Dear families,
 
We believe in you and we are praying for you. We have faith that you are doing an amazing job parenting during this Covid-19 season but we are mostly excited that your kids get to be with YOU during this time!

While there are so many online resources available for home schooling, it’s okay if you don’t access all of them. Just being present with your children is the work of discipleship. If all you do is hug them, feed them, love them, and keep them healthy through this season, you are doing an amazing thing.

During this time we need to redefine what daily life looks like and Sunday looks like. Church isn’t the building. It isn’t the Sunday School classroom.  Church is anything that we do that helps someone, to follow Jesus.

For many of us, that’s going be a bedtime story, a math problem solved, a meal around the table, and a hug when someone is scared.
​
We have many Sunday School lessons posted on this website, BUT they are only here only to help you do the work that you are already doing with your family.  So there are no strings, no quizzes, no judgment, just a simple gift.  The Family Ministry team at NSUMC would like to praise our families for handling this unexpected valley like superheroes! We are so blessed to be walking  with you!

Grace & peace,
the family ministry team
Oh, ya…. and wash your hands, please    ;)

Life isn't perfect, but I look forward to this season that brings new life and new possibilities! Join our welcoming community as we discover the hope and love that surrounds us all!  We have three opportunities on Easter Sunday just for YOU and your family!

​April 12th, 2020, 6:30a.m.
Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m.

Come in your blue jeans and join us for the first service of Easter morning on the patio! There will be music, communion, coffee and sweets afterward! Come early and wake up with joy in the Son!


April 12th, 2020, 8:30 a.m.
Worship Service with Communion at 8:30 a.m.

Join NSUMC as the Sanctuary bursts into the colors of spring and both of the choirs fill the Choir Loft with the music and accompanying trumpets. NSUMC will have Sunday School for children ages 3-12 years old in the Fellowship Hall during the service. Adults and children are encouraged to stop by the Fellowship Hall after service for coffee and sweets.


April 12th, 2020, 10:00 a.m.
Traditional Worship Service
& "Flying Easter Eggs" Science Event 10a.m.

Adults may join NSUMC as the Sanctuary bursts into the colors of spring and the choir fills the choir loft with music. The “Flying Easter Egg” event for children will begin in the Fellowship Hall during the service. This science event will teach kids about the six simple machines and ends with a catapult activity. Come check out our Flying Easter Egg event!

Please stop by the Fellowship Hall after service for coffee, sweets and friendly fellowship!

We would like to invite  the community to come prepare for the Lenten season at our  Mardi Gras Lenten Reflection and Luncheon    on Sunday, February 23rd, 2020, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm located at the church, 11735 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85254. This event is free to the public.
 
This celebration will begin during the 10:00am service with reflective prayer and sermon for the Lenten Season.  All in attendance will exit the service with the merriment of a New Orleans’s Jazz  music and process to the fellowship hall for a free luncheon.
 
The attendees will begin the Lenten Reflection by literally donning a mask.  This mask will represent the figurative mask that people wear.   Pastor Dave Wasson will offer up a Lenten Reflection that will suggest that everyone take off their masks.  These are the figurative masks of self-deception, self-control, as well as the literal masks people are wearing. The reflective prayer will ask people to lay down the things that keep them from connecting to God.
 
After the opening reflection the attendees will enjoy jazz music and partake in a traditional New Orleans’s meal of homemade gumbo, rice, French bread, coleslaw, Cajun chicken (catered by  Popeye’s)  and the meal will end with King’s cake shipped direct from   Haydel’s Bakery in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Come reflect,  enjoy some jazz music, make a mask and have a New Orlean's style lunch in preparation  for Lent!

 It’s 2020, a new decade! A fresh slate, new start and new chapter for our journeys.

This go around I am challenging myself to check some old habits at the door of twenth century!  I am not going for huge momentous changes, just want to pause for the subtle ones so that they do not trip me up!

Appreciate more!  Yep, offer the love of God to everyone and a lot more often! Now don’t get me wrong, I am a grateful person but I can have "those" moments.  I have read that when we are in nature we appreciate the way all the plants are growing.  A person doesn’t criticize a small plant because it grew beneath a big bush and didn’t get the light or the food it needed.  We just accept its stature.  They say that when it comes to humans we can sometimes lose that focus.  For some reason judgement can creep into our minds.  I want to focus and appreciate more!

Get rid of what trips me up!  I am not a hoarder but I do have a few too many piles.  Some authors state that decluttering helps calm your daily life.  The authors write that clutter isn’t just about tangible items.  Clutter can be old thoughts that keep ruminating.  If I declutter then I will have less things to trip over (both literally and figuratively)!

