August 2022 E newsletter

The Moscow United Methodist Church 126 Church Street Phone: (570)842-7251 Moscow, PA 18444 Email: [email protected] Website: www.moscowumc.com August 2022 e-Newsletter Table of Contents: Pastor Letter (2) Financial Report (5) Office Keys (6) Christian Connections (7) Donation Station (8) Fleckenstein Scholarship (9) Eagle Scout Project (10) Sunday School (11) Preschool (12) Summer Worship Series (13) Moscow Street Fair (14) Foundations In Faith (15) Ministries and Outreach (17) Upcoming Events (18) District/Conference (19) 1

Pastor’s Letter The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Psalm 19:8 Summer Smiles It has been a busy summer season with members and friends coming together virtually and at the church building with lots of groups gathering for different purposes (inside and outside) and those lending their time and faithful effort for extra fundraising. Then, there was VBS which is always a fun adventure. Through all these church happenings, I have seen lots of smiles and heard much laughter. It has been joyful! It reminded me of early in the pandemic when we couldn’t meet due to physical distancing. We used to have a podcast to share inspiration and at times, smiles, when the podcasts engaged in Christian humor to lighten the atmosphere and bring about a smile or a laugh. Many people enjoyed those special lighthearted podcasts that provided for even a few minutes a break from the seriousness of daily life. So, I thought I would take a month to again (hopefully) offer reasons to smile with Christian humor, silly spiritual stories, and out of the mouths of babes, Christian true stories. I pray you take time to relax and enjoy some silliness for the summer. May God bless your life with a reason to smile and feel joy everyday! What did Jonah's family say when he told them about what happened before reaching Nineveh?........ \"Hmm, sounds fishy.\" What did Adam say when he was asked his favorite holiday?........ \"It's Christmas, Eve.\" What kind of car would Jesus drive?......... A Christler. 2

Which nursery song would Jesus have heard the most?........ \"Mary Had a Little Lamb.\" When someone needed a boat made, what did the people in town say?....... \"We Noah guy.\" What's a miracle that can be done by a complainer?......... Turning anything into whine. Hymns for People Over 50 Give Me the Old Timers Religion Precious Lord, Take My Hand, And Help Me Up Just a Slower Walk with Thee Go Tell It on the Mountain, But Speak Up Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing Guide Me O Thou Great Lord God, I've Forgotten Where I've Parked The Car Count Your Many Birthdays, Count Them One By One Blessed Insurance It Is Well With My Soul, But My Knees Hurt Forgiveness A Sunday School teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, “Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?” There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up. \"Sin,\" he said. 3

Kids Proverbs…………Kids say the darndest Christian jokes. A first grade teacher collected well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. Their insight may surprise you. • As you shall make your bed so shall you ... Mess it up • Strike while the … Bug is close • It’s always darkest before … Daylight Savings Time • Don’t bite the hand that … looks dirty • No news is .. impossible • A miss is as good as a … Mr. • You can’t teach an old dog new ... math Pancakes…………….Kids seem to make the best Christian jokes. • A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’ Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!” • Repeat after Me Mrs Johnson invited some people over for supper. At the table, she turned to their seven year old daughter Martha and said, 'Would you like to say the blessing?' 'I wouldn't know what to say, 'Martha replied.' Just say what you hear me say, 'Mrs. Johnson answered. Martha bowed her head and said, 'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?' 4

FINANCIAL REPORT July Offering Income: $8,707. Expenses: $8,051. (+$656) Year-to-Date Offering Income: $56,788. Expenses $79,745. (- $22,957) July 31st General Fund Account Balance: $3,280. 5 months of Ministry Shares are paid. Monthly: $1,396.75. Year-to-Date: $6,983.75 General Fund Year-to-Date Total Income: $70,477.86 less the following for a total of $56,878.77: $2,500.00 Grants $1,396.75 Memorial Fund Ministry Share $6,692.34 Trustees Fuel Oil Reimbursement $1,420.00 Preschool Payment $1,681.00 Fundraisers $13,690.09 Total Extra Income to the General Fund We were blessed in July to have the offering exceed our expenses. As stated above, our year-to-date expenses remain far higher than our income. We are thankful for the extra sources of income to the General Fund which do lessen our loss year-to-date. The church’s central income that we depend upon to keep our operations going and to support our ministries and missions is devoted, obedient giving, according to membership vows and biblical outline for offering. God is our faithful provider. We are called to be God’s 5

