February 2025
Actions Speak Louder Than Words The following devotional is reprinted from the final Monday Morning Start Up (01/27/2025), written by Rev. Tommy Herndon, who served as President of the Virginia United Methodist Foundation for the past six years. Rev. Herndon retired last summer. All my life I have heard the adage, “Actions speak louder than words.” I hear people promising others many things, but the real answer is the action they take. Parents show their children they are loved by loving them. Spouses show their mates they are appreciated by listening to and loving them. I watch the relationships between coaches and players, and it’s always evident when a coach invests in a player’s development. When you hear someone say something and then act in an entirely different way, you know they are insincere or even fraudulent. The cross upon which Jesus died is the example that we can center our lives on. The cross tells us how much God loves us. Romans 5:8 explains this concept. Paul wrote, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This verse makes John 3:16 come alive. The cross shows us who we are. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” We live in a world filled with hate and broken people, but this message rings loud and clear. If you ever wonder who you are and what your purpose on this earth is, the message of God’s love withstands the test of time. You’re the one so loved by God that He gave His only Son to rescue you. When you consider the price Christ paid for your sins, it’s easy to realize the reality of His actions. Christ loved us so much that He gave His life for us. Indeed, actions speak louder than words! Prayer Father, I can never comprehend why You gave Your Son for my forgiveness. Your love is amazing, and your grace is undeniable. Thank You for making me your child! Amen. |
*“Sharing God’s Love” Valentine/Super Bowl Lunch and Dessert Buffet: The Vitality Team invites the congregation to join us on Sunday, February 9 for a soup, salad and bread lunch after worship. The men and boys of the church are invited to create a homemade dessert for the Valentine dessert buffet and bake-off. If you have not had a chance to sign up to bring something, please call or email Jeanie Combs (434-907-2487; luv2swim1953@icloud.com;). This is a great Sunday to bring someone with you for worship and fellowship.
The Children and Youth Ministry Team invites the congregation to join us in a community project. From now until March 2, we will collect items for the service dogs of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Department and Amherst Town Police. Suggested items include dog treats, toys (squeak or chew), blankets, etc. Place your items in the Narthex tub by March 2. We will dedicate these items at a later date. (NOTE: Food was not a requested item).
Annual Spaghetti Dinner, Friday February 14th. 2025, 11:00 A.M.-7:00 P.M. at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 332 S. Main Street, Amherst, VA. The meal includes spaghetti and homemade sauce, meat or vegetarian, salad, garlic bread, beverage and homemade dessert. Adults-$12. Children under 12 years old-$3. Dine-in or take-out – call 946-2053 that day to order take-out meals or order at the door when buying tickets. Profits support local organizations and charities. Come join us for a wonderful meal, either lunch or dinner or both!
Annual Scleroderma Walk/March for Scleroderma, Saturday, March 8 at the Sweet Briar College gym. Registration starts at 8:15 a.m. and the walk begins at 10:00 a.m., followed by a live auction at 11:00 a.m. Registration is $35. We will have Team Emmanuel again this year. If you would like to register ahead of time, registration forms are available from Margaret Ann White or Cat Brandell, who are happy to assist you with the registration process. Please understand that you do not have to walk to participate in this event. This event is all about raising money for scleroderma research and raising community awareness about this devastating disease. Please share this information with your family and friends. If you have questions, please contact Amherst Women’s Club Members Cat Brandell, Jill Clark, Gail Hewes or Margaret Ann White. Emmanuel is a silver level sponsor of the March for Scleroderma each year.
A Sacred Silence/Contemplative Prayer Group will meet in our Sanctuary every Wednesday from Noon to 12:30 p.m. beginning February 12. All are welcome. Please use the side ramp entrance to the Sanctuary.
The Women’s Tuesday Bible Study will meet on their regular second, Tuesday, February 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the Mattie Ware Classroom. All women of the church and community are welcome to come at any time. All are welcome.
February is Heart Havens Month: Our February Communion Offering collected on the first Sunday of the month is designated for Heart Havens, a ministry of the Virginia Conference that provides residential care for adults with intellectual disabilities. Our Heart Havens home is located near Heritage UMC off Leesville Road in Lynchburg. They greatly appreciate our donations, and welcome individuals and groups that wish to come and provide activities and spend some time with the residents. Please let Pastor Nancy know if you are interested in this ministry. If you would like to make a contribution to this month’s Heart Havens offering, please use your February Communion offering envelope, or clearly mark your gift for Heart Havens. You may place your gift in the offering plate during worship, or mail it to the church office (Emmanuel UMC, P.O. Box 451, Amherst, VA 24521).
