Winthrop United Methodist Church

M E S S E N G E R September 2016

Dear Saints,

As I sit here this morning watching a family playing on our new playground, I am reminded

of all the wonderful work that was accomplished this summer with the help of missions teams from

around the country at Camp Mechuwana. We helped our nursery school with the playground a few

days, as well as replaced the ramp leading into the Autism Society suite of our 72 Main Street

property. Missions teams worked on a Waterville home for a special needs couple, painted a Mon-

mouth home for an elderly woman, and finished the siding and built ramps on the four new cabins

at Mechuwana. We also built a new food pantry space in the North Monmouth Community Church

and, with Buzz’s leadership, two storage sheds, one for the Randolph UMC and a garden shed for

camp. Ellen was also busy with her nursing home ministry, and groups spent time at the Bread of

Life Ministry in Augusta as well as the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter and Home for Little Wanders

in Waterville. It was another busy but Spirit-filled summer sharing the love of God at camp and in

our community. It is truly a blessing to have the support of the church in this important missions

ministry at Camp Mechuwana.

Having said that, it is nice to be back in the church office full-time and I am looking forward

to our upcoming program year and the church trip to the Sight and Sound Theater in Pennsylvania

at the end of October. The church office hours are 9-2 Tuesday through Friday; please stop in any

time if you would like to visit. I am also available for home visitation or after hours by appoint-

ment if you have a need.

Blessings,

Pastor Ned

Prayer Shawls

Winthrop UMC has a prayer shawl

ministry. A number of talented folks

connected to the church knit or crochet beautiful

shawls. The women pray over the shawls as they

lovingly create them. Once they are completed,

they are made available to people suffering from

illness or injury. The shawls have brought real

comfort to many people since this ministry began.

If you know someone who would

be comforted by receiving a prayer

shawl, please speak to Shelley

Gearheart or Jan Leighton.

COMING SOON!!

“Her Heart Can See”

Fanny Crosby Program

“Her Heart Can See,” a special

program based on the life of one of America’s most

prolific and beloved hymn writers, Fanny Crosby,

will be presented on Sunday, September 18 at 3:00

p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Winthrop.

This unique first-person, living history interpreta-

tion will be presented by the Rev. Ann Partner Nel-

son of Wells, Maine and her husband. Nelson has

been researching, writing, and giving monologues

about Crosby for more than 20 years. This event,

featuring the singing of several hymns, will be a

journey through Crosby’s amazing life, including

the fact that she was blind from an early age yet still

managed to write some 8,000 hymns. Many of

those hymns are still sung in our churches.

There will be no charge for attending. A mission

offering for the Wonder-A-While Nursery School

will be received. Children and youth will be espe-

cially inspired by the program. Refreshments will

follow. Child Care will be available.

If you have any questions, contact John or Helen

Neff.

Zucchini Overload! Are you awash in zucchini? This recipe will help you use

some of that abundance in a healthy and tasty way.

Parmesan Zucchini and Corn

2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 zucchini, unpeeled and diced 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned, roasted, or cooked, off the cob ¼ tsp. dried basil ¼ tsp. dried oregano ¼ tsp. dried thyme Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Juice of 1 lime 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan, to taste Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant – about 1 minute.

Add zucchini, corn, basil, oregano, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is cooked through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in lime juice and cilantro.

Sprinkle with Parmesan, serve immediately.

It is a pleasure to welcome

Rev. Dr. Karen Munson as

our new District Superinten-

dent. Rev. Munson has recently served churches

in Readfield and Brunswick. She has a passion for

small church ministry and many gifts including

music and worship design. I have worked with

Karen for several years and she has been a valua-

ble mentor in my ministry journey. I look forward

to working with her as she takes on her new role as

District Superintendent. Please help me in wel-

coming her in this new and important position.

Pastor Ned

The Library Is Open!

Just a reminder to everyone that

WUMC has a wonderful library, full

of interesting and enjoyable books for

all ages. There are works of fiction, non-fiction,

and children’s books, too. Please take advantage of

this wonderful resource.

