Greetings!

Whirlwind! That’s what comes to mind as I begin this article, not only to the mind but truly what has been happening for some time now. In some ways, the wind has become a breeze or ceased to whirl in such a chaotic fashion. Answered prayers! Confidence that God is at work in the whirl of the wind! Seeing how things are coming together have created more of a calming breeze and hope for today and the future.
I don’t know of too many people who like the whirling wind. The chaos causes uneasiness and disturbs our peace. The peace that we seek to live into daily is harder to experience with the distraction of the whirlwind. So how do we keep our peace, God’s peace given to us amid the turmoil? I know from experience it comes from centering ourselves in prayer, speaking the powerful word of God over our situations, our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. Peace comes from trusting in the One who will carry us through the whirlwind. And not all whirlwinds are bad because some whirlwinds are good things happening in our lives, bringing blessings.
One whirlwind was the awesome experience of finishing the journey to ordination and full connection as an Elder in the United Methodist Church. I am thankful to God and all those who journeyed with me to the culmination of this work of God. I know it’s only by God’s hand I made it! But amid the celebration was the reality the UMC is still not settled, the wind is still whirling, and we are headed towards something we cannot clearly see as of yet. But even still, we trust God is in the whirlwind and will bring a blessing as we remain steadfast and focused on him.
As we enter this new year, year five for Linden and Markham, and year four for Marshall (can you believe it!?) my prayer is that we become more and more like Jesus. I pray we find our true authority as believers and speak to the chaotic winds in our lives and the life of the church. I pray we seek to live as a people surrendered to the Spirit and allow Jesus to reign in our lives, not the chaos of what we see in the natural, and trust the One who says, “Come, follow me!”
Let us pray together and ask God, “What can we do for you, Lord? And for the people who have yet to know you?”  “Lord, how do you want us to be your hands and feet, reveal your love and grace, and welcome others into your community?” How can we be the Church in the world today? Pray!
Jesus tells us to, "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Mt. 7-8).
Let us join together in prayer as we seek God’s will and way for us in this new season. God’s blessings to you all!
 

Chair of Council:  Steve Showers

Nurture, Evangelism:  Genia Ortiz

Adult Discipleship:  Sal Ortiz
Nominations:  Pastor Terry (Chair), Ruth Ann Rector, Helen Kenney, Maureen Dunford, Sal Ortiz, Dawn Bueno
Trustees:  Loyd Dunford, Steve Showers, Mary Potter, Lou Ann Bennett, Stuart Showers, Zachery Bueno
Parsonage Trustees:  Loyd Dunford (Chair), Steve Showers (Co-Chair), Zachery Bueno
Finance:  Chair Vacancy, Pastor Terry, Sal Ortiz, Dawn Bueno, Steve Showers, Loyd Dunford

SPRC:  Bonnie Schmidt (Chair), Brook Middleton, Edith Middleton, John Fedorchak
Finance Chair:  Debbie Jo Foster

Finance:  Chair Vacancy, Pastor Terry, Edith Middleton, John Fedorchak, Bonnie Schmidt, Brook Middleton, Nancy Sickel
Council Secretary:  Theresa Malinsky

2019 Virginia United Methodist Church Annual Conference
 

I was truly blessed to be selected as the delegate from the Linden / Markham / Marshall Cooperative Parish for annual conference. This was my second annual conference. I attended one several years ago
when Reverend Ralph Crabill was our pastor. My wife Genia and I left for the Berglund Center in
Roanoke, VA early Thursday morning June 20, 2019. The conference began at 10:00 AM.
 
The theme for this year’s conference was, “Moving in God’s Mission.” The biblical reference for this year’s theme was Matthew 28: 18-20 which states,"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
 
Since our bishop Sharma Lewis is out on medical leave, Bishop Peter Weaver convened the 237th session of conference. Six churches were discontinued in five districts. The Winchester did not have any churches that were discontinued.
 
Bishop Tracy Malone from Ohio preached on The Great Commission. She said, "We see a conferring of power and authority.  This power that God gave to Christ has also been given to everyone.  As disciples of Christ we are given a charge and commission to go and teach EVERYONE we meet in the way of Christ.  God has given us everything we need to make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world."
 
Reverend Dr. Alexander Duncan Jr, a member of the retiring class preached on the subject Time’s Up. To each season there is a beginning and an end. Time isn’t up until God calls us home.
 
The Rev. Seungsoo “RJ” Jun, pastor of Raleigh Court UMC, Roanoke District, preached for the Service of Remembrance in which 63 conference clergy and laity who died since the last Annual Conference were remembered. I was sad to find out that Reverend Edward Van Dyck who was a pastor at Linden and Markham had passed away November 3, 2018.
 
Sixteen people were ordained elders, three were ordained deacons, thirteen were commissioned as provisional members, one was recognized for orders, one associate member was recognized and 24 were licensed as local pastors in the Friday evening Ordering of Ministry service. Bishop Tracy Malone delivered the sermon preached on the topic of “From Start to Finish” based on Hebrews 11:29-12:3. Jesus finished the race set before him and now he is at the place of honor next to God. She shared three significant convictions: you must keep alive the gift, be bold in your witness and keep at your work to let God do what He can do and will do.
 
The closing worship was preached by Bishop Weaver based his sermon on Matthew 28 with a sermon titled “Go, Glow, Grow.” The bishop said, "The word 'go' means also to travel spiritually and attitudinally. We begin to glow "when we are willing to go and God is with us," he said. When we Go and Glow, we will Grow.
 
