Last Sunday, our topic was "Jesus' Grace: Am I Accepted?", and our Scriptures were Matthew 9.9-13, John 8.1-11, and Luke 15.11-32.  The point is that Jesus DOES accept you, just as you are.  We don't get what we deserve, and that's a good thing.  What we get is God's grace: God's unmerited favor.  Jesus takes the recriminations, the loss, the hurt, and gives us forgiveness and mercy.  As an illustration of the power of forgiveness, the story of Kim Phuc and John Plummer was told.  You can read it here.

This Sunday, May 20, our topic will be "Jesus' Example: What Brings Fulfillment?".  Our Scriptures will be John 13.1-17, Matthew 6.24, John 12.20-26, Matthew 20.20-28, and Matthew 25.31-40.  Our focus will be on the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet in John 13.  The point I want to get across is summarized by Martin Thielen: "Self absorbed people who live only for themselves and for their immediate family will never be content.  Self is just too small a god to serve.  True fulfillment comes only through service to others.  Hundreds of different ways exist for us to follow Jesus' example.  But every Christian is called by God to pick up a towel and wash the feet of others in some way.  And when we do, we will discover true joy and fulfillment."  

ONE EMAIL TO RULE THEM ALL!

We are going to a subscription-based church email news.  This will get this email only to those who want it, and it allows people to subscribe to it from our church website (the bottom of the homepage).  What this means is that if you no longer desire to receive these church email updates, do nothing.  You will not receive another.  BUT IF YOU DO WANT TO RECEIVE the news, reminders, announcements, links, and photos that are in this newsletter, you need to subscribe.  It is very simple.  Go to the bottom of the church homepage www.catalinamethodist.org and enter your email address at the bottom of the page.  Or simply go to this link and complete the form.  http://eepurl.com/hWmRk   It takes less than 1 minute.  Literally.  Thanks.  There will be only ONE email coming from Catalina each week. 

IN THIS ISSUE:

>This Week

>Youth Announcements

>Other News-What’s on the horizon at Catalina?

THIS WEEK

Parking Lot Sale to Benefit the Organ Fund will be held THIS SATURDAY, April 21 in the parking lot on Speedway, outside the music room.  If you want to help, set up begins at 7am and the sale itself begins at 8am.  It ends at 12 noon, so don’t dawdle! 

This week, we are resurfacing the basketball court outside the chapel.  This Sunday (April 22) it is important that we STAY OFF THE BASKETBALL COURT!  This is a one-week only restriction.  Thanks for helping us out!

FOURTH SUNDAY CONCERT is this week, and it will feature Kyle Hood (bells) and Raven Gaston (piano).  Kyle and Raven are very talented, and this is guaranteed to be an entertaining and inspiring concert!  It begins after the 11am worship (around 12:15pm) in the sanctuary. 

WORSHIP WITH US SUNDAY!  In traditional worship, Pastor Ed will preach on “Witnesses of What Things?” and his Scriptures will be 1 John 3.1-3 and Luke 24.36-48.  At the 11am service, the children’s choir will sing and also the sanctuary choir.  In The Refuge, Richard will preach on “Where Is God?” and his Scriptures will be John 1.1-5, 14, Matthew 6.7-9, and 1 Corinthians 12.27.  Cornerstone has great music planned, including “Diamond in the Rough”, “Dust in the Wind”, and “Never Alone” (one of my favorites). 

TMM FAMILY SERVICES is having an open house and silent auction on Friday, April 20 from 2-7pm and Saturday, April 21 from 10am-2pm.  Information can be found at http://www.tmmfs.org/ .

KONY 2012 Film Screening is this Sunday, April 22 at 5:30pm in Fellowship Hall.  Information can be found here and at http://www.kony2012.com/ .  There has been recent controversy surrounding this film and the organization sponsoring it, Invisible Children.  I want to hear first-hand from a young man from Uganda.  I think we can all agree that children being forced into fighting in militias is something that must be stopped. 

YOUTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

YOUTH AND PARENTS, you may have noticed that I do not send out a separate youth announcement email.  It’s all in here.  So, to stay current, subscribe to this email list, please!

HELP WITH THE ORGAN SALE: This is a fundraiser for our missions trips, so if you are signed up for junior high mission or high school mission or college mission, we need your help!  Come to the church parking lot on Speedway near the music room.  If you can come at 7am, you can help set up.  The sale runs from 8am to noon, then if you can help put things away, that would be great.  Come for as much as you can.  You need to plan on helping with two out of three: Organ Sale, Family Camping (May 10), and VBS (June 11-15). 

This is a photo from the youth group’s Agua Caliente Cookout last Sunday!  We had great weather for football, soccer, and a picnic!  More photos can be found at http://goo.gl/Jylcy .

KONY 2012—See the info above.  Many of you have had Invisible Children presentations at your school before.  Come this Sunday and bring a friend.  Your whole family is invited.  The presentation starts at 5:30, but we will begin at 5pm (like we always do for youth group) with dinner in E-23.   

OTHER NEWS

UNITY SUNDAY is planned for Sunday April 29!  We will have ONE BIG SERVICE that day at 10:30!  This is our second annual Unity Sunday.  Photos from last year are at http://goo.gl/rgEhG .  We will have ONE worship service in the sanctuary at 10:30am.  There will be coffee and fellowship (and probably a couple of cookies) on the Patio at 10am.  Following worship, we will have a church picnic with family games and a jumping castle!  Dress casual for the service and the picnic.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, and drinks will be provided, bring a side dish or dessert to share! 

Pastor Raven is planning a new 6 week DVD-based Bible study featuring two studies by Adam Hamilton: “Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White” and “When Christians Get It Wrong”.  The study will be held in the church library from 7-8:30pm on Tuesday evenings.  It will begin on May 1.

New Member Class will be held Saturday, April 28.  All the details are at http://catalinamethodist.org/event/new-member-class/ .

Catalina will be hosting a screening of the film Bag It, which is an important film about our care for the earth.  Info is at http://catalinamethodist.org/event/bag-it-movie-screening/ .

Go ahead and follow this link http://eepurl.com/hWmRk and subscribe to the church e-news!

I’ll See You Sunday!

Richard

Holy Week Schedule

>Wednesday April 4 (tonight) The labyrinth in Fellowship Hall will be open for walking and meditation.  No formal program.  Just contemplation. 

>Maundy Thursday 7pm in the sanctuary.  Holy Communion will be served and the choir will provide music. 

>Good Friday Hike (for youth, families, friends, and anyone else who wants to come!)  This is a Catalina tradition for the last 20+ years!  Meet at Catalina at 10am or at the Sabino Canyon Visitor’s Center at 10:30.  Bring your lunch and plenty of water!  We hike to the dam, walk in the water, climb around, eat lunch, and have communion.  You can be picked up at Sabino at 1:30, or at Catalina at 2pm.  Family and friends are invited, and we will need drivers!!

>Seven Last Words of Jesus Good Friday worship at 12:15pm in the Sanctuary.

>Family Good Friday Service 5:30pm Fellowship Hall

Good Friday is not often a time that we think of growing the faith of our children.  The story is so filled with violence, evil and death which we barely understand ourselves, that we hardly know how to share it with children.  But, the story is there and it is the heart story of the faith. When our children walk through the crucifixion story with us, they make sense of the whole Holy Week saga and they are prepared to face the violence and evil that they will surely encounter in their own world.

Children need to hear the Passion stories with the Easter stories. We will remember our salvation this Friday with a special service for families, beginning with dinner at 5:30 in the Fellowship Hall. The story will be told through special symbols, active storytelling, and include communion.

>Good Friday Service of Tennebrae (Darkness) will be offered at 7pm in the chapel.  There will be music, Scripture, and readings as candles are extinguished symbolizing the falling away of each of the disciples. 

