From:                                         Woodridge United Methodist Church Communications <noreply@elexiochms.com>

Sent:                                           Friday, September 20, 2019 10:41 AM

To:                                               office@woodridgeumc.org

Subject:                                     "The Struggle is Real" - Corrected Newsletter from Woodridge United Methodist Church

 

Woodridge United Methodist Church

Join us on Sunday for worship services
at  9:00 am & 10:30 am.
5th Sundays have just one service at 10:00 am.

Professional nursery care available for the little ones.
All are Welcome!

 

 

 

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

 

 

"The Struggle is Real"

How does it feel to wrestle with a problem or question ----knowing the answer is something you don't want to face?  And yet we do that from time to time about many things.  We wonder if we have made the right decision with our children, with our spouse, on our job or in the community.  THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!

 

The story of Jacob at the Jabbok River wrestling all night with an angel of God seems a bit far fetched.  But, if we put the story into a contemporary context, we find that THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!!  Finding ourselves in difficult situations or life-altering decisions is not uncommon.  We struggle with everyday decisions and we receive new perspectives and new outlooks.

 

Let's see what Jacob's story has to offer us this week.  Maybe our wrestling with tough questions is what we need to see the blessings of God!!  Join us on Sunday at 9 or 10:30 a.m.  ALL ARE WELCOME!

 

Woodridge UMC is an open and loving United Methodist community striving to:       

Welcoming to all;
Uniting in service toward greater social justice for all;
Moving forward with understanding and acceptance of all peoples;
Creating disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.       

Our purpose is to offer a safe place and community to all races, cultures, religions, genders, sexual identities, ethnicities, age groups and other beliefs.      

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

Sunday, September 22nd

  • Worship Services at 9:00 & 10:30 am
  • Youth Group at 12 noon
  • Filipino Baptist at 3:30 pm
  • A.A. Meeting at 7:00 pm 

Monday, September 23rd

  • Preschool Picture Day at 9:00 am
  • Cub Scouts at 6:30 pm

Tuesday, September 24th

  • Preschool Picture Day at 9:00 am
  • Bible Study at 10:30 am
  • Trustees Meeting at 7:00 pm

Wednesday, September 25th

  • Bible Study at 6:00 pm

Thursday, September 26th

  • Preschool No Cook Night at 4:00 pm
  • Executive Committee at 6:30 pm
  • Yoga at 6:30 pm
  • Boy Scouts at 7:00 pm

Saturday, September 28th

  • Woodridge Parade at 7:15 am

Sunday, September 29th

  • ONE Worship Service at 10:00 am
  • Luncheon at 11:30 am
  • Filipino Baptist at 3:30 pm
  • A.A. Meeting at 7:00 pm 

 

 

 

Notices

There is ONE worship service on Sunday, September 29th at 10:00 am where we will be recognizing our staff and clergy at the service and also sharing lunch together afterwards.   Hoping everyone will join us in thanking our staff and clergy for all they do for our church. 


ADVENT STUDY AND WORSHIP THEME
The theme for the 2019 Advent season is THE GIFT OF THE NUTCRACKER.  It includes a study for adults, youth and children as well as the basis for our Sunday morning worship.  If you have not had a chance to watch the NUTCRACKER in recent years, please take time this season to do so.  Invite some friends and family members.  See it in a different venue than you remember seeing it last.  If you wish to organize an outing that includes other church members, do so and send the details to the office and we will include it in the Sunday announcements.  The sign-up for the Adult study will be available in October..  Let's exam the connection of pop culture and our faith and have fun in-between.

 

 

 

 

Young Adults
Keeping n Touch with Our College Students
Keeping in Touch with Our College Students
Are you going to college this fall?  Is your young adult off to college?  We here at Woodridge UMC would like to be in touch with our college students throughout the school year and not just to see you/them on breaks and holidays.  Please provide Jane Borgehammar (mborgehammar@yahoo.com) or the church office (office@woodridgeumc.org) with the following information. There is an online form
here.

 

Volunteer
DUPAGE PADS 
DuPage Public Action to Deliver Shelter, or PADS, provides hope for people who are homeless in DuPage County by offering an array of services that builds toward self-sufficiency and helps to stop the cycle of homelessness.

