May 21, 2022
Beautiful Beloveds
To be held can feel wonderfully affirming, to be held back can feel stifling. To be held in love gives us the strength to soar. To be held captive can stifle the way we live our God given gifts in the world. As we continue our “God is Holding Your Life,” series, we consider what it means to be held and to hold on. We consider “What We Carry,” and what we can set down and leave behind. We’ll remind one another in scripture and song how to travel lightly, held in God’s love. We remain Together in Christ…Committed to Serve.
Peace,
Heather
Shoe Fund Drive: Don’t forget to bring your gently used shoes to church tomorrow, and help us meet our goal. More info is below!
Mark Your Calendars
Saturday, May 21:
10:00 am: Yoga
3:00 pm: Islamic Center of Cape Cod
Sunday, May 22:
Please register here for Worship in May
8:30 am: Drive-in/Outdoor Worship
Bring your own chair, or we can provide one.
Or if the weather is iffy, park in front of the church, radio tuned to 91.5.
10:30 am: Worship in our sanctuary (masks required)
10:30 am: Livestream available on our YouTube channel
We also offer FM transmission to your car radio in our parking lot. Tune to 91.5
Monday, May 23:
9:00 am: Lend-a-Hand
7:00 pm: Men’s Study Group (via Zoom)
Tuesday, May 24:
9:00 am: Yoga
12:00 pm: Deadline for “A Word on Wednesday,” AND Saturday Tidings
12:00 pm: Prayer Group
Wednesday, May 25:
10:30 am: Rainbow’s End Opens (Donations accepted 11 am – 2 pm)
7:00 pm: Church Council Meeting (We hope to meet hybrid; Stay tuned for COVID update)
Thursday, May 26:
9:00 am: Yoga
10:30 am: Rainbow’s End Open (donations accepted 11 am – 2 pm)
2:00 pm: Chair Yoga (New participants welcome. Join us in the solarium.)
5:00 pm: Big Book Step Group
Friday, May 27:
10:00 am: Al-anon Meeting
Saturday, May 28:
10:00 am: Yoga
Sunday, May 29:
Please register here for Worship in May
8:30 am: Outdoor/Drive-in Worship
Bring your own chair, or park in front of the church, radio tuned to 91.5.
10:30 am: Worship in our sanctuary (masks required)
10:30 am: Livestream available on our YouTube channel
COVID-19 Update: We are now in the red, or high-risk level.
That means:
- Masks are required indoors.
- All seating will be distanced seating.
- All indoor in-person meetings/gatherings are discouraged. Please meet outdoors or via zoom.
- There will be no congregational singing or coffee hour.
- All doors and at least two windows in the sanctuary will be open.
Remember you can choose to join us for outdoor worship at 8:30, in your car or on the lawn. Masks are not required, and you’re welcome to sing outdoors. Or join our Livestream at 10:30 am from the comfort of your home.
Please register here to worship with us in May.
Together in Christ—We Worship
Mark your Calendars: June 12, 19, 26, and July 3, one worship is offered at 9:30 am.
June 12: Pride Sunday and Pastor Heather’s last Sunday. Weather permitting, we will gather outdoors, in front of the church. Wear your rainbows!! Bring your comfy chair or blanket to sit on. We’ll also have chairs available. And of course, you can stay in your car with your radio tuned to 91.5. We will also offer live-streamed worship on our YouTube Channel.
June 19 and 26: Rev. Ed Farrell-Starbuck will be preaching
July 3: Rev. John Taylor’s first Sunday
FYI: The outdoor chapel is currently unsafe and not fully accessible for worship, particularly to anyone with mobility challenges. Our trustees and the Lend-a-Hands are aware of this and working on improvements so that it can be used safely by all.
Together in Christ—We Move Through Transition Together
Spring is here!!! Our gray and leafless winter on Cape Cod is bursting with new colors and growth. This spring is also a time of remarkable change in our denomination, our district, and our congregation.
“Change” can imply “exciting futures”, as well as “loss of what we are comfortable with.” Each of these church leaders will be appointed to a different position starting July 1: Rev. David Calhoun, our District Superintendent, Rev. Wanda Santos-Perez, our incoming District Superintendent, our beloved Pastor Heather, and Rev. John Taylor. Our congregation remains the same with our same wonderful staff; Thank heavens!
At the Cabinet and District levels, even the persons making it all run smoothly may be changing whom they are working with. Although all of these people have done before what they will be doing new starting July 1, they will all be working with new colleagues, staff, and congregations.
This is why we have asked for daily prayer for these individuals, their families, and the congregations involved.
By prayer and reaching out to others, we have grown through the last two years in wondrous ways. Let’s continue that through prayer and reaching out.