faithful stewards. Please continue to remember to bring your offering to worship or send in your tithes and offerings to the church during the busy months of summer. Other options for consistent, convenient offering are through PayPal found on the church website or setting up EFT. It is important we consistently receive offering envelopes from the Stewardship Pledges for 2022. Let us, as God’s abundantly blessed people, pray for those in need, ever contributing with trusting, grateful hearts, knowing together we will make a holy difference that all may be led to know the transforming grace of Jesus. OFFICE KEYS As announced during worship services, we have begun locking the church offices. If you need access to either office, please stop by during posted office hours, or schedule an appointment. A set of mail slots TRUSTEES A new roof for the education building was approved and work should begin within the next few weeks. The education building roof is 30 years old and deteriorating, causing water leaks and damage within the building. An anonymous donation and funds from the Trustees will pay for the roof. The Trustees will be asking for donations from the congregation, earmarked for the roof, to replenish those funds. 6

Billy Havenstrite continues to demolish the terraced garden, and has another workday scheduled for August 13. The rebuilding of the area into a prayer garden will be underway in the spring. A new light and pole for the upper parking lot were installed at no cost to the church, courtesy of Metschulat Electrical Contractors. The front sanctuary wall on both sides of the center organ pipes was repaired and repainted. As always, if you see a building issue that needs to be addressed, please contact one of the Trustees. CHRISTIAN CONNECTIONS Christian Connections, the virtual Bible study, will meet every Tuesday evening at 6:15 in August with the exception of August 16th. The link for Christian Connections is sent out weekly. If you have not participated in Christian Connections yet, please do so soon. The discussions run deep. Together, we learn and discover much that is beyond the surface of the words on the pages, as we look further at the content and context of when the instructions were originally given and share our varied interpretations of the scriptures. It truly is an enlightening experience! 7

DONATION STATION We continue our monthly Donation Stations in the narthex of the church building. Each month we collect for a different charity. For the month of August we will be collecting for Mission Central. This organization works diligently to connect God’s resources to those in need. Throughout the year they collect various items for kits they assemble to hand out, especially during Natural Disaster Relief. With the floods in Kentucky and the raging wild fires, Mission Central is very busy spreading God’s love. They are in need of items to create CARE kits and BLESSING kits. Some of the items they are looking for are (all items must be new): hand towels, wash cloth, hand sanitizer, disposable cleaning wipes, travel sized toiletries, first aid items, notebooks, pens, reusable water bottles, poncho, blankets, drawstring bag (water resistant, preferably plain), feminine hygiene products, comb, metal nail file/clippers. If you would like to donate an entire kit, you can find the instructions in the mail slots outside the church office. In 2021, Mission Central served over 5.4 million people with over $17.3 million in resources. 8

FLECKENSTEIN SCHOLARSHIP On July 12, the Scranton Times-Tribune had an article in the Name Dropper section about our 2022 Fleckenstein Scholarship Recipient: Moscow United Methodist Church awarded the 2022 Melba and August Fleckenstein scholarship to North Pocono High School graduate David Chapman. Funds for the scholarship come from an endowment set up in 2013 by Keith Fleckenstein in memory of his parents who were church members. David, son of Mary Jane Chapman, Madison Twp., will attend the University of Scranton to major in biochemistry. 9

While at North Pocono, David played soccer and volleyball and was manager of the marching band. He also volunteered at the local food bank, and was active in church activities as an acolyte and working at church fundraisers. EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT Billy Havenstrite and his crew have been working hard trying to take the tiered garden out by the lower parking lot. This has been a massive project and we are so thankful Billy and his helpers have continued working diligently to get this done. The next work day is Saturday, August 13 from 9am-1pm. If anyone is able to stop by and help move dirt, he would greatly appreciate your time. 10

SUNDAY SCHOOL As summer prepares to come to and end, we are getting ready to welcome our students back to Sunday School. Our first day is set to be Sunday, September 11. We have classes for all ages and invite everyone to join the fun. For ages 2-5 we have a preschool class where students hear a story from the bible, some discussion time (when they are cooperating), and complete a craft or other activity to go along with the lesson. Classes for ages 6-12 also have a story from the bible along with discussion, and they rotate through different areas depending on the week including crafts, cooking, games, and experiments. Our Junior/Senior High class are primarily discussion based to learn how living and loving through Jesus relates to their daily lives. Pastor Lori meets with the adult classes and they have a wide variety of discussions, last year they even had several discussions revolving around the story of the Grinch. 11

