SHEPHERD'S E-NEWS
SHUMC CELEBRATING 40 YEARS
Take a Moment to Stay in Touch
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The church office remains closed. Most of our staff are in the office only limited hours at this time. We can be reached through the church number, (623-584-2280) and email, church@shepherdofthehills.org).
Worship with us weekly online at shepherdofthehills.org
In-person worship will be resumed
when we are confident that it is safe.
Be safe out there. God is with us.
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SERMONS BY PHONE
We are excited to announce a new service for those who are challenged by technology. Our weekend services, in a slightly shortened version, will be available by phone by Saturday
at 3:30 PM. Please share this news with friends who are not able to join us online or via DVD.
Simply call 1-623-223-9151.
The service will begin playing immediately.
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STRUGGLING WITH TECHNOLOGY?
NOT ABLE TO WORSHIP ONLINE?
We have heard your cry! Starting Sunday, October 4, we will offer three limited attendance viewings of the recorded service in the Fellowship Hall.
Advance registration is required and attendance will be limited to only 10 persons for each session at this time.
This is especially designed for persons who are unable, or unwilling, to worship through either YOUTUBE at home, or via the new telephone service, Sermons By Phone.
We really want everyone to have an opportunity to worship.
To register, call the office in advance and sign up for either 8:00, 9:30 or 11:00 AM. On Sunday morning, a member of our staff (pastors or music staff) will greet you, check you in, welcome you and give instructions for this time together.
Masks and social distancing will be strictly observed. When the service is over, Shawn will thoroughly sanitize the room so that the next group of people will be safe.
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If you are on our email contact list:
We will send you an email Saturday afternoon containing a link to the worship service. When you open this email, you will see a picture with a triangle over the picture. Click the triangle, and the video will begin to play.
If you are not receiving these emails and wish to,
please contact the office to add your email address.
Click the triangle above the date you want to watch.
If you are a Facebook user, find it posted on either our Shepherd of the Hills page and/or the Shepherd Hills Facebook account. Click the triangle.
Please watch, then forward to a friend or two.
Click the link in the email labeled Online Attendance Card and
let us know that you are worshiping with us.
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MISSION CANDLE
During this time when we are unable to worship together, please know that your request to have a Mission Candle will be honored. It will be mentioned at the beginning of the worship service that we record each week.
Please call the office or email us to set this up. The cost is $15 per request. The Mission Candle can be dedicated to anyone to celebrate a birthday or anniversary or in memory of someone special. If you have any questions, please contact the church office.
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Please join us in prayer for… |
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Our sister United Methodist Congregations:
Prescott UMC
Prescott Valley UMC
Trinity UMC, Phoenix
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INTERCESSORY PRAYER
While we are not able to be in the Prayer Room
at church for intercessory prayer time, we are offering intercessory prayer by phone. We will
make ourselves available on Sundays from
10:00-11:00 AM.
If you want prayer at another time, call either of us. If we don’t answer, leave your name and number and we will return your call.
Bill White – 623 688 7565
Linda White 623 688 7417
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PRAYER PHONE
Please call our prayer line at 623-584-2922 to hear a short prayer. Then you will be invited to leave specific prayer requests, which will be forwarded to the Prayer Team.
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STAYING IN TOUCH WHILE WE ARE APART |
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BE SURE TO JOIN US ON SUNDAY MORNING!
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Please enter the SHUMC parking lot from Pyracantha Street (north end of parking lot). Follow the arrows and drive by Pastor Alma. (pssst.....We heard there will be drive-up cupcakes....) Following the driveway, all vehicles will exit on Meeker.
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SHUMC LIBRARY WILL BE OPEN
Tuesdays 9 AM – Noon
The church library will open the door on Tuesdays for three hours. Masks and gloves are required to be worn and will be provided. Please follow all posted directions.
The library will not be staffed during this time. Please observe the limitation of one person or one couple at a time to allow for adequate social distancing.
Remember: the office remains closed to visitors at this time.
You can reach office staff by phone or email.
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NEW!! ANNOUNCING MONTHLY BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY SECTION
IN THE VOICE NEWSLETTER
Email your birthday and/or anniversary dates to: jodi@shepherdofthehills.org to be included in the monthly celebration article. Please include month/date/year. The year will not be published, but the information will help us update the church database.
We will keep your date(s) in a folder and when the month arrives, your name will be in the birthday article. You can send in your dates at any time.
(To be included in the November newsletter, please submit your dates by Friday, October 23).
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IN-PERSON 4 WEEKS BIBLE STUDY
The Education Team is happy to announce an in-person Bible Study Class. Dale Salyers is the facilitator and he brings a wealth of experience in Biblical teachings, so we hope you will join us.