Upcoming Meetings
Church Council/Finance Team, Tuesday, February 11, 6:30 p.m. in the Social Hall
Worship Team, Wednesday, February 12, 5:30 p.m. in the Mattie Ware Classroom
Reminders from the Board of Trustees: Please help us keep our church building free of pests by observing the following: Do not leave any open food anywhere in the building; take any trash from your event to the OUTSIDE cans before you leave. Please wipe down all surfaces wherever food has been present and clean up all crumbs from tables, chairs and floors. Guidelines for use of the church kitchen are posted in the kitchen. Thank you for your cooperation.
Children’s Church Assistants Needed: We are so thankful to be able to once again provide Children’s Church for our youngest worshipers each Sunday. Children in preschool through 3rd grade are dismissed during the service for an age-appropriate worship and learning experience created just for them. Our Children’s and Youth ministry team is rotating the leadership of Children’s Church on a weekly basis, but we need additional persons to help on the Sundays that our Nursery Attendant cannot be present. Our church’s Safe Sanctuaries policy requires us to observe the “two adult rule” when supervising groups of children and youth. Skylar Ondrick usually provides this for us since she is present in the nursery, in addition to the volunteer who is teaching Children’s Church that week. However, on the Sundays that she is not present, or one of her children is ill, we need additional volunteers who can step in to serve as the “second adult” to ensure that we are in compliance with our own policies. The continuation of this ministry depends on having some willing back-up volunteers available when needed. If you are able to serve in this way, please contact Jeanie Combs at your earliest convenience. Thanks for considering this important ministry.
Worship Assistants are needed for 2025. If you can assist as an usher, greeter or Lay Reader in worship, please sign up on the big bulletin board in the hallway to the left of the choir loft, or call/email the church office (434-946-7624; office@emmanuelamherst.org). If you have any questions about ushering or greeting, please see Paul Ogden, Head Usher. If you have questions about serving as a Lay Reader, please contact Pastor Nancy. Thanks for considering these ministries.
Won’t You Be “OUR” Neighbor? Our Vitality Team continues to provide welcome gift bags for the congregation to use in greeting your new neighbors that move in near you and invite them to church! The bags include the Amherst Guidebook and map, as well as information about our church. You can add your own goodies and a personal note from you if you wish (totally optional). The WHITE bags are located in the labeled basket on the table in the youth room upstairs (room with couches). Please use these bags as a means of helping you and our church connect with those new to the Amherst community.
Church Office Hours: Cindy Sale began working as our new Administrative Assistant in the church office in mid-January. Beginning in February, church office hours will be 9:30-1:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Please note that items for the weekly announcements or changes to the weekly calendar are due to the office by phone or email (434-946-7624; office@emmanuelamherst.org) no later than NOON on Wednesday of each week. You may also leave your written announcement in the marked folder in wall box outside the church office door.
Online Worship Services and Worship by Phone Service: We have resumed posting our recorded weekly worship services online via our YouTube channel (Emmanuel UMC-Amherst: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtQHcVHKwQmu-hpBWdRgoXQ; Facebook Page: Emmanuel United Methodist Church-Amherst; and on our church website at www.emmanuelumchurch.org). If you follow us on Facebook or subscribe to the YouTube channel, you will receive a notification whenever something new is posted. The worship service materials are also being emailed out to the church family via the newsletter email list. For those that do not have online access, an audio recording of the worship service is available by using our Worship by Phone service. Dial 434-381-0027 toll free, 24/7 to listen to the service. If you are not receiving church emails, please contact the office to make sure we have your preferred email address.
