Announcements

September 5, 2010

Request Prayer Support

Living Nativity

There will be a meeting for anyone interested in helping with this year’s Living Nativity on Tuesday, September 7th starting at 7:00 PM.  This will be an organizational meeting and should last only one hour.  We will try and set the date and set some goals.  Everyone is invited to attend.  It was very successful last year and we would like to kick it up a notch this year.

A short course in understanding Education

Manuel and Mittie Pedraza are planning to provide three one-hour classes focused on getting a better understanding on how we learn.  The dates and content are described in a flyer which is located in the foyer along with a sign-up sheet.  You can also reserve a space by either calling Mittie Pedraza at 360- 9396 or emailing mmpedraza.at.msn.com.

Young Adults Invited

Pastor Dennis and Marilyn cordially invite those 19 - 35-years-of-age to their home, 16316 Cala Rojo Drive, on Sep 17th, at 6:00 pm for a pot luck fellowship.  Children are welcome.  Pastor will provide the meat and drinks; y'all provide the rest.  Please R.S.V.P. to dennis.shaw.at.rmcumc.org or 633-6463.  Maps to their home will be available on the back table in the Foyer.

Memory Walk

The Alzheimer's Association is sponsoring a 5K walk on September 18th, to raise funds to end Alzheimer's.  If you want to walk, register at alz.org/co.  If you want to sponsor Linda Hutchison or Marilyn White, contact them.  Linda and Marilyn will meet any others who want to go on the walk at 7:30 am, Sep 18th, at the church and we'll carpool down to America the Beautiful Park.

Fall Monday Night Class

The Fall Monday Night Class starts on September 13th at 6:30 PM and will end about 8:30 PM.  The class will run to the week of Thanksgiving.  The book is Adam Hamilton’s Seeing Grey in a World of Black and White.  

Send a note to church office or indicate on attendance pad your desire to attend.

 Lunch and Lessons: Wednesday, September 22nd

The Reverend Kent Ingram of First UMC, Colorado Springs will be here on September 22nd to speak to the topic: Spiritual Hospice or Spirtual Hospital. The event starts at noon and we would ask for an indication of attendance pad of your desire to attend and a free will offering ( suggested at $5) to help with  costs of the meal. This will consist of "lunch" for about 30 to 45 minutes, and  then a brief "lesson" for our reflection. We plan to do several of these over the year.

International Dinner and Silent Auction Tri-Fold

On a table in the foyer and also on the information table where the Bibles are located, are some tri-folds outlining the International Dinner.  It will be September 24th and you will need to purchase a ticket in order to enjoy meal.  Do not delay, as the tickets will soon start being offered to non-church members.

United Methodist Women's Bazaar

The United Methodist Women's Bazaar will be held on October 9, 2010. We need items for our White Elephant Sale - for example: jewelry, knick-knacks, ornaments, books, etc.  For more information please call Ruth Foshee at 576-8616.

World Vision Concert

Stratmoor Hills UMC has purchased a block of fourteen tickets at $25 each for the World Vision Concert at the World Arena on October 21st, at 7:00 PM.  Scholarships might be available.  Send a note to stratmoor.hills.at.rmcumc.org to let us know if you want some. If we need more, we will need to communicate that by mid-August.  Max Lucado will be joined by Toby Mac, Third Day, and Michael W. Smith. 

Fox Meadow Middle School Tutoring

We still need a few more people for the Fox Meadow School Tutoring.  You can make a difference in a child's life by donating One Hour a week.  The signup sheet is in the Narthex (the church foyer/entry area).

Food Pantry

Jeannette Egdahl and Fred Kuhlman will be co-leading a Food Pantry Ministry at Stratmoor Hills.  

The Pastor has talked a little about this during the service.

The plan, as currently laid out, will be for us to collect food stuffs from a suggested list of needs and plan to make our primary collection of this during the offertory on First Sundays of a Month.  We were thinking something along the idea of “First Fruits for the Community” as a working idea.  

Our planned, subject to discussion, target was (1) internal Stratmoor Hill needs and (2) Families of Students at Fox Meadow Middle School.  

Fred's phone number is 527-0245, Jeanette's phone number is 573-4815 and her email is blestgrl777.at.aol.com.  

Fred and Jeanette do need some help with getting the stuff downstairs and into boxes and the like.  Call or otherwise reach them to indicate your desire to help. 

Plants and Flowers

The start of the landscaping around the Church has begun with a small shade flower bed out front.

Missy attends the second service and will be coordinating the landscaping. 

Stratmoor's Green Futures

Cleaning Products are not good for the environment including not being good for the human being. So replace those chermical cleaners. Instead use vinegar bottles and fill with 1/2 mixture distilled white vinegar and half water. Don't worry, the vinegar smell will dissipate. You can use this for cleaning multi surfaces, include the bathtub, toilet, sink, stove and oven. For stubborn stains, add a tablespoon of baking soda. You can use the savings toward causes that make a difference, i.e. your favorite CHURCH or CHARITY. Do have any old and unused cell phones lying around the house. Give them to TESSA, the domestic violence center and they will put them to good use. Call TESSA at 644-1462 for more information.

Caring for Creation

Everyone can play a part in protecting the environment. We will use this space to promote ideas for going green. If you have proven suggestions, please see Mittie Pedraza, and she will make sure they are shared with the congregation.  We all have a responsibility to our planet.

Are you throwing away your coffee grounds, potato peelings or egg shells? Are you putting raked leaves into the trash barrel?  Reconsider this option and think about making a compost pile from this organic material which will be very good for your soil making it healthy and productive and enhancing your garden.  You can buy a compost bin or build one.  You need to keep the compost pile moist so that the contents will decompose.  The finished product will be dark in color and then it can be worked into the soil where it will begin to make magic for your vegetable and/or flower gardens. There are numerous sites on the web that will give you all the fundamentals of composting from how to make organic composts, to building your own composter or you can buy one on line.


My mother taught me to wash whites in hot water. However, I now know that washing laundry in hot water is very wasteful.  So bring on the cold water. 90% of the energy used by a typical washing machine is used to heat the water; and 10% is used to power the motor.  Here are some other interesting stats:  Washing every load on the hot/warm cycle is the same as burning about 182 gallons of gas in a car, in an average (19.8 miles per gallon) car, that will get you about 3595 miles.  Plus you are using 2407 pounds of CO2 per year. So line dry your clothes.  The average increase in energy efficiency for a washing machine between 1981 and 2003 is 88%. 

Sunday School for 3 & 4-Year-Olds

Consider committing to one Sunday a month to be a teacher’s helper for this class – help with crafts; take them to bathroom, etc.  See either Jean Springer or Marilyn White if you’re willing to help out.

Sound Ministry

If you would like to join an exciting ministry with plenty of growth potential the sound and media arts ministry may be what you are looking for.   All are welcome and this is a skill you can use outside the church as well.  See one of the sound technicians for more information.

Upstairs Bathroom Addition

If you have skills or just want to help with the new upstairs bathroom, please see Jimo or Kevin of the Trustees today, if you can help or make a donation of material or finances.