Upcoming Events at a Glance

June 6: District Pre Conference Meeting 9am – noon

June 7: Candlelight Meditation Service 7pm (last meditation for the season)

June 10: Choir Rehearsal 7pm (last rehearsal for the season)

June 11: Prayer Shawl Ministry & Craft Group 7pm (last meeting for the season)

June 12: Girl's Night Out & Movie "Mama Mia" 6pm at church

June 13: Men’s Breakfast 7:30 am (last breakfast for the season)

June 14: Music Sunday, Celebrating Graduates 10:30 am (last Sunday to collect UMCOR kits for Annual Conference)

June 14: All-Church Celebration BBQ after worship 12:00 pm

June 17: Clergy session Annual Conference 6:30 pm

June 18-20: Annual Conference, Gordon College

June 20: Pastor Gwyneth will be ordained - service begins at 2pm (revised time but arrive plenty early for a seat)

June 21: Worship time changes to 9:30 am through Labor Day Weekend; Father’s Day, St. John’s Sunday

June 21: Sunday Summer Social 10:30 am (join us for some short social time with snacks outside after worship, or downstairs if bad weather)

June 24: Fall Sunday School planning meeting at church 9am - PLEASE join us to share your ideas!

June 25: New summer study beginning @ Ruth McLellan's home (tentatively Thursdays 3pm): The Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen.

June 27: Church Council Calendaring Meeting 9am (planning church events and mission for the next six months - all are invited!)

June 28: Blessing of the Pets on Willard Beach 7:30 am and Worship on Willard (WOW!) on Sunday mornings through August.

July 13-17: Avalanche Ranch Vacation Bible School for ages 2-11, plus tween and teen "junior cowhands" to help with the round ups! Tell your friends and family to come on out!

July 25: Strawberry Festival and Yard Sale 9am-2pm.

July 20-August 2: Pastors Vacation

Come, Now is the Time to Worship!

Just a reminder that summer worship time will change to 9:30 am beginning June 21. Come out and enjoy the early worship!

Super Short Sunday Summer Socials with Snacks and Sundries!

This summer, we would like to try hosting some short social time after worship. If the weather is nice, we will have a table of lemonade and light snacks outside, or downstairs if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

We hope this will be a good time to connect, as well as witness to the community that our church is a friendly groups of folks who don't just stay behind closed doors.

We will try for a few weeks beginning June 21 which is when we change to 9:30 am worship. Please plan to stay for a few minutes to greet visitors and one another!

Blessing of the Pets: WOW!

On Sunday June 28 at 7:30 am we will be leading a blessing of the pets service on Willard Beach. Please bring your dog down (or other pet) to the beach as we have a special time of worship together. If bad weather we will still hold the service, but underneath the snack shelter.

We will continue to worship on the beach the rest of the summer during July and August; worship will be held every Sunday morning at 7:30am on Willard Beach. And we will be worshipping in all weather!

From the main parking lot go out to the beach and you will see our group - and a flag that says WOW. Come worship in the beauty of God's creation. And bring a friend! Furry friends always welcome too!

Rising to the Need 2009

The reason for my letter is to share with folks who were not present during service this past Sunday, a request I presented during Prayers & Concerns on behalf of the Church Council.

I am speaking to you today, at this prayerful time of service, to ask you for your help. Our church offerings are not enough to pay our bills on time. We have no reserve for unexpected repairs. Our budget primarily consists of salaries for the Pastors, Organist, cleaning services & utilities. Unless giving increases these services are at risk of being reduced.

No one really wanted to come before you today and ask for money. It is harder for me to stand here and speak than it is for you to hear my words. I’m afraid I may offend you…others are afraid I’ll offend you. I’ve asked God to guide my every word, for I am blessed and excited about our Church’s work in my life and our community.

Only you and God know your financial ability to support your church. You owe no one an explanation about where you are in your giving. Through prayer, God will help you decide how you can help.

The ushers will pass out a form, which provides helpful guidance to our Financial Secretary, Kathy Brann, who is asking that it be returned within a couple of weeks either by placing it in the offering plate or mailing it. Your reply is confidential.

