We especially encourage women new to Euclid to join in the fun and get to know your sisters better.

The women of Euclid UMC are planning a time together at Black Oak Lodge in Mt. Morris, Wisconsin. The Theme for this year’s “Advance” is What If God Were One Of Us: Reflections on God in our everyday lives, Part 2. This was so popular last year that we are continuing the discussion.

We will be watching some episodes of Joan of Arcadia as starting points for dialogue on God’s presence in our lives. Our program will be interspersed with time to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Mt Morris Camp and Conference Center that include wooded trails and a creek. The accommodations are less rugged than previous years and all rooms have private baths. The cost is $100 per person for 2 nights lodging and 6 meals. Scholarship money is available to help with the cost if you need it. If you can afford it, please contribute a little extra for the scholarship

A combination flea market/garage sale is being planned as a church fundraiser for Saturday, September 6. You can help in any of several ways:

• You can rent one of the spaces (it will be held in the church parking lot) for $25 and sell your own items.
• You can donate your items to the church to sell. We are looking for large items, furniture, appliances etc. not toys, clothes or books.
• You can volunteer in any of several ways;
• by providing space in which we can store items prior to the sale
• by helping with set up, clean up, working the day of the sale, and/or
• by transporting items that people are willing to donate to the sale or to a storage site.

Contact Jim Thompson at jthomp@uic.edu
Thank you! - The Finance Committee

Marilyn Swieck will be our presenter of an ecological program. We will start the evening with fellowship and dinner at 6:30 pm followed by the program at 7:30 pm. If you would like to join us for dinner, reservations are needed by Sunday, May 11th. The catered dinner is $6. Childcare will be provided with advanced notice. Contact Susan Greenberg for more information or with your reservation. The caterer is paid for all reserved dinners, so please give your $6 to Susan Greenberg for any missed dinner you reserved.

A variety of tasks both inside the building and outside on the church grounds need our energy and attention!! Those that prefer to work outside and have yard tools, please bring them with you. We will be removing bushes again this year as well as cleaning up the grounds.
Please plan on bringing your elbow grease and join the fun and fellowship as we Spruce Up Euclid!! Lunch will be provided.

Starting Monday May 12th Hassler Hall and the basement will be closed for use as the Rehab swings into full gear. Flooring tiles will be removed and the Labyrinth will be installed with the new flooring. Ceiling tiles will be replaced and the walls will be washed and painted. We are relying on Volunteers to help with some tasks. Due to the work necessary in a construction zone, we ask that volunteers be 18 years of age or older. If you have time after work or on a day off, please contact Susan King. .

Euclid United Methodist Women want to encourage the youngsters to go to church camp. Each year we offer a stipend to all church camp campers. So parents and older youth, let us know that you have registered yourself or your child for church camp so we can give you scholarship money.

Of course, we are also looking for the rest of the church to help supply this fund with money to award. For anyone wishing to contribute to this scholarship fund, please write your check to Euclid UMW and write camp scholarship on the memo line. Give the check to Donna Stevens or put it in an envelope and put it in the UMW Treasurer mailbox near the office.

Each year, usually on the first Sunday in June, the Village of Oak Park sponsors A Day in Our Village, one of the premiere community events.

A Day in Our Village provides an opportunity for current and prospective residents to discover the diversity and variety of civic, cultural, social service, business, educational and religious organizations/groups in the Village. More than 100 Oak Park community or civic groups, including faith congregations, set up activity and information booths in Scoville Park near Lake Street and Oak park Avenue. Please sign up after Services on May 4 or May 11 to help at EAUMC's display on June 1st. We have signs and posters -- we need volunteers!!

All are Welcome - and ALL MEANS ALL! (for more info: contact Jim Knightwright or Susan King)

The Church and World Concerns Committee encourages the practice of monthly mission giving. During the “Mission Moment” on the second Sunday of every month, a designated mission advocate will share information about the mission project we will be giving to for that month. Any time during that month you are invited to give what you can to the designated mission. At the end of the month the total collected will be immediately forwarded to the targeted mission.

