newsletter may12.final

7/31/2019 Newsletter May12.Final

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APPLYING BIBLE PRINCIPLES

If you read annual reports from publicly held companies orbanks, you will frequently see the word fiduciary. Fiduci-ary is used as an adjective to describe something which isheld in trust. It is also used as a noun to describe the onewho is a trustee who must account for that which is held intrust.

For example, a bank president has a fiduciary responsibility to stockholders

in the bank and to depositors who place their money in the bank. A com-pany treasurer has a fiduciary responsibility to the owners of the company.A payroll clerk has a fiduciary responsibility to pay people what they haveearned.

You may never have considered yourself a fiduciary, and you may neverhave acted officially in a fiduciary capacity, but in reality, you are a fiduciary.All of us are. That applies both to Christians and to those who are not partof Gods family through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We who are Chris-tians will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. There, we will not bejudged for salvation, since the penalty and judgment for sin was settledonce and for all on the cross of Calvary when the Lord Jesus paid the pricefor our sin. Instead, when we stand before Christ, we will give an account ofhow we have used what God has entrusted to us.

Just as a bank president must account to stockholders and depositors onhow their funds are used, we must account to Christ for how we have usedwhat God has entrusted to us. Since everything we have rightfully belongsto Him, we will need to report on how we have managed His assets!

As you consider how you have used what God has entrusted to your careand keeping during the past few months, what kind of job have you done?And more importantly, as a fiduciary of what God has placed in yourhands, will you stand before Him with joy, eager to report on your giving andmanagement of His assets?

May 2012

Two illustrations that speak to our relationship with God have comerecently. The first illustration is a reminder that if we want to knGod wants us to do, we must first try to live a life that conforms to w

During the US civil war Abraham Lincoln met with a group of minbreakfast. Lincoln was a man of deep, if at times unorthodox, faitof the ministers said, "Mr. President, let us pray that God is on response showed far greater insight, "No, gentlemen, let us prGod's side."

In Micah 6:8 we read, He has showed you, O man, what is good.LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to waGod. NIV If we want to know what God wants us to do, then wlive a life conforming to Him by following His commandments, leWhen we do that, we also can pray that we are on Gods side. tion is a reminder that sometimes we must deny ourselves in ordeour lives.

M. Scott Peck writes in his book The Road Less Traveled, "I spensummer on a bicycle. About a mile from our house the road wenand turned sharply at the bottom. Coasting down the hill one mornering speed to be ecstatic. To give up this ecstasy by applying babsurd self-punishment. So I resolved to simultaneously retain mtiate the corner. My ecstasy ended seconds later when I was propoff the road into the woods. I was badly scratched and bleeding, a

of my new bike was twisted beyond use from its impact against unwilling to suffer the pain of giving up my ecstatic speed in the ining my balance around the corner. I learned, however, that the losmately more painful than the giving up required to maintain balanc

As you read this, we have celebrated Easter and soon will celeb27th.) One reason we can celebrate Easter is the willingness of JesGods will and to give up himself in order to give us the opportunitwith God. One reason we celebrate Pentecost is the disciples anwillingness to wait and pray until the Holy Spirit was poured out oence to God may cost us inconvenience and even discomfort. As Sthe giving up is less painful than what happens when we lose baship with God keeps us in balance as long as we are willing to becluding the times of inconvenience and discomfort. May God blehis will and balance in your lives.

Blessings,Pastor Linda


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REPORT FROM TINA WHITEHEAD

When you read this, I will be in Tampa, Florida. No, not lying on abeach but in the Tampa Convention Center, participating in the United Meth-odist General Conference (April 24 to May 4).

Last June, at our WPA Annual Conference, I was elected as a lay delegate toattend General Conference, along with 6 other laity and 7 clergy, in addition toreserves. We were each given a choice from 13 Legislative Committees onwhich to serve. I chose Church and Society A, because I knew from the last

conference 4 years ago in Dallas that the Palestine/Israel legislation wouldmost likely come up in that section.

And it has. 18 petitions will be addressed on that issue, in addition to petitionsconcerning war and peace, compassion and hatred, poverty and other socialconcerns. It will be an intense ten days of listening, speaking, dialoguing and,hopefully, coming to a consensus on how to best serve God and follow in thefootsteps of Jesus.

986 voting delegates will participate, representing the United MethodistChurch worldwide. 36% of these delegates will be from outside the U.S., withthe majority coming from Africa, the Philippines and Europe. In addition to allthe legislative duties, we will have many opportunities for fellowship and wor-

ship.

I have been asked by the United Methodist Women to speak to a petition enti-tled Speaking out for Compassion and against Hate. But most of my energywill be spent on a petition to Align UMC Divestment with Resolutions on Is-rael/Palestine. This petition has already generated much interest and therewill be both Jewish and Palestinian representation at the conference to pro-mote the passing of this resolution, as well as Jewish and Christian voiceswho strongly oppose its passing. I ask for your prayers as we deliberate anddiscuss.

