LAST-MINUTE REMINDERS

Beth Givens Delivers Lenten Message on March 20

Throughout Lent, guest preachers from the Richmond District have shared a Lenten message during the Wednesday Lent worship services. Reveille United Methodist Church had the opportunity and privilege to have Reverend Lee Sheaffer preach on March 13. His scripture passage was Ephesians chapter 5, and his topic centered on Christianity as a walk in faith toward God. He encouraged us to walk in love and speak words of love and kindness to those around us. As we continue in our Lenten journey, the challenge for all of us is to walk the Christian walk and grow in our faith to be disciples of Christ.

Our Lenten services are held in the chapel following the Wonderful Wednesday dinner beginning at 7:00 pm. The Reverend Beth Givens, pastor of Welborne United Methodist Church, will preach our final Lenten service on March 20.

Easter Egg Hunt & Mission

Join us on Saturday, March 23 from 10:30 am - 12:00 noon, rain or shine, for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. We will have several hands-on mission activities for families to participate in as well. We will meet in the fellowship hall to begin our time together. Don't forget to bring your Easter egg basket for the hunt and a snack to share. Please sign up here. For more information contact Lori Epps, Director of Children's Ministries.

American Youth Harp Ensemble

UMW Bake Sale this Sunday

Sunday, March 24

9:00 am to 12 noon

Fellowship Hall, Main Hall to Sanctuary and Welcome Center

Do you need something special for your holiday dessert? You will find a variety of baked goods to share with your friends and family this Sunday at the United Methodist Women's Palm Sunday Bake Sale. Be sure to come by the goodies-laden tables in the fellowship hall, main hallway to the sanctuary, and the welcome center to find the perfect treat to end your Easter meal. The bake sale accepts both cash and checks.

IF YOU ARE A BAKER: Items may be dropped off on Friday, March 22 in the fellowship hall kitchen between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm or brought with you to church on the Sunday, March 24. Please label all items dropped off early "Reveille UMW Bake Sale." How the items are wrapped and labeled sometimes makes all the difference!

Sign-up for UMFS Potluck

March 25, 6:00 pm

3900 W. Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230

During this Lent, attendees of The Point have challenged each other to "Connect with Neighbor" by spending time with a group of students they help support through the year, the students of UMFS (formerly known as United Methodist Family Services). On February 25, more than 70 Reveille folks and UMFS residents joined together in Reveille's welcome center for a night of food and fellowship. The fried chicken was hot, the bingo was competitive, and the laughter was contagious.

UMFS has invited Reveille to another potluck on Monday, March 25 at 6:00 pm, this time at their location. It was earlier announced that this meal would only be for adults; however, a room has now been reserved for Reveille children during the potluck. (Please note this is a UMFS policy).

2013 Lent and Easter Offering

Our 2013 Lent and Easter offering will purchase Easter lilies to adorn all of our worship spaces on Easter Sunday, as well as benefit the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. A sufficient number of lilies needed to decorate for all of our Easter worship services will be purchased and the remaining money will be directed to One Great Hour of Sharing.

The One Great Hour of Sharing offering provides for the administrative costs of United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) so that 100% of the donations you give to the special offerings for disaster relief will be used for relief efforts and not for administrative costs.

Donations to this offering may be made in any dollar amount. To have your donation acknowledged in the Easter (March 31) printout of these gifts, be sure to return your completed lavender order form with your check or cash no later than Sunday, March 24. The form and donation should be put in the offering plate or basket or sent to the church office. The form may be printed here or picked up in the narthex, welcome center, fellowship hall or church office.

Easter lilies may be removed from the fellowship hall following the 9:30 am service and from the remaining spaces following the 11:00 am worship service. The church will be closed on the Monday after Easter, and all remaining lilies will be discarded on Tuesday morning, April 2. If you wish to take a lily to a homebound member or for yourself, please take it with you on Easter Sunday.

Youth News

At youth group on Sunday, March 24, we conclude our Lenten study, "Outflow," by focusing on how we can overflow with God's love into the world around us. How can one Christian change the world? By faithfully changing the way we interact with the world around us, whether it's sponsoring children in Nicaragua and Honduras or how we treat our neighbors down the street.

The schedule for the evening is as follows:

     4:30 pm - Combined choir

     5:30 pm - Dinner ($3)

     6:00 pm - Combined youth group

Youth Small Groups: Our youth ministry is offering a variety of small groups as another opportunity to deepen your faith and connect with your friends from Reveille during the week. If you are interested, please contact Dwayne Stinson or Ansley Higginbotham for more information. The schedule for the groups is as follows:

High School Boys: Mondays, 7:00 - 8:00 pm, in the youth center at Reveille

Fellowship Meal Moves to Thursday for Holy Week

March 28

For Holy Week, our Wonderful Wednesday meal is being replaced by a meal before the Holy Thursday Service. Join us at 6:00 pm in the fellowship hall for prime rib with mushroom au jus, baked potato, tossed salad, vegetable medley, rolls, cookies and brownies. The cost for the meal is $5 for adults and teens, $3 for children ages 4 to 12 and free for anyone under 4. Please make a reservation for dinner here, sign up on the friendship pad during Sunday worship or call the church office at 359-6041 on Monday.

