F i r s t

U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t

C h u r c h 411 Church Street

Columbia, MS 39429

601–736–7121

www.fumccolumbia.org

CHURCH STAFF

PASTOR Brother Mike Sahler

601–507–2445

CHOIR DIRECTOR William “Billy” Endicott

YOUTH DIRECTOR Angel Herring

ORGANIST Barbara Lott

CHILDREN’S DIRECTOR Keleigh Oglesbee

PIANIST Beth Pierce

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

Debbie Graney

CUSTODIAN Mike Rogers

First United Methodist ChurchFirst United Methodist Church exists to bring people to Jesus and

membership in His church, help them to mature in Christ and grow in grace, and equip them to discover and to use their gifts in ministry in the

church and in the world for the glory of God.

Mother Teresa – “Anyway”

"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some

false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they

may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often

forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it

may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway."

“You are right and you do right, God…Your righteousness is eternally right…” Psalm 119:137, 142 MSG

“Anyway!” Love All Around!!! Your friend and pastor, Mike…

NEWSLETTER AUGUST 16, 2017

PRAYER CONCERNS Lisa Sims, LeWynn Melson, Durr Walker, Kathy Malone, Dennis Pittman, Mary Thompson, Josh Zurich & family, Spooky Sims, Ramie Stringer, Jane Martin, John Waits, Shirley Wooten, Lucas Porter, Tom McNeese, Tom Shows, Edith McMurray, Kathleen Zuber, Doris Phelps, Angela Lewis, Kaitlyn

Wright, Karon Ryals, Monique Goar, Wesley Moudy, Lisa McGloflin, Sabastian Blanchard, Sarah Davis, Brenda Griner, Debbie Price, Brian Jackson, Martha Stephens, Shirley & John Grace, Madelyn Halford, Logan Byrne, Gary Rush, Mary Ann Nicholson, Theresa Edwards, Toni Marino, Faith Johnson, Abbey Talia, Peyton Grooms, Kalyn Boyd, Kenneth Eaves, Jennifer Albritton, Paula Melerine, Eddie Buckley, Rose Ishmael, Garland Hilton, Kathleen Merritt.

SHUT INS The Grove - Rheda Carter, Greta Dick, Georgette Kuykendall, Helen Oglesbee, Angela Varnado The Myrtles - Janie Scarborough, Dot Young Wesley Manor - Lina Fortenberry, Maryann Hyatt Bedford Care Hattiesburg - Carolyn Powers

HOSPITALS Forrest General - Betty Upton

UPCOMING EVENTS SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School 10:00 a.m. - Youth Sunday School 10:55 a.m. - Worship Service 3:00 p.m. - Youth Council 4:15 p.m. - Sticks Practice - Jr. High 5:00 p.m. - Jr. High Youth Choir 5:00 p.m. - Sr. High Bible Study 5:45 p.m. - Snack Supper MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2017 5:30 p.m. - Shrimp Boil/Revitalization Meeting TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017 8:00 a.m. - Methodist Movers 6:00 p.m. - Fast Track Evening Study WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2017 9:00 a.m. - XYZ 3:00 p.m. - Children’s WWW 3:00 p.m. - Jr. High WWW 5:15 p.m. - WWW Supper 6:00 p.m. - Bible Study & Prayer Time 6:00 p.m. - Sr. High Bible Study 6:00 p.m. - Kouth 6:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir Rehearsal THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2017 8:00 a.m. - Methodist Movers 9:30 a.m. - Fast Track Morning Study FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017 7:00 p.m. - Jr. High Back To School Retreat SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 2017 Jr. High Back to School Retreat

