Volume 13, Issue 7

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Contents

3 Pastor’s Letter

4 Opportunities to Serve

5 Spiritual Gifts Sign-up

6 West Olive Wednesdays

7 W.O.W. Registration

8 Five Practices

9 News You Can Use

10 Calendar of Events

11 Volunteer Schedule

12 Contact Information

Morningstar UMC seeks to share the light and love of Jesus Christ to all we encounter. Morningstar will be a community where each person is offered opportunities and challenged to grow in his/her relationship with God throughout his/her life. As we grow in our love of God, we will increase our growth of healthy relationships by encouraging people of all ages through accountability, study, prayer, fellowship, and service. The more our congregation grows in these primary relationships (with God and our neighbors), we will see ourselves reaching out into the local community, region and world through acts of service – sharing the light of Jesus Christ in hands-on, meaningful ways, and inviting others to experience God’s love for themselves.

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Just this past week, three adults and two youth went to Home Sweet Home Mission. One of the youth had never been there before. When we went, we had made last-minute changes to our meal, stopping by the grocery store to pick up items that were needed. That, in addition to the food you donated, should have been plenty. When we arrived and had begun preparing our meal (expecting to serve about 80 people), we learned we would probably serve over 100. We scrambled, quickly finding extra chicken to heat. When all was said and done, 117 people were fed. Every month, we take a risk. Few of us have ever stayed in a shelter, or needed to go to a mission in order to receive a hot meal. Yet, every month, we continue to donate food, and teams of youth and adults go to pre-pare it. We interact and talk with those who are there. We try to meet their basic needs by providing them with good food. We try to provide for basic needs when we give to the food pantry at Park UMC. We take a risk when we send youth and adults on mission trips throughout the country. We have some idea of what we might encounter, but we never are fully prepared for the plight of those who have been affected by hunger, homelessness, addiction, or natural disaster. We take risks all the time. As a congregation, we took a bold risk last July when we started to partner with West Olive Faith UMC. We knew what we had learned about ourselves as a congregation, and felt we could be of help and service. Together, we’re taking a risk to move forward into our second year. We risk together as we serve in partnership with W.O.W. (Wednesdays at West Olive Faith UMC) during July and August. The longer we serve in ministry together, I have been stepping back to view and review who we are as a congregation. It excites me to no end to see the steps we’ve taken to risk giving ourselves away to others. There’s always more to do, and in the pages of this newsletter, I hope you’ll discover ways that you can take small (or large) risks to be in mission with God’s children. I will see you in worship! Grace and peace,

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Take a moment and learn about your spiritual gifts at www.spiritualgiftstest.com.

After you have completed the spiritual gifts test, please check the area(s) in which you are willing to take a risk and serve for the next year. Once you have filled out this sheet, please drop it in the folder marked “Opportunities to Serve” on the bulletin board near the main office of the church.

Every month, you see a page in The Beacon, dedicated to remind people of their service in worship. However, there are lots of ways to serve this congregation, and beyond. Included in this issue of The Beacon, in addition to the July serving schedule, is also an inventory checklist. Have you been serving in the past in a particular area, but no longer wish to serve there? Is there something that has been nagging at you to try, but you haven’t been able to push yourself to do it? We encourage you to fill out the checklist (categorized by spiritual gift), and submit it to the church office by July 15. Checklists will also be included in the bulletins July 1, 8, and 15. Please put your name on it, so we know who it belongs to! We will take the results from the inventories and begin to use those in August 2012. Our administrative assistant, Andrew Stange, works hard to develop the schedule for days that people are available to serve. Please take note that about two weeks before the upcoming month, Andrew puts a sample schedule in The News You Can Use. Please watch for the schedule each month, and let the church office know if you have a conflict with a scheduled date as soon as possible. We’ll try to tweak the schedule to so that it’s as up-to-date and corrected by the time The Beacon goes to print. Take a risk this summer – choose at least one opportunity to serve in worship, an opportunity to serve the church outside of worship, and an opportunity to serve our community.

