St. Paul's church family and friends,

Easter is all about transformation. Transformation that is defined as a change or alteration, especially a radical one. From death to life. From deep grief and overwhelming sadness to joy and life-giving hope.

The early followers of Jesus experienced seeing Jesus betrayed, ridiculed, tortured, and finally the extreme brutality of his crucifix-ion. They fled, fearing for their own lives. They hid away - cloaking themselves in prayer and attempting to console one another. It was a hopeless time full of personal devastation and collective dis-appointment.

The Rabbi, the teacher, the one who had given them hope was DEAD. With the death of Jesus their dreams died too. They had longed for a Messiah, a Savior, who would deliver them from the oppression of an occupying force. They believed God would send them a Savior to restore them to their favored relationship with God.

Their hopes were based in a human understanding of God and di-vine favor; a God who acted in the future as they had understood God to act in the past. And God radically departed from past un-derstandings and glimpses into the divine nature.

God did a new thing. Something far beyond human expectations and understanding. Just as a caterpillar has no idea of the trans-formation in their future, Jesus’ followers had no understanding

of the transformation ahead of them. Jesus entered a dark tomb and was cocooned in grave cloths and death.

Pastor ’s Message

1&2

Sunday School 3

VBS Club 456

4

& 5

Youth The God Squad 6

Connect Me

“TP” St. Paul’s

Scrip

Palm Sunday Cantata

7

MOW

Bethany Towel Sale

Around the Maypole

8

Women’s Ministries

A “Big” Thank You 9

Prime Timers

Camp Volunteer Ser-vice Days

Summer Camp Spe-cials

Clean up Grounds

Concert Series

10

Sermon Series:

Transformation

Calendar

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INSIDE THIS

ISSUE

April 2018

The Story of the Dogwood

Many years ago, a dogwood tree grew on a hill outside of Jerusalem. In those days, the dogwood tree was tall and very large like an oak. This tree was the tallest of all the dogwoods and extremely proud of its strength.

“Something wonderful is going to happen to me,” it said to anyone who would listen. “I’ll probably become the mast that holds the sail on a grand ship, or the main timber supporting a great house.”

Unfortunately, the huge old dogwood was cut down to become the cross on which Jesus was nailed. The tree was horrified. All its dreams of glory were smashed, and it groaned in agony as two boards from its trunk were nailed together.

Jesus took pity on the tree, even as he carried it to Calvary. “You will never be put to such use again,” he told it. “From this day on, your shape will change, even as will the world. You will become slender and sway easily with the breeze. And instead of acorns, you will bear flowers in the shape of a cross. . .with two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal, there will be nail prints. . brown with rust and red with bloodstains to show the world how you have suffered.”

“Last of all, the center of your flowers will be marked as though with a crown of thorns to remind people forevermore, that you and I spent our last moments together.” And so it was. And so it is. (Author unknown)

“He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was punishment that made us whole; and by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Blessings,

Karen Bruner

(cont’d)

And amid death, divine life occurred. The women went to the tomb to care for a dead Savior and instead received news of a resurrected Messiah. The resurrected Messiah, Jesus the Christ, transformed the devastation of the disciples into a powerful and transformational force that would change the world. The disciples cocooned in their devastation shed the use-less tattered cocoons and in the power of Jesus burst forth into new life. And in their new life they changed the world.

Where do we need the transformational power of God in Jesus Christ to change our worlds? Where are we encased in binding fear and hopelessness, in a dark and dreary hopeless place? In this Easter season, let us live into the radical love of God and allow it to do a new work in us that will transform us. May our Easter and Easter seasons open our eyes to a new glimpse of the divine that loves us beyond our ability to understand and desires to bring us eternal joy.

Peace and joy,

Pastor Nancy

Our ministry seeks to CONNECT young disciples with the community of God,

to GROW their relationship with Christ, enable them to SHARE their faith

and to SERVE throughout the world.

