It is our pleasure to welcome Rev. Donna Hughes-Hargraves to our church family this morning. Donna has been an ordained United Methodist Minister for 16 years and recently completed her first year as the Executive Director of United Protestant Campus Ministries of Cleveland (UPCaM). Prior to coming to Cleveland, she served churches in Iowa for seven years and in the Dakotas for ten years. During her stay in the Dakotas, Rev. Hughes-Hargraves served rural churches and was a campus minister in Rapid City, South Dakota. As campus minister, she enjoyed taking students on international mission trips and involving the university in opportunities for community volunteering.

It's safe to say that Donna's career before entering the seminary was not typical of a United Methodist clergyperson. She received a bachelor's degree in Animal Health Management and a Master's degree in Horse Science. She worked at Texas A&M in student affairs while a part-time senior high youth director.

Pastor Donna shares that her most life-changing experience occurred in 1988-89 when she taught English in China. In her words, "that year gave me the courage to try anything" and a "big-time travel bug". She has taken six international work-mission trips with college students, visited every state but Alaska and Hawaii and, in addition to China, has visited South India, Russia, Lithuania, England, France, Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Mexico, Belize, Egypt, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Guatemala.

The desert southwest is the place of her birth and youth and she misses living in that part of the world. Her kids are two cats, Keyana and Rueben, and a dog named Rufus. She loves reading mysteries, watching movies of any kind, traveling the world (of course), participating in and teaching yoga, eating weird and interesting foods, and dreaming of owning a horse once again.

The weeks of summer have flown by and life in our new church has been full of changes and challenges. Here are just a few:

• This week the chairs in the Yoder Room (where Dr. Chalker conducts his Sunday morning class) were replaced with chairs stored at our E. 30th building. They are smaller and lighter weight, making the rearranging of the room for meetings much easier on staff and volunteers. The previous Yoder Room chairs were sold to a hotel liquidating company.

• This coming week some of the pews in the sanctuary will be removed along with two that have been in the hallway across from the office. A few months ago the Trustees approved the removal of certain pews to improve wheelchair access and create more room on the front, left side of the sanctuary as well as in the very back. The delay in removing the pews was the result of making a concerted effort to find an affordable, climate-controlled warehouse in which to store the pews once they were removed.

• Work is underway on the gymnasium. Exterior stonework is being sealed to stop an active leak that has caused damage to the walls. Asbestos was discovered in the gymnasium flooring and abatement of this material will begin as soon as the leaks are repaired and the new flooring is ready to be installed. We anticipate the asbestos removal and tear out of the existing floor to begin within the next 2-3 weeks.

• All wrought iron railings on the steps of the church were becoming unstable and they have now been re-set to ensure greater safety.

• Window work has also been scheduled to repair damaged Plexiglas and stained glass on windows in one section of the building.

• At the E. 30th building, the Campus International School opened in August with 120 children in grades K-2 and more on a waiting list. Improvements totaling more than $150,000 have been made in the classroom portion of the building and a sprinkler system will also be installed before January 2011.

• Former part-time staff member Julia Bingman resigned in June. Effective September 1, a part-time Young Adult Coordinator named Lauren Green was hired. (This change is budget neutral.) You will soon have the opportunity meet Lauren when she is introduced during the worship hour.

• Everyone is anxiously awaiting the new pictoral membership directory. This project is being produced completely in-house except for the printing. Combining and cleaning up our two membership data bases and locating the most affordable and flexible directory publishing software simply took longer than we anticipated and we regret the delay. Our hope is that they will be ready for you by the end of this month. Pictures will also be available for you to purchase at that time.

9/5: Last Summer Worship at 10am, children join families in worship
9/6 Labor Day - church office closed
9/8 Trustee Meeting, 6-7:30pm, Reception Room
9/9 Chancel Ringers (Bell) rehearsal, 6-7:15pm
9/9 Chancel Choir rehearsal, 7:15-9pm
9/9 Parents of Murdered Children support group meeting, 6-8pm, Yoder Room
9/9 Shelter Ministry at Women's/Children's Shelter, 6:30-8pm
9/12 Kickoff Day for new program year
9/12 Women's Sabbath, 9:30-10:30
9/12 College-Age Study Group, 9:30-10:30
9/12 Worship returns to 11am, children join families in worship
9/12 Gourmet Hot Dog Extravaganza following worship

More than three weeks after flooding began in Pakistan, the emergency continues to unfold, with no end in sight. While entire villages and towns remain submerged in floodwaters, the fear of starvation, illness, and disease is compounded by the continual threat of fresh rains.
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) partners in Pakistan report that thousands of people are still stranded and cut off by floodwaters. More than 1,600 have died and some 20 million have been impacted by the crisis, including, according to UNICEF, 6 million children.

