Hope United Church of Christ
Rev. Audrey Alexander, Pastor
314-817-8442
100 South 3rd St.
(3rd & Easton Streets)
De Soto, MO 63020
Church Office (Mailing Address):
P. O. Box 695
De Soto, Mo 63020
636-586-6425
Website: hopeunitedchurchofchrist.com
Adult Sunday school: 9:15 AM
Sunday Worship: 10:30 AM
Fellowship of Hope meets 3rd Tuesday of each month at 10:30 AM at Hope
Consistory meets 4th Tuesday of each month at 10:00 AM (currently meeting at Hope in the Sunday School Room)
May, 2017
Pastor’s Corner:
Perhaps you were in church when we hung up a bulletin board with envelopes for the five missions of the United Church of Christ. Because of the limited time during announcements to explain what each mission is about, let’s take a moment now to understand what each of the missions addresses.
ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
These funds support disaster relief, refugee relief, and the development of other similar missions. This fund provides both local and international relief.
STRENGTHEN THE CHURCH
This money aids new-church starts, supports lay ministry, youth programs, helps existing churches, and supports the God Is Still Speaking ministry. The church is changing just as communities and social structure are changing. This fund helps the church be a positive voice in the world.
NEIGHBORS IN NEED
Our neighbors are not just the people next door, they are also people in the next state, the next country. NIN offerings are used for justice and compassion ministries. A substantial part of NIN offerings aids the Council for American Indian Ministry. Much of the NIN offerings are used for grants that address hunger and poverty.
THE CHRISTMAS FUND
This fund helps retired ministers and ministers’ families who are struggling.
OUR CHURCH’S WIDER MISSION (OCWM)
This is the life blood of the United Church of Christ. The United Church of Christ has its headquarters in Cleveland, OH. The next level of hierarchy is Conferences. Hope Church is in the Missouri Mid-South Conference. Within each Conference are Associations. Hope Church is in the St. Louis Association. Within the Associations are the local churches.
From the headquarters to the Conferences to the Associations: there are multiple layers of staffing, programming, and resources. It is OCWM that supplies funds for the United Church of Christ from the local to the national level.
While OCWM is the least exciting-sounding of these missions, it is the one that allows the UCC to exist!
Please consider taking a mission envelop of your choice at least once a month. Whether your contribution is big or small, it makes a difference when combined with the contributions from all the UCC churches across the country. Consider supporting one of the missions when you have something to celebrate or as a random act of kindness or as a spiritual discipline.
The mission board with the envelopes is on the door in the back of the sanctuary.
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
Pastor Audrey
Consistory Notes:
The calendar is against us. You have already seen the results of most of our March meeting. Plans for the Easter service and for Pastor Audrey’s Installation have already come to pass. We hope you enjoyed them.
We also canceled the May carry-in dinner and put the Sunday School Safe Church plans in the hands of a committee made up of Pastor Audrey, Joan Ellis, Nancy Barr, and Marilyn Ellis.
The Consistory has approved vacations for Pastor Audrey as follows:
June 26-July 2
August 14-20
November 6-12
Remember to check your bulletins for a “smiley face.” If you find it, contact Pastor Audrey about scheduling a lunch date. (If you feel left out, you can call Pastor Audrey for a lunch date anyway.)
Need prayers?
Hope Church now has a prayer circle. Six people will lift prayers for a particular person or a troubling situation. We shall pray for the highest good. We do not need specific details, just a name or general situation.
At this point, there are no restrictions on requests. To receive prayers for yourself or for a person/situation important to you, please call Pastor Audrey, and she will activate the prayer circle.
A Note from Pastor Audrey:
In May, we’ll explore prayer through a three-week sermon series.
May 14: What prayer is and is not
May 21: What to do when it feels like God is
not listening
May 28: Different ways to pray
Fellowship of Hope Notes:
We thank Neasha Hercher for inviting us to her lovely new home for our April meeting and for furnishing delicious refreshments. Pastor Audrey offered a “House Blessing” as we began the meeting. Thirteen attended this fun meeting.
The final total of spring rummage sale receipts was $1,035, thanks to the efforts of lots of church members and friends. As far as we can remember, this is the largest total ever achieved.
We were happy to finance special items for Pastor Audrey’s Installation Service (held on April 23): New banner for the sanctuary, flowers, cake, and carry-in dinner meat. In addition, we plan to cover the cost of some additional sanctuary banners.
Because of a very busy spring calendar, we decided to postpone the Antique Appraisal activity until autumn. We will again sponsor special observances for Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June. Sign-up sheets will soon be available for the Grizzlies Baseball Game on June 16 and for a play at the Westport Playhouse on August 5.
Be sure to notice the recently cleaned carpet in the north entrance of the church. To help us keep it clean, we voted to purchase a leaf blower to make it more convenient to clean the leaves and other debris from the sidewalks.
Our next meeting will be held at the church on Tuesday morning, May 16, at 10:30. Hope to see you there!
Book Club:
Hope’s Book Club will meet after worship on May 28th. Our book for this month is Faithful by Alice Hoffman. Hope to see you there! opHo
Food Pantry:
Dave & Joyce delivered 184 items to the Food Pantry this month! Keep up the good work – our neighbors are counting on us!
Don’t forget to give God thanks for your many blessings; to ask for forgiveness for your shortcomings; to implore God to bring peace to the world; to ask for equality and justice for all people in all things; to remember those less fortunate; to ask for guidance in doing God’s will.
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