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The Spire
The Newsletter of the Mequon United Methodist Church
May 2024
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Connecting people to Jesus Christ and to one another. | |
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Sermon Spotlight
Apr 7: Matthew 6:9-11 Give Us
Apr 14: Matthew 6:9-12 Forgive Us
Apr 21: Matthew 6:9-13 Deliver Us
Apr 28: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 When I am weak, then I am strong.
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Music Spotlight
April 7: Kristin Traut & Allison Tinsley-Fuller
April 14: Elna Hickson, Organ
April 21: Praise Ensemble
April 28: Chancel Choir
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Calendar Highlights
Apr 1 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 2 - Election Day
Apr 2 - Lunch Bunch/Study 11:00 am
Apr 2 - Family Sharing Sort 1:30 pm
Apr 3 - Women's Prayer B'fast 7:30 am
Apr 3 - Confirmation Class 6:00 pm
Apr 4 - Men's Prayer B'fast 7:00 am
Apr 5 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 7 - Chancel Choir R'sal 11:00 am
Apr 8 - 12 Family Promise Week
Apr 8 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 9 - Lunch Bunch 11:00 am
Apr 10 - Confirmation Class 6:00 pm
Apr 12 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 14 - Blood Press Checks10:35am
Apr 14 - Chancel Choir R'sal 11:00 am
Apr 15 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 16 - Lunch Bunch/Study 11:00 am
Apr 17 - Confirmation Class 6:00 pm
Apr 17 - Homestead HS Chamber Ensembles Concert 7:00 pm
Apr 19 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 21 - Chancel Choir R'sal 11:00 am
Apr 21 - Spring Road Cleanup 1:00pm
Apr 22 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 22 - Church Council Mtg 7:00 pm
Apr 23 - Lunch Bunch/Study 11:00 am
Apr 23 - Fiber Arts Ministry 6:00 pm
Apr 24 - Confirmation Class 6:00 pm
Apr 25 - Streets at the Garage at the Harley Davidson Museum 5:00 pm
Apr 26 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 28 - Rootin Tootin Rally 11:00 am
Apr 29 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Apr 30 - Lunch Bunch 11:00 am
May 1 -Women's Prayer B'fast 7:30 am
May 2 - Men's Prayer B'fast 7:00 am
May 3 - Tai Chi 12:30 pm
Mark your calendars - Vacation Bible School - June 10-14!!
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MUMC Outreach
To be the bridge to community connection and collaboration ...
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Family Sharing Food Pantry
April 2, May 14, June 11
1:30 - 3:30 pm
Thank you to all our terrific volunteers
Volunteers for Family Sharing Food Sorting:
April 2, May 14, and June 11.
Sign-up sheets are in the Narthex!
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Adopt a Road Cleanup
April 21, Meet at 1:00 pm
To celebrate Earth Day (4/22), please join us to clean up our community. Meet at Katherine Kearney Carpenter Park, 801 W Zedler Lane, in the parking lot. All supplies are provided. The cleanup generally take less than 2 hours. Participants must be at least 11 years of age, or in 6th grade to participate. If you would like to participate, or have any questions, contact Wendy Porterfield. Come lend a hand!
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Thank you!
Our brothers and sisters at Repairers of the Breach are grateful for hygeine supplies and new clothes. Thank you for your generous contributions to our Lenten Mission to help the homeless among us.
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Join the Family Promise Meals Team!
Helping People Out of the Cold
Join the MUMC Family Promise Meals Team! It's easy - cook or bake part of a meal once every 8 or 9 weeks. Or, volunteer to deliver the meals to the Porflight Shelter, just 15 minutes away. Contact Pam Layton (262-290-1448, p.layton90@gmail.com) or Connie Pukaite (262-242-2778, pukaite@sbcglobal.net) to join the team!
2024 Evening Meal Weeks for MUMC
April 8-12 June 10-14
Sept 30-Oct 4 December 2-6
If meal prep and delivery aren't your forte, you can support Family Promise by donating various supplies - click the Amazon List link: https://a.co/74ONt19.
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Coming Soon: Midwest Mission Spring Collection!
This Spring we will be doing a collection for the Midwest Mission. The Midwest Mission provides support for health, education, microbusiness and disaster relief to those in need. Our collection will start in May and be picked up the first week in June.
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Homestead Musicians at MUMC!
Wednesday, April 17 7:00 pm
Just like athletic teams, high school musicians work hard to qualify for State level competition. Come hear and support Homestead's State Qualifying Chamber Ensembles! These talented musicians will enrich your evening and your soul!