Hundreds of roads and bridges have been destroyed, and the World Bank estimates that a billion dollars in crops have been lost. Damage to the country's economy and to individual livelihoods is incalculable.

UMCOR grants are providing clean drinking water, food, temporary shelter, and medical aid to tens of thousands of people affected by the crisis.
Your gift to International Disaster Response, will help UMCOR address the needs of the most vulnerable populations affected by the flooding. Make your check out to UMCOR Advance #982450, indicate "Pakistan Emergency" on the memo line of your check and place it in the offering plate when it is passed.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the not-for-profit global humanitarian aid organization of the United Methodist Church. UMCOR is working in more than 80 countries worldwide, including the United States. Its mission, grounded in the teachings of Jesus, is to alleviate human suffering—whether caused by war, conflict or natural disaster, with open hearts and minds to all people.

UMCOR responds to natural or civil disasters that are interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community's ability to recover on its own. In partnership with local organizations, UMCOR helps survivors rebuild their livelihoods, health and homes. In times of acute crisis UMCOR mobilizes emergency supplies, fresh water, and temporary shelter to stricken areas, and then stays as long as it takes to implement long-term recovery. UMCOR Relief efforts are still underway in many parts of our world, including Haiti. You may also designate gifts to Haiti by indicating UMCOR Advance #418325 on your check.

Every dollar you give to UMCOR goes to the program you designate. UMCOR is 100% efficient. When you give through our local church, University Circle United Methodist Church receives credit from our East Ohio

Willow Elementary School is a Cleveland Public School which our church has supported for more than a decade with needed supplies, tutoring, and special gifts. A new school year is about to begin.

TUTORING: If you might be interested in tutoring this year, please contact our Willow School liaison, Dan Maly, at dnmalyATyahoo.com for more information.

SCHOOL CLOTHING: Students must dress according to school code every day. The children include boys and girls in Kindergarten through 8th grade. New or very clean and gently-used clothing will be gratefully received.

Shirts: White or light blue only. Sleeves may be long or short. Collars are absolutely required.
Bottoms: Pants, shorts, skirts or jumpers in navy, blue or khaki.
Shoes: Tennis shoes are required for gym class.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES: If you are able to contribute items from the following list, boxes will be placed near the church office to receive donations.

Pocket folders
Wide-ruled spiral notebooks,70-page
1-subject spiral notebooks
Wide-ruled looseleaf paper
White Elmer’s glue bottles
Glue sticks
Children's metal Fiskar scissors
Pointed scissors
Crayola crayons,boxes of 16
Crayola crayons, boxes of 24
Laddie pencils
Pencils with #2 lead
Pencil erasers
Pencil-top erasers
Covered pencil sharpeners
Yellow highlighters
Red pens
Black or blue pens
Dry erase EXPO markers
Pencil pouch
Pencil box, plastic
Facial tissues (Kleenex)
Hand sanitizer
Paper towels
Algebraic calculators
Flash drives
Backpacks

The children, their families and the staff at Willow School are truly grateful for our support. The primary goal of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is to become a premier school district in the United States of America.

On behalf of the staff at Willow School I would like to thank our church family for all the donated school supplies you provided for the start of this school year. They are so appreciated. This is a wonderful example of how the "haves" can help the "have-nots" in these troubled times. Also, please remember that some of these students could use a little extra help in their learning process. For all of you who have helped with tutoring in the past and those of you who might be interested in joining our tutoring staff, it is time to begin thinking about putting aside a little time each week to help a student. Please give this some serious thought. We can have you talk to someone who has tutored in the past. Please contact me if you are interested. Thank you.

Dan Maly, Willow School Liaison
dnmalyATyahoo.com