A publication of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church ● Williamsburg, IA

No. 4 ● April 2011

Vision Statement: ...to be a church where you can SEE Christ

By

Rev.

James

Parks

Holy Week Schedule of Events Saturday, April 16th

9:00am—Easter Egg Hunt

10:00am—Children‟s Musical Rehearsal

Palm Sunday, April 17th (no 9:30 EZ Worship)

8:30am & 10:30am—Children‟s Easter Musical

9:15-10:15am—Fundraiser Breakfast by Chef Jeff

Good Friday, April 22nd

6:30pm—Good Friday Service

Easter Sunday, April 24th

8:30am, 9:30am & 10:30am Worship Services

9:15-11:45am—Bake Sale

As we continue to move through Lent, I invite you to maintain focus on the

Beatitudes that began Jesus‟ Sermon on the Mount. In this overview of his message, Jesus

has given us some great words to grab a hold of to pull us towards the person God has cre-

ated us to be. This message turns most of the world‟s wisdom upside down. If you want to

get your life right side up, then daily be reminded of Jesus‟ message on how to be blessed.

We also need to remember what Jesus meant when he says you will be blessed in

these qualities and characteristics. Some translations of the Bible, like the Good News

Bible, translate this word as “happy.” So verse 4 says, “Happy are those who mourn.”

That does not make a lot of sense, and I would say that is not a great translation of this

message.

A better way to communicate what Jesus is saying here when he says we will be

blessed, is to say that in these qualities or characteristics we are fortunate because God is

with us. God is with us when we mourn, when we are meek and merciful.

One preacher I know says this is God saying he is on your side. When you are

spiritually hungry or thirsty, when you are the peacemaker, and when you are poor in spirit,

God will be on your side. He will not leave us in these times or cause us to stand alone.

He joins us and walks with us.

As we continue to study the Beatitudes and listen to Jesus‟ teaching in the Sermon

on the Mount, I pray God will continue to remind us that he is with us. He goes with us on

this journey to the celebration of Easter. And on April 24th when we gather for worship we

will celebrate once more, that God is with us through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus

Christ. God‟s love and grace pulls us towards the great future he has already said he will

bless us with.

SPRC is taking resumes for the Early Childhood Coordinator SPRC would like to thank Jen Schwenke for her dedication and service to

our children over this past year as she steps down from this position. Jen

will continue as our Administrative Assistant of Discipleship. If you are

interested in applying for the church‟s position of Early Childhood

Coordinator then turn in your resume to the church office by Monday,

April 18th. This position will start in May. The Early Childhood

Coordinator will work with Pastor Helen and coordinate the activities

with the nursery and preschool classes which include volunteer schedules,

supplies, lesson plans and guidelines. Contact Pastor Helen at the church

office or SPRC co-chairs Lisa Maser 664-3172 or Jackie Phillips

668-2396 with questions.

With the change in seasons, the Attic is switching gears. Winter coats are

out and spring capris are in! Check your closets for any donations you may

have. We have new hours starting in April on Thursday evenings where

the Attic will be open from 5:30-6:30pm. Monday morning hours will

stay the same at 9:00-11:00am. We welcome all volunteers so please sign

up for one of these days to help.

Serving Christ outside our doors!

“BB Ministry”

Women’s Potluck Lunch,

Thursday, April 7th at

12:00 Noon All women are invited to bring

a dish and come for an hour of

great food and fellowship.

Children are welcome as well as

friends and co-workers, so we

hope everyone can join us for

this lunch hour.

Wednesday 611 Meal Schedule April 6th Potluck

April 13th Casey‟s Pizza/Salad/Dessert

April 20th Jeff Shoemaker catering

April 27th Casey‟s Pizza/Salad/Dessert

Palm Sunday Breakfast with Chef Jeff

April 17th 9:15-10:15am Come support our Puerto Rico Mission Team and

enjoy a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs,

bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy and assorted

pastries. There will be a love offering for this meal that will go towards the

mission team as they help the kids at Yo Estoy Seguro. There will also be

an omelet station where for an extra donation, you can have your omelet

specially made by Chef Jeff or Pastor James.

All children from nursery-6th grade

are welcome to join us at the church

for a fun time of games and egg

hunting. Candy/Sticker/Toy

donations can be brought to Pastor

Helen‟s office by Sunday,

April 10th. Donated items need to

fit into an egg and candy needs

to be individually wrapped.

Saturday,

April 16th

9:00am

Schwan Sale for Summer Games Jr. Camp

Thursday, April 14th-Friday, April 15th The Schwan truck will be parked on the square during the

Williamsburg Yard Sale. Kids from camp will be taking pre-

orders, but you can also just stop by and purchase items directly from the truck.

Saturday, May 7th

4:30-8:30pm $12 per child with a $30

maximum per family for the

youth to provide games, supper,

snacks, and activities for the kids

to enjoy including a movie on the

big screen to end the night. Each

child can bring pj‟s to wear

during the movie. Sign up and

pre-pay at the Sign-up Station by

Sunday, May 1st.

