Open hear t s

APPLYING BIBLE PRINCIPLES Under the Old Testament economy, people were required to give to God because this was also the means of providing the government. A theocracy was in place then, which meant that government was actually operating under the direct authority and leadership of God Himself. Today, we are under a different economy. However, we are still required to support the government. We may not like the way government operates. We may not agree with the policies of our governmental leaders. We may not even like the political process or the individuals involved in it. But God says that is not the issue. The issue is one of obedience. He says we are to pay our taxes to whom taxes are due (Romans 13:7). In spite of all the ills of government, God says that governmental agencies and government leaders are His servants and that they operate for our ultimate good. So the question is not whether we agree with or even support the work and activities of our governments at the local, state and national levels. The question is one of whether or not we will obey God. You see, its relatively easy to sing, Oh, How I Love Jesus. Its far more difficult to demonstrate our love for Him by yielding to Him in full and complete obedience, especially when His commands are ones we do not care for like paying our taxes. If He is in charge, if He is Lord of our lives, then we will do what He tells us to do. As the little chorus states it so clearly, Ill say, Yes, Lord, Yes, to Your will and to Your way; Yes, Lord, Yes, I will trust You and obey. Even when it comes to paying my taxes? Even when it comes to paying my taxes! Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperors, and to God the things that are Gods (Matt. 22:21).

JULY/AUGUST 2013 GRATITUDE

Open minds Open door s

Not long ago I began a practice of praying at bedtime by reviewing all the events of the day for which I give thanks. I do not voice concerns, make requests or plead my case for anything. I simply review all the reasons I have to be thankful. One night while reviewing my thanksgiving list, a thought struck me, Why has God invested so much in Oakmont UMC? God has provided by way of the Insurance company about $100,000.00 to make repairs on the church. God has invested so much, how can we show our gratitude in response? As Bishop Bickerton noted at Annual Conference: I do not believe that we are doing what Jesus Christ and John Wesley intended for us to do: communicate the gospel! And, as a result, we have gotten back what we have communicated that we expect.High expectation churches state clearly what it means to be a disciple and, as a result, they grow. We need to raise the level of accountability. So, in the light of receiving money to fix our building; in light of the fact that our numbers continue to dwindle; in light of the fact we dont like changes that are being made WHAT WILL WE DO? Will we continue to look inward and bemoan the way life has changed since a time in the past we remember fondly? OR Will we find ways to reach out to those around us in thankful gratitude for what God has done? Will we give a doxology of service by serving the community? Are we willing to work with our mother/sister congregation in Verona to feed those in need? Are we willing to look at new possibilities for reaching those around us in our community? Can/will we make changes for the greater good of the community? If we lift our hearts in prayers of thanksgiving to God for all He has done and look outside ourselves, we can serve God with gratitude for His generosity.

Blessings, Pastor Linda

Dear Friends at OUMC, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the lovely send-off you gave me on June 2. It was so lovely playing that last Sunday, looking at your faces, gazing at the beloved stained glass windows, hearing the Choir sing extra-beautifully and then standing with Christine Smith as she spoke so tenderly and kindly about my 14 years at this wonderful church. I was deeply touched by her words, and I leave OUMC knowing thattogether with both choirswe helped make the worship service a spiritually meaningful experience for the congregation. Your peace offering was so generous! At first, I thought I would put these funds aside for a trip down the road, but then when I was looking at the little purple bicycle Donna Jacka put on the top of my cake, I thought the perfect thing to do would be to buy a new bike. Mine is quite old, and if Im going to keep up with that young man Erich, I need an upgrade. Right? I think so! So, shortly, well be heading your direction to Dirty Harrys in Verona, our favorite bike store, for a nice purchase, thanks to all of you. Every time I ride, I will think of my time at OUMC. What I really enjoyed the most about my last day with you, though, was making the rounds at the Social Hour after church, talking with many of you; you thanking me for my work and my thanking you for all the support and kindness you showed me the whole time I was your music director. I felt so blessed in this position, and every time I came into the church, I felt a peacefulness in my soul. OUMC is a special place, and I wish you all the very best as you move forward, doing the work of Gods Kingdom on this earth. Be well, be peaceful, and know that you are in my heart. Love, Polly

JULY 1 2 4 6 8 10 12 13 15 16 18 19 22 24 27 29 31 Nathan Delo Jack Riley Leanna DiMatteo John Meister Rose Curran Bonnie Pahlman Rosemary Pennington Nancy Morrison Joyce Miljanovich Isabella Walsh Darleen Eden Linda Sweeney Florence Thompson John Long Marsha Wycich Samantha McClelland Tracy Provenza Jacob Barnes Donna DeTurck Jane Sykes Scarlett Fichte John Hildebrand, Sr. Eleanor Hitchak Jeanne Knox Genevieve Hissem Don Nelson

