June 2016

Wesley’s Newsletter
June 2016
Issue 66
From the Pastor’s Pen
Dear Wesley family,
Here we are in the middle of spring, enjoying these warm days that many of us
have longed for so much a few months ago when we were in the middle of the cold days of winter.
Surely, this letter will find you taking a break out-of-town, or planning to take some days or weeks of
vacation. Flor and I are planning to take a break this July, and we will travel to Nicaragua for three
weeks. This is a year of transition for Flor and me, and also for the Wesley church.
As many of you already know, I am planning to retire this coming fall, and this will entail some
important changes in my and Flor’s lives. Our plan is to go back to our native country, Nicaragua, to
spend our retirement there. The date for this move has not yet been fixed, but we are now in the
middle of the process; there are many arrangements for us to do first.
There are also some adjustments that have to be done in the life of Wesley church, too, particularly
those relating to the transition of the pastoral leadership. Our District Superintendent, Rev.
Darneather Murph-Heath, and the church’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee are working on this.
Meanwhile, the Christian ministry at Wesley continues. It is true that we have lost many of our
older members through death or moving away, but God continues to bless us by bringing to our
church new faces. They are the people who live in our surrounding community. They are coming to
be a part of our church life. Being true to the vision of our church’s future that we defined a few
years ago, we have opened our doors, along with our minds and hearts, to our neighbors that come
with a different language, culture and religious background. It is good news that we see on a
weekly basis new people--adults, young people, children, men and women, coming to Wesley to
learn more about Jesus’ message. I also give a special welcome to Lynn Melton. She was officially
incorporated as a new member of our church the first Sunday of May. She comes to us from the
Moravian tradition.
Please continue praying for this church: for its future, its membership--particularly for those who
are sick, for those who are in special care, and for all of those whose physical condition doesn’t
allow them to regularly attend services. Thank you for your continued support of the ministries of
this church by your prayers, your offerings, and your participation in the different activities and
tasks. I pray that this promise will be real in your lives: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Corinthians 9:6).
The peace of the Lord be with you all,
Pastor Zavala
Carta de Pastor
Querida familia de la Iglesia MU Wesley,
Aquí estamos en plena primavera, disfrutando de estos cálidos días que muchos de nosotros anhelábamos
tanto hace unos meses cuando estábamos en el medio los días fríos del invierno. Sin duda esta carta va a encontrar a algunos de ustedes tomando un descanso fuera de la ciudad o planeando tomar algunos días o semanas de vacaciones. Flor y yo estamos planeando tomar un descanso en julio e ir a Nicaragua durante tres
semanas. Este es un año de transición para Flor y yo, y también para esta Iglesia Wesley.
Como muchos de ustedes saben, estoy planeando retirarme este próximo otoño, y esto implicará algunos cambios importantes en mi vida y la de Flor. Nuestro plan es volver a nuestro país natal, Nicaragua, para pasar
nuestros últimos días allá. La fecha para este cambio no la hemos fijado todavía, pero estamos a la mitad del
proceso; hay muchos arreglos que tenemos que hacer primero.
También hay algunos ajustes que se tienen que hacer en la vida de la iglesia Wesley, sobre todo en lo relacionado con la transición del liderazgo pastoral. Nuestra Superintendente de Distrito Rev. Darneather MurphHeath y el Comité Pastor-Parroquia de la iglesia están trabajando en esto.
Mientras tanto, el ministerio de esta Iglesia continúa. Es cierto que hemos perdido muchos de nuestros miembros de la Iglesia de habla inglesa debido a muertes o los que se han movido de la ciudad a otros puntos del
país, pero Dios nos sigue bendiciendo al traer a esta iglesia nuevos rostros, gente de la comunidad de Elgin,
que está llegando a ser parte de la vida de esta iglesia.
