Here’s our Waneta passionately, reading scripture of the week. Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 05/14/2026 Our scripture and lesson this week was based on the scripture of John 14. Pastor Jeannine showed us that Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit, in that whomever believed in him would have everlasting life. He asked us to obey his teaching and his commands. Jesus told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them. This is a foundation of our Christian faith. Our sincere condolences to the family of Sally Thomas. Sally was a faithful member of our congregation whom we will miss dearly. Her memorial service is planned at church at 2 PM on Saturday, May 16. Sally always had a smile on her face and a good word for others. We also send condolences to Sharon Jenks and family in the recent passing of Wes Jenks. Wes was our pastor for many years in the 1980 and 90s. After his retirement, he and Sharon settled in Florida. We will always remember his guitar playing, and the trips that he and Judy White Wunder planned to many places, including Pigeon Forge!  We will be replanning the date of our pancake supper to our next brunch Sunday, the second Sunday in June, at church. Road cleanup is May 15 at 9 AM. Others are welcome to join us. It usually only takes an hour and beautifies our road near the church on 54-a. Please meet at church at 9 AM where we will divy up the route. Pray for no rain, but if it does rain, we will reschedule. See you at church on Sunday! Remember music Sunday is May 31!

Thank you, Ron Miller for all you do musically for us. Our choir always sounds awesome! Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 05/07/2026 Pastor Jeannine gave our lesson today about the good Shepherd. She started with the kids telling them that Jesus was there to protect them and all of us. The sheep know the shepherd‘s voice and come to him, but scurry away from other people if they do not recognize them or their voice. Pastor Jeannine continued on, showing the adults that Jesus was the gate to the sheep. Whoever enters the gate will be saved. The Shepherd knows all his sheep by names. He knows all of us too, our names and even the hairs on our head and chest. Jesus rose again to be the shepherd for all of us. We are saved because of him- he gave his life not only for his sheep, but for us. Max Lucado‘s study on taming your thoughts begins with Bible study at 9 AM Saturday. All are welcome. Trish DeMondfort will be leading the Bible study. Road cleanup of our section on 54-a will begin at 9 AM on Friday, May 15. All are welcome to join in. We meet at the church at 9 AM and split up for our assignments. All are welcome to join. Several of us traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania recently for the memorial service for Bruce Westerdahl. The family did an awesome job with the service with plenty of memories and videos of both Bruce and Nancy. Bruce was our pastor for many years during the 1980 in 1990s. He lived a long life passing in December 2025 at age 94, in joining his beloved wife, Nancy in heaven. The memorial service for Meredith Nielsen will be at church at 11 AM on Friday, May 8. Our dear Meredith was a lifelong member of our church and is so missed! Another music Sunday! There are five Sundays in May so our next music Sunday will be May 31. The kids will begin practicing their numbers. Come and join us. Thank you to Warren and Melissa Kinsey for after church snacks this week!

Blanche Fingar show some of the prayer shawls she has made this winter! We are so lucky to have her and our congregation, with all she does to help others! Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 04/30/2026 If you were going for a walk, and Jesus came by and walked with you, would you recognize him? Two men, likely two disciples, were on the road to Emmaus were joined by a man who came to them as a stranger. They did not recognize him. They were full of grief as they walked along, having recently lost Jesus. When they came to Emmaus Jesus acted like he was going ahead. The two men urged him to stay for dinner. Jesus took a seat at the table. He took the bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. At that point their eyes opened; they recognized him as Jesus and they discovered that he had indeed risen from the dead. They returned to Jerusalem and told the other 11 what had happened and that Jesus had really risen. Pastor Jeannine showed us that the resurrected Jesus doesn’t promise us, wealth, health, or prosperity but he promises us peace. He changes us and how we see our current circumstances. We can face troubles, illnesses, and tragedy, knowing that with God trying times and events will never have the last word. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Pastor Jeannine asked us if we have ever seen Christ through the actions of others. What ministries are you involved in with a church where you can experience Jesus Christ through loving service? What ministries is God calling you to do? As you can see in this picture, Blanche Fingar is very involved in the ministry of making prayer shawls to comfort others in their sadness, pain, or grief. This is one of our churches important ministries, and Blanche and others have been called to help others in this way. Thank you, Christie Mosch and Marilyn Sands for our delicious treats after church this Sunday. We appreciate the time for fellowship and sharing. Remember, Bible study will begin on May 2 at 9 AM with the book by Max Lucado, Tame your Thoughts. We are planning a celebration of life for Meredith Nielsen at 11 AM on Friday, May 8 with a reception to follow. We so miss Meredith. She was active in our church and such a follower of Christ throughout her whole life. Nice to see the spring flowers, although coming to church today, we did have a little snow on the ground. Hopefully that’s the end of that for the year! Come join us in our Sunday worship at 9 AM!

