Mt. Hope United

Church of

Christ

2400 Mt. Hope Church Rd.

Whitsett, NC 27377

Office: 336-697-1561

Fax: 336-697-1449

e-mail:mthope@triad.rr.com

website: www.mthopeucc.com

church pastor

Rev. J. Lloyd Spencer Cell: 336-420-6030

Home: 336-447-4169

e-mail:jlspencer1@triad.rr.com

Office Hours: 9:00 a.m.-Noon

church secretary

Shirley Connor Office hours:

Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Thurs. - Fri., 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

consistory president

Lloyd Gilliam

choir director / organist

Tim Hucks

custodian

Brenda Currie

Mt. Hope Messenger August, 2014

My family was going to visit

relatives on the other side of the state.

We were tired and thirsty, so Dad

stopped at a little country store so we could get something to

drink. We’d been given some spending money and I wanted to

make mine count. At age 7 hunger was stronger than thirst for

me, so I decided to get something to eat. On the counter were

some of the nicest looking brownies that I’d ever seen. I picked

out the biggest one I could find, paid my money, and walked

out.

As we drove on and the drinks were all gone I pulled out

my brownie and took a big bite and swallowed. Maybe it was

the gagging and moaning or one of the other sub-human noises

that I was making that caused Dad to stop the car. He got me

out before we were all sorry, and, sure enough, my brownie

made its reentrance into the light of day. That’s when I

discovered that my brownie was really a plug of “Brown

Mule” chewing tobacco. I spent my money for the privilege of

being very, very sick.

Are we getting what we expect out of life? There are so

many things calling for our time, talents, and resources that we

often make decisions based on what looks best. Sometimes it

doesn’t take long to realize that looks can be deceiving. In the

1950’s many people would sell anyone anything as long as

they had the money. Maybe he thought that I was buying it for

my Dad. Either way I was buying something that looked really

good to me but was actually going to be something that would

separate me from my lunch.

There’s no doubt about it, we have decisions to make for

our lives. To make the most of our lives we have to be willing

to look beyond the surface and beyond the wrapper to

understand what’s really important for our lives. Our friends in

the church can be there to help us in that quest. Get involved

and find out the difference that it can make.

Lloyd

We look forward to hosting

the Guilford/Randolph

District meeting of UCC

Church Women on August

10th

from 3:00 until 5:00 in

our New Fellowship Hall. We will be doing the

devotions and providing light refreshments at the

close of the meeting. This is always a good time to

meet women from some of the area churches and to

find out what is going on in their women’s groups.

I hope most of you will be able to come.

Although we are not meeting officially until

September, the women of the church are always

busy! As the bounty from gardens arrives in our

kitchens the “Mt Hope Picklers” have been at work

putting up cucumber and beet pickles and other

goodies. Thanks to all those good people who have

donated time and produce to assist with this effort.

Remember that all these items, including jams,

jellies, chow-chow etc. sell very well at our bazaar

in November. In addition, the quilting group

continues to meet regularly and always have

ongoing projects. We give thanks for all our

creative and productive women! Continue to enjoy

this special time of year.

Love and blessings, Elizabeth Craft

Greensboro Urban Ministry:

The children are out of school

and Urban Ministry needs our

help! Our August collection

dates will be Sunday, August

3rd

, and again on Sunday, August 10th

. Let’s all

donate a can or two or a jar of peanut butter and

jelly to help build up the food bank. Sharing what

we can will help to make a difference in the lives of

others. On Friday, July 25th

, Jim and Nancy

Wimbish delivered 117 pounds of food to Urban

Ministry. As always, they were most appreciative.

For your convenience a basket has been placed in

the Narthex for your donations. If you can’t get to

the store to buy something a container is there also

for any monetary donations that you may wish to

share. There are also containers in the breezeway.

We pray God’s blessings on all of us as we support

this much needed ministry.

