Current Announcements
eLetter 202
Prayer.
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, BCP 234)
Announcements, new and upcoming.
-Join us for worship this Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 29, at 11a. Pastor Ben will be presiding at Table and Rev. Hink Smidderks will be preaching the Word.
-On September 26-28, Greenville University and the Shapiro Chair for Jewish Christian Studies is hosting a conference on Jewish Christian Relations. This conference is open to community members and those associated with the Free Methodist Church and its associated (AFMEI) schools. Participants are joining us from Rochester, Seattle, Spring Arbor, and beyond. We will discuss the struggles and opportunities that present themselves when we collaborate outside of our own religious community and the unique role GU and the Free Methodist Church inhabit in this work. Free registration is still available. Please join us! For more information, contact Dr. Aubrey McClain at [email protected]
-Rev. Hink & Kaylene Smidderks will be with St Paul's September 29, with plans to leave soon thereafter for West Africa as missionaries. Following the service they will join us in the lower level for a small potluck, so we can get to know them. We hope to hear their story/focus/philosophy and mission goals/assignment in more detail--and ask questions. Any with an interest in global mission are warmly invited! Please bring a side dish or dessert to share and join us. To RSVP, contact Rev. Judy Cox at
- Children’s education for ages 3-10 is in the Godly Play room next to the Fellowship Hall downstairs on Sundays at 10a. This Christian education invites children to approach God with wonder through story, food, and imagination.
-Come join our adult class for a study of the book of Genesis at 10a in the mural room. This week’s reading is through page 46 in Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson. All are welcome.
-If you would like to become a member of St. Paul’s or learn more about St Paul’s and the Free Methodist Church, our second and third 1-hour classes will be taught by Pastor Ben on Sunday, October 6, 8:45-10:45a. In these sessions, Pastor Ben will be discussing the doctrine and polity of the Free Methodist Church and what it means to be a member at St. Paul’s.
-Opportunity to visit the prisoner. Charles Varner, Supervisory Chaplain at FCI Greenville is looking for Free Methodists with a heart for prison ministry. There is a need for both men and women to lead Sunday evening services. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Natalie Tungate at [email protected] or at 815-276-7810.
-Support Morgan Gilmore as she rides to fight kids’ cancer.
-If you would like to support The Simple Room in its current fundraiser, here is the link to purchase a commemorative brick for our Brick Garden. You will have until October 1 to place your order. http://www.bricksrus.com/donorsite/thesimpleroom
-Seeking Together: A Call to Prayer Faithful Prayer, the month of September. Our bishops are calling Free Methodists to a month of fasting and prayer that will begin on Tuesday, September 3. See the end of this eLetter for their full communication.
-If you can visit Matt Zahniser at The Glenwood any day from 11-noon or sometime between 1-5p, he would welcome your company. Matt is regularly charging the microphone so he will be able to hear better. Please contact Pastor Ben at [email protected].
-Prayer focus: Deborah Renfroe; Rev. Hink & Kaylene Smidderks; Patrice White; the Peters and Boyd families; Matt Zahniser and family.
St. Paul’s Mission Team update for 2024 Local and Global Offering:
1) $500 to the Clementes (for first half of year)
2) $400 to the Bishops' Crisis Response Fund (primarily going to Ukraine right now)
3) $400 to Hany & Joanne (church planting and leadership development with Impact Middle East, and medical outreach to women in refugee camps)
4) $400 to the Wesley Missionary Institute in Togo (for construction now, but eventually for scholarships)
5) $400 to Hendrick (Hink) & Kaylene Smidderks (West Africa; leadership development, pastoral training and formation)
6) $400 to Eden Reforestation Projects (a FM affiliate partner)
7) $400 to UN World Food Programme
The bulk of the Mission Team’s remaining 2024 funding is earmarked for Local/Domestic giving (Simple Room, Eden’s Glory, Core Community, Equal Justice Initiative, etc.). Look for more updates to come, as St Paul’s continues in its commitment to give outside its walls.
Financial Report through August 31, 2024:
Giving total: $98,317
General Spending: $88,097 (including $10,100 for the new furnace)
Budget: $92,921
Net income: relative to budget: $5,396; relative to spending: $10,220
Ongoing invitations and announcements.
-Morning Prayer is led by our pastoral staff Monday-Friday, 7:30-8a. All are welcome.
