The Messenger December - 2011 I joined my clergy colleagues Stan Menkin (Mt. Pocono UMC) and Joe Healey

(Blakeslee UMC) for a lunch meeting recently with two Methodist pastors from

Russia. This event was arranged to explore how our churches in the Poconos

could support the Russian Church Initiative, an on-going program that has given

missional support to the church in Russia.

What a blessing we received. I was close to tears as Valeri Patkevitch gave his testimony of his

conversion to Christianity as well as an account of the hardships which he faces in doing

ministry. Yet in the midst of the mostly sombre story he told of his joy in witnessing to his

father, a man with deep loyalties to communism, and of his absolute delight in leading his father

to encounter with Jesus Christ and to officiate at his father's baptism.

The Methodist church in Russia is struggling and needs the help of the worldwide Methodist

communion. We, the clergy of five churches here in the Poconos, are to meet early in January to

decide on some way in which we can give some support to our brothers and sisters in Russia.

Please look out for further information and plan to support this effort as best as you can.

On a more personal note, having listened to Valeri's story, I came away from our lunch meeting

with a few thoughts and reminders. For starters, it made me think that I, and you, have much to

be thankful for. While others have little or nothing, we often take God's blessings with little

thanks. We have so much to be thankful for!

Then I thought of how Valeri seemed so serene as he described the daily challenges of doing

ministry in Russia - uncertainty of salary support and pension benefits, political scrutiny, etc.

The logical question is: How does he survive in such an environment? The only answer that

explains how struggling, persecuted Christians all over the world venture forward in the face of

adversity, is best expressed by the Apostle Paul:

You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered

by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows

what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown

down, but we haven't been broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us - trial and torture,

mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us - he lives!

(2 Corinthians 4:7-8 - The Message)

The above, especially the last eleven words, is a reminder that we are on call 24/7 as Christ's

witnesses. What we say and do in the sanctuary on Sundays, matter. But what we say, and think,

and do between Sundays at the supermarket, or bank, or club meeting, or in interactions with

family members, neighbors, and strangers ... is so, so, crucial. Think about it!

We are half-way through the Advent season. I pray you have been taking time to reflect on the

Advent sermon series: God Comes to Us. But let us also find time to reach out to the lonely and

the unloved; the least and the lowest among us. Make sure also to invite a friend or family

member to worship during Advent and to our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.

Finally, Claudia and Sheriece join me in sending you and yours our love and best wishes for

Christmas. This is what we ask for ourselves and for you:

O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel. Pastor John.

Share Your Good News & Special Thanks

Children’s Bell Choir

Greetings Ringers! After our glorious Thanksgiving Bell Choir performance (!), special thank you’s to each and all and especially to Mrs. Bisbing- who directed us so perfectly! Do go out to our church website to check out the performance! We will begin to practice this Sunday after church from 11:15 – 11:30 for our Advent Bell Choir offering “Go Tell It On the Mountain”. Please join us, and bring friends. We have another box of bells to play that haven’t even been opened yet! We are considering the following two dates for our Bell Choir Advent performance and need to know your availability and/or preference:

- Sunday, December 18 during worship - Saturday, December 24 during Christmas Eve

evening worship Please let us know your performance date preference. Thanks again for your support of this important part of our PLUMC ministry of music. Holiday Blessings, Michelle, Judie, and Barbara

Nancy and Anthony DeSantis sold home-made meatball

hoagies at the church after service on a Sunday. Between

the pasta dinner and the sale of the meatball hoagies we

have $362.00 in the hospitality fund towards future

events. Thanks to all who helped to make this possible!

November’s Community

Kids’ Club and was a

movie and popcorn. We

watched “The Wizard of

Ha’s” Vegi-Tales!

( It was about the prodigal son)

A festival of Nine Lessons & Carols

Saturday, December 10th, at 7:00 pm First Presbyterian Church

579 Main Street, Stroudsburg, PA

Presented by the church choir and accompanied by Hill to Hill Brass and Michael Capone, Organist under the direction of Patricia thor Straten Mohr.

