HILLTOP HERALD

WILLISTOWN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 6051 West Chester Pike

Newtown Square, PA 19073

610-644-2227

Willistownumc.org

Rev. James Wilkin, Pastor

215-801-6569

Inside this issue

Letter from the Pastor ................................. 1

Blood Drive .............. 2

Parish Profile ........... 3

Sarah’s 1849 Hymnal

................................. 4

Hilltoppers …………….5

In Service ……….……..6

Birthdays and

Anniversaries …...…..6

Methodist Breakfast

………………………...…...7

Upcoming Events ..... 8

Did you decide to give something up for Lent

this year? Or did you decide to add something into

your daily routine? As this newsletter comes out, we are about half way

through Lent. It’s the time when our best intentions and resolutions begin

to erode. This year I decided to accept the challenge offered by Bishop Cho

of the Virginia Conference, who spoke at the Bishop’s Lenten Day Apart for

clergy. He called on us to commit one hour a day to spiritual disciplines,

such as reading the scriptures, prayer, meditation, worship, fasting, or ser-

vice. I was diligent for the first two weeks. But then one day I overslept a

little, got working on a number of things, ran a few errands, came home

and worked on the week’s sermon, had dinner, watched the Flyers game

and went to bed. The next day I realized that I had missed my hour of spir-

itual discipline. What to do? I beat myself up about my failure to follow

through. Should I spend two hours the next day to “make up” for it? Maybe

that would make up for it.

What is the purpose of this Lenten season? Is it to follow some rules or

some resolutions we’ve made? Of course not. The disciplines we choose to

practice are a pathway, not the end purpose. The reason we try to follow

that pathway is to help us have a closer relationship with our Lord. The dis-

ciplines we follow help guide us on a Lenten journey of self-reflection,

which leads us to repentance, which results in our experiencing God’s

grace and forgiveness.

If you, like I, have failed to fully keep your Lenten resolutions, it simply

shows that we are human, flawed, not perfect. It’s another example of why

we need our Savior. In an article entitled “Mid-Lent Crisis,” Lisa Nichols

Hickman says, “My failure helps me to follow the one who is discipline, the

one who is disciplined, the one who calls us to follow him—not our charts,

plots or ploys. We are saved by grace, not by our own doings or undoing.”

So I have resumed spending an hour a day in spiritual discipline, and it enriches me. Not because I’m fulfilling a commitment, but because the time I’m spending is enabling me to come into closer connection with my Lord. If you had decided to practice a discipline during Lent but haven’t maintained it, it’s not too late to resume or start

LETTER FROM THE PASTOR

something new. But I’d encourage you to choose something that will be a pathway for you to experience a deeper relationship with God, not something trivial. And if you choose the right discipline, it just might become something that will continue to strengthen and nourish you well beyond the Lenten season.

Peace, Pastor Jim .

The Brick Man

The Brickman is soliciting the pur-chase of Bricks for our Brick Courtyard. We have completed one row recently and there is one brick starting another row. Please consider purchasing a Brick for $60.00 per and honoring a family member, a best friend, an associ-ate of yours, etc. As you can see from our Garden we have hon-ored many before you and wel-come you. The sign-up sheets are at the rear of the church. Please join our group. Thank You. Bill Rice

BLOOD DRIVE

Sometimes you take things for granted that you shouldn’t. Lindsey Crowder. Leukemia survivor. Age 12. Bentonville, Arkansas. Lindsay Crowder received blood transfusions to save her life after she was diagnosed with leukemia, first at

2 years-old and, then again when she relapsed at age 6. During her relapse she spent more than 130 nights in the hospital and received more than 100 transfusions of blood and platelets. The experience changed the whole family’s perspec-tive and made them regular blood donors. See her story here: Red Cross Stories

2

Thank you to all who brought food for the Salvation Army

Food Bank! Please continue to bring your

non-perishables either on the first Sunday of the Month or any time! We are helping so many families by

our donation.

Now that you have your 2016 Calendar, plan to be part of our next blood drive.

Please plan to be a RED CROSS BLOOD DONOR ON JULY 8TH, 2016.

A Welcoming Church

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Greeters: Please be in place by 10:00 A.M. Wear your greeter

tag and if we have a visitor, please give them the little iden-

tification lapel sticker to identi-fy themselves as visitors. Also,

please have them sign the guest register.

Ushers: Please be in place by 10:05. Give out the bulletins

and ask if anyone has a special need. (hearing or seeing) Take

up the offering when called upon by the Pastor.

For more tips on Welcoming ..

Parish Profile – The Seidels We truly have some wonderful people in our church, (if not all). Two of the nicest are Bar-bara and Lance Seidel. It was many years ago that Harry Barr and I started working on Lance, while we were all volunteering at the hospital, to consider coming and joining our church. It took awhile but one day Lance asked, “what time do your services start?” That was all we needed.

