Peace Matters

Peace Matters PEACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 2300 Wisconsin Ave., Kaukauna, WI 54130 June/July 2018 Inside this issue: A Word from Pastor Lucretia As you read this newsletter carefully you will discover that we have some signif- icant repairs to make on our church in the very near future. We have shared them in this newsletter because one of the things we learned in our work with A Word from 2 the consultant Don Greer is that members and friends of our congregation want Pastor Lucretia us to be more transparent with what is going on in the church. continued Life is always a series of ups and down – days of joy and days of struggle. As I look back on the past few months, we had a baptism and five youth join the Parish & 3-4 church through Confirmation. We celebrated a Mortgage Burning and had a Community Jazz worship service. We shared in a potluck and a spaghetti dinner. Fellowship Announcements time is giving us an opportunity to get to know each other better and catch up with news of family and friends. Trustees 5 We just celebrated Pentecost Sunday, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples – including us- and have been given God’s Spirit to see us through whatever comes our way. You have heard me say more than once that I wonder Mission News/ 6 what our church, or I for that matter, would be like if that Spirit power was re- Youth Scoop ally set loose. Recently when we were singing the closing hymn, “Spirit Song” I felt myself tempted to lift my hands to heaven as we sang the refrain, “Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs. Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill your lambs.” I 50 Reasons to 7-8 Celebrate the know! United Methodists don’t do that kind of thing. We have enough of a chal- United Methodist lenge to get people to clap along with The Praise Team when they sing that kind Church of song. The same is true for me about kneeling – or standing – at the altar during communion. Somehow if I really take time to think about what I am doing, UM Women 9 continued on page 2….. Dates to Remember: Stewardship 10 News/Treasurer’s June 2 UMW Executive meeting @ 9:30 am Report June 9 Brat Fry @ Piggly Wiggly—Little Chute, 7:00 am—5:00 pm Church Clean Up Day, 8:00 am—12:00 pm Calendars/ 11-12 June 17 Father’s Day Birthdays/ June 19 Don Greer meeting @ 6:00 pm Anniversaries June 23 PUMC @ Kaukauna Farmer’s Market July 4 Independence Day, church office closed Peace Pictures 13 July 15 Worship in the Park at Riverside Park @ 9:00 am July 21 Brat Fry @ Piggly Wiggly—Kaukauna, 7:00 am—5:00 pm July 23-27 UMW Mission u @ Wisconsin Rapids Page 2 …..A Word continued from page 1 I make room for the Spirit to remind me of the depth of Jesus’ love for me. One of my current struggles is watching the declining attendance and wondering what this is all about. I know that we are not the only church where this is happening, but it concerns me anyway. There are some who are not coming because their children have athletic activities on Sunday morn- ing. Some people have to work and just can’t be present. It is one of the pastor’s vul- nerabilities to assume that he or she is the reason why people are staying away. I ad- mit I fall into that trap at times. Here it is the Holy Spirit that keeps me going and challenges me to reach out and find out why this is happening. I would like to hear from people by phone or email or in a home visit why you are no longer in worship with us. We miss you! Again, one of the things we are working with in our process with the consultant Don Greer is discover- ing the answer to this question. At the same time we are discerning ways we can reach out into the community and become involved in things that do not happen within the four walls of the church building. It is an exciting process for me, and I hope you will read the arti- cle below on our work with Don. Plan to come to our meeting with him on June 19 at 6 p.m. to hear some recommendations for the present and future vision of our church. Meeting with Don Greer ~ All Invited Join us for Worship in the Park Tuesday, June 19, 2018 @ 6:00 p.m. Sunday, July 15, 2018 9:00 a.m. As you have heard or read, we have been working with Don Greer, who is the Coordinator of Cir- cuit Ministry for the Wisconsin Conference, on the future of Peace Church. We began this process in January and divided into five study groups to look at Community and Missional Opportunities (including demographics), Ministries of the Con- gregation, Leadership, Financial and Material As- sets, and Position Among other Churches. These groups brought their reports back to a second meeting with Don in April and the results were compiled into an informational document (minutes taken by Pastor Lu). A small group of volunteers took this information and are working on setting recommendations for a mission and vision for Peace Church. These recommendations, along with some demographic data for our geographic area, will be shared at an very important meeting on Tuesday, June 19 at 6:00 p.m. All members and friends of the church are invited to attend this gathering. We will meet in the Narthex to hear where we are and where we can go in the life of Peace Church. Please make it a priority to be pre- Riverside Park ~ Riverside Dr., Kaukauna sent to hear and share in this goal setting process. See page 9 for more details Page 3 Parish Announcements Brat Frys! We will be having 2 brat frys this summer to raise money for our church. Volunteers will be needed to help make and sell food on Saturday, June 9 at the Piggly Wiggly in Little Chute and Saturday, July 21 at the Piggly Wiggly in Kaukauna from 7a.m. - 5 p.m. The Church Clean Up Day is also being held on Saturday, June 9 from 8 a.m. to noon (so you could still help with the brat fry before or after ☺). We will be filling in holes around the church with dirt, taking down some bushes, trimming trees, picking up sticks and whatever else we can get done outside the church during that time. Some tools will be provided but if you have a hedge clipper, a lopper, a dirt shovel, rakes or other outside tools please bring them with you. There will be something for every age to do! Help us make the outside of the church look great for the summer. Wisconsin Annual Conference – Bill Palmer preaching: The Wisconsin Annual Conference, the yearly meeting of all the churches in Wisconsin, will take place Friday through Sunday, June 15-17 at the Marriott Hotel in Middleton (Madison), WI. Pastor Lu and Wendy, Junemann, our Lay Member to Annual Conference, will attend. In the case of any urgent needs, please call Pastor Lu’s cell phone at 920-538- 0538. Bill Palmer will be bringing the message for Sunday, June 17. He always has very good things to say as he shares his faith so I hope you will plan to be in worship. Pastor Lu’s Bible Study will continue throughout the summer on Wednesday mornings from 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. with the exception of the third Wednesday, July 18, when we will meet at 8:30 a.m. We are currently studying the Book of Acts. No Biblical knowledge is nec- essary and all are welcome. We often have spirited discussions (no pun intended with the Holy Spirit) and questions are always welcome. Food Pantry to be discontinued: Some years ago Peace United Methodist Church established a small food pantry to be used primarily by members and friends of the church that needed a helping hand. It has been a good ministry and one members of the congregation have supported with donations of food and hygiene items. In the past several years there has been very minimal use of the pantry, other than by unknown people who walk in looking for help. Unfortunately we have generally had the same few people coming in over and over, each time with a different story of why they are in the situation they are. Some of the recipients have expressed complaints that we do not have the foods they were hoping to get. Others come in when Sheila or Pastor Lu are here alone and present an uncomfortable security issue. Church Council discussed this at their last meeting in May and moved to discontinue the Food Pantry effective June 1, 2018. Any items left in the pantry will be donated to Loaves and Fishes. The church office will have cards which list all the many places people can go for help of any kind. These will be given to those who come in to the church office. Of course, when we do sense a genuine need, we will always do our best to see that help is received. For members or friends of members who are in need, we encourage them to come confidentially to Pastor Lu and she will see they receive food or gas SCRIP card.

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