I will return to Oakmont May 5, but only with time to unpack, repack and thenhead back to Jerusalem May 9 for just under a month. And then back here for

the summer. I look forward to sharing more about the Tampa experiencewhen I return.

Blessings and peace,Tina

May

1 Lori Rajkowski3 Rich Lear

Scott Ashbaugh4 Erin Kennedy5 Maggie Morrison

8 Allison Klinsky12 Susan McGinnis14 Carol Burrows16 Daniel Burdelski18 Sam Steimer19 Joshua Stammer22 Christianne McCall23 Abigail Kelley26 Dennis Casarcia29 Kim Anderson

Earl BarnesAllan Jones

30 Eric Mannas

We apologize if we inad-vertently missed yourbirthday. Please callthe church office and letus know about your veryspecial day!

GENERAL FUND NUMBER

Income $Expenses $

Balance 3/31The Mission Share has b

WENDYS FUND

A dinner fundraiser is held at WHarmarville the third Mondaymonth. 20% of all orders (dritween 5-8 pm on that night wOUMCs General Fund.

NEWSLETTE

Please submit articles for theMay 20. If you would like to remail, please send us a [email protected].

COVERED DIS

The next luncheon will be July. 2Please bring your table service a

MEMORIAL GI

The choir fund recently received Mabel Beers from Bert & Fran Zu

BIRTH ANNOUNC

Reed Hatcher, son of Shannon &born April 12. Happy grandpareRudy.


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CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Time is a flying! Here is what we have coming up:

May 19 - The Relay for Life Please come down and be a part of our churchteam. Beginning at 10:00 am and concluding Sunday, May 20 at 10:00 am, weneed help setting up, walking, selling and tearing down. Also, we will be sellingluminaries in honor/memory of loved ones for the luminary service Saturdayevening. Any questions about the Relay, please feel free to give me a call.

May 25-27 We are heading down to West Virginia to meet and visit with thefourth grade class from Coal City that we adopted. We will also be doing workfor Burlington Methodist Home for teens that weekend. Fundraising for the tripis in order, of course. If you have any odd jobs for us to do please let me know.Grass cutting, mulching, raking, gardening, cleaning etc.

June 3rd the Youth will organize both worship services. Come on out and meet

your youth group. These services are done entirely by the youth. We havespent a lot of time planning them and are very excited to share worship withyou.

July 30th thru August 3rd from 6:00-8:30 pm is Vacation Bible School!! Ourtheme this year is Incrediworld Amusement Park Its going to be Awesome!We are looking for anything to contribute to an amusement park atmosphere-cotton candy maker, popcorn stand, jumping place, roller coaster {just kidding}Snacks and such to be named later. Thanks for your help!!

Happy almost summer!

SUPPORT AND PEOPLE NEEDED FOR UMCOR MISS

Trinity Tower UMC in Penn Hills has asked our church to partattend an UMCOR sponsored mission trip to the Inner Banks oJuly 8-14, 2012. Help is needed to rebuild homes that were de

ricane Irene. The Outreach Committee is reaching out to the coing participants to attend the mission trip or to help with monetThe cost for 1 person is $250 which includes transportation, hfor the week. Scholarships are available. Please consider suchanging event in any way that you can.

MAKE A CHANGE FOR IMAGINE NO MALAR

The Outreach Committee will be partnering with the Sunday SMake a Change to eradicate malaria, one life at a time by thwe need your help. The children have decorated cans in Sundlect loose change from the congregation during both services

The goal is to collect $.50 from each person every Sunday. Ea child under the age of 5 dies from malaria in Africa. A mere $childs life. So whats a couple of quarters each week at churchters and loose change and please give to this incredible campa

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY

This group has met and welcomes those whto join them. One of the ways that everyondonating gift bags (even those that are

Please leave your donations on the bookcchurch office door. Questions about this ministry should beJohnston @ 412-828-8265.


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OUMC TO SUPPORT RIVERS OF LIFE MISSIONS IN KENYA, AFRICA

The Rivers of Life Christian Academy was started in June 2010 to help bringeducation, development and employment into a remote village of KisumuKenya. Their mission statement is: Rivers of Life Missions is a Non -Denominational Christian Mission Ministry, committed to expressing aliving and tangible response to those commandments Jesus called thegreatest: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all yoursoul and with all your mind and with all your strength," and "Love yourneighbor as yourself." It is our vision that God has called us to makehis love real in this world, through our thoughts, lives and our every

action. Rivers of Life Missions participates in bringing the Kingdom ofGod to earth in all its aspects, but most especially through our particu-lar calling to serve the poor, the destitute and the lost and brokenhearted.

We have been sent to places where "love" must every day mean foodfor the hungry, water for the thirsty and healing for the sick. It mustmean families for the orphan and freedom for the captives. Our Missionis built on preaching the Gospel to some of the most desperate eco-nomic and spiritual circumstances on earth, with all the boldness ofwhich we, in Christ, are capable.

