◄ The Redwood Breeze ►

Our Mission: To connect the unconnected to a community of faith where Jesus Christ transform them

into world-changing disciple.

Our Process: Love God (Worship) - Love Others (Small Groups) - Serve the World (Mission)

Redwood United Methodist July 2016

Upcoming Series: “A New Chapter”

GOD IS—What we believe about God shapes how we see the world. And how we see the world shapes how we live our lives. In other words, who we understand God to be has a huge impact on our daily living. God is triune—one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is not just some kind of heady idea talked about in theology schools. This is the God who is as near as our next breath, as real as the touch of another’s hand, and yet as expansive as the farthest reaches of our rapidly-expanding universe. Such is the God who comes to us through Jesus Christ. Join us as we encounter this God in the everyday, and are changed. Sundays at 8:30 & 11 a.m.

July 3 A New Chapter

July 10 Father

July 17 Son (Jessica Fortner preaching)

July 24 Holy Spirit

July 31 Drenched and Sent

2 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

R&R

Ruminations and Reflections from the Pastor’s Study

My Preaching vs.

Harper Dillon’s 5K

Earlier this month, several of my

pastor-friends on Facebook ran a

5K race together. As they were

posting photos, one of them said,

“I’m trying to get my 5K time down

to the length of my sermons.” Another replied,

“Lucky for me, my sermons are 40 minutes.” The

whole exchange had me laughing out loud! And it

got me to thinking: “If these guys can preach a

sermon in the length of time it takes to run a 5K,

why can’t I?”

A week later, Harper Dillon approached me about

running with her while on the youth mission trip. If

you don’t know her, Harper is one of our youth

who runs track and cross country. As a 7th grader

last year, she made a name as a distance runner in

track, and has placed overall in 5K races in the

community. Since she can’t run by herself on the

mission trip—and needs to keep her practice miles

up in preparation for a Nike running camp this

summer—she asked if I’d be willing to run with her

while in Raleigh on the mission trip. “Sure!” I said.

I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve been running

for months, but hadn’t taken my times seriously. I

went out one afternoon to see if I’d be able to run

fast enough to keep up with Harper. I eked out 3

miles at a 9-minute per-mile pace. When I

stumbled in from the run, my kids looked at me in

horror. “What happened to you?! You look like

you’re dying.” I went to the bathroom and realized

they were right. I was red, overheated, and

dripping with sweat. Looking in the mirror at

myself, I had a come-to-Jesus moment: There’s no

way you can keep up with Harper Dillon! I got

special dispensation to bring my bicycle on the

mission trip in order to “go running” with Harper—

her on two feet, me on two wheels.

But I’m a competitive person. I’m determined to

keep up with Harper! If I can’t do it pounding the

pavement, then I will in pounding the pulpit! The

way I figure, if Harper Dillon can run 3.12 miles in

23 minutes, then certainly I can bring the word of

God in less time than that. So it’s me against

Harper—preacher vs. runner. I’ll be posting

Harper’s best times and my best times each month

this fall. You can keep up with the competition via

the church Facebook page or by checking in the

Redwood Breeze. In the meanwhile, I’ll be working

on my speed-speaking! See you in worship.

Your brother in Christ,

Rev. Brad Dulaney, Pastor

Thank You

Dear Redwood United Methodist Church

On behalf of the students and staff at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. I want to express my appreciation to you for your assistance with the Backpack Program throughout the school year.

At times, with the busyness of the day in the life of a middle school, we may forget to say thanks. The purpose of this letter is to say thanks and that I appreciate what you have done for the school, more importantly, our staff, students, families, and extended community. It is only through such support that our school can hope to provide the kind of realistic education needed by students to enable them to become productive citizens in the 21st Century.

Again, we thank you for your donations, time, and efforts. It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to write and thank you for these efforts.

Respectfully,

Dr. Bernice Cobbs

Campus Principal

3 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

Susan's Musing,

As always, I enjoyed being at the

Virginia Annual Conference of the

United Methodist Church last

weekend. It is our Church's annual

"business meeting" that is filled with worship and song

and celebration.

After one report on missions, a representative from

UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission)

challenged those there to consider stepping up to

help people in the Evergreen area of Virginia (near

Appomattox) who were devastated by a tornado this

past winter. No federal emergency funds have been

allocated to help relief efforts. I felt called to respond.

