Grand Valley United Methodist Church
July 2021 Newsletter
In this newsletter:
1. Rocky Railway Recap
2. Pastor’s Report
3. Memorial Stones
4. Results of Vision Cards
5. UMW says “Thank you”
6. Birthdays
7. Calendar
8. Event Details
10. Church Reports
11. New Swap Section
12. Just for Fun
About a year ago during Bible Study, stories of past Vacation Bible School days were being discussed. This discussion prompted Deb Penrose to exclaim, “I want to start Vacation Bible School up again!” This resulted in Bonnie responding with “And I want to help!” That’s how it all began.
The first day, Monday, June 14, we had 9 elementary kids and 7 preschoolers registered. What a fun day that was… getting to know the kids and watching them enjoy themselves, listening to their laughter, as they began their week of learning that “Jesus’ power pulls us through”. We gained another child on Tuesday, bringing our number of elementary kids to 10.
To begin their day, Pastor J.R. did an amazing job getting the kids excited with a video, singing and dancing, and getting them ready to join their crew leaders. The Crew Leaders then kept them on track to their different stations: Bible Adventures, Imagination Station, LocoMotion Games, Kidvid Video and Chew Chew Snacks. At the end of each morning, everyone met in the Sanctuary with Pastor J.R. to wrap up that day with more singing and dancing.
We cannot express our appreciation enough to all of you who had volunteered your time, resources, funds and prayers to help make VBS a success!! It’s YOU who helped make that inspiration a year ago become a reality today. And not only for this year, but for every year, as we area going to build on this momentum of bringing the love of Jesus to the children. Thank you!
We could all feel the presence of our dear friend Betty, who had been as excited as we were about starting VBS and wanted to be a part of it. We know she was there with us every day cheering us on.
Debbie and Bonnie
Rev. J.R. Atkins
Grand Valley United Methodist Church
June 2021 Pastor’s Report
1. Vision – The vision cards have been collected and will be published in the next newsletter for
everyone to prayerfully consider. As they tend to be general in nature, we will likely continue to
address our vision in some form to add specific actions or programs to carry out our visions.
2. Autopsy of a Deceased Church Book – This book study group has met twice and has one more
session following Vacation Bible School. There is an opportunity to continue studying this book,
proceed to another one addressing how churches grow or wrap up the study group. The book
and discussion has already proved fruitful as guide to help us think about the past and future of
our church.
3. Young Family Gathering – The Young family group has met four times and has added a few
more people. The children meet in one room and watch a movie while the adults have uplifting
conversations in another room. Thanks go out to those who have come to help in the kitchen
and with the children. These are two ways in which we are getting to know our new people
while serving together.
4. Vacation Bible School – VBS was a major success with 17 children and many adults serving
together. There was an outpouring of God’s love that all could feel in the church. Our
community was served well, and our church benefited from working together. On one day, I had
five different people ask if they could help with children ministry on Sunday mornings. Another
person asked if we could offer a youth program one evening for Junior High and High School
Students. God is indeed moving and working through our church.
5. Center for Pastoral Effectiveness – In August, I begin an 18-month program in Pastoral
Effectiveness that was recommended to me by Karen and Phillip Gibson, Rev. Elizabeth
McVicker, and others in our conference. I will be meeting with other pastors in a series of 3-day
retreats (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) in Denver to discuss the materials we will be
reading. I have applied for a grant from the conference to cover the cost and there are funds
available for this included in my pastor benefits.
Peace be with you,
Pastor J.R. Atkins
Memorial Stones
We have been asked “How do we get a memorial stone for a deceased member of GVUMC?”
Great question!! Here are the guidelines:
1) Memorial stones cost $100
2) 1 or 2 names are put on a stone (wife/husband, mother/daughter, etc.)
3) The deceased was a part of our church family
4) Payment is made to GVUMC – please put “memorial for <name>” in the memo line
We will be opening a new area for additional stones soon. It will be alongside the front entrance sidewalk opposite from the junipers. Site preparation for the new area will begin in a few weeks.
