This page contains archived posts about St Paul UMC, Methodism, and Christianity in general.
St. Paul UMC on Fox 13 News Christmas Eve at 9 p.m.: Channel 13 news did a story about St. Paul UMC that aired Christmas Eve on their 9:00 pm newscast. It was a follow up to the story they did on us last summer. They interviewed Pastor Carol and two congregation members, Brian and Keli. I would like to link to a video version of the story, but have been unable to find it on the MyFoxUtah web site. Maybe you will have better luck. Thanks to Fox 13 for their interest in our church.
Christmas Videos, December 26, 2006: Here are a couple of links to videos courtesy of You Tube of some beautiful Christmas Music Panis Angelicus and O Holy Night
Episcopal Church Problems, December 17, 2006: An article in today’s New York Times discusses the problems the American Episcopal Church is having with conflicts between more conservative and liberal congregations, and the split it is causing in Episcopal congregations. Episcopalians, or Anglicans (as they are known elsewhere in the world), are especially close to Methodism, as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was a lifelong member of the Church of England and an Anglican preist. So it is especially painful to see the conflicts and problems that they are experiencing. Please say a prayer for the people involved for wisdom, unity, and healing.
Christmas Eve Service, December 24: Since Christmas Eve falls on Sunday this year, we will be having a candle lighting service in the evening at 5:30 p.m. There will be no service in the morning. The candle lighting service will be a traditional Christmas Eve service with Scripture readings and carol singing, ending with a candle lit singing of Silent Night. We would love to share this service with you, so please plan to attend.
No Church, December 17, 2006: We had originally planned to hold a joint worship service with Eureka UMC today. But we woke up to deep snow with more expected though the day, and so cancelled our trip to Eureka. Perhaps we can try it again at some point in the future.
Cubby’s Cause for Paws Benefit Concert, December 16, 2006: The a-capella quartet Sotto Voce (Brent Carter, Julie Maughan, Iris Nielson, and Jerry Parkstone) will be performing a Lessons and Carols Concert at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Copperton to benefit Cubby’s Cause for Paws. The concert is Saturday, December 16th at 6:00pm. The concert will include familiar and not-so familiar Christmas Carols and songs. The audience will be invited to sing familiar carols with the quartet.
Come enjoy the spirit of the Christmas season in the historic chapel. The concert is free to the public, but we ask that you consider bringing some pet food, dog and cat toys, and cat litter to the concert. All donations will go to the AIDS Food Bank. The donations to the food bank allow the patients and their families to focus on their own needs without worrying about the needs of their pets. This is the third year for Cubby’s Cause for Paws and hopefully there will be enough donations so that we are able to donate food to one more local food bank.
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is located at: 410 East Hillcrest Street in Copperton Directions from I-15: Take the 90th South exit from I-15. Head west on 90th South until you come to the Old Bingham Highway . Turn onto the Old Bingham Highway heading west until you reach the town of Copperton. If you are unable to attend, please consider a monetary donation. You may send a check made payable to: Cubby’s Cause for Paws 1176 Bateman Ponds Way West Jordan, UT 84084
Sotto Voce has performed at the Utah Arts Festival, the Shakespearean Festival, and has performed for many benefit concerts and parties. The four members of Sotto Voce have sung together for over 15 years in a variety of choirs including the Choir of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. If you have any questions please call Jerry Parkstone (647-7126).
Update, December 17, 2006: The concert was a big success. Sotto Voce performed a wonderful “Lessons and Carols” Service with readings from congregation members. The Sanctuary was full of guests and the stack of pet supplies collected filled the back of a truck. About $150 was donated as well. Thanks to everyone involved.
Fun Run and Church Bazaar, December 2, 2006: St. Paul is again hosting a fundraising bazaar and lunch Saturday morning in conjunction with the annual fun run sponsored by the Yengich family. Please plan on attending. Other upcoming events this Christmas season can be found in ourDecember newsletter .
Update, 12/7/2006: The Fun Run and Bazaar was a big success. We served a bunch of people lunch, sold baked goods, and had a great time meeting all the runners and other visitors. Thanks to everyone who helped out, donated items to sell, and most of all – everyone who came and bought stuff.
