DECEMBER 2014
ECHOES
From the Heights
A monthly newsletter from Shawnee Heights United Methodist Church
Love Came Down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
star and angels gave the sign.
Love shall be our token;
love be yours
and love be mine;
Love to God and neighbor,
love for plea and gift and sign.
(Hymnal 242)
December Highlights ...
Dec 13th Breakfast with Santa (p. 3 )
Dec 14th Carols and Cocoa (p. 2)
Dec 21st Night In Bethlehem (p. 4)
Dec 24th Christmas Eve Candlelight Services (p. 12)
Christmas Store
for Mom & Dad
(p. 3)
Have a Blessed
Christmas Day!
Angel Tree
(p. 2)
Shawnee Heights UMC
Rev. Judy Long O’Neal
6020 SE 44TH STREET
Church Staff information (page 12 )
Tecumseh, KS 66542
Calendar of events (page 12)
Full Sunday Schedule (page 12)
Sunday Worship Service 10 a.m.
Office Hours: Closed Monday
Tues & Wed 9 a.m. –1 p.m.
Thurs & Fri 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
(785)-379-5492 • [email protected]
Angel Tree
Page 2
Angel Tree Gifts
The Missions and Outreach Committee selected
the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment
(CSE) as the recipient of this year’s Christmas
Angel Tree gifts. Your donated gifts will be placed
in the CSE Holiday Store for female CSE clients
to shop for themselves and their families for
Christmas.
The Angels are hung on the tree in the Narthex with
an item written on it to be purchased for the CSE’s
Holiday Store. The congregation is invited to
choose one or more angels, purchase the gift(s), and place the unwrapped
item(s) under the Angel tree by Wednesday, December 10th to help the
greatest number of families.
The YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment clients thank you for
making their Christmas very special.
Cocoa and Carols
Fifth Annual
Carols and Cocoa
Sunday, December 14
Concert begins in the
sanctuary
at 4:00 p.m.
followed by carol
singing and refreshments
in the Aldersgate Room.
(A freewill offering will be taken.)
Heights of Learning Christmas Programs
Christmas Store for Mom and Dad
Page 3
Page 3
The HOL Board Members have a new Christmas
program for the children of Heights of Learning, which
gives the kids an opportunity to select two small gifts
for their parents or guardian. This gives the kids a
chance do their own shopping to surprise their
parents on Christmas morning!
Donations of items for men and women will be appreciated. Gift ideas are
picture frames, earrings, candles, nuts and candy. They’ll also need wrapping paper, tags, ribbon, tissue paper and gift bags.
Please bring your donations to the church by December 7th. See Nancy
Ames, Mae Jean Shandy, Mina Haywood or Barb Hoskinson with questions
about this exciting new Christmas program for the HOL children!
BREAKFAST WITH SANTA!
Heights of Learning is hosting its annual
Breakfast with Santa
Saturday, Dec.13th, 8 to 10 a.m.
featuring Cris Cakes for breakfast!
Your freewill offering will benefit
Heights of Learning Pre-school & Childcare
(A ministry of Shawnee Heights United Methodist Church)
Volunteers are needed to help with this event:
2-3 people 7:45-9 a.m.
2-3 people 9-10:30 a.m.
Cleanup is also needed.
ICare Canned Food Drive
Heights of Learning Day of Giving includes an ICare Canned Food
Drive on Dec. 12th. Please join HOL in this mission by bringing a can of
food to church by Thursday Dec. 11th.
There is a gold wrapped box just inside the
front door in the narthex for your donations. Thank you!
Page 4
Shawnee Heights United Methodist Church invites you to join
us for a hands-on Holy Land experience!
A Night In Bethlehem
Sunday, December 21, 2014
6:00 pm ~ Fellowship Hall
Come, visit Bethlehem on this very special night and experience what it
might have been like the night Jesus was born. Travel back to ancient
Bethlehem and visit the Marketplace with a Bakery, Butcher, Scribe and
other merchants. Experience paying the tax collector, talking to Roman
Soldiers and visiting biblical animals. Bring your friends and family, all are
welcome to this free event! Light refreshments served.