Report on Hot Dog Lunch July 19th

, 2014

We are pleased that the July Hot Dog was so

well attended. People donated money, checks or

cash, made donations at the event, cooked, cleaned

up, purchased supplies, but refused reimbursement

for each and every donation. It was good food,

fellowship, catching up on news, and saying hello to

a number of members along with some whom we

have not seen in a while. To all of you, we thank

you for your support for our church.

We had the ardent participation of our

Stewardship Committee members, Gloria Apple,

Becky Stafford, Bennie Gerner, Cathy Gossett, Cliff

Greeson, Lloyd Gilliam Simon Clark, Brenda

Currie, and Bill Craft along with, as appropriate,

our spouses. As of this date, we have deposited

$1078.00 based on the sale of 240 hot dogs, and a

related number of soft drinks, sides, and desserts

including peach cobbler and a number of Mount

Hope’s famous home-made desserts.

The Stewardship Committee is a standing

committee of our Consistory responsible for

teaching the Christian principles of stewardship,

selecting and promoting special offerings, and

assisting the Consistory in raising the funds

necessary for the church budget.

Finally, as a quick reminder, we plan to host

additional hot dog lunches, all on the third

Saturdays from August through October (August

16, September 20, and October 18 from 11 AM

through 2 PM).

Again, thank you for supporting the work of

Mount Hope.

Submitted by Brenda Currie, event organizer

There will be a Safe Church Policy Training held on

Monday August 11th and Monday, August 18th

from 7:00-8:00 PM in the choir room. The

following persons should make every attempt to

attend ONE of these training opportunities: the

pastor, consistory president and consistory

members, safe church policy committee, youth

Sunday school teachers, and all youth leaders. Prior

to the training please obtain a hard copy of the Safe

Church Policy from the church office for your

review. Please notify Sharon Moore

smsharon4@aol.com regarding your plans to attend

the training. Also, prior to the training, please

submit in writing, any questions you have

pertaining to this policy to Sharon.

Thank you!! Sharon Moore and Dee Greeson

Many thanks to the Disciples

Class and the Youth! On

Sunday, June 29th

, the Disciples

Sunday School Class took

charge of the worship service.

Tracy Brady was the speaker,

Dora Moore led in prayer,

music was led by Tim Hucks,

Bennie Gerner, Judy Gerner,

Sue Roush & Jeff Holt; Barry Bradsher read

scripture, Gloria Apple was responsible for offering,

and Simon Clark had the children's moment.

Elizabeth Craft presented certificates of

appreciation provided by the women's circles to:

Carolyn Simpson, Mary Reece, Pat Huizinga, Lloyd

Gilliam, and Jeryl Apple

The Youth who participated in the opening of

Sunday School included: Emma Strouth, Kraven

Webb, Colby Arrington, Kaitlyn Webb, and

Carmen Cox. Also, our ushers were Peggy Kilby,

Kraven Webb, Garrett Bradsher and Josh Apple.

Our acolyte was Stan Buff.

Brianna Chapmon and Casey Ellis

Opening: Kaitlyn Webb, Carmen Cox, Colby

Arrington, Kraven Webb & Emma Strouth

Greeting Guests

Certificates of appreciation were presented to

Carolyn Simpson, Mary Reece, Pat Huizinga,

Lloyd Gilliam, and Jeryl Apple

Mr. J.H. Neese received a special “Thank You”

The Quintet prepares to sing

The Quintet includes: Tim Hucks (hiding behind

the piano), Sue Roush, Jeff Holt, Bennie Gerner

and Judy Gerner

Simon Clark during the Children’s Moment

The beautiful children

Choir Reminder: There is a choir rehearsal

scheduled for Wednesday, August 13th, at 7:30

p.m. Regular weekly rehearsals will resume at this

time.