Whoever coined " the lazy days of summer" was

not of our church family. God's building has

hummed throughout this season: small fry, teachers,

advisors, individual choir members, school groups,

kitchen users, and Barbara trying hard to stay up

with all the buzz around her. Pastor Ned seemed to

have wings as he mustered the camp groups who

helped so much, especially at Tabitha’s closet this

summer.

Let's throw in the yard, the hedges, and the air

conditioning when needed on Sunday mornings, a

family supper, School Supplies Giveaway, Whale

of a Sale, and hats off to those faithful Sunday

coffee hour folks. Vacation time has flown!

Your trustees held their August meeting and

greeted two new members Walter Belden and Denis

(yup, one ‘n’ is correct) Dandeneau. With initiation

over, we pushed back to discuss plans to wash the

exterior sides of the building, another round of

shrub clipping, and our seasonal tile floor polishing.

All the usual routine...... oops, the

zipper line (concrete barriers) appeared

next door so there’s another detail to

work out. Stay tuned!

Sue Thomas

Don't Know Much About…

Anointing Anointing's origins are interesting.

It began as a practice among shepherds of ancient

times to protect their sheep from lice and other in-

sects that would get onto the sheep's wool, find

their way into the sheep's ears, and eventually kill

the sheep. The sheep herders found that if oil was

poured onto the animal's head, the surface would

become slippery and the insects could not make

their way into the ears. From this, anointing be-

came a powerful symbol of protection and bless-

ing.

In Biblical times, people were anointed to signi-

fy God's blessing or call on a person's life.

Today, an anointing can be done for a number of

reasons and is a legitimate and Scripture-based

means of prayer and supplication. It must not be

misinterpreted, however; the oil is not a "magic

potion," in and of itself it has no power. The oil is

only a symbol of God's action in a person's life.

Some of you have been either the recipient of or

a witness to an anointing at Winthrop UMC. If

not, perhaps you will be in the future. Properly

understood, anointing is a powerful example of

God the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

Do you like to sing???

Know someone else who

likes to sing? Choir prac-

tice resumes on September

1st! We rehearse on Thursday evenings at 6:30 in

the sanctuary. All are encouraged and welcomed to

join. We only ask that you have a love of music

and willingness to learn! (We have lots of fun as

any current member of the choir can attest to.)

PLEASE NOTE our first rehearsal will be a pot-

luck dinner at Mark and Judy Johnston's home at

244 Kerns Hill Rd. in Manchester. We will meet at

5:00 for food and fellowship and rehearse right

there at their home at 6:30. If you have any ques-

tions please contact Michelle Chick.

A note of appreciation received this past month…..

Hello,

My name is Meghan Ryan-Rolfe, I am a children’s case

manager with Kennebec Behavioral Health. Part of my

job is locating supports, services and resources within

the community that can assist our families in meeting

their needs. As the start of school is approaching I am

wondering if you will be doing your school supply givea-

way again this year, and if you when is this even sched-

uled? I also wanted to extend my gratitude for all the

supports that your ministry and clothing closet of-

fers many of our families and I look forward to hear-

ing from you soon!

Meghan Ryan-Rolfe, OQP, Children's Case Mgr

66 Stone Street • Augusta • Maine • 04330

Office: 207-873-2136 Mobile: 207-314-0383

www.kbhmaine.org

Travel to Nicaragua?

Nicole Brennan Achey is hoping to go to Nica-

ragua to help our sister church in Sabana Grande

celebrate their birthday in early November. There

is a member of Pablo's church that has four empty

bedrooms and would love to have them filled for

the celebration! The owners speak some English.

Nicole is wondering if anyone from our church

would like to go with her. Speak with Jane Bren-

nan if you’re interested or have questions.

CODA Chorus Fall Season

Begins on September 6th It’s almost time for CODA Chorus

to start rehearsals for our Christmas

concert, and we always look forward to welcoming

new singers. CODA is a lot of fun, and we invite

you to join us! No previous choral experience

necessary, and no auditions. We are very fortunate

to be led by director Joelle Morris and accompa-

nist Rebecca Caron.

Rehearsals will start on Tuesday, September 6th

at the Winthrop United Methodist Church. Please

arrive by 6:30 that first night to pick up music,

greet new singers, and visit with one another;

rehearsals will be every Tuesday from 7 to 9 pm.

