May 2016

Metropolitan UMW Newsletter : May 2016 of 26

Metropolitan Memorial, St. Luke’s & Wesley

United Methodist Churches

202-363-4900 (MMUMC office)

[email protected]

Mark Your Calendar Highlights Daughter’s Tea, p. 2

Greater UMW and UM conferences,

p. 3

Great Day of Service recap, p. 4,

and photos, Appendix p. 13-26

Nominations for December

Recognition Luncheon needed, p. 6

New Feature: Joys & Concerns, p. 6

Notes on the Epworth House

Luncheon by Jeanie Mah, p. 6-8

Book review, p. 9

UMW Directory updates, p. 9

Notes on the Equal Justice Initiative

by Helene Lilly, p. 11

Circles, p. 12

May pg

9 M Board Mtg (7pm,

Conference Rm)

10-20

T-F

General Conference

(Portland, OR)

3

12 Th Registration due for GWD

Prayer Breakfast

3

15 Su Pentacost

16 M AARP (1pm, Vestry) 10

28 Sa GWD UMW Prayer

Breakfast (Hughes UMC,

Wheaton, MD)

3

June

1-3

W-F

BW Annual Conference

(Wardman Park Hotel, DC)

3

4 Sa Daughter’s Tea 2

16-18

F-Su

Northeast Jurisdiction

UMW Quadrennial

Meeting (Syracuse, NY)

July

11-15

M-F

Vacation Bible School 10

29-31

F-Su

Mission U (Pooks Hill

Marriott, Bethesda)

3

December

4 Su Recognition Luncheon 6

UMW Newsletter THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH

May 2016

mailto:[email protected]


UMW News

Metropolitan / Wesley United Methodist Women

Cordially invite you to a

Daughter’s Tea

Because we’re All Daughters

Saturday, June 4, 2016

3:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Wesley United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall

5312 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC

Come celebrate with Family and Friends

Enjoy a cup of Tea, Savory and Sweet Treats

And Live Music

Hats and Gloves are encouraged but not required

Suggested Donation $10.00


UMW News

General Conference:

General Conference, the quadrennial gathering of the world-wide United Methodist

Church will take place May 10 to 20 in Portland, Oregon. Our own Charlie Parker

is a delegate from Baltimore Washington Conference. Many important issues will

come before the conference. Of deep concern are the proposals to restructure the

denomination is ways that might take us to a denominational split over inclusion

of LGBT persons, or that would seek to maintain unity AND eliminate the

discriminatory effects of the "incompatible" clause. Please check the information posted on

Metropolitan's "Blogspot" for links to more information, and suggestions to ways you can

be in prayer and action during the upcoming weeks:

http://nationalchurch.blogspot.com/2016/04/actions-you-can-take-for-general.html

~ Ellen Bachman

UMW President

Other UMW & United Methodist Upcoming Events

May 28, 2016, Saturday 9:00am-12:00pm

Greater Washington District Annual Prayer Breakfast

Hughes UMC, 10700 Georgia Ave, Wheaton, MD 20902

Topic: Confirming the Christian Worldview as God’s Message to the World

Register by May 12, 2016, $10/person (see attached registration form)

June 1-3, 2016, Wednesday – Friday

Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference

Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington DC

July 29-31, 2016, Friday – Sunday

Mission U at (formerly School of Christian Mission)

Pooks Hill Marriott Hotel, 5151 Pooks Hill Road, Bethesda, MD 20814

As usual, there will be youth and adult courses with this year’s focus being Latin

America: People and Faith, Climate Justice, and The Bible and Human Sexuality. Co-

sponsored by the B-W Conference UMW and the General Board of Global Missions.

October

Greater Washington District Annual Meeting

Date and location TBD

Late November

UN Seminar sponsored by the B-W Conference UMW

New York City. Date TBD

Early December

Greater Washington District Leadership Training.

