Lenten Luncheons begin
Joy Snyder of the UMC Three Rivers District was the featured speaker at the Wednesday, March 1, Lenten Luncheon. The lunches are held for six weeks beginning at 11:45 a.m. each Wednesday and are held at The Presbyterian Church in Coshocton. Mark Fortune | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Joy Snyder, administrative assistant at the Three Rivers District office of the United Methodist Church in Coshocton was the featured speaker at the first of six Lenten Luncheons. The luncheons begin at 11:45 a.m. each Wednesday and the next five luncheons will be held on March 8, 15, 22, 29 and April 5.
A soup and dessert lunch is provided each week by the Church Women United with a donation to cover the cost. Remaining proceeds are used to purchase clothes for children in the community. Other thanks go to New Life Ministries, Park United Methodist Church and Fresno United Methodist Church for providing the food and workers for the March 1 luncheon. Cheese was donated by an anonymous donor and Sue Carlisle scheduled the food and workers for the March 1 event.
The lunches are coordinated by the three Ministerial Associations of Coshocton County.
The theme of this year’s talks is “My Faith in the Workplace” and upcoming speakers are: Mark Fortune, The Beacon, March 8; Matt Colvin, assistant principal of Ridgewood High School on March 15; Steve Mercer, Mayor of the City of Coshocton on March 22; Trish Wilson of Wilson Carpet & Furniture on March 29; and Cathy Hudson, Health Services of Coshocton County on April 5.
Special music is provided each week and Janet Hardesty provided piano accompaniment on March 1 as those in attendance sang “How Great Thou Art.” Rev. Dairel Kaiser of Keene United Methodist Church sang “On Eagle’s Wings.”
Snyder said during her talk that, “Our life experience is our mission field . . .we need to use our sphere of influence. Our children are our mission field and we need to stay faithful even if we have some wandering sheep.”
Snyder shared some of her journey through life and shared stories about the journey of faith taken by her three children and how staying faithful and shepherding them is trying at times but keeping the faith and patience is always worth it.
Snyder’s oldest child is David Aaron Snyder, who goes by Aaron and is married to Amy. They have three children: Peyton Elizabeth, Noah Zechariah and Elijah Ray. Aaron is the youth pastor for Calvary Chapel in Siegen, Germany. He primarily works with a 100 plus youth group and assists with refugee ministry. He also serves as a translator as needed for the various ministries of the church.
JP (James Patrick) is the middle child and is married to Jocelyn. The couple has one child, Zoe Marie. JP is the associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in Ravenna. He will graduate from Ashland Seminary in May.
The youngest daughter, Allison Joy Snyder, is a business analyst for Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. She volunteers with Special Olympics and is an able bodied partner for a tennis team.
Snyder concluded, saying, “Shepherding is a risky business but it stretches us into unknowns. I just want to leave you with the encouragement to identify the sheep in your area, in your realms and in your spheres of influence and trust God that he will provide the means to feed them as we are all in the process of moving from sheep to shepherds.”
Category: Faith
