APRIL 2014 The monthly newsletter of the the acorn Fair Oaks United Methodist Church IN THIS ISSUE... Palm Sunday, April 13 Rummage Sale Maundy Thursday, April 17 Page 5 Good Friday, April 18 Easter Sunday, April 20 Spring Clean Up 8:30 and 10:00 am Day Easter Egg Hunt between services. Page 6 Easter Flowers Soup’s On! If you would like to Thursdays Little Methodist order spring flowers for through April 17 Easter Sunday, please see School News page 16. We will also 6:00 — 7:30 pm Page 7 need several volunteers to No Soup Supper on April 3 purchase and deliver the due to Rummage Sale. flowers on the Friday and Everyone is invited to attend and participate Saturday before Easter in a simple meal and fellowship time. You can Support Groups Sunday. Please contact come to one or all of the suppers. the Church Office if you Child care opens at 6:30 each evening so kids Page 8 are interested in helping. can share supper with their family. As usual, volunteers are Wanted: Easter Candy for welcome. Every meal we SWAG need 2 or 3 loaves of bread, Annual Easter Egg Hunt some peanut butter Page 10 sandwiches, and 2 large pots Our youth in SWAG (Students of yummy soup. Help Worshipping an Awesome God) will once setting up and cleaning up is again head up and coordinate our annual also needed. Easter Egg Hunt. They will stuff the Easter eggs and hide them on Easter Sunday For more information, or 2014 Acorn morning for our younger children to find. to volunteer, contact Deadlines Donations of wrapped candy will be Kathy Glass at [email protected], Page 20 greatly appreciated and will be collected in the Easter basket in the Narthex or in 916-454-5335, or call the the Church Office. Church Office. Fair Oaks United Methodist Church 9849 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, CA 95628 | 916.961.6631 | www.fairoaksumc.org Page 2 We are the Church Together By Pastor Mary McCollum When baby Joshua made an earlier than We commissioned Joy Gilberg to serve on a expected appearance many of us needed to mission team to Tacloban, to rebuild after the jump into Plan B mode quickly. And so we hurricane. We celebrated the presence of our did. We know how to be the church. Brownie and Daisy Girl Scout troop. We Everyone has done what needed to be done appreciated Bob Gilberg for filling the pulpit and we have steered a steady course. Some of for a series of Sundays to get the feel for how us work the galley. Some stand watch in the it is for a pastor. His relaxed, personal crow’s nest. Others take turns at the helm or presence, coupled with his grounding in even pulling the Scripture and sharing oars, or swabbing from the heart has the deck. Our been, well, heart- spiritual leader, who warming. We look set the course, forward to the counts on us to inspiring message Rev. keep a steady aim. Don Fado is sure to For me it meant bring. And we have action before I been a presence at the counted on it. The press conference first week was most around the reconciling challenging. First issue. with Holy So it has been an Communion, which active time and it has felt familiar, then taken the combined with the Ash Wednesday service which took efforts of many people (not to mention the some more thoughtful consideration. efficient and ever-present administrative Comments from first time attendees included, assistant, Dedra) to keep our ship afloat and “This was a piece of the journey I had been on course. God is our guide and we are missing. It’s a perfect start to the season—a keeping a Holy Lent as we prepare to be way to say and show that this is how we start transformed, with Jesus on Easter Sunday. something we take seriously.” I have felt through all this somewhat like Then came an experience worth Onesimus (check out the meaning of his experiencing (see article to follow in this issue name in the Epistle of Philemon). Paul left of the Acorn). Our Tongan members hosted his new churches in the hands of the people their confederations Women’s World Day of and trusted them to carry on as God would Prayer. This was a very memorable wish it. We have been the church– experience for me and not to be forgotten. TOGETHER. It is a very good feeling, and a We can be proud of all their efforts to prepare great Lenten offering. for the six congregations who joined together. Page 3 Prayer Requests Vicki Walker is back in Joyce Lane , a very dear friend of Sacramento. She's looking for an Nancy Klanjac, has been diagnosed inexpensive room to rent and/or with breast cancer and is having housesitting jobs. Please pray for surgery. Please pray for Joyce's her success. successful surgery and strength, Ruby Wicker asked for prayers