July-August Newsletter Edition

This month's newsletter print will be for July and August combined. To stay up-to-date with news throughout the summer, please view articles posted online regularly. In addition you can find updated calendars, listen to sermons, and view worship bulletins.

An Engaging Summer

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25 23

Summer in Maine goes by all too quickly. It seems we try to cram in as much as we can, whether it be gardening or walking or relaxing at camp. For many of us this also serves as a time to grow closer to the Lord. I know for me I save my walks by the ocean for summer (a fair-weather walker), and the beauty of creation wells up inside in praise to Jesus, who to use my daughters' quote, is "quite an Artist."

There's a downside to all of this though as on Sunday mornings the pews are many weeks very empty. In thinking about this I was reminded of Paul's words in Hebrews to "not give up meeting together." For Paul this isn't "law" such that someone should feel condemned for their lack of attendance. Rather it is a reminder that we need each other. We need others for our faith journey ... and they need us. When we are absent from the body, people miss us, they need us. One smile for someone can make all the difference.

However, for many, Sunday mornings in the summer are just not feasible. However, perhaps there are other ways to engage in your faith community at Peoples. Maybe you could try the Wednesday evening prayer service which continues to meet Wednesday evenings. Or while you're sitting at camp, why not write a few notes of encouragement to folks in the congregation to let them know you are praying for them (and be sure to pray!). Maybe you could join with a few others for Bible study, or go on a walk together through the neighborhood and pray for the homes you pass. Or perhaps you can join in some of the summer activities planned at church, such as the BEACH PARTY or the yard sale, serving at the Wayside soup kitchen or going on the church retreat.

Above all, let us encourage one another with the hope we profess in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Have a great summer!
Pastor Gwyneth

New Summer Beach Service

Pastor Jamie is beginning a new summer beach service Sunday mornings at 7:30am at Willard Beach. The pilot service will begin on June 29, and then officially for all of July and August. Come to the main parking lot out to the beach and take a left down the beach until you find our group. Bring a friend. We do need some assistance, so if you can come, please call Jamie at 799-6814 to volunteer to help.

Preaching Series on the Windows

If you've attended worship recently, you may notice that there is something missing in the front of the church. The “Rose Window” is out for repair through the summer. We will take this opportunity through the summer for a preaching series focusing on each stained glass window. This series will close with the Rose Window when it is reinstalled in September.

Pastor Jamie began the series on June 22 with the Nativity window, and Pastor Gwyneth will be preaching on the next in line, the Boy Jesus in the Temple on June 29. The series also coincides with the Scripture that Pastor Gwyneth is being asked to preach on July 13 for the Board of Ordained Ministry (Sower of the Seed) as she prepares for ordination interviews in October. Isn't God good?

Vacation Bible School Coming Soon !!!

Join us for Vacation Bible School!
July 7-11 9am-Noon

A Christian Camp Adventure
For kids 3-11

We are inviting all kids to be part of our Vacation Bible School, BEACH PARTY: SURFIN’ THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES. At this BEACH PARTY, your children will become surfers riding the wave of God’s love. The Bible stories will be presented with fun learning centers with sand, singing, crafts, science, games and snacks, and an end-of-week slide show for the whole family. We hope your children will join us for this exciting week!

Karen Jennings, who is a certified elementary school teacher is heading up this exciting week and is looking for volunteers to help, beach supplies to loan and donations of other materials. Please contact Karen if you can help out.Please especially keep this week in prayer.

Download the registration form here! You can give this to the pastors or Karen, mail to the church, or email a note with the information to the Pastors Email.

Vacation Bible School Wish List

Please contact Karen Jennings at 767-5143 or Email Karen with what you are planning to lend, donate or how you can volunteer your time. The Kids Thank You In Advance !!!