A free-will offering will be taken to benefit Monroe County Habitat for Humanity

UMC Choirs Sing Advent Joy

The combined Blakeslee and Pocono Lake choirs will be performing at our church on Sunday afternoon, December 11th at 4:00 p.m. The choir will present the "Tapestry of Light" chorale. Julie Kerrick Geiser, will be directing the choir. Please invite your friends and neighbors to this Advent treat. Admission is free.

Pocono Lake United

Methodist Church invites you to our

Breakfast with Santa

DATE: December 17 VENUE:

Pocono Lake UMC Church

TIME: 9:00 to 11:30 AM

Children and Young Adults are

invited to Breakfast with Santa, Saturday,

December17th. Pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs,

orange juice, tea and coffee (for the parents) will be

served. Digital pictures of Santa and each child will be

taken free of charge and will be sent to your email

address. Santa will have a gift for your child/children

and there will be a short program of Christmas caroling

after breakfast. Parents are invited to stay with the

children for breakfast and enjoy the Christmas carols.

Please respond to the office 570-646-2650 if

your child/children and adults are coming to

this event.

We will be Christmas Caroling on Sunday

evening, December 18th, at 5:15 pm. Every one

is welcome! Come dressed for the weather.

Meet at the church to carpool.

Coat Donations!

“People blessing people” continues in love at

PLUMC! A coat drive of several weeks showed it’s

“fruit of plenty” of 305 coats on November 15th

.

Thanks to a generous outpouring of caring, two

hundred families were touched following the

distribution of the food pantry at Christ the King

Family Center. Remaining coats were donated to

helping the homeless, people released from prison,

and womens’s resources. Many thanks to

participationg churches: Faith Lutheran, Blakeslee

United Methodist, Pocono Lake Wesleyon Methodist,

Salem United Church of Christ, and St. Maximilian

Kolbe. A heartfelt hug of thanks to Pastor John,

Bruce Yerk, Brian, Nancy, Margie, Kay, Amy, Flora,

Cyndee, and all others involved. Polly Yerk and

Mary Blay will be soliciting your help next year.

Polly Yerk & Mary Blay

Special Thanks to our Sponsors

for the Advent Concert

James A. Rinehimer D.D.S. 570-646-6878

Century 21 Select Group 570-646-7584

Pocono Patriots pocono-patriots.com

The Village Squire Restaurant 570-646-3446

Camelback skicamelback.com

Chat n Chew Café 570-646-6632

Pocono Body Wellness Studio 570-643-5308

C. Elaine Smith, PhD (c) 570-839-3097 Ext 209

Phillips Electric 570-643-8840

Yachts for Charter 570-646-3206

Jimmy’s Auto Service 570-646-2583

Lisa Cremia (Lifetouch & Jump Roping)570-581-8164

Don & Joanne Pitzer

Ted Spiryda & Chung Whang

The Singing Boys of Pennsylvania

& The Keystone Girls Choir

Pocono Lake United Methodist Church hosted the Singing Boys of Pennsylvania in an Advent Concert at the church on Sunday, December 4, at 4:00 pm. The highlight of the concert was the presentation of Benjamin Britten’s, A Ceremony of Carols. Written during his month-long voyage across the Atlantic Sea during the second World War, this work by Britten is second only to Handel’s Messiah among the most frequently performed classical choral works. Other works featured in the concert were Carols of Many Lands, arranged by Kalman Halasz for the Texas Boys Choir in 1962, a medley of selections from Rogers and Hammerstein’s ‘The Sound of Music’ and a medley of English Christmas Carols, arranged by Arthur Harris.

PLUMW Helps Church Women United

On December 3rd members of our PLUMW unit

(Flora Tallman, Polly Yerk and Holly Wilgus) went

to a Church Women United luncheon at Mt

Pocono UMC. We were asked to make cloth bags

and fill them with items for a man or a woman.

