4th

Cass City’s 4th of July Freedom Festival

Friday, July 2
4:00-8:00pm UMW’s Strawberry Festival in the South Pavilion in the village park.
Saturday, July 3
10:30am Festival Parade
8:00pm to Dusk Fireworks Tailgate Party in our parking lot          Progressive

Progressive Class Meeting

Thursday, July 8 at 6:00pm
Potluck at the Mitchells on Wright Road.    Loons

Loons’ Baseball

Tuesday, July 6
7:05pm at Dow Diamond
Contact Connie Schwaderer for sharing rides.  





          Pastor

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! I am excited to be your pastor at Cass City United Methodist Church, and am looking forward to getting to know each of you in the coming days, weeks, months and years.

In this space I will begin to introduce myself. I feel a special affinity with this congregation made up of former E.U.B. and Methodist congregations because I was raised in a church where former E.U.B.’s and Methodists worshipped together even before the national merger. Also, I graduated from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, the only surviving former E.U.B. seminary.

Though my ministry has been in Upper Peninsula churches I grew up in Flint. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University, I worked as an Occupational Therapist for Tuscola County Community Mental Health and at Caro Regional Center. I also did home health care and during those years, I attended Caro UMC.

For two summers I worked for Top-of-the-Thumb Leisure Ministries, many years ago. Because my parents grew up in Owendale and Sebewaing I spent much of my time as a child in those areas. In many ways I feel like I am coming to an area with which I am somewhat familiar.

Though I have been a pastor for 15 years, I am still in awe that God calls me to this awesome privilege and responsibility. I am eager to help people grow in the faith, and an awareness of God’s presence in their lives. With this in mind, I focus on Christian Education and Christian service opportunities, as well as vital worship. To get to know God better, we have to spend time with God and others who follow God. Just as a married couple keeps developing their relationship through the years, we do the same with God.

I want to be there with you in the special times of joy and sorrow, success and failure, high moments and low. Please call me when you have a need, especially when someone is in the hospital or otherwise hurting, or you just want to visit. I enjoy attending events of church members (concerts, plays, sports and games) especially children and youth, so would appreciate knowing when and where such events are taking place. I will be in the stands when the church softball team plays – you won’t want me on the field though! Likewise, I respect the choir too much to sing with them.

Coming to Cass City I also am glad that I will be closer to my sister, niece, and their husbands, as well as the first child of my niece and her husband – who is expected any day! (An hour and a half or so to Flint is so much closer than 7 hours from the U.P.) I also expect to see more of my parents and relatives and the many friends from my days in Caro with whom I hope to re-connect.

Most of all, I look forward, with you, to “‘making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Let’s maintain dialogue of how we can fulfill that purpose together.

In Christ, Pastor Jackie

P.S. It was a joy to have Richard and Judy Wallace surprise me with a brief visit in Gladstone as they journeyed to Wisconsin!         Group     Picnic

Group Highlights

All-Church Welcome Picnic

An All-Church Welcoming Picnic is being planned for Sunday, July 11. Worship will end about 10:30am and since this is a little early for lunch, there will be time for meeting and greeting Rev. Jackie Roe and others while preparations are being made for an early lunch.

Hot dogs, buns, coffee and kool-aid will be provided. Please bring your favorite picnic dish to share, your table service and seating for outdoors. Bring some indoor or outdoor games! And just maybe... on this windy hill... we could have some pretty objects flying high!!    


  DORCAS

Dorcas

Meal statistics for June
Menu: Meatloaf
Total Meals Served: 199
(Guests: 98; Take outs: 75; Helpers: 26)
Deposit: $1,175.00

Menu for Wednesday, July 14: Swiss Steak
Dinner is served right at noon. The family-style meal with dessert and beverage is $6.00. Take-outs and delivery are available by calling 872-4604 on Wednesday morning. If you would like to bring a group, reserved seating is also available by calling ahead.      UMW

United Methodist Women

The United Methodist Women do not have any luncheon meetings planned until the Monday after Labor Day. Be watching your bulletins and emails for the announcement of the annual Mystery Trip.

The group is sponsoring and working the Strawberry Festival in the village park for Cass City’s Freedom Festival weekend. Friday, July 2, the group will serve strawberries over homemade biscuits and/or ice cream! They will be set up in the south pavilion from 4:00pm to 8:00pm. It is a great way to kick-off the celebration! Proceeds to the Building Fund.

