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The Wesley Circuit

April,2017

Sunday, April 9:

PALM SUNDAY

Children are invited to participate in a Palm Parade at

either (or both) the 8:30 and 10:45AM worship services!

Please bring your child to the sanctuary entryway if they

would like to participate.

Friday, April 14:

GOOD FRIDAY

Join us for a service of remembrance with music by our

Chancel Choir in the sanctuary at 7:00PM.

Saturday, April 15:

EASTER EGG HUNT

Families are invited to meet at 10:00AM in the Fellow-

ship Hall for an Easter Egg Hunt! We will also have a kids’

Stations of the Cross activity. All kids, parents and

grandparents are welcome!

SUNDAY, APRIL 16:

EASTER SUNDAY!

Our Chancel Choir accompanied by bells and brass will

lead us in worship at both the 8:30 and 10:45AM worship

services. Invite and bring your friends and loved ones as

we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection!

For behold, the winter is past; the

rain is over and gone. The flowers

appear on the earth, the time of

singing has come, and the voice of

the turtledove is heard in our land.

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

INVITE A FRIEND

TO WORSHIP

during

holy week!

Holy Week and Easter Sunday are

wonderful times to invite friends

and loved ones to worship! We hope

you will invite – and offer to bring –

friends and family to one or more of

the special worship services and

events we have planned for that

week. Take a look at all we will be

offering, and pray about inviting

others. You can make it even easier

by forwarding church emails and

sharing our Facebook posts! Don’t

keep the Good News to yourself.

Share it with others!

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CANDY DONATIONS

NEEDED!

Wesley UMC will be hosting

an Easter Egg Hunt and

children’s Stations of the

Cross activity on Saturday,

April 15th from 10:00 to

11:00AM. We are in need of

candy to fill the tons (and

tons!) of eggs we already have. Please make

sure all donations are individually wrapped.

All candy can be brought to a table just inside

the church office door.

Wesley UMC is once again offering the

opportunity to purchase flowers to decorate

our sanctuary on Easter morning. In lieu of

flowers, you may contribute to our Music

Fund which helps to pay for special music on

Easter, as well as other music needs

throughout the year. Flowers can be ordered

for $15.00 each and may be designated in

honor or in memory of a loved one, or given

as a gift to the church. The ordering deadline

is Monday, April 10. Donations to the Music

Fund may be given in any amount and will be

recognized in the Easter Sunday bulletin.

Please write separate checks for flowers AND

for music indicating on the memo line that the

check is for Easter Flowers or Music Fund.

Plants may be picked up after the 10:45

service on Easter morning. An order form is

included in the Sunday worship bulletin, or

you may stop by the office during the week.

We have the perfect opportunity for those of

you who love little ones. Nursery helpers are

needed for both EASTER SUNDAY services.

If you attend the 8:30 service, please consider

helping out at 10:45. If you attend at 10:45,

come a bit early and help at 8:30. Easter is a

day we often have many young families

visiting, and we want them to feel welcome.

Please consider helping for just ONE hour on

April 16. Contact the church office at 217-345-

3917 OR charlestonwesley@gmail.com to

volunteer!

NAMETAGS –

DO YOU HAVE ONE?

It’s Lent – we are having visitors – we will

have a lot of them during Holy Week and on

Easter Sunday! Please remember to wear

your nametag so that folks can put names and

faces together. If you need a tag, please mark

the “I’d like to have a nametag” box at the

bottom of your Making Connections card on

Sunday morning. Your new nametag will be

available on the appropriate rack the

following Sunday.

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USHER AND GREETER

REFRESHER

AND TRAINING

Rev. Swickard will lead an usher and greeter

refresher and training event at 7:00PM on

Tuesday, April 4. All current ushers and

greeters are invited and encouraged to attend

AND if you are not currently serving, you are

invited to come and learn more about how

you can be involved in serving on one of these

welcoming teams! We do hope you will attend

this important course as we get ready to

welcome guests for Holy Week and Easter

Sunday. For more information, please speak

with Rev. Bob.

WESLEY

MEN!