To Lend for the Week of July 7-11 (clearly label with name and drop off items in Ellis Hall AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Items can be picked up after the 11th)

8 more adult beach chairs (have 2)
20 kids beach chairs
10 beach umbrellas
7 more straw beach mats (have 3)
6 more tiki torches (have 4)
3 more plastic swimming / wading pools (have 2)
4 more picnic tables (have 2)
1 wooden picnic bench (5’ long with back preferred)
1 beach tent
18 more beach towels (have 10)
10 fishing nets
7 large standing potted plants (have 1)
10 boogie boards
10 surf boards
3 more strings Christmas lights (have 7)
12 beach buckets (have now)
12 beach shovels (have now)
12 beach shifters
Any other beach toys - lots
Any other beach items you can think of !!!

To Donate – Drop off in one of the Sunday School Classrooms

20 lays of each color (orange, blue, yellow, green and red) (have now)
3 more fifty pound bags of sand (have now)
200 paper cups (free at Hannaford)
200 plastic spoons
200 plastic forks
200 paper plates
2 large containers goldfish
2 large jugs of punch
100 toilet tube roles and paper towel tube roles (not with paper)
10 bags assorted bags beach shells (at craft stores) (have now)
20 glue sticks (have now)

Volunteers Needed ages 12 and up (we especially need more boys and men)

1 craft center leader (filled)
1 science center leader (eliminated)
1 music center leader (filled)
1 snack center leader (filled)
1 Bible story teller leader (filled)
1 Recreation center leader (filled)
2 lifeguards to work with the Preschool / Kindergarden group (filled)
10 lifeguards to help guide children around to centers (1 filled) - OUR MOST PRESSING NEED
1 Registration helper
6 volunteers to help set up (6 filled)
6 volunteers to help tear down (3 filled)
1 photographer / reporter (filled)

Celebrating 2008 Graduates

On Sunday, June 29 we will be honoring 2008 graduates from Peoples Church or family of graduates. We hope you will be able to attend!

Congratulations to all of the graduates! You are in our thoughts and prayers as you embark on your next journey in life.

Jake Bruneau
Grandson of Carol Bruneau
Graduated from South Portland High School

Alice S. Clark
Niece of Pastor Gwyneth Arrison
Graduated from Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA
Alice will be attending Haverford College in the Fall

Andrew T. Doughty
Son of Dan and Ruth Doughty
Graduated from Gordon College with B.A in Economics & Finance
Honors: Magna Cum Laude
Andrew is recently employed with Coastal Capital Group in Danvers, MA, as a Portfolio and Marketing Analyst

Kelsey Flaherty
Daughter of Beth Flaherty and granddaughter of Betty McGouldrick
Graduated from South Portland High School
Kelsey will be attending Bates College in the Fall

Liz Flahertt
Daughter of Beth Flaherty and granddaughter of Betty McGouldrick
Graduated from Charleston Southern
Liz will be continuing on to Law School

Samantha Foote
Active attendee and granddaughter of Susan Angell
Graduated from Mahoney Middle School

Portia A. Lane
Daughter of Betty Lane
Graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology with B.S. in Electrical & Mechanical Engineering
Honors: Magnum Cum Laude
Portia will be working at BAE Systems in Nashua, NH

Zacharia Matthews
Grandson of Chris Ward
Graduated from Thornton Academy
Zacharia will be going into the service in August

George Murray
Son of Karen Darling and nephew of Chris Ward and Rosemary Herd
Graduated from South Portland High School
George will be attending Emerson College and studying film-making

Mallory Wade
Active attendee and daughter of Fred and Linda Wade
Graduated from Scarborough High School
Mallory will be attending a Day Program at the Morrison Development Center (formerly the CP Center)

Moms Group Summer Events

Pastor Gwyneth will be hosting three more moms group outings this summer. Please RSVP if you will be able to attend any of these mom's group events.