Hope to see you there! For more information,

please call 724-3718.

Harvest Supper Mark your calendars!

Our annual HARVEST SUPPER

will be on Saturday, October 15th

from 5- 6:30. Just letting you know

so you can get your peelers and appetites

ready! This is a wonderful time of sharing all that

we have, to give back and to give thanks. It prom-

ises to be a wonderful "FUN-raiser"!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

2016

Advent Devotional in the Works!

With this hot, humid

weather we are having, probably the last thing on

everyone's mind is Advent! Everyone, that is, ex-

cept the folks on the Worship Committee, who are

sponsoring the creation of the WUMC Advent de-

votional for 2016! These devotions can be written

by individuals, by families, by groups or commit-

tee members, or by Sunday School classes. We are

looking for at least 30 devotions to be included in

this year's booklet. Please write about an Advent or

Christmas memory, tradition, or story, song or po-

em that has meaning for you. Here are some guide-

lines to hopefully make the writing of the booklet

go smoothly:

Please give your devotion a short title, fol-

lowed by a Bible verse that relates to your writ-

ing.

Please keep the body of the writing to less than

300 words.

Please end the devotion with a short prayer of

one to two lines.

Please send your completed devotion to the

church office electronically, as an attached

Word Document. Please do not send it as the

body of an email.

Devotions need to be sent by October 28th. What

do you have to share with your church family

which will be a blessing for our 2016 devotional?

Your words may be just what someone needs to

read to make their Advent and Christmas special.

If you have questions please see Barbara at the

church office or Jan Leighton:

janron50@roadrunner.com

Your Worship Committee thanks you!

Adult Sunday School

September 11, 2016

8:45 AM - 9:45 AM

Upper Room

Bishop Cliff Ives of our parish will be our guest

speaker. He will update us on the decisions made at

the United Methodist General Conference in May.

This session is a follow up on the topics the adult

class discussed with Rev. John Neff in the spring.

Many major resolutions were made at the General

Conference. All adults are welcome to come and

hear the results!

There will be no Adult Sunday School Class on

September 18. You are encouraged to attend the

special Fannie Crosby presentation at 3 PM that

day.

The Adult Sunday School Class will resume on Sep-

tember 25. Please watch the church bulletin for de-

tails.

Congratulations Clara!

The congregation was honored to

be witnesses to the Confirmation of

Clara Szakas during worship on Sun-

day, August 21. Since she was a ‘babe

in arms’, Clara has been an important part of our

church family. We are thrilled to welcome her as a

new confirmand.

Beth Moore Simulcast

in Augusta

Mark your calendars for Saturday

September 17, 2016 when there will be a simulcast

with Beth Moore at Penney Memorial Baptist

Church in Augusta! Beth Moore has written count-

less Christian books and Bible Studies and she de-

veloped "Living Proof Ministries". For ticket infor-

mation call Penney Memorial Baptist Church @

622-6401.

It has been a wonderful summer and a busy one. We are so grateful for all the volunteer hours from our church members as well as the Mechuwana Mission Teams who helped us and a special thanks to Pastor Ned for organizing them.

The Free School Supplies Giveaway was held August 13th. Approximately 86 families and almost

200 children were provided with backpacks as well as other numerous school supplies donated and

lots of help from the Mechuwana Missions Teams to set up. A big thanks to Ron Leighton and Sue

Phillips for sorting everything beforehand, making it easy to set up the tables . Barbara Hamblin orga-

nized this every year and every year does a wonderful job! We had a few backpacks left that will go

to Tabitha's Closet that will be available for those school children still in need. Thanks to all who

donated their time, monetary donations and brought in so many needed supplies, all needed and appre-

ciated.

Sue Reinke, Jill Howes and Sue Phillips attended the Winthrop Rotary Club meeting held in August

and shared with them about the mission of Tabitha's Closet. They were very supportive and gave us a

generous donation $54.00 "HAPPY DOLLARS" they collected and fed us a wonderful breakfast .

We hope to do more outreach in the future.

