Saturday, October 31, 2009
November Tidings Newsletter Online
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 25, 2009 Sermon Online
Friday, October 23, 2009
Raise Money For North United Methodist Church With No Selling
Thousands of non-profit organizations across the United States are joining together with retailers to raise money. They do it with "Scrip" the revolutionary fundraising method that can raise tens of thousands of dollars for our non-profit organization without the hassles of traditional fundraisers.
Founded in 1994, Great Lakes Scrip Center has helped more than 14,000 non-profit organizations raise more than $250 million dollars with Scrip.
With Scrip fundraising, friends and member families of the church simply do their regular weekly shopping with gift cards from America's favorite retailers. With each purchase, NUMC earns cash rebates that can quickly add up to tens of thousands of dollars a year - money that can be used for whatever our organization needs.
Scrip is a powerful fundraising tool because families generate revenue through purchases they would make anyway. Groceries, clothing, toys, gifts, even gasoline can be purchased with scrip. An organization of 150 families easily spends between one and two million dollars per year on food, clothing and other essentials. If those families use scrip for their purchases, they can raise as much as $40,000 to $80,000 per year for their organization --without spending an additional penny.
Great Lakes Scrip Center offers a deep selection of scrip gift cards from America's favorite retailers. GLSC works with our partner retailers to offer hundreds of gift cards with substantial rebates.
NUMC buys the scrip gift cards from Great Lakes Scrip Center at a discount, and re-sells them to our organization members for full face value. The discount - from two to fifteen percent or more - is a rebate retained by NUMC as revenue. It’s that easy!
A few examples of retailers and the discounts they offer:
99 Restaurant 13%Take a look at the complete list of hundreds of retailers in PDF format by checking the website at www.glscrip.com.
Amazon.com 4%
Borders 9%
Auto Zone 5%
Barnes and Noble 9%
Exxon 1.5%
Cheesecake Factory 5%
Chuck E. Cheese 8%
Express 10%
Cold Stone Creamery 8%
Dunkin’ Donuts 4%
Hallmark 4%
Dell Computer 4%
Fashion Bug 8%
Sears 4%
Foot Locker 9%
Great Harvest Bread 8%
KFC 8%
Harry and David 10%
Home Depot 4%
Stop and Shop 4%
Home Goods 7%
Hyatt Hotels 9%
Lord and Taylor 8%
This program will begin October 25th and continue on each Sunday. Cards may be ordered and paid for on any given Sunday, and then picked up on that next Sunday one week after ordering.
Anita Haynes will be available today in the Memorial Room to take orders and answer questions.
We also have a need for volunteers to take turns hosting the “Scrip” table on Sunday mornings. Please speak with Anita to schedule a Sunday. Thank you!
Set Your Clocks Back
This is a reminder to change your clocks next Saturday night so you will not be late for church on Sunday morning!
All Saint's Day
As United Methodists we are heirs of a renewal movement influenced by Luther's initiative and shaped by John Wesley and others looking toward reform in the late 18th century Church of England.
The annual Reformation Sunday, the last Sunday of October, is a time to remember, to praise the courage of men and women who have dared to raise their voices and exert the energy of their faith to gain clearer understandings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Reformation Sunday is also a time to confess the fractures within the church as the Body of Christ in the world. It is a time to thank God for the ecumenical spirit that in recent decades has brought many Protestant denominations closer together and also begun to bridge divides between Protestant and Roman Catholic.
All Saint's Sunday is next Sunday, November 1. We will acknowledge members of NUMC who have passed away in the past year with the sounding of the bell.
We will also provide an opportunity to acknowledge friends and loved ones who are no longer with us by inviting members to place a flower (in remembrance of those loved ones) on the altar in a communal vase.
Please note the name(s) you would like to recognize and honor on the back of your attendance slip.
If you choose to submit a name(s), please bring flowers with you on Sunday, Nov. 1 to add to the vase during worship.
*REMINDER, Please wear name tags every Sunday
Anyone in need of a name tag, please note it on the back of your attendance slip on Sunday morning and one will be made for you.
MYF Fellowship in October
MACC Christmas House Tour and Holiday Shopping Boutique Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Manchester Area Conference of Churches Cordially Invite You to a Benefit Christmas House Tour and Holiday Shopping Boutique Saturday, December 5, 2009. Click the image to the left to see the flyer.
