A publication of St. Pauls United Methodist Church Williamsburg, IA No. 5 May 2011

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

What have you done for me lately? This is a common attitude in the world today. I especially

notice it in sports. Many coaches get fired for one bad season after three good ones. A player has a tough

year and so the fans want to get rid of them. It happens elsewhere, but thats the one thing that stands out the most in my mind.

We often have short memories. I was thinking this was a new thing, but then I remembered back

to the Israelites of the Old Testament. From the beginning of history humans have often had this attitude.

Days after Moses, with Gods help, leads the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt the people have forgotten Gods provision and they want to go back into slavery because it was not easy living in the desert. The kings of Israel would go back and forth remembering Gods commands and then forgetting them.

It may have been because of this short term memory that God gave the people of Israel many feasts and festivals to

celebrate. I counted 9 yearly celebrations that the people were called to remember. These celebrations varied in focus from the

Passover, where they remembered their delivery from slavery, to the Festival of the Firstfruits, to give thanks for the beginning of

the barley harvest. There are others like Yom Kippur and Hanukkah. Each of these festivals or feasts were to help the people

remember and celebrate, not what God had done most recently, but remember how often God had been there.

I share this as we celebrate that WE ARE UNDER 4! As of our March building loan payment, we owe under $400,000 on

our building loan. We need to celebrate this because just 6 years ago the project before us was a $1.2 million building project.

And to think in 6 years we have paid over $800,000 is something we have to praise God for.

Now that is what God has done lately, but I still remember back to that Sunday in November of 2005 where we needed

$5,000 to have enough money to buy our property. We thought we would try to take one offering and get this amount. Several

people were not sure we could do that in one Sunday, but when it was all counted $10,000 was given.

Even before that one member recently was sharing with me that this congregation looked at numerous properties, but

something was always wrong with what was available. Then all of a sudden our current property became available and very

shortly we had an agreement to purchase the property. They believe God was closing doors until the right place for us was

available.

So, not only has God been blessing us recently, but God has a history of working with us and through us. I dont know if we need to start having feasts and festivals to celebrate these great memories of God working in miraculous ways, but I do know

that we should never forget.

If you have a story of how God did something wonderful through this congregation I would love to hear it. I would like

for us to take a Sunday at the end of May to share those stories. We need to regularly share how God has been working. It does

our hearts good to share and also blesses those who hear. So give me a call, email or text and let me know your story of what God

has done for you lately.

By

Rev.

James

Parks

Worship Services in May May 1stConfirmation Sunday May 8thMothers Day May 15thSenior Sunday May 22ndDay of Blessings May 29thMemorial Day Sunday

Senior Recognition

Sunday, May 15th We want to congratulate

our seniors who will be

graduating from high school this May.

Justin Gingerich, Ashly McMillan,

Zack Milder, Eric Pope, Kiley Ritchie,

Jessica Stahl, and Evan Zalenski will

be graduating from Williamsburg High

School. We will recognize our seniors

in our Sunday services on May 15th

with a reception for them from 9:30-

10:15am in the Fellowship Hall. The

Furman Book Scholarship will also be

presented to one of these seniors on

that Sunday.

Congratulations!

Confirmation Class of 2011

Davis Axmear, Annie Axmear,

Allica Bacon, Jackson Culp,

Trevor Feckers, MacKenzie

Grimm, Elise Guenther, Trevor

Haasis, Juliann Hollensbe,

Skyler Jones, Helaena

Nunnelley, Terra Rathjen, Mitch

Stahl, and Bailey Westfall. Join

us May 1st at our worship

services to welcome these youth

into our congregation as

members of St. Pauls UMC.

Honor that special mom

in your life on

Mothers Day, May 8th

Serving Christ outside our doors!

Iowa County Relay for Life

and the American Cancer Society

Womens Potluck Lunch, Thursday, May 5th 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.

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 pjs to wear during the movie. Sign up and pre-pay at the Sign-up Station in the Sanctuary by

Sunday, May 1st.

Time for a Fiesta!

Wednesday, May 4th

6:00-7:30pm Your whole family is invited to join us

for this fun night as we honor our

discipleship volunteers and celebrate a

great school year! Sign up at the Sign-up Station in the

Sanctuary and plan to bring a side dish or salad to share

(main dish and dessert being provided).