We had a record number of guests at Tabitha's Closet on Saturday, August 13th . The upstairs was

booming with more than 104 guests shopping for 334 family members and the volunteers were busy

keeping the racks filled all morning long. And there were 30 new families! People left with happy

faces and most had also been to our Free School Supplies giveaway, a wonderful morning of sharing

and caring.

We are planning a Summer Volunteer "thank you" picnic on Saturday September 17th from 1-4 at Sue

& Ed Reinke's beautiful lake-front home on Henry Lane in Winthrop. We will have more details later

about this including directions. All volunteers and their families are welcome to come and just enjoy a

non-working Saturday get together.

We received a wonderful thank you letter from a DHHS social worker who shopped for several of her

very needy clients. She and her husband thanked Jill profusely and said her clients were so very ap-

preciative. Plus we had another thank you note from a DHS worker. Kristin McLaren has helped a

refugee family of 5 (3 children) with large bags of desperately needed clothing and linens.

Mechuwana Missions Teams helped us again this summer for a total of 160 hours dedicated to our

mission at Tabitha's Closet. We cannot say thank you enough and we're sure they went home knowing

how much we appreciated all they did. The teenagers LOVED shopping at Tabitha’s for clothes...said

it was the best ever!! Last summer they built our Donations Shed, a "Godsend" to us!

Suggestions boxes will be going up for our guests and volunteers to "have a voice". We welcome

anyone's suggestions that will help Tabitha's Closet.

Lynda and Shelley, two of our dedicated volunteers are still healing, Lynda from a broken arm and

Shelley from abdominal surgery...prayers for speeding up your recovery, we miss you both!

We have loaned our 4 circular racks to the Community Baptist Church in Sabattus. Anna Vierling is

helping her church with organization to provide a thrift store and clothing ministry. Anna is Sandy

and Randy Schiller’s daughter and Amy Dolan's sister. Outreach is helping others and we are sharing

in their ministry in this small way and pray it goes well for them.

We will be keeping Christina Kennedy up to date with Tabitha's Closet events and

things of interest regarding Tabitha's Closet and encourage everyone, including our

guests to check the church's website. Thank you Christina for doing this, what a

great job you are doing! The church website can be found at winthropumc.org

Medical Devices Ministry

Are you aware our church has a sup-

ply of donated crutches, canes, walkers,

wheelchairs, toilet seat adapters, shower chairs, etc.

that people can use when they are recovering at

home from an injury, surgery, or other medical is-

sue. Please see Chris O’Connell or make your re-

quest at the church office. If we have it, we’d love

to have you borrow it.

VISITATION REMINDER: Pastor Ned is

available to all parishioners for

hospital, nursing home and home

visits. Please call the church office or his cell

phone for any visitation need.

Calendar

Hannaford Gift Cards

Don’t forget that Hannaford gift

cards are for sale every Sunday

during Fellowship time immediately following wor-

ship. They are available in amounts of $25, $50,

and $100. This project is a fundraiser for the

church; for every $2,000 in cards we order, the

church receives $100 in free cards, amounting to

$2,000 - $3,000 per year. If you shop at Hannaford,

and you are going to eat anyway J, why not shop

using gift cards purchased at WUMC? (Cannot be

used for alcohol or tobacco products.)

WUMC Prayer Chain

Our church has an electronic prayer

chain which enables instant sending of

prayer requests to a large number of prayer warri-

ors made up of members of the WUMC congrega-

tion. If you have a request, or if you would like to

become a prayer warrior and be added to the prayer

chain, please e-mail Christina Kennedy at

ckenny@roadrunner.com.

Sundays:

8:45 a.m. Sunday School for all ages

10:00 a.m. Worship Services

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mondays: 7:00 p.m. AA and Al-anon

Tuesdays: 7:00 p.m. CODA Group

Wednesdays: 7:00 a.m. Men’s Study Group

9:00 a.m. Lectionary Study

Thursdays: 3:30-5 p.m. Handbells Practice

6:30 p.m. Choir Practice

Fridays: 6:00a.m. Dawn Patrol

2nd & 4th Saturdays: 9:00a.m. Tabitha’s Closet -

72 Main St.

Sight and Sound

Theater

Bus Trip

Our church is once

again arranging for a bus

trip to the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster

County, PA, leaving on Monday, October 31

(Halloween) and returning on Thursday, Novem-

ber 3. This will be a 4-day trip instead of the usual

3-days. The extra day enables us to offer a tour of

Gettysburg as well as some of our usual stops.

