JUNE Newsletter 2023

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under 126 Church Street Phone: (570)842-7251 Moscow, PA 18444 Email:[email protected] Website: www.moscowumc.com Pastor Lori Robinson Email: [email protected] June 2023 Newsletter

PASTOR’S LETTER Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 Greetings to everyone in this transitional season for many reasons (…a continuation of the May Pastor’s Letter of transition…), including the consistent beautiful weather we have been having. Safe to say, Spring has sprung into Summer. Students of all ages in schools and universities, have or will soon be transitioning into summer break or graduating to the next chapter in their lives. We were recently blessed with the baptism of a new precious baby into our church family and next week we will celebrate the love of a couple getting married in the sanctuary to embark on their forever gifted journey together. Lots of new thresholds of praise and grateful prayers. It is a good time to sit and reminisce the transitions in our lives, be refreshed by recognizing God’s Spirit moving through each season of blessing and growth (past and present), and ready ourselves for what God has in store for each of us going into the future. The theme for Annual Conference this year was “New and Improved through Christ”, as a conference and denomination, we are progressing into a future that is unknown to us, yet we have assurance that it will be bright for God is not only in it, God knows the whole story of salvation and is already in the next chapter of the UM Church and everywhere waiting to welcome us to the next holy, space of creation that awaits. I pray we awake every day excited that with the sunrise, we have a fresh start, a New time to increase our faith and anticipate the workings of God through our words and deeds, plus strive to Improve our living through Christ in us. Again, transitions abound all around us even when we don’t know they happening sometimes. We are New and Improved, New Creations of love with purpose and call to serve. The above scripture is part of the Great Commission Jesus gave his first disciples that extends to all generations of disciples. How are you maturing in your discipleship mission through the world? Not something we often think about, yet it is the meaning in every moment we are given. The Great Commission reading is powerful and personal. It is the lectionary scripture for Trinity Sunday which reminds us that as we travel our given path the Triune God is with us, so we shall prevail, prosper, and have eternal reason to praise our Lord, no matter the season. May you feel and show others daily that you are a righteous work in progress, New and Improved through Christ.

May was a very busy time at MUMC with lots of opportunities to thrive in servant discipleship. We are the Church together! My how the Spirit moved and was evident in ALL the activities and events, from the fundraisers to gatherings to worship and more. There are those periods when one wonders how are we going to do it all and God answers in a big manner. Thank you for keeping the Church thriving in faith, with lots of prayer! Rejoice always and have no fear for God is ever near and waiting for us any and everywhere we may find ourselves on our purposed pilgrim journey. WHAT MAKES A DAD God took the strength of a mountain, The majesty of a tree, The warmth of a summer sun, The calm of a quiet sea, The generous soul of nature, The comforting arm of night, The wisdom of the ages, The power of the eagle's flight, The joy of a morning in spring, The faith of a mustard seed, The patience of eternity, The depth of a family need, Then God combined these qualities, When there was nothing more to add, He knew His masterpiece was complete, And so, He called it ... Dad By Unknown Author

FINANCIAL UPDATE MUMC FINANCIAL REPORT – MAY 2023 May Offering Income: $9,021. Expenses: $12,019 (-$3,080) YTD Offering Income: $57,492. Expenses: $64,217 (-$6,725) May 31st General Fund Account Balance: $14,771 5 months of Ministry Shares are paid. Monthly: $1,470.74 Year-to-date: $7,353.70 General Fund Year-to-date Total Income: $67,449.20 less the following for a total of $57,492.43 $6,508.35 Trustees Fuel Oil Reimbursement 570.00 Building Use 2,878.42 Fundraiser Income $9,956.77 Total Extra Income to the General Fund Please remember to stay current on your commitment to tithes and offerings and your 2023 stewardship pledges. We need giving to be up-to-date to keep daily operations going and all the ministries and missions we are offering active. Continue to bring your offerings to worship or send in your tithes and offerings to the church. We also still have other options for consistent, convenient offering. Those are through PayPal found on the church website or setting up EFT. ALL offerings are much appreciated and needed for us to be the Church in celebrated response to ALL our Lord more than provides for us and makes possible in our lives. GRADUATION SUNDAY This week we will celebrate all those from our church family who are graduating from High School or Higher Education. Please come congratulate all the graduates as they move on to the next blessed chapter of their lives. The church scholarships will also be presented during worship. If you haven’t yet sent your graduate’s information in, please call the church office.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2023 July 17th-19th 6:00 p.m.-8:15 p.m. AVALANCHE RANCH “Take a Wild Ride Through God’s Word” We are preparing to have a Yee Hew Wahoo good old-fashioned time at Avalanche Ranch. Our little ranchers will learn that God is – REAL, WITH US, STRONG, AWESOME, IN CHARGE. We will gather around the campfire nightly to listen to the Bible Story, learn the Bible Verse, and sing songs together. Then, the kids will move through stations to learn more about the Bible story. So, invite your family, friends, and neighbors to stampede on down to Avalanche Ranch for a VBS adventure! Watch for our annual float in the area parades too! DONATION STATION FOR JUNE The Donation Station collection for June is our annual one in preparation for Vacation Bible School. The following is a list needed for the snack station: Frosted Wheat Cereal M&M’s Small Twist Pretzels Small Water Bottles Red Licorice Bites Juice Boxes Raisins Graham Crackers Vanilla Icing Hershey Chocolate Bars (plain) Vanilla Ice Cream Cups Oreo Cookies Cherries We are also in need of financial donations to purchase some craft and other special supplies for Avalanche Ranch. Thank you in advance for all your support of our little ones!