LEARNING TREE PRESCHOOL Miss Pope has been hard at work getting everything ready to welcome the students for the upcoming school year. Preschool will begin September 6, and PreK will have their first day September 7. After taking a year off to spend with her family, we are excited to welcome back Linda Lavelle as the teachers aide. Our preschool class (3-4 years old) is completely full, and our PreK class (4-5 years old) has a few spots left. There will be two open houses hosted by Miss Pope during the Moscow Country Street Fair, Friday 5-8pm and Saturday 1-4pm. Everyone is welcome to stop by to see the classroom, meet our teachers, and ask any questions they may have. They will also be handing out the rest of the bicycle helmets left from our event over Memorial Day Weekend. There are also a few fundraisers being planned, so please watch for more information to be released about those. Our Preschool Board is in need of a financial representative. If you or someone you know would like to use their financial spiritual gifts to help this wonderful program, please contact Pastor Lori. 12

SUMMER WORSHIP SERIES We are halfway through our Summer Sermon Series on the poetic, visionary Gospel and New Testament accounts of Jesus teachings from the stained-glass windows that help provide a symbolic holy atmosphere in the sanctuary. Thus far, we have listened to Jesus words of open invitation to come to Him, Jesus as the Good Shepherd, The Beatitudes, and this week brings the story of Jesus as a boy in the Temple. If you haven’t been able to worship in the sanctuary recently, now is the time to come and be a part of literally realizing Christ’s lessons of love for living that encircle us as family bonded together for support and purpose. 13

MOSCOW STREET FAIR The Moscow Street Fair is happening this week, starting Thursday, August 4, and running through Saturday, August 6. We are very excited to host the Art Show in our Social Hall, and the Quilt Show in our Sanctuary. We had some absolutely stunning pieces last year and can’t wait to see what is presented this year. We will have a table set up outside selling water and those delicious Welsh Cookies that everyone has been looking forward to. The cookies usually sell out pretty quickly, so get there early if you want to purchase some. Amy Pope will be holding two open house sessions during the Street Fair, Friday from 5-8 pm and Saturday from 1-4 pm. There were some bicycle helmets left and a late donation after our event over Memorial Day weekend, they will be given out during the open house sessions. Also, be sure to look for our Vacation Bible School float in the parade starting at 7pm Friday evening. Some of our Christmas Kids will be tossing candy (be careful, they sometimes get crazy!) and we will have some volunteers walking while handing out flyers with information about our church. 14

FOUNDATIONS IN FAITH HYMN It is Well With My Soul Text: Horatio G. Spafford (1828-1888) Tune: Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876) If ever there were a human life weighed down with tragedy, who still can lift up gratitude to our God, it is the life of Horatio Spafford. Born in North Troy, New York, Spafford, as a young man, established a successful legal practice in Chicago. He married and had five children. Then, without warning, a series of unexpected events occurred. First, there was the sudden death of Spafford’s only son. Then, Spafford’s extensive real estate holdings on the shores of Lake Michigan were totally wiped out as a result of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. A supporter of D. L. Moody and his evangelistic campaigns, Spafford decided to take his wife and four daughters (Tanetta, Maggie, Anne and Bessie) to Europe in November 1873, to lift their spirits and assist in the evangelistic meetings. Spafford was detained by meetings in Chicago but sent his family ahead as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Harve. He expected to follow in a few days. On November 22, 1873 the ship was struck by the Lochearn, an English vessel and sank in twelve minutes. Two hundred twenty six passengers drowned. Several days later the survivors finally landed in Cardiff, Wales and Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband, “Saved Alone”. Shortly afterward, Spafford left by ship to join his bereaved wife. 15

