CHURCH COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER



| [pic] CHURCH COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER |

|A Bi-Weekly Publication – Issue Date: July 21, 2014 |

|St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church |

|Thomas Hoffman, Pastor |

|Jose Estrada, Associate Pastor |

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|Our Vision Statement: To enable our family of believers to lead our community to Jesus Christ |

|Through love and the sharing of God’s Word and to be an inviting refuge of comfort. |

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|A Word [pic] From Pastor Thomas |

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|Dear St. Matthew’s family, |

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|Sunday I preached about how important it is for us Methodists to “organize to beat the devil.” But do we need property and a building to do this? Can’t I just|

|worship God from home? |

|Here’s what can happen in a church building that can’t happen anywhere else: |

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|God has always created sacred spaces where his presence would be revealed and where his people would gather to receive the blessing of his presence. Our church |

|sanctuary is one of those sacred spaces. |

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|Being in the sanctuary reminds us that our primary task as the Christian is worshipping God. Everything else we do—no matter how good—is secondary. |

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|When we come to the church building for any purpose we are reminded that our thoughts, words and actions are—or should be—guided by the Word of God. This is why|

|the Bible is prominently displayed on the altar. |

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|God has promised to be really present with us through Jesus Christ in worship, and especially in baptism and communion. We may doubt his presence in every other|

|place and situation, but we can never doubt it here. |

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|The pews of the sanctuary face East, and this gives us great hope. Why? Sunrise reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus. And, Christ will come from the East to |

|meet us again. |

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|Since the church is not ours but Christ’s, he welcomes EVERYONE into this building. Men, women, children, youth, all ages, every race and nationality, the poor |

|and the rich, the prisoner and the forgiven, all are invited. All are welcome here at St. Matthew’s. |

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|Friends, this is why I can say without hesitation, “I hope to see you at church!” |

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|Blessed beyond belief, |

|Pastor Thomas |

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|Spot 31 |

|WEDNESDAY EVENING SCHEDULE |

|4:00-5:30 p.m. Gathering and Small Groups - Children/Youth |

|5:30-6:15 p.m. Community Dinner |

|6:15-7:15 p.m. Small Group/Adults (please try to be in your room by 6:15) |

|6:15-6:50 p.m. Small Groups – Children/Youth |

|6:50p.m. Load bus for home – Children/Youth |

|7:30-8:30 p.m. Choir |

|8:30-9:3 0 p.m. Praise Band |

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|Average Worship Attendance – 2014 |

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|January |

|176 |

|April |

|168 |

|July |

|156 |

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|October |

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|Annual 2011 |

|155 |

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|February |

|170 |

|May |

|162 |

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|August |

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|November |

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|Annual 2012 |

|162 |

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|March |

|174 |

|June |

|163 |

|September |

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|December |

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|Annual 2013 |

|175 |

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|Calendar Reminder |

|If you have any event that you would like to have listed on the Sunday bulletin, please send an email with the information to the |

|church at stmatts@ with a copy to me at 2bach@. Thank you, Virgie   |

|[pic] Update on Pantry Needs |[pic] |

|  |Next VIM Breakfast |

| |August 3rd |

|Our pantry for those who ask for food needs several items. Your help would be | |

|appreciated.  | |

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|We need canned vegetables, rice, Spam, chicken and tuna. Pasta (any kind). | |

|Pasta mixes are good.  Small bottles of cooking oil, Mac & Cheese, pancake mix | |

|(add water only) and Hamburger Helper are all useful. | |

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|In each sack that we give we include enough for 3 meals and a breakfast item | |

|that will last more than one meal (oatmeal, cereal, pancake mix, bisquit mix | |

|etc). | |

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|Please do not feel it is necessary to bring all of these; one or two items will | |

|be a big help. | |

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|Barbara McDowell | |

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|Sarah Circle |[pic] JULY BIRTHDAYS |