Friends of the Homeless Hot Meal - March 28

Would serving the homeless make your Holy Week more meaningful? We need your help to prepare and serve our monthly hot meal for the Friends of the Homeless on Maundy Thursday. Support the effort by:

• Making and baking a cheesy potato casserole. Recipe and delivery directions can be found on the sign-up board in the welcome center.
• Making a dessert for the dinner guests. Their faces light up when we tell them someone baked those cookies or that cupcake just for them.
• Serving. We need five or six people to come to Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church and help serve the meal. If you can distinguish a chicken breast from a thigh, we need you! If you can't, we can still use your help. The carpool leaves from Reveille around 10:45 am. For child care while serving the meal email Lori Epps or call 359-6041 one week prior. 
• Connecting with Neighbor. As we journey through Lent, we have an opportunity to take the Path to Serve and connect with our neighbors by standing in line and having a meal with our regular guests.

To sign-up for any of these opportunities, add your name to sign-up board in the welcome center. Casseroles and desserts can be dropped off in the fellowship hall kitchen before Thursday, March 28. Make sure you label them with FOH and your name. For more information email Joanna Tilley.  

  Worship Bulletin Stuffing Helpers Needed March 29

The Easter Sunday bulletins for the 8:30 and 11:00 am services will number approximately 900. Each will have at least two inserts. If you can help stuff these bulletins at 1:30 pm on Friday, March 29, the help would be very much appreciated. Please email Cheryl Arrington or call her at 359-6041, ext. 114. If three people volunteer, the work can be completed in about one hour.

Joys and Concerns

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

On March 17, the following received the sacrament of holy baptism:

• Tinsley Anne Baldridge, daughter of Tyson and Catherine Baldridge and granddaughter of Phil and Patsy Morrissette
• Jacob Thomas Gallo, son of Tom and Amy Gallo
• Ella Margaret Roberts, daughter of Steven and Danielle Roberts

SYMPATHY

The Reveille family extends Christian love and sympathy to Vance Berry and family on the passing of his mother on March 13 in Berryville, Virginia; to David Simonsen and family on the passing of his father on March 16 in South Carolina; and to Anne Wisman on the passing of her brother, George (Maxie) Slater, on March 17.

 On March 31, Sunday school for children and youth will not meet. The regular schedule will resume on April 7.

Small Group Study begins Sunday, April 14:

Serving God and Serving Others

April 14 - May 19

Sundays at 5:00 pm, Room 209

As we prepare for a Summer of Service, this small group study is for anyone interested in discerning where God is calling us to help our neighbors and our world through ministries such as the Swansboro community, CARITAS, Rebuilding Together, and Stop Hunger Now, as well as discovering what else God has in mind for Reveille and us as individuals.

To register, click here. For questions, email Jennifer McCluskey or call 359-6041, ext. 121.

Lenten Reflection

By Elaine Kastelberg

Several years ago I attended a silent weekend retreat in a Maryland monastery as part of my Lenten journey. During this time of personal reflection and prayer, I became acutely aware that I must be intentional about carving out a consistent time of day for uninterrupted prayer. Since that time, I devote a part of every morning to scripture, personal reflection and prayer. I use The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer by John Bartunek. I often encounter situations during the day that bring me back to the readings of the morning. It helps me to pause for a moment to think how our Lord would respond based on the reading that morning.

During my time at Reveille's Weekday School, I have worked closely with many teachers and parents. It is such a gift to be in a position where I have opportunities to form relationships with so many as we work together for the benefit of young children. As the staff has "aged" over the years, we find ourselves providing support to each other as we move through the stages of raising teens and young adults and care for aging parents. One of the most important skills that I have learned, and continue to work on daily, is the practice of listening. Quite often, what others need most is someone who will be there to listen and continue to care for him or her unconditionally.

Join us for Rebuilding Together on April 27

On April 27, Reveille will once again participate in Rebuilding Together, where we will be involved in the re-modeling of two houses. The houses will be in the Fulton Hill neighborhood and our tasks will include removing clutter, painting inside and out, installing vapor barriers in a crawl space, replacing a bathroom floor, rebuilding railing and steps on the back porch and many other things. As we help rebuild these houses, we are supporting a 77-year old who still works three days a week in a retirement home helping Alzheimer's patients and a couple in their 60's in which the husband is unable to work after having a stroke.

Providing Plentiful Prom Apparel

For students at UMFS (formerly known as United Methodist Family Services), school looks dramatically different than for most teens at Reveille. Even day students experience a more sheltered and structured environment, and many normal school rites of passage are unavailable to these students. By hosting the prom for UMFS, Reveille's youth ministry hopes to provide a bit of normalcy for these students. Reveille's youth need your help.

Particularly needed are dress clothes for boys and young men: suits, slacks, dress shirts, tuxedoes, shoes, and other accessories. The girls from UMFS will be shopping at Cinderella Dreams, a non-profit store with donated dresses. If you have dresses you would like to donate, we will deliver them to Cinderella Dreams so the UMFS students and others can use them. We also need accessories for the girls.

Issues and Deadlines for The Reveille Window

Staff

Jim Noland, Senior Pastor

Katie B. Anthony, Associate Pastor

Stephen Coleman, Associate Pastor

Cathy Armistead, Director of Music Ministries

Tamara Nicely, Assistant Director of Music Ministries

Lori Epps, Director of Children's Ministries

Jennifer McCluskey, Director of Adult Ministries

Dwayne Stinson, Director of Youth Ministries

Kaarina Jobe, Worship and Music Leader for The Point

Anne Stratton, Administrative Manager

Glynis Holcomb, Financial Manager

Ken Case, Facilities Manager

Cheryl Arrington, Pastoral and Congregational Care Secretary

Thomas Goodall, Custodian

Darius Stokes, Custodian

Elaine Kastelberg, Director of Weekday School

Beverley Tilley, Weekday School Administrative Assistant