>Easter Sunrise Service at 6:15am in the Memorial Garden and Fellowship Hall.  Holy Communion will be served and the worship is led by our youth group!

>8:15 Traditional Worship in the chapel

>9:30 and 11am Traditional Worship in the Sanctuary.  Music will be provided by the Sanctuary Choir, the Catalina Instrument Ensemble, the Festival Ringers, and the Catalina Brass Ensemble.  One of the pieces will be the “Hallelujah Chorus” by Handel.  Pastor Ed’s message will be “Responding to the Resurrection” and his Scripture is John 20.1-18.

>9:30 and 11am The Refuge worship in Fellowship Hall.  Worship will include Holy Communion and the theme will be “Is There Hope?”. 

>9:30 and 11am Annual Children’s Egg Hunt will be held on the south lawn.  The youth group helps set up and organize the hunt!

FOR OUR YOUTH:

>Many of you have parts in the Sunrise Service!  Be on time and don’t forget! 

>IHOP ON EASTER Usually after the Sunrise Service, many of the youth and their families go to IHOP on Grant for breakfast.  While this has become a tradition, it is not an “official” youth event.  Some youth go, some do not.

>No Sunday Night Youth Group on Easter!

>AGUA CALIENTE COOKOUT  Join us for an afternoon of hiking, playing outside, and grilling!  We will provide the meat and buns and drinks, youth bring a side dish, snack, or dessert!  The whole family is invited to join us!  Play football, soccer, hike, or sit in the shade!  We will leave Catalina at 2pm and be back by 6pm.  We want to leave PROMPTLY at 2pm, so BE ON TIME!!  You can meet us at Agua Caliente if that is closer for you.  And yes, YOU CAN BRING A FRIEND!  We will need a few volunteers to help us drive youth out to the park.  Let Richard or Kristin know if you can help.   Don’t miss this event!  Agua Caliente is a very special place in Tucson, literally an oasis in the desert! There is abundant water, abundant grass, and abundant wildlife! 

>April Youth News  can be found at http://catalina-youth.posterous.com/april-youth-news .

Seder Dinner was great!  Photos can be found at http://goo.gl/XziYK .  Below is a photo from the Seder.  Part of the ceremony is the traditional washing of the hands.

Thanks for Being Part of Catalina!

Richard

Seder Dinner is tonight!

This Sunday is PALM SUNDAY!  There will be a special musical presentation in the sanctuary by the Sanctuary Choir.  The choir will perform Rutter’s Requiem accompanied by a chamber instrumental ensemble conducted by Dr. Jonathan Ng.  Child care will be provided and a free-will offering will be accepted.  Contact Jonathan for more information.

In THE REFUGE, we will experience the stations of the cross (both as text meditations and as artistic representations from Ted DeGrazia’s Way of the Cross collection.  There will also be several interactive prayer stations designed to help us contemplate the cross of Christ.

Holy Communion will be celebrated in all worship services this Sunday. 

High School and College Mission Trip deadline is THIS SUNDAY!  Info is at http://catalina-youth.posterous.com/mission-trip-deadline-is-sunday-april-1

YOUTH GROUP meets this Sunday from 5-7pm!  One of the things we will do is assign parts and practice for the SUNRISE SERVICE! 

HOLY WEEK  A complete schedule of all holy week activities and services at Catalina can be found here. 

Open Door Young Adult Group meets Thursday! 

Photos from last Saturday’s STOP HUNGER NOW Meal Packing Event at Bear Down Gym are here.  Over 41,000 meals were packed to be shipped off to people in need all around the world!  The photo below is two of our Catalina youth, Kayla and Dominique!

Photos from the South District Youth Sports Tournament held last Sunday can be found on the Catalina youth group Facebook page: http://facebook.com/catalina.youth.group  

I’ll See You Tonight or Sunday!

