United Methodist Women

Metropolitan UMW Newsletter : November 2014 of 9

Metropolitan Memorial, St. Luke’s & Wesley

United Methodist Churches

202-363-4900 (MMUMC office)

Mark Your Calendar

November pg

1 Sa UMW Bazaar (8-3pm, Vestry)

2 Su UMW Bazaar (10-1pm, Vestry)

Church only

5 W Charge Conference

10 M UMW Board Mtg (7-8:30pm,

Conference Rm)

17 M AARP Mtg 8

27 Th Thanksgiving

28 F Newsletter items due

December

M 8 UMW Board Mtg (7-8:30pm,

Conference Rm)

14 Su UMW Recognition Lunch 2

24 W Christmas Eve

25 Th Christmas Day

January

8 M UMW Board Mtg (7-8:30pm,

Conference Rm)

22 Th Jana’s Campaign

February

6–8 F-Su Women’s Retreat PriestField

Table Of Contents

Reflections pg 2

UMW News 2-6

Metropolitan News 7-8

Circles 9

Highlights

UMW Honorees (p. 2)

Reading program (p 4-6)

Food for Thought sessions (p 7-8)

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Thessalonians 5:18

(NRSV)

UMW Newsletter THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH

November, 2014


UMW News

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN RECOGNITION LUNCHEON

Sunday, December 14, 12:30 pm, Great Hall

The Annual UMW's Recognition Luncheon honors exceptional women

who have made a significant contribution to the church and

community. This year we honor four outstanding women--Jane

Cunningham, Barbara Green, Cynthia Pugh, and Joyce Shields. We

will also celebrate this year's newborns, welcome our new UMW

members and remember with gratitude those who have died this

year. This is a special event in the life of our church and we hope that

many of our women in the church can attend. UMW Circle 6 members

are hostessing the catered luncheon. The suggested donation is $10 for

UMW members; guests are free. Reservations are not necessary. This

annual event promises to be a special day of celebration for all women

in the Metropolitan Church community. If you have questions, please contact Carol

Schleicher, [email protected], or Sandy Yeager, [email protected].

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the

simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the

seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the

year — and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.

~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.

~Native American Saying

mailto:[email protected]



UMW News

A Letter from Metropolitan UMW President Jeanie Mah

I know it’s a little early for Thanksgiving, but if CVS can start selling

candy-by-the-kilo in September and radio stations can start playing

holiday tunes on the heels of Veteran’s Day, than what’s wrong with

stretching out the 24-hour pause we dedicate to giving thanks just this

once? And it is with deep gratitude that I thank this community for

responding so powerfully with your individual Pledges to Mission this

year.

As I’ve said before, for the past few years our unit has committed $6,000 annually

towards fulfilling the Greater Washington District’s $50,000 pledge to UMW-supported

missions. Never ones to play it safe, our unit has designated the $6,000 goal as a stretch

made in faith, with individual Pledges usually accounting for about half that amount,

and income from the bazaar providing the balance. This year, our unit has contributed

nearly $5,500 in individual pledges -- over 90 percent of our unit’s Pledge to Mission

commitment. Though I always knew our UMW had a heart for mission, I had no idea of

how great a heart it was.

Your giving is an act of faith that supports nearly 100 National Mission Institutions in

the U.S. and about 120 international projects (in over 100 countries) that focus on the

health and welfare of women, children, and youth – projects that primarily rely on UMW

funds. However, funds can be also be deployed responsively when needs arise. Currently,

the UMW in Liberia is using mission funds to distribute food and other staples to

villages quarantined by the government due to the Ebola virus. UMW funds are also

being used educate women, the primary caretakers of the sick and the dead, about

preventative practices.

So we approach the November 1st bazaar in a secure financial position, knowing that

every penny earned will stretch our arms that much further around our world and that

much tighter around our beloved Washington area. Thank you to those who have

donated items, spent precious hours pricing, asked how you could help, or lifted the

spirit of a weary fellow volunteer, and thank you in advance to those of you who will

help us swell the ranks this Saturday – as sellers or shoppers! Whatever you can give,

it will be enough, and we will give thanks for it!

