THE CHIMES September 2020

Volume Number 7 Published 10 Months 2020

Christ United Methodist Church

470 East Broadway Street

Alliance, OH 44601-2698

Reverend John Partridge, Pastor

Church: 330-823-7136

Our Mission is to Make Disciples of Jesus Christ and to

Serve God by Sharing Compassion Hope and Love

THE CHIMES

September 2020

Sunday, September 6 Church in Parking Lot, Communion

E-Mail: church@cumcalliance.org Web Page: www.cumcalliance.org

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U. S. POSTAGE

PAID

ALLIANCE, OH 44601

PERMIT NO. 298

Crisis Fatigue I have compassion fatigue.

Or at least something like it.

For anyone who might be unfamiliar with the term, compassion fatigue is the name given to describe the limited human ability to expend emotional energy. Simply put, we can’t care about everything. Ordinarily, you see compassion fatigue in those who work with hurting people to the extent that they seem to become senseless to the pain of others. We see social workers to whom suffering children and families have just become numbers, or workers at the Social Security or unemployment office who close their eyes to the humanity in front of them.

Some time ago, I experienced it when Patti and I chaired the church missions committee. So many letters, cards, videos, and other requests for funds came to us through the church, and through the mail, that we simply couldn’t read them all. The church had a limited budget and couldn’t give funds to even half of them. Likewise, we had limited emotional energy, and we didn’t have the capacity to worry about the needs of every single organization that asked for our help.

Something similar is happening now.

We are surrounded by hurting, isolated people.

The news is filled with an endless parade of crises.

Facebook and other social media outlets are filled with the reports of friends and family that are struggling.

And I find myself tuning out.

To be fair, I’m trying to be selective.

I don’t have the emotional energy to care about everything. There is so much going on that I don’t have the time to focus on the myriad of legitimate concerns that confront me. I need to care, but I need to take care of myself and my family at the same time.

But sometimes I feel like I should care more.

There are so many important issues to confront: Immigration, racial inequality, church finance, unemployment, mourning the loss of church family members, a divisive national election, a divided denomination, and the list just goes on and on.

And the elephant in the room is always COVID-19. Every day I think about it. It has changed the way we live, the way we work, the way that we associate with other, and the way that we are… permitted… to care for others. This virus has changed the way that we do everything. And, worse than that, it requires that we pay attention to it, to spend some of our emotional energy on it, constantly, every day. We have to think about how often we go to the store, or how often we leave the house, or how many people we might come in contact with, or whether we have a clean mask to wear, and so on. All day. Every day.

And the emotional toll of that constant attention nibbles away at our compassion.

I feel it and I’m sure you do too.

We have a limited amount of emotional energy. We simply do not have the capacity to care about everything. And when our concerns, and our necessary attention to this virus is added to the constant parade of important concerns, we find ourselves unable to care about them all. We just don’t have the time or the energy.

So sometimes I feel like I should be paying more attention to important issues that are facing our society, or our church, and I feel guilty when I don’t study them, and highlight them in my preaching or my writing.

But I just can’t.

I’m sure that you may have felt something similar. The Coronavirus is stealing from us. Its constant demands for attention are stealing our emotional energy and our capacity to care. But we can’t close ourselves off to the world. We can’t allow ourselves to shut down emotionally. We need to be conscious and aware of the emotional toll and take steps to protect ourselves.

Already, I’ve seen otherwise nice people post unkind, uncompassionate, and sometimes downright mean things on social media as they argue about politics, or race, or the coronavirus, or, well, you get the idea. But in our fatigue, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of becoming so focused on one problem, or one crisis, that we are unable to see how that focus causes us to mistreat others who are battling their way through a host of other crises.

I admit that I’m tired.

Whether you want to call it crisis fatigue, or compassion fatigue, or COVID fatigue, or something else, we need to admit that the continuing bombardment of urgent physical, social, and political disruptions is wearing on us. And we need to take steps to protect ourselves.

If you have to, turn off the news occasionally. Or take an extra day off. Or turn off the internet for a day or two. But do what you need to do to restore your equilibrium. Recognize that you don’t have the emotional capacity to worry about everything at the same time. Leave yourself some emotional space to care about the people closest to you so that you can reach out to your friends, neighbors, or coworkers when they need you.

Take the time to rest both physically and emotionally.

