Greetings Lake Deaton Family,
Loida and I have been enjoying an amazingly beautiful week with our son, Jonathan, at Yosemite National Park. Jon started working at Rush Creek Lodge here in the spring and we have had a fantastic week of hiking and exploring the Park. One of my favorite hikes this week was last Sunday afternoon when we took what would have normally been a short hike of only three miles, but we did it in the middle of a heavy snow storm. The hike took us up a mountain and literally the trail head started at the front door of our cabin.
As we went deeper and deeper into the woods and the snow came down harder an amazing peace come over me and had a profound Holy Spirit experience. Reflecting afterwards, I was reminded that there is something important about getting alone into quiet spaces for reflection and meeting God. I praised God for the amazing snow storm that put me in a place to have the experience I had, but I also asked God to help me find those places of quietness and focus when I return back into my normal, non-vacation life. That’s the challenge we need to all strive for, to find time and space each day to get away to a quiet place with God.
Can’t wait to see you all this weekend, either in person or virtually. Loida and I have been praying for you all during the storm this week.
Blessings,
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Couch Talk
Each week the pastors and sometimes staff members record a segment called couch talk. Couch talk is full of useful announcements for the coming weeks. We hope you take a moment each week to watch.
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Get to know: LuAnn Gilbert
LuAnn is lots of fun! It shows in all she does. She has been Co-Leader of the Women’s Ministry for the past three years, working closely with a great group of ladies. They bring a variety of enjoyable programs- while learning.
She is a part of a Women’s Small group, and she and her husband, Tom are also in a Couple’s Small group. Small groups are great. We often grow and become to be like family.
LuAnn also has helped organize Trunk or Treat and has served with the Fresh Expressions ministry serving many monthly meals.
Tom and LuAnn have two sons and six grandchildren. She enjoys travel, golf and gardening.
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Discipleship & Connecting |
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Coffee with the Pastors
Next Class - November 17
Interested in membership? Sign up for Coffee with the Pastors! This class is an opportunity to meet our pastors, learn more about our church, our mission, vision and values, and to find out all there is to know about being a member at Lake Deaton UMC. At the end of the class, an opportunity will be given for participants to sign up to join the church. You can sign up to come to the class in-person or online. Sign up by clicking here and selecting the day that works best for you! If you sign up for the November 17 class and decide to join the church, you will be joining the weekend of December 5 and 6, either in-person or online.
Our next classes will be in early 2021.
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Let’s Join Together This Advent Season For a Special Devotional!
Advent is a season to prepare our hearts, minds and souls for the coming of Christ. This year, let’s be sure we don’t rush through this special time. Let’s slow down and enjoy our time together while our staff and congregation spend time "Sharing our Stories".
Each day during Advent, starting on Sunday, November, 29, you will receive an email devotion directly in your email inbox. Each devotion is written by staff or a member of the congregation. Along with the devotion you will have a scripture to read, a few discussion questions for you to consider on your own or with loved ones (even your Small Group) and a prayer for the day.
Our prayer is that this Advent Devotional is a blessing to you as you prepare for the coming of Christ. Click here to sign up!
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Join us this Wednesday, November, 18 from 9:30 to 11:00, as we start looking ahead to Christmas with Operation We Miss You: It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!
We invite you to drive-thru in either your car or golf cart as we take some time to spread some holiday cheer and catch up with each other. As a bonus will have directions for you on how to create a special Advent Jars at home. You and your family will be able to use these Advent Jars in the same way we use our advent candles on the weekend. We also invite you to participate in the spirit of giving by considering giving some of your used books and Bible to the residents at the Sumter County Detention Center. Reading is a favorite activity and one that can safely be done during the pandemic. Check your bookcases for paperback Bibles and other spiritually enriching books. Books on recovering from addiction are also much needed, along with any other stories of recovery or hope.
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As we anticipate coming out of COVID-19 this next year we have scheduled two opportunities to get back into international travel as well as provide excellent educational opportunities to grow in our faith.
In the October of 2021 we will be hosting a trip to Israel and in August 2022 a trip to the Oberammergau Passion Play and Italy. These trips will be great ways to learn and grow in our faith while experiencing the beauty of the Holy Land, Germany and Italy.
