Advent Events

November 2015

Vol. 3 Issue 8

The Branch ADVENT CHRISTMAS EDITION

Connecting Generations to Grow Relationships with God, Others, and Creation

Hanging of the Green

November 29th 5 PM

Children’s Musical

December 6th 9 AM

Lessons & Carols

December 13th 11 AM

Youth Christmas Party

December 19th 6 PM

Christmas Eve

5 PM with Mike Ratliff Childcare Available

9 PM with Chris Martin

No Childcare for this Service

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Orchard Service Sermon Series Mike Ratliff, Senior Pastor

November 8, 2015 “A Softer Heart” Mark 10:2-16

Job 1:1; 2:1-10 God sets the stage for the dramatic reversal of Job’s fortune.

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 The author opens this letter (addressed to those who are being persecuted) with a firm

statement about the superiority of Christ above all creation.

Mark 10:2-16 Jesus places high standards on marriage and the treatment of children. However, there may

be a more universal message that can apply to this Scripture.

November 15, 2015 “The Beginning Is Near” Mark 13:1-8

Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Oftentimes we are like Job, feeling bitter about life, complaining to God. However,

despite our doubt, we can be confident that God is with us.

Hebrews 4:12-16 Our faith in God invites us to produce boldness and courage. It is important that we not be

afraid to approach God when we are in need of grace and mercy.

Mark 10:17-31 Like the rich young man, we are often so attached to our possessions that we are not

ready to lay it all aside and serve God.

November 22, 2015 “Tell It Again” Revelation 1:4B-8, John 18:33-37

Job 38:1-7: 34-41 Like Job, we don’t always understand God’s ways. God is faithful, and seeks a deeper

relationship.

Hebrews 5:1-10 When we submit our will to God’s will, God is faithful, hearing our prayers. Our suffering

is redeemed in God’s will as we become loyal to God’s purpose.

Mark 10:35-45 Our idea of greatness is in our ability to gain earthly power, much like James and John

believed. Jesus redefines greatness, telling us that if we want to be first we must be last – in

service to all.

November 29, 2015 “Between kingdoms and the Kingdom” 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Job 42:1-6, 10-17 The Book of Job doesn’t seek to answer the why of human suffering, but it does invite us

into a deeper relationship with God if we are willing to embrace God’s mystery and

majesty.

Hebrews 7:23-28 Jesus understands the suffering and despair of humanity. It is through his suffering that

God appointed him as a high priest who can bring us all into a right relationship with God.

Mark 10:46-52 Jesus heals a man with vision

problems, reminding us that we are

all in need of healing our blind spots

when we miss God in the world.

December 13th, 2015 “What Do You Expect?”

Philippians 4:4-7

In the Traditional Service

December 20, 2015 “The Journey of Two Women”

Luke 1:39-45

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Traditional Service Sermon Series Chris Martin, Associate Pastor

Building Ministry Together

John Stott once wrote, “The Sermon on the

Mount is probably the best-known part of

the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is

the least understood, and certainly the least

obeyed. It is the nearest thing to a

manifesto that he ever uttered, for it is his

own description of what he wanted his

followers to be and to do.”

11/8 “Blessed” Matthew 5:1-11

11/15 “Salt & Light” Matthew 5:13-16

11/22 “Mission Impossible” Matthew 5:17-48

11/29 “The Radical Choice” Matthew 7:12-27

Our Mission

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Our Vision

Connecting generations to grow relationships with God, others, and creation.

Our Goals

1. Communicate our vision so the entire church and community will know it.

2. Organize intergenerational gatherings in the church and community that form mentoring

relationships between all participants.

3. Simplify and align leadership structure to reflect and advance our vision.

4. Train and hire staff to become coaches in leadership development, intergenerational dialogue,

mentoring, faith sharing, and creation stewardship.

5. Implement leadership training to equip laity to plan ministries that fulfill the church’s vision

and goals.

Our Core Values

1. Mission Focus: Latham performs service in the world to promote individual, community,

and environmental wholeness.

2. Prayer: Latham values prayer to direct and energize our work in accomplishing God’s vision.

3. Gifts & Strengths: Latham utilizes spiritual gifts and abilities of our members.

4. Credibility: Latham practices honesty, integrity, passion, and accountability to God and each other.

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Staff Parish Relations Committee Dean Stone, Chairman

The SPRC has spent many hours working to select the best candidate for the Minister of Music and Worship

position at Latham. We are happy to announce that Felix Otterbein Cox (who goes by Sam) has accepted our

offer, and will be assuming his duties on January 6, 2016. Sam is coming to us from a United Methodist

Church in Bristol, VA, where he has served for over five years. He has a Ph.D. in Musicology, and is well

versed in a wide variety of musical styles and interests.

Sam has experience in developing effective music ministries in both Traditional and Contemporary settings.

He brings a wealth of knowledge and goals for each style of worship at Latham.

Sam will assume the responsibilities of the music ministry and will be assisted by Jim Geisinger who will

continue working with our Praise Band under Sam’s leadership. This plan of action will allow for further

education for Jim as we continue to celebrate the diverse opportunities for worship offered here at Latham.