Date and location TBD

Experienced UMW officers coach newer officers in their roles.

http://nationalchurch.blogspot.com/2016/04/actions-you-can-take-for-general.html


UMW News

Great Day of Service Recap Thank you to everyone who joined us for our annual

Great Day of Service. We had a wonderful breakfast,

provided by Chef Anthony, and then got to work at the

St. Luke's Mission Center. Three people headed off to

Grand Oaks to arrange flowers, play games and sing

songs with the residents. Another three people headed

over to the DC Diaper Bank to be a part of the

distribution of the 3 millionth diaper to families in need.

Those of us who stayed at St. Luke's built 150 UMCOR

health kits, 200 hygiene kits, and 36 school

backpacks for Educare, an early childhood program in

DC. We also gussied up 60 teddy bears for the Wendt

Center on Loss and Healing's summer camp for grieving

children. And we created 46 birthday cards and 21 care

cards, sewed stoles, signed letters and sorted food bags

for Metro House and St. Luke's Shelter. Please join us

next year as we love our neighbors by helping our

neighbors.

Photos courtesy of Anita Seline (above) & Jeanie Mah (below)

~Anita Seline

For more photos, see the Appendix


UMW News

Sharing our Joys and Concerns:

One of the moving moments at each month's UMW

Executive Board Meeting is our sharing of Joys and

Concerns. While some of what is shared is personal, this

time also permits your leaders to share news of life events

affecting others known to us. For me, it is a Holy

remembering of our caring for the well being of all of our

UMW Sisters. In the past month, Circle 6 has used email

to share concerns about some of our members, as they or

loved ones experienced medical challenges, and gradually

made progress toward renewed health. I imagine that this

also takes place among other UMW Circles.

Alex and I have been considering whether could also

share news of Joys and Concerns in this Newsletter. Doing

so would mean that we need to balance our loving impulse

to build our connections with each other with or against

the right of each member for privacy concerning difficult

events in our lives. It's one thing to share sensitive

information with a dear friend, and another to see that

information in print that is shared with our broad

membership.

Here's the basic guideline: which are suggested by our

Caring Ministries: Any information shared about another person must be at their request or with their permission. I suggest that when we learn of another's concerns, we ASK

if we may share that information, with the Board, with

one's Circle, with the membership. We can also inquire as

to the degree of detail that is shared. Perhaps it's okay to

share that (name) asks for prayers. Perhaps the person for

whom we're seeking prayers is willing to share the nature

of the request--health issues, a stressful job, a change in

life circumstances. Or perhaps it's okay to share additional

details. Our respect for the information shared is part of

our Caring for that person.

With all of that in mind, we are prepared to include

a Joys and Concerns section in our newsletter. Please

share!

~ Ellen Bachman

UMW President

Joys & Concerns:

Ellen Bachman asks for

prayers of support for

members of Circle 6

experiencing health

issues. She also requests

prayers for all of the

delegates and volunteers

at General

Conference, May 10 to

20 in Portland, Oregon,

who will be making critical

policy decisions for our

denomination.

A note shared to the

membership of a UMW

Circle stays in the Circle.


UMW News

Recognition Lunch Sunday, December 4th, 12:30 p.m.

Each year the UMW of Metropolitan Memorial hold a Recognition Luncheon honoring

women who have made a significant contribution to the church the nation, and the

world. This year the luncheon will be held on Sunday, December 4th at 12:30 p.m. We

are seeking nominations of outstanding women to honor this year. Please submit

nominations to Beverly Fleming at [email protected].

Intelligent Life Beyond Our Local

Unit: Notes from the Annual

Epworth House Mission

Luncheon

By Jeanie Mah, former UMW President

As timing would have it, the 2014 UMW

Quadrennial Assembly happened to fall

during the early part of my term as unit

president. Wanting to feel competent

and connected to my new role and

honestly not knowing how, I figured that

maybe going to Assembly in Louisville,

KY, would somehow help me “get it”. I’d

never been to Louisville and was girded

with my newly-minted title, so I thought,

“If not now, when?”

When I got to Louisville, I noticed a

sizable contingent of women wearing red

sashes that indicated they were from the

Baltimore-Washington Conference. I

wondered who these women were, what

churches they were from and what their

experiences of UMW were.

Let me be clear that our unit’s cup

runneth over with women who have

immense gifts for leadership and

mentoring, and that I have perpetually

leaned on their wisdom and the firm

foundation they have built for our unit.

