What's Happening at UMC Madison 11/22/21

Pastor Kate and the staff of The United Methodist Church in Madison wish you, your family & friends a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

REMINDER

Sunday, November 28th is the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of our new Sermon Series, Deck the Halls

10:00am - Family Worship Service

11:00am - Fellowship Hour

Need a holiday gift? Our Fair Trade Market will be returning on the following Sundays for your shopping pleasure. We may even have a couple local crafters stopping by to show off their wares!

Nov 28
Dec 5
Dec 12
Dec 19

*If you have a special request or would like to pre-order a wrapped gift basket for pick-up, please contact Kellie at kkrondon1102@gmail.com

It's that time of year again! Please donate to our Angel Tree to help brighten a family's Christmas. All gifts are due in to the church office by Wednesday, December 8th.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Adult Small Group Book Study

Our next session will be held on Tuesday, November 23rd at 10:30am in the Church library. We are reading Chapter 5.

Book choice: The Difficult Words of Jesus by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine. In The Difficult Words of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine shows how these difficult teachings would have sounded to the people who first heard them, how have they been understood over time, and how we might interpret them in the context of the Gospel of love and reconciliation.

Sundays @ 4-5:30PM in the Fellowship Hall. We are in need of volunteers whose first language is English, who would be willing to be conversational partners with Drew students who are learning the language. Our hope is to deepen relationships in our community and learn from one another across culture and language. Students and volunteers are welcome. Any questions, contact Pastor Woo.

The Interfaith Food Pantry Network's Thanksgiving Program is officially underway this year. Last year almost 2,000 turkeys and holiday grocery bags were delivered. We will be collecting the following items at the church. For more information you can contact Katy Galton at galtonkaty@hotmail.com or the church office at church@umcmadison.org.

Thanks as always for your generous donations!

Acorn Academy will be conducting a book drive for those in need this holiday season. Drew University's, Connect for Kids, is collecting gently used books.

The Teacher Education department in collaboration with Connect with Kids is holding a book drive for children and teens. Bring gently used or new books to UMC to help Acorn build this year's holiday book tree! All books will be donated to children in need. Donations accepted until December 1.

Acorn Academy is hiring! When we say this is a great place to start, we’re not just talking about children preparing for elementary school. It’s also about our employees. When you join our staff, you’ll discover the joy of learning, as you grow and develop in your career, alongside the children in your care. As you inspire them to achieve, you’ll be inventing your future too.

-Competitive wages

-Health Insurance offered

-Supportive, working environment

Email Kareena Salo, Director of Acorn Academy:

KSalo@acornacademyofmadison.com

New COVID-19 Developments

There has been a 30 percent increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in New Jersey in the past two weeks. New Jersey’s Gov. Murphy said yesterday that he is “relatively hopeful” that restrictions will not have to reinstated, but he urged more people to get vaccinated in an effort to curb the upward trend. This afternoon, the CDC issued new guidelines, recommending that vaccinated people wear masks when indoors "in areas of substantial or high transmission." Vaccine resources, including the latest report from the CDC, can be found in the link below. At UMC Madison, we will continue to encourage but not mandate masks, unless COVID-19 trends in an alarming direction in the Morris County and nearby county areas. Please sanitize your hands, maintain social distance, and help keep one another safe.

https://www.gnjumc.org/covid19/2021-covid-19-vaccine/?utm_source=Essential+Actions+Email+List&utm_campaign=a10a63ca3b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_04_07_04_55_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7e88793012-a10a63ca3b-198669062

UPDATE:

There are emails pretending to be from Robb Shoaf and other members of our congregation asking for Amazon Gift Cards to be sent to a friend or relative. Please do not respond to these. If you're in doubt as to whether an email is real, please pick up the phone and call that person.

Please be aware that there are emails and texts from Pastor Kate going out to our members asking for money. Do not reply to these as we have not sent anything out. You can contact Lisa in the office at 973-377-1231 or church@umcmadison.org if you have any questions.

Here is a link from the Federal Trade Commission on how to recognize and avoid Phishing Scams.

How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams