Calvary United Methodist Church 220 West Burke Street Martinsburg, WV 25401-3322

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Prayer Request from Your Pastor

Happy March everyone. I think that the month of February brought us a pletho-

ra of weather. We had some extremely warm days (for this time of the year) as

well as some extremely cold days all with in a 28 day period. When I would hear

people converse over this topic I would just smile. I smiled because in my mind I

am thinking, “God is reminding us who is in control.” God can go from cold to

hot in less time than it takes us to blink an eye. I think that this past month has

reminded us of that fact.

God loves us beyond all measure and we are beginning a worship season that reminds us of

God’s love. The first Wednesday of this month is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of

Lent. I am so excited about being able to come together and share in worship with the other

United Methodist Churches in our area on Wednesday evenings. The United Methodist Church is

a connectional church and our joining in worship during different times throughout the year is an

important part of connecting the various congregations. When we gather for worship, we are

reminded that our brothers and sisters in Christ are many and located all over the world. (Please

take a look at the Wednesday evening Lenten service schedule in this publication).

Prayer request #1 Pray for the Churches that will be participating in the Lenten services not only

in Martinsburg but all over the world.

One of the blessings I have received since I have been serving God and God’s people in Martins-

burg is that the UM pastors in Berkley County gather regularly to support each other. We have a

time of fellowship over a meal and we have the opportunity to share what is going on in the life

of our churches as well as in our personal lives. We pray for each other and for our congrega-

tions. Usually after one of these lunch gatherings I feel as though I am a part of a team of serv-

ants who may all be going in different directions but who always praise God for providing us

with strength, wisdom and joy as we serve our various congregations.

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Martinsburg, WV 25404

Permit No. 110

REV. LYNN WILSON

Continued on Page 2

CALVARY UMC CHILDREN’S EASTER CELEBRATIO N

JOIN IN THE FUN… EGG HUNT REFRESHMENTS COLORING PAGES STORY TIME GAMES CRAFTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 1ST 9AM TO 11AM

AT CALVARY UMC FOR AGES 3 YEARS OLD TO 5TH GRADE

Prayer request #2 Pray for the pastors that lead the different congregations in our town, county, state, country and world.

The five United Methodist churches in downtown Martinsburg will also be joining to provide confirmation classes this year. We at Calvary are very proud of Tommy Criswell and Jonathan Figueroa who will be taking the confirmation classes. These two young men are active as aco-lytes in our church and they are also very active in the Boy Scout Program. It is our responsibil-ity to be faithful and loving role models for these two young men. God has gifted Calvary church with their presence for a reason and a season. I encourage all of you to talk with them and get to know them as they grow in their faith.

Prayer request #3 Pray for Tommy, Jonathan and all of the other confirmands as they begin this journey to understand what it means to be a Christian first and a United Methodist second.

Many other prayer request are certainly on my heart but these are the ones I have been inspired to share with you. As we join together in prayer we can be certain of God’s blessings.

Bless ings, Pastor Lynn

Contact Pastor Lynn at ...

Phone: 304-267-4542

Cell: 304-279-6800

Email: pastorlynnumc@frontier.com

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHILDREN’S DEPT...

The month of March begins with Ash Wednesday, lending itself to a time of reflection, devo-tion, prayer and personal spiritual growth. The Children’s Ministry team wants to help you and our children to grow during the next 40 days as well. We begin visually with our,”Bulletin Board Bash”! Everyone interested in lending a helping hand is invited to join us Tuesday, March 7th from 9:30 – noon as we change the décor from winter to Lent, Easter and Spring. Remember; many hands make for light work.

The Elementary Sunday School class will be using the Donuts Curriculum as they learn about PRAYER WARRIORS! Scripture holds many examples of prayer; David’s prayers in the Old Testa-ment, Hannah’s prayers for a son, the disciple’s prayers in Acts and Jesus’ prayers in the garden of Gethsemane. After each lesson, the children will bring home a paper entitled, “Make It Stick”. It is filled with great ideas for ways and times to discuss the lesson of the day. Ask your kids to share it with you and grow in the power of prayer togeth-er.

