Orangethorpe United Methodist Church:
Latest News

This is an informal collection of news items about people and events in the life of our church. Your contributions, including photos, are welcome!

• September. Who's celebrating a birthday this month? Visit our birthday page!
• August 28. Photos of our Vacation Bible School, which took place in June 2010, are now available.
• August 23. We have just received word that former member, Karen Mayster Gans, passed away on August 10 from pancreatic cancer. Karen, 45, is survived by her husband, George, of 7 years; her 4 year old son; mother, Neita Mayster and sister, Vicki.
  
  Services will be held on Wednesday, September 1 at 1:00pm at Anaheim United Methodist Church. A reception will be held immediately following the service.
  
  
• August 22. Workday this afternoon produced a lot of results. Our thanks go to Pastor Sergio and Pastor Tom, Sharyl Lewis, Phil and Jonathan Macías, and Alex Fausto, Jr., who cleaned out the OUMC garage. Richard Shea washed all the preschool windows inside and out, and Marian McGee and Barb Johnson did a lot of weeding. Joe Manson worked on the drains to be sure they are ready to handle the rainy weather. Pastor Tom changed the light bulbs in the office hallway and the GRUMC office. Brian Lee and his youth charges were available to weed, move heavy things and clean behind a lot of the furniture in Fellowship Hall. We appreciate all the work that was done. There will be another workday in early October and perhaps again before the 55th anniversary celebration. Thanks to everyone who helped!

  Parish Board of Trustees

• August 22. The Church Council thanks everybody who participated in our survey. About 30 responses were received, including several from couples. We start work this week on planning your church's programs for the Fall, based on these responses.
• August 9. Pastor Vernon Story has entered St. Jude Medical Center with a brain hemorrhage and minor stroke. We since learned that Vern has returned to his home.
• August 8. Did anybody else notice the spiffy new benches outside the main entrance to the Sanctuary today? Well, they're not really new, but were just refurbished, polished and reassembled by Jerry Martindale. Thank you, Jerry, for taking on this task!
• August 1. The Orangethorpe Learning Center thanks you for "dining for dollars" today at Salt & Pepper Family Restaurant. About thirty OUMCers dropped in after church for lunch. Some said they'd return for dinner. ¡Muchísimas gracias a todos!
• August 1. Our choir is taking a break this month. In their absence, we have a variety of special vocal and instrumental music. During this morning's service, we were blessed by the presence of the vocal duet of Pastor Vern's sister Aletha and her husband, Rev. Jim Sheets.

• ---

  July 24. It is with deep sorrow and gratitude for his life that I inform you that our beloved brother, Bob Padrick, passed away about 6:00 p.m. this evening, after a very brief illness. Bob (together with Margaret) was a charter member of this church, and was named by one person as "the consummate usher." The idea of not seeing him every Sunday, giving me a bulletin and inquiring of how I am, grieves me deeply.

  It was Bob's wishes that his body be cremated and buried in Riverside National Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be held at the church Friday, August 13, at 2:00pm.

  It was fortunate that almost all of Bob's and Margaret's family were able to be there with Margaret and Wendy, around Bob's bedside, as he passed. Please remember them not only in your prayers, but in doing what you can to help them meet their needs as they go through this time of grief.

