Happenings
(SENT OUT 5/15/13)
Good Wednesday Ringgold UMC,
I hope all are well. I have found myself reflecting this week on the cycle of life. 2 funerals, a birth and a wedding. Our God is with us through it all.
On the joyful front, Sandra Chalmers has made a significant change and just yesterday after 4 weeks and 3 surgeries, has come awake and begun to respond. She was sitting up and eating ice chips last night. Today she is on oxygen, but no longer the ventilator. Yesterday’s change marks a dramatic change of events from the previous 4 weeks. I celebrate with the whole Chalmers Family.
On the reflective front, yesterday we celebrated the life of James Moreland. He left quite a legacy in our community. We had a great time of celebration in worship and as always, so many of you gave of yourselves and your time to honor this family in their time of loss. Thanks for being the church in a time of need, it is always bittersweet to gather on days like this. I invite you to consider them in your prayers in the days ahead.
We are remembering the children of Ms. Vera Bowman in their time of loss, Charlie and Marilyn Hayes following his fall, Portia Knowles whose mother, Catherine Buff, continues to remain hospitalized, and the Goodman family as Gabe and Steph’s wedding day approaches, the Haiti Mission Dinner this Saturday night and Britta as she continues to recover… we continue to celebrate the joy of a marvelous sanctuary renovation… sometimes a lot happens in a week.
I look forward to being with you tonight and sharing Christ around the table. God has given us this day…
All God’s blessings in Christ,
John
Children’s Ministry News
Would your older elementary aged girl like to join a group going to see Jamie Grace on July 9th? She is having a concert in Nashville, and if enough kids and adults want to go, we’ll take a summer road trip. Send an email if you’re interested.
Children’s Ministry will be setting up a text alert system similar to what the youth use. This would be a text that would come out at most once per week with information helpful to parents of children. If you would like to be added to this list, please send an email to the children’s ministry office with “Text Alert” in the subject line. Feel free to ask any questions if you have them.
We will be putting a creative twist on our summer Sunday School classes. Incorporating art, games, music and more, we will focus on a Bible story through different creative activities. If you are interested in relieving some of our regular teachers for a part of this summer, please contact me to learn more.
Britta Alton
children@ringgoldumc.org
Paid Nursery Staff Position
We are taking applications for additional paid nursery staff for our church nursery. Since the need is primarily on Sunday mornings, this would need to be someone who is able to seek out worship at other times during the week. If you know of someone with experience caring for infants through toddlers who would enjoy showing the love of God to little ones on a regular basis, please have them contact Britta Alton to find out more. children@ringgoldumc.org
Youth News
Come out tonight and join us as we continue our CREATE series, working toward writing five original, new songs we’ll use for worship in the fall. We got off to a good start last week with a backwards worship space and a million post-it notes! See what’s next from 6:30-7:45 PM in the MPR.
Sunday night we’re headed offsite for an end-of-school-year picnic! Bring your whole family and we’ll meet/depart at 5:30 in the front parking lot (steeple side) to head to Coolidge Park to eat & play. Bring enough food for your family and some to share; and be sure to bring outdoor games too! We’ll plan to be back at RUMC by 8 PM.
Just a reminder here at the end that we need to get paperwork and balances for our mission trips turned in as soon as possible!
Kevin Alton
Cell: 423-227-5466, Email: kevin.a.ringgoldumc@gmail.com
New Baby Meal Ministry
A Meal Ministry has been set up for Robert & Tara Black. You can sign up to take them a meal by clicking HERE.
Thank you for being the hands & feet of Christ!
RECOVERY INFO
New AA Meeting – Every Tuesday night – 7:30 PM at Mt. Peria – This is an open meeting.
ONLINE CHURCH DIRECTORY
You don’t have to be an actual “member” to participate – if RUMC is your church family, then we’d love to see you listed! Go to www.ringgoldumc.org and follow the link to the directory right there on the front page. Contact the office for the password to view or add information to the directory. If you would like us to help you, just contact Joan Burroughs at 706-935-2134 or JFburroughs@comcast.net. Contact the church office for a printed copy.
Hearts and Hands for Haiti Dinner
Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 18, at 6:00. We have planned a dinner, provided by Double Portions Catering, at the Ringgold Depot. Come and enjoy delicious food, bid on beautiful Haitian art, and support RUMC’s mission to build a school in Haiti. Currently, the children in Momance are walking one hour each way to school – if they go at all. RUMC will take a team to Momance this summer to assist with building the school. All proceeds from this event will go directly to building the school – no funds will be used for trip expenses.
