The Messenger

MAY 1, 2013

Love, Serve, and Live as Christ

May 3 Friday

Church Women United May

Friendship Banquet 12:00 pm—

Christ UMC

May 5 Sunday

Worship and Holy Communion

May 12 Sunday

Mother's Day

May 13 Monday

Friendly Neighborhood Club—

K&W Cafeteria—11:30 am

May 18 Saturday

Bingo at the Yadkin House 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

May 19 Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

Confirmation Sunday

May 20 Monday

Meals on Wheels—10:30 am—

First Baptist Church Ministry

Center—223 N. Fulton St.

May 20 Monday

United Methodist Men dinner

meeting—Fellowship Hall—

6:30 pm

The Messenger Milford Hills United

Methodist Church May Events

Do you want to reach out and help others but don't know where to begin?

Then PEACE OUT is for you!

PEACE OUT is an Outreach Ministry that takes the Peace of God out of our church and

into the neighborhood. We will fellowship and share goods in the Fountain

Park with our Outdoor (homeless) friends, have a play date with residents at Clancy Hills,

and host a Bingo Extravaganza with our friends at The Yadkin House.

Peace Out Team Leaders will be at the May 1st Poor Man's Supper to share an

overview of Peace Out Activities, dates, and times. We will also be talking about the

possibility of starting a Transportation Ministry to people who need a ride to church.

Saturday, May 18th 2:00-4:00 pm Yadkin House

Saturday, June 8th 1:00-4:00 pm Fountain Park

Tuesday, August 6th 4:00-7:00 pm Clancy Hills

Sign up sheets will be available

Page 2 The Messenger

“Why is The Church?”

There was an experimental presentation on Sunday night (April 21) in The Fellowship Hall. Many of

our newer members came to this meeting, as well as chairpersons of the different ministry areas. I will be

the first to say the presentation was disjointed. Perhaps the media got in the way of the message. The

objective of the meeting was an attempt to answer the question, “Why is the church in existence in the first

place"?

The church exists so that . . . .

Everyone realizes that he or she is important to God. “There will be more joy in heaven over one

sinner who repents – who changes his ways – than over the ninety-nine righteous persons who need

no repentance.” Luke 15:7

Everyone knows all of us are included in God’s family. “The believers with Paul were astounded

that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles” (Cornelius, a Roman

captain and his family were the Gentiles, the so-called foreigners, who were then baptized by Paul).

Acts 11:45

Everyone learns about God. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing

of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and

perfect.” Romans 12:2

Everyone has something to do. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are

varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God

who activates all of them everyone. To each is given the presence of the Spirit for the good of

everyone.” I Corinthians 12:4-7

The Western North Carolina Conference keeps statistics on approximately 1,000 churches which are

located from the western side of Burlington, NC (draw a North-South line through the state) to Murphy,

NC. Here are some statistics for Milford Hills which have been averaged for the last twenty years (1992 –

2012):

Professions of Faith Total Members Weekly Worship Attendance

5 444 217

“Professions of Faith” are the most telling vital statistic of any church. How many people are making a

first-time commitment to Jesus Christ? The highest number of “Total Members” for Milford Hills was in

1975 at 669. Membership in the past eight years has been closer to 400. “Weekly Worship Attendance”

was at its highest at 269 in 1998. In 2012, weekly worship attendance was at 195. 65% of the people in

Rowan County do not have a church home.

Why does the church exist? Because The Church is God’s house for everyone.

Page 3 The Messenger

Youth Group News

Weekly Youth Meetings

The Youth group meets on Sundays

at 5:00 pm

The Friendly Neighborhood Club will meet

Monday, May 13th, at 11:30 am at K&W

Cafeteria.

Manie Richardson

Club President for May

704-637-0163

Mission Opportunities

Rowan One Church One Child

“ROCOC” located at Main Street UMC

1312 North Main Street

Assistance Center Schedule

for May

Open Mondays and Thursdays from

9 am -11 am and 1:30 pm – 4 pm

Closed on Thursday, May 2nd

To Volunteer: Please call Rev. Jon Hunter,

“One Church One Child” Coordinator,

at 704-216-7914.

Duties: Volunteers are needed to sort and hang

clothing and other items, and to assist clients.

