VOLUME 6 ISSUE 74

JUNE 2021

Church Service Times

Berlin Center Church

9:00 AM

LeValley Church

11:00 AM

Check out our websites:

Levalleychurch.org

http://berlincenter.umc.com

Our Purpose:

To TRANSFORM the world by REACHING OUT to lost people in JESUS NAME and DEVELOPING them into MATURE

FOLLOWERS of JESUS CHRIST.

A monthly publication of

Berlin Center

& LeValley

United Methodist Churches

4018 Kelsey Highway

Ionia, MI 48846-9431

Pastor Nancy Patera

Cindy Taylor,

Administrative

Assistant

616-527-1480

Email:

levalleybc@gmail.com

LeValley & Berlin Center News

Last month, I introduced what will be a series of articles on the future of the United Methodist Church(UMC) and where I stand on the issues dividing our churches and individual members. The Berlin Center congregation members have already had lengthy discussions on where they see the future of the church. Though it appears they want to remain Orthodox Methodists and become part of the new Global Methodist Church, additional information will continue to be provided, so each member can be certain as to how he or she will vote when the time for a church conference on the church’s future arrives. The administrative board voted at its May meeting to join the Wesleyan Covenant Association to indicate its support of the Association’s work and to receive any information that is available.

Bill Carlton, the LeValley ad board chair, and I have decided that these issues need to be shared with as many members of the LeValley congregation as possible and time needs to be given for questions and concerns to be addressed, so that members can assess where they stand and a tentative decision on where the majority stand can be determined. Therefore, in Mid-June, following the Michigan Annual Conference, Sunday worship will be shortened and, along with a Conference follow-up, a presentation on the future of the church will be given, either via video or by a presenter with knowledge of the pending changes.

Many questions need to be answered. 1.What if one church of a charge wants to remain part of the United Methodist

Church and the other church chooses to join the Global Methodist Church? 2. Since only members of a church will be allowed to vote, how long will they

have had to be members? 3. What will the corporate leadership of each church look like, especially the new

Global Methodist Church? Will there be Districts and Conferences as now exist in the UMC?

4.What will happen to church properties should a church or charge choose to leave the United Methodist Church?

5. What will happen to clergy pension funds should a clergyperson leave the United Methodist Church?

6. How will clergy be appointed in the Global Methodist Church? These are questions I have put out here to get us all thinking. Each of us may have

many more that need to be addressed as we get closer to General Conference in 2022, followed by individual church/charge conferences. Please note your questions to bring them up at the June presentation at LeValley, which I should add is available to members of both churches.

When the time comes, we definitely want to make informed decisions based on individual values, as well as the values of the church family. I have made no secret of the fact that I am an Orthodox Methodist and will be part of a Global Methodist Church, whether as a pastor or as a retired pastor. That said, even if I am not your shepherd, Berlin Center and LeValley will always be your churches, so my prayer is that through prayer and thoughtful discernment, you will all come to a consensus as to your church’s future.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude

of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Roman 15:5-6(NIV) Love in Christ, Pastor Nancy

Page 2 Volume 6

Dear LeValley Church,

Thank you for the beautiful tree!

What a special Memorial gift.

We so appreciate your kindness!

Blessings,

Deann Miller & family

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory & honor & power; for thou hast created all things, and for

thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Revelation 4:11

Page 3 Newsletter Title

Ionia Food Pantry

Wednesdays

2-4:30pm at Zion UMC

Ionia Christian

Service Center

Saturday June 5

9-12 pm

Ionia Area Mission Fields LeValley Ladies’ Fellowship June 7

Lunch @ noon Bring your sack lunch.

We will meet in the Fellowship Hall.

Church Women United meet

10 am June 4

LV Ad Bd June 14 @ 7pm

BC Ad Bd June 15 @ 7 pm

Meetings

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Berlin Center Birthdays 15 Terry Herbruck 19 Greg Patera 24 Josh Orlowski

Anniversaries 21 Carl & Karen Simmons 27 George & Penny Rust

LeValley Birthdays 01 Andrea Chipman 04 Mike Seelhoff 07 Betty Jo Krosnicki 11 Adam Plett 14 Brian Kuhlman 14 Clark Reeder 15 Bryant Dickinson 19 Greg Patera 19 Khoi Huynh 20 Brenda Anderson 24 Tom Plett 25 Kim Wittenbach 27 Carol Hoort 28 Sandy Stout 30 Bob Thomas 30 Raymond Anderson