How can you support our mission?
Sponsor Hearts and Hands for Haiti
$250 Bronze – Includes 2 Dinner Tickets
$500 Silver – Includes 4 Dinner Tickets
$1000 Gold – Includes 8 Dinner Tickets
All sponsors will be recognized on the program and at the event.
Purchase Tickets
$200 for a table for 8
$30 for individual tickets
Please contact Belinda Crisman (423) 619-1199, Portia Knowles (423) 413-7391, or Sue Mason (423) 619-0843 if you would like to be a sponsor or purchase tickets.
Hearts & Hands for Haiti Auction Baskets
Thank you so much for helping us with the auction! We would like to have all items by end of day TODAY so we can make preparations for the dinner. You may drop them off at the church office.
Thank you,
Portia Knowles
423-413-7391
Nourishing Children in Catoosa
We will be making over 1,000 this week on Thurs. starting at 3:30 PM. Will have a couple of school groups. We will be meeting with a couple of schools who want to have our program starting in the fall. This will be a big decision as we will need to have almost double the amount of volunteers.
We heard from a mom that her son opened the bag when arriving home. He informed his mother that the cat ate the fish. He did not know that fish (tuna) came in cans.
Nan & Theo
Chaplain’s Roles in the Civil War
A presentation by John Brinsfield
Wednesday, May 22nd • 6:30 PM • Sanctuary
Please make plans to attend this informational presentation about Chaplains in the Civil War. There were 3,696 chaplains who served during the Civil War, including one named Purrington. At this presentation, people will get a good overview of how the Gospel was presented to soldiers 150 years ago. Some relics will be on display as well for people to view.
John Brinsfield is a retired member of the North Georgia Conference and a retired Army chaplain with 47 years of service in the military. After 28 years of active duty, he served as the Army Chaplain Corps historian for nine years, teaching military history at Ft. Jackson, SC. He has written nine books, three of them about Civil War chaplains. John and his wife, Pat, have made this presentation for a number of groups including the Georgia Civil War Commission, the University of Alabama Civil War Lecture Series, and the Military Chaplain Association at Gettysburg.
Preschool News
New in 2013-14! No Fee Registration! No Supply Fees! New and lower Prices!
We have revamped our program and have lowered the monthly tuition:
Two Days a week -$150
Three Days a week -$215
Five Days a week -$235
Strengthened our program with new curriculum:
Get Set for School by Handwriting without Tears Get Set for School features Readiness & Writing, Language & Literacy, and Numbers & Math programs using a developmental approach that is based on the most relevant research about how young children learn best:
- Break difficult concepts into simple tasks
- Believe that every child can achieve
- Use exciting materials that make children want to learn
Our Bible curriculum is One for Christ by Concordia Publishing House. This curriculum is designed for weekday programs so that students:
- will know God, especially His love in Christ
- live happily in peace with God, themselves, and their fellow human beings
- express their joy in worship of God and in loving service to others
- value all of God’s creative work in His world and the Church
Everything is looking great for next year, all we need are students!
Register Today!
Amy McCurdy-Moore
Preschool@ringgoldumc.org
Teacher Appreciation Breakfast
On Monday, June 3rd, it will be our pleasure to prepare and serve breakfast to the teachers & staff of our Partners Schools, Ringgold Elementary and Ringgold Middle Schools, as
a thank you for a job well done. If you can cook, serve or clean up, please let me know.
We begin cooking at 6 AM, but you don’t have to be the first to arrive. You can come any time between 6 AM & 8:30 AM. We’ll have plenty to do.
We can also use a few dozen muffins. Your help will be greatly appreciated!
Eddie Floyd
423-488-6317 or efloyd@catt.com
Summer Nicaragua Mission Trip Needs
The Summer Nicaragua Mission team is collecting the following items to take to Nicaragua this summer to put in family gift bags to be given out during prayer walks:
Our goal is the following:
400 bars of Ivory soap
200 family size tubes of toothpaste
1600 toothbrushes
We are also collecting children’s clothes as we have had a request by some communities. Sizes toddler thru middle school age. Think shorts and T-shirts as they do not have any cold weather at all. These do not have to be new, so as we clean out summer clothes, please remember those less fortunate.
If anyone has any questions, please have them contact Bill or Phyllis Copeland, billcopelandjr@gmail.com / (706) 937-2363.