Many are already thinking goodbyes to Pastor Heather and her family. If you take a minute to jot a note to her, your appreciation will be there for her to read. I suggest you send those cards to:
Rev. Heather Bailes Baker
United Methodist church
57 Pond Street
Osterville MA 02655
Welcoming a new pastor with a short note or card is a wonderful way to start letting Rev. Taylor know how you are looking forward to his ministry here in Osterville after July 1. As Rev. Taylor will be between residences until late summer, please use this address for him:
Reverend John W. Taylor
808 South Main Street
Centerville MA 02632
This is a great time to encourage our staff: Ann German, Jane Gray, Sonja Sheasley, Daniel Shinabarger, and Pamela Turner. While they are transitioning to working with a new pastor, drop them a note to remind them how valuable they are to our church.
Thank you for all your prayers and actions; this is one of the great blessings of our congregation to show love for others in the midst of exciting changes.
MaryAnne Farley, Chair, Staff Parish Relations Committee
Together in Christ—We Tend to the Mission and Ministries of our Church
Church Council Meeting, May 25
Our hope is to offer a hybrid meeting, in-person and via zoom. We’re watching the rates of COVID-19 carefully. Watch your email on Sunday, May 22, for an update from Council Chair, Wendy Lithwin.
Together in Christ—We Pray
Please pray for all high school, tech and trade school, college, and graduate school graduates.
**Please contact Jane Gray, office@umcchurches.org, or 508.428.2811 to let us know if someone in your family is graduating from High School, Trade School, or College this year. Please tell us the name of your student, and any details you care to share. From where they are graduating, are they receiving any special honors, and do they know what’s next in their journey.
In this time of transition, please pray for Rev. John Taylor, the people of the First United Methodist Church of Westborough, MA, our District Superintendent Rev. David Calhoun, Rev. Wanda Santos-Perez, our incoming District Superintendent, our Bishop, Sudarsharna Devadhar, Pastor Heather and her family.
Please pray for the people of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal-From the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle. Learn more here
Please submit prayer requests here or call Pastor Heather, (774) 994-3645 or MaryAnne Farley (774) 487-0719.
Together in Christ—We learn and play!
Family Fun Day!
4-5 pm, June 5
Our youth group invites children up to 5th grade to come learn and play together. Families are encouraged to stay and play. Our youth will offer a Bible story, fun and games, and different special activities each week (craft, drama, music, etc.). Our youth will provide guided activities from 4:00-4:30, and then offer 30 minutes of supervised free play on our church playground (weather permitting).
Together in Christ—Our United Methodist Connection
United Methodist Women: New Name
Just like our foremothers, today United Methodist Women — now United Women in Faith — listen, asks, and change. Change is hard, but it is holy. In response, the magazine for women in mission, May/June 2022, we heard from Ainase ‘Issama’u. She is President of United Women in Faith. She said, “We’ve got people talking! Word is spreading and women are signing up to inspire, influence and impact their churches and communities. UMW has been many names. For the past 50 years, we’ve been UMW. This isn’t saying a name is unimportant. The work we do and the Christian sisterhood we want to be, a name change is part of how we answer God’s call to grow, change, lead, include and uplift.”
“I’m excited to celebrate with you this month and begin our future together.”
2022 Annual Conference The 2022 Annual Conference session, June 9-11, will be a hybrid event; members will have the option to attend in person in Manchester, NH, or via Zoom. The theme for this year’s session is Envisioning the Beloved Community and our guiding scripture is Philippians 3:12-14, The Message.
Read more about the hybrid session from the Sessions Team
District Superintendent David Calhoun’s Farewell Gathering
Saturday, June 18, 6 pm
Wesley UMC (55 Woodland ST., Lincoln, RI 02865
(More details to come).
Committed to Serve—You are Making a Difference!
May 2022 Collection for UMCO Pantry ~ Please leave your donations of disposable diapers for the Baby Center in the church solarium near the food pantry cupboard or put them in the Treasure Can outside the front door. If you are not able to get out and shop for diapers, you can make a check out to the church for any amount and in the memo, section please write “Diapers.” Diapers will be purchased for you.
Spring Plant Sale – Still Plants are Available back by the Choir Room entrance and are $5 each. You may leave your payment in the church mailbox outside the Solarium doors or drop it by the office Mon. – Thurs. between 9 am and 1 pm. You can also use your credit card and give through our online giving portal.
Committed to Serve—Giving Generously
Shoe fund drive – Help us finish our Shoes Drive strong! Bring in your gently used shoes! Your shoes share the love around the world. Container available outside solarium.
Please join the Barnstable Ally Group in our 2nd Annual Book Drive!
