Hickory Bend United Methodist Church » church council

Who usually does this?

Emalie — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:04:06 +0000

There were cobwebs on the fellowship hall door the other week. I’m sure there are cobwebs all the time. I’ve just never seen them before, because someone usually removes them before I walk through the door. Who usually does this? Julia arrived, and made coffee. I had never even wondered who made coffee. I guess I believed that elves arrived early and made coffee. Julia Witt does it now. Bob Mitchell made coffee for years, but now, Julia makes the coffee.

We can all be grateful that I don’t make the coffee, because I make terrible coffee. Homeless people warn one another about my coffee. That’s how bad it is. So my making coffee would not be a blessing. But Julia making coffee is a great blessing, as it was when Bob did it. What if visitors came, and I had made the coffee? We would offer them terrible coffee, and they might think the rest of the experience would be as bitter as the coffee. I promise not to make the coffee. I care too much about the church to inflict my coffee on you. But the point is, someone — presently Julia — who makes coffee with ease and grace — arrives early and makes good coffee. Coffee made with love.

All of this has me wondering, what other things are people doing? So many people do these things quietly, without fanfare or even thanks. Wednesday, someone had already cleaned the kitchen before the rest of us arrived. Someone usually vacuums. Someone usually cleans the choir loft. Someone usually empties the trash. Someone sharpens the pencils in the pews. Someone changes the wreaths in the fellowship hall every season. Someone collects the attendance pads. Someone runs off the bulletins.

Someone coordinates the acolytes. I filled in one time coordinating the acolytes. I needed a UN Peace Keeping Team, a Hostage Negotiator, and a lighter, none of which did I have. I needed a nap after my one Sunday coordinating the acolytes. It is an art. Someone coordinates the acolytes.

Someone buys cleaning supplies.Someone just sees a nail sticking up, and actually picks up a hammer and whacks it down. Someone sees a weed and yanks it out of the ground. I truly want to know who you are, and I want to thank you.

Thank you, Julia. You bless us with your coffee and your love. So, I am a teacher and this is a quiz. In this case, I am asking you to match just a few of the many of the tasks that are done at the church with the name of a person who does that task. If you can match the name, thank the worker who does it. I have given you the answer about Julia. See how many you know. Here is an incomplete list — a shamefully incomplete list — of jobs that someone usually does:Runs the sound system
Negotiates with Codes Department
Recycles cups and cans
Volunteers as our electrician
Unlocks the church

Serves as our backstage lighting coordinator
Vacuums the church
Brings clothes for homeless women
Landscapes and weeds
Cooks for fellowship meals
Organizes fellowship meals
Gives generously to special needs
Coordinates work days
Serves as liaison to Cloverbottom

Organizes construction projects
Organizes decorating projects

Brings underwear for RITI

Picks up supplies from Cokesbury
Checks answering machine and forwards messages
Mows the lawn with a push mower
Calls visitors
Calls members who are absent
Counts money
Records worship service and posts it on the website
Designs and maintains website
Replaces the wireless router every time it fries

Washes dishes
Unloads dishwasher
Deposits money
Welcomes visitors
Advises pet owners
Buys Sunday School supplies
Takes food to East Nashville Cooperative Ministries
Takes school supplies to Bethlehem Center
Makes items for the Blanket Brigade
Ships care packages to soldiers
Takes items to Alive Hospice

Coordinates Meals for Summit ICU patients and staff
Greets every visitor

Greets every member
Hangs drywall
Paints walls and trim
Cleans out old men’s bathroom
Organizes church tools
Loans tools to Mountain T.O.P. mission
Opens the church
Turns on the lights
Negotiates with local police officials when someone repeatedly sets off the alarm
Cooks for Room In The Inn
Coordinates Undie Sunday distribution

Sends socks to Room In The Inn
Makes lunches for Room In The Inn
Invites (harrasses) people to come to our church
Maintains our first aid kits
Pays way too much for potatoes
Takes meals to shut ins
Chaperons Youth for Safe Sanctuary Compliance
Leads Safe Sanctuary Training
Sends articles to Debbie for the newsletter
Designs newsletter (see above for hint)

