United Methodist Women

Metropolitan UMW Newsletter : April 2015 of 12

Metropolitan Memorial, St. Luke’s & Wesley

United Methodist Churches

202-363-4900 (MMUMC office)

Mark Your Calendar

April

2 Th Maundy Thursday, Worship

(7:30pm, Metropolitan UMC)

3 F Good Friday, Seven Last

Words of Christ (noon-3pm,

Metropolitan)

3 F Good Friday, Tenebrae

Service (7-9pm, Wesley UMC)

3 F Good Friday, Worship

(7:30pm, Metropolitan UMC)

5 Su Easter

12 Su Wesley Circle informational

meeting (12:30pm at Wesley

UMC)

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

Conference Rm)

25 Sa Great Day of Service

May


Conference Rm)

15-17

F-Su

Charter for Racial Justice

Seminar

23 Sa Greater Washington District

UMW Prayer Breakfast (9am,

Great Hall)

July

29-Aug 2 National Seminar, Chicago

August


Conference Rm)

September


Conference Rm)

27 Su UMW Sunday

November

7 Sa UMW Bazaar

December

6 Su UMW Recognition Sunday

Table Of Contents

Reflections pg 2

UMW News 3-7

Metropolitan News 8-11

Circles 12

UMW Newsletter THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH

April, 2015


UMW News

The 2015 UMW Directory is out! We have distributed a version in PDF

format to those on our e-mail list in an

attempt to be “greener”. We have also

distributed hard copies through Circle

meetings to save mailing costs. However, if

you still don’t have a copy, we will be

mailing them out soon. If you have updates

to this version of the directory, please send

them to [email protected].

Highlights

Wesley circle informational meeting, p. 3

Great Day of Service information, p. 4

Call for UMW Recognition nominations, p. 5

Thank yous, recaps and reflections on recent UMW events p. 3, 6, 7

Have you tried Lunch and More? p. 8

Last chance to see Picturing Mary at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, p. 8

A trip to Italy with UMW member Esther Burkat and EO Tours, p. 9

Reflections

“Christmas and Easter can be subjects for poetry, but Good

Friday, like Auschwitz, cannot. The reality is so horrible it is not

surprising that people should have found it a stumbling block to

faith.”

~ W.H. Auden

“Remember Jesus of Nazareth, staggering on broken feet out of the tomb toward the

Resurrection, bearing on his body the proud insignia of the defeat which is victory, the

magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of God.”

~ Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

mailto:[email protected]


UMW News

Expanding the UMW Circle April 12 at 12:30pm, Wesley UMC

Come meet the women of Wesley who may be

interested in starting a Wesley Circle. We will meet at

Wesley (5312 Connecticut Ave. @ Jenifer St.) at 12:30pm

in the Library (lower level). Come to share your

experiences of UMW and let’s see what we can do

together!

Lenten Contemplative Services

Thank you to our UMW ushers, to Mary Jo Marchant for being our on-site coordinator

and to Margaret Patterson, our unit’s Spiritual Missions Coordinator, for managing the

schedule:

Connie Sommers

Margaret Patterson

Bonnie Edwards

Penny Pagano

Rose Kelley

Pam McFarland

Claire Saret

Jeanie Mah

Because of the UMW’s participation, our unit will collect the freewill offerings from the

Lenten evening services and designate them for Courtney’s House.

Our unit also gave $100 to the Greater Washington District UMW as our Call to Prayer

and Self-Denial gift. A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial is an annual observance during

which members reflect on the gospel of Christ and make an offering to mission in

response to Christ’s love and his people. In 2015, the offering received will go toward

the pensions and health care of retired deaconesses and missionaries. One hundred

percent of the offering will go directly to provide health and pension support for

retirees. When the Call to Prayer and Self-Denial offerings went towards this same fund

4 years ago, UMW members raised nearly $900,000 to provide pension and health

support for approximately 160 retirees.

