Teresa Circle
For your calendars: Teresa Circle will meet on Tuesday, July 19 at 7 pm at the home of Jean Ewing. ALL women are invited! The topic of discussion this month will be “Fifty Years of Feminist Theology,” introduced by Jean Wynn.

From Katy Stigers:
My friends, The Stallings family, have been on the prayer list for some time. Emmett was diagnosed in February with esophageal cancer (stage 4). He is just 30 years old, and they have a pre-school aged son. They have been sharing their faith journey as they battle this illness on a blog www.teamemmett.com and I wanted to share that link with everyone who has been praying for them. I know that Emmett, Wendy, and Quinn have been greatly blessed by the prayers of many people.

Emmett is a professional musician, and they have organized a benefit concert in Nashville, where they live, in August. Amy Grant will make an appearance, and I wanted to also share that information in case anyone has friends or family in Nashville who may want to attend or share the information with others. http://teamemmett.com/concert/

Sunday School Class in July
During the month of July, Emily McNeill is leading an adult Sunday School class at 9:45a.m. on Faith Seeking Peace (started last week). The class will read the Palestinian Kairos Document, released by an ecumenical group of Palestinian Christian leaders last December, and use that as a resource from which to talk about our own theologies and how they apply to issues facing our own communities. To get a copy of these documents, please contact Emily at the church office or emilymcneill@gmail.com.

Sunday Evening Lectionary Study
The Sunday evening lectionary class will resume its meetings on August 1st at 6:30pm in the conference room. Join Rex Kaney for an in-depth and lively discussion about the following week’s lectionary readings.

DHUMC Blog “Beyond Belief”
DHUMC has a new discussion forum—a blog called “Beyond Belief”. The web address is: http://druidhillsjustice.blogspot.com. There is a link to the site through druidhillsumc.org under “Hear From”, link “Beyond Belief”. Visit the site to read Cliff Richards, Brad Schweers, and Pat Ziebart’s compelling entries.

Retake the Space
On July 2, Rev. Josh Noblitt, the social justice minister at St. Mark United Methodist Church, and his friend were assaulted and robbed at gunpoint in Piedmont Park by a group of teenagers after being asked whether they were gay. In response, there will be a picnic in Piedmont Park Sunday, July 18, 3-6pm in the grassy area between 10th Street and the lake to retake the space and bring the community together in a collective act of healing. Bring a picnic basket, a blanket, and a game or two. All are invited and all are welcome. (For more information and to read Rev. Noblitt’s reflection on the incident visit St. Mark’s web site – www.stmarkumc.org.)

Food Pantry
Thank you for supporting the ICM Emergency Needs Food Pantry. Your donations are definitely needed! The pantry also needs more volunteers.

Current needs: Hot and cold cereal, crackers, rice, peanut butter, canned meat (all kinds), pasta, pasta sauce, dry beans, and boxed meals. The pantry has a low-sodium selection that also needs donations. Also need plastic bags.

On an ongoing basis, we have designated the fourth Sunday as DHUMC’s day to bring an item (or more) for the food pantry. As we usually have lunch on the fourth Sunday, this is a great time to remember those in need of food. Donations are accepted any other time as well.

-Sunday’s altar flowers are donated by Aly and Joe Palmer in honor of Charles Francis Palmer on his day of baptism.

Prayer List Psalm 17:1
Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea;
listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer.
Virginia Austin
Shelby Bacon
Lee Bode, Erin Drake’s aunt
John DeLuca
Richard Ezell, Dana Ezell Rabon’s father
Tricia Green and family
Amanda Hogg
David Jones
Pam Kinnaird and family
April Meade
Jim Parrish, Joan Cain’s nephew
Mildred Parrish, Joan Cain’s mother
Jean Rhodes, Laura Green’s mother
Leroy Sitton
Frank Smith
Emmett, Wendy, and Quinn Stalling
Jennafer Thompson, Pam Kinnaird’s sister

Assisting in Worship
Liturgist: Emily McNeill
Violin: Kirsten Browning
Elizabeth Lamback
Cello: Emily McNeill

Ushers for July: Team 3, Alexander
Ushers for Aug.: Team 4, ZuiderVeld

Offering 07/11/10: $4,429
Capital Fund Balance: $26,527

This Week at Druid Hills UMC
Sunday, July 18
Youth Group 5pm (Y)
Tuesday
Teresa Circle, 7pm (J. Ewing home)
Wednesday
Weight Watchers 6pm (Q)
Women’s AA 8pm (W)
Friday
Wedding dress rehearsal 3:30pm (S)
Alanon 7:30pm (Q)
Saturday
Esther Circle 10am (TBA)
Food Pantry 11am (Hall, MTS, Pantry)
Wedding 4pm (S)

Workers installed new solar panels March 4th

Pastor Rex Kaney surveys a newly installed solar panel

Thus far over 22 DHUMC members have contributed or pledged support for the installation of a 2.35 kW photo voltaic panel on our educational building roof.   With this project we will be generating green electric power that will be sold directly to Georgia Power.   

Installation of panels cost $18,800. We have received $4,153 in one-time pledges and $5,400 in monthly pledges ($45 per month) over 10 years.  We anticipate receiving $6000 over 10 years ($600 per year) from selling the power generated to Georgia Power.  An additional $3,247 is still needed to fully fund this project.

Although DHUMC is able to borrow funds from the Georgia Interfaith Power and Light organization (GIPL)with no interest charges, the loan must be repaid within 10 years.  You can participate by making a initial contribution (which reduces the loan amount) or pledge and contribute to the monthly loan payments.

DHUMC joins other faith communities that wish to make a witness and demonstrate an efficient way to reduce our impact on our environment.   The Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church in Decatur is on schedule to install a similar but  larger system, also using our selected vendor: One World Sustainable.