On any given night, about 60 adults, children, and babies arrive in need of a warm meal, safe shelter, and respect. Woodridge UMC supports PADS by fully staffing and supplying a meal at a site at First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove on the third Tuesday of every other month from October through April.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Volunteering for PADS is an outreach activity that requires a tremendous amount of participation by members of WUMC; however, newer members and friends of Woodridge UMC might not yet have had the opportunity to become involved. We always need volunteers of all ages to set up the shelter site on Tuesday evenings, to serve dinners, to clean up the kitchen following dinner service, to staff the site through the night, prepare sack lunches, to prepare and serve breakfast on Wednesday morning, and to clean up the site after PADS. Donations and preparation of food is also needed. We encourage you to get involved in this meaningful service. 

These are the dates to participate:

October 15-16, 2019
December 17-18, 2019
February 18-19, 2020
April 21-22, 2020


This year we are using a new online tool for volunteers to sign up. Please click the link below to sign up or please contact Larry Cash  if you are interested in learning more or volunteering. Sign-up sheets for food and work shifts will also be available on Sundays in the Narthex. Thank you!

Click
Here to Sign-Up.


SEE AN OPENING? JUMP IN!
No, we’re not talking about a swimming pool. (Although, with summer in its final weeks, jumping in a pool is almost always a good choice.). As we continually strive both to live into our mission to love all neighbors and to live into our vision to be welcoming to all, we need everybody to know that you are empowered to fill in — right then and there — whenever a gap in coverage appears:
    Is there a door without a greeter? Jump in and greet!
    Even the east door? Jump in and greet!
    Is it Offering time but there aren’t enough ushers? Jump in and, um, ush? Jump in and help!
    Are there fewer than five people walking up to serve communion? Jump in and serve!
In other words (to borrow a phrase) we need you! Yes, you. And you over there. Yep, you in the back, too. Let’s continue to be the church God calls us to be.



Events

FALL BIBLE STUDY - WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Our fall Bible study class is be FAST TRACK DISCIPLE: Remember Who You Are focusing on the prophets of the Old Testament.  Class is on Wednesdays from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m..  It is a 12 week study that will end just before Thanksgiving.  This year there will be NO DINNER.  Our youth are meeting at another time.  Be sure to sign up in the narthex and let us know you will be joining us.  


THE BIBLE FOR CURIOUS PEOPLE INVESTIGATES ROMANS
The Bible for Curious People Tuesdays at 10:30am.

All are welcome. No prior bible reading or knowledge or expertise needed. 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.

Also, a gentle reminder that using a study bible really helps. “Study bible” simply means a bible that includes introductions, notes, footnotes, and other helps for understanding the text. Study bibles come in just about every version (e.g. NRSV, NIV, CEV, etc.) If you don’t have a study bible, please borrow one from church. Just let us know you need one and we will find one for you to use. 

Reading Assignment and Questions to Consider for Sept. 24th:
-  Read the rest of Romans (chapters 13-16), along with any notes your bible provides. 
•    What caught your attention? What was surprising?
•    What questions do these chapters raise for you?
•    Chapter 13 is popular as a way to de-legitimize political resistance to those in power. According to Paul, are all governments approved by God? 
•    What “obstacles or impediments in your path” (14:13) have you encountered from religious people? How have you overcome them?
•    Per chapter 15, when have you been the strong one helping carry the weak? When were you the weak one in need of being helped?




WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE RETURNS! NOW ON…SUNDAY AFTERNOONS?!?
That’s right! New day, new time…and (eventually) a new name for our weekly Youth Group gatherings. WNL had a terrific 15-year run, but now it is time for a reboot. Our weekly Youth Group gatherings are now Sunday afternoons from 12noon-1:30pm. The 2019-20 School Year does not include Confirmation, so all students in 7th-12th grades are invited and welcome. Bring a friend!

Sharing a meal is sacred time. Building community feeds our souls just as food feeds our bodies. Having lunch together is a weekly practices that does both. So, after second worship service ends meet in the kitchen for lunch — parents are invited too. Youth Council is providing tacos today. To volunteer to provide a future meal, visit
our Meal Train site.

