I caught bits and pieces of a real- ly ridiculous spoof movie called Zombieland the other day. Zombie movies, if you’ve never seen one (first of all consider yourself for- tunate and second stay away) are based on the premise that persons long dead are somehow alive but in a morbid dead-like state and are looking to attack truly alive per- sons. The zombies are horrendous, without coloration, and really gross but are able to walk around in a stiff, rigor mortis state. True zom- bie classics are meant to be horror flicks but in actuality they are so far-fetched so as to end up silly. Zombieland is a spoof on what many would consider spoof-like material anyway. Near the end of the movie the star says about the group of people he had bonded with in fighting the zombies, “And, well, without other people you might as well be a zombie.” In other words, without other peo- ple you might as well be walk- ing around dead. Without people to celebrate with, to go through the mundane, to struggle with, we might as well be the living dead. God has built us this way. We are made for connections – for com- munity. Otherwise, life can be more like death. Shared life is life the way it was meant to be lived. God builds communities. This truth came home to me in a meaningful way on Easter morning. Every Sunday I lead a class between services and have been for over a year now. The class has grown and is a good place to learn and share. It is good to see each other, to share in the life of faith. During this Lenten season several of us would share about what we had sacri- ficed. A few had given up sweets. I and a few others had given up cof- fee. Unlike past years I had given up coffee entirely – even choosing to not enjoy it on Sundays. Each week we would share in the jour- ney of Lenten observance with each other. On Wednesday of holy week I started counting down the days until I could enjoy a cup of java. I arrive at my office very early on Sundays and I was so ready to enjoy a cup of coffee as soon as I arrived. I opened the drawer and took out my bag of beans ready to grind them. I was ready to smell and savor my favorite beverage of all. In that moment something happened that I had not prepared for nor would have ever imagined. In that moment, the Spirit of God I believe, gave me a gift. Zombies No More Pittsboro United Methodist Church 227 East Main St P.O. Box 276 Pittsboro, IN 46167 Pittsboro United Methodist Church Staff Contacts: Dave Buckner, Pastor – 892-4784, 892-3353, [email protected]Reverend Woody Smith, Part -Time Associate Pastor 892-4784, [email protected]Joanna Nunley - Choir Director - [email protected]Julie Mardis, Office Manager – 892-4784, [email protected]Sherri Mays, Preschool Director [email protected] – Preschool – 892-4439 (Continued on page 2) MAY 2012
Transcript
I caught bits and pieces of a real-ly ridiculous spoof movie called Zombieland the other day. Zombie movies, if you’ve never seen one (first of all consider yourself for-tunate and second stay away) are based on the premise that persons long dead are somehow alive but in a morbid dead-like state and are looking to attack truly alive per-sons. The zombies are horrendous, without coloration, and really gross but are able to walk around in a stiff, rigor mortis state. True zom-bie classics are meant to be horror flicks but in actuality they are so far-fetched so as to end up silly. Zombieland is a spoof on what many would consider spoof-like material anyway. Near the end of the movie the star says about the group of people he had bonded with in fighting the zombies, “And, well, without other people you might as well be a zombie.”
In other words, without other peo-ple you might as well be walk-ing around dead. Without people to celebrate with, to go through the mundane, to struggle with, we might as well be the living dead. God has built us this way. We are made for connections – for com-munity. Otherwise, life can be more like death. Shared life is life
the way it was meant to be lived. God builds communities.
This truth came home to me in a meaningful way on Easter morning. Every Sunday I lead a class between services and have been for over a year now. The class has grown and is a good place to learn and share. It is good to see each other, to share in the life of faith. During this Lenten season several of us would share about what we had sacri-ficed. A few had given up sweets. I and a few others had given up cof-fee. Unlike past years I had given up coffee entirely – even choosing to not enjoy it on Sundays. Each week we would share in the jour-ney of Lenten observance with each other. On Wednesday of holy week I started counting down the days until I could enjoy a cup of java. I arrive at my office very early on Sundays and I was so ready to enjoy a cup of coffee as soon as I arrived. I opened the drawer and took out my bag of beans ready to grind them. I was ready to smell and savor my favorite beverage of all. In that moment something happened that I had not prepared for nor would have ever imagined. In that moment, the Spirit of God I believe, gave me a gift.