Don’t feel guilty about taking a step back. As they say in the airline safety briefings, “You can’t care for someone else, unless you take care of yourself first.”

We need to care for ourselves so that we don’t lose our sense of compassion entirely.

We need to rest so that we will, as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 3:13, “…never tire of doing what is good.” Blessings, Pastor John

HOSPITALIZED OR HAVING SURGERY?

If you are going to be hospitalized or have surgery . . . Please take a moment and let the Pastor know either by a phone call to office, text or prayer card. If you are ill and need a pastoral visit, please have someone leave a mess for Rev. Partridge at the church office at 330-823-1736 or text Pastor John at 419-948-0020.

FROM THE LIVING MEMORIAL SCHOLASHIP COMMITTEE

Application for a College Grant

All 2020-21 high school graduates who are church members and are advancing their education in any two or four year program are eligible (available ONE TIME ONLY) for a $500 grant. They may send a letter to the Living Memorial Scholarship Committee, Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, OH 44601-2698 and indicate the level of participation in church (see below), the school they will be attending and the program of study. Also, all undergraduate members of the church now in college, full time, may also apply for this same grant by submitting a similar letter.

Application for a College Loan

The LIVING MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND which was established in 1960 and revised in 1986 is funded by gifts from the congregation. These funds are held by the Trustees and are granted as loans to persons wishing to further their education.

Criteria established at that time determined that the applicant be an active member of Christ United Methodist Church. Active also means participation in at least three of the following programs at Christ United Methodist Church:

A. Worship Services E. Handbell Choir B. Church School Classes F. Boy Scouts C. Youth Fellowship (U.M.Y.F.) G. Other D. Vocal Choir

Loans are now available for up to $3,000.00 per year for you to four years, and are approved by the Living Memorial Scholarship Committee. Interest shall be charged at the rate of 1% per annum on the unpaid balance, and repayment will start six months after graduation or discontinuation of schooling. A parent or guardian shall be required to cosign any such loans, if the student is a minor. A written letter to the Committee shall contain the name and address of the applicant, the date, the amount requested, the institution where applicant has been accept, the class level of the applicant (freshmen, sophomore, etc.) and expected graduation or completion date of study.

The congregation is to be commended for their support in funding the furthering of higher education.

Here’s a quick Bible study that will give us a new biblical interpretation of the number “19”-to take our minds off of the Covid one: These are all scriptures from the book of Psalms: Chapters: 31, 34, 68, 80, 94, 103, 107 and 145. But only refer to VERSE 19 in each chapter. Very uplifting! We are well and still in prayer for my CUMC family. Peace, Dr. J

WORSHIP PARTICIPANTS FOR SEPTEMBER

USHERS - Team #4

Bruce Helsel, Captain

Karen Locke Mark Locke Bill Prueter Larry Pyers

LITURGISTS

SANCTUARY GREETERS

NORTH & WEST DOORS GREETERS

WELCOME CENTER GREETERS

6 Pat Helsel & Marilyn Ruff 13 Mark Locke & Bruce Helsel 20 Donna Essick & Jill Greiner 27 Jan Essick & Nancy Prueter

6 Rose Wright, 2040 McCrea St., Alliance OH 13 Carol Ogline, 800 S 15th Apt 5103, Sebring 44672 20 Lois Bush, 1277 S Sawburg Ave #105, Alliance 27 Betty Coleman, 4477 Lynhaven Ave Louisville 44641

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS

2 Heather Thomas 16 Keith Noble 21 Dolores Lapp 4 Charles Manypenny 16 Jon Reese 22 Peg Williams 7 Pat Helsel 17 Dan Feess 23 Jim Greiner 12 Brad Thomas 18 Nancy Locke 23 Gene Stroia 13 Joshua Shields 18 Amy Essick 26 Peg Rodefer 16 LaVerne Edwards 19 Bruce Helsel 29 Sharon Riddle 19 Mike Greiner 29 Dan Gard

SEPTEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

8 Stephen and Pat Stone

Dear UMW Friends, I was looking at my calendar lately and noticing how empty it looks. Things have sure changed for me, and for a lot of us I bet, during these troubling times. I’m missing some of the things that have been cancelled for the time being: Basement Sales, Cooking for the Soul, UMW Sunday, Unit Meetings, Circle Meetings, Soup Sales, and the Baked Potato Dinner. But UMW is only partly about the things we do and more about who we are. OUR PURPOSE is: An organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose PURPOSE is to know God -We are together even when we are apart because of our common goal as women who follow and want to be like Christ. And to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; -We surely are blessed that through UMW we have found friends through our love for Christ. To develop a creative, supportive fellowship; -We are friends in Christ and in fact. We help each other. We encourage each other. We seek mentors from among our ranks. And expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church. -We study together, we learn together, and we work together. We seek to be more like Christ by being his hands and feet in today’s world. As the world has changed, temporarily, due to the Covid19 pandemic, our purpose has not changed. We continue to support local and worldwide missions with our monetary contributions. And perhaps our personal contributions are more focused on kindnesses we can show to those around us – those in our households, and our local communities. Of those invested in local mission projects, some show up when it’s safe and practical, and others do what they can do from home. I know some are making masks or pillowcases, making phone calls, knitting and crocheting, and making prayer shawls. And the most important thing we can do? … many of us are doing this .. is to PRAY. Praying for our world, our neighborhoods, and the person next door. Praying for our frontline workers, our leaders, our teachers, our students and for those who provide food and health care to families.

Thank you for ALL that you are doing … for being helpers in a troubled world. Pat Helsel, UMW President

CHURCH WOMEN UNITED: .

Church Women United's September 4th meeting scheduled to gather at the First Church of God has been cancelled. President Clarissa Weatherspoon is asking CWU members and the community to participate in a daily noontime or convenient time daily prayer vigil during the month of September. The time of prayer for peace and guidance can be participated in individually or as a group.

Thank you for your outpouring of love at the passing of Linda Montgomery. The food & cards were very much appreciated. Family of Linda Montgomery

We want to express our gratitude for your continuing support of our mission to provide for those in need in our community through your donation of time, effort, and food. We wish you continued health and well-being at this difficult time. Gratefully, Alliance Community Pantry

We are so grateful for the donation of choir robes that will be re-purposed into protective gowns to help keep Flat Rock staff and residents safer. With a bit of a tuck here and there – they are ready to use. Thank You. Rose Darling, Church & Community Engagement Coordinator

Flat Rock Homes

Dear Friends of Christ Church, We are taking this opportunity to profoundly thank you for your unwavering financial support to this church over these past months. It is obvious you have been making the effort to stay current with your financial gifts. YOUR financial support has provided us the ability to continually pay our bills, staff payroll, and other obligations. We have also been able to pay four months of our annual apportionment.

Too often we don’t take the time to let someone know they are doing a good job. You are. In fact, we think you are all amazing! Gratefully, Julie Greiner, Financial Sec’y. Ruth Eva Williams, Treasurer

As we look forward to our Stewardship Program for 2021, there is no doubt that things have changed from last year due to the Covid19 Pandemic. What has not changed is the commitment and love you have all shown by keeping your giving current. You have made your giving a “Holy Habit” and I want to say THANK YOU!

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? What does the Lord expect of me?

What “holy habits” should I cultivate in my life?

FROM CRAIG POST: Here is thinking of all of you. I am now at Heritage Inn in North Canton. Since the virus has hit, none of us can get out much. Stay well and you are in my prayers. I would appreciate receiving some cards from my church family. Heritage Inn in North Canton 917 Pittsburg North Canton OH 44721

The pandemic has not only increased the homeless population but also made their situation even more tenuous. This month, we are taking a collection for Anchor House in Alliance and the Homeless Outreach Team in Louisville. Please make your contributions by September 15, either by dropping them off at church (Parking lot worship on Sept. 6 is a great opportunity!) or through the church's online donation service. Thank you! - Christian Outreach Committee

THANK YOU for your support!!! As of the end of July, a total of 109 items (75 lbs.) of canned

goods, paper products and other needed items were donated and delivered to the Alliance

Community Pantry.

The Vocal Choir will not be meeting in the foreseeable future. The Chancel Bells are not meeting at this time but things could change in the near future.

YOUR PENNIES CAN HELP OTHERS

Pennies from Heaven collection will benefit Council of Churches in 2020

The Pennies from Heaven donations were counted in August and shared with the Alliance Council of Churches to benefit local people in need.