~Jeanie

Circle 6 ladies bringing out the Harvest Soup


UMW News

UMW Reading Program 2015

Do you know about the UMW Reading Program? UMW

encourages everyone to read and the UMW Reading Program is a

great way to commit to learning through reading in 2015. To

participate in Reading Program Plan I, read one book from each

of the five categories listed below and take a look at Response

magazine regularly. In Reading Program Plans II, III, and IV,

read at least two, three or four books, respectively, from each

category as well as Response and New World Outlook magazines.

The books listed below are in our church library as are both

magazines. More choices for the Reading Program can be found online at

http://www.umwmissionresources.org/t/categories/reading-program/2015-reading-

program/s/ascend_by_name. If you don’t want to commit to a Reading Program, please

consider reading one of the books listed below. Happy reading!

If you participate in the program, please report the names of the books you read and their

categories to Connie Sommers, [email protected], 240-205-3944 no later than August 15,

2015. Those who complete a Reading Program Plan will be recognized at a District meeting

in the fall of 2015.

Education for Mission:

Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander. Random

House (2013)

In this honest and irreverent memoir, Jessica Alexander introduces readers to the realities of life as

an aid worker. We watch as she manages a 24,000-person camp in Darfur, collects trial evidence in

Sierra Leone and contributes to the massive aid effort in Haiti; we also hear about parties, romances,

burnouts and self-doubt while struggling to do good in places that have long endured suffering. 400

pp.

What’s So Blessed About Being Poor? Seeking the Gospel in the Slums of Kenya by L. Susan

Slavin and Coralis Salvador. Orbis Books (2013)

In this inspiring exploration of how happiness and holiness can exist in the midst of poverty and

illness, two women, one a Maryknoll lay missioner, the other a New York attorney who left her law

practice to become a lay missioner, tell their stories of living among the poor in East Africa. 176 pp.

Spiritual Growth:

No Longer Silent: The Empowerment of Women in the Gospels by Susan Dehn Matthews.

ACTA Publications (2011)

Imagine, along with Susan Dehn Matthews, that you hear the voices of the women in the Gospels,

many of whom have been overlooked, ignored, misrepresented or misunderstood. Listen as they reveal

the stories behind their words and actions in the Scriptures. They are no longer silent but speak the

truth about themselves as it was revealed to them by their encounter with the one they called teacher,

prophet, brother, beloved and son. 256 pp.

Continued next page

http://www.umwmissionresources.org/t/categories/reading-program/2015-reading-program/s/ascend_by_name

http://www.umwmissionresources.org/t/categories/reading-program/2015-reading-program/s/ascend_by_name



UMW News

(UMW Reading Program continued)

Praying to Change Your Life: A Guide to Productive Prayer by Suzette T. Caldwell. Destiny

Image Publishers (2009)

Praying to Change Your Life is an action-oriented, results-driven, how to guide for believers that

glorifies God, transforms lives and increases the power of your prayers. Through instruction, prayer

exercises, personal stories and testimonies, you will learn what prayer is, why you should pray and

how to pray using the six categories of the Lord’s Prayer. 303 pp.

The Seven Paths: Changing One’s Way of Walking in the World by the Anasazi Foundation.

Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2013)

This poetic, moving story presents the meditations of an ancient Native American tribesman who

rejects his family and community and sets off on a journey through the desert. He walks seven paths,

each teaching a lesson symbolized by an element of the natural world: light, wind, water, stone, plant,

animal and the unity of all beings with the Creator. 102 pp.