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|Come and join us Tuesday mornings at 9:30 in the Parlor for Bible study |4 USA 26 Bonita Young |

|and refreshments. |5 Cameron Aguirre 27 Tawnya McCammon |

| |6 Harry Arnold 28 Zai Ramos |

|Jeanine Keller |12 Kathy Pleake 30 Meredith McCammon |

| |24 Jeanine Keller |

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| |If you want your birthday listed in the newsletter, contact Alon at 622-7006 |

| [pic] Ronald McDonald House |NEWSLETTER DEADLINE |

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|We will continue to furnish frozen casseroles, purchased cakes, cookies, pies |The deadline to submit articles for the |

|or fresh fruit for Ronald McDonald House.  Main dish for July 24th – Suzanne |August 4, 2014, newsletter is Friday, August 1st |

|Pfeifer and Deborah Worman. Desserts – Ann Marie Boyce. | |

| |Please send articles to the church at stmatts@ and be sure to |

|Thank you to these ladies. |copy suzanne.pfeifer@ |

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| |Thanks! |

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|Luke 11:28 “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” |

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|Please remember our Youth Campers in their travels to and from camp. Pray that this experience will be one that they will carry in their hearts forever|

|and that they will share this blessing with their family and friends. |

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|Please remember Pastor Jose and Ana’s nephew who is still in the hospital undergoing another surgery and still in a serious state. Please pray for |

|travel mercies in their journey back and forth to be with him and their family. |

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|Please remember Nancy Hoffman’s mom as she recovers from her surgery. |

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|Terri Kennedy reports that little Levi is home. Praise the Lord! She asks that we continue praying for baby Elliott and his family. |

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|Please pray for my neighbor Marcia daughter who is having a lot of tests done for pain in her feet. |

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|Continued Prayers |

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|Ann Marie’s brother Eric, B.J., Pastors Michael and Sharon, Bolivians pastor’s wife, Karol Burkhalter, Mary Kay’s mother Lula, Ted Cole Jr., Terry |

|Kennedy’s co-worker’s son, the family of Justin Jackson, Richard Bachelder’s two friends with health concerns, Chuck Wise grandson, Barbara Flanagan, |

|Pauline Grove, Ted Coal Jr., Gordon Godfrey, Bud Loveless’ daughter Karen, Dr. Murray Crow, Andrea Laney’s mom’s eye sight, Lawrence Long’s recovery |

|from a fall and prayers for his friend Gail, Little Levi, Krista McKelvey’s grandpa, Elinor Bartleson niece, Paul Youngblood’s great nephew Cooper, |

|Alon’s friend’s mother and father, Alon’s mom, brother and care giver, Tawnya McCammon’s uncle, Deanna Rocha’s friend Michal, Jan Colvin’s friend |

|sister, Leona Robison brother and son, Alon’s friends Kay and Tim, Joy Barkat, Ken and Brenda Keethly, Cynthia Hobbs, Sharon & Del Gatzke, Dave Gatzke, |

|Judy Williams friend’s grandson, Deanna Peterson, her sister and her great great niece, Barbara Patterson and her son and family, Barbara Roderick’s |

|friend, Alyson Harvey and brother-in-law, Capy Catterton’s mother, Ron and Phyllis Maggard. |

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|Bereavement |

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|Bill Martin and family in the loss of his mother, Frances Martin. |

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|Please continue to pray for the military and their families, our country, the Clergy. The President and his government leaders, the homeless and the |

|jobless. |

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|Yours in God’s love, |

|Barbara |

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UMW Summer calendar

 All women at St. Matthew's are invited to any of these events. Most meetings are the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:30.  Child care and rides are available upon request.  Call Jan at 252-2919 or Alon at 622-7006.

 

On August 21st, Freda Heath will be presenting the program “Call to prayer and self denial.” Meeting will be in the Fellowship hall to begin at 6:30. See you there.

MISSION u 2014

Viviana and I had the pleasure of attending Mission u last weekend at Oklahoma City University.  We would like to thank the United Methodist Women for sponsoring us.  Viviana and I both studied “The Church and People with Disabilities.”  I will be sharing about this issue at the Tuesday Women’s Bible Study the next two weeks.  We’d love to have you join us at 9:30 a.m.

Ann Marie Boyce

UNDIE  SUNDAY

Our mission project for August is going to be undies for Disney Elementary.     Please place your donations in the basket in the narthex.  All sizes from 6 to 12 are needed, for both boys and girls.  Thanks for showing you care.  Disney appreciates you!

How Is It With Your Soul?

If you weren’t able to go to OK City for Mission u this summer, you can still catch one of the studies in August right here in Tulsa.  Pastor Charla Gwartney – one of the instructors at Mission u – will be leading the study “How Is It With Your Soul?” on Saturday, August 16th at St. Stephen’s UMC in Broken Arrow from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.  The class is free; see Ann Marie Boyce for the book.  We will carpool from St. Matthew’s at 8:20, and you will need to take a sack lunch.