These bags will be Christmas presents for local

nursing homes. Our unit and church members

made 12 bags for this mission. Thank you to

Barbara Seeman who made most of the bags we

filled.

Janine’s Quilting Circle

Quilters will not be meeting during December

but will start again in January.

Thank you to everyone who has given time to

this mission this past year. We have made about

14 quilts to be given to babies and children in

need.

6 Quilts donated to Angel’s Closet

Shirley Fratta

If you have a Sunday that you would like

to sponsor flowers in honor or memory

of a loved one, please sign up on the

flower chart, place your check for

$30.00 in the collection plate and you

may take your flowers home with you

after the 11 o’clock service.

The PLUMC Knitters

The UMW circles continue to do amazing work, the

Prayer Shawl Knitting Circle and Janine’s Quilting

Circle. Recently, the Knitting Circle has adopted a local

Nursing Home to bring their beautiful prayer shawls to.

Both the recipients of the prayer shawls and the

members in the circle feel blessed and rewarded.

Check the bulletin or call the church office 570-646-

2650 to find out where the next meeting is.

Visitations: Please remember to call the church office

when a friend or family member goes into the hospital.

We have no other way to find out who needs a visit.

You may leave a message at any time of the day or

night. For emergencies, you may call the pastor directly.

Would you like to

volunteer to

handle coffee

hour on Sunday’s

after service, or

volunteer to be

greeters, ushers,

scripture readers

or Lay

Liturgists? The

chart is on the

door to the parlor, if you would like to sign your name as

a volunteer. (Thank You to all our volunteers - from

Elaine at the office)

PRAYER REQUESTS 12/11/11

“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by

prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your

requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6 For their SAFETY ….

Armed forces personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan

Gavin … (John & Claudia’s son) in military training at Fort Benning, Ga.

Rob Veale … (Jim & Kelly’s son) commencing Navy training at Navy Recruit Training Center (Great Lakes)

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good

courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the

LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

(Joshua 1:9)

For PEACE & ASSURANCE OF GOD’S LOVE …

Leslie & Pete Roman (friends of Mary Blay) lost their home in a fire

Reverend Tom Fries (brother is in hospice care in Florida)

Katie Tollinger “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is

stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” ( Isaiah

26:3)

For COMMUNITY, NATIONAL & GLOBAL

CONCERNS…

the will and wisdom to address our economic

situation

people living in poverty

“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and

worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy

name.” (Psalm 86:9)

For their HEALING & STRENGTH…

Mildred Booth (Elaine’s sister-in-law)

Marilyn Velzy

Ethelda Burton (Fonda Meekins’ mother) diagnosed with cancer

Laurie Evans (friend of Bob & Ruth Ginn) just completed chemotherapy

Herb Schaefer

Mollie Williams (friends of George & Kathy Bishop) suffered a stroke

Bill Butler

Ella Jean Cline

Jeff Ralston (Flora Tallman’s nephew) recovering from lung surgery

Kyra Kinsey (foot ailment)

Gloria Denton

Samantha Bellino (John & Ann Karlberg’s grand-daughter) – seizures

Dan Hill (Susan Hill’s brother-in-law)

Verna Garwood

Carl Hughes

Kaki Wilcox (Joyce Mullin’s relative)

Ted Suttmeier (Friend of George & Kathy Bishop)

Joyce Mullin

John Carson

Meridith Ashton (Friend of Susan Hill)

Jackie Decker

Muriel Corrado

“The Lord sustains them on their

sickbed and restores them from their

bed of illness.” (Psalm 41:3) For COMFORT IN THEIR BEREAVEMENT…

Lucy Bogaski and family, Lou Fratta and family, Emily

Daly and family, Margaret Clark and family, Robin

Miller and family, the Carson and Hamill families, the

Wilson family, and the Marvin family.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not

as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart

be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

If you have progress updates or additions to the prayer

request, please send them to the church office and to

Gina Jones at djjngmj@aol.com. Requests for prayer

shawls should be made to the church office Monday to

Friday between

9:00 am and 1:00 pm.

