Float building underway

Dean Diers works on the camp cross

Don Nelson, Donna Lewis, & Lisa Menery work on the float

Many hands make light work

Kibbitzing on float ideas

Great stuff happening tonight at the Diers' as the Stevi UMC float for this weekend’s Creamery Picnic parade started coming together. Last year our entry took first place!

We'll complete the work on Friday @ 6:30 pm, again, at the Diers'.

Thanks to Pastor Charles, Dean & joey Diers (and Gracie, the dog), Lisa Menery, Vickie Vernon, Lisa Nichols, Don & Mary Nelson, Linda Kauffman, and Donna Lewis.

Clothes Closet Back-to-school drive

The UMW Saturday Circle invites the congregation to participate in gathering needed items in support of the Clothes Closet's back-to-school drive.

Items needed include:

paper

pencils

pens

erasers

bottles of glue

glue sticks

1/2 to 1 1/2 inch ring binders

pocket binders

backpacks (boys and girls)

rulers

red pens

pen/pencil carriers.

Is there a pilgrimage in your future?

"As Christians, we are all called to be pilgrims, navigating the way to God. For many this pilgrimage is figurative, a spiritual journey that deepens our awareness. Some, however, choose to undertake physical journeys to the lands most sacred to our tradition," -Thomas Merton.

Bishop Karen Oliveto invites all lay and clergy on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The trip will take place Jan. 28 to Feb. 6, 2019. "It is a powerful, life-changing experience to walk the paths that Jesus walked,” said Bishop Karen. “It opens up the Bible and causes us to reflect more deeply on the stories that ground our faith. I pray that the clergy who participate in this pilgrimage will find their ministries enlivened through this trip."

Bishop Karen encourages people to take this pilgrimage: “Join the Mountain Sky family as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This powerful trip will expand your knowledge of scripture and deepen your faith as we visit sacred sites, worship together, and encounter God in ancient places so central to our faith. Journey with us!”

This pilgrimage is with Educational Opportunities (EO). EO has provided educational Christian travel programs since 1974.

Use the following tour information when you register:

Your Tour Host ID:  58622 Your Tour:  Holy Land Journey Mountain Sky Area & Bishop Oliveto Your Tour Code:  HL19 Your Departure Date:  012819X

Register here

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A complete brochure is available here with prices and further information.

For more information or questions, contact Youngsook Kang at ykang@mtnskyumc.org.

Scripture lesson for August 5

The scripture lesson for this coming Sunday is Mark 8:27-29.

This week @ Stevi UMC

Monday:
1:00 pm, Bible study @ The Living Center
7:00 pm, Living Clean

Tuesday:
6:30 pm, Parade float building @ the Diers'

Wednesday:
8:00 am, WIC
10:00 am, Exodus study

Thursday:
4-6 pm, Apple dumpling pre-order pick-up

Friday: 
5:00 - 8:00 pm, Apple dumpling sales @ the church
6:30 pm, float building @ the Diers'

Saturday: 

9:45 am, judging for Creamery Picnic parade (place TBA)
10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Apple dumpling sales @ the church

Sunday:
10:15 am, Praise music  

10:30 am, Worship   11:30 am, Fellowship time

A splendid day in Stevensville

With July drawing to a close, we gathered together as is our custom, on this, the Lord's Day.

Our summer musical offering this morning was shared by Dave Lockman. Pastor Charles continued the summer sermon series, Road Trip through the Bible, with "Seeing Jericho again for the first time" which was based on Mark 10:46b-52.

Thanks this morning to: Amanda Hermes (Nursery), Linda Kauffman (Acolyte/greeter/usher), Sharon Brown (Greeter/usher), joey Diers (Usher) Julie Ludington (Pianist), Paul Ludington (Praise music), Lisa Nichols  (Video), Lisa Menery (Liturgist), Dave Lockman (summer music), Ruth Cleveland & Don Nelson (offering counters), and Cammie Edgar, Janet Lonski, & Mary Nelson (Fellowship).

Mission u fun!

