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June News
I hope you are all well and happy. The weather has been so mild of late that I have developed an incipient spring fever (for which I am sure I shall have to atone for sometime in February!). Spring has always been my favorite season. I think this developed early for me, when I was much younger and in schools of the north where I felt truly a southern boy often adrift. When spring arrived I could go outside, no longer so much a prisoner of my thoughts and insecurities. Spring comes earlier here than in those more northerly climes (when I would come home I could experience two springs), but it comes. Earth renews itself and turns more toward the sun, the seat of earthly life. As this is God’s world and we are a part of His design, perhaps we all ought to take note of this pattern. We all need a season where we turn toward the source of our existence and life, and become renewed/warmed by that realignment. Lent has been called the most theologically necessary of all our seasons of religious life. It calls for us to take concrete and important measures to realign ourselves, to find within ourselves that which is worthy of Easter joy. Lent, if it is done rightly, is a serious time. Reinvent yourself, or come to know of yourself as a names and intentional part of God’s created order. You existence is for a purpose of God. You are not an accident of creation. Discover your true self. You will only know that in relation to Him who gave you that life and purpose.
Robert
February Birthdays
1st: Jamie Pratt
2nd: Virginia Wilson, Tracy Theo
3rd: Dorothy Theo
8th: Lori Wilson
9th: Ann-Marie Cooper
10th: Annie Culbertson
15th: Matthew Rucker
18th: Kitty Holtzclaw
19th: Debra Fortner, Johnnie Sexton
22nd: Gay Black
26th: Martha Eskridge
28th: Noell Howell Wilson
Congratulations!
Chet and Ann Morris are the proud parents of Gracie Ann Morris, born January 4, 2006. The proud big sister is Stacey Morris.
There will be a baby shower to celebrate Gracie’s arrival on Sunday, February 12th, immediately following the morning worship service. ** Registered at Babies R Us
There are dates available on the 2006 flower calendar. Please see Dr. Jordan in the church office if you would like to place flowers in the church in honor or in memory of someone.
Youth and Children
Cynthia Lanford is on the honor roll at Woodruff Middle School and participates on a planning board of the Beta Club.
Whitney Kelly is working as a page in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Chrissy Black is working as a Teacher’s Assistant in Biology at the University of South Carolina in Columbia as part of her undergraduate work.
**These are the things we know about; please share other triumphs for future newsletters!
Lay Readers and Acolyte Schedule
February 5 Denver Blevins Josh Hyman
February 12 Mark Phillips Scouts
February 19 Lillie Kelly Casey Hyman
February 26 Cheryl Phillips Aaron Boggs
Methodist Men’s Club
The annual Ladies Night, sponsored by the Methodist Men’s Club will be Tuesday, February 14th, Valentine’s Day, at 7:00 pm. A choice of grilled steak or baked chicken is the entrée. The cost of the meal is $7.00 per person. Reservations are necessary and may be made through the church office. Please notify the church office by Sunday, February 12th if you will be able to attend. Ladies night includes ALL ladies of the church. Let us make this annual event a great time of food and fellowship. Jim Eskridge is the President for 2006.
Scouting Sunday
The annual Scout Sunday will be observed February 12th during the morning worship hour. Boy Scout Troop #21, Cob Pack #21, and Girl Scout Troop #200 will participate in the service. The scout leaders will be recognized and scouts will be our ushers and acolyte. Parents and friends are invited to share in this special service.
Souper Bowl Sunday – February 5th
The youth of the church will join other churches across the nation in sponsoring a "Souper Bowl" offering for the needy of our community. Since Souper Bowl Sunday is also our Holy Communion observance, the youth will not be at the doors with soup bowls. Instead, the communion offering will be our "Souper Bowl" offering and is designated for Helping Hands in Woodruff.
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Additions to the newsletter - Contact Cindy Kelly, 476-6297 ckelly@arthurstatebank.com or the church office, 476-8395, emmagrayumc@mindspring.net
Eighth-Grader Travels Southeast Telling Stories
Debra Lester, Staff Writer, Spartanburg Herald News Journal Published January 25, 2006
Rixon Lane, 13, an eighth-grader at Woodruff Middle School, will compete in a national storytelling contest in February in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. It will be his second year competing in the prestigious event. Rixon Lane has been telling stories since he was 3 years old, but the 13-year-old's parents are proud of him for it.
