2 February-15-NL - United Methodist Church

El Segundo United Methodist Church
February 2015
Volume 50 No. 2
Our Mission Statement
We are a warm, caring community of faith, gathering to worship God and sharing the love of
Jesus Christ through our friendship and service to our neighbors and the world.
Dear Friends,
Sometimes God works in surprising ways to guide us.
In November, I was at a meeting with Rev. Dina Ferguson,
the rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. She mentioned in passing that she wanted to know more about an
organization that works with homeless families called
“Family Promise.” She understood that several churches in
El Segundo were getting involved, and she wanted to know
more. Though I’d never heard of Family Promise, I was
interested.
She contacted me a week or so later, and after looking at
their website (familypromiseosb.com), I emailed Julie
Jacks, their director and asked for more information. The
upshot of this email was that Mark Heaney, Donna Fontana
and I, along with Rev. Ferguson and her outreach chairperson, met on December 10, with Julie and her colleague
Chery Carew to learn more.
To say that we were impressed is to put it mildly.
Family Promise of the South Bay is one of over 180 Family
Promise affiliates in 41 states. Originally called Interfaith
Hospitality Network, the “mother” organization was begun
by a New Jersey woman in 1984 to give homeless families
with children a new start in life. (You can read the history
of Family Promise on their website.)
The program consists of six elements:
• Host congregations that provide overnight lodging,
meals, and hospitality for three to five homeless families for one week at a time. Housing rotates among the
twelve to thirteen host congregations that make up the
Family Promise Network, and congregations would
host about once a quarter. Host congregations are assisted by support congregations.
• Volunteers who provide a variety of services: cooking
and serving meals, playing with or helping children
with homework, and staying overnight at a host church.
Volunteers come from within host churches, from support churches, and from the communities around host
churches, and Family Promise provides training for
them.
• Local social service agencies refer families to the Net-
work. They may also help families to find housing,
jobs, and other services.
• Day Center: Families use a local day center from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to shower, care for pre-school children, and seek employment and/or housing. During
the school year, the children go to school. The day
center provides families with a mailing address and a
home base from which to conduct their housing
search.
• Transportation: A Network van transports families to
and from the day center, takes children to their
schools, and carries bedding and luggage from one
host congregation to another.
• Funding: A team within the Network raises funds via
donations, grants and fundraisers.
After this initial conversation with Julie and Chery, we
invited them to make a presentation at the January 14
Church Council. They did, and after hearing their presentation, viewing a video, and asking many questions, the
Council discussed the possibility of working with Family
Promise.
After much discussion, the Church Council voted unanimously for our church to become a Host Congregation
in the Family Promise of the South Bay Network.
This a significant step for our church, and I’m sure that
you have many questions. I’ll do my best to answer them:
Are there homeless families in our area?
It is estimated that nearly 6,800 people in the South Bay
are homeless. (Family Promise defines the “South Bay”
as the area going from the beach cities to Carson, and from
Inglewood to San Pedro.) One in fourteen of those homeless people is a child and some 3,050 homeless children
are in South Bay public schools.
Who are the families that we will host?
Families are referred to the Family Promise Network by
local social service agencies. They are newly homeless
and are carefully screened to eliminate those with substance abuse, domestic violence, or psychiatric problems.
They must have school-age children. All together, we will
host no more than fourteen people (three to five families)
at a time.
When will the families be in our facility?
We will host families four to six times a year, approximately once per quarter. They will be on the premises from
5:30 or 6:00 in the evening until 7:00 a.m. in the morning,
from Sunday evening to Sunday morning. On Sunday
morning they would be transported to another host congregation before worship.
Where do the families go during the day?
At 7:00 a.m., a van from Family Promise will pick up the
families, take the school-age children to their respective
schools, and the adults and preschool children to their Day
Center in First Christian Church on Maple Avenue in Torrance. There they will shower and do laundry, and the
adults will have access to computers on which to conduct
job and housing searches. They will also receive counseling and training. The Day Center acts as a home base for
the families, providing them with a mailing address and
continuity.
Where will the families stay in our church?
