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Opportunities/Events
The Bible for Curious People
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, December
7th: meeting IN PERSON:
Judges 13:2-7;
Psalm 115:9-15; 1 John 3:1-3; and Luke 1:46-56, our texts for
the third Sunday of Advent. Plus, as always, any notes your
bible provides. Shorter readings means time for additional
readings!
Questions to consider:
—Judges gives us yet another
barren-woman-conceives story. How does this one connect with
(and differ from) others we’ve read recently: Hannah, Hagar,
Sarah, Elizabeth?
—In the Psalm, which name for God is most meaningful to you?
Why? Which is most difficult to say? Why?
—1 John implores us to purify ourselves through hope. How
does that work? How does this idea of pure relate to your
previous ideas of what it means to be “pure”?
—You’ve almost certainly heard/read Mary’s song before. What
stands out to you this time? Why do you think that is?
Wednesday
Bible Study
Our Wednesday
Bible study meets from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
We will meet in person (those who wish to) as well as via
ZOOM (for those not able to be in person) started on Wednesday, December
1st. We are studying this Advent’s
lectionary scripture lessons. Please join us.
Second
Annual Light Up the Night Sunday, December 12th
Join us next Sunday,
December 12th as we share the light of Christ
with our neighborhood by turning on the Christmas lights all
over our building. You may follow the frolicking lights
around the building from your car or on foot. We’ll conclude
with a song by the big tree in back (aka on the northwest
side) as that tree is lit. Tune your car radio to FM
88.7. You may begin lining up at 4:45pm; Lighting
brightens at 5:00pm.
CLARA's
Holiday Giving Tuesday Open House Dinner for Woodridge
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Clara’s is
kindly hosting a benefit for our Woodridge NHN Disaster
Recovery. All are invited! And, all NHN families
are guests of Clara’s.
Tuesday,
December 7th, at Clara’s from 4-7 PM Open
House Buffet Dinner with Beer and Wine included.
Tickets are available and are $30 per person. If you
can join us, tickets are available online through Clara’s.
Clara's also has a Giving Tree with 50 of our NHN
children’s names with gift ideas. If you or someone you
know would like to help - please stop by Clara’s and take a
child’s gift tag and please bring tagged/wrapped gifts to
Clara’s on Giving Tuesday (Dec. 7th). Clara’s opens at
10 AM T-F and please call for weekend availability.
Last
Chance for the Youth Gift Card Sale
Support WUMC
Youth with gift card orders with one last opportunity to
participate. Orders forms are due Sunday,
December 12th and will be available for pick-up Sunday,
December 19th. A percentage of all sales goes
to Youth Ministries. Please remember to keep the WUMC
Family Crisis Fund in mind. Gift cards are incredibly helpful
for those in the community who need financial
assistance. Get your form here or in the narthex.
Helping Neighbors Experiencing Hunger
Great news! We are reconnecting with our sister
church, Trinity UMC in Joliet!
In lieu of the food baskets and turkeys of years
past, we
are asking for donations of Jewel-Osco gift cards.
Bonus! Our Youth Gift Card Sale is ongoing and makes for a
great way to support both our sister church and our youth.
Please note: this effort requires a quick response! Orders forms are
due Sunday, December 12th and will be available for
pick-up Sunday, December 19th.
Order forms are available in the Narthex or get your form by clicking here.
Of course, you may also purchase a Jewel-Osco
gift card without going through the Youth Gift Card Sale. All donations due
Sunday, December 19th.
Handbell
Choir
The handbells are refurbished and ready to
play! Would you like to join us?
Carrie Marcotte, our Director, has a plan to practice
directly after service for a few weeks and then play at a
service & then take a few weeks off. Our practices
are Sunday,
December 5th & December 12th at 11:30 am.
Our plan is to play
bells on Sunday, December 19th.
If you are able to join us, Sunday let Karen Miller or Carrie know.
If you can’t join us this Sunday, but still want to play
bells, still let them know.
NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED. YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ MUSIC. IF
YOU CAN COUNT TO 4 YOU CAN PLAY BELLS. We are so
excited to get the Bell Choir started again. Carrie is
learning too and promises to pick easy songs.
Youth
Ministry 2021-2022
Youth Ministries at WUMC in December &
beyond:
TODAY, Sunday, December 5th: Confirmation Class
and High School Youth Group at regular time: 11:00am-12noon. Advent and Christmas are full of traditions of
varying ages and styles. What are some traditions we’d like
to change? What are new traditions you’d like to start?
Looking ahead:
Dec. 12th
& 19th: Confirmation and Youth Group at regular time
Dec. 26th
& Jan. 2nd: No Confirmation class or Youth Group. Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year!