TRUSTEE REPORT The Trustees are still looking for snow plowing bids for the winter 2023-2024. If you know of anyone who might be interested in contracting to do the church/parsonage snow removal, please contact any member of the trustees or leave a message with the office. The Trustees have instituted a NO FOOD/NO DRINK policy for the sanctuary. Recently there have been several “near miss” situations, which prompted the trustees to take action. This policy applies to everyone who uses the sanctuary, not only for worship but for any other event…weddings, recitals, baptisms, etc. The trustees are charged with keeping the church building and grounds clean and safe, and this new policy falls under that responsibility. Water is allowed as long as it in a container with a spill proof lid. Thank you for your cooperation. In an effort to keep costs under control, we have shopped for electricity and found a lower rate than our current rate. Major Energy will be our new supplier at 9.89 c/kwh. This new rate will be locked in for one year. The prayer garden should be nearing completion sometime in June. There will be a few more work Saturdays scheduled. On the first workday of the construction of the prayer garden, there will be a few well used Bibles which need to be disposed of properly that will be buried with a prayer ceremony under the area of the garden’s location. They will serve nicely as a solid foundation for the prayer garden to be built on God’s Word. Once the prayer garden is done and the heavy equipment is gone, we can look at addressing the back parking lot which needs to be paved. The preschool doors off the lower parking lot are being painted blue to match the preschool logo color. Carole and Heather Phillips will be donating their time and labor to paint the doors. The trustees thank them for their willingness to undertake this project. Aqua PA is replacing water lines around the borough. Spring Garden Street and Church Street will be affected. The two trees on Church Street which shade the side of the sanctuary will be removed. They were planted in 1989-1990. There is also a possibility that one of the trees in the front of the parsonage may be affected.

As always, if you see something that needs attention, please contact any member of the trustees or leave a message with the office or Pastor Lori. FROM THE SPRC FINANCIAL SECRETARY It is with profound appreciation that the SPRC acknowledges the upcoming retirement of our beloved Financial Secretary, Diane Kanavy. Diane has been a key member of our financial ministry team for many years and has been dedicated to making certain every member received confidential and accurate credit of their tithes and offerings to the Moscow United Methodist Church since her very first day. We have been very fortunate to have Diane as our Financial Secretary for so long and we are sad to see her leave us, but we know that God is calling her to enjoy her life with her family and friends with the freedom to travel as she is able, to see the beautiful world that God has created for all of us to enjoy in our “Golden Years”. Diane, we wish you all the best that God has to offer you and pray that you have God’s peace and love with you always. The SPRC has been interviewing candidates to assume Diane’s position and will continue to accept applications for the Financial Secretary position until June 20, 2023. Anyone interested can contact Donna Mela at [email protected] or by calling the church office at 570-842-7251. Diane has graciously agreed to stay on long enough to train her successor and we are very grateful for her willingness to give us this extra time. Thank you, Diane, we appreciate you. CHURCH SECRETARY It is with much sadness that the SPRC announces the resignation of our church secretary, AnnaMaria Guentart. AnnaMaria joined our church family in February and has done an amazing job as our church secretary. Anna Maria, we pray you and your family all the best that life has to offer. God’s Blessing on you all. That being said, the Moscow United Methodist Church is now seeking an individual willing to be a part of our church ministry team as a part-time church secretary. The church secretary will maintain regular hours at the church office on