They came to their first service at our "Church on the Hill" many years ago, and have been a blessing to all who are regular attendees ever since. Nothing is too much for them to do. They have been so willing to help in just about every ac-tivity in the church. From help-ing in the kitchen for our church breakfasts, to helping in setting up our chairs and tables for our Spaghetti Dinners, (along with helping serve the meals and working with our Abbes and Friars), to helping with the cooking, the clean-up,

instructing our servers, getting the ice, and who possibly could resist a piece of Barbara's "Coconut Cake". Lance also se-cures all of the boxes that we use for our growing take-out meals for our spaghetti din-ner. (date of our next one is April the 30th by the way). They both are just nice peo-ple. They have never turned me down to be an usher, a greeter, a liturgist, and Lance has also worked hard on the Board of Trustees. Barbara and Lance have a won-derful family of two sons and their families and they visit them often. Lance told me that they met while both were work-ing for the DuPont Company, many years ago. They, like many of us, have had some health is-sues of late, but we continue to

pray for them both. They certainly are wonderful people, who have made many friends in our church and we look forward to seeing them continue here at Willistown.

See page 6

If you page through the index of the hymns, Charles Wesley's name ap-pears more than any other composer. One of our favorites, "And Can It Be?" is listed, but another favorite, "Amazing Grace" is not there, alt-hough written in 1779.

It is interesting to see what Christmas carols were included. " Hark, the Her-ald Angels Sing", "While Shepherds Watched", and "Angels from the Realms of Glory" are among the few carols included.

If you are won-dering about all those gospel hymns that peo-ple love so much, they had not been com-posed in 1849. Most of them were composed between the Civil War and 1900. Even the beloved " He Lives" was not composed until 1939! If you are wondering about the dates when your favorite hymns were composed, check under the hymn for that and other information.

The little 1849 hymnal also has some categories listed that would be a "turn-off" for contemporary church goers. Look carefully at the photo and you will see that "Humiliation" is one of the themes! The "Closet" and " The Warfare" are other topics not found in our hymnal. "Backsliding Lament-ed" & "Depravity" are topics not to be found in our current hymnal. Other topics such as "Holy Spirit" , "Growth in Grace" and "Sanctification" are

more familiar.

Our 1989 edition of the United Methodist Hymnal is probably due for a revi-

sion sometime in the near future. What new hymns do you think might be included and which ones might disappear? It will be interesting to see what emerges! Sarah Cass

4 JAN

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ME

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IST

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One of my

prized posses-

sions is an

1849 edition

of Methodist

Hymns. It be-

longed to my great-great

grandfather, William Collins

Mumford I, who was a

member of the choir at

Whatcoat Methodist

Church in Snow Hill, Mary-

land. It is interesting to

compare this thick little

hymnal with the United

Methodist Hymnals of more

recent years. My ancestor's hymnal was almost small enough to tuck into a pocket, but very thick. The hymns are numbered to 1129, but include no music. I suppose it was assumed that the choir and congregation knew the tunes to the hymns included in the hymnal. The hymnal opens with the same hymn as all Methodist hymnals: "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing", a Charles Wesley hymn. It is very sig-nificant that the overwhelm-ing majority of hymns in the 1849 hymnal were Charles Wesley hymns. It has been said that the theology of the Methodist Church is present-ed in the hymns of Charles, the brother of John Wesley, our founder.

THE HYMNAL

JANUARY METHODIST BREAKFAST

LY WEEK

HOLY THURSDAY 6:00 PM: DINNER, WORSHIP AND MUSIC.

GOOD FRIDAY 12:00 NOON TO 12:45 PM: ORGAN MUSIC AND MEDITA-

TION.

12:45 AM: A BRIEF WORSHIP FOLLOWED BY THE CHURCH

BEING AVAILABLE FOR SILENT MEDITATION AND PRAYER

UNTIL 3:00 PM.

EASTER SUNDAY 6:30 AM OUTDOOR SUNRISE SERVICE (WEATHER-

PERMITTING) WITH MUSIC FOLLOWED BY A CONTINENTAL

BREAKFAST.

9:00 AM CONTEMPORARY SERVICE WITH THE BAND

10:30 AM TRADITIONAL SERVICE WITH THE CHOIR

Our first meeting this year will be on April 12th at 11:00 AM. We will meet at the Church and have a business meet-ing, lunch, and then a program. Actually, the exact program order will be depend-ent on the speaker's availability. We will have to let you know about this later. April 26

th is the date of our Election Day

bake sale. Please keep these dates open and we will provide more information shortly. Also, save the 2nd Tuesday of the month for future activities. Any sugges-tions for programs and outings will be gratefully accepted.

Thanks,

Nancy and Dick Wright, Co-Chairs

Hilltoppers

The Hilltoppers is a wonderful group of peo-

ple who share trips and speaker events and an

annual Bake sale to raise money for the church.