-Creative Together. Every third Sunday of the month, we will be having our "Creative Together" class during the Sunday School hour, 10:00-10:50. Bring your creative self and we will enjoy being together, working together and talking together. Remember, creativity is not limited to the visual arts. We can create music, conversation, friendships and all kinds of great things together.
-Our companionship ministry witnesses to the difference Christ makes in our community for how we love and befriend one another. If you would like to be trained for companionship ministry, contact Jim Zahniser at [email protected].
-St. Paul’s Mission Team. The Mission Team helps St. Paul’s love our neighbors, locally and globally, through sharing and friendship. If you’re interested in joining the Mission Team, contact Judy Cox at [email protected]
-Supporting mental health. Carrie Ackerman, MSW, offers counseling through our space at St. Paul’s and is offering one pro bono session a week for a community member in need. Contact Carrie for more information: [email protected].
Reflection.
Last week, Aly Ruth, Lucas Nowlan, Pastor B. Elliott, and I participated in the Justice Network Conference of the Free Methodist Church at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, New York. The gathering was full of God and grace as we learned from denominational leaders, members of the faculty at Northeastern Seminary, and Dr. Korie Little Edwards of The Ohio State University. We are looking forward to sharing what we’ve learned, but allow me to share one gift here, which we received in the opening devotion for the conference by Rev. Dr. Fraser Venter.
In his discussion of justice, Rev. Fraser reminded us that “we’re not doing justice like the world is doing justice; we’re depositing Jesus.” Fraser helped us understand the difference Christ makes for seeing what is truly just as we embrace God’s justice. This reminder is much like Pastor Keli’s sermon yesterday, in which she helped us see that Godly wisdom is not obvious, and is different from worldly wisdom, or “street smarts.”
Today’s prayer deepens this teaching as we acknowledge that God’s power is declared primarily in showing mercy and pity. Christ really does make a difference for how we see and live in the world. Today we are invited to be a Kingdom people whose justice, love in public, looks different because the God we worship is different than what we can know apart from Jesus.
Benediction.
Thanks be to God for inviting us to share in God’s justice, God’s wisdom, as we are transformed by God’s love; a Love this world could not otherwise know.
Pastor Ben
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, BCP 234)
Announcements, new and upcoming.
-Join us for worship this Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 29, at 11a. Pastor Ben will be presiding at Table and Rev. Hink Smidderks will be preaching the Word.
-On September 26-28, Greenville University and the Shapiro Chair for Jewish Christian Studies is hosting a conference on Jewish Christian Relations. This conference is open to community members and those associated with the Free Methodist Church and its associated (AFMEI) schools. Participants are joining us from Rochester, Seattle, Spring Arbor, and beyond. We will discuss the struggles and opportunities that present themselves when we collaborate outside of our own religious community and the unique role GU and the Free Methodist Church inhabit in this work. Free registration is still available. Please join us! For more information, contact Dr. Aubrey McClain at [email protected]
-Rev. Hink & Kaylene Smidderks will be with St Paul's September 29, with plans to leave soon thereafter for West Africa as missionaries. Following the service they will join us in the lower level for a small potluck, so we can get to know them. We hope to hear their story/focus/philosophy and mission goals/assignment in more detail--and ask questions. Any with an interest in global mission are warmly invited! Please bring a side dish or dessert to share and join us. To RSVP, contact Rev. Judy Cox at
- Children’s education for ages 3-10 is in the Godly Play room next to the Fellowship Hall downstairs on Sundays at 10a. This Christian education invites children to approach God with wonder through story, food, and imagination.
-Come join our adult class for a study of the book of Genesis at 10a in the mural room. This week’s reading is through page 46 in Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson. All are welcome.
-If you would like to become a member of St. Paul’s or learn more about St Paul’s and the Free Methodist Church, our second and third 1-hour classes will be taught by Pastor Ben on Sunday, October 6, 8:45-10:45a. In these sessions, Pastor Ben will be discussing the doctrine and polity of the Free Methodist Church and what it means to be a member at St. Paul’s.
-Opportunity to visit the prisoner. Charles Varner, Supervisory Chaplain at FCI Greenville is looking for Free Methodists with a heart for prison ministry. There is a need for both men and women to lead Sunday evening services. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Natalie Tungate at [email protected] or at 815-276-7810.
