90 Church Avenue, Forestville, CT 06010 | 860-584-0529 | 1

The Circuit RiderAsbury United Methodist Church NewsletterServing God in the community for over 150

years

FEBRUARY 2016 | VOLUME 23 | ISSUE

OUR STAFF

Pastor The Rev. Laura L. Galbraith

Secretary & Newsletter Editor Melissa Gray

Custodian Bruce Lauzier

Music Director Michael Coderre

Organist Jana Ros

Bell Choir Director Kristen Russo

Nursery Coordinator Briana Hoffman

CONTACT INFO

Office: 860-584-0529Fax: 860-584-0520 (call first)Parsonage: 860-261-4131

Pastor e-mail: pastorlaura.g@sbcglobal.netSecretary e-mail: asburysecretary@sbcglobal.netAsbury Web Page: www.asburyumcforestville.com

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February 2016

Dear Friends,

You’ll see in this newsletter the opportunities and schedules for Lenten services, suppers and a Saturday morning study class. We’ll begin Lent with Ash Wednesday services on February 10 and continue on to Good Friday for quiet prayer observance. Over the weeks of Lent, we’ll gather for Sunday worship and we’ll have our Soup Suppers on Wednesday nights, followed by a brief time of worship. On Saturday mornings, we’ll spend time in discussion of Philip Yancy’s classic, “The Jesus I Never Knew.”

Mark your calendar now to make time for Lent. Make time … to worship God on Sunday, rather than rush through the hour. Make time … to slow down mid-week and come together for fellowship, a light meal and time for prayer, rather than ‘stopping by for a bowl of soup.’ Make time … to join others and learn more about Jesus, who gave his life for you – for the world. Make time … to read Scripture, to pray, to do something to make a difference for someone else in the name of our Lord.

There are many different ways to experience Lent. Time spent now in prayerful consideration will help to guide you toward a Lenten practice. Once you decide what you will do, write it down and make a commitment for the 40 days that lead us to Easter. Mark your calendar now and be prepared to make this Lenten season a time that leads you to a renewed experience of the risen Lord Jesus Christ among us.

God bless,

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J U L Y W O R S H I P A S S I S T A N T SFebruary 7

 

Worship Leader 10:00 a..m. Heidi BorkowskiGreeters............................. TBDFellowship Hour................. Amy Majors & Pastor LauraAltar Flowers...................... Open February 14

 

Worship Leader 10:00 a..m. Bill King Greeters............................. TBDFellowship Hour................. Debbie & Micayla JohannsAltar Flowers...................... Betty Topalian February 21

 

Worship Leader 10:00 a..m. Joyce CannonGreeters............................. Mike & Wanda NesticoFellowship Hour................. Lee & Karen CranfordAltar Flowers...................... Open

February 28 

Worship Leader 10:00 a..m. Mal CummingsGreeters............................. Debbie & Micayla JohannsFellowship Hour................. Wayne & JoAnn BaconAltar Flowers...................... Open

Altar Guild 

Roxanne Pierce 

Birthday Caller 

Joyce Cannon 

Soup Kitchen 

Girl Scouts 

8:30 a.m. Worship Leader 

Carl Aspland, Norm Fusaro

Ushers 

Wayne Fuller, Bonnie Emery, Dennis Floyd, Don Mazerolle, Dick Peterson, Roy DiYulio

