AUMC NEWSLETTER
Ayden United Methodist Church*PO Box 335, Ayden, NC, 28513
Phone 252-746-6524
_____________________March 16, 2011_________________________
DUST
By Rev. Al Hocutt
I first thought about making the title “Lent: Not the type found in our belly buttons”, but Paula said nope. I wanted something up beat and funny for the Season of Lent. But I settled on “Dust”. The other seasons of the Church calendar are filled with celebrations, joy, peace, excitement, light, food, fellowship, beautiful cantatas and hymns, baptisms, and everything bright and wonderful. The Season of Lent on the other hand, begins with reminding us that we are dust and to dust we will return. Nothing bright and beautiful here! Why is our attitude or understanding of the Season of Lent and Easter so negative?
In the early years of my ministry I would be sad and even depressed during the Season of Lent. I sometimes could not get through a service without tears in my eyes. I would always think about Jesus in prison being mocked, slapped, spit on, beat, and being made fun of while hanging on the cross. Knowing that Jesus did all of this just for me and my sins is very overwhelming because I know I am not worthy of the love of God. I have heard from many congregants that they too feel unworthy. I have to give credit to Duke Divinity School for giving me a new outlook for Lent.
Lent is a time of reflection for our lives. Lent is an expression of God’s love toward us. While we struggle dealing with the thoughts of Jesus dying for us, we are being surrounded by God’s love and the light of Christ. God’s plan for all humanity is salvation and salvation comes to us through the death of Christ; literally the death of God, so we might catch a glimpse of the kingdom of God. Jesus’ death offers to us salvation and eternal life. We are reminded that sin came into the world by one man-Adam, and sin was taken away by one man-Jesus.
The Season of Lent is a time of celebration for us and the Church. Lent prepares us for the celebration of Easter, the triumphant resurrection from the dead by Jesus. I remind you that resurrection from the dead was a common occurrence. The difference is that Jesus was raised from the dead and then ascended into heaven as foretold about the Messiah. Others who were raised from the dead, Lazarus etc., died again and were buried. We do have to come to terms with the darkness, death and the absence of Jesus but we need to remind ourselves of the renewal of life that the Season of Lent and Easter holds for us. Dust we are and dust we shall return, but dust and dirt gives new life to the seeds that are planted in them. Let us grow in this Season of Lent and live out the promise of new life in Christ Jesus!
Pastor Al
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Church Council Meetings
Church Council meetings are held on the second Sunday of each month at 7:00 pm. Theses meetings are open to all church members. Members are encouraged to attend in order to get a better understanding of the workings of our church in accordance with the United Methodist Discipline, and to develop an awareness of the effort that goes into making our church a viable and productive house of worship. Chare Conference meetings, while not held this often, give members of the church an opportunity to vote on committee formations and other church-related actions..
Church Calendar
Ongoing – Pre-school Registration
March 20 – Under Construction Group,
3:00 p.m. (See related article)
March 27 – Revitalization Team Meeting
April 17 – Palm Sunday
April 21 – Holy Thursday Service, 7:00 p.m.
April 22 – Good Friday Service, 7:00 p.m.
April 24 – Sunrise Service, 7:00 a.m.
April 24 – Easter Service, 11:00 a.m. only
May 8 – Mother’s Day
May 30 – Memorial Day, church office closed
June 12 – Pentecost
June?? – Bible School – To be announced
June 16–18 – Annual Conference, Raleigh
June 19 – Father’s Day
July 4 – Independence Day, office closed
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In Memoriam
Our sympathies and concerns go to the families and friends of members of our church family who have passed away since our last newsletter: Edna Stokes, Mac Whitehurst, Djurdjija Bukorovic, and Lou Petty. They will be missed.
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Easter Lilies
Anyone interested in placing a lily in the church on Easter Sunday may do so by contacting Camilla Godwin at 746-6979. She will order the flowers and place them in the sanctuary. The cost to you will be $13.00, with any leftover amounts being donated to the Altar Fund. Only thirty-six orders will be accepted, so call early. Plan to remove your lily after the 11:00 a.m. Easter service.
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New Music Director
We welcome Alison Ponzi who will serve as our new music director. She has over fifteen years’ experience in teaching various forms of music. Her undergraduate work was completed at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. She received her Master’s Degree in music performance, summa cum laude, at East Carolina University. In addition, she has done intensive study at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York.
Most recently, Alison served as early service praise and worship music director at Jarvis United Methodist Church in Greenville, and has served as music minister in two other Pitt County churches. She is currently teaching at the Music Academy of Eastern Carolina in Greenville.
Alison resides in Greenville with her daughter Elizabeth who is a J.H. Rose freshman and talented violinist.
