Welcome to Rosemary United Methodist Church!

Come and worship with us!

About Us

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

For the remainder of the year, our first Sunday food collection will be used to help

supplement the supplies for the Book Bag Buddies program. The Book Bag Buddies

program provides a snack bag for kids to take home on the weekend. We currently

serve 90 children per week at Manning Elementary. Rising food costs have put a strain

on our book

For the remainder of the year, our first Sunday food collection will be used to help

supplement the supplies for the Book Bag Buddies program. The Book Bag Buddies

program provides a snack bag for kids to take home on the weekend. We currently

serve 90 children per week at Manning Elementary. Rising food costs have put a strain

on our book bag buddies funds, so these donations will be very helpful in continuing this

important mission.

On the first Sunday of every month, please bring in any of the following items and place

them in the collection bin, in the narthex:

Ramen noodles

Sandwich crackers

Fruit cups/applesauce

Breakfast Bars

Gummy Snacks

We can also use monetary donations to make these purchases. Make checks payable

to Rosemary UMC. Write C4C in the memo.

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Community Garden

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

The community garden is in the planning stages for their spring crop. We look forward to

the harvest to come!

The Community Gardent needs volunteers. For directions, times, and more info, call Debbie Cannon at 537- 6467

Linus Project

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

Linus Project

Project Linus/Prayer Shawls:

This group meets on Tuesdays 2:30-5:00pm, in the fellowship hall. This group knits

blankets for children and prayer shawls for those in need of God;s comfort. They would

love for you to join them! For more information call Stephanie Hoyle.

If you are interested in joining any of the important missions happening at

Project Linus/Prayer Shawls:

This group meets on Tuesdays 2:30-5:00pm, in the fellowship hall. This group knits

blankets for children and prayer shawls for those in need of God;s comfort. They would

love for you to join them! For more information call Stephanie Hoyle.

If you are interested in joining any of the important missions happening at RUMC, feel

free to contact me at jtfowler@embarqmail.com or 919-274-2670.

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A Message from Church Council Chair

…

During the first six months of 2023, the United Methodist community in our area has been affected

by two different, but equally difficult, issues:

Disaffiliation Discussions

We have been affected by the disaffiliation of the majority of the UMC church families in our area.

There has been much debate recently about the issue of Human Sexuality within the church. When the

General Conference meets in 2024, there will be discussion concerning the amendments to the Book of

Discipline that will address the issue of human sexuality.

At this point, all we know for certain is that the above issue will be discussed at the General

Conference, April 23-May 2, 2024. A 2/3 vote is required of the nearly 800 delegates to pass an

amendment for it to become part of the Book of Discipline. However, many of the local churches took

advantage of Paragraph 2553 to disaffiliate prior to December 31, 2023. Paragraph 2553 was added to the

Book of Discipline allowing churches to disaffiliate if the members found the practice of homosexuality to

be so morally abhorrent that they could not condone being part of any entity that condoned it.

By the end of this year, more than 300 churches in the North Carolina conference will have pursued

disaffiliation. While a few may have had a general objection to the practice of homosexuality, I submit to

you that the vast majority of these churches chose disaffiliation so the church members could buy the

church property from the Conference. How did I develop this hypothesis? Because friends who attend some

of these churches told me that was the driving reason for their vote!

In January of 2023, the Church Council met to discuss the question of whether we at Rosemary

wanted to pursue the discussion of disaffiliation in 2023 OR if we wanted to wait until after General

Conference meets April 23-May 2, 2024 to see what, if any, changes might be made to the Book of

Discipline regarding the question of Human Sexuality. Our church council voted 18 to 5 to wait to see what

actually happens in 2024.

I understand that this decision made by the church council has hurt some of our members. I also

understand that others would have also suffered hurt should the vote have gone the other way. I contend

there was no way to address this issue that would not cause harm to someone in our church.

Closure of Local Churches

Not only have local churches chosen to disaffiliate, two of our local churches have had to make the

heart-breaking decision to close because their existing membership could not financially sustain the church

building. First UMC closed their doors in December of 2022 and South Rosemary UMC will close in June

of 2023. Both of these churches have served as faithful pillars in Roanoke Rapids and many of us have

close, personal connections to these institutions. As we watched First UMC go through the painful closure

process, we at Rosemary wondered if this same fate was in our future. Please consider the following

information:

Giving:

In 2011, Congregational giving peaked at $415,000.

In 2012, giving had dropped to $347,000,

In 2020, giving had dropped to $262,000.

Attendance:

In 2007, the average worship attendance was 231.

Since 2007, there has been a steady decline.

We have had two significant declines:

→ 2013 Average attendance went from 208 to 172.

→ 2020 Average attendance went from 122 to 72. (COVID)

In 2015, the Finance Committee identified we needed to reduce pastor compensation. The pastor’s

salary has not changed since 2015. Also, we have had two clergy couples connected to our church

which has helped us offset the cost of insurance.

What this Means for Rosemary?