Sunday May 5th: 5:00 Cinco De Mayo Event

Sunday May 12th: No regular meeting: Enjoy time with your Mother

Sunday May 19th: End of the Year Celebration

Regular Youth Group will resume in the Fall

Mark Your Calendar for Summer Youth Group Events:

Sunday, July 21st - Saturday, July 27th: Summer Mission Trip: Hurricane Sandy Relief, NJ

2013 SpiritUS Weekend: Saturday August 3rd- Monday August 5th : Fort Caswell Beach

VBS Week: Youth Counselor Opportunities - August 5th—August 9th

Page 4 The Messenger

Loaves and Fishes

Update for May:

Our goal for 2013 is 3000 pounds. So far, 2280

pounds of food have been delivered to Rowan

Helping Ministries.

Confirmation Class 2013

The members of the Confirmation Class will be

joining the church on May 19th. Please pray for each

of the confirmands and their mentors:

Will Anthony – Rob Beecham

Ato Brush – Bill Burgin

Joojo Brush – Gene Clary

Sam Combs - Gary Emerson

Elizabeth Medina – Barbara Link

Jacob Mohammad – Dennis Hinz

Jake Pryor – Bob Hundley

Katie Pryor – Melissa Shue

Leaders of the class are Sandy Combs, Betty Jo

Hardy, and Linda Tutterow.

The Confirmands enjoyed a great weekend at Lake

Junaluska on their retreat, Confirm '13. Below is a

picture of the whole group at the end of the

event.

“The Fire Pit”

The idea for the construction of the new Fire

Pit came from the members of the 2013

Confirmation Class. The confirmands are:

Will Anthony, Ato Brush, Joojo Brush, Sam

Combs, Elizabeth Medina, Jacob Mohammad,

Jake Pryor, and Katie Pryor. The Fire Pit is

located next to the Picnic Shelter.

We celebrate the construction of the Fire

Pit which was finished on April 22nd. The

builders were: Will Anthony, Ato Brush,

Joojo Brush, and Jacob Mohammad

(confirmands); Butch Clements, Craig

Emerson, Gary Emerson, Tom Fisher, Bob

Hundley, Willie Kirkpatrick, Daryl Presson,

and Gary Yeater (The Monday Morning

Team); and Bill Burgin (Fire Pit designer).

This was an impressive, group effort.

Thank you all for making this possible!

Dear Ladies of Milford Hills,

I just want to thank each and

everyone of you for making our

card/board game party a success!

It was a success because of YOU!

Whether you sold tickets, brought food,

decorated, advertised, made the signs, served

food, collected money, and/or cleaned up the

fellowship hall after the party—Thank You!

A big shout out goes to Sarah Presson for

making and donating the quilt; Mary Kesler for

donating the quilted wall hanging; and last, but

not least...a shout out to Jack Cooke for making

and donating those beautiful flower pens.

Passing on the Peace of Christ to you. Jane Cooper

Dear Milford Hills Church,

Our family enjoyed living in the Church's house on Larch Road so much. Thank you very much

for all you did, and to Mike Williams for all his

help. We appreciate all the groceries you bought

us, we enjoyed and used all of them.

Kindest regards,

The Chris Jones family

(Chris, Meredith, Jackson,

and Charlotte)

The Messenger Page 5

The Milford Hills UMC Church Family extends

sympathy to Andrea Mohammad and her family

on the death of her aunt, Yvonne Raynor; and to

Sid and Belinda Harvey on the death of Belinda's

mother, Betty Smith. And to Rev. Jon Hunter on

the death of his mother, June Hunter. Our

prayers are with you all.

In Sympathy

"Hope is always available to

us. When we feel defeated,

we need only take a deep

breath and say, 'Yes,' and

hope will reappear."

Monroe Forester

"If we were logical, the

future would be bleak

indeed. But we are more

than logical. We are human

beings, and we have faith,

and we have hope."

Jacques Cousteau

Special Giving in April

Poor Man’s Supper: $322.00

Native American Ministries: $73.00

Clara Biswas' Street Ministry in Cambodia:

$35.00

Youth Yard Sale: $1,420.62

Mark your Calendars for

Sunday, June 2nd

The UMMen of Milford Hills

is sponsoring our 2nd annual Ice Cream Social.

Bring your deserts and Homemade Ice Cream.

Come out and enjoy the friendship of Milford

Hills.

Time: 3:30 to 5:30 pm.

Where: At the Picnic Shelter

(Weather permitting)

Milford the Bear Ministry On Sunday, April 21st, The

Gathering Room was dedicated as

"The Dot and Quillman Wood

Gathering Room." This all began

with a proposal by Renda Barrier,

and unanimous approval by the

Trustees and the Church Council.