Shawnee Heights UMC, 6020 SE 44th, Tecumseh, KS (785)379-5492
Men’s and Women’s Ministries
Page 5
United Methodist Men
The next SHUMC UMM breakfast meeting is on
Sunday, January 12, 2015, at 7:45 a.m.
We look forward to seeing you in the New Year
for a fun and interesting program along with
prayer, and fellowship.
Robert Gonzales,
President of SHUMC UMM.
United Methodist Women
December Circle Meetings:
Sarah Circle – Dec. 9, 7:00 pm, Ladonna Grindol’s home
Vicky Moore – Hostess
(Annual Christmas ornament exchange)
Susanna Circle – Dec. 6, 8:00 a.m. at the church
Barb Hoskinson- Hostess
(Assemble College Finals Care Packages)
This year the UMW provided to Bishop’s Roundup (with the donations
and support of many in our congregation) the following: 35 health kits,
40 school kits and 56 birthing kits, with a total estimated value of $1,748.
The first Joint Meeting of 2015 will be held at the church on Tuesday,
January 6, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. This is our annual meeting where the new
books for the 2015 reading program are going to be previewed and will
be available for check-out. It’s always an interesting meeting and a
good chance to see the variety of new reading material. All women are
invited to attend.
It has been noticed that the UMW kitchen towels,
tea towels and dish cloths are getting pretty
shabby. We are asking each member to please
bring a new towel or dish cloth to the
January joint meeting.
Thanks!
Barb Hoskinson, SHUMC UMW
Thanksgiving Day
Breakthrough House
Volunteers from SHUMC
served 60 members of
Breakthrough House on
Thanksgiving Day.
Thirty volunteers prepared the
meal on Wednesday night and
served it on Thanksgiving Day.
Coordinators Jeff and Barb
Brown and Tom and Natalie
Copeland appreciated everyone’s help with the meal in the
planning, purchasing, preparing, serving and cleaning up.
The members of Breakthrough
House look forward to the
event each year and are very
appreciative of the
opportunity to share this
special meal with others.
Page 6
SHUMC
Youth News
November 2014 has been a busy month
for the youth! We packed items for the
Bishop's Round-Up. We will listen to a
very enlightening conversation with Carrie Rutherford on bullying and other teen
issues. We will assist in the preparation
and serving of Thanksgiving Dinner at
Break-Through House!!! Thank you for
all who have participated and plan to participate!!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
DECEMBER YOUTH COUNCIL:
Sunday December 7th
5:00 pm in the Youth Room
After the Youth Council meeting, all
youth are invited to stay for an evening of
worship and study. We will be doing a
one evening study on the importance of
advent and challenging ourselves to remember Christ during the busy season of
Christmas and New Year's. I hope you
will join me for this time of learning and
growth.
YOUTH CHRISTMAS PARTY!!
The youth will be celebrating Christmas a
little early this year. We will be having a
Christmas party on Sunday, December 14,
from 6:00 to 7:00 pm in the youth room. The
evening will include games, Christmas treats
and a gift exchange!! Please come!!! FAMILY
AND FRIENDS ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED TO JOIN US FOR THIS EVENT!!!!
Page 7
Spending a Night In
Bethlehem
The children's committee will be hosting an exciting event Sunday, December 21st, called A Night in Bethlehem!!
This event will give the children and
youth a chance to experience what life
was like in biblical times. It was decided at the November youth council meeting that the youth would be running a
"gaming" booth, with children's games
that would have been played during Jesus' time! Please come out on that day
and help us run the booth!!
DECEMBER 2014
YOUTH CALENDAR
December 7th: 5:00 pm - Youth Council
Meeting, Youth Room
6:00 pm to 7:15 pm - Youth Advent Bible
Study
December 14th:
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the gym and Youth
Room:
Youth Christmas Party
December 21st: "Night In Bethlehem" Event
NO YOUTH GROUP
December 28th: Christmas Break
NO YOUTH GROUP
Shop in Support of SHUMC
Page 8
Low Denomination Gift Cards!