The plan is for families to sleep and eat in a divided Johnson Hall and to fellowship in the lounge and do some recreation in the youth room. In other words, everything will
happen on the first floor of our facility. Because the families will leave their belongings on site during the week that
they are here, the space that they use will be dedicated to
them. Groups who use our facility will be given other
space in the church or be asked to meet elsewhere for that
week. Family Promise will work with our schedule, so this
will not interfere with events such as Vacation Bible
School.
What do we have to provide?
First of all, we will provide the space for families to sleep,
eat, and relax. (Family Promise will bring in air beds for
the families to use, but we will need to provide bedding.
The bedding remains with us.) We will need to provide
suppers, breakfasts, and sack lunch supplies, and the volunteers to cook and serve them. We also will need to have a
man and a woman sleep on the premises each night that
families are here. Finally—and most importantly—we will
need folks to offer compassion, fellowship, and support for
these families each night, sometimes simply by sharing a
meal, having conversations, playing games, or watching a
movie with them. Volunteers will come from support
churches as well as our own, and, eventually, I believe that
we will see some come from the community as well. People of all ages can help.
What about insurance?
Family Promise provides general liability insurance. I also
contacted our insurance company, and we are covered by
our own insurance as well.
How is Family Promise funded?
Funding for Family Promise of the South Bay, a 501c3 non
-profit organization, comes from individual and corporation
donations. They hold regular fundraising events, including
restaurant fundraisers, an annual Cardboard Box City experience, and a special “Empty Bowl” fundraiser.
How long do families stay with Family Promise?
The national average for Family Promise affiliates is an
amazing eight-weeks. Since our local Family Promise Network is, after three years of preparation, just beginning, we
don’t know yet how long it will take families to get back on
their feet.
I have no doubt that there will be other questions, and I hope
that, sometime in the near future, we can have Julie and
Chery make a presentation to the entire congregation. In the
meantime, please go to their website—
familypromiseosb.com—read about them and watch their
moving video. A few brochures are available in the church
office. Then send me your questions. Mark, Donna, and I,
along with the other members of the Church Council, will
endeavor to answer them as best we can.
Friends, as United Methodists we are called to do what John
Wesley called “works of mercy.” Offering hospitality to
homeless families is entirely consistent with our Wesleyan
principles and with John Wesley’s own practice of caring for
the poor. I also believe that God is leading us in this direction. Recently, I made a list of the ways in which our church
is involved with children and families: TOTs, our children’s
choir program, Sunday School, the Homework Café, our
youth group, Mission Area projects that assist the Department of Children and Family Services, and CASE all came
to mind. I was amazed. I feel certain that this is the vision
God has for our church: that it will be a community in
which children and their families are welcomed, supported,
and loved.
I ask for your prayers and your support as well as your questions. Together, we have the opportunity to make a tangible,
concrete difference in the lives of folks in our community, in
the name of Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Pastor Lee
FEBRUARY MISSIONS SPECIAL
Shared Bread is a feeding ministry hosted by
First United Methodist Church of Redondo
Beach. Each Wednesday evening they provide a hot meal for anyone who shows
up. They usually serve between 100 and 125
people each week.
Our church has participated in this program since 2011,
preparing a main course every first Wednesday of the
month. Along with the volunteer chefs, we also purchase
the ingredients for each of these meals, which run about
$150 each time. Thus, we are seeking monetary contributions to support this valuable ministry. Please make your
check out to El Segundo UMC and indicated “Shared
Bread” in the memo line.
Thanks for your help.
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN
Sundays
6:00 pm Youth Group in the Youth Room
Hello friends!
Hope all is going well for you!
I’m currently working on a couple new things
which I’ll incorporate into our Youth Group Meetings.
May you find the Glory of God in the mundane activities of daily life.