If you are visiting today, we value your presence; please do not feel the need to participate. This gift of giving is the joyful responsibility of our members and regular attendees. Please keep your church leaders in prayer.


If you would like to discuss this issue in more detail, I’m sure Kathy Brann, Chris Bowker, or myself would be glad to help. I’ve attached the form that was past out by the ushers. Thank you so much for your time and this consideration.

God Bless,

Doreen Gay
Treasurer of the Board of Trustees
Member PUMC

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Rising to the Need 2009
Peoples United Methodist Church

All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had. There was no poverty among them, because people who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need. – Acts 4:32,34

I will joyfully make the following commitment(s) Please circle all that apply

___ Pray daily / weekly for the financial and spiritual life of our church
___ Begin pledging to the church in the amount of $____________ per week
___ Pledge to give an additional $5/week $10/week $20/week or Other $___________ for the remainder of the year, working toward tithing and beyond
___ Pay ahead a portion of my pledge for the year now of $_____________
___ Make a special gift for a budget item – see Kathy Brann or the Pastors

Name(s)________________________________ Date___________
Address __________________________________________

Peoples UMC is one among many churches and families struggling with finances right now. Your church family is there for you. Would you commit to being there for your church family? Please place this card in the offering, or mail to Kathy Brann, Financial Secretary, Peoples UMC 310 Broadway South Portland, ME 04106.

Your church family thanks you !

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Peoples Is Rising!

Kathy Brann said upon seeing the response so far to the request for additional giving, "Praise God for answered prayers for our finances!" Several people have begun pleding for the first time, some have increased their pledges, others have paid their pledge ahead (one for the rest of the year), some have given one-time special gifts for the budget, and many more have committed to pray for the church finances. Thank you for your joyful response to the Lord.

Kathy Brann is currently tallying the amounts raised so far, which will be available shortly. But even thus far the response has been amazing. And for those who have not yet had the opportunity to join in supporting your church family, please see the article, Rising to the Need 2009 with pledge card. Let us continue to rise to the need together!

Avalanche Ranch July 13-17

Wah-hoo! Welcome to Avalanche Ranch, a wild ride through God’s Word! Get ready for an exciting celebration of God’s love filled with amazing Bible adventures, unforgettable songs, and memory-making crafts.Avalanche Ranch is overflowing with fun for kids, teenagers, and adults. Everyone involved in this Vacation Bible School (VBS) will jump into God’s Word and will never be the same again! As kids explore amazing Bible adventures, they will be encouraged to apply Bible truths to everyday life.

This year’s VBS at Peoples will include preschool and children’s curriculum for Cowhands ages 2-11, and will be hosted July 13-17. We are also inviting tweens and teens to be part of our Wrangler Team with freedom to be kids as well as help with our littler cowhands.

To register your child, print off a form here VBS Registration 2009. and mail to the church: Peoples UMC 310 Broadway South Portland, ME 04106. Or you may register your child by phone at 799-6814.

Hope to see you out on the ranch!

New Regional Youth Group!

A New Regional Youth Group will begin Sunday, May 31 at 1pm. Gather in the Peoples Church parking lot by 12:45pm and we will carpool to New Light UMC on High Street in Portland.

* Make your own pizza
* Play crazy games
* Make new friends from other area churches
* HAVE LOADS OF FUN !!!

Jr. High youth please contact Pastor Jamie at 799-6814. Although this group is beginning with Junior High youth, all youth and young adults interested in similar ministries please contact us.

What is your favorite pizza topping?

To help connect our youth to the rest of the congregation, we would like you to donate a small portion (for 1-3 servings) of your favorite pizza topping. Please attach your name and if you would a word about your faith and/or your hopes for a youth group. Some of these may be shared. Please bring these with you to church next Sunday.

40 Days of Love

It seems that just about everyone LOVES the 40 Days of Love small group study! There are three groups currently meeting. The one pictured is meeting Thursdays at 6pm at the home of Betty and Wes Splettstoesser. Others are meeting at the church Mondays at 7pm and at Rosemary's on Tuesdays at 9am.