MT. HOPE UCC HOT DOG LUNCH 2400 Mt. Hope Church Road Whitsett, NC

27377

EAT IN – TAKE OUT 11:00 am – 2:00 pm August 16, 2014 September 20, 2014 October 18, 2014 $5.00 Luncheon Special 2 hot dogs snack bag of chips canned drink desserts (homemade peach cobbler)

Weird Animals VBS - Where Jesus' Love

is One-of-a-Kind God filled the world with a lot of crazy

creatures...including you! When you feel weird,

different, or even lost in a crowd—nothing

compares to the extraordinary love of Jesus.

July 20 - 22 we had our three day Vacation

Bible School and we all had a great time. 25 kids

attended throughout the three days. There were also

great volunteers. We asked for help and there they

were willing to do whatever they needed to do,

whether it was coming to decorate before VBS or

be a leader of a certain area and clean up

afterwards.

The main emphasis of the Weird Animals VBS

program was Jesus’ love for all people, no matter

how different they may be, this was the focus of

activities, music, and storytelling. Children learn

that even when they feel left out, different, afraid, or

when they don't understand or even do wrong

things, Jesus still loves them.

Story time was an exciting time as they

learned about Zacchaeus, Blind Bart and the Good

Samaritan; this included the story and an activity.

Even the snack reinforces this theme, we had

animals crackers, caterpillars made out of grapes,

palm trees made out of fruit.

Our craft time brought several animals to the

spot light. The 2 & 3 years old did several crafts -

handprint owl, painted a lion and a paper plate fish.

The older groups made glowing lighting bugs, a

sneaky chameleon and a door hanging lizard.

The kids loved music time. They learned

Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man, Jesus Loves Me

and Arky Arky. All of these songs connected to the

theme.

During game time, there was a review game

about the story they had heard during story time,

plus a marble race game and a toss game. Everyone

won a prize.

But the thing the kids seem to keep asking for

was the Crazy Zoo Keeper that came to visit; he had

lost his animals and showed up at Mt Hope Bible

School to see if we could help him find them.

Watch for him, he may show up again one day!

Many thanks to Carmen Cox for all her hard

work in the planning and heading up of our

Vacation Bible School this year.

We had a great time with our young people

learning about stories in the Bible, learning new

songs, and being creative during activity time. It

was so much fun and good fellowship time!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a

delightful Bible School program with great Bible

lessons for the kids.

Thanks to…

Carmen Cox and her team for planning and

arranging our program

Sharon Moore for leading story time

Tim Hucks and Linda Shue for music instruction

To all of our leaders who registered the students

(Gloria Apple, Linda Shue, Chelsey Cox and

Shannon Cox Kim), assisted our young people

grow in their knowledge of the Bible, enjoy crafts

(Carolyn Simpson & Elaine Layton), and game time

(Shannon Cox Kim).

Thanks to all those who assisted with snack time

(great every night) (Judy Gerner, Linda Miller,

Cheryl Royal, Janet Ellis & Ashlyn Chapmon).

Thanks to the Zoo Keeper who searched diligently

for all the animals.

Thanks to all of the volunteers that took time to help

during the week.

Time for school!! Guilford

County kids go back to

school on Monday, August

26th

. Enjoy the remaining

days of summer vacation!!

Youth Retreat 2014

"Spreading The Word"

The High School Youth went to North Myrtle

Beach for this year's retreat from July 24-27th. This

year's theme was Spreading the Word. The youth

wrote Bible Verses, inspirational words, and our

church name on sea shells and spread them on the

beach for people to find. We also wrote Bible

Verses, inspirational words and Mt. Hope on labels

and placed them on bottles of water and iced them

down and passed them out on one hot afternoon.

We will be sharing our experiences with the

congregation. You won't want to miss it. Here are

some photos from our trip.

John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was

with God, and the Word was God.

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT: SEPTEMBER 12,

2014, at 7:00 pm. Pop corn and drinks will be

available. A really great movie will be shown,

'Heaven is for Real.' Presented by the Fellowship

Committee.