Check negative at the door!  Sometimes I don’t realize how checking my social media can change my mood.  I want to make a conscience effort not to let the negative noise affect me. I need to remember that there is no perfect life, no perfect job, no perfect childhood, no perfect marriage, and no perfect set of people who will always do what we expect. I have to focus on what I do have.  I have a God that is able to lead me through this imperfect life with unfailing strength, infinite wisdom and extravagant love.

Practice the pause!  Toby Mac wrote that it’s important to practice “the pause.”  This “pause” can slow a person down and help them reflect at important moments in their life.  I need to practice the pause when I am in doubt (pause), angry (pause), tired (pause), stressed (pause), and most importantly when I pray (PAUSE, yes really pause here).  This is a pause that will give me strength in many new moments of the new decade.
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When I look to the excitement of the new decade I want to appreciate, declutter, check negative thinking and .....p.a.u.s.e.....!  Let us all fully embrace and appreciate the grace that has been freely given  to everyone!  And let us not trip over what's behind us.

It's upon us!  The busiest time of the year.  The season of excitement, wishes and Christmas events.  People make and compare their "to do" lists.  These lists can get pretty long.  Sometimes these lists can make us miss the more important moments of the season.  And does busier really make everything better?

This Advent season I want to rewrite my “to-do” list…

Instead of worrying about the long list of presents, I want to try to be more present with my family and friends.  The connection is so much more rewarding and so is being in the moment.  What if those shepherds missed the moment the star shown above?

Instead of wrapping all the gifts with ribbons and bows, I want to wrap more people in hugs and cuddles.  Can’t you just imagine the hugs and cuddles at the manger?

Instead of sending the gifts to the east coast, I want to send more peace to all my family, friends and acquaintances near and far. Reminiscent of those “oh, so wise men” bearing gifts.

Instead of shopping for every ingredient at multiple stores, I want to donate more meals to multiple families.  Because giving to the least of these is what He would do.

I want to stay focused in this “to-do” list.  Stay focused in the moment, the real reason of the season and with the people most important to me.  My gifts from God!

This season #bePresent in the moments!

The meaning of the words religion and church have changed so much in the last decade.  Those two nouns used to convey a safe place for all people. They used to mean that you were accepted no matter what.  They used to mean that all who entered those doors or that community shared the belief in God’s grace and good.
 
Why do those intrinsic beliefs escape those two nouns now?
 
I was listening to an advertisement for the app “NextDoor” the other day.  The announcer said things like:
 
“connect with your neighbors”
“share issues that matter”
“exchange local help and advice”
“find a babysitter or someone to mow your lawn”
 
Aren’t those some of things that we  find in a church setting?  When I moved to a new town the first thing I did was find a church to help me get my bearings.   I needed to find people that I could trust.  People that could help me  find my way in a new area.  I needed a community of people.
 
Fast forward to this week…  I read some controversy about Ellen De Generes when she sat next to someone with a differing opinion at a sporting event (side note:  50% of us usually have a different opinion at most sporting events).  I am not pro- or con- on the team, the people she sat next to, her or her tweet after the game.  BUT I am so sad that we are looking to the entertainment industry for words like “be nice to them anyway.”  Isn’t that theme in the Bible?  Didn’t St. Therese offer that prayer?  Didn’t Mother Teresa share that? 
 
So why does today’s society look to social media and entertainers for comfort, support and guidance?  Churches were to be a place that  offers opportunities for unconditional love, self-reflection, growth, community and outreach.  And they still do...
 
I so would love to offer to have you visit our neighborhood.  Our religous community in Scottsdale, AZ.  I believe our community offers comfort, support, guidance and local  events and mission work. I would love to have you meet our pastors, teachers, and families.  We truly are a people for all people.  We truly welcome all.  We would love to be your neighbor.
 
Yes, you can connect with us through social media, but in person is so much more fun! #justsayin’  #bekindanyway

Over two decades and going strong.  Our congregation has been offering a family friendly Halloween alternative for over two decades.  It has been well received by our local community and it continues to grow.  We are hosting our 2019 event on Sunday, Oct. 27th from 4-6pm.

Here's a mini overview of this sweet event:

​This event provides an opportunity for church and community families to enjoy a safe, free and friendly trick or treating experience.  The event will begin at 4:00 p.m. with carnival games, snow cones and bouncer.  Food Trucks and other snacks will be  available  throughout the evening. Halfway through the event the N.S.U.M.C.    Youth Group will lead children in a costume parade.  The night will end with the awarding of trophies for exceptional costumes and decorated trunks, and the highly coveted “Trunk-or-Treating.”