Vision for our Church
On Sunday, June 13th, 3×5 cards were handed out to the congregation to give them the opportunity to write down their vision(s) for Grand Valley United Methodist. Below are the results:
• Education of Jesus for all ages in our church – Love and acceptance for all in our surroundings!
• He is calling us to be humble, forgiving people, consider the church to be the Body of Christ, the Individual to be a part of the body with His special God-given talents as God leads and instructs him.
• To be more open to change and opportunities to strengthen the love of god.
• Growth in the young family events: number of attendance as well as disciple
• More activities in the evenings for people that work during the day.
• Continued outreach.
• We are called to spread the word of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to everyone. To be support to the needs of all.
• To be welcoming and truly have open minds, open hearts, open doors. Use our gifts wisely to be disciples to spread the word of God.
• Show love to all and to bring them the word of Jesus Christ – that He died to give them everlasting life.
• A continual easing of tension and grief as we all heal from the last year.
• My vision is of a church community that is growing in spiritual maturity, openness to others and truly striving to live a life in the likeness of Jesus. Bringing love to the community and world by the way we live our lives.
• Vision for unity, for maturity, for true guidance
• Sunday School for children & children’s moments in Service
• To grow, both in numbers and in faith
• To grow with our community, and always be alert to new possibilities
• I have a vision that Grand Valley United Methodist will be full of young people on fire to spread the message of Salvation to the younger generation. But that’s just the beginning – the church has to draw closer to God as a whole and in order to draw nearer to God, Christians have to be taught about who God is and what he wants for us; God is re-making his children in the image of his Son – but Christians must cooperate with him to become conformed to his image and the church needs good teachers. Show new converts how to cooperate.
• Continued and increasing care for our members
• People-Family-Community — a Christian emphasis
• Biblical and other spiritual readings
• Support for the aging-sick-depressed-poor-unemployed
A big, big thank you to all who supported the UMW Yard Sale. They made over $600 towards their Mission Goal. Everything that was left over was donated to either the Resource Center, Arc or Goodwill. UMW’s next activity will be sponsoring our church bake sale during the parade for Grand Valley Days. Save the date – August 28th – and be sure to come early for the Pancake Breakfast put on by our Methodist men’s group.
The next UMW meeting will be Thursday, July 1st. All are welcome.
July Birthdays:
2 – John Parker
9 – Millie Dunham
10 – Linda Thompson
11 – Linda Elliott
11 – Marietta Kovacs
14 – Bonnie Gana
15 – Sara Francis
16 – Carol Schelling
21 – John Zacharias
24 – Charlotte White
25 – Garland White
27 – Blanche Shaw
The next UMW meeting will be held on Thursday, July 1st at 10:00 in the Fellowship Hall. We hope you can join us!
Prayer Partners meet the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 10:00. If you have anyone that you would like to add to the Prayer Partner list, please contact either Bert Botkins at (970)216-8682, the church office at (970)285-9892 or send an email to: [email protected]
Join us for Bible Study every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. We will be having a new study beginning on June 30. We will be considering ways we can overcome life’s every day challenges with the power of God.
Our Bell Choir and Choir are on summer hiatus until 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: [email protected]
UMW Report
June 3, 2021
Prayer by Bert Botkin, Scripture Matthew 15:21-28.
Meeting was called to order by President Michelle Foster. Attending were Judy, Bert, Betty, Michelle, Penelope, Allison, Blanche, Rosemary, and Debbie
Keep checking with Jesus – UMW reach out in prayer and donations, Lighting the way for others.
Devotion: Michelle Matthew 25:35-40. On hospitality and Isaiah 58:6-8. Keeping our heart open to God.
There was no treasurer report this month.
Bert will be hostess and secretary for July.
Sympathy card was sent to Deb on Mother’s passing.
VBS – Progress made. Still need help.
Rummage Sale Needs signage. Please sign up for cashiers and workers. (see separate article on the Rummage Sale results)
Grand Valley Days will be held August 27-28. Parade, Pancake breakfast, UMW Bake Sale, Free BBQ, Sat night Rodeo, Sunday- School House ice cream social and pictures.
Reading Program for UMW is available online.