Historic Register, November 30, 2006: Pam Todd, a member of the St. Paul family, and a historian of the Kearns area, has been working for the last 6 months or so to nominate the church building to the national Historic Register as a historically significant building. Being on the Historic Register is a way of recognizing the building’s role in Copperton and at Camp Kearns before that (See our Church History page for more info.) Today, the State historical society held a meeting to nominate buildings to the register. We are pleased that they chose to nominate St Paul, and would like to thank everyone involved. We will post more information when we know more on the process and timeline.
Update, 12/4/2004 : The Salt Lake Tribune has published an article about our efforts to gain historical recognition for our building. Thanks to Cathy McKitrick for a wonderful article. This link to the article will work for a few weeks. http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_4767907
More Wedding Photos, October 9, 2006: Who wants to see photos of a wedding? (I hope you.) Here are three more from the wedding Pastor Carol performed in June.
Article about St. Paul UMC in Salt Lake Tribune, September 18, 2006: Another great article about St. Paul and the growth and progress we are making appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune Monday. You can access it here, at least for a while. Many thanks to Derek Jensen and Leah Hogsten for the excellent article and photographs.
Article from USA Today website – September 14, 2006: This is a link to an interesting article on the USA Today website about a poll taken recently concerning religious beliefs in the U.S.A. For example, one statistic from the article says that 91.8% of Americans say they believe in God. Another finding is that Christians prefer the term “Born Again” or Bible-believing” to “evangelical”. If you are one of those 91.8 percent that doesn’t already have a church home, or even one of the remaining 10% that is thinking about switching sides, please consider a visit to St. Paul.
District Superindent – September 10, 2006: Our District Superintendent will be visiting Sunday, September 10. This will be a chance to show off all the improvements to the building that we have made in the last 6 months as well as all our new members.
Marriage Encounter at Christ UMC – September 18, 2006 Please join us for a fun evening of LAUGHTER as we examine our personality types and how it relates to our communicating within our couple relationship. Steve and Bev Goodier will present the program on Monday, September 18th at 7:00 PM in the Christ United Methodist Church (Chapel) 2375 E. 3300 South, SLC. Babysitting will be available. Steve is the minister at Christ United Methodist Church. Steve Goodier holds a B.A. in anthropology and sociology and a M.Div. degree from Emory University. He is the author of numerous books about personal development, motivation, inspiration, and making needed life changes. Together with his wife Bev, a professional counselor and small group leader, he has led numerous workshops on relational, spiritual and inter-personal growth topics. This program is being sponsored by United Methodist Marriage Encounter. This Marriage Encounter Reunion and Information will be a fun filled evening.
Another reason to come to church – August 12, 2006: An article on FoxNews.com web site is entitled “Religious Beliefs May Lessen Post-Op Stress”. A quote from the article: “When people go through a stressful medical event, their religious beliefs may help or hinder them psychologically, a new study shows. The study shows less distress after heart surgery in people who lean on faith for comfort and support than those who feel spiritually angry or doubtful.”
Ok, so maybe impending surgery is not the best reason to come the church – but the study seems to indicate that the faith and support system that one finds in a church family can help in times of need. Oh, and not being angry with God helps too.
Open House Photos – August 5 I know this is pretty slow, but I finally got some photos of our April 22 fund-raising Open House, which are arrayed below for your viewing pleasure. Click on the small pictures to get the enlarged version.
Copperton Memorial Peace walk Several congregation members and friends of St. Paul spent their Saturday recently constructing the memorial walk on the church grounds. The walk is made up of about 50 feet of paving bricks that extend from where the sidewalk ends to our gazebo. Some of the bricks bear inscriptions of persons associated with the town of Copperton and it’s predecessor towns of Bingham Canyon, Lark, and Highland Boy. People have been donating money to buy the bricks to honor family, relatives, and so on. For instance, Pastor Carol bought a brick to honor each of her predecessor St. Paul pastors. If you are interested in adding a brick to the Copperton peace walk, please contact us for more information.
Wedding Pictures Allison and Justin were married by Pastor Carol in June at Rose Sachs Garden near Salt Lake City. Here are some pictures of the ceremony that I took and am finally posting. Did I mention that St. Paul UMC is another wonderful place to host your next wedding?
