Midweek Meditation: Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Dear Calvary Family,
This Sunday our Scripture reading comes from Luke 15. Our parable of a lost coin is in the middle of three parables. Charles Spurgeon describes it by saying that the first parable (The Lost Sheep) illustrates the work of Christ through redemption, the second (The Lost Coin) is the work if the Holy Spirit through restoration of the soul, and finally, the last (The Lost Son) is the divine love of the Father receiving the lost.
I believe there is more than one message in this story of a woman, who is searching for a lost coin.
She lights the lamp. Think with me, what would that mean for us? She sweeps the floor. What does that sweeping mean for us? She searches carefully and for how long? Until she finds it. And she shares the joy with her friends. What does that mean for us?
I will have brooms prepared for you when you come! 🙂 Be ready to receive the light, to do some sweeping, and to have joy at the end! 🙂
Lost and Found,
Pastor Jolita
Here’s what’s happening in the life of our Church and how you can get involved:
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE KITCHEN???
Glad you asked! Several unique Missions opportunities are going on in there (and coming out from it!) and we need your help! July is busy!
-First, this Sunday, July 6, the first Sunday of the month, from Noon til 1:00, we will be serving hotdogs and ice cream for the entire Clermont Mobile Home community. We need your smiling face and your helping hands, along with donations. The Clermont Rental Trailer Park is just south of 136 and Raceway Rd. We will set up right after church, about 11:30, and serve until 1:00. There is a one way drive in and out off Raceway Road and there are about 30 trailers. Parking is limited but there is a business just north of the entrance that is closed on weekends where you can park and walk. We currently serve three families in the trailer park weekly as a food pantry proxy and wanted to reach out to others in this community. We may do some delivery if needed. Check in at the kitchen with Karen Striegel Sunday after church to see if there is food you can help carry to the trailer park. Bring a cooler if you have one and your Calvary name tag! Put 10995 Horseshoe Drive Indianapolis IN 46234 in your GPS. You might also wear a Calvary t-shirt if you have one!
-On Sunday, July 13, we’re participating once again in the Hendricks County “Chopped Challenge” to benefit Family Promise. We need donations of your “Chopped Change” to support us.
-We’re following that with a Pancake Breakfast to also support Family Promise on Sunday, July 27th. Volunteers are needed to set up, cook and serve, and clean up. A sign-up sheet for that will also be on the Mission table.
-One more request: We would love to see a few more faces in the kitchen! If you would like to help with Sunday coffee or Classics Luncheons, funeral meals or other events, contact the office and let us know. If you have any questions about any of this, please email Karen Striegel at KarenStriegel5@gmail.com.
KEEP SUMMER GIVING STRONG
While many of us travel and have busy activities during the summer, we need you to keep your financial giving strong to the operating and mortgage funds during the summer months. Ministry continues even while each of us travels. Thank you for your generosity!
PRAYING FOR OUR PASTORS
Just like Aaron held up Moses’ arms so Israel could win the battle against their enemies, we need you, our faithful family, to pray for our Pastors. They fight battles every day in the spiritual realm. Let’s lift them up, pray for them, and help them hold up their arms in their daily work. We would like you to pray once a month on the day you select through December. While Monday through Saturday we ask you to pray for both pastors, on Sundays we would like to have one person pray specifically for Pastor Michelle and another person pray specifically for Pastor Jolita. A sign-up sheet is on the mission table in the hallway across from the office or you may sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F45ABAC2AA3F85-57384628-praying
4,500
4,500 is the number of pencils we have so far! Woohoo! We are about halfway to our goal of 10,000 #2 Pencils! What are we collecting these pencils for? The Brownsburg School system is hosting FastTrack again this year. This is a program that collects school supplies from organizations in the community, like our church, and then hosts a Saturday in July for local families in need to “shop” for those supplies and even get free haircuts! The next time you’re in the store or shopping online, please pick up a pack of pencils! We only need 5,500 more! We’ll have a collection bin at the Mission table in the hall across from the office. Thank you for helping in this way!
WEDNESDAY WATERER OUT FRONT
Do you have a few minutes to share on Wednesdays when the weather gets dry? It can be morning, afternoon, or evening! We are in need of someone to stop by and water the Columbarium and Memorial Garden area, along with the pots by the front doors. (We have volunteers for a couple other days during the week already and just need to fill in Wednesday.)
GARDEN OF EATIN’ UPDATE
Harvesting and weeding are ramping up! Would you be willing to share some time helping with this? Many hands make light work! Contact the office today! Check out the attached pictures of just one day of harvesting last week!
SUMMER CHOIR
Have you thought about giving Choir a try? Summer Choir is the perfect way to do that! There’s no weekday rehearsal. Instead, meet us this Sunday, July 6, in the choir room at 9:00 am ahead of the service. We’ll also sing August 3, and August 17, if you can make it. Come when you can! If you have any questions, reach out to Mark on Sunday or at mherris@calvaryunited.org.
