
Welcome to Rosemary United Methodist Church!
Come and worship with us!
Come and worship with us!
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Join us next Sunday, September 24th , for HOMECOMING. Rev. Elias Ballew will preach the sermon. You may remember him, he grew up in Rosemary. We are delighted to have him come back. After the service there will be a pot luck luncheon which is always a feast. Come and enjoy.
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.
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
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.
…
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:
4
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.
5
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
Happy Day to all the Mom's and substitute Moms and Aunts and Teachers and Nurses.
The love you give to a child is a precious gift. If our Mom loves us this much, how much more must our Father love us!
Spend time with those you love and be sure to tell them how much you care!
WAS a HUGE SUCCESS! Thank you to volunteers, Moms, children, and to Kantor Morris!! Pictures coming soon.
A big THANK YOU to all who cooked soup, all who donated ingredients and to those who delivered! I think this mission and a Blessing to us all!
Call Kanter Morris or Kaye Cullom to volunteer.
Dec 3 rd.....30 children and adults had great fun!
We had lots of fun and more pictures will be posted soon.
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
Preschool
Community Garden
Knitting for Jesus
Prayer Time
Local Ministries:
Resthome Services
Angel's Closet
Boys and Girls Club
Union Mission
Part of Global Missions of UMCOR
North Carolina Methodist Conference
900 Jackson Street, Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870 Phone: 252-537-3973 Email us: rosemaryumc1@gmail.com
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