9:30 - 10:45 ~ Play and Worship & W.O.W Rotation Sunday School

11:00 - 11:30 ~ Children’s Choir

Sunday School

We are beginning our sixth and final rotation of Sunday School for this

year ~

“Jesus Lives!”

Through the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the Gospel of John, children will discover that Jesus is alive and learn that we can share the Good News!

URGENT NEED…

We are three workshop leaders short for this rotation. It is our last set of workshops for the school year, so please help us finish strong!

If you are willing to spend 5 weeks with us, please contact

Holly at hpitman@stpaulspapillion.org

We need workshop leaders in our storytelling, games and cooking workshops.

Important Dates April 29th - 5th Sunday Service

Enjoy worship with your family, no Sunday School

May 27th - Holiday Weekend

Enjoy worship with your family, no Sunday School

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4

VBS 2018

“Rolling River Rampage”

June 25th - June 29th

Experience the ride of a lifetime with God and learn that Jesus is with us all the time, even in rough water rapids. Along the river, children will discover that life with God is an adventure full of wonder and surprise. They can trust God to be with them through anything!

Participant and volunteer registration is now available.

EARLY REGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED!!!

* Family Kick-off event, June 24th *

MARK YOUR CALENDARS and join us for a fun evening! Campfire cookout, s’more roasting, music making, bounce house fun and more!

This is an all church and community event that we hope St. Paul’s will

support with their presence and their service. Check-out the VBS dis-

play to volunteer to help.

* Additional *NEW* Option - 2 Night Evening VBS, June 26th & 27th *This is for families/children who are not able to come during the day.

This is a family VBS where kids and parents come together. We are offering this option if there is enough interest. Please sign-up early so we can determine if this is a

need for your family. Grandparents can bring their grandchildren, neighbors, nieces, nephews - everyone is invited!!!

IMPORTANT: We are looking for a new VBS coordinator to work along side us in 2018 and to lead the

coordination efforts beginning in 2019. After many years of faithful service, Tiffani Bottjen has decided this is her last year to coordinate the VBS program. If you have a passion for our VBS program and are willing to work along side a great group of volunteers, please see Holly or Tiffani. You will not do it alone!!!

CHRISTMAS TREES NEEDED All sizes and shapes needed for part of our decorations.

We would love for you to put it together and tag it with your name, but if needed—we will put it together for you. No decorations needed. We would like trees to be put on the Fellowship Hall stage be-

ginning in June. All trees will be returned to you when VBS is over Please coordinate details with Holly if you are able to bring one for us to use.

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“An Easter Experience” “An Easter Experience” was a good start to Holy Week! Dinner was enjoyed by many fami-lies, prayer stations, and activities brought more meaning to the week, and our egg hunt was a hit. We had to move it inside due to the weather so if you find any eggs on Sunday morn-ing in the Sanctuary, feel free to enjoy them during worship:-) Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill our eggs this year. We appreciate your support for this family ministry event!

CLUB 456 Went “Egging”

And brought joy to some of our youngest families. It is one of our favorite activities!!!

If you have someone that you would like us to “egg” next Easter, please let Holly know. We would love to bring some Easter joy to your home!

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THE GOD

SQUAD

APRIL SCHEDULE Sunday, Apr 1: Sunrise Services at Halleck Park, 7:00am

Sunday, Apr 18: Bowling, TBD

Sunday, Apr 22: An afternoon of spreading random acts of kindness, fol-lowed by a trip to Dairy Queen. Meet at the church at 2:30pm; back by 4:00pm. We will need adult drivers.

Monday, Apr 23: Youth fundraiser at Panera, 4:00-8:00pm Papillion

Sunday, Apr 29: Honoring our graduating seniors at the 10:00am service

YOUTH WORSHIP SCHEDULE

—9:30am every Sunday except holidays and 5th Sundays. We meet in Room 10A, but that is subject to change temporarily as construction progresses.