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This individual will assist the pastor and laity of the church in living out our ministry. Some of the tasks include but are not limited to preparing for weekly and special services and events, record-keeping, ordering supplies and materials, and engaging with visitors to the church office. Clearances are required for all church employees. Applications are available at the church office. Completed applications and resumes are due to the church office by June 20, 2023. A full job description and application form is also available by contacting Donna Mela, SPRC chair, at ([email protected]) or by calling the church office at 570-842-7251. SUNDAY SCHOOL Sunday School ended on May 21, 2023 for the summer. We had a great program at church, and we hope everyone got to see how great our kids are. Unfortunately, quite a few of our children could not attend because of other activities. We followed church with a pizza party and some great snacks. The kids had a great time playing games and sharing laughs. It was a little to chilly for water balloon fights, which is always the highlight of the day. Maybe next year. We will be looking forward to Vacation Bible School and we hope the children enjoy it as much as we think they will. It should be a yeehaw time. CHRISTIAN CONNECTIONS The virtual Bible study, Christian Connections, will meet on the following dates in June:13th, 20th, 27th. We will be discussing some different themes for the summer from both the Old and New Testaments, all of which will strengthen and provide encouragement for our Christian souls, helping us to navigate through the ways of the world. Please join Christian Connections on Tuesday evenings at 6:15. The link to join is sent out weekly.

FOUNDATIONS IN FAITH HOLY, HOLY, HOLY Author: Reginald Heber (1783-1826) Composer: John B. Dykes (1823 – 1876) The idea of the Trinity – God in three persons, all equal and eternal– Father, Son, Holy Spirit, is embodied in this hymn by Reginald Heber. Heber was born in Cheshire, England to financially secure parents and entered Oxford University at 17. He was ordained in the Anglican ministry and served for the next 16 years at a small parish in the village of Hodnet in western England. He was well-known and respected, a prolific writer and contributor to magazines with his poetry, essays and hymns. In 1823, just three years before his early death at age forty-three, he was sent to India to serve as the Bishop of Calcutta, which included the island of Ceylon and all of Australia. The pressures of his work, along with the humid climate wore heavily on his health. One Sunday morning after preaching against India’s caste system, he suffered sun stroke and died suddenly. One year after his untimely death, his widow published Heber’s impressive volume of hymns, which are arranged according to the church year, Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (1827). This, along with A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Parish Church of Banbury (1826), brought Holy, Holy, Holy into the spotlight. John B. Dykes composed this hymn in 1861, specifically for the text of Holy, Holy, Holy. The tune is named Nicaea, referencing the Council of Nicaea held in Asia Minor in 325 AD, where the doctrine of the Trinity was examined and established as a true and essential doctrine of the Christian faith. Dr. John Bacchus Dykes was one of England’s leading church musicians of the 1800s. He has contributed more than 300 hymn tunes, most of them still in use today. You will recognize Dyke’s work in the tunes accompanying: Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee and Eternal Father, Strong to Save (the Navy Hymn).

ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2023 Submitted by Donna Mela The theme for Annual Conference 2023 was “New & Improved through Christ”. A special session was called to begin the conference Wednesday evening to address the churches that requested disaffiliation from the United Methodist denomination. In 2019 the Book of Discipline was amended to provide an avenue for churches to disaffiliate under ¶2553. The sole reason for disaffiliation must be based on the question of human sexuality. In total 141 churches requested disaffiliation from the Susquehanna Conference out of approximately 800 churches, 12 from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre district, and those requests were affirmed at the conference. In addition, two churches are currently in litigation with the conference related to the disaffiliation process and are now closed. One of those churches is in the S/WB district. The conference is providing support to members of those churches who still wish to remain United Methodist. The regular sessions of the Annual Conference were held Thursday through Saturday. The Conference Lay Leader report focused on the conference Laity Strategic Plan to build stronger relationships between local church lay leaders to strengthen the communication and engagement with the conference. The conference Lay Leader encouraged all church laity to understand the organizational structure of the church, the Book of Discipline and Social Principles. The conference leadership board’s report was titled \"Moving Forward New & Improved Through Christ”. They used a collage of snip-its from classic songs of the 60’s,70’s. and 80’s, such as “Memories”, “Feeling Groovy”, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, and “They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love” to communicate how to build on and honor our past while still being laser focused on the future. Jesus used the Beatitudes to replace worry with faith. The “Answer is Blowing in the Wind”, it is the Spirit of God. We need to rely of God’s Holy Spirit and God’s Holy Word to guide us as we use our Mission Insight reports to reach out to our neighbors in our community. We need to understand “The Beat Goes On” and loving our neighbors as ourselves is what Jesus taught us all to do. This is how meeting the needs of our community in love and service with help us grown and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The Board of Connectional Ministry shared the many resources available to us through the conference. Campus Ministry is a resource to our college students, especially those attending PSU, Lycoming College, Mansfield, Penn Tech, and