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Senior Adult Summit - Live it up!

Sept. 8-10th 2014

Egan Camp and Retreat Center

What can you expect? Wonderful spirit filled worship services at the Tabernacle, a field trip to a special destination (near Egan Camp) and even a movie night.

What is SAS? SAS is an event for older adults. Learning is a lifelong process and we continue to keep our minds and bodies engaged by reading or by doing new things. At SAS we will learn in a way that helps us remember both the wonderful past and improve our future ahead.

Who can attend SAS? Any adult who is open and willing to learn something new and meet new friends at the same time!

Why should Senior Adults participate in SAS? It is an opportunity to participate in activities that will enrich and improve your quality of life as a senior adult, and also to boost your spiritual life, strengthen and improve your well-being and relationship with God.

Lodging – Beautiful Holliman Lodge – the rooms are senior friendly.

Cost - Depends on the type of room you choose:

• 4 people to a room - $145 per person

• 3 people to a room - $160 per person

• 2 people to a room - $175 per person

Questions? Contact Janey Wilson at Janey@ or 405-321-6266

Worship Leader: Chris Moore, Sunnylane UMC

Worship Speaker: Rev. Frankye Johnson, South OKC District Superintendent

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|MISSIONARY NEWS |

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|On Sunday evening August 10, St. Matthew’s has the honor of hosting Dr. Dora Canales Nunez who is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of the |

|United Methodist Church serving as president and professor at Wesleyan Theological Seminary in Lima, Peru. Dr. Canales, a native of Chile and a lay member of the |

|Methodist Church of Chile, is working with the Peruvian church to shape a curriculum appropriate to the area and to Wesleyan theology. We will have a potluck dinner |

|at 5 PM in the Fellowship Hall followed by a time for Dr. Canales to speak to us about her work in Peru. |

|As you know the proceeds from the Pumpkin Patch each year goes to support a missionary. Since the inception of St Matthew’s Pumpkin Patch, our missionary has been |

|Diane Wimberley in Bolivia. Rev. Wimberley has retired so we will choose another missionary. Since Dr. Canales is with the General Board of Global Ministries, we |

|have the option for our support to go to her mission. It makes it much more personal if we get a chance to meet the missionary that we support so please don’t miss |

|this opportunity to hear about Dr. Canales’ work in Peru. Please mark your calendars - ST. MATTHEW’S, SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 @ 5 PM. |

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|Deanna Rocha, Mission Chairperson |

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|PSALMS |

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|Beginning Wednesday evening, July 30, John Worman will be leading an adult class studying the book of Psalms. This is a great opportunity for you to become part of a|

|small group, to fill your need of Sunday School if you aren’t able to attend on Sunday morning, or to supplement your Sunday School learning experience. We meet in |

|the Adult Sunday School classroom at 6:15 PM and finish at 7:10 PM in time for choir practice. This study will run through the remainder of the summer. John will be|

|ordering books for this study, cost TBD. |

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|CAMP SCHEDULE |

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|Tweens Camp (must be entering 6th grade) July 21st - 25th |

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|Day Spring Camp (must be entering 9th – 12th grades) July 10th - 14th |

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|Help a kid get to camp this summer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |

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|We have several kids going to camp that could use help with their half of the camp fees. Any amount would help. Just make your check out to St. Matt's |

|and mark it "for camp" in the memo. |

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|Debbie Gant needs help picking up 3 kids from Camp Egan on July 23rd. This is about a 45 minute drive. On the 14th they need to arrive at 2:00pm and on the 23rd they |

|would need to be picked up by 10:00am. Please let me know if you can help. 918-770-3735.   |

|Thanks |

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We need YOUR help! A $5,000 matching grant to complete funding for a $45,000 vehicle for EIA!

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It started with the Moody United Methodist Foundation in Galveston, TX, who announced a $15,000 donation for a vehicle to be used "for the many water projects that EIA is involved in".  

However, we need $45,000 to purchase a 2-3 year old 4-wheel drive vehicle large enough to haul teams of 10-12 folks thru mountains & mud (similar to the Landcruiser lovingly called "the Beast"by the staff).