We believe that Sam will bring each area of the music ministry to a higher level, as plans to add other music

opportunities are developed.

The SPRC and staff of Latham UMC ask for your support and prayers as we enter into a new level of worship

celebration as together we “make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

First I would like to announce the new mission statement of the Student Ministry: “We are here to Know,

Grow, and Show the Love of God as Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.” In this

statement we see that first we desire to Know the Love of God through the words of the Bible, next we want to

Grow the Love of God in our lives as we Grow into Disciples of Christ, and finally we want to Show the Love

of God to the world so that more people come to Know, Grow, and Show the Love of God. I believe that,

through the living out of this mission statement, we will see students come to Know, Grow, and Show the

Love of God in new and powerful ways.

Next I want to look at the Holiday Season Calendar for the Student Ministry. Starting with the Sunday before

Thanksgiving there will be a Student Leadership Meeting at 11am in the Youth Room. The week of Thanks-

giving I will be going out of town to spend Thanksgiving with Amanda’s family Tuesday evening through

Monday evening. There will still be a Youth Group meeting on Sunday the 29th, as our volunteers will be

leading that night.

In December we will stay on our normal calendar till the 19th, and on this date we will have a Student Ministry

Christmas Party. At this party we will have Christmas Themed Games, White Elephant Gift Exchange, Christ-

mas Music Playing, and Food. Students are encouraged not to spend over $20 on a gift to save on spending too

much money. December 20th we be our last Youth Group Night of the year as we will be taking off December

27-January 17 before starting our new Youth Group Year on January 24.

Finally, I want to thank all the students and parents that made the Pumpkin Patch such a great success. You all

went over and above the call of duty in all that you did to make our customers feel comfortable, and you made

Latham UMC proud by the way you represented our church. From the bottom of my heart: Thank You All So

Much!

Youth Ministry Adam Miller, Minister of Youth

Thank You! Bee Ratliff

Elderberries Rose Battle, Program Chair

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Memorial contributions to Latham fall into two

categories – Restricted Gifts and Undesignated

Memorials.

A Restricted Gift is a donation specifically designated

by the donor as to how or for what it is to be

spent. Restricted gifts designated to an activity or

organization funded as a line item in the Ministries

budget will be expended for those items at the

time when the Ministry expenditure is budgeted.

Restricted gifts to a mission program are held in a

restricted account. The Mission Committee may

decide that a designated mission is defunct or

should not be supported. However, the donated

funds may be designated for another mission

account, only if the donor is contacted and agrees

to have the donation reallocated.

An Undesignated Memorial is a gift to the church

made “In Memory Of” or “In Honor Of” that

does not specify how the gift is to be spent.

Undesignated Memorials may be spent at the

discretion of the Finance Committee unless the

donor specifies a use for the funds within six

months after the donation is made.

This past month, Latham received the following contributions:

In memory of Arthur Schlumpf, from Elfriede Schlumpf,

to the Hands of Christ Fund.

In memory of John Daniel, from Mitt and Courtney Sadler

to the Memorial Fund.

In memory of John Daniel, from Harry and Elon Willing

to the Memorial Fund.

Memorial Contributions Finance Committee

Thank You: One stitch in time, one heart-felt

prayer, one act of support and kindness can make all

the difference in the life of a person who needs to be

lifted up before God’s Throne of Grace.

With a grateful heart I thank you for taking the time

to support and pray for me. I appreciate your

representation of God’s grace. It is so good to be a

part of the Latham family. Location makes all the

difference.

My favorite poem is Robert Frost’s “The Road Not

Taken.” My favorite author is Scott Peck who wrote

The Road Less Traveled. “Life is difficult…” but a

“stitch in time,” offered by the In Stitches ministry, a

prayer, an act of kindness and support makes all the

difference. Thank you.

On November 19th, the program following our meal

will be on The Civil War by Dot Coombe, Dot will

read letters written by a young soldier named, Joel

Baugh, to his mother during the Civil War. We will

see pictures to accompany the letters, as we

comemmorate a war that has been very important to

Southerners since we surrendered 150 years ago.

Our Christmas Program for December will be

presented by our wonderful Wesley Choir, who will

be singing Christmas Carols, and other Christmas

songs. We usually get to join in singing, too.

Please join us as we eat delicious food, have

fellowship, hear singing - all to celebrate the birth of

Jesus.

Fall Festival—October 17, 2015

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Fall Festival—October 17, 2015

KID’S CORNER RENOVATION:

Our renovation of the Kid’s Corner

is almost complete. We have just a

few more furniture items to

purchase for our Sunday School

classes meeting there. This has

truly been a church-wide effort,

and the Children’s Department is

extremely grateful. I thought

everything would fall apart when I

found out about my impending

knee surgery, but parents,

Discipleship groups, small groups

and individuals stepped up and got

the work done! Also with some awesome donations of money and furniture from church members, for a new

ceiling and insulation from the Trustees, and some great discounts that several of our members got us on

services, we still have a little money left in the budget!! Unbelievable?? No…because ALL things are possible

with God.

