In the Fellowship Hall at the Church
SOLES 4 SOULS
The Sarah Crosby Circle wants to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who donated gently-worn shoes and sneakers for the Soles 4 Souls project. It proved to be a great success. The shoes are being shipped to the non-profit organization where they will be distributed to various programs around the world helping those in need.
CIRCLE MEETING UPDATES
The Susanna Wesley Circle meeting was postponed and they are looking for a date in June/July for a chance to celebrate their friendships with each other over the years.
The Katherine Parker Circle met on Thursday, May 8th. Their discussions centered around the May curriculum from the UWF program booklet theme, “How Do You Define Faith?” The questions to ponder in the program included, “What does faith feel like? What would you include in your faith statement?; and Who brought you to faith?” They used Psalm 104 for their scripture reading. At the end of their program, they discussed the May 29th event being provided by Joan Feury and Pat Parker and decided who would be providing food for the event. Towards the end of their meeting they celebrated members Lorrie Weeks and Sally Hunter’s birthdays.
The Sarah Crosby Circle met on Saturday, May 10th. Their discussions centered around a book that Liz Kirkaldie purchased called “The Four Agreements” by author Ron Miguel Ruiz. The first chapter, The First Agreement, focused on the meaning of the word “impeccability”. Coming from Latin roots, it means “without sin”. The author states that a sin is “anything that you do, feel, believe, or say which goes against yourself. He goes on to state that, “Being impeccable is not going against yourself, but that when you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself. The circle members read further into the first chapter of the book and it made for some very interesting discussions. Their circle will continue discussions next month with the next chapter.
BOOK READING RECOMMENDATION
by Mary Herzog
The Sum of Us, How Racism Hurts Everyone by Heather McGhee is a 2025 book in the Social Action category for the UWF Reading Program. From the book jacket: “We must challenge ourselves to live our lives in solidarity across color, origin, and class; we must demand changes to the rules in order to disrupt the very notion that those who have more money are worth more in our democracy and our economy. Since this country’s founding, we have not allowed our diversity to be our superpower, and the result is that the United States is not more than the sum of its disparate parts. But it could be. And if it were, all of us would thrive.” Heather McGhee is an expert in economic and social policy. The former president of the inequality-focussed think tank Demos, McGhee has drafted legislation, testified before Congress, and contributed regularly to news shows, including NBC’s Meet the Press. She now chairs the board of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. McGhee holds a BA in American studies from Yale University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. This book is aimed at young adults and is very readable; I strongly recommend reading it. You will find it on the YA shelves (back left corner of the Public Library) 305.8 MCGHEE or place a hold on the website at https://www.countyofnapa.org/584/Library
Mary Herzog, of Napa United Women in Faith is our reading program coordinator.
Member Spotlight
LEIGH ANDERSEN – Leigh loves to serve people which is very evident as you talk to her and find out all the ways that she has served our church community. She has served on many committees throughout her years at Napa Methodist including the Staff Parish Relations committee for six years, coffee service during fellowship time for 5 years, Sundays 4 Kids, Messy Church for 3 years, Wonder Church and most recently the UWF afternoon teas preparing and serving sandwiches and desserts. If you have ever been to a Napa Methodist Barbeque or church picnic, you have no doubt seen Leigh and her husband Dennis preparing and serving up food from the grill. She is a dedicated member of the Sarah Crosby circle and also used to help decorate whenever we had a church float in the Napa parades. She is an avid volunteer who also works at our church Thrift Shop.
Leigh was born in Norfolk, Virginia and has 3 younger brothers. She graduated from Granby High School and went on to Old Dominion College. After meeting and eventually marrying her husband, Dennis,
they moved to California because he was from El Sobrante, California. Not knowing anyone, she got busy with employment working for Social Security for 3 years, Mare Island for 8 years and after 10 years of marriage; starting their family having two children, Mark and Jill. After years of raising her kids and volunteering for different organizations she eventually was hired as an Accounting Clerk and retired as a Budget Analyst. She and Dennis have been married for 57 years and they have two grandchildren, Cecilia (18) and Rylie (12). They also have 2 cats, Max (14 and Gracen (7). Leigh enjoys cooking food for others and she loves kids, vicariously experiencing life through their eyes.
Favorite Hobby: Gardening
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving
Favorite Travels: Morocco, Peru, Egypt, Africa, Hawaii, Bay Como (North Montreal)
Favorite Restaurant: Villa Corona
1st Car: 1960 Ford Fairlane w/Stick Shift
Favorite Church Memory: The musical “High Tops” directed by Paul Head in Adams Hall – daughter Jill was in it.
What would you tell your younger self?:
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t worry about the details; things will work out. Just let go and let God”. Thank you, Leigh, for all you do at Napa Methodist Church.
Interested in deepening your faith in community? Gaining experience interpreting Scripture? Working toward healing for yourself, your community, and all of creation? Mission U is for you! Practicing Hope Together is the theme at the Centennial United Methodist Church in Sacramento on Saturday, July 19th, from 9 am. to 5:00 pm. Napa UWF is hoping to bring members from each of our circles to this event and hoping we can create some car pools. If you are interested, please contact Joan Feury for more information.
COMPASSION MINISTRIES
Eva and Mike’s Brown Bags will need volunteers on Saturday, June 28th at 9:30 a.m. to help build sandwiches for the homeless shelter. Home baked cookies are always a welcomed donation as well.
CIRCLE MEETINGS FOR JUNE
Katherine Parker Circle – June 12, 10 am. Sarah Crosby Circle – June 14, 9:30 am.
Susanna Wesley Circle – TBA
** Everyone is invited to any circle!!
CELEBRATING JUNE BIRTHDAYS
2nd – Diane Levorsen; 6th – Sally Hunter
8th – Carol Hymer; 8th Kathy Kopecko
16th – Vicki Poli; 16th Pat Parker
18th – Ginny Mosher; 21st Barb Sharp
Happy Birthday to all our members!
ATTENTION ALL NAPA UWF MEMBERS
We are currently seeking nominations for two positions for our Napa UWF Executive Board. We are looking for a Vice President and a Membership Chair. The board members meet every other month which equals only 6 times a year. Margaret Payne is the current outgoing Vice President and Sally Hunter is the outgoing Membership Chair. These positions would be starting in July. If you have ever considered taking on a more active role with Napa United Women In Faith, this would be a perfect opportunity. For information about these positions, please contact Holly Zaccone as soon as possible.
THRIFT STORE
We continue to take donations every week.
The thrift store hours in June are:
Sat. June 7th 10:00 am. to 2:00 pm.
Tuesdays, June 3, 10, 17, and 24. from
10:00 am. – 2:00 pm.
They also have monthly special sales!