Trish DeMondfort and Gene James share conversation and friendship before church began. Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 04/23/2026 Happy spring! Finally, some welcome warmer weather! And two more of our snowbirds have returned, Blanche and Roger. Welcome back to the fold! We have missed you! Our Bible study time has changed to Saturday- beginning Saturday, May 9 at 9 AM. we will be studying Max Lucas- Tame your Thoughts. Books are available on Amazon. Pastor Jeannine asked the children if they had ever seen or heard of something that happened that you couldn’t believe. She cited the book Ripley’s Believe it or Not. A couple of things that were in there that she told the children was that a chicken laid a square egg and another astonishing event was that a teenage girl hula hooped with 68 hula hoops at a time. WOW! those are things that are hard to believe. In our Christian life, it might be hard to believe that Jesus was raised from the grave. In our scripture lesson, John 20: 19-31 we see that one of the disciples, Thomas doubted that Jesus had returned and was raised from the dead. He needed proof by seeing the marks on his hands from him being nailed to the cross. Do we often have worries. Pastor Jeannine said her mother was a perpetual worrier. She worried about the kids. She worried about what would happen to her things when she went to a smaller home. God is here for us. Stuff is not our life, but memories are- God never walks away. We had a wonderful brunch after church. It’s so good to see everyone participating in and enjoying the conversation and delicious food. Speaking of food, we are planning a church pancake supper at 5 PM on May 16. We will be taking pictures of congregation members at 4 PM on that date prior to our dinner for an updated directory. We will be taking pictures at other times if that date is not convenient. Our road clean up is scheduled for May 15 at 9am, weather permitting . This is one of our missions where we pick up trash on a 2 mile stretch of 54-A twice a year. Mark your calendars!

Easter Blessings from BPUMC! Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 04/16/2026 Pastor Jeannine told us again about the Easter story. What an Easter surprise! Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary went to the tomb where Jesus was buried. An angel was sitting on the stone, which was rolled away. The angel said to them- Don’t be afraid- He is Risen. The Mary’s must’ve been very afraid. But when they understood, they went into the town to spread the word. What are our fears? There are many things that we can’t do anything about. Pastor Jeannine told us that her mother was a grand worrier. She worried about the most minute things. Some of us worry about our health or other concerns. Don’t be afraid- we need to turn our worries over to Jesus. We have to have faith and believe. None of us get out of this alive, but Jesus did. Jesus was raised from the dead. The cloth that covered his face was folded and put on the tomb. This was a sign that Jesus is coming back. Death could not hold him down. Jesus was wrapped in a heavenly gown. Thank you to our choir for two beautiful anthems today. The choir also has been going to homes of some of those that are ill, and recently to the Homestead nursing home to sing to residents, including one of our own members. Happy spring. Hopefully the weather will soon cooperate!

Thank you, Marguerite Miller for directing the children and providing us with several cute songs as we celebrate music Sunday and Easter week beginning today with Palm Sunday. Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 04/09/2026 Pastor Jeannine related to the children and the congregation the story of Palm Sunday. Jesus entered the city with great cheers of Hosannah and a parade. Coats were put on the ground for the donkeys to walk on. As the week progressed . the cheering of Palm Sunday turned to proclamations to crucify Jesus. This week reminds us what Christ went through for us. The tomb could not keep him or his message from us. Pastor Jeannine showed the children how Jesus is their living hope and has set us free. Please save any bed sheets, mattress, pads, or blankets for quilts that will be made by the group from My Brothers Keeper. These quilts are distributed at Christmas time for Yates County Christmas. Michele Covert read a beautiful poem entitled- God Speaks to us, written by Blanche Fingar. This past Sunday was also Music Sunday. The choir performed several numbers and Meridyn Whitford provided a beautiful solo entitled Sunday Sermons. In addition, Meridyn has been singing with the adult choir! Thank you, Meridyn, and our wonderful choir under the direction of Ron Miller. Our children also had two choir numbers. They are such an addition to our service. They also passed out palm crosses to the congregation members. Several of us will be traveling to Gettysburg for the memorial service of Bruce Westerdahl to be held there on April 25th. Bruce was our pastor for many years and a devoted member of our church along with his wife Nancy. He spent most of his growing up years in Gettysburg. For years, several of us joined the Westerdahl’s to decorate wreaths to put on the Gettysburg national Cemetery, and also the military cemetery at Quantico. We participated along with school children in the wreathlaying ceremony at Gettysburg. It’s nice to see the spring flowers popping up. It’s been a long winter. The sunshine and warm temperatures are so appreciated. It’s also good to see our snowbirds returning from the south. Norm and Sherri Hunt were back in church with us on Palm Sunday. See you in church at 9 AM on Sundays!

