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SERMON PLAYER

For those of you who are not aware Sunday’s sermons are available to listen to online. If you missed a Sunday or just want to listen to the ser-mon again please go to Geneseo’s website, www.genseochurch.org and click on the sermons link. This is a wonderful way to stay connected to the church if you miss a Sunday.

Geneseo United Methodist Church 3127 115th Street Buckingham, IA 50612 319-478-8788 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

The Geneseo Voice . A publication of Geneseo United Methodist Church

Issue #3, March 2009

New!

There is just something about the feel of a new car, new house, new pair of shoes, new trac-tor, or a new job, in fact anything new makes a person bubble inside. There is something intangible yet significant about how you feel when you have something new.

But there are some possessions that are difficult to let go of. We love that old orange re-cliner, that beat up red truck, the comfortable but holey shoes and sometimes we will hold on to them despite the most loving advice from friends and family. And while we love those old posses-sions, we can’t expect someone else to appreciate or put on our holey shoes, drive our truck, or sit in our orange recliner.

And while we may not be ready to relinquish our cherished possessions, we realize that the best way we can show our love for another person is to embrace the new on their behalf. With time we often find that we have grown to love the new as well.

I have been at several conferences lately that emphasis the importance of churches having multiple worship services. Their primary point is that people today wear different clothes; have dif-ferent likes and dislikes, they listen to different music and eat different foods. Diversity has become essential to the survival of business and church alike. No longer can a church offer one service and believe that it will meet the needs of everyone within driving distance. Even KFC, the epitome of fried chicken, has had to develop their menu to include a wide variety of meals and add on items to keep pace with the other fast food chains. And so it is that Geneseo is dreaming of something new, adding to the menu if you will.

By this time I hope that everyone is aware that we are planning to have a once per month preview service starting at the end of April. **It is our belief that we will still keep our current ser-vice in its present format or slightly more traditional than it has been to date.

To facilitate this new addition there is a new service implementation team in place that is meeting weekly to determine what it will look like and how it can best meet the needs of our com-munity and attract a new group of people to follow Jesus.

As a part of keeping the church community informed about the discussion and decisions this team is arriving at, there will be weekly meeting notes printed at the back of the sanctuary for everyone to take. These notes will also be available on our web page. www.geneseochurch.org Their primary discussion items are:

Identify the target audience Define the goal of the new service Design the form and structure of the service / Identify appropriate themes Determine the best time and place to meet and how that will affect the current service Design and assist in following up with guests and prospective guests Promote and publicize the new service Evaluate and make changes to the service (Cont. on page 8)

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Buckingham, Iowa Permit No. 3

http://www.geneseochurch.org

SCRIPTURE FOR MARCH

March 1 Mark 10:35-45 A Servant People March 8 Mark 14:66-72 I Know Him Not March 15 Mark 15:1-15 Guilty March 22 Mark 15:21-24 Even the Shirt Off His

Back March 29 Mark 15:16-20 Toy King March Ushers: Dennis Mitchell, Marlys Mitchell, Trent Ryan March Greeters: 1st-Harold & Marian Pritchard; 8th-Chris & Lora Olson; 15th-Duane & Dixie Christian; 22nd-Guy & Kate Mitchell; 29th-Jerry & Norma Owens March Acolytes: 1st-Courtney Powell & Payton Sash; 8th-Hanna Ferguson & Abby Johnson; 15th-Will Mitchell & Jack Ollendieck; 22nd-Sam Johnson & Wes Powell; 29th-Nathan Ferguson & Conal Jensen March Coffee Servers: Sandy Boomer, Jean Beenken, Pat Peckham, Kalyn Putz Flowers for March: Elsie Mitchell MARCH BIRTHDAYS MARCH ANNIVERSARIES

Cathy Leipold 2nd Chris Olsen 24th Joe & Sheryl Brandt 4th Rich Leipold 7th Austin Reding 24th Ron & Deb Mumm 17th Emily Klein 8th Deloris Moffitt 28th Paul & Donna Lindeman 29th Brian Jaquith 9th Tammi Neuendorf 9th Lonnie Ollendieck 9th Ken Herman 10th Sarah Hill 11th Sharon Fackler 13th Madison Howard 16th Elsie Mitchell 18th Marian Pritchard 19th Richard Leipold 20th Valerie Ryan 20th

