November 2021 E newsletter

The Moscow United Methodist Church 126 Church Street Phone: (570)842-9372 Moscow, PA 18444 Email: [email protected] Website: www.moscowumc.com November 2021 e-Newsletter Table of Contents: Pastor Letter (2) Christian Connections (5) Advent Adult Sunday School (6) From the Trustees (7) Foundations of Our Faith (8) Financial Update (11) Angel Tree (11) Sunday School (12) Learning Tree Preschool (13) Sunday School Christmas Pageant (13) Donation Station(14) Live Nativity, Bake Sale, Caroling(14) Demographic Report (15) Christmas Eve Service (16) 2022 Stewardship Campaign (16) District and Conference News (17) 1

Pastor’s Letter You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11-12 Thanksgiving greetings to all! I hope everyone is soaking in the blessed atmosphere of this Thanksgiving season. Advent is on the horizon, but for now, we center ourselves of being wholeheartedly grateful to God for the plentiful benefits bestowed on us from above. These benefits and bonuses, beyond the numerous necessities we receive are all given through a love that knows no end and overcomes all. Please do make the time to personally dedicate reverence to your Lord. Also, if you have not done so, check out the North Pocono Ministerium’s Community Thanksgiving Service at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/100000199539084/videos/2415345479 97335/. We had an enjoyable time of worship with our area brothers and sisters in Christ. What an incredible month it has been for us as a church family. God is good! We have experienced some hills and valleys, yet we have come through everything together. The first worship service of the month we celebrated All Saints Sunday with eleven candles lit on the altar. Since then, we have lifted a couple more of our treasured members into God’s heavenly realm. The faith we proclaim with eternal hope becomes endless joy and rejoicing 2

forevermore with our Savior when we pass on to glory. As we grieve in our earthly losses, we do so with treasured memories of faithful servants who shared in resurrection believing with us. This has been a bountiful month of sacrificial giving (starting a bit early on October 31st) of finances, pledges, time, talents, resources and much more. During this continuing period of the COVID-19 pandemic, many churches are facing financial hardships and are concerned for those who have not returned to in person worship. There is recognition that some folks cannot come back yet due to health concerns. We pray for you and pray for those who have unknowingly misplaced the essential need of being the church actively in routine, that they would return to worship and church events to keep the spiritual aspect of their lives healthy and strong, ready to serve in the constant presence God. The church isn’t fully holy without you! You are missed. We at MUMC, were facing a major financial deficit. After a substantial Joash Chest Sunday offering of almost $8,000.00, plus much appreciated servanthood efforts, kind donations, and graciously supportive income from the Election Day Soup Sale and the Annual Fall Auction, we are on our way to closing the gap to a healthier financial level. It will still take lots of purpose filled extra actions and sacrificial offerings, however with trust in God and such compassionate Christian witness in sharing of overflowing contented blessings, I believe we will finish out this year with a positive balance. For next year, we received many promising pledges on Commitment/Stewardship Sunday, with some still coming in. The stewardship program, Grow As Stewards Through Faith, Love, and Hope, is a well 3

rounded plan for pledging and progressive movement going forth. Thank you to all who have made this program and all our financial efforts successful. After completing all our forms and paperwork, on November 13th, we gathered for our annual Church Conference led by the SWB District Superintendent, Reverend Judy Walker. It was time well spent in readying ourselves to enter the 2022 administrative and ministerial plans with complete approval. MUMC is on the way to keeping up, even picking up the pace of ministry and mission for the coming year. Watch for new ideas and Spirit building small groups in 2022. Looking ahead…..In January, a Visioning Team will be put together to create a focused vision statement and secure intentional design by which to be in ministry with our neighborhood and community. This is a journey that involves extended dedication and responsibility to move MUMC forward. We already completed a brief demographics project for our Church Conference (a hard copy of both the church conference administrative report and the demographic report can be found on the table in front of the mailboxes) and are being held accountable to it. Please prayerfully consider being a member of the Visioning Team. Being in pray is the solid foundation upon which the vision will evolve. Begin thinking too - what are the deep traditions and core values of the church that are in place and can be expanded on, so when the team asks, you will be prepared to give input for it is vital that all members offer holy and respected input. We are The Church 4

together united in the Spirit of Christ. May all we do be overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. With a humble, glad heart, I extend a big THANK YOU for the gift I received for Pastor Appreciation. It is truly a godsend for me to be the pastor at MUMC. What an incredible, joy filled, caring faith family to be in loving ministry with! CHRISTIAN CONNECTIONS The virtual Bible study group, Christian Connections, will meet again in December on the following dates: December 7th, 14th, 28th. We will be discussing the gospel of Christmas. Join us to keep centered on the reason for the Advent and Christmas seasons. Give yourself a gift in making time to participate in Christian Connections to create more wonder in the miracle that is Christmas and discover the deep truth of our Savior’s birth. 5