Crossroads Sunday – July 16 One time is not enough! The St. Paul congregation opened their hearts and wallets to Crossroads Urban Center Sunday morning. Guest speaker Stephanie told us about all the good things Crossroads is doing in Utah. Members donated cash, food and thrift store items that filled another pickup truck.
Update: I read the thank you letter Crossroads sent us. Let me quote: “First, an entire truckload of stuff for the thrift store plus 79 pounds of food. Most of the food items you contributed were put onto empty shelves so they really make a difference. Your generous offering of $110 was also received. You will be pleased to hear that an anonymous donor has matched your offering so your monetary gift ended up being $220.” Thanks to all the members and friends who contributed money, food, stuff and the time they took to gather and load it all. And special thanks to the anonymous donor. To make it easy to donate, we bought a plastic storage bin to put donations into. It is in the corner in the fellowship hall.
Reignwater Benefit Concert – July 15 The band Reignwater (see below) played a benefit concert Saturday, July 15 on the lawn at St. Paul. The only cost to attend was canned goods to be donated to the Rescue Mission (see below again). The concert was a great success with about a pickup load of food being collected. Thanks for everyone that came and donated, and special thanks to Reignwater.
Rescue Mission – June 21, 2006 A few members from our church helped out at the Rescue Mission the evening of June 21st. Thanks to Glen, Anne & Ben Ivie, Pat & Mary Ann Laveder, Ed & Linda Madsen for putting into action the words of Christ when he said in Matthew 25:40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
Movie Shoot at St. Paul – June 10, 2006 St. Paul hosted a movie crew this week that was using the church to film a scene from an upcoming movie. We can’t reveal much about the movie, the actors, when it is coming out, and so on, but we have some photos from the shoot below. Several members of the congregation joined a group of others as extras for the scenes shot in the sanctuary and fellowship hall. They are shown below. Click on the thumbnails for a larger version.
The DaVinci Code Book and Movie – May 20, 2006 The DaVinci Code movie opened this week and there has been an uproar from Christians in general, and Roman Catholic Christians in particular protesting the movie. I have to confess that I haven’t seen the movie or read the book, and so can’t comment on either of them. I did preach a sermon on the subject of the DaVinci Code and the Gospel of Judas a couple of weeks ago, based on some background research I did on them. It is called Conspiricy 101, and it attempts to explain why neither of them are particularly credible documents.
Stephen Bainbridge, a law professor and member of the Catholic Church, has written what I thing is a good an article about the movie, available here. If there is interest, I can provide more information.
Update: The Teaching Company, a company that sells tapes and CDs on a variety of religious and non-religious subjects, has produced two free lectures on the issues raised in the DaVinci Code book and movie. They are available here. (We don’t mean this as an endorsement of The Teaching Company, who is using these lectures to advertise their products. By the way, access to these free lectures will expire July 1, 2006.)
Another Update – May 29, 2006: The DaVinci Code is the subject that keeps on giving. The Alpha organization (a British-based organization promoting Christianity among the unchurched) has produced a streaming video response to the DaVinci Code available on their website at http://alphacourse.org/davinci/ The video, by Anglican priest Nicky Gumbel, does a much better job of shredding Dan Brown’s assertions of the “historical accuracy” of his book than I did in my sermon mentioned above. And as a bonus you get to hear Nicky’s British accent. One warning though, you will need a broadband connection to get the video and you may have to download software as well. I had to download Quick Time video software for instance, which took about 20 minutes or so on a DSL broadband connection. Other than that, the video is highly recommended.
Reignwater – May 19, 2006 The Christian band Reignwater has been renting a room at the church for about the last four years as a location to hold their practices. Reignwater’s web site is here. Their prayers and financial support have been a blessing to St. Paul. We recently learned that they will be moving to another church in the valley that has more room for them, and we wish them well as they pursue their music ministry. We also hope to announce soon when they will be playing at St. Paul again, this time as a concert. Thanks for supporting us and good luck!
Open House and Concert – April 22 The open house and concert at St. Paul was a success with many visitors and generous donations. I hope to add pictures eventually. Many thanks to everyone that attended, donated, and helped out.
Crossroads Urban Center 40th Anniversary – April 19 We got a letter in the mail announcing the 40th anniversary of the Crossroads Urban Center in 2006. The United Methodist Church in Utah has long been a supporter of Crossroads with money, food and clothing donations. Here is their web site.