We are now using the Kid’s Corner for Sunday School for grades 2-5 and for all our Sunday night activities. If

you get a chance, come and see what a dedicated group of people can accomplish for our children. Latham

United Methodist….Where EVERY Kid Counts!!!

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Children’s Ministry Susan Terry, Minister of Connect an d Children’s Ministry

Our vision statement says “Connecting generations to

grow relationships with God, others and creation.” We

put that into practice with “The Patch.” It takes a

dedicated group of people to go from this to this to this

in two and a half hours. Thanks so much to all who

helped unload the pumpkins, especially our neighbor-

hood friends that came. A very special thank you to all

who worked a two-hour shift at The Patch. We raised

over $12,000 as of October 27th. This money will go to

the Children’s and Youth programs for mission trips,

scholarships and special activities.

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Pumpkin Patch 2015

Our little friends at

LUMCDC have had lots of

Fall Fun and are now looking

forward to Holiday Happi-

ness!

What a wonderful time of

year! November is filled

with gratitude and generos-

ity. We kick off the month

with our Canned Soup

Drive the week of Nov. 2-6

to benefit the Homeless

Veterans and Citizens of

Huntsville. It makes our

heart happy to help members

in our community who have

defended our country’s

freedoms.

The Usborne Book Fair

will be Nov 3 & 4 during

school hours. All are wel-

come to stop by and see the

fantastic selection of Chil-

dren's books for purchase.

Give the gift of reading this

holiday! LUMCDC will also

receive free educational

books from Usborne to add to our school library and classroom learning resources.

Our annual Thanksgiving Feast will be Wed. Nov. 18th at 11:30am where Pilgrims, Indians, and Turkeys will

enjoy traditional foods. We have so very much to be thankful for!

December will prove to be a fabulous month of celebrating the birth of Jesus. What joy comes from seeing the

season through a child's eyes. Our annual Christmas Program will be Tues. Dec. 15th at 11:30am when the

children will re-enact the nativity complete with stable animals and song. All of the children at LUMCDC are

angels so, of course Santa will be making a special appearance at the beginning of the month.

We will continue to focus on giving this holiday season. Our Children's Pajama & Diaper Collection will

take place Dec. 1-15th. We encourage our school families and Latham church members to donate new chil-

dren's pajamas (sizes 12 months-12 years old), socks, underwear or diapers to benefit our friends at the Manna

House this holiday season. Items can be pinned to the festive garland in the Children's wing or placed in the

red wagon. The gift of giving is a true blessing to not only the receiver but the giver as well.

Child Development Center Traci Harris, Director

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With fall arriving we

recently hosted a Flu

Clinic at Latham on

October 20th. We

ended with 28 people

taking advantage of the

pneumonia & flu vacci-

nations by the Wal-

greens Pharmacy.

Also, we have recently

sent out invitations for the caregivers’ luncheon. We

limit it to 6 people each time so that they can enjoy a

couple of hours away from home to share with others

what type of situation in which they find themselves.

The next one is scheduled for November 9th. They

are scheduled four times a year.

In Reach Ministries Faye Cook, Lay Leader

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Care Note stations in the hallway by the Wel-

come Center. These stations have different

booklets that cover life events and are for all

ages: children, teens and adults. Additional

topics will follow.

A Guide to Understanding, Surviving, and

Supporting the Grief Process

6:00-7:30 p.m., Nov. 23rd-Dec 14th

Presented by Rev. Carl Malm,

Call 256-881-4069

for more information.

Get One

Today

109 Weatherly Road

Huntsville, AL 35803

Phone: 256-881-4069

Fax: 256-880-0305

On the web: lathamumc.org

Connect with the Staff

Rev. Mike Ratliff, Senior Pastor

Chris Martin, Minister of Discipleship

Susan Terry, Minister of Connect & Children’s Ministries

Adam Miller, Minister of Youth

Marvene Borntrager, Staff Coordinator for Inreach

Anita Banks, Business Administrator

Traci Harris, Director of Child Development Center

Cherry Keeton, Organist

Joey Evans, Pianist

mikeratliff@lathamumc.org

chrismartin@lathamumc.org

susanterry@lathamumc.org

adammiller@lathamumc.org

office@lathamumc.org

admin@lathamumc.org

lathamcdc@lathamumc.org

Latham United Methodist Church

Operation Santa Claus-A Mission Project Donna Whitacre

How time flies!

The Mental Health Center needs our help in

providing Christmas gifts for the mentally

challenged in our area. Most are on a very limited

income and often times our gifts are the only ones

they receive.

Operation Procedure!

The Center provides us with cards on which you’ll

find a first name and that person’s Christmas wish.

The cards will be available to Sunday after

Thanksgiving, November 29, in the Welcome Center

from 8:30 until noon. Choose the one you like and

then return the gift the very next Sunday, December

6, along with the card. They request we do not wrap

the gifts but a cheery card is fine to enclose. It’s okay

to drop off your gift that week at the church office,

but do not leave it in the Welcome Center.

This is our fourth year to aid in Operation Santa…

last year we fulfilled over 70 wishes. Many thanks to

all. Here’s hoping we can do it again this year!

If you have any questions call me, Donna Whitacre at 256-881-5685.