Volume 2, Issue 12
December, 2014
Epworth UMC
Inside This Issue
‘The Voice’
MEMORIALS TO EPWORTH ARE BENEFICIAL
(Follow-up information on Epworth All Saints Day, October 26th)
1. Memorials to Epworth
2. Go-Getters; Voice Mailing
3. Christmas Sharing.
4. Kidz Haven; Imagine no
Malaria; Circles of Support
5. Missions/Evangelism;
Finance Notes; Special
Christmas Note
6. Mary Edie Circle, Birthdays, Prayers, Ministry
Assignments; Website
SUNDAY WORSHIP
SCHEDULE
9:15—
9:15—Sunday School
10:1510:15-Fellowship
10:45–
10:45– Worship
When we read obituaries, we often see the phrases “memorials may be sent to…..”
Memorials directed to Epworth UMC are applied to important uses. Here are a few examples of memorial gifts that have honored the following:
* Purchased 10 new gray tables for Fellowship Hall—Ramona Willis and Marge
Stephens
* Purchased 100 new gray folding chairs for Fellowship Hall—Anna May Shafer
*Purchased the pastor’s microphone headset for the pulpit—Ken Sells
*Purchased the sign by the main south entrance—Bud Raymond
* Purchased a new computer for the Epworth Office—Shelby Stephens
* Purchased a brand-new computer and two new large screens for the pastor’s
office—Shelby Stephens, Jeanne Bush, Bea Ancell
* Purchased the new cabinet top in Fellowship Hall—Anna May Shafer
* Purchased a new window air conditioner for Fellowship Hall—Anna May Shafer
* Purchased the stained-glass panel in the sanctuary’s choir door—Marc David
Meek
* Donated to Tuesday evening suppers – Ramona Willis and Betty Boylan
* Paid for several painting projects around the church—Rosemary Beissler (Dick
Future Dates to remember:
12/6—Tea—Bazaar –
Bake Sale
12/6— Scouts Chili Supper
Davenport’s sister), Pat Schwartz Ray Ancell
* Donated to pay general expenditures (bills) or apportionments—Betty Boylan
and Ray Ancell
Some memorial gifs remain on hand to be used for future projects,
12/23—Special Community
Dinner
*As designated by the contributor(s)
12/24—Coco, Cookies &
Candlelight
* If no designation is indicated, the projects are determined as needs arise by
or
vote of the Wills and Memorials Committee, recorded by Iona Vernon and
chaired by Gwen Hall.
Thanks to everyone who honors loved ones by directing their memorial gift to Epworth!
Contributed by Jan Meek
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THE GO-GETTERS SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS
The “Go-Getters” recently voted to contribute $100 from their treasury to Bidwell-Riverside. This money
will be used by Bidwell to purchase gift cards for teens at Christmas.
Also recently, the class donated all of their used Sunday school class books to an organization that gathers
used Christian educational material. This is an on-going collection. All of the materials received will then
be sent to African nations in September. The organization also gathers “Upper Rooms”, so if you have any
you like to share you may pass them on to Linda Toth.
LAST MASS MAILING OF “THE VOICE”
This is the final mass-mailing of “The Voice”. However, if you are a
shut-in or if you submit a $10.00 yearly subscription fee, your copy of
“The Voice” will continue to be sent via the United States Post Office
to you.
Other option for obtaining “The Voice” are:
1. Pick up a copy on Sunday mornings at the church.
2. An electronic copy will be e-mailed if you provide your current email address
to the secretary.
(NOTE: Do not assume the secretary has your current
email address!)
3. A current copy of “The Voice” can always be found on the Epworth web-site at
www.epworth-desmoines. org.
Ad Council Chair, Marilyn Moberg, announced earlier the following decisions that had been made
about “The Voice”:
1. Copies of THE VOICE will be available for pickup on Sunday mornings.
2. Copies will continue to be mailed to shut-ins.
3. If anyone wishes to receive THE VOICE by mail, a $10.00 yearly subscription fee will be
requested.
4. THE VOICE will be sent electronically, free of charge, to all who submit personal e-mail
addresses.
5. Birthdays and schedules for ushers and contribution processors will no longer be found
in THE VOICE, however assignments will be posted on the narthex bulletin board for
easy reference.
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CHRISTMAS SHARING
December 23, 2014
By Jill Coons
On Tuesday night, December 23rd, Epworth will have a special Christmas meal for our community and a
special invitation is extended to our congregation to participate.
A generous financial gift allows us to provide a special meal.
The menu will be:
Sliced Ham
Cheese Potatoes
Green Beans
Roll and Butter
Dessert
Beverage
Please plan to join us as we celebrate the joy of Christ’s birth with each other and our community.
Also, contributions of gifts to give our guests will be greatly appreciated.
THE MIRACLE ON EUCLID AVENUE!