–alan pearce
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Operation Christmas Child
It is never too early to begin thinking about your shoe box for Samaritan’s Purse. If you purchase several things for the box each month, by Fall it will be nearly complete. This will allow you to take advantage of sales when they occur. You will be able to get really good deals on school supplies for your box(es) in July and August.
Last year our church met our goal of eighty-eight boxes. This year we will be looking for at least eighty-nine…but wouldn’t it be wonderful to have over one hundred on Collection Sunday! In 2010 over 8.17 million were shipped around the world, with more than 5.5 million coming from here in the United States.
If you packed a shoe box last year, won’t you consider doing two this year? Or if you did two, maybe you would like to add a third one. If you have never done one, you don’t know the fun you are missing. [ed. note: Sharing the shopping fun with a grandchild is a hoot!] Collection Sunday will be the Sunday preceding Thanksgiving.
If you are just too busy at this point in your life, we do have a solution. Most people spend around $25.00 per box. For a donation in that amount, we have several people who have volunteered to shop and pack your box for you. You can’t beat that!
–camilla godwin
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Methodist Men
Our small but active Ayden United Methodist Men’ group has reached a level of success in their peanut sales endeavor. They have accrued enough profit that they are now capable of funding specific projects for the church. Their first big project is the very noticeable and much appreciated grading and gravelling of the west parking lot. They hope it is the first of many such useful works.
The men would like to broaden their sales area for the peanuts, by placing at wholesale a case (or five or ten) with local merchants who could then set their own prices. They ask for suggestions as to possible retailers, and for volunteers to make the connection and to deliver the cases.
The AUMM also want to promote their group and to encourage many new, active members. They especially encourage younger men in the church to attend and participate as well as all those of more mature ages [ed. How’s that for being politically correct?] who have dropped out or never joined over the years. They meet on the second Thursday of each month and are beginning to add meals prepared by one or more of the members to the evening’s activities. [Wives…this is an excellent opportunity to avoid cooking for one night!]
–derrick moore
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Under Construction Group
Betty Smith will host the Under Construction Group at her home on Sunday afternoon, March 20th, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. This is open to anyone who is interested in participating in any of a variety of crafts, needle work or other related activities: knitting, crocheting, sewing, beading, Chrismons, etc. The main purpose of this first meeting is to set meeting times, plan projects, offer ideas, and have a good time! Bring something you are currently working on, something you have been planning to work on and have just not begun, and any materials you would like to show or share.
–betty smith
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Building Memories at Camp Don Lee
Some of our AUMC members remember going to Camp Don Lee sixty years ago and can still tell you about learning to sail, sleeping on the pier, and singing around a campfire. A few of us returned as camp counselors and recall the experiences of teaching young, impressionable minds about God’s wonderful world of nature and how He can shape our lives.
Camp Don Lee is about finding new friends that share the fun, the adventures, the stories and the challenges. Camp Don Lee is about sharing with others the “secrets” and “wonders.” Camp Don Lee is about really growing closer to God, to others, and to ourselves. Faith formation and Bible studies are an integral part of this growth experience.
Camp Don Lee is FUN! Look at the programs and activities they offer: sailing, canoeing, swimming, kayaking, fishing, crabbing, team- building activities, group sing-a-longs, late-night campfires with s’mores, dances with DJ’s, archery, and arts and crafts, to name but a few.
Camps are available from June 26th to August 6th for elementary, middle and high school ages. They include traditional camps, marine science camps, sailing camps for one, two and three weeks, and adventure camps. Half-week camps for younger elementary ages are also available.
The Ayden UMC has an excellent camping ministry that encourages our youth to have the Camp Don Lee experience. The church provides monetary assistance to all children from our church that choose to go. Please contact the church office for further information.
Applications may be printed, completed, and faxed to Camp Don Lee:
FAX Number – 1-800-661-9908
Telephone – 1-800-535-5475
E-mail address – info@donleecenter.org
Web site – www.donleecenter.org
–andrea norris
Missions Team
This year’s Valentine’s Day Dinner was quite different from past years, and members of the Grifton United Methodist Church also attended. The Wesleyan Group, students from East Carolina University under the leadership of campus minister Scott Wilkerson, prepared the delicious dinner…including decorating, serving, entertaining and cleaning up. This was a fund-raiser for one of the group’s mission trips to help build a Habitat for Humanity house for a burned out family in a poor section of what we mainlanders have always considered a tropical paradise.
Singing, playing the piano and guitar, the sixteen students and their minister entertained the crowd for what many considered a much too short time…”we could have listened for another hour or more!” Our church members in attendance donated a total of $1464.00 to the students’ mission fund. The Grifton members contributed their gifts under their own church name.
