Ellsworth United Methodist Church

Dear Friends,
The long trek through Lent awaits us, beginning on February 17, Ash Wednesday and ending with  the glory of Easter morning, April 4. Lent is a journey through winter, then , come March it slips over the edge into Spring.

February 2nd is known by several names, like  Groundhog’s Day – will he or won’t be see his shadow?

February 2 is also “Candlemas Day,” when farmers looked at supplies of hay in the barn to see if it was half gone, then to the wood shed, to check if half the wood was used.

On February 6th the nimble and frisky talented folk at Ellsworth Untied Methodist will be hoofing it over to the Ellsworth bowling Lanes to try and knock down some “pins” and earn a few points.  It is one our yearly fun fund raiser.

The event happens at 3:30 with dinner at Pat’s Pizza afterwards.
Come and join us!

On February 14 we are reminded by florists, greeting card
and candy makers to give our dear one flowers, cards and chocolates as we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.

February 17, as stated before, is Ash Wednesday, and though we do not distribute ashes, we urge you to think of Lent as a special time. This year, during Lent, my sermons will focus, of course, with the Scripture for the day, but each will end with a special time of silent reflection  and listening. Each week this silent reflection will have a theme, again one connected with Scripture, also prayers and hymns.

Between Sundays, I encourage all to find ways to keep short moments free, quiet time, again, for listening. You may wish to keep a journal about your thoughts, feelings and perhaps images God may bless you with during these moments of “special listening”.

We know from our Gospels Jesus often removed himself to a quiet place to pray alone. Jesus our teacher. During Advent, when we looked closely at A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, we heard lifted up “Be still and know me better.” On Christmas Eve we held candles in the darkened sanctuary and sang “Silent Night”.  In many of our hymns we hear, be still. Hymn #534 “Be Still, My Soul”; #348 “Softly and Tenderly” reminds us  Jesus is calling, (from the “red” United Methodist Hymnal) and in the “black” hymnal (The Faith We Sing”) # 2142 “Blessed Quietness.”

I want to thank the amazing “mustard seeds” at Ellsworth UMC, who continue to strive to do good and who leap at any chance to help someone else. Their out pouring of love, their desire to help, and their wish to bring hope to our world is strong. Immediately, after news of the devastation in Haiti, they were already collecting money and “kit” supplies, which were delivered quickly to our DS’ office.

“GPYes!” continues to be a special time for mission work, informal fellowship, singing, prayer, great feasting, short movies, and sharing our stories. One last “YES!” I especially enjoy having our youth and our Sunday School
in worship. I know I speak for many that just to see a tiny blond haired boy
bring up the “loose change bowl,” sometimes with great help from his older brother, or to hear our teen read boldly Old and New Testament Scripture, is an amazing  JOY!

May God keep you safe, during these cold, icy days of winter,
and I will chat with you again, when the windy month of March us upon us.

Until then, I remain your humble pastor,
Susan Yaruta-Young

Winter-long Local Mission Collection
We are again collecting supplies that would be available for the Pastor to distribute as she sees fit to folks who have a need. We are asking people to contribute items on the designated Sundays as follows:

Jan 31= Toilet Paper
Feb. 7 = Hand/bath soap
Feb 14= Shampoo/conditioner
Feb 21= Disposable razors
Feb 28= Personal Items:(example) Depends, diapers, Tampax
Mar 7 = Paper Towels
Mar 14= Toothpaste/toothbrush
Mar 21= Laundry detergent
Mar 28= Cleaning Supplies

EUMC Calendar – Upcoming events

Monday January 18, 2010 – Manna Monday and GPYes! Contemporary Worship Service
Plan to join us at 6:30 PM , at the church, for a FREE Beef Stew , bread and yummy desert supper and a great time of fellowship.

Sunday January 24, 2010 – Nurturing Committee Meeting
Immediately Following Worship Service

Monday, January 25, 2010 – GPYes! Contemporary Worship Service, 6:30

Saturday February 6 – 2010 – Bowl-A-Thon – 3:30PM at Eastward Lanes in Ellsworth
Bowlers are asked get pledges per pin based on 2 strings. Plan to join us for Supper after the Bowl-a-thon at Pat’s Pizza in Ellsworth.

The United Methodist Church is a global organization, always poised and ready to help in times of need. Haiti is definitely in crisis, and Methodists have responded in kind – sometimes at the cost of their own lives.

Recently, news was received that the executive director of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Sam Nixon was killed after being trapped for several hours under rubble at a hotel in Haiti. This morning, A second United Methodist mission worker has died of injuries sustained during the earthquake in Haiti.

The Rev. Clinton Rabb, 60, who organized mission volunteers for The United Methodist Church, died on the morning of Jan. 17 in a Florida hospital. He had been trapped under a concrete slab at the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince for some 55 hours.