Thanks to the work crew that

removed and painted the walls

and placed the pictures: Gary

Emerson, Tom Fisher, Bob

Hundley, Daryl Presson, and Gary

Yeater. Also thanks to Dennis

Hinz for painting, to Ed James for

the design and picture hanging;

and to Dick Polson for taking care

of all the new frames for the

pastors' pictures.

Many thanks for all your hard work.

Corrections or changes to

Directory:

Keith Knight and Sarah Chambers:

Cell numbers are switched.

Mark and Melissa Shue:

The cell number is Melissa's, not

Mark's.

Some of you have been asking for

Drake Burlingham's address.

(Drake is Wanda Barringer's

grandson)

PFC Burlingham, Drake

C Company 3st. ENBN

741 Iowa Ave.

Ft. Leonard, Wood, MO 65473-

8963 On the back of the envelope,

please place the number "3" in a

circle.

New addresses:

Mitch Reinheardt

25 Highland Park Village

Suite 100-278

Dallas, TX 75205

Monica Dillon 1901 Wellington Hills Circle

Salisbury, NC 28147

704-640-8148

[email protected]

Margaret Wansley 704-433-3231

From the Church Office

Page 8 The Messenger

United Methodist Women

May Friendship Banquet—May

6, 6:30 pm—Fellowship Hall —

Tickets $11.00 each

Spiritual Growth at Lake

Junaluska, June 14-15

Thirty of our women will be

attending this retreat. Please

keep them in your prayers for

safe travel and a wonderful

experience.

Mission u, (formerly School of

Christian Mission), July 18-21, at

Pfeiffer University.

Registration for Mission u begins:

May 1st. Deadline is June 25th.

There are registration forms

outside the Church Office and

also in this newsletter on page 7.

United Methodist Women

Annual Meeting at Lake

Junaluska, September 6th-8th.

The next UMW Leadership Team

meeting will be held Sunday, May

19th, at 4:00 pm.

If you would like to learn more

about any of these events, please

call Diane James at 704-636-1007.

3

The Dot and Quillman Wood Gathering Room

Those who have lost loved ones:

Rev. Jon Hunter on the death of his

mother, June Hunter, on April 24th.

Nursing and Retirement Homes:

Ruth Conner, Fred Cristman, Shafer

Eller, Idella Hall, Daniel Harrison,

Ivy Krohn, Hazel Lester, Neil &

Loretta McKinney, Lib Miller, Mary

Neff, Martina Stonehouse, and Nancy

Stout.

At Home: Irene Barbee, J. L. and

Dot Eller, Anna Green, Danny

Hudson, Ada Isphording, Marie Pugh,

Donna Wagoner, and Melinda

Weatherford.

Others: Tyler—Darlene Abrams,

Sam & Joyce Allen, Edith Beasley,

Linda Beck, Cindy Bernhardt, Snooky

Bernhardt, Al & Joyce Brown, Jeremy

& Heather Burgin, Eleanor Burton,

Dennis Butler, Stan Champion, Sue

Charles, Hazel Clary, Wayne Cline,

Jeanette Combs, Hoy & Betty

Correll, Doc & Estelle Cranfill, Susan

Dean, Kenny & Cathy Dietz, Tammy

Dry, Don & Kat Fisher, Rita Fisher,

Dwight Floyd, Janie Foster, Kerry

Gardner, Lowe & Kelly Garner,

Shirley & Mary Rose Glover, Joe &

Anna Green, Steve Haines, Peggy

Harris, Lib Haywood, Peggy

Honbarrier, and the Rev. Jon Hunter

family.

Ronnie & Nancy Kluttz, John

Kriminger, Pete Ladd, Ray & Sylvia

Lail, Barbara Lamanna, Jimmy

Leveille, Gavin Littleton & family,

Evelyn Loflin, Linda Marshall, Llib &

Lorac Matthews, Sabra Mills, Molly

Miniea, Qasim Mohammad, Helen

Morgan, Lawrence & Sybil Niblock ;

Mary, Kaitlyn & Bradley Nobles; Tony

Nobles; Nan Overman, Mary Penley,

Irma Presson, Katie Pryor, Kim

Pryor, Jane Ruhlman, Vivian Selby,

Ned Shoaf, Luanne Sides, Jim & Liz

Slate, Landon Spry, Steve & Ann

Surratt, Angel Thompson, Harry

Waddell, Hunter Waddell, and Larry

Wagoner.

