Newsletter
July & August 2009
Calvary United Methodist Church
3505 Vestal Pkwy. East Vestal, NY 13850
607-729-0938; vestalcalvaryumc@verizon.net; www.calvaryumchurch.org
Look What Is Happening This Summer
July 1: The Upper New York Annual Conference springs to life. We are no longer part of the Wyoming Conference. Our new Conference is all of upstate New York. Take a look at a map of New York and slice off the tail and Long Island, what is left is Upper New York Annual Conference. It extends from the Pennsylvania border to the Canadian border.
For our local church there is no immediate impact. I will still be your minister and Dave Masland will still be our District Superintendent. We will have a new bishop, Bishop Marcus Matthews. Eventually, just the size of the new conference will have an impact: delegates attending the last Wyoming Conference session numbered about 400 people. Delegates to the Upper New York session will number over 2,000 people.
July 4: On the first Sunday of July, I will begin serving the Whittemore Hill United Methodist Church in addition to our church. Services at Whittemore Hill are held at 9:00 AM. This means that services at Calvary will remain at 10:30 AM. We will not change to 10:00 AM this summer.
By helping to pay my salary, Whittemore Hill will provide significant financial help to Calvary. They also will add significantly to our opportunities for mission. Two examples: Every fall they receive a tractor-trailer full of potatoes, which they sort, bag, and distribute to local food banks. I believe these potatoes are too small for commercial distribution. They welcome willing hands to help them with this. In the late fall they glean apples from Green Brothers orchards, and then distribute these to local food banks. Again, they need hands to help with this.
What missions might we invite them to help us with?
July 4: Wear red, white, and blue to church for the holiday.
July 9: Doug’s Fish Fry is in our parking lot. Eat!
July 16: Doug’s Fish Fry is here again! Eat again!
July 16 & 17: Rummage Sale. We will piggy back on the fish fry and hold a rummage sale. Volunteer to help by calling Jean Brewster, Sandy Williams, or the church office. Rummage is being collected now.
July 21: Ice Cream Social, 6PM – 8PM at Whittemore Hill (yes, I have told them about the fish fry). Whittemore Hill is found this way: Go out Nanticoke Ave in Endicott to Day Hollow Road. Turn left onto Day Hollow Road. Follow Day Hollow Road to Bean Hill Road (it is a bit of a ways). Turn right onto Bean Hill Road. Follow Bean Hill Road a lot further than you want to, further than you can possibly imagine. Eventually Bean Hill becomes Whittemore Hill, and, eventually, on your right will be a little country church. There will be ice cream, cake, soda, and coffee inside: $3.50 for adults.
August 8: Commissioning service for the Ramp It Up crew. Come to worship and give the group a good send off. The Ramp It Up crew will be building a handicap ramp for a private home somewhere in the area (I don’t know where as of this writing). It is one of our major mission efforts. Maybe we should do something special at coffee hour?
August 14 & 15: Ramp It Up project. It is too late to join them now, but remember to pray for them. It is such a good thing they are doing.
August 22: Ramp It Up report. At worship we will receive a brief report on the success of the ramp building. Possibly with a picture or two.
August 28: Our annual Chicken BBQ.
Sometime in July and August: Planning for the new Sunday School. Children’s Church will be expanded to be Sunday School. Teachers and helpers will be needed every Sunday. Please seriously consider volunteering. You are not too old, or too busy, or too tired. This is the most important work we have.
September 11: First Session of the Upper New York Annual Conference. Donna Miller is your delegate to this conference session. It will be the third session for her and me. We had the closing session of the Wyoming Conference on June 4 &5. We had the uniting conference (which formed the new Upper New York Conference) on June 19. And now we will have the first session of the new conference on September 11 in Albany. Pray that our new conference will thrive.
September 12: Opening day for Sunday School. It is here sooner than you think. A service of dedication will be held for the Sunday School volunteers during worship. Consider being one of them.
Three Possibilities for Fall and Winter
Early September: Fall and Winter Coat Collection. One important mission that we could originate is to collect and distribute Fall and Winter coats for the needy. We could put an emphasis on children’s sizes. Also, when we give away a child’s coat, we could get their shoe size and buy them boots.