We hope to have large groups of people on each of these trips, that we can enjoy the company of our community, while growing from the rich heritage of the Holy Land in 2021 and Southern Europe in 2022. Both of these excursions have the potential to be spiritual pilgrimages for those who go.
We will also be having three informational meetings if you have questions or would like to know more about these opportunities, Holy Land Classic Tour or Oberammergau Passion Play/Best of Italy Tour
Join us on either November 18 @ 3pm, December 10 @ 4pm or December
15 @ 5pm in CR1. You can also check out the link below to find out
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Card Making Class is Back!
Back for December, January and February is the favorite of many! Join us in making cards for the for daily needs of the congregation and families. Cards are used by the Lake Deaton UMC Care Department. Bring your own scissors and adhesive to class. Don't forget your mask as well.
Click here to sign up for one or all of these classes.
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Looking for a Unique Way to Give? |
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Blood Drive coming to Lake Deaton! It's Sunday, December 6 from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. For your convenience the Bloodmobile will be here during our outdoor services on the first Sunday in December. Click here for the link to sign up for appointment. When you give blood you will have an opportunity to enter your name into a basket for a special gift possibility. |
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We believe that meeting the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of our church and neighbors is what showing the love of Christ is all about. We have volunteers devoted to the care of persons, including ministries of prayer, meals, and member connection. If you are facing a challenge, have a prayer request, or want to serve as a volunteer, please let us know. In case of a death of a loved one or a hospitalization, let us know so a Care Minister can support you through this time.
For Prayer and Care Ministries needs, please email Denise Herzberg by clicking here.
We are now able to visit congregants in the hospital!
Please let us know by calling the Care Department when you, a relative or a friend is in the hospital. We will schedule a visit from one of our pastoral team.
Prayer Concerns:
Prayers of healing and comfort for Anne Gee as she recovers from a knee replacement.
Prayers for comfort and peace for Joan Rose on her upcoming knee replacement.
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Please Stop by the narthex lobby and tie a knot on the Prayer Quilt as You Pray for
Rose Arnstein
Prayers for comfort, strength and healing.
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You can make a request for a prayer quilt on our website by clicking here . At times there will be a quilt on display in the Narthex.
When on display please stop to pray and tie a knot for those in need of
comfort and hope.
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Prayer Service
Take 15 minutes of your time to pray. This is a 15 minute video for self-guided prayer. Click to this link and learn with Rev. Kris Schonewolf how to connect with God in prayer.
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The Worship Team is ready to decorate the narthex lobby for Advent and Christmas! We need your help. If you could donate a faux, potted poinsettia plant to help create a festive Christmas experience. Please drop off plants in the lobby starting today! We would like mostly red, however pinks and white will work also. We can accept the poinsettias through Tuesday December 1st.
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Christmas Tree Decorating!!!
This year we are offering two different opportunities for you to help us decorate the church Christmas trees. The first one involves decorating the trees in the narthex. We are asking Lake Deaton Groups to adopt a tree in the narthex and decorate it, from top to bottom in the theme of one of our Christmas at the Movies themes. Trees are available as first come, first serve. This means we have an opportunity for six groups (any type of groups) to participate.
Movie Themes: A Christmas Carole, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Going My Way, Small One, and Home Alone
Our second opportunity to decorate a tree is available to EVERYONE!
Each weekend you are invited to bring a special ornament to put on the Christmas tree at the church that reflects the Advent Theme. We invite you, each week, to reflect on the Bible passage and word for each week of Advent. After your time of reflection, you can either create an ornament or use an ornament that you already own to share on our tree.
1st Sunday of Advent (Nov 28/29) - LOVE - Zephaniah 3:14-17
Example of Ornament: A heart, photo of grandkids, ornament of Jesus in manger, Christmas ball with word “Love”, etc.
2nd Sunday of Advent (Dec 5/6) - HOPE - Isaiah 9:2-3
3rd Sunday of Advent (Dec 12/13) - JOY - Luke 2:8-14
4th Sunday of Advent (Dec 19/20) - PEACE - Isiah 9:6-7
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Join us for movies on the lawn starting Wednesday, November 25 at 6pm. Each Wednesday we will be showing a special Christmas movie. We invite you to bring your lawn chair, a blanket and a friend for this fun, weekly event. You can also watch from the comfort of your car or golf cart.