ADVENT ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL The Adult Sunday School will continue meeting in Pastor Lori’s office to discuss a special Advent Study entitled “The Heart That Grew Three Sizes, Finding Faith in the Story of The Grinch”, which includes a weekly video to better enhance the given message. Weekly chapter titles: When Everything Is Wrong – When Christmas Isn’t Christmas – When Light Shines – When Joy Is In Our Song. From Cokesbury: Rediscover the gift of Advent that comes without packages, ribbons, and bows. We don’t know why the Grinch hated Christmas. We just know he did. In this new Advent study, Matt Rawle explores the faith themes in the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! including, how did the Grinch’s heart grow three sizes come Christmas morning? How did Christmas save the Grinch? Could it be that the very thing we think we hate is the one thing that changes our lives? This Advent and Christmas season, look at a familiar classic through the lens of faith and see how Christ speaks to us through our culture. 6

FROM THE TRUSTEES The Trustees continue to focus on the upkeep of the church’s property. A battery powered sensor water detection system is available to us, free of charge through the church’s insurance. We are having that system installed as soon as possible. A church family generously offered to pay for a professional power washing for the parsonage this spring. Once it turns cold, we will be using a thermal gun to assess where the building is losing heat so that those areas can be addressed. Financially, our church has LESS THAN $100,000 in investments. This is a precarious situation, as we will be in need of a complete parking lot paving and a new roof for the 30 year old education building. As always, if you see something that needs to be addressed, please report it to any member of the Trustees. Here is a little sneak peak of some of our items, make sure to check the website to see more pictures as we get closer the event! 7

FOUNDATIONS OF OUR FAITH – OCTOBER & NOVEMBER “The History Behind The Hymns We Sing” As United Methodists, we have a rich tradition for hymn singing. Charles Wesley, brother of our founder John Wesley was a prolific hymn-writer, with over 6,000 to his credit. Look in the back of our United Methodist hymnal, beginning on page 914. There are more than 9 pages of composers, arrangers, authors, translators and sources. But WHO are these people? Why were they called to write? What is THEIR story? How did this hymn come to be? This new feature of our newsletter, Foundations of our Faith, will explore and examine the WHO and WHY behind some of our most beloved hymns. My research is taken from 3 sources: Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth Osbeck 101 Hymn Stories – by Kenneth Osbeck https://www.umcdiscipleship.org I invite you to read and enjoy, and perhaps you will have an “AH- HA, I didn’t know that!” moment….. Carol Verrone November – Now Thank We All Our God 8

Martin Rinkart (1586-1649) Born in April 1586, Rinkart grew up in Eilenberg, Saxony, Germany, son of a poor coppersmith. As a boy, he sang in the famous St. Thomas Church of Leipzig, Germany where Bach would later be the musical director. Rinkart graduated from the University of Leipzig and was ordained to the ministry of the Lutheran Church. At age 31 he was called to be the pastor of his native church in Eilenberg. He arrived there just as the dreadful 30 Years’ War began, and spent the remaining 32 years of his life ministering to the poor and needy. Germany was the battleground for this war between the Catholics and the Protestants. The death, famine and disease dwindled the German population from 16 million to 6 million. Eilenberg was a walled city, and became an overcrowded refuge for political and military fugitives and a pathway for invading armies, leaving behind death and destruction, including the plague of 1637. At the height of the plague, Rinkart was the only minister remaining to care for the sick and dying, often conducting 40 – 50 funerals a day. From that destruction, death, and famine came this hymn of gratefulness. Gratefulness? It was Rinkart’s triumphant, personal expressions of gratitude and confidence in God that brought forth this hymn text. Verse 2 reads: 9