F E B R U A R Y B I R T H D A Y S01 Kim Cyr

Derrick Kulesa Heather Wright Kelly Amadio Levi Martinez Rhys Lafferty

02 Gail F. Wojtusik03 Lisa Weed04 Barbara Alim06 Kim Varano07 Sandra Vaughn

Jacob Cyr Jennifer Mahaney F. Townsend Downs

08 Xabier Aramburu Bechert09 Courtney Taylor

Judy Staub10 Marilyn Bechert

Carol Williams Mia Clement Zachary Butler Jeffrey Wegner

11 Paul Stark12 Tom Esten Jr.

13 Mary Dyer Michael Emery

14 Lenny Cannon Brian Hannon Jackie Watson Lisa Taylor

15 Dustin Heinzman16 David Woellmer

Rebecca Washington Cole Lockhart

17 Gale McIntyre18 April Savino

Amber Brown19 Madison Whillock

Nicole Hurlburt Bette Hubbard Karna Baumberger

20 David Majors Donald Lunn

21 Alexis Scanlan Heather VonHagen Nancy Deprey

F E B R U A R Y W O R S H I P A S S I S T A N T S

22 Kate Schilling Rebecca May Christopher Pinette

23 Edith Devino Kyana Anderson

24 Jennifer Perry Erika Walsh

25 Laurel Schwartz26 Cristion Taylor

Vickie Keddy Penelope Luis

27 Patricia Sallstrom Alexis Holcomb Kane Spielman Crystal Agvent

28 Barbara Hrywniak Paul Opperman

90 Church Avenue, Forestville, CT 06010 | 860-584-0529 | 3

In Our Thoughts and Prayers… The Hasler Family, Bill Fowler, Josephine Bannister, Sharon Parsons, Chuck Coloske, Cameron Mace, Carrie Borkowski, Valerie Harrison, Julie Constantine, Bonnie Maskery, Carl Aspland, Elsie Lyons, Edward Coloske, Peterson, and others who have needs of which we may not be aware.

If you wish to be listed in the bulletin and newsletter for prayers, please call the church office at 860-584-0529 or e-mail us at: asburysecretary@sbcglobal.net.

If you wish to relate prayer needs to the prayer chain, please call Phyllis Petit at 860-589-6059 or Mernie Whitcomb at 860-583-5373, or e-mail Pastor Laura at pastorlaura.g@sbcglobal.net. Please keep your call brief, and be aware of the privacy rights of the person(s) for whom you are requesting prayers.

Marion Stenger, mother and mother-in-law of Barb and Dave Barry passed away on Sunday, December 13, 2015. A memorial service was held at Asbury on Thursday, December 17, 2015.

Long time Asbury member, Hazel Finnemore passed away on Friday, January 1, 2016. A funeral service was held at Funk Funeral Home on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.

Friend of Asbury, Susan Steele, passed away on Tuesday, January 5, 2016. A memorial service was held at Asbury on Monday, January 11, 2016

Paul Tibbitts, husband of Jean Tibbitts, passed away on Wednesday, January 6, 2016. A memorial service was held at Asbury on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

Michelle Hasler passed away on Thursday, January 14, 2016. She was the wife of Todd Hasler, daughter-in-law of James Hasler, and sister-in-law of Tammy Buonafede. A memorial service was held at Asbury

on Thursday, January 21, 2016.

On Sunday, February 21 st at 11:30 am the Yankee Peddlar Fair Committee will meet to discuss plans for next year’s fair. All are invited to attend and bring ideas to improve our fair.

The deadline for the March Circuit Rider is Sunday, February 14th.

Please leave all articles in the mailbox in the church office or e-mail them to:

asburysecretary@sbcglobal.net

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Join us at Wendy’s of Bristol on 1247 Farmington Ave.

Tuesday, February 2

Tuesday, March 1

from 5:00 – 7:00 pm

Stay and enjoy fellowship or get take out. Ask to have your receipt put in the Asbury UMC basket! We receive 20% of all sales made! Proceeds are split between apportionments and the Backpack Program.

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From Our MembersAnd Committees

Thank you to our Asbury family for your love and support all these years as we guided our children in Sunday school. We have been blessed over the years to work with dedicated and gifted teachers and committee members. The Christmas Pageant was such a joy. A gift from our children under the direction of Donna Pehmoeller for music and the help of our teachers. We are not going anywhere, just moving over so new energy and ideas can take over. Thank you again for all your support over the years.

Harriet DonovanStacey Rich

Thank you to all who donated clean returnable bottles and cans to the church for the year 2015. The total amount collected for the year 2015 was $1115.25. This surpasses 2014 by about $200.00. These moneys went into the Trustees fund to help with expenses for the year. A special thanks to those who took the time to rinse out the empties before bringing them to church. It really makes the job of sorting them before taking them for redemption a lot easier. One problem, during the warm weather, was bringing in empties (especially cans) with ants in them. Looking ahead to warm weather, please take a little more time to rinse out cans so as to prevent the church from getting infested with ants.

Mike Nestico

A Big Thanks to Mike Nestico for his dedication, time and effort to this project!

Teddy Bears

Dear Friends at Asbury, Our girl scout troop 66432 would like to thank you for allowing us the use of Wesley Hall for our Santa breakfast. We are now that much closer to our goal, which is our year end trip to Europe. Please accept the enclosed donation to be used in any manner you deem appropriate.

With much respect,Carli, Julia, Katie & Lizzy

Dear Pastor Galbraith & Asbury, On behalf of Prudence Crandall Center, thank you for the wonderful donation of handbags and scarves for our clients. The clients receiving these will know that the community cares for them during this difficult time in their lives. We are so grateful for your thoughtfulness in helping us provide for the daily needs of the victims and families we serve.

