THE SPOTLIGHTT I F F I N F A I T H U M C - N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 I S S U E

L o v i n g G o d . . . R e a c h i n g a n d S e r v i n g O u r N e i g h b o r s i n C h r i s t

Greetings Beloved, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…”  These words from the theme song of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,”a children’s television program that aired from 1968 to 2001, are resonating with me as I think about living intoour vision statement – “Loving God… Reaching and Serving our Neighbors in Christ.  I began to think aboutwhat defines a neighborhood.  Is it geographics? Is it people within geographics?  Is it something distinctive? Searching for a definition, naturally I consulted dictionaries of all sorts (both online and in my library) and I’vecome up with a definition that speaks to me and I hope will speak to you.  A neighborhood is the areasurrounding a particular place that forms community. I often speak of our church as a community of faith.  As we live into the vision that God has given us, what weare called to do is expand our community!  As disciples of Jesus Christ, we want to extend God’s love to thosearound us – to our neighbors – with the intent of being the hands and feet of Jesus. I pray you will join me in thanking the Lord for the opportunities He is giving us to be ‘holy neighbors’ to thosearound us, to those among us, to those in the greater Tiffin area.  As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday,may we remember all of our neighbors and seek, individually and as a congregation, to be a blessing to them.                                                                                                                                       Praising God from Whom All Blessings Flow,                                                                                                                                                                                              Pastor Marilyn PS.  We had a wonderful time with the children of our church and community this month!  It was enjoyable tocarve and decorate pumpkins; and the Trunk or Treat was even more fun for everyone involved!  Members andfriends all had a good time dressing themselves and their cars, and sharing treats.  We were delighted to seethe children all dressed in their costumes!  We hope to see some of the children/families join us for MovieNight this month.

OFFICE HOURS: TUESDAY-FRIDAY 10AM-3PM

PHONE: 419-447-6748 EMAIL:office@tiffinfaith.org

WEBSITE: WWW.TIFFINFAITH.ORG FACEBOOK: TIFFINFAITHUMC

The Mission Team is also asking

for people to adopt a family from

the Salvation Army.  We usually

ask them for four families to buy

for.  We usually buy for three

children in a family.  They will

provide us with the kind of toys

that they might want and the sizes

of clothes for girls or boys. We will

have the items requested for on

tags on the tree. There will be one

item on each tag and you can take

one or more.

The United Methodist Women will

be asking for baby clothes,

diapers, blankets and baby toys

for the Heartbeat/Hope Clinic in

Tiffin.  These items are placed in

"The Blessing Room" at the Clinic

and they offer these baby items

that are needed by clients through

donations from the community.

 Gently used or new items are

accepted and they are used to

help deepen a client’s sense of

accomplishment and worthiness

when they have worked to earn

credits to use in the Blessing

Room.

The U.M.W. will be meeting

Saturday, November 10th at 10:00

a.m. in the children's Sunday

School Room.  We will have our

Thank Offering ceremony after our

business meeting. All women are

invited to join us.  We meet every

other month on the 2nd Saturday

at 10:00 a.m.

MISSION TEAM

The Mission Team will once

again be asking for Christmas

gifts for the residents at Flat

Rock Home.  As soon as we

receive the list of items that

have been asked for, we will

hang them on the Christmas

tree that will be in the Narthex.

 Take one or more of the tags

with the suggested gifts written

on them. When you bring the

gifts to the church, tie or tape

the tag to the gifts that you

have purchased and then place

them unwrapped by the tree or

on the floor by the table.  These

gifts are always very much

appreciated.

BIBLE STUDYJoin us for the next Bible Study!

Wednesday, November 2nd at

6:30pm.

Join Pastor Marilyn for the

book/dvd study of: Crazy Love:

Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

by Francis Chan.

Best-selling author and speaker,

Joni Eareckson Tada, describes

this book as one in which Chan

“peels back what we think the

Christian life is, and guides us

down the path toward an

uncommon intimacy with Jesus

– an intimacy which can’t help

but change the world around

us!”

In his own words, Francis Chan

says “This book was written for

those who want more of Jesus…

who desire for more God…”

Books are $10.

A little cold weather and rain didn’t keep thekids of the church from having fun during themonth of October.  We were able to gather acouple times this past month for fun andfellowship.  The kids got in the Halloween andFall spirit early on in the month as they had agreat time carving pumpkins, playing pumpkinrelated games, and painting decorative rocks. The lesson they learned while carvingpumpkins is a lesson we could all benefit from. They learned after carving into the pumpkinsthat there are lots of seeds and how eachpumpkin could make lots more pumpkins byplanting those seeds.  Just like the singlepumpkin they opened up, there is just one ofus but if we open up to those we meet, and tellthem about God then we can plant the seed ofGod in them and in turn help grow our churchand in our faith. 