This would a great study for more groups who might be interested in a summer study, or to start something in the Fall. Please let Art Tordoff know if this might be of interest to you.

In addition, the pastors have been doing a preaching series in conjunction with each chapter. The 6th and final week finished up on May 24. One of the most powerful included a forgiveness service and dissolving forgiveness lists in water using special paper.

If you have feedback regarding the text, small groups or preaching series, please contact Art Tordoff. Thank you!

Memorial Day Mission!

A group is taking on a mission to give out water and coffee to people at the parade on May 25, and lollipops for the kids. We could use some coffee and a few more cases of water, 8oz or 16oz. If you are able to donate, please bring to the church by 9am tomorrow, or we may be able to pick up from you. For questions please contact Betty Splettstoesser at 799-5475.

Summer Children's Fun Hour 2009

We hope to bring a similar fun worship time for kids during the summer as last year, beginning June 21 (when the worship changes to 9:30 am). Karen Jennings is going to be putting together the program and would love to hear any theme ideas you might have.

We are looking for volunteers to take a week down with the kids. Please see Pastor Gwyneth if you would be willing to volunteer, and if you don't have a safe sanctuaries form we will be happy to get that for you (all volunteers who work with kids need to be background checked by the church and need to be familiar with our safe sanctuaries policy).

We plan to run the summer children's fun hour similar to last year, beginning with Scripture, prayer and offering at a circle time, and then dividing up into worship centers which each child can choose. These will include a Christian craft relating to the day's theme, Christian video, or a quiet reading place with Bibles and other Christian books.

We hope you will bring out the kids this summer to have fun learning and experiencing God's love for them!

Cabin Fever Mechuwana Cleanup

Cabin Fever
On a sunny morning in May a camp cleanup opportunity was planned and carried our by 5 stalwarts and a driver from Peoples United Methodist Church. This wasn’t just any camp cleanup. It was an opportunity to put at least one campsite in order at Camp Mechuwana, the United Methodist camp located on Lower Narrows Pond in Winthrop. Meeting at the church for a short time the Tordoffs and the Bruneaus headed off to be in Winthrop by 9 AM. A beautiful day to work, we met one of the workers and he directed us to Kinnick Kinnick with rags, bottles of bleach and a broom. Soon Tammy Tapley and Jema arrived and we were deeply engaged in wiping down walls, screens, beds and mattresses. We then swept out 4 cottages that had recently been used by the Junior Classical League of Maine. We even had the opportunity to clean out toilets and showers. We had been told that once we were finished this campsite we could move on to the next campsite a short distance up the road, and then if we finished that site there was a third we could toil over. Alas, because of the few of us that were there we felt we could only complete the first. We were invited to a great lunch buffet with all the fixings for sandwiches, salads and pizza. We were really surprised at the number of folks that were at the Commons when we got there. There were a number of young people there for the finals of the Bible Quiz championship. We thought perhaps we were the only folks in camp. It was a great time for all of us. We were thanked by the camp director, Norm Thombs for what we had done and we promised that we would try to have more folks with us the next time that we came up for a work party. It was a great way to spend some time with other members of the church in a great location, one that has grown immensely from the camp that I attended as a high school camper in the 1950’s.

Serving at the Root Cellar

Peoples is scheduled to host the Root Cellar’s weekly community dinner Thursday, May 28 at 5pm, which provides food for many needy families. If you can help serve or provide food, please contact Carol Bruneau. We especially need desserts, and about 8-10 people to help serve. Thank you!

Children's Sunday Planned for May 31

Please join us as we celebrate the Sunday School year on Sunday May 31 during worship! Children will remain in the sanctuary for the service. We ask that children sit as a group, with or without parents, in the first 2 pews on the right side of the church. Thank you!

An Extravaganza for the Whole Family!

