IMMANUELS LIGHTED PATH

209 Main Street, Townsend, Delaware

SPRING, 2012

DATES TO REMEMBER
SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPERFEBRUARY 21ST ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICEFEBRUARY 22ND GAME NIGHT FRIDAY, MARCH 16TH STEWARDSHIP SUNDAYMARCH 25TH PALM SUNDAYAPRIL 1ST MAUNDY THURSDAY DINNER AND SERVICEAPRIL 5TH GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER VIGILAPRIL 6 EASTER SUNDAY SUNRISE SERVICE APRIL 8TH
Dates Stewardship UMM 3Ms Lenten Service Communion Shrove Tues. Games Good Friday Pipe Organ Sign-Ups UMYF Ash Wed UMW Confirmation Lent Flowers Budget Tea Party Website VBS 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9

RELAY TEA PARTY AND AUCTION APRIL 22ND RELAY FOR LIFEJUNE 9 AND 10 STEWARDSHIP
Sunday, March 25th Immanuel UMC will distribute cards and envelopes for a stewardship "promise" campaign. The Promise campaign works by each family prayerfully considering their annual giving to the church. On March 25th we will ask you to write your financial promise on a card and place it in an envelope and seal it. The cards will be presented during the service at a special time. No one will open the envelopes. The information in them will not be seen by anyone other than you. The envelopes will then we returned to you in November for your review. The Bible tells us that we are to give the first 10 percent of our earnings to the church (Deuteronomy 14:22-23). Exactly what you promise is between you and God. Please pray and consider your giving so you are prepared to make your promise on March 25th. If you have any questions please see Martha Burns, Stewardship chairperson.

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The Immanuel United Methodist Men continue to meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month. We continue to focus on our mission of helping men grow in Christ so others may know Christ. Our meetings are an open format that promotes sharing, discussion, and fellowship. Interested new members are always welcome! We recently teamed with the leadership of local Cub Scout pack 351 to help pack members earn their Whittling Chip. The UMM prepared and presented a hands on demonstration to the scouts that focused on the responsibilities of pocketknife use and ownership. The scouts learned about the variety of pocket knives, how to safely hold, open, and close a pocket knife, how to maintain a pocket knife, and was given an opportunity to demonstrate their skills by whittling a bar of soap. Scouting is a ministry of the General Commission of United Methodist Men (GCUMM) and we look forward to having more events with the local scouts. We are planning some upcoming events for the spring and early summer, they include Additional outreach efforts for yard cleanups with the Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families (DECCF). Church Basement cleanout. (March 24th) Scout fishing derby at Levels Road Park. (April 29th) Mothers Day Breakfast. (May 13th) We are excited about the possibilities that lie before us. We prayerfully listen for God to give as wisdom to enable us to best use our talents to do his will. Respectfully Submitted, Bob Metzgarm President, Immanuel UMM

3 MS NEWS
The 3Ms has purchased an ice maker for the kitchen. We have recently donated money to the Youth Group for the January Youth Rally and donated to two local families at Christmas. Weve also had 3 members reach distinguished ages Noel Briden and Kathryn Copper turned 95 and Eleanor Briden turned 90. We honored Noel & Eleanor with gift cards and sent flowers to Kathryn. We catered a dinner for the Farm Bureau on October 10, 2011 and many members worked at the Church Bazaar in November. We went to the Kitty Knight House on December 15, 2011 for a Christmas get together. Upcoming events include catering a dinner for the US Postal Workers the end of February and serving meat and beverages for the local Boy Scout dinner in March. Ginny Poore, Secretary

LENTEN SERVICES
This year we will be doing something a bit different. Instead of a Bible Study, we will be having mid-week services in the sanctuary. Each Wednesday beginning 2-29 at 7:30, we will have worship with music, prayer and DRAMA. The drama each week will be about one of the 7 Deadly Sins; Sloth, Envy, Anger, Lust, Gluttony, Pride and Avarice. If you would like to participate as an actor/actress please let Pastor Ruthann know. Theres always room for more talent. Hope to see you there

