THE CARILLON Page 1

MAY/JUNE 2017

At the March 9 district training on evangelism, presenter Gannon Sims of Fresh Expressions US asked us

to write down what we wanted to get from the session. I wrote: “I want to help my church see its

responsibility for reaching and meeting its neighbors.”

Others had similar questions, which lead to Sims’ asking, “When did we understand that it was about

coming to us rather than going to them?” That’s a good question. We’d just heard a sermon from Christa

Springstead of St. John’s UMC, whose text was Jesus’ call to the fishermen, telling them that they would fish

for people if they followed him. So when did the church decide that it was about our having people come to

us rather than our going to them? Again, that’s a good question for the church to ponder.

As Sims talked, I started to think that churches have to start with relationships rather than worship when it

comes to meeting neighbors. I think that one way that Epworth might do this is to incorporate service projects

into events already established. For example, could we precede Paws in Faith with something similar to

Coffee on the Porch? Could we be outside half an hour early, offering something to passersby? My first

thought was to get a bunch of sandwiches and share them -- maybe something from Subway on Granby, since

they cut us a deal for Consider the Possibilities in 2015. We had Paws in Faith outside this month for the first

time. Getting outside is a great start to meeting our neighbors, and to begin offering a relationship with Jesus

Christ.

What kind of service-project attraction might we offer? Shall we bring back the idea of a prayer walk

from summer 2015? Note that being outside the walls of the castle is always a good thing, as we learned at

Reaching New People, also in 2015. Maybe when we get outside the walls of the castle, we can ask our

neighbors what would work for them.

At the March 9 training, Gannon Sims said that 16 percent of Americans go to church. He counted 60 to

80 percent of the population as having no church preference or practice or even as being “dechurched,” which

he defined as having left the church because of one kind of experience or another. It’s this 60 to 80 percent

that the church needs to reach, Sims said, adding that the church “brings different people to the community of

God, and that’s what matters.”

Sims suggested that steps to take in evangelism may be:

1. Listen

2. Serve

3. Build community

Epworth has a lot going for it, not the least of which is its phenomenal location. We all see the

development going on around us, and we can all see that the harvest is ready.

When I went through freshman orientation at Virginia Wesleyan College in 1980, Terre Ittner, an expert

on human relations, told us that the best way to make friends is to get peole to talk about themselves, because

everyone is their own favorite subject. This is true, but it takes time. Are we willing to invest time with our

neighbors in order to fulfill the UMC’s mission statement of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the

transformation of the world?

Grace and peace,

Ned Alderman

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 2

Chip Soulen 2

Karolyn Holley 3

Mary Elizabeth Matsler 5

Tom Tomlinson 6

Ned Alderman 9

Charles Roadcap 10

Courtney Harbison 16

Pamela Graves 23

Edward Perkins 23

Bonnie Brown 24

Cristy Howlett 25

Patrick Howlett 29

Louis Oliver Wilson 30

Tyler Griffin Bagwell 31

Lisa Bailey 31

Rachel Bell 31

Audrey Benson 31

T

o

m

T

o

m

l

i

n

s

o

n

6

B

i

Shirley Brendle 1

Jane Lewis 2

Edward Denniston 3

Bill Gray 3

Savannah McNeilan 3

Charlie Evans 4

Jason James 5

Joshua Wilson 5

Susan Borges 8

Evan Hecht 8

Elizabeth Lutz 11

Ellen Hiatt 12

Aaron Dunn 13

Thomas Harbison 13

Hope Lucart 13

Zachary Harbison 18

Amanda Ward 19

Austin Bagwell 20

Roger Free Ward 24

Elizabeth (Scotty) Buchanan 25

Bonnie Bill 30

Elizabeth Williamson 30

M AY JUNE

WE EXTEND OUR CHRISTIAN

SYMPATHY TO:

Family and friends on the death of

Jay Burns, Sr, April 11, 2017.

May God comfort them in their loss.

IN MEMORIAM

ROYAL C. MADRY, JR.

July 31, 1921 – January 23, 2017

Footsteps in the sands of time

Whether days be bright or dreary,

The longer we are forced to walk

Even the strongest soon grow weary.

When we have taken that final test

And found that we have done our best,

God calls us in to be His guest

And we achieve eternal rest.

-W. Ronald Bagwell

The Wesleymen are saddened by the passing of their

loyal Christian friend and brother, Royal C Madry, Jr. He

was a faithful Wesleyman and Epworth United Methodist

Church member, always present when we needed him and

is now in the arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Praise the Lord.

DIRECTORY UPDATES:

Michael and Wendy Holley 6720 Talbot Hall Crescent Norfolk, VA 23505

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 3

Thursday May 25, and Thursday, June 22,

at 10 am. Please contact the

church office for more information or to volunteer.

