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November 2015

Grace Notes News from Grace United Methodist Church

Carbondale, Illinois 618-457-8785

Web site: www.carbondalegrace.org

E-mail: carbondalegraceinfo@gmail.com

November 1 All Saints Day/Communion Sunday

Scripture: Hebrews 12: 1-3

Sermon: “Saints-a Cloud of Witnesses”

Candles will be lit in memory of our loved ones who passed

away.

The first Sunday of the month is celebrated as Sharing Sunday.

You are invited to bring canned food for the Good Samaritan

Pantry.

November 8 Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12: 6-10

Sermon: “God’s Strength in Our Weakness”

Veterans will be honored during both worship services.

Grace Players: “Letter from War”

November 15 Scripture: Matthew 9: 35-38

Sermon: “The Field is Ripe”

Finance Commitment card will be dedicated.

November 22 Thanksgiving Sunday

Scripture: Luke 17: 11-19

Sermon: “Have We Forgotten Anything to Say?”

Bell Choir will bring special music, “Give Thanks”.

November 29 First Sunday of Advent

Scripture: Matthew 25: 1-13

Sermon: “How to Prepare for the Holy Season”

Hanging of the Greens during Sunday School hour.

You are encouraged to invite family and friends to our worship

services and Sunday school.!!

2 Dear Friends,

As I drove under the arch of colorful fall trees, my eyes were open

widely to see the beauty of the nature and fall season. And I said

loudly, “Thank you, God for the life and all the good things in my

life.” Fall season brings forth the sense of gratitude and encourages

us to breathe deeply in the present moment. Thomas Merton said,

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He

has given us---and He has given us everything. Every breath we

draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings

with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for

granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to

praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good,

not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”

As I reflect on Thomas Merton’s writing, I realized that there was a difference

between my praise and his teaching. I praised the Lord for all the good things,

while he emphasized to be grateful in “everything”. According to him, the

grateful heart sees God’s goodness in everything and recognizes God’s grace in

everything. That’s a challenge. How can we see God’s goodness in the midst

of troubles and tragedies? How can we be thankful to God as we go through

illness or grief? It is hard to understand. But I have seen many people who ex-

pressed grateful living in the midst of tough life situations.

Gratitude is a conscious choice to focus on life’s blessings rather than its short-

comings. It is a spiritual practice to create a positive outlook on everything in

life. This month when we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, let’s choose reasons to

be thankful to God and one another, especially to those who have reflected the

love of Jesus Christ to us. Everyday this month, find one reason at least to be

thankful and offer a thanksgiving prayer to God. And find some people in your

life who have shared God’s grace with you and write a thank you card or a

thank you letter to them. By the way, I’m very thankful to you for your cards,

gifts for pastor’s appreciation month. Bong-Choul especially enjoyed one card

saying on the cover, “With our thanks and appreciation to our Pastor and her

Husband.” Finally someone recognizes that a pastor’s spouse could be a man. I

hope Bong-Choul doesn’t introduce himself as the “pastor’s wife” to new peo-

ple as he has done. Bong-Choul and I feel being loved and appreciated more

than we deserve. Thank you for accepting me as your pastor and a companion

on your spiritual journey.

In Christ, In-Sook

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Grace United Methodist Women

Christmas Yard Sale and Bake Sale

November 21, 2015 8am - 1pm

Proceeds will go to Hunger Relief

The UMW Christmas Yard Sale is scheduled for November 21.

We will be accepting donations of Christmas sale items Monday,

November 16 through Thursday, November 19 in the auditorium.

Someone will be available in the auditorium from 9:00 a.m. to

3:00 p.m. If you need to schedule a different time to bring your

items, please call the church office at 457-8785 or Marilyn His-

gen at 549-4487.

Items for the bake sale may be donated on Friday, November 20

until 5:00 p.m. or Saturday, November 21 at 8:00 a.m.

Thanks to our church family for your continued support of this

mission project.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Grace Church will host a Thanksgiving

gathering and meal at noon on Thanksgiving

Day, Thursday, November 26. The church

provides the turkey, potatoes, gravy, and two

kinds of dressing. You are asked to bring a side dish, a salad or

a dessert. If you can’t bring a dish, come for dinner anyway—

there will be plenty. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulle-

tin board across from the kitchen to get a head count for the din-

ner. For more information contact Roger Smith.