Christmas Eve of 2013 was a true miracle that blessed those who gave and those who received. First we decided to go ahead with our usual free Tuesday evening community dinner even though it fell on Christmas
Eve when so many folks spend time with family. (There was no grumbling or groaning—folks were glad to
be a part of the idea.) And then to make it extra special for our guests a program of Christmas music and
carol singing was planned. (Again, there was not a negative word. Instead folks helped plan for the caroling and then expanded the program with other ideas.) Finally, to add to the festivities it was decided to
give a gift to each person who attended. The congregation was asked to contribute these gift items. (That is
when The Miracle on Euclid Avenue could no longer be denied. There was not only one gift for each guest
to take home - but each person could select five gift items plus a hat and gloves.)
What an evening! An excellent free meal was provided which was served by lots of Epworth volunteers
who also helped with the gifts and visited with our friends. Dick and Joyce Borg provided beautiful
Christmas music and carols - which the guests sang with much joy and gusto! Bob Carl provided the words
for the music on a screen so the folks could sing along. Pastor Brenda was outstanding, giving a monologue called The Christmas Tree Angel, written by Opal Current. And then there were the smiles and
joy beheld on the faces of those who received the gifts and all those who worked so hard to
make it a very special Christmas Eve.
Indeed miracles do happen. One happened on Euclid Avenue on Christmas Eve, 2013.
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CHANGE IT UP EVERY WEEK AT KIDZ HAVEN
October 22: Matt Moberg (who grew up at Epworth and is son
of Marilyn Moberg) was an intriguing speaker. His impressive
visual aid caught the students’ attention--a beautiful red bicycle
valued at $3,000. He explained every aspect of the twowheeler’s brakes and complicated gearing, special seat and
safety features (valuable on the bike trails, and especially for
night riding on public roads, so vehicle drivers will be aware of
his presence.) A small emergency kit under the seat held fix-it
tools, two compactly packed inner tubes for emergencies, plus
an emergency medical kit. The kids enjoyed touching the cycle
and asking numerous questions.
Then Moberg switched gears and mesmerized his entire audience with details, stories and photos (flashed on the portable
screen) from his years as a commercially licensed, private corporate-jet pilot. Thanks, Matt for taking your only day off from
Kyle’s Bikes to present to Kidz Haven, speaking an hour and
fifteen minutes without notes. His leadership skills are impressive!
October 29 was a Halloween party, of course. Some participants even wore costumes! Surprisingly the students voted
ahead of time to have a nutritious green salad and dressings for
their snack, along with tuna salad on Doritos, apples and yogurt.
Students decorated real pumpkins (grown and donated by KH
Director, Pastor Hugh Stone, Polk City UMC), designed and
decorated original Halloween cards and envelopes. KH adults
and students personally delivered their gifts, along with Halloween prizes to the Highland Park Group Home, located two
houses south of Epworth.
Here I am writing to the future. This will probably be out after the 2nd of December, “Giving Tuesday”. That is when I will be sending in your generous donation to the main office where I am hoping
that it will be doubled by the Global Board of Ministry.
This is a repeat of the program the Global Board
of Mistry did last year. It was then that we raised
$6.5 million— more than ever before! And it is all
thanks to you and thousands more just like you, who
want to see a change in the world - a change in the
direction of God's Kingdom.
Submitted by Bob Carl
We returned to the church to win prizes playing Halloween Bingo and making words from the letters in Happy Halloween.
November 5 Kidz Haven gathered in the lounge and watched
the enjoyable, animated Disney DVD, “Gnomeo & Juliet” on the
big TV screen, complete with popcorn, root beer floats, bananas
and apples.
November 12 we continued to change up the weekly activities
with Pastor Brenda leading a craft session by making colored
friendship bracelets on our hands, with small, colored rubber
bands, followed by table games.
November 19 featured a pre-Thanksgiving cooking session in
the kitchen, using both stoves—led by our ever-ready Ruth
Kouski, as head cook. The menu included turkey roast and
gravy, with mashed potatoes, green-bean/Velveeta casserole,
dressing and cranberry/orange relish all made from scratch. To
cap the session, everyone gathered around the table to enjoy
eating the feast we had prepared together after each person
shared what they were thankful for. While everything was baking, we had another energetic, rousing session of Yahtzee.
November 26—No Kidz Haven session when DMPS are
closed (for this Thanksgiving holiday).
Please watch for the next Kidz Haven update in next month’s
“Epworth Voice.”
Contributed by Jan Meek
Circles Of Support
I am asking for prayers for Kendra as she goes to
court to see if she will stay in society or not. We
need to become more radical in our pursuit of justice
in this community. Maybe we could even become
dangerous and get something different done.
Yvette still lingers in the system awaiting for an
outcome to her almost life long saga. Please hold her
and her circle in your prayers while this slowly plays
out.