Reminder....................

Don't forget to save your Weis register tapes for a

donation voucher from Weis Markets Inc.

We are collecting canceled stamps for the benefit of The

Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia. Thank you for your

donation of stamps for this mission. You may place your

canceled stamps in the same drawer as the Weiss register

tapes.

Also, save your tabs from soda and can goods, Campbell

soup labels and educational coupons found on some

cereal boxes. Please place your items in the labeled

drawers in the foyer so that we can continue to submit

them from the church.

Please continue each week to bring your food items to

the church for the Top of the Mountain Ecumenical

Food Pantry.

Currently working on the house at:

10 Spruce Street, Mount Pocono

Get Plugged In

Details for all events posted on

www.mchfh.volunteerhub.com

The December Issue of NEWSpirit

is now available online http://www.epaumc.org/sites/default/files/PDF/news/

NEWSpirit/2011/NS2011-December.pdf?

Previous issues of NEWSpirit are also

availableonline:

http://www.epaumc.org/news/newspirit

December

Birthdays

Sue Jackson 2 Carolyn Trumbower 4 Robert Booterbaugh 9 Polly Yerk 10 Marilyn Velzey 16 Jennifer Tolley 19 Danielle Long Knight 21 Sarah Henry 23 Walter Long 26 Mary Hamill 28

December

Anniversaries

Jim & Beth Booterbaugh 14 Bruce & Polly Yerk 19

Dates to Remember

December

5- UMW Meeting 7:00 pm

6 - Trustee Meeting 7:00 pm

7- Bible Study 7:00 pm

13 - Finance Committee 7:00 pm

14- Bible Study 7:00 pm

17- Breakfast with Santa 9 to 11:30 am

21- Bible Study 7:00 pm

24 – Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

28 - Bible Study 7:00 pm

31 - Men's Breakfast at Moyers Country Kitchen

Christmas

Messages

Hello my dear friends in Christ at PLUMC!

I am sending you my wishes for a Merry Christmas and

a healthy and joyous New Year for 2012. My children,

Briana and Harrison, and I sadly need to say goodbye.

However, because we needed to sell our house in Locust

Lake Village, sadly we will no longer be spending

summers in the Poconos. We all have many wonderful

memories of your beautiful church family. We’ll never

forget you all.

God Bless,

Tracy Laderer and Children

Hello Friends,

Merry Christmas from the

office of Pocono Lake

United Methodist Church. I

want to express my thank

you to all the Church Family

and Pastor Smith for your

kindness during this past year. I had

the experience of breaking bones for the first time in my

life this year. Many people from the church offered me

help with rides and food and Pastor Smith did most of

my office work for the whole month of January last year.

Chung Whang made me the most beautiful prayer shawl.

Gloria Denton has taken on the project of folding the

bulletins in the office for me. Sheriece helped me open

mail, and waited on me quite a few weekends this winter

while I was unable to get my socks on by myself! It is so

nice to be a part of something that actually does make a

change in the world. I hope to be able to continue to help

to promote the missions of PLUMC in the next year.

I hope to see you all on Christmas Eve for the

Candlelight Service.

Merry Christmas,

Love, Elaine Jumper

Pocono Lake United Methodist Church

Sunday Services

JOIN US AT 10:00AM

FOR WORSHIP SERVICE

Come worship with us!

Church Email: plumc01@epix.net

Phone: (570)646-2650

Fax: (570)646-2650

Address:

1180 Route 940

HC 87 Box 4C

Pocono Lake, Pa. 18347-0200

Resident Bishop, EPC: Bishop Peggy Johnson District Superintendent: Rev. Bronwyn Yocum Pastor: Rev. Dr. John G. Smith Administrative Assistant: Elaine Jumper Organist: Geraldine Patire