A raíz de la definición del futuro de esta Iglesia que hicimos hace pocos años, hemos abierto nuestras puertas,
lo mismo que nuestras mentes y corazones, a personas de nuestra comunidad que vienen con diferente idioma, diferente cultura y diferente tradición religiosa. Ver nuevos rostros cada semana, personas adultas, jóvenes, niños, hombres y mujeres, viniendo a estas instalaciones de la Iglesia Wesley para aprender más sobre el
mensaje de Jesús, claro que es una muy buena noticia.
Damos una bienvenida especial a Lynn Melton quien fue incorporada oficialmente como nueva miembro de
nuestra iglesia el primer domingo de mayo; ella viene de la tradición morava.
Por favor, continúen orando por esta iglesia, por su futuro, por sus miembros, sobre todo por los que están enfermos, por los que están en cuidados especiales, y por todos aquellos cuya condición física no les permite
asistir regularmente a nuestros servicios. Gracias por continuar apoyando el ministerio de esta iglesia con sus
oraciones, sus ofertas, y su participación en las diferentes actividades y tareas que se necesitan realizar. Oro
para que la promesa de la Palabra de Dios que aparece al final de esta carta, sea una realidad en sus vidas:
“Pero esto digo: El que siembra escasamente, también segará escasamente; y el que siembra generosamente, generosamente también segará”. (2 Corintios 9: 6)
La paz del Señor sea con todos y todas ustedes,
Pastor Zavala
Meliton Salazar is a member of Fe y Esperanza. Below, he is planting flowers around the church.
He is one of our generous volunteers who help to beautify the church grounds. Thank you, Meliton!
A STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE — “Danny and the Heartbreakers”
CELEBRATING A “FUN” NIGHT A Long Time Ago…. at Wesley.
GERMAN POTATO SALAD
by Mrs. H. Knuth
5 LBS. POTATOES (COOK IN SKINS, COOL AND PEEL.)
Slice potatoes in bowl. Add — 1 stalk celery, 2 medium onions and 2 cucumbers, cut fine.
DRESSING — 1/2 lb. bacon (cut in small pieces, fried in 1 T. butter until brown)
Add — 1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup water
Pour over potatoes and mix well. Garnish with hard boiled eggs and tomatoes. Serves 10 people.
This recipe is from a very old cookbook: “Wesley Women’s Favorite Recipes”.
NEWS AND EVENTS
Elgin District’s
1st Annual Summer Picnic
August 21, 3-5 pm
PLACE: Prince of Peace UMC
1400 S. Arlington Heights Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
SPECIAL CHURCH WORK PROJECTS
A sign-up sheet for specific work
projects is outside the office. Dates for
these are: June 14, July 5, Aug. 2,
starting at 9:30 at the
church. We need your
Theme: “Goof Off, Grill Out, & Go Home;
Elgin Celebrates!!!
help!
More information and details to come,
but place it on your calendar now!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Please remember to pray for
The Northern Illinois Annual Conference
on June 5th-7th at the Pheasant Run in St. Charles.
We received a note from Sandra Behning:
YOUNG SWEDISH SINGERS CONCERT
From Hassleholm, Sweden
Date: June 26th
Time: 6:00 PM.
Good Shepherd Church
Mission Project & Community Activity
195 Nesler Road, Elgin, Illinois
A Free Will Offering will be taken.
Note! Looking for families to host singers
overnight on the 26th. Contact Gary Lichthard at
[email protected].
“We thank you for all of your thoughtful
cards, kind words, and gifts in honor of
Dale; and also for standing with us in our
time of sorrow and loss.”
With love and gratefulness,
The Kleinschmidt Family
CHURH COUNCIL MEETING
Meeting June 22nd @ 7:00 PM
Vashti Circle now
meets at 7:30 AM.
“I'm sorry to say that my Uncle Tom lost his battle with
cancer in March. I apologize for not keeping Wesley
updated. All your prayers are so appreciated! My Aunt
Sara is doing well and continues to live with her son in
Wisconsin. Thank you so much for your concern,”
Sandy
To all my dear Wesley family,
Thank you all for the lovely cards and sincere
thoughts that you have sent to me over these last
two months.