AUGUST 1 2 Bill Hall Martha Ewart Bill Moore 7 Willie DeTurck Allan Kennedy 9 Christa Assad Heather Fichte Betty Hunter 10 Scott Ashbaugh 13 Tina Whitehead 14 Michael DiCocco 18 Michele Handyside 21 Edwin Allen Bill Charlton 22 Caroline Kelley 24 Karen Sweetland 25 Carolyn Grimes 26 Don Klinsky 27 Lee Dezzutti Larry Sweeney 29 Jan Moore 30 Burl Davis Shannon Hatcher Ron Kircher

A JOY AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE Rev. La Mar Carlson was able to make the motion for "Elders' Orders and Full Membership for Nathan Carlson at the Clergy Session of Annual Conference in a video presentation! He also was present and placed his hand on Nathan's head during his ordination as Elder in the United Methodist Church, Sunday June 16, at Annual Conference. Praise God!

If we inadvertently missed listing your birthday, please call the church office and let us know.

SUMMER WORSHIP HOURS GENERAL FUND NUMBERS FOR MAY Balance 4/30 $8,625.12 (deficit) Income $17,145.24 Expenses $22,026.01 Balance 5/31 $13,494.44 (deficit) Connectional Apportionment (new name for Mission Share) is paid thru May NEWSLETTER Please submit articles for the SEPTEMBER newsletter by AUGUST 15. If you would like to receive your copy by e-mail, please send us a message at oakmontumc @verizon.net. HOSPITALIZATIONS Please continue to pray for Jane McClelland as she continues her journey to good health. GRADUATES Our recent honorees celebrated on June 2 include high school graduates Tyler Handyside, Jason Smierciak and Cory Taggart and college grads Charlene Jacka and Samantha McClelland. We wish these young people well as their journey continues. 9:00 Informal-downstairs social hall 10:30 Traditional-sanctuary 11:30-Refreshments Except for Aug. 4 and Sept. 8 which will be combined services in the social hall beginning at 10:00 am. SPECIAL MUSIC July 7th: Tony Rollett special music and organist July 14th: Tony Rollett special music and organist July 21st: Tyler Handyside July 28th: Becky Houston and Sandra Mac Pherson, duet Aug. 4th: VBS will provide special music Aug. 11th: Jocko Rice Aug. 18th: Sandra Mac Pherson Aug. 25th: Youth Instrumental ensemble Sept. 1st: Sandra Mac Pherson MAX & ERMAS FUNDRAISER BENEFITS GENERAL FUND We sincerely thank everyone who purchased food at Max & Ermas June 4. A check for $97.03 for the General Fund is on its way. FRIENDS TOGETHER If you enjoy going places, but dont always have someone to go with you or dont have transportation, the newly formed Friends Together may be the answer. Theater, movies, musicals, lunch or dinner at a restaurant youve never tried these are just a few of the possibilities. This new small group will be meeting on the 4th Saturday of each month at Paneras in Oakmont at 10:00 a.m. Possible outings will be discussed and plans will be made. Theres no commitment for each and every outing, so stop by for your morning coffee and bring your ideas on July 27th and/or August 24th. Junes event was a musical at Apple Hill Playhouse in Delmont and Julys could be a trip to the Cabaret downtown. Watch the bulletin for updates. Everyone is welcome.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL Backpacking Around the World with Jesus July 29August 26:00-8:30 pm PreschoolAge 12 NURTURE COMMITTEE Greeters are still needed for the 10:30 worship service during the summer months. Please call Thelma Lloyd @ 412-795-0326 or the church office if you can help in this way. CHURCH COUNCIL Church Council is sponsoring a Christmas in July Movie Night Friday, July 19. Several movies of interest to adults and several others for children will be offered. Votes will be cast by placing monetary donations in a jar for each of the movies. The movie that receives that most monetary votes will be shown in each category. Christmas cookies (freshly made and donated by members of Church Council) will be for sale. Proceeds will benefit the General Fund. FINANCE COMMITTEE We are participating in Oakmonts annual Street Sale, July 27 from 10:00 am 4:00 pm by having a bake sale booth. The ladies will be baking their wonderful pies to contribute to the sale. We need volunteers from the congregation to provide additional baked goods and to be at the booth for shifts to sell the baked goods. See your Sunday bulletin or call Ben Taqgart @ 412-828-0686 if you can help. Baked goods may be left in the downstairs kitchen Friday morning from 9:00 amnoon or delivered to the booth Saturday at 9:30 am. The Committee is also sponsoring an Eat n Bid Dinner and Auction Sunday, August 11. There will be a nominal charge for the spaghetti dinner that will be served at 5:30. Beginning at 6:45 bidding will begin on a variety of items donated by our church family, businesses, sports teams, etc. Please donate a new item that you dont need, a gift certificate for services or a themed basket of items to sell and come and enjoy all the fun these auctions provide! Invite your friends! All proceeds will benefit the General Fund.

