FUMC

PO Box 1466

301 NE 1st Street Mineral Wells, TX

76067

940-325-4707

November 2013

First United Methodist

Church Newsletter November 2015

On Monday, Nov. 2, we will begin a new study called Namesake: When God Rewrites Your Story by Jessica LaGrone. We meet at 6:30 in the parlor, and invite anyone who has decided it’s time to get serious about growing as a disciple to join us. There are books in the office, and we can order more if needed. Participants are asked to do daily readings as outlined in the workbooks. Each week when we meet, we will watch a video (about 25 minutes long) and discuss our readings, thoughts, insights, etc. Please pray about whether this is something God is calling you to do.

“The Church with a Warm Heart”

You are invited to an All-Community Thanksgiving Service Sunday, November 22nd in the auditorium at Mineral Wells High School. Please plan to go and represent our wonderful congregation. In addition to that, this is an evening of a community of Christians coming together to worship our Almighty God and give thanks to Him for our many, many blessings. More information regarding opportunities to sing with the choir for the service coming soon. A meal will follow. Plan to stay and have a meal with this group after the wonderful service. The music is awesome, the message is meaningful, and the food is fabulous! We’ve again been asked to provide dessert for the meal. Buying frozen pies worked so well last year, we'd like to do it again. If you are willing to make a donation toward the cost of those or if you are able to bake some, please let someone in the church office know. Central United Methodist will be joining us in this project. We will purchase the pies from Walmart at a cost of $5 each. If we get more than $125, we will donate any

extra funds to our Wednesday night meals.

NEW BIBLE STUDY

Methodist Men meet every second Sunday at 7:30 am with the men of Central UMC. They alternate meeting @ Central or in our McMaster Hall to share breakfast followed by a program and meeting. This month’s meeting is at FUMC Nov. 8th.

All-Community Thanksgiving Service

God is good, and we are blessed by the generosity of this community. I would like to say thank you to The Women's Bible Class of First Presbyterian Church for their hospitality and their generosity. They not only gave a monetary donation, but they are also collecting much needed backpacks.

I need to say a great big thank you to all those who worked the gates at the Crazy Water Festival. We had sixteen different people working shifts. I appreciate your giving of your time. We still do not have a final tally on what we will make, but I will keep you posted.

We are now providing weekend food for 254 students per week. This is a big job. I sincerely appreciate the Pathfinders Sunday School class who packed bags this month. They are a hard working group and did a great job. I really enjoyed working with them. We have volunteers for November but need help in December. I hope you will sign up for a week or a month. We also have a group that is working on Wednesday nights starting at 5:30 and would love to have you join us then.

Our weekly cost of food is now $825. If you can help by making a monetary donation or a donation of food, it would be a great help. These children may never know your names, but will benefit from your generosity. If together we can change the life of one child, I believe we have a responsibility to act.

With gratitude, Judy Jackson This program accepts both monetary and food donations. It costs $3 per child each week. Food provided includes pudding or fruit cups, dried fruit, Poptarts, cheese crackers (no peanut butter due to allergies), Vienna sausages, or individual snack packages.

“Because hunger does not take

the weekend off”

Administrative Board Notice

We will have a short Administrative Board meeting following worship November 15th to approve paperwork for the Charge Conference to be held Tuesday, November 18th.

Nov. 2 - Marilyn Bradshaw

Nov. 5 - Kay Wheeler Nov. 6 - Charlet Daniell Nov. 9 - Staci Glover Nov. 10 - Randy Lawrence

Nov. 15 - Shannon Cavness

Nov. 16 - Sherri Fuller Nov. 17 - Eddie Gregory

Nov. 20 - Troy Huseman

Nov. 21 - Dr. James Berg

Nov. 28 - Terry Bradshaw, Terry Garcia

Nov. 29 - Terry Tuggle

If any members are missing from this list, please let us know!

Prayer Blanket ministry meets the third Wednesday of each month.

This month we will meet on Wed., Nov. 18. All are welcome to join us. If you can use a pair of scissors or tie a knot, you can help. Meal at 5:30, making blankets will start at 6 pm. If you know of anyone who might like or need one, please let us know.

Bell Choir practice is 7:15 pm

Mondays with director Adam Hull. Anyone

interested in being a part of this group is more

than welcome to attend! Experience and

music reading are NOT required!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

CHARGE CONFERENCE It’s time once again for our annual Charge Conference. We will again meet in a Cluster Charge Conference with Central Mineral Wells, Graford, Gordon, First Santo, Palo Pinto, Strawn and Cedar Springs. Let’s turn out to welcome our guests and show them FUMCMW hospitality!

