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 September.

In August, I went on a once in a lifetime trip to Newfoundland with my dad, my older brother, my aunt and my uncle. Some of you followed along on Facebook, but one of the points of the trip was to follow my ancestry and trace some of our roots. It was amazing. I want to share one of the more interesting things that happened.

We went and saw Melvin Morgan. My great, great grandmother Bellican Coveyduck was his great grandmother from her first husband, William. William was a sea captain who was lost at sea (my brother so wanted it to be the Captain Morgan of rum fame…it isn’t). After his death, she married my ancestor, Isaac Snow. Melvin had restored and taken care of Bellican’s childhood home, built by her father John. We got the chance to walk around the home and see with what care Melvin had restored the home (so well, it is a historical site). With his thick Newfoundland accent, he shared stories of his grandparents, who had lived in the home. William and Bellican had had two sons together, James (Melvin’s grandfather) and Charles. After William’s death, Charles had supposedly run away and ended up in Brooklyn, New York and legend was he was a successful businessman. He said he had only one picture of him that he had upstairs on the wall that his father had told him was Charles.

I was eager to see, so I went up and there was a picture of Charles with four other people, all in tuxes (probably at a wedding) and Charles looked just like my great grandfather, Isaac Jr. (James and Charles’ half brother). I called Melvin up and he said, “Yup, that’s Charles”. I told him how he could have been my great grandfather’s twin. Then my uncle came up and said, “No, that is Isaac Jr.…I have that picture.” The four other people in tuxes were his four sons…including my grandfather who I didn’t even recognize as a very young man. This photo, that had been sitting on this wall for decades, was my great grandfather and his sons with Melvin not knowing at all. When we finished visiting with him (he was so gracious and kind), we reflected and almost felt bad about the revelation. Here, for Melvin, was the only picture he thought he had of his grandfather’s brother that had left the family and now we had taken that away from him.

Sometimes life throws curveballs at us. Our deepest held understandings about ourselves and about our world can sometimes be brought forward and we find it wasn’t what we thought. It can be devastating. Had Melvin not been willing to take a chance and open his door to us, he could’ve remained believing that the picture was Charles. Even though it wasn’t true, Melvin had some emotional connection to it that we would not have severed. But then as we reflected, we also wondered if Melvin might also be excited to share with folks this story and about his new found family in America. When we open the door to new things, we take a risk in allowing God’s Spirit to intercede through people and circumstances that might change us. I hope in those moments, we might see the gift in it rather than just the loss. That we can embrace the newness and the change in ways that help us grow. As you look through this month’s newsletter, consider opening your door to a new experience by engaging a new class, volunteering for a new ministry, or inviting someone to worship (online or in person). By doing this, we might continue our growth as disciples of Jesus Christ. Many blessings as you move into another Fall season.

-Pastor Jason

Stewardship kicks off this month and we couldn't be more excited! Our 2022-2023 theme is "Through It All." Stewardship season is important because our estimates of giving actively shape and define the scope of ministry BUMC will have in 2023. You'll receive a brochure and Estimate of Giving card in the next few weeks with more information about our hopes for the upcoming year and how you can engage in the act of giving. Keep an eye out at burkeumc.org/stewardship for more info coming soon. We're so grateful that God is with us and we are with each other, through it all.

We're selling new Burke Church shirts that you can wear and spread love and light all over town! Click HERE to see the various options of colors/styles and purchase yours today. $4 of each purchase goes to our co-op!

We're glad to welcome three new people to our staff team:

• Missy Greeley, Assistant of Children & Youth Discipleship
• Dee White, Assistant of Outreach
• Rodney Hammond, A/V Director

We hope you'll introduce yourself when you see them around! We're excited for all the gifts they have to offer our children, youth, outreach, and worship ministries.

September Highlights:

• Sep 4 - Worship and Conversation: The UMC and Human Sexuality
• Sep 11 - Sunday School Begins following worship at 10:30
• September 25, 2 pm - Blessing of the Animals - Lee Chapel: check out our events page for more info
• Music groups for all ages begin this month. Go to burkeumc.org/music for more info!

October Preview:

• Oct 2 - World Communion Sunday
• Take-home communion elements will be available during the week of September 26 for our online worshippers to pick-up

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.

Thanks, Christian!

We want to thank Christian Pagnard, who has served as our A/V Director over the last year or so. He was integral in helping us transition to indoor worship utilizing new technologies to livestream and enhance our worship through the screens. His last day is September 4th and he will be moving to Knoxville following that and will be the new primary trumpet player for the Chattanooga Symphony Opera. We wish he, Jenn and Corinna the best of luck in this new endeavor! 

LEARN Updates:

There's still time to register for a fall LEARN class!

We have a few new classes to highlight...

• A Biblical Theology for Human Sexuality​, Sunday evenings at 6:30 pm
• Christians Coping with Climate Change, Sunday mornings at 10:30 am
• Bible Basics: An Intro to the New/Old Testaments, Sundays at 10:30 am

And many returning or continuing classes...

HOPE, GIFT, WIS, Men's Fellowship, & Tuesday Morning Small Group

On September 4th, we'll have a worship service focused around the topic of Human Sexuality with a sermon on Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:24-26. Following the service, we'll have a time of conversation in the Sanctuary to continue the conversation and reflect together.

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.

Events this month -

• September 10, 5 pm: Burke Fall Festival, meet up at the Wine Garden and enjoy time of fellowship with other Burke members. You may even meet some fellow Burke community members. Bring your own snacks and a chair & wear a Burke shirt to represent the church while you're there! For more info, click HERE.