Josh
2/1
Superbowl Sunday,
No Youth Group
2/8
2/13
2/15
Youth Group 6:00 -7:30
Skyzone & Dinner Outing
President’s Day Weekend,
No Youth Group
2/22
Youth Group Dinner Night
6:00 – 8:00 pm
February 2015
Black History Month serves as a reminder that we were all created by
God and deserve an equal opportunity
for optimum development. The struggle for African
Americans to have their cultural contributions recognized
by American society has become one important factor in
our acceptance of the multiculturalism that has always
been a part of America. With the founding of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915,
Harvard scholar Carter G. Woodson laid the foundation
for a rethinking of American identity and to educate
Americans about cultural diversity and democracy. The
Annual Black History Week, which he organized in 1926
to celebrate the achievements of African Americans, was
expanded to Black History Month in 1976.
The strength of our Methodist denomination is its inclusiveness. The ability to share in the joy of the accomplishments of others is one of the hallmarks of our faith.
As United Methodists we can strive to eradicate hatred,
bigotry and racism. Black History Month is one of the
tools to accomplish this.
Donna Fontana
Hello Everyone.
Thank you to all the women who helped make this
year’s UMW Sunday such a success. It is so nice to see
our members in the key roles on this special Sunday An
extra special thanks to Pat Heaney for all her work, especially recruiting John Wesley to deliver the message.
Rather than a brunch this month, UMW will be having a
special Valentine Tea on Sunday, February 8. It will begin
at noon, so please plan to come straight to Johnson Hall
following church. We hope that many of you will invite
others to join you. We are asking for RSVPs by Feb. 3rd to
Becky Crabtree: 310-322-9582 or [email protected]. Child care is available upon request.
Thank you to all who have donated bunnies and
other stuffed animals to our crib in the narthex. 75 animals
were delivered this month to the Methodist Hospital in Arcadia. One bear was left in the crib, waiting to welcome
his new friends. Please don’t let him sit alone. UMW will
be doing “Books & Bunnies” this spring, collecting books
and stuffed bunny rabbits for Toberman, so for February
and March the crib is the place to drop off any new stuffed
animal (for the hospital) or children’s books and Easter
rabbits (for Toberman).
Our annual Birthday Luncheon will be held on
May 9. Each year at the luncheon we recognize one or
more individuals who have contributed in extraordinary
ways to UMW. If you have someone you would like to
recommend, please contact Nancy Jacobson, Pat Heaney,
or Brenda Ross.
The Martha circle has begun work on projects for
our annual bazaar in November. Please come and join them
on Tuesday mornings around 9:30. There is always plenty
to do and someone will help you get started. Bring a sack
lunch and stay for lunch if you have the time. It‘s always
enjoyable and a great way to support UMW in our mission
projects.
Happy Valentines Day!
Nancy Jacobson
UMW President
February 2015—TOTs Sing
• Ages 3-5
• Rehearse Thursdays Feb. 5, 19, 9:00-9:30 am
• Sing during Sunday morning worship February 22
• Meet in the Lounge (next to the nursery)
Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
[email protected]
You can register online at www.elsegundoumc.org on
the Children’s Choir page.
Joanna McLees, Children’s Music Director
Liturgists
01:
08:
15:
22:
Becky Haynes
Carolyn Elder
Craig Elder
Brenda Colbert
Greeters
01:
08:
15:
22:
Ken & Shelly Schofield
Beth Muraida & Jan Wyckoff
Peggy Ward & Petty Wilburn
JoAnn Gulian & Louise Maloy
2/8
2/10
2/14
2/22
2/23
2/24
2/27
Ralph Colbert
Harlan Deeter
Darlene Gaston
Tom Russ
Melanie Derr
Dick Wyckoff
Brad Stine, Jane Perkins
Sign-up sheets can be found on clipboards in the
Narthex.
THE MISSION BELL
El Segundo United Methodist Church
540 Main St., El Segundo, CA 90245
STAFF
Pastor
Rev. Lee Carlile
Administrative Assistant
Elisabet Port
Youth Director
Josh Baldwin
Chancel Choir Director
Patty Breitag
Children’s Music Director
Joanna McLees
Handbell Director
Kathy Rutledge
Custodian
Blanca Martinez Gonzalez
Childcare
Lilia Lerma, Paul Idelson
Sunday School Teachers:
Adult - Mark Heaney
Sunday School - Various
OFFICE INFORMATION
Hours:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Pastor Email:
Web:
Mon —Fri. 9 am-4.00 pm
310-322-0051
310-322-2750
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.elsegundoumc.org
Non-Profit Org.