The stories Rixon tells are the kind that win trophies and get him invited to places such as Bellingham, Wash.; Fresno, Calif.; Jonesborough, Tenn.; and, next month, for a return visit to the Annual Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
The eighth-grader at Woodruff Middle School uses his whole body to tell stories in competitions and for entertainment. His hands, voice, movements and facial expression will help him tell his "Little League Lessons" as one of the finalists at the National Youth Storytelling Showcase in Pigeon Forge.
It's the 15th annual festival, but only the second time the youth event will be included. Rixon was a finalist last year, too, and he and the other youth impressed Donnette Engebrecht, a public relations specialist from Nashville, Tenn. "They were phenomenal," she said.
The story he told last year was the first one he'd written. He won his age division and tied with a youngster from Florida for the showcase. They both had perfect scores from the judges, he said, without boasting.
This year Rixon will be telling another original story, sharing the humorous experiences he had playing in the Cal Ripkin Jr. Little League Baseball Leagues beginning when he was 6 years old.
Rixon's grandfather got him hooked on storytelling like other grandparents hook their grandchildren on fishing or baseball -- he took the youngster to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough as soon as Rixon showed interest, about age 4.
Since winning his age division as the youngest competing in his first festival, Rixon has loved the drama and excitement of telling stories to a crowd. He mesmerizes folks at the annual Stone Soup Storytelling Festival every year and told stories in front of about 3,000 people in Jonesborough.
"It's a lot of fun," he said, adding that he prefers telling funny stories. He said he learned his techniques watching storytellers such as Bil Lepp, who will perform in Pigeon Forge. Lepp has been telling stories for a decade and is a regular at the West Virginia Liars Contest and has won five Biggest Liar titles. Other adults performing at the festival will be cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell and musician, historian and a multiple Grammy award-winning storyteller David Holt.
Other festival activities include Haunts 'n' Haints Trolley Tales, which combine storytelling with an evening ride aboard a Pigeon Forge trolley. Haunts 'n' Haints tickets are $5 per person, and tickets will are available at (865) 429-7350.
Day passes for storytelling theater activities are $10 for ages 18 and older, free to ages 17 and younger. Weekend passes are $25. Tickets will be available at (800) 792-4308.
Rixon's mother, Lisa Lane, principal of Hope Academy in Greenville, said his storytelling has helped with his public speaking and the writing has helped with his language skills. But she and his father, Theo, are confident their son is well-rounded. He played football in the fall, manages the basketball team and intends to try out for junior varsity baseball. His favorite school subject is drama.
She's proud to say that his storytelling skills got him invited as a speaker to a National Storytelling Conference in Bellingham, Wash., in 2004.
Rixon said he got to meet a lot of storytellers at the conference, but his favorite part of conferences and competitions is getting invited to tell tales at different festivals, schools and clubs all over South Carolina and North Carolina.
Would he like to be a professional storyteller? Of course, he said, turning to his mom, "If she'll let me."
Saturday February 4 Boy Scout Merit Badge College
Sunday, February 5 No Choir practice
10:00 Sunday school
"The Purpose Driven Life" study begins
11:00 Worship Service
"Souper Bowl" Sunday
Sunday, February 12 9:00 Choir practice
10:00 Sunday school
10:00 Acolyte Training by the Pastor
11:00 Worship Service - Scouting Sunday
12:00 Baby Shower for Gracie Ann Morris
Tuesday, February 14 10:30 Guild Circle
7:00 Methodist Men’s Club – Ladies Night
Wednesday February 15 12:00 The Joy Club
Thursday, February 16 7:00 pm - Cub Scout #21 monthly meeting at the church
Saturday, February 18 Boy Scout Troop #21 Merit Badge College
Sunday, February 19 9:00 Choir practice
10:00 Sunday school
11:00 Worship Service
Monday, February 20 7:00 pm – Administrative Council meeting
Friday, February 24 6:30 pm – Wesley Fellowship Class dinner in church fellowship hall.
Sunday, February 26 9:00 Choir practice
10:00 Sunday school
11:00 Worship Service
**Boy Scout Troop #21 each Tuesday @ 6:30
**Girl Scout Troop #200 2nd and 4th Tuesday @ 3:30
Coming Events
Lent begins March 1st - 7:00 pm - Ash Wednesday Community Service at
Emma Gray
March 8th – Lenten Bible Study of the Old Testament
March 5 & April 9 – Lenten lunches after church at Emma Gray