Last year we asked for 200 books in 20 days, and we were amazed by the generosity of our community! We were able to gather over 600 books and provide every student in one of the Barnstable schools with a book to bring home as well as provide books for other local organizations and community centers. Please help us reach our 2022 goal of donating 500 books in the next 20 days to students of color in our community! While we hope to eventually put books into backpacks in every school in Barnstable, we are focusing on the 4th graders at Barnstable United Elementary School.
We recognize the need for students of color to identify with, make connections with, and read about characters of color. It is our hope that with your donation, by reading about characters of similar backgrounds and experiences and seeing their own identities in literature, students of color will become engaged in reading and have an increase in self-esteem and positive cultural identity. While we will gladly accept book donations at any time, we kindly ask that donations arrive by Friday, June 3, 2022. This will allow us to go through the donations, create bundles and have them ready to go into backpacks in our schools in time for summer break!
Do you shop at Amazon.com? Sign up with smile.amazon.com and most purchases will support our church without costing you an extra cent. Be sure to go to smile.amazon.com, rather than just amazon.com, whenever you shop, so our church earns every time! So far, our church has earned $218.92 in this way. Sign up today and select Osterville United Methodist Church as the charity to support and help us earn more.
Care for Creation
Green Tip: Have eco-friendly fun with friends. Host a party for passing along the clothes children outgrow so quickly or for exchanging outfits with friends of the same size. Set a stitch-it-up time for learning the how-tos of mending, getting the repairs done, and talking about caring for the earth and one another.
Rainbow’s End, our church-owned, and operated Thrift Boutique is Open. You can shop Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 am-3 pm. You can also support the shop by donating items Wednesday and Thursday from 11 am – to 2 pm. Please do not leave any items in or outside the shop when our volunteers and employees are not there to receive them. They need to be able to sort and store the items carefully, sometimes in the annex. If you cannot donate during these specific hours, please contact the store manager, Pamela Turner, at 508.428.5304. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. Thank you for supporting our staff, volunteers, and the missions and ministries of our church.
Worship with Us
Outside, inside, or online
If you are feeling unwell, tested positive for COVID-19, or been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days, please stay home.
Please register here to worship with us in May.
If you prefer not to register online, please leave a message at the church at 508.428.2811
See the statistics we’re tracking here.
8:30 am Drive-In/Outdoor Worship, in our parking lot and on the front lawn
- If you register, you will receive an order of worship for the day, including links to scripture, hymn lyrics, and our online-giving portal. Registering also helps us with contact tracing if that becomes necessary.
- Please stay home if you are feeling unwell, tested positive for COVID-19, or been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
- Masks are optional. Please honor the choices that others have made to mask or not.
- A bright green offering box will be available, as we will not be “passing the plate.” You can also give through our online giving portal.
- If, after worshiping with us, you test positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed, it is important to the health of our congregation that you let us know so we can notify others who may have been exposed. This will be treated carefully and confidentially so that we can care for another. Please call Pastor Heather directly, at 774.994.3645.
- Musical leadership will be provided by Daniel Shinabarger and other willing musicians. You are welcome to bring a chair and sit on the lawn or stay in your cars when it is wet and/or cold.
- You are welcome to sing!
10:30 am In Our Sanctuary
- We strongly encourage all who attend indoor worship and activities at our church and who are able and eligible to be fully vaccinated.
- If you register, you will receive an order of worship for the day, including links to scripture, hymn lyrics, and our online-giving portal. Registering also helps us with contact tracing if that becomes necessary.
- Please stay home if you are feeling unwell, tested positive for COVID-19, or been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
- Masks are required.
- There will be no congregational singing.
- Sanctuary Shepherds will be there to greet and guide you, as you enter and exit our building
- Please enter through the main sanctuary doors, where you will be “checked-in,” and invited to use hand sanitizer. At this time, we are not using paper bulletins.
- After you are “checked in” you will be led to a seat by a sanctuary shepherd, and we are practicing distanced seating.
- The ionizers will be on, and two windows will be open with a fan running. Additionally, all doors will be open. Please dress warmly and feel free to bring a lap blanket.
- Please exit through our solarium as directed by our shepherds.
- An offering plate will be available as you enter, as we will not be “passing the plate.” Don’t worry if you forget, or are moved to give more, there will be another place to give on your way out. You can also give through our online giving portal.
- We will be live streaming our sanctuary worship, so you catch it on YouTube, or if we need more seating at the church, in Fred Curtis Hall.
- If, after worshiping with us, you test positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed, it is important to the health of our congregation that you let us know so we can notify others who may have been exposed. This will be treated carefully and confidentially so that we can care for another. Please call Pastor Heather directly, at 774.994.3645.