Altar Flowers Dedicated to Son, Wesley

Pastor Renee Ford at Woodycrest UMC - Jan 8, 2017

At this morning's service, Pastor Renee Ford dedicated the altar flowers to her son, Wesley MacDougall, who celebrated his 21st birthday on December 26.

Wesley picked out the flowers himself and  chose a palm plant rather than traditional flowers.

Pastor Renee added the yellow star to go along with today's sermon called "Road Trip" which  talks about the Wise Men following the star to find Jesus' birth place. See Matthew 2:1-12.

Each Sunday at Woodycrest, a different family or member of the congregation can dedicate flowers to people they love.


Pastor Renee Ford is the pastor for Grays United Methodist Church, Houserville House of Hope, and Woodycrest United Methodist Church. She is also an Instructional Designer for the Department of eLearning Design and Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

"A Memory of a Trip With My Dad"

Written by Eric Bunge

 


This postcard is a very special keepsake to me.




Postcard of Big Bend Nat'l Park, Texas
at Sunset

I spent several days with Dad in the valleys surrounding the mountain you see in the distance.

 

To get all the way down there takes a lot of time and effort and Dad convinced me to do it.

 

And together, we explored all over the deserts in this distant land.

 

If I ever see it again it will only remind me of Dad.

Eric and his dad, Larry, on this trip

 

 

I wonder if he recognizes the mountain? I do.

 

-On the right are the plains of Texas





-On the left, the lost ole Mexico

 

-The river (Rio Grande) cuts a canyon to the left where surely many have died

 

-In the foreground is the Texas Dad loves so much (his Dead End Canyon)  



"A Christmas Message"

Written by Pastor Renee Ford

A Hand-Made Nativity Set
Donated by a Church Family

          "It is time for us to celebrate the birth of our Lord! God has brought an amazing and unexpected gift to our world. During this time, I invite you to reflect on the unanticipated moments and gifts God has brought to you that bring you hope. Even when life brings unexpected trials, we are graced by God’s presence and the unexpected help God can send at just the right time. Each year, we find new ways that God touches our lives to bring us encouragement and strength. My prayer is for this to happen for you so that the blessing of God’s presence will enter your life anew this Christmas."

        "This Christmas Eve, we’ll reflect on the meaning of the manger and the gift God has given to our world through Jesus. When I was in elementary school, I was asked to sing “What Child is This?” at church on Christmas Eve. I have always loved that carol because it asks a really important question about who Jesus is for us. The gift of the manger can mean many different things for each of us. It can mean love when we are feeling unacceptable or unworthy. It can mean hope when life has brought us to a low point and the future feels terribly bleak. It can mean a higher calling for us to live and follow the ways of Jesus so that we move God’s will into the world through our work, our prayers, and our efforts of justice, our compassion and mercy as the hands, feet and heart of Jesus. I invite you to come to worship this Christmas Eve at our 4 p.m. candlelight service and discover the meaning of the manger for you. As God’s people, let us welcome and honor Jesus – God’s gift for the world. And let us find joyful ways to share this gift of love."


Woodycrest Sanctuary

Merry Christmas!!

Pastor Renee
Woodycrest United Methodist Church





Woodycrest United Methodist Church Will Celebrate 80th Anniversary



The Woodycrest United Methodist Church

The Woodycrest United Methodist Church will celebrate its 80^th Anniversary on November 13, 2016.

Rev. Dr. Renee Ford will officiate the anniversary church worship service at 10:30 a.m.

Refreshments with a “Pumpkin and Spice” theme will be held in the fellowship room from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Everyone is welcomed to attend our anniversary celebration.

We have eight members who have been members for 50 years or more. One member, whose family were founding members of the church, has been a member for 79 years and joined the church during its first year of existence.