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COMMUNION OFFERINGS 2012 JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST HUMAN RELATIONS NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE ONE GOOD HOUR OF SHARING NATIVE AMERICAN MINISTRY PEACE WITH JUSTICE RELAY FOR LIFE VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL BIG BALL MARATHON

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

TO BE DETERMINED WITH UNITED METHODIST WOMEN WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY CHRISTMAS BASKETS UNITED METHODIST STUDENT DAY

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper! Come enjoy a stack of the best pancakes in Townsend made by Immanuels most talented flippers! There will also be your choice of pancake toppings, beverage, bacon and sausage. Immanuels Pancake Supper is open to EVERYONE. When? Tuesday February 21st from 6 7:30 Where? Immanuel UMC Fellowship Hall How much? free will offering

St Patricks Day Game Night Let the games begin... When: Friday March 16th 7:00 PM-8:30 PM Come enjoy a night of games, fellowship & light refreshments Bring a favorite game or accept a friendly challenge

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Our Pipe Organ

Many in our congregation consider our Pipe Organ to be one of the Churchs most precious assets. Our Organ is in need of repair. There are several things that need to be addressed that will add up to close to $10,000.00. Pipe Organ repair technicians are few and far between, but we have faith in our technician and trust his judgment. The repairs are costly, as with any musical instrument. Carolyn Hamby and Ruth Blackiston have accepted the responsibility of speaking with our technician. They are co-chairing the Organ Repair endeavor and reporting to Administrative Council. At the last Administrative .Council meeting, it was voted and passed to proceed with the most urgent repair. That repair is to the reservoir. It was further agreed to utilize funds from some memorials. We are establishing an organ fund and several fundraisers will be necessary. The following are a few suggestions: a bake sale at Walgreens, a spring flea market on the lawn, or a choral or something along those lines to showcase our organ. If you have any interest in helping organize or leading a fundraiser, or if you just have a suggestion for one, please let Carolyn or Ruthie know. Carolyn and Ruthie will be educating themselves on the history of the organ and putting together a newspaper article for the Middletown Transcript and possibly the Delaware State News. They believe that musicians or historians might be inclined to send a donation.

GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER VIGILAPRIL 6TH A long standing tradition at Immanuel is that our members form a continuous chain of prayer starting at 6pm on Good Friday through Noon on Saturday. The sanctuary is available for prayer and resources are available for you to use. Our Youth Group will be at the church during the overnight hours so no one will be in the church alone, but volunteers can pray wherever it is convenient for them. Please sign-up on the sheet on the bulletin board. Please volunteer 30 minutes of your time to keep a continual prayer for our church

SIGN UPS AVAILABLE

Sometimes it is hard to know what to do to help around the church. Currently there are several sign-up sheets available in the hall for you to volunteer time, talents or gifts. Flower ChartTo provide flowers on one or more Sundays during the year Transcript AdTo sponsor the weekly ad in The Transcript for a month. Nursery or Junior Church To help staff the nursery and/or junior church for one Sunday.

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UMYF NEWS
Youth Rally 2012 was excellent as always, helping each of us to reaffirm our faith in God and come closer together as a youth group. It's an event all of us are excited to attend every year, and this year was especially good because of the speaker, Reggie Dabbs. Reggie connected to us through his great sense of humor and ability to make his lessons really fun by reaching out and involving the audience in various activities. When the kids went around on the last night and told us what their favorite part of the weekend was, the speaker was quite a popular response. Everybody loved him, and we all hope he comes back.