Nicole Thurm Benefit

Saturday, April 2nd We hope to see everyone here Saturday for

the Nicole Thurm Benefit. Nicole was recently

diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently going

through chemotherapy. On Saturday, there will be a

meal from 11:00am-1:00pm with a live auction starting

at 1:00pm. There will also be a silent auction taking

place through the day. There are some great items and

baskets to bid on so we hope to have a great turn-out for

this family. Thank you to everyone who gave of their

time to help support the Thurms.

Summer Games Jr.

Sunday, July 24th 4:00pm to

Wednesday, July 27th 11:00am Pastor Helen will be taking our kids ages 8-11 to

Wesley Woods to enjoy Christian fun and fellowship

while experiencing the power of a relationship with

Jesus Christ. Camp activities include: Outdoor Games,

Horseback Riding, Swimming, Broken Arrow Pond,

Low Ropes Course, and 3 nights at Camp Wesley

Woods for $200. Small groups and worships will be

the heart of Summer Games Jr. as we allow the Holy

Spirit to touch the lives of our graduated 2nd-5th

graders! Registration forms are available on the

bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall. These are due

Sunday, April 17th with a $50 deposit.

Faith T-shirt to Support Thurm Benefit Ladies, you have the opportunity to help raise

money for the Thurm Benefit by purchasing a

t-shirt. The shirts read “FAITH like a girl” a

spin-off of the breast cancer motto “Fight like a

Girl”. We‟d like all ladies going to Women of

Faith to wear it that weekend in support of

Nicole Thurm, one of our fellow Women-of-

Faithers. Imagine what it will look like in the

stands with 100 women in pink shirts,

supporting our sister in Christ. T-shirts are $15

each and need to be ordered by April 25th.

Contact the church office for an order form.

Annual Brat Sale

April 14th through April 16th

Plan to stop on the square to enjoy a

brat or burger. The Finance

Committee will be selling food

three days during Williamsburg Yard Sale days, rain or

shine. Sale times are:

Thursday, April 14th 4:00-7:00pm

Friday, April 15th 10:00am-2:00pm

Saturday, April 16th 11:00am-1:00pm

Stop at the Sign-up Station and sign up to help work a

shift during one of these days or you can help by

bringing beverages or condiments.

For our April Love Offering, we will be collecting diapers, wet wipes

and coupons for our BB Ministry. The BB (Baby Bottoms) Ministry

provides these items to people in our community with babies who

cannot afford to purchase them. We will also accept

monetary donations to go towards the purchase of these

baby items. We hope this ministry will be a continuing

outreach in our community.

The ANCHOR is a publication of

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church

803 Clearview Drive, PO Box 559,

Williamsburg, IA 52361

Phone: 319-668-2288

Website: www.stpaulsumcwilliamsburg.com

Lead Pastor: Rev. James Parks

● Email: revjep@iowatelecom.net

Associate Pastor of Discipleship:

Rev. Helen Parks

● Email: revhrp@iowatelecom.net

Director of Congregational Care: Teresa Fleming

● Email: tfleming@iowatelecom.net

Administrative Assistant: Sonja Parsons

● Email: stpaulwb@iowatelecom.net

Facility Manager: Jason Kersten

● Email: kerstenj@iowatelecom.net

Discipleship Assistant: Jennifer Schwenke

● Email: schwenke@iowatelecom.net

Coordinator of Children’s Discipleship: Tina Schafbuch

● Email: schafkt@netins.net

Choir Director: Steve Manning

Organist: Sue Heitmann

St. Paul’s UMC office hours:

9:00am to 3:00pm Mon. - Fri.

Editor: Sonja Parsons

Deadline for news for the May ANCHOR is April 23rd. Email info to Sonja or drop it

off at the Church.

Concerns

Joys

Clem and I want to thank everyone for all

the prayers during Clem‟s stay at UIHC &

Covenant and now through his recovering

at home. Thank you for the awesome

benefit and to everyone who helped with

the benefit. The food and fellowship was

fabulous. God is so great! The money

contribution was so generous and from so

many hearts. God said, “I will never fail

you. I will never abandon you.” Heb. 13:5

Thank you!!! Connie Levers

My mother, Mildred Jones will be

celebrating her 90th birthday on

April 24th. A longtime member of

St. Paul‟s she was honored to be a

part of the ground-breaking ceremony for the

new church building in August 2007. Serving

on various church committees, Mildred was

also a Sunday School teacher, a member and

leader of UMW, and a volunteer with the

Merry Monkey Makers. A card or short note

can be sent to her at 100 Village View Circle,

#1212, Williamsburg, IA 52361.

Evelyn Beavers

World Prayer Focus

“Malaria” Approximately half of the world's population is at

risk of malaria, particularly those living in lower-

income countries. It infects more than 500 million

people per year and kills more than 1 million. The

burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa

but the disease also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the

Middle East and even parts of Europe.

Through knowledge and prayer

we can change the world.

Brynna Marie Pasturczak

Baptisms: Cade Rithie, son of

Curt & Kim Ritchie baptized

on March 20th.

Births: Brynna Marie, born

March 21st to Chad &

Danielle Pasturczak Please keep the family and

friends of Dorothy Davis in

your prayers, with her death

on March 18th.