H – L send to:

Mary Banks

350 S. Ridgewood Ave #208

Ormond Beach, FL 32174

Dorothy Whitfield

1213 Suffield Drive

McLean VA 22101

Lois Davenport

6311 Granby Street,

Apt. #413

Norfolk, VA 23505

M - Q send to:

Marguerite Silverson

Beth Shalom Terrace

1049 College Park Blvd.,

The Home Rm. #222

Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Ruth Hart

7054 Kirby Crescent

Norfolk, VA 23505

Make someone’s day special by participating in our monthly

“Card Shower”

for members who are either in Health Care facilities or Homebound. AKA

our Missing Angels

A – C send to:

John Smeltzer

1010 Collection Creek Way

Virginia Beach, VA 23454

Ed Hurd

1127 Vintage Court

Virginia Beach, VA 23454

Shirley Brendle

First Colonial Inn

845 First Colonial Road #260

Virginia Beach, VA 23451

D – G send to:

Ms. Louise Gwaltney

c/o F.X. Shannon

10 Applewood Drive

Hopewell, N. J. 08525

Mary Lee Lowe

6311 Granby Street,

Apt. #209

Norfolk, VA 23505

Ms. Rachel Bell

One Colley Ave. #

Norfolk, VA 23510

R – Z send to:

Ann Gatling

5417 Wesleyan Drive

# 204

Virginia Beach, VA 23455

Jane Lewis

6311 Granby Street,

Apt. #221

Norfolk, VA 23505

Marilyn Sarko

432 Bartell Drive

Chesapeake, VA 23452

OUR MISSING ANGELS

(homebound members who are unable to

attend church) would love to continue to be a

part of Epworth.

You can help keep our Missing Angels

connected by volunteering to serve on the

Missing Angel Connection.

This would involve calling a homebound

member once a month to share what's going on

at Epworth.

If you would be interested in participating in

this program, please contact the church office.

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 4

Our Committee adopted a new vision this year of mission, nurture, community outreach,

and social action

Our mission projects keep us busy! Projects such as the Lenten collection for the Society of St.

Andrew, and upcoming projects such as Native American Sunday, April 30th

, which will be the kick off for

our drive for the Mattaponi Indians. We will also be collecting cans for conference again this year along

with kits for UMCOR. Our pastor along with our conference delegate will deliver them to the Annual

Conference in June. This is in addition to our ongoing missions of Mobile Meals, collecting used ink

cartridges and Campbell labels to benefit the Wesley Community Center, supporting IGNITE Norfolk’s

food pantry, and books for the inmates of the Norfolk City Jail.

We continue to nurture and connect with our church members such as the Missing Angels by

delivering seasonal goody bags, delivering poinsettias and Easter lilies and always looking at ways to keep

them connected with the church by sending them the Sunday bulletin each week and starting a phone

committee to call a Missing Angel once a month to share with them what’s going on at Epworth and a

simple devotion. We also participate in the Stephen Ministries program which has a very encouraging series

on grief; booklets that are sent to members who have lost a loved one. And don’t forget, Mother’s Day and

Father’s Day – we love handing out special gifts on those days!

Our community outreach such as Coffee on the Porch on Sunday mornings was started as a way to

introduce ourselves and to get to know our neighbors downtown. We are always looking for people who

would like to become part of this team. This summer we will also be hosting tours from cruise ships coming

into downtown Norfolk. You will be hearing more about this project in the future.

Regarding social action, we will explore various activities and when we find them to be of Christian

values, we will let the congregation know of them and where appropriate, we will be involved. Some

possible issues would be environmental stewardship, gun violence, and health care.

If you would like to participate in any of the above projects such as volunteering to be on the

Missing Angel phone tree, serve Coffee on the Porch, feel free to contact any of the committee members or,

just come to an Outreach meeting the second Saturday of each month to see what we are all about!

And, finally,

we wish to thank all of you who have given so generously of your time, resources and prayers.

Don’t forget that our committee would not be able to accomplish any of this without you!

Faye Joseph, Chair of Outreach

Members: Ann Long, Carolyn Rogers, Donna Benken, Karen Ward, Laura Rorato, Mary Baker,

Mary Lee Howlett, Vivian Rogers, Ann Gatling, member emeritus.

SSHHAARRIINNGG GGOODD’’SS LLOOVVEE

The Outreach Committee now has a Facebook page! We would like for everyone to friend our site and tell us what you would like us to know as it

relates to things you are doing... to serve God, to have fun, and invite others to do likewise. To

view go to: www.facebook.com/epworthOutreachandNurture

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 5

TTTHHHEEE NNNEEEEEEDDD FFFOOORRR AAA SSSAAAVVVIIIOOORRR

AAsshheess ttoo aasshheess--------------------------------------dduusstt ttoo dduusstt,,

iitt''ss aallll tthhee ssaammee..

WWee ccaammee iinn dduusstt aanndd wwee''llll rreettuurrnn iinn dduusstt;;

oonnllyy GGoodd''ss SSppiirriitt ggiivveess uuss lliiffee..

CCaann''tt wwee sseeee hhooww vvuullnneerraabbllee wwee aarree wwiitthhoouutt HHiimm??

AAss tthhee MMaasstteerr wwhhoo rreeaallllyy hhaass ccllaaiimmss oonn oouurr eexxiisstteennccee??

