Pastor Rev. Duane Bartz

Minister of Music Cathy King Asst. Minister of Music Kathy Haege February 2013 Office Assistant 101 Milton Avenue, Ballston Spa, NY 12020 Kelly Schmidt Sexton Barbara Cope

Lay Leader Glenn Harrison Lay Member UNYAC Linda Sheeran SPRC Chair Ilah Sisson Walser 2-2 MS/HS Youth Group (FR) 10:00 Treasurer 2-3 Worship with Communion 10:00 Maria Dickerson 2-3 Souper Bowl Sunday after worship Finance Chair 2-3 Voice choir rehearsal after worship 2-3 Children’s choir rehearsal (S) 11:30 2-3 Children’s bell choir rehearsal (S) 6:00 Trustee Chair 2-5 Finance (P) 6:30 Jeff Blake 2-6 Worship Team (P) 6:00 Christian Education 2-6 Bell choir rehearsal (S) 7:00 Grace Paster 2-7 Prayer Shawl (P) 1:30 Church Council Chair 2-7 D-Line Dinner 6:30 2-8 FOGGS 4th-6th grade Youth Group (FR) 6:00-7:30 Gary Wilson 2-10 Boy Scout Sunday - service done by the Boy Scouts 10:00 2-10 Sunday School 10:00 Church Office 2-10 Voice choir rehearsal after worship 885-6886 2-10 Children’s choir rehearsal (S) 11:30 2-10 Trustees 12:00 Office Hours 2-10 Confirmation Class 12:00 Mon., Tues. & Wed. 2-10 Children’s bell choir rehearsal (S) 6:00 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 2-12 Church Council (P) 7:00 Pastor’s Office Hours 2-13 Ash Wednesday Service 7:00 th th Mon. - Thurs., 9 - 2 2-15 FOGGS 4 -6 grade Youth Group (FR) 6:00-7:30 2-16 Game Night (FR) 6:30-8:30 (unless out for pastoral 2-17 Worship and Sunday School 10:00 calls) 2-17 Fair Trade Sale after worship Parsonage Phone 2-17 Voice choir rehearsal after worship 309-3737 2-17 Confirmation Class 12:00 2-17 Children’s choir rehearsal (S) 11:30 Pastor’s Cell Phone 2-17 Children’s bell choir rehearsal (S) 6:00 (518) 522-4694 2-18 UMW (P) 6:30 2-19 HS/MS Youth Group Pancake Supper (FR) 5:30 E-Mail 2-19 SPRC (P) 7:00 2-20 Bell choir rehearsal (S) 6:30 [email protected] 2-21 Prayer Shawl (P) 6:30 Pastor’s E-Mail 2-23 Free Lunch (FR) 11:30-1:00 [email protected] 2-24 Worship and Sunday School 10:00 Web Site 2-24 Voice choir rehearsal after worship 2-24 Children’s choir rehearsal (S) 11:30 ballstonspaumchurch.org 2-24 Children’s bell choir rehearsal (S) 6:00 2-27 Bell choir rehearsal (S) 6:30 Sunday Worship 10:00 a.m. S=Sanctuary, FR=Fellowship Room, P=Parlor, CH=Church House

1 We Need Your Help

We could use a couple of people to take on some oversight As we enter into February it can be a time of battling of some church tasks that have been taken care of by a the winter doldrums. The daylight hours have been so variety of people in various ways. We want to help out very short for over 2 months and are only just starting to with things that people are already doing, not step on lengthen. We’ve only just reached the average coldest anyone’s ongoing efforts. weeks of the winter. Having had a strong dose of real Volunteer Activity Coordinator – we would like winter weather for the first time in a couple of years, I for someone to have a sense of the many different ways one, am longing for an end to it. In so far as winter people are able to be involved in our church, so when weather goes, February is a month I could do without. someone new to our church would like to become Nevertheless, the paradox is that even though involved, or if a current member would like to shift where winter may seem to crawl along at an interminable pace, they are involved, we have a person who could give the change of seasons in so many others ways may seem suggestions for possibilities. to change quicker than a blink of an eye. As we plan Communications Oversight – there are many different ahead for our year, Ash Wednesday and the season of ways that communications are critical to our church. Lent is just around the corner and Easter will be here at Communicating information within our church family as the end of March. Many different things that are part of well as communicating information about our church and the new year are getting underway and as always life our activities to the world around us is so important. We continues on, unstoppable by winter doldrums or the more already do this in many different ways, but sometimes we serious challenges that life throws our way. are not sure who is doing what. Whatever it is that may slow us down, we know that These are new roles that do not yet have any specific in Christ Jesus there is always hope that lifts us up and definition. If you might see yourself in one of these roles enables us to carry on. Hope is something that is talked or if you have ideas about what they should be, please about throughout the Bible as an essential component of contact Pastor Duane life. It is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to boldly move ahead in the face of adversity. **************************** The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” Hope is something that keeps our spirits alive, but it does so with the underpinnings of love. I encourage you to take time to read the familiar chapter on love, 1 Corinthians 13. Often we hear it read at weddings, but it is always uplifting to review it for ourselves. And as we are surrounded by and filled with God’s love, may we have the hope to challenge life’s doldrums and forge ahead always with love. If you are interested in being a member of our BSUMC May the peace of Christ be with you, email prayer ministry, please contact Peggy Traver at Pastor Duane [email protected] . Anyone may also submit prayer requests in this way, but be certain to get ***************************** permission from the individual or family concerned. ****************************