The class will meet on Fridays, October 9, 16, 23 and 30 at 9:30 AM in Fellowship Hall. We will follow recommendations for meeting safely in-person by wearing a mask and physically distancing.
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This study is based on the book by Adam Hamilton, "The Call." Books are available for $10 from the office, and you can still participate without one. Please bring your bible and something to take notes.
Come discover Paul the zealot, Paul the proud, Paul the hater of Jesus. Self- proclaimed Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, the smartest of his generation…maybe any generation (according to him). Come get involved in perhaps the greatest transformative story in Christian History.
Class size is limited to the first 10 people who sign up. Please call or email Jodi in the office to put your name on the list for this class. If you try to register for this class and the limit of 10 persons has been reached, we will offer a 2nd class on the same day. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
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Holding Up OUR Corner
Mark 2:1-5; Luke 5:17-19
On Wednesday, September 30 at 3:30 PM, the “Holding Up OUR Corner” group will meet on ZOOM to share what they have learned from the community action meeting with VIP and the meeting with the RACE task force from the Desert Southwest Conference.
This is an open group. Everyone is welcome to join the discussion.
Topic: Holding Up OUR Corner
Time: Sep 30, 2020 03:30 PM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 921 4270 5398
Passcode: 810755
Dial by your location
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
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Justa Center Update
Sandwich Making and Delivery
Your donations and sandwich making continues to make a difference in the life of the homeless seniors who seek shelter and services at the Justa Center. Rudy was telling me that he was homeless at one time. What changed his life was finding Jesus and living his life with Jesus at his side. He said that he became a “glass is half full” rather than a “glass is half empty” sort of guy. Even though he was homeless, when he took Jesus into his life he immediately felt a positive healing force guiding him with love and caring.
What a beautiful testimony for being a follower of Christ and caring for people living on the street. Since the city has had the initiative to place homeless individuals in motels to decrease potential spread of COVID-19, Justa Center has been able to help individuals make a transition to housing as they are being checked out from the motel room program. This has kept more seniors safe and off of the streets.
Remember to keep the Justa Center staff and clients in your prayers.
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The pictures are of a Prius packed with 90 loaves of sandwiches… Shawn and I were doing the math. Most of the loaves make 12 sandwiches, so that is between 1000 and 1080 individual peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches. As always, we are blessed with members bringing in peanut butter and jelly. A special thank you to this week’s sandwich crew: Marlene Northup, Patty O’Neal, Gail Poynor, Joyce Rapp, Mary Giese and Karen McDonald
If you would like to make sandwiches on Wednesday, September 30 at 9 am, please contact Pam Rice at 801-540-6573 or pamean@msn.com
The Prius loaded with 90 loaves of sandwiches.
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LIFE CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
This weekly Bible study will be held via Zoom every Thursday at 1:30 PM. Please join in whenever you are available.
We will use the “Life Journal” which identifies scripture readings for each day of the week. Journals are available at the church. They are on the bench in front of the glass sliding doors or at https://www.liferesources.cc. It’s okay if you don’t have one. We will give you the daily scriptures.
We will read the passage together and then each of us will do the following:
S - Identify which scripture verse spoke to you.
O - What is your observation for this verse - what does it mean to you?
A - How can you apply the meaning to your life?
P - Pray that God will help you change based on your application of the verse.
A reminder email will be sent Thursday morning with the link to join the bible study group.
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Puzzles-To-Go
Check out the puzzle list and find the puzzle you would like (first come basis). There are paper copies available in the plastic bins by the church office for selecting the puzzle you would like to do.
Email your choice to fmhicklin@msn.com or call 515-979-2861.
You can add a puzzle to the exchange by contacting Carolyn Hicklin at
515-979-2861 or fmhicklin@msn.com. Puzzles should have NO missing pieces and puzzles will not be returned to the owner.
Click on the links below to "shop" for the puzzle you would like to work on.
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SEND US A POSTCARD
We realize many of you cannot get pictures to us, so we invite you to send us a postcard – a brief note to the church by email, or on the special “Postcard” section of your attendance/registration card.
We will put all your “postcards” together and send them out as part of Crazy Monday Photos and Postcards. It’s just another way we can stay connected, even when we cannot see each other. We love to hear from you. Send us a postcard this week.
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This week completes the introduction of the individuals who have completed their call to become Congregational Care Ministers for the people of Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church. You may know some of them. |
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Kathy Culliton,
Congregational Care Minister (CCM)
I have always been a Methodist and church was always a part of my life growing up. As a young girl, I can remember going to Sunday School and church every Sunday. When we went to Duluth to visit my cousin over a week-end, I would get a note from her Sunday School to prove that I had attended, even when we were out-of-town. I remember Mrs. Barker trying to explain to me how God could create the world in 6 days and there could still be dinosaurs.
