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Administrative Ministries
The
Flame of Hope
Flame of Hope
January & February
2012
Monthly Edition
A publication of Hope United Methodist Church
Belchertown, Massachusetts
2012
Monthly Edition
A publication of Hope United Methodist Church
Belchertown, Massachusetts
January 2012
From the pastor’s study
Happy New Year and blessed Epiphany! We have entered 2012 with a new energy and a renovated sense of direction as disciples of Jesus Christ. On January 8, we had the opportunity to reaffirm our baptismal vows as a family and recommit our gifts, our prayers, our talents, and our service to God again. We acknowledged our identity as sons and daughters of the Most High, who became flesh to live among us as one of us, Jesus our brother, Jesus our Redeemer.
It is in the name of Jesus that we claim this year as a year of growth and new faith adventures. At the Church Retreat on January 7th, we evaluated our 2011 goals and redefined the goals for 2012. We even initiated a conversation for 2013. We also set a working calendar for the whole year! We laughed very much during our planning; laughter is so good for the soul. It was a spirit filled retreat.
Let me highlight some of our projected adventures for 2012 and beyond;
Hope’s Place is on its way, the fourth Tuesday of each month this congregation will open its doors to the community for a free simple meal, companionship, fellowship, and brief devotions. We have a coordinating team led by Lucy Klein and a whole church full of willing volunteers that can choose one Tuesday or more to help with donating soup and bread, serving, greeting, devotions, advertisement, and cleaning.
Our Family Contemporary Worship Service is also moving forward on the third Saturday of every month. As the name implies the worship service is designed to offer an additional opportunity for families and children of all ages to share a meal together, sing gospel songs accompany by guitar, harmonica, and keyboard. The worship is interactive and we use power point presentations to enhance the service and replace the bulletin. The Coordination Team, led by Reeny Genholt, is looking to expand the team to include a children-youth praise team at every worship service.
A Mission Fair in the fall will include local and global missions and will expand our horizons. In addition, the Mission Committee will show a brief video about where and how Hope’s mission shares are making a difference in the life of our brothers and sisters around the world once a month before our prelude in worship. Mission shares are one of the channels by which we bring God’s reign of justice with peace in this global village. Our mission is not to do mission for or to the poor, but with the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, the sick, and the displaced both here at home as well as around the world.
A new “dare” for Pastor Aida; a Walk –a-thon for Missions on March 31. I will walk from our church in Belchertown to the UMC in Hadley. I will be looking for sponsors very soon. This experience will also help to bring a better understanding of the long distances that people go in other parts of the world to go to church or serve someone in need. Please begin to pray for this adventure of faith. It may take me the whole day but I am going to do it for all the people that we serve through missions! More details will come at a later time.
We also want to grow our congregation in numbers, there are so many wonderful gifts and blessings in this congregation, and we should share them with the whole community at large. So we are encouraging every member and friend to bring a friend on Sunday, pray for him or her, disciple him/her by supporting them in their own journey of faith, and invite them to join Hope UMC as their home church or even their second home church! If we all do this we will double our congregation by the end of the year. Feel free and empowered to move from your comfort zone into the very rewarding experience of evangelism one on one!
Our Lay Pastoral/Visitation Ministry is committed to make sure that our shut ins and elderly will be visited and receive communion every month! The visitation team which is led by Deaconess Fay Flanary is engaged in a ministry of compassion, healing and presence that allows the Hope family to be intimately connected with one another.