After moving multiple times and finally settling in Fairfield, Iowa as a child , we are so blessed to now have

Tina Schafbuch here at St. Paul‟s. Tina was born in Denver, Colorado. She attended a Nazarene church with her

parents and sister where she was baptized. “At around the age of 7, I remember going forward at an altar call and

asking Jesus to come into my heart.” At the age of 8, Tina was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. Denver

had a fantastic clinic with lots of support (and some fun stuff like meeting the Denver Broncos, having a picture

taken with Jimmy Buffet and the governor of Colorado and attending different camps). Her family moved to

Fairfield, where Tina graduated from Fairfield High School and started attending the First Assembly of God

church. Tina admired their Sunday school and Wednesday night teachers and was part of their “Missionettes”

group on Wednesday nights.

After meeting Kevin, her husband, she noticed that there were not any “Pentecostal” churches in the area and with Kevin being

Methodist, decided to venture that direction. Tina went through the confirmation class (which was the first time she‟d heard of that) at

Kevin‟s church to gain more knowledge of the Methodist Church. She started teaching Sunday school to the elementary kids too. “It

was such an honor to hear one of my students say that they wanted to be a Sunday school teacher when they grew up.” Tina and Kevin

were married September 18, 1999 and have been blessed with four beautiful children. Nadia, age 9, Dylan, age 7, Heather, age 4 and

Amy, age 2. When Dylan was 1, Tina and Kevin switched their membership to St. Paul‟s and joined our church family. “It was here that

God said to me, „You are ready to pass along the knowledge I have given to you to MY children.‟” Teaching Bible lessons during VBS

was her first opportunity to really do this but since then has expanded that to include lesson time on Sunday mornings and Wednesday

nights. “This is what God has called me to do. I am His servant and I want to pass along the love He has shown me to His children and

hopefully show them that they can do the same.”

Tina keeps busy with her children‟s activities as well as some of her own hobbies of Assistant Leader of Nadia‟s HLV Girl Scout

Daisy/Brownie troop, camping, a little pheasant hunting and as many church activities as possible (Women‟s Bible Study and helping

with the kids‟ programs). “I hope that God‟s love shows through in everything I do. I am look-

ing forward to being a witness to God‟s children and seeing what He has in store for them!”

We are looking for volunteers who

might be able to help with Bingo at

Highland Ridge on the fourth

Thursday of each month between

2:00-4:00pm. Contact Teresa

Fleming if you can help or with

any questions.

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for

the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

Getting to Know...Tina Schafbuch,

Coordinator of Children’s Discipleship

Vital Statistics Worship Attendance

February 27 227

March 6 234

March 13 228

March 20 241

March 27 285 As of 3/18/11

Total Tithes/General Offering - $51,975

Total Other Income - $1,865

Total Expenses - $57,271

SPUMY

NEWS

The ANCHOR (USPS 100-090) is published monthly by St. Paul‟s United Methodist Church, 803 Clearview Drive, Williamsburg IA 52361

Periodical Postage Paid at Williamsburg, IA

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The ANCHOR, PO Box 559, Williamsburg IA 52361

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Williamsburg, IA Children’s Easter Musical, presented on Palm Sunday,

April 17th at the 8:30am and 10:30am services.

We will be practicing our upcoming Easter musical “Donkey

Tales” on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

The costumes will be:

K-4th Grade-jeans with a red, white or blue solid shirt

5th & 6th Grade-jeans or a demin skirt with our SEE

Christ church t-shirts. Please let Pastor Helen or Sonja

know if you need a t-shirt. Cowboy hats or bandanas can

also be worn by the 5th & 6th grade “ranch hands”.

We will have 2 dress rehearsals. Please try to attend at least one

of these if not both.

Wednesday, April 13th at 6:21pm

Saturday, April 16th at 10:00am

Our last Kids‟ Club will be Wednesday, April 27th with a Kids‟

Party! The following Wednesday, on May 4th, there will be a

church-wide meal. Enjoy your Wednesday nights this summer

and we‟ll see you back in the fall!

Thank you SPUMY kids for a fantastic March! It started with

Acquire the Fire in Des Moines and ended with an awesome

youth-led worship here in our own church. You all are great kids

and it is a blessing to hang out with you! -Pastor Helen

Sunday, April 3rd 9:30-10:20am—Sunday Morning Club

Wednesday, April 6th 5:45-7:21pm—611 Potluck & SPUMY

Friday, April 8th 5:30pm-Saturday, April 9th 10:30am—

Confirmation Overnight

Sunday, April 10th 9:30-10:20am—Sunday Morning Club

Wednesday, April 13th 5:45-7:21pm—611 Meal & SPUMY

Sunday, April 17th 9:30-10:20am—Sunday Morning Club

Wednesday, April 20th 5:45-7:21pm—611 Meal & SPUMY

Friday, April 22nd 5:30pm—Practice for drama

6:30pm—Good Friday Service

Sunday, April 24th 9:15-11:45am—Easter Sunday Bake Sale

*Bring two different kinds of goodies (cookies, pies, breads,

pastries, etc.) to sell and raise money for SGU.

Wednesday, April 27th—611 Meal & SPUMY