2018
January 2020 [ on-line edition ]
I love the bleak midwinter. I’m talking about the
classic Christmas carol more than the season, but there’s
also an appeal to the moaning of frosty winds, to the
earth standing hard as iron and water like a stone. Maybe
I can s ll enjoy winter because I’m newer to New England.
Since I endured years of shorts and sandals being appropriate
December a re, I can appreciate when snow falls on snow.
And the song “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” finally
makes sense.
In winter, folks have to slow down
somewhat–literally on the roads. But the
surprise winter weather closings and
travel advisories also mess with our
rou nes and our ability to be produc ve.
Maybe, that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe
the rhythms of the season need a
calmer, mournful tone rather than the big,
bold brightness of a “fa la la la la.”
There’s an appeal to music in a minor key, like
“What Child is This?” or “God rest ye merry
gentlefolk”
serves as a– nice
especially
correcthisve me of year.
to the It cheerfulness of a
forced
season which is anything but for lots of folks – those who
grieve, those who family structures and histories are
complicated and marked by separa on, those whose body
clocks are infected by the diminished light, and those whose
solitary, child-free lives are highlighted as abnormal by every
commercial and holiday tradi on.
And the dreamlike quali es of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite
point to the call of our bodies to sleep more, if not hibernate,
to hunker down in cozy fabrics reading or sipping a hot
beverage, to enter the cave of our hearts to explore what just
might be gesta ng there in the dark, wai ng for
spring warmth to reveal the signs of the new growth.
I am thankful for living in a hemisphere where Advent
coincides with winter, and, now, far enough north of
the equator to feel acutely the chill of turning away
from the sun. It’s a chance to befriend the darkness,
to re-calibrate existence.
The abundant life promised in John’s gospel (10:10)
seems foreign to the winter landscape in New
England (unless you live for snow sports). Perhaps,
this me of year is less about
thriving than surviving.
In All Crea on Waits, the author
celebrates the various survival
strategies in the animal kingdom. I
have a new apprecia on of the
planning and winter rou nes
required by cri ers to endure. There
is such care taken to find the
sufficient place for the winter cold,
the sheltering evergreen, the den at
just the right depth, the food that
will sustain, and the neighbors needed in the process.
The daily examina on of the cardinal whose brilliance
shows his unshakeable expecta on of spring, the
recogni on of the muskrat to build a space for
breathing room, the way skunks let go of their solitary
existence for warmth, and the willingness of several
species to share habitats and make peace with
enemies of warmer months. The turtle’s commitment
to u er quietude, the wood frogs’ programming of
dying only to be raised again which mirrors our
bap smal liturgy.
Con nued on page 7
 2 T M M

Special health concerns: OPEN PANTRY COMMUNITY SERVICES, INC.

Lesley Hampton, Hank & You have made our day!
Bev Kalloch, Li le Ford,
Jessie & Colleen Grabowski, On behalf of the dedicated team and clients of
Barbara Nero, Olivia Ryan & Open Pantry Community Services, Inc., I want to personally
Gail McGrath recovering thank you for your very generous dona on of 312 lbs. of
from foot surgery. food. It is this type of generosity that enables our communi-
ty food pantry to con nually provide nutri ous meals to the
families we serve.
In 2019, 1,001,104 pounds of food was distributed to ease
Dot Buzzelle - Redstone the worry of hunger in our community with 33% of the clients
we serve being children. We encourage you to invite anyone
Joan Kearns Wells Country who might need support with food or basic needs to reach
Village, Vernon CT out to us for more details.
Paul Willer - Reeds Landing
Thank you for believing in us and your overwhelming support,
Joyce D’Angelo - At Home as we continue to grow and strive to find
solutions to prevent food insecurity in the
communities of Western Massachusetts.
Sincerely,
We want our building to Annie Rennix, Dir. Food Pantry Services
be available for ministry
and for the community.
As 2019 draws to a close, I want to thank everyone who
We want to be good stewards has helped out with snacks for Fellowship Time throughout
of our resources and our the year. Everyone has enjoyed them. I also want to thank
building. Vance Gagnon, Carol Johnston and Jim Harris for their assis-
We want everyone to feel welcomed -- including those tance in helping with set-up and clean up. There are a num-
who eat cheerios or bring a coffee into worship (we especially ber of other people who
love cups with lids!). have stepped in when the
need arose and I also want
We have tightened our budget and reduced our custodian to thank them.
hours.
I especially want to thank all
We trust everyone will help out when they see something that of you who have contributed
needs straightening or cleaning and we're grateful to Laurie cash. Your dona ons make it possible to con nue with
Conz and Chris Hutchison who donated dust busters to Fellowship Time on a weekly basis.
make it easier for everyone to assist parents, visitors, and
those who forget to put their bulle ns in the recycling I am looking forward to working with all of you during
bins. 2020.
—Lois Harris
One dustbuster is kept in the chapel to the right of the
cross, and the one other is in the hall --thanks for all you
to do to keep the new sanctuary clean and welcoming to SOUP’S ON
all. Mission Shares marketplace
Sunday, January 12th
Sales support ongoing mission
programs
Pat & Tom Ryan Please see Vance Gagnon
January 28 (or email
gagnonvance@gmail.com)
if you can make a soup or baked item for this important
fundraiser. Thanks and hope to see you there.
 T M M 3