Carols at Cloverbottom
Serves stateside and overseas in the military
Transports Youth and children to church activities
Donates to the music program
Calls shut ins
Honors veterans
Honors fallen soldiers
Coordinates special events and celebrations
Makes banners
Sings like an angel
Buys flamingo insurance
Relocates flamingos
Plays musical instruments
Donates craft supplies
Donates office supplies
Narrates programs

Shares books

Donates cleaning supplies

Does yard work for member in distress

Continues flood relief efforts
Maintains the church building

Coordinates acolytes
Gives sacrificially

Tenderly cares for health impaired members
Cleans the church
Works in the nursery
Relieves nursery workers for communion
Creates works of art for the church

Here are some of the names to match with those jobs: Betty, Susan, Joan, Sammie, Shirley, Shirley, Lane, Ed, Gabby, Richard, Melissa, Tim, Amy, Bri, June, Ken, Eve, Jim, Shari, Becky, Chuck, Robbie, Julia, Debbie, Tom, David, David, James, Maggie, Margaret, Sara, Ken, Teressa, Jerry, Connie, Sherry, Tom, Dean, Donna, Mitzi, Liz, Judy, Ron, Barbara, Jean, Lynn, Dot, Bobbie, Bobby, Alan, Chuck, Gale, Ronnie, Albert, Ethel, Mark, Faye, Lilli, Gene, Brian, Cathy, Debbie, Jillian, Colleen, Helen, Regene, Bill, Sissy, Judy, Maurice, Tom, Marci, Barbara, Ron, Jeannie, Cody, Kelly, Ned, Tom, Wes, Candy, Charlie, Stephanie, Suzie, Jaime, Courtney, Darla, Bea, Gary, Jim, Cindy, James, Jack, Lewis, Louis, Bob, Larry, Candy, Doug, Eddie, Sharon, Meagan, Chris, Elizabeth, Katelyn, Dakota, Gene, Lilli, Caitlin, Lisa, Chris, Chris, Jason, Russell, Lauren, Dylan, Mary, Victoria, Jean

Now, the danger in making any kind of list is that I will leave something off, and I would never, never want to do that. I have omitted the well known work of committee chairs, Sunday School teachers, board members, and our wonderful staff. Their work in those capacities is without question of tremendous value to the church. I am absolutely sure that I have omitted many important things. It has become painfully obvious to me, that I am missing a great deal of what goes on at the church, so please let me know! This is my request of you. When you see someone doing something, give them your thanks and tell me so I can do the same. To all of you who are doing these miraculous things to assure our safety and to magnify the beauty of our life together, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And if you are the one who sweeps the cobwebs off the doors, I think you are an angel. Thank you.

Emalie

Council Meeting

Emalie — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 05:21:32 +0000

September 18, 2011
12:00 pm	to	2:00 pm

Please come to the council meeting September 18th immediately following the worship service. Everyone is welcome. Call Emalie if you have questions. 615-403-8455

Work Days Brighten HBUMC

Emalie — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 04:04:33 +0000

March 12, 2011

Join us Saturday for fellowship, fun, and, well, work.

Administrative Council Meeting

Emalie — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:47:43 +0000

February 20, 2011
12:00 pm	to	2:00 pm

Please come!

We will hold our next Administrative Council meeting on February 20th, right after the worship service.

Committee chairs, our focus will be on our finances, so please look at your plans and programs in terms of finances so we can make good plans together.

Everyone is welcome to attend. You do not have to be a council member. If you have concerns, or questions, or ideas, please let someone on the council know. We have some financial challenges right now, which I think are probably temporary. We have some wonderful opportunities. If you are not currently a council member, please consider serving on the council. We can do even more for our community and beyond, when everyone is involved.

Grace and Peace,
Emalie

Council Identifies Projects to Tackle!

Emalie — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:05:44 +0000

Our Council labored at the recent retreat to list and prioritize projects for our congregation to plan and execute. We used three categories, dividing our projects into those that require mostly time, those we can do with the money we have, or we are close to having, and the last category labeled “Pie In The Sky” at least for now.

