Ellsworth United Methodist Church

After much internal discussion and brain-picking of friends, family and acquaintances, we have decided

a) what to call our new alternative worship service
b) when to have it and
c) what kinds of things you’ll find there.

So, without further ado, here’s what we’ve got planned:

A. The Name
“GPYes – Navigating our lives with God” or “God IS our co-pilot!”

What is it? A worship service for those who can’t make Sunday morning or don’t feel comfortable in a traditional worship setting.
The “GP” stands for “God’s Power”, and our worship will have a map/navigation theme (which is where the GPS comes from – get it??), sharing God’s message and our own stories as we “navigate” our lives with God.

We’ve also planned on a FREE supper on the third Monday of each month, and we’re calling that “Manna Monday.” ANYONE is welcome to this free meal, which will start at 6:30PM (to accommodate those who work later or don’t get home ’til late afternoon).  Our first Manna Monday will be June 15th, 2009 at 6:30 in the Fellowship Hall. Our first meal will be a spaghetti feast, with pasta & sauce, bread, salad, make-your-own sundaes. Again, the meal is FREE, and open to anyone. Tell your friends!

B. When will the new services be?
The first and second (and fourth, if there are five Mondays that month) Monday nights of each month from 6:30-7:30PM. The last Monday of each month will be a traditional service, identical to that week’s Sunday service, to accommodate those that want a traditional service and just can’t make Sunday morning.

C. What can we expect at GPYes! ?
Music. Munchies. Movies. Message. Mission. Real life.
All of these things can be found at a GPYes! service. We’ll be listening to and singing contemporary praise and worship songs together, discussing their lyrics and what they mean to us as Christians. We’ll play music and share our talents with each other, through guest musicians and occasional open mic nights. We’ll watch relevant movies and find bits of God’s message in them. We’ll work on existing mission projects – local and global – and come up with new ones. We may even invest in a game system for some electronic fun-time…

Ultimately, our goal is to share how God is – and can be – an important part of our real, everyday lives.

Our space in the fellowship hall will be informal – couches, chairs, coffee tables (if you’ve got some you’d like to donate, send ‘em on in, btw) – and so will our atmosphere. We’ll offer munchies (chips, drinks, popcorn, veggies, etc.) and a safe place to question, share and discuss.

So – I hope that’s given you enough information to think about whether this is something that you’d like to do. And if not, that’s okay too. Maybe you have a friend that wants to come to church, but can’t make a Sunday AM service. Or that was somehow turned off on church and might be looking for a safe, easy way to ease back into it. Please feel free to pass this information on to friends – copy  the URL for this post and send it around.

We are VERY excited to be able to offer these new worship options, and hope that you will join us to see what all the fuss is about. Or at least to have some spaghetti, right?More details to come, so stay tuned, and more importantly, see you there!

-Amy Briggs
Technology Coordinator, Ellsworth UMC