May 2021
From the Pastor:
Who Encouraged You?
I think of all the people in my life that served as great encouragers as I grew. There is my childhood friend, David who is a pastor now and was always a great friend. Mainly because of his outlook on life and the way he encouraged all those around him.
There was Coach Culwell whom I’ve mentioned often in sermons who was my track coach in high school. Also, great encourager. I can remember his #1 saying which he drummed into us from my Freshman year on…” Do your best, don’t sweat the rest, winning will take care of itself.”
My Sunday School teachers from my 7th grade year until I graduated High School were great encouragers. I think you know them…Monty and Alisa Dollar. In all her lessons, Alisa always provided such a great, safe place for us to share whatever craziness or perceived craziness was going on in our adolescent lives. Thinking back on it, how she remained even and composed I will never know! At every gathering, our hearts were met with love and never judgement! Thank you, Monty and Alisa!
My list goes on from the early years but the one thing I found in common with all these great encouragers! They all really loved the Lord. I just think the correlation of their relationship with Christ and how they encouraged me is undisputable. And because of them, I find myself encouraging others myself today.
I love this verse, Romans 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
May you not only be encouraged today but may you also be an encourager to someone else as well. When we encourage others in Christ, we are injecting courage into a soul to live, love, and forgive just as Christ did for us. So, let me ask you, who encouraged you growing up? If you’re like me, when you stop to think about it, you’ll probably identify many. But the better question now is who can you encourage today?
You never know; an encouraging word spoken in Christ can be life changing even if only little by little every day.
We receive to give. We are encouraged to encourage. Praise God for his encouragement for us from the before the beginning of time!
Love you guys! Be encouraged. God is for you, not against you!
Todd
May Birthdays May Anniversaries
4-Winston Anderson 29-Dale and Mary McCrum
6-Pam Ryan
9-Kenneth Crow Jr
14-Stephanie Robertson
16-Marlene Pierce
23-Wendy Holladay
27-Scott Beller
30-Ronnie McElfresh
Ongoing Outreach
Wester Elementary: Our church continues to support Wester through prayer and visits to the teachers. We also try to help with supplies the teachers need and/or the students need. We have many teachers, active and retired, in our congregation in all levels of learning. I applaud each one as we know, especially in today’s world of undisciplined crazy, sometimes teaching seems thankless and very tiring. Supporting Wester is one way to help one group. Praying is the best way to help teachers.
Aspen Apartments: St. Matthew also continues to support in many ways the families living at Aspen. Thanks to Pam Ryan (also a teacher), who has ways of finding a few of the needs while we as a congregation have endeavored to help.
TransformHERs Bible Study: This is a Women’s Bible Study that meets on ZOOM every 1st and 3rd Monday at 7 p.m. Carol Salesky leads this study. Be sure to keep up through our church emails for all meetings and ZOOM times!
The Tool Shed Men’s Bible Study: Meet via ZOOM every 2nd and 4th Monday evenings at 7:00 pm. All men of the church are invited and any friends as well. Again, keep up with emails should times change.
Other ZOOM meetings are ongoing during the week and Pastor Todd or Jeannie sends information at the first of each week with a reminder by a “day of” email. Be sure to be checking your emails from the church daily!
Sunday Morning Services are back in the pews!!! SO NICE to face-to-face again! We will also be on Facebook indefinitely as we have quite a following from people in other states, or former members who’ve moved, members of our congregation not yet ready to be out in crowds.
Marlene Pierce wishes to thank everyone for all the photos both digital and “real” that have been turned in to her for her history memoirs of St. Matthew. A case in point, I was visiting with Donna before church and Marlene came up with a stack of photos Cindy Crow had given her. She asked Donna if she would go through them because some were before she and Billy joined and she didn’t know them. We pulled some out and immediately Donna started “oohing” and “ahhing” because they were from “back in the day”! She and I looked at a lot of them until Todd interrupted us starting the service. Or maybe it was Pam, but anyway, we had to put them away for the duration. So see? It doesn’t matter how new or how old, there are people still in the congregation that know who these people are. It was fun.
Attention Choir Members and Potential Choir Members per Carol Salesky, will begin August 25th. Keep this in mind and “make joyful noises!”
Women’s Group will not be meeting for the summer. Stephanie Wilson just bought her first ever home and the women’s group will have a pounding for her when she has time. School is ending and her days are booked, so be on the lookout for a time and date!!
TRUSTEES: ADOPT AN AREA
With spring here and summer coming the Trustees are diligently working to improve the appearance of the church and surrounding areas. You can see by the mission report that June is “Taking Care of Church” month. But before that and on a continuing basis, we need your help with the yards. We are asking volunteers to adopt an area and be responsible for picking up the trash, sweeping, raking, or doing whatever is necessary to make OUR CHUCH look inviting. The lawn will be mowed on Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m. so trash pick up needs to be accomplished on Fridays or early, early Saturday so one piece of trash does not become a million little pieces littered all over the yard.