O may this bounteous God thru all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; and keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills, in this world and the next. The original text was written in German, the translation comes from Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878). Born the daughter of a wealthy silk merchant in London, she had no formal education. Winkworth was also deeply involved in promoting women's education, and has been described as \"an early feminist\". According to The Harvard University Hymn Book, Winkworth \"did more than any other single individual to make the rich heritage of German hymnody available to the English-speaking world.” Over her brief lifespan (she died suddenly at 50 of heart disease), she translated nearly 400 German hymns written by more than 170 authors. 10

FINANCIAL UPDATE General Fund Month of October: Income - $15,354.00 / Expenses – $14,708.00 (+ $646.00) ***Expenses include the payment of 4 Ministry Shares*** Ministry Shares Paid Year-to-date: 8 / $1,552.00 per month (- $4,656.00) ANGEL TREE Even through the pandemic, we would like to send a special Thank You to those members of our church family that continue to show their generosity through our various ministries and community outreach programs. One of the ministries we support every year is our Angel Tree. This program allows children who have parents that are currently incarcerated to receive items from their Christmas List. The angels are on the tree and ready for pickup. All gifts are due back by Sunday, December 19th. 11

SUNDAY SCHOOL Our Sunday School students continue to meet each week. Miss Barbara continues to come up with new and exciting ways to engage our students, including basketball in the hall and cooking lessons with Miss Susan. Our Preschool age students are enjoying the crafts they have gotten to make, especially their crowns for Christ the King Sunday. Our High School class has been meeting with Mark to discuss the Books of the Bible and how those lessons can be applied to their current life. We also decorated cards for veterans, some went to Gino Merli, some went to veterans in our congregation, and the rest went to local veterans through the Mess Hall. If you are interested in joining us for Sunday School, please contact Barbara Havenstrite at [email protected] 12

PRESCHOOL The holiday season is upon us and we are looking forward to a fun and busy month! We will continue reviewing all our letters and numbers we have learned thus far. We will also learn the letters Jj, Kk, Ll, and the numbers 9, 10, and 11. Our themes for the month are Family, Gingerbread, and Christmas. We will also be having Christmas parties and a Secret Santa gift exchange. There are still some spots available if anyone would like to join our classes. If you would like to donate items to our classroom, our Wish List includes: glue sticks, tissues, disinfectant wipes, and child size disposable masks. SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Another one of our favorite traditions is our annual Sunday School Pageant. This was another thing we missed last year, but are able to bring back for this Christmas Season. December 12th we will be celebrating our Christmas Pageant during worship. The children are excited to practice their parts! 13

DONATION STATION We continue with our monthly Donation Station in the Narthex. With the start of our Angel Tree, the donation bins will be moved by the couch against the window. Thank you to everyone who donated to our Blessing Bags for our Sunday School, our students will be making those bags after the Christmas Pageant. We can’t wait to see how many bags the students will be able to make! For the month of December, we will be collecting for the Women’s Resource Center. This organization helps women and children escape domestic abuse situations. Some of their most requested items include: hygiene products, cleaning products (scrub brushes, sponges, cleaning solution, etc), and diapers size 3 and up (any size diapers are accepted, but there is a need for larger diapers). You can find the complete Wish List at https://wrcnepa.org/wish-list/. If you are planning on leaving a violent situation, or you know someone who may be in an abusive relationship, please call Women’s Resource Center Hotline at 570-346-4671 or 1-800- 257-5765 to talk about your concerns. LIVE NATIVITY, BAKE SALE, CAROLING We had so much fun wit our Live Nativity last year, we decided to add to our celebration this year. On December 19th, our Live Nativity will begin at 3:00, which will be immediately followed by 14

a Bake Sale. Then, at 4:15 we are inviting our church members to come caroling around Moscow with us. The Bake Sale will be open from 3-6pm. We will also be offering a free cup of hot chocolate and a cookie to those who attend our Live Nativity and Caroling event. If you would like to donate something to our Bake Sale, there will be a sign-up sheet on the table in front of the mailboxes in the coat room. Any baked goods donated must be individually wrapped and ready to sell. DEMOGRAPHIC REPORT This year to prepare for our Annual Church Conference, we were asked to complete a Mission Insite Report. The goal of this report was to find out what Demographic Groups make up our local community. We were all a little surprised by the results of this study. If you would like more details, you can pick up a hard copy of the Church Conference Administrative Report for 2022 as well as the Demographic Report on the table in front of the mailboxes. 15