HOLY WEEK AT GUMC

April 5 - Palm Sunday 9:15 a.m. - Worship Procession of the palms, special music 10:30 a.m. - Sunday School

April 9 - Maundy Thursday 7:00 p.m. - Worship “The Last Supper” Drama

April 12 - Easter Day The Resurrection of our Lord Come Celebrate New Life! Invite your friends to Worship. 9:15 a.m. - Worship

Special choir and bell choir music There will be no Sunday School on this day.

U.M.W. NEWS

UMW Meeting: March 12, 9:00 a.m. @ Church Co-Hostesses: JoAnn Higgins & Marlys Mitchell Discussion Leader: Marlys Mitchell

Please read Judges 16:4-22 for our study of Delilah. Also, members will be bringing already baked cookies that will be packed and shipped to soldiers. If you know of someone in the military that would appreciate the cookies, please let us know their name and address.

Items for Ingathering: 1 hand towel, 1 washcloth TEN REASONS TO BUY THE GENESEO UMW COOKBOOK

10.Get one before they are gone. 9. Everyone should have a cookbook collection. 8. Buy one for your kids, even if they seem young.

They will appreciate one later. 7. They make great hostess, shower, wedding, gradua-

tion and housewarming gifts. 6. Welcome new church members or neighbors with

cookies and cookbook. Of course, use a cookie recipe from the cookbook.

5. Bring back memories - send one to a church member who has moved away.

4. Enjoy the neat pictures - especially the ones containing hams.

3. Help the UMW by committing to selling five books. 2. The UMW needs to sell 357 books before they make

a profit. 1. The biggest reason of all - THE RECIPES ARE

GREAT!

Maundy Thursday April 9th, 2009

7:00 PM

Geneseo will present a drama of the Last Supper. Com-munion will be served and the service will end in a tenebrae fashion with the congregation leaving Jesus at the Cross.

We invite everyone to attend this dramatic rendition as a way of re-membering what Jesus Christ went through on our behalf. Place it on your calendar now, and invite a friend.

PRAISE BAND

Praise band, aka Grace Notes, practice will be at 11:30 a.m. beginning Sunday, March 1 and continuing during the month of March. If you have an interest in playing an instrument or singing, please feel free to join us on any of these Sunday practices.

LENTEN BIBLE STUDY

This year for Lent we will be diving in to a best seller. “The Shack” has received rave reviews from both the secular and Christian communities. It is a story of tragedy and healing. It is a story that embraces an intimate and loving God and challenges our concept of God.

If you have ever asked yourself the question, “How could a loving God allow…” This is a book and a Lenten study that you will find very enjoyable and thought provoking.

If you have read this book, come with your questions at the ready. If you have not read it, and have the time, pick up a copy and highlight as you go. If you would rather listen to it, I have a copy you can borrow. Even if you have never picked it up you will find our discussion easy enough to follow along.

There are two studies to choose from:

Monday mornings 10 AM at the church Thursday Evenings 7 PM at the church

We hope to see you here.

NEWSLETTER DEADLINE

The deadline for the April Newsletter is Monday, March 23. Please have all articles to the secretary by 9:00 that morning. Thanks.

Finance Committee

Nurture Committee The Nurture Committee met on Monday, January 5. The following are a few of the items they discussed: Lenten Bible Study “Godspell” Musical Ash Wednesday Sunday School Palm Sunday Family Nights Maundy Thursday Starting Two Services Easter

Our 2009 General Fund budget plan includes increases totaling 9% over the 2008 budget, to cover general cost inflation estimates and other growth related ex-penses. General fund income has increased over recent years and future in-creases will be needed to support our commitment to full time pastor and growth and inflation related expense. Watch for more information in the Treasurer's An-nual Report due out in soon.