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Circle of Friends Potluck Tuesday– November 10 Noon

Bring a dish and join the fellowship.

UPCOMING CHILDREN/YOUTH EVENTS

November starts with a lot of action for the children at Grace

UM Church!

Nov. 1- Children, little ones through 6th grade, are invited

to pull on their costumes one more time. We will walk to the

nursing home next to the church, where we will parade the halls,

greet the residents, and give them small gifts as one way to

LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS. As always, parents are welcome

and appreciated. We will depart from the children's area at

10:10 A.M. after 9:00 A.M. worship. Afterward, we will return

to the children's area for some fun and snacks!

Nov. 1- Calling all junior and senior high youth! Your

help is needed to prepare, load, and serve a mission meal to peo-

ple in the downtown Carbondale community. We will be offer-

ing a free lunch to the needy. Please contact Brian Adams or

Roger Smith to confirm that you can help with this worthy pro-

ject on this date.

Nov. 29- Children will decorate their Sunday school area

during the Hanging of the Greens during the 10:10-11:00 A.M.

time.

Turn clocks back one hour Sunday,

November 1.

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GRACE RACE 2016

As most of you know, next year’s

GRACE RACE will be our 25th annual

race. The date is Friday, June 3. Lena

Hake and I have agreed to serve as co-

directors this year but will not be continuing after 2016. If there

are individuals who wish to become future directors, it would be

helpful for them to begin to work with us. Please let us know if

you are willing to do that. Identifying sponsors begins in January.

Lena and I will be glad to meet with whoever is interested in con-

tinuing this outreach activity.

Thyra Russell

The Spirit of Christmas

Project was started over 30 years

ago by the Interchurch Council to help

provide gifts for the needy. Gift requests

have been received from numerous agencies in the Carbon-

dale area.

Our church will received approximately 90 names for chil-

dren and adults. Many of the adults are in nursing homes.

Please prayerfully consider taking one or two names and pur-

chasing a gift for these individuals. We have been assured

that every effort has been made that the names we are given

are on no other list to be receiving a gift.

We will receive the Spirit of Christmas names in Nov-

ember. A table will be in the church lobby to provide

a place to select the names and put the gifts.

The deadline to turn in the gifts is

1:00 p.m., Sunday December 6.

Spirit of

Christmas

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Holy Communion:

Some Questions and Answers

I do not wish to receive Communion because

doing so would be disloyal to my religion or my

denomination. May I attend a United Methodist Communion

service and not receive Communion?

Yes indeed. We do not want anyone to feel unwelcome be-

cause, for whatever reason, they do not choose to receive Com-

munion. Simply remain seated when others go forward, or pass

the bread and cup along if they are passed to you, and no one will

question wheat you do.

November 29 - Hanging of the Greens

We will start off the Advent season by decorating our church

building. All children and adults will be needed at 10:10 a.m. to

transport, unpack, and arrange Christmas adornments. Bring a

snack to share if you wish!

Advent Outreach Project

As a result of serving mission meals to

needy people in the Carbondale commu-

nity, the youth and their leaders have ob-

served the need for blankets and winter

hats and gloves. During Advent, you are

invited to help those in need by bringing new winter hats and

gloves (especially adult size) and either donations to buy

blankets or new blankets. Roger Smith has a source for inex-

pensive, water-resistant blankets that can be purchased in

bulk. If you prefer to make a donation for the blankets, please

mark your check or money envelope as "Advent blan-

kets". Boxes will be set out for new hats, gloves, or blankets that

you wish to donate, also. Thank you for spreading compassion

and God's love!

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November Birthdays (by date)

1 - Caitlyn Boyd

1 - Jacob Williams

3 - Cathy Biggs

4 - Audrey Meador

5 - Brittney Leimkuehler

7 - Gabrielle Vineyard

9 - Michelle Ford

14 - Louise Golliher (91)

18 - Roy Harris

18 - Rosemary Hubenthal

19 - Diane Hickman

21 - Courtney Stuck

23 - Betty Jane Smith

23 - Shirley Smith

24 - Kenny Arthur

25 - Casey Hickman

26 - Jonah Adams

28 - John Vana

29 - John Burde

30 - Marilyn Hisgen

30 - Tom Upton

Early December Birthdays

12/1 Cheryl Smith

12/5 Michael Adams

12/7 Raetta Blessing

Grace United Methodist Church

9:00 a.m. Contemporary Worship

10:10 a.m. Sunday School

11:15 a.m. Traditional Worship

November Anniversaries

Nov. 6 Mark & Danielle Schultz

Nov. 21 Jay & Erinn Hanscom

Nov. 22 Jim & Dorothy Frailey (53 yrs.)

