2013-11 Newsletter.pdf

7/27/2019 2013-11 Newsletter.pdf

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November 2013

Berkeley Buzz

Every Sunday in worship, we sing thedoxology (based on the Greekword of glory) as our thanksgiv-

ing to the Trinity: Praise God, from whom allblessings flow; Praise God, all creatures herebelow; Praise God above, ye heavenly host;Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We singwords of thanks after we offer our thanks, ourtithes and gifts, as an expression of praise forGods bounty and trust in Gods abun-

dance. We want our gifts to make a differencein the world. We want Gods blessings to flowthrough us, not to stop with us.

InDisciple Bible Study, we learn the phrase,blessed to be a blessing. God has chosenAbraham and his family to carry the covenantof faith forward so that, in them, all the nationsof the earth will be blessed. Christians are like-wise called to hand over, give away, the Good

News of salvation in Jesus Christ. We dontkeep it to ourselves!

In the early days of the Christian faith, the

apostles carried this Good News around theknown world. Paul established new communitiesof faith in cities large and small in Turkey andGreece, and finally in Rome, capital of the em-pire. One of the largest and most affluent citieshe visited was Corinth, in Greece. In his secondletter back to them, he wrote: God is able toprovide you with every blessing in abundance,so that, by always having enough of everything,you may share abundantly in every goodwork.You will be enriched in every way for

great generosity, which overflows with manythanksgivings to God. (2 Cor. 9:8, 11-12)

This Thanksgiving, and always, I am thankfulfor you as the church here on Berkeley Ave-nue. I am thankful for your generosity towardGod and toward neighbors near and far. I amthankful for the blessings God has bestowed onus, and the ways we have shared those blessingswith others. May you and yours have a joyous

celebration of Gods goodness this month!

Your Pastor,

Jeanne Devine

PASTOR

Rev. Jeanne Devine

[email protected]

DIRECTOROF MUSIC

Vikki Schwarz

[email protected]

PIANISTDr. Tyler Mabry

[email protected]

MINISTERS

Members of the Congregation

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Niki J Torres

[email protected]

YOUTH DIRECTORDevan Gartman

[email protected]

CHILDCARE DIRECTOR

Allison [email protected]

BERKELEY STAFF


2/8

Church Conference Thank-YouWe received messages of appreciation from Rev. Laura Adam, pastor ofManchaca UMC, and Bobbie Lilljedahl, who was involved at Berkeley forseveral years, along with her husband, retired Rev. Don Lilljedahl. Hereis Bobbies:

It was such a pleasure to be in your church on Sunday. Your gracious hos-pitality made us all feel welcome. It all began in the parking lot with greet-ings from Myrna and Jim and assistance with parking, if needed. And lo

and behold, there was Betty sweeping off the sidewalks! The youth greet-ers and the lovely, delicious refreshments made us feel special and wel-come. AND on top of all that, I received and gave many hugs to some veryspecial, loving people. It warmed my heart to be in your midst. Good job!

Blessings to all, Bobbie Lilljedahl

2407 Berkeley Ave.

Austin, TX 78745

www.berkeleyumc.org

Church-512-447-6633

Childcare Center-512-443-3509

[email protected]

BIRTHDAYS

11/03 Roy Holsenbeck

11/04 Angela Clapper

11/04 Julia Wasson

11/05 Bonnie Anton

11/06 Karen Walters

11/08 Chris Huff

11/10 Kathy Beth Stavinoha

11/13 Claudia Wenzel

11/17 Greg Lasley

11/18 Jeanne Devine

11/20 Cathy Cranston

11/21 John Finley

11/25 Helen Campbell

11/26 Niki Torres

11/28 Barbara Hackett11/29 Lucky Noll

11/30 Carson Green

ANNIVERSARIES

11/11 Joanne and Richard

Meziere

11/25 Dorothy and Bill

Rittenberry

CHURCH HAPPENINGS

Calling All Crafters andArtisans!Submitted by Susan Curtis, UMW

Are you creative and crafty? Can you knit, crochet,quilt, embroider, sew, work with wood, or paint?

