July August 2013

Memorial United Methodist Church

1100 West “C” Street

Kannapolis, NC 28081

704.932.6711

jbbrookshire@yahoo.com

www.memorialunitedmethodistchurch.org

I found an old book this week ... one given to me by a good friend. I have not seen this little book in years!

It made me stop and reflect on what was going on in my life when I first read it.

At the time, I was comfortable and reasonably successful in my business career. But something was stir-

ring within me. I remember wondering what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life. At the time, God

had begun to open doors for me ... mostly doors of passion and curiosity within my own soul about the

nature of God and about my own personal faith. I didn't see myself in a crisis, but do recall the need to

find a deeper sense of meaning in my life. I wanted to make a difference, not just for my family or my em-

ployer, but for my God.

This book, The High Calling of Our Daily Work, is a collection of short stories, each intended to help the

reader discover how his or her daily work can become more meaningful to God. It opens with a story

called The Stonemasons, and it goes like this:

Three stonemasons were building a cathedral when a stranger wandered by. The first stonemason

was toting rocks to a pile near a wall.

"What are you doing?" asked the stranger.

"Can't you see I am carrying rocks?"

The stranger asked the second laborer, "What are you doing?"

"I'm building a wall," he replied.

A few steps away, the stranger came upon the third mason. "What are you doing?" he asked.

The worker smiled. "I'm building a cathedral to the glory of God!"

Same jobs ... three different missions. Which mason are you?

This story serves to remind us that everything we do can serve a higher calling of God. Don't ever make

the mistake of believing that the tasks within your daily routine do not matter. Whether you are a student,

a business person, a homemaker, or a retiree, it is important to remember the high calling of your daily

work. May God bless you in your steps, and may everything you do be done for His glory!

Pastor Jim

P a g e 2 M e m o r i a l M e s s e n g e r

Our July meeting featured Pam Outen, Extension Agent for Cabarrus County,

as our speaker. 31 persons attended and Gary’s BBQ provided our lunch.

Mrs. Outen encouraged us to use 1/2 of our plate size for fruits and vegeta-

bles and choose to prepare foods with less salt or sodium. She called our at-

tention to reading labels to help us make better food choices.

I will be taking birthday cakes to Midway UMC, for use by Opportunity House,

on a regular basis. Bring your cakes and put them in the freezers in the Fel-

lowship Hall. Susie Johnson

Here we go again!

Nifty Over Fifty

Please be in thoughtful prayer for:

the Disciple classes; that those who are called to attend will

listen and that those who are leading will step out of the way

to allow Him to the teaching.

for Dawn Grant and LeeAnn Barnette as they prepare to go on

THE WALK TO EMMAUS September 19-22.

US & THEM?

Edward R. Murrow: “What is the

worst word in the English Lan-

guage?”

Carl Sandburg: “Exclusive!”

1954 Interview

“To exclude others is to disas-

sociate, to reject, to marginal-

ize. We exclude by ignoring

and labeling. Exclusive is the

kissing cousin of hostility and

violence.”

Carl Sandburg

“Today, as I get back in the

“Ruminations and Reflections”

swing of things, I simply invite

you to ruminate a bit on the

kinds of behaviors that we

might unknowingly engage in

that are inhospitable and un-

welcoming, the kinds of atti-

tudes we may have cultivated

over time toward those who

are different from us, the ways

we have failed to love our

neighbors as ourselves, the

times we have failed to see the

face of Jesus in the face of the

“other.”

Come to think of it - I don’t think

Jesus would have cared much

for the word, “exclusive "either.

Pastor Randy Lucas from

“Ruminations & Reflections”

COMMUNITY FUN DAY/VBS. You’ll find pictures from this great day interspersed throughout this newslet-

ter. The threat of rain was a hindrance for some, but we had a great time, and most of the attendees were

new to us. THANK YOU for your support and prayers. For more pictures, go to

www.memorialunitedmethodistchurch.org.

