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WELCOME REV. LAURIE BRUCE

Rockport welcomes interim pastor, Rev. Laurie Bruce!  Rev. Laurie will be with us from April 1, 2021 - July 1, 2021, while Rev. Lorrin Radzik is on parental leave.  Here is a short bio of Rev. Laurie:

Rev. Laurie Bruce grew up in the Denver area around all of God's Rocky Mountain beauty.  She graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S in Child Development and Family Relationships.  She heard her call to ministry during college and upon graduation attended and graduated from the IliffSchool of Theology in Denver.  She served as a Director of Christian Education, Diaconal Minister and was ordained a Deacon in the Rocky Mountain conference in 1996.   She married her clergy husband, Bill Bruce in 1983 and they served together and separately in churches in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Arkansas until Bill's passing in 2017.  She moved to Rocky River in 2018 following her son and family when he accepted a job at Cleveland State.  Her daughter and grandsons moved to Rocky River in 2020 and it is a joy to live so close to family!

Look for Rev. Laurie in the pulpit Easter Sunday, April 4th at 10am.  She can be reached at Labruce83@gmail.com or 479-595-9229.

Google Drive Reminder
Rockport All Church Information and Financial Reports are accessible here. Current financials are now posted!

STRATEGIC PLANNING
The strategic planning committee invites everyone to a Prayer Walk/Drive on Sunday, April 11th from 12-1:30pm.  Come rain or shine and meet in the church parking lot.  Instruction will be given then. This song will give you inspiration for this event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YZZzgJB33E

If you can't make we continue to invite you to join us in daily prayer as we seek to discern God's direction for our future, setting a mission and vision that will help us live more fully into God's call.  Our 8:00 prayer appears below and we invite you to join us in daily prayer at 8am, 8pm, or both with our Rockport UMC 8:00 Discernment Prayer. More than that, we know that prayer is powerful, even more so when done in community.

SPAGHETTI DINNER MISSION
Volunteers are needed to organize our spaghetti dinner mission delivery and drive thru. For the month of April, we need one volunteer or a team of volunteers to take the lead in planning the spaghetti dinner delivery mission and drive thru fundraiser. Please call Sara Chapman or Lisa Kay for details.

HELLO ROCKPORT PEEPS!!!!! 
The Children and Youth hope that everyone is well! (WE MISS YOU) 

We all wish you the Happiest of Easters and hope you have a wonderful and glorious day! 
CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!!!!! WOOOOO!

Easter OF COURSE looks a little different this year… but we are STILL THINKING OF YOU! 

EVERYONE has been in our prayers when we gather on Zoom, or text one another, or correspond on our kids & youth APP. We talk about our church family and how we miss you, pray for you, and can’t wait to be with you again. 

SO we had a BALLLLLL going out and BUNNYING! 

This Easter time kids and youth, with their parents, went around to houses and BUNNIED people! We TRIED not to be seen (a REALLY SNEAKY Bunny is never seen) but a few of you caught us in the act! Hahaha 

WE ALL had so much fun leaving our gifts and cards. WE HOPE with all of our hearts that you had fun finding them (or catching us in the act!) 

PLEASE know that we cannot wait to connect with EVERYONE, and if you didn’t make THIS round, YOU WILL in the future! 
We reached nearly 30 families !!! We have a lot of Rockport family to love, and so it may take a few weeks to get to the next round! 

WE SEND YOU ALL MUCH LOVE!!!!!!
XOXOXO
The Children & Youth of Rockport UMC



JELLY BEAN PRAYER
Red is for the blood He shed..
Green is for the grass he made..
Orange is for the edge of night..
Yellow is for the sun so bright..
Black is for the sins we made..
Pink is for the new tomorrow..
White is for the grace He gave and..
Purple is for His hour of pain..

May every day be Easter in your heart and..
May you feel joy on Easter morning.

ROCKPORT HAPPENINGS!



FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH:


Hello Rockport Family! The kids and Youth are concentrating on the Take What You Need Cabinet for their Lenten Mission. Since the Cabinet is here FOREVER, We want to make sure we remind everyone that it is still out there! During the Pandemic, it has been serving a LARGE community of people - we’re conservatively saying around 50, but we think it’s a much larger number. But we are running into problems keeping up with items to put into the cabinet. 

Please see the List enclosed in the Cabinet Graphic below for suggestions! While the pandemic is on, we’re also taking non perishable foods as well. THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

Calendar of Events:

Wednesday, March 31, 2021
      7:00pm - Book Club via Zoom

Thursday, April 1, 2021
      6:00pm - Maundy Thursday & Good Friday Prayer Service online

Sunday, April 4, 2021 
       7:00am - Rockport Youth Easter Sunrise Worship online
       10:00am - Easter Worship Online

Monday, April 5, 2021
       7:00om - Church Council

Sunday, April 11, 2021
       10:00am - Virtual Worship
        12:00pm - (Strategic Planning) Walk/Drive
Prayer List: 

NEW THIS WEEK
Paul Kopko, heart surgery on April 1st at the Clinic.  Father of Keith Kopko
Beverly Cavanah, knee replacement on April 1st
Tony Arlia, health concerns.  Son-in-law of Beverly Cavanah
Stan P, cancer treatment.  Requested by Rev. Davis
Lynn Burris, after 3 back surgeries still living in extreme pain.  Brother-in-law of Beverly Cavanah
Marian Banno asks for prayers for her family as there have been four deaths in her family this past year.

