EVERYBODY FED was the Annual Conference theme set by our new bishop, Grant Hagiya. The University of Puget Sound, a United Methodist related institution of which we can all be proud, was the site. APUMC was ably represented by yours truly, Ann Fritz and Karen Peacock. Melva Lohstroh was also there representing the Inland District United Methodist Women.
We were all impressed with our new bishop who kept us on task and, for the most part, on time. There was much to do regarding 32 constitutional amendments proposed by the recent General Conference that will change our denominational structure to better reflect the worldwide nature of the United Methodist Church. In addition to the current Annual, Jurisdictional and General Conferences, there will also be Regional Conferences so the different parts of the world can design and implement plans and procedures pertinent and helpful in their locales, but not binding for the entire church. Most of the amendments merely changed wording to reflect this change and to spell out some specifics for its implementation.
One other significant change to the constitution made it more clear that church membership could not be denied anyone on the basis of gender, race, or status. The meaning of this change was best summed up by buttons some members of Conference wore that simply stated: "All Means All."
As usual, the music and worship was exceptional. Nobody sings hymns better than a United Methodist Conference. We were also feted by Tongan and Korean choirs and a Filipino Men's quartet. Great preaching was done by one of PNW's own, retired bishop Jack Tuell, guest bishop Woody White, and Grant Hagiya. Bishop Hagiya's message was powerful and caringly confrontational. He told us that he expected the laity and a clergy to "grow their congregations." The bishop's sermon will be presented at APUMC on our video projector on Sunday July 5th. I will be in Ohio attending Linda's Family Reunion and the 92nd birthday of her Uncle Irv. I greatly desire all of us to hear this sermon. Believe me, no one will be able to complain that I did not line up a good guest preacher!
Thanks to all who have helped on the recent yard clean-up projects around the church. A special thanks to those people who have "adopted" an area of the flowers beds for upkeep. There are several areas of the flower beds looking to be adopted. These areas can be small and if enough people adopt, the work is not too hard on anyone. Call Vi Nagley, 326-2546, to find out which areas are still up for adoption.
To Our Generous Audubon Family!
We first want to thank Pastor Carl, Judy Ritz, Fyrne Bemiller and the rest of the congregation for an awesome Confirmation ceremony on Sunday, June 7th. Matt really enjoyed the weekly classes as well as his Secret Pal goodies from Fyrne!
It was also very nice for the confirmands to be included in the service that Sunday. We also want to thank the congregation for the generous campership towards Twinlow Camp this summer. This will be Alyson's ninth year of attending Twinlow, a yearly tradition that she wouldn't miss for anything!
God Bless!
The Nicol Family
Dear People of Audubon Park Church,
I would like to thank you for all of your kindness and generosity toward me. And for making me a member of your church family.
I have found an entry-level library position for the weekend at a library on the north side. I will begin my job training the first week of July. So my last day in the Nursery will be on Sunday, June 28th.
Thank you for all you have done for me for the past 16 years. I have really enjoyed all of your children and I will always treasure all of my many happy memories of working in the Nursery room.
May God bless all of you,
Paola Barbanti
8:15 a.m. Worship
9:00 a.m. Adult Nooma Study
10:00 a.m. Worship
The church office is on summer schedule. The office will be open from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The church has a Child Care position open for Sunday mornings to take care of our little ones. This person must be 18 years or older; preferably a non-church member. If you know of anyone interested in this position, have them call the church office at 325-4541. Position to begin July 1.
Our sympathy is with the family and friends of Zepha Eldridge, who passed away on June 13th.
Chuck and Anna Luther Luther have been blessed with a new grandson, Gabriel James Genewick, born June 8th/ He joins parents Mike and Tonya and brothers Thomas and Joseph at home.
Everyone is welcome to come to a "one time only" Bible Study with Rev. Alissa Bertsch Johnson, Campus Minister at WSU. Friday, July 10th from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the church.
This group meets on Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. at Karen Peacock's home, 5604 N. Elm Street. The scripture pondering for next week is Hebrews 13: 1-6 . All are invited!
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
July 2, July 23, August 6, August 20
Want to help pass out water bottles with the church's info on them before the concert? Call the church office to volunteer.
Send us your digital pictures of our church in mission to be included in our new web-page soon to be revealed.
Start bringing a camera or your cell phone camera to church events and say "Smile you're on our website!".
Send pics to Don Holm, our webmaster, at donald.holm53@yahoo.com as a mail attachment.
Hello baseball fans. Due to the rain on our scheduled night at the ball park, we have rescheduled our Night out with the Spokane Indians for Sunday, July 19th, 6:30 pm. We have reserved more tickets, so if you were left out the first time, there is still time to get in on the fun. These are upper box seats with a reduced price of $9 each. Call Steve Whitford at 489-7235 for details and to reserve your tickets.
Despite the faltering economy, United Methodist purchases of fair trade coffee and cocoa rose by nearly 20 percent during a 12-month campaign that ended May 9th. The "100-Ton Challenge" project of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), in conjunction with Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to fair trade, led to the purchase of 82.4 tons, or more than 164,000 pounds of coffee, tea, chocolate and snacks. The sales total was more than $1.3 million. The challenge also drew 448 churches to the UMCOR Coffee Project for the first time. Crossroads Urban Center, a UM Mission Institute in Salt Lake City, was the largest account with $15,000 in orders.