M e m o r i a l M e s s e n g e r

August 4 UMM 7 am

August 6 Alma Price Circle

N.O.W. Committee 6:00

August 11 Back Pack Give-away

August 12 Disciple I Orientation

August 13 Hefner-Neese Circle

August 14 Adams Sherril Circle

August 17 UMW Annual Meeting

August 20 Nifty Over Fifty

August 21 Administrative Council

August 26

week

Disciple I first class

Through DISCIPLE, persons are strengthened in their faith and guided into service and ministry.

Strong, biblically nourished leadership will help our church grow in vitality and Christian disciple-

ship.

Disciple III will be offered this fall. If you’ve taken Disciple I, you

can then take II, III, or IV. Beth Harrison is taking the lead for DIII.

An orientation meeting will be held on August 12th at 6:00. This

meeting is more for those who have decided to take the class. At

this meeting you will receive your workbooks and decide on sched-

uling. The first meeting will be the week of August 26th. Is this

your year? There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship hall, or con-

tact Linda Peterson to begin your journey in Disciple I, Becoming Disciples Through Bible Stud-

ies. You have NOTHING to lose, and EVERYTHING to gain.

Sept 1 UMM 7 am

Sept 3 Alma Price Circle

N.O.W. Committee 6:00

Sept 10 Hefner-Neese Circle

Sept 11 Adams Sherril Circle

Sept 17 Nifty Over Fifty

Sept 18 Administrative Council

Congratulations to Belinda

Childers at the birth of her

new cousin: Braelyn Black-

welder.

Please do not park in /

block the drive-through

at the Fellowship Hall.

Sort of cancels out the

idea of handicapped

accessibility! THX!

6/2 6/9 6/16 6/23 6/30 7/7 7/14 7/21 7/28

Worship Attendance 95 101 89 65 89 79 81 95 74

Sunday School

Attendance

46 33 53 29 41 385 41 34

Offering 2296 3410 3016 2352 2733 2904 1220 4667 2649

Memorials 75

Building Fund 5 5 5

We Care 3.50 2 3

Youth 5

Boy Scouts 80

Attendance &

Offerings

P a g e 4 M e m o r i a l M e s s e n g e r

Current Needs:

Breakfast Items such as cereal,

grits and oatmeal

Canned Fruit

Tuna

Canned Pasta with Meat

Vienna Sausage

Assorted Canned Vegetables

Current Needs: Food Pantry

Cereal

Soup

Canned Fruit

Canned Vegetables

Canned Meat

Rice

Beans

Clothing

Men’s seasonal clothing

Soup Kitchen

Individual packets of

mayonnaise, mustard,

ketchup, salt & pepper

Institutional size cans of

vegetables –or– large bags

of frozen vegetables

Shelter

Washcloths

Towels

Flip flops (shower shoes)

July/Aug 2013

P a g e 5 M e m o r i a l M e s s e n g e r

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

SEPTEMBER WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS

Memory of Max Christy: Suzanne Irvin, Melanie Overcash,

Larry & Mary Bentley, Margaret Adams & Linda Barringer,

Albert & Dorothy Weast, and Memorial UMC

Honor of Jim Brookshire: Dolores & Bob Daniels

Leeann Cyphers 1

George Milstead 3

John Russell 8

Josue Cervantes 8

Robbie Measmer 8

Dillon Bentley 11

Carrie Hayes 13

Tanya Carter 14

Ed Aldridge 14

Jaxon Coody 14

Danny Garrett 14

Janet Boggs 15

Alice Poston 16

Jeff McCombs 16

Cat Cannon 26

Darlene Measmer 31

Ed & Doris Aldridge 16

Susie Johnson 1

Ava Coody 1

Gloria Garrett 5

Helen Poston 11

Valerie Lloyd 12

Doug Donaldson 13

Ruth Ballard 16

Michael Atwell 16

Linda Peterson 17

Shirley Phillips 18

Trish Foster 19

Judy Brown 20

Edward Brown 23

Doris Aldridge 27

Steve & Peggy Lambert 11

Bob & Dolores Daniels 16

AUGUST WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

P a g e 6

By now most everyone is aware our 2001 Cargo trailer was taken from

our church property and not returned. It is believed the trailer went miss-

ing sometime around May 5-10. The appropriate police reports were

made, and after a waiting period required by insurance companies, and

since the police authorities have not recovered this property, our insur-

ance carrier has determined this as a total loss. I have filed an insur-

ance claim and our carrier will cover our loss less deprecation. Your trustees have voted to

replace this trailer but as of this date we’re not sure if a replacement will be a new or used

trailer. Since we want get a 100% replacement value we will consider a used trailer. We will

let you know our decision as this progresses.

