First United Methodist Church 118 West Jackson Street Morris, IL 60450 815-942-0809 Return Service Requested Postmaster: Dated Material—Do Not Delay Non-Profit Organization Permit 127 US Postage Morris, IL For prayer requests during church office hours, call the church office. After church office hours call Paula Steffen (815-922-2870). Sunday’s church service is broadcast on WCSJ— 95.7 FM on Sundays at 11:00 am. We are pleased to offer a new Hearing Loop system in our sanctuary to aid guests with hearing loss. If you wear hearing aids with a telecoil, the system will either automatically amplify the sound or you may need to turn that function on. If you do not wear hearing aids or if they do not have the telecoil, you may request use of a headset from the Welcome Center. June Spirit Alive is due in the church office by May 20.
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First United Methodist Church 118 West Jackson Street Morris, IL 60450 815-942-0809 Return Service Requested Postmaster: Dated Material—Do Not Delay
Non-Profit Organization Permit 127 US Postage
Morris, IL
For prayer requests during
church office hours, call the
church office. After church
office hours call Paula Steffen
(815-922-2870).
Sunday’s church service
is broadcast on WCSJ—
95.7 FM on Sundays at
11:00 am.
We are pleased to offer a new Hearing Loop system in our sanctuary to aid guests with hearing
loss. If you wear hearing aids with a telecoil, the system will either automatically amplify the
sound or you may need to turn that function on. If you do not wear hearing aids or if they do
not have the telecoil, you may request use of a headset from the Welcome Center.
June Spirit Alive is
due in the church
office by May 20.
Spirit Alive
May 2018
A Note From Your Pastor . . .
This has been an interesting year in that 3 special days on the Christian calendar have also
happened to fall on other holidays. In 2018, Valentine’s Day fell on Ash Wednesday; April
Fool’s Day fell on Easter, and Earth Day fell on the lesser-known Good Shepherd Sunday.
These combinations of days happen rarely—the last time was in 1956, and the next time
will be 2029—but each of these combinations of holidays offers interesting insights. Valen-
tine’s Day already has some connections to faith, in that there were several Christian mar-
tyrs named Valentine, although we don’t know much about their lives. When Valentines’
Day falls on Ash Wednesday, it’s a good reminder that our worth doesn’t lie in romantic
love or partnership; instead, we find our identity in the God who created us out of ashes,
and loves us into new life in spite of our sins.
April Fools’ Day and Easter seems like an especially strange combination, but it’s a combi-
nation that actually makes a lot of sense! April Fools’ Day is a day of laughter and prank-
pulling, and some of the earliest Christian theologians described Easter as the day that God
played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. Some early Christian
Easter services even included scripted laughter. Easter is a day of joy, and laughter can be
healing and even subversive—because we can only laugh at things that we are not afraid
of. On Easter, we can laugh at sin, at death, at the devil—at all the monsters that once ter-
rified us, but that we believe Jesus has conquered. So if you pranked your friends on Easter,
let them know that you had good, theological reasons for doing so.
Good Shepherd Sunday isn’t as well known as Ash Wednesday and Easter, but it falls every
year on the fourth Sunday after Easter, when we read the parts of the Gospel of John
about Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-10, John 10:11-18, or John 10:22-30, depending
on the year). This year, Good Shepherd Sunday was also Earth Day. As we meditate on the
image of Jesus shepherding his flock, we can remember that God created us in God’s image
and charged us with caring for the earth and its creatures. We are to care for God’s creation
with as much care and attention as Jesus cares for us, his sheep.
Our next major Christian celebration is Pentecost, which falls on May 20 this year. Like eve-
ry other day of the year, May 20 has lots of weird, unknown holidays attached to it
(Flower Day, Baking Day, etc.), one of which happens to be Eliza Doolittle Day. This
month’s challenge is to find the theological connection between Pentecost and Eliza Doolit-
tle Day. The first person to tell me the connection will be awarded a fabulous prize.
In Christ,
Pastor Laura
Pastors Robert Sathuri [email protected] Laura Wilson- Underwood [email protected] Financial Secretary Judy Burns [email protected] Church Secretary Julie Pierce [email protected] Choir Director Sandy Gordon Organist Cheryle Larson Custodian Denny & Kathy Jackson Preschool Director Sharon Alonzo Hand Bell Choir Director Millie Dyer
Hospitalized . . . Dave Finch Rich DePung
Beginning of Life Eternal . . . Remember those families who have lost loved ones over the past month:
~ Paul & Diane Sprole and family on the death of his mother, Anne Sprole.
~ John & Marissa Darlington and family on the death of his mother, Brenda Darlington.
~ Gerry & Nadine Matteson and family on the passing of his sister, June Olson.
~ Charles Butts and family on the passing of his mother-in-law, Leah Dannar.
~ Joyce Redford and family on the death of her sister-in-law, Mickey Redford.
~ Katie Messing and family on the death of her mother, Gretchen Peterson.
~ Sheldon & Mary Davis on the passing of her brother.
~ Kathy Slater and family on the death of her granddaughter, Sabrina Slater.
We want to thank Ann Dorrough for her almost 14 years as a faithful money counter on Monday morn-
ings. She has moved to Montgomery to live with her son. She will be greatly missed.
Thank you to everyone who donated and purchased items at the ASP Auction. We raised $16,915.
ASP Team
What a great week! Rummage sale was a huge success due to all who helped in any way. If you sorted, priced,
shopped, provided food or prayed for us, we thank you. Many hands make light work and we sure had a lot of
hands in this mission project.
Register for Vacation Bible School!
“Rolling River Rampage”
June 11-15
9:00 am – 11:30 am
FUMC invites children of all ages to experience the ride of a lifetime with God at Rolling
River Rampage Vacation Bible School! This white water rafting adventure includes excit-
ing music, amazing science, creative crafts, fun games, and memorable Bible stories that
will help children know God is always with them as they ride the rapids of life! The adventure runs from Monday June
11th through Friday June 15
th at 9:00 am – 11:30 am. Registration is open for children in preschool through grade 5 on-
line at www.cokesburyvbs.com/fumcmorris18. Registration forms will also be available at the Welcome Center begin-
ning May 1st. Also, be on the lookout for our rolling VBS supply bulletin board! It contains needed supplies for our VBS
rafters! It will be outside of the sanctuary May 5th and 6
th. Don’t forget we have the tub in the Narthex for empty paper
towel tubes, frosting cans, and 4-inch high Pringle cans too! Remember volunteers are important! Please answer the
call! If you have any questions, please contact Sue Hall at 815-942-4739 or Sandy Bednarik at 815-941-1856.
Saturday, May 19
Appetizers After Worship
Please feel free to stay for
appetizers & fellowship
with friends.
Book Club is meeting on
Monday, May 7 at 4:00 pm
to discuss “50 Women Every
Christian Should Know” by
Michelle DeRusha.
Sunday School Teacher Appreciation
Sunday, May 20th
The Education Committee would like to thank the
teaching and support staff who worked hard to
provide Sunday School programming this
year. We will honor these persons during the 9
am worship service on Sunday, May 20th. We
hope that all of the teaching and support staff will