Wednesday, November 25 - Christmas Carol
Wednesday, December 2 - It’s a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, December 9 - A Christmas Story
Wednesday, December 16 - Going My Way
Wednesday, December 23 - Small One
Wednesday, December 30 - Home Alone
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Worship Attendance
Each week we calculate our online attendance from three sources: YouTube, Facebook and our Website. We also make a physical count at our in-person services.
Sat, Nov 7, 5:00 pm - 39 Online, In-Person 40, Total: 79
Sun, Nov 8, 9:00 am - 140 Online, 95 In-Person, Total: 235
Sun, Nov 8, 10:30am - 61 Online, 66 In-Person, Total: 127
Weekend Totals - 201 Online, 240 In-Person, All Total: 441
We also appreciate your cooperation in "signing" the online "connection pad" just click this link to sign in. If you have filed out the form before all you need to enter is your name(s) and email. "Signing" the "connection pad" on the weekend is helpful because it helps us to better connect and care for you. It is also helping us to update our database.
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The Gift That Keeps Giving |
As we prepare to experience again the coming of Jesus this Christmas season, we encourage you to think about alternative ways to gift your family and friends. With so many people hurting locally, regionally, and globally, what better way to celebrate God’s love than through alternative gift giving. There are two programs through Lake Deaton for your consideration.
Christmas Wish Tree - this year, our Lake Deaton Church family will be supporting the Self-Sufficiency Program at the Wildwood Resource Center. Through a series of classes and individual coaching, women with children who are unemployed and even homeless are given the tools to help them break the cycle of poverty and become self-sufficient. This is truly a “hand up” and not a “hand out”. Our own Helping Hands ministry uses this program for all applicants for their reconstructed houses.
Because of the pandemic and safety concerns, we are unable to participate in the purchasing of gifts for children in the Wildwood area. The Resource Center asked us to consider supporting the Self-Sufficiency Program instead and, after seeing the difference it is making in the lives of people like Shasa and Thomasina, we knew this is what God was calling us to do. Make a contribution and we’ll provide a card you can use to give someone for Christmas! Hang one of the beautiful ornaments on your tree made by Catherine and Denny Dugay, coordinators of Christmas Wish Tree. Click here to give online!
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Christmas Joy - an Alternative Christmas Gift
Opportunity and a special way to honor your family and friends by contributing in their name!
A brochure with ministries you can support is available at church or on the website or click here.
You can choose from a variety of ministries like: Wildwood Food Pantry, Helping Hands, House of Hope, Fresh Water for Congo, REC (Residents Encounter Christ, a ministry at Sumter Jail), ZOE Empowers (supporting our group of orphans in India) Fresh Expressions, Disaster Recovery, Oasis Prison Ministry and many others…
You can give your gift online by clicking here , by writing a check and dropping it off at the church office, in the offering basket on the weekend, or by mailing it to the church. Please write "Christmas Joy" and the name of the project you wish to support on the memo line. Upon request, the Mission/Outreach Team will also provide a card that you can present to your family or friend when giving in their name. Please make this request through the church office.
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Fun and Easy!
Ladies….if you like to sew we have a fun and easy project for you.
We would like to have some basic biblical costumes for Lake Deaton to use for a variety of programs in the future. We have the patterns and will provide the fabric, we just need your talents in creating them.
If anyone has scarves, belts or any other biblical costume type of accessory that you are willing to donate, that would be great.
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Do You Need Social Interaction?
Are you missing the social contact of the church? We have a way...
Volunteer to staff the front receptionist desk on a weekly basis or as a sub. What better way to see some of your church family?! Contact Marilyn Booth at 352-571-4665 or email: mbooth@lakedeatonumc.com with any questions. We hope to see you soon! |
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Make a difference this holiday. Shop for gifts at
Lake Deaton United Methodist Church.
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Our church calendar is now LIVE on our website. Check it out by clicking here.
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Connect with Us
Mailing Address:
6500 Wesleyan Way, Wildwood, FL 34785
Lake Deaton Office Hours:
Monday to Thursday 9:00am to 4:30pm
Friday 9:00am to 1:00pm
Office: Call 352-571-4665
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