NEW SERVICE IMPLEMENTATION TEAM (GNSIT)

This was the first meeting of the implementation team which is to figure out how to start a new service. We discussed our mission statement which is to reach out, receive, relate, nurture and to send out faithful disciples. We decided that our mission statement fits perfectly with starting a new service. A statistic is that 40% of people who come to a new service are people who have not been to the traditional worship service in a while and they are usu-ally members. The goal of a new service is to be responsible by living into our mission statement. We need to be building the kingdom of God, not just a church. The key to starting a new service is not focusing inward to the current members but out to the community. Ministering to people outside the four walls of our church is kingdom building. Two purposes of starting a new service are to reach people who are not yet churched and not to offer options for current members. One question that was asked was do we need a guarantee on our investment before we proceed with a new service? Our answer to that was no. We need to move forward in faith.

NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION CLASS

Anyone who is interested in learning more about membership at Geneseo and what it means to be a United Methodist is invited to a new member orienta-tion class beginning Sunday, March 15 from 12:00 until 3:00 p.m. at church. If you have any questions please speak with Pastor Ferguson.

“GODSPELL”

The community musical “Godspell” will be performed April 3,4 & 5 at the Union Middle School in Dysart at 7:00 p.m. There will also be a matinee on the 5th at 2:00 p.m.

We hope that each of person at Geneseo will embrace this “New” service. Even if it is not something you personally plan to participate in we ask that you lift it up in prayer and find ways that you can be supportive of bringing life and hope to a new group of be-lievers and a new worship service here at Geneseo.

In Christ, Pastor Ferguson

RECIPE CORRECTIONS

In Larabeth Bader’s recipe for Sau-sage & Mushroom Strata, part of the directions for assembling the dish were omitted. The recipe should have in-cluded two layers. It should have read: Arrange half of the bread in a 13 x 9” baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon half of the sausage mix-ture evenly over bread; sprinkle with 1/4 cup of cheese. Top with remain-ing bread. Spoon remaining sausage mixture over bread; sprinkle with re-maining 1/4 cup of cheese. Pour egg mixture evenly over the top. The rest of the directions are correct.

Also, Larabeth’s recipe for a soup called Pasta e Fagioli was put in the Meats and Main Dishes section of the book. Any-one looking for a spicy Italian soup will find it there.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 8. Turn your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday, March 7 before you go to bed.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 9:15 a.m. Worship w/

Communion 10:30 a.m. Fellowship/Sunday School 11:30 a.m. Praise Band Practice

2 10:00 a.m. Lenten Bible

Study 6:30 p.m. SPPRC, Trustees, Nurture Committee Mtgs.

3

4 6:30 a.m. Pastor’s Prayer

Group 3:30 p.m. Bible Quizzing 6:30 p.m. Bell Choir 7:30 Choir Rehearsal

5 7:00 p.m. Lenten Bible Study

6

7 8:30 a.m. UMM &

Women’s Bible Study 10:00 a.m. GNSIT Meeting

8 9:15 a.m. Worship

10:30 a.m. Sunday School 11:30 a.m. Praise Band

9 10:00 a.m. Lenten Bible

Study 6:30 p.m. Lay Leadership, Finance, Outreach/Witness

10 6:30 p.m. Joel Council Meeting



12 9:00 a.m. UMW

Meeting @ Church 7:00 p.m. Lenten Bible Study

13 14 8:30 a.m. UMM &


15 9:15 a.m. Worship

10:30 a.m. Sunday School 11:30 a.m. Praise Band 12:00 p.m. New Member Class

16 10:00 a.m. Lenten Bible Study

17




20

21 8:30 a.m. UMM &


22 9:15 a.m. Worship

10:30 a.m. Sunday School 11:30 a.m. Praise Band


24 25 6:30 a.m. Pastor’s Prayer



27

28 8:30 a.m. UMM &


29 9:15 a.m. Worship 10:30 a.m. Sunday School 11:30 a.m. Praise Band


31

Ushers: Dennis Mitchell Marlys Mitchell Trent Ryan

Flowers: Elsie Mitchell

Coffee: Sandy Boomer Jean Beenken Pat Peckham Kalyn Putz

March 2009

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