January, 2017

Messy LoveI can remember a line in Disney’s movie Enchanted,

where a soon to be princess asks a prince, What is your name? Once the prince responds to her query the very next line from the princess is, We will be married tomorrow! In sweet, romantic movies even beyond Disney, love is often romanticized and idealized. In these flicks, love is all roses, harmony, and squishy feel good moments.

Personal intimacy can be squishy, but quite often the when we realize the depth of love which we have for another person we are faced with moments which are harsh, overwhelming, and messy. The moment you decide to pull the plug on a loved one, the moment that you make a decision to support your spouse who is allowing the cancer run its course without chemotherapy, the moment that you make a commitment to be the hands and feet for your invalid daughter who is in the final stages of life. These are deep love moments in the midst of messy realities.

I remember the first time that I saw a heifer give birth to a calf. The mother cow actually stood up giving birth and when the calf was brought into this world, a complete mess surrounded it. The mother licked off this entire mess from her newborn calf without hesitation. Sometimes even in the life of the church, when we attempt to birth new strategies and visions, a mess will ensue. When leaders attempt to move forward due to the love which they have for a congregation, they will confront messy situations.

On Passover evening, a time known as Maundy or Holy Thursday to most Christians, Jesus ate a Passover meal with his disciples. Once this meal was complete Jesus got up from the table, took off his robes, picked up a towel and began to wash his disciple’s feet. What is not stated within this text is the social setting surrounding this upper room table. During the Greco-Roman Empire, streets where nomads wandered were often open cesspools of human waste. It was not uncommon for nomads to spend the night in a stranger’s house during the week. It was also not uncommon for the house slave to wash this nomad’s feet. So, whenever a stranger arrived at the front door, the owner of the house would often summons the lowest slave. This slave was the designated person responsible for washing off human waste to a complete stranger. Obviously, this was an unenviable task to be involved in.

Jesus begins to wash his disciple’s feet and Peter does not want any part of that. Lord are you going to wash my feet? No! You will never wash my feet. Peter knew that the man in front of hhim was the very incarnation of God. Considering the high amount of faith and honor which Peter had in Jesus Christ, he could not fathom the idea of Jesus doing the job of the lowest common denominator.

I think that it must have been a pivotal moment when Jesus says to Peter, Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me. To which Peter responds, Lord not only my feet but also my hands and my head. Peter finally realizes the depth of love which Jesus Christ has for you and me. Jesus was the incarnation of God, but he exposed the depth of love which he has for you and me by eagerly desiring to be involved in the messy-ness of human lives.

I think that Jesus still calls us to locations where messy love still operates: to hold the hands of an AIDS patient in the very last days of his/her life; to be the care-taker of a

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St. Michaels Methodist Church

WE CARE, WE SHARE

non-functioning dementia or Alzheimer’s patient; to stay with the victim of homicide until an ambulance arrives; even to change the diapers of a special needs adult or parent who cannot function independently. These are often miserable situations and they expose a deep, personal, and intimate love for another person. Whenever you and I embrace a humiliating circumstance because of our deep seated love for another person, we truly expose a depth of love which is extraordinary. Any extraordinary love which transcends an idealized and romanticized state of love, will be harsh, overwhelming, and it will be messy. ---David J. Harriss

April Outreach Projects:On Saturday, April 1st, we will be handing out doggie treats at two local dog parks with our Easter worship

service schedule on each doggie bag. If you would like to be a part of the outreach project, come to the fellowship hall at 8 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

On Saturday, April 8th, we will have a prayer walk through the church neighborhood and hand out the upcoming Holy Week/ Easter worship service schedules. If you would like to be a part of this outreach ministry, come to

the fellowship hall at 8 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

The Outreach Committee has begun a new community project during the month of Lent. We call this program Love Wednesdays. On Love Wednesdays, we will be taking cookies to various public service programs here in the Lake Havasu City. Please bring your favorite cookies up to the church each Monday and Tuesday of the

week so that we may make trays to hand out to public service representatives on Wednesdays. Volunteers are needed to distribute Love Wednesday items, every Wednesday at 9 a.m. You will find below a list of

organizations that we will be serving during the season of Lent:

April 5th LHC Public Schools (9 total) Cookies

April 12th LHC Medical Center (3 floors) Cookies

A special thanks goes out to everyone who has been a part of this outreach project. Our local public officials have been very thankful that people recognize their selfless acts of community service here in Lake Havasu

City.

