SEPTEMBER 2017
7
First Church Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2017
Transcript of SEPTEMBER 2017
First Church Newsletter
SEPTEMBER 2017
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 | 4:30PM - 6:00PM
With food, line dancing, and bouncy machines, there will be something for everyone! We will have the Human Demolition Wrecking Ball inflatable game for kids and adults. Need more info? Contact Linda Thorne at [email protected].
SIGN UP FOR ONE OR BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING:
CHILI COOK-OFF C O M P E T I T I O N - Bring your best recipe and receive one of our coveted awards
TENT OR TRUNK D EC O R AT I O N S- Decorate your group’s tailgate tent or car trunk
in your most creative movie or tv show theme
- Bring candy for the kids to trick or treat
The Fun Team is planning a great night for you at our Back Lot Bash so get ready for a great party at First Church! We will gather in the First Church parking lot on Sunday, October 20 at 4:30pm and enjoy an evening in community eating yummy chili, hot dogs, and cheering for our favorites in friendly competi-tion. 2019 will be the first year that we feature a themed booth competition – you are encouraged to decorate and dress up to fit your favorite movie or television show. The First Church Staff will have our 1st ever booth. Of course, it will be fabulous and a big secret as to what our booth will look like. Enter your group soon and don’t miss the fun!!
On Sunday, September 29 we celebrated the life giving service of this church and committed TOGETHER to help expand the scope of our ministry for the next year. Thank you to those of you who have already made your 2020 pledge and to those of you who have additionally committed to grow your giving over the next 3 years to help us come off endowment contributions to our annual operating budget by 2022. For those of you who have not yet made your pledge and commitment, please do so in the next few weeks as this is the only way as a church family we can TOGETHER plan our operating budget for the coming year and meet our goals. It takes all of us committing to making the mission of this church flourish and your gift matters! Thank you for your generosity and your love of this congregation! TOGETHER we have a bright future!
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N O V E M B E R 2 2 - 2 4
In this retreat, we will:
· Learn how the original context shapes the meaning of Scripture· Read all of the Bible through the lens of Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection· Learn that we value inclusivity and social justice not in spite of the Bible but because of it· Be challenged to live in such a way that brings life to ourselves, our families, and to the whole world· Live into our identities as God’s children created in love, by love, and for love
The Manna and Mercy Retreat is the theological foundation for our mission statement and six priorities at First Church. It undergirds everything else we do. During this weekend, we will journey through the whole Bible– from Genesis to Revelation – using Daniel Erlander’s book Manna and Mercy as our guide.
This retreat will take place in the Loft at First Church November 22-24. The retreat costs $50 which covers your Manna and Mercy book, breakfast on Saturday, and lunch on both Saturday and Sunday. You can register by emailing R.G. at [email protected] or on our website under the “Coming Up” tab.
SILENT AUCTION & LUNCH S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3
You are invited to join us for First Church 101 on Thursday, October 10 at 6:30pm at the home of Rev. Stephanie Arnold (Vestavia Hills). This opportunity is open to anyone who is interested and will introduce you to the teachings and membership commit-ments of the United Methodist Church and of First Church as well as help you learn more about all of the opportunities to worship, grow, and serve. Please let us know if you plan to attend by registering under the coming up tab online or by contacting Katie Gilbert at [email protected].
Today, 821 million people (11% of the world’s population) suffer from hunger and malnutrition. One in four children in the world suffer from hunger and ½ of all deaths of children world-wide are linked to malnutrition. But the good news is that in the last thirty years, extreme hunger and poverty has been cut in half. Bread for the World has been the leader in urging our elected officials to support global nutrition programs that alleviate and ultimately have the potential to end global hunger. We hope you will join us on Sunday, October 6 as we participate in Bread for the World’s offering of letters. In the Large Dining Room, we will have stations set up where you can learn more about world hunger and write a letter to your Congressional representative and Senator urging them to fully fund programs that are helping end hunger across the world. During both the Sunday School hour and immediately after 11:00am worship, you can come by the Large Dining Room and write your own letter. We will have sample letters, information about global hunger, and what specific policies are actually making a difference. Finally, Bread for the World is a non-partisan organization working with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to advocate for a world free of hunger. We hope you will take time to stop by the Large Dining Room and add your voice to the movement.