For the most part, we can explain the decline in attendance/giving: people have moved away, people

have chosen to go to other churches in the area, or people have passed away. However, it is concerning that

we have not grown during this time. At this point, given our weekly attendance combined with our

anticipated giving for 2023, SPRC and Finance have made the difficult recommendations that Rosemary

will need to enter into a shared pastor arrangement beginning in July of 2023. As with the disaffiliation

discussion, this decision has caused hurt and confusion in our congregation. To address this confusion, I

would ask you to consider the following information:

Uncertainty about what pastor sharing means for Rosemary: The North Carolina Conference

will supply 35% of our pastor’s total salary/benefits from July 1, 2023 — June 30, 2024. This will

give us breathing room to adapt to our future opportunities, The Finance Committee will be working

with a Stewardship/Finance Coach beginning in August. This person works for the Conference and

will be helping us with the following:

→ Right-size our budget so we are investing in ministry and mission /outreach.

→ Right-size our budget to the current giving levels.

Uncertainty about how pastor sharing work: Keith will spend about 25% of his time working

with the Collective, meaning he will be working with the people in the Capital District who have

been left without a church home because of disaffiliation. The Capital District is the Raleigh area

(east to Wilson and west to Apex.) Most of the meetings can be conducted by phone or Zoom. He

may have to travel once a month to the Capital District. The important thing we need to know is that

our Sunday School and Worship times will not change. SPRC will be working with Keith this

summer to help him balance the work at Rosemary with his new work with the Capital District.

Uncertainty about what we are hearing about “coaching” opportunities: Beginning in the summer of

2023, the Conference will provide us with four coaches who will help us navigate through our future.

(Rosemary UMC will not incur any costs associated with these coaches.) These individuals are skilled,

trained, and experienced in certain areas of church life:

— Stewardship/Finance

— Leadership Development

— Disciple Making

— Mission and Ministry

Pastor sharing may seem that we are taking a step towards failure, but it can be a positive change for

the future of Rosemary UMC. If you look at the numbers that I listed above, Rosemary has been in decline

for almost two decades. This is not a situation that developed overnight (no matter what you may have been

told to the contrary). Our decline is not the fault of one person or group. Part of it is a natural decline: loss

of membership as well as societal trends away from traditional, organized religion. However, I would also

contend that we have failed ourselves. In an effort to cling to our past glory, we have turned our backs on

opportunities to grow our church because those opportunities may not be consistent with “what we have

always done.” We have passed budgets that were beyond our giving. We have shifted money away from

mission/outreach/ministries to support the basic needs of our church and salaries. We have ignored the

advice of the Finance Committee that things needed to change, or we would be in a difficult position. Now

we can no longer ignore the realities before us. Sharing a pastor will allow us to shift some of our resources

to projects that can help our church grow.

We are in the midst of an uncertain future. At the end of 2023, there will only be four remaining

UMC congregations in Halifax County: Halifax, Rosemary, New Hope, and Littleton. We have two

choices: we can choose to embrace the coaching opportunities which will help us to recommit to each other

as a church family, expand our church ministry and missions, and emerge stronger than we have been in

decades OR we can continue to live in fear and distrust which will eventually lead to our downfall. As for

me and my house, I choose the first option!

Kanter Morris

Church Council Chair

About Us

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

Call Kanter Morris or Kaye Cullom to volunteer.

Interesting

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

Dec 3 rd.....30 children and adults had great fun!

More pictures to come

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

More pictures to come

We had lots of fun and more pictures will be posted soon.

Our Mission

Follow Christ

Transform World

Love Neighbors

Each Sunday

Due to Covid 19 our Service Schedule is changed.

10:00 AM Worship in the Sanctuary with masks and precautioins, woship in parking lot listening to radio 89.7, view online at home from www.rosemaryumc.com, Rosemary Facebook page or at Rosemary You Tube Channel.

5- 6 PM Children's Group - check with Kanter Morris

5:30-7:00 PM Youth Group- Check with Daniel and Jennifer Fowler

Love Neighbors

Transform World

Love Neighbors

Preschool

Community Garden

Knitting for Jesus

Prayer Time

Local Ministries:

Resthome Services

Angel's Closet

Boys and Girls Club

Union Mission

Transform World

Part of Global Missions of UMCOR

North Carolina Methodist Conference

Welcome to Rosemary United Methodist Church!

The church is not a building, but a community of imperfect people who are being transformed by God's grace.

HOMECOMING 2023

About Us

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

Community Garden

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

Linus Project

1st Sunday food collection: ***important change

Linus Project

A Message from Church Council Chair

Site Content

Happy

Mother's

Mother's

Mother's

Mother's

Mother's

Day

Mother's

Day

Mother's Morning Out

Soup Mission

About Us

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

Interesting

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

More pictures to come

Change of Date-- The next Children's Event will be May 6th. Volunteers Needed

More pictures to come

Our Mission

Follow Christ

Transform World

Love Neighbors

Love Neighbors

Transform World

Love Neighbors

Transform World

Transform World

Transform World

Special Treats for Christmas

Dec 4 at 10AM service- RRHS Band Dec 15 at 7PM-RRHS Choir/

FIND US

Worship Service in the SANCTUARY at 10 each Sunday.

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