~ Jeanie Mah


UMW News

Mark your calendars now for the Great Day of Service Saturday, April 25th

Our church and community need all helping hands on deck to support our Great

Day of Service! We have booked a variety of activities that call on the full range of

our unit’s gifts and talents. Some advance planning is required, so please think about

how you’d like to plug in starting now.

10am – 1pm at the DC Diaper Bank Warehouse, 8858 Monard Drive, Silver Spring, MD

We need 5 volunteers to help with inventory and

packing diapers at the DC Diaper Bank Warehouse,

from 10am – 1pm. If you would like to represent the

UMW by volunteering at the Diaper Warehouse, please

e-mail [email protected]. Spots will be filled on a

first-come, first-served basis.

9am – noon at St. Luke’s Mission Center, 3655 Calvert

Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20007

Projects in the Chancel, including:

• Filling Bags of Grace for Friendship Place

• Compiling kits for the children of Brighter Day

Ministries

• Filling Outreach Bags for Courtney’s House

• Hand-painting watercolor cards for the Metropolitan

greeting card ministry

11:30am – 2:30pm at St. Luke’s Mission Center

We’ll work with Chef Anthony to help keep the Campus

Kitchen spotless and primed for service.

9:30am – 1pm (pending) There may also be an opportunity to deliver meals from St.

Luke’s to one of our partners in NE or SE. Stay tuned!



UMW News

UMW Recognition Luncheon - Nominations Needed

Each year the UMW celebrates four outstanding women

who have made significant contributions to our church,

the community, and embody the spirit of United

Methodist Women. The Recognition Luncheon will be

held December 6, 2015. We are seeking nominations for

honorees and need your input. Since we prefer to honor

women not previously recognized, please see Page 6 of

your new 2015 UMW Directory, which lists people who

have already received this honor. Should you not have

a Directory, a list of previously recognized women is also available, upon request,

from Carol or Sandy (see below). To nominate someone, please contact Carol

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

Charter for Racial Justice

Seminar May 15-17, 2015

The Baltimore Washington Conference

UMW is holding a Charter for Racial

Justice Seminar from May 15 - 17, 2015,

at Blackstone United Methodist

Conference Center, Blackstone, VA.

Please e-mail [email protected]

or contact a UMW board member if

you are interested in attending. Our

Unit has set aside funds for UMW

regional meetings and we may be able

to provide some financial support (e.g.,

registration fees).

For potential bus transportation,

contact [email protected]

or Pamela Randall at (410)-257-7132.

District UMW Annual Prayer

Breakfast Saturday, May 23

9am-noon

Our unit has been asked to host the

Annual Prayer Breakfast of the Greater

Washington District UMW on Saturday,

May 23, 9am – noon in the Great Hall. This

is a wonderful opportunity to connect with

our sisters from all quadrants of the city

and put Radical

Hospitality into action.

The theme will be

“Welcomed by God,

Welcoming All”. If you

can contribute a dish

and/or help host, please

send an e-mail to

[email protected].







UMW News

INNOVATIONS AT THE UWM BOOK & BAKE SALE

It couldn't have

happened without you! Our

book and bake sale earlier

in March raked in nearly

$3700 in sales thanks to

all of you who brought in

books, made baked goods,

set-up, organized, cleaned

up, and most importantly,

helped us spread the word

about the sale.

Thank you for taking the many leaps of faith in the

process. This year, we tried an electronic sign-up process

called Sign Up Genius to organize volunteers. The slots

filled before our eyes and those who weren't comfortable

with the electronic sign-up still called and got on the list.

For the first time, we accepted credit cards at the

sale (for a $10 minimum charge, plus a 50 cent convenience

fee). This resulted in nearly $600 in sales that we are not

sure would have happened if the UMW hadn't been willing

to take a chance on using plastic.

Finally, we took to the internet to publicize the sale.