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of their Historic home at 123 Boulder Road in Manchester, the Rainville family welcomes guests to tour their historic home decorated from top to bottom. There will be dedicated areas in the house set up for guests to purchase delightful holiday gifts.
Limited tickets available, early reservations recommended. Tickets are available at Inspirations, 65 East Center Street located to the right of Cavey's and Rocco's. Store hours Tuesday through Saturday 10-4. Tickets also available by phone. Call 860-643-9884.
Donation $25.00.
Each donor will receive a $10.00 coupon for Inspirations in 2010. There will be no tickets available at the door. Kindly make checks payable to MACC Food Pantry. Easy parking for the tour. A shuttle service will bring you right to Rainville's front door!
Leadership Workshop Saturday, December 5th from 8:30am to 2:00pm
All church leaders have been contacted by email and are requested to put this date on their calendars and make their best effort to be present for this important session. If you have not already done so—Please R.S.V.P. as soon as possible. There is also a sign-up in the Memorial Room.
*Please note – While all leaders and administrators of the church are requested to attend, this session is open to ALL members and friends of NUMC. Please prayerfully consider joining us as we plan for 2010.
Help Rocco's Support MACC Thursday, November 26, 2009
Join Team Rocco's and help those less fortunate this Thanksgiving! Donate $10 or more to become a 2009 Team Rocco's member & get a free t-shirt.
Help us beat our 2008 donation of $1600 to MACC! All proceeds will be donated to MACC in support of the Community Soup Kitchen, Emergency Homeless Shelter and Community Food Pantry in Manchester.
Watch the Manchester Road Race at Rocco's - Rain or shine!
Fashion for Good Annual Fashion Show Saturday, November 7, 2009 from 2-4 p.m.
Doors open at 1 p.m. Show starts at 2
TICKETS $25 : Call 860-647-0440
See Marlene Camper for tickets on Sunday mornings.
Clothes from Chico's and White House/Black Market, Somerset Square, Glastonbury and Fashion commentary from Stylist Claudette Fried
Don't miss this fun event in the beautiful and spacious Church of Christ, 595 Tolland Turnpike, Manchester, CT.
Parking and wheelchair access
Knitting Ministry November 2nd at 1:00 pm
Annual Charge Conference Tuesday October 27th at 7:00 pm
Wesleyan Study Group October 20th at 7:00 pm
Image Permission
Seasonal Sharing
We need turkeys for Thanksgiving, turkeys and hams for Christmas.
We will start collecting canned goods for both holidays in early November.
Christmas gift lists will be ready in early November.
Property Committee Requests
If you notice a need within the church building or on the grounds, it is to be brought to the attention of the Property Committee by filling out a Request Form. These request forms are found in the narthex information center by the mailboxes. Once you have completed a form you may place it into the 'Property Committee' mailbox. The committee will then asses the need and decide on an appropriate course of action to meet the need. We respectfully ask that all members and friends of North Church use this policy and forms for all requests and trustee approval.Any questions regarding this policy may be directed to:
Assisted Listening
Be sure to check it out.
Come visit!!
Sermons on Website and CD
Sermons are available for your listening pleasure on the church website or by borrowing a CD from church. Please Call the church office with any questions at 860-649-3696.
Tidings, The NUMC Monthly Newsletter
Altar Flowers
Meditation Group
Join in practicing engaged Buddhist meditation. All are welcome regardless of your backgrounds or affiliation
Additional information is available in the Memorial Room
Questions may be directed to Tom Duva, 729-2342.
Newsletter Deadline
Thank you, thank you
MACC Food Pantry
Thank you for your continued support!
Tell me the Story...Prayer is the life line…
At last year's United Methodist General Conference I collected my usual share of books, and since I never have the time to read all the books I collect, they usually sit on a shelf in my library until the occasion comes for them to be used. Recently as I looked around for other books to use for an impending meeting, the title of a book sitting in an unpacked box caught my attention: TOO BUSY NOT TO PRAY.
I had been thinking of the rigorous and tight schedule I had been following of late. Still trying to settle into a reasonable routine in this new place, I sometimes pray on the run. "Lord you know how busy I am, so in the midst of all the things I am responsible for, I am asking that you put some order into my life and forgive me for not stopping to pray."
