Worship Services Wednesday, 6:30pm - Midweek Service Saturday, 4:00pm A traditional service for older adults Sunday, 10:15am - Sunday Worship Sunday School 9:00am Special Monthly Sunday Services... First Sunday Holy Communion Youth"Noisy Offering" Second Sunday Fair Trade Coffee available for purchase Child Care is Available During Wednesday and Sunday Services

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From The Pastor...

Ed loved to worry unnecessarily!  At least that's what I thought the day he insisted we needed a safe plan for the parsonage. His rationale was that I was a single female pastor living on a well-traveled road. It was not unheard of for some rather unusual people to find their way to my front door with a host of requests and demands. As Chief of Police, he wanted to know where to begin looking for me if I ever needed to call for help. Because of his genuine (but somewhat misplaced) concern, we went to the parsonage and developed a plan.

As it happened, several months later someone whose behavior was cause for concern did find his way to the parsonage. I told him he had to leave. He refused. Suddenly, the safe plan didn't sound like a bad idea!

To make a bad situation worse, I wasn't alone in the house. My daughter and granddaughter were there, too. So I grabbed the three-year-old and told my daughter to follow me. We went into the safe room, called 9-1-1, pulled a dresser in front of the door and sat down with our backs to an inside wall. In order to keep my granddaughter calm, I told her we were playing hide-and-seek with Ed so we had to be quiet until he found us.

She sat on my lap being as quiet as a three-year-old can be for as long as a three-year-old can be. Finally she turned around and whispered as softly as a three-year-old can: Ed's looking for us? To which I replied: Yes, but remember, we have to be quiet until he finds us. At that point, she turned her attention toward the door. It wasn't long before I heard her say to herself: Ed can't open the door! At that point she turned around, put her face next to mine and whispered: Move . . .the . . . dresser!

Now thankfully, we never needed the safe room again. Yet it was a night that left a lasting impression on me. Whenever I read the words from Revelation 3:20a, "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them,"

If we want Christ to be a part of our lives - if we want to be face-to-face with the One whose presence keeps us safe and whose words bring a sense of order and meaning to our lives - then we have to remove the obstacles that keep Him just out of our reach.

So if you are tired of playing hide-and-seek; if you want to find yourself in the living presence of our Lord, then take the wise advice of a three-year-old. Move the dresser! And, yes, he will come in!

Big Music Sunday #5

Sunday, May 20th will be our fifth annual Big Music Sunday. This year we will celebrate the contributions of African-Americans as all of our music for this service will be spirituals. The Bell Choir has two jazzy arrangements to play; the Chancel Choir will feature one slow ballad and one quick spiritual; and the Scholarship singers will sing another jazzy quartet. This will be the last Sunday the choirs participate in worship until September, so we hope you'll be in attendance to share in our special tribute to the spirituals.

Summer Special Music
It's not too soon to talk to Jeannie Gish and schedule a summer Sunday when you'd like to share special music. Because the choirs don't rehearse during June, July, and most of August, we ask members of our congregation to share their talents during our summer worship services. Give Jeannie a call or email her at jegish@cox.net to secure the Sunday you want. Thanks in advance to all who are called to share in this music ministry!

Lowman Singles
On Sunday, May 20, Lowman Singles will meet at the Westridge Theaters at 6:30 pm.

Women's Retreat a Success!
What a blessing it was to hold the Keep A Smile On Your Faith retreat at Lowman! Over 20 women gathered on Friday and Saturday, April 27 and 28, to hear Debi Stack and Fawn Brents teach us how to secure and grow our faith and how to pass it on. As with all things, we first thank the Lord for his presence and help throughout the preparation and during the retreat.

Many people were active in getting ready for Keep A Smile and deserve our thanks:

Pastor Kathleen who gave us the initial information regarding this retreat, supported us throughout, and was here for much of the retreat, even though other responsibilities called for her presence that weekend

Lauri Wright who first brought up the idea of scheduling a women's retreat as part of the Education Team's work. Lauri also headed the effort to provide a goodie bag for each of the attendees and a willing pair of hands wherever they were needed during the retreat.

Cindy McGowan who provided publicity, especially for the newspaper. She, too, offered her help in any way that was needed, being especially helpful in cleaning up after the retreat.

Barbara Wright who made sure we had all the glue sticks, scissors, stickers and markers that we needed to decorate our journals and apply Debi and Fawn's teaching to our individual lives.

Adam Schafer who was here during the retreat to offer assistance to the retreat technical team.

Patty Bottorff, Jan Johnson, Kathy Molander, Becky Leonard and other members of their UMW circle who provided spectacular snacks and were so generous with these snacks that there was enough to share with everyone at Sunday's fellowship time.

Dale Schafer who was understanding of the time that Diane spent organizing the event - which meant some meals were very simple and some were non-existent. He also provided weather updates during Friday evening's tornado watch and warning.

Thank you to the Wednesday night girls club who put together all the items in the goodie bags.

And thank you to Debi, Fawn, Susan, Randy and Harold - the Keep A Smile team.

--Diane Schafer and the retreat organization committe

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Lowman United Methodist Women
The May schedule of events is posted. Check it out here.

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Lowman Ministry Teams Meeting Schedule
The Lowman Ministry Teams meet on the Second Sunday of each month except for April & May when they will be on the third Sunday.  

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Contribute Your Favorite Recipe!
Recipes from Lowman events were requested by several people. Why don't you try one or two at your next gathering?  Do you have a recipe you'd like to share?  See how to submit one for publication here on the website.