Mark Johnston is busily working out the details

with the bus company and the hotels and the goal

is to limit the cost to $500 (preferably less!) per

person.

Stay tuned for more details as they unfold!

You won’t want to miss this spectacular produc-

tion of Samson!

If you have questions, see Mark or Judy John-

ston, Jill Howes, Lynda Pratt or Pastor Ned.

The Winthrop United Methodist Church and Wonder Awhile Nursery School would like to thank the many indi-

viduals who have helped fund and build the new playground over this past year. Our old play set was over twenty

years old and needed to be replaced. A Playground Committee was formed to create a new natural playground

that would fit the many needs of the church, nursery school and community. Over the month of June this

“Dream” became a “Reality”. The new play structures provide a wide variety of activities that are age and devel-

opmentally appropriate while being welcoming and inviting to a wider age group of children. We invite everyone

to stop by and spend some time checking out the many new features and activities to explore.

A Special thanks to the following folks who donated Time, Money and/or Skills:

Julie & Rob Stevens Jeff Brennan Jeremy LeBlanc Pastor Ned Crockett

Josh Landry Home Depot – Augusta Nancy Sage Carl & Sylvia Swanson

Kale Malestrom at Mainly Mulch Carole & Scott Britt Rod Cumber Bob Pidacks

Cindy Hinkley Enga & John Stewart Anne Carter Jim Worthing

Dick at Record Lumber Dan of Pottle’s Construction Gail & George Lee Alex Buzzell

Shandra at Everything Kids Ken & Ruth Bryant Kim & Jeff Gleason Jill Howes

Barbara Hamblin Ron & Jan Leighton Milt Hadley Alex & Nate LeBlanc

Terri and Steve Simonson Priscilla & Alden Small Ed & Sue Reinke Bill Buck

Chris Murphy and Jen Connor Karen & Jeff Toothaker Buzz Ditto Alan Hitt

Sookie Weymouth Jean & George Rice Bobbi Wheelock Marilyn & Mel Curtis

Jodi, John, Abi & Roy O’Keefe Erika Rice Danica Frautten Donlyn Jackson

Ben, Cindy, Jillian & Nick Adams Chris Martinez Collin Redlon Gwen Gruver

Mechuwana Mission Groups from Ohio and Bethel Delaware Aaron Robertson at Down to Earth Landscaping

American Legion Post 40 Veterans of Foreign Wars and Women’s Auxiliary

“Wonders never cease as long as you never cease to wonder”

September 11th is Rally Sunday for all ages of Sun-

day School classes to begin! There are a few changes

in the program this year that hopefully will be help-

ful to everyone. First, ALL classes will begin at

9:00 am. This is the time that children should go

directly to their classrooms. This time change is to

better fit the schedules of folks who like to attend

adult Sunday School and have children who attend

class as well. Parents who do not attend adult class,

and would like to stay at church for this time period,

coffee will be available in Fellowship Hall, with the

thoughts that this might be a good social time for

parents to talk. The other change is the decision has

been made to have three classrooms this year. The

age groups will be PreK--2nd grade, 3rd--5th grade

and Middle School--High School. Any one interest-

ed in teaching or being a teacher’s helper in a class-

room is very welcome to join the team. Either con-

tact Lynda Pratt, 377-8748 or the church office, 377

-8620. Pre-registration forms will be available in the

office for Sunday School.

A Rally Day activity for the entire church family

will be held in the afternoon of Sunday, September

11. We will be going bowling again this year, which

from past years appears to be very popular. A sign-

up sheet will be posted in Fellowship Hall. ALL

aspiring bowlers in our church family, please join

us for a wonderful afternoon. Or, if you don’t

bowl just come and enjoy gathering with family.

The lanes at 1-7-10 Alleys will be reserved from

2-4 pm.

September 18th, Sunday School classes will be

focusing on Fanny Crosby. Fanny was a writer of

hymns . Activities and lessons will be on what it

might be like to be blind and how Fanny lived a pro-

ductive life with this handicap.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart

trust in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.” Psalm 28:7

Blessings!