Eat With Joy: Redeeming God’s Gift of Food by Rachel Marie Stone. InterVarsity Press

(2013)

Food is the source of endless angst and anxiety. We struggle with obesity and eating disorders, and

agricultural horror stories make us worry about whether our food is healthy, nutritious and justly

produced. Rachel Marie Stone asks us to rediscover joyful eating by receiving food as God’s good gift

of provision and care and fills this book with practical insights and tasty recipes. 208 pp.

Social Action:

Americanah: A Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Random House (2014)

Ifemelu reluctantly left Nigeria on a college scholarship and seems to have everything a Nigerian

immigrant in America could desire. But culture shock, hardships and racism have left her feeling like

she has “cement in her soul.” Astonished at the labyrinth of racial structures that confront her, Ifemelu

launches an audacious and instantly popular blog that explores what she calls Racial Disorder

Syndrome. May contain provocative language and content. 608 pp.

Ecoliterate: How Educators Are Cultivating Emotional, Social and

Ecological Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Lisa Bennett and Zenobia

Barlow. John Wiley (2012)

Hopeful and bold, Ecoliterate tells stories of educators, activists and students

who embody an integration of emotional, social and ecological intelligence.

Through stories from the Arctic to Appalachia, New Mexico to New Orleans,

the authors reveal how education that engages in some of the most pressing

ecological issues of the day advances academic achievement, fosters resilience

and helps communities play a vital role in protecting the natural world. 192 pp.

Kind of Kin: A Novel by Rilla Askew. Harper Collins/Ecco (2014)

A new Oklahoma state law makes harboring an undocumented immigrant a felony. Rilla Askew’s

brilliant, hilarious and heartfelt novel follows a handful of complicated lawmakers and lawbreakers

as workers are exiled, friends turn informers and families are torn apart in a statewide exodus of

Hispanics. In the end, Kind of Kin reveals how an ad hoc family and an entire town unite to do

anything necessary to protect its own. 432 pp. Continued next page


UMW News

(UMW Reading Program continued)

Leadership Development:

Fulfilled: Living and Leading With Unusual Wisdom, Peace and Joy by Kirk Byron Jones.

Abingdon Press (2013)

Leadership can be mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausting. In Fulfilled, Kirk Byron Jones

examines stillness, awareness and playfulness, three inner capabilities that every leader can access

but most simply ignore or disregard. He shows you how to draw on each of them in daily life and how

the fulfilled leader lives in wisdom, peace and joy, successful in all the most important ways. 176 pp.

Sum It Up: 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses and

a Life in Perspective by Pam Summitt. Random House (2014)

Pat Summitt, a country girl from Henrietta, Tennessee, grew up

driving fast and playing hard, learning basketball playing with a

homemade backboard against three brothers. She went on to win

an Olympic medal and at 22 became head coach of the University

of Tennessee Lady Vols. Her autobiography tells the whole story,

full of humanity, wit and fierceness, by a giant among coaches who

has transcended American sports. 416 pp.

Nurturing for Community:

Across Many Mountains: A Tibetan Family’s Epic Journey From Oppression to Freedom by

Yangzom Brauen. Thorndike Press/Gale Cengage Learning (2012). LARGE PRINT.

In this memoir, Yangzom Brauen tells the story of her now 90-yearold grandmother Kunsang (a nun)

and grandfather’s (a monk) daring decision to flee from Chinese controlled Tibet to India with her

mother, then 6 years old. With little money and no idea of what they would meet along the way, they

began their journey to cross the Himalayas on foot. 481 pp.

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. Random House (2012)

The End of Your Life Book Club is the inspiring true story of a son and mother who start a book club

that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on

conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by a diverse selection of

books and a shared passion for reading. Throughout, they and we are reminded of the power of books

to comfort, astonish and teach. 352 pp.

January First: A Child’s Descent Into Madness and Her Father’s Struggle to Save Her by

Michael Schofield. Random House (2013)

At age 6, January Schofield was diagnosed with one of the most severe cases of child-onset

schizophrenia on record. Michael Schofield takes us on his journey with his daughter as they face

seemingly insurmountable obstacles and daily challenges with her care and his unwavering

commitment to save her from the edge of insanity while doing everything he can to keep his family

together. 320 pp.