Can you create jewelry, greeting cards, baskets or wooden items? Do youlove to cook and bake? Do you love to decorate for the holidays? If youanswered yes to any of these questions, Berkeley United MethodistWomen is looking for you!

Berkeley UMW is hosting our annual Cookies and Crafts on Sunday, De-

cember 1 in the Fellowship Hall between services, 9:3010:40am, and aftersecond service until 1pm. Not crafty? Mark your calendar to come, see,and buy some of the beautiful and delicious goods for sale!

The money raised at this event will help support our own United MethodistYouth group, several area and national United Methodist mission organiza-tions, and local community organizations. Everyone can have a part inhelping us raise lots of money this year!

We need to have an idea of how many people will participate so we can setup needed table space. If you would like to donate some of your hand-crafted items or delicious holiday goodies to be sold at our Cookies andCrafts, call Myrna Cavendar at 512-280-0963 or Susan Curtis at 512-280-

1313 for details.

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching andfellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. -

Acts 2:42


3/8

In the last month, Berkeley has been blessed to receive five professing members and one baptized member:

Darien Crevier comes by transfer of membership from Manchaca UMC. He is a student at ACC.512-291-9329; [email protected]

Sarah Youngquist comes by reaffirmation of faith. She is employed at Randalls.660-998-2339; [email protected]

Victoria (Tori) Hennig comes by reaffirmation of faith. She is a student at ACC.660-998-2348; [email protected]

Matthew Potts comes by transfer from First Baptist Church, Spegleville, TX. He is employed as a soft-ware engineer by Reddwerks.512-739-8626; [email protected]

Amanda Potts comes by transfer from First UMC, Waco, TX. She is an accountant employed by Frees-cale Semiconductor, Inc.512-981-8828; [email protected]

Lilian Scout Potts, daughter of Matthew and Amanda Potts, was baptized on October 27 (photo be-low). Scout attends Berkeleys Childcare Center.

Welcome to the Berkeley Family!Submitted by Rev. Jeanne Devine, Pastor

New Air Conditioners for SanctuarySubmitted by Rev. Jeanne Devine, PastorIn November, Sibcon Air Conditioning will install four new air conditioning unitsin the sanctuary. Thanks to the generosity of church families who provided the costof two units, and the Capital Asset Fund, the new units are entirely paidfor. Thanks also to Berkeleys trustees for securing bids and finalizing the manydetails necessary.

Continuing contributions to the Capital Asset Fund will enable the church to plan for future replacements and improvements to our facilities.

Pictured from L to R: Matthew Potts, LillianScout Potts, Amanda Potts, Rev. Jeanne Devine

Dont Forget

to Fall Back!This Sunday marks the end to Day-light Savings Time. Before you go tosleep on Saturday, dont forget to set

your clocks back 1 hour!


4/8

After six months in operation, the FreeStore is proving to be a success. Withover 1,400 members (shoppers), a community has begun to form. Soon therewill be Bible studies for the volunteers from the neighborhood. Members arebeginning to communicate with each other while waiting their turn to shop.

HOWCANYOUHELP?

Donate your gently used clothing or household items. If you have large items

such as furniture, contact Matt Cardona at [email protected]. Donationdrop-off hours are Monday and Thursday from 10am1pm.

VolunteerGo once to check it out. Go twice and you will see some fa-miliar faces. Continue and you can get to know these people; some haveamazing stories. Go to www.freestoreaustin.org to sign up or to make amonetary donation.

If you cannot take your donations to the FreeStore, contact CarolynBrown at 512-443-2600.

Above photo, L to R: Matt Cardona, Carolyn Brown, Victoria Hennig, Ginger Wahlers.