SUNDAY AUGUST 27, 2017 Jr. High Back to School Retreat 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School 10:00 a.m. - Youth Sunday School 10:55 a.m. - Worship Service 4:15 p.m. - Sticks Practice Jr. High 5:00 p.m. - Jr. High Youth Choir 5:00 p.m. - Sr. High Bible Study 5:45 p.m. - Snack Supper MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2017 NO Scheduled Activities TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017 8:00 a.m. - Methodist Movers 6:00 p.m. - Fast Track Evening Study WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017 9:00 a.m. - XYZ 3:00 p.m. - Children’s WWW 3:00 p.m. - Jr. High WWW 5:15 p.m. - WWW Supper 6:00 p.m. - Bible Study & Prayer Time 6:00 p.m. - Kouth 6:00 p.m. - Sr. High Bible Study 6:00 p.m. - Chancel Choir Rehearsal THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 8:00 a.m. - Methodist Movers 9:30 a.m. - Fast Track Morning Study FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 NO Scheduled Activities

Retreat

AUGUST Birthdays

& Anniversaries 2 - Mary Jordan 3 - Kathy Howell

5 - Sandy Fortenberry

11 - Bobbye & John Toney

12 - Aria Blackard 13 - Leonard Jones 14 - Blair Powers, Allison & Jimmy

Bullock 15 - Gail Houston,

Kate Israel 16 - Todd Pigott

17 - Donna & Lyman Fite

20 - Kevin Stovall 21 - Wes Shepard 22 - Robert Carson 23 - William “Billy”

Endicott 24 - Edna Ginn,

Barbara Regan, Sara Russell

27 - George Brown, Bill Houston, Wyatt

Simmons 28 - Guy Griffith, Lily

Hough, Mike Kuykendall, Cindy

Smith

ATTENDANCE August 13, 2017

Worship 106 Sunday School 55

OFFERING Sunday, August 13, 2017 Contributions $ 4,404.81

Pastors Fund $ 10.00 Youth $ 300.00

Children $ 150.00 Memorials $ 100.00

Organ $ 50.00

FINANCIALS TO DATE

The Total Contributions to date for July was $ 13,631.66

Year to Date Contributions $ 256,180.08

Year to Date Expenses $256,234.08

Our first week of WWW for the 2017-2018 year is here! We are anticipating a fun year filled with new bible stories, new friends and lots of fun! This is our greatest opportunity to

show love and grace to children and families in our community. If you would like

to be a part of this great ministry, please contact me! We have a place for everyone. 

While the education building is closed, children's Sunday school will meet in the Wesley center. We will continue our one room Sunday school throughout the end of August. Many thanks to those who have accepted the call to teach Sunday school this year. Our regular classrooms will be back in order at the beginning of September. 

Have a great week! Keleigh 

Acolytes 08/20 Brayden 08/27 Sophie 

Nursery Volunteers08/20 Sherri Oglesbee and Lisa Sims 08/27 Mamie Herring and Amanda Thornhill

CHILDREN’S CORNER

BLOOD DRIVE OCTOBER 16

4 - 8 p.m. Sign up with

Scarlett Gafford or Terry Robbins

Our Fall schedule begins this week! We will kick off our WWW this Wednesday for our junior high youth with pick-ups at JMS and CA. Programming will run after school til 5:00. Senior high will meet on Wednesdays from 6:00-6:45. This Sunday afternoon, we will have Junior High drama class from 4:15-5:00 and will begin an 8-week “Back to School” study. Youth choir will run from 5:00-5:45 while

senior high meet for Bible study from 5:00-5:45. Snack supper (servers needed!) will be served at 5:45, with Sunday programming ending at 6:30. To kick off this first week, however, we will travel to Azteca as a group. Parents can plan to pick up there, and I will be glad to text a time.

Youth Council (and anyone interested in helping with our programming) will meet this Sunday at 3 to discuss fall activities, with a special emphasis on the upcoming Back to School Retreat, which will be held in the Wesley Center. If you are interested in helping the weekend of 8/25-8/27, there are many ways you can do so! We will need two homes (one for boys, one for girls) willing to let our youth come and shower Saturday evening; and we are looking for some recreation stops through the day Saturday. If anyone has access to a lake or boating activities, we would love to have some lake time offered during the day Saturday! We also are in need of snack, breakfast, lunch, and dinner servers. If you would like to help in any way, I can promise we will plug you in! Junior high parents, registration forms will be sent out this week. Please encourage your youth to share the forms with friends so we can have a great crowd join us for the weekend retreat! Senior high youth will be asked to chaperone, and I can assure you they will be put to work but ALSO have a great time they won’t want to miss!