Our third annual International Missions Dinner will be held Saturday, May 30 at 5:45 pm. Pastor Gwyneth will be sharing slides and stories about her recent trip to Nicaragua. We will have a piñata for the kids too! For dinner we will experience many excellent Nicaraguan recipes including rice, chicken, bread, plantain, salad, fruit salad, and a tasty Nicaraguan dessert. Please place the insert in the offering today. There will be no childcare, but there will be a table for the kids to make Nicaraguan crafts. Money collected from the Nicaraguan items for sale and the free will offering will go to missions. Please contact the pastors at 799-6814 to RSVP.

UMCOR Kits

Through June 14 we are collecting sewing kits, either a whole kit or just pick up any item(s) on the kit list and put them in the box in the back of the church. Items include 3 yards cotton fabric, 1 spool thread, 5-8 matching buttons, regular scissors, 1 pack of needles. Fold the fabric around the other items and place in a gallon plastic bag. Please contact Carol Bruneau with questions.

All UMCOR kits collected through the last few months will be taken down to Annual Conference June 18 by Earle Harvey and Merrill Kaiser. Last Sunday to bring items to church will be June 14.

Celebrating Graduates

If you have a child or grandchild graduating from high school or college, please contact Chris Ward with the graduate’s full name, school, plans for the Fall, etc. We will be celebrating graduates on Sunday, June 14 during worship and will list graduate’s names and information in the bulletin. Please contact Chris Ward by June 1 at 767-2516.

Kairos Outside Prison Ministry

Pastor Gwyneth served as the Spiritual Director on this year's Kairos Outside prison ministry team, which was held in Sanford, Maine May 15-17. Fourteen women attended, as well as over thirty team members.

The weekend was very fruitful, ministering to many women with incarcerated loved ones, as well as several women who had been incarcerated themselves. The ministry doesn't necessarily end during the weekend either; the women are encouraged to join "reunion groups" with other Kairos Outside companions who live nearby to stay connected and find mutual support.

If you might be interested in attending a weekend, or know someone, please contact the pastors for a brochure. Additional information can be found on the website at http://www.kairosprisonministry.org/

Best of Broadway Rehearsals

Once again, Best of Broadway put on an amazing show as a fundraiser for Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center. Peoples provided rehearsal space all Spring, beginning in February right until the intense nightly rehearsals before the performance May 9.

Congratulations to all for hard work paid off!

ALL INVITED TO CHURCH BBQ!

On June 14 after worship at 12:00 pm, Peoples is hosting an all-church celebration barbecue at church. Although the idea started out as a small Staff-Parish Relations Committee party to celebrate the ministry of our co-pastors, the party has expanded to celebrate our Sunday School and really all of our ministries and ministers at Peoples. There will be great food and fellowship, and games for the kids. We hope everyone will stay and celebrate together! If you have any questions or would like to donate food or help out, please contact Dan Doughty.

Invitation to Ordination

Ordination Service for Gwyneth Arrison
Date: Saturday, June 20, 2009
Time: 2:00 PM — 5:00 PM

Gordon College Chapel
255 Grapevine Road
Wenham, Mass. 04984

The process toward ordination in the United Methodist Church requires years of preparation, mentoring and examinations after seminary and experience pastoring. By God’s grace I have passed the final requirements and am approved for ordination in June 2009 during the New England Annual Conference.

I would be honored with your presence on this very special occasion. I’d love to know if you are able to attend. To get a seat I would recommend arriving at least one hour early. If you are unable to attend, I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers on this day.

Blessings in Christ,
Gwyneth

Need Summer Musicians!

Submitted by Debbie Cole
We are looking for volunteers to provide summer music. It can be a solo, duet, groups, kids, or instrumental music. If you know someone who has provided music in the past, could you please ask them if they would be willing to this summer? There is a sign-up sheet in the back of the church or you can contact Debbie Cole directly. The summer services are June 21 - September 6, 2009 at 9:30 am. Thanks for your support!

Oh What A Day! Oh What a Group!

