1. family and parenting
2. children

Wesley
Times
Semi
Semi--Monthly Newsletter of Wesley United Methodist Church
February 26, 2015
Children’s Ministry
Easter Musical
The children are busy learning songs for the Easter musical “Crown Him
With Many Crowns”. Practice will be every Sunday from 5-5:45pm in
Meeting Room #4. Please mark your calendars for Sunday, April 12th,
the children will be performing their wonderful Easter Musical. This
will be a joyous occasion to listen to energetic hymns and modern worship songs from Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, and Paul Baloche. The children
will be singing about the miraculous King of Majesty, our risen King of
kings and Lord of lords!
Member Spotlight
Words of Wisdom
We aren’t laughing any more. Growing up in predominantly
Roman Catholic south Louisiana the Lenten springtime question
for my friends was, “What did you have to give up for Lent?” We
young Protestants thought it fun to pester the young Catholic with
the reminder we didn’t have to give up anything. Not so anymore.
The great traditions of the church that can be traced back
to Jesus and before were lost in the early years to misplaced
loyalties and misunderstood protests. Our forefathers and
mothers in Judaism knew that certain seasons of the year lent
themselves to acts of remembering and religious practices that
kept hearts in tune with God’s creation and served as a reminder
to be thankful and faithful.
Such seasonal religious traditions were already in place in
other parts of the world where Christianity spread and recognizing
the importance of these times in Judaism and other religious
practice the early church leaders began to follow similar practices.
Today we have certain rituals that mark the beginning,
middle and ending of important dates in the life of the church and
in our own lives. Christmas and Easter come to mind immediately
but there are others. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent
which was traditionally a time of preparation for all those who
were to be confirmed into the church on Easter. The season of
Lent is 40 days long (not counting Sundays) the same length of
time that Jesus was in the wilderness preparing for his ministry.
Advent is the seasons of preparation before
Christmas. Both of these seasons were marked as special times of
spiritual preparation in the life of the believer. The church
encouraged disciples to enter into more intense period of prayer,
study, devotion, and act of mercy as a way of growing in their
understanding of God and a life of faith.
Ancient worshippers knew that without specific times in
which to challenge our faith we tend to be preoccupied with daily
life to the exclusion of our God awareness. How easy in today’s
world to become so wrapped up in the activities of family, work,
recreation, and health that we loose site of our spiritual needs.
What better time than as spring changes to summer before our
lives really pick up speed that we set aside time to challenge
ourselves to grow spiritually.
Join us in worship, study, and a whole host of special
seasonal emphasis to remind us of God’s role in our lives.
You can join in at anytime.
Gene
COMMUNION RAIL
OFFERING
The communion rail offering for March will go
toward camp scholarships for Wesley children
and youth. It will soon be time for children/
youth to sign up for summer camps. While
efforts are made to keep the cost of church
camp to a reasonable amount, sometimes
families need a little help in paying the fee,
especially when they have more than one child
attending. Thank you for your donations to
support our Wesley families.
The youth continues their study each Sunday
evening on intentionally developing their faith
walk. Please pray for us as we learn what it
means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Camp Grace is April 17-19. Some campers will
need scholarships. If you'd like to provide a
scholarship, please contact Jeff Cullen.
Registration is well underway for Camp
Anakainoo! We have a beautiful location
picked for this wonderful summer
camp! If you have students who would
like to sign up, please go to
campanakainoo.com. It is filling up fast,
so don't wait!
HANDCRAFTED DONATIONS
This year's Artisans Market to benefit our outreach ministry at
Carver Elementary will be held at Wesley on Saturday, July
25. Several of you donated handcrafted items last year to our
Wesley booth, and I hope you will be able to participate again this
year. If you're not the artistic type, maybe you know someone
who would be willing to donate an item. Donations forms will be
available in the church office, on the information desks, or in your
Sunday school classrooms beginning Sunday, March 1.
Vendor applications will also be available March 1. If you are
interested in a vendor application or know someone who might
be, please contact Jane Goulding ([email protected]).
BICYCLE DONATIONS FOR CARVER
Carver's principal, is seeking help with bicycle donations for
Carver students with perfect attendance this school year. The goal
is 25 bicycles. This is an incentive program to encourage students
to come to school every day. Their time at school is very
important and correlates directly with higher achievement
levels. You may donate individually, through your Sunday school
class or another group at Wesley. Also, mention this to any
service organizations to which you belong. Your donation will have
a positive impact on a young student's life and will be greatly
appreciated.
SUPREMES
Hope Springs Supremely: Please join us at Noon,
Tuesday, March 10th for some interesting
information on Children’s Hope, an organization
which recruits and trains foster parents. Emma
Casselton, the Director, will be our guest. Please
Bring a friend for fabulous fellowship. See You
There!
March Lunch Bunch
For March the Lunch Bunch will head to
Mesquite to eat at the Scrumbscious
Burger & Pie Company for lunch. We will
leave at 10:30 AM and return around 2:00
PM on Tuesday, March 31. There is a signup sheet in the office. Everyone is invited
to join the group.
Light Up Your Life—Adopt an Angel
There is an angel display in the Narthex
giving members an opportunity to adopt
an angel for 2015. These are members
that have moved away, are homebound,
live in assisted living or nursing homes, or
are in long-term care. Please prayerfully
consider making this your active mission
for the year. If you have any questions,
call Donna Perkins at 903-455-1594, ext.
105.
Game Day
The March Game Days will be held on
Tuesdays, March 3 and March 17. The
games start at 1:00 PM in Meeting Room
#4.