I would also like to thank all those whoparticipated and helped with the Trunk orTreat this year.  We had such a huge turnout ofkids show up that I believe we all ran out ofcandy a little after the first hour of being there. All who attended and participated seemed tohave a great time.  The decorations on each ofthe cars were great as well as the matchingcostumes for those who toughed out the coldweather to greet all those kids.  Severalparents commented as they went through athow wonderful it was to see us out there andhoped this is something we can do every year. I would love to see the parking lot fill up eachyear so everyone can see the joy on all the kidsfaces as they came through.       As we move into November we have a coupleevents planned and encourage all the childrento come and enjoy fellowship and fun with us.  We also would like to remind everyone of thechildren’s Sunday School every Sunday andhow there are classes for all the kids of allages.                                     -Greg Harkins, Youth Leader

FROM OUR YOUTH LEADER

November: Sunday Nov 11th: 2- 4 pm       Fall Games & Activities Saturday November 17th: 6 pm       Movie Night 

December: December 16th:  6 pm        Christmas Caroling                                (Congregation invited as well)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Yes it’s that time of year…shopping and filling those beautiful red and green boxes that will be sent all over theworld and USA.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Some good things to send are: • School supplies- chalkboards with chalk, pencils,scissors • Toys- soccer ball with pump, dolls • Make-your-own crafts- add your personal touch • Non-liquid hygiene items- bar soap, toothbrush • Clothing accessories- tops, shoes, socks, hair bows,gloves, scarves • Non-chocolate candy- caramels, taffy, gummy bears • A personal note from your family- if you include yourname and address it’s possible that the child couldwrite you back!

Things not permitted are: • Used or damaged items • War-related items such as toy guns, knives, or militaryfigures • Chocolate or food- due to customs regulations • Out-of-date candy- make sure that the expiration dateis at least 6 months after National Collection Week • Liquids or lotions- these can spill and get all over theother items • Medications or vitamins

We have several items already purchased but we could use some additional items such as ivory soap, smallflashlights, packs of batteries, combs, brushes, socks, and t-shirts (wash clothes before donating). There are several ways you can participate in this mission. 1. Pack a box with or without the $9 postage included in the box 2. Donate cash or check written to FUMC for any desired amount. 3. Donate individual items to be included in the boxes. There will be a box in the Narthex for this as well as labelsand envelopes. We prefer that you use the boxes provided but sometimes you may need larger shoeboxes depending on thecontents. If you need a larger shoe box let us know as we have a few. The last day to turn in your box is Sunday, November 11th.

EUCHARISTIC MINISTRYThe word Eucharist comes from a

Greek word that means to give

thanks.  Eucharist is another term

for Holy Communion or The Lord’s

Supper, the sharing in the body

and blood of Jesus Christ.  Doing

so, we remember the thanksgiving

Jesus offered to God as he

gathered his disciples for a meal.

In Eucharist, we continue to offer

our praise and thanksgiving to

God. We thank God not only for

the bread and cup (symbols

of Christ’s life, death, and

resurrection) but also for all that

God has done and continues to do

to save the world.

Receiving the Sacrament of Holy

Communion remains one of the

most important worship events in

the life of our homebound, and we

want to make it more available to

them.  United Methodist church

law makes provision for lay

members to share the body and

blood of Jesus Christ with those in

our faith community who are

physically unable to be with us on

Communion Sundays

(homebound, hospitalized, etc) 

Training lay members to serve

the communion elements after

they have been consecrated

during  worship makes this

possible.  This ministry provides

another means of including

these members in the worship

life of our church, letting them

know that they are important to

God and to us.

The following people were

trained on October 24, 2018:

Sally Cook, Jeannine Curns,

Judy Munn, and Beth Weber.

May the blessings of the Lord

and this faith community go

with them!  

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS NOVEMBER ANNIVERSARIES1-Terri Everhart 4- Brian Briggs, Bonnie Covert,  6- Barb

Eborg, 8-Jack Schalk, 9-Allen Fuller, 11-Alexander Albert,

12-Robert Traunero, 16- Peg Spitler, 20-Janelle Albert,

Nancy Ferguson, Maris Kiser, 21-Carole LeBlanc, Iris  Roy,

22-Chuck G. Dundore, 23- Nathan Grover, 24- Jacke

Renninger, 25- Lindsay Tusing, 27-Jane Houdeshell, Mike

Lemons, 29- Pat Schreiner, Kyle Starkey, 30-Jake Everhart

7-Ray & Sandy Nutter, 9- Larry & Rachel

Rentz, 15- James & Barbara Trapp, 16-Jim

& Lois Berger, Mark & Sandy Mesnard,

Paul & Kendullin Fortney, 27-Mark & Micki

Tusing, 28-Donald & Dianne Feasel, Glenn

& Betty Quickle,  29-Jason & Rebel Marsh

WORSHIP COMMITTEEWorship committee met October 11th, 2018. Here are some dates for your calendar!

November 4th-All Saints Day. We will light candles in memory of those members that passed in the last year.

November 18th- Our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Watch for details.

November 25th- We will be decorating the church after the 10:15 service for advent. Note the Christmas Eve

time change. We will have carols and harp music at 6pm and service starting at 6:30pm. We will also have an

11pm service of candlelight and communion.