Richard

SEDER MEAL Seder Meal Wednesday, March 28  As part of our Lenten Journeys we will conclude with a Seder Meal.  The Seder Meal is the traditional Jewish Passover meal  and is a celebration of freedom as the Hebrew people remembered both their slavery and their emancipation,  It is a combination of symbolic food, historic affirmations, scripture and prayers.  In order to assist us in food preparation, we ask that you RSVP to the church office (327-4296) by Sunday, March 25.  There is a suggested donation of $10.00 to help with the cost of the meal.

STOP HUNGER NOW BEAR DOWN is THIS SATURDAY March 24!   You can help pack meals at Bear Down Gym!  The event begins at 10am and lasts until noon.  Information is at http://stophungernow.org/beardown .

Lenten Journeys here are a couple of photos from the labyrinth (yes, a labyrinth in Fellowship Hall!) this last week:

We really appreciate all the work that went into Lenten Journeys!

LENT WORKSHOP This Saturday March 24 from 2-4pm in Fellowship Hall.  There will be music, crafts, decorating cookies, snacks—fun for all! 

STOP HUNGER NOW MEALS WERE SHIPPED!  The meals that were packed here at Catalina in November are part of a shipment that went out of the Phoenix Stop Hunger Now warehouse to Nicaragua.  Here is a statement about the work in Nicaragua:  Nicaragua is the poorest Spanish speaking country in the world and recognized as being the second poorest (behind Haiti) in the Western Hemisphere. The United Nations indicates that one-third of the children in Nicaragua are chronically malnourished and estimates 130,000 orphaned or at-risk children in the country. Nicaragua has an unemployment rate of 45%-60%.  Laborers scramble each day to find work for that day. 
This photo is from a STOP HUNGER NOW meal distribution in Nicaragua.

High School Overnighter is being held this weekend, Friday-Saturday March 23-24.  We will have activities and SLEEP at Catalina and then help with STOP HUNGER NOW BEAR DOWN on Saturday morning.  Information about this event is at http://catalina-youth.posterous.com/high-school-overnighter-missions-trip-youth-n

High School/College Missions Trip  Details about our high school and college age missions trip are available at http://catalina-youth.posterous.com/high-school-and-college-summer-missions-trip .  Deadline to sign up is April 1!  And that is not a joke.  Some of you will get that!

HOLY WEEK WORSHIP

Maundy Thursday 7pm April 5 in the sanctuary

Good Friday April 6

                Traditional Worship 12:15 and 7pm in the sanctuary

                Family Dinner and Worship (in place of Family First Friday for April) at 5:30pm in the hall.

Easter Sunday April 8

                Sunrise Service at 6:15 in Fellowship Hall and the Memorial Garden

                Traditional Worship at 8:15 in the chapel and at 9:30am and 11am in the sanctuary

                The Refuge Alternative Worship at 9:30am and 11am in Fellowship Hall

CATALINA NEWS The current issue can be found online at http://catalinamethodist.org/img/Cat-News-03-11-12-pg-1-4.pdf

FOURTH SUNDAY CONCERT  Beverly Gibson and Leslie Boll have teamed up to bring you vocal selections from well known Broadway musicals.  Songs from "Annie Get Your Gun",  "The Music Man", "Phantom of the Opera", and "My Fair Lady" are just a few they will be singing for you.  Join them on Sunday, March 25, following the 11:00 a.m. worship services in the choir room, H27, located in the building behind the sanctuary

DISTRICT YOUTH SPORTS TOURNAMENT is being hosted at Catalina this Sunday!  Everything begins at 2pm in Fellowship Hall!  All middle school and high school youth are invited to this event!  A flyer with all the info is at http://catalina-youth.posterous.com/high-school-overnighter-missions-trip-youth-n

OPEN DOOR YOUNG ADULT GROUP  Thursday, March 22 We continue to explore the parables of Jesus found in the Gospel of Luke. Join us for dinner and great fellowship in room E-23. Contact Kristin for more information.