We have a secured a slot for our church to go and help

the week of August 8-13. Work is primarily construction

(although you can still help if you are not skilled in

construction!) and repair of homes and I am looking for

any and all people who may be interested in lending a

hand. Lodging will be at Evergreen UMC but the

beauty of this location is that it is close enough to us

that we can have people commute. If you would like to

come for even just one day out of the week, please

contact me and jump in! All help is needed. I will be

staying the week there and providing transportation for

those who would like to come for the week. We will be

making our own meals and using the church

kitchen. Anyone up for the fun?!!!

Please contact me at 540-493-8715, or susan@redwoodumc.org if you are able to participate. Bring a friend too!

Blessings and Peace,

Susan Hughes Minister of Community Outreach

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in

me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from

me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

This is the time of year when the nuisance vines seem to grow fast and try to choke out trees or take over flower beds. But we know that when we prune them near their roots, they wither and dry up. Without water and nutrients, the vines have no life force.

In recovery, we know that being separated from our life force—Jesus—our spiritual life will shrivel up and die. We must stay connected to him if we are to see victory and freedom from our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. So how do we stay connected? We do that by spending time in fellowship with God, reading and meditating on his Word, the Bible, and by allowing him to use us to bless others. Celebrate Recovery meets every Friday evening at 5:45PM-8:30PM for dinner and fellowship, worship and God’s Word, and men’s and women’s small group discussion. Join us to stay connected. For more information, call Steve or Paula Ratliff at 334-1028 or e-mail CR@redwoodumc.org.

Newly-Commissioned Stephen Ministers

On Sunday, June 26th we commission our latest class of new Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers are Christian lay caregivers who visit and care for persons who are hurting. Our new Stephen Ministers are Nancy Beach, Cara Orange, Rick Orange, Judy Rhoday, and Angela Wilmoth.

If you or someone you know is struggling, and could use the care of a Stephen Minister, please contact Barbara Brown (bbrown517@yahoo.com), Linda Waters (waters0118@hotmail.com), or Rev. Brad Dulaney (540-9090).

4 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

Ashley’s News Top Five Excuses Not to Sing During Worship (And Why You Can’t Use Them Any More)

There’s at least a few in every

congregation, and you know who you

are…when it comes time for a

congregational hymn or song, you studiously get out the

hymnal or look at the screen and then proceed to either

mouth the words or whisper them so softly that only you can

hear them. Or maybe you just stand silently, patiently waiting

for the final verse, seemingly suffering from a temporary

speechlessness à la Zechariah. If this sounds familiar, I’m here

to tell you that congregational singing can and should be

enjoyed by all…and before you can protest, here’s a list of

excuses for not singing…and reasons why you don’t get to

make them anymore!

1. “I’m Tone Deaf”

You’re not tone deaf. If you were tone deaf you’d have

trouble differentiating your mother’s voice from that of

James Earl Jones and you’d perceive all questions as

statements. If you don’t believe me, listen to this TED Talk by

the very musically accomplished Benjamin Zander:

http://www.ted.com/speakers/benjamin_zander. He explains

it better than I ever could.

2. “I Can’t Carry a Tune”

Okay, so this one might actually be true in some cases. But

practice makes progress! The more you sing, the better you’ll

get at controlling your voice and honing your ear to the

pitches being sung.

3. “I Don’t Know the Song”

There’s a reason there’s so much repetition in hymns and

praise songs—listen to the tune the first time, sing it the

second time, and sing it with more confidence the third! Next

time that song is in the line-up you’ll know the tune better for

having attempted it on the first go. If the song is in the

hymnal, you can use it to help remember the melody even if

you don’t read music—if the notes go up on the page, your

voice gets higher in pitch, if they go down it goes lower.

4. “I Don’t Have a Good Voice”

Says who? Nobody’s asking you to audition for The Voice.

Congregational songs are meant to be sung by the

congregation, not by professional singers. No matter how

rough you may perceive your voice to be, it is a welcome and

needed addition to congregational songs—we are the body of

Christ making a joyful noise, and we need you for our song to

be complete.

5. “I Don’t Like to Sing”

Have you tried it? As in really tried to sing full-out without

censoring yourself in fear of the judgment of others? Singing

is fun! It releases endorphins and oxytocin which make you

feel nice and happy! Not to mention it’s one more way to

experience the presence of God. Non-singers don’t know

what they’re missing!