The youth group has been quite busy this year between fundraising and volunteering. We ran the annual Fall Festival in October for the kids, and on Adopt-A-Pet Day at Walmart, the youth group went with Pastor Simpson to bless the animals. In November, we had our UMYF stand at the Bazaar that sold hot dogs and snacks to fund-raise for the Youth Rally. We helped serve and clean up during the Chicken and Dumpling Dinner for the church that same day. Throughout the month, we did a fun fundraiser called Rent-A-Kid that went very well with the support of our churches members. On one of the set dates, two kids in our group could be hired to work for two hours on anything you needed them to do for $40. On a Sunday later in Novemeber we all gathered to rake the churches lawn. The youth went to Clairivoux Farms in December to bake cookies with the kids at the homeless shelter, and went caroling as a group for some of our members, along with organizing the church's annual Christmas caroling later in the month. It really got us in the Christmas spirit! Our most recent fundraiser was our annual Spagetti Dinner which went very smoothly. We will help deliver the items the congregation donated to Clairivoux Farms this week

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE

This year we will begin the Lenten season with an Ash Wednesday service. The desire of the Pastors in the area was to be connectional; to join with our other area Methodist churches in order to unite the Body of Christ. Therefore, we will be joining with Bethesda, St. Pauls, St. Georges, and Delaware City for our service of repentance. Ash Wednesday emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality and confess our sin before God within the community of faith. The form and content of the service focus on the dual themes of sin and death in the light of God's redeeming love in Jesus Christ. The use of ashes as a sign of mortality and repentance has a long history in Jewish and Christian worship, and the Imposition of Ashes can be a powerful nonverbal and experiential way of participating in the call to repentance and reconciliation. This practice is the historic focus of Ash Wednesday observance and gave the day its name. It is traditional to save the palm branches from the previous Passion/Palm Sunday service and burn them ahead of time to produce the ashes for this service. Many people hold to an old impression that Lent and ashes are for those of the Catholic faith. This is not so. It is an important part of our tradition as well. (Book of Worship, UMC) During this one hour service, we will experience worship through Drama, Music, Scripture and Holy Communion. The service this year will be held at St. Georges UMC at 7:30 p.m. I realize this is farther away than usual so my suggestion is that we carpool in order to fellowship along the way. I pray you will join in this wonderful moving service.

Immanuels Lighted Path

United Methodist Women The United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is: To know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ To develop a creative supportive fellowship. To expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.

With this purpose as our guide, the UMW has had a very blessed and rewarding 2011. We served our local and global communities with the help and support of Immanuels congregation and the community. Locally, we helped several families and the Sunday Breakfast Mission. Visitors to Immanuel Church are given a Bible, courtesy of the UMW. We served our global community through UMCOR with a donation to aid Japan after the tsunami. Through the Operation Christmas Child Mission of Samaritans Purse, we were able to fill 52 shoeboxes with gifts for children. Donated items and monies earned or donated throughout the year support our missions. All of this is made possible through the generosity, love and support of each of you. Thank you and God Bless. On a sad note two of our members passed away in 2011. They are remembered and truly missed. They are: Mrs. Martha Berkheiser and Mrs. Joanna Jones. 2012 will see the continuation of Operation Christmas Child. Our Book Swap as well as other upcoming missions and events will be planned. Our meetings are held the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7pm, usually in Fellowship Hall. Details will be posted in the church bulletin. Please, join us for fellowship. We hope to serve you at the Easter Sunrise breakfast. Dot Wilson, President Carole Kinnamon, Vice President CONFIRMATION 2012 Confirmation class will kick off on Saturday the 25th of February at Barratts Chapel. We will be meeting at 8:45 in the parking lot and carpooling to Barratts chapel in Frederica. Parents and mentors are invited we need help getting everyone there, so if you can help drive please let me know. Bishop Johnson will be speaking about the history of the Methodist church as well as the meaning of Confirmation. We have 8-10 youth in our class this year. We need mentors!! To be a mentor, you must be able to meet with your youth every other week (possibly after church) in order to share your faith journeys together. Confirmation class will take place mostly during Sunday School, with some additional meetings on Sunday afternoons. Confirmation is not just about joining the church. Its about making Christ the center of your life, and becoming a faithful disciple. For this reason, confirmation class is open to anyone 7th grade and up who is a regular attender of church and or Sunday School at Immanuel U.M.C. If you have any questions or would like to be a mentor, please contact Pastor Ruthann by phone 378-2431 or email; [email protected].