Spring Clean-up at Peoples UMC
On May 9th, 20 folks arrived outside Peoples to spruce up the grounds. It was wonderful to have so many people show up for this service ministry. The memorial garden received new landscaping timbers, weeding, and a fresh new layer of pea stones, which forms the cross in the middle. Being conservative Yankees, the old timbers were reused to edge the garden by the Vestry windows and protect them from over zealous lawn mowers! Trimming of shrubs, edging, and cleaning the parking lots and walkways were other jobs completed. Several individuals took turns mowing and raking the lawns. Folks started arriving around 8 and some stayed as late as 1:30. A couple of folks came during the preceding days because it worked better for their schedules. The following people gave volunteer time totaling approximately 65 hours.

Barbara Nelson and Betty Splettstoesser seemed to be there at the crack of dawn. By eight o’clock Dana Maclean was out mowing and Marlene Tordoff, Doreen Gay, Janice Huelin with Carol and David Bruneau were all rearranging timbers and plants in the memorial garden. Charlie Lyons was soon engaged in the plant moving business and others who had attended the men’s breakfast; Art Tordoff, Chuck Kamilewicz, Brad Morrison, Fred Wade and Jim MacKinnon were raking, trimming and joining the mowing force. Within a short time Linda Wade joined Fred in the raking and cleanup department and they in turn found Sue Angell raking at the parsonage. At mid-morning Keith and Becky came to relieve some of the gardeners. Kathy Brann who had been with the early birds returned to help again. The man with all the equipment, Walter Greer, was also there to share his trimmers and power brooms and to pick up refuse that he would later take to the dump. Wow, what a day and what a lot was accomplished.
Anyone interested in joining the Garden Club is welcome. We are always interested in new friends and fresh ideas!
Contact information: Marlene Tordoff 799-6222 / atordof1@maine.rr.com Doreen Gay 767-3572 / agay1@maine.rr.com Thank you to all the volunteers, The Garden Club

Marcia McFee Seminar Highlights

When was the last time you experienced an incredible time of worship? What made it so special? Was it music, or silence? Were there visuals that drew you into worship, or was there something interactive? I encourage you to share your stories with the pastors or music director.

Marcia McFee encouraged all of us to be our own "worship consultants". However, Marcia also demonstrated some basic rules for facilitating worship. She encouraged us that worship design does not mean "plug and chug" (plugging in different hymns and Scriptures and using the same format week in and week out) as this leads to dull rather than life-changing worship. On the other hand, Marcia also encouraged structure and predictability in every worship service, thus facilitating a balance between tradition and spontaneity.

Here are just a few ideas I'd like to share from the seminar I attended with our Tri-State District on May 9.

One was that Marcia herself is a powerful worship leader. She uses drum or just her voice, she leads the singing by conducting, she leads people to connect with one another through simple ideas such as having people face the center isle as she leads a time of joys and concerns followed by a simple sung "round." It is particularly powerful to experience the worship leader "out from behind the lectern" really leading the congregation throughout worship.

Two was the use of visuals to facilitate the worship experience. Many Methodists are stuck back in the 1950's where visuals simply meant changing the altar cloth colors and decorating with some flowers. Marcia demonstrated a powerful use of visuals to enhance worship themes. There is no place in the Sanctuary that is "off limits" for adding visuals - palm branches spread on all around the center isle, children's murals hung from the ceiling ... the sky's the limit!

Three was an intentional planning (and rehearsals if necessary) of transitions, or what Marcia called "layered sequences." Rather than having a hymn, then a Scripture reading, followed by another hymn, Marcia demonstrated this method by having a solo voice begin "Shepherd Me O God" (from the Faith We Sing), and then invited the congregation to join in on the chorus, then she invited us to turn to Psalm 23 and as the music continued in the background we each whispered the words quietly to ourselves of this psalm. Then we sang together the same chorus again. The experience of reading Scripture was much deeper because of this layered sequence design. Although these kinds of ideas take imagination as well as rehearsals with musicians and Audio/Visual leaders, most are simple and can be led by even very small congregations.

These are just a few of the many ideas from this seminar. We hope to gather a few folks to begin planning worship for September and October, as a trial. If you might be interested in working with the pastors and music director please let us know.