The recent Estate/Rummage/Bake Sale brought in about $1600 for the Building Fund.
SALE

Itty Bitty Sale

Most Sundays you will find a table in the fellowship hall with some baked goods, crafts and maybe as the summer gardens start, some veggies, fruits, plants or flowers.
Some of you like making crafty things but really don’t have a use for them or room to store them. This would be a good way to help keep your crafting a viable activity for you and a great resource for the church as the funds produced from their sale would go to the general fund. Others of you may like to bake and share your goodies. Some of you don’t bake but like scrumptious goodies! Or others can no longer tend a garden, but would love some homegrown produce or flowers. You may be away when your donations are needed for other events, but when you are here an extra loaf of home-made or home-baked bread or rolls would be a welcomed treat for someone.
To participate is simple! Just bring your items with you on any Sunday morning and put them on a table in the hall. Following worship, stop in the hall to see what is there that tweaks your fancy and put your donation in the basket!

Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?
                                                                       –Thomas Jefferson
  Scholarship                                                              Newsletter Newsletter Communication Resources, Canton, OH July 2002

Baker-Kinnaird Memorial Scholarships

Many years ago the Audley Kinnaird family set aside a fund to promote continuing education. Later, members of the Ed and Helen Baker family and the James and Bea Baker family wanted to enhance this opportunity for education. Interest earned from these accounts are divided equally among those applying and presented to those meeting the following criteria:

• must be a member of CCUMC,
• must be enrolled full-time in a college, university or trade-school,
• have not received more than four awards.

Application forms are on an orange colored paper in the kiosk in the narthex. Fill out the form and return it to the office no later than July 11. All recipients having their application in by the end of the day will be among those receiving checks on Sunday, August 1 during the 9:30am worship service.

I Am My Church

My church is composed of people like me. We make it what it is.
It will be friendly, if I am.
Its pews will be filled, if I help fill them.
It will do great work, if I work.
It will make generous gifts to many causes, if I am a generous giver.
It will bring other people into its worship and fellowship, if I bring them.
It will be a church of loyalty and love, of fearlessness and faith, and a church with a noble spirit, if I, who makes it what it is, an filled with these traits.
Therefore with the help of God, I shall dedicate myself to the task of being all the things I want my church to be.
                                                                                                                    Newsletter Newsletter, Canton OH August, 2002

I’ve learned that people are more influenced by how much I care than by how much I know.                                                                                Anonymous

Go Through the Trouble

A young pastor was visiting the church of an older colleague one Sunday. A prayer the older pastor gave moved him. It was simple and brief, and went something like this:
“Dear Lord, we thank you for being with us during this difficult time. We remember that when Moses and the children of Israel were caught at the Red Sea, you didn’t lead them over it, or around it or under it. You led them through it. And now, in the same way, when we are in trouble, you don’t lead us over it or around it or under it. No, Lord, you lead us through it, and we thank you for that. Amen.”

Not until I went into the churches of America, and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
                                                                                 –Alexis de Tocqueville
 VISIT                                                                       Newsletter Newsletter Communication Resources, Canton, OH August 2002

If you were visiting CCUMC for the first time. . .

If you were visiting CCUMC for the first time, what do you think would be helpful to you to feel welcome and comfortable?

The United Methodist Reporter article on “How Do Visitors See Your Church?” from the April 30, 2010 issue brings several items to light. Signage, worship service, hospitality, participation and young people involved in worship were among the topics discovered by their survey.

The church has many strengths, but they often have a hard time seeing their church from the eyes of a first time visitor. Parishioners are accustomed and comfortable with one another. They greet others with a smile or happy words of friendship or maybe even a hug! If you were a first time visitor you may be greeted with a handshake at the door and from there on, you look for signs or follow the people hoping to find the sanctuary. Rarely are the guests approached and welcomed again by other members of the congregation.

So it might be fair to say the job of greeting is not just for those listed in the bulletin as greeters, it is for every member of the congregation. Those greeting at the door are first-in-line greeters able to welcome, give basic directions to the closets and sanctuary or respond to questions. Second-line greeters are those in the hallways, chatting with friends or having coffee which means an invitation to cookies and a beverage would be in order. Next could be the ushers who would confidently find seating comfortable to the guests. The usher could instruct the guest(s) about the green Newcomer cards and the yellow Prayer Request cards along with the pew registries. The ushers might want to keep an eye out for the guest(s) should they have a need to leave the sanctuary and be ready to respond to their need or give directions to the nursery, cry room or restrooms. Yet, there are still folks sitting in the pews who can get up for a quick greeting and introduction. Maybe the most important greeters are those persons who extend a hand of friendship as the guest(s) are departing and encourage them to attend a mid-week function and to return soon to worship. Like walking into a well-lit room, smiling faces and friendly conversations make you want to come again.

One tool which makes a big difference is a name tag! Hospitality doesn’t end with a handshake, it is only a beginning. Visual cues connect a face (your face) with words (your name.) It tells newcomers that these folks are open and wanting to get to know them!