We are trying

to get a group

of men (all

ages!) together

to attend the

Iron Sharpens Iron Conference at the New

Horizon UMC in Champaign on Saturday,

April 8. There is a sign-up sheet and

additional info at a table in the sanctuary

hallway by the Information Center. Stop by,

check it out, and sign up! To learn more about

this event, please check their website:

http://www.ironsharpensiron.net/confer

ences.html?cid%5B0%5D=404

APRIL MISSION

PROJECT:

UMCOR SUNDAY

Wesley’s April

mission project

is UMCOR

Sunday.

This is the

annual appeal

for funds to

underwrite the

operational ex-

penses for UMCOR (United Methodist

Committee on Relief), formerly known as One

Great Hour of Sharing.

UMCOR is in its 77th year of helping people

in crisis around the world. In 2014, UMCOR

contributed $373 million to United Methodist

benevolent causes such as soup kitchens,

clothing drives and other causes. $28 million

was donated by UMCOR for disaster

responses, both locally and internationally.

UMCOR's ability to respond is due to the

generosity of United Methodist congregations

and individuals around the world. Gifts to

UMCOR Sunday underwrite UMCOR's costs of

serving local churches in times of disaster.

This helps keep the promise that 100% of

every gift made to UMCOR projects goes

directly to those in need – not for

administrative costs. Incidentally, if funds

collected for UMCOR SUNDAY exceed the

amount needed, the overage is directed to the

most needy or under-funded UMCOR projects.

(Continued, next page)

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(April Mission, continued)

If you would like to help with this effort,

please write your check to Wesley UMC with

UMCOR SUNDAY on the memo line or visit

our website at www.charlestonwesley.org

and click on the $ button at the bottom of the

page. If you prefer to make a cash donation,

there are blue mission offering envelopes in

the pew backs. Thank you very much for your

support.

Your Missions Work Area

BE SURE TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

We hope you will join us for our annual Great

Day of Music which will be observed on

Sunday, April 30 at both the 8:30 and 10:45

worship services. Our choirs will be singing

and ringing, and there will also be special

music and congregational singing. Bring your

voice, and come praise God with us!

WEDNESDAY WOMEN’S

STUDY GROUP RESUMES

The Wednesday morning Women’s Study

Group will resume meeting on Wednesday,

April 5. All women of the church are invited

to join them in the library each Wednesday

morning at 7:30AM for book study,

conversation and fellowship. New members

are always welcome!

CHANGE THE

WORLD DAY –

SATURDAY, MAY 20

Change the World Day is on the horizon for

WUMC, and during upcoming weeks we will

learn of opportunities to have an impact at

both the congregation and community levels.

Change the World Day is part of a larger UMC

initiative for the May 20-21 weekend, and for

Charleston WUMC, the Church and Society

Ministry Team is planning six service projects

for Saturday, May 20: (1) serving lunch at

PADS, (2) a Helping Hands Ministry work day,

(3) nursing home/homebound visits, (4) a

carwash project by the youth group, (5)

activities by younger children to spruce up

the exterior of the church—e.g., planting

flowers, and (6) a rice/beans packaging

project in partnership with the Wesley

Foundation. As you can see, the opportunities

to serve and help are for all ages and interests.

For more information, please contact Rich

Wandling (rich.a.wandling@gmail.com) or

Congregational Care Minister, Rev. Janice

Kahl (jkahl@charlestonwesley.org).

"Spring shows what

God can do with a drab

and dirty world."

- Virgil A. Kraft

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SUMMER CHURCH CAMP!

ICRC camping information brochures are

here! Wonderful opportunities for fun,

adventure and Christian fellowship are

offered in many different camp settings. Pick

up a booklet from the office or table outside

the sanctuary and see what’s available.

Wesley helps with one half the cost of

registration, up to $325.00. Registration by

April 15 also receives a $25 discount. Come

experience the beauty of God’s creation and

the awesome experiences that church camp

can provide!

NEWS FROM OUR

SCOUTS

During the spring

school break, Wesley’s

scouts visited the

Courthouse, sitting in

on traffic court,

following which Judge

Bovard took them on a

tour of the county jail. Troop 141 also

camped at Rhodes-France Scout Reservation,

with another campout planned for April

8. The next night we will host 10-year-old

Webelos Scouts who, with their parents, will

camp out on the EIU field behind the church.