We continue to hold these families in our prayers, but they are not the only ones in the Methodist Community that have been lost or injured. There are many more. Get a full and running update on Haiti and see how the UMC is responding to aid requests.

How can you help?

Send cash donations – 100% of your donation sent through UMCOR will be sent to relief efforts
Create health kits – See a list of items to include and shipping information
Pray.

January 2010!
Does that number make you pause as it does me?
It reminds me a bit of a sea-saw
I am a child swinging my legs above the ground on the “20″ part,
while at the opposite end, someone sits heavy, feet snug in the grass,
holding me up,
grounded,
yet allowing me to enjoy the beauty of feeling high in the air.
Arms stretched up
I reach for the stars,
sun rays,
dawn and the dusk bright smears crossing the sky.
2010, there is a beauty in the balance of this number.
Oh, how I pray there will be a balance in this new year.

January, deep winter is upon us.
In Maine it is a time to hunker down by a fire,
read a good book, listen to music, practice silence
as flames dance on the logs in our wood stoves.
But it is also January, time of bitter cold,
and long lines of those in need of fuel and food coming to us.
Few are making rally calls for turkeys and big dinners
as we did for Thanksgiving and Christmas,
yet every week 200 plus stand in line seeking food,
while churches still hear despairing cries for help:
“Please, I am out of fuel where can I go.”

This January,
let us renew our resolution:
We will work to better the lives of other
beloved children of God, working to help those who surround us?.
Let THIS be the fuel “we run on” helping one another
and I, pray, feel the joy
and the thrill, when our small gifts are received with warm,
heart felt smiles and the simple word “:Thanks”

January, I think of Piglet and Pooh, walking in circles, seeing more and more
tracks in the snow and fearing they are no longer alone,
when in fact it is their own tracks.
Instead of walking in circles, I believe Ellsworth United Methodist Church, is
marching forward, rethinking church, finding new ways to reach out and help,
enjoying joyous Sunday morning music, the cozy Monday night GPYes! times
of prayer, singing, nibbling, sharing, planning.

This January, watch as days already grow longer,
and though winds may howl, snow will swirl,
black ice may make us make us take “tiny steps”,
know also this is a time to let
out mighty mustard seeds germinate,
so when the time is right, new blooms will be
spreading the hope, joy, love, and peace of God’s love.
Stay tuned — even as I write these words I have heard rumors of new exciting ideas
waiting to spring forward.

Happy 2010 — be you child swinging sky bound
or that faithful anchor, securing those whimsical imps,
who have their arms filled with bags filled with new ways to
bring smiles to the community and to our global world.

May God Bless,
Pastor Susan Yaruta-Young

Dear Friends,

When someone says December so many of us can think of only one thing: “The Holidays.” Then we branch off – some making the “to do” lists and worrying there will not be enough time to do all that family and/or church traditions demand. “We’ve got to…..” And yes, perhaps we do, but remember all those holidays will still happen beautifully, even if we forget a tradition or two.

Like many people I am a great fan of Christmas. As Charles Dickens’ wrote in his beloved book A Christmas Carol, and here it is Fred speaking: “I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — as a good time; a kind forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good and will do me good; and I say God bless it!”

Christmas can do so much good and is often the time when people do the most giving to the needs of others. It is the time when we see a red bucket and hear a little bell ringing and cannot walk away without pushing change or bills into that small slot. Giving is receiving amazing gifts from God. Our spirits become brighter when we rush to buy food, clothes, cleaning supplies for those, who cannot afford them. Inside our hearts grow

Christmas time and we begin singing our favorite carols and hymns. For me five that I need to sing every year are:
In “The Bleak Midwinter” (just re-read verse one:” In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone, snow had fallen, snow on snow on snow, in the bleak mid winter, long ago.” At that bleak and cold time — snow falling (softly) snow on snow our need is for warmth and lights to fill the skies (that here in Maine are dark by 4:00 p.m.) And then another favorite hymn comes into my mind: “Oh, Holy Night” — “O night divine — it is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.” And like with so many carols — we fill with memories — mine is of Dad playing this song on his violin with all of his heart. Then “What Child Is This?” (written by Henry VIII) wraps itself around me and I am cradled in lyrics and tune. Singing “Silent Night” as we leave the church on Christmas Eve holding little candles. And finally, so filled with the love of Christmas how can I help but singing “Joy To The World”?

My friends, as you prepare for Christmas and New Year’s Eve with your own traditions, pause and allow yourself to sink into their beauty. Flow with the music of God’s love. Rejoice in the glad tidings of Jesus’ birth and prepare for the new start of a new year: 2010!

May God Bless!

Fondly, Pastor Susan Yaruta-Young (or Y-Y to some)