June/July 2009 Newsletter & Events Calendar
Many thanks to Dick Saletzki for compiling our newsletter!
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without Ceasing”
Over the past five years our church has seen rapid growth in many areas: attendance, giving, children’s ministry, and mission work with the elderly and the homeless. Despite our healthy growth, over the past year we have experienced a rapid decrease in most areas with many members moving to different parts of the country. So, where do we start?
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we read, “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer is the starting point for personal renewal as well as church renewal. Ron Crandall in Turn Around Strategies for the Small Church says, “Prayer opens the windows of the soul. Prayer connects us to God’s active presence.” Time and time again we think that following Jesus, being the church, and living life well is all about what we do. It is not. It is not about us. Living a Christian life and being productive for God are not things we do. We find fulfillment, meaning, and purpose by what the Spirit does in and through us. How does the Spirit lead us? A faithful prayer life is a great place to start.
What would happen if we, each person in our church, made a commitment to pray for our church five minutes a day? Pray for our children and our adults. Pray that we will be more and more welcoming. Pray for our musicians. Pray for our children’s church teachers. And, for God’s sake, pray for the preacher! Pray for adult ministries, children ministries, and family ministries. Pray for missions. Pray for people who are looking for a church home. Pray that the Spirit will guide you in your journey. Pray for people by name that you know are looking for more in life. Pray blessings upon our sanctuary and our grounds. Pray that we can be relevant in our community. Pray that we reach out to people. Pray for people we do not know. Pray for small group leaders to emerge. Just pray.
God is in the business of transformation—personal and corporate. A good place for us to start transforming is by making a commitment, just five minutes a day, to prayer. Let us pray without ceasing. Amen.
Pastor Craig
FROM CONNIE
Spring Has Arrived
Spring has arrived and our church looks great after it's spring cleaning this year. Philip Walters had installed handicapped doors on the restrooms and Leslie Feast prepared the drywall for painting.
While Jack Ott and Clay Bader trimmed the bushes and cleared out all unwanted upstarts, Connie Goodell and Gwen Hawkins constructed a new flower garden at the southwest corner of the sanctuary. It is a small garden with all shade plants and is a nice addition to that area of the church grounds. Leonard Goodell fertilized the lawn and helped with the rocks for the new garden.
Dick Cover and Margie Russell cleaned the windows and washed the screens. It is so nice to look out sparkling, clean windows. Barb Cover and Mary Ann Ott organized the kitchen while Linda Walters, Jen Paschal and Emily Easton organized the storage closets and the nursery. Everything looks so nice with a place for everything.
Pastor Craig and Leslie worked on the church sign on Grand and it is now painted and is very visible from the street.
Best of all were the cinnamon rolls that Jean Bader made for the workers' morning break and the delicious lunch that Betty Alexander provided.
A great big thanks to everyone!!!
Adopt a Flower Garden Program a Big Success
Thanks to all the people who adopted a flower garden. They are the reason our gardens look so beautiful. They continually weed and dead head and make sure the gardens are in good shape. Thanks to Dale Wright, Amy Wise, Leslie Feast, Linda Walters, Roma Ewing, Barb Cover, Noma Macurda, Bill and Sue Ryter, and Connie and Gwen Hawkins. It is so nice to hear all the wonderful remarks from members of the community about how much they enjoy looking at our lovely gardens.
Thirty Six Going to Monument Valley
We have a whopping number of 36 people signed up to go on the trip to Monument Valley on June 7th. We will be going on a full moon tour of the Valley which should be a beautiful and unique way to view the monoliths. We will be spending the night in Bluff and on Monday we will return by Blanding and Monticello, On the way we will stop to view other places of interest and plan to be back in Mancos around 4:30pm. This should be quite an opportunity for you camera buffs.
Community Dinner, June 10th
Our next community dinner will be Wednesday, June 10th at 6:30pm. It will be an old fashion picnic with hamburgers and hot dogs provided by the church. There will be a sign up for the side dishes including homemade ice cream. At this dinner we will have a table of government commodities that are surplus and will be free to all persons, no qualifying required. Be sure to bring a shopping bag with you.
Trip to Creede and the Theater
A trip to Creede to attend the theater has been planned for Thursday, July 9th. We will leave Mancos at 9:00am and will be staying at the Cotton Wood Cove outside of Creede. We will be taking the van and will return to Mancos after breakfast on Friday. We have three log cabins reserved which will accommodate 14 persons. If 14 people attend the price of lodging is $84.36 per couple or $42.18 per person. The tickets for the theater, "Swiss Family Robinson, a Musical" are $29.00 and are 15% off for a group of 8 or more. The sign up is posted in Fellowship Hall and if you would like to go please sign up right away as it is beginning to fill up. Creede is a beautiful small town in the high mountains at the headwaters of the Rio Grande River and is always one of our favorite trips while the wild flowers are in bloom.
