Thoughts from John Collins, a United Methodist Pastor in the Flint Hills.
Forrest Buhler, our Lay Member to Annual Conference, has written a report from the first meeting of the North Central Kansas District of the Great Plains Conference of the UMC, held on November 17, 2024. You can view the report by clicking on the link below. There will also be copies available in the back of the Sanctuary.
Link: https://bit.ly/3B97iNw
There will be no Wednesday night activities this week due to Spring Break. We will resume normal activities next Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
The Christian Family and Friendship Committee is looking for candy donations in already-filled Easter eggs for the Easter egg hunt on Sunday, March 31, following worship. Please bring pre-filled eggs to the office for the committee to pick up.
Join us this Sunday for our Easter Services. Our Sunrise Service will be at 7:00 a.m., followed by a potluck brunch. Our regular service will be at 10:30 a.m., followed by a children’s Easter egg hunt. All are welcome.
The CAUMC Family & Friendship Commission is requesting candy donations for the Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, April 9. Please make sure that all donations will fit into a plastic easter egg. Donations can be dropped off to the church office at your convenience.
Thank you so much in advance!
Starting Tuesday, March 21, the College Avenue UMC offices will be open from 8:00 a.m. until noon and will be closed in the afternoon until further notice while our Administrative Assistant, Anna Kozak, continues to recover from knee surgery. The phones will be forwarded to her, as she will be working from home and will also still be accessible via email at caumc.info@gmail.com. In case of emergency, you may reach Pastor John at 620-252-9622. Thank you for your understanding.
March 26, 2023, will be our Lenten Soup Luncheon. Please bring a crockpot of soup to share. If you are not a soup maker, bring crackers, cheese, bread, or any other side that will complement the meal! During our Luncheon, we will also celebrate Catherine Troy’s baby boy, due April 22. Catherine is registered at Target if you would like to bring a gift.
Sandy Procter and Susie Shaw will be traveling to Panama March 10-19 to work alongside United Methodist missionaries David and Cindy Ceballos as part of a team with eight others from Ohio. The Ceballos have dedicated their lives to serving the poor in rural areas of Panama, who have little or no access to medical, dental, or optical health care. Government-sponsored medical clinics in rural Panama are rare and generally ill-equipped to meet their medical needs, and even less the stress and suffering resulting from poverty and social marginalization. More important than the medical benefits our week-long clinic provides is building friendships with the people we serve and their children. We share coloring books, crafts, and games with the children, treating them and their families with respect and love. After receiving medical care and medications (from a small pharmacy of U.S.-donated medications we bring with us each day), their first question is, “when are you coming back?” They understand that God has sent us to serve them as brothers and sisters in Christ.
David and Cindy have requested that we bring certain items that are greatly needed there: hydrocortisone cream, muscle rub cream, wrist splints, knee braces, compression stockings, ball caps, sunglasses (non-prescription), reading glasses (1, 1+, 2, 2+, etc.), gently used bras no larger than “C”, children’s summer clothing, adult summer clothing no larger than “L”, and infant vitamins. If you can donate any of these items, it would be greatly appreciated. Susie will pick them up, or you can leave them on her porch at 2917 Roma Terrace, just a few blocks north and west of the intersection of Kimball & Browning. To get everything packed and ready, she needs to have all donations by March 7.
Thank you!
Sandy and Susie
The College Avenue UMC Youth Group has over $17,000 in grant money from football parking to share with other non-profit organizations. If you are associated with an organization that would benefit from a monetary grant, please download the application form from the website, or contact the church office at 785-539-4191. Grant applications are now being accepted through February 20, 2023.
This Sunday, January 15, we will have a special offering for Human Relations Day. What is Human Relations Day? Human Relations Day is a denomination-wide Special Sunday designed to celebrate and raise awareness to further the development of better human relations by involving congregations in community and youth outreach.
A special offering is taken the Sunday before Dr. Martin Luther King Day. Gifts received for the offering build King’s vision of “the beloved community” through programs such as Community Developers, United Methodist Voluntary Services, and Youth Offender Rehabilitation Programs.
Fifty-seven percent of the funds received support community development programs that strive to build, maintain, promote and strengthen racial-ethnic minority congregations through local UMC congregations. Thirty-three percent of the funds received support The United Methodist Voluntary Services (UMVS), which serves as a resource to congregations, volunteer-based groups, and programs that challenge unjust political, social, and economic systems which threaten the livelihoods of people.
Ten percent of the funds received support rehabilitation programs. These programs work to strengthen youth empowerment programs that provide positive avenues for youth participation in their communities through churches, mentoring programs, and boys/girls clubs.
For more than half a century, United Methodists have observed this church-wide special Sunday in recognition of the message Jesus demonstrated during his life: all of God’s children are important.
One of the wonderful aspects of The United Methodist Church is that we can do so much more together than we ever could do on our own. Our gifts are part of building “the beloved community.”
I hope it has been a joyful Advent Season for all of you! Please join us in taking down and storing our church Christmas decorations this Thursday, January 5, at 1 pm. Many hands make light work!
Dawn Anderson, Worship Commission Chair
The College Avenue UMC Christmas Offering this year (2022) went to the Flint Hills Breadbasket, a non-profit food pantry. Together, we raised $1052.04 to help further their cause. Please see their mission statement below.
Flint Hills Breadbasket – Our dream is that there is no one in need among us. Our mission is to provide reliable access to healthy food, build connections with community partners, and empower neighbors to meet their basic needs.
You can learn more about them at: https://www.flinthillsbreadbasket.org/