But the United Methodist Women is a

national and global movement that

never rests from the work of social

justice and expanding the roles of

women in Christ’s church. As my time at

Assembly went on and I heard about the

creative and inspiring ministries that

women created to address problems in

their communities, I found myself

wondering, “Don’t they ever get tired?”

“How do they keep from getting to the

point where they’re just running on

fumes?”

After Assembly, I realized that maybe if

I attended some of the UMW events Continued, page 7



UMW News

Continued from p. 6

beyond our local unit, some of these

women’s faces wouldn’t look like

strangers’ faces to me. And again, as

timing would have it, our Greater

Washington District President,

Geraldine Whitley, asked if our unit

would take a turn hosting the May 2015

District Prayer Breakfast. I could

already see myself, running on fumes

from trying to fix this lady and about 70

others strangers breakfast. But when I

finally met Geraldine, her gratitude

melted my heart, and I could see that she

had worked far harder in planning this

special event than I had, and with

immeasurably more grace. When I saw

Geraldine again that summer at Mission

U, I began to feel less like a stranger

among a sea of faces.

The current UMW Board is proposing

that our unit sponsor at least one

member to attend each District or

Conference UMW event throughout the

year. Connie Sommers attended the

District’s Legislative Seminar in Silver

Spring back in February. On April 2, I

attended the annual Epworth House

luncheon in College Park, co-sponsored

by the Greater Washington and

Washington East districts.

Arriving about 10 minutes late, I was

invited to sit with a group of women,

some of whom were leaders of the event,

at the front of the ballroom. (You know

how guests who show up on-time are too

polite to take a seat at the front of the

room.) They asked me what church I was

from and directly set to work in making

me feel welcome. They definitely had

heard of Metropolitan-Wesley-St. Luke’s

but seemed surprised to see me.

As I passed the salad dressing and

dutifully ate the chicken breast, one

woman talked about the training she

was going through to be involved a

women’s prison ministry. Another was

helping to plan Bishop Matthews’

retirement celebration. Yet another was

being honored that day at age 92, as this

was her last year on the luncheon

planning committee. Don’t these women ever get tired? But I also heard them

admonish and encourage one another to

take care of themselves, not to feel like

they had to do it all, and suggesting

others who could share their load.

I signed up for the luncheon not

expecting to know a soul. Yes, Geraldine

was there, of course, and so was Rev.

Drema’s husband (whom I had never

met), there to introduce the featured

speaker, Suka Joshua. But I felt

immediately accepted and embraced by

the ladies at my table who didn’t know

me from Eve. Taking a deep breath and

stepping outside of your comfort zone to

a place of vulnerability offers its unique

blessings. At Assembly, I went to a

session given by an organization called

“Showing Up for Racial Justice”.

Sometimes we are called to be leaders,

movers and shakers. Sometimes, all

we’re called to do is show up.

The Epworth House Mission supports

housing and scholarship funding for an

international female student studying at

Wesley Theological Seminary. This

year’s Epworth House Mission recipient

is Suka Joshua, an educator from India.

Suka gave a heartfelt witness about her

childhood and the challenges she and

her mother faced because of her mother’s

Christian faith and decision to raise

Suka as a Christian.

“I lost my father when I was one year

old. My mother was then twenty five

years young. My mother was a Christian Continued, page 8


UMW News

Continued from p. 7

and my father a Hindu. Life of a widow

in India [in] those days was nothing but

a tale of tears, rejection, hurts and

humiliation. But my mother was a

determined woman, [a] woman of strong

faith in Jesus. We lived in a Hindu joint

family and amidst heavy opposition, she

brought me up in Christian faith, fed me

with the love of the Lord and the Word of

God. She believed the gospel and a sound

education are the greatest investments

any wise parent would make on their

children.”

uka Joshua, Epworth House Mission

Recipient

Suka also shared this anecdote:

“There once was a woman who hated her

mother-in-law and asked the town

medicine woman for a poison with which

to do away with her. The medicine

woman agreed and gave her a bag of

poisonous herbs, but with very specific

instructions: ‘You must only sprinkle a

pinch of these herbs on your mother-in-

law’s food each time you serve her a

meal. Additionally, each time you serve

her her food, you must pretend that you

love her and are devoted to her, and you

must act as if you care about her every

need. In this way, your mother-in-law

will gradually be poisoned to death and

you will not be suspected.’