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An Invitation from Pathfinders of Milwaukee ...
Streets - An Evening for Youth Empowerment
April 25 5:00 pm The Garage at the Harley-Davidson Museum
Streets-An Evening For Youth Empowerment is Pathfinders’ annual fundraising event, and a great way to have a touch point with friends like you who suppor us throughout the year. In addition to fundraising, the program will include an intimate conversation with our program leaders, and updates about Pathfinders' work with young people experiencing homelessness
This year’s focus will be on LGBTQ+ youth as we honor the 15-year anniversary of Q-BLOK, our housing program designed with and for LGBTQ+ and allied young adults. We will also recognize the Cream City Foundation, which provided early seed funding to Pathfinders to build a robust Q-BLOK program; the rest of our housing work has blossomed from there. And we're still focused on LGBTQ+ housing today. Over the past five years, more than half of the young people in our housing program identify as LGBTQ+. It's a beautiful legacy that we look forward to highlighting at Streets on April 25 at The Garage at Harley-Davidson Museum.
Click here to register for Streets. Please RSVP by April 12.
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Connecting with Jesus Christ and One Another
Come ~ Connect ~ Grow Community
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Connie Pukaite: The 2024 Pillar of the Community!
Our very own Connie Pukaite is the recipient of the Mequon-Thiensville Community Foundation (MTCF) Pillar of the Community award. "Connie's passion for people and the environment shines through everything she does - in her profession, service to Mequon, and countless projects that have positively impacted our community and beyond. Connie Truly exemplifies what it means to be a Pillar of the Community" says MTCF President Lori Lorenz.
Connie has made an indelible mark throughout the community, indeed! She served as Alderman for eight years over three different terms; as Mayor and Chair of the Planning Commission for six years; as President of the Mequon Police and Fire Commission for three years; and held numerous leadership positions for the Sunrise Rotary Club over the past 15 years. Connie was the first woman elected to a top governmental position in Ozaukee County, and was the first female member of the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club when they asked her to join in the mid-1980s! Click here to read more!
MTCF's annual Pillars of the Community award recognizes a member of the Mequon-Thiensville community who has had a significant and lasting impact on making Mequon or Thiensville a great place to live and work.
The award luncheon is on Tuesday, June 4th, 2024 at North Shore Country Club
Registration begins at 11:00 am, lunch at 11:30 am
We hope to see you there to help us celebrate Connie Pukaite and her significant contributions to our community.
Visit the MTCF website to register for the award luncheon!
Please RSVP by May 20th, 2024
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Bible Study! Lunch! Fellowship!
What could be better? Join us!
Tuesdays 11:00 am
The Lunch Bunch, a fellowship group that meets on Tuesdays at 11:00 am, is starting a new study - "Christian (It's not what you think)". This video study features Andy Stanley discussing how the word "Christian" today often bears no resemblance to how Jesus wanted his followers to live. You can hide behind Christianity, you can use Christianity to go to war, or you can redefine it. Christianity is not defined in the bible - and according to Andy Stanley, therein lies the problem.
Sign up in the Narthex or contact Jean Paulus with questions 262-502-0512
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Reflections Taking a Break
Wednesday May 8
6:00 pm
The Reflections book group will meet Wednesday, May 8 at the home of Renee Quick. We begin at 6 pm with fellowship followed by a discussion of our May book, While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait ot Mental Illness in an Era of Silence, by Meg Kissinger. The author will be joining us! Look for more information in the next Spire!
Reflections is a women's book group that meets monthly for fellowship and discussion. Contact Barb Henneck at bhenneck@gmail.com for more info! New women are always welcome!!
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Blood Pressure Checks
Second Sundays
April 14
MUMC's parish nurses will be in the Parlor before and after worship to ensure your blood pressure is in check!
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Order Mother's Day Flowers!
These flowers serve two purposes - decorating the sanctuary and then decorating your mom's house!
Assorted Combination Baskets - $22
Red Dragon Wing Begonias - $18.70
Assorted Reg Begonias - $18.70
Click here to order online. Order forms are also in the bulletin inserts. Make checks payable to MUMC..
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Dinner Anyone?
New Fellowship Group!
Sharing food is a great way to connect with others - especially if it's food you prepared yourself! How about a MUMC Dinner Group? Hosts would prepare a casual meal to share with a few MUMC members and friends as a way to grow our connections to one another.
If you are interested in hosting or organizing a fellowship around food (YUM!) please contact Pam Layton - 262-290-1488 with interest and ideas. If there's sufficient interest, Pam will schedule a gathering (with food, naturally!) as our organizational meeting to launch this fellowship!
