Opportunities/Events
Sacrament of Holy Baptism
Sunday will
be our first baptism to take place in person in the sanctuary
since March of 2020. There will be a few
"tweaks" to the service because of the continuing
presence of COVID. One such tweak will be the baptism
service itself. It will not appear on
the livestream and will take place following the postlude in
the worship service. Secondly, it has become our
practice to present the child to the congregation by walking
them down the aisle while we sing "God Claims
You". We will
not walk down the aisle with the child but we will sing.
If you are joining us in person, please continue to wear your
mask, especially around Baby Ellie. If you are not in
person with us, please pray for Ellie and her family.
She is the granddaughter of Joni and Lex Supataraporn.
Back
to School Spectacular
THIS
Sunday, September 12th after worship service is
our Back to School Spectacular! We are
celebrating everyone (students, teachers, administrators,
etc.) going back to school — including back to Sunday
School! Spectacular features include: Water Balloon
Toss and other silly, fun games! Doggie Diner hot dogs and
fries, plus veggies, fruit, and dessert! Come join the party
and start the school year out with a spectacular splash!
The
Bible for Curious People Returns Tuesday, September 14th
This study is
open to all and meets Tuesday mornings at 10:30am. We meet in
person the first Tuesday of the month, on Zoom the other
Tuesdays.
Reading
Assignment for Tuesday, September 14th:
Chapter 1 of Romans, plus any introduction and notes your
bible provides for this book and for the epistles in general.
Questions
to consider:
— What do we know about letters written in ancient times?
— What do we know about Rome in the time of this letter (~50
or 60 CE).
— What tone do you sense Paul sets in this first chapter?
Please contact Pastor Dave (pastordave@woodridgeumc.org) for the Zoom link.
No prior bible reading or knowledge or expertise needed. No
question is dumb and no one is forced to read the bible in
one particular way. We will all learn as we go along
exploring what the text says, what it leaves unsaid, what
history and tradition tell us about the text, and how our own
experience influences our reading.
Wednesday
Bible Study
This fall, we
will have our Wednesday Bible study (obviously on Wednesday)
from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. beginning on Wednesday,
September 15th. We will meet in person
(those who wish to) as well as via ZOOM (for those not able
to be in person).
Our study guide for this fall is entitled "We Are the
Church....Let's Act Like It" by Linda Tower Pevey.
It is a study on the Book of Acts and will last through the
end of October. The book is available on Amazon with
paperback and kindle editions. Please be sure to have
your copy by our first meeting.
FOR THOSE JOINING IN PERSON: Our class will meet in the
narthex (right outside of the sanctuary). Please
continue to wear your mask while we are inside of the
building. Also, please park and enter at that end of
the building.
FOR THOSE JOINING VIA ZOOM: You will be connected and
able to verbally participate as in a regular ZOOM call.
Contact Pastor Danita or the church office for the link.
LifeLine
Screening
Life Line
Screening will be here at Woodridge United Methodist
Church on Tuesday,
September 14th offering safe, painless,
non-invasive preventive health screenings that are typically
not a part of a routine physical. To be more proactive
about your health and to live longer for yourself, your
family and your community, please register for these
potentially life-saving tests today. Please call
toll-free 1-888-653-6441 or visit http://lifelinescreening.com/communitycircle to register.
Confirmation
Returns This Fall
If you, a family member, or a friend are in 7th,
8th, or 9th grade for school year 2021-22, Confirmation is
for you.
Working title for this year: “Confirmation:
Questioning Faith.” Confirmation at Woodridge UMC is not an
attempt at indoctrination, but rather an exploration of the
questions participants bring regarding life, faith, God, the
church, and more. Big questions such as:
What even is faith?
Where is God in the midst of suffering?
What does it mean to be a person of faith in the
real world of 2021?
Classes begin next Sunday, September 19th at
11:00am in the Youth Room. Please contact Pastor Dave (pastordave@woodridgeumc.org) to register and/or for more information.
Communion
On the 1st Sunday in
October we will have in-person
communion outside under the tent
following the morning worship service. We will then resume communion
on ZOOM for the remaining Sundays
in September and October.
