Appreciation

20^th Sunday after Pentecost
Just these lines, my friends …

… to say that Sunday was filled with such joy: Dawn Anthony sharing inspirational music (listen to a clip from the Sunday night concert here), beautiful children singing their hearts out, a powerful video from Lori Beth Huffman (one of our United Methodist District Superintendents), a poignant baptism of 8-year-old Will Wallace, and a whole host of new members joining at 9:30 and 11:00 am. If you missed being with us, click to online worship here.

The new members (16 households, 24 adults, 10 children, 1 youth) joining our transforming community are as follows: Maurice/Liddy Appl, Ed/Janet Ernst, Terry/Judy Edwards, Wesley Fox, Darren/Shannon/Cade Helms, Rick Jamieson, Barbara Lowrance, Janet Voltz, Kathy Wallace (Will), Libby Preble, Ben/Ashley Livingston (Savannah, Nick, Hazel), Jan/Lauren Hockheld (Emma, Lily, Kendall), Grant/Natalie Fath (Quinton, Everett, Landon), Shirley Tripp, Kayla Pierce (Brayden), and Clyde/Nancy Starr. Be on the lookout for these wonderful new additions to our community and share a warm welcome when you introduce yourself.

I’ve never known quite what to do with Clergy Appreciation Month every October. It feels quite self-serving to say anything about it. I also wish there was a corresponding Laity Appreciation Month – or even better, months – to sufficiently acknowledge the vital role that laity like you play in the health of our church.

I also know that MUMC is blessed by more than its clergy. There is an entire team of amazing, high-achieving, faithful, and joyful staff members who are employed by this church. I can attest first-hand that one of the key reasons MUMC has been able to function at such a high level during the season of pandemic is because of the innovation, determination, and adaptive leadership of our whole staff. They continue to learn new skills, engage people in different ways, and somehow – somehow – do it all with patience, courage, and a sense of camaraderie.

So, with all due respect to whoever first invented Clergy Appreciation Month, I’d like to re-designate it as Church Staff Appreciation Month, with an invitation for you to reach out with encouragement and gratitude to them.

Our staff is listed on our website, along with their contact information. I’ve also named them here below. Let them know how much you appreciate them. Your encouragement keeps all of us going.

David Aguilera
Alix Arndt
Gwynn Aycock
Amy Benjamin
Marianne Bowman
Ashley Broome
Elizabeth Carpenton
Teressa Clark
Jamie Conder
Pastor Paul Craig
Tricia Davis
Amy DeVore
Craig Estep
Leigh Ann Fesmire
Pastor Roldan Flores
Debbie Fitts
Del Funderburk
Herminia Gamoneda
Camille Gotta
Rob Hunter
Cassidy Hronowski
Connor Johnson
Kim Layton
Beth Lynn
Briana McClendon
Pastor Corey Milliet
Joel Mullis
Jamey Norton
Abigail Okland
Richard Sanders
Pastor Jenny Savage
David Smith
Rona Swakopf
Robert Thomson
Julia Thompson
Liz Tikalsky
Kathy White
Shannon Williams
Pastor Chuck Wilson
John Woodall

Thank you, fellow staffers, for your hard work, patience, collegiality, and commitment to the mission of the church. It is an honor to make God’s love real with you.

Wednesday Devotional

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch my devotional for the week titled, Woke.

Don’t Miss These Opportunities!:

We have a few upcoming church-wide events that you will not want to miss:

• All-Church Gathering – Monday, October 24, 7:00 pm in The Commons.
• Trunk or Treat – Sunday, October 30, 6:00-7:30 pm, MUMC Parking Lot. This community event hosted by Youth Ministry for kids and families is made possible by Our Faithful Next Steps funding. Click here to find out how to get involved!
• Endowment Legacy Luncheon – Wednesday, November 2, 12:00 in The Commons. Enjoy a catered lunch, musical entertainment by Trip Rogers, and a time of remembrance and fellowship with our special speaker, Dr. Ken Lyon. Purchase tickets here by October 25.
• Room in the Inn will be starting again on December 1.  MUMC is a vaccinated site for our homeless neighbors on Thursday nights from December through March. We need VOLUNTEERS as bus drivers, overnight hosts, clothing closet helpers, laundry coordinator and dessert and breakfast coordinators. Is God calling you to help the homeless? Call Mike Mattes at 864-276-2585 and get plugged into this serving opportunity!

Interested in Serving in Elected Leadership at MUMC?

Our Leadership Development Team is continuing their work of identifying church members to serve on our elected leadership teams beginning in February 2023 and beyond.  These teams include Administrative Council, Finance, Trustees, Staff-Parish Relations, Endowment, Global Impact and Leadership Development Teams.  If you are interested & would like to learn more information, please contact me at chuck@matthewsumc.org.

This Sunday in Worship

We invite you this Sunday to join us in person at 8:15 am, 9:30 am and 11:00 am, or online at 9:30 am (contemporary), 11:00 am (traditional) or 12:30 (Spanish – in person or here on demand).

In our Spanish-speaking CCH community, Pastor Roldan is preaching from I Samuel 3:19-21 and his sermon is, The Day After.

This coming Sunday, we continue in our Fall Worship Series on living beyond yourself (A Life Worth Living) with a sermon that focuses on the meaning of worship. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday as we explore John 4:1-42 with my sermon title, More Ready Than You Realize.

And now, as always, during these strange, uncertain, and yet, hopeful days, remember … God does God’s best work in moments like this.

We are the church, together,
Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson II

Did you know Frank & Matilda Hinson, Norma Muñoz and Margie Vanasek were all honored at the Laity Celebration: Recognition of Laity Service Award Recipients of The Metro District of the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church? The recognition event was held at the University City United Methodist Church on Sunday, October 16. We thank God for these outstanding lay servants!

Did you know that Global Impact sent $5,000 from our Disaster Relief funds for relief efforts in Florida due to Hurricane Ian? Your generous gifts to Global Impact Disaster Relief are making a difference for our neighbors in Florida.

Did you know that our First Graders and their families attended a “How to Use Your Bible” class led by Pastor Corey? These special Bibles were distributed to the First Graders from the Church a few weeks ago in worship.

Did you know that Matthews UMC hosted the Charlotte Master Chorale and the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra this past Saturday night? The group presented the Bach B Minor Mass in its entirety. This very difficult work is seldom done because of its complex writing, but the ensemble did an amazing job. There were 80 in the chorale and 25 in the orchestra with 5 paid soloists from around the country. Over 140 people enjoyed the concert in our Sanctuary!

Did you know The Micah Connection helped the Town of Matthews and Tree Charlotte give away hundreds of trees to our community? Trees left in trucks, convertibles, wagons and on bicycles as neighbors selected free native trees, part of God’s creation that beautify our community.