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Administration

Offering Counters (Assist Financial Secretary)

Coordinate Home Sweet Home meals

Discernment

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Sunday

mornings

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Wednesday

nights

Evangelism

Newcomer callers

Quarterly meal prep/serving at Home Sweet Home

Greeters

Exhortation

Children’s Moment

Liturgist

Faith

E-mail prayer chain

Postal mail prayer chain

Serving

Acolytes

Media (sound/computer) technicians

Ushers

Coffee Hosts/Hostesses

Church Cleaning

Mowing

Landscaping

Cooking team for Wednesday Family Nights

Adult nursery substitute

Youth nursery assistant

Knowledge

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Sunday mornings

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Wednesday nights

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Sunday

mornings

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Wednesday

nights

Teaching adults on Sunday mornings

Teaching adults on Wednesday nights

Mercy

Quarterly meal prep/serving at Home Sweet Home

Cooking team for Wednesday nights

Music

Chancel Choir (adults/youth)

Handbells (adults/youth)

Youth Choir (jr/sr high)

Youth Handbells (jr/sr high)

Praise Band

Vocalist

Instrumentalist (list instrument) ____________

Pastor

Drama Team

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Sunday mornings

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Wednesday nights

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Sunday

mornings

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Wednesday

nights

Teaching adults on Sunday mornings

Teaching adults on Wednesday nights

Teaching

Children’s Moment

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Sunday mornings

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Wednesday nights

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Sunday

mornings

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Wednesday

nights

Teaching adults on Sunday mornings

Teaching adults on Wednesday nights

Wisdom

Children’s Moment

Liturgist

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Sunday mornings

Teach/Assist K-5 students on Wednesday nights

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Sunday

mornings

Teach/Assist jr/sr high students on Wednesday

nights

Teaching adults on Sunday mornings

Teaching adults on Wednesday nights

First Name Last Name

Email Address Phone Number

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We have some great things planned this summer for Wednesdays at West Olive Faith

UMC - WOW! We will be offering this ministry on July 11, 18, and 25, as well as August

1, 8, and 15. A free meal will be served from 5:00pm - 5:30pm. From 5:30pm to

7:30pm, there will be classes for children through age 11, and a class for adults. The

children’s themes will be Creation, Noah’s ark, Christmas in July, Jonah and the whale,

David & Goliath, and Paul’s travels.

Each night, children will have the opportunity to experience crafts, games, mission

moments, and stories based upon the themes, as well as a time for singing. Parents will

have the opportunity to meet together for discussions about parenting, support, and faith.

How can you get involved? We are looking for people who can serve on teams in the

following areas:

Kitchen (cooking/serving dinner)

Nursery (working with birth through age 3)

Crafts

Music

Games

Stories

Shepherds to assist with age groups 4-7 and 8-11

Adults

Commit to come each week, or if you join a team, work out a schedule so that you can

serve as often as you can. If you want to help, but have not yet gone through the Safe

Sanctuaries training, please contact Pastor Jay at pastor@mymorningstar.org to go

through the training and fill out an application. Do you have other questions? Please

contact Eva DeVore at evadev4@yahoo.com or Pam Venter at

pam_venter@yahoo.com, and they’ll be happy to direct you to those who can help.

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A Faith-Based Family Program

Location: West Olive Faith United Methodist Church 1306 West Olive Street, Bloomington, IL 61701

Parent/Guardian Registration

First Name: ____________________________________ Last Name:____________________________________

Address: ____________________________________ City:________________ State:______ Zip:______

Home Phone: __________________________________ Cell Phone: ____________________________________

Email Address: ________________________________

Activities include:

Discussion for Parents Free Evening Meal

Stories, Crafts, Games, and Music for Kids

Wednesdays at West Olive Child Registration (Please fill out ONE FORM for each child)

Child’s Name: ___________________________ Age:_______ Grade Just Completed:_______

Home Address: ___________________________ City:________________ State:_______ Zip:_______

Home Phone: ___________________________ Cell Phone:__________________________

Parent/Guardian Name: ______________________ Emergency Contact Name: _______________________

Emergency Contact Phone: _______________________

My child has the following medical conditions: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

My child has the following food allergies: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

By signing below, I give permission for the following:

___ Yes, my child has permission to receive medical attention, if necessary. ___ No, my child MAY NOT receive medical attention if staff determines a necessity. ___ Yes, my child has permission to be photographed at Wednesdays at West Olive Faith 2012. ___ No, my child MAY NOT be photographed during Wednesdays at West Olive Faith 2012.

The following person(s) have permission to pick up my child:____________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature:____________________________

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Want to know more about Risk-Taking Mission & Service? Check out Rev. Robert Schnase’s book, The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. The Congregational Practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service: “Mission and Service refers to the projects, efforts, and work people do to make a positive difference in the lives of others for the purposes of Christ, whether or not they will ever become part of the community of faith. Risk-taking pushes us out of our comfort zone, stretching us beyond service to people we already know, exposing us to people, situations, and needs that we would never ordinarily encounter apart from our deliberate intention to serve Christ. Congregations who practice Risk-taking Mission and Service offer endless opportunities for people to make a difference in lives of others through service projects, volunteer opportunities, and mission initiatives.” The Personal Practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service: “The personal practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service involves offering ourselves in purposeful service to others in need, making a positive difference even at significant personal cost and inconvenience to our own lives. We offer ourselves, our gifts and abilities and passions, to God so God can use us to transform the world by relieving suffering. We serve.”

