Wesley United Methodist Church
Monday, November 12, 2018
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Calendar & EventsYou can also contact the church office at 413-549-1550 or office@wesleyfamily.org.
Check out the calendar or the Wesley Journal newsletter (pdf) for additional information about church events and activities.
Online Giving Now Available!
For your convenience, it is now possible to support Wesley with online giving. If you would like to make a credit card or electronic check donation to Wesley United Methodist Church, please click the button below. On this secure web service page, you will be able to set up your own account and make one-time and/or recurring donations to the church. For each transaction, you will receive an email confirmation, as long as you include your email address when setting up your account. Please contact Steve de Bruyn Kops with any questions or for more information.
 Need a ride?
Do you need a ride to worship or other church event? Is so, email us a ineedaride@wesleyfamily.org, and include your name, cell phone, and address. Or you could call the church office at 413/ 549-1550 and leave a message with the same information. Please let us know of your need by 5:00 pm on Saturday afternoon, so we can make the necessary arrangements.
Save the Date!
Fall Craft Fair - Saturday, November 3
Craft Fair Important Dates
There are a number of workshops scheduled for the upcoming fall craft fair:
Thursday, November 1 from 9 am to 12 noon at WUMC kitchen - apple peeling party
Friday, November 2 from 9 am until done - apple pie baking at WUMC kitchen Methodism 101
What is a United Methodist? How did we get that name? What do we stand for? How are we different from other churches? Have you wondered what the United Methodist Church is all about? A Methodism 101 class will begin after church on Sunday morning, October 14th to answer some of these questions. The class will meet for 3 Sundays until October 28th, from 11:30am-12:15pm. We will discuss the history, organization and distinctive theological and ethical positions of the United Methodist Church. All are welcome, whether you are a curious newcomer or a long time Methodist!
JUST ADDED! The Methodism 101 class will have a 4th "bonus" week on Sunday, Nov 4th at 11:30am when we will hear a presentation by Terry Tarr on the 'History of Wesley Church". All are welcome to attend, whether or not you have attended previous session
If you would like more information, please call Jim Harvey at 259-4404 or send him an email.
Planned Giving Training Session
On November 11th, after Sunday morning service, the WUMC Finance Committee will host a Planned Giving training session focusing on “Understanding the 2018 Tax Code and its Implications for Planned Giving”. Gary Melville, a member of the UM Foundation of New England, will be the expert trainer. While this session will be primarily directed towards the Finance Committee and Trustees, it will be also open to the any members of the congregation who are interested in learning more about the ins and outs of Planned Giving.
Stewardship Campaign
Our Stewardship Season kicked off on Sunday, October 21st during our morning worship hour. We celebrated Laity Sunday that day as well, and we looked at what stewardship really means and the many ways that we can be involved in the life of our church. Over the following three weeks, we will hear from several members of our Wesley family, as these individuals share their Faith Stories about our Wesley family. On Sunday November 11th, we will be welcoming Gary Melville, Director of Development for the United Methodist Foundation of New England, who will deliver the morning message. Our Stewardship season will culminate on Sunday, November 18th -- which we have designated as our Consecration Sunday -- when we will return our pledge cards during worship and share together in a special consecration liturgy.
Wesley Book Club
The Book Club will be meeting on Monday, November 19th at 7:00 pm at the church. The book we will be discussing is Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The December 17th title will be Less by Andrew Sean Greer. All are welcome!
We are also looking to support New England JFON financially by purchasing a table for their Annual Celebration and Dinner Fundraiser with silent auction on Saturday, November 10th at Trinity United Methodist Church. Tickets are $30/each, and we're hoping to get 8 people to purchase a full table. If interested in purchasing a ticket for the dinner, please let Moo know in September.
Join a Small Group!
It’s all about making connections. The Christian life is not intended to be lived alone. We were formed by God to be in connection: with God and with one an-other. Even though we each must take our own path, we need the support and strengthening of others to become more deeply committed Christians. It is in small groups where people receive encouragement and challenge to deepen their faith and to live out the calling of all believers to be disciples in the world.
We would love for every person in the Wesley family to be a part of at least one small group – this includes you! Please look through the list and find a group you would like to be a part of. Need more information? Look online for more complete descriptions of the groups, peruse the brochure available at church, or contact Julie Chalfant by email. Beginning Sunday, November 4th, we will be collecting Thanksgiving food items to bring to the Amherst Survival Center. They need our assistance in helping supply non-perishable items for people in need of food for their special Thanksgiving food distribution boxes. Items needed include: canned pie filling, gravy, canned vegetables, stuffing mix, cornbread mix, or anything for a Thanksgiving meal. All items must be unopened & non-expired. Donations of $5 gift cards to local supermarkets are also needed. This special food collection takes the place of our first Sunday collection, and we will be collecting donations on November 4, November 11th, and November 18th. Please share the blessings God has given you with someone less fortunate.
