E s t a n c i a U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h ,6 0 0 W i l l i am s , E s t a n c i a , N e w M e x i c o

P. O. Box 378, Estancia, NM 87016Church Office 384-5215Parsonage 384-2710

email: methods@ix.netcom.com

Dave Blackwell, Pastor

Sunday Worship 9:00 AMNursery ProvidedChurch School 10:30 AM

September1999

SEPTEMBERWORSHIPASSISTANTSLayAssistant: Tracy HemkeUshers: Julieanne Welch & Marilyn SeddonGreeters: Renee RichardsAcolytes: Sydney Alfonso & Erinnmarie

Blackwell

YOUTH SCRIPTURE READERSSep. 19: Audra LongSep. 26: Chris Hughes

WHEN'SWORSHIP?By a huge majority of the 33 who votedas to the preference for keeping theSunday worship time the same ormoving it to a later hour, it has beenmandated to keep theworship service at9:00 a.m. 63% (21/33) voted to keep the

time the same; 24% voted for a 9:30 start time. Threevotes were cast for 10:00 and one for 10:45.

This means that Bible Study classes and businessmeetings will meet after worship. And the choir wouldconvene either before 9 or on another day in the evening.

CURRENTSTATSAs of this writing, E.U.M.C. has 140 members, which is up23 from a year ago, and up 13 since the end of 1998. Theaverage weekly attendance through September 5 is 75,which is up 10 from a year ago and up 8 from the end of1998.

BLOODDRIVEOn Sunday, September 26, in the Education Building afterthe worship service, there will bean opportunity to donate blood inhonor ofMatthewSanchez.Blood is a precious commodity,and there is a fear that supplieswill run low at the end of theyear (Y2K fear). HonoringMatthew in this special way is tohelp us remember to keep him and the Sanchez family inour prayers. Come to church ready to give of that whichGod gave you, the blood of life. Then, stick around forsnacks or lunch afterward. Thank you.

COMMITTEE BUDGETSThere are still some committees that have not turned intheir budget requests to the Finance Committee. The FCwill be meeting in a few days to discuss the entire budgetand put a package together for the Administrative Council.If the FC does not have a committee's budget, it will have todecide on its own what that committee needs. Do not lookfor increases from the FC without the chairperson's imput.A growing church needs the necessary information for itsministries. Chairperson's are asked to please get theirparticular church budgets into LacyDaniel, CarolynMoore,orMarcella Reynolds right away. Thank you.

DONATIONSDonations toward expenses the Sanchez familywill havewhile they are in Boston forMatthew's surgery can still bemade at the NORWEST bank inMatthewSanchez'sname. Many thanks go to the organizers of this fundand those who were able to acquire airline tickets forthe family.

WHAT'SGOINGON?OnMonday andWednesdaymornings from5:30 to8:30, acome-as-you-are prayer andmeditation time is beingprovided for the community inthe church building. Music,prayer, devotionals andcommunion will be offered.This is not a set service, so ifyou have a reading or a

devotional, bring and share. PastorDavewill be there topray with you, give a reading/devotional, and servecommunion. Come when you can before work and taketime to gain spiritual strength for the day. PastorDavewillprovide some fruit and rolls for the first two weeks with thehope that others will contribute, too. This event is for thecommunity. Bring friends and car-poolers. All are welcome.Come when you can, leave when you must. Start your weekwith time in Christ and call on Him to help you get throughthe rest of the week.

StartingSeptember15 and16, Bible studywill resume witha study on money and discipleship.Wednesdays at 10:00a.m. andThursdays at 7:00 p.m. You will not have to buy abook. Class times average about 1 1/2 hours. This will be asix (maybe seven) week study designed to give us newinsight as to how we are to use money to glorify God andgive us peace of mind. Newcomers to Bible study arewelcomed and encouraged to come to this low-key, low-

stress class.