Lynda Pratt, Christian Ed Chairperson

Wonder Awhile

Nursery School News

We are excited to start a new year! We are look-

ing forward to children coming into the building

excited to start playing, making many friends, and

learning new things while improving their social

skills, problem solving skills and increase their at-

tention span. Children are attending from ten area

towns.

We offer two morning sessions for 3-year olds:

Tuesday and Thursday OR Wednesday and Friday

from 8:30 – 11:00 AM

The afternoon program for 4- and 5-year olds

runs Monday through Thursday from 12 – 2:30 PM.

We are very excited to be full as the new school

year begins.

We are offering a Monday Morning Playgroup

from 9:30 – 11 AM for children birth – 3-year olds.

Older siblings are welcome to attend with a young-

er sibling. Please let your family and friends know

about this exciting opportunity. There is NO

CHARGE for this activity.

Wish List:

Locks and a wide variety of fasteners to add to

the new playground.

Different shapes of pasta

stickers

The summer session went very well. There were

nine children who attended to maintain the skills

they had learned during last school year. This pro-

gram is a collaborative with Wonder Awhile and

Child Development Services. This summer program

offers some children their first experience in a

church and saying Grace. It was wonderful to wit-

ness this opportunity.

“The Upper Room” Devotional

Have you noticed that we have cop-

ies of the bimonthly devotional called

"The Upper Room" available for you

at WUMC? Each page of this little booklet has a

daily Bible verse, as well as a meditation written

by a volunteer, followed by a prayer and a

thought for the day. These messages can be a

great way to start your day. You can find copies

at the back of the sanctuary and on a table outside

the library. The suggested cost is $1.25 per issue

but please take a copy even if you are unable to

pay at this time.

Food Pantry Donations

On the first Sunday of each

month, the congregation is invited to

bring non-perishable food items and

personal hygiene items to donate to

the Winthrop Food Pantry. If the pantry has specific

needs, we will pass that information on, however, all

donations of nutritious foods are welcome. A vol-

unteer from WUMC (currently Kay Riggs) will take

the donated items to the Food Pantry.

The deadline for the October 2016

newsletter is September 19th.

Please email your committee’s article,

news, announcement to the church office

prior to that date.

Bottles and Cans Needed!

Over the past few months, the

church has experienced a noticeable

decrease in the numbers of recycla-

ble bottles and cans that have been

donated. The proceeds from these

donations fund the gifts the church presents to its

graduating high school seniors every year. The bot-

tles and cans you donate are the only financial sup-

port of this ministry. Over the next few years, there

will be a number of young people connected to

WUMC who will be reaching the significant mile-

stone that is high school graduation.

If you are not already doing so, will you please

prayerfully consider contributing your bottles and

cans? They can be brought to the church or brought

directly to MT Bottle Co. on Royal Street in

Winthrop. Just tell them to credit the WUMC ac-

count. Thank you.

Annual Mitten Challenge!

Take Note! It’s time to get your yarn and needles

ready and start knitting mittens and hats for our an-

nual Mitten Challenge! These warm items will be

distributed to children through Tabitha’s Closet.

Let’s see how many we can create from now until

the first Sunday of December when we turn them

in! Last year our church knit almost 200 pair! Let’s

see if we can hit that number again or better yet,

exceed it! Anyone with questions, comments, sug-

gestions or needs for materials, can contact Shelley

Gearheart at 377-7815.

THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!!

Winthrop United Methodist Church

P.O. Box 136

Winthrop, ME 04364

Church Office Hours:

Tuesday—Friday 9 a.m—2 p.m

(207) 377-8620

P.O. Box 136 58 Main Street

Winthrop, ME 04364

Ned S. Crockett - Pastor Jill Howes - Lay Leader

Barbara Hamblin - Administrative Ass’t

Email: office@winthropumc.org Pastor Ned: pastor@winthropumc.org

Sunday Worship service 10:00 a.m.

www.winthropumc.org www.wonderawhile.org

The mission of the Winthrop United Methodist Church is to be a Christian community that invites all people to participate in God’s love. Our purpose is to live out the mission through nurture, outreach and witness.

2016