KONY 2012 Date Correction The Catalina youth group is hosting a screening of the film KONY 2012 which calls attention to the plight of children forced into fighting by Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.  A young man from Uganda will be our guest and present first-hand information.  The event begins at 5:30pm and is being held in Fellowship Hall.  This is open to the public, and the whole church is invited. 

I’ll See You Sunday!

Richard

Lenten Journeys meets TONIGHT!  Dinner is at 5:30pm in E-23 and worship begins around 6:30pm in Fellowship Hall.  Details   
*Next Wednesday, March 21, we will be participating in the spiritual practice of walking a labyrinth during Lenten Journeys!  This is not to be missed!

Rev. Don Brummet serving communion at Lenten Journeys.

Feed the Children and United Way turned Catalina’s parking lot into a venue for helping others on Wednesday, March 14! 

Stop Hunger Now Meal Packing Event is being held Saturday, March 24 from 9am to 12noon at Bear Down Gym on the UofA campus.  This is a great way to help needy people around the world and to work together with your community!  Go to www.stophungernow.org/beardown for donate or to sign up to volunteer! 

HIGH SCHOOL OVERNIGHTER is planned for March 23-24.  We will help with the STOP HUNGER NOW event as part of our activity.  All the info is here.

Summer Youth Missions 2012!

South District Junior High Mission will be held June 6-9.  Details coming soon!

HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE Summer Mission Trip will be held July 15-20!  We will be doing urban mission work with DOOR Hollywood (Los Angeles).  DOOR is a mission group that works in several urban areas.  In 2010, we served with DOOR San Antonio.  All of the info is at http://richardleejones.posterous.com/2012-missions-high-school-and-college.

KONY 2012  Many of you have heard about the KONY 2012 initiative to bring Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony to justice.  This initiative has grown out of the Invisible Children program which spotlights the tragedy of children being abducted and forced into Kony’s militia.  On April 29, we will host a screening of the new short film and a young man from Uganda will be our special guest.  The program will be held in Fellowship Hall and will begin at 5:30pm.  The event is open to all ages, the public, and other youth groups are invited, too!

YOUTH GROUP MEETS THIS SUNDAY!  5-7pm!  Details are here.  And here is a photo from last Sunday!  All of the photos are on the youth group Facebook page!

Our Seder (Passover) dinner is being held Wednesday, March 28 at 6pm in Fellowship Hall.  This was an awesome event last year!  RSVPs are appreciated (so we know how many people to set up and prepare for), and you can call the church office with your RSVP (327-4296), there will be sign up sheets at Lenten Journeys on Wednesday, and you can sign up online at get all the details at http://catalinamethodist.org/event/seder-dinner/.  This is a great event for the whole family!

Sunday Sermons are available on the church website!  Go to the home page (www.catalinamethodist.org) , and you will see the box in the middle at the bottom labeled “Sermons”.

Open Door young adult Bible study is meeting Thursday, March 15!  Details

Human Trafficking workshop is being held at Catalina on Saturday, March 17.  This event is open to all and is sponsored by the United Methodist Women.  Details

Savvy Senior Lunch Bunch is meeting this Sunday!  Details

The annual SOUTH DISTRICT YOUTH SPORTS TOURNAMENT is going to be hosted at Catalina this year on March 25 (this is REALLY where the phrase “March Madness” originated)!  There is an info sheet here, and we can use a few adults to help with this event!  Contact Richard or Kristin if you can help!

CYCLOVIA TUCSON is a great outdoor community event!  It is happening THIS SUNDAY (March 18)!   http://www.cycloviatucson.org/  Mindy and I are planning to bike the route.

I’ll See You Tonight!

Richard

The pdfs below contain ALL the info!  Check them out!  It is SIGN UP TIME!

Click here to download:

2012_first_letter-COL.pdf (512 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

2012_first_letter-COL.pdf (512 KB)

Click here to download:

2012_first_letter-HS.pdf (505 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

2012_first_letter-HS.pdf (505 KB)