August 2020
the Visitor Our Vision Statement
a publication of Flushing United Methodist Church
Preparing servants who make a difference in their community and the world by knowing Christ, following Christ and sharing Christ.
Church Staff Lead Pastor JJ Mannschreck Office Manager Rose Dessinger Director of Music Christie Dover Christian Ed. Director Melissa Whalen Youth Leader Tramell Ferguson Custodian Marlene Cooper Play Place Director Lisa Luther Play Place Sandy Abueita Sarah Covert Hanna Nettleton Patricia Wisenbaugh
God often speaks into the silence through a gentle whisper or peaceful breeze. Still your body and silence the world around you. What do you hear?
Sunday Worship
8:45 am Traditional Service 11:15 am Contemporary Worship
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Published the last Wednesday of the month (810)659-5172 Editor: Rose Dessinger
413 E Main St, Flushing MI 48433 www.flushingumc.org e-mail: flumc@sbcglobal.net Pastor JJ’s email: pastor@flushingumc.org cell #: (248) 219-8598
As I tried to begin this letter one phrase kept occurring to me, “What can I say?” And of course, because of my deep love of worship music, the lyrics to one of our contemporary songs sprang to my mind. “So what can I say? And what can I do? But offer this heart, Oh God, completely to you” When I am at a loss for words, when things are hard – and have been hard for a LONG time – I remember that the best thing we can do is to offer our hearts, our burdens, our struggles, our losses, our wins, our lives – offer it all completely to God. This has been a tough year – and I guess what I really want to say is first of all - offer it to God. But second, I want to say that I am incredibly proud of this church. In this difficult time, you have done very well. Despite the struggles our little church is buzzing with activity. We have successfully been worshipping IN PERSON with effective social distancing for over two months! What an incredible celebration. Masks have been worn, people sit spaced apart, doors are propped open and Jesus has been worshipped. Not only have we been here in person in a very safe and responsible way, but we have continued to worship digitally as well. Through pre-recorded videos and livestream options – we have worked hard to enable the people of our church to continue to connect their hearts to God through our worship experiences. Beyond Sunday morning we as a church have been volunteering at the soup kitchen every Tuesday afternoon, the Forge (the new Men’s ministry) has begun building their building project, Sunday evenings have been filled with Worship On the Riverfront services, we have organized blood drives, Life Groups (both outdoor in-person AND digitally through ZOOM), and more. We have welcomed new visitors into our midst, and even begun thinking about how to coordinate new baptisms of those who would like to be baptized. Because of your steadfast giving practices, our church has been able to give back more into our community, using financial resources to help our town and
the mission groups our church supports each year. (For example, we gave our entire year’s worth of giving to the Flushing Christian Outreach Center ahead of time because we saw that they needed it, and we plan to give more soon). All of this while installing and upgrading our system to include more cameras (and more camera angles) and upgraded recording software and our new digital sound board. In this difficult season, this church has a lot to be proud of. You are an inspiration, and I am very proud to be a part of this ministry. Of course this summer has been full of difficulties as well. We started out with wonderfully low numbers of new cases in COVID-19 at the beginning of June, but with more relaxed guidelines we have seen higher numbers lately. There is still a possibility that our government will encourage us to close our doors once again. We in the leadership of this church continue to be watchful of the news and we continue to make on-going decisions in this always evolving situation. At this point, because of how well you all have been doing so far with our distancing guidelines – I have decided to continue with in person worship in August. If we can continue to be a place where it is safe to worship in person, then we will continue to do so. However, we are also working very hard to continue improving our digital options and I encourage EVERYONE who is high risk or is in contact with someone in high risk to please worship with us digitally. Because of how well you all have done in these past few months – I’d like to end this letter with a challenge. There is always more to be done. Truth be told I need your help. I can’t reach everyone or do everything myself, but together we can continue our work of being a light into the darkness. There are so many homestay individuals who have not been able to connect with our church. Whether it is because of technical difficulties or medical complications – or a combination of the two, there are still many members of our family we are not effectively reaching. If you have time, take out the directory and give someone a call. Let them know that you care and offer some love and support. Our vision this year is “Rise Up To Raise Up.” If you are looking to get more involved – we could use your help. Despite the struggles I am looking forward to the future, but until then, I’ll see you on Sunday!
Pastor’s Bookshelf
Welcome to my bookshelf! Each month I will discuss a recent book that I’ve finished. *disclaimer; I don’t always have time to sit and read physical books, but I do quite a bit of my reading through audiobooks these days.*
What Is A Girl Worth? By Rachael Denhollander During the months of COVID-19 I have had a bit more time to read through some fantastic works, and so I’d like to recommend two books to you this month.
The first is “What Is A Girl Worth?” by Rachael Denhollander. Rachael was one of the lead survivors who was instrumental in the legal case against Larry Nassar – the Olympic doctor who also served at Michigan State University and was found guilty of abusing over 100 girls over a time period that stretched for almost 20 years. Rachael is an incredibly strong Christian voice whose faith was instrumental in her work in seeking justice from her abuser and a broken system. If you have a chance to “read” this book in the audiobook format, I highly recommend it. The author herself reads the book, and you can hear the emotion and inflection in her voice. It’s a powerful story about the struggles and obstacles of young women attempting to bring a predator to justice. I had no idea what it takes, and how difficult justice can be for those who suffer from abuse, particularly the abuse of a child. Rachael’s story is both heroic and heartbreaking. I walked away in tears and yet hopeful for a brighter future because of the work of women like her. It reaffirmed my resolve to create a space in our church that is safe for our children and all vulnerable persons.
The Color Of Compromise
By Jemar Tisby
The second book is called “The Color Of Compromise” by Jemar Tisby. This book is a historical account of racism and its relationship to the Church in America. He tells a lot of stories that I had never heard before – things that are glossed over in public education. Some of them are very hard to read – but it was eye opening, and I am better for having read this work. Given the prominence of race in our social dialogue in the last few months – I felt this was an appropriate recommendation at this time. Jemar gives a fair and balanced account of history, and does a wonderful job of tying the racial struggle of the last three hundred years to the work of the church. He praises what is praiseworthy, and challenges when it is worth challenging. We have a messy history, and knowing more about it can give us great power to creating a better future. I highly recommend both of these wonderful works – may they help grow your walk with God as they have grown my own.
A Note From Christian Education As the start of a new school year is quickly approaching us, there is an anxious feeling in many of our hearts and minds. For some, parents are sending their babies to school for the first time. Others are concerned about their children's health. Students might be jittery about starting a new school. Teachers are nervous about how the year will look and how they will keep their students, as well as themselves, healthy and happy. We are hearing many healthcare professionals encouraging this return to school, and I trust them. They know this virus better than any of us, as they have worked countless hours fighting it with their patients. Most importantly, as Christians, we know that God has it all under control. He is with us all, guiding us, strengthening us, and loving us unconditionally. We want to show our support and love for our students by doing a "Blessing of the Backpacks" on Sunday, August 30th, during both services. Students of all grades, teachers and administrators are asked to bring their backpacks to church on this Sunday, filled with all of the essential learning tools they will use during the school year, and we will bless the backpacks. We hope our students will be able to attend this special blessing.
We are tentatively planning on a fall rummage sale. We will be following State guidelines for COVID-19 for the sale and will keep you updated on whether or not we plan on proceeding as we get closer to September.
Sunday Worship 8:45 am & 11:15 am
Family Promise Update Our hosting date for August has been cancelled since most churches are not open to hosting at this time. Once enough churches are able to host families again, we will begin the usual rotation of families. Our next host week is scheduled for December 20-27. The 5KWalk/Run FPGC fund raiser annually held in August has been cancelled. The Golf Scramble scheduled for early September, is still on at this time. This will be a good opportunity to support FPGC financially and also enjoy a day of golf with friends. Consider getting a team together or joining in with others. As soon as more information is available it will be shared. Promise for Home Once the families staying with FPGC found housing, FPGC turned its’ focus to preventing evictions with a program to keep families in their homes. They received a HUMI grant (Help Us Move In) that requires matching funds. They are now in the process of raising funds through donations to meet the goal of $13,000. Any amount is appreciated to help prevent families from being evicted. The need is great as there were 200 applications for assistance shortly after the program was available. Consider making a donation. You can donate online through the FPGC website or send a check to FPGC at P.O. Box 4519 Flint, 48504. In the memo of the check indicate HUMI. If you have any questions, call 810-234-9444.
Thank you‌ (Note: Place after Family Promise Article unless they need to go on the last page of the newsletter with other thank you notes) Thank you from Family Promise of Genesee County for the donations totaling $500 to the Covid 19 Emergency Fund Raiser. Your generous donation allowed us to cover expenses not in our budget when we were planning for 2020. We were able to provide for the needs of our families, pay for hotel stays to isolate families and cover increased costs for staff who assumed duties that would normally be done by volunteers at each church. Thank you again for your donation to help end homelessness‌one family at a time and it means the world to us! Tiffani Ferrier, Executive Director and Nicole Hoste-Breslin, Development Director Thank you from Rayshanda and Family I would like to say thank you. My children and I appreciate what the volunteers have done to help my family in our hardship! Thank you to each and everyone. May God bless and keep being a blessing. The Lawrence Family Note: The family stayed at FUMC as our guests in February. They moved into their new home Friday of that week. Through the generous donations of our volunteers, we were able to provide many items to help them set up their kitchen, bathroom, living room and one bedroom.
Endowment The Endowment Committee has funds available for 2020. Grants will be considered if they are for projects or programs that are not included in the church budget. If you have an idea that you could use some money to make it happen, consider applying for a grant from the Endowment Fund. Applications are available in the church office or can be emailed to you. For more information, contact Carolyn at 810-348-0653.
Name Mercedes Finnegan Carol Walker Chris Pritt Kathryn Dover Jim LaBerge Marty Covert Betty Weber Carl Pierce Shaina Marie Wilson Gary Schlicht Karen Florida David Eavy Kristin Basey LillieAyn Smith Sally Krueger Ruth Brown Valerie McCarty Bonnie Wisenbaugh Christie Dover
Date of Birth 1 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 11 11 12 12
Name Meghann Ford Nina Martin Sam Keef Darin Everett Ed Nixon Chloe Buning Gary Whitmire Ellen White Dianne Baker Hale Dorine Miller Jennifer Roman Daren Hawley Floyd Schmitzer Bob Peterson Kris Supernaw Ralph Hammer Lynne Whitmire Ryan Daily
Date of Birth 12 12 13 17 18 19 19 20 21 22 22 24 26 27 27 27 30 31
Finance Snapshot through June 2020 Amount received YTD: $162,314 June: General: $20,929 Capitol: $1,922 2020 Apportionments: $47,397 Paid to date: $23,992 We are STILL 100% current on this years apportionments!
The UMW Reading Program i s s ti l l a b u z z t h i s s u m m e r . Please stop into the Heritage room anytime and find an interesting book to check out or find one of the Response Magazines, new or from a few months ago, which highlights what other UMW units are doing across the country. The Response Magazine includes short and interesting articles also highlighting international programs that the UMW supports with our annual giving. You will be proud that you are part of such a hands-on worldwide ministry!!!
Address Change: Removed (deceased): Knight, Marshall Alexander, Art Alexander, Marjorie Knox, Germain Windle, Mable
UMCOR ANTICIPATES MANY CALLS FOR HELP Hurricane Douglas is heading toward Hawaii. Tropical Storm Hanna is bringing heavy rain to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Tropical Storm Gonzalo is skimming the coast of South America as it makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The 2020 hurricane season is well underway with a record-setting number of early and large storms impacting communities already strained by the coronavirus pandemic. Please help UMCOR respond to the urgent requests it will receive from those in need of relief. You are there when you give to UMCOR. For 80 years, faithful friends such as you have helped people recover from the impact of disasters of all kinds, including storms and pandemics.
