Grand Valley United Methodist Church
July 2025 Newsletter
In this newsletter:
1. From the Pastor
2. VBS
3. Mefor help
4. Birthdays
5. Calendar
6. Group Details
7. Church Reports
8. Just for Fun
From the Pastor….
From tourist to pilgrim
The material used and quoted in this article comes from the book Christianity For The Rest Of Us by Diana Butler Bass.
From Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) to Indiana, while watching a Nazi parade and book burning:
Professor Henry Jones: My son, we’re pilgrims in an unholy land.
Not long ago there was a story about Trinity Church, Wall Street, one of the oldest churches in the United States, and the church that sits at the edge of the World Trade Center site. Since September 2001, more than two million visitors a year have passed through its historic doors. The clergy were talking about spiritual tourists, the throngs of people who journey to the church to understand the devastating events of September 11. “They are the unmoored, nomads in a fractured world trying to make spiritual and theological sense of the changes—the violence, suffering, and war—that have engulfed us.”
“I’ve got tourists galore,” sighed the Reverend Dr. Jim Cooper, Trinity’s senior clergyperson. “They come. They come in droves. But I don’t want them to leave as tourists. I want them to become pilgrims. I want them to connect, to know that there is something more.”
Although not many other churches have two million tourists a year, Trinity is not completely unique. In effect, Jim Cooper’s words speak to all religious communities. Every church, synagogue, mosque, and temple in the United States sits among a throng of tourists each is surrounded by people on a journey of self-discovery and meaning. However, simply being on a spiritual journey does not necessarily mean that people will find meaning. Rather, as Jim suggested, “they need to “connect,” to discover that journeys can become pilgrimages. Tourists can become pilgrims.”
Trips and journeys are wonderful things. Every year Roxann and I try to get away for a vacation. In May we traveled to Scotland and Ireland for 16 days and one of its purposes is to remove us from our everyday routine. We are not trying to find a new way of life. Rather, we seek a change of scenery that gives us a perspective on our normal lives; rest and play that strengthen us for things back home. Being a tourist takes us outside of daily life, and when we are in a different country, we know that we experience the place in an entirely different way than do the locals.
But what if, instead of taking a vacation trip, we moved in? Becoming a pilgrim means becoming a local, a year-round person, who adopts a new place and new identity, by learning a new language, rhythms, and practices. Unlike being a tourist, we embark on a pilgrimage, not to escape life, but to embrace it more deeply, to be transformed wholly as a person with new ways of being in community and new hopes for the world. Being a tourist means experiencing something new; being a pilgrim means becoming someone new. Pilgrimages go somewhere—to a transformed life.
Throughout my own pilgrimage, I have met people whose lives had been transformed by embarking upon Christian pilgrimage. They testified to change—the transformation of the self, of their congregations, and of society by connecting to God, connecting to a story, a language, religious rhythms, and faith practices. By settling in, they had gone on a different kind of journey, one they would never have experienced had they remained tourists, one that became increasingly less self-directed and increasingly aimed toward God’s love and shalom.
This summer we may have a lot of tourists visiting our church. I wonder how many of them are on a pilgrimage of self-discovery? By our hospitality, this United Methodist church in Parachute can becomes an oasis, a place that the pilgrim can experience the transforming love of God within our community of faith. In your journeys will you find such an oasis that you may refresh yourself in?
Shalom,
Michael
VBS
Our VBS was held Monday, June 2- Friday, June 6, was attended by an average of 38 children daily and was quite a success. The weather was perfect and the enthusiasm abounded for each crew of 8-10 kids with lots of song and dance. Opening and closing sessions were conducted by Guillermina and were enjoyed by everyone. The church and Faith House were transformed to wonderful scenes from the great north! Thank you to everyone who helped during the week – it couldn’t have been done without you!