Pastor Duane and Karen want to express our thanks and gratitude to our church family for the generous Christmas gift that you gave to us. We are truly blessed to be a part of this church family and we are excited to be entering into our 2nd year together with you.

February 18th

2 Birthdays There are many books available in the Library. Just sign the 2-1 Maddy Wilson card in the back of the book and put it in the box on the top of 2-2 Patricia Higgins the bookcase. Enjoy reading! 2-3 Parker Caswell; Joshua Thompson 2-4 Donald Green; A.J. Schmidt; Garret Evans **************************** 2-6 Peggy Traver 2-7 Kathy Haege; T.C. Wolsey 2-14 Jeannine Kelley 2-16 Eliason Cherrstrom; Taylor Natale 2-18 Merritt Richard Westfall 2-19 Keith Dickerson 2-22 Alexander Duthaler 2-23 Nicholas Parlapiano Does the office have your 2-29 Jonathan Blake e-mail address?

Contact the office at [email protected], so we can add Anniversaries you to our mailing list. Please let us know if you’d like to receive The Tidings electronically. Also, remember to visit our website (www.ballstonspaumchurch.org), and find BSUMC on Facebook, 2-15 Frank & Mary Townley so you can keep up-to-date on all of the good things happening at 2-27 Neil & Ann Heffernan our church!

Please let the Church Office know if there are any **************************** additions and/or corrections. Liturgists for the month of January:

**************************** January 6 - Troy Caswell January 13 - Lynne Blake Choir Notes January 20 - Marcos Vargas January 27 - Jeff Blake

Communion Servers for the month of January:

Linda Sheeran and Carrie Sheeran Andrea Husselbeck and Kesandra Husselbeck The voice choir will be practicing after worship beginning Troy Caswell December 30, 2012. **************************** The Adult Handbell Choir will resume on January 23rd at 6:30 in the sanctuary.

The children’s choir will be taking the month of January off. We will start up again February 3rd at 11:30 in the sanctuary. Any child age 5 and up are invited to join us.

Children’s Bell Choir will begin rehearsing again on Sunday, January MARDI GRAS PANCAKE SUPPER 6th at 6:00 in the sanctuary. FUNDRAISER

**************************** Tuesday 2/19 5:30pm--Fellowship Hall Library Corner Hosted by the combined Middle School and High School MY GRANDFATHER’S BLESSINGS Youth Group ...as they push towards raising money to attend UPWORD! By Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. Come and be served by the Youth and support them in Dr. Remen is a master storyteller. She learned from her their drive! grandfather that blessing one another is what heals the isolation and loneliness in us all. This is a series of stories, so it can be ALL proceeds will go towards this trip to Syracuse read a little at a time. Each story is complete in itself. You will want to strive to be a more compassionate person from having UPWORD! read this book which is filled with everyday wisdom. THANKS, See y'all there

HELP WANTED!

3 The First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa is seeking a Church Sexton. It is a part-time 25 hours, custodian position requiring the ability to lift up to 50 pounds. Basic duties include cleaning This is late, but sincere, thank you to ALL who helped make the and maintenance of the church, and overseeing setting up of December 8th Roast Beef Dinner our most successful one!! It enabled us to donate $2,535 to the church for current expenses. church activities and events. Interested applicants please contact The Bake Sale, run by Diane Solotruck, added another $150+ as the church: [email protected], 202 Milton Ave., Ballston well. Great job everyone!! Spa, NY 12020, 518-885-8361.

