United Methodist Women                

The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose PURPOSE is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.

Co-Presidents: Pat Schutz and Ann Freeman Price
Treasurer: Diane Gelone
Secretary: Jean LaFrance

Sparta Women on the Skylands District Mission Team

Education & Interpretation: Pat Schutz
Membership, Nurture & Outreach: Susan Pironti
Spiritual Growth: Ann Freeman Price

We have received the 2008 Five Star Award and the Silver Level of Mission Today.

Sparta UMW
2009 - 2010 Program

The Sparta UMW is re-organizing! We have brought under the UMW umbrella several groups that have been functioning independently and we have created several new ones. We have deliberately called our groups spirals to indicate their openness for all to participate. Please join us as much as you are able. Friends, visitors and men are always welcome. 

Membership is open to any woman who indicates her desire to belong and to participate in the global mission of the church through United Methodist Women.

Local and global missions of UMW are supported by our pledges.

For information on any of our events or on pledging, please contact:
Pat Schutz at 973-729-3857 or
Ann Freeman Price at 973-383-5014.

United Methodist Women of Sparta are excited to announce that Nick Connolly will present a two-for-one program, spending half the time on journaling, particularly the Ira Progoff system; and the other half of the time on his book "The Bible Through the Seasons - A Three-Year Journey with the Bible" and the related Bible Breaths.

Nick is a retired United Methodist Pastor who is currently serving two churches in Kearny, NJ: First United Methodist Church and Grace United Methodist Church. (Is that really retirement?) He has trained in the Progoff method of journaling and will bring years of experience to the conversation. "The Bible Through the Seasons" is a process of reading the Bible in three years, and Bible Breaths are an experience of seven-syllable phrases for five times on each day relating to the scriptures read that day. There also is an on-line discussion group for the book. Women and men will not want to miss this program.



United Methodist Women of Sparta will sponsor a spring celebration --- pulling together all the people from all the spirals to share with each other what we have done during the year.
 

UMW Health Kits for Haiti


Daytime Book Group


Holy Hookers

For the past few years, caring people, both from our church and the community (including some of our homeless friends), ages 8 through 98, have been working on afghans to share the love of God with others. We work on our own and meet every Wednesday afternoon 1:00pm – 3:00pm to work together. Some of us don’t even knit but make greeting cards. Feel free to join us. We have simple work to do and we'd love to teach you to crochet or knit. We share a lot of laughs and have great fellowship.

If you know someone who would like an afghan, please let us know. We've given afghans to people who are elderly, incarcerated, homeless, sick, burned, depressed and bereaved. We'd love to give you one to take to a person who is struggling. We donated 20 afghans to the Red Cross, who gave them out to people in house fires. The Red Cross also donated our afghans to every Hurricane Katrina victim who ended up in our area, on our behalf. When there was a serious school bus accident on our corner, we used our afghans to wrap around hurt teenagers and the school bus driver. Each afghan has a label sewed in the corner that says, "Somebody Loves You", with a cross "+" in the "o" of loves.

If you have yarn or needles to donate, we'd love to have them. And we'd love to have you help us.

Contact:     Diane Gelone @ 973-729-6961



Food Certificate Distribution

There are more and more families in our community requiring assistance, so the UMW has started the food certificate distribution again. Each Tuesday we need a volunteer to distribute the certificates. Training will be provided because it’s really simple. When purchasing your own grocery store certificates, please consider purchasing one (or more!) for the families in need in our area. If donating, please provide your name and the amount, for recording and credit purposes.

Contact:     Diane Gelone @ 973-729-6961


Manna House

Manna House, located at the Newton Presbyterian Church, is the ecumenical food kitchen that serves lunch every Monday to Friday to individuals and families in Sussex County who are in need.  Sparta UMC is responsible for helping on the first Monday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  WE ARE LOOKING FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS!  If you can help cook, dice, stir, set tables, or serve food, please:

Contact:     Laura Kempson @ 973-579-0140


CUMAC-ECHO Support Group

This group is a new support group for CUMAC-ECHO. The hope is to involve young women in our church and increase the awareness and to help with this important mission.

Contact:     Ashley Kempson @ 973-579-0140


Healing Prayer Time

Everyone is welcome to the Healing Prayer Time, held on the first Wednesday of each month from 11:15am to 11:45am in the Wesley Room. This is a time when we meet to lift up ourselves, situations or other people for prayer and healing. Stay for soup from 11:45am - 12:30pm.

Contact:    Ann Freeman Price @ 973-383-5014


Children’s Faith Journals

Come and help us create scrapbooks for our youth, journaling their life in our church. This project will attempt to capture how each child’s faith has developed over his or her time at Sparta Church. The scrapbooks include not only pictures but things the child has written in Sunday School so it is a cooperative effort between United Methodist Women and the Sunday Schools. Time to be determined.

Contact:    Pat Schutz @ 973-729-3857 or                                      Gale Meyer @ 973-729-6119


Writing It Down  – Your Life, Your Faith, Whatever

Ann Freeman Price has led groups in writing their memoirs for 15 years. If you want to write something else, that’s o.k. too --- it just ends up being a gentle and supportive writing group. Ann is experimenting herself with “writing down her faith.” This is a new group forming --- time and place to be determined. The charge each time is a $5 donation to the World Thank Offering of United Methodist Women.

Contact:    Ann Freeman Price @ 973-383-5014                        


Kitchen Capers

This is a newly forming group that will be working to make the kitchen a more workable space. They’ll be checking with Trustees about their hopes and dreams.

Contact:    Linda Giammanco @ 973-383-8443 or                                      Laura Kempson @ 973-579-0140



Skylands District UMW Events

Saturday March 6, 2010
Day of Learning / Mini Spa Day
9am to Noon

Sunday April 18, 2010
Spring Celebration at Frankford Plains UMC
3 – 5 pm

Saturday October 2, 2010
Annual Meeting and Communion Brunch
9am to Noon


Greater New Jersey Conference UMW Events

January 9, 2010
Officer Training
9:30am to Noon

April 24, 2010
Spring meeting in Haddenfield

April 29 – May 2, 2010
18th UMW Assembly
St. Louis, MO

 

District - Susan Pironti

2003 - Henny Braue and Doris Kepler

2004 - Kim Bloemer
 
2005  - Rich and Edna Moriarty

2006 - Kari Burkholder, Diane Gelone and Bud Larson

2007 - Wilma Smith

2008 - Nancy VanderVeen

2009 - Peg Pierson