Mission Committee Minutes 2-10-08

Epworth United Methodist Church

Mission Committee Minutes

February 10, 2008

Present: Chair: Alyson B, Pastor David N, Mary B, J F, Shelia B, Sandy K, Kelly S, Diane L and Mary R F.

1. Meals on Wheels will be February 25-29 and all volunteer slots are filled. Excellent, next session will be the end of May.

2. March food for the Food Pantry will be canned meats. April is peanut butter & Jelly.

3. Christian Development Corporation - Pastor Newhouse approved the donation of $50 per month out of the Missions budget. All area churches are sending money to Brian Heinrich, the CDC coordinator, who is responsible for distributing emergency funds to those who have no other options. Those who use this money must also agree to financial counseling. Even though the committee requested financial reports, Pastor Newhouse feels there are not necessary.

Alyson submitted to cover February & March 2008.

4. The Soup Kettle is this Tuesday, February 19^th at Zion Lutheran Church from 4-6:30pm.

5. Epworth UMC is responsible for volunteers for the PADS program on the second Wednesday of each month. We need more volunteers. J Fazel, Kelly S, Alyson B and Mary R F will be there this month. Alyson said a new church member came to help – YEH!

6. Sheila B proposed that churches use an offering of letter to write to legislators letting then know about pending bills that would alleviate hunger. This effort is to support the Bread for the World project. These letters would urge congress to approve $5million to the hunger project and then to finalize the Global Poverty Act, both of which support the Millennium Goal Project. You can find more information and documentation at www.bread.org.

Not really sure what, where or how this is pull together yet.

7. Mission Work: Sheila B proposed that we send volunteers to Humboldt Park UMC to help them facilitate an office move in their building. Pastor David Newhouse suggested that we get this volunteer request information to the Men’s Breakfast Group and also to the Women’s Group. Mary R F suggested that we first get the specific information like what day, departure time, length of day, lunch will be provided and return time before we approach the congregation. The day will be Saturday, March 15^th.

We are already at March 9^th for this next meeting, Sheila did you get any groups to commit to this event? Alyson & Diane already have previous commitments, is there anyone else on the mission committee who is going??

8. Pastor David Newhouse asked the committee to support a fundraiser that a Woodstock nursery has every April in which 1/2 of the proceeds from the sale of Hostas plants will go to the Heifer project. They will plan to do a presentation at church on April 6^th. Pastor also suggested to establish a goal for our church to raise for the Heifer Project this year. The committee also discussed the possibility of having another plant sale in conjunction with the Garage Sale.

The committee thought this was a good idea. I think Alyson will be getting in touch with Janis D to see when the Garage sale is taking place in 2008. We need further discussion & assignments for this event.

9. Elgin Religious Leaders - Pastor David Newhouse announced a new event to be called “Come to the Table” Dinner being co-sponsored by ECC and Judson colleges and supported by the Elgin Religious Leaders group. The dinner will be held at Judson on March 9^th at 5pm. All funds raised at this event will be donated to Elgin Hunger Relief. Laurel Bault of ECM will have more information for this as well as displays at the event.

Alyson may try to attend. Is there anyone else on the committee who is going?

10. Nothing but Nets Project – Alyson complemented Kelly and Kara on a job well done on the bulletin board. The committee discussed options for a fundraiser for this project. Maybe something with the children like basketball free throw game/competition. For the smaller children maybe something like Bozo buckets. It was suggested that maybe we could do this in conjunction with one of the Wednesday evening dinners before the end of April. We will ask to do a child’s time presentation with a net during the services as well.

Excellent display, thank you. We really think this should become a priority over the next 6 weeks to raise funds for this effort. Mary F are you still interested in doing a dance lesson fun night?? And Kara & Others ae you interested in having a fun childrens time to raise money on a Wednesday night?? Further discussion at March 8 meeting.

11. Sandy K suggested a farmer’s market event on February 24^th and will work on this project and to get all details finalized as soon as possible.

Nice event, thank Sandy for organizing all of the vendors & more. Did you want to offer this type of event a couple times a year or more?? Further discussion at March 8 meeting.