Discipleship Team Meeting

Wednesday, May 11th 6:30-8:00pm

This meeting is for Discipleship volunteers, parents and

everyone who is excited about making disciples of Christ

with our children, youth and adults! We will be reflecting

on this past school year as we also vision and plan for next

school year. Come join us in Classroom A if you would

like to help others experience Christ!

A special thank you to Jason Kersten this month!

Although hes our Facility Manager, a major part of his role is technology. In the last couple of months, we have had to

replace some sound equipment as well as our projector

which both broke down. It was estimated to replace every-

thing would cost around $13,000 and with Jasons hard work and research, we were able to replace it all for just

over $6,000. Great job Jason, we appreciate all your hard

work! Trustee and Finance Committees

Summer Games Jr.

Red Wheel Sale The families with children going to Summer Games Jr. will be

taking pre-orders for delicious Red Wheel foods. Be sure and

order items by Sunday, May 15th. Parents of kids going can

pick up extra pre-order forms from Tina Schafbuch.

Childrens Church Challenge! The trustees are challenging everyone to adopt a child for $50 so our kids can have a childrens ministry area in the fellowship hall. Currently the elementary children use the

fellowship hall on both Sundays and Wednesdays, which

creates a lot of noise causing difficulty hearing. In order to

accomplish this goal we will be constructing a collapsible

wall to section off the classroom area and help control

some of the noise, but still making it usable for church wide

functions. Estimated cost is $10,000 which can be raised by

200 people donating $50. Help us raise money for our

childrens ministry area! Check out the bulletin board in the sanctuary as we celebrate our progress. Every $50 we

receive, a child will get moved into the bulletin board church. Lets make sure all of our children have a place to

grow. If you have questions or are interested in learning

more about the project, talk to one of the Trustees (listed on

the bulletin board by the offices).

Kinze Picnic Fundraiser Once again, our congregation has been given an

opportunity to work at the Kinze Picnic this summer to raise

money for our ministries. We need 13 volunteers Saturday,

July 23rd from 7:30am-5:00pm (shifts cannot be split).

Volunteers will raise approximately $95/person for a total of

$1,235. Volunteers must be 15 years old and 25% of our

group must be 18 or over.

Each volunteer will be given the option of designating

where their portion will go within the church. You can

designate the money you raise to the general fund or building

fund. Or have it be assigned to the Mission Team or

Discipleship Ministry. This could be a great way for anyone

going on mission trips or youth events to cover some of their

costs.

A sign-up sheet is at the Sign-up Station in the sanctuary.

All slots need to be filled by July 8th. If you have questions,

please contact the church office.

Watch for more information regarding these

wonderful programs. Youll have the chance to participate in the Relay for Life

5k at Tanger and another run later this

summer. We will be supporting these with

our May Love Offering

Green Thumb Needed! With our growing garden in the church (all our indoor

plants), we would love a volunteer to come in and help keep

them green and growing. Some of the plants need a little

more attention than what they are currently getting. Any

pointers would be welcome also! Contact Sonja in the

church office with any suggestions or if you can help.

The ANCHOR is a publication of

St. Pauls 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 Childrens Discipleship: Tina Schafbuch

Email: schafkt@netins.net Choir Director: Steve Manning

Organist: Sue Heitmann

St. Pauls UMC office hours: 9:00am to 3:00pm Mon. - Fri.

Editor: Sonja Parsons

Deadline for news for the June ANCHOR is May 20th. Email info to Sonja or drop it

off at the Church.

Concerns

Joys

Vital Statistics Worship Attendance

April 3 282

April 10 243

April 17 336

April 24 354 As of 3/31/11

Total Tithes/General Offering - $66,017

Total Other Income - $4,591

Total Expenses - $73,075

World Prayer Focus

Tobacco Tobacco use is the second highest

cause of death globally and is currently

responsible for killing one in 10 adults

worldwide. On May 31st each year, WHO

(World Health Organization) celebrates

World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the

health risks associated with tobacco use

and advocating for effective policies to

reduce consumption. More and more

countries are fighting back against the

epidemic of tobacco by requiring that

packages of tobacco show the dangers of

the product's use. Tobacco is the number

one preventable epidemic that the health

community faces.

Through knowledge and prayer

we can change the world.

Welcome New Members!

Joel & Julie Carr (Abby, Ethan) Tom & Brooke Drahos Darla Gorsh Jeff & Shelley Shoemaker

(Koby, Kaleah, Lily)

Not Pictured: Jim & Sarah Lentz

(Ashley, Brenna, Bennet)

Sonja Parsons and family with the death

of her grandmother on April 25th.