The Omega Bell Choir continues to ring with joy…but we need 2 or 3 new ringers! Bell choir meets September through June, on Sunday evenings from 7:00pm to 8:15pm. Anyone 9th grade and above is encouraged to join us - we will teach you what you need to know. If you are interested, please contact director Tim Bennett by email or 413-835-5790. Please consider joining us!
Sanctuary Choir rehearses September through June on Wednesday evenings from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. We are especially looking for additions to our Soprano and Men’s sections. We sing a wonderful variety of music and pray together at every rehearsal. The choir is open to high school age and above or by special permission. If interested, please contact Cathy Bennett, Director of Music, by email or 413-404-0932. We would love for you to join us! Children’s choir is so much fun! We would love to restart this group. In order to do this, Cathy needs to know how many children are interested. Children ages 5 to 12 are welcome; with older ones having leadership roles. Rehearsals will be arranged based upon your schedule. Please contact her as soon as possible if you are interested at by email or 413-404-0932. Our Praise Group is comprised of amateur musicians and singers welcome all ages. We rehearse weekly September through June, and provide special music in worship one Sunday each month. Our current rehearsal schedule is Thursday evenings 5:50-6:30 pm in the Sanctuary. We would love to have a few additional singers and musicians (guitar, keyboard, percussion and more woodwind instruments are all needed). Being able to read music is not required, but it is a plus; we will help you. If you are a parent with a young child and you would like to participate, please know that you can bring your child along to rehearsals and they can join the group and play a “shaker egg” if they wish. Please contact Deb Henson or Bill Henson with your interest or to answer any questions you may have. United Methodist Women Announces a Charter for Racial Justice
Wesley Church has a posted copy of this charter in the Great Hall. UMW believes:
For all these reasons, Wesley Church has committed itself to study and action around Racial Justice. Please take advantage of the books and materials available to borrow in the adult classroom library.
Take a stand against gun violence!
In case you missed it, here are the actions from the call to action against gun violence that
Pastor Moo urged us to take in his recent sermon:
1. Please visit the website https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ban-military-style-assault and sign the petition
"Ban Military-Style Assault Weapons and Large Capacity Magazines Now."
2. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America https://momsdemandaction.org/ and Everytown for Gun Safety https://everytown.org/throwthemout launched a campaign in order to empower voter to find where candidates stand on gun safety, elect politicians who will fight for gun safety and throw out those who oppose stricter gun laws. They also use a Washington Post interactive to help people track donations by the NRA. https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap…/national/nra-donations/ Please pass the info to your families and friends who live in other states. 3. Please contact your Representative and Senator to reverse a ban blocking the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from studying gun violence. Currently there is a law, as a result of the NRA lobby, forbids the use of federal funds on studies that promote gun control. We need a public scientific research on gun violence. 4. Please tell your Representative and Senator to bring back the "Federal Assault Weapons Ban," which was in place for 10 years, from 1994 to 2004. Wesley's Spiritual Journey Group meets at the church every Thursday. We begin with spiritual sharing and prayer from 1 - 1:30 pm. The book study follows from 1:30 - 2:30 pm. Please contact Jane Sicks by email with any questions. New members are always welcome!
Monthly Healing Time after Worship
We invite you to partake of the healing graces of our loving God, either after service on the first Sunday of every month or during our Thursday evening prayer time. We also would invite you to join our healing group if you are able to make the commitment and are willing to learn the principles of faith healing. Please feel free to contact Cathy Bennett or Nancy Nash with any questions.
Safe Parking Reminder
Please remember that in an emergency, seconds really do count and there are times that, no matter how good the sprinkler system is, those systems could fail. All parking at Wesley needs to be in marked spots in our parking lot. Parking is only allowed in handicap spaces with the appropriate placard. Recently we have had an increase of cars parking in non-marked spots during events. This does not allow police, fire, and EMS vehicles to access the church appropriately in the event of an emergency. Several of the Hadley FD vehicles plus some of the ambulances from Amherst FD cannot make the turn into the lane next to the church’s entrance when cars are parked illegally. Please keep everyone’s safety in mind when parking here at Wesley.
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