For additional information or to participate in this project, please e-mail Jim Wynn at jrwynn@bellsouth.net or Jean Hilyard at jean@druidhillsumc.org

The Beatitudes Society is an organization that seeks to strengthen the progressive Christian network for justice, compassion and peace.  It provides grants to selected fellows so that they may gain experience in encouraging social change.

For two months Emily will model how one can engage with contemporary society on all the thorniest issues. Quite simply, she is committed to societal transformation, and her resume is packed with references to peace marches, congressional campaigns, progressive media, interfaith dialogue, poverty initiatives, and LGBT issues.

In 2008 she spent time in occupied Hebron. Of that experience, she writes, “I was confronted by humanity’s limitations and the injustice, violence and hatred of which we are capable. In that context, my faith became more than a source of principles about love and justice.  Prayer and worship sustained my conviction to be loving, gave me courage to go into dangerous situations, helped me to empathize when I felt burned out, and let me find beauty and grace in what is in many ways a hopeless place.”

Rex Kaney, Dan Browning, Lay Leader, and Lila Bradley, chair of Staff-Parish Relations, have laid out plans with Emily which will make for a lively summer at DHUMC: she will provide leadership in Sunday worship; she will work with our youth, both actively and reflectively, on the annual Metropolitan Atlanta Service Project; in July, she’ll teach a series of combined adult Sunday School classes on Faith Seeking Peace; she will organize community conversations on issues of justice, compassion and peace via both the internet and at a 2^nd Wednesday dinner; she will work with the communications team as it overhauls our website, highlighting hospitality, justice, and mission foci; she will spend a day at the North Georgia Annual Conference, observing the theological/cultural context of United Methodism in North Georgia; she will write a summary paper in order to improve our ministry with interns; and as time allows, she will help us think about our ministries with young adults.

Pastor Rex is thrilled. “I am extremely grateful that the Christian witness of DHUMC in the areas of justice, compassion and peace has helped us begin a relationship with the Beatitudes Society. Emily McNeill was our first choice of the applicants, and I’m confident that her tremendous love of the gospel and her passion for living it will help move our justice and peace efforts to another level.”

Send an email to the Office Manager at info@druidhillsumc.org.

Contact our Pastor: Dr. Rex Kaney at rexkaney[at]druidhillsumc.org.

“Often over time,” Mary believes, “the images looked back at me for a while, and I recognized gifts of Spirit. The Lazarus piece “arch” was meant to quietly bestow the blessings of the Border Communion service, where bread was passed through the fence between two countries, Mexico and the U.S. Yet from a distance, the profiles of da Vinci’s Last Supper emerged.”

Peace,
Dan

You may make a gift to UMCOR at  http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/emergencies/, or by calling 1-800-554-8583, or by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068 (write the name Haiti in the memo line) – 100 percent of all funds go directly to immediate Haiti Emergency Aid.

UMCOR Response to Earthquake

UMCOR is mobilizing staff to go to the Dominican Republic this weekend. Working with partners, Action by Churches Together, Church World Service, Global Medic, Muslim Aid, and the Methodist Church, UMCOR is channeling its resources to respond effectively to the people most in need. UMCOR is providing material resources and funding to Haiti, including a contingency grant to the Methodist Church of Haiti. Once non-governmental organizations are allowed and the situation is safe, UMCOR staff will move quickly to begin offering direct support in cooperation with the church.

[This excerpt from the UMCOR site used by permission]

Have you noticed the activity around the DHUMC gymnasium?

Once the lease was signed with the Atlanta School System, the Barton Malow construction company has been hard at work making major renovations to our gym.  Currently,  two new HVAC units have been placed on the east side of the gym, and a new gym roof is being installed.

It is anticipated that by April the gym will be ready for week-day use by the students at Springdale Park Elementary School.   DHUMC will have use of the facility in the evenings and weekends.

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Also, the main church is currently getting both a face lift and becoming more energy efficient with the installation of new storm windows. Beginning the first week of March, the new storm windows are being installed, including single pane windows on the main floor and installation of triple track windows.

New single pane storm windows on first floor of main church building

The music ministry at Druid Hills UMC draws on the rich worship traditions from ancient times to the present, using the wealth of talent within our own membership to bring this great music to life.   Our goal is to minister to each individual (member and visitor alike) personally through a unique blend of worship styles.   We invite anyone with musical interests at any experience level to be involved.   Our Chancel Choir sings repertoire ranging from standard choral classics to gospel, sacred harp, jazz, and much more, and our instrumental ensemble performs both alone and with individual vocalists and small groups, as well as the choir.  Both groups perform on a regular basis throughout the year.  Each August has traditionally become “Jazz Month”, where instead of the traditional approach to hymns and anthems, we “pep it up” a bit with a jazz ensemble accompanying all the music in the service.  We have also traditionally saluted Black History Month each February by highlighting some of the great church music from the African-American tradition.  In an effort to continually educate and enlighten both our performers and our congregation, we try to perform at least one “major work” each year.  We have recently performed such choral chestnuts as the “Christmas Cantata” by Daniel Pinkham, featuring DHUMC’s very own brass ensemble; and John Rutter’s “Gloria”, featuring the phenomenal talent of our organist, Mary Lou Rahn.  The wide variety of music at DHUMC keeps each service fresh, worshipful and sometimes even entertaining!  I highly encourage you to contact our music minister, Mark Lamback (mark@druidhillsumc.org) to get involved!

Chancel Choir Rehearsal
Wednesdays 7:30-8:45 PM in the choir room.

Instrumental Ensemble
Contact Mark Lamback for details.