Memorial UMC

For those who have been to ST. SIMONS ISLAND and EPWORTH BY THE SEA, a Methodist Conference and Retreat Center on the coast of Georgia, you know the beauty and the history of this special place. For those who have not, it was here that John and Charles Wesley, two brothers from England who are   the fathers of Methodism in America, first preached to natives beneath the limbs of an enormous oak tree.

¨ David Wortham, our church historian and a true authority on our Methodist history at St. Simons, will be our leader and tour guide for this trip on Monday, May 7, through Friday, May 11, 2012.

¨ We will travel to Georgia by church bus, spending the first night in route and also will have time on Tuesday afternoon to enjoy sight-seeing in the quaint town of St. Simons, GA, before heading to our “home” at EPWORTH for the next 4 nights.

¨ During our time at EPWORTH BY THE SEA, we will enjoy times of sight-seeing, reflection, worship, and having great fellowship with God and each other.

¨ Trip cost (which includes gas for the bus, one night’s lodging in route, and food and lodging at Epworth) will be  based on room occupancy:  $470 single; $310 double; $300 triple; or $270 quad. Additional costs will include 6 meals either in route or during time away from EPWORTH and personal purchases.

¨ Trip size limits us to the first 16 people who pay a registration deposit of $100.

¨ You may sign up beginning on Wednesday, February 1, in the church office.

¨ Questions? Contact Jan Johnson at 769-3331 or David Wortham at 737-3740.

The Church Council acted on Monday, January 23 to approve changes in the times of our Sunday Morning services. Service times beginning February 12 are as follows:

• Blended Service– 8:30 AM
• Contemporary “Direct Connection” Service– 9:45
• Traditional “Heritage” Service– 11:00 AM

These new times will take effect on Sunday, February 12. Sunday School times will remain roughly the same, with the new schedule allowing a few more minutes for study and fellowship at the end of class.

The changes in times reflect the need to address congestion in the narthex and fellowship hall between services, and the need to set up different aspects of the various services (musicians for 8:30, band set-up for 9:30, resetting the chancel for later service). It is also anticipated that as we continue to grow, the additional time between services will aid in relieving congestion in the parking lot as well.

The Direct Connection Band (the worship band for our 9:30 contemporary service) have released a CD of favorite worship music. Proceeds from the CD will be used to purchase needed equipment for the band and the worship service. Thsese CDs make great gifts, stocking stuffers, and even invitations for your friends to come and “find out for themselves” about worship here at Memorial. They are available Wednesdays during WOW, Sundays, and all the time at the church office. Suggested price is $10. Thanks!

Come out Wednesday Night for our WOW meal (please make reservations by calling the church office). Proceeds from that meal will go to support our Youth Group’s outreach project to youth in our community who need special attention at Christmas time. Then, plan to stay as our Children’s Ministry presents a wonderful musical program after the meal, beginning about 7 PM.

Both of our UMW circles will be having their Christmas Potluck events this week as well– the Unity Circle’s event is during the lunch hour, and the Miriam Circle event is in the evening beginning at 7 PM.

UMCOR response to Hurricane Irene

The United Methodist Committee on Relief, the denomination’s relief agency, is in contact with its disaster-response coordinators on the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, assessing needs caused by Irene. Donations for disaster response can be made to U.S. Disaster Response Advance number 901670 – Hurricanes 2011.

Click on this link:

http://memorial-umc.org/?page_id=624

And you will go to the Tuesday Noon Bible Study Page. Scroll down to find audio links and an Acrobat version of the latest Bible Study in our series on forgiveness. Leave a comment and let us know if this is useful for your home study. Thanks!

Go to ouer Tuesday Noon Bible Study page at http://memorial-umc.org/?page_id=624 and scroll down to find Lesson 5, which was presented on Tuesday May 31. This is the latest in our series on forgiveness. The hour-long lesson has been broken into smaller segments for ease of listening. The handout is also available in .pdf format– click on it, and it will open in a new tab or window, and you can read along. Comment and let us know if this helps your Bible Study at home, or whereever you use it.

Audio of Lesson 4 in our series on forgiveness is now posted to our website. you can listen as we begin our study of the New Testament’s understanding of sin and forgiveness. This lesson includes a word study on major NT words for forgiveness; a beginning discussion about the conditions of forgiveness in the New Testament; and good group discussion on the role of personal responsibility, our understanding of how the Devil may play into ideas of sin, and what Christ Perfection means. Go to our Bible study Audio page by clicking the link below, or use the link in the right-hand column of our homepage– it’s down toward the bottom, “Tuesday Noon Bible study.”

Link to Page

Click on this link:

Tuesday Noon Bible Study Page

And you will find audio for all three lessons on Forgiveness, as well as .pdf files with the handouts. Enjoy– and we’ll see you on May 24 for Lesson 4!

Go to our Tuesday Noon Bible Study page:

Click here

And find audio for Lesson 2 in our series on forgiveness. It has been broken into four segments, so that you can listen as you have time. Be sure to make comments and give feedback– let us know if this is helping your Bible Study experience!

1. Some have asked for the Advance Special number for Spring Storm Relief. The number is UMCOR Advance #3021326– remember, 100% of money given to this account will go to relief efforts in the region. You can give money through Memorial UMC– just put this Advance Special number in the memo line of your check.

2. We are also collecting flood buckets. These are used for flood clean-up, and are to be filled according to a very specific l8ist of itmes. The list can be found by clicking on the file link below:

Flood bucket PDF

Flood Buckets will be collected at Memorial UMC by the Red Cross on Friday, May 6. The Red Cross will collect more buckets later on, as needed– so you can continue to fill up buckets for flood relief. The first batch of buckets will be used in local relief efforts; once those needs are met, they will be used in relief efforts across the wider region being affected by Ohio and Mississippi River flooding.

Audio from the Tuesday Noon Bible Study is now available. Look to the right hand column of the Home Page under “Finding Out About Us” and click on the link entitled “Tuesday Noon Bible Study. This will take you to a page with audio and other materials for the Tuesday Noon Bible Study. Or, click here to go right to that page.

Click on the file below to see a slide show of the recent trip to Haiti  by our Living Waters Mission Team.

Memorial Haiti 2011 Mission

Today, Sandra Kuerzi brings us a reading from the classic book by Fulton Ousler, The Greatest Story Ever Told. She reads us the scene from Holy week, where Mary comes and anoints Jesus’ feet with spikenard perfume, and wipes them dry with her hair.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Time: 6:56)

Music:

• Theme Music at the beginning: “Out of Ashes,” By Travis Cottrell;
• Background Music: “Lullaby for My Love,” from the Liona Boyd CD entitled  Classically Yours;
• Theme Music at the end: “My Robe is New/Mother Ann’s Song,”  played by Barry Phillips and William Coulter on their CD Simple Gifts

Sandra Kuerzi presents two scripture readings and two short meditations on the story of the Fig Tree. During the last week of his life, Jesus came upon a barren fig tree and cursed it. Later, that tree was seen to have withered and died. Many think the fig tree represents the emptiness of the Temple’s ceremonies, as compared to the fruitfulness of the ministry of Christ.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Time: 5:08)

Music:

• Theme Music at the beginning: “Out of Ashes,” By Travis Cottrell;
• Background Music: “My Help Comes from the Holy One,” from the David Baroni CD entitled  A Quiet Place: Instrumental Hymns;
• Theme Music at the end: “My Robe is New/Mother Ann’s Song,”  played by Barry Phillips and William Coulter on their CD Simple Gifts.