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As we enter the season of LENT, I thought it would once more be appropriate to share what it is all about. I have shared this before, but I feel it necessary to share once more what we as Christians celebrate this time of year. Much of what follows is from the Book of Worship of the United Methodist Church. Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The season is a preparation for celebrating Easter. Historically, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by converts and then became a time for penance by all Christians. The First Sunday describes Jesus' temptation by Satan; and the Sixth Sunday (Passion/Palm Sunday), Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his subsequent passion and death. Because Sundays are always little Easters, the penitential spirit of Lent should be tempered with joyful expectation of the Resurrection. The Great Three Days-- from sunset Holy Thursday through sunset Easter Day are the climax of Lent (and of the whole Christian year) and a bridge into the Easter Season. These days proclaim the Jesus Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. During these days, the community journeys with Jesus from the upper room, to the cross, to the tomb, and to the garden. The service of Holy Communion on Holy Thursday is the beginning of what is considered one ongoing service which concludes with the services of Easter Day. These services may be connected with a prayer vigil lasting from Holy Thursday evening (or Good Friday) until the first service of Easter and may be accompanied by fasting. Somber colors such as purple or ash gray and rough-textured cloth are most appropriate for paraments, stoles, and banners. Unbleached muslin cloth with red stitching is also appropriate. The Book of Worship recommends removing all shiny objects from the worship area, even possibly omitting flowers and placing of veil over the sanctuary cross. Although we may not experience Lent and Holy Week exactly as the Book of Worship states, we, at Immanuel celebrate and worship in traditional ways. We kick off Lent with our pancake supper, then our Ash Wednesday service, Mid Week Services, A Maundy Thursday Service and a Good Friday prayer vigil. All of this leads into our wonderful celebration of Resurrection. Easter morning will bring a Sunrise Service and a Breakfast sponsored by the United Methodist Women. Although Lent is a time of reflection and repentance, we will also have many times of fellowship. We can use this time of Lent to draw together as a community, to help show one another the way in this faith journey. Come, let us travel together as we follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Pastor Ruthann

EASTER FLOWERS
Dont forget to have your Easter flowers in the church by Saturday, April 7th and dedications to Sue Clark by Wednesday, April 4th for inclusion in the Sunday bulletin.

8 IMMANUEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Income Statement For the Year Ending December 31, 2011

Year to Date Actual

Year to Date Budget

Variance

Regular OfferingDonations-General Memorials Receipts-Rental of Facilities 2 Spl receipts - bazaar, advent Interest Income-Savings Other Income Total Revenues Expenses Salaries and benefits Janitor - Janitorial Supplies Church Utilities Parsonage Expenses Office Expenses Council on Ministries - Programs etc. Equipment maintenance / supplies Conference Benevolence Apport. Conference District Office Exp Contingency/Miscellaneous Exp

$ 75,091.56

$ 69,504.22 0.00

5,587.34 0.00 (355.84) (11,983.60) 1.94 11.30 (6,738.86)

2,180.00 7,422.80 6.50 11.30 84,712.16

2,535.84 19,406.40 4.56 0.00 91,451.02

59,829.95 140.77 15,046.11 5,118.88 377.72 1,662.64 485.00 6,999.96 174.96 30.00

60,708.26 300.00 14,617.56 4,599.96 1,050.04 2,150.16 550.04 7,000.00 175.00 300.00

(878.31) (159.23) 428.55 518.92 (672.32) (487.52) (65.04) (0.04) (0.04) (270.00)

Total Expenses

89,865.99

91,451.02

(1,585.03)

Net Income

$ (5,153.83)

$-

$ (5,153.83)

RELAY FOR LIFE TEA PARTY AND SILENT AUCTION

Annual Tea Party and Silent Auction on Sunday, April 22nd beginning at 2:00 p.m. Tea sandwiches, homemade scones, desserts and tea, all served by handsome waiters. Get your tickets early. We welcome any donations to our silent auction. Benefits Immanuels Award Winning Relay for Life team, all profits donated to the American Cancer Society.

9 Immanuel United Methodist Church P.O. Box 60 Townsend, Delaware 1973