Did you know that the United Methodist

Church is the second largest charter sponsor

of Boy Scouts in the world, and the largest

charter sponsor of Cub Scouts in the world? In

2016 there were 10,210 Scouting units in

6,500 UM churches, serving 324,000

American youth.

Until April 21 our scouts will be selling camp

cards for discounts at area businesses. The

$10 cards can be used repeatedly over the

next 12 months. $5 from each card sale will

be put in the scout’s troop account which can

be used by him for the cost of camp or other

scouting expenses. Among the businesses on

the cards are Rural King, Casey’s, McDonalds,

Jackson Avenue Coffee, Freddy’s, Pizza Hut,

Family Video, Arby’s, D to Z Sports, Ace

Hardware, Neal Tire, and others. Sample

cards (there are two kinds) are posted on the

troop bulletin board in the hallway. If you

would like a card, ask one our scouts, stop by

the scout room (Room 112 – off the

Fellowship Hall), or call Keith Kohanzo, 549-

5772, who will have a scout contact you.

Our sympathy is expressed to

Virginia Davis and her family on the death

of Max Davis on March 2, 2017;

to Debbie McKay’s family on

the death of Debbie’s father

Lester Fleming on March 19, 2017;

to Bud Sanders and his family on the death

of Jo Sanders on March 24, 2017;

and to Steve Green and his family on the

death of Debbie Green on March 24, 2017.

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Happy APRIL

birthday to

the following

Wesley folks!

Rick Addison Grace Braden

Joyce Cassell Max Coffey

Brenda Cooper Jane Dawson

Terry Diss David Ebdon

Savannah Esarey Judith Feterl

Sherry George Judy Gillespie

Donna Helton Dan Hockman

James Honnold Joyce Jackson

Mary Jorstad Nissa Larson

Eleanor Lawson Kenton Macy

Evelyn McArthur Dennis Pearson

Ruth Schmidt Mary Ann Taber

Sam Taber Dustha Wahls

Kaylee Wilson Carol Winkleblack

COMMUNICATION -

IT'S SO IMPORTANT!

Wesley UMC would like to know how WE can

communicate with YOU in the best way(s)

possible. If you have not yet filled out a

Communications Survey, please stop by the

table at the Information Center in the

sanctuary hallway and fill one out. You can

place it in the offering basket Sunday, or in

Rosalie Addison’s mailbox in the church

office. Thanks for communicating with us!

Please note that the

Wesley Church office

will be closed on

Good Friday

(April 14)

and

Easter Monday

(April 17)

so that our staff can

spend time with their

families.

Gifts have been given to our

Memorial Fund

in memory of

Maxine Frame & Max Davis.

Chapel

labyrinth

Wesley member June Krutza graciously left

WUMC a bequest to construct a labyrinth in

our chapel. The bequest also included monies

to be used to enhance the chapel area to

optimize the use of the labyrinth. Updated

overhang and dimmable lighting have been

added, as well as

improvements to the

communion rail. We

plan on having a

dedication of the

new labyrinth when

it is completed, and

hope to offer a

special Holy Week

prayer walk. Please stay tuned for more

information as it becomes available.

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WESLEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

2206 4TH Street

Charleston, IL 61920-3903

Phone: 217-345-3917

www.charlestonwesley.org

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

WESLEY UNITED

METHODIST CHURCH

2206 4TH Street,

Charleston, IL

Phone: 217-345-3917

www.charlestonwesley.org

Follow us on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/charlestonwesley

Our Sunday Schedule:

Worship - 8:30 & 10:45 AM

A Time of Fellowship takes place at 9:30AM

Sunday School for all ages - 9:45AM

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage

PAID

Charleston, IL

PERMIT NO. 107

THE WESLEY CIRCUIT

APRIL - 2017

In this issue of the Circuit:

PAGE 1: Holy Week Schedule

PAGE 2: Nursery Helpers for Easter

Candy Donations Needed

Order Easter Flowers

PAGE 3: April Mission Project

Usher/Greeter Refresher

Men’s Conference

PAGE 4: Great Day of Music

Change the World Day

PAGE 5: Summer Camp

Scout News

PAGE 6: April Birthdays