The Perry First United Methodist Church held its annual Dove Awards ceremony Oct. 11, 2020, and three longtime church activists were honored with the award.
The Dove Awards are presented to people who have given extraordinary service to the church and are chosen by the First UMC Worship Committee in conjunction with other committees.
Past recipients of this award include Ellie Wojan, Alice Schumacher, Bob Warner, Barb Warner, Joe Royer, Margaret Davis, Jan Lowe and Opal Ruth.
The 2020 recipients of the award were Marilyn Pentico, Doug Wood, and Cathy Clark. The Rev. Cat Stokes presented the awards during the Sunday service.
Marilyn Pentico has been a member of the the Perry First United Methodist Church for 62 years and has worked at receptions of all kinds. She has been a Miriam Circle member for years as well as president, secretary and treasurer for the past four years. Marilyn has also been secretary of the United Methodist Women for many years, and she has served on many committees, conducted visitations for shut-ins and was a Sunday School teacher for several years. In addition, Marilyn served on the United Methodist Church 150th Anniversary planning committee. We have enjoyed the many cakes and cinnamon rolls she has prepared for the church.
Doug Wood has been a member of the United Methodist Church since 1982 and has attended the Perry First UMC since October 1995. Doug has served on the Finance Committee, Worship Committee and the Ad Council, where he served for many years, including as chairman. He has been secretary of the United Methodist Men. Doug has been an usher every week since the 1990s, when Head Usher Dan Haymond ran out of people to rotate duties. He has recorded church services for broadcast on local radio since around 2000, when the Rev. Jim Pemble left. Doug has also operated the sound board when they put one in for the Praise Band, which began in the early 2000s, when the Rev. Dave Swinton was pastor. He has done a weekly video of the service to play on Pegasus Cable Channel 12 since about 2010. Doug took turns being the leader of the young adult Sunday School. They used to have different people lead the discussion each week. He has taken turns helping with the morning coffees and has put away offerings each week since the early 2000s. Doug helped with the 150th Anniversary First UMC celebration, making a video of members sharing their memories. He has also served as a lay delegate to the Charge Conference and the Iowa Annual Conference. We are thankful for Doug’s expertise and service.
Cathy Clark has been a member of the Perry First United Methodist Church for 39 years. She has been instrumental in keeping the Perry Fine Arts Series going, which at one time was going to fold, and Cathy was one of the people who stepped up to save it and is the Fine Arts chairperson for the church. Cathy has been president of the United Methodist Women for four years and vice president for two years. Cathy was president of the Miriam Circle for four years and secretary for one year. She has served on many other committees, including chairing the Ad Council and United Methodist Women, and she was active with the 150th Anniversary First UMC planning committee. We have all appreciated Cathy’s contagious smile and her willingness to serve.
The Perry First United Methodist Church has several other people who also give extraordinary service to the church, and they will be recognized at future presentations.
Services are scheduled to start again for the Perry and Rippey United Methodist Churches Sunday, Feb. 7. Fairview United Methodist Church will not be holding services because of the expected extreme cold temperatures forecast for Sunday.