Many of you spread the word about the sale on your

neighborhood listserves to tell your communities about the

event. We also found a special site just for used book sales

called booksalefinder.com. And we created a twitter

account and tweeted about the sale. Our twitter handle is

@metropolitanumw. Tell your grandkids! The UMW is on

Twitter!

As successful as the sale was, we still have books left

over afterward. Our friends at Wonder Books picked up the

remainders and gave us a check for $140, ($1 per box). The

children's books were divided among Brighter Day

Ministries, for our sister church's after-school program;

Democracy Prep charter school's Saturday Academy, and

Chevy Chase Citizens Association, which is distributing the

books to public school libraries in Ward 7 & 8.

Thanks again to our wonderful UMW for its terrific

work at the sale, which was a wonderful opportunity for our

lively and generous community to come together.

~ Anita Seline & Martha Mizroch

Book & Bake

Sale Recap

Thank you to all:

Book Donators

Book Un-Packers

Book Sorters

Book Sale Publicizers

Book Sellers

Book Browsers

Book Buyers

Bakers

Book Re-Packers

Almost $3,700

raised!

Thank you to Anita

Seline and Martha

Mizroch for fearlessly

leading us through a

wonderfully

successful Book Sale!

This year, with help

from Bill Potts, we

were able to process

credit cards for the

first time.


UMW News

This year's women's retreat was fun, challenging and reflective. We played, pondered

and created awesome pouches that we can carry with us to remember our own

personal stories as well as remembering the discussion and reflection we made on

self-care. If you were not there you missed a wonderful time and an opportunity to

reflect and rejuvenate!

~ Mary Jo Marchant

Across the board it was a wonderful weekend, a stretch for me to enjoy a craft

project, but my favorite moment was when I had asked those lying on the floor at

the end of a Feldenkrais lesson to compare a move "now" with the same move when

they started, and I heard breath in-takes and happy murmuring.

~ Pat Simpich

I have not attended the retreat in years past,

but will in the future. I enjoyed the warm,

supportive company of other women as well as the

opportunity to step away from my hectic life for

a couple of days.

~ Carol Farris

My favorite memory of the retreat was trading quotes

from the movie "Pretty in Pink" (circa. 1986) with

Dottie Yunger. Yes, I'm referring to Reverend Dottie.

"What about prom, Blane?!" I thought it was amazing

that our women clergy and staff, whose "day jobs" are

the very definition of well-doing -- namely,

shepherding the rest of us on our messy spiritual

journeys -- wanted to attend the women's retreat and

just hang out with us. Really, if anyone needed a

weekend dedicated to self-care, wouldn't it be them?

To see them having a good time and feeling safe

enough to be themselves gave me yet another reason to

be grateful for the annual women's retreat. It

confirmed for me that care-giving isn't the job of a

designated few, but with the gifts of the Holy Spirit in

each of us, we can and are meant to take care of each

other.

~ Jeanie Mah

My favorite thing about the retreat…

Save the date for

the next PriestField

retreat:

February 5-7, 2016


Metropolitan & Community News

National Museum of Women in the Arts Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea on view until April 12, 2015

Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child (Madonna

col Bambino) (detail), ca. 1466–69; Provincia di

Firenze, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence

“Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea” explores the concept of womanhood

represented by the Virgin Mary as well as the social and sacred functions her image

has served through time. This landmark exhibition organized by the National Museum

of Women in the Arts brings together more than 60 Renaissance- and Baroque-era

masterworks from the Vatican Museums, Uffizi Gallery, and other museums, churches,

and private collections in Europe and the United States.