Tuesday, July 1: Maine Wildlife Park, Gray, Meet at the gate at 10am (Pick'n Paint Pottery if bad weather)

Tuesday, Aug 5: Fort Williams Playground, Cape Elizabeth, Meet at the playground at 10am (Chuck E Cheese if bad weather)

Thursday, Aug 21: Funtown / Splashtown, Saco, Meet at the church at 9:30am (Jokers if bad weather)

Bakeless Bake Sale

Submitted y Susan Angell

At a recent Finance Committee we discussed “fund raising” ideas. Pastor Gwyneth suggested a bake sale. I said to myself, please, please, please don’t make me cook this summer.Then she said would you take this idea and run with it Susan. I said to myself, please, please, please, not me, I can’t even get a full roster of people to mow the lawn. Then she said, should the funds raised be for mission giving to the Conference or the general fund for expenses. I said to myself, please, please, please, don’t make me decide. SO, if you would like to participate in the “Bakeless Bake Sale” as detailed below, you decide missions or general fund:

Bakeless Bake Sale
You are invited to NOT bake a cake, pie, cookies, or brownies. You do NOT have to find the recipe. You do NOT have to shop for the ingredients. You do NOT have to mix. You do NOT have to cook. You do NOT have to cut. You do NOT have to wrap. You do NOT have to wash dishes. You do NOT have to clean up your kitchen. You do NOT have to deliver the baked product. You do NOT have to stand in the heat/cold/rain to sell the baked product.

Items for Sale Items you Do Not Bake/Donate
____Cupcakes: 2 for a dollar
_____2 doz. cupcakes: $4.00
____Chocolate cookies: 3 for $1.00
_____2 doz. chocolate cookies: $6.00
____Brownies 12 for $4.00
____ 2 doz. brownies: $8.00
____Dutch Apple Pie $5.00
_____2 home made pies: $10.00
____Strawberry Cheesecake $7.00
_____2 strawberry cheesecakes: $15.00

Help make a success of the BAKELESS BAKE SALE!
Place your donation in the offering plate in an envelope marked

Bake Sale-Missions OR Bake Sale-General Fund

Tithing Sunday June 29

Tithing Sunday is an opportunity to try calculating and giving 10% of our income to our church family for just one week. Some who have tried this have felt called to continue tithing as a way of living as faithful stewards of God’s good gifts, or increasing the percentage of their gifts.

If you would like help in calculating your current giving level go to the online Tithing Calculator link sponsored by the United Methodist Foundation of New England (UMFNE).

Pastors Vacation

The pastors will be on vacation for two weeks, July 21-August 4. If you need assistance during this time, please contact Dan Doughty as Staff Parish Relations Chair (767-5588), or Earle Harvey as Lay Leader (799-5088). If there is a pastoral emergency, they can put you into contact with a local clergy who will be on call for us during this time, and can also reach Pastors Jamie and Gwyneth if necessary. As usual, please contact Susan Angell (799-8340) with any prayer concerns to put on the prayer chain.

Children's Fun Hour Really Fun

For the summer during worship, children are invited downstairs for a fun time that has been planned out by Karen Jennings and Betty Splettstoesser. This is a less structured time than Sunday School, and kids are given the choice of three centers in which to engage. Before centers, the kids all circle up on mats on the floor for a Scripture reading and short devotion, sharing prayers, and passing around the offering basket. The Bible theme starting out is each day of creation. On the first day of creation we started out talking about how God created light and darkness. Some of the kids (and adults!) admitted they were afraid of the dark. But without the dark we would have no concept of light! The kids were very engaged in the short discussion.

The leaders then instruct the kids about the centers they can choose: Veggie Tales movie, a craft related to the Scripture theme, or quiet reading in a center with bean bags and a kid's tent. If kids don't take their craft home, they are hung on the walls of Ellis Hall to celebrate and praise God for our children.

We still need helpers throughout the summer, and there is a sign up list at church, or you can contact Betty Splettstoesser, Karen Jennings or Pastor Gwyneth. All materials pre-sorted and ready to go. It's so much fun and low commitment - just arrive at church about 20 minutes early to set up for a Sunday. Won't you sign up to help?