Next meeting, July 1, 2021.
Closed with Blessed Be the Tie that Binds
Adjourned at 11:10 am
Respectfully submitted. Debbie Penrose, Sec.
Church Council Report
The meeting was brought to order by president Ron Olson at 2:00 p.m. in attendance were Ron Olson, Penelope Olson, Fred Inman, Bert Botkin, Ted Birdsill, Laurel Koning, and Michelle Foster. Pastor J. R. Atkins joined in by Zoom. Pastor Atkins led us in prayer.
Secretary’s Report – Fred moved and Laurel seconded to accept the minutes as printed. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report – Penelope reported that we are eating away at our surplus we accumulated through March. The long-term investments increased again and are doing well.
Finance Committee – The committee met and discussed some items they feel need to be done around the Church plus items others have brought up. These include the following:
Church – Maintenance
Exterior: Replace broken parking block in front parking area.
Clean up back entrance area and spruce up trash can area.
Hire someone to do lawn maintenance.
Trees need aggressive pruning.
Interior: Weatherstripping needs to be replaced/repaired around front doors
One of the front doors sticks.
Sanctuary doors need to be replaced.
Sanctuary floors need to be stripped.
Sanctuary chairs need cleaning.
Baseboards need to be replaced/repaired as needed.
Attic stairs need to be repaired/replaced.
Handicapped stall door in women’s restroom needs a handle.
File cabinet in Sanctuary needs to have drawer repaired so it can be used as a Safe.
Sanctuary painted (not immediate need but should get scheduled).
Replace vacuum.
Faith House-Maintenance
Exterior: Needs a general facelift, it looks shabby and uncared for.
Sign needs painting.
Cellar doors look terrible, don’t know what the fix is.
Playground side wall needs painting.
Gates to playground need work.
Interior: Windowpane loose in one window needs repair.
Needs new blinds throughout.
Upgrades to Church:
Exterior: ADA accessibility to front of church and ramp up to concrete at back.
Additional lighting on sensors to highlight Church visibility and safety
both in front and back to include Faith House.
Planting of new trees.
Paving of back parking area.
New surround for stained glass window.
Interior: Upgrade Sanctuary lighting especially in choir area.
Upgrades to sound/video systems as needed.
New carpet in Sanctuary.
Upgrades to Faith House:
Exterior: Install sprinkler system for lawn.
ADA accessibility to Front Door to include ramping sidewalk.
Removal of dead/dying trees and planting of new trees.
Add bench inside the playground.
Interior: Upgrade electronics as needed.
Replace furnishings as needed.
It was asked that each council member consider these ideas, add any they might have, prioritize them, and bring the list back to the next Council meeting for discussion.
Trustees – Fred will follow up on the smaller maintenance items brought up by Finance that can be easily done.
There is a quote from two vendors to do pave the parking lot. Lion Construction quoted $21,657.28 plus approximately $500 for striping. Asphalt Specialties quoted $19,750, including striping. The Town will do the survey and the Town’s engineer has told us we have the proper drainage. After a discussion, it was decided to add this to the Finance Committee list and be included in prioritizing projects.
Fred has a quote for a new accordion door into the sanctuary in the amount of $800+. He still would like to try to find some French doors that look good. He will continue his search.
Fred also received a quote from Eagle Carpet Cleaning to do the sanctuary tile floors ($450) and clean all 115 chairs ($525).
Memorial Committee – No report.
Missions – VBS was very successful with over fifteen children and as many volunteers. The garden is going well. The first radishes and zucchinis have been harvested.
The service on the 6/28 will be at Bert Botkin’s at 9 a.m. followed by a potluck.
The Church will host Movie Under the Stars on August 6th and will be giving out hotdogs, chips, and a soda to anyone who wants one. J. R. said he will have flyers to hand out also. Help will be needed.
Worship – Father’s Day had a nice ice cream social after the service.
SPRC – JR’s review has been done and forwarded to the appropriate person at the conference. The Church is accepting applications for a new custodian. Applications are available in the office.
Christian Education – Robin Troche is interested in helping out with Sunday school. We also have someone interested in getting a youth group started.