You will be responsible for your area and if we get enough volunteers, it would be wonderful if areas were cleaned up 2 or 3 times a week. We all know that it continually blows in. (The more it’s done, the easier it gets!)
If you are interested in helping us out, getting some fresh air, and getting some extra steps in, please let Phil, Wendy, Pastor Todd, or Paula know what area and what day you will be working.
Phil Cruzan, Trustee Chair
| AREA | DAY TO WORK | VOLUNTEER |
| Kid’s Kingdom Fence | Friday | |
| Flower Beds | Saturday afternoon | |
| Memorial Garden,
Sidewalks, Brick Crosses |
Saturday afternoon | Wendy |
| All Parking Lots | Saturday afternoon | |
| Coffee Bar Fence and
Alley Strips |
Friday | Paula |
| Digital Sign Area | Friday | Carol |
| West Field | Friday | |
| West Field | Friday | |
| West Field | Friday |
Trash sacks and a grabber are in the coffee bar.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Missions
With everyone staying at home and not being able to shop or support Hope Community of Salome with our collection of socks and razors, etc., Women’s Group decided to start supporting a “mission” every month. We decided to open this up to the church to welcome more contributions as people were felt led.
Pastor, Witness, Outreach, and Women’s Group Chairs brainstormed future mission projects with the understanding that these are not written in stone. As NEEDS arise, projects may be moved to a different month because we need to support whoever calls with a request as much as possible (i.e., hoodies for the children at Wester).
Attached is a listing of what you have so generously contributed to so far, and the suggested “causes” we are projecting so you know the plan. Again, this is NOT written in stone and we will adjust as needs arise.
On behalf of all our committee chairs, I want to THANK YOU St Matthew, for caring, for giving, for always stepping up to the plate.
We are blessed to be a blessing to others—and you are!
Thank you! Paula DeForrest, Terry Rodgers, Pam Ryan, Pastor Todd
| SMUMC Mission and Outreach 2020 | ||||
| MONTH | ORGANIZATION SPONSORED | CONTRIBUTION | AMOUNT | GROUP |
| MAY | Timothy International | $1,600 | Church | |
| SEP | Wester | School Supplies | donated | Church |
| OCT | Wesley Foundation | Cole Mission Trip | $355 | Church |
| Aspen Hospitality Bags | $200 | Women’s Group | ||
| NOV | Wester | Hoodies | $308.48 | Church |
| DEC | Aspen and Wester | Angel Tree | $510 | Church |
| Worship Volunteers | Love Offering | $400 | Church | |
| Aspen | Food Boxes | $500 | Church | |
| St Matt Shut-Ins | Christmas Bags | $112.78 | Women’s Group | |
| First Responders | ||||
| Total | $3,986 | |||
| SMUMC Mission and Outreach 2021 | ||||
| MONTH | ORGANIZATION SPONSORED | CONTRIBUTION | AMOUNT | GROUP |
| JAN | Salvation Army | $500 | Women’s Group | |
| FEB | World Gospel Mission | $475 | Church | |
| Texas Tech Food Pantry | $550 | Women’s Group | ||
| Shut Ins | Valentine Chocolates | $53.42 | Women’s Group | |
| TTU Wesley Foundation | Student Leadership Retreat | $400.00 | Men’s Group | |
| MAR | Wester | Teacher Supplies | $500 | Church |
| TTU Wesley Foundation | Feed Hardcore Student Bible | $200 | SMUMC Staff | |
| APR | Aspen, St Matt | Children Easter Eggs | $125 | Church |
| Shut Ins | Easter Bags | |||
| Candace Clawson Grandbaby | Baby Gift | $215 | Women’s Group | |
| MAY | Feed Hope | Open Table Dinner | $ 600.00 | 20 Somethings / Chaparral Motors |
| Stephanie Wilson | House Warming Pounding | Women’s Group | ||
| Wester | Wester Staff Breakfast – Star Test | 270 | Witness and Outreach / Chaparral Motors | |
| Summer Camps/ | Church | |||
| Replenish Good Samaritan Fund | ||||
| New Little One / New Mom | Feed Candance and Family | Staff | ||
| JUN | Taking Care of Church | S/S Lighting, Sprinkler Repair, | Church | |
| Crown Molding, Fascia Repair, | ||||
| Basketball Goal, Paint Wood on | ||||
| Digital Sign, Ceiling Tiles & Repair | ||||
| JUL | Neighborhood | Block Party | Church | |
| AUG | Wester | School Supplies | Church | |
| SEP | Wesley Foundation | Feed Bible Study | Church | |
| OCT | Boy’s Ranch | Church | ||
| NOV | ||||
| DEC | ||||
| Total | $3,888 | |||
We’ve made it simple, secure, and convenient to GIVE ONLINE with a credit card or debit card for your tithes and offerings. If you prefer to give by check, our mailing address is:
St. Matthew United Methodist Church
5320 50th Street
Lubbock, TX 79414