Divided into six thematic sections, the exhibition presents images of Mary as a

daughter, cousin, and wife; the mother of an infant; a bereaved parent; the

protagonist in a rich life story developed through the centuries; a link between heaven

and earth; and an active participant in the lives of those who revere her.” See more

at: http://nmwa.org/exhibitions/picturing-mary-woman-mother-idea

Jewelry-Making Group

4th Wednesday each month

Next meeting April 22 at 7pm

The Jewelry-Making

Group meets in the

Christie Room on the

fourth Wednesday of

the month at 7pm

during Food for Thought

classes. The Community Dinner is 6pm in

the Vestry. We go over the unsold pieces

of jewelry from the last Bazaar, revamp

them, and get them ready for the next

Bazaar. For questions, contact Kelly

D'Angelo at [email protected]

Lunch and More April 15 & May 21, noon, Great Hall

UMW ladies please come and join us

April 16 and May 21 (the third Thursday

of the month) at noon in the Great Hall

for lunch followed by fellowship time

which can be Bridge, Games, or a Film.

Cost $5. Food from Lidos. Reservations

not required. Just come and enjoy.

Contact Phyllis Kokus [email protected]

or Mary Jo Marchant

[email protected].

http://nmwa.org/exhibitions/picturing-mary-woman-mother-idea






GRATE PATROL ~ GREAT CIRCLE ACTIVITY

Wanted: Circles to volunteer to assemble lunches for the Grate Patrol Pick a Sunday study hour, Vestry (see dates below)

Is your circle looking for an easy service project that can be done on Sunday morning?

Every month, Metropolitan assembles about 50 or more lunch bags that are distributed to

the homeless through a Salvation Army program called The Grate Patrol. Anita Seline is

coordinating the scheduling of this volunteer activity and encourages all UMW circles to

consider taking a date. The groups that sign up don't have to do the shopping nor the

distribution on Monday night, but simply show up in the Vestry on the

last Sunday of the month during the study hour, make sandwiches, and

assemble the bag lunches. It's a fun activity while also providing a great

service (and it doesn't take that long). If you are looking for a short but

useful service activity, see if any of these dates fit in your circle's

calendar and contact Anita Seline at [email protected] to schedule.

As of press time, the following 2015 dates are open:

June 28

July 26

August 30

September 27

October 25

November 29

December 27

Educational Opportunities Tour trip to Italy with EO Tours

November 3 – 12, 2015

Dear Friends,

My name is Esther Barkat. I have recently join Metropolitan church. My husband and I

moved to Springfield Virginia from West Virginia where my husband served UM

Churches for 45 years. At present he is a part time pastor at St. Luke’s UMC in Falls

Church, Virginia. I am a retired psychology professor. I am have been very active in

UMW since 1973. At this point I am serving on UMW organization Board of Directors.

My husband and I are hosting a trip to Italy in November and would like to invite you

to come and join us on this part religious part pleasure journey.

I am attaching a brochure (IT15_14180_Barkat_Layout 1.pdf) that would explain the trip

and all the expenses. If you have any question, please contact

me at [email protected].

Blessings,

Esther Barkat





Food for Thought

Spring 2015

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

Childcare available by request

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 8: April 8-29, 2015

Bible Study: Job

Why do bad things happen to good people? Is good rewarded? Is evil punished? The book

of Job engages these questions using rich, poetic language.

Topical Study: A Hopeful Earth: Faith, Science and the Message of Jesus by Sally

Dyck and Sarah Ehrman Led by Rev. Dottie Yunger

This study pairs the Christian faith of Bishop Sally Dyck and the scientific world of her

niece, Sarah Ehrman, as they discover how the church can reach the younger generation

by joining them in the race to save the environment that God created.

Dottie Yunger is an Associate Pastor at Metropolitan. She currently provides leadership to the service team. Previously Dottie was the Executive Director of Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, an interfaith environmental organization in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. She has served at Capitol Hill UMC as the student associate for reconciliation ministries, which included multicultural ministry and creation care. Dottie is a marine biologist who has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, Discovery Channel, and the National Aquarium. She has studied ecosystem modeling and sea turtle conservation, mostly in warm, sunny climates. Dottie received a Bachelor of Science in marine science from the University of Maryland, and her Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies from Wesley Theological Seminary. Continued on page 15

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



Continued from page 14

Session 9: May 6-27, 2015

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles

In this sequel to the Gospel of Luke, the writer tells of the birth of the early church, the

ministry of Peter, the conversion and missionary journeys of Paul, and the activity of the

Holy Spirit as Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire. With healings and

miracles, persecution and suffering, contentious church dinners, shipwrecks, snakes and

trials, the Acts of the Apostles tells a fascinating story of our beginnings as a faith.