Please remember our recent graduates in your prayers as they are all now moved in (or in the process of doing so this week) and ready to begin the next big chapter in their lives. Bryce Livingston is at Hinds, where he is on tennis scholarship. (You can follow Hinds tennis team on Instagram for live action video of Bryce doing what he loves.) Madisyn Howell is all moved in at PRCC. Brandan Barber and Spencer Stovall are at Jones, while Maggie Herring, Nathan Foxworth, Jalyn Porter, and Peyton Carver will all be at Ole Miss by the end of the week. And let’s not forget Rand Mikell will begin his sophomore year there next week. Please keep these youth and their parents in your prayers during this transition point! If you would like addresses to drop any or all of them a card or note while they are away, please let me know!

Parents, check the online calendar on our church website for new additions to our special activities this fall.

Have a great week!Mrs. Angel

Snack Supper Servers Needed the Following Dates:September: 9/3; 9/10; 9/17October: 10/1; 10/8; 10/15November: 11/5 and 11/12December: 12/3 and 12/10

Above and Beyond

In August 2016, Some Columbia First folks attended an Senior Adult Bible School in Hattiesburg led by Ed Kilbourne…In his story telling and folk singing were many insights on life, love and other mysteries, all pointing us toward the love of God through Jesus…A particular point Ed challenged us with was this: Find that thing that you do best, match it with a need in the world, and make it work! This is how we love God, this is how we love and serve others, this is how we make disciples who make disciples…

During this year, 2017, there have been several projects of opportunity that have been identified, resourced and completed: The Wesley Center Kitchen has undergone a renovation and will be completed by Wednesday, August 16, 2017, just in time for our WWW Family Meal…the funding for this renovation was offered above and beyond our general budget! The New Furniture for the Coffee Room in the Wesley Center and the Foyer outside the church office was also resourced and funded above and beyond our general budget! The Updating of Our Sound Equipment (Sound Mixer Boards in the Sanctuary and Wesley Center are being replaced) is also resourced and funded above and beyond our general budget! So, today, we offer praise to God for his grace and generosity toward us, and we say thank you to those who have been able to respond with their financial resources to make our projects of opportunity happen!

Further, as we have completed July, our faithful financial stewardship toward our general budget ($242,548) has exceeded our expenses ($240,675)…again, we praise God for his grace and generosity toward us, and we say well done good and faithful children of God in your tithes and offerings that are matching our commitments of mission and ministry with monetary resources we have been blessed with!

As you are aware, Tuesday, August 8, 2017, the Education Building was flooded by a by a broken water line, resulting in at least an inch of water covering the entire surface of the first floor and ruining everything it touched…we are in the process of recovery and repairing all that was damaged…we regret the inconvenience, and we will be back to normal in a reasonable amount of time, and thank you for bearing with us…this temporary setback is not financially covered in our general budget, yet is covered by our insurance policy except for the $5000 Deductible…so, we have an immediate need for $5000 and are prayerfully asking for those of you who have a resource of money to take our need and your gift and make it happen…this, too, becomes above and beyond our general budget…we offer praise to God for his grace and generosity toward us, and we say thank you to those who will be able to respond to make our projects of opportunity happen!

Finally, the Pipe Organ in the Sanctuary is awaiting repairs and updates to the tune of $56,000 which we are asking for resources and funding to come from outside our general budget…to date, we have received approximately $9,000 towards this project of opportunity…thanks to those gifts and offerings above and beyond our general budget that are making this happen…once the funding is received we will begin our repairs and updating…Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!

FAST TRACK BIBLE STUDIES Morning Studies - Tuesday’s at 6:00 p.m. Evening Studies - Thursday’s at 9:30 a.m.