Your trustees have voted to fill in the boiler room pit area and brick up the opening on the

outside. This is a cosmetic repair but is believed that it may help with some of the water prob-

lems that have flooded the ‘Upper-Room’ Sunday school classroom. Other repairs to our facil-

ity are likely to correct all the water problems in this area.

The deck at our parsonage will soon get a facelift. We promised our renter that when we had

funds available from the rent of our parsonage we would refurbish the deck to make it safe. I

have given the contractor the ok to proceed with this work.

Early in this lawn mowing season our caretaker for this service had to call it quits due to

equipment failure. We had to act quickly and contact several lawn care companies for

quotes. Our budget for this upkeep was already set and none of the four companies we con-

tacted gave us a quote to fit our set budget; however, I do have an agreement with the Bea-

ver Boys Lawn Care to keep up our grounds throughout this mowing season and not exceed

our set budget. They are doing a great job at maintaining our lawn needs. The trustees will

revisit this need again in the next mowing season.

Steve Lambert

Truste

es

July/August 2013

Wow!! United Methodist

Women are busy, busy

now. We could use your

help by attending meet-

ings and donating to our projects. Remember a

lady can be an active UMW member just by keeping

her mission pledge current.

We are #1 in giving status in the nation in 2012 for

the 12th consecutive year in the following catego-

ries:

Special Mission Recognition

Gift to Mission

Gift in Memory

World Thank Offering

Total Undesignated Giving (5 channels)

For the first time we also led the nation in Pledge to

Mission.

If you wish to honor someone (who has everything)

consider the gift to mission in honor or in memory.

This can be done with as little as a $5.00 donation.

Just give Denise Reid your money and a name. You

may send your own card to the person if you

choose.

Also remember we have items to sell : Happy

Home Flavoring, Rada stainless knives, Danny

Duzits.

August 17 Annual meeting Metro District Mineral

Springs NC. cost $7.50 per person for the break-

fast meal. Reservations must be made before Au-

gust 5. Please give me your name and money

soon. We will leave at 7:00 on that Saturday

morning.

General Meeting date to be announced later (after

checking school schedules).

Fund Raiser--Lunch after church on Sunday, Au-

gust 11---Baked potato and salad, dessert and

drink. The cost is $5.00 adults and $2.50 chil-

dren. Please come and support our mission pro-

jects. Doris Aldridge

WOW! 85 backpacks collected! What a wonderful example of the gen-

erosity of MUMC when there is someone in need. BACK PACK GIVE-

AWAY Saturday, August 11th 11:30. Come and be blessed!

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one

of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:40.

Dawn Grant has accepted the position of Coordinator of Youth and Children's Ministry.

We are so excited for Dawn and our MUMC kids. Please continue to keep our youth and

children's ministry in your prayers as Dawn transitions into this new role. If you have any

questions or concerns regarding Youth/Children at MUMC or would like to help support

this ministry, please contact Dawn directly.

After many years of service to our church, Doug Johnson will be stepping down from the custodial posi-

tion. We greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication he has shown through the years. "Thank You"

Doug!!

LeeAnn Barnette, Chair

Staff-Parish-Relations-Committee (SPRC)

Experience: NONE. God does not call the equipped – He

equips the called.

Time: God will give you the

time.

Subject: Plenty to choose from.

What excites you?Talk to Linda

Peterson if you're interested.

REWARD: Priceless

BIBLE STUDY

LEADERS

WANTED!

“SOMEBODY

oughta….SOMEBODY

should…..SOMEBODY

needs to…..”

WHO is this SOMEBODY ?

It’s YOU and ME and HER

and HIM. It’s all of us.

Recently, the Administra-

tive Council fixed lunch

for the congregation

wearing this t-shirt. We

had a great lunch and fellowship, but SOMEBODY should

have…..

MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

1100 WEST “C” STREET

KANNAPOLIS, NC 28081