OOrr aarree wwee ssoo ffuullll ooff oouurrsseellvveess aass ttoo iiggnnoorree oouurr MMaakkeerr??

WWee,,

BBlliinnddeedd bbyy hhaarrddeenneedd hheeaarrttss ttoo tthhee sseennssiittiivvee nnaattuurree ooff aa

ccoonnsscciieennccee nnooww mmiissgguuiiddeedd bbyy ddeecceeppttiioonn;;

PPrroojjeecctt ppoommppoouuss wwoorrddss lliikkee bbllaassttss ooff ccoolldd,, mmeeaanniinngglleessss aaiirr;;

DDiissppllaayy aaccttiioonnss lliikkee ppeerrffoorrmmeerrss iinn aann iimmaaggiinnaarryy ppllaayy

ffuullll ooff mmeerree ffiiccttiioonn;;

GGeett ""ccaauugghhtt"" uupp iinn aa wwhhiirrllwwiinndd ooff mmiisseerryy ffrroomm ssuuffffeerriinngg

ssttrruugggglleess tthhaatt wwee ffiigghhtt aaggaaiinnsstt----------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------ccllaawwiinngg aatt tthhee wwrroonngg eenneemmyy--------------

------------------------------------------eexxhhaauussttiinnggllyy aanndd ttoo nnoo aavvaaiill----------------

ffoorr tthhee rreeaall ffooee iiss iinnvviissiibbllee ttoo tthhee nnaakkeedd eeyyee..

WWhheenn wwee rreeaacchh tthhee ppooiinntt wwhheerree wwee ccaann''tt mmaakkee iitt aalloonnee,,

wwee ccrryy oouutt!!

AAnndd,,

TThhee uutttteerr nneecceessssiittyy ooff GGoodd hhuummbblleess uuss ttoo tthhee ffaacctt

tthhaatt wwee aarree nnootthhiinngg iinn oouurrsseellvveess,, aanndd mmuusstt eexxiisstt iinn HHiimm

ffoorr ssaanniittyy''ss ssaakkee..

-- JJaannee EEddwwaarrddss

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 6

PP AA WW SS II NN FF AA II TT HH

A monthly “pet-friendly” worship

service held the 1st Sunday of

each month. (Services are held in the Southgate

Chapel.)

Come worship with your four-

legged friends!

(Remember dogs need to be on

leashes and small pets in carriers)

* May Service - 5/7 @ 5 pm

* June Service -6/4 @ 5 pm

Special Sunday in June:

Peace w/Justice Sunday - June 11

For more information on Special Sundays please visit:

www.umcgiving.org/how-we-give

EDS and the Church Office will be

closed Monday, May 29th,

in observance of Memorial Day.

A weekly Bible study using the

Feasting on the Word

curriculum is held on Tuesday

evenings at 6:00 p.m. at Ya Ya

restaurant on College Place.

The study is based on lectionary passages for the

following Sunday.

No books need to be purchased for this class,

and anyone can join at any time.

Lessons for each week's study are attached to our

weekly e-news, the "Epworth Connection"

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 7

Pentecost Sunday

Is June 4th

Don’t forget to

Wear red to

the 11 am

worship service!

Bishop Lewis has been traveling around the Conference meeting with clergy

and laity at Chat 'n' Chew events. The Chat 'n' Chew on the Elizabeth River

District will be June 3, 2017 at Courthouse Community (2708 Princess

Anne Road, Virginia Beach) from about 9am to 4pm. The morning session

will be for the clergy and the afternoon session will be for the laity. There

will be a worship service and lunch in the middle for all clergy and laity.

The schedule:

9:30-11:30 - Clergy Session 11:30-12:15 - Worship

12:30-1:30 – Lunch

1:45-3:45 - Laity Session

You can register your attendance using the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvC2UWtEi_sKmMf4dWHrrvJi1DxF5W1WFGguwm8gWW

5JfywQ/viewform

UMCOR Kits and canned food to benefit local ministries'

services to those in need are being collected for delivery to

the 2017 Annual Conference.

Donations for kits need to be in no later than May 28th

The type of kit we will be donating and the

list of items needed will be announced in May.

Canned food donations should consist of meat/fish,

fruit/veggie, soup/stew, and a pop-top can (any contents).

Deadline for canned donations is June 4th.

The 2017 session of the Virginia Annual Conference will be held June 16-18 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center, in Hampton, Va.

This year's theme is A New Thing (Isaiah 43:19 -- "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.").

For more information go to: www.vaumc.org

May/June THE CARILLON

T h e C a r i l l o n N e w s l e t t e r

Page 8

The Carillon newsletter is published bi-monthly.

Articles for the July/August 2017 Carillon are due no later than

June 19th.

Epworth United Methodist Church 124 W. Freemason Street Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 622-2970 Email: epworth@epworthva.org website: www.epworthva.org Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

P A I D

Norfolk, VA Permit No. 2461

Epworth is now on Facebook

Like us on our Facebook page at:

www.facebook.com/epworthumc124