United Methodist Men
Newtown United Methodist Men group meets for breakfast once each quarter.
During the last several years the United Methodist Men of Newtown has:
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Purchased and furnished the Early Response Trailer
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Contributed $14,000 to our new slate roof
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Paid $5,000 toward retiring the mortgage
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Sent $1,000 to help established the mission center at St James in addition to countless hours working on the project.
Our plans for the immediate future include:
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Sponsoring a monthly salary supplement to a Sierra Leone Missionary
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Hiring a professional company to clean , repair and reset the tombstones in our cemetery
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Establishing a scholarship program for Newtown UMC college bound students (still working on details).
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Continuing our famous Pig roast
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Continuing to enjoy our uplifting annual retreat
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As we work to fund these initiatives we will be planning new endeavors to raise the necessary funds to make it all happen. To join our fun and learn how you can help, come to our next meeting.
St James - Local Mission Project
The Newtown UMM have been involved in a Discovery Service Project in renovating the parsonage of St. James UMC in Olney, North Philadelphia. The parsonage is intended to be used as mission center to house mission teams visiting the Philadelphia area. The finished project comfortably accommodates up to 36 people.
The parsonage consists of a living room, a dining room, a study room, a kitchen, a laundry room and a powder room in the main floor. The second floor has five bedrooms and a bathroom. The third floor had a bathroom and two bedrooms. The attic is unfinished.
The project started in Spring 2016. It took two weekends for preparation prior to renovation. The major tasks were cleaning and painting all rooms, upgrading the bathrooms, replacing everything in the kitchen, removing carpets and repairing wood floors, laying new floor tiles on existing linoleum floor area, putting up dry walls, upgrading the plumbing and electrical systems and building bunk beds.
From March 2016 to February 2017, teams of volunteers mainly from local United Methodist Churches had spent many days over the year working on this project. By mid February this year, the renovation of the first floor and second floor was completed.
The Newtown UMM was involved in the renovation. The Newtown UMM donated washer, dryer and furniture. Both Newtown UMM and our ConneXion churches provided monetary contribution to this project.
On February 17, 2018, the facility was opened to the mission groups from Yardley UMC and Morrisville UMC.
In addition, the mission house has already been chosen as a partner and housing site for City Serve Missions, which is in 11 other cities and over 4 million hours served in urban missions!
During spring of 2019 the UMM spent many hours completely redressing the Gymnasium at the St. James church . They painted the entire area as well as the adjacent eating area. They also added new padding on the poles and side walls and new netting to the open areas. The newly painted Gymnasium can be seen in the cycling pictures above. Funds to complete the project were provided from our scrap drive profits and other fund raising efforts. Olney has more children per capital than any other area of Philadelphia and this gym sees a lot of them on a regular basis
The Early Respond Team (ERT) Trailer
7/2012 VIM Cleveland, TN
2/2013 ERT Ortley Beach, NJ
3/2013 ERT Crisfield, MD
6/2013 VIM Crisfield, MD
4/2014 ERT Coatesville, PA
7/2014 VIM El Reno, OK
7/2015 VIM Crisfield, MD
6/2016 VIM Columbus, SC
10/2016 VIM Rainelle, WV
7/2017 VIM Rainelle, WV
In 2010, we recognized the need to set up an ERT trailer in Newtown to respond to natural disasters. After months of planning, the trailer was purchased in April 2012. Thanks to the generous monetary and equipment donations from members and friends of the congregation, and a grant from Dewees Endowment, the trailer was well equipped for the task.
Since 2012, the trailer has been deployed numerous times to clean up houses after hurricanes. The trailer has also been used for our VIM (Volunteers in mission) trips. The following is a list of deployments.
The trailer was displayed four times at the Grange Fair from 2013 to 2016 as a part of our church presentation.
NEWTOWN UNITED METHODIST MEN
PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR PASTOR
IN SIERRA LEONE, AFRICA
The UMC mission in Kabala, Sierra Leone includes a church, school and a clinic. The Newtown UMM will send monthly payments to help offset the salary of the local Pastor at the church.
The local Pastor is Theo Coker who say’s “By the special grace of God I took the challenge and have spent two years working in the Vine Yard. I am so grateful for your faithful promise in supporting the Kabala UMC church, such support comes at a time when it is mostly needed.”
PIG ROAST - 2018
The annual pig roast was a big success in 2018 again. We had over 80 people for dinner. Joe Tam (pictured above with the roaster), Rich Selah and Dave Scurlock took shifts watching the Roaster all day. It cooked from 7:00 am until 4:00 pm. Joe Tam, Rich Selah, Tom He, Bill Sandy and Dave Mershon all had a hand in cutting him up and "pulling" the pork. The Membership and Nurture committee cooked the baked beans and sauerkraut and were invaluable as they helped set up and serve the meal. We buy the pig from a local pig farmer and he loans us the roaster. We pass the hat to help offset expenses.
NEWTOWN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.