Janet and George Mallette **************************** **************************** Upper Room Thrift Shop & Food Pantry

The Thrift Shop has lots of good used clothing of all sizes available for $2.00 a bag, as full as you want to get it. They are open every Tuesday from 9 am to noon. Just come in the front door to the Church House and go up the stairs. They accept all good used clothing in all sizes. What’s New in Sunday School The Food Pantry is open every Wednesday from 9:00 - 11:30 am. You come to the back door of the Church House to The Sunday School is full of good things this winter! We wrapped receive a good variety of food. You can come and receive the up our t-shirt and school supply drives for Uganda. Thank you for food once a month. your generous support of these projects! Coming up in February, the Sunday School and Youth Group will be hosting our annual We are very lucky to have such a giving community that Soup-er Bowl Sunday on February 3rd. Look for more information helps provide the pantry with all kinds of food. They sometimes in this issue of the Tidings. As Lent is approaching in mid- give money in memory of someone. We use that to purchase February, we’re looking forward to a mission project to support from the Regional Food Bank in Latham at a really good price. the Ronald McDonald House in Albany. More information will We also get a grant once a year from the Food Bank. follow in the coming weeks. The Middle School and High School classes have taken The items we usually need are cereal, peanut butter, and on the task of preparing a complete worship service. The date spaghetti sauce. Donations for the food pantry and thrift shop has yet to be determined, but a lot of thought and effort is going can be brought in any time that the office is open. Thanks to into it, and I know it will be something special. The pre-k through everyone who has helped in any way to make these projects such 6th grade classes will be following the Grow curriculum’s unit: a success and also those who work in them. “Stories of the Kingdom”, which will explore several parables from the Bible.

Helen Senecal & Marian Phillips Good things are happening in the Sunday School classrooms – I invite you to talk with the children and teachers and find out **************************** more!

Peace, Grace Paster, Sunday School Superintendent CONNECTIONS CAFÉ **************************** …MEETS EVERY SUNDAY FOR FELLOWSHIP BEFORE & AFTER WORSHIP IN THE PARLOR ALL are welcome, please come to CONNECT with new and old friends over Fair Trade coffee(or tea or hot cocoa) and snacks.

We appreciate your continued support and welcome contributions of any kind including tasty foods and healthy alternatives like fruit and cheese. Fair Trade Items will be offered for sale following the Sunday, February 17, 2012. There will be coffee, tea, hot cocoa, Geo Bars (granola bars) and chocolate bars for sale. Thank you to all members for supporting the BSUMC church Fair Trade efforts through the purchase of these fair trade items for your own use, or as gifts, and also through your support of the church coffee hour following our Sunday church services.

THANK YOU ---- THANK YOU ---- THANK YOU Before you toss any more of those cans in the returnable or Can Pull-Tab Collection recycling bin, pop off the metal tab, and save it. There will be a collection some time in the spring, whereby all these tabs will be brought to a scrap metal business and redeemed. All 4 proceeds will go towards Current Expenses. Tell your friends, and have them collect them too. Lenten Lunches Thank you- Linda Sheeran- 885-1729 or [email protected] The Ecumenical Lenten Lunches will again this year be hosted by the First Presbyterian Church on High Street. Each Wednesday (Feb 20 through March 27) throughout Lent lunch ***************************** will be served and a short talk presented by the clergy of our local churches. Each week a different church provides the lunch and each week a different pastor provides the message. The theme this year will be Beyond the Gospels: Views on the Cross. The luncheons are scheduled to begin at 12:10pm and finish Souper Bowl Sunday is coming! by 12:50pm so that anyone working nearby and having a lunch hour can come out and get back to work as needed. Mark your calendars for February 3rd - our annual "Souper We encourage everyone who is able to attend and enjoy this Bowl Sunday"! The Middle School and High School Youth will time together for lunch with our own church family as well as have their chicken noodle soup for sale, as well as a Bake Sale many others from our neighboring churches, as together we by the Sunday School. Bring home some nice soup for lunch, journey the path with Jesus through this season of Lent. and get some delicious snacks for the big game! All proceeds from the sale will be donated to BACA's (Ballston Area Clergy *************************** Association) Community Assistance Fund. *

Carrie Sheeran will be traveling to the Dominican Republic for a service trip with her school, Saint Michael's College, in March for her Spring Break. First they will work with the ***************************** Sisters of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph in Ocoa where they tirelessly care for the health, education, and dignity of the people. They provide schools, health clinics, a nursing home, milk-distribution programs for children and many other ministries. The second organization is ADESJO (Association for the Development of San Jose de Ocoa). This group helps sustain the rural way of life for thousands of families in the region who suffer from poverty. Working with community members, ADESJO helps to create change, hope and social justice through infrastructure projects like safe, hurricane-resistant homes, schools and aqueducts. They also work to improve adult literacy and healthcare and provide small loans to help empower women to start small businesses. For an example of a common project, the cost to build one home with ADESJO is $5,500. One year, a group brought donations that were just $300 short of this and they had to stop building the house they were working on since Bishop Webb, the resident bishop of our Upper New York there weren't enough funds--this is how directly our Conference, has accepted an invitation to preach at a worship donations are utilized! As a group, they have a goal to raise service in our church. He has scheduled September 22nd for his $7,000 this year to help ADESJO and the Sisters with their visit to our church. We will all be anticipating his time with us work. If you would like to contribute to these organizations this fall. that I will be visiting and volunteering with in the Dominican Republic during my spring break, you can make a check out to MOVE, (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts) by the last week in February. (You will receive a letter from St. Michael’s for your tax records if you contribute to these organizations.) You can send it to my address below. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]