As we did with WNL after the meal we will play games and learn about and from each other regarding the life of faith and just life in general. No topic is out of bounds. One of our first tasks will be to come up with a new name. See our Youth Ministry announcement for specific upcoming schedule.



25th Annual Harvest Pow Wow
September 21st & 22nd at Naper Settlement.  Dancing & drumming, arts, crafts & food, Native flue players, birds of prey exhibit, honoring veterans, children’s crafts, archers and much more will be happening at the 25th annual event put on by the Midwest SOARRING Foundation. 


Preschool No Cook Night
Join Small Miracles for a no cook night at Round Head's Pizza Pub in Downers Grove (75th & Fairview) on Thursday, Sept. 26th 4:00-10:00 pm dine-in or carry-out.  Bring the flyer and present it to your server and 20% of the sales will be donated to the preschool! Flyers are available here.


WOODRIDGE ANNIVERSARY PARADE 
Yes, Woodridge United Methodist Church will be in the village anniversary parade on Saturday, September 28th!!!!  There will be a part for you to play even if you do not want to walk!!!!  The parade starts at 9:00 a.m. but the gathering time will be 7:15 a.m. at the church.  We will go over to the Community Center together.  Meet us at Jam n Jelly afterwards to have lunch together.  See the FAQs sheet here for more information.  



ALL MEANS ALL PANEL DISCUSSION
Friendship UMC in Bolingbrook is having a panel discussion regarding The Church and the LGBTQ Community on Sunday September 29th at 3:00 pm.  Experts in the field Jameson Pagano, professional counselor, Dr. Tim Paquette, counseling psychologist, Anna Voinovich, associate United Methodist pastor, and Paul Carlson, retired Lutheran pastor, will discuss the role of the church in welcoming the LGBTQ Community.  All are welcome for an open and safe discussion!


SOUTH DUPAGE CROP HUNGER WALK
Sunday, October 20, 2019 
Check in - 1:30 PM
Step off -  2:00 PM


CROP Hunger Walks are community-wide events sponsored by Church World Service to raise funds to end hunger at home & around the world.  
There will be a truck on site to accept non-perishable food items to donate to a local hunger fighting organization.
Starts & ends at: Gloria Dei Lutheran Church at 4501 Main Street in Downers Grove

Join the Woodridge UMC team or donate
here. 


Donate

Crazy About Cookies Fundraiser
Small Miracles Preschool is having a cookie dough fundraising sale.  The cookie dough is pre-portioned (no scooping!) and can be frozen up to a year.  Orders (and payments) are due September 29th and the cookie dough will be ready for pick up on October 17th.  There is an order form in the narthex You can go to their website here to find more details about the cookie dough products.  


THERE’S SOMETHING GREEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Did you notice a new addition to the northeast corner of our parking lot? Just this week we added a new “Goin’ Green” recycling receptacle for clothes and shoes. 

Did you know 12 million tons of clothing ends up in North American landfills every year? That’s 68 pounds per person! Discarded clothes account for more total landfill space than any other waste item. The “Goin’ Green” program aims to change that by providing a convenient place to recycle your unusable shoes and clothes. 

How is this different from our “Suits for Success” ministry?
The big difference is that “Suits for Success” takes gently used clothes to give to parolees to help them succeed on job interviews. “Suits for Success” cannot accept shoes of any kind. Meanwhile, “Goin’ Green” is for your clothes and shoes that are at or near the end of their usefulness.

How does “Goin’ Green” help the environment?
In addition to keeping the clothes and shoes out of landfills, the items in the receptacle are collected and shipped to a warehouse where they are inspected and sorted. Reusable items are shipped to places where affordable clothing is needed. Items that cannot be reused are converted to shop rags for industrial applications or recycled to base fibers to be used again in the production of new clothing. 

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. 

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.  


Looking Ahead        

September 28th - Woodridge Anniversary Parade at 9 am
September 29th - ONE Worship Service at 10 am 

 Connect       

Learn ways you can get involved at Woodridge UMC!     

Sign up for our newsletter and email notifications     

Find out about upcoming events in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church        

Every Sunday is "Selfie Sunday" at Woodridge UMC! Send your pictures of worship, fellowship, and events to office@woodridgeumc.org.  And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!       

      

September 20th, 2019, Volume 10, Edition 38

 

 

 

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