Update: I hope you are planning to attend the Crossroads Urban Center 40th Anniversary Kick-off on Sunday, April 30th at 4:00PM – 6:00PM. The event will be held at Christ United Methodist Church, 2375 3300 East in Salt Lake City. Refreshments will be served following a presentation on the vision of Crossroads Urban Center for the 40th year and years to come. Please RSVP tomorrow to Linda Hilton at linda@crossroads-u-c.org or call her at 801/364-7765 ext. 133.
Easter Sunday – April 16 Over forty adults and children attended the Easter Sunday service. It was the first time in our time at St. Paul that we ran out of bulletins and hymnals for a Sunday morning worship. It was a blessing to have a crowd, and we hope everyone enjoyed the service as much as we did!
St. Paul UMC on Fox 13 – March 26 St. Paul was featured on a report that aired Sunday evening, March 26, at 5 and 9 p.m. on Fox 13 television. It would be nice to eventually be able to link to the video. Until then, I’ll just say thanks, Fox 13!
Benefit Concert at St. Paul – April 22, 2006 After the Open House on the 22nd, the acapella singing group Sotto Voce will perform in the St. Pauls sanctuary. All proceeds from the benefit will go to the operation, maintenance, and restoration of the church.
Another Article about St. Paul UMC – March 17, 2006 A followup article is in today’s Salt Lake Tribune. You can link to it at http://www.sltrib.com/westvalley/ci_3605878 (at least for a while.)
Update: This article, as did the previous article, implies that the United Methodist Church has a 50 member miminum size requirement for a congregation, and shuts down those with fewer people. It would be more accurate to say that a general “rule of thumb” in forming a new UMC congregation ex nihilo is for there to be around 50 members. There are many successful UMC congregations around the country and world (and in Utah!) with fewer than 50 members. The main requirement for a viable congregation is to be self-supporting, both in its own operations, and in support of wider church goals.
Open House – April 22, 2006 The people of St. Paul UMC are hosting an open house at the church Saturday April 22nd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Everyone is invited to come enjoy food and fellowship with others in the community.
Article about St. Paul UMC – February 27, 2006 St. Paul was featured in an article in today’s Salt Lake Tribune. You can access the article here: http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3551037. Thanks to Derek Jensen and the Salt Lake Tribune for writing about us!
Update: The link to the Tribune website doesn’t work anymore. I will look for another way to access the article.
One correction to the article is that Pastor Carol was not the main driving force behind the proposed memorial “peace” walk on St. Paul church grounds. That was the inspiration of a resident of Copperton, who then approached our congregation about it.
Weddings, Receptions, and Gatherings – February 20, 2006 In response to inquiries from persons interested in renting St. Paul UMC for weddings, receptions, and other gatherings, congregation members recently decided to pursue more of these gatherings as a way to serve the community and offset church operating expenses. Several brides-to-be have been attracted to the intimate, small town look and charm of the church and surrounding grounds and gazebo as an ideal location to host their special day.
We believe that St. Paul provides the flexibility that many wedding planners are looking for in terms of the facility, ceremony, reception and all the other details. Members will be working toward getting out the word about this hidden gem located in Copperton, Utah.
Open House: St. Paul UMC will be hosting an open house for friends and members, and residents of Copperton. Please watch this space for the date and time.
New Member Class: A class for new members, “By Water and the Spirit” will be held starting Wednesday, March 8. This class is especially good for persons unfamiliar with the United Methodist Church. Please contact the pastor at caloftin@aol.com for more information on class location and times.
No Regrets – February 15, 2006 Not many people have heard of Bill Havens. But Bill became an unlikely hero of sorts – at least among those who knew him best. Here is his story:
At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man by the name of Bill Havens. As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child about the time that the US team would be competing in the Paris games.
In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only slow ocean-going ships. And so Bill found himself in a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife’s side when their baby was born? Or should he withdraw from the team and remain with his family?
Bill’s wife insisted that he go to Paris. After all, competing in the Olympics was the culmination of a life-long dream. But Bill felt conflicted and, after much soul-searching, decided to withdraw from the competition and remain home where he could support his wife when the child arrived. He considered being at her side his highest priority – even higher than going to Paris to fulfill his dream.