Looking Ahead -

• October 2, 4 pm: Mark Kroos Guitar Concert, click HERE for a sneak preview
• October 16, 9-11 am: INOVA Blood Donor Services Bloodmobile
• October 30, 3-5 pm: Trunk or Treat

Ways to get involved with CARE at BUMC:

• Volunteer with our Welcome/Connection ministries: click HERE to learn more
• Help with event planning/food prep at fellowship events: click HERE
• Drive flowers after worship to folks who can't come to church or have other needs/celebrations: contact Pat Warner at 703-646-5474 or warnerp@cox.net
• Prepare coffee for Sunday morning fellowship time: click HERE

College Student Ministry Updates:

It's September which means our recent High School graduates are packing up and heading to college or beginning their studies at one of our local colleges. Our returning students have moved from dorm to apartment or to a new apartment and others are returning to classes close to home.  

BUMC wants to make sure our College Students are remembered during the year and that they know we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers. We do this by having a College Card Ministry where a student is named in our Newsletter or Friday Five each week with the contact address for YOU to send a card or note of encouragement. In addition, a card is prepared and placed at the Connection Center each Sunday for the congregation to sign. Care Packages are also mailed during the year and graduations are celebrated at the end of the semester. 

In order to begin our ministry for 2022-2023, we need confirmation of current mailing addresses for returning students; and, for our new college students, we need the college your student is attending and the mailing address. We want to begin our new year in late September, so please provide information to Margaret Yowell at Fitzhughlady@aol.com. And, please let her know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks for helping us to Fill Backpacks again this season!

On Saturday, August 6 BUMC held it’s 2^nd annual School Supply Party. Families with children in preschool through 8^th grade were invited to come and shop for their school supplies. Parents paid $5 for each child (a maximum of $15 per family) and the kids selected a backpack, and then filled it with the supplies needed by each grade. There were also puzzles, games, other educational toys and books for every child. Thank you to all of the many volunteers who made the event a success and thank you to everyone who donated school supplies!

Volunteer with the Co-Op:

For many years, Burke United Methodist Church has had bags of non-perishable groceries available for families who have emergency food needs. Late in 2019, after studying the book Toxic Charity and much prayer and discernment, the Outreach Team decided to convert our food giveaway to a food partnership – a co-op. The original plan was to allow families to “join” the co-op for a small monthly fee, which would allow them to "shop” and select the groceries they wanted for their families. Their monthly fees would allow us to buy fresh produce, dairy and meat. They would also help us decide what we should stock in the co-op.

This began in January of 2020, and after the pandemic began in March, we converted back to pre-assembling bags that could be easily and safely put in families’ trunks. In March 2022, we once again opened the co-op to allow families to select their own groceries.

In the past month the co-op has served 99 families and almost 400 individuals. It takes many volunteers in order to staff the co-op. There are many different ways to serve in the co-op (stocking shelves and organizing, helping shoppers in, helping shoppers out to their cars, doing a gleaning pick-up in the church van). You can find the sign up sheet with different opportunities HERE.

Next up: Teddy Bear Brigade!

We'll begin our annual Teddy Bear collection this fall to support Gleaning for the World, an organization that distributes teddy bears to children in need as a result of trauma, disasters, and more. To learn more about the initiative, click HERE. Keep an eye out for more info coming soon.

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 September by clicking the button below.

LEADERSHIP BOARD:

Our leadership board continues meeting monthly. We are grateful for their wisdom and commitment. You can find an update from our board chair, Don Harris, by clicking HERE. Their next meeting will be September 15 at 7 pm via Zoom. If you'd like to attend, you can register for the meeting by clicking HERE.

FINANCIAL UPDATE:

As of the end of July, the church has received $617,262.06 in tithes and gifts while spending $636,165.40 for our general operating account and core mission areas. Some tithes and gifts were received in lump sum early in the year, and when amortized, we currently forecast a potential $80K budget deficit by year end. Fortunately, we have cash reserves which can be used to offset this deficit, should it materialize. Of course, we would prefer not to be in this situation and not having to tap our cash reserves. At this time, our financial receipts are running $27K below 2021 levels.

Our dollar assets at the end of July totaled $577,871.45. The majority of the our dollar assets are in restricted funds (funds given for specific purposes) which cannot be used for the general operating account. Please prayerfully consider supporting the general operating account when making your gifts. 

As of the end of July, the outstanding church mortgage balance was $241,972.60.

The church has also recently established the Burke United Methodist Church Facility Care Endowment Fund and kick-started it with a $24K equity and fixed income investment through the Virginia United Methodist Foundation. The purpose of this endowment is to grow the fund over the life of the church in order to offset inflation and generate funds for planned and unplanned capital expenditures such as construction, maintenance and repairs. Income from this endowment will be used to fund the church’s Capital Reserve Restricted Account which is used to maintain church facilities and property. The Facility Care Endowment Fund is funded by direct gifts from the congregation and grows by investment returns. The church investment team is responsible for investing and monitoring the dollars in this fund.

Your tithes and gifts continue to be essential to the successful operations of the church. Thank you for your continued support.

Our team continues to meet and will update you as there are more decisions to be made and information that is ready to be shared. In the meantime, you can use the contact form on our website at any point with comments/questions. You can also keep up with the latest information on this website page. You can check it out at burkeumc.org/betterburke!