Congratulations to Our Scouts on a Job Well Done!
We owe a big thank you to a young man named Seth who recently organized and completed an Eagle Project that benefited our church.
Seth's project was the replacement of
the handicap ramp in front of the sanctuary. That ramp was over ten years old, and its walkway was becoming increasingly unsafe.
Seth planned the project, got hardware companies to donate supplies and lumber, and obtained financial support from church members. On Saturday, October 14th, Seth along with other scouts, their parents, and the trustees constructed the ramp in a single day!
The ramp was built with pressure-treated lumber. Once it is weather-proofed it should stand for many years.
Over the years, scouts from our Troop 83 have helped with a number of construction projects and helped us during various workdays. They are an important part of our church, and our scouting program has done much to help boys and young men mature into fine Christians and good citizens.
Noisy Offering Sunday
In addition to being the First Sunday of Advent, this next Sunday, November 29th is the fifth Sunday of the month—a Sunday in which we routinely collect a “noisy offering” for the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise, Florida.
The Florida Children’s Home has taken multiple precautions during this pandemic period to allow them to continue caring for those children and youth who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected. They are asking, as they do before each quarterly fifth Sunday, for donations to help them to continue their work. If you cannot participate in person to our “noisy offering”, you are invited to use our online application to contribute to the Home.
The Home reminds you that the youth in their care struggle with their own traumas, only made more difficult by the pandemic restrictions. Your support to this ministry goes a long way toward providing a space where children don’t have to carry their burdens alone.
8002 U. S. Highway 301 South, Riverview, FL 33578 813-677-5995
Are You Bored?
Are you tired of being cooped up in your home? Run out of Netflix movies to binge? Are puzzles, video games, cooking and craft projects gotten old and stale?
If so, you are in luck, because there are many opportunities to volunteer or help out here at RUMC These jobs are short on pay, but large on personal rewards and fellowship with a community of active Christians. Here are the kinds of jobs we are recruiting at RUMC:
- We have resumed distributing Metropolitan Ministry hot meals on Tuesday mornings. We need servers to put food in takeout containers that we distribute outside the hall. Note: The servers do not come in contact with the public. We are hoping to get enough volunteers, so that everybody can participate once a month. To volunteer, just show up at the Fellowship Hall any Tuesday morning at about 10 AM. (See Connie or Pastor Telcy)
- RESTORE needs drivers to pick-up donated groceries on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. You need to have an SUV, mini-van, or pickup truck to volunteer for this job. To volunteer, see Mike any Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday morning at RESTORE.
- Did you receive a hot apple pie this Spring as part of our Pie on the Porch Ministry? We want to continue this program as long as the pandemic is keeping older folks isolated in their homes. We need bakers and delivery folks. Many of our previous volunteers have returned to work, and we are looking enthusiastic replacement. Again, you can contact Connie if you are interested.
- We are looking for people who can write notes or cards to our absent members to let them know RUMC is still thinking about them. If you can help out, from the comfort and safety of your own home, contact Jennifer in the church office. Or do you have other ideas of way to reach out to our homebound population during this distressing time?
Your Sister in Christ,
Connie Mosley, Lay Leader
Christmas Poinsettias Are Now Available
As is RUMC’s annual custom, we are letting our members order Christmas Poinsettias again this year. Each plant will come in a 6 1/2” pot and will cost $10.00. Order forms are available in the weekly bulletin email or from the church office. Your deadline to order your Poinsettia(s) is Friday, December 11th.
What Is Dinner Church?
Jesus did a lot of ministry around the table, from sitting with the disciples for the Last Supper to sharing a meal with Zacchaeus. He knew that gathering in this way was an opportunity to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Following Jesus’ example, United Methodists are transforming mealtime into a sacred space, one where worship is the entrée.
Christy Wright, a seminary student at the time, remembers the phone call well. Stressed out and wanting to meet new people, she called the pastor of Simple Church, a United Methodist congregation that meets around various dinner tables and extends an online invitation that simply says, “reach out to the pastor to let him know you’ll be there.”
Wright called and asked, “Hey, can I come to dinner tonight?” The reply of, “Absolutely. I’ll set a place for you,” is the reason Wright fell in love with Simple Church and table ministry.
“That idea of having a place set for me, as a stranger, was very comforting,” says Wright, who is now coordinating pastor at Simple Church, an appointment she received when the Simple Church’s founding pastor, moved to another congregation.
Simple Church meets weekly (pre-Covid) and calls itself a dinner church. It invites those who have a “complicated relationship with the church” or “no relationship at all”. It touts no steeple or pews, but a table, where “we’ll set a place for you.”
The weekly dinner/worship service is designed around the meal, with the bread and the wine (which is typically juice or seltzer) as the bookends. A prayer is followed by passing a freshly baked loaf of bread so that all break off a piece. A short sermonette, as it’s called, sets the stage for group conversation, “the digestion of the teaching,” explains Wright. After the meal and discussion end, worship ends with sharing the cup.
“We use it almost as a toast,” Wright explains. “We say, ‘This is the cup of reconciliation and we are grateful.’”
To learn more about how Simple Church does dinner church, go to this link.
The point is that God can make any ordinary meal extraordinary!
