THE EXTENDED HAND
April 2017
First United Methodist Church
312 Harrison Street, Monroe, MI
website: www.monroefirstumc. org
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
Carson Pasko
1st
Monica Knapp
16th
Gerald Wittkop
7th
Megan Cardella
18th
James Jacobs
9th
Sophie Ruhlig
21st
Bev Lutz
15th
Stephen Wilson
22nd
Nancy Pirritano
15th
Billy Mann
27th
APRIL ANNIVERSARIES
Ron and Marsha Metz 3rd
Carl and Bonnie Knapp 18th
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sunday
April 2
5th Sunday in Lent- Potluck
Sunday Worship Service at 11 a.m./ Childrens Sunday school at 11 a.m.
Monday
April 3
Mary Martha- Heritage 1:00
Wednesday
April 5
Christian Education Meeting 1:00
Saturday
April 8
Youth Art Class 10-12
Youth Group 12-2
Sunday
April 9
6th Sunday in Lent- Palm Sunday
Sunday Worship Service at 11 a.m./ Childrens Sunday school at 11 a.m.
Thursday
April 13
Maundy Thursday Service
First 7:00
Friday
April 14
Good Friday Service
St. Pauls 1:00
Sunday
April 16
Easter Breakfast
Heritage-8:00-8:45
Easter
Sunday Worship Service at 11 a.m./ Childrens Sunday school at 11 a.m.
Wednesday
April 19
Administrative/Finance Board Meeting 1:30
Saturday
April 22
Youth Art Class 10-12
Sunday
April 23
2nd Sunday of Easter
Sunday Worship Service at 11 a.m./ Childrens Sunday school at 11 a.m.
Saturday
April 29
Youth Group Lock-In
9-9 Details to Follow
Sunday
April 30
3rd Sunday of Easter
Sunday Worship Service at 11 a.m./ Childrens Sunday school at 11 a.m.
THOSE IN NEED OF PRAYER
In Service to Country:
Brandon Bailey
Private First Class
Kayla R. Gonzalez
Shut-ins:
Dolores Pask
Loved Ones in Long-term Care:
Christine Chappell
(Lutheran Home)
Helen Montz
(Lutheran Home)
Marion Smith
(Lutheran Home)
Mary Lou Kinner
(Fountainview)
Ruth Meyer
(Brookdale)
Julia Oetting
(Brookdale)
Please call Pastor Katie or the church office, if you know of someone who is ill, hospitalized, or that has entered nursing home care. Please let your family of faith lift you in prayer, visit,
or meet your practical needs during difficult times. Please let us know. We care.
OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE
Liturgists are needed. Please sign up!
Sign-up Sheets for Sunday Liturgist & Communion Stewards are in the Narthex.
The sheet for Coffee Hour is on the table in the lower entryway.
SINGERS & INSTRUMENTALISTS WANTED
Looking for musicians of all skill levels to share their talents during the worship services. Special music is welcome at all services.
**If names or other information are omitted or incorrect please contact the church office at (734) 241-6070. **
Womens Fellowship & Service Opportunity!
Mary-Martha Circle
OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON
MONDAY, April 3rd AT 1:00 p.m.
Monroe First United Methodist Church
Please join us! Jamele Perry
Free Copy of Book of Discipline 2016 and/or Book of Resolutions 2016
https://www.cokesbury.com/forms/DynamicContent.aspx?id=87&pageid=920
Kroger Community Rewards Program
Anyone who participates in this program, must re-enroll during the month of April for our church to continue earning rewards during May 2017 - April 2018. You can do this by going to the customer service desk in Kroger. Kroger mails a check to the church quarterly for rewards earned. This is one way the Missions Committee receives money for the organizations they help during the year.
Easter Breakfast
Easter Breakfast, Heritage UMC, 8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Please sign yellow sheet in the lobby, no later than Palm Sunday, if you plan on attending.