  The basic Trunk or Treating guidelines include:

• Wear a friendly costume (please leave the scary ones at home)
  
  
• Back your vehicle into a N.S.U.M.C. parking space
  
  
• Decorate your trunk (creativity is good!)
  
  
• Set up folding chairs next to your trunk
  
  
• Place your treats (candy) in your trunk.
  
  It will be a sweet night of trick or treating planned for children.  
   
  Our mission project this year is to collect diapers for Helping Hands at foster care organization.    We would love if your family could donate one package of diampers. All donations can be brought to our Trunk or Treat event (items may be brought to your child's  Sunday School classroom.).  Thank you for TREATING those families to  an awesome Thanksgiving!
• 
  If your family  is available on OCT. 27th, please join us for some family friendly games, trunks and fun!

We can find messy in all seasons of our life.

Families go in so many different directions through out their seasons.  Keeping up can be unorganized, chaotic and messy. With our children at different ages and all with different interests we are in constant motion.  These interests keep our families learning and growing but just a little bit messy.   Generally in  all seasons of family life, we will still manage to squeeze in large doses of hugs and love!
 
Going back to school can be messy.  Children have to meet new teachers, classrooms, classmates and sometimes new schools.  Change can be messy but it can also be renewing and exciting. A great season for a fresh start!
 
Sometimes church life can be messy.  The people that come through the sanctuary doors come from all different walks of life.  That’s good!  What’s better is that many come with a personal check list.  The common denominator on most lists includes: “Growing closer to God.”  While we come from different demographics, genetics and with diverse characteristics, our common goal is love of God and a stronger relationship with Him.  So is it okay that we look, act and feel unique?  Will we all get along in this season?  If we follow Wesley’s philosophy of “Do good and do no harm.”  We can come to a common ground.  Maybe not total agreement.  Maybe a little messy.  But if we approach all people God centered and compassionate, we can be in community to work through our mess.  We don’t pretend to be perfect but we do try to meet everyone where they are because we know where we’ve come from.  We come as strangers but end up with lasting friendships!
 
NSUMC invites your family to “try church.”  Try joining some people with the common denominator of sharing God’s love and being in mission with others! 

​To make the introduction easier, we invite your family to Back to School Sunday School, Aug. 11th, 2019 @ 10am. We want all children to come, be welcomed in church and take a backpack tag to remind them that every school year will have hills, valleys and flat grounds.  Through their next season of life they will need to know that people beyond their family also support them through the messiness.  The backpack tags we give them during our service will help remind them that they are in the thoughts and prayers of a bigger family, their church family.  We also invite your entire family to stay for a Free Coffee House Concert  beginning @ 11:30am in the NSUMC Fellowship Hall.  Together we can chat with the performer, enjoy coffee, lemonade and an hour live music.  Could it be messy? Maybe, or just maybe it’s bringing good people together for one hour to share a cup of coffee, God's grace and the beginning of  a new friendship. It could be a new season for everyone! 

​Welcome summer! Welcome a break from the busy schedule. People suggest that summer months should be laid-back, calm and care-free.  Changing the hectic pace of the school year is a welcome concept.  Discovery and exploration are welcome activities on the dashboard of summer days.
 
At North Scottsdale UMC we have hosted a week long day camp for 40 years that allow children to explore.  We have a new theme and different scriptures every year, but introducing new concepts through science, crafts, drama, games, music and snacks keeps the discovery and learning happening.
 
This year our day camp is entitled “To Mars & Beyond.”  This day camp will help children discover the wonders of the universe.  They will become Voyagers on a journey through space, exploring the galaxies.  “To Mars & Beyond” offers energizing music, interactive bible puppetry, super science experiments, creative crafts, hands-on mission work, yummy snacks, and active games that are out-of-this-world! There will also be a 14’ waterslide for the campers to enjoy on Friday!
 
This camp adventure will be held Monday, June 24th-28th 9:00am until 12:00 noon at NSUMC.  It is open to all children ages three through twelve.  The requested donation is $45 per child for the entire week’s program.
 
Call the church office at 480-948-0529 to request a registration form or visit them on-line at http://www.nsumckids.info/vbs-day-camp.html and printout a registration form that can be returned to the church office (11735 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85254).  Or just stop by Monday morning, June 24th with a completed registration form for each child.