FINANCE MEETING Thursday, August 17th @ 4:30 p.m.

UMW MISSION U EVENT Saturday, August 19th 9:30 a.m. Johnston Chapel UMC, Summit, MS

SHRIMP BOIL/REVITALIZATION MEETING Monday, August 21st @ 5:30 p.m.

SENIOR ADULT VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL August 21 - 23 from 10 - 11:30 a.m.

Parkway Heights UMC Hattiesburg, MS See Scarlett Gafford for more details

ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL Monday, August 28th at 5:30 p.m.

BACK TO SCHOOL YOUTH RETREAT August 25th thru August 27 - Wesley Center (see Angel for more details)

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS AT WESLEY SUPPER Each Wednesday @ 5:15 p.m. Be sure to sign up and come and

join us for this special time of food and fellowship.

WWW CHILDREN AND YOUTH ACTIVITIES BEGIN AT 3:00 P.M. See Keleigh Oglesbee for Children and Angel Herring for Youth

Bible Reading for August

August 1 – Isaiah 50 August 2 – Isaiah 51 August 3 – Isaiah 52 August 4 – Isaiah 53 August 5 – Isaiah 54 August 6 – Isaiah 55 August 7 – Isaiah 56 August 8 – Isaiah 57 August 9 – Isaiah 58

August 10 – Isaiah 59 August 11 – Isaiah 60 August 12 – Isaiah 61 August 13 – Isaiah 62 August 14 – Isaiah 63 August 15 – Isaiah 64 August 16 – Isaiah 65 August 17 – Isaiah 66 August 18 – Nahum 1 August 19 – Nahum 2 August 20 – Nahum 3

August 21 – Psalm 84; 1 Chronicles 22 August 22 – Exodus 20; Micah 4 August 23 – Philemon; Luke 15 August 24 – Genesis 1:1-2:25

August 25 – Psalm 8; Psalm 19:1-6 August 26 – Psalm 150; Job 38

August 27 – Genesis 1:27 August 28 – Genesis 3-4

August 29 – Genesis 6:5-9:29 August 30 – Genesis 11:1-9

August 31 – Jeremiah8:18-9:11

Dear Church Family,

We have been overwhelmed and touched by the many expressions of sympathy and support during the time of Tom’s illness and death. We thank you and want you to know we treasure the beautiful flowers, plants, prayers, cards, memorials, donations, meals and other acts of kindness, which have deeply touched our hearts.

It is with a grateful heart that we thank those who worked to make Tom’s Celebration of Life so special: Reverend Mike Sahler for visiting during Tom’s illness and for working with Debbie Graney to make preparations before the funeral; Reverend Keith Gaughf for telling Tom’s story and sharing beautiful words of comfort; Beth Pierce and the men’s special choir for the beautiful music including Beulah Land; Anna Hough, Cathy Jones and the Worship Committee for preparing the sanctuary; all church members who decorated and prepared food for his Celebration of Life; Braydon Thornhill for acolyting; Lampton Harry for greeting; Cole Oglesbee for operating the sound system; members of the Men’s Bible Class who served as honorary pallbearers; and Marilyn Foxworth for providing the beautiful pall.

It is truly hard to find the words to express how much everyone’s love and prayers meant to our family during Tom’s illness and death. The love you showed to us will never be forgotten.

Sincerely, Judy Griffith Shelley and Don Putnam & family Guy and Ellen Griffith & family

Mission u EventSaturday, August 19th, 2017

Johnston Chapel UMCSummit, MS

Registration Fee $15

The Topics for this year are as follows:1) Spiritual Growth Study: Living as a Covenant Community2) Geographic Study: The Missionary Conferences of the

United Methodist Church in the USIf you would like to carpool contact Dawn Martin 601-441-2217

NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT # 33 COLUMBIA, MS 39429

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHRUCH P.O. BOX 585 411 CHURCH STREET COLUMBIA, MS 39429