I remember our church as a loving family, even though Rev. Hendricks had a habit of preaching “fire and brimstone” and pounding the pulpit so hard people would jump right out of the pews. In youth group, in the late 60s and early 70s, I had a lot of questions. It seemed to me that everyone who was talking about knowing Jesus and being born again, had been in really serious trouble with the law or had been using drugs. There were books about their hard life and how meeting Jesus saved them. I had always known Jesus and wasn’t quite sure what I was doing wrong that I could not have that “born again” experience. For a while, I allowed questions about what I had to do or who I had to be to really be a Christian come between me and Jesus and church.
Life got busy. I went to college, became a nurse, married Doug and we even moved to Fargo, North Dakota to finish our bachelor degrees. When I was 24 years old, we found out that I was pregnant with our son Bryan. It was an exciting time, except that we found out that I had thyroid cancer in the middle of the pregnancy. When Bryan was 2 months old, I had a radical neck dissection with removal of most of my thyroid gland, muscles on the left side of my neck and as a result have a paralyzed vocal cord (that is why I talk funny). That was such an unsettling and scary time. It wasn’t law breaking or drug or alcohol abuse, but it was definitely a low time for my spirit. Guess what happened…. Yes, I reacquainted myself with Jesus. Since that time, I have been a Sunday school teacher, UMW member, youth group leader and served on every committee of the United Methodist church, except the Trustees and Finance committee. I find that being with other Christians, whether it be in church, meetings, Bible study, or even coffee hour, builds me up and builds on my faith.
For 32 years, before retiring to Sun City West, we lived in Brigham City, Utah (lived in Sandy and Park City for 2 years while Doug was working on his PhD). We were in a small church- so a large church like SHUMC is new to us. When our mother passed away in 1986, my brother Paul came to live with us. He has helped us raise Bryan and Jenny and has enriched our family beyond words. At our house, we have Paul stories. One of my favorites is when Doug and I were discussing end-of-life issues. Paul was in the living room, but standing behind the sofa I was sitting on. When we started talking about where we would be buried, I turned to Paul and said, “when you die, you will be buried in Chisholm with mom and dad”. He gave me a really goofy confused look. I impatiently said, “well, where did you think you were going?” He responded, “Heaven.” We are truly blessed to have him in our home and in our lives.
The Bible verse that is one of my favorites is from the letter to the Ephesians, 3:16- 19, part of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
This is my prayer for our congregation. May each of us know just how huge, well-nourished, established and authenticated is the love God has for each one of us.
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Sand'ee Spears,
Congregational Care Minister (CCM)
I was born in Massachusetts, lived in Maryland and California and moved to Sun City West almost 30 years ago after my husband retired. The company I worked for in California allowed me to transfer to their Phoenix office. When that office closed, I went to work as a Medical Secretary for a doctor in Sun City and retired when he closed his practice in 2010.
Although I have been a member of Shepherd of the Hills since 1992, I was able to become more actively involved after my retirement. I am a long-term member of the Sanctuary Choir, a long-term volunteer in the church library, I am in charge of books at our annual rummage sale and in charge of the Coups for Troops project. Most importantly, however, I was able to train as a Stephen Minister and after 55 hours of intense training, I was commissioned in April 2011.
Having been helped greatly by the Stephen Ministry program, it was, and is, important to me to give back to the members of Shepherd of the Hills. Becoming a Congregational Care Minister is a way for me to do that.
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Carol Davis,
Congregational Care Minister (CCM)
We moved to Arizona from Medicine Lodge, Kansas, in 1966. People will often ask me, “Did you know Dorothy?” Medicine Lodge is surrounded by farms in the beautiful Gyp Hills. When you grow up in the “country” it never leaves you.
My early memories….. going barefoot, walking to the one room school house, bathing in a wash tub, using a scary outhouse and playing in my Grandma Bell’s hayloft. Every Saturday evening, my dad would drive us over the dirt roads to town and park on main street where we would spend the night shopping and visiting. My favorite store was the Ben Franklin dime store. Maybe I would have 20 cents left over to go to the movies to see Roy Rogers or Gene Autry.
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We attended a country church, the Union Chapel. Local ministers would take turns to preach each Sunday. This was a close-knit community where neighbors would help others with wheat harvest, cattle round-ups, illness and emergencies.