They meet monthly in nice weather seasons (Spring and Fall).

Open to Everyone!

5

Liturgists for March 6 Sara Beam 13 Bonnie Boyer 20 Curt Wise - Palm Sunday 27 Kim Pierce - Easter

Ushers

6 Bill Keating and Leonard Eads

13 Nancy and Dick Wright

20 Nancy Barr and June Di Romualdo

27 Barbara and Lance Seidel

Greeters

6 Betty Byar and Fred Eufrasio

13 Nancy Barr and Marjorie McKee

20 Doris King and Barbara Fell

27 David Michael and Pat Roelofs

MARCH ANNIVERSARIES

11 Randy and Ana Southern

MARCH BIRTHDAYS

1 Ken Colburn 3 Bill Bowers 5 Joyce Butsch 14 Janet Wise 17 Harry Barr 28 Chloe Clark 28 Clark Colborn

IN SERVICE IN MARCH

6

Welcoming Church (cont’d)

Effectively and intentionally wel-

coming visitors to your church is

really quite simple. View Sunday

morning through the eyes of a

newcomer, be willing to guide

your leaders, and make gradual

adjustments when needed. It

might be as simple as reminding

them to warmly and authentically

extend hospitality. I’m convinced

that if we mean it when we say,

“I’m glad you came. I hope to see

you again,” chances are, we will.

By Dorothy Greco, “Teach Your

Entire Church to Welcome

Visitors”

“Influenced by Billy Graham, Mike feels care and treatment should be as if everyone was a neighbor.”

January Methodist Breakfast: Twenty-

Eight members and friends of our church

gathered for the January METHODIST

BREAKFAST.

Our program

and speaker,

organized by

Alan Clark,

was Michael J.

Duncan, Presi-

dent and CEO

of Chester County Hospital (Penn Medi-

cine). Mike is a native of Fort Worth Tex-

as and a graduate of the Naval Academy.

He entered the healthcare field after

leaving the service and joined our hospi-

tal in 2011.

Influenced by Billy Graham, Mike feels care and treatment should be as if eve-ryone was a neighbor. He reads the bible every morning, focuses on others and

believes management should love peo-ple. The patients should expect excel-lence. The hospital, after the merger with Penn Medicine and under Mike's leadership, is undergoing a massive physical expansion including a new wing-- the Lasko Tower. A new 700 car garage will be completed in a year. Future plans include a new ER and operating rooms. Attendees included members of our church who are hospital volunteers: Pat Roelefs, Barbara Fell, Lance Siedel, Harry Barr and Gil Fell. (Alan Clark was also a hospital volunteer and had completed 2,815 hours). Our wonderful breakfast was prepared

by chef Kim Pierce and guest co-chef

Jonathan Waple. Their talented crew

was Beth Southern, Jane Jeffrey and

Grace Miller. See Note above about

March breakfast.

7

March Methodist Breakfast

JANUARY METHODIST BREAKFAST

The March Methodist Breakfast will be on Palm

Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 7:30 am. Our speak-

er is Sheri Kentner, the Southeast District Direc-

tor of Christ Servant Ministries. She will provide

an informative talk on the mission, goals and

course offerings of Christ Servant Ministries

Program. In addition to Alan Clark and Sara

Beam, we have had a number of Christ Servant

Ministers in our congregation: Jane Jeffrey, Bill

Thresher, Jerry Clark, Karen Oas and David

Swift. I’m sure this will be an interesting pro-

gram.

Please let me know your ideas for future

programs. I will then ask that you make the

arrangements. Let’s make our Methodist

Breakfast a continued success! Gil Fell.

Click below for More About Michael J. Duncan

Pastor: Rev. James H. Wilkin

Pastor’s email: pastorjimwikin@gmail.com

Pastor’s Cell Phone: 215-801-6569

Office Phone: 610 644-2227

Office email: willistownumc@comcast.net

Lay Leader: Grace Miller

Lay Leader’s Phone: 610 353-6479

Lay Leader’s email: gracewmiller@yahoo.com

Newsletter Editor: Sara Beam

Phone: 610-812-6826

Email address: sarabeamart1@verizon.net

WUMC web page: www.Willistownumc.org

March 6th Communion Sunday – Food for Salvation Army

March 11th Greenleigh Chorale at WUMC

March 13th Daylight Savings starts

March 13th Greenleigh Chorale at St. Agnes

March 20th Palm Sunday and Methodist Breakfast

Deadline for Easter Flowers

March 24th Holy Thursday

March 25th Good Friday

March 27th Easter

March 28th Pastor leaves on vacation

April 5th Pastor returns

April 10th Communion Moved to this Sunday

Upcoming events

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Don’t forget to see our bi-

weekly E-Newsletter,

“Heard on the Hill” for on-

going activities and news!

Click Here:

"Heard on the Hill"