CHRISTMAS EVE Mark your calendars! Our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will take place December 24th at 7:00. This service will be both in person as well as Live Streamed for those unable to attend in person. We look forward to celebrating this very special time of year with all of our church family. NEW DIRECTORY The updated version of the Church Directory is available. It will be emailed out, but if you would like a hard copy, please contact Jennie in the office and she will be happy to print one for you. If you see any mistakes in the directory, please let Jennie know so she can fix it. 2022 STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN If you have not received your Stewardship packet, please let the office know so we can be sure to get your packet to you. 16

DISTRICT AND CONFERENCE NEWS Conference: Retiree Virgin Pulse Coming To An End This week Virgin Pulse sent notice that as of December 16, our Retirees will no longer have access to their accounts. This is the health rewards program that all active pastors use to track steps and earn rewards for health coaching and other wellness goals. Unfortunately, this was a retiree benefit the Board of Pensions had to eliminate two years ago, but Virgin Pulse errantly continued the program. Retired Participants will want to be sure to claim any cash rewards they may still have in their accounts prior to the December 16 termination. Please note, Active Pastors will still have access to the program and this does NOT affect the Health Reimbursement Accounts with Via Benefits that retirees use to pay their Medicare Supplement plans. Those accounts will continue and participants will receive the same amounts in 2022 as they did this year. For any questions, please reach out to Rev. Jason Mackey at [email protected]. Please pray for our faithful Retirees. UPCOMING VIRTUAL VIM TRAINING Must attend all 3 sessions, no charge, resources provided Tuesdays (6-8pm) January 25, February 1 and 8, 2022 VIM Training prepares us to have a positive impact in mission whether it is a few hours or weeks, local, national, or global. It is open to those who have led teams and those who have never been on a mission trip. Taking this training does not require you to lead a trip but equips you for service. Topics covered include: Best 17

Practices, Cultural Awareness, Health & Safety, Team Orientation, Useful Forms, Insurance and Fundraising. Contact Michelle Schwartzman, VIM Coordinator with any questions - [email protected] or 717-766-7441 ext. 3105. Support the Center on Giving Tuesday Our hearts are grateful for your continued generosity and support for the Center for Spiritual Formation Inc. On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, people all over the world will come together and harness the power of human connection to change our world. Giving Tuesday is a global opportunity to commit to serving and healing a wounded world in need. We invite you to join us in this generosity movement called Giving Tuesday 2021. Will you join us? ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2022 Some helpful information to keep in mind as we look forward to Annual Conference. - The dates are June 1-3, 2022. - Registration Fee is $25 - We anticipate the sessions being entirely in-person for clergy and lay members. - This year is the last year of our contract with Hershey Lodge and the Sessions Team is actively pursuing creative options for 2023 and beyond. - The costs (which are being maintained at the 2019 rates) are as follows (These are per person): Two nights(double)/seven meals cost $430 18

Two nights(single)/seven meals $620 Three nights(double)/eight meals $540 Three nights(single)/eight meals $825 Meal package (seven meals) $175 District: CAMP AND RETREAT MINISTRIES CAMP COMEBACK CAMPAIGN CHALLENGE ALERT and UPDATE! Note from your Scranton Wilkes-Barre DS – I would like to challenge each church/charge to support our Camping ministries by sending a gift of $100 to Camping & Retreat Ministry through December 31, 2021. I will match the first 25 church/charges who give $100! We are currently at $927 donated from our churches -- with our DS match, so far that is $1,854.00!! CONFERENCE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE SEEKS MORE CONNECTIONS The Susquehanna Conference Nominations Committee is now getting into our season of work identifying leaders to serve on various conference committees. We thank God for emerging leaders and celebrate how God will build up our collaborative calls. Please help us reach out to the people you see God equipping for this servant leadership by using this online form. You’ll note that our form allows a person to self-select or nominate others who 19

have the skills and willingness to take on increasing roles of leadership in connectional ministries. We will pray over these nominees and support all of them in their work. Thank you for your prayers and partnership in recruiting and developing leaders with us. 20