Welcome New Members

Please welcome New Members who joined the Church on January 29, 2012.

• Mark and Monica Butler
• Spencer and Heather Folau
• Dave and Kay Shaeffer
• Al and Brenda Soskin
• Scott Stewart
• Kate Strom

Happy Birthday RUMC! 235 Years on Sunday, February 5th.

Yes, we are "Forever Beginning" since 1777 - 235 years - from a little one-room log cabin to our beautiful sanctuary and facilities of today. During each service every Sunday of the month you will hear about some of the works of art with which we have been so blessed. Listen to hear the interesting facts about things you see frequently, and those that may not have caught your eye.

There will be a party after each service on February 5th in the Fellowship Hall with goodies and punch. We will also have memorabilia on display along with picture albums to bring back memories. Do you remember some of the events? What are milestones you took part in or have heard about?

The Relevance of Rock by Matthew Surber

For those of you who were aware, the youth group spent this past weekend (Jan 20-22nd) in Ocean City, Maryland for the annual Rock retreat.

This ministry of the Baltimore-Washington Conference hosted 7,000 people, many of who were high school and middle aged youth. While the messages expressed by the guest speaker Steve Fitzhugh were certainly aimed at that age range and life stage, the adults in attendance heard just as much spoken directly to them.

Steve Fitzhugh was a Denver Bronco for some time and found a way to successfully intertwine his spirituality with his profession. That message alone is one that resonates with so many adults as the struggle to maintain balance between the two can be overwhelming.

We often have workplaces where we don't want to create waves or draw too much attention to ourselves, but the truth of our spirituality is one that can't be ignored in the way we relate to those around us.

This ties into one of Steve's other points, the idea of choices. At each step of journey we have the ability to continue onward, or step aside. The challenge is perseverance. It's a business buzz word to be sure, but it also speaks to the way God calls us to continually walking farther into our faith. In the first chapter of his letter to James, Paul writes

• ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
• ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.'

And finally, Steve's message was one of hope. Hope that no matter where we end up, through good or bad choices, that Christ will always lead us back to the cross should we choose to follow.

While these are certainly messages our young people need to hear, there is as much truth in them for adults. God calls us to live out our faith where we are, to persevere in times of struggle, and to know that we can never fall too far for Him to pick us back up again.

Food Pantry

The Food Pantry will open on Wednesday, January 4th! Our public hours will be: Wednesdays, 6pm – 8pm and Saturdays, 9am – 12pm. Food sorting and bagging will be done on Thursdays and Sundays. Information on volunteering will be available soon. Please continue to drop off your food donations in the bin by the Fellowship Hall or the bin behind the new Welcome Center in the Narthex.

Irresistible Invitation - Responding to the Extravagant Heart of God

Did you get a chance to read "Irresistible Invitation - Responding to the Extravagant Heart of God"? Did you just run out of time during Advent? Maybe you wished you could have discussed the book with others. Well, now is your chance. Pat Botelle will lead a discussion of "Irresistible Invitation" during Lent. The group will meet on Thursday mornings (10:00 am to 11:30 am) starting March 1st and go until April 5th.