Our Missions Team hopes to send a group from our church on a planned mission trip to a more local area in the near future…a group to consist of all ages and areas of expertise. The team welcomes any and all ideas for raising funds for their first mission venture, and also ideas for a destination.
–bobbie brown
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I Met God in the Morning
Poem by Ralph Cushman
when my day was at its best,
And His presence came like sunrise,
like a glory in my breast.
All day long His presence lingered,
all day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
o’er a very troubled sea.
Other ships were blown and battered,
other ships seemed sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them
brought to us a peace and rest.
Then it was that I remembered
with a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings
with His presence left behind.
So I think I know the secret
learned from many a troubled way,
You must meet God in the morning,
if you want Him through the day.
–submitted by jane thiel
Youth Activities
Thanks to parents of some of our youth and to some of the Daily Life Sunday School Class members, plans are now taking shape to revitalize our youth fellowship activities. With scheduled meetings on the first and third Sundays, activities and meals are being lined up. The first meeting included a hotdog supper with all the trimmings provided by the AUMM and their wives. The next meeting will be a trip to the bowling lanes in Greenville, with admission and shoe rental included. The only cost to the young folks will be for any snacks they wish to purchase.
Currently, the ages range from second grade through twelfth. In the near future, the groups will be divided with the younger half meeting first, then joining the older half for a light meal, followed by the older group having their meeting activity. The April 17th activity for both groups will be the annual Easter Egg Hunt.
Volunteers are more than welcome and needed for leading, feeding and/or planning for these special members of our church family.
–tracy stroud
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Easter
Several years ago, I wrote about the extraordinarily early date of Easter (March 23rd in 2008), and that we would never see it on that date again until 2160. Not in our lifetime.
This year, Easter occurs on a date which we have never seen nor will ever see again. It will be on April 24th. That’s pretty late for the holiday to occur. The last time Easter occurred on this date, James Buchanan was President of the United States and the country was edging toward a great Civil War. That was in 1859.
You all know that Easter can occur on the first Sunday on or after the full moon on or after the spring equinox. It can date anywhere between March 22nd and April 25th. The last time it did fall on March 22nd was when our country was very young, in 1818. As recently as 1943, if you can call it “recently,” Easter was on April 25th.
Are there any certain dates on which Easter Sunday occurs the most? In looking at the calendar for the 1900’s, Easter happened five times (the most) on April 12th. Curiously, there were twelve other calendar dates in which Easter occurred four times. Two of these were April Fool’s Day (April 1st) and “settle-up-with-Uncle-Sam-day” (April 15th).
Having fed you all these figures and your mind’s begging for numerical relief, I can happily report that Easter will happen again on April 24th in 2095. I hope our grandchildren and great-grandchildren enjoy it!
–bill norris
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Souper Bowl of Caring
For the eleventh year, our church participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring on February 6th. In 2010 our donations had almost doubled our goal, reaping $1,083.00 for the Ayden Christian Care Center (ACCC). This year our goal was, as always, “just $1.00 more,” but that seemed pretty daunting. We are proud to report that we not only met our goal but received a few dollars more. We donated $1,094.00 to ACCC along with one hundred sixty-seven items of non-perishable food. To date, our church has given ACCC $5,166.00 just by standing at the doors with a soup pot.
–camilla godwin
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Daily Life Sunday School Class
The newly organized Daily Life Sunday School Class is for those interested members of the church who are college-age to forty-something. Tracy Stroud and Derrick Moore, among others, are teaching the class from the book Ordinary People—Extraordinary God…a fifty-two week devotional.
With Tate Stroud leading the way, the class organized and carried out their first Boston-butt pork roast sale in conjunction with the annual spring yard sale. Proceeds benefit the campership program for our youth. To date, the project has raised over $1,100.00 and will be used to pay the registration fees for any of our youth attending Camp Don Lee and to fund camper scholarships for any who may not be able to afford the camp session cost.
–tracy stroud
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Bible Studies
Among our church’s greatest strengths are our varied Bible study groups. Currently in progress are: Tuesdays from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., the Beth Moore series, “Believing in God,” facilitated by Paula Hocutt, and the same study for those who need a Tuesday evening session, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.; Tuesdays with Al, a Lenten series, from 11:00 a.m. to 12;00 noon; and second Sundays at 3:00 p.m., the UMW series, “Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible.”
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Bus Ministry
Thanks in large part to the leadership of Vance Sullivan, our church bus is being put to good use. Please call the church office to add your name to the rider list if you need transportation to any of our church services or other church-related events. In addition to Vance, our other drivers on occasion are Alan Jackson and Stacy Bawtinhimer. We give them a big THANK YOU for helping us to utilize this wonderful resource.
Editor: Page Worthington Associate Editor: Andrea Norris