That title brought me back to reality. TOO BUSY NOT TO PRAY. None of us should be too busy to pray, for prayer is our lifeline. In fact, what author Bill Hybels (who incidentally pastors one of the nation's largest churches, located in Illinois) was saying in that book is that the busier we are the more we need to pray — especially those of us who are leaders in the Christian faith.
Hybels himself admits that there were times in his life when he thought he was too busy to pray; times when his prayers seem hollow; times when he did not know what to say to God.
But through realizing that he could not face the challenges confronting him alone, that he could accomplish far more if he connected with the divine power that created and sustains us, he began again to have a disciplined prayer time with amazing results.
Sometimes the lure of the world gets to us — even pastors. We sometimes feel an obligation to be all things to all people, forgetting that our business is God's business and that Godpower is ultimate, far more than we could ever possess by ourselves.
When we take time to be alone with God, to just sit and listen to God, we find that we come away from that time with clearer minds, with guidance for everything and anything we might face.
God loves each of us and delights to hear from us, Hybels says. And Jesus reminded us that if we seek first God's kingdom, all necessary things would be added to our lives. So no matter how busy we might be, we should always find time to pray, and somehow the ten minutes we set aside for God each day expands to a delightful twenty, then thirty and soon we find that we don't want the day to go by unless we have first checked in with heaven.
Letter From The Pastor's Desk
Thank God for diversity and thank God for convenience. When my hours are long at the office and I don't feel like preparing a meal at home, take out restaurants are indeed a blessing.
The custom at Chinese restaurants is to receive a fortune cookie with each meal — even take out. I recall that not so long ago, the pieces of paper found in these fortune cookies contained Chinese proverbs or sayings. Lately, though, they have had a distinctively Western ring to them. Often I don't read them, but a few weeks ago as I enjoyed a Chinese meal at the office late one afternoon I decided to read the fortune cookie I had received. One side read: "Learn Chinese" with the Chinese word for Orange, and the pronunciation (chéng). On the other side was the "proverb": "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." How true I thought, we have to practice excellence. Excellence doesn't just happen. There is nothing casual or lukewarm about excellence. We have to be intentional about excellence.
Excellence requires that we get out of bed half an hour earlier, (not a pleasant thought at this time of the year) that we practice with an eye towards accomplishment, improvement and growth. We can only say "It'll be alright" when we have prepared ourselves, when we have put in hours of practice and preparation. This is true for the Olympic athlete, the artist, the actor, the singer, the instrumentalist, the writer, the preacher. It is also true for every member of Christ's church. In order to move towards the perfection that is our goal, to be like Christ we must practice being like Christ, every day in every way, not just when others are watching. Excellence must become for us a habit doing all things well. This is especially true when we are gathered as a community that is representative of the body of Christ. All worship leader — liturgists, ushers/greeters, Sunday School teachers, choir and congregation. Let's make excellence our habit.
Pastor Laurel
Rethink Church
How about people? Do you think of people when you think of church?
The new United Methodist Church campaign invites us to rethink church. Church visionaries have been engaged in the process of re-envisioning church, and are encouraging the rest of us to do the same.
“The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people”says the first verse of UMH # 558.
"I am the church, you are the church we are the church together."And so we are all encouraged to be church, not just go to church. We are encouraged to “Stand on the promises" (of God) rather than just “sit on the premises” (a book title).
In being the church we become the Word of God, a word of love, a word of hope, a word of abundance a word of grace for a world that too often senses hatred, despair, cruelty and lack.
In being the church we invite all of God’s people to join us. In being the church we truly have open hearts, minds and doors (I know, lots of you liked that one!)
Rethink church is a challenge for not only are we asking those outside the church to rethink how they think of us, we challenge ourselves to re-think how we “be” church and then do church in a new way. Not just because it is trendy to reinvent oneself, but because, quite frankly, as we look at God’s blueprints and honestly examine our lives, we have much to improve. SO let’s together rethink church and redo church for the sake of the gospel.
For more information see the links to the Rethink Church campaign and to the 10thousanddoors.org website that is an aspect of the campaign as found on a new page on our website, Links To United Methodist Resources.