Those who we serve are among "the least of these" in all the earth. Ac-

cording to the 2006 United Nations Report, 30 Million Kenyans are liv-ing below the poverty line. The average daily wage is around $1.00 AUSper day. Employment opportunities are rare and often impossible. Dis-ease and HIV ravage the village communities of Eastern Africa due tolack of education and clean water. Access to clean drinking water isusually impossible or too expensive for most. With little or no govern-ment assistance, many live in tin and mud huts with dirt floors lackingfood, water, plumbing, electricity and in extreme temperatures. Yet theAfrican people are warm and faith filled welcoming and valuing rela-tionships with their families, friends and mission teams.http://riversoflifemissions.org/

The Outreach Committee would like to rally around the Rivers of Life Ministryand partner with Pastor Chris to support them in many ways. In the next fewmonths we will be telling of different ways that the Oakmont United Method-ist Church can be a part of this vital ministry to the people of KISUMU-KENYA

OAKMONT UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

There is big news in the kitchen at the Oakmont Methodist Chmachine was installed, and it is functioning at full capaciall venues of the church to use the ice machine to enha

Once again we are working toward a very succSale. Clothing and other items may be deliveRoom before 10:00 am April 26. Items for the bdelivered to the downstairs kitchen by 8:00 am F

28, and help is always needed for set up and brtual sale is Fri., Apr. 27 from 9 am3 pm and Sat., Apr. 28 frtakes so many people to make an event like this a success, work involved. Thank you so much for all of your help.

And remember that the Craft workshops continue throughouis welcome and there is always something for everyone Wednesdays from 9:30 am to noon and the first Tuesday of epm in the primary room. We look forward to seeing you there

YJ

HOPE CIRCLE BOOK DISCUSSION GR

Hope Circle will meet on Monday, May 14th, at 7:0The group will discuss The Grace of Silence, the inspiring Norris, award-winning journalist, TV commentator, and host oered. Ms. Norris set out to write a book about hidden racracial America, but her research took her in a very different, direction. She traveled from her childhood home in MinneSouth to find the reasons for things left unsaid by her parentsHer discoveries helped her come to terms with her own identboth revelation and silence had played in creating her characpersonal journey of pain and discovery echoes the American

eration trying to make a better life for the next generation.

Please consider joining the group for an hour of discus


5/5

TRUSTEE REPORT

The Trustees purchased two sets of stairs for the attic to make itsafer to access. We set up a working relationship and accountcard with Ace Hardware to facilitate purchases. We are lookinginto utility service providers for possible savings. An endowment

information program and a possible funding drive for that asset were dis-cussed. We reviewed recent expenditures and applicable funding for the futureto ensure budgetary compliance with the help of Liz. We are still pursuing amore favorable option and safer temporary front altar area. Building consultantswill be contacted and ideas presented to the Trustees that will be forwarded tothe Church Council for review and approval. The Trustees gratefully thank theUMW for their purchase of an ice machine. An "all hands" work day will bescheduled to address flower beds, roofing problems, storm gutter cleaning/inspection and clutter removal. A rider has been added to the insurance policyregarding rental vans. Trustees are reviewing quotes on organ maintenance,cleaning, upgrade and structure building. Approval was given to upgrade thesound system. Trustees will also schedule a rug cleaning day in the summerwhen congregational members will have the opportunity to assist with carpetcleaning throughout the building. We are investigating the parsonage reassess-ment and seeking a means to lower the new prices. Trustees will put togethera CPR class for church leaders to ensure we have trained personnel on siteshould an emergency occur during an event, church service, or other func-

tion. Minor expenditures for the custodians were approved. A Girl Scout Troopwas given approval to use the kitchen area for cupcake baking in April. TheTrustees may ask the Sunday school children to assist with their bulletin boardpresentation in November. Stay tuned!!

SUMMER IS JUST AROUND THE CORNERThinkCamping

Camping brochures with offerings from our ConferenceCamping Program are available on tables in the social hall

and sanctuary. As you plan summer activities for your children and family,please consider this very worthwhile program. The United Methodist Womengive every child who attends camp a $100 scholarship to help cover the cost,and additional funds are available to those attending Camp Allegheny.

ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF OAKMONT AND WALK IN THE R

Saturday, May 19, 2012 is the Relay for Life at Riverside Parkand help fight the war on cancer. Everyone knows someonechild, Grandfather, best friend, who has been tragically takendreaded disease of cancer. The American Cancer Society Rechanging event that gives everyone in communities across tto celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, reones lost, and fight back against the disease. Please help

the youth group work the table/booth, and walk or bring yourin the 2012 Relay for Life. One, two, three, or more people caference in the world You can sign up online at www.relayfoOakmont, PA as the event location, or call Linda Sweeney for

COMMUNITY DINNERS

A dinner is held at Verona UMC the last Wednesday of theto 6:30 pm. These meals are provided keeping those who atime in our current economy in mind, although everyone is wno charge, but donations are accepted. If you would like totact the church office.

CALLING ALL PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS

Anyone who wishes to join Oakmont UMC is asked to shaPastor Linda and attend orientation classes Wed., May 2 andpm at the church.
http://www.relayforlife.org/http://www.relayforlife.org/

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