Pastor’s Desk

Greetings to the Saints of

Northwoods! I just read a funny

story entitled, “Where’s God?”…

Two little boys were best friends at church, but they both had a

reputation for getting into trouble.

One Sunday, one of the boys was home sick, but the other boy, not

wanting to let his friend down, was twice as bad at church…as was

normal. As the little boy was running through the sanctuary after

church, the pastor grabbed him and

angrily said, “Where’s God?!” The little boy was frightened and did not

know what to say. The pastor continued, “I want you to go home

and think about it and I do not want

you to come back until you tell me where God is.” The boy went home

and called his sick friend on the phone. “Guess what he asked?”

“They have lost God and they are trying to blame that one of us, too!”

Twenty-one of your church leaders gave of their time this past

Saturday to travel to Camp Don Lee to discuss Northwood’s future. How

do we sense His Holy Spirit moving

within us to reach out to those who are unchurched in the communities

surrounding our church? How do we remain effective in ministry as we

continue to grow and sustain

spiritually those disciples of Jesus who call Northwoods their church

home?

We learned that while there is a

definite population around our church who may think “God is dead”,

amazingly we learned in our area that those who think this way is small—

43% of those in our surrounding

communities either consider themselves spiritual or that faith is

indeed important! Wow! They ARE seeking “Where’s God!” Therefore,

the challenge, our challenge, is that they while they are indeed searching,

they do not necessarily connect this

search with a church. So, for those who consider themselves

unchurched, how do we share the love of Jesus with those in our

community, providing a light as bright

as any lighthouse on our coast so that they see God alive within us?

There are no specific or easy answers to this tremendous question. We

stand in agreement that as we

continue to spiritually feed our committed disciples, we desire to be

used by HIS Holy Spirit to make disciples of those in community who

are seeking “Where’s God?”. REMEMBER our VISION STATEMENT:

“We are a family-friendly, vibrant,

multi-cultured church, small enough to lovingly transform lives and big

enough to spiritually transform our community for Jesus!”

For those church leaders not able to attend the all-day leadership

retreat due to prior family commitments, we understand.

Please know we will gather together for a half-day event in September to

finalize specific goals for the year that

prayerfully lead us toward fulfilling our vision statement above. For all

our disciples, you will be invited to participate in a future Council of

Ministry meeting and perhaps a

dinner where these goals will be

discussed and shared.

As we conclude our sermon series on “Courageous Disciples!”, I

am pleased to share that in June the

sermon series will focus on topics provided by you— our church

disciples! The Worship Committee met to finalize four challenging topics

that you have presented for us to

preach about in June.

As I was pondering this morning

how Jesus is leading us as a church

to assist HIS children to spiritually grow, as well as inspiring us to reach

out to those unchurched in our local community who are seeking the

answer to “Where’s God?”, four

precious disciples of Northwoods interrupted my thoughts. Look at

them…note their enthusiasm, their joy, their energy! Oh Lord Jesus we

seek you with all our hearts—help us,

inspire us through the Holy Spirit to help your children grow in the

knowledge of your Word and in their personal walk with You as their Lord

and Savior! Jesus, unite us together in Your ministry and empower us with

the same enthusiasm, joy, and

energy whereby others witness your presence at Northwoods. Bring us

alive Lord, challenge us, move us, make us uncomfortable, lead us in

celebrating and living in the Promise

Land now, on this side of heaven! Who will be the new Joshua, Dorcas,

Paul, Mary Magdalene, Priscilla & Aquila, and David for Northwoods?

In HIS Love,

Pastor Jerry

THE MESSENGER Issue 175 June 2016

Website: www.northwoodsumc.org

Follow us on:

Service Times & Activities Sundays: 8:45 am Praise & Worship

10:00 am Sunday School

11:00 am Traditional Worship

12:00 pm Senior Adult Lunch (3rd Sunday)

12:15 pm United Methodist Youth

1:00 pm Hispanic Worship

Mondays: 9:30 am ACTS – Women’s Bible Study

5:30 pm Deployed Spouse’s Dinner (2nd Monday)

7:00 pm Hispanic Youth / Women (alternating Mondays)

Tuesdays: 10:00 am United Methodist Women/ Naomi Ruth Circle (3rd Tuesday)

6:00 pm United Methodist Men (2nd Tuesday)

6:00 pm United Methodist Women/ Lydia Circle (2nd Tuesday)

6:30 pm Young Adult Fusion (1st & 3rd Tuesday)

Wednesdays: 10:30 am Women’s Bible Study

6:30 pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm Praise Choir Rehearsal