We appreciate your partnership,Carolyn A. Jasper

Director of Development

To all of you involved with the Backpack Program, know that you are making a difference. Food insecurity is insidious. It affects self-esteem, it can create a feeling of life-long anxiety and a fear based life. You are giving the gift of security.

Thank you all,Linda Rich

Bristol FRC Director

A lot of wonderful things have been happening with Meals For The Needy. Thanks to so many wonderful people, businesses and community support, our food pantry is looking good and we have back-up food in the Green Room. MFN is now on FACEBOOK: we have our own page! I am looking into the possibility of purchasing a used van (very beginning stages). As most of you know, we pick up food/produce every Sunday and every other Tuesday from Walmart, ShopRite, and hopefully in the near future, Price Chopper. We are in need of volunteers to help with the pick up. If you can help, please call the office at 860-589-7744. Thank you all again for all the amazing help you provide to our neighbors!

Cheryl YetkeMFN Director

The Teddy Bear Ministry sponsored by WIF (Women In Fellowship) has become such a wonderful outreach opportunity. Not only have our bears gone to hospitals and shut-ins, they have found new homes with those who have lost everything to natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy. They have even gone home with those who have attended funeral services at Asbury.

In fact, so many bears have gone to new homes that are pews are “bare”! We need you to help us fill the pews again. If you have gently used bears that you would like to donate to this wonderful ministry, please leave them on the stage in Wesley Hall. ***Please note that we only accept bears. No other stuffed animals can be accepted.

A big thank you to Dick and Claudia Peterson who take the time to wash, repair, tag and place the bears in the pews.

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Dear Asbury Family, We hope these greetings find you and your family doing well, happy and healthy. We were blessed & fortunate to travel throughout Japan in 2015, very much enjoyed our year at Yokota, and met new friends and caught up with old ones from America to Asia. We wish you the very best in 2016 and hope to see you “along the way”.

All the best from all of us,Scott, Jennifer, Elena and Paul Maskery

To all my friends and Asbury family. Thank you so much for all your prayers, cards and well wishes over the past few months. They were really tough but with the help of God and all of you, I made it. My new address is: 1961 Sawgrass Lane, Sebring, FL 33872. All are welcome at any time.

Thank you and God bless you all,Sally Petit

To Asbury & the Teddy Bear Ministry, Thank you for the 2016 calendar and the beautiful teddy bear in the red velvet dress.

Love,Edie Nelson

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Peddlar’s Grille spectacular!  To everyone who baked, cooked, shopped, decorated, served, purchased food, made soup, chili, sandwiches, donated items, the list goes on and on and on...there are too many wonderful folks to name....thank you so much!!

Stacey Rich

I would like to thank everyone who filled out the Pastor Performance Review Form. We, as the SPPR Committee, have gone over the information with Pastor Laura and are very pleased with the results. As we all know Pastor Laura works very hard to make Asbury a wonderful place to worship. We were very happy to see the results showed the fruits of Laura’s labors. I know this was a lengthy form which was cumbersome to fill out, but we were very pleased that you took the time to accomplish this.

Thank you again,Joyce Cannon

SPPR Chairperson

From The Community From The Soup Kitchen

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We would like to start a Stewardship Corner here in the newsletter for you to have an opportunity to share what Asbury means to you. How do you share your time, talents and treasures within Asbury, into the community and to the world beyond. As Stewardship plays out a bit differently in each of us, as God leads us, maybe your perspective will inspire someone else!

You can submit your testimonials by emailing them to asburysecretary@sbcglobal.net or by leaving them in the church office. You can choose to have your name added or you may submit it anonymously. To start us off, below is a submission by Wayne Devino.

Back in 1989 I met a lady that I got to know real well. She told me she was looking for a tall guy and a church goer. I figured one out of two wasn’t terrible. So the church goer won out. However, what I didn’t know: how much of a church goer she was and is, and how strong her faith is. Much stronger than mine at the time.

She was raised Catholic, like Pastor Laura was. Even though Edith never left her Catholic faith behind, she is a regular attendee and doer here at Asbury. She is involved in many ways here at Asbury. For example, she helps Jan King with the backpack program. We take the newsletters to the post office every month. She’s helped Stacey at the fairs. She and I have assisted Pastor Laura many times on the altar. We were married here at Asbury by Pastor Norma. So Edith has been coming to Asbury for about 26 years. As her faith in God has grown along the way, my faith in God has gotten stronger.

Edith has said over the years she’ll never leave the Catholic Church, however, she considers Asbury her church. She has become very fond of many of our members.