The new, larger, collection jar did not ‘fill to the brim’ as we had hoped, but with worship services being held on-line, there has been little ‘foot traffic’ in the lounge to remind us to make our gifts.

The picture shows that we were below one quarter full, and yet the total in the jar was $ 118.00. (I would say ONLY $29.00 in pennies, but having to lift and carry them to the bank, ONLY is not the way I would describe them.) The balance was primarily in other coins.

The collection jar is returned to its place in the lounge at the Church. We will continue to strive to ‘fill the jar.’ Save your pennies until we worship together again, or if you visit the Church you can drop them in the jar anytime. Thank you for your faithfulness and support. We miss you! Christian Outreach Committee

The Education Committee met through email this past month. We approved our 2021 budget and are working on updating our Safe Sanctuary training. Also, with great help from Cindi Martin, we are supporting individual youth devotional subscriptions to each of our youth. We see this as an excellent way to help our young people stay connected to their faith during this time of not being together. We determined to meet at the church October 12, at our regular scheduled time of 6:30 for our next meeting. Respectfully submitted, Ruth Eva Williams, Ch.

Dick and Susan Diser provided us with some photos entitled Life at the Disers. The first is Susan’s beautiful hostas remaining after the local deer feasted on them. The second photo is the daily breakfast view.

Pat Helsel shares what is keeping hery busy: I’ve been cleaning out my recipes and have been reviving some old favorites … blueberry pie and South west bean salad.

And I’ve been trying to use up some yarn to benefit the Scarf Project, Blessing Bags and the YWCA

Hat+Mitten Tree.

Bruce and I have been happy to see the community dinners continue as carry-out and with help from a small team, CUMC served over 100 people in June. Blessings to all from the Helsels! Bruce and Pat Helsel share a little of their days right now: Being a homebody, I don’t mind time at home with fewer outside obligations. But we were especially sorry to miss our Alaska trip to celebrate Jack’s 1st birthday.

Bruce stays busy and has tackled some necessary jobs around the house. He drives the truck occasionally for the Pantry. He keeps in touch with friends and attended a zoom retirement party. He’s great at the grill.

Nancy Prueter shares about a M & M Circle event:

(L to R: Patti Travis, Pat Helsel, Peg Rodefer, Donna Essick, Jill Greiner and Sharon Riddle). M&M Circles met for lunch in Nancy Prueter’s backyard on Wednesday. They spent a relaxing afternoon visiting in the shade, while they enjoyed the beautiful weather and practiced social distancing.

Larry and Connie Pyers are all moved into their apartment at Copeland Oaks. Connie reports they are very well settled in. While they were in the process of moving, “young” Larry, daughter Lori and her husband, Kevin, came for a visit. Lori and Kevin are both teaching Special Education on a military base in South Korea. During this time of Covid-19, they have been teaching online. While they were here they went to Amish Country to the areas where Larry (senior) grew up. It brought back a lot of memories. Then they visited Mohican and saw the Gorge. “Young” Larry also made sure his dad purchased a cell phone. It was a fantastic visit for everyone!!!

Dee Lapp is doing well. She has knitted dozens of wash cloths for the Blessing Bags that go out from the church. A few weeks ago Dee decided to move a bed slightly and is dealing with a couple of fractured vertebrae. However, it really hasn’t slowed her down much at all! Kim Handy called the church office to let us know that her daughter Kayla had a baby boy at 7:51 am on Tuesday, August 11th. Name is Levi Jordan and he was 9 lb 1 oz and 20” long. Nancy Prueter shared an interesting account of some photography she has been doing. I recently spent several days watching and photographing a hummingbird that was flying around our butterfly bush. I eventually took 153 pictures and some videos of it. Most of the pictures were blurry or only showed parts of the little bird as it flitted out of the view of my cellphone camera. Only after enlarging some of the better pictures, did I notice that it had really long legs for a hummingbird. After enlarging more of the shots, I realized that it actually had six legs . . . and antennae. A quick Google search informed me that my little hummingbird was actually a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth! I guess I won’t be winning any Audubon awards for bird photography.