As it turned out, the United States four-man canoe team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill’s wife was late in giving birth to their child. She was so late, in fact, that Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth. People said, “What a shame.” But Bill said he had no regrets.
For the rest of his life, he believed he had made the better decision. Bill Havens knew what was most important to him. Not everybody figures that out. And he acted on what he believed was best. Not everybody has the strength of character to say no to something he or she truly wants in order to say yes to something that truly matters. But for Bill, it was the only way to peace; the only way to no regrets. There is an interesting sequel to the story of Bill Havens.…
The child eventually born to Bill and his wife was a boy, whom they named Frank. Twenty-eight years later, in 1952, Bill received a cablegram from Frank. It was sent from Helsinki, Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The cablegram read: “Dad, I won. I’m bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born.” Frank Havens had just won the gold medal for the United States in the canoe-racing event, a medal his father had dreamed of winning but never did.
Like I said – no regrets. Thomas Kinkade eloquently said, “When we learn to say a deep, passionate yes to the things that really matter… then peace begins to settle onto our lives like golden sunlight sifting to a forest floor.”
This story is courtesy of Lifesupport Systems, http://lifesupportsystem.com/
Visit by District Supertendent – February 12: The district superintendent will visit St. Paul UMC February 12, and meet with the congregation afterwards. All members are urged to attend and stay for the meeting and potluck lunch afterwards.
Christmas Day Service: St Paul UMC will have a Christmas Day service at 10 am. Everyone is welcome. We won’t be having a Christmas Eve service this year, but you are invited to attend a service at another United Methodist Church if you wish.
December 4 Bazaar and Bake Sale – November 28, 2005: St Paul UMC will be having its annual bake sale and bazaar Saturday December 4, 2005, starting about 9:30 a.m. This is held in conjunction with the charity run in Copperton. We will be serving sloppy joes, chicken soup, and a multitude of tasty baked goods. Please show up and support two worthy causes, the charity run and St Paul UMC!
Fund Raising – October 30, 2005: St. Paul had a rummage sale earler this month that brought in about $500. The first weekend in December will be the St. Paul bazaar in conjunction with the annual charity run in Copperton. These events are a crucial method for us to raise money to supplement our offering income and to help fund our ministry in the southwestern portion of the Salt Lake Valley. We appreciate all those that donate their time and effort to make these events a success. We also appreciate everyone that shops the rummage sale and bazaar and buys stuff.
More on the Katrina and Rita Relief Efforts – October 1, 2005: In rereading the entry below about the devastation from the hurricanes, I noticed that I referred to them as “weather-related”. Often people refer to disasters as “Acts of God”. In legal contracts, events beyond the control of either or both parties to the contract are called “Acts of God”, or sometimes “Force Majeure”, which apparently means the same thing in French. That reminds me of something I read recently about the hurricanes: The hurricanes are natural disasters, but the relief effort is an Act of God.
I also just read in an email newsletter from the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UMC that the United Methodist Church had collected over $7 million so far for the UMCOR relief effort. and the Rocky Mountain Conference had collected over $500,000. I don’t know if that includes the $200 that St. Paul has collected so far.
Update: Through the end of September, the Rocky Mountain Conference raised $550,872.07. UMCOR invites United Methodists to continue their generosity in giving. Disasters of this scope will require years of recovery and investment. “Cash is the best gift right now,” say agency officials. You can give to Hurricane Katrina relief, UMCOR Advance # 982523, or Hurricane Rita recovery, Advance #901323. UMCOR does not accept clothing or food because they take up valuable space that is needed for critical emergency supplies. A list of most-needed supplies is available online at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/05/sagerbrowntopneeds.cfm . More here: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor-hotline/
9/11 and Katrina – September 11, 2005: On this 4th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, we are once again consumed with disaster relief; this time from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. What both of these event point to is the need to be prepared to handle disasters, whether man-made, or primarly weather-related. Disaster relief is a difficult thing to do well, because you have to do it in the midst of a disaster.
Much talk in the media centers on responsibility and fault when disaster relief is less responsive than it could have been. It points out to me that each of us, individually and in families, needs to be able to care for ourselves and the persons around us. If we learn anything from 9/11 and Katrina, we should learn to be – first: self sufficent as much as possible, and second: ready, willing, and able to help those who are unable to help themselves.