MLK B
January 18, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Sheraton Springfield
Monarch Place Hotel
Tickets $40
Come and celebrate The 38th Annual Dr. Mar n Luther King,
Jr. Memorial Scholarship Breakfast! The Scholarship Breakfast

J oin us on new Year’s Eve for a great, safe and

FREE celebra on at TWO VENUES!!
Tuesday, December 31 s t
St. Paul Lutheran 181 Elm St. East Longmeadow
6:00-9:00 pm - Dinner (from Leones!) and sensory-friendly
activities for all abilities and disabilities, led by Special Education
Teacher, Kelly Phillips.
EL United Methodist 215 Somers Road, E.L. for families
4:00-7:00 pm - Dinner and fun family ac vi es!
Magician at 5:00 pm.
features engaging speeches, food, live music, and is a end-
ed by a diverse gathering of civic, community, and religious
leaders and members from Western Massachusetts.
Event proceeds fund student scholarships and community
programs hosted by MLK Scholarship Fund located at 741
State St. Springfield, MA 01109.
Contact the church office for ticket information or purchase
online through EventBrite. See Wesley’s Facebook page.

Come for an hour,

or stay until closing!
For more informa on, and to register, please contact:
St. Paul Lutheran-413-525-6084/stpaul@stpaulelong.or
Kelly Phillips-413-252-1709

MOVIE
NIGHT
Please join us
Liz Gruber
for movie night
on January 25th January 18,
at 4:00 PM in 2020
the sanctuary 7:00 pm
(Snow date will be February 1st). Popcorn and pizza will be
served.
ALL are welcome!
We will be showing Disney's Wall-E, telling the tale of a
small waste-collec ng robot that inadvertently embarks on
a space journey that will ul mately decide the fate of all
humankind. Lots of laughs to be had and this event is great
for all ages!
Please join us.
Please contact Vera or Stephanie Denyko
with any ques ons.
 4 T M M

A C
Thanks to the Worship team for working hard to make heaven and nature sing to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the
favorite Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World”. Thanks to Marcia McFee and the Worship Design Studio for the inspira on.

Some pics from "unabashed joy" Sunday where

heaven and nature sing and the kids brought the
story alive. Thanks to all three choirs and leaders
Rick Marcil and Mallory Wray for your offerings!

Adorable and meaningful--

our kids bring the na vity
story alive !
Jordan Lee Hemingway as
baby Jesus
 T M M 5

