Ready to turn over a new page on February 1

     At Deerfield, we are ready for February! What delight comes this month with putting January behind us with cleaning up from the smoke damage and moving forward with the reconstruction. I am passing on to you this week the update we sent out to our church family on where we stand with the clean up process after the fire. We thank you for your continued prayer support as the good work for Christ continues in this place. God is in charge and we look for good to come. Praise the Lord for being with us through a time of chaos. Rev. Evelyn Lemons

Here is the update from our trustees:
This has been a productive week in both the church and parsonage as we work on repairing the damage done by the fire of Dec. 29. I would like to give our church family an update on what has been accomplished in the month since the fire.


All the ceiling tiles have been replaced in the fellowship hall, restrooms, and Sunday School rooms except for one classroom where some additional cleaning is being done. All of these rooms have also been cleaned and put back together so that classes can resume their normal meeting places. Thanks so much to the very dedicated people who have worked on this--even to the point of re-covering many of the chairs in the Sunday School rooms. If you are willing to help in that project, please let me know and I will put you in touch with the upholstery crew!

Much has been completed at the parsonage also. The three bedrooms in the newer section of the parsonage (upstairs) have been sealed, cleaned, and painted on all walls and ceilings. Flooring installation in these rooms can start this week. The older section of the parsonage (downstairs) has been cleaned, insulation has been removed, and the fire-contaminated attic has been sealed. The painters will begin sealing and painting in this downstairs section on Monday. The reconstruction in the parsonage will begin on Tuesday. Cabinets, countertops, and appliances have been chosen, and furniture selection is being worked on also.

Professional cleaners have been involved in cleaning the ductwork, attics, and rooms of the church, but much of the work has been done by members of our church, along with ASU students and members of Boone United Methodist and Faithbridge United Methodist. These efforts will help our church because we will be reimbursed through insurance coverage for the hours these volunteers have spent rather than having to pay someone else for this time. This will support the trustees of the church as we work to complete necessary renovations and purchases while remaining within the funds provided by insurance coverage. We understand and honor the financial commitments which have already been made by the members of our church and will do all within our power to prevent a financial burden on the congregation as a result of the fire. We are also thankful for the love offering taken by Boone United Methodist which will help to cover the costs of repair.

Lawrence Caviness

Chairperson, Deerfield UMC Trustees

Deerfield UMC gets volunteers on MLK BD

    Early this morning, we received a call from ACT office at ASU. There was a group of about 20 ASU students looking for a place to serve in the community in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. I asked them to meet me at the church at 1:00 and we would see what kind of work they could do.  Some of our faithful church workers, Lawrence and Jeannie, Bobbi and JC, came over to help them get started. These kids came and worked in the kitchen in the fellowship hall, repacking items in plastic, washing pots and pans, all the glasses, drying them and putting all that back on the shelves. Another team worked in the pantry. Everything came out, was cleaned, sorted and put back in. Not only did the ASU kids come to help us, we had the chance to tell them about Deerfield, and invited them to come be apart of the work of Christ here in our community with us. Twenty one years ago today, I said yes to the call of ministry. I gave these kids my witness of how God has been faithful to provide faith and courage all these years and I have no regrets of giving my life's work for the cause of Christ. I also told them we as a church had been searching in very intentional ways to be in a sustainable ministry with ASU students for the long haul, and that they had come to serve us in our time of need moved several in the room to tears. From the students who have been worshiping with us regulary, we have now a new youth volunteer and we are going to try to meet with our youth this coming Sunday to get something going with them again, and now all this work today thanks to Emily Schrecker who was our ASU student contact to bring all this help on board today. Praise be to God, for taking the mess we are facing and day by day, bringing out the best in people. We have given the memory of MLK Jr. a good reflection today, and we have honored Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It's been a good day for our church family of sowing seeds and being really grateful for how God is meeting our needs as a church family daily.  As a church family, we are so grateful for the ASU connection that Rev. Toby Grady makes for the cause of Christ on a weekly basis to help students connect with Deerfield UMC. We are so overwhelmed with the goodness that surrounds us in the midst of hard times. For all the work being done to lift up the name of Christ through Deerfield UMC, we give the Lord the praise.