Another lesson from these disasters is the need to forgive those who have hurt us in some way. Today’s sermon Seventy Times Seven speaks to just that need.
Lay Speaker Training – September 10, 2005: St. Paul hosted a United Methodist Lay Speaker Training class Saturday, September 10th. The two (Basic and Advanced) classes had a total of about 22 persons from several churches along the Wasatch Front. Most had never been to St Paul before and were very complimentary about our church and the lunch provided by our faithful members.
Storm Damage – August 29, 2005: I’m watching the storm damage in New Orleans today as Hurricane Katrina makes landfall, and praying for the safety of the people there. St. Paul UMC was damaged earlier this spring from microburst winds that ripped off some of the siding, gutters and shingles. It is being repaired this month as the insurance covered the cost after a deductible.
Wedding Photos – August 13, 2005: Just as I promised back in July, here are a couple of photos from the wedding of Ann and Aaron. Click on the photos to enlarge.
Worry – July 17, 2005: The other day I was reading the “Findings” magazine. Findings is a magazine published by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation of Oklahoma City, to inform donors of the lastest news about the institution. In the most recent issue, the last two pages contained an interview of Janet Lawrence, who worked for OMRF for over 50 years, and retired this year. In the interview, Ms. Lawrence reflected on the changes that OMRF had undergone in the 50 years she had worked there, and how she had to endure segregated working conditions in her early years. She ended the interview with a quote about worry that struck me as so profound that I wanted to share it with you. She said, “Worry never solved a problem, never cooked a meal, never made a dollar. God will fight your battles for you if you’ll just be still and let Him.” Amen.
Wedding – July 15, 2005 Ann and Aaron of the St. Paul family celebrated their marriage Friday evening with friends and family. A lovely couple if ever there was one. The Reverend performed the ceremony at a reception center in Murray. I took some pictures and hope to post them here if they are OK with it. May God bless their marriage.
Independence Day – July 4, 2005 Here are a couple of quotes used in yesterday’s sermon – appropriate for the day.
After the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, “I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival… it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other…”
A few days before Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826–the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence–he could see that the revolution he had helped to spark was burning throughout the world. He wrote: “All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are the grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them”
Touched By an Angel – May 25, 2005 We have been told that over the years several TV shows and movies have been filmed in and around St. Paul UMC. But other than the two episodes of the television show Touched by an Angel referenced at the bottom of our Church History page, we don’t have any details. If any one in cyberspace knows of any other shows or movies filmed at our church, please drop me a line at the email address above. I would like to include the information on our web site. And thanks for visiting.
Pentecost – May 15, 2005 Today is Pentecost in the Christian Church and is being celebrated at St Paul UMC as well. Pentecost, is a Greek work meaning 50th, and so Pentecost falls on the Sunday closest to 50 days after Easter. If you click on the link above to Wikipedia entry, you will learn that Pentecost is celebrated as the birth of the Christian Church, when the Holy Spirit decended on the followers of Jesus, as chronicled by Luke in the 2nd chapter of Acts.
I thought it was interesting to learn that in Italy, the churches drop red rose petals from the ceiling of the church to represent the tongues of fire that Luke writes about in Acts. At St. Paul and other Methodist churches, the alter cloths and banners will be changed to red this Sunday, for the same reason, and often the minister will wear a red stole over his or her robe. The Reverend encouraged everyone to wear red to church today.
Estey Organ – May 14, 2005: We have gathered information about the old organ at St. Paul and how difficult it would be to have it restored to working order. We were able to find a webpage for the Estey Organ Museum in Brattleboro, Vermont. Using the contact on the web page, we determined that the organ is an Estey Style G 2-manual-with-pedal pipetop reed organ. The serial number, 410305, indicates that the organ was built about 1918. Estey no longer manufactures reed organs.
Unfortunately, without having an expert look at the organ and see what condition it is in and how many parts are missing, we have no way of knowing how expensive it would be to restore it to working order. The contact, a man who restores Estey Organs, suggested shipping the organ to Brattleboro for a thorough rebuild. Given the expense, we will be unable to do that at this time. Someday, with God’s help, we will get it repaired.