ST. PAUL’S JUNIOR/SENIOR YOUTH

The God Squad sends a big thank you to the St. Paul’s congregation. After our special collection in March, the 2018 mission trip to Minneapolis is fully funded! We can’t wait to make St. Paul’s proud as we spread God’s love in the Twin Cities. We have one more event coming up—a fundraiser at Panera in Papillion. Money earned there will be used to spread random acts of kind-ness on our trip. The date for that has yet to be determined.

In March we shared God’s love by preparing a home-cooked meal to 70 youth at Youth Emergency Services. Thanks to Kristine Allen and Diane Lausterer who took charge in the kitchen as we prepared bacon-wrapped chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, carrot sticks and cookies. Our mission is always to reach out to those in need in the community and we think YES is a very worthy project.

We also had a fun day of games and other activities at the church and began preparations for the Easter Sunrise services we will put on at Halleck Park at 7:00am, April 1.

In Sunday morning worship, we talked about finding God in the midst of tragedies like the Parkland school shooting. We attended the United Methodist Men’s breakfast on Palm Sunday and enjoyed the fellowship and time together.

For April, we have more fun planned as well as acts of kindness. We will be honoring our seniors on April 29. Any senior who didn’t get a letter should contact Larry.

Preparing a Meal for YES

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Scrip Program - Gift Card News

Ladies and Gentlemen! Spring is coming, so please don’t forget your gift cards for yard work, remodeling, paint, etc. Also, con-sider using gift cards for your every day shopping which is a great way to fight identity theft.

By using the gift card program, you are helping get items for the church that are not in the budget. In the past, the Scrip Program has gotten new glasses for the kitchen, a new TV for the youth room, new roasters for the kitchen, and new candles for the altar. These are just some of the items this Scrip Program has helped with. Thank you for shopping this program.

For your convenience there is a locked wooden box at the Scrip Program table to put your orders and checks in.

If you have any questions, please contact Chris Powell at cnmpowell@q.com, Cathy Lewis, or Nancy Peters.

Thank you.

CONNECT ME!

Have you ever wondered where you “fit in” at our church? Are you even aware of what programs, com-

mittees, and small groups are available to you? If you are a recent member, attendee, or longstanding

member of St. Paul’s, you won’t want to miss an upcoming opportunity to become more acquainted with

our church. Please plan to join us on Sunday morning, April 29th at 9:00 in the Chapel for an hour of shar-

ing, fellowship, and a light breakfast. We are grateful that you are a part of St. Paul’s UMC. We hope this

opportunity will help you find new and meaningful connections with our church. Contacts: Julie and Na-

than Williams (nate4jul@cox.net) or Jo and Denny Coleman (dcoleman@stpaulspapillion.org)

“TP” St. Paul’s Church in April During the month of April, the Outreach Committee will be collecting diapers, paper towels, toilet paper, and other paper products for our local pantries. This is a wonderful opportunity to help struggling families with some of their basic needs. Items can be left at the Outreach Table located in the West Hallway or placed in the basket in the Narthex. Thank you!

PALM SUNDAY CANTATA

The Chancel Choir, Worthington Brass, and selected musicians presented the Palm Sunday Cantata March 25 at the 10:00am service. This year’s cantata was “Sacred Places,” a cantata in-spired by early American folk songs and hymns, by Joseph M. Martin. With narrations and scripture, along with creative or-chestrations, this was a very memorable telling of the life of Christ.

Thanks to all who participated and a special thanks to John Hewett for doing such an amazing job directing and to Barb Thornburg for her incredible talent at the piano.

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MISSION OF THE WEEK (MOW)

The Outreach Committee is featuring an item each week for the food pantry. When you are grocery shopping for the family, don’t forget those who are less fortunate and drop one of the weekly items into your cart. If there are other items you would like to donate, we will accept those also. The schedule for April is as follows:

Apr 1: Pancake Mix/Syrup Apr 8: Cereal Apr 15: Canned Meat

Apr 22: Dry Beans/Rice/Side Dishes Apr 29: Jell-O

Bethany Circle Towel Sale

Bethany Circle will be selling their beautifully embroidered towels, crocheted and

knitted dish cloths, etc. on Sunday, May 6th from 8:45-11:15am in the East Hallway.