ONGOING PRAYERS
Jeff Alexander, open heart surgery.  Nephew of Ema Rollins
Dr. Jorge Alejandro Bermudez, lives in Chile and has COVID and is off ventilator and doing better.  36-year-old nephew of Stella Thomas
Prayers for revival for Rockport to wholeness, for America, the world, and the whole church.  Requested by Nancy Geyer
Cindy Smith, has been discharged from Metro Hospital and is in rehab. Thanks for the prayers. Sister of Randy Daley
Linda Barrett, health concerns
Susanne Broestl lmars, lost her battle with cancer on March 10th.  52-year-old who leaves behind a 14-year-old daughter, husband and 91 year old mom.  Friend of Dan Newman
Russell Gaines, prayers for healing.  Requested by Dan Newman
Pray for peace in our country.  Requested by Stella Thomas
John Catavolos, recovering from shoulder replacementGail Stephan, health concerns
Drew Ferguson, 35-year-old member with three small children, passed into life eternal.  Son of Dave & Fran Ferguson
Brad Adams, ICU with spinal infection and COVID.  Stepson of Elizabeth Claypool
Mary Mainwaring, health concerns.
Belinda St. Leger, health concerns.  Requested by Mary Mainwaring
Douglas MacMillan, member, prayers for recovery from a fall and surgery on his spine and his recuperation at home will be extensive.  Requested by his sister, Gail Stephan
Vicki Moenich, shoulder surgery and healing
Bill Bowers-Health concerns
Donny Nally, recovering from heart & kidney transplants.  Son of Diana Nally
Katie Patton, single mom of 3 with stage 4 liver cancer. Requested by the Wilkenson Family
Betty Jones, medical concerns
Erna Guia, prayers for healing
Dennis, healing and guidance.  Nephew of Elsie Gaewsky
Jan Tietje, medical concerns
 
MILITARY SERVING OUR COUNTRY
Jacob Gasiewski-Serving our country.  Grandson of Carole Heppner
Sarah Bungard-Serving our country, Chief Warrant Officer 2 USMC. Requested by the Kopko family
Mariah White-Pray for safety for her & her unit who are in Kuwait.  Friend of Dan Newman
Lt. Chandler Freeman-In Kuwait. Grandson of Marge Freeman
As we engage in this time of discernment and strategic planning together at Rockport UMC, we invite you to participate in the process by joining us in daily prayer with our 8:00 Prayer. Join us in praying the prayer below at 8am, 8pm, or both, depending on how your schedule works. And if none of those times work, pick one that works for your schedule - the important thing is that we are joining together with one another as we pray for God's direction in our lives and our church.

News from our Youth and Children's Ministries

Youth & UMKids!

Youth!

Y A C News!
SAVE THE DATE for Youth Annual Conference 2021! Saturday, June 12th!

Sent! Is our theme… YAC 2021 is a ONE DAY only offering this year. 

IN PERSON groups, in three locations around the East Ohio Conference part of Ohio… 
*There is also a Zoom offering for people who either cannot attend, or who are not able to attend In-Person. 

PLEASE NOTE: all three locations have a Maximum number of people allowed, as per Pandemic precautions. We will HAVE TO REGISTER in a timely fashion, as soon as Registration is open. 

PLEASE sign up if you are interested so that I have an idea of the group. 
WE WILL NEED DRIVERS, as we will need to socially distance and follow protocols. 

MORE DETAILS TO COME as they become available!

MISSION MEETING!
UMKids’ Club & Youth Peeps!
We will be meeting on ZOOM to throw around ideas for the summer on safe ways to carry out some mission! PLEASE plan on attending if you are available. I KNOW we’re tired of Zoom, but your voice cannot be heard if you’re not pitching in to our idea session! 

Monday, May 10th, 7 p.m. (roughly 30 min)

COME WITH YOUR IDEAS! 

UMKids’ Club & Youth Discussion Series 
Join us for our 35 min Discussion time for 3 Sundays 3 p.m.! 
ON ZOOM 
April 18th
April 25th 
May 2nd

CHILDREN
BE WATCHING FOR VBS INFO 
ONE DAY only… Outdoors, when we’re able to be in person - DATE TBA

BOOK CLUB 

Your Rockport Book Club would welcome any new readers to join us on Wednesday, March 31st at 7pm on Zoom.  We will be discussing the book "The Last House Guest" by Megan Miranda. The "Last House Guest" is about an idyllic town in Maine dealing with the suspicious death of one of their own - and her best friend who is trying to uncover the truth. If you enjoy a good mystery, you should enjoy reading and discussing this novel. Everyone is welcome and just let Sara in the church office know that you would like to receive the Zoom link.  Hope to see you on March 31st.
 
 

SAVE THE DATE! SUNDAY MAY 16

Gail Economy Memorial Tea

Sunday, May 16, 1:00 pm
Call the church office to register to attend and if you are willing to bake, bring tea place settings, help set-up or help make tea.
Details to follow regarding location. Hopefully we will be on the patio outside the parlor depending on the status of COVID-19 rules.
Hats are encouraged.
 

SAVE THE DATE! JULY 18

All Church Picnic on July 18th after our Worship service!  
Food & games on the back patio
so be sure to save the date!
 
 
 
March Children and Youth Birthdays:
March 20    Isaac Paulson
March 30    Acadia Hover

March Wedding Anniversaries:
March 13    Pat & Jackie Ginley, 50 years
March 18    Bill & Kathe DiMatteo, 33 years

April Children and Youth Birthdays:
April 2    Creed Newton
April 17    Zoey Washio
April 24    Bennett Shick

April Wedding Anniversaries:
April 30    David & Paula Thomas, 29 years