comfort and peace of mind as she because she was out of medication goes through chemo and radiation to control her epilepsy. She has after surgery. since received her new prescription Betty Phillips underwent surgery and is very thankful and relieved. to repair a hernia. She is doing fine She wishes to thank everyone for but will be in the hospital a little bit their prayers and concerns during longer than originally expected. this stressful time. Please pray for healing and recovery. Do you have prayer requests? Ongoing Prayer Concerns Contact Nancy Klanjac ([email protected]; 967-5427), so the Please keep Jewel Gilmore, Sue McGee, Stan members of our prayer chain can pray for and Alma Andrus, Lola Morphis, Roger and you, or contact the Church Office Norma Bennett, Margy Lauritzen, and all of our ([email protected]; 961-6631) to church members and friends who may not make it have your requests printed in the Acorn. to church regularly in your prayers. Prayer Works! From an article on prayer by a heart surgeon named Dr. Chauncey Crandall: It's not only direct prayer that works. Studies also indicate that prayer can be beneficial even when it's indirect. This is known as intercessary prayers, which refers to the act of being prayed for by someone else. One study conducted at San Francisco General Hospital looked at the effect of prayer on 393 cardiac patients. The patients were divided into two groups. Although both groups were told that people were praying for them, in fact, prayers were being said for only one group. This study, published in the Southern Medical Journal found that the patients who were prayed for had more favorable outcomes, including fewer complications, fewer cases of pneumonia, and they required less drug treatment. Another more recent study done at Duke University Medical School looked at 150 cardiac patients who were admitted for coronary stenting. They were given the following nonmedical therapies: guided imagery, stress relaxation, healing touch, or intercessory prayer. Researchers found that only the patients that were being prayed for had lower complication rates and a quicker recovery. Page 4 To: Fair Oaks UMC From: Roland Fernandez and Shawn Bakker, UMCOR On November 24, 2013, FOUMC collected a special offering for UMCOR. Extra Thanks To: • Dale Doty, Ellen To: Fair Oaks UMC Frosch, and Glenn Howard for their From: Schuyler Rhodes, District Superintendent work on upgrading our computers as part of Glenn’s Eagle Scout project. • Kathy Glass and volunteers for organizing Lenten Soup Suppers each Thursday. • Ruby Wicker and Bob Gilberg for chairing this year’s Rummage Sale. Page 5 Fair Oaks UMC Annual Rummage Sale By Ruby Wicker Sale dates and times: Thursday, April 3rd: 8am-1pm Friday, April 4th: 8am-1pm Saturday, April 5th: 8am-1pm Collection dates and times (and by appointment): Monday, March 31st: 9am-2pm and 6pm-8pm Tuesday, April 1st: 9am-7pm Wednesday, April 2nd: 9am-2pm and 6pm-8pm Volunteers Needed! • Food/hospitality committee to provide food and beverages. • Volunteers need to pick up items and bring them to the church. • Dedicated people to make sure that our outreach ministries are promoted and that we are available to pray with people. These people will also be free to decide whether someone is in need and have the power to donate items to people who may not be able to afford them. • Cashiers and counters. Sign up sheets for volunteering and donating are available in the Narthex. We welcome/request your clean and gently used items as well as new/unused items as generous donations to support the life and mission of our church. Items needed include: clothing, bedding, pillows, towels, seasonal items, books, DVDs, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, players, children’s toys, high chairs, car seats, playpens, kitchen and household items, computers, sports equipment, furniture, and much more. Please try to avoid bringing broken damaged or unusable items to donate. This event is staffed in its entirety by volunteers so we welcome/request your time as well. If you still want to help and neither of these options suit you, this year it has been decided that food is necessary to the disposition of the volunteers that will be representing our church to our local community. Our goal this year is not only "Open Hearts Open Minds and Open Doors" but also smiling happy people with welcoming faces. Also, new this year we will be setting up information tables and have persons available to discuss our various outreach and caring ministries. These people will make sure that our outreach ministries are promoted and that we are available to pray with people.