So to wrap this up, I’d love to hear YOUR voice. One of John

Wesley’s “Directions for Singing”, which appear at the

beginning of our hymnal, reads, “Sing all. See that you join

with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a

slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a

cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.” You

needn’t sing loudly or showboat (John Wesley frowns upon

this, anyway) in order to add your voice to worship, you just

need to earnestly and sincerely sing. You may find that you

feel as if you’ve joined a whole new community once you get

started. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it so much you’ll want

to take it a step further and come to choir practice some

Tuesday night—we’d love to hear from you!

Ashley Cundiff Director of Music Ministries Handbell Choir!

Handbell Choir will resume rehearsals on Thursday, August

11th at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. We will be preparing music

for Advent and for a special Christmas musical event

occurring the evening of December 11th. Adults, youth, and

kids 10 and up of any musical background are welcome to

join. Ringing is a FUN way to contribute to the church’s music

ministry, so please prayerfully consider taking part. If you’re

interested, contact Ashley Cundiff or just show up on the

11th!

5 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

Jessi’s News

I’m so excited to be starting Godly Play, a new Sunday School methodology in the fall! I’m looking forward to seeing the children and the teachers grow in this worship style! I want to thank each of you in advanced for your support and help in this endeavor! Godly Play takes a community to be successful, and I know Redwood can and will provide that community. First, I want to give you some information about Godly Play before I commission your help! Godly Play is a methodology based on the Montessori method, which gives children the freedom to discover knowledge for themselves. It works off the basis that God is innately known to all children and they don’t need to be taught WHO God is, but rather HOW they can speak of Him and build a relationship with Him. Godly Play works on a format that is similar to

the worship: there is a story, response time, and a feast. This allows the children to build their own community of Christ within the larger body, everything about Godly Play is designed to teach children about Christ and create a safe environment to do so. Jerome Barrymore, the creator of Godly Play, said this about it, “The goal of Godly Play is for children to move through the spiral curriculum during early, middle, and late childhood in such a way that they will enter adolescence with an inner working model of the classical Christian language system to root them deeply in the tradition and at the same time allow them to be open to the future.” I think this is going to be a perfect fit for our church, but I need your help to make it possible. There are many ways to help. If you are interested in becoming a teacher or assistant please email or call me at 540-312-0641 or jessica@redwoodumc.org. Other ways to help out would be donating general supplies that are needed for the classrooms, which includes art supplies, old t-shirts as art smocks, and shelves. A complete list can be found on the share board outside the sanctuary. We also need the stories themselves, which can be a bit expensive. Godly Play is an investment, once we have the classrooms going the funds to run them are minimal. All the stories we need to start the classrooms in the fall are spelled out on the share board as well, you can either buy or make the stories. I hope you will prayerfully consider sponsoring a story!

Lastly, I want to invite you to experience a story before you blindly invest in one. There are many ways to do that, be on the lookout in the bulletin for times when I will be telling the story in July on weeknights, or invite me to tell a story for your adult small group! I am excited in starting this journey into Christ’s story here at Redwood! Jessica Fortner Director of Children and Youth Ministries

Join ROC Out Youth this summer as we continue Destination Unknown! There are many AWESOME places we will be going,

and lots of things we will be doing, but you won't find out until you arrive! Parents please email Jessi at

jessica@redwoodumc.org or call her at 540-312-0641 if you would like the list of events before arriving to drop off your youth.

6 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

G r e e t e r s

8:30 Front Door

3 – Danny Hicks 10 – Reba Bowling 17 – Brandi Bayer 24 - Joan Gallante 31 – Penny LaPorta

Side Door 3 – Frances Brown 10 – Ricky Hicks 17 – Danese McCabe 24 - Danny Hicks 31 – Kim Weinschreider

11:00 Front Door 3 – Ann Altice 10 – Jean Hudson 17 - Geraldine Hylton 24 - Eva Mae Tyree 31 – Gail Price

Side Door 3 – Linda Waybright 10 – Gaye Campbell 17— Judy Hodges 24 - Rhonda Hodges 31 – Gaye Campbell

H e a d U s h e r Linda Waybright

L i tur gist

8:30:

3 – Charlene Waybright 10 – John Vehmeier 17— Peggy Woody 24 - Carolyn Reilly 31 - Cara Orange

11:00

3 – Elizabeth Kennedy 10 – Gail Abbott 17— Linda Waybright 24 – Louise Wimmer 31 – John Kennedy