Starting Saturday, November 1, we will have a limited number of special
small denomination gift cards available, just in time for the holidays!
These cards are only available while supplies last, so don't wait to place
your orders.
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Amazon.com Gift Cards $10
AMC Theatres® $10
Barnes & Noble $5
CVS/pharmacy $10
Groupon $10
Meijer $10
Outback $10
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Panera Bread® $5
Pizza Hut $5
Regal Entertainment Group $10
Target $10
Starbucks $5
Walmart $10
These low denomination gift cards make great gifts for the special
people in your life. Place your order this Sunday for these gift cards,
or others, and get your Christmas shopping done early this year!
’tis the time to shop—and as a reminder about the “Shop ’n Support of
SHUMC” program, please see page 8 for a refresher course!
Information about the program can be found on the narthex counter.
Community Blood Drive
Shawnee Heights
United Methodist Church
Community Blood Drive
Register online: go to
Monday, January 12th, 2015
3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
6020 SE 44th Street
Tecumseh, KS 66542
Aldersgate Room
savealifenow.org and click on
"schedule an appointment”
Sponsor code: snhgtsumc
or contact SHUMC at 785-379-5492
or email: [email protected]
Walk-ins Welcome!
Heights of Learning
Page 9
December 2014 Newsletter
December already! We have a lot of fun activities planed this month!
The church is putting together a holiday gift shop for the children to
“shop” and get gifts for moms and dads!
Our day of giving and Christmas program will be Dec. 12th. We will start by Caroling at
Atria Hearthstone ,and dropping off food to Highland Park United Methodist Church for
the food drive. We will also make cupcakes for Jesus’ birthday! At 3:00, we will have our
singing program in the church and we will celebrate Jesus together in the gym while
enjoying our cupcakes!
Saturday, Dec. 13th we will host breakfast with Santa! He will be here 8:00-10:00 a.m.,
so come and enjoy pancakes and sausage with Ole St. Nick! Santa will also visit the center
Friday, Dec. 19th! We will have classroom celebrations, please see your child’s teacher
for details.
We will have a “wish list tree” with items each classroom wishes to have. If you would
like to pick one, please attach it to the gift when you return it. The tree will be across from
the office.
School age families, we have school day out on Monday, Dec.1st , and holiday break is
Monday, Dec. 22nd - Monday, Jan.5th. School is back in session Tuesday, Jan. 6th. Payment for the break is as follows: Dec. 22nd-26th is a paid holiday week for all school age
families, fees will not change. If your child is signed up to be here, it is an extra school
day out charge as well. The week of Dec. 29th-Jan. 2nd is only pay by the day. No weekly
fee is charged to any school age family. We will have a sign-up sheet posted by the signin/out sheet . This is a first-come-first serve basis. We only have room for 28 children so
please do not write your child’s name at the bottom if all the lines are filled. If your
child’s name is not in our count, you will need to find other care. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Merry Christmas and happy new year to all!
Dates to remember:
School days out– Monday, Dec. 1st, Monday, Dec.22nd— Monday, Jan.5th
Center closed– Wednesday, Dec. 24th & Thursday, Dec. 25th & Thursday, Jan. 1st.
Fieldtrips are subject to change
Field trips
3’s & 4’s
Presbyterian Manor 3rd 9:15
Pre-k A&B
Presbyterian Manor 10h 9:15
2’s-P-K Day of giving Dec. 12th
Happy birthday
Ms. Michelle 4th
Ms. Melissa 5th
Ms. Debbie 18th
Ms. Courtney L. 27th.