June Celebrations

Anniversaries 05 Gary & Brenda Anderson 17 Bill & Kelly Carlton 19 Richard & Sandi Heyboer 21 Brad & Judy Lange 21 Mike & Linda Seelhoff 25 Tom & Tammy Dickinson 26 Rex & Karen Wambaugh

Volume 6

LIBRARY NEWS JUNE 2021

Isn’t it exciting how God brings us exactly what we need exactly when we need it? That has been my experience this month as I was reading our first selection—God Gave the Song—Glimpses into the Inspiration Behind the Songs of Bill & Gloria Gaither by Gloria Gaither. The lyrics to their song I Wish You is a perfect jumping off point for the letters we will write to our grandsons-one who is graduating high school and the other 8th grade. The closing lines to the song are:

We never could own you For God only loaned you To widen our world and our hearts, So we wish you His freedom, Knowing where He is leading; There is nothing can tear us apart. There are 31 songs in all discussed in this book which also includes a CD of the songs. Our other two selections this month are fiction books. God’s Gift by Dee Henderson. This story takes place in the Chicago area where four friends in their mid-thirty’s deal with health issues and blooming relationships. The characters are well defined and the story an enjoyable one. The last selection that is highlighted this month is One Perfect Spring by Irene Hannon. It weaves the tale of a little girl’s letter changing many people’s lives including her own. The story is intriguing with a few surprises along the way. As always, I hope you find one of these books to enjoy or something from our cart or shelves. Karen Wambaugh-Librarian

FELLOWSHIP WITH

PASTOR NANCY

Do you enjoy coffee, or tea, hot chocolate or a fruit smoothie? How about friendly conversation; does that boost your spirit? If so, I invite you to join me for a beverage and a time of fellowship at SoZo’s Coffee Roasting on Wednesday mornings. I will arrive at Sozo’s at 8:00am and will stay until 9:30am, or as long as someone wants to chat.

Our conversation can just be about life in general, it can involve our relationship with Jesus and/or the Bible, we can discuss joys, cares, whatever you like.

I don’t need to know in advance if you will be joining me. I will be there reading or preparing my

sermon, but I do hope someone will show up once in a while.

Sozo’s is located on North M66 (576 North State Road).

Pastor Nancy

LEVALLEY FELLOWSHIP

This group is for all ages of

adults. Monthly meetings are

postponed.

Look for more news later when

we will meet together again.

Newsletter Title

Greeters June 6 Tom & Linn Plett June 13 Han & Judy Huynh June 20 Steve Croel June 27 Yvonne Elvert Sanctuary Cleanup June 6 Mel & Nancy Haga June 13 Jean Kuhlman June 20 Sue Chipman June 27 Elaine Nash & Kris Brigham Acolytes June 6 Max Piselli June 13 Addison McCain June 20 Lydia Barclay June 27 Aubrei Nash

Berlin Center Ushers June 6 Leon & Janet Rudd June 13 George & Penny Rust June 20 Don & Dutch Doornbos June 27 Terry & Gail Herbruck Greeters June 6 George & Penny Rust June 13 Don & Dutch Doornbos June 20 Terry & Gail Herbruck June 27 Ruth Benjamin

Helpers This Month

Volume 6

Choir practice will be Tuesday evenings at

6:30 pm

Time to update the directory. If you have any changes or additions for the church directory, please call or email me at the office. 616.527.1480 Email:

levalleybc@gmail.com

Thank you for your help!

Cindy

Simply Give together we can help end hunger in our community.

Zion Food Pantry Double Match Day is June 19.

Purchase $10 donation cards now through July 3 to

provide food to your local food pantry for families in need. On double match days, Meijer will match Simply Give card purchases up to a maximum Meijer donation of $10,000 per store.