Thank you to all the women and men who
helped with the luncheon after Bob's memorial
service; it was done so nicely and I received many
compliments. Thank you.
Our family has been blessed to have all the
members of Wesley UMC in our lives. I know Bob
will be missed and the love you have shown to him
and to our family is so greatly appreciated.
Blessing to all,
Trudy Wise and family
A TRIBUTE TO REV. ERNEST CUMMINGS
Rev. Cummings served our Wesley Church from 1953 to 1958, and worked hard to close Zion
Church and to open the doors here at Wesley on South Street.
Betty McLauchlan received a kind note in the mail from June, the widow of Rev. Ernest Cummings. Betty wanted to
share this with all of us:
June writes:
“Dear Betty, Thank you for your sympathy card and kind words about Ernie. Except for you, I haven’t anyone left at
Wesley Church I know of who might remember us.
Ernie was 99 years old and we would have celebrated our 74th wedding anniversary this year. We had just moved
to an apartment in the assisted living section of Wesley Willows where we have lived for 24 years. My new address
is: 4141 N. Rockton Ave., Apartment C-119, Rockford, IL 61103. Tel. (815)316-1715.
Would enjoy seeing you if you are ever in Rockford.”
Most sincerely,
June Cummings
Rev. Ernest Cummings, 99
Rockford, Illinois— Rev. Ernest Walter Cummings, Jr. went to his Lord and Savior, on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. Born
January 19, 1917 in Chicago, son of Ernest, Sr. & Nora (Case) Cummings. He graduated from Austin High School,
North Pak College and Roosevelt University before preparing for the Methodist ministry at Garrett Evangelical
Theological Seminary at Northwestern University. He was ordained an elder in 1946 after serving his internship as
student pastor of Esmond Methodist Church from 1943 to 1946.
Other churches he served in the Northern Illinois Conference were: Blaine and Capron Methodist Churches,
Winnebago Street and Burritt Churches in Rockford, Wesley Church in Elgin, First United Methodist Church in
Walnut, First UMC in Dundee, First UMC in Cary, and Federated UMC in Wauconda.
On September 5, 1942, he married June Baur in Chicago. She was his partner in marriage and ministry for almost
74 years. They returned to the Rockford area in 1991. Ernest served over 40 years as a Methodist Minister for the
Northern Illinois Conferences. He was a man with many hobbies. He enjoyed astronomy, golfing, gardening,
playing pool, and playing his trombone, as a member of the Rockford Symphony, Oak Park Symphony and East
Bank Commanders. Most of all he enjoyed spending time with his family and serving the Lord.
Survivors include his wife June; son Paul Cummings (Susan Gereau) of Wisconsin; daughter Deborah Cummings
(Joop de Uijl) of the Netherlands; grandchildren Lindsey and Thomas Sloane Cummings, Vanessa and Zara Roelse.
Private burial in Ridgewood Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.”
C.T Studd
A SIMPLE PRAYER
Father, we lift up to you in prayer our loved ones. We ask for your peace to be with them. Please let your
healing power, comfort and Presence be with each one. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Jeff Behmke, Shirley Fletcher, Cinda Bates — (Presently at Tower Hill, South Elgin for rehab, until mid-June?),
Mary Peterson, Evelyn Stahnke, and Eduardo Calderon
Members shut-in:
Millie Brown, Charlen Anderson, Jean Breslich,
Carol Schweikle, and Sharon Hauptly
Long Distances:
Dorothy Yeoman, Ruth Lowe, and Marian Meadows.
If you know someone on the prayer list, please keep us
updated on their condition. We hope to personalize the
prayer requests of all the people listed, so we can pray
more effectively. Thank you!