 That's a total of 428 years for our top 9 longest-standing members

The church has decided to build a lift to make the church building fully accessible to all people. This will be an investment in the future of the church and enhances the church's ability to better serve the community

 Other services Woodycrest United Methodist Church provides:

·        Sunday school at 9. a.m.
·        Worship at 10:30 a.m.
·        Prayer Chain – Prayer requests are prayed for by the church congregation
·        Free Store – Open to the public the last Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. until noon
·        In-His-Service – Coordinates volunteers for the free store and for fellowship suppers
·        Men’s breakfast on the last Saturday of each month

Saying Goodbye

Son, Eric, and Grandson, Eric, Jr.
 

A mother's heart can be mixed with many emotions when she says goodbye to her son and grandson. And as happy as I was to spend some time with each of them on their visit to State College, it's hard to hold back the tears as I write about saying goodbye to them on my blog.

Our son, Eric, flew in to BWI in Baltimore where we picked him up on Sunday. During the short four days he was here, he spent most of his time with his other son, Frank, who is building a amazing tree house in a hundred-year old oak tree. His other son, Eric, drove up over a week ago and spent a lot of time hiking with his family.

When I left for class this morning, I said goodbye to my son, Eric.  His son, Eric, was planning on picking him up at 7:30 a.m. I decided to make a quick trip home after my ten o'clock class and found them at my place in the car ready to leave. This is the only picture I have of them on this visit.

They are their own journey now, a father-son bonding trip. https://goo.gl/maps/98G4JJvjkvG2. They plan to camp tonight and tomorrow tonight, and be in Bluffton, were my son lives, on Saturday. Grandson Eric will leave for his home in Florida on Sunday.

Happy travelling, son and grandson.  Love, Mom and Grandma

My Compassion For Customer Service



Mary, presenting, fellow students, and Mr. Gates, our teacher
 

I have always felt a compassion to help others and believe my work in customer service has been a good fit for me.

At the South Hills School of Business & Technology, where I am now a full-time student, we are learning about teamwork in our management class.

Today, we were presenting our answers to teamwork questions assigned to us by our management teacher, Mr. Gates. It was great timing to share with my classmates about my role in customer service with my previous employer, ARRIS Solutions, a global telecommunications provider.



Nate, presenting
 

It was both exciting and an honor to share with the students how customer service is an important core value at ARRIS, and how fortunate I was to be on their customer service team for five years.

Since we are learning about teamwork and the importance of helping each other in our workplace, I shared with my classmates how our supervisor, our coworkers, and employees from other departments at ARRIS helped the customer service team be successful.

My fellow students gave impressive answers to our homework assignment on teamwork this morning. I love to listen to them present their ideas and answers. Here is a picture of Nate who captures his audience with his wit and persuasion. We voted him to be the captain of our ship on the first day of class.  Nate is still our captain, and we are his team!

Hope Is A Feeling Of Expectation That Something Good Will Happen.



These mums are named "Hope"

On the last Saturday of each month, from ten until noon, the Woodycrest Methodist Church, provides hope to those who shop for free during these two hours in the Free-For-All shop. All items are donated to the church and given out free to the shoppers. The items include clothing for the whole family, kitchen items, books, videos, toys, pictures, and so much more. Faithful volunteers sort and place the items in the appropriate rooms in the shop which is located in the basement of the church. Each family that visits is given a very large, heavy-duty, plastic bag to hold their selections. Our volunteers wrap glass and breakables in newspaper. The men volunteers help the ladies carry their heavy treasures up the stairs and to their cars.

Free-For-All shop view

Each month, the church also gives each family a bag with new items in it. It's always a surprise. The shoppers have no idea what's in the bags until they open them. One month it was shampoo, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. This Saturday, it was a six-inch mum with yellow and gold colored buds. There were a few mums left so the volunteers took them home.

Another Free-For-All Shop View

Last evening, after I planted my pot of mums at the corner of my shed, I sat back in my lawn chair and reflected on how beautiful the yellow and gold colors were, and then I thought back on two hours I spent at the Free-For-All shop in the morning. People who shopped that morning were all hopeful they would find things they needed. Volunteers were hopeful they could provide inspiration and hope to all who shopped.  "Hope" seemed the perfect name to give my mums.