Moving on with the New Year At Deerfield UMC

     We have gotten off to a good start for our new year even in the face of the adversity from the parsonage fire and the damage to the fellowship hall here at Deerfield. The presence of the Holy Spirit has been powerful and moving during our worship. This is the hope for the whole United Methodist Church, is the life giving presence of God with us in worship. People want to be with God. If we can provide hospitality to people and to the Lord, God will bless us and let us know that we are in a holy place physically and spiritually. We were glad to have our District Superintendent, Rev. Fred Jordan, come to be our guest the first Sunday of the year. The fire has brought with it  times of daily challenges. The people of Deerfield were already facing a very lean time financially and we just did a financial campaign to be completed at the end of the year. I am so proud to be able to report to you that one hundred percent of the promises that people made to help the church above and beyond their regular giving all came through. Yes, that means 100 percent of the people who made a promise kept their word! As a pastor, you have made me so proud. In this faithfulness I can see the hand of God at work!  We determined that we would shoot for the goal of paying out our apportionments at 100%. I can't tell you how happy I was to see the report from our financial secretary come across my desk that said amount owed on apportionments-"zero." If it were not for the commitment of the people of Deerfield to the United Methodist Church, I know this would not have happened, and for that commitment to the church and to Christ I give the Lord praise.
     In the last week, we give the Lord praise for the folks from Boone UMC and from Faithbridge UMC for coming to help clean after the fire, and for the financial support that has come from our community. Thank you so much for your help. God has a strong history of being able to take a mess and be able to bring something good from it, like from the cross, God brought resurrection. In our situation, God is bringing people to help with their volunteer labor, prayer support, meals, skilled workers with different companies able to do what needs to be done. There is a tremendous reverence for the work going on at the church. It is not just a building. We represent the love of Christ to this community. Deerfield has a good name in the community for helping others, and now we want to say thank you for all the help that has already come our way. We appreciate your time and your thoughts and prayers so much. We keep watching to see what good God will bring. We have a taste of the goodness of God working already. The fellowship is closer, the bond of love is stronger, the choir sounds better, the people are smiling, the prayers of the people are heart felt and these are just to name a few. I can't wait to see what happens when we get on our feet again. God is moving in a great way. Day by day, the Lord is our shepherd and because we know who is leading the way, we can look forward to a better day tomorrow. God is the source of all our hope.

Fire at Deerfield UMC Parsonage and Church Dec 29

We have had a fire in the parsonage at Deerfield UMC. I have known the comfort of many of your prayers already. The parsonage and fellowship hall took smoke damage, and we are in the process of beginning the clean up. No one was in the buildings when the fire started around 8:30am on Dec. 29. So we give the Lord praise that no one was hurt. This took a special place of strength in my heart to find the expression for the emotion behind finding the covers pulled back on the bed where my husband and I had just slept over Christmas, and when the covers were moved there was a gray line of smoke over the covers on the bed. It brought me to tears to know that a fireman had come to pull the covers back to see if there was anyone in the bed. Thank the Lord that the house was spared a great deal of structural damage. The biggest blessing of all is that the sanctuary is unharmed. We had our regular service of worship there yesterday.
I have been displaced for the work in the parsonage, this makes twice since the first of July when the parsonage was being newly renovated. I am living in the house where I lived this summer while the parsonage was being done. It will be two months at the best to have the parsonage ready to be able to live in it again. It may be more like 3 months.
    As we have ended the year of 2010 with it going out in flames, we pray for a better new year. It is overwhelming, but we know that God is with us, and we will take this one day at a time. I also wanted to share that last year our finances were not so good, and this year the finances have been stronger. We have met the $37,780 pledge to meet our current needs so we would be able to pay our apportionments in full. We are only $100 short of the goal as of today.  We mailed the apportionment check today to pay out in full this year, and for this we know that God has provided, and now in the fire, God will provide and prove to us that when we seek first his kingdom, He will provide for all that we need. Much love to you. Thanks for your support and your prayers for us. We will continue to hold on to God's eternal purpose for the church to make known the saving work of Jesus Christ. We will press on, and God will be our supply. Rev. Evelyn Lemons