Enjoy some pictures from the busy week…
Mefor Help
As you know, we support the Mefors, and we have had a concern voiced from them. In Florence’s words:
I have a source of concern which I want to share with you. It has to do with the poor expectant waiting mothers I am taking care of, at the waiting mothers’ shelter. The Norwegian UMC Mission that is helping us to feed these young mothers for the past one year informed us in the past months that they were not going to continue supporting us due to constraints. The pressing issue is that we do not have funds to feed them from the month of August 2025. And I want to ask for financial assistance to enable us to continue to feed them from the month of August.
It takes us $1000 US dollars to feed 40 to 45 mothers breakfast, lunch, and dinner per month. As I send you this email, I am going to send out newsletters to my supporting churches shortly, to solicit for funds also to feed these women. We are also planning to start sustainable projects like farming, poultry and piggery to support whatever comes from donors. It is a huge challenge, but we continue trusting God for his mercies.
Thank you so much for your unwavering support. My regards to you all. Blessings of God be with you all.
Florence
Are you able to help with this? Anything you can give will help. If writing a check, please write “Mefors” in the memo line so we can allocate it appropriately.
Thank you so much!
The Garden is Sprouting!
Our garden is doing well. The young plants are growing, and with some sun and moisture, they’ll be producing before you know it! Thank you to all who tend to the garden!
July Birthdays
9 – Milli Dunham
11 – Linda Elliott & Marietta Kovacs
14 – Bonnie Gana
15 – Sara Francis
16 – Carol Schelling
21 – John Zacharias
25 – Garland White
27 – Blanche Shaw
Our Seekers Class(Adult Sunday School) meets every Sunday morning at 8:30. We invite all to attend.
Tuesday Bible Group
Our Tuesday Bible Study group is on hiatus until mid-late August.
Join us for Bible Study every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. We hope you can join us.
Choir and bells are on Summer hiatus. We will start up again after Labor Day. We are always looking for participants, so if you would like to join either of these wonderful musical groups, please contact the office at (970)285-9892 or by email: office@grandvalleyumc.com
Prayer Partners meet the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 10:30. If you have anyone that you would like to add to the Prayer Partner list, please contact Bert Botkin at (970)216-8682.
Our Ambassadors (Care Team) meet on the 2nd Wednesday at 11:30 in the Fellowship Hall.
Church Council Report
The meeting was called to order by Ron Olson on Tuesday, June 10. Those present: Michael Ingersoll, Penelope Olson, Ron Olson, John Chapman, Bert Botkin, Steve Shaw and Lee Allen. Michael led us in prayer.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved.
Treasurer: There was nothing unusual. We have a CD due in August.
Mission: A pipe burst in the garden and was fixed. The system is old and will need to be replaced someday. The church service will be at Bert Botkin’s house on the 29th. We will be hosting Movies Under the Stars in July. August is the shoes month. We will be providing shoes for 120 kids. Bert said we have a letter from the Mefors asking for assistance in feeding 40-45 women. It costs $1000 to feed them for one month. Mission will discuss this at their next meeting.
Worship: The 15th is Father’s Day and we will serve the fathers ice cream as usual.
Christian Education: VBS went well with about 43 kids attending.
Trustees: The swamp cooler needed the drain replaced. It works, but is old. The question is how well it is working. John is going to look into the cost to replace the roof on the Faith House. There are two new ramps in the back parking lot.
There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Lee Allen, Secretary
Treasurer
FINANCIAL NOTES
There is not too much to say about the financial news for the month of May. It was the first month where the Church spent more money than they took in. But because the prior four months was the opposite, year-to-date revenues still exceed expenses by almost $5,700. Our long-term investments are back in the plus column for the year.
As always, the financial statements are posted on the bulletin board outside the fellowship hall. If you have any questions about them, get in contact with Penelope Olson.
Somebody as said that there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say “Good morning, Lord,” and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, it’s morning.”
A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn’t find a space with a meter.
Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: “I have circled the block 10 times. If I don’t park here, I’ll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.”
When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note: “I’ve circled this block for 10 years. If I don’t give you a ticket I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation.”
Church Contact Information
PO Box 125
Parachute CO 81635
(970)285-9892
office@grandvalleyumc.com
www.GrandValleyUMC.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Wednesday – Friday
9:00 – noon