Part II Your Gifts at Work

This is the second installment of the Finance Committee's request to various ministry teams to inform the church about the exciting work and ministries they are sponsoring because of your financial gifts. The following is Art Tordoff's summary for Discipleship:

During the course of the last two years the Discipleship group has formed as a result of the inspiration of the work we did with the Purpose Driven Life, Church and Community programs. Work areas of Peoples that have been concerned with the program of the church including Nurture, Education, and Missions meet together to find and develop many of the activities of the church.

Over this time Peoples has hosted area churches for training sessions in various aspects of church life. Discipleship has sponsored planning retreats that have set the course for the continuing programs and goals of Peoples and have also sponsored both the Good $ense personal finance program and the End of Life Information sessions. Over the course of the last two years Discipleship has held two Community Awareness Fairs and a Neighborhood block party. We have distributed flyers in the community that have announced the existence and the activities of Peoples as a means of getting to know the community as well as those householders getting to know Peoples.

In the arena of Missions the Discipleship group has worked together to host and hold two International Extravaganzas that have helped the interest in Missions grow. Together we also have helped raise nearly $5000 for Heifer International, a goal that was set for three years and yet the achievement will have been met before the end of year 2. Merrill Kaiser has been the primary proponent of this activity with a great deal of assistance from Earle Harvey, Carol Bruneau and the Sunday school. Missions with the assistance of Nurture and Education (Discipleship) have also planned to continue relationships with the Root Cellar and Wayside Soup Kitchen. Planned short term missions will include a work party to Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop and an excursion to Overlook Farm near Springfield, Massachusetts to see up front and personal how the monies raised for the “Heifer Project Ark” will and are used.

On the Nurture front a number of fun activities have taken place or are in the works in addition to working together as a team on the above activities. New Year’s Eve had been celebrated for a few years under the auspices of nurture. We have had a few family events and the plan is to develop more and to also restore some older programs like the Saturday nighters which was a long tradition in the life of Peoples for adults. Rosemary Herd is principally in charge of this vital area of church life.

In the realm of education the Sunday school continues to grow with a number of young families and children participating under the leadership of Andy and Teresa Folley and with a great support cast that has included the Dunns, Betty Lane, Karen Jennings and Betty Splettstoesser. Both Pastors Jamie and Gwyneth Arrison have been actively engaged with Sunday school staff. While the children’s Sunday school operates somewhat independently of the Discipleship group it is important that the work of the Sunday school be a significant piece of Discipleship group activities and concerns.

Online Gift Option Coming Soon

Sometimes we just can't make it to church Sunday. In Maine the summer months can be very tough on churches because income tends to go way down with lower attendance, yet many costs (even heating bills) remain fixed each month. Some folks mail in their gifts, others try to get back on track with what they have pledged. Others never do. Winter storms present the same difficulty. And others of us simply forget our check book when we come to church!

But wouldn't it be nice to have some other ways to give our gifts to the church? Yes, there is something special about presenting our tithes and gifts into the offering plate during worship. But outside church, many of us virtually never write a check to pay bills because of online or auto payments. For those of us who would appreciate having the ability to make online donations for church too, there is great news!

The United Methodist Church has teamed up with Vanco to provide online services to churches with virtually no cost to the local church. The Finance Committee is currently working to set up these services for Peoples. There will be several options, including direct debit via checking and savings accounts, credit and debit card processing, and secure web payment from our website.

Vanco has 20 years of experience and serves over 15,000 clients nationwide. If you would like to read more about them, you can see their website at http://www.vancoservices.com/umeft.htm

If you have any feedback or questions on this, please feel free to contact Kathy Brann or any member of the Finance Committee. More information will be provided through church bulletins during worship in the next month.

Annual Conference 2008

The pastors along with Earle Harvey as Lay Member to Annual Conference, and Merrill Kaiser as Equalization Member, attended the New England Annual Conference from June 13-15.

Shown on the left is George Walters-Sleyon telling the story of his unlawful detainment as an immigrant, and the horrors he experienced. He finished by singing an amazing praise song about God's faithfulness through it all.