Description from http://fivepractices.org/risk-taking-mission-service/

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_______________ _______________ First Name Last Name _______________ _______________

Address 1 Address 2 _______________ _______ _______

City State Zip _______________

Phone

Are you receiving the weekly calendar of events? Every Monday an email with

the current week’s events is sent out to anyone who wishes to know the

church’s schedule. If you are not on our current mailing list, please visit http://

eepurl.com/jd4Ln to register your email address. If you would prefer a weekly

paper copy, please fill out the form below and return it to the church office.

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July 2012

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

9:00am Christian Formation 10:00am Prayer Time 10:15am Worship

2 3

1:00pm Sit-N-Knit

4

(Office Closed)

5

6:00pm Ladies’ Crafts

6 7

8

9:00am Christian Formation 10:00am Prayer Time 10:15am Worship 5:00pm Romans Study

9 10

1:00pm Sit-N-Knit

11 12

6:00pm Ladies’ Crafts

13 14

15

9:00am Christian Formation 10:00am Prayer Time 10:15am Worship 1:00pm Finance/Lay Leadership Meeting 2:00pm SPRC/Trustees Meeting 5:00pm Romans Study

16 17

1:00pm Sit-N-Knit

18 19

6:00pm Ladies’ Crafts

20 21

10:00am Praise Band

22

9:00am Christian Formation 10:00am Prayer Time 10:15am Worship 5:00pm Romans Study

23 24

1:00pm Sit-N-Knit

25 26

6:00pm Ladies’ Crafts

27 28

29

9:00am Christian Formation 10:00am Prayer Time 10:15am Worship 5:00pm

30 31

1:00pm Sit-N-Knit

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July 2012 Lawn Mowing Schedule

07/07/2012 07/14/2012 07/21/2012 07/28/2012

Adam Drake Kimberlyn Cross

David Helpingstine John Weter

Larry & Betty Haag Gil & Barb Engel

Wayne Goris Wayne Giermann

July 2012

July 1 July 8 July 15 July 22 July 29

Offertory Music

Wang Family Handbell Trio Vocal Duet Summer Choir Handbell Solo

Liturgist Ellen Howe Gary Wang Dave Venter Wayne

Giermann Dean Westpfahl

Children’s Message

Tom Howe Stephanie Soon Andy Goveia Adam Drake Ellen Howe

Acolyte Shelby Todd Hannah

Schneider Jordan Kao Tanner Todd Riley Fleck

Media Technicians

Andy Goveia Mark Immke Joe Kao Dean Westpfahl John Weter

Ushers

Bill Sheets (H) Wayne Goris

Andrew Immke John Weter

Sue Fetters (H) Georgia Griffith

Betty Haag Larry Haag

Tom Howe (H) Josh Immke Mark Immke Tricia Todd

Sharee Wright Dave Wright

Joe Kao Kim Kao

Mary Ann Altine (H)

Jim Snow Mike Schneider

Greeters Eva DeVore Jeannine McNemee

Gary Wang Betty Bickerstaff Rob Burger

Coffee Host Dave & Pam Tricia Todd Eva DeVore Lori Immke Regan Jimison

Offering Counters

Diana Wang Mary Ann Altine Betty

Bickerstaff Dean Westpfahl Betty Haag

Newcomer Callers

Georgia Griffith Bill & Ruthann

Sheets Michelle

Giermann Georgia Griffith

Bill & Ruthann Sheets

Church Cleaning

Ryan & Regan Jimison

Teri Peterson Dave & Pam

Venter John Weter Lori Immke

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Morningstar United Methodist Church

Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:00am -3:00pm

Office Telephone: (309) 452-6255

Website: www.mymorningstar.org

Worship with us on Sundays at 10:15 am

Contact Information

Rev. Jay Regennitter, Pastor pastor@mymorningstar.org

Pastor Stephanie Soon, Deacon & Pianist music@mymorningstar.org

Andrew Stange, Administrative Assistant office@mymorningstar.org

Adam Drake & Kimberlyn Cross, Nursery Ministry Staff nursery@mymorningstar.org