VBS Presentation: The Vacation Bible School

presentations took place on Sunday, July 27th

,

during the morning service. The children sang the

songs that they learned and the Zoo Keeper made an

appearance. Check out the photos below:

Everyone is invited to come and join Cliff

Greeson, Bennie Gerner, Sue Roush, and

Jeff Holt at a special event hosted by the:

High Lonesome Strings Sunday, August 24, 2014 @ 2:30 pm

Mt. Hope United Church of Christ 2400 Mt Hope Church Rd

Whitsett NC

Present our very special guests:

NuHiWay presents a newly formed, all acoustic

Bluegrass band consisting of familiar faces, with

150+ years of combined performing & recording

experience. They were founded in 2007 by guitarist

and vocalist, Joe Mahaffey. When he joined the

popular group Sons of the South in 2010, Joe

continued NuHiWay, primarily to perform

Bluegrass Gospel events separate and apart from his

regular gig with Sons of the South. When Sons of

the South banjo player Michael Souther moved on

to other projects in December 2013, NuHiWay

became the full time endeavor of the remaining four

members from Sons of the South; Mahaffey on

guitar, Tom Isenhour on mandolin, Rick Lowe on

fiddle and Jim Connell on bass. Collectively, these

members bring more than 150 years of experience

performing and recording Bluegrass music, from

highly traditional to moderately contemporary.

Mahaffey and Connell were both founding

members of Blue Denim in 1972, a band molded in

the likeness of the most cutting edge Bluegrass

group of that time, The Seldom Scene. They toured

and recorded with Blue Denim throughout the

decade. Following the breakup of that group in

1978, Mahaffey continued to work with Blue

Denim founder, R. C. Harris, into the eighties, as

well as with other groups over the next two decades.

Connell went into semi-retirement from the

Bluegrass scene, playing occasional gigs into the

early nineties, then retiring to Myrtle Beach SC. He

came out of retirement to join Sons of the South in

2011, and now moves on with Mahaffey and the

guys to NuHiWay. Jim lives in Statesville NC, is

single and retired, while Joe resides in Olin NC, just

north of Statesville, with his wife Marilyn. They

operate an independent insurance agency.

Tom Isenhour is possibly the most award

winning mandolin player ever in the Carolinas, with

sixteen world titles to his credit, as well as many

others. He has worked and recorded with many

groups over the years, and is best known for his

Monroe-style playing, his vast collection of acoustic

instruments, and his knowledge of Bluegrass

history. Tom hails from Salisbury NC, where he

maintains a 1,000 square foot museum of vintage

instruments and artifacts from the fifties, sixties and

more, right in his home. Apart from maintaining the

museum and pickin' Bluegrass, Tom is retired and

lives with his wife Cathy, and daughter Laura.

Rick Lowe has lent his fiddle, mandolin and

vocal work to many groups and projects over the

last forty years, most notably the popular Atlanta

based band, Gritz, the Stoney Creek String Band,

Boot Hill, String Fever and more recently, Rockford

Express. As far back as the 1970's, Rick also played

with back up bands for Bluegrass greats, including

Mac Wiseman, Josh Graves, Chubby Wise, Carl

Story and Snuffy Jenkins. He has several

championships to his credit, and in 2007 he played

fiddle with the Deer Creek Boys at the Old Fiddlers

Convention in Galax VA, where the band succeeded

in winning the First Place Bluegrass Band honors.

After a successful professional career as a corporate

executive in the insurance and financial services

industry, Rick is now retired and devotes his time to

NuHiWay, and to traveling as much as possible

with his wife, Marty. They make their home in

Winston-Salem NC. On another note, these days

Rick may be best known as the Father of banjoist

Andy Lowe, a former Galax World Champion banjo

player himself, and a frequent guest player with

NuHiWay.

The group is highly versatile in its performances,

with vocals from all its members. Lowe is featured

on both fiddle and mandolin, while Isenhour can be

seen on mandolin, guitar and banjo. Mahaffey and

Connell keep the timing rock solid on guitar and

bass. The band's repertoire includes traditional

Bluegrass material from the 1950's, more

contemporary flare from the '60's and '70's, as well

as tunes taken from other genres and rearranged to

become solid Bluegrass favorites. And, you can

always count on hearing some Bluegrass Gospel

selections during every performance.