LEGO CAMP VOLUNTEERS
Thank you to everyone who attended this past Sunday’s information session! We were excited to see everyone there and ready for this! **If you are signed up to volunteer in some way, but were unable to join us, we will do a make-up day for that on Saturday, July 19, at 10:00am in Fellowship Hall. Please mark your calendar.
CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING
Separate from the LEGO Camp information meeting mentioned above, we also have Child Protection Training. This is required for everyone who will be working at LEGO Camp but also at any of our other events where children attend (like the Fall Festival, for example), or for those working in nursery and helping with Sunday School. If you did not attend one of the previous meetings for this back in March, please mark Sunday, July 13 on your calendar for this next one. It will take place in the Youth Room in the office area following the service at 11:15am.
LEGOS WANTED
The Missions & Outreach team will have a couple of bins in the narthex to collect LEGOs again ahead of this year’s camp in July. Cleaning out a closet? Child has outgrown them? We’ll take them! As a side note: we would prefer actual LEGOs because the off-brands do not lock well with LEGOs. Thank you for your help and donations!
PREPARING FOR CRAFT FAIR ALREADY!
There are always a lot of great soda sales around the 4th of July and Labor Day Holidays. We would love your help taking advantage of those sales and purchasing cans of soda to donate for the Craft Fair Concessions in October. If you’re willing to help in this way, we want only 12-ounce cans of regular Coke, regular Pepsi, regular Sprite, and Diet Coke. Please no flavor variations or other choices. If you have any questions, contact the church office. Donations can be dropped off in the church office.
OPPORTUNITY FOR “OKLAHOMA”
Otterbein Franklin has planned a trip to see the musical “Oklahoma” and is inviting Calvary UMC friends to join them on Wednesday, July 30. Departure from our church will take place at 10:45am to arrive at the Harmony (Myers) Dinner Theater in Hillsboro in time for lunch and the show. We should return to our church by 5:00pm that same day. The all-inclusive cost of this is $129 per person. RSVP and payment is due to Lew and Cathi White by July 9. For all the details, pick up a flyer from the Mission table across from the office!
LEARNING ACADEMY OPENINGS
Calvary Learning Academy has a few openings in the Toddler Room (walking age), the Pre-K class, and the Kinderskills class for the 2025-2026 school year. We would love to have your families and friends join in the learning fun. Please share the word with others looking for a Christian learning environment! Reach out to us with any questions at (317) 852-2594. The registration form is online at https://calvaryunited.org/registration/. We look forward to hearing from you!
A HISTORIC PUMP ORGAN LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME
Do you love old things with stories to tell? Sitting in our church hallway right now is a beautiful piece of musical history – a genuine Estey pump organ looking for a new home!
Made by the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, Vermont, this charming keyboard instrument dates back to an era when music filled front parlors and country chapels alike. Estey made over half a million of these delightful organs between 1846 and 1955, known for their rich sound and decorative woodwork. Ours is in good working order (though one of the candle holders has a bit of a wobble – just adds character, we think!).
Here are the details:
• Organ Dimensions: 42½” tall × 22¾” deep × 45” wide (or 54” wide including the candle holders)
• Includes a bench: 30” wide × 13½” deep × 21¼” tall
If you’re a music lover, an antiques enthusiast, or just someone with room in your home and heart, this might be the perfect treasure for you. Stop by and see it! The church is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM, and we’d be happy to let you take a look. Let’s find this lovely old organ the good home it deserves!
WORSHIP:
-Sunday, July 6, 10:00am (Traditional) Service of Holy Communion Sermon Series on the Parables of Jesus
“Sweeping” Luke 15:8-10 (NRSVue) Rev. Jolita Erbele
-Sunday, July 13, 10:00am (Traditional) Sermon Series on the Parables of Jesus
“Forgiveness Leads to Love & Love Leads to Forgiveness” Luke 7:40-47 (NRSV) Rev. Michelle Knight
SAVE THE DATE:
-Office Closed – Friday, July 4 for the Independence Day holiday
-Kindness Kitchen Field Trip – Sunday, July 6, Clermont Mobile Home Park, Noon til 1:00
-First Monday of the Month Prayer Time – Monday, July 7, 6:30am in the Sanctuary
-Child Protection Training – Sunday, July 13, 11:15 in the Youth Room
-Make-Up LEGO Camp Volunteer Meeting – Saturday, July 19, 11:15am in the Fellowship Hall
-Euchre – Saturday, July 19, 6:00-8:00pm in Fellowship Hall
-Pancake Breakfast – Sunday, July 27, 11:15 in Fellowship Hall
-Classics Luncheon – Tuesday, July 29 at Noon in Fellowship Hall
-Office Closed – Wednesday, July 30 for Staff Retreat and In-service