S e c o n d
Graders
from Carver
Elementary
came and
recited their
definition of
LOVE for the
Supremes in
February.
Inspired Leadership for
Community Transformation
Are you looking for a way to meet an urgent need and make a
true impact on your community?
Want to develop the skills to leverage your passion and
leadership to create a real transformation?
Want to be part of a Christian team that leads together, not
alone?
Come to our Luke 4 Initiative East District Taste and See event and learn
how your church can be a part of this new initiative that is transforming the
North Texas Conference - one community at a time!
East District “Taste and See”
Sunday, March 22, 3:00-6:00pm
Kavanaugh UMC
2516 Park St.
Greenville, TX 75401
Upcoming Events
Sunday, March 1
Children’s Musical Practice
Tuesday, March 3
United Methodist
Women
Sunday, March 22
East District “Taste and See’
At Kavanaugh UMC
Sunday, March 22
Children’s Musical Practice
Tuesday, March 3
Game Day*
Sunday, March 29
Palm Sunday
Tuesday, March 10
Supremes*
Sunday, March 29
Easter Egg Hunt
Sunday, March 15
Children’s Musical Practice
Sunday, March 29
Children’s Musical Practice
Tuesday, March 17
Game Day*
Tuesday, March 31
Lunch Bunch*
Wesley Times
A Newsletter of Wesley United Methodist Church
February 26, 2015
Vision Statement for Wesley United
Methodist Church
Wesley is committed to the mission of making
disciples for Jesus Christ as we work to
transform our world. Our vision to accomplish this mission has four parts:
1. Affirming Grace
through strengthening existing and inventing new ways to
offer hospitality, acceptance, tolerance as a means to
portray the love and forgiveness afforded all through
God's gift in Jesus the Christ.
2. Building Relationships
with individuals and families in our community who are
marginalized due to lack of opportunity, poverty, ethnicity,
or station in life
 by assisting with concerns for food, shelter, management of personal resources, health, employment training,
personal needs and more
 by sharing our personal stories of God's saving grace
which is the unique focus of our Christian tradition
 by coordinating with other community agencies for
resourcing these needs rather than duplicating.
 to see our ministry not only local but beyond our
community.
3. Commitment to All Children and Youth of Church,
City, and County
including but not limited to the ministry we have with
Carver Elementary staff and children.
4. Developing Faith Intentionally
is essential to our relationship with God as well as one
another. Therefore, we recommit ourselves to 1) creating
new paths with those who are not being served by any
church and 2) improving existing paths as well for those
who are already part of the Wesley family in the areas of
study, small groups, and worship
Gifts to Remember & Honor
Memory– Arlene Bishop
Wesley Chancel Choir
Howard & Carol Winans
Doyle & Leslie Dick
Linda Smithey
Memory- Grover Cleveland Ratliff, Jr.
Linda Smithey
Memory- Jim Jacobs
Horizon Class
Howard & Carol Winans
Memory- Keith Bearden
Dick & Rose Cantrell
Dorothy Pettigrew
Alpha Class
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Kenneth & Shannon Smith
Keith & Manda Lou Smith
Rusty & Debra Warren
Larry & Vicki Butler
Lou King
Wesley Chancel Choir
Sarah McIver
Dick & Sharon Fox
Memory- Doris Woodard
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Memory- Philip Mace
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Horizon Class
Memory- Leroy Neal
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Memory- Lola Cross
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Honorarium- Pete & Nancy Haayen
Richard Jr. & Debra Beil
Honorarium- Richard Tharp
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Honorarium- Nancy Haayen
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Honorarium- Bill Toelkes
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Honorarium- Billy Wisdom
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Honorarium- Mike Hogge
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
Honorarium- Cheryl Martin
Forrest & Pat Kennedy
These gifts were made to the Good
Samaritan Fund, Military Boxes, Youth
Fund, Youth Mission Fund, Bell Choir
Fund, Children’s Program Fun, Carver
School Fund and Within Reach
Building Fund.
March Birthdays
Happy Birthday!
March 1st
Kenobi Corrales
Celest Wisniewski
March 13th
Kathy Tharp
Martin Garcia
March 2nd
Mary Henley
Kathleen Williams
Betty Livesay
Adrien Witkofsky
Elisabeth Swanson
March 15th
Pat Kennedy
March 3rd
Becky Bishop
Monica Malone
March 4th
Don McClenny
Susan Hodges
Shelby Higginbotham
March 5th
Chris Cronin
Shelley Corrales
Chris Gerard
March 6th
Lloyd Graham
Madison Corley
March 7th
Dorothy Jenkins
March 8th
Jason Daniel
Jack Humphries
March 9th
J.T. “Woody” Woodruff
March 16th
Norma Ward
Sue Shanks
March 18th
Janet Johnson
March 19th
Jerry Stubbs
Kerry Wright
Travis Tankersley
March 20th
Charlie DeCeasar
Tim Degelia
Jace Ward
March 21st
Sheila Heller
March 22nd
Jane Bryant
Peggy Travis
Ethan King
March 23rd
Leah Madsen
Amy Woodard
Travis Koger
March 24th
Jim Milton
March 25th
Norman Hall
Bill Gannaway
Nick Ward
March 26th
Dot Hogge
Bernie Herlt
March 27th
Frank Goulding
Pam DeCeasar
Chris Milton
March 29th
Pat Carter
Alex Brooks
March 30th
Leslie Ramm
David Renshaw
Chris Cavett
March 31st
Glenda Felps
Keith Willeford