[corrected to indicate potatoes after each service]

Come join us March 14 for the annual Youth Sunday. The UMYF will be sharing all 3 services of worship on this day. After the 8am, 9:30am, or 11am service, come down to the fellowship hall for a good old fashioned Irish Potato Bake! We provide the potato, all the fixins, and a drink for just $5. There is no better way to celebrate than with some good church, and a great potato!

Nichols-Bethel Annual Easter Eggstravaganza will be on Saturday April rd from 10:00am to 11:30am.

Open to ages 2-12. We will play games, color eggs, have a snack and of course the big hunt.

Does balancing priorities always seem like a tightrope walk? Join the Young Adult Fellowship for a seven week Bible study entitled "Balance – Living with Life's Demands" starting April 8th at 7pm at the home of Beth and J.P. Stokes. Please call 410-695-2449 for details.

Here ye, here ye all chili cooks and chili eaters! Please join us for a chili cook-off Sunday March 21st at 12:15pm in the fellow-ship hall. As a building fund benefit event, you can cast your vote for the best NBUMC chili with your donations. Please contact Beth Stokes at 410-695-2449 if you would like to submit your chili.

The funeral for Fran Bingen  scheduled for Friday, February 12th 2010 at Nichols-Bethel UMC will not be held due to the hazardous weather conditions.  The family's intent is to have a memorial service in early March on a date that will be subsequently announced.

Our week to host the Winter Relief Shelter, 01-08 March, is almost upon us and we’ve had a great response. However, we still need monitors, especially for the weekend (we want to keep the shelter open all day Sunday, which requires some additional personnel), and we could use additional drivers on Saturday  A.M and P.M. and Monday A.M. We will also probably need help with driving men and women to and from jobs at non-scheduled times. A copy of the current driving schedule is posted in the narthex and on the NBUMC website. We will hold training for the monitors and drivers on Thursday evening, 25 February, as follows: 7:00 – 7:30 for the monitors and 7:30 – 8:00 for the drivers.  If you would like to help with driving or with manning the shelter, there are sign – up sheets in the narthex.  You can also volunteer to drive by e-mailing Jim Roser (jh.roser@verizon.net) or to monitor by e-mailing Colby Knoll (colbyk2@gmail.com) and letting them know if you can help with one of the driving and/or monitor openings listed above.  If you want additional information about how you can help with the shelter please call Jim Roser at 410 721-8822, Colby Knoll at 410 305-1323, or Rick Binfield at 410 551-5917.

The Baltimore-Washington Conference has been putting out info concerning Haiti earthquake disaster relief. Right now, one great need is for health kits. Instructions for assembling and shipping health kits are available at the following website: http://www.kintera.org . Also, donations are requested, either online, by placing a check in the offering plate (made out to NBUMC and marked for Haiti disaster relief, with "Advance #418325" also in the memo line), or by mailing it to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087 (with "Advance #418325" also in the memo line). While it is not safe or possible for volunteers to go to Haiti at the present, volunteers will be needed later to help rebuild once the initial crisis is past.

Dear United Methodist Friends:

Cs announces the airing of a Haiti-themed television ad, the availability of related resources, the creation of an online prayer wall, and suggestions for the Human Relations Day offering.

Television Ad
Responding to the earthquake in Haiti, The United Methodist Church will air specially produced television spots on CNN Headline News starting today and continuing through Monday, Jan. 18.  Watch the clip here.

Worship and Advertising Resources

United Methodist Communications is providing a variety of earthquake-related advertising and worship resources for annual conferences and local churches to use to localize relief efforts. Complementing the television spots airing on CNN Headline News, the resources include downloadable versions of two different bulletin inserts, a bulletin cover, a PowerPoint presentation of worship slides and a worship version of the :15 television spot. In addition, customizable newspaper print ads are available for downloading, along with all the other resources here (http://bit.ly/6d35Dh), or under the "Additional Resources" section at http://www.umc.org/haiti. The section also links to worship resources from GBOD.

Online Prayer Wall
United Methodists everywhere are invited to share a prayer for those affected by the Haiti earthquake.  Visit the Facebook group for10thousanddoors.org (http://bit.ly/6oJb5U) to lift up your praise or concern on the wall.

Human Relations Day and Haiti Relief
Bishop Gregory V. Palmer encourages United Methodists not to let Haiti relief support and the annual Human Relations Day offering compete. Continue reading here: (http://bit.ly/56Z8Je)

Stay Informed
Visit http://www.umc.org/haiti and http://www.facebook.com/unitedmethodistchurch for continuously updated information.

United Methodist Communications
810 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203

The Wired Word bible study has been moved to http://social.nicholsbethel.org/wiredword.  You'll also find the young adult blog there  The idea is that the social blog will provide many more opportunities for comments and feedback.

Please check it out!

Dinner Groups is a fellowship meeting in home of members. Couples as well as singles are welcome to meet in groups of about eight people.  The host prepares the main course and sets the table.  Others bring a dish to fill-in: salad, vegetable, or dessert. Then the next time the group does it all over again in another home. Each group sets their own schedule. The entertaining style is whatever makes the host comfortable. Some enjoy using their wedding china and grandmother’s crystal while others prefer an informal meal around the kitchen table. Not enough chairs? Consider a buffet and lap trays or a cookout with paper plates. Some groups may chose to meet at a restaurant for a Dutch-treat meal.  However your group decides to function, you will have spent at least four evenings (or afternoons) with your group. Then next year sign up again and you can meet another group of Nichols-Bethel friends.

Questions of comments? Contact Peggy Williams at (410) 672-5190 or emptywilliams@hotmail.com

During the first week of March, Nichols-Bethel ministered successfully to 11 homeless men and 14 women. This successful ministry was made possible by the willingness of so many members of our congregation to step out in faith and extend a hand to these men and women, by providing transportation, by staying with them in the shelter, by preparing and serving their meals, and many other acts of Christian kindness. This year we kept the shelter open on Sunday to make it a true "day of rest" and we provided opportunities for our guests to do laundry, both of which were much appreciated. To accomplish all this, more than 60 Nichols-Bethel members devoted approximately 600 total hours of volunteer service during this week and I believe that we touched the lives of our guests in important ways. I want to thank all of you who gave so freely of your time and energy. It was an uplifting week for me and I hope all of you feel similarly blessed.

Jim Roser

Shelter Director

Nichols-Bethel UMC is now providing another opportunity to enrich your spiritual life.  We are launching an online bible study for all ages (adults and youth) that will relate current events to biblical principles.  The content is provided by Wired Word via subscription.  You can show up and just listen (read) if that's your comfort level, but we really hope to develop a robust dialogue.

Dialogue? On a website? Yep. Participants have the opportunity to comment on each lesson. Additionally, the comments are threaded, or nested. That means that you can comment on a comment (up to 5 levels deep). The best part is that you can log in from anywhere that you have internet access; any time: day or night.

For privacy and copyright reasons, you must be logged in to see the bible study materials and comments.

• To register: Go to http://www.nicholsbethel.org/register
• Since registration to the website is moderated, you won’t get your password immediately upon entering your information
• To login:  In the upper-right-hand corner of every page on the site, you will see a "Log in" link.  Click there & enter your username and password on the login page.  You will then return to the home page.
• The Wired Word class is located at http://www.nicholsbethel.org/category/wired-word, and can be reached from the site menu: Education –> Online Bible Study –> Wired Word
• If you are not logged in, you will only see a description of the course,  not the course materials or comments.  Once you are logged in, you should see your name at the top of the web page and more importantly, you’ll be able to see the course content and comments

Does your child love to sing? If you celebrated Vacation Bible School with us, you saw how much fun and instructional singing can be.

Beginning Wednesday, September 3, Children’s Choir Class will provide an opportunity for all children, ages 4-10, to participate, weekly, in a singing and learning “hands-on” experience. Children will be celebrating their faith through Bible story, song and related activities—movement, art work, rhythm instruments, etc.—all connected to biblical themes.

Children will provide music for worship once monthly, plus additional times related to the church year. Children’s Handbells will also restart, with the same purpose of enriching the child’s faith experience. An organizational meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m., on Wednesday, September 3, in Sunday School room 208. Parents will register their child for Primary Choristers (ages 4, 5 and 6) or Junior Choristers (ages 7-10), at which time we will discuss a rehearsal time most convenient for all. This is a FREE, on-going program, as a ministry of Nichols-Bethel UMC, so invite your friends and neighbors to come. Let’s celebrate our love for God, through music!

If you wish to pre-register, please fill out this form and place in Rev. Linda’s mailbox or the church office. Hope to see you soon!

Below, you will find a rendering of the proposed Family Life Center.  This drawing, depicting the architect's plan, was submitted by Jane Lewis. You can click on the image to see it a little bigger.

Altar flowers can be ordered to celebrate a joy or honor a loved one. Arrangements are $25, $30, or $35. The cost for a dozen roses is $50. They will be placed in a glass vase after the 11 AM service to be taken home.  To place an order, contact Peggy Williams at 410-672-5190 or email emptywilliams@hotmail.com. If you do not receive a reply within a day, please place your order through the church office.