December - closed 3 nights in a row early in December due to forecasted warm temperatures. Temperatures were colder than forecast – so we have adjusted our prediction calculations and based on past experience we anticipate being open steadily for January, February and March at least.
In December we provided 147 GuestNights, for 10 unique Guests. We are running six guests on average (with a capacity for 10 unique, unrelated guests, in 10 separate sleeping areas, and the ability to accommodate a maximum of 13 guests if there are couples or parents and children.)
In addition to our regular EChO clients, the Jefferson County Sherriff and 911 dispatch knows of our Shelter and has brought or referred four guests to us in the middle of the night in December (as well as a “nearly frozen” emergency guest that was brought to us in November). Without the ESP taking these emergency “rescue” guests into the Shelter, these people were facing very dangerous conditions.
Two Recent Stories:
#1 Micky (not real name) was referred to the ESP at 7:30 PM on December 10, after being discharged from a Denver area hospital and unable to return to her prior living situation. Jefferson Mental Health screened her but was unable to provide any shelter since it was after all shelter space had been allocated for the evening. They arranged for ride share up to Evergreen and she was welcomed and sheltered for the night (and morning) until she could get placed with services in Denver the next afternoon.
#2 Three nights after that, at 9 PM on December 15, Andy and Terri (not real names) were directed from Golden to the ESP by Jefferson County 911 dispatch. Andy and Terri moved to Colorado from Arizona in September for a job in Denver but were laid off in November. They had been living in their 20-year-old car, with no heater, and windows that do not roll shut. Terri called 911 in a panic feeling they were going to freeze to death in their car. 911 Dispatch directed them to the Bancroft House ESP. They were welcomed, screened, and provided a private room and meals. Andy and Terri have been ESP guests ever since. Andy was able to find a new job on December 28th, and with his paycheck they will qualify for housing assistance and the search is underway for housing.
A Volunteer Testimonial
"I feel the new setup for the EChO Emergency Shelter Program at the Bancroft House is very well thought out and the new arrangements allow for guests and hosts to feel safe during the continued COVID crisis. I feel it's more important than ever to continue to help those without shelter during this difficult season. The ESP has adapted well, and I feel very comfortable in continuing to volunteer during this time." Beth L.
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Wreath Sales Final
As reported in the past, the church made $1,022 on the traditional wreath sales. Some of you may remember that we also offered online sales in addition to the traditional sales. The good news is that we just received the check from Mickman Brothers paying us for the online sales. There were 29 items sold online and we were paid $8 for each item sold for a total of $232. So our overall total earned from the wreaths is $1,254.
Mickman Brothers is a good company to work with. They do a lot of good for nonprofit organizations and for the environment. They are proud to report that since they founded the Christmas Wreath fundraising business in 1977 the nonprofit organizations using their fundraising have earned over $80,000,000. In 2007 they established their “Million Planting Project” which has resulted in the planting of nearly 800,000 tree seedlings in 49 states – all within State and Federal Forests and Parks. We are planning to use them again this year for our wreath fund raising and hope that you will support the project again. Thank you for your support in 2020.
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Vanco Information
We want to thank those of you who have decided to use the Vanco online payment function to make payments to the church. The volume of transactions coming through Vanco has increased greatly (by about 300%) since COVID. We want to provide some information on Vanco processing costs. The church is charged 2.75% of the dollars charged on all credit card transactions, 90 cents for each ACH (bank account transfer) transaction, and 45 cents for every transaction.
Please note that Vanco has added a statement to the giving screen asking if the credit card giver would like to give an additional 2.75% to help offset the processing fee.
Thank you for your continued support of our church.
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JOY Team Kickoff Meeting Feb. 3rd, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Join the JOY Team to help plan the Third Annual Mountain Community Barefoot Mile! The JOY Team was launched by our very own Jan Thurling in 2019 with people from UMCE, several area churches, businesses, and members of the community. Last year, the Mountain Community Barefoot Mile brought nearly 200 people together and raised $40,000 for JOY International!! JOY International prevents, rescues, restores, and reintegrates children who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation (www.joy.org). This year's inspiring walk is scheduled for Saturday, August 21, 2021 at Marshdale Park. The JOY Team meets on a monthly basis. The first meeting is Wednesday, February 3rd from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. with in-person and remote options.
Join us in person with masks and social distancing in the large conference room at Evergreen Dental Group (2902 Evergreen Pkwy, Evergreen 80439).
Or, join via Zoom (link to be shared with attendees).
As Jan says: "Brave enough to see it. Brave enough to be it: JOY 2021!"
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Thank You From Resilience1220
As we look back on 2020, we want to thank you for your commitment to young people throughout the mountain community. Your support enabled Resilience1220 to provide 312 individuals over 1,700 hours of counseling.
Additionally, over 400 teens have participated in one or more of our seven groups that provide much needed peer support and companionship. Finally, our parent support sessions have been attended by 215 moms and dads.
The constraints of living through the pandemic, school closures, and isolation are having a profound impact on the mental health of young people. Recent studies have shown that youth suicides and overdoses have increased dramatically over the past year.
Resilience1220 reaches out to kids and families to provide critical mental health support through individual therapy, online seminars on subjects like the stress of the college admission process and how to recognize and address self-harm, and with support groups that bring youth together to talk about their frustrations and experiences.
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Words of Life Bible Study |
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Words of Life Bible Study |
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1pm @ Fellowship Hall & Zoom |
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Onsite worship: 8:30 & 10:30
Online worship: Available from 9 on
Online Kid's Sunday School: 9:30
Onsite Kid’s Sunday School: 10:30
Online Youth Group: 1:30 - 2:30
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THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF EVERGREEN
Growing a community of faith by serving a world of need and changing lives. We affirm a spirit of openness and hospitality to all, including persons of all races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, financial strata, and abilities who seek a closer walk with God.
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