Summer Hiatus
The Monday Ladies Bible Study will be taking a break for the summer. The ladies will not meet again until September 9th. The United Methodist Men will not be meeting in June, July or August. The men will next meet on the first Tuesday in September (9/3/2019). We will meet in the library at 6:00 PM just prior to Trustees meeting on that same night. As an incentive, pizza will be served.
Prayer Shawl Ministry
We are in the process of reviving the Prayer Shawl Ministry at RUMC. Whether they are called Prayer Shawls, Comfort Shawls, Peace Shawls, or Mantles, the shawl maker begins with prayers and blessings for the recipient. Shawls can be crocheted, quilted, woven, or machine knitted. Prayerful intentions are continued throughout the creation of the shawl. Upon completion, a final blessing by the entire RUMC congregation is offered before the shawl is sent on its way. Shawl blessings ripple from person-to-person, with both the giver and receiver feeling the unconditional embrace of a sheltering, mothering God!
Shawls can be used for: undergoing medical procedures; as a comfort after a loss or in times of stress; during bereavement; prayer or meditation; commitment or marriage ceremonies; birthing, nursing a baby; as a bridal shower or wedding gift … there are endless possibilities. Speak to Bev Plett to see how you can become involved with this church ministry.
Prayer and Connect Cards
If you or someone you know needs prayer, please fill out the yellow Prayer and Connect Card located on the back of each pew. These cards are passed along to the Prayer Warriors of RUMC. Our Prayer Warriors meet every Sunday in Room #8 immediately after the service for 15 minutes of prayer. It is their honor to pray for you and your concerns.
Also, Prayer and Connect Cards can be used if you want the church to know that you are interested in becoming a member, or if you would like to receive more information about our church
If you would like to be added to our church directory, included in our church email blasts, or have your birthday and anniversary included in our monthly newsletter, please complete a Prayer and Connect Card and include in the Sunday offering plate. You can also visit the church office on most business day mornings, or you can contact us by phone or email.
8002 U. S. Highway 301 South, Riverview, FL 33578 813-677-5995
Normal Weekly Recurring
Events at RUMC
(Call the church office at 677-5995 for more information about these or other events sponsored by the church.)
SUNDAY
8:00 AM Early Worship Service--Fellowship Hall
9:00 AM Sunday School for All Ages
9:00 AM Children's Choir
10:00 AM Refreshments & Relationships
10:30 AM Worship Service
11:45 AM Prayer Warriors--Rm 8
12:00 PM Hispanic Congregation Service
5:00 PM Adult Praise Band
6:00 PM Youth Band Rehearsal
7:00 PM R.U.S.H. Youth Group—Youth Building
MONDAY
7:00-9:30 PM Southern Company Chorus Rehearsal —Fellowship Hall
7:00 PM Cub Scouts Meet--Classrooms
TUESDAY
10:00 AM RESTORE Food Bank and Thrift Store Open*
6:30 PM Boy Scout Troop #83—Fellowship Hall
WEDNESDAY
6:30-7:30 AM AA Meeting—Rm 8
6:00 PM Fellowship Supper—Fellowship Hall
6:45 PM Children & Youth Activities
6:45 PM Hispanic Church Bible Study —Fellowship Hall
7:00 PM Ladies Bible Study—Rm 6
THURSDAY
6:30-7:30 AM AA Meeting—Rm 8
10:00 AM RESTORE Food Bank and Thrift Store Open*
6:30 PM Chancel Choir Rehearsal
FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
9:00 AM RUMC Book Club, 9720 Lorrayne Avenue, Riverview
11:30 AM--12:30 PM Metropolitan Ministry Free Lunch Program, Fellowship Hall
*RESTORE is an equal opportunity provider and is open to the public.
Feeding Tampa at the
Trinity Café
There is something biblical about serving a meal to the homeless and downtrodden or sitting with them to converse while they are having a meal. Several churches in the greater Tampa area regularly participate in Trinity Café, a ministry of Feeding Tampa Bay. Those who need a hot meal can come any day of the week to be served restaurant-style and socialize with the volunteers. This ministry blesses all involved.
Think Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” Those volunteering for Trinity Café say it goes way beyond that. They, too, receive blessings for their ministry with those seeking a hot meal.
“It fulfills a need of ours, but we get to help some people, too,” said Chuck Rine, a volunteer coordinator for St. James United Methodist Church, which has about 40 volunteers who regularly take turns at Trinity.
“I find it rewarding,” said Pam Devoid of Temple Terrace United Methodist Church. “My time is very valuable. My husband and I still work, and if I don’t feel like I’m making a difference, I don’t put my time in to it.” She and her husband Pat are more than happy to put their time in at Trinity Café, she said. They coordinate the volunteers for Temple Terrace UMC.
“We take volunteers over to help serve a couple of times a month, typically,” Devoid said. “They do serve for lunch or breakfast.”
There are multiple positions – serving, hosting a table, preparing drinks and table settings, etc. To learn more about volunteer opportunities at the Trinity Café go to this page.
Emerging School-Church Partnerships in Florida
Mosaic Palm Bay Church, a new church planted in an area with a high homeless rate and hungry families, didn’t have to look far to find a school in need. Port Malabar Elementary School, a Title I school where the majority of students are eligible for free or reduced lunches, is located just down the street from the church.