Carrie Sheeran Saint Michael’s College 1 Winooski Park, Box 3965 Colchester, VT 05439

Troop 1 to Celebrate 100 Years In 1913, members of the Ballston Spa United Methodist Church signed a charter with Boy Scouts of America to start Troop 1‘s history. On Saturday, March 16th the troop will host a 100 year celebration, recharter and 5 court of honor at the Milton Community Center. Ballston Spa United Methodist Church has been the sponsor of Are you getting cabin fever? Tired of these long winter Troop 1 for all 100 years. The troop is looking to connect evenings at home? How about some fun and with former scouts and scout families. Please contact fellowship with your church family! On Saturday, Glenn Harrison at [email protected]. February 16, come to our multi-generational family game night. Bring your favorite games to play and ***************************** some munchies/drinks to share. Scout Sunday February 10 th We would like to make this a monthly event. For February we will meet at 6:30 to 8:30 in the fellowship A scout is reverent is one of the points of the Scout Law. room. Feedback will be welcome as to the date and Troop 1, Pack 1 and Troop 54 will create, design and lead time for future months. We want to encourage young the service on the second Sunday of February. families to be able to come and still get children home ***************************** for a timely bedtime. Two Troop Committee Members If you have any questions please call Karen Bartz or one of our youth leaders, Kurt Husselbeck, and Marcos Earn Ballston Spa National Bank and Sarah Vargas. Award ***************************

Ballston Spa National Bank (BSNB) has created a *

Volunteers in Action Program. It is an employee based program designed to encourage volunteer efforts, the program is for all staff members and to strengthen BSNB support of the communities they serve. Only 10 BSNB staff members of over 100 employees received a $500 award for their outstanding volunteer efforts.

BSNB staff members Matt Hosek and Christine Kernochan each received the Community Support Award in recognition of their leadership and volunteer work. Matt directed his $500 award to Troop 1 and Christine split her We will have a Bible study, The Parables of Jesus, $500 to Birthright and Ballston Spa United Methodist taking place during the six weeks of Lent. The class Church Food Pantry. will be held on Monday evenings from 7:00pm until 8:00pm. The 1st class will take place on February 18 Matt is the Mechanicville branch manager, a troop and continue for a total of 6 weeks, ending March 25, committeeman and has had 2 sons in the troop. Christine the Monday before Easter. is branch manager of the Rt. 67 office, troop treasurer One theme of the study will be “connecting the Bible to and has 2 sons in the troop. life.” There are no required readings. Each one hour ***************************** class will consist of 3 video segments each followed by a short discussion time. Rebuilding Together Saratoga County Signups will take place on the 1st 2 Sundays of February or you may call the church office or Pastor Rebuilding Together Saratoga County is accepting Duane. A Participants book costing $10 will need to be applications for spring 2013 projects that will assist ordered for each member of the class. Saratoga County homeowners who are elderly, disabled, *************************** low-income or a veteran. There is no cost to the homeowner. Our focus is home repairs that keep folks warm, safe and dry. If you anyone in need, please call or email the church office. For spring consideration please have them submitted by * March 1st. February 14th

6 Jamaica Bound!

My name is Walter Thiem and I am a Music Education student at Crane School of Music. I am heading to Jamaica after college ends in May. I will be teaching music for two weeks in Jamaican schools. A college professor from Crane takes a group of students each year to teach both music and education in Jamaican schools. This is all volunteer time. I see it as an opportunity for short-term mission work and to share my gift of music with young children. To help fund the trip, I will be playing the cello during a Sunday Coffee Hour when I am home in March. At this time, I will have a collection box available if you wish to make a donation towards the trip to Jamaica. Your support in my music and mission endeavors is appreciated! Blessings, Walter Thiem ************************************************************* * FINANCIAL NEWS

Average Weekly Giving Per Household in 2012

Results from Consecration Sunday Commitment of Giving

2013 2012

Proposed Spending Plan $137,369.23 $121,103.92

Commitments for $76,776 $60,864 Current Expenses Commitments for $15,293 $17,816 Building Fund # of households making 49 49 a commitment

7 Electronic Funds Transfer is also available for current expense contributions. Please see a finance committee member for more information. **************************************************************

February 13th 7:00 p.m.

8 9 Newsletter Deadline:

The deadline date for the March issue of The Tidings newsletter is February 20 th. You may e-mail your article to [email protected], drop it off, or mail it to the office. Anyone may submit an article for the newsletter.

Sunday Worship 10 AM - Nursery Care Available Sunday School 10 AM (except the 1st Sunday of the month)

101 Milton Avenue Ballston Spa, NY 12020

F ebruary Tidings

10 “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors”

11