Music – The choir sang last week in Palisade and it was well received.
Pastor’s Report – The vision cards have been collected and will be published in the next newsletter for everyone to prayerfully consider. As they tend to be general in nature, we will likely continue to address our vision in some form to add specific actions or programs to carry out our visions.
This book study group on Autopsy of a Deceased Church has met twice and has one more session following Vacation Bible School. There is an opportunity to continue studying this book, proceed to another one addressing how churches grow or wrap up the study group. The book and discussion have already proved fruitful as guide to help us think about the past and future of our church.
The Young family group has met four times and has added a few more people. The children meet in one room and watch a movie while the adults have uplifting conversations in another room. Thanks go out to those who have come to help in the kitchen and with the children. These are two ways in which we are getting to know our new people while serving together.
VBS was a major success with 17 children and many adults serving together. There was an outpouring of God’s love that all could feel in the church. Our community was served well, and our church benefited from working together. On one day, J.R. had five different people ask if they could help with children ministry on Sunday mornings. Another person asked if we could offer a youth program one evening for Junior High and High School Students. God is indeed moving and working through our church.
In August, J. R. will begin an 18-month program in Pastoral Effectiveness that was recommended to me by Karen and Phillip Gibson, Rev. Elizabeth McVicker, and others in our conference. He will be meeting with other pastors in a series of 3-day retreats (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) in Denver to discuss the materials they will be reading. He has applied for a grant from the conference to cover the cost and there are funds available for this included in his pastor benefits.
Old Business – None
New Business – None
The meeting was adjourned at 3:18.
Respectfully Submitted,
Penelope E. Olson
Acting Secretary
Mission & Outreach Report
What a wonderful success!!! Led by two of our committee members, Deb Penrose and Bonnie Gana, Vacation Bible School was a huge success!!!! With over 15 children attending, they choo-choo-ed their way throughout the building hearing about God’s word. The volunteers need to be given credit as well, and JR led them in song and dance at the conclusion of each day in the sanctuary. Great job and a big thank to all that made this a great experience for all of those involved.
The garden is planted and going well! Can’t imagine how we would do this undertaking with the irrigation system. We will definitely have produce sooner than we think.
Bert’s outdoor service is coming up on the 28th. Join us for worship at 9 a.m. at her house. Potluck…..imagine that…… to be held following the service. We are nearly back to our norm.
We will also be the host at the final Movie Under the Stars. We again will be handing out hotdogs, chips and a soda to all of those attending. If you want to have a great time and can help, please contact a committee member.
We all need to start thinking about our annual shoe drive for the school-age children. Last year we purchased and handed out over 150 pairs of shoes!!!! Thanks to all of your contributions.
Treasurer Report
EATING AWAY AT OUR SURPLUS
May again chipped away at the surplus that we have accumulated through March. During May, our expenditures exceeded revenues by $2,435, with revenues being only 73% of budget. The Church still has almost $3,300 in surplus for the year to help us cover future shortages. We do have surpluses from prior years to fall back on, which we planned to do this year, but we hope that we do not have to dip too far into that surplus. There have been some unbudgeted expenditures, like Vacation Bible School, but they have reaped rewards in other ways.
On a brighter note, our investments are doing well. The market value of our long-term investments increased during May by $1,155 and have increased a total of $10,602 this year.
Have something you don’t need anymore? Looking for something?
We are trying out a new “Swap” here at Grand Valley United Methodist Church. If you have something or are looking for something, send an email to the office: [email protected] by the 3rd Friday of each month, and it will be listed in the following month’s newsletter.
Points to Ponder:
– The word “swims” upside down is still “swims”
– 100 years ago, everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars. Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses.
Four great confusions still unresolved:
1. At a movie theater, which arm rest is yours?
2. If people evolve from monkeys, why are monkeys still around?
3. Why is there a “D” in fridge, but not in refrigerator?
4. Who knew what time it was when the first clock was made?
Church Contact Information
PO Box 125
Parachute CO 81635
(970)285-9892
[email protected]
www.GrandValleyUMC.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Wednesday – Friday
9:00 – noon