8:00 pm Hispanic Young Adults

Thursdays: 6:30 pm Ladies Bible Study

Fridays: 6:00 am Men’s Bible Study

7:00 pm Hispanic Bible Study

8:00 pm Hispanic Worship Rehearsal

Saturdays 10:00 am Sharing & Caring Widows Group (2nd Saturday)

Prayer Concerns Our Men and Women of our Armed Forces and their families Alice Kate Yvonne Clarence Amos Irene Amos Ashe Family Margaret Bectin Chris Belfiore Bremerman Family

Bess Brickley Ian Brinkley Bob Canning Lisa Codwise Thomas Connell Ron Cox Ann Craft Billy Craft Lauren Downing Jodi Dudley Maureece Dudley Stacy Dudley Jeremy Evans Megan Foster Gloria Gardner Tracy Green Lee Gwin Ricky Heath Karen Huffman Tatum Hummel Jay Hunnicutt Nancy Hunnicutt Susan Hunt Lou Hunter Connie Jenkins Kenya Medical Team Kent Leighty David Lewis Coy Marascio Susan McCauslin Jane Miles Charlie Miller Paul Morris Keith Mosier Gay Murphy James Nicholson Kelly Nicholson Robert Parker Mike Powell Henry Ramsey John Reichl Joey Richardson Rostad family Faafetai Saelua Fia Saelua Naina Saelua Talaotaua Saelua Denni Schachemeyer Shatley Family Zachary Simpkins Amanda Smith Mary Smith Nova Smith Edith Snyder Bill Spencer Dave Stevens Clay Strasser Jean Tice Katie Whatley Ben Whitney Whitney Wickesberg Wrochet Family

FOOD PANTRY Each Communion Sunday you are invited to bring a bag

or box filled with these items as a love offering. Please know that any items from the list are appreciated at any

time.

For one adult (1 week of meals):

1 Box of instant rice 14oz 2 cans of fruit 15oz 2 cans of soup 16oz 2 bx Mac n Cheese 7.25oz

1 box Saltines 4pk 16oz 1 jar Peanut Butter 16oz 1 jar Jelly 13 oz 2 cans evaporated milk 12oz

2 cans of vegetables 15oz 1 can Pork ‘n Beans 15oz

4 cans meat (tuna, chicken, SPAM, etc) 5oz 1 box 10 pack variety instant Oatmeal

Rick Baldwin has graciously offered to do “the leg work”

for you! He priced the above list and you can get ALL the

items for $25 at the Commissary. If you would like him to do the shopping, make sure to give Rick your $25 and

he will get the list and bring it to the church!

“As we come to be fed on Communion Sunday, in turn we feed

others as Jesus would have us to do.”

The nursery is constantly in need of supplies and we would like to ask for assistance from our church family. If you feel so inclined, these are the supplies we regularly use. Please drop them off in the nursery or you can give them to LeighAnn Swigart. Thank you in advance for your generosity. Goldfish crackers Animal crackers Veggie straws Kleenex Baby wipes Paper towels Clorox or Lysol wipes 6 oz Dixie cups

NAOMI RUTH CIRCLE

Naomi Ruth Circle met on the 17th of May at 10:00 am in the fellowship hall with eleven members present. The United Methodist Women’s Purpose was read in unison. Opening prayer was given by Marge Zima.

Devotion was given by Ruth Cox for Nanellen Unsworth. The program was on Prayer and Self-Denial given by Vera Strong; A great program. An offering was taken. Debbie Holland will have the Devotion for June; Judy Oliver will have the program.

Naomi Ruth Circle wishes to thank all who participated in our Mother’s Day Booklets. We appreciate your participation for all these years (9 years) we have sponsored the booklet. However, this is our last Mother’s Day Booklet and Father’s Day Booklets will not be published this year. All proceeds went to the interest on our mortgage. We are happy to report a check for $800.00 will be presented to the church to pay on the interest. Thank you for supporting this endeavor, making this possible.

Since the Mother’s Day (2007) & Father’s Day Booklets (2011) was started, over $11,000.00 has been donated to the interest of our mortgage. We give thanks to you and to our wonderful treasurer, Vera Strong, for this report and the great records she keeps.

The UMW treasure report was given by Vera Strong showing a balance of $3,483.58; project needs $284.00 to complete our $500.00. Marian Shiver, Naomi Ruth treasurer, gave a report of $46.00 in our love offering.

Nanellen Unsworth is our new Reading Resource person and is excited about sharing with you our reading program. She will be bringing UMW Reading Books each meeting to share and check out, if anyone is interested. We need members to Please READ!