“Wait.” That’s all it was. Just a very clear sense of “wait, instead of drinking alone (ha!) wait and have your coffee with the oth-ers who have been walking with you, with whom you have been walking.” In that moment the strong desire for a cup of coffee subsided to the desire to share it together. I truly did not want to have it alone. So I programmed my machine to begin brewing at 10:00 AM so that when the first service was over I could have a freshly brewed cup with my class. I poured it and carried it to class. Waiting for everyone to sit down I smelled the aroma and anticipated the moment. After getting the attention of the class I told them what had happened that morning and took hold of the cup. I lifted it to my lips and took in the wonderful taste of freshly brewed Starbucks Casi Cielo cof-fee. After a prolonged “aaaaahhh”, a few people in the class asked me how it tasted. I said, “It tastes like…. He is risen.”
Jesus is risen from the dead. He is fully revived – not a zombie. His body is even better than it was. And, in his risen life we are called to be with each other. To learn with each other, work with each other, laugh with each other, play with each other and pray with each other. Otherwise, we might as well be zombies. Thanks to my Sunday School class.
Pastor Dave
Youth News
Food CollectionFor two weekends in April the youth of PUMC and Pittsboro Christian Church teamed up to help solve hun-ger in the community. Over 30 youth got together for a community food drive. Pittsboro Christian Church has a food pantry to serve the communi-ties’ needs. Most of the people served by the food pantry live in Middle township but they even serve people in Avon and Indianapolis. They are open every other Saturday and serve an average of 30 families each time. These 30 families often represent up to 120 people right here in our own community.
The first weekend we drove/walked over to the entire Brixton neighbor-hood to hand out flyers to notify the neighborhood of the food drive. Pastor Cloar from the Pittsboro Christian Church separated the neighborhood into five sections and we got into groups to pass out flyers. We gath-ered back at the youth house with everyone and learned about the food pantry and ate ice cream sundaes. The following weekend we separated into these same sections and groups to go pick up the food. We collected many food items and gathered back at the Christian church to sort the food. The actual food pantry is not very large but it serves a lot of people in our community. The PCC food pantry also now works with Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis to obtain items such as fresh meat and supplement their sup-ply if a certain item is running low.
By Luke Hatton and Joshua Hatton
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National Kidney Foundation WalkThe HS youth proposed the creation of a team to participate in the NKF walk this year in support of Josh H. Josh and Deb Morgan will be the team captains. The walk will take place on 6/9/12 at the canal in downtown Indy. If you interested in participating please join our team. Information can be found at http:/ /donate.kidney.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Walk_copy_of_homepage select join a team and search for our PUMC Josh-Unites team. If you have any ques-tions please contact Deb, Amy or Josh. The youth team is looking for a ser-vice opportunity for the middle school youth in July. Many of the high school youth will be attending the mission trip that month. If you have sugges-tions please contact Amy Hatton or Deb Morgan.
Mission Trip FundraisersThank you to everyone who has helped or donated to the mission trip already. We are wrapping up our fundraising efforts with a couple of final events.
Join us at Orange Leaf yogurt in Brownsburg on May 29th for a mission trip fundraiser. The mission trip fund will receive 20 % of the sales for the evening from everyone that mentions PUMC Youth when purchasing their yogurt. If you have not tried this new sweet treat , this is the perfect time.
The mission group will also be hosting a garage sale in the Spring so be on the lookout for more information and start cleaning out those closets for stuff you can donate to the sale. Contact Deb Morgan or Julie Mardis with any fundraising questions.
Easter Egg-stravaganzaThe Easter Egg-stravaganza team would like to thank everyone for all your donations of time, service, candy, and food for this year's event! We would also like to give a spe-cial thanks to Ashley Berry for her unique role! We greatly appreciate our church family joining together to make this such a wonderful day.
Sunday School PromotionsPromotions of Current 5th Graders: On Sunday, June 3rd, students currently in 5th grade will be welcomed into the Middle School Sunday School class. The current 5th grade students will be welcome to attend Middle School Youth Group beginning on this day as well.