Deaconess Connie Glover gave us a presentation telling us of some of the programs that she has created in the Penn Yan area, including the PY Community Cafe. Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 04/02/2026 Our Bible study this week centered around the scripture from John 11: 1-45. Pastor Jeannine first ask the children if they ever cried when they fell down or when they were sad, or even because someone else cried. It was mentioned in the Bible three times that Jesus cried, including when his best friend Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha died. When Jesus arrived after being summoned when Lazarus was taken ill, he had died and already was in the tomb. Jesus was able to raise Lazarus from the dead and then rejoiced. This was another one of Jesus‘s miracles. We were fortunate to have a wonderful presentation from Deaconess Connie Glover in church this week. Connie started the Penn Yan community Café out of the PENN United Methodist Church 17 years ago. The community café has dinners twice monthly with takeout in addition to a sitdown dinner. She also had started community Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve dinners. Through Keuka advocacy services, Connie helps people in need with utility, housing and enrollment in programs, including finding and obtaining birth certificates and identification when needed. People need these items to sign up for many services. She also has started a weekend, food pantry, and a senior meal program with seven meals a week at Saint Marks in Dundee. Miss Connie‘s house is in progress which is going to be a woman’s shelter. There also is a warming and cooling center in progress. Connie needs not only financial support but volunteers to help with these many programs. One of her main goals is in helping people find jobs and financial independence. Thank you, Connie in enlightening us in ways that we also can help. On this coming Sunday we are passing the bucket for the community café. We’re invited to join the Tenebrae service on Monday Thursday, April 2 at 6 PM at Dresden UMC. There are many services and opportunities during Lent in our community. Our sincere condolences to the family of Meredith Nielsen who passed away recently. Her memorial service will be later this spring. Meredith was a lifelong member of Bluff Point United Methodist Church. She was able to come to church with us as recently as this January. Meredith remained active in church throughout her lifetime. She participated in many church activities and events including Bible study, church committees and road cleanup. Meredith was loved by all and will be missed. Our Easter service will be at 9 AM Sunday, April 5. Please come and join us as well as all of our other Sunday services.

We have a vibrant prayer shawl ministry. Pastor Jeannine has the children put their hands and pray on a prayer shawl for one of our congregation members who is facing surgery. Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 03/26/2026 Pastor Jeannine asked the children how many of them liked music. Music is such an important part of our church. She looked at the hymn of Amazing Grace- always a favorite. She also looked at the hymns of To God be the Glory, and Blessed Assurance. Those two hymns were written by Fanny Crosby. Fanny got an eye infection when she was an infant as a result of this diagnosis and misdiagnosis she became blind. She looked at the blessings she had, and not the vision that she had lost. In her lifetime she wrote thousands of hymns and poems to glorify God. She could’ve been bitter, but instead, she was thankful for her life and what God had given her. God loves us! In our lessons today, we saw how Jesus used mud to plaster on a blind man’s face and restore his vision. Before this he had been a beggar. Jesus saw this man in the crowd who had been blind since birth. Jesus had the man wash the mud off his face, and his vision was restored. He felt the man was the light of the world. Pastor Jeannine asked us do we come to the light and believe in God? When the light of the world is in our midst, we need that shut our eyes and not be blinded by the light. Don’t forget that Palm Sunday is also music Sunday. Bring a friend or relative to church on Music Sunday on March 29th. Music Sunday is a beautiful celebration with our choir and children participating.

Millie Albertson enjoys her pancakes at a recent church supper. Article by Joyce L. Wiedrich 03/19/2026 Today our teachings were from John 4: 5-42, a very long passage! Pastor Jeannine first asked the kids what makes them feel better. She showed them a bottle of Gatorade, which is good after you exercise and work hard. Living water also makes you feel good. Christ is a living water. She told the children that we need Christ in our lives to feel better especially when we need a little extra! Our sermon was also about the Living Water. Christ is the Living Water. A Samaritan woman came to draw water from a well. Jesus asked her for some water. Usually Samaritans and Jews do not mix well. Jews considered Samarians impure. The Samarians expected a savior like Moses. They accepted the first five books of Moses. The woman was surprised that Jesus knew her, and that she had had five husbands, but was now with a man who was not her husband. Jesus loves all of us, the good and the bad, including the Samarian woman. The woman then ran into town and shared the news that she had met the Messiah. The town people followed her back to the well. We all need to share the love of Christ. We are still studying the final days in Bible study. Join us at 3 PM on Mondays. April 2 at 6 PM we have been invited to share the Maundy Thursday soup and bread supper at the Dresden United Methodist Church. You are welcome to bring something to share. There will be a lot of community activities coming up during Lent. Thank you to our nurture committee who set up for our brunch Sundays, the second Sunday of the month. The children have been practicing for music Sunday. Please bring a friend and see the great musical talent in our church during our service on March 29th!