On April 30th the Sound District held its Sub –District meeting at Ann Street United Methodist Church with two members attending.

Church Women United was held on Friday, May 6th, 11:30 a.m. at Antioch Presbyterian Church. Seven members attended. Naomi Ruth Circle will meet on 14th of June at 10:00 a.m. in the fellowship hall. Please note date change for our meeting as VBS will be in session at our regular meeting.

Vacation Bible School June 20-24 –volunteer, there is something you can do.

Ladies come join us as we are about our Father’s business! June Birthdays: Dawn Hildt 30 In Loving Memory of: Barbara Smith 14 (2-13-00) Elizabeth Fulghum 16 (2-27-06)

Please be in prayer for the annual conference coming in June (15-18) there are many issues to be discussed.

Happy Father’s Day from Naomi Ruth Circle

LYDIA CIRCLE

Our next meeting will be on June 14 at 6:00. We will be working on finalizing some VBS Projects. This meeting is held in conjunction with the Methodist Men's meeting and the Methodist Men are responsible for dinner.

Prior to our meeting, the church will be

sponsoring the movie night, please consider volunteering to help with this faith in action project.

The luncheon will take a brief hiatus and not meet in June (VBS) or July (no meetings that month!) We will resume the luncheons the second Sunday in August!! See you then!

JUNE NEWS

FROM THE PRESCHOOL

Dear Northwoods United Methodist Church Family, The children are gone for the summer. It was a pretty good year. There is much work to do to prepare for the 2016-17 School year. We lost 3 Teachers this year which makes me sad but I look forward to interviewing for those positions. Amy Whitsitt was hired for the Kinder Prep Assistant. She is taking Mrs. Rials place who left to do her Student Teaching. Mrs. Kilian moved to Germany and Mrs. O’Day has decided to stay home with her children and sub for us. They will be missed! After VBS the big Clean-Up begins! Floors will be stripped and waxed, Ceilings in 5 classrooms will be repaired, and HOPEFULLY, classrooms will be painted. It’s always nice when wed start the new year clean and shiny! Enjoy your summer!

Learn, Grow and be Blessed,

Linda Johnson

MEMORIALS

General Fund In memory of Pattie Baldwin by Judy Earp In memory of Pattie Baldwin by Larry & Jan Sisk

THANK YOU

Thank you Northwoods members for your prayers as I felt them cover me through my medical procedure. God Bless You, Marge Zima

Men are invited to attend the Methodist Men's

breakfast on the second Thursday of each month, at 0730 (7:30 AM), at the Golden Corral on N Marine Blvd

(near the Walmart).

Please continue to donate food for the Food Pantry. The point of contact for the food pantry is

Rafee Saba. Remember to also bring food as pantry offering on Communion Sundays.

Mark your calendars for the Methodist Men's 2016

Christmas Party - 10 Dec 2016. We thank all of you who attended the Men's breakfast after the Easter

Sunrise Service. We hope you had a good time worshiping and sharing together. It was a pleasure

serving you and Christ!! Reminder - Methodist Men's Renovators does basic

home maintenance jobs, in return for donations, to

support various Methodist Men's programs (Scholarships, etc.). If you have jobs for the Men's

Renovators for the summer, please submit your ideas to any Methodist Men member, and we will assess if

we have the expertise to do them, and then schedule

them accordingly. Methodist Men's Bible study is currently using the

book entitled "Wild at Heart." The men meet each Friday at 0600 (6:00 AM), at the church Fellowship

Hall. If you wish to join the study, books may be

ordered for $9.50. John Eldredge revises and updates his best-selling, renowned Christian classic, Wild at

Heart, and in it invites men to recover their masculine heart, defined in the image of a passionate God.

There is a proposal, to allow more opportunities for men to attend the men's Bible study, that we start

an additional Bible study on Saturdays, at 0700 (7:00

AM), at the church. This study would use the same material as the Friday morning study (both studies

would run parallel to each other). At this point, we are assessing the level of interest. So far, since starting

this announcement in May, we have not had any

interest. If you are interested in this study, please inform the Pastor (Jerry Lewis) or Kevin Barth. If

enough men are interested (min of 6), we will start the study.

Next Methodist Men's meeting is scheduled for 14 June at 6:00 PM (1800). We have a joint meal with

the Lydia Circle women's group before the meeting.

The men are responsible for food and clean-up for this meeting. If you have questions concerning what food

to bring, please contact Kevin Barth. Please remember to bring your dues ($5.00 per month or $60.00 per

year). This funding is essential toward meeting some

basic expenses per year.