-Support Morgan Gilmore as she rides to fight kids’ cancer.
-If you would like to support The Simple Room in its current fundraiser, here is the link to purchase a commemorative brick for our Brick Garden. You will have until October 1 to place your order. http://www.bricksrus.com/donorsite/thesimpleroom
-Seeking Together: A Call to Prayer Faithful Prayer, the month of September. Our bishops are calling Free Methodists to a month of fasting and prayer that will begin on Tuesday, September 3. See the end of this eLetter for their full communication.
-If you can visit Matt Zahniser at The Glenwood any day from 11-noon or sometime between 1-5p, he would welcome your company. Matt is regularly charging the microphone so he will be able to hear better. Please contact Pastor Ben at [email protected].
-Prayer focus: Deborah Renfroe; Rev. Hink & Kaylene Smidderks; Patrice White; the Peters and Boyd families; Matt Zahniser and family.
St. Paul’s Mission Team update for 2024 Local and Global Offering:
1) $500 to the Clementes (for first half of year)
2) $400 to the Bishops' Crisis Response Fund (primarily going to Ukraine right now)
3) $400 to Hany & Joanne (church planting and leadership development with Impact Middle East, and medical outreach to women in refugee camps)
4) $400 to the Wesley Missionary Institute in Togo (for construction now, but eventually for scholarships)
5) $400 to Hendrick (Hink) & Kaylene Smidderks (West Africa; leadership development, pastoral training and formation)
6) $400 to Eden Reforestation Projects (a FM affiliate partner)
7) $400 to UN World Food Programme
The bulk of the Mission Team’s remaining 2024 funding is earmarked for Local/Domestic giving (Simple Room, Eden’s Glory, Core Community, Equal Justice Initiative, etc.). Look for more updates to come, as St Paul’s continues in its commitment to give outside its walls.
Financial Report through August 31, 2024:
Giving total: $98,317
General Spending: $88,097 (including $10,100 for the new furnace)
Budget: $92,921
Net income: relative to budget: $5,396; relative to spending: $10,220
Ongoing invitations and announcements.
-Morning Prayer is led by our pastoral staff Monday-Friday, 7:30-8a. All are welcome.
-Creative Together. Every third Sunday of the month, we will be having our "Creative Together" class during the Sunday School hour, 10:00-10:50. Bring your creative self and we will enjoy being together, working together and talking together. Remember, creativity is not limited to the visual arts. We can create music, conversation, friendships and all kinds of great things together.
-Our companionship ministry witnesses to the difference Christ makes in our community for how we love and befriend one another. If you would like to be trained for companionship ministry, contact Jim Zahniser at [email protected].
-St. Paul’s Mission Team. The Mission Team helps St. Paul’s love our neighbors, locally and globally, through sharing and friendship. If you’re interested in joining the Mission Team, contact Judy Cox at [email protected]
-Supporting mental health. Carrie Ackerman, MSW, offers counseling through our space at St. Paul’s and is offering one pro bono session a week for a community member in need. Contact Carrie for more information: [email protected].
Reflection.
Last week, Aly Ruth, Lucas Nowlan, Pastor B. Elliott, and I participated in the Justice Network Conference of the Free Methodist Church at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, New York. The gathering was full of God and grace as we learned from denominational leaders, members of the faculty at Northeastern Seminary, and Dr. Korie Little Edwards of The Ohio State University. We are looking forward to sharing what we’ve learned, but allow me to share one gift here, which we received in the opening devotion for the conference by Rev. Dr. Fraser Venter.
In his discussion of justice, Rev. Fraser reminded us that “we’re not doing justice like the world is doing justice; we’re depositing Jesus.” Fraser helped us understand the difference Christ makes for seeing what is truly just as we embrace God’s justice. This reminder is much like Pastor Keli’s sermon yesterday, in which she helped us see that Godly wisdom is not obvious, and is different from worldly wisdom, or “street smarts.”
Today’s prayer deepens this teaching as we acknowledge that God’s power is declared primarily in showing mercy and pity. Christ really does make a difference for how we see and live in the world. Today we are invited to be a Kingdom people whose justice, love in public, looks different because the God we worship is different than what we can know apart from Jesus.
Benediction.
Thanks be to God for inviting us to share in God’s justice, God’s wisdom, as we are transformed by God’s love; a Love this world could not otherwise know.
Pastor Ben