Stop by our table and check out our new patterns! The towels are a bargain at only $5

each. Proceeds to support local, national, and international mission projects.

AROUND THE MAYPOLE

Join us for the

Annual Friendship Luncheon

MAY 1, 2018

Serving at 11:00am

Entertainment at 12:00

Enjoy Fried Chicken and all the fixins!

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church

324 South Jackson

402-339-3308

WATCH FOR SIGN UP AND COME AND HELP

9

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 13th: “God’s Not Dead, A Light in the Darkness” Time: TBD

May 19th: Coffee/Conversation/Craft at church

June 23rd: Picnic at Firefly Farm (Katie Ostlund’s Home)

July 21st: Breakfast/Craft at Church (Chapel)

August?: Family/Faith Night at the Stormchasers (Date & Time TBD)

Recent Activities:

February: Embrace went bowling. We had so much fun and got to know each other better. We learned Marge Glassner is a great bowler!!

March 17: We volunteered at the Humble Lily Boutique, located at 90th & Center. We made tags, tagged and steamed clothing, and hung items on racks. This store provides support for the Bethlehem House which is a non-profit that supports expectant and new mothers giving them housing, job skills, parental skills, etc. The boutique sells high quality second-hand clothing, purses, coats & shoes but also gets new merchandise donated from stores. Any donations that they can’t use are passed on to the Stephen Center and St. Vincent DePaul. Please think about taking your donation items there next time.

—————

There are still lots of t-shirts left. More of sizes XL and 2XL were ordered. If you want one, either see Barb Thorn-burg at the piano or stop by the church office. They are $10.

There are also plenty of the totes left from the Women’s Conference. They’re free. Stop by the church office and pick up one or maybe use it to put a gift in for a friend. It may help open up a conversation about church.

Bowling Night The Humble Lily

A BIG “THANK YOU”

The Outreach Committee wants to thank everyone who donated new underwear and socks during our Undy Sundays collection in February! A total of 413 items were brought to the church. They were split between Pearl and Youth Emergency Services (YES) in Omaha. YES’s mission is to serve homeless and at-risk youth by providing critically need-ed resources which empower them to become self-sufficient. Both organizations were very grateful!

PRIME TIMERS

Prime Timers will meet Wednesday, April 18, 10:30am, at the church for a brunch and guest speaker.

Camp Volunteer Service Days

Spring service days at Camp Fontanelle are planned for April 21st and May 5th. Volunteers

are needed to help with various chores to spruce up the camp. There will be a variety of pro-

jects like staining decks, prepping flower and garden beds, clearing trails or repair and

maintenance. Start time is 9:00am and lunch will be provided. Volunteers are invited to meet in the church’s

South parking lot at 7:45am, then carpool. Any questions, call Mike at 402-593-7243.

ST. PAUL’S CONCERT SERIES

April 15, 6:00pm Sing Omaha Concert

$10 for 13+

$7.50 for 6-13

April 29, 3:00pm Omaha Symphonic Winds

Free concert

Cleaning Up Church Grounds

Please join us on April 14th at 8:00am (or whenever you can arrive) to help prune

plants, clean up garden beds and put down mulch. Bring your gloves, shears, what-

ever you think will be needed! If it’s rainy, we’ll reschedule. All ages are invited (that

includes kids). Contact Barb Thornburg at barbthornburg@cox.net for more information.