12. Red Cross Flood Buckets and Health Kits - Suggestion was made to get some of the flood buckets and safety kits made up ahead of time to have on hand for weather emergencies. Alyson Beucler and Mary Rees Freeman both brought information on requirements for the flood buckets and health kits. This information will be placed in the bulletin for begin collecting items for this project. Alyson and Mary will work on getting several buckets and kits put together for a display and collection area in the Fellowship Hall.

Kelly thank you for putting the buckets together. Diane can bring a list to the March 8 meeting. Hopefully we can generate some interest by church members, put it in the bulletin, have people bring items on a particular week & the mission group or other group can put the buckets together. Diane will check on details.

Thanks for all your hard work. Mary great minutes!!

Next Mission Meeting will be March 9, 2008 at 9:45am.

• For discussion, mission trips for 2008 & 2009.
• When a suggestion is brought to the meeting, please have all the details available to share (names, phone numbers, & who will head up the project, etc)
• And other items detailed above.

Fascinating tale, about one of the least known ministers in Epworth’s history (up until now).

What follows is a fascinating tale, about one of the least known ministers in Epworth’s history (up until now).

It starts at the same time as Arthur Rubinstein started his career in 1900.

Arthur Rubenstein was one of the greatest concert pianists that ever lived. His career started in Berlin in 1900 with his debut concert. He turned 13 while in Berlin. His long and illustrious career lasted until he died at the age of 95.

Studying music and German in Berlin was Miss Bertha Drew. In 1898 Miss Drew graduated Magna Cum Laude from Radcliffe College where she was the Class President. Apparently she met the Rubenstein family as part of her music studies.

For his 13^th birthday, Miss Drew gave Arthur a kiss. Although she was 24 years old, the effect on the young Arthur was to give him a significant case of puppy love which lasted for some time. Unfortunately, for Arthur at least, Miss Drew was dating Mort, who was a young American Minister studying in Berlin. She and Mort would go to the various German sites, attend concerts, and appeared to be falling in love. I cannot confirm, but I expect they even attended Arthur’s debut concert.

Mort’s full name was Morton Culver Hartzell. He was converted to Christianity at age 7. After attending Drew seminary, he was ordained as a Methodist minister. He then attended the University of Berlin in 1899-1900 He was a member of the Rock River Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Northern Illinois. In 1901 he received an appointment at Epworth Methodist Episcopal church in Elgin Illinois, where he served for 2 years. During that time, no one at Epworth ever took a picture of Rev. Hartzell.

In 1904, after leaving Epworth, he married Miss Bertha Drew, whom he had met in Berlin.

Rev Hartzell eventually ended up as the minister at South Park Avenue Methodist church in the Douglas Neighborhood, and was there at least in the year 1909. During that year he was also the President of the Douglas Neighborhood Club, an interdenominational group fighting the “cess-pool” and “white slavery” of the Douglas Neighborhood, referring to the increase in prostitution in the area. Mayor Busse of Chicago and Alderman Milton Foreman, tried to have Rev. Hartzell removed from his pulpit, apparently due to his efforts to rid the neighborhood of vice and corruption. A “near riot” broke out at the church (according to the Elgin Daily Courier). This “riot” occurred because members of the Neighborhood Club had entered the church to support Rev. Hartzell during a congregational meeting called to determine his status at the church. The presiding elder, Rev. McAfee had the members of the club thrown out. (I have yet to find out the results of what happened).

Morton died in 1916 at the age of 40. Bertha died in 1950, remaining active in education and Church music.

There is one more interesting twist to the story. Rev. Hartzell’s father was Rev. Joseph Hartzell a Methodist missionary. The 1941 movie “One Foot in Heaven” received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The movie takes inspiration from the life of Rev. Joseph Hartzell and family.

Finally, up until now, we did not have a picture of Rev. Hartzell. That HAS CHANGED. Arthur Rubinstein lived in Spain for a few years. There is a Spanish website with a great deal of information regarding Mr. Rubinstein. They also have two very nice pictures of Morton Culver Hartzell.

Ted Whittington, 2/16/2008

Epworth Church Historian