Directions to Mt. Hope Church From I40/85: On I40/I85, take Mt Hope Church Rd

exit, head south for 4.2 miles to church on the right

From Hwy 62 in Julian: Head north on Old Julian

Road for 7.8 miles, then left on Mt. Hope Church

Rd to church on the left

Thank you: Thank you to everyone for all the

prayers, cards, & visits during my illness. The boys

& I are blessed to be part of such a wonderful

church family. Lorie, Colby, & Jacob Arrington

Thank You: Thank you to Mt. Hope for all the

cards, visits, and prayers I received during my

recent surgery and recovery. Pam Greeson

Thank You: A special Thank You to our Mt. Hope

Church Family for all the prayers, calls, visits, and

cards for Mom (LuEller Ingold) during her surgery.

She made it through very well and is recovering

nicely. Also, Thank You for your prayers, cards,

and visits to Robert Ingold at Clapp’s Nursing

Home. As you know, he had had a hard time

adjusting to the move. He likes to get mail, have

visitors and sometimes a balloon seems to brighten

his day. With your continued prayers and support,

hopefully both Mom and Robert will soon be better.

Thank you all…Linda Ingold Kirkman

August Birthdays

2nd

Alayna Woollett

5th

Tiffany Needham, Clay Warren

6th

Bernice Shoffner

7th

Donna Cauthren

9th

Josh Anzaldua, John Deaton, Bob Lane III,

Colton Underwood

11th

Colby Arrington

12th

Kim Sheffield

14th

Jeanne Ingold

15th

Lu Eller Ingold

16th

Trevor Bolton

17th

Mary Frances Jones, Susie Simpson

18th

Greg Greeson

19th

David Levens

21st Sylvia Gilliam, Tim Hucks, Linda Neese,

Penny Perkins

22nd

Michael Craft, John Dickson, Peggy Eller,

Casey Ellis

23rd

Jo Ann Gauldin, Richard Knowles, Dalton

Paul

24th

Rachael Gossett

25th

Glenda Slayton, Landon Woollett

26th

Jaime Owen, Catherine Priesmeyer

28th

Alan Michaux

29th

Sara Shue

30th

Larry Greeson

31st Karen Kirkman

August Anniversaries

4th

Haywood & Peggy Levens

E.C. & Inez Thornburg

11th

Jerry & Nancy Bartenfield

Greg & Lisa Moser

14th

Dewey & Jean Greeson

17th

Max & Elaine Layton

19th

Roger & Patty Coble

Donald & Linda Slayton

20th

Carl & Betty Tucker

27th

Cliff & Barbara Greeson

Gary & Brenda Greeson

28th

Brian & Emily Neal

31st Michael & Faith Oakley

3

rd Collecting for Urban Ministry

9:45 a.m., Sunday School

11:00 a.m., Worship

5th

7:00 p.m., Stewardship Committee

6th

9:00 a.m., Quilters Meet

10th

9:45 a.m., Sunday School

11:00 p.m., Worship

3:00 p.m., District Women’s Meeting

11th

7:00 p.m., Safe Church Policy Training

13th

9:00 a.m., Quilters Meet

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

14th

7:00 p.m., Consistory

16th

11:00 a.m., Hot Dog Sale

17th

9:45 a.m., Sunday School

11:00 a.m., Worship

18th

7:00 p.m., Safe Church Policy Training

19th

7:00 p.m., Evangelism Team Meeting

20th

9:00 a.m., Quilters Meet

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

24th

9:45 a.m., Sunday School

11:00 a.m., Worship

27th

9:00 a.m., Quilters Meet

7:30 p.m., Choir Rehearsal

We must live with some people part of our lives.

We must live with a few people most of our lives

and we must live with ourselves all of our life. But

we must live with God forever.