Not that I’ll ever say money isn’t important. It is very important. I am Treasurer of the Board of Trustees so I see the money come in one door, and I see the money go out the other door. But our commitment is to God. He is the reason for our being what we are.

The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play.  "Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But, you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."

During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up." At that moment, the substitute organist played "The Star Spangled Banner." And that is how the substitute became the regular organist! 

Envelopes have been included in this newsletter for your Lenten offering. Please indicate on the envelope that it is a Lenten offering.

If 200 of us could sacrifice just $1 per day for each of the 40 days of Lent, we would raise $8,000 toward our 2016 operating expenses.

90 Church Avenue, Forestville, CT 06010 | 860-584-0529 | 7

JANUARYGod’s Word of Life

1 Romans 1.1-17 2 Romans 2.1-16 3 Romans 3.19-31 4 Romans 5.1-21 5 Romans 6.1-23Epiphany 6 Isaiah 60.1-22 7 John 5.1-29 8 John 6.1-24 9 John 6.25-59 10 John 6.60-71 11 Luke 7.1-17 12 Luke 7.18-35 13 Luke 7.36-50 14 Luke 8.1-21 15 Luke 8.22-39 16 Luke 8.40-56 17 Luke 9.1-17Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Begins 18 Luke 9.18-27 19 Luke 9.28-45 20 Luke 9.46-62 21 John 8.1-20 22 John 8.21-47 23 John 12.20-36aEcumenical Sunday 24 John 17.1-26 25 Acts 9.1-25 26 Acts 9.26-43 27 John 10.1-21 28 John 10.22-42 29 John 11.1-27 30 John 11.28-44 31 John 14.1-14

The Senior Fellowship Group finished off the year by delivering little decorated Christmas trees and bags of cards to all four shut-ins and homebounds. This month we’ve held a Tea Cup Auction, had a checker tournament, had guest speakers Wayne and JoAnne Bacon talk to us about their trip to Brussels, and celebrated birthdays. We always welcome new members and ideas, so please come join us. We meet every Thursday morning in Wesley Hall at 10:15 a.m.

Eula FosterPresident

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F E L L O W S H I P

Save The DateFebruary 2

Groundhog Day @ 5 pm – Wendy’s Fundraiser

February 3 @ 7 pm – 4 Chaplain Service and Reception February 10 Ash Wednesday – Services at 12 & 7 pm @ 6:00 pm – Pancake Supper February 14 Valentine’s Day Circuit Rider Deadline February 17 @ 6:00 pm – Soup & Sandwich Lenten Program February 21 @ 11:30 am – Post Yankee Peddlar Fair Meeting February 24 @ 6:00 pm – Soup & Sandwich Lenten Program

February 25 @ 6:30 pm – WIF Meeting

February 27 @ 5:00 pm – Pasta Dinner & Service Auction

WHAT’S IN THE SHOPPING CARTFOR FEBRUARY?

ONE POUND BOXES OF RICE

(NO BAGS PLEASE AS THEY CAN OPEN)

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I wanted to let everyone know the statistics from the last full school year for the Back Pack Program. The program gave out 30,885 pounds of food. This amounts to 15.4 TONS of food. With Foodshare’s formula, this poundage equates to 24,708 meals.

Asbury is fortunate to have strong partners in Hillside Community Church whose members pick up and deliver the bags each week to the schools, as well as First Congregational Church, whose members provide fresh fruits and vegetables on a monthly basis. Thank you very much for your continued support and prayers for this blessed ministry.

Jan KingBack Pack Coordinator

News from Women in Fellowship And Faith (WIF) 

Lots of laughs and fun were had at our Christmas party January 12th with Pastor Laura hosting. It included a pot luck dinner, re-gifting game and plans for the future. We discussed plans for the Hope Tour at Prudence Crandall Shelter for women and talked about a fundraiser in the near future to purchase fresh linens for the ladies at the shelter. The women agreed that the focus of this group would be to help women and children in various types of crises.

Ladies Save the Date! April 23rd. Plans are being made for our 4th Annual Women’s retreat. This year the retreat will take place at Asbury. We have done several different types of retreats in the past and by far the favorite one was the first, so by popular demand we will follow that format with a new theme, “Surrender”. This will be a fun spirited day that will include breakfast and lunch, fellowship, inspiration, music and an all around good time. Watch for more details in the future.

Praise and thanksgiving goes to Claudia Peterson who collects, washes, sews, and repairs all our pew bears with the help of her husband, Richard.

WIF is open to all the ladies of the church. Our next meeting is February 25the at 6:30 pm. Watch your Sunday bulletins for details.