Do you have any good pictures of our church, church members, or church activities? As we continue to develop and improve our online services our video editor, Bob Wallace (Yay Bob!), has begun experimenting with the addition of photos that he has. Dick Diser has provided a few from our historical files, and Pastor John took a few around the church on Sunday morning (but without people in them, obviously), so, if you have some photos that you would allow us to share with the world online, please email to Bob, or Pastor John, or the church office. If you have paper photos that we can scan, you can bring a few of them to the church office and we will return them after we get a good digital scan. Thank so much.

Judy and Don Kingan have allowed a few updates from an email they sent the editor: The Kingan’s are doing well. I (Judy)am pretty much in quarantine, but I keep busy. Don has been doing the grocery shopping lately; he is doing a great job, too. I am quite impressed. My shopping list is a bit more specific than if I were doing the job—get this size or brand, things I don’t think about—but he does a good job. He’s faster than I am too. Guys go and get the stuff, girls look to see what else is available, then pick up the item.

A few months ago Don went through the stash of parts he has accumulated over the years and decided he had almost everything he needed to build a radio. Thus, he is in his workshop nearly everyday working on it. Part of the challenge was to make what he had, work. This means designing around what he needs and what he has. It is almost finished. He does such good work. He did have to order a few small parts, but that is all.

A couple of years ago I bought an orchid plant on clearance at the grocery. Well, now it is so large that it is literally crawling out of its pot and has lots of side shoots. I wasn’t sure what to do with it so I sent an e-mail to the Akron Orchid Society. I was surprised to get a note back from a member who referred me to several videos and pointed out the needed pots and planting medium. This stuff is not dirt by any means. Large, chunky, with bark and rocks. I cut off the roots to keep it in check and then repotted it as referred to in the videos. It's going to be awhile until I know how the plant is doing, but after one day it looks good.

I have been sewing more doll clothes. I decided that my display dolls needed new summer outfits so off to the scrap box to choose fabric. I had fun re-sizing an American Girl doll pattern. Were you aware that there is a new AG doll due to be available this month? She is the first new historic doll in quite a long while—1980’s is the new historic era! Please take care!

Cindy and Andy sent us an update on what is keeping them busy: We are all doing well. We had to get our hot water tank replaced so they came Friday to look at what size they needed to install. They were able to get it that day and install in the afternoon. In the process of getting it replaced the water in the old tank needed to be emptied .... surprise ... our drain in the basement is plugged. Also found out the float on the sump pump needed to be fixed which Andy was able to fix. He still needs to try and open the drain in the basement.

We still have Jason and Christa's dogs (Taudi and Vegas) and our dog Lexis. Jason will be back on the base teaching starting August 24th unless something changes. They seem to like it in Germany, but wish they could do more site seeing.

Paul Cope (dad) is staying mostly at home doing his own laundry and housekeeping. He goes to the Lakeview Terrace for meals unless he doesn't like the main dish they are serving. Then he will fix a frozen dinner or go in to town to pick up a meal. We are still doing grocery shopping for him once a week and our communication on what he needs is getting much

better . Dad was very happy to have church in the parking lot (we were happy too). It makes us all feel more connected. He can always watch vespers on the Copeland channel any other time. Andy is in the basement trying to unclog the drain right now.

Chris and Cindi Martin say they are doing well. They share that their granddaughter, Elena, decided to hold a Gotcha Day party for their dog, Moose. (A Gotcha Party celebrates the day you rescue/adopt your dog.). There were games, prizes, presents, and refreshments. Elena was the party planner and decorator. Cindi was recruited to make a small cake. Right before the party began, Cindi got a text asking how many extra cupcakes she had sent over. Elena was certain one was missing before the party. As of this news issue, the suspects were: older brother, younger brother, or the dog. Chris and Cindi are missing everyone at CUMC! Have a great week!

September 2020

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 5:30 Community Dinner-Carryout

2 3:30 p Staff Mtg

3

4 CWU Cancelled

5

6 10:15 Service in Parking Lot Communion

7

8 5:30 Community Dinner-Carryout 6:30 Finance 7:00 Adm. Council

9

10 6:3p Threads of Love

11

12

13

14 6:30 Christian Education

15 5:30 Community Dinner-Carryout

16 17

18

19

20

21

22 5:30 Community Dinner-Carryout 6:30p Trustees

23 24

25 26

27

28 7p UMW Exec

29 5:30 Community Dinner CUMC Carryout

30

*Sunday Worship & Program Opportunities Texts & videos of our weekly services can be found at www.PastorPartridge.com.