Sunday
School Returns!!
THIS Sunday,
September 12th Sunday School
returns to Woodridge UMC! Come join us for our all new
curriculum and improved classroom space! Class
will occur after Children’s Time until the end of worship
service. Students and teachers will remain masked and
socially distanced. Please contact the church office if
you are interested or if you have any questions.
Nursery
Care
Nursery care
will also return this September. We are looking for one
or two experienced people to help fill in the volunteer
rotation. Please contact Karen Miller if you are
interested. Background checks will be performed for all those
that volunteer with our children.
Youth
Ministry 2021-2022
Youth Ministries at WUMC in September &
beyond:
All students and families are invited to
participate in the all-church
Back to School Spectacular TODAY, Sunday, September 12th,
right after the worship service. Featuring:
water balloons and other silly, fun games! Doggie Diner hot
dogs and fries, plus veggies, fruit, and dessert! We will
also gather students for another check-in on revamping the
Youth Room. Don’t miss it!
Next week, Sunday, September 19th at 11:00am Confirmation
Class returns. If
you or a family member or a friend are in 7th, 8th, or 9th
grade for school year 2021-22, Confirmation is for you.
Working title for this year: “Confirmation:
Questioning Faith.” Confirmation at Woodridge UMC is not an
attempt at indoctrination, but rather an exploration of the
questions participants bring regarding life, faith, God, the
church, and more. Big questions such as:
What even is faith?
Where is God in the midst of suffering?
What does it mean to be a person of faith in the
real world of 2021?
Please contact Pastor Dave (pastordave@woodridgeumc.org) to register and/or for more information.
Also returning next Sunday, September
19th at 11:00am: High School Youth Group!
Faith exploration geared for 15-18 year olds (i.e. sophomores
through seniors). No question is out of bounds.
Outreach
Opportunities
DuPage Pads: Did You Know?
DuPagePads operates a Street Outreach call line
for anyone who observes someone unsheltered or in need
of services. Please notify our Street Outreach team at
630-682-3846, option 2, or email streetoutreach@dupagepads.org with the following information:
Your name and contact information (for
possible follow-up)
- Individual’s/Family’s Name (if
known)
- Location (last seen)
- General Description
Midwest
Mission Assistance for Disaster Relief and Afghan
Refugees
From flooding
in Michigan in the North to the wildfires in the West, now
the hurricane devastation in Louisiana and flooding in
Tennessee, we have exhausted our cleaning kit inventory. We
need your help!
To donate text MMDC to 91999, mail in a check or collect
supplies and take to your nearest collection site.
We have an immediate need so we can continue to help those in
disaster situations and assist the Afghan refugees that are
being placed.
September Focus: Cleaning Supplies
We are in urgent need of :
- Liquid Dish Soap 14-32 oz
- Liquid Household Cleaner 16-40 oz
- Liquid Laundry Soap 32-64 oz
- Diapers (for adults & children)
- Monetary Donations to buy kit items in bulk
Please visit our website to see a full list of Midwest Mission supply
needs.
Hurricane
Ida Damage Includes UM Churches
Category 4
Hurricane Ida delivering 150mph winds caused widespread
damage in southeast Louisiana, including to several United
Methodist churches and parsonages. Much of Louisiana remains
without power or cellphone service. Read more.
The United
Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has already awarded a
grant to the Louisiana Conference to support relief efforts
and remains in prayer for the many communities impacted by
this major storm.
How
to Help
To read the rest
of the article from the Northern Illinois Conference click here.
Offering
of Letters
One form of our response to our “Jesus Said What?!”
sermon series is to embody our faith in an Offering of
Letters to Congress advocating for policies that will help
end hunger locally and globally.
TODAY, Sunday, September 12th, is the final day
to turn in your letters. Place them in the Offering of Letters Offering
Plate!
It is NOT TOO LATE to utilize the online option: Click here to email Congress.
If you chose this option, please let Pastor Dave
(pastordave@woodridgeumc.org) know after you’ve sent your emails.