(from United Methodist News Service)
The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a Meth lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?"
I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday mornings. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.
I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.
I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad's fields. I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood, and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.
Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack or heroin.
God bless the parents who drugged us.
-Anonymous
May 2009 Month-End Finance Report
| REVENUES | $ May Revenue | $ Mo. Budget | $YTD Revenue | $ YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly Offerings | $ 21,040 | $ 20,408 | $103,898 | $102,041 |
| Loose Offerings | $ 376 | $ 375 | $ 1,885 | $ 1,875 |
| Church School | $ 100 | $ 0 | $ 201 | $ 0 |
| Interest Income | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 1 | $ 0 |
| Preschool Rent | $ 600 | $ 450 | $ 3,00 | $ 2,250 |
| Misc Bldg Use | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 445 | $ 0 |
| Rental Prop | $ 0 | $ 699 | $ 5,401 | $ 3,000 |
| Total Budg | $ 22,116 | $ 21,833 | $114,922 | $109,167 |
| (101% of monthly budget) | (105 % of annual budget) |
| EXPENSES | $YTD Expenses | $YTD Budgeted | YTD% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Conference | $ 724 | $ 313 | 232% |
| Apportionments | $ 6,949 | $ 8,687 | 80%(See note 1&2) |
| Christian Education | $ 1,427 | $ 1,167 | 122% |
| Evangelism | $ 202 | $ 417 | 49% |
| Leadership Development | $ 26 | $208 | 12% |
| Missions | $ 0 | $ 658 | 0% |
| Office/Admin | $ 5,787 | $ 5,485 | 105% |
| Staff Parish Relations | $ 68,904 | $ 68,274 | 101% |
| Stephen Ministry | $ 0 | $ 208 | 0% |
| Stewardship | $ 50 | $ 208 | 24% |
| Trustees (Prop & Equip) | $ 22,525 | $ 21,291 | 106% |
| Trustees (Rental) | $ 535 | $ 1 | 535% |
| Worship | $ 1,889 | $ 2917 | 65% |
| Total Exp | $109,018 | $109,167 | 100% |
| Total Rev | $114,922 | ||
| Net Income | $ 5,904 |
APUMC Ministry Action Plan (Budget) for 2009 is $280,413. Offerings for the first 5 months are $105,783 which is $1,857 (101.8%) above the amount budgeted. Total revenues were $114,922 (105.2%). As we continue to fund our 2009 Ministry Action Plan, we will need your continued financial support and especially your prayers. We will get through these troubled times with each others help, and God's blessing on our church.
APUMC's share of the Conference apportionments this year totaled $38,159. Due to the austere times, the finance team recommended, and the Administrative Council approved, funding to cover 5 of 6 of the apportionments totaling $20,848 or 59% of the total. We could not fund the World Service & Conference Benevolences apportionment ($17,311) this year. If we are blessed with revenue exceeding our budget, we will take another look at it near the end of the year.
The YTD Expense for the apportionments line includes only those payment made to date for the 5 of 6 apportionments mentioned above. The 80% figure is base on 5 months of the total $20,848 we were able to budget.
Respectfully Yours in God's Service,
Jeffrey R. Johnson , Stewardship Chair and Finance Team Member
Summer Fun: June, July and August
Super
Sunday
Cinema
Spectacular
The children will be having movies and snacks during the 10:00 a.m. worship time in the
summer beginning June 14th. Be sure to bring your friends!
July 13-17
5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Audubon Park UMC "Bread of Life Café" is serving a simple supper.
6:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. Vacation Bible School and Adult Study
The items we are needing for VBS are:
Small, white hand towels - new
Heart shaped soaps
Sheer curtains (will not be returned)
Clean, brown burlap
Adult size shoe boxes
Cardboard boxes with lids.
Copy paper boxes are perfect.
Small individual juice boxes
Empty jewelry boxes- any size
Gold spray paint
Angel stickers
Gold paper doilies
Clear contact paper
Plastic colored diaper pins
Paper grocery bags
Washable fabric paint (blue)
Remember, we are still needing volunteers for this summer's Vacation Bible School (July 13-17 from 6:15-8:15 p.m.) and for summer's WOW NOW! to be held during the 10 a.m. worship time.
A gentle reminder that the Lamplighters for the next weeks are:
June 28 Doug and Pauline Smith
July 5 Candy Shipley & Dorinda Young
The following people are scheduled to have this sweeping duty in the coming weeks:
June 28 Jerry Hood
July 5 David Banks
Below are the ushers for worship in the upcoming weeks:
June 28 Chris and Danelle Nickell
July 5 Jack Shimek
June 28 Joanne Harvey
June 28 Alyson Nicol
UMW has an ongoing project collecting aluminum pull tabs. These are given to Ronald McDonald House and the many groups involved throughout the area collect enough that Ronald McDonald raises approximately $500 a month. There is a deposit for the tabs in the parlor on the bookcase by the fireplace. We are also continuing to collect Campbell Soup labels which are sent to the McCurdy School in New Mexico which is a Methodist sponsored mission. They also can be left in the same can as the tabs.