The FreeStoreSubmitted by Carolyn Brown, Outreach

REACHING OUT

Berkeley UMC will provide a Thanksgiving dinner for residents of Saint Louise Houson Thursday, November 21. Saint Louise Houses mission is to empower women witchildren to overcome homelessness. These families use our facilities every Thursday fomeetings and activities; a special dinner at Thanksgiving is one more way to show themwe love and care about them.

We need your help. Watch for opportunities to sign up on November 10 and 17. We wibe asking for help with set-up, serving, and clean-up, as well as donations of sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and pie.

St. Louise House Thanksgiving DinnerSubmitted by Carolyn Brown, Outreach

MONTHLY INCOME

MONTHLY EXPENSES

YEAR-TO-DATE INCOME

YEAR-TO-DATE EXPENSES

$ 23,861

$ 22,923

$ 206,055

$ 200,378

GIFTSASOF SEPTEMBER31

SEPTEMBER 2013 YTD 2012

WORSHIP 125 125 118

SUNDAYSCHOOL

36 35 40

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE

...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something todrink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me

- Matthew 25-35


5/8

Our Annual Trunk or Treat, held Saturday, October 26, wasfun for all ages. We had lots of little Trick or Treaters, manydressed in their adorable costumes. Several of our youth andDevan attended and made each other look very scary. They hadtheir own display tent and everyone gave out lots of treats.

Dixie and Jeff Contreras, Patty and Robert Gaston, Letha andBrian Peters, Sarah Youngquist and Tori Hennig, Susan Curtis,Donna Bostick, and Susan Long decorated their trunks. Thanksto all those folks that donated candy, too!

Trunk or Treat!Submitted by Polly Aranda, Education

UPDATES

Theyrecomingfor

us!


6/8

AdventConspiracy StudySubmitted by Mike Crevier

Berkeley UMC will offer an Adventclass following the book,AdventConspiracyCan Christmas Still

Change the World? The first ses-sion will be Sunday, November 24from 2-4:30pm. The remainingthree sessions will be held on

Thursday December 5, 12 and 19.Led by Mike Crevir, two meetingtimes are possible: 3pm and6:30pm. Cost for the book is $8,and a minimum of six registrations

is required for

each class.

Imagine ifChristmas be-came a world-

changing eventonce again?Sunday, No-

vember 24 will follow the theme ofReturn to the Stablethe WorshipFully segment and will featureviewing scenes from the film, The

Nativity Story and the class DVD.

Remaining sessions will focus on:

Spend less, Give more and Love all.

Time is one of the most preciousgifts we can give at Christmas, timeto make love more visible throughrelational giving. No one wants aChristmas worth forgetting. Pleasesign up on the registration formavailable in the Narthex beginningNovember 3, 2013. Please checkfor the time the best suits yourneeds. Questions? Contact Mike at512-291-9329 or

[email protected].

Thought for Your Day...Submitted by Kathy Beth Stavinoha, Spiritual Care

"There is a devotion which is to be hidden from all human knowl-edge, in which the soul discloses itself without reserve to the MostHigh. Yet there is something beyond it. There is a subtle and inde-scribable power of sympathy in public worship."

- Joseph Park

Spiritual Growth

RememberingJesusSubmitted by Rachel Trudell, Spiritual Care

From 2 Timothy 2:8, the Upper Room author re-

flects:

Remember Jesus Christ. For the writer (Paul),

that powerful memory sustains him through per-secution and suffering. How can we find that sustenance? Whatdoes it mean to remember Jesus? The Pauline letters usually call the

people of God to remember something: the poor (Galatians 2:10);Pauls chains (Colossians 4:18), our work (1 Thessalonians 1:3) not Jesus Himself. And the call can easily be translated as keep on

remembering.

I like that. Rather than an isolated mental note (remember to buy

milk on the way home), keep on remembering sounds like animperative we do and continue doing every moment of every day ofour lives. It sounds as a demand for constancy in our lives as Christ

followers. I need this.