You can give without loving, but you

cannot love without giving.

—Amy Carmichael

2013 Budget: $318,200.00

March 31: $6,886.18

April 7: $7,028.75

April 14: $4,101.07

April 21: $3,722.37

April 28: $6,790.77

Total Offerings for

January-April:

$96,445.13

Needed to Date:

$104,023.00 The current Mortgage Balance

for the New Education & Office

Building is $425,340.73.

Page 9 The Messenger

May

Worship

Leaders

Children’s

Message

11:00

Acolytes

8:30—Tate & Sierra

Green

11:00

Scripture Readers

8:30 11:00

May 5 June Hundley Cora Stubbins Bob Lippard Cyndi Atwell

May 12 Liz Slate Madelyn Cooper Reba Branham Suzannah Callahan

May 19 Doris Plummer Tommy Stubbins Reba Branham Suzannah Callahan

May 26 Corinne Mault Dylan Connolly Kyle Huffman Robin Carson

Prayers of the People Our Financial Stewardship

Head Ushers for May: 8:30 AM John Heath - 11:00 AM Willie Kirkpatrick

Trustee for May: Joe Barringer

Page 8

May Anniversaries

4—Larry & Judy Drye—50 years

7—Andy & Mehrak Scism—2 years

8—Steve & Sandy Combs—20 years

10—Ed & Kathryn Dews—10 years

10—Jeff & Mandy Redfern—16 years

13—Harold & Agatha Brush—14 years

14—Robert & Sandra Cobb—46 years

15—Emil & Jennifer Cekada—3 years

16—David & Ann Shaver—15 years

17—Ivan & Jan Dyrholm—44 years

19—Gene & Sue Clary—39 years

20—Kirk & Danita Beatty—24 years

20—Mark & Melissa Shue—24 years

25—Sam & Joyce Allen—66 years

26—Bill & Becky Burgin—40 years

26—Sid & Belinda Harvey—34 years

26—Jim & Natalie Murphy—23 years

31—Chris & Missy James—16 years

If the date of your birthday or anniver-

sary is incorrect or has been omitted,

please call the Church Office at 704-636-

0471. Thank you.

- Linda Tutterow

1 Barry Cummings, Doug Jones, & David Mayo

2 Simon Connolly & Madelyn Cooper

3 Ann Surratt

4

5

6

7 Vicky Jordan & Cindy Williams

8 Kathy Rimmer

9

10

11 Kelly Burdeau

12 April Sides, James Sifford

13 Rob Beecham, David Shaver, & Matthew Shoaf

14 Bobby Hundley

15 Tony Klein

16 Vince Connolly

17

18 Tate Green

19 Grant Beatty & Lola Wilhelm

20 Cathy Gusa

21 Nancy Stout

22 Jayne Hubbard

23 John Kriminger

24 Mary Beth Burris, Marlee Murphy, Ester Peoples,

& Mike White

25 Anne Dockins

26 Thomas Blume

27 Mary Burgess

28

29

30

31 Kaye Allen, Diane James, Natalie Murphy, &

Laura Preslar

The Messenger

Grace

"The grace of God means something like:

here is your life. You might never have been,

but you are because the party wouldn't have

been complete without you."

- Frederick Buechner

May Birthdays

The Nursery is provided during both Sunday morning

worship services and the Sunday School hour.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion will be celebrated

on Sunday, May 5th.

MILFORD HILLS

UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 1630 STATESVILLE BLVD.

SALISBURY, NC 28144-2250

LOVE, SERVE, AND LIVE AS CHRIST.

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Milford Hills United Methodist Church

1630 Statesville Blvd.

Salisbury, NC 28144-2250

704.636.0471

704.636.0304 (Fax)

[email protected]

www.milfordhillsmethodist.net

MINISTRY LEADERS AND

CHURCH STAFF

WORSHIP AT MILFORD HILLS

Worship……………………….8:30 am

Sunday School…………………9:45 am

Worship…………………….. 11:00 am

Nursery Coordinator……………………..Reba Adkins

Youth Coordinator…………………….Natalie Murphy

Seniors Coordinator…………………………Earl Sides

Sunday School Superintendent…………Betty Jo Hardy

Administrative Assistant……Linda Tutterow (ext. 221)

Director of the Bell Choir……………… Becky Burgin

Organist and Pianist……………………Doris Plummer

Director of Music…………………… Helen Emerson

Pastor…………………………Steve Combs (ext. 222)