How To Bring People Into Church Workshop Debriefing On Monday, March 13th, Reverend Richard Rounds, Mrs. Betty Rounds, Mrs. Melanie Anselm, and I had a

debriefing of a recent workshop which we went to in Las Vegas. The workshop took place the same weekend that we had the rummage sale here at St. Michaels. Therefore, we thought that it might be good to bring this

information back to anyone that could not make this workshop. This debriefing session was well-attended with over 20 people showing up to gain some insight into the shape of the church, the importance of invitation,

strategies, the implementation of strategies, vision, and accountability.

The State of the Church: Reverend Richard Rounds brought to us information about the current state of the church. Some alarming statistics include: 84% of the LHC community do not consider worship service to be

important; 80% of young adults between the ages of 18-22 leave the church and never come back. The United Methodist Church has had 40 years of decline. What can we do in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ for

the transformation of the world?

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The Importance of Invitation: Mrs. Betty Rounds gave us some insight regarding the vital significance of inviting others to worship service, going by to pick them up, and sitting with them at worship service. With this strategy, 84% of people will join a church. Also, the majority of people would come to a worship service if they

were invited to it. It is vitally important that we invite others into Christ’s Holy Temple.

Lent/ Easter Opportunities: Mrs. Melanie Anselm brought to our attention some of the items which we are doing during the months of March/ April and that list may be seen above (See April Outreach Projects).

Strategies, Implementation, Vision and Accountability: David HarrissI am always hearing, we don’t know what to do. So I wanted to offer a few strategies and

implementations of strategies for increased church growth:

Strategy: Invite, Invite, Invite, Invite, Invite!! All of us probably know someone who is not involved in a church. We should invite co-workers, business partners, gym member

participants, aerobics class participants, and others to events either inside or outside the church walls. Our first priority to re-connecting with this community is by creating

relationships outside of the church.

Implementation: 2 Strategies: 1. If we know non-churched persons we may not want to invite them to worship service especially if they may have never stepped onto a

church campus. So, we simply invite them to friendly outings: Invite acquaintances to coffee outings, barbecues, movies, lunch. At the end of the first outing, make sure that

you say to your newly formed friend, “Let’s do this again”. Eventually, you bring in either church members for a subsequent outing or you bring the conversation of religion into the conversation. Build the relationship first and then invite this newly formed friend to

worship service, an outreach ministry, or another church event or activity.

2nd Option: Invite a newly formed friend to church. Invite, pick up, and sit with visitors. There is an 83% success rate with this strategy.

2nd Strategy: Increase Spiritual Formation Groups/ Outward Focus/ Growth Within-

A church this size must have more spiritual formation groups (not social). Christian education is vitally important for spiritual formation and continued growth within any

Christian church.

Implementation: Increase the number of spiritual formation programs/ instructors. Currently we only have a few ongoing spiritual formation groups which take place in this church. In order to increase the number of spiritual formation groups, people will need to

step up to teach and participate in Christian education classes.

Therefore, if we want to utilize the strategic model Invite-----Connect-------Disciple (needed)--------Send Out, we must have more people involved in spiritual formation

groups (teaching and learning) so that the disciple portion of this strategy can be utilized.

Strategy & Implementation: Creating an Entry Level for Evangelism for all small groups. When was the last time that a new person joined a spiritual or social small

group? Have we turned into an inward circle? What strategies can be used to increase this circle? If you are the leader of a small group, I would encourage you to have this

conversation with your consortium.3

Implementation: One vital area which will determine the turnout of formation groups is to have an active Council on Ministries. The Council on Ministries is a quorum that

meets once a month and we discuss the ministries for children, youth, adults, and any area in the church where there are currently too few ministries. I am also actively

pursuing leaders for additional spiritual formation groups all the time. Who will step up?

Most Effective Strategy: Outward focus and re-thinking church!!This is the most effective strategy because we can all go beyond the four walls in order

to be Christ to people in our surrounding community.

Implementation: We have created an Outreach Ministry committee and here are some ideas of thinking beyond the 4 walls of the church which you can be involved in:

Have all church meetings outside the church walls in order to become visible in the community

VBS during school breaks, Blessing of the Animals at Pet Smart, Prayer Walks in the community, Christian education studies beyond the 4 walls of the church

Election Day hospitality (free coffee and doughnuts) for people who come to vote

Christmas Eve hospitality to people who come to worship service

Worship services for public officials (policemen, firemen, teachers) where we honor their service in the community.

Backpack ministry during the summer. We purchase and fill up backpacks with school equipment for financially challenged children.

A tent ministry for homeless people. This ministry is currently being fleshed out by Richard and Betty Rounds.