All of the conference sessions and worship were held in the Gordon College Chapel shown here. The weather was amazing so we ate outside for many of the meals.

Pastor Gwyneth gave the conference the photo of Dr. Malcolm Cass who served as organist for the Maine Conference for 25 years, and he was lifted up during the memorial service among other clergy and laity who have died this year.

NothingButNets was a hot topic for conference this year, with nets decorating the worship space and even hoops outside the chapel! The Tri-State District raised over $18,000, which was by far the most raised of any other district. Peoples had a big part in this, so thank you to all who donated, participated and headed up this mission!

Daily news summaries are available for download to help you share the Conference session with your congregation. Visit the link above, or click below for each day's news:
NEWS from Friday, June 13 Session
NEWS from Saturday, June 14 Session
NEWS from Sunday, June 15 Session

More articles and information will be coming soon to the Conference web site and through the SpiritNet newspaper. DVDs of Conference sessions and worship services will be available as well, and an order form will be posted to the web site shortly.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the pastors, Merrill Kaiser or Earle Harvey. And if you might like to attend conference next year ...

Mark the dates for the 2009 Annual Conference! THE 2009 NEW ENGLAND ANNUAL CONFERENCE will meet from June 18-20, 2009 at Gordon College. Our special guest for this upcoming Annual Conference session will be ADAM HAMILTON!

Peoples Retreat Scheduled for August 16

We are planning an all-church retreat on Saturday, August 16 from 10am-6pm. The retreat will most likely take place in Bridgton near the Arrison's camp at the Knights Hill lodge on Moose Pond. We'll have time for Scripture, prayer, and song as well as time to sit on the beach, swim or go out on a boat, weather permitting. Please mark your calendars for this fun-filled, Spirit-filled event with your church family.

Wayside Soup Kitchen July 30

Peoples is scheduled to serve at the Wayside Soup Kitchen on July 30, and every 5th Wednesday. Summer is always more difficult to find volunteers available to serve and they need YOU. Please mark your calendars and come on out. Volunteers arrive beginning about 5pm and begin serving the meal at 6pm to many hungry people from the Portland area. Please contact Tom Nelson if you would like help arranging a ride.

Strawberry Festival / Yard Sale July 26

Barbara Nelson and Chris Bowker have generously volunteered to run our church yard sale and strawberry festival this year on July 26th. They cannot, however, do it alone. We need the items filling your closets, garages and attics. We need your soups and baked goods. We need your time and strength for setting and cleaning up. Please contact Barbara for yard sale items and help and Chris for offers of help with food. This is always a fun and successful event, but it needs you.

Clusters Meet on Peaks Island

All of the United Methodist clergy and laity from the Casco Bay Cluster and the Greater Portland Cluster met together at the Brackett Memorial UMC on Peaks Island for fellowship and Holy Communion together. A few PKs (pastors' kids) were in attendance too!

If you've ever been out to Peaks you know it's a bit of a hike, which was fun too. In the photo above you see Lin Arnold from Cressey Road UMC walking down the ramp with Lynne Campbell from Thornton Heights UMC.

Children's Sunday on June 1

The kids helped to lead music, read Scripture, help with the sermon as "participants!" and serve communion. Pastor Jamie led music on guitar, and all of the kids played instruments too. Karen Jennings also put together photos from Sunday School during the year and presented a fun video.

Karen presented Andy and Teresa Folley with a gift certificate in thanksgiving for all of the hard work this year heading up Sunday School. And Pastor Gwyneth made a pottery communion set for the kids which was also presented to the Sunday School.

Thank you to all of the teachers, parents and kids for a wonderful year!

Sunday School Heads up Coffee

The Sunday School finished up the year by hosting coffee fellowship. Parents and kids alike had a fun time putting this together, and all who attended ate well!

Sunday School Recognitions

Part of Children's Sunday was all of the kids receiving certificates for completing the year. In addition, Sam Seidl and Samantha Foote were commended not only for participating as middle school students but also as teaching assistants for the kids.