Belinda Alkula, Sheila Hammitt, and Marcia Prather were in attendance at Mission u this weekend. Held at Christ UMC - Great Falls, the event brought women together from across Montana to learn, share, and grow as disciples of the Christ. 

Each Mission u focuses on three topics that are designed to challenge and engage. Topics this year included Embracing wholeness (spiritual growth study), Missionary conferences in the US (geographic study), and "What about our money" (issue study)

A second Mission u will be held August 17 at Grace UMC - Billings.

Spanish Immersion 2018

For information, questions and to register, please contact Youngsook Kang at ykang@mtnskyumc.org.

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The Mountain Sky Area will host a second language, cultural, liberation theology and social justice immersion experience in Cuernavaca, Mexico from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2.


This immersion trip will be led by Bishop Karen Oliveto and Youngsook C. Kang and hosted through CETLALIC, a small community of teachers, students and activists with the goal of promoting dialogue between Mexico and people of other cultures. 
The trip will consist of daily Spanish language instruction, Mexican cultural activities (including the celebration of Día de los Muertos), a homestay with a local Mexican family, and visits to cultural, historic, and archaeological landmarks in the region. Social justice programming will also play a key role in this experience, including liberation theology, gender roles & LGBTQ issues.

Below are some remarks by the participants in the 2017 Immersion Trip:

“The Immersion Trip was an exciting experience for us. We had tried unsucessfully to learn Spanish previously. The school grouped us in classes according to our Spanish abilities-we were in the beginners class. We had very good teachers. The program provided trips to historic places to learn about the history of Mexico. The camaraderie we developed among the group has continued after our arrival back home." -Joanie and Jim Calhoun
"I learned that there is a very rich indigenous heritage we know nothing about in the US. I learned about the very real struggle to be heard and included. I experienced new and different ways of worship and mission-study that were really inspiring. The staff were absolutely great!  Guided us through unique and varied experiences along with teaching us Spanish.  I hope I get to go again this year." -Curtis Gay
"I very much enjoyed the Spanish Immersion trip to Cuernavaca and Cetlalic.  I stayed in a home, was well-cared for, and was able to practice my Spanish many hours per day.  The extra learnings about Mexican culture were great, and I loved the outings to interesting places.  The teachers were fantastic in the way that they artfully turned our natural conversations into vocabulary and grammar lessons." -Kim James

Participants will depart for Mexico on October 22 and return November 2.
More details, including this year’s agenda, can be found in the brochure.

For information, questions and to register, please contact Youngsook Kang at ykang@mtnskyumc.org. 

Stevi UMC website update

Our website has had more than 1,360 page views in the past week! 

We work hard at making sure the pages are up-to-date and all of the links work. If you find a link that is broken, would like to suggest new content, or find content that needs correcting, please let the office know.

Please take a look around and see for yourself what the website can do for you!

Come and get 'em!

Come & get your Apple Dumplings

A Creamery Picnic Tradition

$5 each

Stevensville United Methodist Church

@ the corner of E. 3rd & Pine Streets

Friday, August 3, 5 pm - 8 pm

Saturday, August 4, 10 am - 6 pm

Or pick up your pre-orders on 

Thursday, August 2, 4 pm - 8 pm

To pre-order, call:

Sue @ (406) 777-5656

Marcia @ (406) 239-9396

Thursday morning happenings

Mary Nelson

Sylke Morawic

Glad Tider crew

The church was abuzz with activity this morning! 

While our custodian, Sylke Morawic, was getting the church in tip-top shape, the library was in full use mode! Mary Nelson, our librarian, was dilgently sorting and getting the library ready for its update of materials. 

At the same time, Ruth Cleveland, Judy Fraser, Claire Kelly, Shirley Mckelvey, and Betty Shorten were preparing the August edition of the Glad Tider for mailing.

There are so many people involved behind the scenes at Stevi UMC making our ministries run so smoothly!

Help us out

Building last year's entry

Help us build our float for the Creamery Picnic parade  next Tuesday @ 6:30 pm. We'll complete building on Friday @ 6:30 pm.