Retirement Celebration for Rev. John Whatley
Please join us for a Retirement Reception
In honor of Reverend John and Mary Elizabeth Whatley
For 45 years of Service to god and to His Kingdom
Sunday, June 9, 2013 • 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
In the Fellowship Hall
Bethesda United Methodist Church
444 Bethesda Church Road, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30044
Ride Ministry
There is a need for people willing to pick up saints who would like to worship but are unable to do so because they have no way to get to church. If you are interested in giving rides to and from church on Sunday mornings, please contact the church office at 706-935-4777 or rumc_office@ringgoldumc.org.
Christ Chapel Item of the Month: Cooking Oil
May’s item is cooking oil. We should always give with a happy heart and only our best never our leftovers. No bent cans or partially used items please. God gave us His very best so why can’t we do the same? Thanks to all that support this mission.
Darlene Stone
Recycling
Saturday, May 18th • 9 AM – 10:30 AM
Bring your glass, paper, cans and #1 or #2 plastics to the Preschool Entrance.
Please do not leave recycling items on the back porch. Only bring on the recycling dates.
Prayer Ministry Team:
You can share prayer concerns directly on our website: www.ringgoldumc.org
If you have a prayer request to add to our prayer list, I would like to invite you to email your prayer request to rumc_prayer@ringgoldumc.org. A list will be compiled throughout the week and sent to the church office on Mondays to go out in the Happenings email on Wednesdays. This email could be a great way to let us know when prayers have been answered and we can remove names from the prayer list. Thank you for your service in Christ.
Tracy Brown Philippians 4:6
Church Council Meetings For 2013
Ministry Team / Committee Meetings 6 PM – 7 PM
Church Council Meeting 7 PM – 8 PM
Finance Team 8 PM – 9 PM
August 6th
October 1st
December 3rd
Volunteer Opportunities
Special Needs Ministry Opportunity
Have you heard about our “Buddy” ministry? Each week a “Buddy” is assigned to accompany a child with special needs who participates in the kid-friendly Children’s Worship time during the 11AM service. Has God gifted you with a desire to help? This team is in need of an additional member or two in order to have a longer rotation. It would involve about 30 minutes of time once a month. If you are interested, please contact Christina Ware or Britta Alton.
Children’s Ministry Helpers
Come be an influence in the lives of our children. Wednesday nights are a fun time of learning, and a great chance for you to get to know and encourage some of our awesome kids! If you enjoy watching kids learn and want your heart to grow big, contact Britta Alton to see how you can assist. children@ringgoldum.org
Weekly Snapshot:
Worship Attendance week of 5/12/13
9 AM Traditional Service – 87
9 AM Contemporary Service – 74
11 AM Traditional Service – 98
11 AM Contemporary Service – 144
WIRE (Youth Wednesday) – 37
Children’s Worship – 23
Total Worship Attendance: 463
Sunday School/Small Groups: 100
FUSE (Youth Sunday): no meeting
Our Giving for April 2013
General Budget
Last Sunday’s Giving: $12,910
Received thru end of April: $185,150
Spent thru end of April: $181,310
Needed to support full mission budget thru end of April: $185,738
Building Fund
Last Sunday’s Giving: $2,362
Received for month of April: $7,532
$3,967 short for the month of April / $14,651 short for the year
Needed to make monthly mortgage: $11,500
Prayer Request from this week:
In order to have our prayer list up to date, we are mentioning prayer requests that were received for the week from the services or the prayer request emails. If you have a prayer request you would like added, please email rumc_prayer@ringgoldumc.org
Tyler Jeffries
Nana Haygood
Kai & Jay Cook
Charlotte Dempsey
Virgia Cowley ~ cancer
Ann Schmoller ~ brain tumor
Braden Moreland & family in the loss of James Moreland
The Family of Vera Bowman in their time of loss
Jessica
Mother’s going through infant/child loss, miscarriage, infertility, failed adoption
Karen Winford ~ surgery/breast cancer
Courtney Winford ~ breast cancer
Family of Lisa Sharick Shields
Catherine Buff ~ hospitalized
Sandra Chalmers ~ fighting for her life
Lisa Temple ~ arteriogram this week
Charles Hayes ~ had a bad fall, was in the hospital but is now home
PRAISE: Maleri O’Conner ~ no longer sick
PRAISE: James Lambert is doing much better
PRAISE: Seth Kenney is home & goes back to work this week
PRAISE: Birth of baby Bronson to Robert & Tara Black