By Bob Carl
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Missions/Evangelism
There may be only eight letters
in the words “thank you”, but
they are two of the most powerful words in the English language! I cannot “thank”
Epworth enough for all of its support for our Basement and Bake Sale. Our November 17th total for
the Basement Sale stood at $1,769.00 (this is earmarked to be applied to Apportionments) and
$177.95 for the Bake Sale (this is to help provide
materials for our Quilters). It was a lot of hard work,
but many hearts and hands made it a wonderful experience.
Our next venture will be the Tea/Bazaar to be held
in the Lounge on Saturday, December 6th, from 2 to
4:30 p.m. Tea and light refreshments will be served
and we will have tables with craft items and bake
sale goodies. Many church members are busily
preparing crafts and we are very appreciative. You
may bring your items into the church office from December 3rd through the 5th. We hope many of our
church family can attend (and bring friends and family!)
If you have any questions, please call Linda Toth at
515-255-1363.
Finance Notes
How many of you
know that for the last two
years, our apportionments
have been $7500? Did
you know that from that
amount $2500 was
dropped providing we
gave that money to another charitable organization?
So in essence our apportionments were $5000.
In this coming year our apportionments will go
up to $15,000. Now that seems like a tremendous
raise, but in the years prior to our previous two
years, they were $30,000. So actually, what we are
going to have is an overall decrease in our apportionments.
Yes we have struggled this year to make those
payments. But I know that the wonderful and generous giving people of Epworth will find a way to
make this next year work out, because God obviously has things planned for this church. Look at the
ministries that we have here! Look at the outside
groups that use this old barn as their base! There are
good things happening at Epworth. All we have to
do is rise to the occasion, pray that God will send
more workers and hold on — because the ride will
pick up speed real fast!
Are you ready for the next chapter in the life of
Epworth? I am and I want you to come along with
us.
Bob Carl, Chair of the Finance Committee
Submitted by Linda Toth
Special Christmas Note
It often seems that all I do is bring
bad news and ask for more of your
dwindling resources and time. But
at this time of year, and often during the rest of the
year, I give thanks to God for placing me in the
midst of a group of wonderful and caring people
like you here at Epworth .
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for taking in
this wayfaring stranger and providing him a church
home.
May this Christmas be more Christ filled than
any other you've had. I know that it will be so for
me.
Peace Bob
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December Birthdays
2nd
3rd
8th
10th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
20th
21st
24th
26th
31st
Shelby Robinson
RaeAnn Robinson
Porsche Cavin
Sakura Inman
Matthew Quinett
Jody Quinett
Eleanor Cavin
Marcus Inman
Marc Broer
Lloyd Michael
Nichole Shores
Chantelle Wildt
Eric Cavin
Steven Shores
Spencer Shores
Jane Magers
Rachel Carter
Brittany Smith
We lift in prayer those in care
centers, the home-bound and
those who provide care for our
dear ones who can not get out:
Doris Bohrofen is at Heritage Park; Joann Walters is
at Luther Park Trinity; Howard Brown is at Norwalk
Nursing & Rehab Center; Annalue Ceretti and Evelyn
Albaugh are at The Reserve on Walnut Creek; Wade
Steele is at Vintage Hills at Prairie Trail in Ankeny;
Mildred Harmon is at Home; Lorraine Howard at
Address Unknown.
We lift in prayer those who are in jail or
prison:
Kenny Davis and Adam Fankhauser at Oakdale Correctional Facility; Dayvon Inman at Mt. Pleasant Prison;
LeQuan Clark at Bridges of Iowa.
December
7th
December Contribution Processors
Dick Borg & Shirlee Herrold @ 1 pm
8th
Iona Vernon & Angie Alexander
15th Shirley Voss & Iona Vernon
22nd Linda Toth & Shirlee Herrold @ 1 pm
29th Linda Toth & Shirlee Herrold
1st
Bob Carl, Dick Davenport,
Mark Tillotson, Jim Hall
14th Nettie Brown, Linda Toth,
Susan Robinson, Amanda Bosch
21st Billy Palmer, Dick Davenport,
Ron Bosch, Kyle Robinson
28th Angie Alexander, Gwen Hall,
RaeAnn Robinson, Sue Grogan
MARY EDIE CIRCLE
The Mary Edie Circle will be meeting at the home of
Marilyn Moberg on December 18, at 2:00 p.m.
EPWORTH WEBSITE
Since printing of future The Voice will be limited,
have y0u thought about looking at the Epworth
website?
You can find some interesting things on the site
including The Voice, the Epworth calendar, upcoming events under “What’s Happening” and a
place to post “Joys and Concerns”.
Bring a special story, poem or other Christmas
memory to share with the group.
By Virginia Crouse
Please submit your articles for the
January Voice by December 19th
Thank you, Opal
Try it! I think you will like it!!!
epworthumc-desmoines.org
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