Its been a busy beginning to the summer. I arrived back in Oakmont Tuesday, June 11 and the next day left for Annual Conference in Grove City. It was hard leaving Jerusalem but, as I tell people, my real ministry is hereteaching and speaking and doing advocacy, and Annual Conference offers me a place within Western Pennsylvania to tell the story of what Ive experienced during the past years. I taught 2 classes at the Laity Academy. Id seen a wonderful film last October, and I wanted to share it with the people. Its an inspiring film, a film about hope, so I decided to choose Celebrating Hope as my theme for the class. The film is called The People and the Olive. I would love to have the opportunity to show it to you. It will definitely be a part of the courses I teach this summer at Pitt and CMU. But there was another reason I chose the theme of hope. These past 2 months have produced an amazing phenomenon in the Middle East from a most unlikely sourcea TV program called Arab Idol. A young man from a refugee camp in Gaza has captured the hearts of the Arab world and has united Palestine like no one or nothing else has done before. As I write this, Mohammed Assaf, who is now a household name and has had programs about him even here, on NPR and in the Washington Post, has made it to the finals and is the first Palestinian to have such prominence. He breaks all the stereotypes that Israel and the West have imposed on the Palestinian people: a good looking young man with a smile and a voice that will melt your heart; a Muslim and a refugee, a young man who speaks of peace and love for his country and his people. He has united the country across religious and political lines. He has become a symbol of hope for a better future, not just for Palestine but for all of us who can move past stereotypes and fear and celebrate beauty and joy and love. Hope is a very difficult concept in the West Bank. If you look around, there is very little hope to be found in the daily lives of the people there. Hope becomes a spiritual reality, as we read in Hebrews 10:23: Hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And, as I was reading last week in a devotional I receive each day from the writings of Henri Nouwen: Many people who have suffered the most horrendous rejections and been subject to the most cruel torture are able to choose love. By choosing love they become witnesses not only to enormous human resiliency but also to the divine love that transcends all human loves. Those who choose, even on a small scale, to love in the midst of hatred and fear are the people who offer true hope to our world. Blessings and peace, Tina

HOPE CIRCLE BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Hope Circle will meet on Monday, July 8th at 7:00 PM in the Parlor. The Shoemakers Wife, by Adriana Trigiani, is the book that will be discussed. Enza and Ciro meet as children growing up in the Italian Alps. Enza is heartbroken when Ciro is sent to America to apprentice with a shoemaker. Her family soon flees to America in the dangerous years leading up to World War I. Through turbulent times, the two lead their lives, separate and together, as immigrants in our land as they seek the American dream. The group will meet on August 12th to discuss The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. The reader follows Hanna as she unlocks the past of this sacred volume from World War II Bosnia back through Venice, Barcelona and Seville. Please consider joining the group for an hour of sharing and discussion.

WITNESS TEAM Dont laughbut here is a date for your December calendar! Sat., Dec. 7 we will travel by bus to Curwensville UMC is see their 54th consecutive production of The Search for Peace performed in the dark and told through music and narration. Although the focus is the birth of Christ, it is also the exploration of our own faith as we seek the grace of God. We took this trip a couple of times when La Mar Carlson was our Pastor and everyone felt it began the Christmas season in a very meaningful way. We will charter a bus that will leave from the church parking lot. Well stop for a meal on the way. The tableau starts at 4:30 pm. Everyone is asked to bring a bagged lunch for the ride home. There will be a freewill offering at the church. When we get a price for the bus, well pass along the individual cost for that.

UMW NEWS With summer upon us, things slow down a little for the United Methodist Women. But dont worry, we still find things to keep us busy. We will be baking pies for the Oakmont Street sale July 26th starting at 9 am in the kitchen. These will be donated to the churchs bake sale booth. As witnessed at the Pie Auction, we have lots of women who make beautiful pies! If you are a pie baker and cannot help in the kitchen, there will be 9 inch aluminum pie pans out in the kitchen. Feel free to take these and drop your pie off at the bake sale. Then, before you know it, its caramel time. We will begin caramel making the first Monday after Labor Day, Sept 9th at 9 am and cutting and wrapping will begin Sept 11th at 9 am. Come and join in the fellowship. LIBRARY NEWS Recent donations to our shelves include: "Teaching Tips for Terrified Teachers," "32 Ways to Become a Great Sunday School Teacher" and "What's so Amazing About Grace?" We also now have more new Christian fiction, such as "The Girl in the Glass" by Susan Meissner and "The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow" by Olivia Newport. Come find some summer reading! Barbara Marcus and Dottie Wolslayer, Church Librarians.

JUNIOR YOUTH GROUP Those who just completed Kindergarten Through those who are age 12 Meetings every Wednesday From 5:306:30 pm in the Chapel Beginning July 3 Bring your friends!