US Postage Paid
El Segundo, CA
Permit No. 593-660
THANK YOU FOR BEING A BLESSING . . .
- to those who acted as greeters, liturgists, and ushers during
the month of January.
- to those who hosted the fellowship time after church during the month of January.
February 18, 7:30 pm
- to those who provided flowers for worship during the
month of January.
- to Myles Gilbert and Larry Klingaman, who acted as
acolytes in January.
Sanctuary, El Segundo UMC
During this special service, five United Methodist Churches—Faith UMC, Hope UMC, Redondo First UMC, St. Paul’s
UMC, and Torrance First UMC—will join our church in
marking the first day of Lent. Rev. Molly Vetter, pastor of
Redondo First UMC, will preach, and choir members from all
of the churches will combine to offer an anthem under the
direction of our own Patty Breitag. After the service, we will
share refreshments and fellowship in Johnson Hall.
Lent is the church season during which we prepare for the
celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter. It lasts for forty days (not including Sundays.) It is a time of reflection, self
-examination, and repentance. In other words, it is a time
when we intentionally seek to realign our lives with the life of
Christ.
Ash Wednesday itself is, perhaps, the most somber day in
Lent. During the worship service, each person will be invited
to come forward to receive a mark on his or her forehead
made with ashes. Ashes are an ancient symbol of mourning
and repentance, and the mark on our foreheads is a visible
reminder of our sinfulness and mortality. At the same time, it
is also a reminder of God’s grace and love for us, a love that
found its ultimate expression in the death of Christ on the
cross.
You are invited to begin your Lenten observance by participating in this moving worship service. All are welcome.
Lenten Study “Interruptions”
begins February 11
You are invited to join Pastor Lee in an unusual Lenten
Study this spring. The study is unusual in that it will only
meet three Wednesday evenings: February 11, March 11,
and March 25, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in the lounge.
In between meetings, participants will be reading daily
devotions from a book called Interruptions, by Jacob
Armstrong. Much of Jesus’ ministry occurred in the midst
of interruptions, and this book offers us new perspectives
on the interruptions in our lives.
Please RSVP to the church office by February 5, so that
we can make sure that we have books for everyone.
- to Mark Heaney, Craig Elder, Krista Martinez, and
Joanna McLees who taught our children’s Sunday School
in January.
- to Becky Haynes and her crew: Lisa Derr. Donna Fontana, Brenda Ross and Bryan Weise, who cooked the
main dish for the Shared Bread meal at Redondo First UMC
on January 7.
- to Josh Baldwin for preaching on January 4, while Pastor
Lee was on vacation, and to Mark Heaney, aka John Wesley, for preaching on UMW Sunday, January 25.
- to our January 18 Praise Team: Ruth Berlin, Patty Breitag, Don Carlile, Lee Carlile, Paula Kelley, Joanna
McLees, Rich Shertzer, and Joann Young.
- to Donna Fontana who organized our celebration of missionary Carol Partridge at a luncheon on January 24, and to
Naomi McElvain, who prepared a delightful lunch for that
event.
- to the UMW Members, who led a wonderful worship
service on January 25. Special thanks to Pat Heaney, who
designed the service, to Sandra Sims who offered the children’s message, and to Nancy Jacobson for her leadership
as UMW president.
- to Elisabet Port, for her skill and patience in producing
this year’s beautiful Charge Conference booklet.
- to Gerry Bushrow, who replaces light bulbs, resetting
timers, and otherwise maintains the countless lights at our
church—as well as performing many other odd jobs around
our facility.
Please add your own expressions of appreciation to those
given in this column. We are blessed!
COLLECTIONS FOR C.A.S.E.
We are collecting things for C.A.S.E. the first Sunday every month and you will find a bin in the office and in the
narthex where you can drop it off..
Current needs are: canned fruits, pasta, juices, salad dressings, jello, and pudding. Non-food items are: dish soap,
laundry detergent, scouring powder (i.e. Comet, Ajax),
shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant.