Down by the Riverside- RUMC Newsletter
Down by the Riverside
Riverside United Methodist Newsletter
“A Place to Believe, A Place to Belong”
May 2012
One of the things about this area I will miss the most is the Chrysler Museum of Art in downtown Norfolk. It is
an incredible museum, with a great variety of art work, and it’s free! When I would make visits at Norfolk
General, or on my days off, I would occasionally stop in to spend some time reflecting on the artwork. At
times I would take a notebook with me and sketch things or make notes about what I saw or how it made me
feel.
On one trip I encountered a carved ivory tusk from Africa. It was
carved in a spiral pattern, which suggests a journey…but upon
closer look the spiral is actually a snake. Was the artist trying to
say how we all walk in sin? Perhaps, but I think he was trying to
say even more. The carvings represent a variety of people:
African peasants; European soldiers and merchants; some men
carrying another (helping a sick friend, or selling him into
slavery?); even a bishop. Then in the midst of this broad swath
of humanity is Jesus, arms outstretched as on the cross, wounds
on his body.
At this point, you would think the story in the carving would
change, but it seems the sin continues: slave trade, servitude,
war. Why? It might be a suggestion that we too often fail to
allow Jesus to really change us—to change our behaviors, our
journeys, our goals. Yet it is also a message of God’s grace, that
the wounded Christ takes his place among sinners, that God
inserts himself into our world and our lives. Make it a goal this
month to take some time to notice where Christ is at work in
your life, and then ask yourself, “How should my life change
because Jesus is present here?”
Peace in Christ,
Shawn
May Stewards
Communion Elements:
Service
May Ann Twiddy
Liturgist
Service
May
8:45
Mike Barkley
11:00
Debbie Ball
Acolytes
Service 8:45 11:00
May 6th Kara Yost Elena Blackwelder
May 13th Will Chappell Emily Willis
May 20th Wilson Wysor Abby Furst
May 27th Jared Chappell Aesia Haley
Children’s Moments
Service 8:45 11:00
May 6th Christ Quance Christi Quance
May 13th Todd/Paulette Wagner Kathy Hurff
May 20th Cheryl Blackwelder Cheryl Blackwelder
May 27th Jerry/Joyce Whedbee OPEN
Nursery
Service 8:45 11:00
May 6th Joyce Whedbee OPEN
May 13th Dena Hale OPEN
May 20th OPEN Angie Willis
May 27th OPEN OPEN
Flowers
Service
May 6th Frances Shannonhouse
May 13th OPEN
May 20th OPEN
May 27th Karen Mathews, Margie Twiford & Emily Furst
Mission: Hungry Souls (every 2nd & 4th Friday)
May 11th Butch Yost’s team May 25th Christi Quance’s team
Birthday Cakes for the June (May 27th) Birthday: TBD
Planned Riverside Committee
Finance Committee
Sunday, May 6th 6:00 pm
Church Council
Sunday, May 6th 7:00 pm
Planned Riverside Ministries
Agapé Circle, Ministry leader: Joy Johnson. May meeting will be held on Saturday, May 5th
at Anne Gaddys place at the beach. Please meet at the church parking lot to car-pool.
We will leave the church parking lot at 10:00 a.m. and gather for lunch at Sam and Omies
Restaurant, 7228 S. Virginia Dare Trail (at the south end of the old beach road).
The group will then go to Anne’s place for our meeting. After the meeting you may enjoy
walking on the beach or shopping before you travel home.
June meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 7th at the home of Sandy Terryberry.
All women of Riverside are cordially invited to attend these meetings. Join in the fellowship
and friendship as we plan and work for the Riverside Church.
Circle #2, Ministry leader: Cindy Rapp. Circle 2 will be held in the fellowship hall at 11 AM on
May 14th. All women of the church are invited to join us.
United Methodist Women, Ministry leader: Cathy Gibbs. Next meeting will be in May 31st.
United Methodist Men, Ministry leader: Rick Gibbs. The United Methodist Men will meet for
breakfast on Sunday, May 20th 2012, at 7:30 am in the church Fellowship Hall. We welcome
all men from Riverside to attend.
Important!
From the trustees Anyone or group using the building is asked to lock doors that you unlock or if you’re the
last one out of the building please make sure the doors are locked. Doors have been found unlocked a couple
of times in the last month & in one case a man was found inside the church. There have been several cases of
churches in the Tidewater area being vandalized & we don’t this to happen at Riverside. I repeat please lock
doors when you leave! Thank you, Mike Barkley
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)
From Chicken Corner, Thomas Phelps
Cluck‐Cluck‐Cluck it’s Chicken Time
Friday afternoon 11 MAY 2012 ‐ 3:00 PM ‐ We will meet at the church to cut cakes and wrap bread rolls in
addition to gathering up materials for Saturdays Spring event of Chicken,
Saturday 12 MAY 2012 Dog Corner is the BIG Day of Barbeque Chicken dinner. ”ALL ARE INVITED”.
If you are new to Riverside or haven’t joined us before, please plan to come. Gather throughout the day to
enjoy the spirit and fellowship. I hope you will plan to join us. Thanks be to God.
Thomas Phelps
Set your calendars for Riverside upcoming events for 2012:
⇒ Homespun Marketplace scheduled for Saturday, October 6th. A “new fandangle” bazaar type event.
Be thinking crafty and artsy. More information will be coming in the weeks ahead. Christi Quance
Happy Birthday to. .
May
1st Elizabeth Goodman
3rd Volanda Watts
4th Becky Phelps
5th Jeremy Hayden
7th Shannon Elliott
8th Dana Boslau
Lori Manning
Jerry Whedbee
10th Nicole White
Chris Winkelman
11th Ken Swartz
12th Thomas Phelps
15th Anna Marie Herring
Sandy Tillett
18th Alaina Martineau
21st Lisa Creef‐Yost
27th Charlie Christman
Martha Goodman
Bonnie Swartz
28th John Gerig
Ed Klett
29th Quinten Manning
30th Sissy Colson
Archer Farmer
Debbie Freeman
Polly Lovell
31st Rosa Williams
June
1st Sophia Creasy
2nd Rita Smithson
5th Ed Hurff
6th Suzi Hoppes
8th Jane Aguiar
Matt Elliott
10th Mary Jo Windley
12th Jake Willis
13th Ann Ashmore
18th Ben Gerig
19th Karen Simmons
21st Janet Barkley
Ryan Sheffield
23rd Nita Ward
26th Ann Godfrey
Ann Twiddy
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching
more and more people may cause thanksgiving
to overflow to the glory of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:15 (NIV)
The goal for every Christian is to reflect Christ’s love and follow his
example by taking simple walks across rooms‐‐‐leaving our circles of
comfort and extending hands of care, compassion, and inclusiveness to
people living far from God.
Hybels encourages Christ‐followers to ‘live in 3‐D’‐‐‐developing
friendships, discovering stories, and discerning appropriate next steps‐‐‐as a
means of learning to understand the Spirit’s promptings. With fresh
perspectives from his own reflections and experiences collected during his
most recent decade of ministry. Hybels shows with undeniable clarity the
power of this approach to evangelism.
The stakes are high. The implications are eternal. And you may be only a
conversation away from having unparalleled impact on someone’s life‐‐‐if
you will just walk across the room.
Keeping our loved ones in prayer
Anderson, Velma & Tyson
Andreus, Frank
Ball, Debbie
Barkley, Kirk & family
Blythe, Sam
Bohr, Marge
Boyce, Trey
Burgess, Aubrey
Buss, Rue
Byrne, Murph & family
Byrum, Talmadge
Carmean, Russ
Chesnut, Morgan
Coleson, Joanne
Conaway, Jennifer
Copenhaver, Wilma
Creef‐Yost, Lisa
Curtis, Jim & Tommie Sue
Darbonne, Ann
Denning, Trace
Dillon, Brenda
Euell, Ryan
Forbes, Rusty
Freeman, Gordon
Furst, Emily
Giron, Stephanie
Godfrey, Allen
Haley, Ryan & Maxton
Hall, Randall
Harnett, Bob
Harris, Jennifer
Harris, Miles & Jenny
Hinely, James
Hogan, Nora
Hughes, Elzora
Jeffries, Bob
Kuse, Bill & Joann
Lawhead, Sandra
Layden, Marie
Lovell, Polly
Mathews, Wendy
Matthews,Dave
Matthews, Janice
Meads, Selvie
Miller, Edwin
Miller, Rowena
Misewicz, Chloie
Moseley, Zeb
Mullis, Raeford & Eupha
Podany, Nikki & family
Powers, Alex & Liam
Richards, WD
Rogerson, Thomas
Schmacher, Coda
Scopeletti, Fran
Shackelford, Tanya
Smith, Ann
Smith, Lena
Smith, Nikki
Steve (Lisa Gerig’s brother)
Swartz, Bonnie
Tanner, June
Teer, Patsy
Thompson, Blake
Trihy, Bob (job)
Varece, Ed
Vessey, Lucille & Jim
Vessey, Sharon
Wagner, Taylor
Walker, Ivan
Wann, Brittany
Ward, Nita & family
Weis, Shirley
Williams, Jamie
Winslow, Lacey
Winslow, Paul
Wood, Philip
Workman, Betty
Wright, Kyle
Our Shut‐ins:
Creasy, Sophie
Hooper, Ebbie
Hooper, Mae
Kuse, Joann
Richardson, Clarine
Families of:
Cuthrell, Charles
Evans, Leslie “Buddy”
Active Duty:
Armstrong, Katherine
Ashmore, Christopher
Banks, Karl
Christman, Cory
Dahl, Greg
Gibbs, Jason
Henson, Nolan
Herring, Matt
Jeffcoat, Rachael
Johnson, Whitley
Landrum, Trey
Moore, Larry
Needham, Preston
Pentecost, Brian
Robards, Caleb
Sheffield, James
Smith, Shawn
Trueblood, John
Whitener, Cody
Also be in prayer for: Ministerial Transition, General Conference
Homeless/Hungry
Military personnel
Missionaries
One another health
Ones facing hardship
Unemployed
Unspoken requests
Veteran
Safe Sanctuaries is not just a program or a
set of policies or procedures; it is ministry,
and it is best explained by simply looking at
the meaning of the words. According to the
dictionary, “safe” means free from arm,
injury, r risk; nto ched r unthreatened
by danger or injury; unharmed; nhurt;
secure; whole; as, safe from disease; safe
from storms; safe from foes. “Sanctuary” is
defined as a house consecrated to the
worship of God; a place where divine service
is performed. In this place where we gather
to worship, part of our divine service (our
service FOR God and TO God) is to make sure that all are free from harm. In fact, the first rule
of Methodist societies was “doing no harm.” So, because of our love for kids, our hospitality
for parents, and our support of volunteers, it is the firm commitment of Riverside United
Methodist Church to ensure that every child is safe under the shadow of our steeple, so that
like Jesus in Luke 2:52, they may “mature in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with
people.” Remember, WE ARE…THE SAFE SANCTUARY!
SAFE
SAFE= free from harm, injury, or risk;
untouched or unthreatened by danger or
injury; unharmed; unhurt; secure; whole;
as, safe from disease; safe from storms;
safe from foes.
SANCTUARY
SANCTUARY=a house consecrated to
the worship of God; a place where divine
service is performed.
If you work with children or youth—or if you plan to—please plan to attend.
SAFE SANCTUARIES TRAINING MAY 22, 2012 7:00pm
I hope and pray everyone heard the Safe Sanctuaries sermon and realize how serious an issue this in our
society today. Can you imagine listening to God’s word in God’s house ? Feeling at peace surrounded by
God’s love when unbeknown to you and your spouse, your young child is being molested in a room below you.
The news media has only brought the public figures to our attention, but it’s more common any anyone of us
wishes to believe. I know, because it happened to one of my niece’s about 12 years ago in New Hampshire. It
changed her parent’s, her older brother and her life forever. She was only 4 years old when it started. She
has come a long ways, but I don’t know that she’s as confident as you would have been if this had not
happened. She’s been protected, sheltered and is very uncomfortable in a crowd, even with family. It’s not
something we talk about, but it is something one never forgets.
May 2012 Calendar ‐ RUMC
Tue May 1
Kindermusik 9:15‐11:30 am
Girl Scouts of America, Fellowship Hall 6:00‐8:30 pm
Thu May 3
Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) 9‐11:30 am
Sat May 5
Agapé Circle, at the beach 10 am
Sun May 6
Children’s Choir 10 am
Finance Committee 6 pm
Church Council 7 pm
Mon May 7
Ladies’ Bible Study, at church 10 am‐12 noon
Ladies’ Bible Study, Quance home 6:30‐8:30 pm
Tue May 8
Kindermusik 9:15‐11:30 am
Wed May 9
Bible Study 7 pm
Thu May 10
Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) 9‐11:30 am
Fri May 11
BBQ dinner preparations 3 pm
Hungry S.O.U.L.S. (Team Yost) 5 pm
Sat May 12
UMM Spring Event ‐ BBQ Chicken dinner
at Dog Corner ALL DAY
Sun May 13
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day Brunch, Fellowship Hall 9:45 am
The Current (grades 6‐12) 12:30 pm
Mon May 14
Ladies’ Bible Study, at church 10 am‐12 noon
Circle #2, Fellowship Hall 11:00 am
Ladies’ Bible Study, Quance home 6:30‐8:30 pm
Tue May 15
Kindermusik 9:15‐11:30 am
Girl Scouts of America, Fellowship Hall 6:00‐8:30 pm
Wed May 16
Bible Study 7 pm
Thu May 17
Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) 9‐11:30 am
Book Discussion, Page After Page Bookstore 5 pm
Sun May 20
United Methodist Men’s Breakfast 7:30 am
Children’s Choir 10 am
Mon May 21
Ladies’ Bible Study, at church 10 am‐12 noon
Food Bank Board, Fellowship Hall 11:30 am
Ladies’ Bible Study, Quance home 6:30‐8:30 pm
Tue May 22
Kindermusik 9:15‐11:30 am
Safe Sanctuary Training 7 pm
Wed May 23
Bible Study 7 pm
Thu May 24
Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) 9‐11:30 am
Fri May 25
Hungry S.O.U.L.S. (Team Quance) 5 pm
Sun May 27
Monthly Celebration – June Birthday’s 9:45 am
The Current (grades 6‐12) 12:30 pm
Mon May 28
Memorial Day
Tue May 29
Kindermusik 9:15‐11:30 am
Girl Scouts of America, Fellowship Hall 6:00‐8:30 pm
Crime Watch, sanctuary 7 pm
Wed May 30
Sunday School Curriculum Team 6:30 pm
Thu May 31
Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) 9‐11:30 am
United Methodist Women 7 pm
Every Sunday there will be worship services at
8:45 & 11:00am, and Sunday school at 10 am.
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)
No matter what hardship beset our paths, God’s ways are best. He will be your strength and guide.