Metropolitan & Community News

Food for Thought

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

Childcare available

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 $7 per adult, $4 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.

Upcoming sessions:

Session 3: November 12 and 19, 2014 (no class November 5 or 26)

Bible Study: The Beatitudes. Found in Matthew 5 and Luke 6, the Beatitudes are

a succinct yet profound expression of core Christian values and key example of

how the gospel message turns the world’s priorities upside down.

Topical Study: “Mission and Myanmar.” Led by Patrick Landau Our director of youth, Patrick Landau, will lead a two part discussion on missions

in a pluralistic world focused on his experiences in Myanmar as a seminarian. The

first session will focus on the first missionaries sent by Americans and the impact

they had on the country. This will include examining how early missionaries

shaped Christianity in the region and their

participation in the Anglo-Burmese War with a

particular focus on the question “Has Christian

missions been harmful or helpful to Burma?” The

second session will explore contemporary issues

of religious freedom in Burma with a particular

focus on the question “Can I be both Buddhist and

Christian?” Continued next page

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


Metropolitan & Community News

(Food for Thought upcoming sessions, continued)

Session 4: December 3-17, 2014

Bible Study: The story of Christmas in Matthew, Luke and John

Matthew and Luke are the only two gospels that

contain stories of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and the

stories have some significant differences. John doesn’t

have a birth story, but opens with a poetic hymn to the

pre-existent Christ: “In the beginning was the Word…”

Prepare for Christmas by studying these scriptures and

seeing what their differences and similarities have to

say to us today.

Advent Experience: “The Shade of the Living Light: Walking and Listening with

Hildegard of Bingen”

As we move toward Christmas, take a break from the hustle and bustle of the

season by walking the labyrinth and enjoying the art and music of Hildegard of

Bingen. Hildegard was a 12th century German nun, abbess, writer, physician,

composer, and mystic. Our Great Hall labyrinth will be open 7 pm-8 pm for you

to walk, pray, and contemplate at your own pace, with readings, illustrations and

music from Hildegard to enhance your Advent preparations.

AARP Meeting November 17, 1pm

Please join us on Monday, November 17th in the Vestry. Bruce Maliken of Up and

Running Computer Services, LLC will bring us up to date on “Computer and Technology

Issues of Which We Should All Be Aware.”

Social time is at 12:30 p.m., and the meeting starts at 1:00.

Refreshments will be served.


Circles

Jewelry-Making Group On hiatus until January

The Jewelry-Making Group meets the fourth Wednesday of the month

after the Community Dinner during Food for Thought classes. We are

off November and December but please join us when we resume in

January. For questions, contact Kelly D'Angelo at

[email protected] or 202-210-2220 (home/cell) or (301) 443-0871

(work).

2 Contact Jane Cunningham, 703-821-3486 or Charlotte Carter,

[email protected], 703-442-0934

6 Please join us November 13 at 7:00 pm in the parlor. We will welcome

Charlie Parker to share with us his experiences while on sabbatical this

summer in Japan, Vancouver and participating in an Aikido camp. Our

Renaissance minister, come hear about the adventure! For those of you

who missed the movie last month, we will repeat, perhaps as our Christmas

Celebration, stay tuned! Contacts: Mary Jo Marchant,

[email protected] 703-435-1715 and Ann Michel,

[email protected] or 202-885-8582.

8 We will not meet in November. Contact Eugenia Evans,

[email protected]

9 We will not meet in November. Please contact Bobby Turnbull,

[email protected] (301) 320-4154

10 Contact Caralee Adams [email protected] or Suzanne Vieth

[email protected]

The next UMW Board Meeting will be held November 10, 2014.

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

[email protected] by Friday, November 28, 2014.

tel:703-821-3486


tel:703-442-0934





tel:%28301%29%20320-4154




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