As our partner, Bread for the World, reports,
“Expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) will do more to reduce
hunger and poverty among our nation’s children than any
single policy has in decades. Most children stand to benefit
from the CTC expansion, but children from groups that have
disproportionately high hunger rates will benefit most.”
And expanding the CTC makes fiscal sense.
“Poverty among children in the United States costs the
economy between $800 billion and $1.1 trillion in lower
productivity, higher healthcare costs, and the need to spend
more on public safety, services for homeless people,
incarceration, and care for survivors of child abuse.” [source]
While poverty costs the economy, providing
nutrition assistance is among the most cost-effective ways to
save and improve lives around the world—with every $1
invested yielding up to $35 in economic returns.
We cannot afford not to offer this help.
To learn more about Bread’s Offering of
Letters, click here. To learn more about our partner organization
in this effort, Bread
for the World, click here.
As we begin to gather together for worship and
slowly open our building, there are some ongoing
opportunities that we want to "revive". We
will get more details from our Outreach Committee at a later
time about these and other opportunities.
Suits for Success
There are donation boxes in the hallway by the
coat rack just outside the narthex for both men and women's
clothing. The clothes are picked up, dry cleaned and
then taken to area men and women's prisons for people being
released. NO belts, shoes, underwear or ties.
"Goin'
Green" Shoes & Clothes Recycling Box
Located in the northeast corner of our parking lot,
this receptacle is a convenient place to recycle any shoes
and your clothes that are at or near the end of their
usefulness.
Did you know discarded clothes account for more
total landfill space than any other waste item? The “Goin’
Green” Box helps us reduce our waste.
How is this different from our “Suits for
Success” ministry?
The big difference is that “Suits for Success”
cannot accept shoes of any kind, nor can they accept belts,
ties, or underwear. “Goin’ Green” accepts all shoes and
clothes.
In summary: Keep bringing your gently used clothing
donations to the “Suits for Success” collection boxes in the
hallway.
For all shoes and any other clothes, instead of
throwing them in the trash, put them in the “Goin’ Green”
receptacle in the northeast corner of the parking lot.
West Suburban Food Pantry
We have a basket that we "inherited"
from the Faith, Lisle church that is waiting for
donations. It sits in the narthex, usually near the
sanctuary doors. They did not stop operating during the
pandemic and there is pending legislation in our state and
nation that might cut their corporate donations in large
amounts. Let's replenish our basket!!!
Used Eyeglasses
There is a
basket also in the narthex for collecting used
eyeglasses. Jorie would see that her sister, Kendra,
got the eyeglasses and that they are recycled to the Lions
Club and Gift of Sight groups. Kendra is continuing
this important mission. (Prescription eyeglasses only).
September Outreach Offering
Ministerial
Education Fund
Another one of the 7 General Apportionment Funds
that would have previously been funded through the churches
general apportionments payments, the Ministerial Education
Fund provides funds for recruitment of clergy candidates and
provides financial support for 13 United Methodist seminaries
including Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in
Evanston and Pastor Danita’s alma mater, Gammon Seminary.
Northern Illinois Conference
Prairie
Central District
The new names
of the districts, which went into effect July 2021, are Lake North, Lake
South, Prairie Central, Prairie North, and Prairie South. We
will be in the Prairie Central district. Click here to read the list of churches in each district. Find the new
district webpage here.
Prarie
Central Monthly Lay Meetings
Please join
our District Superintendent, Jeffrey Bross and
your lay colleagues in the PCD every SECOND
Thursday of the month beginning on September 9
and ending on May
12 at 7pm. We will share news, have
some prayer and devotion, hear the call story of a colleague
and laugh with your friends. We try to keep it to an
hour but if something is really important and we need some
extra time, we can do so. This is a no-stress way to stay
connected and get lifted up and know you are not alone.
Please note that ALL lay persons who are in
leadership at their churches are invited. This is not just
for designated "lay leaders" but anyone who
has an interest in the church and gathering with
other lay persons.
Hope to see you there. Contact the church office for
the link.
Amazon
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purchases to Woodridge United Methodist Church whenever you
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AmazonSmile.
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Ways to Connect
September
10th, 2021, Volume 12, Edition 37
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