For Harriet DonovanSubmitted by Stacey Rich

 Harriet became Superintendent in ’78,

With three boys in tow, and a lot on her plate.Always ready to help, determined and kind,With a heart of gold and ideas on her mind.

You’ve worked hard Harriet, and this sure isn’t the end,Onto the next chapter, with grandchildren and friends!

You’ve put your soul in Education, hours galore.Asbury is lucky to have you, and for many years more.

There’s no one quite like you, you are one of a kind,We LOVE YOU Harriet, now try to unwind!

BACK PACK PROGRAM IN ITS 5TH YEAR!

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Beginning the Saturday after Ash Wednesday, February 13th from 9:00 – 10:30 am join Pastor Laura for a study of the Philip Yancy classic book, “The Jesus I Never Knew”. Books will be available at the church office or the first morning of the class.

DATE GROUP(S) PROVIDING MEALFebruary 10 Ash Wednesday

U.M. Men’s Pancake Supper

February 17 Senior Fellowship and TrusteesFebruary 24 Membership, Chancel Choir and SPPRMarch 2 Education and WorshipMarch 9 Christian Outreach, Disciple and Altar GuildMarch 16 WIF and Ruth Circle

Asbury will begin its Lenten season with the U.M. Men serving a pancake supper on Ash Wednesday, February 10 th at 6:00 pm. There will be a short service after. There will also be a short service at noon. Both services will include ashes for those who would like them.

We will continue the Asbury tradition of meeting for a soup and sandwich supper at 6 pm followed by a short service on Wednesdays during Lent. A list of committees providing meals is included below.

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday1

7:30 PM NA

2

9:00 AM Crochet Class

5:00 PM Wendy’s5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM Stephen Ministry

6:00 PM Bell Choir

7:00 PM Boy Scouts

8:00 PM AA

3

6:00 PM Disciple II

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

6:15 PM Tai Chi

7:00 PM 4 Chaplain Service & Reception

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

4

10:15 AM Seniors

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM TOPS

6:30 PM Boy Scouts

7:00 PM Girl Scouts

5

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

6

DanceathonWesley Hall

3 – 9 pm

7 Communion, Dial A Prayer Collection

9:00 AM Adult Sunday School

11:30 AM – Christian Outreach

1:00 PM – Tai Chi

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6:00 PM Church Council

7:30 PM NA

9

9:00 AM Crochet Class

3:30 PM Soup Kitchen

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM Bell Choir

8:00 PM AA

10 Ash Wednesday

12 & 7 PM Service6:00 PM Pancake Supper6:00 PM Disciple II

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

6:15 PM Tai Chi

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

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10:15 AM Seniors

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM TOPS

6:30 PM Boy Scouts

12

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

13

Private Party in

Wesley Hall1 – 4 PM

14 Valentine’s Day

9:00 AM Adult Sunday School

1:00 PM – Tai Chi

Circuit Rider Deadline

15

7:00 PM – American Legion

7:30 PM NA

16

9:00 AM Crochet Class

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM Stephen Ministry

6:00 PM Bell Choir

8:00 PM AA

17

6:00 PM Soup & Sandwich Supper & Program6:00 PM Disciple II

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

6:15 PM Tai Chi

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

18

10:15 AM Seniors

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM TOPS

6:30 PM Boy Scouts

19

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

20

Private Party in

Wesley Hall12 – 5 PM

21 Native American Ministries Sunday

9:00 AM Adult Sunday School

11:30 AM Post YPF Meeting

1:00 PM – Tai Chi

22

7:30 PM NA

23

9:00 AM Crochet Class

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM Bell Choir

8:00 PM AA

24

6:00 PM Soup & Sandwich Supper & Program6:00 PM Disciple II

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

6:15 PM Tai Chi

7:30 PM Chancel Choir

25

10:15 AM Seniors

5:00 PM Exercise Class

6:00 PM TOPS

6:30 PM Boy Scouts

6:30 PM WIF

26

6:00 PM Girl Scouts

27

Pasta & Service Auction

Dinnerat 5 PM

Auction at6 PM

28

9:00 AM Adult Sunday School

1:00 PM – Tai Chi

29

7:30 PM NA

Year-end giving statements are complete and available for you to pick up in the Narthex.

A reminder to all committee treasurers to bring your 2015 records and checking and savings passbooks to the church office for auditing.

Sunday Worship Services at 8:30 and 10:00 AM Fellowship Hour at 11:00 AM

If we are to accept the teaching of Jesus at all, then the only test of the reality of a man’s religion is his attitude to his fellow men. The only possible proof that a man loves God is the demonstrated fact that he loves his fellow men.

—William Barclay