The breath prayer, an ancient practice meant to keep us in constant

connection with the Holy, uses a short phrase, half-spoken on in-hale, half upon exhale, that a person repeats silently or aloud,throughout the day. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sin-

ner, is a classic (there are others, such as Holy Wisdom, Guide

me).

I wonder if practicing the breath prayer might help us rememberthat we embody this relationship and its Grace in all of life. Onlythen can we keep on remembering Jesus as we work, play, love andlive. Then all we are and all we do might be a remembering of Je-sus merciful, gracious, all-encompassing love. Keep on remember-

ing.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


7/8

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 26:30p Amen Autin! Church (FH

3 CommunionSundayDaylight SavingTime Ends4p Tai Chi (FH)5p Covenant Grp(9)

410a Womens

Group (9)7p Covenant Grp(9)

5 Election Day6pm Congrega-tional Care

66p Handbells7p Choir

75:308p SaintLouise House(CLC)

8 96:30p Amen Autin! Church (FH

10

3pm FinanceBudget Planning(7)4p Tai Chi (FH)5p Covenant Grp(9)

11 Veterans Day

10a WomensGroup (9)7p Covenant Grp(9)

12

5:30p Prime Tim-ers (FH)6:15p ChildcareBoard (7)

13

9:30a UMWWomen in ActionCircle (CLC)6p Handbells7p Choir

14

5:308p SaintLouise House(CLC)

15 16

7:30a UMWWomen in God

Grace Circle (FH9am UMW Exective Committee6:30p Amen Autin! Church (FH

1712p Youth Fellow-ship (FH)4p Tai Chi (FH)5p Covant Grp (9)Newsletterdeadline

1810a Womens

Group (9)7p Covenant Grp(9)

196:15pm Girl ScoutTroop Meeting

206p Handbells7p Choir

213pm/6:30pm Ad-vent Conspiracy (9)5:30pm SaintLouise HouseThanksgiving Feast(CLC)7p Trustees(Sanc)

22 237:28a UM Men

breakfast (FH)6:30p Amen Autin! Church (FH

2412p Youth Fellow-ship (FH)4p Tai Chi5p Covenant (9)

2510a Womens

Group (9)7p Covenant (9)

265:45p SpiritualCare (9)7p Church Council(FH)

2712pm ChildcareCenter Thanksgiv-ing Feast (CLC)6p Handbells7p Choir

28 HappyThanksgiving!

29 303pm Setup forCookies and Cra(CLC)

Church Office Closed

Pastor Jeanne on vacation (November 11-17)


8/8

BERKELEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH2407 Berkeley Ave.

Austin, TX. 78745

(512)447-6633

Email: [email protected]

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Weddings in the

United Methodist ChurchSubmitted by Jeanne Devine, Pastor

I was asked recently about weddings held at Berkeley or other UnitedMethodist Churches. Granted, our church isnt your typical wedding site;our sanctuary is small and doesnt have a long center aisle with pews on either side! Still, whenever wed-dings are held here, ourBook of Worship sets out some guidelines.

A wedding held at a United Methodist Church (inside or outside) is considered a service of Christian wor-ship. The decision to perform the ceremony is the right and responsibility of the pastor appointed to thatchurch by the bishop. All plans should be approved by the pastor. The pastor must counsel with the cou-

ple prior to marriage; this preparation requires a minimum of three months. The pastor will discuss andplan the ceremony with the couple. Any leadership roles taken by other clergy or participants should be atthe invitation of the churchs pastor. The music director should be consulted and work with the coupleabout music selection.

In recent years, the trend has increasingly been for church families to choose off-campus sites for wed-dings. In such cases, the above guidelines are not mandatory; it is still advisable for couples to prepare formarriage, not just for the wedding. Berkeleys pastor is available to provide marriage preparation, regard-less of the wedding site.

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