Nov. 26 Deon & Linda Egner (52 yrs.)

Nov. 26 Randy & Stacy Stark

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Coffee and Cards Saturday, November 28, 9:00 a.m.

at Grace UMC, Room 11

Short devotional, drink coffee, and write note

cards to new visitors and existing members on behalf of GUMC.

Volunteers Needed

to Serve One Hour Per Month! Yes, just one hour per month,

during the late service.

We need to add at least three people to

serve as counters to record the giving of our

members...it does not require math skills, unless you say counting

money is a math skill! A counter works with two other people,

recording the offering for the day. He/she provides safety for the

other two counters so that no one is left alone with the offering.

We encourage people to attend the Early Service if he/she is go-

ing to count.

Currently, we need someone to count for the first Sunday of the

month, and we need substitutes to fill in when someone is going

to be away for their usual counting day.

If you could help, either on an occasional fill in, or a regular

Sunday once a month, please call Joyce Fligor (457-6060 or 967-

8815) or send her an email (jsfcpa@mchsi.com) and let her know

that you would be willing to serve.

The church office will be closed

Thanksgiving Day, November 26

and Friday, November 27.

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Please have articles for the December 2015

Grace Notes to the church office by November

Grace Fest was a wonderful event held at

Turley Park on September 26th. We reached

out to our neighbors and had a fun-filled af-

ternoon. We want to thank the following for

volunteering at the event. The volunteers

helped with advertising, prepping food, set-

ting up, serving food, music, sound, wel-

come table, door prize/raffles, cake walk, inflatables, face paint,

crafts, photography, and cleaning up. So many of our wonderful

volunteers showed God's love to others.

Thank you to Brian Adams, Trisha Adams, Jaci Arthur, Michael

Arthur, Paula Arthur, Donna Blache, David Burkart, Danie

Dawson, Juliann DaVee, Debbie Ditch, Karen Downey, Ashlee

Dunn, Bryan Dunn, Kay Eckiss, Kenny Fisher, Phyllis Fisher,

Cindy Hall, Marilyn Hisgen, Pastor In-Sook Hwang, Laura

Morthland, Ryan Morthland, Jessica Pease, Mark Pease, Mary

Ann Ruph, Thyra Russell, Elizabeth Schultz, Katie Schultz, Lib-

erty Schultz, Cheryl Smith, Monty Smith, Roger Smith, Shirley

Smith, Annabella Upton, Tom Upton, Patty Weyhrich, Jacob

Williams and Jeff Williams.

We also want to thank the Crimestoppers volunteer, police offi-

cers at the park, and firemen and women who volunteered in the

smokehouse.

Danielle Schultz and Lisa Upton, Grace Fest Co-Chairs

Thank you for your contribution to our ministry. We truly ap-

preciate your support in reaching our Latin Community.

In His Service,

Jesus es el Señor UMC

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Grace UMC Mission Statement

"Love God, love people, make disciples of Jesus Christ."

Memorial Hospital of Carbondale Auxiliary’s

1st Annual Vendor and Craft Fair and Fundraiser

Saturday, November 7th, 9AM-1PM

Our Savior Lutheran Church, 700 S. University St., Carbondale

Proceeds going to hospital charities and school tuitions for nurs-

ing students.

The mowing season is over,

hopefully, and we want to thank

our volunteer mowers Deon

Egner, Jim Frailey and Ryan

Morthland. These guys were out

in the heat, dust, and sometimes

unexpected rain showers each Thursday morning. Please tell

them thank you for their service.

Cache River District Rally Sunday, November 1

6:00 p.m.

Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1201 N. Fair

Street, Marion, IL

Music by Kateena LaForge

Message presented by Rev. April Turner

Check the church bulletin board in the kitchen

hallway for information the church has received

about events in the community.