Christmas Eve Services
Friday,
December 24 – Christmas Eve Worship Services at 5:00 and
11:00 pm
Lessons
Learned from the Tornado:
Insurance Coverage
Tips & Information
Join Patrice Dziire, Deputy Director of Consumer Education
& Protection with the State of Illinois Department of
insurance, for an insurance overview addressing the basics of
good insurance coverage and making insurance claims. In
response to the challenges faced by Woodridge following the
July 2021 tornado, Deputy Director Dziire will also touch on
flood insurance, tiered deductibles, and the role of insurance
adjusters.
The Village of Woodridge and Woodridge Public Library are
jointly sponsoring the program AND providing giveaways:
emergency pocket flashlight, water-resistant "Important
Documents" portfolio, and scented LifeSavers candle.
Attendees will take home an insurance tip sheet along with
contact information for the State of Illinois Department of
Insurance.
Date:
December 8, 2021
Time:
7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Location:
Woodridge Public Library
The registration link is available here.
Toys
for Tots at the Village of Woodridge Through Dec. 10th
On the heels
of Veteran's Day, the Village of Woodridge is once again
collecting items for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
Toys for Tots will accept new, unwrapped toys for boys and
girls from infants to age 12. Please avoid stuffed animals,
clothing, food, and gift cards. Monetary donations can be
made via credit card here.
A drop-off box is located at Village Hall (5 Plaza Drive),
and toys can be dropped off until December 10.
Since 1947, the U.S. Marine Corps have looked after America's
needy children through their Toys for Tots program.
Life
Line Screening
Did you know? 80% of strokes are
preventable according to the American Heart Association
and
Life Line Screening provides valuable health screenings to
detect the risk of stroke and
cardiovascular disease.
You can take advantage of these health screenings
today by signing up for the complete stroke screening package
(which includes 5 screenings for vascular disease and an
osteoporosis screening) for $139 when Life Line Screening
comes to Woodridge UMC on Tuesday, December 7th.
With the number of people already signed
up, appointment spaces are very limited so please don’t
miss your chance to confirm your appointment today before the
event is full! Pre-registration is required. Sign up
now by calling toll free to 1-888-653-6441 or text
the word circle
to 797979
or visit https://llsa.social/HSC
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
ONGOING 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).
December Outreach Offering
Save Abandoned
Babies
The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is a
not-for-profit volunteer group dedicated to saving babies
from being abandoned in dumpsters and other unsafe places.
Our only mission is to save the lives of newborns that might
otherwise be abandoned unsafely in Illinois.
Our grassroots effort began in March of 2000 when one of our
members read a newspaper article about a baby found in a
Chicago dumpster. We quickly learned that other states were
addressing this horrible and growing problem with "safe
haven laws."
We went to work, calling on anyone willing to help. The Save
Abandoned Babies volunteers drafted a safe haven law and
lobbied for its passage. The resulting Abandoned Newborn
Infant Protection Act unanimously passed both the Illinois
House and Senate and was signed into Illinois law in August
of 2001.
The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is now focused on
telling desperate girls and women that this option exists.
Making information about the law available to those who need
it will save innocent new lives.
West
Suburban Community Pantry
The West Suburban Community Pantry offers food
for the hungry and resources to empower persons to improve
their quality of life. Our vision is a community
without hunger.
The Pantry operates year-round with a goal that
each eligible family in DuPage County as well as Bolingbrook
& Romeoville receive nutritionally balanced food,
including meats, dairy, and fresh produce monthly. We are
also registered as an emergency food pantry for Illinois.
With the help of volunteers and sponsors, our
vision is to eradicate hunger within the families and
individuals in the DuPage County area. We are dedicated to
providing food for the hungry, educating the donor community
about existing needs, and supporting advocacy efforts for the
hungry. We also work hard to encourage volunteerism and the
sharing of resources.
Northern Illinois Conference
Prairie
Central Winter Lay Academy
The Prairie
Central District is having a Lay Academy - (Jan. 8 &
15) 8 am - 4 pm. at Plainfield UMC
breakfast and lunch provided. Cost: $40. Register by
January 3rd.
The
two Saturday event from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. will offer four
classes:
Leading Public Prayer
Heritage of United Methodism
Rediscovering Our Spiritual Gifts
Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition
Everyone
interested in learning more about their faith, seeking
support as they consider leadership positions, and enjoying
fellowship with other believers are welcome. Lay
Academy’s goals are to enrich the individual as well as
support the clergy of the local church. Click here
for details and here
for registration.
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.
Prairie
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
Smile
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible
purchases to Woodridge United Methodist Church whenever you
shop on
AmazonSmile.
AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same
prices, same service. Support WUMC by starting your
shopping here.
Ways to
Connect
December
3rd, 2021, Volume 12, Edition 49
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