C h i l d r e n ’ s C h u r c h

3 – Communion

10—8:30—Cara Orange & Emma Vehmeier

11:00—Jessi Fortner & Charlene Waybright

17— 8:30—Eric & Heather Anderson

11:00—Barbara & Dickie Dill

25— 8:30—Jessi Fortner & Rebecca Wyatt

11:00—Lisa Nichols & Crystal Hammock

F l o w e r s 3 – Charlene Waybright

10 – Louise Wimmer

17—Greg & Valerie Hodge

24 - Yvonne Hughes

31 – John & Elizabeth Kennedy

O f f e r i n g C o u n t e r s

4 – Elaine Chitwood, Sherry Lynch, Louise Wimmer 11 – Wanda Housman, Janice Powell, Ada Wray 18 - Gaye Campbell, Judy Hodges, Peggy Woody 25 - Carol Boychuck, Yvonne Hughes, L. Waybright 25 – Ann Altice, Pat Horning, Geraldine Hylton

A c o l y t e s

3– Paige Anderson 10 – Hayley Sanders 17 – Paige Anderson

24 – Hayley Sanders 31 – Paige Anderson

C e l e b r a t e R e c o v e r y M e a l

July 22nd

Dalphia Furrow, Gaye Campbell, Angela Wilmoth

C o m m u n i o n S e r v e r s

July 3 8:30 – C. Waybright & S. Adkins

11:00 – Barbara Brown, Reba Bowling, Linda Verhoeff & Pat Tolbert

Thank You D e a r R e d w o o d U M C

Thank you for thinking of me and recognizing me during my graduation. It really meant a lot to me.

Rachel Altizer

Dear Friends in Christ,

Thank you, for making the Society of St. Andrew your partner in ending hunger, with your recent gift of $631.65. Through this gift, you will share fresh, nutritious produce with those in our nation who simply don’t have enough to eat.

Lynette Johnson, Director of Church Relations

7 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

2 – John Lumsden 3 – Joe Brown Teresa Brown Rose Scott P.L. Lunch 5 – Christina Trager 6 - Dennis Powell 7 – Elizabeth Kennedy 8 – Pete Zeigler 9 – John Kennedy Tony Perdue Cindy Smith 13 – Haley Crutchfield Josh McPherson

14 – Barbara Brown 18 – Danese Bowles 19 – Nancy Lynch 21 – Ian Reilly 22 – Chasity Campbell Crystal Hammock 23 – June Palmer Pat Tolbert 27 – Angela Davis Ray Ferguson Yvonne Hughes 30 – Taylor Kidd 31 – Danny Rigney

2 – Mike & Tammy Manning

17 – John & Megan Sawyers

20 – Stewart & Susan Mason

30 – Walter & Yvonne Hughes

Are you in need of Furniture Repair?

Handy Work, etc.

Please give Adriaan Vandersloot a call @ (252) 503-5588

Remember Our Home Bound

Essyebelle Hudson 224 Hudson Farm Lane Rocky Mount, VA 24151

Judy Gring

Ferrum College c/o Jeff Gring P.O. Box 1000

Ferrum, VA 24088

Doris Burgess & Melanie Pagans 850 Woodman Rd.

Rocky Mount, VA 24151

Nannie Kate Campbell 3855 Old Franklin Tpke.

Glade Hill, VA 24092

Brenda H. Morris 2590 Muse Field Road

Rocky Mount, VA 24151

Ira Powell 3288 Golden View Rd Glade Hill, VA 24092

.

Chuck MacKenzie 1009 Old Country Club Rd. #317

Roanoke, VA 24017

Gracie Via 1851 Harrogate Dr. #219

Salem, VA 24153

Wink Clement Skyline Nursing & Rehab Center

237 Franklin Pike SE Floyd, VA 24091

Elsie Powell Runk & Pratt Adult Care 115 Retirement Drive,

Hardy, VA 24101

8 July 2016 The Redwood Breeze

3001 Old Franklin Turnpike Phone: 540-483-9090

Rocky Mount, VA 24151 FAX: 540-483-9090 E-mail—pastor@redwoodumc.org

CHURCH STAFF

Pastor, Bradley S. Dulaney pastor@redwoodumc.org

Minister of Community Outreach Susan Hughes, susan@redwoodumc.org

Director of Music Ministries Ashley Cundiff, ashley@redwoodumc.org

Director of Children & Youth Ministries Jessica Fortner, jessica@redwoodumc.org

Worship Media Coordinator, Eric Anderson eric@redwoodumc.org

Pianist, Lisa Edwards

Administrative Assistant, Pat Tolbert pat@redwoodumc.org

Treasurer, Dalphia Furrow treasurer@redwoodumc.org Nursery Staff, Rebecca Dillon