Last, but certainly not least, the 2017 Children’s Easter Celebration and Egg Hunt will be held Saturday, April 1 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. for children from pre-school through grade 5. “The Jelly Bean Prayer”, is the theme and will be the focus the morning’s activities. There will be col-oring pages, a take-home craft, a sto-ry time for everyone, games for older and younger children, an Egg Hunt and of course, refreshments! Volun-teers to help with the activities as well as donations of candy to fill plas-tic eggs are always welcome. More details will be in weekly church bulletins during the coming month. Please, come and celebrate the spirit and fun of Easter with our Calvary and community children! Thank you, Niccole Warwick Children’s Ministry Coordinator

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 TGIF at

11am

NA Mtg

7:30pm

2 Boy

Scouts

6:30pm

Choir

Practice

7pm

3 4 9am Decorat-

ing for Lent

Sharing Hands

at Noon– Bill

& Donna Yost

5 Worship &

Latino Services

9:30am

Sunday School

10:45am

Handbells Noon

Yth Handbells

5:30pm

6 Girl Scouts

6:30pm

7 9:30—Noon

Bulletin

Board Bash

Cub Scouts

6:30pm

8 TGIF at

11am

NA Mtg

7:30pm

9 Boy

Scouts

6:30pm

Choir

Practice

7pm

10 RAPP

6-8pm

11 Sharing Hands

at Noon—

Boy Scout

Troop 13

12 Worship &

Latino Services

9:30am

Sunday School

10:45am

Handbells Noon

Yth Handbells

5:30pm

13

Girl Scouts

6:30pm

14 Cub Scouts

6:30pm

15 TGIF at

11am

NA Mtg

7:30pm

16

Boy

Scouts

6:30pm

Choir

Practice

7pm

17

Spaghetti

Dinner

5-7pm

18 Sharing Hands

at Noon—Joni

Greenburg

19 Worship &

Latino Services

9:30am

Sunday School

10:45am

Handbells Noon

Yth Handbells

5:30pm

20

Girl Scouts

6:30pm

21

Cub Scouts

6:30pm

22

TGIF at

11am

NA Mtg

7:30pm

23 Boy

Scouts

6:30pm

Choir

Practice

7pm

24 25 NO Sharing

Hands

26 Worship &

Latino Services

9:30am

Sunday School

10:45am

Handbells Noon

Yth Handbells

5:30pm

27 Girl Scouts

6:30pm

28 Cub Scouts

6:30pm

29 30 31

The Lenten season is upon us as we remember the trials, temptations and tribulations that our Lord Jesus went through for our sakes. The season of Lent is a call to self-discipline and restraint of our fleshly desires into the submission of our spiritual desires. This is normally the time of year when the music becomes a little more solemn and sometimes grim. But it was through that suffering that we were reconciled to God and our sin debt was paid. In one single act on the cross, Jesus satisfied the wrath of a just and holy God on all sin while offering love, mercy and redemption to all who would accept him as Lord of their lives.

On March 5th the chancel choir will sing a beautiful arrangement of Rock of Ages. Since Pastor Lynn wants us to tell our stories I’ll give you the story of this hymn. It was written by an English pastor named Augustus Toplady who was walking home and got in a sudden storm. He found a huge rock with a split in the middle (cleft) on the side of the road and hid inside it for protection. While he was stuck waiting, he dwelt on the spiritual significance of this – God is a shelter from the storms of life. He found a playing card in the dirt (the six of diamonds), picked it up and wrote out the words to the first verse of Rock of Ages in 1775. I imagine Top-lady saw the water dripping down the side of the rock and thought of the water and the blood that poured out from the wounded side of Christ on the cross (John 19:34). He dubbed this the “double cure” of sin. The water and the blood saved him from the wrath of God and washed him to make him pure. There is more to this hymn and I encourage you to read the rest of the words and dwell on their meaning.

The following week communicates a similar theme – that God protects his people. We are singing one of my favorite anthems that takes its text from Psalm 121. “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes Unto the Hills” reminds us that God is our help and we shouldn’t rely on anything else. Psalm 121 is a song of ascents meaning it was probably sung as worshipers made their way to Jerusalem for a festival. They would sing “he who watches over you will not slumber or sleep.” Our God is a God that always knows your concerns. He’s never off duty or too busy but instead is ever vigilant. He “watches over you,” “your life” and “your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Pagans would often permit their gods to sleep. Think about Eli-jah mocking the prophets of Baal. “At noon Elijah began to taunt them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleep-ing and must be awakened.” (1 Kings 18:27) You don’t have to worry about this with the God of the Bible!