Words of Thanks
*I would like to thank everyone for your kindness to me and my family after the passing of my son, Randy. Thank you for the cards, food and most of all your love and prayers. It means so much to me. God bless you. ~ Elbert
*Thank you to our wonderful congregation who have sent their love and prayers to me during my recent hospital stays and recovery at home. Scleroderma is an unforgiving disease and it affects each person differently. There is no cure but you can help research efforts by supporting the Scleroderma Walk on March 8 at Sweet Briar’s Field House (sorry, couldn’t resist). For further information contact Margaret Ann White or me. Again, thanks to everyone. Each of you has made me stronger. ~ Cat Brandell
*Thanks to all the people in the congregation that have sent me cards and tried to cheer me up through my various hospitalizations. Hope this is the last one and I look forward to seeing everyone soon. God bless you. ~ Renell Meeks
*The church received a thank you letter from Nancy Banton, Coordinator for Blue Ledge Meals on Wheels, for our outstanding service and continued support of this vital program in Amherst County.
*The church received an acknowledgement from Beth Gamble, President of Amherst Cares, for our continued, faithful support of this ministry.
*The church recently received a thank you call from United Methodist Family Services for our generous donation to their ministry.
Stewardship
We give God thanks and praise for God’s gracious provision for us, and for the faithfulness of our church family in the giving of God’s tithes and our offerings week after week. Because of your generous stewardship, we have once again been blessed to pay 100% of our Conference and District Apportionments for 2024 and have had the opportunity to be generous in our mission giving in our community and around the world. To God be the glory! Your giving to the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund through our Communion Offerings collected on the first Sunday of each month, and other special offerings throughout the year has enabled us to make generous gifts to the following ministries: American Bible Society/Bibles for Troops, Amherst Cares, Blue Ledge Meals on Wheels, Gideons International, Amherst Habitat for Humanity, Heart Havens, Society of St. Andrew (Hunger Action Month/Coin Boxes), United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR: Both Domestic and International Relief), United Methodist Family Services, and local agencies/fundraisers including Amherst Fire Department, American Cancer Society, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Annual Walk for Scleroderma. Through the undesignated gifts to the Discretionary Fund, we also help Amherst County families with emergency financial assistance as needs arise. Your support of the Food Pantry continues to provide emergency food for families in need. We are thankful for EVERYTHING with which God has blessed us and are so thankful for the blessing of sharing with others.
Attendance & Giving
Sunday | In-Person | Online | General Fund | Other |
December 22 | 94 | 56 | $9,899.00 | $1,930.00 |
December 24 | ? | n/a | $ 552.00 | – 0 – |
December 29 | 62 | n/a | $2,855.00 | $1,190.00 |
January 5 | 59 | n/a | $3,877.50 | $ 2,70.00 |
January 12 | No Worship | No Worship | No Worship | No Worship |
January 19 | 51 | n/a | $5,090.00 | $1,097.53 |
Partners in Ministry
February March
Ushers: Jeanie Combs, Jeannette Watts, Bob Andercyk Need Volunteers
Greeters: Jill Clark Jill Clark
Lay Reader: Janette Mears Need Volunteer
Altar Flowers Children’s Church
February 2 | Communion | Kaycee & Danny McCoy |
February 9 | Janie & Tom Hall | Jeanie Combs |
February 16 | Margaret Ann White | Jeanie Combs |
February 23 | Jill Clark | Teresa Belcher |
Please contact Janie Hall (janiewmh@aol.com; 434-841-0513) if you would like to place altar flowers on a particular Sunday. If you are placing your flowers in honor or in memory of someone, please send that information via email to the church office (office@emmanuelamherst.org) by noon on Wednesday.
February Birthdays
02/01 Nancy Joseph | 02/14 Cindy Sale |
02/02 Angela McCartney | 02/14 Marge Steadman |
02/03 Joseph King, III | 02/16 Jacob Stine |
02/03 Jeannette Watts | 02/17 Randy Joseph |
02/05 Victoria Spence | 02/18 Ann Backof |
02/09 Madison Belcher | 02/20 William Masencup |
02/09 Faye Garrette | 02/22 Ella Sue Coffey |
02/10 Ed Kryspin | 02/25 Matthew Goff |
02/11 Anne Arbogast | 02/26 Mitch Neff |
02/11 Santita Ogren | 02/28 Susan C. O’Neil |
02/11 Susan Steele | 02/28 Michael Ondrick |
02/12 Marvin Cash III | |
02/14 Pat Pafford |
Newsletter Editor: Cat Brandell, Phone: 946-9102, Email: catbrandell@gmail.com. Deadline to submit newsletter items is the 20th of each month. If you can send your information by email, it would be appreciated. If you do not have email, your information may be left in church office in the box labeled “Newsletter Notes,” or in the marked folder located in the wall box outside the church office door.