Topical Study: “Understanding Islam”

Led by Dr. Homayra Ziad

According to the Pew Research Center, there are more than 1.6 billion Muslims in the

world, making Islam the second largest religion globally. Islamic extremists dominate the

headlines, but what do we really know about Islam? Dr. Homayra Ziad will lead us

through a study of the origins and central beliefs of Islam, and explain the differences

between various sects of Islam. She will also discuss the role of women in Islam, and the

Muslim experience in the United States.

Homayra Ziad is the Muslim Scholar at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, and formerly Assistant Professor of Religion at Trinity College in Hartford. After receiving her first degree from Bryn Mawr, she earned a doctorate in Islamic Studies from Yale. Dr. Ziad is deeply involved in interreligious education, as well as interfaith initiatives and educational outreach on Islam. She is recently co-founder and co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Group, and an editor for Palgrave’s upcoming series Interreligious Studies in Theory and Practice. Dr. Ziad finds a home in Scriptural Reasoning and Jewish-Muslim and Abrahamic dialogue. She works regularly on projects of inter-religious learning with Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College in Boston, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College of Philadelphia, and the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. She is a member of the WISE Women’s Shura Council, co-author of a fatwa against domestic violence, and a contributor to the Huffington Post’s HuffJummah. She is working on two books, the first on the intersections of spirituality and literary aesthetics in the work of the eighteenth-century Sufi theologian and poet of Delhi Khwajah Mir Dard, and the second a popular work on Islam and humor. Dr. Ziad is inspired in her work by spiritual and pluralist traditions within Islam.


Circles

Resurrection Mural by Ron DiCianni

The Museum of Biblical Art, Dallas, Texas

Circles

2 On April 8th Circle 2 will be visiting the National Museum of Women in the Arts for the

“Picturing Mary” exhibit. All are invited. Contact Jane Cunningham, [email protected],

703-821-3486 or Charlotte Carter, [email protected].

6 We will welcome Jane Ward as she shares with us her passion and expertise regarding

climate change. Jane will share the DVD "Chasing Ice". It is a 75 minute documentary

sponsored by National Geographic by geologist/photographer James Balog, a former

climate change skeptic. See the trailer on the website: https://chasingice.com. All are

welcomed, join us April 16 at 7:00p.m in the parlor. Please rsvp to Mary Jo at

[email protected] in case we need a bigger room!

8 Contact Eugenia Evans, [email protected]

9 Circle 9 will meet on Wednesday, April 1 at 10:30 a.m. in the Choir Room. We will discuss

books we have read from this year’s UMW Reading Program and will have a short

Pledge to Mission service. Please contact Bobby Turnbull, [email protected].

10 We are going to try a book and discussion on relationships for our next Circle 10 meeting.

Before you leave town for spring break, pick up a copy of The Five Languages of Love:

Secrets to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman (Northfield Publishing, 2009).

http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Languages-Secret-

Lasts/dp/080241270X/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=169J6GC55BYMB5EQAC2B

We will meet on Sunday, April 19 at 5:30-7 in the Parlor. Contact Caralee Adams

[email protected] or Suzanne Vieth [email protected]

The next UMW Board Meeting will be held April 13, 2015.

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

[email protected] by Monday, April 27, 2014.



https://chasingice.com/




http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Languages-Secret-Lasts/dp/080241270X/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=169J6GC55BYMB5EQAC2B

http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Languages-Secret-Lasts/dp/080241270X/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=169J6GC55BYMB5EQAC2B




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