Women's Walk to Emmaus in August
This year's Women's Walk to Emmaus will be held Thursday afternoon, August 6th through Sunday, August 9th at the Baptist Church Camp in Hesperus. If you have been thinking about attending and would like more information, you can talk to Pastor Craig or any of the women from our church who have attended in the past. Pastor Craig has registrations in his office and he will be happy to help you fill one out. The Walk is a spiritual walk and provides a wonderful opportunity to grow spiritually and to meet and make friends with other Christian women in the Four Corners Area.
Schedule of Church Events at a Glance
June, July, and August
June
Sunday, 7th Overnight trip to Monument Valley
Wednesday, 10th Community Dinner
Wednesday, 17th - 20th Church Conference in Grand Junction
Tuesday - Friday, 23rd - 26th Kids Church Camp
July
Thursday, 9th Overnight trip to Creede and Theater
August
Sunday, 2nd Music in the Mountains
Thursday - Sunday 6th - 9th Women's Walk to Emmaus
Wednesday, 12th Community Dinner
Saturday, 15th Brass Band Festival in Silverton
Sunday, 30th Church Service at Transfer
If you are not tithing your income and seem to have too much month at the end of your money, read Malachi 3:10.
FROM JENNIFER
The Mancos United Methodist Church will be hosting a four day "Kid's Camp" from June 23-26,
Tuesday-Friday. We are excited about this!
We will be sharing God's story of love and to how God's presence is always with us. The stories that
we will be sharing are "Abraham and Sarah", "The Exile", "The Prodigal Son", and "World
Communion." The common thread that weaves all of these stories together is God's constant
and steadfast love for all of us.
In addition to the stories, we will also be singing praise and worship songs, and hope to provide
music for our congregation to show and share all that we have learned during our week together.
Lunch will be provided each day by members of our church.
Following lunch, we will be swimming at the Cortez outdoor pool, hiking up near Transfer
campground, providing a community mission project in conjunction with the Mancos
Public Schools and their portion of the River walk, and rafting down the Animas River in
Durango.
We are limiting the camp to the first twenty-five kids who sign up, so please call and
reserve a spot for your child today. Craig can be reached at 533-7460 or 533-9787.
We are limiting our camp to twenty-five due to transportation availability and
available staffing.
Our church will fully fund the "Kid Camp." If you would like to help out, or make a monetary
offering towards "Kid's Camp," please call Pastor Craig. We, the church, would just like
the kids to have an enjoyable week, and hopefully parents can enjoy some time on their own
as well.
Please remember to pray for our children, the children in our community, and specifically
for this special opportunity to work spiritually with our precious youth in Mancos. We are
really looking forward to sharing our time with God and with the kids.
Recipe from Nancy
BREAKFAST BURRITOS
1 Bag (18oz) frozen Southern-style hash browns
12 eggs
1 large onion (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
½ pound bulk pork sausage, browned and drained. (We like Owens)
12 flour tortillas (10 inches) warmed
3 cups (12 ozs)shredded cheddar cheese
SALSA OPTIONAL
In a large skillet fry hash browns, remove and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs, add onion
and green pepper. Pour Into the same skillet , cook and stir until eggs are set. Remove from
heat Add hash browns and sausage, mix gently. Place about ¾ cup of filling on each tortilla
and top with about ¼ cup of cheese. Roll up and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at
350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Serve with Salsa if desired.
YIELD: 12 servings.
Birthdays and Anniversaries
June July
4- Phillip & Linda Walters (anniv) 4- Clay Bader
7- Steve & Donna Lee Budd-Jack 4- Keith Nelson
(anniv) 4- Shirley Whipple
7- Shar Thomas 5- Jim & Esther Cook (anniv)
8- Noland & Betty Alexander (anniv) 7- Wesley Stevick
9- Bill & Phyllis Johnson (anniv) 9- Kendra Cox
10- Tom & Shar Thomas (anniv) 11- Brad & Noma Macurda (anniv)
12- Amy Wise 12- Steve & Gwen Hawkins (anniv)
14- Esther Cook 13- Silvia Fleitz
15- Phyllis Jackson 14- Sam Fleitz
15- Linda Starliper 14- Larry Russell
15- Maggie Goodell 15- Phillip Walters
15- Pete & Holly Cruser (anniv) 17- Mary Kay Lance
16- Betty Wolcott 19- Craig & Jen Paschal (anniv)
21- Dick Cover 22- Dan & Tonie Corcoran (anniv)
22- Kyle Cox 23- Kathy Yost
23- Roma Ewing 25- Mike Guillette
26- Vergie Edwards 26- Bill Ryter
29- Tom Brown 29- Leonard Goodell
29- Boe & Kersha Hawkins (anniv)
30- Dorothy Reno
30- Donna Lee Budd-Jack
31- John & Silvia Fleitz (anniv)
Deadline for the next Newsletter is July 24. Articles for the Newsletter and e-mail changes should be given to Connie or sent to Dick Saletzki at rdsnkb@aol.com
Thanks to Pastor Craig, Connie and Jennifer for their contributions to the Newsletter!