OnSundays, right afterworship,startingSeptember19, PastorDavewill have a Bible Study from10:15-11:00. The preference is to havepeople get together to talk anddiscuss agree, or disagree with themeaning of the sermon for you. Thiswould be an opportunity to gainmore from the message and witness

to the church about our own experiences. The secondpreference is to do a study about the attributes of the HolySpirit. This is a class designed for adults. Teens are alsowelcome to join in and teach from their views. Grab somecoffee, (or maybe some volunteers can bring some juice anda snack) meet back in the sanctuary, and let the kids go totheir Sunday school while you gain more spiritual food forthe week.

COME ANDSEE--The Education Building has a new look inside. The wallsare freshly painted white, the new cinnamon colored carpethas been installed, and several new gray portable divider-partitions have been added for classrooms and LOGOS. Agreat deal of planning, work, and money went into thisproject by a few members of the church so that it would benice for us and for the community. Many thanks to theTrustees and volunteers for a job well done.Something to ponder, but not too much, because then

nothing gets done.Men:What do you think about aSaturday morning meeting once per month for fellowship,Bible Study, feasting, and fix-up in the church called"TOOLS", Toward Ongoing Outward Love & Service?Nothing personal, ladies, but I have been asked about thispossibility several times. This would also be a goodevangelizing tool in the community. Let Dave know whatyou think about this.

There are some "rumblin's here-abouts" about doin' aSundaynight Gospel music service. Let's get somemusical-type-folks together for some singin' and chile. Saymaybe October 10, 6:00-ish?

Finance Committee - CarolynMoore: The remainingbalance in each committee's budget was read. $500 waspaid on appropriations this month. Rent for the new postoffice box will be $66 per year. The checkbook balance is$6,241.42. Of that amount $3,185.01 is for special offeringsleaving a balance of $3,056.41.

WorshipCommittee - PeggyBlackwell: The new praisesongbook,MAKE A JOYFULNOISE was introducedduring worship services on August 15, 1999.

Care andOutreach - BonnieHughes: The committeecontinues to send cards of concern and sympathy tomembers as well as Estancia residents. Bread is deliveredto newcomers in the community. A series of meals wasorganized for the Sanchez family during youngMatthew'sillness

PASTOR'SONDUTY &OFFICE HOURSSUNDAY On duty: 6 a.m-4 p.m.In office 12-4 p.m., unless in meetings.(There will be occasional Sunday night 8VCS.) i:MONDAYOn duty 5 a.m.-5 p.m. In office 9a.m.-5 p.m.Event: Prayer svcs., 5:30-8:30 a.m.TUESDAYOn duty 9 a.m.-9 p.m. - In office 3-9 p.m.Event: Visitation; possibly in Albq.WEDNESDAY On duty: 5 a.m.-10 p.m.In office noon-4 p.m.Events: Prayer svcs, 5:30-8:30 a.m. ;,Bible Study, 10-Noon !Logos, 4-10 p.m.THURSDAYOn duty: 9 a.m.-9 u.m.In office 2-5 p.m.Events: Visitation; possibly travelingFRIDAYOff duty till 9 a.m. Saturday.SATURDAYOn duty: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.In office 9 a.m.-noon.Events: Prep. for Sunday, and/or visits.

Note: Travel will occasionally occur on Mon. and Sat. (I willtry to make that known ahead of time.) Special events andemergencies = additional time. I will be available at thelunch hour, noon-on. Evening meals are from 5-6 p.m.Return calls made t 9 p.m., or next day.

FALLEVENTS

LOGOSKICKOFF SEPT 15!!Announcements: Wouldyou pleaseconsiderdonating thefollowing itemsto LOGOS bySeptember 13?Jeans, buttons, andlace. See ReneaCalhoon afterchurch.

There is still timeto register childrenand for adulthelpers to get on board for the first-ever Logos programhere. Contact SusanWilson, 384-1018 or JulieanneWelch,384-2569.