Continue to lift up in prayer those who

are recovering from surgeries and

hospitalizations.

Financial Footnotes This is a great time for our church family to be celebrating. We just went

through the Lent season and celebrating Easter. There is nothing better to

celebrate than God giving us his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross

for our salvation and then for him to raise up from the dead to sit at the

right hand of the Father. St. Pauls has even more to celebrate as our building loan is now Under 4 ($400,000). What a joy to have paid off over $800,000. We also get to celebrate our recent annual brat sale which despite the horrible weather made a profit of

around $1,400. The finance committee would like to thank all of the volunteers who

worked and donated items, Powells for the tents, the Iowa County Fair Board for the grill, Roehrkasses for the meat and storage, and all who came out to support our church. One more thing we need to celebrate is your giving. We have a very generous

church and thank you all for that. God will continue to bless you for your generosity.

John Mohr, Finance Committee

With Luke being deployed recently, wed like to encourage everyone to drop a quick

note to Luke and/or Erikah Messamer.

Being separated, they both would love the

extra support and to hear from you all.

LCPL MESSAMER, Lucas John

1/12 HQ BTRY DET 1 (SEC PTL)

UNIT 44105

FPO AP 96607-4105 and/or

Erikah Messamer

3167 Hapawai Lp

Kailua, HI 96734

Weston Thomas Drahos (10 minutes old)

Congratulations to Kathy Jones with the birth of a new grandson Noah Andrew

Meyer, to her daughter Abby and husband Andy on April 16th.

Also congratulations to Bill & Sheryl Neal with the birth of their first granddaughter,

Addison Nicole Kay, born to their daughter Amy and husband Ryan on April 18th.

Congratulations to Tom &

Brooke Drahos on the birth

of their son, Weston Thomas

born April 26th.

SPUMY

NEWS

The ANCHOR (USPS 100-090) is published monthly by St. Pauls 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. Pauls United Methodist Church, Williamsburg, IA Hey kids! Congratulations on the GREAT performance of

Donkey Tales! You touched so many hearts with the amazing songs and scripts you memorized.

On behalf of the volunteers and myself, I want to thank you

for this past AMAZING school year! It has been a wonderful,

God-filled experience and we cant wait to get together with all of you again this fall. REALLY..we CANT wait! This summer we are going to have EZ-JAM (Jesus and Me) right after the

opening praise songs during the 9:30am EZ Worship service.

Experience 13 Very Bad Days and How God Fixed Them.

May 1st-Noahs Bad Day May 8th-Josephs Bad Day

May 15th-Moses Bad Day May 22nd-Daniels Bad Day

May 29th-Jonahs Bad Day

Need a break from Mom and Dad? Remind them of Parents

Night Out, Saturday, May 7th, 4:30-8:30pm. There will be

games, supper, snacks and activities, plus a movie on the BIG

screen to end the night (bring some pjs to change into for the movie). Have Mom or Dad sign you up by this Sunday, May 1st.

See you there!!

Also, Wednesday, May 4th from 6:00-7:30pm, bring your

whole family for a fun-filled time of food and games. Dont forget to say thank you to your adult helpers.

See you soon!! Tina Schafbuch

Sunday, May 1st 8:30am & 10:30amConfirmation Sunday

Wednesday, May 4th 6:00-7:30pmFiesta Potluck & Fun

Saturday, May 7th 4:00-9:00pmHelping with Parents Night Out * All 6th graders and older can come

raise money for SGU while giving parents a night off.

Wednesday, May 25th 6:00-8:00pmSchools Out Scavenger Hunt * We will enjoy a night of fun

scavenging, great food and crazy conversations! Sunday, June 12th 5:30-7:30pmPizza at the Parks

* Come and hang out at 704 W. Welsh St. with Pastors

James and Helen. There will be food, fellowship and

games!

Sunday, June 26th 4:00-7:00pmSPUMY Family Cook-out and Ice-Cream Churning * This is our annual

event that welcomes our new 6th grade families to

SPUMY while we make ice-cream for the 4th of July

Celebration! Every family can bring a side dish or salad

to share!

You are young, but do not let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them with your words, with the way

you live, with your love, with your faith, and with your pure life. 1 Timothy 4:12