Monroe First UMC
Holy Week
Palm Sunday 11am
Children (and those young at heart who want to join us!) will process into worship waving palm branches and shouting, Hosannah! to commemorate Christs journey into Jerusalem. We will have a real live, baby donkey, just like the one Jesus asked for before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, be sure to join us for our Palm Sunday worship on April 9, 2017 at 11am in the Sanctuary.
*Please bring coats and jackets to be laid over the pews which will then be taken to be distributed to the needy at Oaks of Righteous as we recreate Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the waving of palms and cloaks along the way.
Maundy Thursday/Holy Thursday Service, 7:00 pm
We will commemorate the Last Supper with a Service of Holy Communion, and scripture and drama to remember the last 24 hours of Christs life through the eyes of his mother, Mary. This service will conclude with the traditional stripping of the altar as worshipers depart in silence. Maundy Thursday is on April 13, 2017 at 7pm in the chapel in the All Purpose Room
Good Friday Service 1pm
Our Good Friday service will be a joint service held at St Pauls UMC with First UMC, Heritage UMC, St Pauls UMC and other churches from our community participating.
EASTER BUTTERFLY WORSHIP CELEBRATION
Join us for a unique memorable Easter experience. During our worship we will have special music, celebrate Christs resurrection, and following the 11:00 am worship service we will release live butterflies. At the end of worship, we will move to the park across the street to release our butterflies. The butterfly is one of the Christian churchs earliest symbols of Christs resurrection. This Easter you will have the chance to hold in your hands a tiny envelope. When you open it, you will watch a beautiful, Painted Lady Butterfly experience its very first flight. Imagine more than a hundred butterflies, released at the same time, fresh from their cocoons, caught up in their new life that reminds us of the new life we have in Christ.
He Is Risen Indeed!
If you see a visitor to our church, be sure they stop by our visitors table to receive a free butterfly.
*Painted Lady Butterflies are indigenous to our environment, but if we have unseasonably cold or rainy weather on Easter Sunday, we will postpone the butterfly release until the next Sunday to give our butterflies the best chance at life.
Easter Morning Egg Hunt
Our children will leave worship after Childrens time to participate in our annual Easter Egg hunt. The children will return to worship about 10 minutes before the end, so they can be a part of our butterfly celebration with their families.
ELEVATOR NEWS
After many weeks of hard work by the Trustees, we are pleased to share with the church that we have secured a grant (which does not have to be repaid) from the Ann Arbor District for half of the cost of a new handicapped elevator, and along with a large generous memorial gift by an individual, along with other generous gifts, the new elevator is being ordered and plans are being coordinated for the construction work for the new elevator to begin. We ask for your patience as the lobby area is under construction, and be on the lookout for a Sunday celebration where we will dedicate the new elevator and finally get to worship again permanently in our beautiful sanctuary. If you have any questions, please ask a Trustee.
Holy Humor Sunday
On April 23rd, bring your funny bones and happy faces to 11 am worship and come prepared to laugh in the joy of the Christian faith! Holy Humor Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, was for centuries the culmination of a week of joyous celebration of Jesus resurrection, a week rich in joy, laughter, parties, jokes, singing and dancing. This ancient custom stemmed from the musings of early theologians who considered the possibility that the Resurrection was Gods joke on the devil. The resurrection is the celebration that God has the last laugh.
It is also known as Bright Sunday, because bright and colorful clothes, evoking the hues of butterflies (symbol of the Resurrection) are suggested as attire. Silly hats and happy clown faces are just fine, too!
Come to sing funny songs, listen to great music, laugh and share joy.There is even a rumor that there will be kazoos! Share a relaxed, fun service of worship as we celebrate Gods surprises on this day of joy and laughter.
After Holy Humor Sunday, We are going to be beginning a new sermon series about Christian half- truths. They are simple phrases. They sound Christianlike something you might find in the Bible. Weve all heard these words. Maybe we have even said them. Maybe we have had them said to us. They capture some element of truth, yet they often miss the point in some very important wa
