Dear Members and Friends of Waterville United Methodist Church,
The new church website should be up and running by the time you read this. Check out the site at www.watervilleumc.org. If, for some reason, it doesn’t work for you, please email the church office and let us know. Many thanks to Ted Myers for taking charge of this major project. He has spent many, many hours working on this!
Your first quarter Giving Statements will be emailed on Saturday, April 4th. For those who receive hard copies, they will be available for your pickup on Easter Sunday on the shelf outside the Church Office.
The Community Sunrise Easter Service will be held at 7:00 a.m. at the park by the old elementary school. Rev. Mike O’Shea, from the Waterville Community Church, will be leading the service. There will not be a breakfast following the service this year.
News came from Europe this week that grocery chains in Britain are balking at selling Easter eggs that provide a Christian interpretation of Easter. So for this installment of The Wired Word, we will explore how believers can effectively witness to non-Christians and teach their own children about their faith in an increasingly secular society. Join us in Fellowship Hall at 9:00 a.m. this Sunday for coffee, scriptures and discussion.
Worship Service for Sunday, April 5th - Easter Sunday
Children’s Moment -
Prelude - Christ Is Risen!
Introit - Christ Is Risen sung by the Sanctuary Choir
Hymns - Up from the Grave He Arose and Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Anthem - Crown Him, the Risen King!
Choral Benediction - The refrain of He Lives will be sung by the choir and the congregation
Olga’s selections - Behold the Lamb and Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Scripture - John 20:1-18
Pastor Mike’s sermon title - The Greatest Gift of All Time
Liturgist - Dave Landis
There will not be any Fellowship Time following worship on Sunday.
Pastor Mike will be holding an Easter worship service at the Waterville Browning Masonic Complex at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. All are welcome to attend.
Our mission emphasis for April is the small animal project through Samaritan’s Purse. Many of you will recognize Samaritan’s Purse with our Operation Christmas Child ministry each fall. The small animal project provides sheep, goats, chickens and other small animals to families so that they can become self-sufficient, but not only the family, but the whole village will be blessed. When these animals have offspring, the family must give the offspring to another family in the village. Please prayerful consider what God is asking of you to transform people who will be blessed by the gift of life through the gift of small animals.
The church has always tremendously supported Operation Christmas Child. This year we’d like to initiate a yearlong collection for filling shoeboxes. When the time gets closer, we will then have a packing party in addition to our conventional way of packing shoeboxes on our own or with our families. We do this in the hope of generating even more boxes and reaching even more children. For the months of April and May – we ask that you collect and donate small toys, coloring books, crayons, markers, tops, and any other small toy items. Any toy items are welcome that are allowed by Samaritans Purse. Anne Stevens will be placing a collection box under the table in the foyer for your items.
Join us following worship on Sunday, April 12th, in Fellowship Hall for a Pancake Breakfast. All proceeds will go to the March of Dimes in memory of Marny and Tony Mazzarella’s first daughter Sophia. Adult tickets may be purchased from Marny on Easter Sunday for $6.00; Children (12 and under) tickets will be sold for $4.00. If you are not able to be here on Easter to purchase tickets, please contact her HERE.
Stephanie Shelton is in need of some volunteer help in the Children’s Ministry Department. She has placed a list of volunteer positions that are currently open in this area of our church. There are eight different positions available. Some of the positions are ongoing, while others are just for one day. If you are interested, please add your name to the list on the bulletin board signup sheet or contact her at ashelton26@accesstoledo.com.
The Church Mouse would like to thank Sherry Hill, Pam Cook, Jim Page, Janet Poling, Terry Myers, Penn & Charlotte Pritchett and Larry & Jan Sheridan for cleaning the Sanctuary on Tuesday morning. Pam and Sherry cleaned the stained glass windows and window sills and, along with Janet, took charge of cleaning in the balcony. Jim got rid of all the cobwebs in the ceiling light fixtures, got the dust off of the ceiling fan, tightened loose screws, repaired loose flooring tiles in the choir loft and mopped the floors. Janet, Terry, Charlotte, Larry and Jan spent most of their energy cleaning and polishing the pews. Larry also cleaned the glass doors and windows and hunted for cobwebs in light fixtures. Penn made arrangements to have the church grounds cleaned on Wednesday. It looks like we’re ready for company!!!
Church Mouse thanks also go out to Jerry and Melva Robinson for making the trip to the nursery on Friday to pick up all the Easter lilies that were ordered and will be placed near the altar on Sunday.
Be a blessing,
Church Cathy