Here at Burke UMC, we welcome all to experience Christ's life-changing love as we worship, learn, and share in caring community!
We believe that a holistic approach to discipleship includes engaging in all the core ministry areas of worship, learn, care, and share. This includes all ages, from the youngest to oldest members of our community. Be sure to scroll through this newsletter and read about upcoming opportunities to connect and engage in July.
|
|
The last few years have been a struggle. Between the pandemic, divisive political climate, continual instances of gun violence, rising prices as we watch war happen on the other side of the world, and the everyday personal challenges we have experienced, it has been a time that has tested our resilience and sometimes can feel hopeless. I particularly have felt this over the last week with the overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling. I know this has caused so much pain for particularly women and puts many women in a more vulnerable and unsafe place because of the ramifications of this decision. We struggle…with things in our control and things outside of our control. This summer, we are engaging a series called “The Struggle is Real…” based on a book by Joan Chittester called “Scarred by Struggle, Transformed By Hope”. Each week, we will talk about a way that we find ourselves struggling in life, but also recognizing the gift that we might subsequently recognize that helps us move through the struggle toward a posture of hope. Struggle is a part of life that is unavoidable, but struggle does not have to lead to hopelessness, especially if we can engage God and allow God’s Spirit to lead us toward hope. We encourage you to join us through the series in person or online and continue to see the gifts that God has given to us that help us live life abundantly. As you read through this newsletter, may you find opportunities to engage the community which allows us to walk this journey of life together in Jesus’ name!
-Pastor Jason
|
|
You will receive an invite this weekend to join Realm, our membership database for the church. In Realm, you can update your information, find contact info for other members, look through church groups, share your skills/interests with us, and more! We will also be switching over our main online giving tool to a company called Vanco. If you currently give automatically through PayPal, you can continue to do that or choose to switch over to Vanco. We are thankful for your gifts no matter how you give!
We hope you will answer the invite and set up your Realm account. If you have any questions, feel free to call the church office. We hope to have every member set up their account in Realm as we hope to use this tool in even more ways that can help centralize our ministries and better connect you to the church and your life of discipleship.
|
|
We are thrilled to announce that Katie Glick will serve as our new Director of Outreach. She will keep her position as Director of Children and Youth Ministry as well. We will be hiring an assistant for each of the ministry areas in the coming weeks. We want to thank everyone who served on the search committee and are looking forward to continue this important ministry under the leadership of Katie!
Keep an eye out for the job descriptions for the assistant positions coming soon. If you or someone you know are interested in applying, you'll be able to find the information at burkeumc.org/job-openings as well as in the Friday Five.
|
|
A note about online worship - in the past couple months we have encountered a number of issues with our LiveStreaming services. Initially there were area-wide service problems with our internet provider. Most recently, we have experienced difficulties getting a clear (non-choppy) LiveStream. We tested all our systems during the week to ensure a quality viewing experience with positive results only to again experience the same problem during the next service. We have worked with our various venue providers to try to isolate the issue. We know this is a frustrating experience for those trying to view the service off-site. We thank you for your continued patience and continued understanding as we work hard to resolve the problems.
July Highlights:
We begin our 8-week sermon series “The Struggle is Real" based on the book Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan Chittester.
Topics by weeks in July are:
July 10 – Struggle of Change/Gift of Conversion
July 17 – Struggle of Isolation/Gift of Independence
July 24 – Struggle of Darkness/Gift of Faith
July 31 – Struggle with Fear/Gift of Courage
You can find details on our conversation that will follow each week's service in the Learn section below!
Ongoing Worship Opportunities:
-
Weekly Sunday Morning Worship: 9:30 am, In Person and Online on our website at burkeumc.org/online
-
Children's Church: Children age 4 - 2nd grade, begin Worship in the Sanctuary with their families. They will be escorted to Children’s Church when directed. Contact Katie Glick with questions.
-
Altar Flowers: we all enjoy seeing flowers on the altar! If you would like to donate flowers, click HERE.
-
Interested in volunteering for worship? Click HERE.
-
Missed a worship service? Really loved a sermon and want to listen again? Check them out by clicking HERE.
|
|
|
|
Starting July 10, LEARN is offering Casual Conversations; a time in which youth and adults are welcome to gather in the sanctuary during the 10:30 hour to discuss the subject matter of this week's sermon and scripture. We know summer is often full of travel and holidays, so this group is a drop in opportunity for anyone looking for a different way to explore their faith! This learning opportunity will go alongside the summer sermon series "The Struggle is Real", also starting July 10. Come join us for this time of learning and conversing!
If you are interested in helping to lead one of these Casual Conversations, you can sign up HERE.
|
|
Are you looking to get involved with LEARN in the Fall? Stay tuned for the August newsletter for a detailed list of offered Fall classes. You can find updated information through burkeumc.org/learn.
|
|
There are lots of great videos that you can watch on your own time with Amplify! This faith-based video platform is free to church members who use the code WHBLZG. Click HERE to access Amplify and enjoy learning together as a family on your schedule.
|
|
TOGETHER AGAIN: SUMMER MEET-UPS WITH BUMC
Come on out and have some fun with other BUMC folks at one (or more) of our summer meet-ups! Check the BUMC website closer to each event for more details.
- July 9th (Saturday) @ 7PM – meet up at the National Harbor for the “Salute the Summer Concert Series” – bring your own chair, free
-
Karen Evans will be our contact person! You can get in touch at (703) 615-4192 to find the BUMC group once you arrive.