HISPANIC MINISTRY Blessings, Let me tell you brothers and sisters we won second place in our soccer game tournament in the men area between seven churches. It was fun. I am fifty-two years old and never play soccer before the ladies convince me to play and now I love it. Our women team lost but we try our best and we are going to keep practicing for next year. I invite all those ladies that like to play soccer to come and practice with us for next year. We need all the help that we could get. We had our shirts with God's help. The front says Northwoods UMC Hispanic Ministry of Jacksonville and on the back, our names and favorite number. It was fun and the main idea was to fellowship and have a time of unity. I hope for next year to see more of our Northwoods family screaming our team name for support and have fun together. We have a new couple from Puerto Rico their names are Christian and Melanie. He is a marine and his young wife likes to play the drums and she has been helping us with the music. She was a member of a Methodist church in Puerto Rico and they are happy to be with us. Northwoods family keep praying for us. May God bless you always. Carmen Casillas Lay Missioner

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

We are looking for volunteers. Currently we have 116

children registered and only 24 adult volunteers. We still need a minimum of 32 MORE VOLUNTEERS FOR

VARIOUS POSITIONS!!! These include: teachers and

assistants for both preschool & elementary age children, nursery volunteers, and a photographer!! Being a

volunteer is very EASY and lots of FUN! Please contact Amy Whitsitt at discipleship@northwoodsumc.org if you

are interested. The donation request wall will be located

next to the nursery. Please take a shape, and return your items to the church office. Keep your eye out for

meetings and future information. We couldn't put on such a great program without the love and support of

our wonderful congregation! VBS is June 20 – 24, 2016

from 9:00 am to 12 noon!

Faith-in-Action project! June 10th at 6:00pm in the Fellowship Hall!

The movie Woodlawn will be shown.

We are calling for the whole church to be involved!

Help needed in the following areas:

Playground supervision

Cooking/serving Hotdogs

Making/serving Popcorn

Greeting our guests

All-purpose volunteer – go where needed, do what is needed!

On June 4th we are taking flyers out to the surrounding neighborhoods to promote the Drive-in!

Come join us at 9:00 am in the Sanctuary, pray over the event, pick up your flyers and then get your steps for the day completed when

you deliver the flyers!!

Donations needed:

Hotdogs

Hotdog buns

Popcorn/oil/salt

3 liter bottles of soda

Cases of Bottled water

Volunteers needed for Vacation Bible School at Northwoods June 20th to 24th from 8:30am to 12:30pm daily! VBS is a

huge community outreach event that serves nearly 200 children in our area. To be a successful event we need YOU

to serve. Working at VBS is a wonderful opportunity to plug into the church and get to know other Northwoods

disciples all while serving our community. Please select all options you are willing to do and return to the church

office or place in the offering plate. For more information contact Amy Whitsitt 816.651.7978 or

discipleship@northwoodsumc.org

☐Photographer (1 or 2) ☐Nursery volunteer (Need 4)

☐Teacher (need 4 preschool/10 elementary) ☐Teacher assistant (Need 4 preschool/9 elementary)

☐Craft assistant (2) ☐Decorating Team (Meets June 6, 9, 14, & 16th at 6pm

and June 11 at 10 am in Fellowship Hall, and Sunday,

June 19 at 3:00 pm to decorate Sanctuary)

☐Beach themed items (Surfboards, beach towels, beach chairs, beach balls)

(PLEASE PUT NAME ON ITEM IF YOU WANT IT RETURNED!)

Name ______________________________________________________________________________________

Phone _______________________________ E-mail Address ________________________________________

I can help BEFORE SURF SHACK VBS. I can:

_____ Pray for VBS _____ Paint backdrops _____ Create decorations

COUNCIL ON MINISTRY

ATTENTION!! Change in meeting time--Council on Ministries will meet Monday, June 13th at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall. This is the main business meeting of the church and all are invited to attend. We will continue to pass information from the leadership retreat, pass information and needs for our faith in action projects and continue plans for our future goals and retreats. Please mark your calendar now for the next half-day Leadership Retreat on September 17th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. This is when we will discuss and validate the SMART Goals coming from the work of our various committees. Continuing to Plan ahead! Mark your calendars now for pumpkin delivery! The truck arrives Friday September 30 at 4:00 pm. Lift your weights, get in shape now to be ready for pumpkin unloading! REMINDER: There will be NO church business meetings the month of July!!

MFM MILITARY FAMILY

MINISTRY This month we are inviting our Deployed Spouses to join us for Movie Night on June 10th. We also would love to reach a broader audience so PLEASE spread the word to any Family Readiness people you know, any families with deployed service members, etc.