Look no further than 1 John 3:17 to get inspired for the type of project Mosaic Palm Bay has undertaken: “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?”
Palm Bay is the largest city in Brevard County, with a diverse population. About 65 percent of the population is white, and 30 percent are from the Caribbean or are Hispanic. Many Palm Bay families are struggling. Bishop Ken Carter encourages churches to partner with schools in need, something that touched hearts at the Mosaic church, pastored by Rev. Sean Peters.
Port Malabar Elementary is on the Space Coast south of Melbourne, where the teachers must go above and beyond. They buy many of their classroom supplies due to community poverty and a lack of adequate funding. While the church has not yet reached a level of partnership where it is working directly with students, it is working to let the teachers know that their generosity is appreciated.
“We wanted to get into outreach mission work right away,” Peters said. “We started to do some work with the city in terms of helping with some homeless initiative, and then we started trying to find a Title 1 school nearby.” Church volunteers began in the fall by taking food to the teachers to let them know they were appreciated.
Eva Lanier, a Mosaic Palm Bay volunteer said “We try to remove some of that burden for the teachers, so they are not dipping out of their own pockets quite as much. We ask them what they need. We just try to meet those needs as best we can.”
The small church group did a supply drive for the teachers at the beginning of the year and recently held an appreciation lunch. They plan to expand the ministry in the next school year.
For more information about church-school partnerships in the Florida Conference go to this link.
New Church Plant at Lowell Women’s Prison
According to Rev. June Edwards, the DS of the North Central District, “We are called to live in our faith and our ministry as Jesus described in Luke 4:16-20: to share the Good News with the poor, relief for captives, recovery of sight for the blind and to set the oppressed free.” In other words, “we are to offer Christ in every place and in every way that we can.”
Bishop Ken Carter and DS Edwards began talking three years ago about starting a United Methodist church inside the Lowell Correctional Institute about 15 miles north of Ocala, Florida. Lowell Women’s Prison houses about 3,000 women, including three on death row. It is the largest female prison populations in the United States.
There are about 35 such prison congregations throughout the U.S., including two Methodist churches based in Iowa and Tennessee. In July, the Florida Conference initiated the third Methodist prison congregation with the appointment of Rev. Kristina (Kris) Schonewolf to serve as pastor at the new church at Lowell.
DS Edwards and Rev. Daniel Jackson, former director of Vital Church Initiatives, worked with Prison Congregations of America (PCA), a consulting group that helps establish congregations in prisons across the United States.
“That facility had been on my mind,” DS Edwards said. “We began to really look at how we could make a connection there.”
Lowell Women’s Prison has had many challenges over the years. Recently, Lowell employees were accused of inappropriate behavior towards inmates, some details of which came out last year in a meeting in Ocala.
Rev. Kris Schonewolf, who most recently served as pastor at Belleview UMC, is vital in maintaining the connection that Edwards and Jackson had established. She will work in tandem with three established chaplains, conducting worship services and scheduling Bible study opportunities. There are many other possible ministries.
“We'll wait and see what they want to do,” Schonewolf said of the inmates. “It's their church.”
Schonewolf also will work to build a base of volunteers from outside Lowell who would attend services inside. They will support the inmates and partner with churches where former inmates could become members after their reentry into society.
Schonewolf, 58, attended Palmer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and has been pastoring for ten years. Her background includes experience with Residents Encounter Christ, a nationwide, inter-denominational Christian jail ministry and her work in a Delaware teen detention center. She said she instantly felt called when she heard about the Lowell opening.
“People need Jesus everywhere,” she said. “But when people are in jail or prison, a lot of them have hit rock bottom and often are more interested or more willing to hear the gospel.”
Schonewolf's official start date was July 1, but her entry was delayed due to the need for an extensive background check. To prepare for the assignment, she took for a three-hour tour, and she also spoke with several pastors, including UMC prison ministers in Ohio and Tennessee. She spoke with the PCA and underwent church-planting training.
Schonewolf transferred to a prison with approximately 3,000 “residents”—as some prison ministries prefer to call inmates—many of whom have little or no means for making monetary donations. So while Schonewolf works at planting and pastoring a church, she will approach financial stewardship like a missionary.
She will hold church services any day but Sunday. That's when she'll be visiting churches from Tallahassee to Key West, preaching, speaking and explaining her ministry. She will ask churches and individuals for donations because building a donor base and leading a self-supporting church is her priority. The role fits. Before she became a pastor, she was in corporate sales.
When Schonewolf visits churches, one of the first questions she may hear is how she'll measure success. Edwards stressed the importance of “effectiveness and transformation” rather than “success.” The inmates' offering will be how God is calling them to use their gifts within that particular body of Christ, Edwards said.
One successful result—above all others—is when justice-involved men and women come to fully understand and embrace their identity in Christ. Another factor is when upon their release they are lovingly received and supported by spiritual mentors, along with a community of non-judging believers who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources to walk with them on their freedom journey.
Schonewolf is seeking invitations from anyone who wants to hear her preach on Sundays or speak to church groups about her church. Send inquiries to pastorkrislci@comcast.net.
Rev. Kris Schonewolf, new UMC pastor at Lowell Correctional Institute.