In Arizona, after my children were grown, I became a caregiver. Among others, I have helped many Shepherd of the Hills members. I was bringing a SHUMC member to church each Sunday. I heard Rev. Franklin Greene’s, ”Sermon on the Mountain” and Pastor Jeff preach his awesome sermons. Rev. Greene said to me, “Carol, you need to join the church.” I live in Glendale and I am surrounded by churches, but SHUMC is my church home. I am blessed that my parents gave me a Christian upbringing and I am blessed to be a member of SHUMC.
One of my favorite Bible verses is 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. We face giants every day, the Covid-19 virus, financial difficulties, loneliness, health issues and other challenges. We can put our faith and trust in God, as David did, before he faced Goliath.
On my faith journey, I decided to make the commitment to become a Congregational Care Minister to extend the love and grace of Christ to all.
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SCHOOL SUPPLIES NEEDED
Many groups are collecting school supplies as usual this year. The Mission Team joins UMW to collect for needy children. UMW is collecting for Eve's Place, a domestic violence shelter. The Missions Team is collecting for the Dysart Community Center
Dysart Community Center arranges for children at risk in our community (Surprise) to have new school supplies for the school year. They also arrange for after school activities.
Please drop off your donations by the glass sliding doors for the office during the weekdays. Please do not buy crayons for obvious reasons. I will buy lots of crayons to add to the collection and keep them out of the heat.
We will collect supplies for the month of September. A very important person, (like Shawn) will bring the supplies into the office at the end of the day. Money may be given to the Mission Team bank account through Julie Calvert, and will be sent to Dysart Community Center directly.
Thank you, in advance, for contributing to these worthy causes.
The Missions Team
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WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT & HOPE
The congregation is so appreciative of this endeavor and they look forward to reading each one.
We are scheduling writings for the month of October. You can share and/or write about anything. Each one is different, inspiring and enlightening, and sometimes a dash of humor is thrown in.
If you are currently not receiving the emails from the church, and would like to, please call Jodi in the office or send her an email with your email address.
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The "Crazy Monday" feature is so much fun! So many people look forward to "what will it be this week?"
We have received some wonderful photos and we get to know, a little bit better, the people who make up our congregation.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in photos of the great things you have been doing.
Every Monday we will feature a person or group showing us what keeps them entertained during quarantine.
All you need to do is send an email with an attachment to:
Subject Line - Crazy Monday
Questions: Call Carolyn Hicklin at 515-979-2861.
We look forward to seeing what everyone has been doing!
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The Area Agency on Aging’s Benefits Assistance Program can help make sense of Medicare. Click on the links below:
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JUSTA CENTER NEEDS YOU!
Click on the link below to see how you can help the Justa Center in providing for the homeless seniors.
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MONETARY DONATION
TO FOOD BANKS
Give hope to your neighbors in need. $1 helps provide enough food for 7 meals. Your donation is 100% deductible and may qualify for the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit. You may also donate on behalf
of your business by clicking HERE.
If you have questions, or would like to donate by phone, call (602) 242-FOOD.
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To see our current calendar, please click on the link below:
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Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church
13658 W. Meeker Blvd.
Sun City West, AZ 85375
623-584-2280
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Pastor on Call for Emergencies: 623-584-7642
Prayer Line: 623-584-2922
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We are counting on your financial support, even when we cannot gather. You can give in many ways:
a. Mail a check to the office: 13658 W Meeker Blvd, Sun City West, AZ 85375 or drop your gift through the mail slot in the left side of the glass sliding doors.
b. Go to the website at www.shepherdofthehills.org and click on the ONLINE GIVING tab. You will be guided through several choices for your giving.
d. Call Julie Calvert, our Financial Secretary, and leave a message. She will return your call to set up regular online giving or to make a gift with credit or debit card by phone.
e. Add Shepherd of the Hills to your list of payees for bill pay from your checking account through your bank. This can be set up for weekly or monthly gifts to the church.
f. Donate right from your smartphone through our GivePlus Mobile app. Here is what you have to do:
1. Download the free GivePlus (Give+) app from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Find our church by Zip Code or by searching for Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church.
3. Give as a Guest or set up an account.
Thank you for your generosity!
Due to our current situation, Julie will have to call you back as soon as she picks up her messages and/or emails.
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Shepherd of the Hills
United Methodist Church
13658 W Meeker Blvd
Sun City West, AZ 85375-3700
Website: www.shepherdofthehills.org
Email:church@shepherdofthehills.org
Office: 623-584-2280
FAX: 623-584-1868
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Pastor-On-Call for Emergencies:
623-584-7642
Prayer Requests:
623-584-2922
Partners in Prayer: prayers@shepherdofthehills.org
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