March 2022 Issue

Present & Pliable.....

Revive, Renew, & Reach

Hey St. Paul’s Family!

Thank you all for the opportunity to travel in the Holy Land.  To sum up the trip is impossible in this space, but we will be discussing the movement of Jesus in our Lenten series: Come Walk With Me.  The series and the music are built from the movement toward the cross.  Yet, we worship the Living God. Today, we have the opportunity view the cross from the resurrection. 
 

You will see crosses in front of the church as part of the 40 days before Easter.   Known as the season of Lent, this is a time of preparing for the celebration of Easter through the practice of prayer and fasting, meditation, study and worship. It is also a time to turn away from the times we have ignored God and to seek reconciliation.
 

Lent is a thoughtful time when we are asked to look deep within ourselves and face our own sinfulness, yet still know that we are held within the saving love of God. This love holds us, not to judge our sin, but to heal our souls and to lead us to new life.  I do not necessarily enjoy Lent, but I need it.  Thank God Easter is near!

The 40 days of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Sundays are not counted in the 40 days, as the Sabbath Day each week is considered a ‘mini-Easter’ when we worship and give thanks for the resurrection of Jesus.

I invite you in these 40 days and nights of Lent to turn yourself toward God through the disciplines of prayer, fasting, meditation, study and worship; through giving to those in need, and through looking within the heart.

During Lent, I invite you to our Sunday evening discussions beginning on 6 March @ 5:30 in the Fellowship Hall. The Good Neighboring Experiment. This is not church growth program; it is about relationships, abundance, and joy.  If you want to know more about the Good Neighboring Experiment, check out https://neighboringmovement.org/ if you have any questions, please call the church office, 830-895-2212.

Peace, Pastor Glenn

NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY, MARCH 8th at 1:30 P.M., in the parlor!  All women in the church are welcome to join us.

The Methodist Men's group led by Jerry Peebles, will meet the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of every month at 10:00am in the fellowship hall.

Coffee With The Pastor

The pastor is back for coffee time on Wednesday, March16 at 10:00 in the parlor.   There is no agenda, just a time of welcome and hospitality.
Open to the congregation & would love for those who are new or returning
to come and enjoy.

Hello everyone! The Chancel Choir and Chancel Bells are practicing hard on some special musical offerings for Lent and Easter. As I said last month “Come Walk with Me” by Pepper Choplin is the planned cantata for Palm Sunday. If you want to only sing with us for that performance, please come to Wednesday rehearsals by 6:30. You are welcome of course to come sing with us at 5:30.

Bells meet Monday’s starting at 2:30, but we start setting up at 2:15. I could use a few more ringers even for subbing. If you’d like to learn how to ring bells just come to rehearsals. Beginners are welcome at either of these organizations. As I’ve said before, everyone has a place in the choir(s). Let me know if you’d like to take part.

Thanks to the generous donation of flowers, the SPUMC Care Givers are continuing to deliver bouquets and birthday cards.  Visiting in person continues to be limited because of COVID but we are hopeful that we can increase the number of personal visits soon.  Our hope is that the home-bound will know that their Church family loves and cares for them.              

The first response in any ministry is to “do no harm.”  We currently have six people approved through the Safe Gatherings process.  If you serve in this church and serve vulnerable adults, children, or youth then part of our ministry is completing Safe Gatherings training which is helpful for understanding the responsibly of our volunteers.  The registration fee is covered by the church and there are three sessions that can all be completed online.
For more information, contact the church office or go online to register at https://safegatherings.com/.
For more information on Rio Texas Safe Steps and TRUSTed con Confianza policies and training links please go to www.riotexas.org/safestep.   

Prayer Requests from the People

As a reminder, prayer requests need to have the following information:

• First and Last Name of the person for whom we are praying
• Relation to the person submitting request
• Name of the person requesting the prayer and a phone number for questions

When using the online prayer request module, please put the person's Name (first and last) as the Prayer Title.
This will help us quickly determine if the request is new or an update on a previous request for that person.

Forty Days of Lent… There is significance to the 40 days of Lent, the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday (excluding Sundays). This is the period of Jesus ministry where we can explore what it may be like to “Come Walk With” Jesus. From the temptation to the cross.

March 2 is Ash Wednesday; we will begin a new project in prayer and reaching out with our church and the Kerrville community. Each day during Lent we will put a white cross at the front of the church.
Please call the office at 830-895-2212 to schedule a time to add a cross.
If you are not physically able to do so, you may come to the church anytime during Lent to pray over the crosses. After all, prayer is what we do.

Here is our special service schedule for Lent:

• March 2 - Ash Wednesday – Services at both 9:30 am and 5:30 p.m.
• April 10 – Palm Sunday Cantata “Come Walk With Me” – 10:30 a.m.
• April 14 – Holy Thursday Service with Communion – 5:30 p.m.
• April 15 – Good Friday Taizé Service – 5:30 p.m.
• April 17 – Easter Sunday Flowering of the Cross Service – 10:30 a.m.

All services will be in our sanctuary.
All services will feature our full choir (except Ash Wednesday – 9:30 am service).