“Six months later, the same woman

asked to meet with the medicine woman

and was extremely upset. ‘What is

wrong?’ the medicine woman asked. The

woman answered, ‘I did as you

instructed and acted as if I loved and

cared for my mother-in-law three times

a day whenever I served her a meal. But

my mother-in-law believed my acting

and started to act in a more loving way

toward me. In time, as a result I also

came to truly love her. And now I need

you to give me an antidote to the poison

because I do not want my mother-in-law

to die!’”

~ Jeanie


UMW News

Book Review from the UMW Reading Program

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

By Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson and his book, “Just Mercy” have touched me deeply.

I have spoken of this on several occasions when we gather as United

Methodist Women and promised to write a review for our Newsletter.

However, I received a note from Joan Davenport who has read “Just

Mercy”. She reviewed the book more eloquently I could ever express. I

share that now with you:

“I have just finished reading “Just Mercy” a story of justice and redemption. It is on the U.M.W. reading list for 2016 under social action. It definitely should come on your reading list for books of racial understanding. It is in our library for checking out. If you don’t have a chance to read it, at least read the last chapter, “The Stonecatchers’ Song of Sorrow”. The author, Bryan Stevenson, has done so much good work getting juveniles off mandatory sentences for life without change of parole. He and his organization, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) have done so much for poor people (both black and white) by representing them and getting them freed from incarceration after being falsely accused of very serious crimes. We all need to learn more to bring us together to gain a better understanding of these issues.”

Stevenson writes that if we acknowledged our brokenness, we could no longer take pride

in mass incarceration, in executing people, in our deliberate indifference to the most

vulnerable. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise.

You see things you can’t otherwise see; you hear things you can’t otherwise hear. You begin

to recognize the humanity that resides in each of us.

~ Helene Lilly

UMW Program Resources Mission Coordinator

Directory Updates – Corrections Dear UMW Sisters,

The UMW Directory 2016 is now ready both in hard copy and electronic versions.

For those of you who do not have email and want a copy of the directory, they are in a box

in the business office copier room with a sign-up sheet on top. Please sign out if you take a

directory. Any questions please contact Phyllis Kokus ([email protected]) or Caralee

Adams.([email protected])

~ Caralee Adams and Phyllis Kokus, Membership Co-chairs

Note corrections to the print directory:

Recognition, Addie Owens


Metropolitan & Community News

Food for Thought

Wednesday evening adult Christian formation programs Dinner 6 pm; Classes 7 pm

Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church

www.nationalchurch.org/Learning/Adult

Food for Thought: Every Wednesday, Every Week

Every Wednesday evening, everyone is welcome to a community dinner in the Vestry

between 6 and 7 pm. Enjoy a chef-prepared meal with friends old and new. Dinner is $8

per adult, $5 per child, with a maximum of $20 per family. AU students pay what you can.

Reservations are appreciated for planning purposes; to reserve your meal, go to

http://www.nationalchurch.org/Learning/Adult#wednesday.

After you feed your body, feed your mind and soul with a mid-week study. Food for Thought

features two different study opportunities: a Bible study and a topical study. Studies

change monthly, so you can choose a Bible study one month and a topical study the next,

without missing pieces of either. The Bible study is led by Bob Olson,

co-chair of the Learning Pillar, and Rev. Charlie Parker, the senior

pastor of the Metropolitan Church. Topical studies will be led by

different individuals throughout the year.

Continuted p. 11

March AARP Meeting Monday, May 16, 1pm, Vestry

Please join us on Monday, May 16 in

the Vestry. Writer, lecturer and tour

guide Garrett Peck will discuss his

book “Walt Whitman in Washington,

D.C.: The Civil War and America’s

Great Poet.”

Social time is at 12:30 p.m., and the

meeting starts at 1:00. Refreshments

will be served. Contact Bobby

Turnbull, [email protected].