We also might want to think about the entry used by most folks. From my vantage point in the office, newcomers are not sure where they are to enter. They guess by how the cars park that there must be another entry but some park where all the cars are and then proceed to walk around or across the garden to the south doors only to find out they need to walk full length of the building to the hall. Somehow the east entry needs to be brightened. There is a big wall there that could be used as a focal point to draw a newcomer’s eye.

If you would like to read the entire article mentioned above, go to their website at www.umportal.org. In the search line for their site, put in the title of the article, How Do Visitors See Your Church? There may be a copy of their newsletter on the Welcome Table in the narthex. Look for the April 30 date.

Another good reason to be wearing your name tag regularly is this transition time for our new pastor. Now would be a great time to begin wearing your name tag each Sunday, at various events and meetings so Pastor Jackie can become familiar with her new congregation. Put yourself in her shoes. How could you possibly remember names to a hundred new faces you meet on one day?

Please contact me (Linda) if you do not have a name tag in the case on the wall in the north hallway.           This     YFC

This ‘n That

Bluewater Youth for Christ Auctions

The Bluewater Youth for Christ will be holding one of its annual auctions on Saturday, July 17 at the Pigeon Recreation Park. On Saturday, August 21, the group will hold an auction in the Cass City Park.
If you would like to make donations or get more information, please call 989-453-3239 or visit their website www.btyfc.org        BIGGER

Bigger & Better 4 Revive

The Rawson Memorial Library and Revive Ministries are sponsoring “Bigger & Better 4 Revive” on Saturday, July 24. Teams will go around town and ask people to donate something bigger and better that will then be donated to Revive. Community individuals will serve as judges to decide the winning team to have brought back the biggest and best item! For more information and to register, please contact Rawson Memorial Library (989)872-2856 or www.rawson.lib.mi.us.     Jamboree

Thumb Gospel Jamboree

Mark your calendar for August 7 from 2-9pm for a full day of Gospel music for all ages. Artists include Not Ashamed, Dave Schnitker, Holy Mountain Boys and Annadelle, a youth gospel and rock group along with other local talent.
The concert will take place rain or shine - outdoors or in at the Bad Axe Free Methodist Church 165 W. Pigeon Road, Bad Axe. The free will offering proceeds will go to the VanTifflin Project to defeat child trafficking in Thailand in connection with Destiny Rescue.

Clowns, face painting, refreshments and more will be available. Bring your own blanket and/or lawn chairs.

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness..It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart...Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.” -- Mohandas . Gandhi          Revive

Revive Ministries

Revive Clothing & Housewares Shoppe Hours:
Tuesdays: 3-5pm
Fridays: 9am to 1pm
1st & 3rd Saturdays: 10am - noon
Donations needed: Clothing (all sizes, gently worn), kitchen items, bedding, and furniture.

Third Saturday Food Distribution
On the third Saturday of each month, Revive holds a food distribution at their building on the corner of Main (Cass City Rd.) and Doerr Rd. from 10am to 11am. Food guidelines apply.

Community Coffee Time
Each Friday a community coffee time is held at the Revive Building from 7 - 9am.

Contact Revive at P.O. Box 57, Cass City, MI or (989)551-7803. Visit their website: www.revivecc.org.       Bay Shore

Bay Shore Family Camp

Get ready because Bay Shore’s Family Camp is just a few short weeks away! Starting on July 24 and going through July 31, Bay Shore will be a buzzing place of activity. It is a great place for a Christian vacation where you and your family can learn, worship and be inspired by special Christian speakers and educators for a whole week! There are recreational outings and on campus activities for all ages.
Camp or rent a cabin for your stay or commute if you like. Meals are served in the dining hall at a new reduced price! There is so much more at their website: www.bayshorecamp.org/specialministries       Jubliee

4th Annual Gospel Jubilee

Friday, July 23 from 6-9pm and Saturday, July 24 from 10am to ? the Evergreen Park on M-53 will be the place for Gospel Music! Names like the Sanders Family, Not Ashamed, Joyful Sounds, Praise Gang and many others will be singing. Camping is available by calling 872-6600. Free admission - Free will offering.  Stats

 CARING

Caring and Sharing

Deaths...
We extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Laura Bryant who was called home by her Heavenly Father on May 29.

Marriages...
We celebrate with the new Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Williams, Jr. On June 19, Robyn Hill became the bride of Eddie Williams in our sanctuary. Robyn is the daughter of Dennis and Laura Hill.

Our best wishes are sent to Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas Chappel who were married on June 19 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nick married Kelly Whittaker. Dr. Nick is the son of Dr. Paul and Suzanne Chappel.