(see other ideas with April Outreach Projects, above)

David’s Visions:I wanted to share with you a few visions which I have for this church:

Increased Wednesday evening programming- I look forward to the day where we have several classes being taught following Koinonea (pot-luck meal). A few classes which I

would like to see include: Alpha, Financial Peace University, Divorce Care, Grief Share, a 12 Step Program, and other adult studies.

I want us to become a more visitor friendly church- Imagine if we had a total of 4 sets of greeters who responded to a newcomer/ visitor before the pastor spoke to this new

family. If we strategically placed greeters in the parking lot, front door, one on each side of the family sitting in the pews, and if we made it a point to meet every new family by

these 4 sets of people, before I met these newcomers, 4 sets of parishioners would welcome our visitors.

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I would love to have nursery care during all special services, meetings, and Sunday service. Young adults need nursery care for their bundles of joy. If we are not providing nursery care at all of the times listed above, how can we expect young adults to join or

be active in the life of the church?

Fair-trade coffee in the Church Narthex/ breezeway every Sunday. First and foremost, I want to repeat a line which was stated by Don Nations (UM Church Strategist) If you

want young adults in worship service, you need fair trade coffee. Critical mass matters to people who are driving by our church. If parishioners are inside the church fellowship

hall, how can we be seen by others? By moving the fellowship time outside for 6 months out of the year, we become more visible in the community.

The church going paperless . Three years ago, the Annual Conference went paperless, any job resume being considered for a job is now paperless, young adults almost always pay bills on their bank’s bill pay website, suffice it so say, the world is going paperless. I think that we should offer computer classes to church parishioners so that others know how to use a computer, create an e-mail account, and learn about Facebook, and we

slowly begin to decrease the amount of paper which is being used in the church.

I want to continue envisioning with you differing ways in which we can be involved in hands on, missional opportunities.

David’s Accountability:I think that it is only fair if I expect you to be accountable to these strategies and

implementations, that I offer you some accountability as well. Therefore,

I will get out of the Church Office more often. I will attempt to increase my outward activity by 20% each week.

I will continue to work on shifting three cultural understandings: from an inward circle culture to an outward ministry focus; from a financial focus to a ministry focus; & from a

social group focus to a spiritual formation focus.

I will continue to support and seek out ways to create entry levels of evangelism in all small groups. I will expect for all small group leaders to work on strategies for expanding

their small group.

I will remain with you as long as the church wants me, and the Episcopacy allows me to do so, and as long as I feel that my leadership style is effective.

I will continue to work on recruiting effective leaders for formational groups in order to create and utilize the Invite--------Connect-------Disciple---------Send Out model.

Let me encourage you to think outside the box in the area of community outreach. Let us become involved in ministry in fresh and exciting ways. Seek out a community niche

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which other churches are not involved in. Let us re-think church with a focus upon reaching others beyond the 4 walls.

I look forward to your involvement in community outreach projects which (I believe) is the best way to ensure a future to St. Michael’s United Methodist Church.

Yours in Christ, ---David J. Harriss

A T T E N T I O NFELLOWSHIP HALL WILL BE CLOSED

APRIL 24 thru 28, 2017

APC Authentic Painting and Coatings will be professionally patching stucco and block, matching existing texture and prime. All paint coating will be applied at package consistency,

WITHOUT THINNING/REDUCING to ensure maximum paint film thickness and superior durability. APC will comply with all E.P.A. Regulations and use best management practices.

There will be: extension cords, traps, high pressure hoses, ladders, air compressors, and personnel all around the exterior of Fellowship Hall, including the front breeze way. Due to insurance issues, NO INSIDE ACTIVITIES will be allowed during the time the painting is being done. There will also be an over spray, so NO parking within 100 ft. from Fellowship Hall. Please schedule any activities for these days in the Youth room for the girl and boy scouts.

Other activities can use the pastor’s front room or the Senior Center Room down stairs, (the Apt.) Please pass the word; let’s make this a smooth transition.

APC estimated completion time, pending weather: Friday 4.28.17 6:00pm.

INSURANCE par. 2533.2 the Discipline

PROPERTY POLICIES par. 2533.3 the Discipline

Trustees

Bruce Hartwell, Chair

Administrative CouncilIt has been approved through the Administrative council that ALL complaints and disagreements be sent to

SPRC in writing and signed. The negative attitude does not further the growth of our church. We need strong positive relationships. We are a family and need to treat each other with love and respect.