We will close the month of March with an anthem entitled “Face the Cross.” It de-scribes how Christ had to face the cross by being obedient unto death, how Mary had to go through the pain of seeing her son on the cross and how each of us must face the cross and be obedient to God’s plan and mission. Lent is a time of self-reflection and self-discipline. During this Lenten season, I challenge you in some healthy way to deny your “fleshly” self something it really enjoys whether it is cutting out sweets, abstaining from social media or limiting televi-sion. Why should we do this? Jesus said deny thyself, take up your cross and follow Me. My youngest daughter Natalie has informed me she will bravely give up broccoli for the next 40 days. I’m not sure she gets it, or perhaps she’s smarter than the rest of us.

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

ALTAR FLOWER VOLUNTEERS: 3/5/17 – Beverly & Gary Frye 3/12/17 – David & Cathy Decker 3/19/17 – David & Eileen Southerly 3/26/17 – Doug Frye

ALTAR GUILD:

Heather Villeme COMMUNION STEWARD: Heather Villeme

GREETERS: Dorothy Holliday & Mary Ellen Lightner

LITURGISTS/READERS: Alecia Roberts

HEAD COMMUNION USHER: Ken Criswell

HEAD USHER: Doug Frye NURSERY SPONSORS: 3/5/17— N/A 3/12/17— Heather Villeme 3/19/17— N/A 3/26/17— N/A

ACOLYTES: 3/5/17: Nathalie Figueroa & Jonathan Figueroa 3/12/17: Tommy Criswell 3/19/17: Nathalie Figueroa & Jonathan Figueroa 3/26/17: Tommy Criswell

Please call the church office if you would like to sponsor

one of the unfilled days this month. Dates available are

March 5th, 12th or 26th.

3/19/17 — In Memory of Clara & Henry Roberts and Helen DeHaven & Spencer DeHaven

SPAGHETTI DINNER FUNDRAISERS

3RD FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH SEPTEMBER - MAY (EXCEPT DEC.)

ADULTS $8 EACH

KIDS (4 -12 YEARS OF AGE) $4 EACH

KIDDIES EAT FREE

P L E A S E M A R K Y O U R

C A L E N D A R N O W F O R T H E S E

I M P O R T A N T 2 0 1 7 D AT E S

BLUEBERRY & CHERRY PIE SALE

Tues., July 25th &

Wed., July 26th

APPLE DUMPLINGS

Tues., Sept., 26th &

Wed., Sept., 27th

AND

Mon., Nov., 13th &

Tues., Nov., 14th

APPLE PIES

Tues., Oct., 17th

SPAGHETTI SUPPER

Third Friday of each

month

(Except June, July, Aug

& Dec)

H A P P Y B I R T H D AY

1 Douglas Souders, Nick Lowther

4 Jane Boggs

5 Nathalie Figueroa

6 Roy Newcome

7 Jason Allen, Jessica Turnbull

8 Heather Hardman

15 David Decker

16 Corinne Hough

17 Kate Hardison

18 Frances Daniels, Dustin Mann, David Henry,

Vicki McQuain

19 Ryan Decker

21 Stephany Branson

24 Evelyn Locke, Juli Richardson

25 Katherine Hinson, Matthew Albright, Emily

Schoppert, Mercedes Paulino Oretega

26 Regina Sherman

30 Kellie Johns, Michael Apfeldorf

We wish to thank all those who worked so hard to make this year’s auc-tion and supper such a success. Thank you to those who organized the auction, brought in donations, prepared and served the food and all who attended and participated.

TRUSTEES UPDATE ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY RENOVATIONS PROJECTS

The 150th Anniversary Renovation Projects for 2018 are progressing into the second month. The

entrance & stairway to the narthex have been completed, with the walls, ceiling and wood trim

painted. Two live fig trees will be added later. Our renovation projects have now moved up from

the narthex to the stairs and balcony. Members of the Trustees are doing the prep-work in

these areas at this time.

Our paint party date has been moved to April 1st for rolling the walls and ceiling. Please let a

Trustee know if you can help. The Trustee Committee will announce future projects relative to

the anniversary at a later date.