Please send an email to: militaryfamily@northwoodsumc.org to be added to the EVITE list or if you would like to volunteer.

GREETERS June 5 8:45 am Available

11 am Available

June 12 8:45 am Available 11 am Available

June 19 8:45 am Available

11 am Available

June 26 8:45 am Available 11 am Available

Greeters – If you are interested in

greeting at services, please let Jennifer Hulse know! 910-330-2035 or jhulse69@msn.com

USHERS

June 5 8:45 am - Rick Baldwin & Cheryl Moody

11 am - Zachry & Charlene Nichols June 12 8:45 am - Vince Hedrick & Derrick Mangas

11 am - Zachry & Charlene Nichols

June 19 8:45 am - Alfredo Ruiz & Randy Fitzgerald 11 am - Zachry & Charlene Nichols

June 26 8:45 am - Derrick Mangas & Jim Moody

11 am - Zachry & Charlene Nichols

Ushers – If you cannot be there for a Sunday, please FIND A REPLACEMENT and let Jennifer Hulse, Hospitality Chair know ASAP! Thank you!

Jun 5 Available

Jun 12 Available

Jun 19 Fulks

Jun 26 Available

Date Worship Sunday School May 1 8:45 - 98/ 11 - 75 51 May 8 8:45 - 122/ 11 - 74 51 May 15 8:45 – 108/ 11 - 61 63 May 22 8:45 – 116/ 11 - 90 63 May 29 10:00 – 109 Average 8:45 - 111/ 11 - 75 57

Church General Fund Statement of Activities as of March 31, 2016

• Revenue $ 82,563.98 • Operating Expenses

– Evangelism/Outreach $22.00

– Education $2,777.74

– Ministries (Children, Youth, Adult, Family) $374.92

– Connectional Apportionments $7,240.00

– Worship $1,568.47 – Stewardship/Finance $47.51 – Trustees $15,567.72 – Administrative $4,980.42

– Pastoral Support $3,235.10

– Personnel Expense $36,446.92

Total Operating Expenses $72,260.80

Operating Income (Loss) $10,303.18

2016 Financial Requirements (Note: All Calculations are based on 90 Giving Units)

Debt Retirement Funds Required Monthly $5,165.39 Need $57.40 per month from each giving unit

General Fund Funds Required Weekly $3,917.57 Need $43.53 per week from each giving unit

2016 Must Pay Budget per Giving Unit: $188.62 (General) Plus $57.40 (Debt)

$246.02 per month

2016 Dream Budget per Giving Unit: $237.18 (General) Plus $57.40 (Debt)

$294.58 per month

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 Dee Craft

Sheri Slater Glenn Collins

3 4

Ken & Elizabeth Soukup

5

David & Jana Stengrim

6

Susan Goodrich Emma Pfadenhauer

7

John & Susan Goodrich Marc & JoMarie Giorgi

8

Donna Lynch Jim Moody Diana Reyes Keith McNutt

9

Michael & Shirley Powell

10

11 Adam & Alysia Barth

12 13

14 15

Stephanie Pfadenhauer Dallas Romano Katie Baker

16

Andy & Nanellen Unsworth Barry & Brenda Autry

17

Ron Dangerfield Tim Millar

18

19

Beth Faleris Jerry & Tracy Fulks Ray & Peggy Eckenrode

20

21

Craig Ashford Greg & Joy Shreckengost

22

Leny Silva Jerry & Joye Stutler

23

Karie Jewell Lauren Slater

24

Ron & Margaret Dangerfield

25

26 Nathaniel Ross

27 28

Clevon Baysinger

29 30

Dawn Hildt Mable Williams

June 2016 Birthdays

Anniversaries

Upcoming June Events:

June 10 – Movie Night Faith-in-Action June 13 – Generosity & Council on Ministry meetings June 16-18 – Annual Conference June 20-24 – Vacation Bible School

Thanks for your participation!!

Pastor Jerry

Northwoods United Methodist Church 1528 Gum Branch Road Jacksonville, NC 28540 910-346-9727 www.northwoodsumc.org

Bishop Hope Morgan Ward…………………Raleigh Area

Rev. Linda Taylor…………Sound District Superintendent

Carmen Casillas......…………………..Hispanic Ministries

Roger Brault………………...……...….……….Lay Leader

Elizabeth Soukup…………………..……Church Secretary

Linda Johnson…..……………….……..Preschool Director

Jared Johnson….…...…...……………………....Custodian

Chaplain Todd Mallory………………….Associate Pastor

Rev. Dr. Jerry D. Lewis……………………………..Pastor

Church Office Hours

Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm