John Wesley Helps UMC Celebrate Its Bicentennial
John Wesley Helps UMC Celebrate Its Bicentennial
By Kaaren Valenta
John Wesley came to the United Methodist Church in Sandy Hook on Sunday, looking quite spry for a man who admitted to being more than 300 years old.
Dressed in clothes typical of the turn of the 18th Century, the Rev Richard Rice portrayed the churchâs founding father and presented a lively monologue that explained the theology and spirituality of the Methodist Church.
A biblical storyteller, Rev Rice also is an elder in the United Methodist Church who has served churches from Gaylordsville, his first assignment, to Nichols Church in Trumbull.
Born the fifteenth of 19 children in 1703 in Lincolnshire, England, John Wesley founded the church with his brother, Charles, who wrote the words for more than 6,000 hymns during his lifetime. Both were ordained ministers in the Church of England and reinvigorated the church through the Methodist Movement. Rev Wesley was a missionary to Georgia in the colonies and later traveled thousands of miles around Britain, on horseback and by carriage, preaching several times each day.
As part of his presentation, John Wesley presented Bibles to the third grade students at the Newtown UMC. The third graders in this yearâs class included Christina Cistulli, Daniel Harrison, Elizabeth Ann Henderson, Aidan Petershack, Nicholas Roche, Patricia Sullivan, Robyn Gaines, Jared Hebner, Keaton McCleary, Anna Pinckney, Alyssa Reufenacht, and Katelyn Zimmerman.
On Sunday, October 23, UMC will celebrate mission outreach with three speakers that will present the churchâs Haiti, Bolivia, and AIDS Ministry projects. Following the 10 am service, there will be a soup, bread, and water luncheon, which most of the world eats each day. The outreach committee will have displays of outreach activities.
At 3 pm, there will be a Blessing of the Animals behind the church by the Pootatuck River. Those who attend are asked to bring towels, toys, and food for the local animal shelter.