The Committee has chosen the following remaining mission projects for 2008: May – Environmental Justice
June – Peace and Justice
July – United Voices for Children
August – Scholarships/Student Day
September – Missionary support
October – World Communion Sunday
November – PADS
December – World Aids Day

Each year the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries offers amazing courses of study. This year the theme is Living the Sacred. The courses of studies are I Believe In Jesus, Giving Our Hearts Away: Native American Survival, and Israel/Palestine. The School will be held at Judson University in Elgin. To read more, see the UMW Bulletin Board near the Wesley Room. Registration forms can be picked up from Joan Pellegrini.

Please contact Kathy Jordan-Baker if you are interested in getting together. I would like to form or join a group that meets at least once a month. We can work on prayer shawls or teach new folks how to knit and purl and crochet. My vision for this group is a low-stress, positive group where we can enjoy each others company and do some creating. I have extra yarn and needles to loan.

Let me know if you are interested and evenings/weekend days that you are available. Thanks! Phone - 708-383-5914 or email at kathyjordanbaker@gmail.com.

Our Prayer Ministry Team meets Wednesday mornings at 9:30 in the church parlor. We pray for:

• members and friends of Euclid
• for all those who suffer and are in trouble
• the concerns of this local community, the world, its people
• for the church universal—its leaders, its members, and its mission
• for the hardworking committees of this church
• for the communion of saints who have gone before and those who remain among us.

Please, continue to use the “Lift Tickets” found in the attendance booklets. Please call in new requests during the week to Rev. Dr. Pat Longabaugh.

Current members of the Prayer Team are Jayne Anderson, Susan Greenberg, Rev. Mary Knightwright, Rev. Pat Longabaugh, Joan Pelligrini, Marilyn Sweik, Rev. Dr. Marti Scott, LaVida David, and Felicia Zenz.

Our Prayer Shawl Ministry has a new dimension. There is a website for making Prayer Shawls 4 Fallen Soldiers’ families. You can go to the following websites for details: http://home.earthlink.net/~ps4fs/shawls
or Ps4fs@earthlink.net

We would like to know if you decide to join this ministry so we can add your name to our list of knitters/crocheters. You can contact Marilyn Swieck at email: meswieck@sbcglobal.net.

Wondering just what do terms like “theology, eschatology, and Christology” even mean? Do these words, the life stories of and about Jesus and the journeys of Paul have relevance for Today?

Interested in studying the Bible with your mind and your heart? Come and live the questions with us, Sunday mornings, 9 am.

Living the Questions (a DVD–based curriculum for both “seekers” and “church alumin/ae”.

Each session includes: Conversation with leading theologians, church leaders, sociologists and biblical scholars including John Bell, Marcus Borg, Minerva Carcaño, John B. Cobb, Jr. , John Dominic Crossan, Heather Murray Elkins, Tex Sample, and Retired Bishop John Shelby Spong. Illustration through Digital Parables aspects of an evolving faith - among these a visit with a potter to interpret the Creative process with questions about God's involvement in our world. Exploration through practical applications of the study: Concrete spiritual practices (e.g., lectio divina, body prayer, journaling) Spiritual disciplines (centering, openness, patience, etc.) and suggestions for engagement in acts of social justice.

Living the Questions emphasizes an overall theme that faith is a journey, not a destination and sessions address “how can progressive Christians take the Bible seriously but not literally?” “how do people today think theologically about Stories of Creation, the portrayals of Jesus’ life in the Christian Gospels?” and “what can we learn about and from Paul’s Passion for Christ?”

Living the Questions can help people explore the future of Christianity and what a meaningful faith can look like in today’s world. This class gathers each week on Sunday mornings, 9 am in the Euclid Parlor.

If you’ve read Marcus Borg, if you’re curious about “The Bible,” if you’re looking for a great group with great discussion – come join us at the Euclid Adult Forum to continue Living the Questions .

You are invited to celebrate the Eucharist every Wednesday morning at 7:30AM in the Parlor (between Wesley Hall and the Pastor’s Office). This spoken liturgy last about 30 minutes.

All women of Euclid are invited to join our book group on a regular or sporadic basis. Our book for May is “The History of Love”, by Nicole Krauss. We will meet on Tuesday, May 13th at 8:00 p.m. at the home of Kathy Fletcher.