Changes coming to our library

From Mary Nelson:

At long last the UMC Library is receiving a face lift.

I am “weeding” the collection to bring it more up to date.  This means removing books with a copyright older than 2005, are in poor conditions or have never or rarely been checked out.

The discarded books will either 1) be placed on the red cart.  2) donated to the next AAUW Book Sale next spring in Missoula. (Profits from this sale go toward scholarships. 3) or thrown away.

The shelves may look rather empty for now.  But, hopefully in the next few months we will be able to add new books which will appeal to the readers in our congregation.  More about this later.

Presently we have a new book, Our Strangely Warmed Hearts, on the Display table written by our own Bishop, Karen P Oliveto. We also have two wonderful children’s books written by Chelsea Clinton, She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History and She Persisted: 13 American Women Who changed the World.

Let's get ready to grow!

SUNDAY SCHOOL KICK-OFF - September 9, 2018

Big news:  Sunday school for all school age children and youth will be during church time this year! Young people are asked to be in church until after the Children’s time during the worship service, and then they can leave with their teachers for Sunday school upstairs. 

9 reasons to come for Sunday school on 9/9:

1. Because you miss your friends!

2. There will be yummy snacks!

3. We will have fun kick off activities!

4. Sunday school is fun!

5. Why would you do anything else on Sunday morning?

6. You won’t have to sit quietly for the whole church service!

7. You will learn more about Jesus!

8. Because you miss your teachers!

9. Because your teachers miss you!

SEE YOU ON 9/9!

Another day in the kitchen

 

The Apple Dumpling Gang rides again! Twenty-nine folk answered the call to prepare the 560 apple dumplings for next week's Creamery Picnic sales. The UMW makes these delicious treat as a fundraiser for its numerous mission projects.

Helping out today: Pastor Charles, Janice Belcher, Dean Diers, joey Diers, Judy Fraser, Carol Goffe, Matthew Goffe, Cleo Guenther, June Jensen, Linda Kauffman, Carole Koval, Paul Ludington, Kyslei McCauley, Susan McCauley, Shirley McKelvey, Lisa Menery, Mary Nelson,  Lisa Nicholls, Britta Pearson, Erik Pearson, Sue Pearson, Tristan Pearson, Marcia Prather, Connie Rakiecki, Phylis Riedman, Judy Scherer, Bev Schneider, Anna Storkson, and Bonita Ziegler.

Scripture lessons for July 29

 Nicholas Poussin

The scripture lesson for this coming Sunday is Luke19:2-10 and Mark10:46-52.

This week @ Stevi UMC

Monday:
1:00 pm, Bible study @ The Living Center
7:00 pm, Living Clean

Tuesday:
9:00 am, Apple dumpling making @ Stevi school kitchen

Wednesday:
10:00 am, Exodus study 

Friday: 
Mission u @ Christ UMC - Great Falls 
10:00 am, Drop-in Bible study @ Doris T.'s

Saturday: 

Mision u @ Christ UMC - Great Falls

Sunday: 
10:15 am, Praise music  

10:30 am, Worship  
11:30 am, Fellowship time

A baptismal celebration!

Linda is this morning's acolyte

Marcia shares two poems

Today was a special time for us at Stevi UMC as the baptism of Tessa Campo was celebrated during our worship service.

Our summer poetry offering this morning, two selections by Wendell Berry, was shared by Marcia Prather. Pastor Charles continued the summer sermon series, Road Trip through the Bible, with "One afternoon in Sychar" which was based on John 4:4-15.

Thanks this morning to: Amanda Hermes (Nursery), Linda Kauffman (Acolyte/greeter/usher), joey Diers (Usher) Julie Ludington (Pianist), Paul Ludington (Praise music), Lisa Nichols & Anna Storkson (Video), Lisa Menery (Liturgist), Madison (baptism assistant), Marcia Prather (summer poetry), Dean Diers & Bonita Ziegler (offering counters), and Ruth Cleveland & Arlene Halfhide (Fellowship).