In Your Prayers... Rev. Jackie Roe, Viola Layer (sister of Esther Guinther), Gil Schwaderer, Dr. Ray, Gerald & Donna Auten, Elaine Proctor, Dorothy Knight, Denise Jones (Leukemia), Rev. Bob & Charlene Garrett, Marilyn Morgan, Lucille Copeland, Dale Damm, Esther Guinther, Maxine Profit, Harland Lounsbury, Leola Retherford, Bill Kritzman, Barney Hoffman, Helen Thompson.
Tendercare, 4782 Hospital Dr., C.C.: Don Buehrly, Jennie Kappen,
Northwood Meadows, 6086 Beechwood, C.C.: Lois Bockstanz, Fritz Pomeroy, Marv Hobart, Tom Proctor.
Kings’ Daughters, 2410 Rodd St., Midland, MI 48640: Dorothea Quick.
Tuscola Medical Care Facility, 1285 Cleaver Rd., Caro 48723: Ruth Freeman, Carolyn Chapman, Clara Seeley.
Caretell Inn, Rm 607, 6700 Westside Saginaw Rd., Bay City, MI 48706: Elizabeth Stine.
TimberLine Lodge, 3771 Colwood, Caro: Betty Scofield.
Woodland Acres AFC: 3855 Downington Rd., Snover, 48472: Thelma Graham (810)-672-9685
Maurice Joos, 11320 Highridge, Independence, MO 64052
Service People: Marc Inbody (SC); Josh Sherman (NC), Kendra Parsons (TX); Jeffery Hanselman (CO); Tim Karr (WA); Mike Furness, Steve McCormick, Greg Klais, (Iraq), Matt Essenmacher and their units.

From the Mail Box:
From Bob & Barb Stickle: Thanks so much for the basket of flowers for our anniversary. They are beautiful. We are lucky to have been married that long!

Praising God for Volunteers

Newsletters: Linda Derfiny (proofreading), Judy Profit, Marge Dickinson, Janet Furness, Shirley Wolfe.
Coffee hostesses: Pam and Mishelle Powell.
Scaffolding for lights and projector: Dailey Parrish, Gary Jones, Dick Wallace, Mick Kirn, Libby Venema (who carried all the sections out to the trailer by herself!).
Pew registries and attendance: Dora Fobear and Marge Dickinson.
Mailing to shut-ins: Clara Gaffney
Rummage Sale workers!
Dorcas Dinner workers!
Removing Rummage Sale items: Shirley Wagg, Shirley Wisenbach, Jacob Kittle, Gerald Auten, Ron & Adam Czekai, Dailey Parrish and Andrew Venema.
Saving the church money: Sprayed the church yard for weeds instead of hiring a contractor: Gary Jones and Dick Wallace. Mick Kirn saved us a service call from Honeywell by finding a breaker had been shut off. Cleaning: Char Fahrner and her volunteers! Trimming Shrubs: Jon Fahrner        Volunteer

Volunteering for July

Greeters
July    4      John & Melody Frankowski 
         11      Steve & Dora Fobear
         18      Jay & Shirley Wisenbach
         25      Bill & Shirley Zinnecker

Readers
July     4      Betsy Dillon
         11      Gil Schwaderer
         18      Laura Hill
         25      Linda Derfiny
  (Pastor Jackie will do Children’s Time)

Sound & Projection
July     4      Morgan Erla
         11      Morgan Erla
         18      Curtis Dickinson
         25      Curtis Dickinson

Acolytes
July    4      Lauren Dickinson
         11      Lucas Baker
         18      Ashtyn Weiler
         25      Mason Erla

Ushers (Captain: Esther Guinther)
July    4      Bill & Shirley Zinnecker, Linda Derfiny, Dailey Parrish
         11      Linda Derfiny, Beth Kittle, Jacob and Jordan Kittle
         18      Roy & Kathy Tuckey     ?  ?
         25      Roy & Kathy Tuckey    Bob & Barb Wood

Altar Guild
July    4      Jay & Shirley Wisenbach
         11      Caren Clara
         18      John & Melody Frankowski
         25      Bob & Barbara Stickle

Flowers
July    4      Lori Inbody
         11      Caren Clara
         18      Larry & Julie Janik
         25      (available)      

Communion Steward     July 4      Dora Fobear

Other Helpers Scheduled through the office

Lock-up
July    4      Craig Retherford
         11      Ted Furness
         18      Gary Wichert
         25      Ron Kittle

Lawn Mowing
July     5      Mick Kirn
         12      Ted Furness
         19      Keith Czekai
         26      Jack Burns