  Tom Griffith, Lead Pastor

  ---

• July 20. At the Parish Board of Trustees meeting, a special thank you was given by Pastor Jun and his committee to all of the volunteers who helped with VBS. About 45 children participated. The funds raised by donations exceeded expenses by several hundred dollars, which will be a great headstart in planning for next year. A special note of gratitude to those who contributed tuition costs or bought a flower for the tree. It was all appreciated.
• July 16. OUM Preschool had camping as their theme all week. We closed it off with a family mini campout, held here on the premises on Friday night from 6:00pm-8:00pm. What a turnout! Families joined us for a barbeque. We served hot dogs, barbeque beans, chips, ice tea, and lemonade. The children went on a bear hunt, had campfire stories, and made preschool smores. A great time was had by all and prospective parents were impressed with our family style staff and are looking forward to enrolling their children in September. Our families have asked when we can do another family outing like this one and we are already working on it. This is just one of the events which your donated recyclables help support. Thank you very much!
• July 16. Today at Placentia-Linda Hospital, Joseph LaRoche had major surgery on his right arm and shoulder. We hear that Joseph came through the surgery okay and is at home, but in a lot of pain. We need to pray that his arm problems have been corrected and that the pain will soon go away.
• July 16. Two of our church's elementary school children, Kimberly and Jennifer, are back from camp at Lazy W Ranch. Be sure to ask them about their experience, including the thunderstorm which caused cancellation of the final evening's campfire. Several other young people from our church, such as Jonathan, Filimón, and Alex, are getting ready to go to Lazy W for the high school camp.
• July 12. The Preschool has hired a new director who starts work today. Her name is Diane Harper and she has been an active parent, grandparent and aide at the school. She has her director's license and is eager to start her new job. She will be working with several teachers who have been at the school for over 23 years. Her first priority will be to increase enrollment for the Fall. We welcome her to this position and wish her success. The preschool board will resume their meetings in September.
• July 9. Wendy Lenaburg enters St. Jude Hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery. Let's all pray for her complete and speedy recovery.
• July 8. Congratulations, Gary and Sunshine Paguyo, on the birth of your daughter, Calista Ann Paguyo.
• July 5. Work is complete on the "technical" aspects of the conversion of your church's web site. Now it's up to you, churchfamily members, to make it a truly helpful tool in our ministry. (Read your webservant's narrative of what has gone into this project.)
• July 4 and 11. We thank Rev. Sergio Camacho and Rev. Christopher Jun for preaching in Pastor Tom's absence.
• Summer 2010. Any landscaping activity at OUMC is part of memorial funds at work — The David Johnson, Florence Cheney and Jerry Moreland funds are being used to upgrade the sprinkler system, renew the soil and get ready to plant some new plants in the entrance to the church from the back parking lot. The Sego palm has been moved to make room for a tree and more perennials are planned when the weather is cool. It will be a slow, continuing process.
• June 28. We served "only" 184 people at Hot Meal Ministry tonight. It was hard getting used to not having Stan in the kitchen. Several people who don't usually volunteer to serve dropped in to honor Stan's memory and help serve the meal, Thank you, everybody who came, even if it was only for a cup of coffee.
• June 27. Today is graduation day for Vacation Bible School. For the past four days, more than 40 children from our churches and the neighborhood have been a part of SonQuest Rain Forest. Thank you, Pastor Christopher and Donna Daniels, for all your planning, patience and hard work! See our photos!
• June 27. Congratulations to Dean and Rosary Sowell, who celebrate their 67th wedding anniversary today.
• June 26. OUMC has a big parking lot sale. Members and friends rent space to sell their junk treasures. You clear out your garages and help us raise funds for the church. Janice, our semi-official web site photographer, was there to take lots of pictures.
• June 25. Recently, Pastor Vern obtained a big bucket of paint from our neighbors at Harley-Davidson to keep graffiti under control on our campus. While Vern is out of town, two of OUMC's children, Jennifer and Kimberly, offer to continue Vern's mission of painting out graffiti. This morning, they came to church and went right to work, covering up several ugly spots. Thank you, girls!
• June 24. Stan Ault passed away this morning. For the past 55 years, Stan was responsible for many of the good things that happened at OUMC. We'll miss you, Stan! (For an example of what Stan was doing, right up to the end, please see our May 24 news item below.)
• June 19. The All-male Amazing Survivor Race Father's Day dinner is a big success. Thank you, Sharyl Lewis and your "rain forest goddesses", for organizing it! See photos of our evening of fun, frivolity and fellowship.
• June 13. We celebrate our church's graduates. Pastor Tom presents Bibles to two tall young men who are very much a part of our family, Alex Fausto, Jr., and John Van Ahlers. There are at least ten young people in our extended family who are marching down the aisles this month at various institutions.
• June 12. Vernon and Barbara Story celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by sailing (or flying?) off to Alaska with their whole family. Congratulations, Vern & Barb!
• June 11. Orangethorpe Learning Center has a big fiesta to celebrate the end of another school year. We'll be back September 7!
• June 6. The women of our church are back from a weekend retreat.
• June 6. For the second Sunday in a row, William Johnson, a.k.a. Uncle Billy, brings six very enthusiastic children to church with him. He says it's no trouble rounding up these kids, as they all really enjoy coming to OUMC!
• June 2. The Orangethorpe United Methodist Preschool Board accepted Cathy Shanks' resignation and appointed Sylvia Thorne as interim director.
• May 24. Team OUMC serves dinner to 224 people at Hot Meal Ministry. Thank you, Stan Ault and the kitchen crew, for providing a never-ending supply of beans and wieners, veggies, salad and desserts.
• May 23. Congratulations, Beth Robinson, on starting work at Disneyland! We hope your schedule there will permit you to come back to OUMC from time to time. We miss your voice in the choir.
• May 19. Congratulations, OUM Preschool, for another successful spaghetti dinner. Thank you, everybody who attended, for making this annual fundraiser a big success.
• April 29. Congratulations, Giovanni and Valerie González, on the arrival of Isaac Natividad González, who weighed in at a healthy 9 pounds, 10 ounces.

CWC

OUMC Home Page