OPERATION

CHRISTMAS CHILD

The deadline to pack a Christmas box for children abroad is Nov. 20th. Our goal this year is 50 boxes, but we have only 15 so far. Please consider helping with this ministry. Pick up a box outside the sanctuary and pack it with toys, toiletries, etc. for boys and girls in other countries. If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Daniell.

Here are some ideas for packing your shoe box. Toys such as small cars, yo-

yos, jump ropes, balls, ones that light up and make noise (with extra batteries), etc;

School Supplies such as pens, pencils and sharpeners, crayons, markers, notebooks, paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.; Non-

liquid hygiene Items such as toothbrushes, bar soap, combs, wash cloths, etc.; Accessories such as t-shirts, socks, hats, sunglasses, hair clips, jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries), etc.; Personal Note: You may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. If you include your name and address, the child may be able to write back.

Do Not Include used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items; aerosol cans.

Worship on Wednesdays continues each Wednesday evening.

Please sign up to cook a meal or provide a dessert to feed our WOW group. The sign up is on the bulletin board by the office or see Children’s Coordinator Vicki Gregory.

We will not have Wow the week of Thanksgiving (Nov. 25th).

Snack Supper at 5:30 pm and children's lesson and activity from 6-7 pm. All children are invited to join us for the fun and cool fellowship. Invite a buddy or friend to come with you.

Youth meet upstairs until 7:30 pm with Youth Director Amanda Daniell.

Choir practice starts @ 7 pm,

backpacks can be packed for

BackPack Buddies and Prayer Shawl

workers meet on the third Wednesday

of the month. Pick an activity to join

and have your evening meal provided.

Nursery Needs Our Nursery is in need of some new Christian DVD's. If you have any extra at your home that you would like to donate, we would really appreciate it. Our favorites are Veggie Tales.

We are also in need of a baby crib.

Thank you,

Tonya Gary

You may have noticed our vision statement logo on the front page. The vision statement was developed during a recent workshop and is spelled out here: Our Vision: “Our passion is to be

followers of Jesus Christ who are welcoming, worshiping, growing and going.”

WELCOMING – We invite people to come as they are and to find their unique place in the church. We are working hard to never draw lines of "insiders/outsiders," "saints/sinners," "us/them." We believe that Christ greets people with open arms, knows their names and loves them for who they are – and we strive to be like Christ!

WORSHIPING – We feel strongly that we were created to praise God! So worship is at the heart of all that we do. Worship feeds our souls, but it also reminds us that the heart of any church is to bring glory to the Holy One. We do what we do in awe and love of our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

GROWING – We believe that God loves us as we are, but, in love, God will help us grow into "more." We want to always be seeking, asking, going deeper and understanding more. Learning is an important component of a person's life journey, and we want to be a learning place!

GOING – We believe that Jesus came for the sake of everyone, and so the church must never become focused on itself. Our task is to take the kingdom of heaven into the world so that all may know the saving grace and wondrous love of God, becoming themselves disciples who welcome, worship, grow and go!

Thanks to the Open Door Sunday school class for preparing and painting our ramps and parking areas, and to Jason Nesmith for doing the striping. It looks great to see fresh paint which offers an inviting welcome to anyone who nears our church building. Good work, faithful ones; thanks for your service!

Lights, Camera, Action!

In mid-October, the church's sanctuary was the site of a funeral scene for the independent movie, Three Days in August, filming in the Mineral Wells area. Music Director Don Owens, along with this photo he captured, were featured in a Mineral Wells Index story about the movie, which you can read here: http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/news/lights-camera-action-mineral-wells-perfect-location-for-film-shoot/article_5ae53150-7438-11e5-b9df-c71cbb95c3e9.html

Visit us on our Website:

http://fumcmineralwells.org/

or Like our Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/FUMC-

Mineral-Wells/180428547915

Trunk or Treat

Our annual Trunk or Treat during WOW October 28th was a rousing success. At left, Joan McDonald attends guests at the food table on the east parking lot where hot dogs, chips and drinks were served to anyone who came. Several vehicles were decorated and outfitted with a variety of games as participants dressed in costumes collected candy at each stop. More photos on the next page.

Scenes

From

Trunk

Or

Treat