Promotions for Preschool through 4th Grade: We have chosen to postpone Promotion Sunday for the younger children until September. Additionally, begin-ning Sunday, June 3rd, the students currently in 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade will combine to form one class over the summer. This class will meet in the room currently used by the 2/3 class. Please watch the bulletin and newsletter for more information regarding Promotion Sunday. Any questions, please contact Brenda Schultz, Children's Discipleship Team Leader at 317-847-8328 or [email protected]
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9:00am & 11:15am-WorshipCelebrate TWHS Garduates in Worship!10:15am- Sunday School6:30pm- MS Youth-MS Room6:30pm- HS Youth-Youth House7:30pm- AA Jr/Sr High Room
9:00am & 11:15am-Worship10:15am- Sunday School4:30pm- Youth Ministry Team6:30pm- MS Youth-MS Room6:30pm- HS Youth-Youth House7:30pm- AA Jr/Sr High Room
9:00am & 11:15am-Worship10:15am- Sunday School4:30pm- Youth Ministry Team6:30pm- MS Youth-MS Room6:30pm- HS Youth-Youth House7:30pm- AA Jr/Sr High Room
9:00am & 11:15am-Worship10:15am- Sunday School4:30pm- Youth Ministry Team6:30pm- MS Youth-MS Room6:30pm- HS Youth-Youth House7:30pm- AA Jr/Sr High Room
9:00am- PRESCHOOLPre-K Riding Day Front Parking Lot Rain Day 5/9/12
6:30pm- Core LeadershipTeam Meeting Jr/Sr Hi Rooms
5:00am- Election Day SitePolling Place8:00am- Caring Parents Prayer Group Jr/Sr Hi Rooms9:30am- Staff MeetingCrusader Room7:00pm - Finance Team Meeting Crusader Room
8:00am- Caring Parents Prayer Group Jr/Sr Hi Rooms9:30am- Staff MeetingCrusader Room
9:30am - PUMCStaff Meeting Crusader Room
9:30am- Staff MeetingCrusader Room
8:00am- Caring Parents Prayer Group Jr/Sr Hi Rooms9:30am- Staff MeetingCrusader Room7:00pm- Embrace R. MillerCrusader Room
9:00am-Ladies AMBible Study Crusader Room 7:00pm- Choir Practice Sanctuary7:30pm- AA Crusader Room
9:00am-Ladies AMBible Study Crusader Room 7:00pm- Choir Practice Sanctuary7:30pm- AA Crusader Room
9:00am-Ladies AMBible Study Crusader Room 7:00pm- Choir Practice Sanctuary7:30pm- AA Crusader Room
9:00am-Ladies AMBible Study Crusader Room 7:00pm- Choir Practice Sanctuary7:30pm- AA Crusader Room
9:00am-Ladies AMBible Study Crusader Room 7:00pm- Choir Practice Sanctuary7:00pm- PRESCHOOL Pre K AM/EXTParents Night - Preschool Rooms7:30pm- AA Crusader Room
10:30am - PRESCHOOLBeginner Portfolio Night Practice - Sanctuary8:30pm- Band PracticeSanctuary
7:00pm - PRESCHOOLBeginners Portfolio Night Sanctuary/Fellowship Hall8:30pm- Band PracticeSanctuary
8:30pm- Band Practice Sanctuary
9:00am- PRESCHOOLBeginner’s Riding Day Front Parking Lot Rain Day 5/8/12 8:30pm- Band PracticeSanctuary
10:30am - 1:30pmPRESCHOOL Pre-K End of Year Practice Sanctuary6:30pm - Decorate PES 5th Grade Party Fellowship Hall
10:30am - 1:30pmPRESCHOOL Pre-K End of Year Practice Sanctuary
7:00am- Men’s Bible Study7:00pm - PES5th Grade Party Fellowship Hall
7:00am- Men’s Bible Study
7:00am- Men’s Bible Study
7:00pm- Tri-West High SchoolGraduation CeremonyTri-West High School Gymnasium
ALL DAY Joplin Mission Trip Garage Sale Youth House
7:00am- Men’s Bible Study
8:30pm- Band Practice Sanctuary
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BIRTHDAYSBIRTHDAYS
ANNIVERSARIES
The Month of May
1 Susan VanDyke3 Danny Lambert 4 Cathy Stout Bob Hill6 Jeff Williams Derek Renback Delana Santo 11 Troy Kult12 Claire Shaw13 Randy Renback Linda Smith 14 Gerald Ellingwood David Morgan Chloe Morgan Jack Watts Bob Hill16 John Tanselle17 Dana Siple Snider18 Ashley Berry Levi Hadley
19 Meghan Wheeler Linton 21 Abigail McCarty 23 Dorothy Smith Evan Wagner Jason Fletcher24 Jackson Fletcher26 Maxine Smith Melissa Morton27 Sam Brooks Charles Carson28 Kyle Dickson30 Tucker Stout31 Bert Broyles
