WELCOME JOEL CHERMONTE FROM NOUMC WHO WILL LEAD US IN WORSHIP ON MAY 31ST WHILE PASTOR TENNILLE ATTENDS HER OTHER SON’S GRADUATION: Joel is married to Debra (38 years) and they have 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren! He graduated from University of Akron in 1967, METHESCO in 1970 and OSU 1974. He has served churches in Ohio and NY. He was a coordinator of Guidance for the Fairview Park schools for 33 years and volunteers with Reserve Hospice and Nehemiah Mission.
PEACE WITH JUSTICE SUNDAY:
Peace with Justice Sunday celebration is May 31, 2026. This offering is collected the first Sunday after Pentecost and it supports peace with justice ministries through the General Board of Church and Society and the annual conferences. Envelopes are available by the treasure chest
GRADUATES!
If you have a graduate from high school, college, grad school, or trade school, please let us know! We will be recognizing all graduates in Worship on June 14th.
BOOK CLUB:
Join us on June 17th, 7:00pm in the church parlor, for book club. We will discuss the book “The Life Impossible” by Matt Haig that we read last month. Hope to see everyone on June 17th for food, fun, fellowship, and discussion.
ROCKPORT MUSIC MINISTRY:
Please consider signing up to do special music during worship this summer while the choir is off. Sign-up sheet is posted on the bulletin board. In Service, Susan Shick, Director of Music /Organist cell, 440-364-9672.
WITH GRATITUDE:
I would like to thank each member of choir for their service. You make me proud. We share our ministry together through music and fellowship. Some of our highlights this season have been singing at the Wade Memorial Chapel, Pre-service music Christmas Eve, Combined choir with NOUMC for Ash Wednesday, challenging ourselves in singing a cappella, and never giving up when a song was difficult. Some of us sang ensembles, trios, duets and even solos. “I am not alone. I am not alone. You will go before me. You will never leave me. You amaze me, redeem me, you call me as your own. You will never leave me.” Lyrics from “I Am Not Alone.” In service, Susan Shick, Director of Music/Organist
GARDEN MISSION PROJECT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
We will be upcycling old file cabinets to be raised bed planters for vegetables like tomatoes and peppers. The produce we harvest will be shared in the Take What You Need Cabinet and with Rocky River Meals on Wheels.
Please sign up on the bulletin board or call the office if you can help.
- Select types of plants
- Purchase rocks for the bottom, soil, plants
- Fill planters, plant vegetable, add bamboo stakes and netting.
- Water one day per week. Watering cans will be provided. Which day of the week would you like to water?
- Harvest vegetables, put them in Take What You Need Cabinet or deliver to Good Soil Church (Rocky River Meals on Wheels)
*And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16
*In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35
DONUTS AND COFFEE HOUR:
Please consider hosting donuts and coffee before 9:30am worship and/or after worship coffee hour. Fellowship is an important part of the life of the church and why not have food as well! Sign-up sheet is posted on the chapel hallway bulletin board.
TAKE-WHAT-YOU-NEED CABINET!
We’re asking for help in shopping for the cabinet! We have a small crew of people who take turns shopping for the cabinet every so often, and we’d love to have your help! We have a cabinet fund, and you do not have to spend your own money, unless you’re donating items. We have a list of item suggestions available, and if you’re interested, please call the office. Please make sure to turn in your receipts to the office to be reimbursed! Thank you.
GOOGLE DRIVE REMINDER:
April 2026 Church financials can be found Here
or get a hard copy in the church office.
NORTHERN WATERS DISTRICT NEWS: www.eocumc.com/northernwaters
The Fire of the Spirit: A Church Beyond Fear and Borders
Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church. Yet Pentecost is more than a memory of how the Church began. It is the living sign of how God continues to awaken the Church whenever fear closes the door, whenever uncertainty limits our imagination, and whenever the people of Christ need courage to rise again.
In Acts 2, the disciples were gathered together when “a sound like the rush of a violent wind” filled the house, and “divided tongues, as of fire,” rested upon each of them. They began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability. This was not merely a miracle of speech. It was a revelation of God’s mission. The gospel of Jesus Christ would not be imprisoned in one language, one culture, one tribe, one race, or one familiar way of being. From the beginning, the Holy Spirit pushed the Church beyond every boundary that human fear and habit had constructed.
Pentecost is God’s bold crossing of borders. People from many nations heard the mighty works of God in their own languages. The Spirit did not erase their differences; the Spirit honored them by speaking through them. The miracle was not sameness. The miracle was communion. The Church was born not as a closed room of self-protection, but as a Spirit-filled community sent into the world with a gospel large enough for every people, every culture, every wound, and every hope.
Above all, Pentecost transformed a fearful community into a missional community. After the cross, the disciples knew grief, failure, uncertainty, and limitation. They had good reasons to hide. Yet when the Spirit came, they stood up. They spoke. They witnessed. They moved from despair to courage, from confusion to proclamation, from survival to mission. What human reason could not fully understand, the Holy Spirit made possible: the expansion of God’s kingdom through ordinary people filled with extraordinary grace.
Read Bishop Jung's Soul Food article in its entirety.
CONFERENCE NEWS: https://www.eocumc.com
Annual Conference 2026 – June 11-13
East Ohio Annual Conference will begin on the morning of Thursday, June 11 and will conclude the afternoon of Saturday, June 13. We will again meet on The College of Wooster campus. The Annual Conference theme is “Abundant Grace” and the words of Matthew 14:13-21 (NRSVA) will ground the services, sessions, and celebrations of our time together.
- View the worship service dates/times
- Learn about this year’s guest speakers
- See the business session agenda
- Read the submitted resolutions
- Support the AC 2026 offering
Pre-Conference Workbook
Those who pre-paid for the Pre-Conference Workbook during online registration for Annual Conference received your workbook via mail in early May. All can access the online version of the Pre-Conference Workbook on the AC 2026 website under the Resources tab. Download the AC 2026 Pre-Conference Workbook.