At the end of the closing service, we had communion. Pastor Terry and I were blessed to be one of twenty groups who served communion to the 5000 or so in attendance. It was very humbling to be a server. It gave me a new perspective on what Jesus must have felt like when he fed 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves.
 
This year’s kit collection required the addition of a third tractor trailer due to the influx of kits. These kits will be transferred to Mission Central warehouse in Pennsylvania for distribution by UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). Annual Conference members brought 51,202 disaster relief kits for United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to Annual Conference. Kits included: 36,296 Hygiene kits; 14,243 School kits and 663 Flood buckets.
 
If you ever get the opportunity to attend annual conference, do it. Especially if your pastor is getting ordained. My final words to Pastor Terry on getting ordained are, “Well done good and faithful servant! “

 

The Markham Church directories are now available in the back of the Markham Church.  We thank Tom Falkowski for sharing his artistic talent and taking the wonderful photos for us. 

Celebrate!

Congratulations to Pastor Terry for her journey in becoming an ordained Elder of the United Methodist Church. The worship service was beautiful, the music was awesome, and the message was very encouraging. There are so many brothers and sisters who have been working diligently for Christ who received recognition on Friday, June 21st. But also remember, we are all called to be a witness for Jesus Christ and to run the race that God has set out for us. Stay encouraged and let the Holy Spirit lead you. 

If you want to watch the recording of the Service Ordering of Ministry from the annual conference, here is the link:  https://vimeo.com/343758567

A message from Linda Berkermeier's brother-in-law Frank, married to her sister Jan who lives in Aurora, IL.

“As a child in a Nazi occupied country I had many scary moments like when the Gestapo raided our house, which they did several times. Or when I had to go into hiding because the Nazis wanted to deport me and I was followed by a German tank.

And as a police officer I had to go into a building by myself looking for two armed men, or when during a tornado warning, all of a sudden the rain went horizontal and my squad car wound up on somebody's lawn.

NO, the scariest moment was when after I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord, and had learned from studying the Bible that Jesus would return and catch up all true believers into Heaven before the wrath of God was poured out on a sinful world. I had gotten up, put on my best clothes and drove to church, which I did every Sunday morning. But, when I got to the church, the parking lot was totally empty. In horror I thought that the Lord had returned, AND I HAD BEEN LEFT BEHIND.

I could not understand why I had been left behind. I prayed very hard for the Lord to let me know why he had not taken me too. I figured that millions of believers would have seemingly disappeared. When I finally got myself together and was planning how I would survive the coming Tribulation Period which the Bible predicts that 2/3 of all people will be killed. I decided that I needed to see what the newspapers were saying about this event.

There was a Denny's restaurant nearby so I went there and ordered a cup of coffee while looking for the paper. When I looked at the newspaper there was no mention of the disappearance of millions of people. I then noticed the date of the paper was Saturday. I told the waitress that I had wanted today,s paper Her reply was that this was today's paper. I argued that this was Saturday's paper and not today's she looked at my panic stricken self and told me "TODAY IS SATURDAY". It was not Sunday as I had thought I HAD NOT BEEN LEFT BEHIND !!!

That was the scariest day of my life..”

Congregational Care
We have started the process of creating a Congregational Care team.  This would include prayer, visitations, writing notes, and sometimes just sitting and listening to someone.  More information will be available in the near future.   Please be prayerfully thinking if this is something you would like to be involved with.  

 

There are so many exciting opportunities to learn, study and become connected.  Please consider joining one (or more) of the studies listed below:

Traditional Bible/groups studies:
 
Women’s Bible Study: TBD

Adult Sunday School: Galatians

Children’s Church: All Together Now (during Sunday morning 11:00 a.m. service)
 
Methodist studies - coming soon:
 
A Disciple’s Path, James A. Harnish (July 10 – Aug 21).  Studies will be held at Linden (2 pm); Marshall (6:30-8:00).  Sign up by 6/23.  A 7-week study, led by Pastor Terry focusing on discipleship within the context of the UM heritage and tradition.  Following this study, you will deepen your personal relationship with Christ and within the Church. 

A Disciple’s Heart, James A Harnish (September 11 – Oct 23).  Studies will be held at Marshall in the evenings only (6:30-8:00) and will be facilitated by Mike Taylor and Cheryl Kowalczyk.

If you have a topic of study you'd like to explore further, please see either Mike Taylor or Cheryl Kowalczyk to see how we can get it on the study calendar.  Also, if you feel led to 'teach' disciples, please let us know -- we would love to provide you with an opportunity to share your talent.

One of our congregation’s goals for 2019 is to support our preschool families by providing financial assistance as needed.
Last summer, our planning team had a stated goal to raise at least $3,600 this school year to support two students who had already been identified.  We developed a written application and guidelines for awarding assistance.  The Preschool Board will review the applications and allocate contributions to families who may need tuition assistance for one month, several months or the entire school year. 
We’ve received many generous contributions but we do need help to make this a reality!  If you’re able to assist, please notate “MUMPS tuition contribution” on your checks made payable to MUMC.
Questions may be directed to Donna Thomas, Preschool Director (marshallmumps@verizon.net)  or Wendy Emery (wendyemery@verizon.net).  As always, your generosity is appreciated. 

Leaving church at 11:00am to Shenandoah Lodge at Lake Frederick.