Bloomsburg. The Susquehanna Conference has a direct ministry partnership with the campus ministry departments at these schools. Camp and Retreat Ministries are also very popular because we all know that these outdoor ministries are often where the youth and young people have had their first close relationship with God. Portico is a new online educational platform available through the conference website for both clergy and laity to take online courses at their own pace. The new model of supervisory for the conference will be effective July 1, 2023. To summarize, there will now be five conference superintendents leading the seven districts in the conference due to the number of disaffiliating churches and two retiring district superintendents. Superintendents will lead differently creating and reinventing the role of clergy and laity at the district and local level. The Business report for those interested in the financial part of the conference report has 28 ministers retiring effective July 1. There were no ordinations this year. The minimum salary recommendations were established as well as the minimum salary increase recommendation for 2023 was established at 3%. The Council on Finance and Administration reviewed the budget as well. There is an expected increase of 12% in medical insurance premiums for 2024. The spending plan for 2024 is $1.5M less. Due to the large number of disaffiliating churches the council has taken a proactive approach to adjust the spending budget as much as possible anticipating the loss of income. The gross ministry shares for 2024 is expected to be $2.6M less than 2023. The Retiree Health Benefits stipend has been cut by 25% for 2024. Ministry shares for 2024 for local churches will be adjusted based on the end of year statistical reports for each church. Fortunately, the conference Cabinet has elected not to accept a raise in 2024 and there will be two less conference superintendent salaries to pay with their retirements. There were 19 Resolutions initially proposed to the conference body but 6 were withdrawn during the conference, one failed to pass through the voting of the conference body. Each resolution that did pass will be taken to the General Conference in 2024 for further affirmation. I will share a few key resolutions here: RES 1—Mental Health: May is Mental Health awareness month, the third Sunday in May will have a special offering. September is Suicide Prevention Month. The first week in October is Mental Illness awareness week with October 3, 2023, as a day of prayer. RES2—Disability Awareness Sunday: Second Sunday in October to be observed as Disability Awareness Sunday. Local churches should recognize these

persons and prove space for these persons with disabilities to participate in worship leadership. RES 6—Choosing Love Over Division: Jesus prayed for the unity of his disciples and his followers our love for each other. This resolution calls for love and unity over division as we continue to wrestle with human sexuality. RES 8—Christmas Covenant Legislation: This resolution alters the governing structure of the global UMC making the US its own regional conference separate from the central conference which is the rest of the UMC’s around the world. RES 11—A Call to End Conversion Therapy: This resolution call for all members of the SC and the UMC to reach out to their state legislators to ban conversion therapy for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. RES 18—Rearticulation of the Relationship between Wyoming Seminary and the Susquehanna Conference of the UMC: The Wyoming Seminary school in Luzerne County is re-incorporating as an independent educational institution and will no longer relate to the Susquehanna Conference. One Matters Award—Each District recognized one church in their district with a “One Matters Award”. This church was recognized for encouraging growth in discipleship over the past year when there had been none. In the Scranton/Wilkes- Barre district the Forty Fort UMC was recognized. In 2021 they were assigned a new pastor. Church attendance was in the 60’s, they had no children in the church. They realized they needed a new vision and created a task force to look at their Mission Insight report. They created a vision to be “A community that reaches the community”. They created outreach that began intentionally sharing God’s word and their ministerium began collaborating better. In 2022 their average attendance was in the 90’s and in 2023 their average attendance is not 118 members. In 2022 they had 20 new professions of faith. FROM THE DISTRICT AND CONFERENCE MISSION OPPORTUNITY: JUNE 26-30 Calvary UMC Home Repair Mission Trip for Onondaga (New York) Native American Home Repair. June 26-30, 2023, departing and returning to Calvary UMC 4700 Locust Lane Harrisburg PA. Cost is

$275 for Non-Members and $200 for Calvary Members. Questions, call John Shepler at 717-579-2548 or email [email protected]. VIM IMMIGRATION IMMERSION JOURNEY: SEPTEMBER 16-22 Tucson, Arizona Partnering with Arizona Justice for our Neighbors (AZJFON), join the Susquehanna Conference VIM team for an Immigration Immersion Journey. We will learn about the immigration crisis with the intention of conveying that knowledge to our churches, ministries, and circles so as to support the relief efforts. Must be 18 years old or older and have a valid US Passport. 9 spots are available. Approximately $400 plus airfare and meals. If interested, contact Susquehanna Conference VIM Coordinator, Michelle Schwartzman at [email protected]. SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITE INFORMATION To stay up to date with our latest announcements and information, please be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Moscow United Methodist Church, or check our website, www.moscowumc.com. You can also send an email to [email protected] to join our email list. Worship Services are every Sunday at 10AM, you can join us in person, follow along with our Live Stream, or find a recording of our service on our YouTube channel, Moscow UMC.