Celebration of Graduates on

Sunday June 4th...during worship



If you or a loved one is graduating from post-college, college, high school, 8^th grade, please send a photo, the name of the school they attended and information about the next school or future plans to Brittany.l@maplewoodumc.org 

 Small Group Book Study, Searching for Sunday,

meets again May 23

and 30

Small group study Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans will meet Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. at the church on May 23 and May 30.  

Reach out to Suzanne Thompson, 314-781-1950, or Jan Harsh, 314-781-3960.

The MRH Weekend on Wheels (WOW) pantry is in CRITICAL need of donations in order to finish out the school year.

34 families currently are being served but there is not food enough for 34 families . If you're able to, please consider donating items this week. Donations can be brought to the church. Below are the items they need. Thank you!

34 jars of Pasta Sauce

34 boxes of Pasta/Spaghetti noodles

34 rice sides

34 jars of Peanut Butter

34 jars of jelly

34 boxes of Pop Tarts/Toaster Pastries

34 cans of Chunky Soup (Like Progreso/Campbell's Chunky)

34 cans of Chicken noodle soups

34 cans beans

34 boxes of cereal

68 cans of chicken or tuna

68 cans of fruit

68 cans of kid friendly pasta (like Chef Boyardee)

68 cans of green beans

Thank you for helping WOW finish strong!

If you can give one hour this summer to lead a Children's Sunday School class, sign up now so you can get your best date.

Click here: 2023 Summer Sunday School You can pick a topic or activity or ask Brittany for help.

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Dear Friends,

In order to be ordained by the Missouri United Methodists, I was required to include a course called Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). This course was essentially the first level course for serving as a chaplain.   Part of the course included checking in with hospitalized patients by simply dropping in on them while they were in their room. It was the pastor’s equivalent of a salesperson’s “cold call. I knocked in the door and introduced myself. If the person was willing, we would talk and/or pray.

I remember having a conversation with a woman who was hospitalized for the treatment of her back pain. For years her life had been essentially controlled by her pain. All of her activities and plans were contingent upon the level of her pain on any given day.  

As we talked about her history of back pain and the potential for the treatment to relieve her pain, I asked, “What will you do when your back is better?” She thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know.”  Her life had been defined by her pain for so long, that it was hard to imagine a different way of living.

This Sunday the story we will read from John 5: 1- 9 is about a man who, unable to walk, had laid on his mat next to a special pool for thirty-eight years, just waiting for someone to help him into those healing waters when they were stirred up. After thirty-eight years, he seemed to have given up real hope of getting in the pool. Lots of people had passed by this man without helping him into the water. Lying on the mat had become his life, until the day Jesus saw him and redefined his life.

This Sunday as we “catch our breath” in times of suffering we will talk more about this story. It will be a day to claim that even now we are in the presence of the God, who sees us and gives us hope for a different way to define our lives. I look forward to finding hope as we worship together on Sunday.

God’s grace and peace be with you,

Pastor Kim

P.S.  I am out of town through Saturday evening. If you are in need of pastoral care please contact Lis Wall-Smith at (314) 497-9186.  See you Sunday!

A little holy humor

A 96-year-old lady was a faithful attendant at my women’s Bible studies. She came with her lessons prepared and knew all the answers. One day a tactless member asked her, “Why do you work so hard on these lessons when you’re so old and it doesn’t matter?” Little Bess Elkins looked up and said confidently, “I’m cramming for my finals.”

—Florence Littauer, Women’s Devotional Bible