Summer Camp Specials It’s time to consider summer camp. Again, Camp Fontanelle is offering some registration discounts. The Guardian Angel camps are for preschoolers through kindergarteners with a favorite adult, while the SonShine camps are for 1 & 2 graders, also with an adult. Another offer is “Bring a Friend” dis-

count which gives 25% off the camp fees when a returning camper recruits a first-time camper to attend camp. Both receive 25% off discount. A third spe-cial is the “Sibling Saver Discount” which applies when multiple siblings attend, or one person attends multiple camps. The first camp session is paid at 100%, second session at 25%, and any additional session is 50% off. For more details and to view all the camps available, see the church bulletin board in the east hallway or check the camp website: www.campfontanelle.com

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 EASTER

2 NO SCHOOL OFFICE CLOSED

Boy Scouts

6:00pm (FH)

Bible Study

6:00pm

Financial Peace

7:00pm (C)

Trustees

7:00pm (L)

3 Chatty Crafters 9:00 am - B9

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

4

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

Mid-Week Worship 6:00pm—(FH)

Bells 6:00pm— (C)

Chancel Choir

7:10pm—(S)

5

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

Girl Scouts

6:30pm—(FH)

6

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm (FH)

7

Scrapbooking 9:30-1:30 (C)

Bilingual Service

6:00pm Chapel

8

9 Bridges

3:15pm—(FH)

Bible Study

6:00pm

Boy Scouts

6:30 —(FH)

Financial Peace U

7:00pm—(C)

10 Chatty Crafters 9:00 am - B9 Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

GAP

6:00pm—(L)

Stephen Ministry

7:00pm—(L)

11 Prime Timers

10:00am (L) Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

Mid-Week Worship 6:00pm—(FH)

Praise Team/Bells 6:00pm—(S) (C)

Chancel Choir

7:10pm—(S)

12

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

Finance Mtg

6:30pm- (L)

13

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

14

Sing Omaha Rehearsal

9:00am-12:00

Yard Cleanup 8:00am

Boy Scout Mtg 8:00am-12:00 (FH)

Bilingual Service 6:00pm Chapel

15

Sing Omaha

6:00pm (S)

16 Prayer Shawl 1:00pm (B9) Bridges

3:15pm—(FH)

Bible Study

6:00p

Boy Scouts

6:30 —(FH)

Comm Mtg

6:30pm (L)

Financial Peace (C)

7:00-8:00PM

17 Chatty Crafters 9:00 am - B9 Bethany Circle

1:00pm (B)

Bridges

3:15pm—(FH)

18 Prime Timers

10:30am—Brunch (C) Bridges

3:15pm—(FH)

Praise Team/Bells

6:00pm—(S) (C) Midweek Service

6:00pm (FH) Chancel Choir

7:10pm (S)

19

Bridges

3:15pm-5:30pm (FH)

Girl Scouts 6:30pm-(FH)

20

Bridges

3:15pm—(FH)

21 Scrapbooking

9:30am-1:30pm (C)

Bilingual Service

6:00pm Chapel

22

23 Bridges 3:15-5:30pm (FH)

Tech Working Gp Mtg

6:30pm — (L)

Boy Scouts 6:30pm—(FH) Bible Study 6:00pm Youth Night at Panera 4:00pm-8:00pm

24 Chatty Crafters

9:00 am —(B9) Bethany Circle

1:00pm—B9

Worship Planning 1:00pm

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

25 Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

Mid-Week Worship

6:00pm—(FH)

Praise Team/Bells

6:00pm (S)(C)

Chancel Choir

7:10pm—(S)

26 Circle One

1:00pm (L)

Bridges 3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

27

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

28

UMM Breakfast 8;00am (FH)

Bilingual Service

6:00pm Chapel

29

5TH Sunday

Recognize Gradu-ates

Pot Luck (FH)

Omaha Symphonic

Winds

3:00pm (S)

30

Bridges

3:15-5:30pm—(FH)

Boy Scouts

6:30pm—(FH)

11

APRIL 2018

324 S Jackson Street

Papillion, Nebraska 68046

(402)339-3308

Office hours: 9-4pm M-F

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Permit No. 17

Omaha, Nebraska

Website:

www.stpaulspapio.org

PAPILLION SPRING CLEAN-UP

Papillion Spring Clean-up will be held Apr 19-22. This is another opportunity to

discard unwanted items like old furniture, appliances, yard waste, and more. For

a donation, the United Methodist Men will haul items to the dump site for you. If

interested, call Mike at 402-593-7243.