It's WOW on Wednesday!

Thirteen were on hand tonight for the July edition of Worship on Wednesday (WOW). We were once more blessed by the members of Sunrise (Bill Lyon, Carole Koval, & Connie Rakiecki - Cleo Guenther couldn't be here tonight).

Pastor Charles shared from John 14 and used Bibles from 1747 - the present to illustrate the timeless nature of God's Word.

Scripture lesson for July 22

Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid, Spain

The scripture lesson for this coming Sunday is John 4:3-15.

This week @ SUMC

Monday:
1:00 pm, Bible study @ The Living Center
7:00 pm, Living Clean

Wednesday:
10:00 am, Exodus study
6:00 pm, Worship on Wednesday @ The Living Center

Thursday:
1:30 pm, Senior Moments, too @ Arlene H.'s

Friday:

10:00 am, Drop-in Bible study @ Doris T.'s

Saturday: 11:00 am, Outreach

Sunday:

10:15 am, Praise music
10:30 am, Worship
11:30 am, Fellowship

12:30 pm, Safe Sanctuary online training

A hot summer Sunday

Paul Ludington leads us in praise singing

Our way is lit

Donna Lewis shares a song

Great conversations!

A delightful start to our week began with clear skies and a congregation abuzz with joy!

Our special summer music offering this morning, "I Come to the Garden," was sung by Donna Lewis. Pastor Charles continued the summer sermon series, Road Trip through the Bible, with "Seeing the sea" which was based on Matthew 4:12-13, 17-22 & John 21:15-19.

Thanks this morning to: Amanda Hermes (Nursery), Linda Kauffman (Greeter/usher), joey & Dean Diers (Ushers), Cammie Edgar (Power point), Julie Ludington (Pianist), Paul Ludington (Praise music), Lisa Nichols (Video), Lisa Menery (Liturgist), Donna Lewis (summer music), Don Nelson & Kathy Woods (offering counters), and Ellyn Jones & Marilyn Murphy (Fellowship).

Help wanted - Christian Education

Stevensville United Methodist Church is looking for a Christian educator to lead our Sunday School program. As a member of a dynamic committee this person will be responsible for planning Sunday school curriculum, guidance of teachers and planning children’s seasonal programs. This is a part time paid position. Salary $200/month. Closing date 7/31

UMM Breakfast

Five men were present this morning for the monthly breakfast gathering. Meeting this month at the Frontier Cafe`, we discussed the rummage sale results and caught up on the whereabouts of those absent today.

Next meeting will be August 11 at the church.

Help wanted - Administrative Assistant

Part time position for Administrative Assistant at Stevensville United Methodist Church. 16 hrs/week., $12.50/hr. Proficient in MS Office, familiar with use of Church Windows helpful. Knowledge of office management systems and procedures. Strong organizational skills, ability to multi-task and prioritize work. Previous administration or assistant experience desired. Able to work independently. Closing date 7/31.

Annual UMW Picnic

 

 Warm weather greeted attendees at this year's UMW picnic which was held at Bonita Ziegler's home. We were happy to welcome a delegation from the Hamilton Federated Church to this year's gathering. 

Safe Sanctuary - Train the Trainer

On Sunday, July 22, from 12:30-2:30 p.m., Rev. Tyler Amundson of Shiloh United Methodist Church in Billings will share a "train the trainer" event for churches. This event is for any church wanting to train others to train and write safe sanctuaries policies and procedures for a church. 

This two-hour training will provide the basics of risk management and vulnerable population safety to take back to your church, develop a plan, and implement the plan. You can join this meeting via Zoom or in-person.

Topic: Safe Sanctuary Train the Trainer Time: Jul 22, 2018 12:30 p.m. Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/187946685
Or iPhone one-tap :
    US: +16699006833,,187946685#  or +16468769923,,187946685# 
Or Telephone:
    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
        US: +1 669 900 6833  or +1 646 876 9923
    Meeting ID: 187 946 685