-
July 14 @ 7:30 – Film in the Park, “In the Heights”, PG-13, Mosaic District, can bring chair, cooler, picnic/food,
- July 24th(Sunday) @ 1PM – Meet at Clemyjontri Park in McLean
- August 13 @ 7 pm - Encanto Movie Night at church
*Unfortunately our Fredericksburg Nationals baseball game meet up has been canceled. We invite you to join us at one of our other meet ups if you were planning on attending!
AFTER CHURCH FELLOWSHIP: JULY 17
During the 10:30 hour on July 17, join the BUMC community in a church-wide scavenger hunt! This is a great opportunity for kids and adults to learn some fun facts about the church, explore spaces you may not have been to before, and enjoy each other's company. Put your thinking caps on for this one! See you there!
GREETERS:
BUMC needs YOU to help welcome those that enter our doors for Worship on Sunday mornings! A welcoming heart is all that is needed. Sign-up on the virtual clipboard alley or stop by the Connection Center table on Sunday morning to sign-up.
ALTAR FLOWERS 💐
Ever wonder what happens to the beautiful flowers on the altar after worship? If the family or individual that donated them does not wish to take them home, their beauty is shared with others. Pat Warner and her team of volunteers pick-up the flowers and deliver them to those that need a little pick-me-up. Many thanks to Pat and her ministry team for sharing Christ’s love through the gift of these flowers.
|
|
|
|
Thanks so much to everyone who donated books, bought books, or helped us move books! We are still waiting for the final numbers from the book consolidator we used, but it looks like the proceeds will exceed $5,000 again this year! This money will support our missions in Cambodia and Honduras.
Special thanks to:
- Julie and Tom Muldoon who kept the bins empty
- Mike and Marianne Holmes who devoted 150 + hours to sorting books as they came in
- The UMM who helped move many many boxes of books for us in the final weeks
- Jim Coile who made multiple trips to Frederick to deal with the leftovers.
As with so many things we do, it takes a village to get everything done!
|
|
FILL A BACKPACK DONATIONS CONTINUE
On Saturday, August 6 BUMC will hold its 2nd annual School Supply Party. Families with children preschool through 8th grade will be invited to come and “shop” for their school supplies. Parents will pay $5 for each child (a maximum of $15 per family) and the kids will select a backpack, then fill it with the supplies needed by each grade. There will also be puzzles, games, other educational toys and books for every child. You can volunteer for the party by clicking HERE.
There’s a good chance we will provide supplies for 250+ kids. We need your help. Click the button below to learn how.
We are working on registering all our families in a new data base provided by our partner, Capital Area Food Bank. This will help us have a more detailed picture of the families working with us so we can do a better job directing families to potential resources. Instead of having to register families for school supplies, this data base can tell us how many kids at each grade level may potentially need school supplies.
Thanks so much to all of you who continue to support our work in the co-op.
|
|
We have many ongoing opportunities for children and youth at BUMC! We hope you'll check out our newsletter designed specially for children and youth to see all of the opportunities during the month of July by clicking the button below. |
|
|
|
Last month's social justice highlight focused on Criminal Justice Reform. You can find it along with our other monthly reflections HERE. You can learn more and get involved at burkeumc.org/justice.
|
|
LEADERSHIP BOARD REPORT:
The Leadership Board meeting began with a round of self-introductions by new and returning Board members as well as church staff. These were followed by small group conversations of spiritual and leadership development. We shared memorable events or experiences which stand out in our faith journey and why. Then we also discussed opportunities and challenges BUMC faces in the current state of the COVID pandemic and identified information we might need for future decision-making.
To continue reading and see the full board report, click HERE.
Next month’s meeting is scheduled to be held on July 21st but stay tuned for upcoming announcements as that meeting may be canceled depending on need to meet.
MID-YEAR FINANCIAL UPDATE:
Pastor Jason walks us through what our finances are looking like as we hit the mid-year mark and how you can continue to support the ministry of this congregation as we move through the remainder of the year. You can watch the video by clicking below!
|
|
Building a Better Burke is all about reimagining our church building to better meet the needs of our church and local community! We are grateful for the continued work of our Building Committee as they lead us in this process.
We'll have some upcoming town halls as a way for you to learn more from the building committee and give input at this stage of visioning! We hope you'll attend one of these sessions -- your voice is vitally important in this process.
- Tuesday, July 19 @ 7:00pm (in-person)
- Wednesday, July 27 @ 7:00pm (Zoom)
- Sunday, July 31 @ 4:00pm (in-person)
We invite you to check out our website ahead of time at burkeumc.org/betterburke to learn about the history and what the team has been working on up to this point. Feel free to reach out to the building committee using the contact form on the website at any point with questions.
|
|
ANNUAL CONFERENCE:
The Virginia Annual Conference gathering was held in Hampton on June 16-18. Our Burke UMC delegates, Steve Nash and John Vanden Berghe, have shared a report with us of the happenings at Conference.
You can read their report HERE. We are grateful for their service and continue to pray for our whole annual conference as we move forward together.
GENERAL CONFERENCE:
You are invited to a conference-wide Q&A session on topics including General Conference and disaffiliation from the denomination on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
The July 12 Q&A session will be held through Zoom webinar. All questions need to be submitted in advance so the team can organize questions by topic. Questions will be accepted through this Google form until close of business on July 11.
The Q&A panel will include the Rev. Denise Bates, the Rev. Tom Berlin, Mrs. Martha Stokes, the Rev. Dr. Victor Gomez, Mr. David Dommisse, and Mr. John Fuller. Participants should view Team Jeremiah’s full presentation and initial webinar Q&A from May 31 in advance to see if your question has already been covered.
|
|
To read Burke UMC's welcome statement and learn more about ways to get connected into the life of this community, click here!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