The trustees and the Long Range Planning Committee will prioritize the projects that require mostly time and attention. These projects include: showing movies outdoors, recording the entire worship service for the website, repairing the cold water tap in the men’s restroom, cleaning the trail and garden, inviting more people to Sunday School, cleaning and sprucing up the shelter, building our membership by inviting others, improving our phone system, setting up the ceiling fan, trimming trees to increase visibility, moving the wi-fi, setting up an account with PayPal.

The second category contains projects that we believe can be accomplished with reasonable effort. The projects in this category, in the order prioritized by the council are:

1. Moving forward with the Building Entrance
2. Replacing the fellowship hall floor
3. Replacing the kitchen floor
4. Paying our apportionments in full
5. Installing a safety gate

To guide us in our progress completing these major projects, the council has decided to form a building committee. The top priority identified by the council is our new building entrance! We have plans for a visible, obvious, accessible, welcoming entrance for our church building! Jim Adair has agreed to serve as the chair of this new committee. Many, many thanks, Jim!

For the Pie In the Sky category, in no particular order, we have listed a new building, a new sanctuary, following the original master plan for building and expansion, increasing curb appeal, giving back more, establishing an endowment, adding more staff, establishing a soup kitchen, building a retreat facility, adding a viable child care center with its own wing, adding a large kitchen with an island and two sinks, adding showers and laundry so we could host Room In The Inn, adding a women’s restroom. These projects are for Long Range Planning to address.

Please let your council members know of your hopes and dreams for HBUMC. We can work together to make all of these wonderful ideas come to life.

Emalie

Council Celebrates Spiritual Gifts!

Emalie — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:06:29 +0000

You are called to be a minister! What is your ministry? Each of us has spiritual gifts, and those gifts, being God given, call us into our ministry. Ministry is not only for our ordained ministers — essential as they are to our ministry at Hickory Bend UMC — they cannot do everything alone! Each of us is called and gifted for ministry.

Our recent Council Retreat focused on discovering our unique gifts and exploring where they lead us in ministry. Everyone on the council was asked to complete a rather lengthy survey compiled by Charles V. Bryant. As a council, our strengths are perhaps not surprising, or perhaps they are astonishing! Out of 32 listed in the survey, here are our council’s top ten:

10. Pastor
9. Spirit-Music
8. Discernment
7. Humor
6, Faith
5. Hospitality
4. Administration
3. Leadership
2. Teaching
1. Service

Does anything on the list surprise you? Do you think something is missing? If you are interested in taking Bryant’s survey, we have several copies available.

How do you see God calling us into ministry here at Hickory Bend UMC? Where do your gifts call you into the Church and into the world?

Isn’t it wonderful to have a congregation, gifted and called into service to celebrate our ministry?

Emalie

Renew your Spirit at Beersheba!

Emalie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:29:33 +0000

Come to Beersheba! October 22-24, 2010 The historic Beersheba Springs Assembly is perched on top of the Cumberland Plateau near McMinnville and Manchester, Tennessee. Many of the buildings existed before the Civil War. The hotel overlooks the glorious Collins River Valley where you can rock and watch the fog lift, or track a single white cloud drift by below you. The mountain climate will cure what ails you. We have reserved the vintage accommodations in the upper hotel. What these rooms may lack in modernity, they more than make up for in charm. (They tilt a mite toward Aunt Sally’s.) The view and the charm of Beersheba remind us that we are standing on sacred ground. The prices vary depending on how many people stay in your room, but here is a typical breakdown from last year for two nights and four meals: Youth — $90 Couples — $135 Single adults — $120 See the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall for this year’s pricing. Reserve your room for just $15.00 per person. Call or email Emalie for reservations. 615-403-8455 or discoteach@gmail.com

Council Retreat

Emalie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:48:32 +0000

[ September 25, 2010; ]

Safe Sancutary Meeting

Emalie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:41:24 +0000

[ August 11, 2010; 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm. ]

Council Meeting

Emalie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:34:43 +0000

[ August 15, 2010; 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. ]