It is generally accepted that Spafford composed the verses to this hymn on the ship near where the drownings had occurred. Standing hour after hour on the deck, “when sorrows like sea billows roll” significantly describes his feelings of grief and tragedy. Yet the rest of the hymn focuses on the redeeming work of Christ and the second coming. It is amazing that after a life of compounded sorrows, Spafford could still write, “It is well with my soul.” By 1881, Spafford and his wife and now with two young daughters, left Chicago with a group of friends and settled in Jerusalem. There they established the American Colony which cared for the sick and destitute. Spafford died just 8 years later, age 60, but the ministry continued. The story of this special family and their ministry is told in the book, Our Jerusalem, written by Spafford’s daughter, Bertha Spafford Vesper. Philip Bliss, in his short life of 38 years, was a prolific writer of gospel songs. In most cases he wrote both words and music. Bliss was so impressed with Spafford’s experiences and expressions of faith that he wrote the music for it, first published in Gospel Hymns No. Two 1876. Other music familiar to us by Bliss include, “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning” and “Jesus Loves Even Me.” 16

MINISTRIES AND OUTREACH Plastic Bags: We are currently collecting plastic grocery bags, as well as other types of plastic, such as plastic mailing envelopes, produce bags, newspaper bags, and plastic overwrap. Our goal is to collect 1500 pounds of plastic to get three benches made of the recycled materials in return. By donating your plastic bags to the church you will be helping with our goal, and keeping those items out of landfills. So far we have collected enough plastic to receive one bench. The plastic will be collected over the next year. Crochet/knit hats: We continue collecting handmade hats for babies born at Geisinger CMC in Scranton. Any pattern that makes a newborn or preemie sized hat works, but we do ask that you use softer yarn, as a baby’s skin is delicate. If you need a pattern, please contact the church office. So far we have donated almost 200 hats. Soda Tabs: We continue to collect soda tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. Thank to everyone who has and continued to collect tabs for this wonderful organization! CPR/AED Classes: We continue to offer CPR/AED classes to our members. Our very own Mark Chmielewski teaches the classes and is certified through the American Heart Association. The classes are $20 each and include a 4 hour class, a work book, and a digital certification card. If you would like to be added to the list for future classes, please contact the church office. 17

UPCOMING EVENTS We are excited to announce the return of our annual Trunk or Treat for a Cause. This event has become so popular, we will be moving it to the larger parking lot across the street from the church. The date has yet to be determined, but if anyone is interested in decorating a car or volunteering to help, please contact Jennie so she can get you on the list and keep you up to date. Preschool Open House: Friday, August 5 from 5-8pm; Saturday August 6 from 1-4pm. Preschool Start Date: Tuesday, September 6 for the preschool class, and Wednesday, September 7 for the preK class. Sunday School: The first day of Sunday School will be Sunday, September 11. CONFERENCE AND DISTRICT NEWS AND INFORMATION CLASSES BEING OFFERED THIS FALL: New classes for the fall season sponsored by Lay Servant Ministries are posted for some districts and a complete list will be available soon. Check the district and conference news updates for more information. Please 18

remember, these classes are available for anyone to participate! You can take them to further your journey as a Lay Servant/Speaker/Minister, and you can participate as one who is interested in learning more about living a fruitful Christian life! The first four sessions of GROW - Living as a Spiritual Transformational Leader are particularly written to help you find purpose as a growing disciple of Jesus. Come join the journey today! 19

LAY SERVANT MINISTRIES TEAM: The Lay Servant Ministries Team, under the leadership of District Lay Leader, John Clary, has been meeting and working to plan Lay Speaker check-in interviews in August. Information has been sent to all Lay Speakers (lay speakers are those certified to speak outside of their local church). Please sign up for these interviews. It is a Book of Disciplines requirement in order to remain certified. Information and sign-up can be found at this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/layspeakerinterviews. Lay Speaking classes are being planned to be held in various locations this fall. Be sure to pass along information as it becomes available to those in your congregations who are already serving and those who may be sensing a call to Lay Servant ministries. A Prayer for Living the Gospel God of yesterday, today and tomorrow, Open our ears that we may hear your Word. Open our hearts that we may understand your Word. Open our mouths that we may speak your World. Inspire us with the Gospel message, that we may celebrate all that is life-giving, restore hope where it has been lost, and work to bring about change where it is needed. May we live the Gospel with courage, constancy and love. May we be open to the challenge of your call to true freedom. May we be faithful to you in our daily choices and decisions. May we make your love known through our words and actions. 20

May the triune God reign in our hearts, now and forever. Amen. 21