Vacation Bible School—We Want

YOU to Help

Save the Date: July 11-15; 9am till noon

You may think VBS is not

your thing. You’d be

wrong.

This year’s program is all

about food and faith

and feeding the hungry.

To help, Contact:

Courtney Leatherman:

[email protected];

http://www.nationalchurch.org/Learning/Adult




Metropolitan & Community News

Continued from p. 10

Session 8: May 4, 11, 18, and 25

Bible Study: 1 Corinthians Led by Patrick Landau. The apostle Paul founded the Christian

church in Corinth. It was multicultural and made up of people from all different economic

classes. In later years, he wrote a series of letters back to that church, encouraging them

in their faith but calling them to task for their hypocrisy too. What does this letter to a

diverse, conflicted Corinthian church have to say to our diverse, conflicted church today?

Topical Study: Embracing Forgiveness. A study by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton. Led by Rev. Janet Craswell. Forgiveness is not a job or task; it is not a conditional act to earn

God’s love. It is a spiritual gift given freely by a God who simply wants to connect with us.

Author Barbara Cawthorne Crafton shows how forgiveness can remove the tumor of anger

from our hearts to become a means of grace that gives us back our humanity. Crafton’s

thoughtful insight allows participants to weight the transforming power of forgiveness in

their own lives.

Information about Equal Justice Initiative:

The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a private, nonprofit human rights organization. EJI

helps the poor, the incarcerated, the condemned, and children. Our work with

children is focused on providing legal assistance to juveniles condemned to die in

prison; challenging the placement of youth in adult jails and prisons, where they face

an elevated risk of assault and sexual violence; and challenging the prosecution of

very young children as adults.

In the last several years, EJI has won several reforms that aid children caught in the

American criminal justice system. EJI is currently seeking to end the adult prosecution

of any child under age 14; to end the placement of any juvenile under age 18 in an

adult jail or prison; and to abolish life imprisonment without parole and other excessive

sentences imposed on children.

www.eji.org

~ Helene Lilly

UMW Program Resources Mission Coordinator

http://www.eji.org/


Circles

AU The AU UMW Circle meets Fridays at 7:00 p.m. in the "AU Lounge" at Metropolitan.

Contact Tori Lynn Gilkeson at [email protected].

1 Contact Helene Lilly at [email protected].

2 For our May 11th meeting, Circle Two will be at the home of Carolyn Clewell for our

annual “Book Club”. It’s an opportunity for us to share books that we have recently

enjoyed. Contact Charlotte Carter, [email protected].

6 Please join us on May 1 as we enjoy the latest performance of the Metro Players,

Rumors! The play is at 2:00, after the performance we will share a meal together at Al

Dente, please RSVP to Mary Jo, so we can make a reservation for our circle. Join us as

we test-drive our new format of quarterly gatherings. Questions, Mary Jo Marchant,

[email protected] or Ann Michel, [email protected].

8 We will meet on Tuesday, May 3 at 7:30 to about 9:00 p.m. in the Parlor. We will be

reading the Book of Ruth, Chapters 3 & 4. If you can bring your Bible, it makes it a lot

more interesting. Our Hostesses will be Marilyn and Alison Daifuko and Devotions will be

given by Marilyn. Contact Kelly D’Angelo at [email protected].

9 Circle 9 will meet on Wednesday, May 4 at 10:30 a.m. in the Choir Room. Mary Rollefson

will tell us about the rain garden and landscaping she helped install at the church.

Please contact Bobby Turnbull, [email protected].

10 Circle 10 – Sunday, May 15 @ 5:30pm in the MMUMC Parlor for a book discussion of “The

Dovekeepers” by Alice Hoffman. All welcome! RSVP to Jeanie Mah

/ [email protected].

The next UMW Board Meeting is Monday, May 9

Newsletter prepared by Alexandra McPherron. To add items to the next newsletter, email

[email protected] by Friday, May 27, 2016.











Appendix

Photos from the Spring Great Day of Service

By Jeanie Mah and Anita Seline


Appendix

May 2016

Documents

Transcript of May 2016