Joys and Concerns
Page 10
December Birthdays
1st Carolee Dahl
3rd Jon Hardesty
4th Ray Haywood
5th Scarlett Ford
6th Ben Taliaferro
6th Sharon Wilt
8th Melissa Lewis
8th Alicia Nelson
9th Nita Roseberry
9th Diana Warta
10th Naida Swallow
11th Mina Haywood
15th Staci Fleischer
16th
16th
21st
21st
23rd
23rd
29th
29th
29th
31st
Kay Hurford
Brandon Lambrecht
Karen Mace
Phyllis Worthington
Lorene Cranwell
Elizabeth Lane
Leah Everhart
Dani Harris
Ozzie Lane
Colleen Brennan
December Anniversaries
18th
22nd
23th
31st
Bob & Jane Clelland
Bill & Virginia Robinett
Robert & Kelly Badenoch
David & Toni Boyles
Notes of Thanks
Dear Church Family,
Thank you so very much for your thoughts and prayers for Larry and me during his battle with
cancer. He had an exceptionally good attitude through it all, and I'm sure your prayers were
largely responsible for his good spirits and mine. Love is the greatest, and I am very thankful
for belonging to this loving and caring church family. Thank you for the many cards and kind
words. The sanctuary was full at his service, and the kids and I appreciate those of you who
could come. Many joined us at Reynolds Lodge afterwards, and UMW was awesome in
bringing desserts and helping set up and serve. Thank you for all your kindnesses.
Shawnee Heights United Methodist,
We would like to thank our Church Family for your
prayers, cards, letters and donations to the memorial for
Robert. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.
In Christian Love,
Jean Ragan and family
In Christian Love,
Cindy Schlink and family
We are in prayer As A Church Family:
We pray for one another, especially for those who will experience this season for the first
time without their loved ones. Our prayers extend beyond our church to the members of
our extended families and our circles of friends, neighbors and co-workers. We pray for
specific situations in our community and the needs of people far away whose faces we
know only through the media. We pray for those personally impacted by violence,
whether in their homes or in war-torn countries. As we anticipate the celebration of God
with us in the Christ Child, we recognize God's call for peace – in our hearts, in our lives,
and in our world. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we strive to transform the world and pray for
the courage to truly live as agents of God's peace.
December 2014
Sunday
Mon
1
2
Wed
Thu
3
4
6:30 pm
Annual Church
Conference
6:30 pm
Chancel Choir
8
9
10
2nd Sunday
of Advent
7 pm Trustees
2:15-7:30 pm
Bookmobile
11:15 am
Bell Choir
7 pm
Boy Scouts
7 Communion
5 pm Youth Council
6 pm Youth Group
14 3rd Sunday of
Advent
4 pm Cocoa & Carols
21 4th Sunday
of Advent
6 pm Night in
Bethlehem
6:30 pm
Finance
7 pm
Sarah Circle
6:30 pm
Chancel Choir
6 pm
Church Council
18
19
7 pm
Boy Scouts
2:15-7:30 pm
Bookmobile
6:30 pm
Chancel Choir
6 pm Missions
& Outreach
7 pm
Boy Scouts
29
6:30 pm
Quilters
30
2:15-7:30 pm
Bookmobile
SUNDAY SCHEDULE:
9:15 am Adult Contemporary Issues Class
10:00 am SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE
11:00 am Children’s Sunday School
11:00 a.m. All Church Fellowship Time
6:00 p.m. Youth Group
7 pm
Discipleship
24
25
7 pm & 10 pm
Candle Light
Services
Sat
6
8 am
Susanna
Circle
HOL
Day of Giving
and
Children’s
Christmas
Program
17
23
5
12
16
22
Fri
11
15
6 pm Youth
Christmas Party
28
Tues
Page 11
13
8-10 am
Breakfast
with
Santa
20
5 pm Echoes
articles due
26
27
Christmas
Day
31
6:30 pm
Chancel Choir
CHURCH STAFF: Rev. Judy Long O’Neal
Admn. Asst., Janice Cordry • Treasurer, Jo Scott
Music Director, Chris Hubbard • Youth Director, Katie Vesely
Custodian, Ralph Nelson
SHUMC (785) 379-5492 • [email protected]
Christmas Eve
Shawnee Heights United Methodist Church
Wednesday, December 24
7:00 p.m. Traditional Family Candlelight Service
10:00 p.m. Candlelight Service of Communion