L A L On December 1st immediately

Thanks to all who were able to come to the Ladies after service the Family Ministry
Advent Luncheon on Thursday, December 12th. A spe- invited everyone to “Joy”n
cial thank you to Laurie Conz, Joan Clark, Diane Hemingway, Pa y them at a Hot Chocolate Bar.
Ryan, Kathy Sousa & Pastor Kelly for providing and serving Seasonal treats were served
the brunch.
and everyone work together to
Everyone enjoyed getting together and sharing a great meal
that included sliced create joyful cra s to help decorate their homes for
turkey with cranberry the advent season.
sauce, squash & rice
pilaf. A delicious
peppermint ice cream
sundae with a Christmas
tree shaped brownie
was served for desert.
Rev. Kelly spoke
about the animal
Kim Obara, Carol Johnston, Laurie Conz & kingdom and how
Lois Harris enjoy ge ng together at the wild animals adapt
luncheon when darkness and
cold descend upon us
during the winter. She asked if anyone had any ideas of
different ways to make it through the long winter. Some suggestions
were; si ng by a nice wood fire, reading a good book, going Laurie Conz helps with a holiday craft while everyone enjoys
to Florida, using a fellowship & hot chocolate.
good lip balm,
hanging bright
Christmas lights,
or getting involved Fred Gagnon, &
in a winter sport. Kay & Stephanie
Denyko enjoy
Kelly referred the making Advent
ladies to a display cra s.
of illustra ons
from the book All
Crea on Waits by
Gayle Boss with Eileen Brogan, Louise House, Kathy Sousa,
illustrations by David Pa y Ryan & Bev Kalloch share a meal and
good conversa on.
G. Klein. The book
contains meditations paired with original woodcuts reflecting
on how wild animals adapt in winter. She also read a passage
from the book describing how cardinals cope with winter and
commented on how seeing a
cardinal’s bright red color
brightens a winter day.
The food was delicious, the
fellowship was enjoyable and
the Social Hall was beau fully
decorated. Many of the ladies
The Deziel family had fun making holiday cra s together.
stated that it was a lovely
a ernoon.
6 T M M

F M D : ELUMC N
Hi everyone,
Happy New Year! T S
We hope you enjoyed our “Heaven T
and Nature Sing” series based on the ELUMC was well
300th anniversary of “Joy to the represented at the
World”, as much as we did! December 7th Spring-
field Thunderbirds
Our next endeavor is a nod to the Sci-Fi shows which many
hockey game.
of us grew up with, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Avatar
The game included
and The Twilight Zone. Instead of an alien abduc on we
an annual special
will be experiencing a “Bible Abduc on.”
promo on called
Don’t be surprised to hear some familiar musical themes the Teddy Bear
from well-known shows and movies. Toss. Par cipants
are asked to bring
Thank you! a Teddy Bear or
Grace and Peace, Rick other stuffed animal to the game as a dona on. When the
Thunderbirds scored their first goal, everyone threw the
stuffed animals on-
to the ice surface.
I T U
The animals are
Thank you to everyone who has then donated to
given an end-of-the-year gi to needy local families.
our church for mission Total teddy bear
shares. It has been exci ng to watch the envelopes get count was 4,887.
replaced with the inspira onal cards. The Innova on
Team's next steps will be to coordinate innova ve events
that connect joy, fellowship, and giving during
2020. Thank you to everyone who has provided ideas al- L F
ready. If you have an inspira on that the team should
The Loaves and Fishes team
consider, please reach out to Andrew Samuelson or Kim
Ketcham. meets diligently at 8:30 a.m. on
the third Wednesday of each
month in our church kitchen to prepare
a hearty meal, which is then later
E P served at an area soup kitchen.
A
Volunteers are needed to help with the food prepara-
We have an opening on the on (and cleanup). If you can help, please contact Denise
Endowment Team. They meet Forgue at 413-733-5644 or mems5luvs@gmail.com and
very, very infrequently with let her know of your interest. Also, because so many are
most of their business handled in need of this service, the cost of the monthly meal ingredi-
across email. And they work to faithfully administer the ents is approximately $180/mo. This is not a funded item in
endowment and investments of the church as well as edu- our church budget but an important mission that we’ve
cate the congrega on on how they can support the en- supported for many years.
dowment with financial gi s and estate planning.
If you can donate toward the cost of the meal, please
If you're interested, talk with the Endowment Chair, Ross
write a check to ELUMC with “Loaves & Fishes” on the
Overlock or the pastor.
memo line.

Thank you so much for your continued support of this ministry.