To give, write in the memo line of your check: UMCOR US Disaster Response and Recovery - Advance # 901670
Our Church Family
Aware of a concern or joy in our family? Please notify the church, so we can share them with you. Only first names will be published in prayer concerns.
Please remember in your hearts and prayers: + Ariana, recovering from surgery + from a bullet wound in neck + + A daughter who is having mental and drug issues + + Continued prayers for Joe & Mark + + Barry, recovering from back + surgery + Maxine, with health problems + + Lane and Austin recovering + from burns from power line accident + + Jonathan, needing infusions
Tom, with pneumonia Phil, with neck and jaw pain needing answers Cathy, recovering from bladder surgery Continued prayers for Ellen A friend in need of a liver transplant. Liz, having shoulder surgery Uncle Bob, lost wife, also having surgery on neck from fracture A friend, may her heart of stone be turned to flesh (and keep it)
To Friends and family on the loss of members Art & Marjorie Alexander as well as Doug Alexander. To the friends and family on the loss of member Mable Windle. To the friends and family of former FUMC organist David Priestap on the loss of his brother. To Deanna Frye and Jenna Fyre Sholly on the passing of their mother and grandmother Barb Olney.
Congratulations Brooke and Ryan Daily on their new bundle of joy! Benjamin Kade Daily was born July 24th at 6:30pm “Thank you everyone for the prayers. The delivery was safe and I was able to have him naturally with no complications.� - Brooke Daily (via Facebook)
Worship Servants Greeters 8:45 am Aug 2 – Bill & Rose Dessinger Aug 9 – Barry & Cindy Pratt Aug 16 –Bill & Sue Martin Aug 23 –Melissa & Travis Whalen Aug 30 –Jim & Laragene Triplett
Greeters 11:15 am Aug 2 – Tom Lawrence Jeff Welch Aug 9 – Bob Halbedel, Kris Supernaw Aug 16 –Blair & Tracey Booth Aug 23 –Lori & Joe Dorman Aug 30 –Cathy Riley, Beck Stamm
Coffee Hosts 8:45 am Aug 2 – Jim & Liz Fonger Coffee Hosts 11:15 am Aug 9 – Jim & Velma Graham Aug 2 – Kris Burns Aug 16 –Rusty Eavy & Judy Martz Denise Trantham Aug 23 –Bill & Sue Martin Aug 9 – Teresa Casteel Aug 30 –Jerry Todd & Dave Lewis Aug 16 –Marlene Cooper Ushers 8:45 am ** See Note Becky Stamm Aug 2 – John & Marcia Henson Aug 23 –Jim & Melissa Belanger Aug 9 – Harry & Ellen Hulet Aug 30 –Jan & Nick Bodis Aug 16 –Jim & Liz Fonger Ushers 11:15 am ** See Note Aug 23 –Jerry & Carol Dick Aug 2 – Blair & Tracey Booth Aug 30 –Lois Griffin Aug 9 – Tom Lawrence Bruce Hathaway Denise Sands Scripture Readers 8:45 am Aug 16 –Cathy Riley Aug 2 – Dave Lewis Aug 23 – Aug 9 – Carolyn Malaski Aug 30 –Teresa Casteel Aug 16 –Mary Lou Martin Denise Sands Aug 23 –Cathy Metz Aug 30 –Joe Metz
**Due to Covid-19, to ensure proper safe distancing practices we will not be needing ushers for the month of August. There will still be no bulletins or passing of the offertory plates.
Deadline: August 20,2020
July 29, 2020 – Issue #8
the Visitor
FLUSHING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 413 E MAIN ST FLUSHING MI 48433-2029
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