October 30: Some people have the idea of setting up a booth at the bottom of our parking lot and distributing treats (or cider) on Halloween. This is a good idea and good public relations. Attend a NOW meeting and help plan it. Volunteer to help man it.
December 26: The day after Christmas is a Sunday this year. Instead of regular worship, let’s have a big breakfast together. We could call it Worship With Bacon and Eggs. We could worship while sitting at the tables. Think about it. It would be fun. Let’s talk about it.
~ Rev. Wood
CORRECTION: Our N.O.W. (Nurture, Outreach, and Witness) and Administrative Board meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of each month. The meetings will not change to the third Tuesday as previously stated. Thank you and mark your calendars, please.
Tuesday, July 13th and Tuesday, August 10th. N.O.W. at 6:30pm and Ad. Bd. at 7:30pm.
Please let us know! vestalcalvaryumc@verizon.net
Email saves postage and paper, thank you!
The church needs your help! Help Keep Our Church Clean!
Please take a look at the Adopt-A-Room sign up sheets on the table in the entryway.
èWe would like to take this time to thank those of you who have already
signed up and have been doing your part. It is appreciated.
RAMP IT UP Calvary is again participating in the Ramp It Up program sponsored by the Broome County Council of Churches. Wheelchair ramps are built for people in the area who would otherwise have great difficulty leaving their homes. In 2009, we sent 4 youth and 3 adults from our church to build a ramp for a family in Binghamton. This year we will increase our numbers to 6 youth and 6 adults and will construct a ramp over the August 14th weekend. Construction materials are paid for by BCCC and they are grateful for any monetary contributions. Donations can be made directly to BCCC or given through our church earmarked Ramp It Up. Thank you. For a look at some of last year’s Ramp It Up photos go to this website and click on each picture to enlarge:
www.broomecouncil.net/Ramp%20It%20Up%20Pictures/index.htm
Our Annual Rummage Sale will be held on
Friday, July 16th, 10:30am – 7:00pm.
AND
Saturday, July 17th, 9:00am - NOON
CLEAN OUT YOUR UNWANTED TREASURES AND BRING THEM IN. THANK YOU.
Help is still needed to work on the Rummage Sale. Please call the office to volunteer.
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Please note date corrections. Doug’s Fish Fry will be held here on:
Friday, July 9th AND Friday July 16th
We will receive a percentage of all sales, so plan to come out and support the Frys.
Hygiene kits continue to be compiled to aid the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
This is an on-going project. Your continued donations to the basket in the Narthex as well as cash contributions will further this effort. Thank all of you at Calvary and Hanmaum Presbyterian Church who are reaching out as good neighbors to those in need.
Chicken BBQ coming August 28th. Mark your calendars and watch for details.
We are collecting books for our Annual Book Sale coming this October 16th.
Keep us in mind when cleaning out your old books. Thank you.
JULY BIRTHDAYS
7/5th Shelby Burford
7/9th Kristen Kelly
7/15th Jeanne Beauter
7/17th Craig Miller & Janice Ulangca
7/18th David Adour
7/19th Pat McClure & Tim Horan
7/29th Deanna Thompson
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS
8/6th Lisa McClellan
8/10th Bill Estabrook
8/13th Hannah Holden
8/17th Carol Craig
8/18th Essie Harding
8/19th Lou Craig
8/29th Debbie Weintraub
8/30th Bob James
Happy Anniversary and may God bless you with many more!
JULY
Marianne Czernysz and Rev. Wood, celebrating 17 years on the 10th
Donna Miller and Craig, celebrating 9 years on the 21st
AUGUST
Debbie and Todd Weintraub, celebrating 25 years on the 5th
Lisa and Bruce McClellan, celebrating 25 years on the 10th
Helen and Richard Schubmehl, celebrating 31 years on the 17th
*Don’t forget to check summer camp information at Sky Lake: www.skylake.org
Pastor…… Rev. Robert Wood
Bishop…Marcus Matthews
District Superintendent…David Masland
Lay Leader…George Snover
Choir Director & Pianist…Lois Bales
Office…Jeanne Guidici
Please note that our office will be closed July 13th –July 15th. Thank you.
Have a safe and Happy Fourth of July!