Announcements

The flowers on the altar are given by Donna Motyl to celebrate the sisterhood of the Thursday morning Women’s Bible Study.

Carillon Concert Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Sun., July 27th, carilloneur Andrea McCrady from Ottawa will be visiting SUM and will perform a mini-concert following the 9:30 service. All are welcome, so grab some snacks after the service and head out to the front lawn to enjoy some beautiful music!

Covenant to Care for Children Backpack Drive
Covenant to Care for Children (CCC) has once again asked SUM to provide backpacks to help students get off to a great start to the school year. This year, backpacks are needed for students in elementary, middle, and high school. CCC is grateful for any size backpacks you wish to purchase! You may purchase a backpack and drop it off in Wesley Hall, or make a donation, and we will shop for you. Simply write “CCC Backpack” in the memo line when making your donation. A collection box for the backpacks will be in Wesley Hall on Sunday, August 3rd and August 10th. If you cannot make one of the drop-off times, please contact Melissa Fearrington to arrange an alternate drop-off date and site. The collection deadline is Sunday, August 10. Thank you for your ongoing support for CCC!

Phishing Attempts - Please Remain Vigilant
It has come to our attention that a few parishioners recently received an email from someone claiming to be Sue Homrok-Lemke, our Church Council Chair. This is a phishing scam where someone is trying to get money/gift cards. Please know that our church leaders would never ask any parishioner for money or gift cards. If you receive any text or email that appears suspicious, please do not respond. If you have any questions, please contact the office at 860-651-3356.

Email Etiquette - Let's Tame our Inboxes!
We are a busy congregation, and that means we need to do lots of communicating. Please see last week's Messenger for an important article with tips on how we can streamline church communications.

Monday Discipleship Summer Class
Susan Samuel and Tami LePage are offering another one-day class this summer as part of their popular Monday Discipleship class. You may read the book before the class to participate in the discussion. The book is Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Evans and Jeff Chu (class to meet August 18th in the Annex, 4:30 - 6). A full description of the book can be found on our website here.

Summer Schedule
Please remember that we are following our summer schedule: 8:00 a.m. (weekly communion) and 9:30 a.m. (communion on the first Sunday of the month). We will gather in our air-conditioned Wesley Hall throughout the summer. We look forward to seeing you.  

Pledge Reminder
Please remember that we offer an easy way to set up your pledges for autopayments, so you don't have to worry about it while enjoying the slower summer time. By clicking the “donate” button on our website, you can set up recurring weekly or monthly pledge donations from your checking account or a credit card. Thank you for your donations.

Welcome, Pastor DH
Please remember to wear your name tags this summer so Pastor DH can get to know everyone. Also, please watch for information in The Messenger and on the kiosk in Wesley Hall about upcoming welcoming events for DH!

Office Hours
The office will be closed on Fridays now that we are on our summer schedule. Our office hours are Mon., Tues., and Thurs., from 9:00 – 3:00. Deb Reid works remotely on Wednesdays and will be checking voicemail and emails.

Please use Lori’s New Email Address
Lori Catlin Garcia transitioned to her new role as Programs and Communications Manager on July 1. Her regular day in the office will be Mondays, plus other days as needed. As part of this transition, please send all church-related emails to her new email address: lori@sumct.org (webmaster@sumct.org will still work, as it will forward this address).

Communion Stewards Needed for all Three Services!
The Worship Committee is seeking helping hands for communion (1 additional person to work with Jan at the 8:00 service, 3-4 people willing to serve on a rotating schedule for the 9:00 service, and 3-4 people willing to serve on a rotating schedule for the 10:30 service). This is a great chance to get to know Pastor DH, the others on the team, and enrich your participation in the service. You will be able to choose the service and the Sundays you would like to serve, and training will be provided!  Please email Sandy Lipscomb or Melissa Fearrington if you are interested!

Praying for the Entire SUM Family
Each week, we will publish five SUM directory entries to the Messenger so that you can add these people to your prayers. By the end of the year, we will have prayed for the entire SUM family. This week, please pray for the following: the Hill family (Katonya, Tyron, and Tyriq), the Hodgson family (Chris, Kelley, Cara, and Alex), John & Song Holjes, the Holjes family (John Jr., Anne, Zachary, and Benjamin), and the Hollander family (Aaron, Melissa, Jasper, and David).    

The Prayer Chain is Ready for Your Requests
The SUM reinvigorated Prayer Chain is ready for your requests. We have a dedicated team of Prayer Warriors who will receive them. To submit a prayer request, email our Prayer Warriors. Please let our Prayer Chain team know if the prayers are no longer needed by sending an update to the same email address.