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Fiber Arts Ministry!
4th Tuesday - April 23, 6:00 pm
Join us as we work together to inspire creativity and provide warm clothes to people in need. We can provide kits or work on your own creations! New members are always welcome - and there are S-N-A-C-K-S! Contact Jenna Burns with kit ideas or questions!
| If you have something you want to see in the Spire, please send your article to us at news@mequonumc.org. | | |
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Get ready to take a deep dive at VBS!
Scuba Vacation Bible School will be June 10-14 from 9am - 12pm
At Scuba VBS, kids explore what it means to have a friendship with God! Kids participate in memorable Bible-Learning activities, sing catchy songs, play teamwork-building games, devour yummy treats, experience one-of-a-kind Bible adventures, collect Bible Memory Buddies to remind them of God's love, and test out sciency-fun experiments that get imagination bubbling. Invite your family, friends and neighbors. For more information reach out to Gayle Meyer.
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The children have been working hard on recreating the stories of the Bible using building blocks. And now you can all see them! Take a look at the movies on our church website! (You might have to scroll down on the page) | | |
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Kids' Rootin' Tootin' Rally
April 28th, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
The Kids' Rootin' Tootin Rally, monthly fun, games, birthday celebrations and fellowship for all children, is moving to the last Sunday of the month! Children should pack a lunch and come prepared for adventure! We provide beverages and desserts, as well as a refrigerator to keep your lunch cold if necessary. All children are welcome - invite your friends!
Contact Gayle Meyer with questions or for more info.
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Expectations for General Conference 2024 | |
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Making sure United Methodist delegates, bishops and others can come together for the denomination’s top legislative assembly is the responsibility of the Commission on the General Conference.
Your support of The General Administration Fund apportionment implements trustworthy administrative oversight like the General Conference sessions.
That international commission gathered May 21-24 for its first in-person meeting since 2019 to determine some of the final details for next year’s General Conference. The theme for the gathering will be “…and know that I am God” from Psalm 46.
Kim Simpson, the commission’s chair, said that focus on God is critical, especially in this tumultuous time.
For the past three years, the commission’s planning has been hampered by the COVID pandemic and resulting travel complications — leading the commission to postpone General Conference three times. The assembly, originally planned for 2020 in Minneapolis, is now scheduled for April 23-May 3, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Please click here to read more about the General Conference for 2024.
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I’m writing this article on Palm Sunday, March 24, and I’m so looking forward to celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning. On the day of resurrection, we will celebrate victory over death and life after death. Yet, sometimes I wonder if we truly live a resurrected life in the way Jesus wants us to live. He said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Friends, our Lord gave His life for us to live a resurrected life, which is free from the bondage of death, grief, bitterness, and whatever it is that holds us captive from living an abundant life. As we pray together every Sunday morning, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth (in my life) as it is in heaven", we don’t have to wait the grave to live in and taste the Kingdom of God. Whenever or wherever God’s way/heart reigns our thoughts, decisions, and actions, we live in the Kingdom of God on earth. We are Easter people by living a resurrected life right now, right here. So may we live a resurrected life day by day as Easter people as we daily follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
In Christ,
Sue Lee
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Wisconsin Conference Devotions | |
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The Message of the Cross
Ebenezer Insor
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Beloved in Christ, I hope all is going well with your Lenten journey so far. Whatever our reflections have been so far, we are looking forward to a time of solemnity and the great celebration of our risen Christ. But before we get there, we have a river to cross, whose expanse cannot be overcome by our human strength or prowess. We will need a bridge to get to the other side and that bridge comes in the cross.
We as Christians are familiar with the cross and how much it means to us. It has become one of our marks of identity for what it stands for. We wear it aesthetically, hang them in our homes and churches. In fact, it is our GPS as we drive to cities looking for a church. So, what was the stigma about the Cross in Paul’s time? It was an object of disgrace, shameful, despicable, deplorable, despised by society. Think about capital punishment in our day and age. From hanging, lynching, stoning, lethal injection, electric chair and firing squads. These can be likened to society’s distaste and dislike for the cross.
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Our Vision:
To be THE bridge to community connection, collaboration, and common ground through Jesus Christ
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How can YOU help MUMC achieve our vision?
Like, follow and repost MUMC Social Media -
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Forward this newsletter to:
- a friend or neighbor looking for community and connection
- a family whose children would love our awesome Children's Ministries
- a community member looking for service opportunities
- anyone who loves Jesus!
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