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A class on Safe Sanctuaries will be offered in the near future. This takes the commitment of the entire church. All volunteers working with children in any way on our campus will be REQUIRED to take this class and have a background check. This comes from the conference to protect us as well as the children. We will be writing

our church policies and procedures. We need everyone to be a part of it. You can pray if you won't physically be involved.

CHOIRHello to the St. Michael's parish members and clergy. We would like to

express our sincere gratitude for the kind reception you have shown us sincecoming to St. Michaels. Not only have we felt welcome, but you have been

Extremely helpful to us while we find our way around.Arlene is so happy with the cooperation and enthusiasm of the choir, and

looks forward to many wonderful performances in the future. Speaking of thefuture, she hopes to enrich the musical experience of St. Michael's by developing achildren's program as well as inviting appropriate guest musicians to play at times.

Thank you for showing us what a beautiful gathering of people you havehere at St. Michael's Church!

Kindest Regards,Arlene and Greg Carpenter

SPRCSPRC still is working on when to have Vacation Bible School and Cinco de Mayo cooking class.

Best Regards, Carol Herb

United Methodist Women1st Tuesday every month Recreation Cards, 9-12

2nd Tuesday every month UMW Board Meeting, 9-12

3rd Tuesday every month Recreation Cards, 9-12

4th Tuesday every month UMW General Meeting, 9-12

Every Thursday Craft group meets at 9-12

Prayer Shawl7

Calling all Knitters and HookersCome for an hour of Fellowship

1st & 3rd Saturday of Every MonthAt 9:00 A.M. at the Wesley Wing

CRAFT GROUP SCHOLARSHIPS Calling all Senior High Students, it is time to plan ahead. Each

year St. Michael’s Craft Group offers assistance by presenting scholarships

to St. Michael’s seniors.

THEY ARE READY TO LEND TO YOU!!

Applications are available in the church office. The

Deadline for submitting an application is

Monday, May 1st, 2017.

Youth News:Once again the youth and families will be bringing you Easter breakfast. Yes we will be having Chris Berry making

omelets in the kitchen and the youth serving them to you. We will be starting at 7 and finishing at 10:30. Sign up sheets will start the 1st of April. We are asking for a suggested donation of $5. The kids are working on going to summer camp

and the families are working on a fall family camp. Any help for them would be greatly appreciated. Please sign up. Thank you. Questions ask Tammie, Liz, Jill, Chris or Tiffany.

Girl Scouts.It was great to participate on Girl Scout Sunday. What an awesome experience for the girls that are not members of our

church, to be welcomed and to experience our church. Thank you for allowing them to come into our church family.  The girls certainly got out of their comfort zone and got up and did parts of the service and of course what they do best - show off their entrepreneur skill by selling those boxes of cookies. We still have a few left if you need some to tie you over until

next January.

We wanted to say a special thank you to Pastor David for working with us on Thursday before service. Rev. Rounds and Joyce Burke came in and shared how they live the girl scout law in their lives.

Thanks again,

Tammie Bohnker

JULIETSJust Us Ladies

Informally Engaging Together Someplace

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APRIL 4, 2O17

SHOGUN JAPANESE RESTAURANT

90 SWANSON AVENUE

11:45 A.M.

APRIL 18, 2017

A PLACE TO BE

171 SWANSON AVENUE

11:45 A.M.

ROMEOSRetired Old Men Eating Out Somewhere

Come and join us for good food and fellowshipEvery other Tuesday @11:15 am (lunch around 11:30)

April 11, 2017 Mudshark Brewery

April 25, 2017 Rotary Park Picnic

Holy Week/ Easter Schedule:Holy Thursday Service of Worship with Commuion Thursday, April 13th at 7 p.m.

Good Friday Service of Worship Friday, April 14th, at 7 p.m.

Easter Worship Services:Easter Sunrise Service (Church parking lot) Sunday, April 16th at 6 a.m.

Easter Traditional Service Sunday, April 16th, at 9 a.m.

Easter Tradtional Service Sunday, April 16th, at 9 a.m.

The Church Office will be closed on Easter Monday, April 17th, 2017.

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St. Michaels United Methodist Church Youth Easter Breakfast

Omelets to order

April 16th

7AM – 10:30AM

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Proceeds to help family camp and children summer camp

Suggested donation $5 a person!!St. Michael’s United Methodist Church

2895 Jamaica Blvd., SouthLake Havasu City, AZ 86406

928-855-0323

St. Michael’s United Methodist Church2895 Jamaica Blvd., SouthLake Havasu City, AZ 86406928-855-0323

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Non-profit OrganizationUS Postage Paid

Lake Havasu City AZPermit No. 11