MARCH ALTAR RAIL MISSION EMPHASIS      
UMCOR  International Disaster Relief

The United Methodist committee on Relief responds to dozens of unsung disasters in all parts of the world every year. They are there to sow seeds of hope and to empower communities to step forward to a new and better future. They support refugees fleeing disasters, including assistance with food, water, hygiene and other essential nonfood supplies and temporary shelter.  UMCOR cooperates with local bishops, district superintendents and church leaders to help them develop their own response mechanisms, plus they train disaster response coordinators for each district or region to deal with all aspects of these disasters.

Thank you for supporting this important mission!   

Quilts for Boys

Come join us to make quilts for the Pathways Youth Ranch in Mountain Home, Texas.
Each boy receives a quilt of his own which can be very warm and comforting as well as a tangible constant to young people away from home and alone for the first time.  Sewers and non-sewers are welcome.  Please help to fulfill our mission and meet a wonderful group of friends.

Cabinet Announcement - Rev. Dr. Ricky Sanderford

February 10, 2022

Bishop Robert Schnase of the Rio Texas Conference announces the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Ricky Sanderford to the cabinet. Ricky will serve as district superintendent of the Hill Country and West Districts.

Bishop states, “Ricky Sanderford is respected, trusted, and appreciated by his clergy colleagues. He has served congregations across the conference with effectiveness, including four of our largest churches. He knows the West and Hill Country Districts well, and will bring fresh perspectives to the cabinet. I look forward to working with him.”

Ricky was raised on a family ranch in Lampasas County and graduated from Lampasas High School in 1977. He graduated from The University of Texas in 1984 with a BA in sociology and received his Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at SMU in 1988. In 2011, Ricky received his doctorate from Wesley Theology Seminary in Washington D.C. with a focus on missional evangelism and church leadership. Ricky has served nine churches in seven appointments throughout the Rio Texas Conference in over 34 years under appointment. In addition, he spent 12 years on the Board of Ordained Ministry and various district and conference committees and boards.

The current district superintendent Andy Smith writes, “I am so excited to welcome Ricky to the West and Hill Country districts! I know that the people and churches will love his compassion and wisdom, and his big heart. He will fit right in to Hill Country and West Texas life, and our churches and districts will flourish under his leadership.”

Ricky married his high school sweetheart, Kay. They have been married for over 43 years and have three adult children – January, Stefani, and Samuel; along with seven grandchildren. “If I had known how much fun grandchildren are I would have had them first! I am excited to have the opportunity to develop relationships with the pastors and churches of these two wonderful districts and together move forward joining God on mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. I am grateful to God and Bishop Schnase for this opportunity to serve the United Methodist Church in the role of district superintendent.”

Charities we support with financial contributions and/or volunteers!

• Light on the Hill
• Christian Assistance Ministry
• Hill Country Youth Ranch
• Doyle Center
• Kids Advocacy Place & Crisis Center Shelter
• Mission: Border Hope
• The Dietert Center (meals on wheels)

VISIT YOUR LIBRARY

By: Rosalie Pinson

MARCH       MARCH

May

All

Readers

Come

Here

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May you soon treat yourself to a visit to St. Paul's Library.

All types of reading materials are available.

Readers of non-fiction & fiction alike, will find many interesting books.

Come Thursdays, 9:30 'til noon, or any day the office is open.

Here at St. Paul's Library, you will find a 2nd home.

HAPPY READING !!!

St. Paul's Library is staffed Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. until noon, and is open on Sunday mornings. If it is locked, please ask someone in the church office to open it for you.

Hi Everyone!

March is here and Spring is in the air!! Don’t forget to Spring Forward on Saturday night before bed, March 12th. 

Our new upgrade equipment for the Tricaster and streaming camera should be in this first week of March. Once we have confirmation that it has been received, we will get an appointment time for installation. I am expecting installation to be end of March or beginning of April.

We received the funds to replace and upgrade the front of house existing projector and it has been ordered from the manufacturer. It is expected to come in about mid-March. After it is received, we will be scheduled for that installation, I expect around the same time as the Tricaster. Unfortunately, we did not get the funds for the rear of house projector this year, but we will look into it again in the future. It would be about $15000 for that future project. That’s the purchase of projector and screen and installation costs currently. The cost for this will likely changed the next time we investigate this project.

Have a great week and see you Sunday!!!

Be Blessed!

Judy Phillips

Technology Coordinator

Online Giving!

This is a fast, easy and secure way to make contributions to the church. The website is partnered with PayPal to provide a secure checkout process and protect your information.
The link to the Giving Online form is found on the Home page of our website.  We are charged a small processing fee which you have the option to help us cover with your contribution. This is completely optional, however, please be aware if you choose not to help cover the processing fee, the amount that the church receives your contribution less the amount of the processing fees.
Example: a $20 contribution has a $0.91 processing fee. If you choose not to cover this, then what the church will receive is $19.09.

Paul & Aubin Cloyd    3/4
Jack & Mary Vestuto   3/7
Charlie & Ruth Strackbein   3/15
Mike & Sheryl Butler      3/28

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