Please remember the families whose Loved Ones went home to be with the Lord during the month of June:
John Guptail
June 2, 2012
Tom Athans
June 7, 2012
Gerry Craddock
June 16, 2013
Hilda Mae Fielder
June 17, 2006
(Sister of Bob Ferguson)
Ruth L. Kenyon
June 26, 2008
Jeannie K. Steele
(In-law to Trudy Wise)
June 30, 2008
Evelyn Vincent
June 2002
We would like to remember the families of loved ones who have gone
home to be with the Lord in each specific month. Please let Gwen in
the office know the people of whom you’d like to remember, if you
see someone missing. (It doesn’t matter how long ago.)
(Remembering, also, Gwen Kleinschmidt, who would have been
celebrating her wedding anniversary with Dale on June 20th.)
READERS & COMMUNION SERVERS
Service Readers
June and July
June 5
June 12
June 19
June 26
July 3
July 10
Gary Bowen
Karl Ulrich
Chuck Keysor
Gary Newton
Gary Bowen
Dan Gardner
Communion Servers
June and July
June 5 Clemente V.
Guadalupe V.
Karen Snyder
July 3 Pat McCusker?
Open/Open
WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES Our “hats off” to …….
Gary and Jean Bowen, 52 Years (June 13, 1964)
Roy and Linda Seyller, 53 Years (June 22, 1963)
Dan and Nancy Gardner, 47 Years (June 22, 1969)
Glen and Mary Peterson, 60 Years (June 23, 1956)
JUNE BIRTHDAYS
“Happy Birthday…….
to You!”
1
Virginia Fink
1
Beth and Brett Barry
3
Jessica Behning
3
Christine McQuillan
9
Rene Laude
10
Donna Bach
12
Judi Brownfield
13
Bev Newton
15
Roy Seyller
FATHER’S DAY REFLECTIONS
We thank God for our fathers, and are blessed if
they are still with us. However, as God’s own
beloved children, we know that God is our true
Father in Heaven who is always near to us, and
he loves us beyond measure.
CHURCH CALENDAR
Wesley United Methodist Church
Phone: 847-742-7256
1070 South St., Elgin, IL 60123
Email: [email protected]
JUNE 2016
SUNDAY MORNINGS:
Each Tuesday of
the month:
Each
Each Thursday
Wednesday of of the month:
the month:
Bible Study in the
Fe y
Sunday School
Vashti Circle at Esperanza Cell
Room at 6:30 p.m. Paul’s
groups in
(Fe y Esperanza) Restaurant at
homes at 6:30
7:00 a.m.
p.m.
(Breakfast)
9:30: Sunday Service
10:30: Fellowship
10:45: Violin/Guitar
groups
11:00: Sunday School
11:30: Fe y Esperanza
(Spanish) and
Children’s Choir
Swedish Class
at 7:00 p.m.
1
2
Virginia Fink’s
Birthday
Beth & Brett
Barry’s B-day.
5
6
7
8
Donna Bach’s
Birthday
16
17
18
22
23
24
25
CHURCH
COUNCIL MTG.
7:00 P.M.
Glen and Mary
Peterson’s 60th
Anniversay!
14
15
Judi
Brownfield’s
Birthday
Gary & Jean
Bowen’s 52nd
Anniversary!
Bev Newton’s
Birthday
SPECIAL
CHURCH
WORK
PROJECT DAY
9:30 AM
Roy Seyller’s
Birthday
19
20
21
Roy & Linda Seyller’s
53rd Anniversary!
Dan & Nancy
Gardner’s 47th
Anniversary!
Swedish Singers
6:00 p.m. at
Good Shepherd
Church
28
Jessica Behning’s
Birthday
Christine
McQuillan’s
Birthday
Rene Laude’s
Birthday
13
27
4
10
12
26
3
9
Northern Illinois Northern Illinois Northern Illinois
Conference
Conference
Conference
Father’s
Day
Each Friday Each
of the month: Saturday of
the month:
Fey y
Esperanza
Bells Choir
Prayer Group Practice 3:00
in the Chapel
Hope
at 7:00 p.m.
Rehearsal in
the Choir
Room at 4:00
p.m.
29
30
11