Thank you for your help in feeding hunger families in our community.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

6:30 Choir practice

2 8-10 Coffee w/ P Pastor @ Sozo’s

3 10:30 Book Study

4 10 CWU

meeting

5 9– 12 Christian

Service Center

6 Communion 9 BC Worship 11 LV Worship

7 12 LV

Ladies bring

your sack

lunch 7 Boy Scouts

8 6:30 Choir

practice

9

8-10 Coffee w/ P Pastor @ Sozo’s

10 10:30 Book

Study

11 12

13 9 BC

Worship 11 LV Worship LV Noisy Offering

14 7 Boy Scouts 7 LV Ad Bd meeting

15 6:30 Choir practice

7 BC Ad Bd

meeting

16 8-10 Coffee w/ P Pastor @ Sozo’s

17 10:30 Book Study

18

SMAT LV

Kitchen

19

SMAT LV

Kitchen

20 Father’s Day 20 9 BC Worship 11 LV Worship

21 7 Boy Scouts

22 6:30 Choir practice

23 8-10 Coffee w/ P Pastor @ Sozo’s

24 10:30 Book Study

25 26

27 9 BC

Worship BC Noisy offering 11 LV Worship

28

7 Boy Scouts

29 6:30 Choir practice

30 8-10 Coffee w/ P Pastor @ Sozo’s

June 2021

Annual Conference June 3-6

Page 8

May Administrative Board Meeting 5-10-2021 Bill, Pastor Nancy, Linda and Judy were present. Bill called the meeting to order at 7:05 Pastor began with a prayer. Minutes were accepted as presented. Old Business Linda met with the bank regarding the youth group fund. They will deactivate it for 21 months and wave the fee, so they agreed to keep the account for now. New Business Linda gave the finance report. Discussion on the Youth Group account report. Linda approached Carrie Stout to complete an audit for us and she declined. Bill will approached Mark and Gail Braun to see if they are interested. Discussion on the monthly report. Pastor’s report Nancy would like to approach the Memorial Committee regarding funds for a new sign. Dave is struggling to keep the letters on the current sign. David Fitzpatrick spoke with Pastor and gave approval from Orange Township zoning regulations for a new sign. She will check with the Memorial Committee. Nancy wants to continue to educate the parish the direction of the United Methodist Church will be taking in the near future. As a church, we will be required to vote. Member at Large report: Judy reported that the Crop Walk will be held Oct 3rd. They will have both in person and virtual walkers. Allen MacDonald would like to have someone work with him this year and then take over his role seeking commercial business donations. They would like to add members to the committee. UMW report: The UMW did do their watch party for the District Retreat and held a ladies luncheon after. Mission u will be held this summer and Mission u of the North in October. Judy has volunteered to bring her computer and stream for the ladies. New Business Thanks to Mark and Gail Braun for all of the cleaning, sorting and recycling they have completed thus far in the basement of the church. Meeting was adjourned at 7:23 The next meeting will be June 14th @ 7:00 outside in the pavilion.

May Berlin Center Board Meeting May 11, 2021 Attending Don Doornbos, Craig Harder, Robert Bennett, Pastor Nancy & Marilyn Palmer Meeting called to order by Robert Bennett 7pm. Pastor Nancy opened with prayer. No minutes available from last meeting. Treasurer’s report was read and approved. Old Business: Discussion regarding the rental agreement between Revival Church and Berlin Center—tabled. Revival Church is having a Mother Daughter Banquet this Friday, May 14th. Don Doornbos suggested we start the card shower that was discussed last year. The names and address’s would be collected on Sunday, then printed in the following weeks bulletin so that we can individually send out cards. Don will also speak to LeValley to see if they are interested as well. If you have someone that would benefit from this outreach, please write down their name and address and either put in the offering plate or hand to Pastor Nancy each week. Bob wanted to thank Joe Orlowski and Dave McDiarmid for all their help in repairing the church broken water line. They are a blessing! New Business: We discussed the options going forward for our church. When the day comes we will need to select which Methodist Church we want to follow: United Methodist Church, which is progressive or the Global Methodist Church which is traditional. It was decided that Berlin Center should purchase the Wesleyan Covenant Association guide for $100. Motion made by Don Doornbos and seconded by Craig Harder. Also, Pastor Nancy will provide the protocols of the Global Church for our review. Each month’s minutes should be sent to Cindy so that they can be included in the newsletter. Pastor Nancy offered to go visit the State Park on weekends to introduce herself and pass out cards inviting them to our church on Sunday mornings. There will be a site visit of the parsonage scheduled sometime this summer. Berlin Center is looking for a Secretary to take minutes at the board meetings: are you interested? Meeting adjourned 7:40 pm. Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Palmer

CHANGE TO LV PRAYER REQUEST

When you have a prayer request please call Pastor Nancy (616.902.6973)

and she will contact the others.