 T M
W E M E
Welcome Evan and
spouse Ka e who move up
from Atlanta on January
3rd. Evan just graduated from
Emory University with a Master of
Divinity degree and will be as-
sis ng ELUMC as a pastoral intern
ll June.
Evan & Ka e have moved into Gayle Lesure’s house and we
would like to support Evan who is just starting out in his ministry.
If you can help with the utilities we are accepting dona ons.
Thanks for helping these new ministers.
MEET OUR MISSIONARY
Chin Cho
(submi ed by Lois Harris)
Rev Cho serves as coordinator of the
United Methodist Mission in Mongolia,
based in the capitol city of Ulaanbaatar.
The mission was launched in 2002 with a hospice ministry
and has grown steadily. As of 2015 there were 7 congregations, 2
children's ministry centers, a deten on ministry and health
services. Today there are 13 churches, Grace Hospice and
Kairos Gymnasium. Chin oversees the several aspects of min-
istry, he also teaches Wesleyan Studies at the Mongolia Trinity
Bible College which trains indigenous clergy.
Chin was born in South Korea, but moved to the U. S. with
his family when he was quite young and is an American ci -
zen. His father is a re red pastor of the Greater New Jersey
Annual Conference. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree
from Rutgers University in New Jersey, and a Master of Divinity
degree from Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jer-
sey.
When he was 16 years old, Rev. Cho experienced the love,
peace, and joy of God while a ending a youth revival
mee ng. In his mission, Chin seeks to introduce God to oth-
ers who have less opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ. He
is very thankful for the Methodist missionaries who arrived
in Korea in the 19th century.
M 7
Con nued from cover
The Meadow Vole has a counterintui ve survival strategy
that eschews accumula on and yet it is her pared-down
existence that allows her to survive and to welcome
strangers into her nest. Li le brown bats know the places
of communion where warmth and sustenance was re-
ceived and they remember to return whenever necessary.
The red fox’s remarkable hearing is not enough in winter
and so she must turn toward the direc on of the shadow
in her eye to follow the magne c force of the earth to find
sustenance.
The Common Eastern Firefly’s long process of transformation
to become the fli ng, bright bug we enjoy on summer
nights, requires most of its life spent underground, glowing
where no one can see–and yet, it s ll shines. The turkey
hens pay careful a en on to placement, test the ground
o en, and offer encouragement, calling out to each other,
especially the young ones: “Together, we can outlast this,
right here in this sufficient place.”
I’m wondering how humans, also a part of the animal kingdom,
plan for survival in these days of deeper darkness? How do
we change our rou nes to ensure there is breathing space,
and community, and the warmth of companionship? How
do we gauge our selves and our surroundings, what practices
offer us greater self-awareness? How do we give witness to
others (and to ourselves) about the need for s llness and
the truth that new life is possible? How willing are we to
shine, even if there’s no audience or applause? Are we willing
to pare-down and avoid accumula on for the survival of
the planet? How good is our memory, to return to the
place where holy communion nourished us and the older
genera ons encouraged us? How do we share our habitat,
provide for another’s warmth, call out to others with an
encouraging word or direc ons to a sufficient place?
May our Advent prac ce nurture us this winter to grasp
the mystery of crea on – how a new beginning o en
comes out of what looks like death. May our faith
transport us there (this is where we’re headed this January
– check out the back cover for our Epiphany series).
Pastor Kelly
 East Longmeadow United Methodist Church
215 Somers Road, STE 2
East Longmeadow, MA 01028-2998
413-525-7416 • a reconciling congrega on
www.elumc.org
Address Service Requested

SAFE SANCTUARIES
T

THE SUNDAY EXPERIENCE

8:30 a.m. – Bible Study for Jr./Sr. High & Adults
10:00 a.m. – Worship & Church School
(pre-schoolers through Grade 5)
Professional child care is provided for For the on-line church calendar
“Cribs & Creepers”/“Toddlers & Twos.” follow this link:
11:15 a.m. – Fellowship Time
http://57650311.view-events.com/

The Methodist Messenger is a journal of the ministry of The East Longmeadow United Methodist Church. Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.

__________PHONE:_______

___ ___
Grinders may be picked up on Saturday, February
1sth from 11-11:30 or on Sunday, February 2nd
following worship.