The EIA Board of Directors discussed borrowing the money, thus mortgaging future budgets and slowing staff growth. Instead, Dr. Richard Stephenson challenged the Board to raise another $20,000 so we wouldn't have to borrow so much, and he led the way with a very generous donation. The Board was up to the challenge and suddenly we were at $35,000.

Well we have since been told that yet another person has offered us a $5,000 matching donation. If we can raise $5,000 in donations from our general supporters, along with this new matching grant, we will reach our goal of $45,000, be able to purchase a new heavy duty 4-wheel vehicle, and not have to borrow any money!

We have just $5,000 to go! Please seriously consider making a donation, of any amount, to EIA over the next two weeks and we will designate it for the matching grant for the vehicle which will allow us to do our work, without slowing the growth of our engineering staff and allowing us to reach more and more people with life-giving potable water.

If you'd like to help us get that last $5k, get the matching money, and get a new (for us) vehicle, just click the donate button now! (Go to )

Thanks again to everyone involved!

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David Stephenson, Executive Director 

To read more about Engineers in Action go to . -Deanna Rocha

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Call for volunteer help

Volunteers are sought who can assist in legal work with the migrant children being housed at Fort Sill, Lawton,OK. Persons who speak both English and Spanish especially are needed. The Oklahoma Conference of Churches, whose member entities include the United Methodist and Catholic Churches, is sharing this information on behalf of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

At the request of the U.S. government, Catholic Charities has been asked to provide Know Your Rights presentations and to legally assess each child’s situation. To learn more about the types of volunteer service needed, go to .

— from the Oklahoma Conference Department of Communications

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|General Shelter Needs: Housewarming Box Items: |

|Men's Underwear (all sizes) Alarm Clocks with battery back up |

|Women's Underwear (all sizes) Calendars |

|Men's Pants or Jeans (waist 30-38) Hand Towels |

|Men's Shoes (most needed-size 9 and larger) Bath Towels |

|Backpacks (for adult clients) Shower Curtains with rings |

|All Purpose Cleaner |

|Comet or Ajax |

|Dish Soap |

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|Hudson Villas: Medical Clinic: |

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|Please support our permanent housing complex Canes (aluminum, adjustable) |

|Extra Long Twin Sheets Eyeglass cases |

|XL Twin Size Bed in a Bag Travel Size Insect Repellant |

|Hand Towels (white or beige) Travel Size Sunscreen |

|Bath Towels (white or beige) |

|Wash Cloths (white or beige) |

|Adult Soccer Socks |

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|You Can Make a Difference in just 4 hours a week! |

|The Tulsa Day Center is currently seeking volunteers of all ages to work in various areas including our reception desk, clothing room, shower desk |

|and family rooms.  Please contact Colleen Helms at 918-556-6418 for more information.  |

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|CONGRATULATIONS!! |

|Hudson Villas, our permanent supportive housing community, just celebrated its one year anniversary.  Congratulations to the residents and staff for|

|achieving this milestone. Hudson Villas assists chronically homeless individuals with securing housing and getting back on their feet by providing |

|the guidance and support needed to stay housed and succeed as they face the challenges of rebuilding their lives.  In addition to housing, residents|

|have access to a computer lab, a cafeteria, a gym, a community vegetable garden, common areas for socializing and more.  To learn more or to |

|schedule a tour of this unique facility please contact Brian Darrough,  Program Director, at bdarrough@ or call 918-921-3900.  |

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|SAVE THE DATE |

| Mark your calendars for the first annual HOME SWEET HOME event on the evening of Aug. 14th, 2014.  Home Sweet Home will be held at Hudson Villas.  |

|This event will feature live music, hors d'oeuvre created by our resident chef and sweet desserts provided by local Tulsa businesses.   Watch for |

|more information.  |

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St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church

12424 E. 31st Street

Tulsa, OK 74146-2202

(918-622-8703)

E-mail address: stmatts@ Website: stmatts.us

|INSIDE THIS ISSUE |

|Spot 31 |2 | |Prayers |4 |

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|Birthdays |3 | |Events |6 |

|VIM NEWS |9 | |Ronald McDonald |3 |

|Church Rolls |2 | |*Sarah Circle |3 |

|Food Pantry |3 | |*UMW |5 |

| | | |*VIM Breakfast |3 |

|Pastor Message |1 | |Youth |7 |

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