FROM THE LOGOSSTAFFThe LOGOS staff would like to share some informationwith you. How can we, a small church, afford to fund aprogram like LOGOS? Well, we've spent many hoursworrying about this very issue. Folks who have been withthe church for a long time and who have seen andexperienced hard times when the funds just weren't therefor extras, know how difficult times can be in a smallchurch, and they have talked with us a lot about thismatter. So we began this program with prayer, prayer,prayer, and then we were blessed when the FinanceCommittee was able to find $1,200 to be used for LOGOS.Let us tell you about that budget. We had ourMiniLOGOS Sunday in the early part of the year and spent$105.37 for the breakfast. Then a little later in the springwe raised $273 when we hosted a breakfast. I believe weall felt the blessings of the fellowship we experienced, aswell as the blessing of adding to our budget, rather thantaking away from it. In March, we sent 6 staff members toLOGOS training at the cost of $815. We had $41 in thebudget for training so we began to pray, pray, pray, andthen when the District Superintendent found out that oursmall church was committed to bringing children andyouth and each other closer to Christ, he sent us $400 to beused for training. Still, the question remained; how can weever afford to fund this project? The LOGOS staff had nointention of putting a great strain on our small, butgrowing church. We understood the finances of the churchand did not want to place greater pressure on ourcongregation and church finances, so we took it to prayeragain. We prayed, prayed, prayed, and then one day LacyDaniel contacted Julieanne to tell her she had been readingthe UnitedMethodist Reporter and noticed there was grantmoney available called the Bishop's Award. She took theinitiative to contact the appropriate people, received all theinformation and brought it to the LOGOS staff. We in turnprepared a grant proposal and sent it off, and we continuedto pray. A few weeks later, Dave brought us the awesome

news that we had received the Bishop's Award in theamount of $3,000, which would be plenty for us to get theprogram off the ground this first year. Then we prayedour thanks to the Lord for providing the way.

Something else you might not know is that the LOGOSCommitteewas contacted by some members of ourcongregation who wanted to donate money to Logos for thefuture purchase of hand bells or hand chimes for ourchurch. We received funds in the amount of $300 and weprayed our thanks once again. We indeed purchased handchimes for the Church to be used by the children, and alsoto be used by the adults in the future. Almost half the costof the chimes came from these gracious donors. The restof the cost came out of our LOGOSBishop's Award fund.The Bishop's Awardhas been broken down into each of thefour parts of LOGOS, and we are confident that thesefunds will take the strain off the church budget for theduration of our first year with LOGOS.

We currently have 20 kids who have enrolled in LOGOSand of course we are very excited aboutfellowshipping and building relationships with them. Didyou know there is a $55.00 registration fee per child? Fora family with more than one child, the fee does decreasewith each additional child. The important thing to notehere is that these registration fees fund the greater partof the program. The fee covers the meals for the childduring the entire 20 week program, the curriculum thateach child receives, and the LOGOS SystemAssociatesannual membership fee.

One more important factor you might want to know is thatwe are eligible to apply for the Bishop's fund for 3consecutive years! And if the Lord willing, we will onceagain receive this blessing. The LOGOS staff has come torealize that when we are called by God to serve in aspecific way, He truly takes care of the details when weturn to Him first and allow him to be the true leader.

We feel confident that we are going to be able to serve theLord in this program the way we have been called to do,and we hope that this article regarding the finances ofLOGOS will help you to feel confident as well.

God bless you and many thanks for your support andprayers.

LOGOS STAFF

Welcome Friends! We hope that you find our churchhospitable, the worship meaningful and the fellowshipenjoyable. Your presence is a blessing to us all.

MANY THANKSA lot of people stood in the gap during my absence herewhile I was at school in Kansas City. Pictured are those whoprepared and gave the messages for Sunday worship. Manythanks and great appreciation go to all who continue tomake this church a church.

Carolyn Moore

Jeff Gorum

Nick Griffo

Cyle Sharp(best photo available)

Pete Peterson John Hughes