2020 will be our 4th year holding a church-wide retreat focused upon community and spiritual growth. Ev-ery year we raise money to underwrite a bulk of the costs for the retreat in order to keep everyone’s week-end costs reasonable. This year, in order to raise the $10,000 -$15,000 needed, we will be hosting a silent auction and lunch following worship. If you are interested in donating items for auction (vacation homes, services, art, furniture, jewelry, baked goods, etc.) please contact RG Wilson-Lyons at [email protected]. We ask that all donated items be items you would put in your own home or for your own use. Vaca-tion homes are a priority as these help us to raise the most money. All donations are tax deductible. Our City Kids Children’s Ministry will also be hosting a bake sale during the luncheon with all proceeds going to support the retreat. We hope you will plan to donate and come attend the auction and lunch.
T H U R S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 0 , 6 : 3 0 P M AT T H E H O M E O F R E V. S T E P H A N I E A R N O L D
The best way to describe our Called to Lead Retreat is by first telling you what this retreat is not. This is not a retreat that will give you the five common principles of leadership or a step by step guide of what effective leaders do. Rather, we will explore how God has equipped each of us to make an impact in the world around us. Throughout Scripture, we will see that God often uses unexpected people to lead and asks them to be nothing other than who God made them to be. Pairing our Scripture readings with some creative (and fun) TED talk videos, we will be-gin to explore how each of us can uniquely lead in our church and our communi-ties by authentically living into who God created us to be. In addition to the content of the retreat, we will have plenty of free time to get to know our church family better while enjoying the recreational options of the park. Recreational options include: golfing, fishing, kayaking and canoeing, playgrounds for kids, basketball courts, and plenty of space to relax while en-joying beautiful scenery. This retreat is for the entire family. Childcare and children’s recreational options are available for kids from preschool through elementary school. Jonathan will lead sessions for our middle and high school students. The cost for the weekend is $175 for a single registration, $225 for a couple regis-tration, and $275 for the whole family. Chalets are available to families or groups of 3 or more people at an additional 10% cost. Scholarships are also available. To reserve your spot, request a scholarship, or if you have any questions, please contact R.G. at [email protected]. You can register for the Called to Lead Retreat under the “Coming Up” tab on our website www.firstchurchbhm.com.
Do you like to rock babies or play with tod-dlers and preschoolers? If so, this opportu-nity to serve is just for you. We are in need of smiling faces to help care for our young-est church members during the 11:00am worship hour. If you are interested, please contact Linda Thorne at [email protected]. She will provide you with all of the information needed to complete our Safe Sanctuary process and begin volunteering.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IN THE PRESCHOOL NURSERY
On Friday night, November 1, just as sun sets, the preschool and el-ementary children from First Church will gather at the home of An-drew and Nicole Barker for a movie night on a cool outdoor movie screen! I hope all parents will make a special effort to attend this fun night to watch a kids movie, eat delicious popcorn and hangout with your church family. Thanks so much to the Barker’s for sharing their wonderful home and cool outdoor movie theater!
F E B R U A R Y 1 4 - 1 6 A T L A K E G U N T E R S V I L L E S T A T E P A R K
ON CALL SCHEDULEF I R S T C H U R C H B I R M I N G H A M ’ S
NEW MEMBER PRAYERS FOR FIRST CHURCH
AN OPEN PLACE FOR ALLAS WE SEEK TO BE
MY PRAYER FOR FIRST CHURCH IS:
That we continue our message, “God is Love!” and that we as a congregation continue to be authentic and loving.
- John Wilson
I pray for First Church and the vital community of faith that we continue to be - inclusive of ALL people. I pray that each of us are a light and love filled individual that honors and celebrates our unique reflection of the Creator!
- DeJuana McCary
We continue to grow as a congregation. - Rick & Gloria deShazo
Images of
OCTOBER 4-6 | STEPHANIE ARNOLD
OCTOBER 11-13 | JONATHAN GOSS
OCTOBER 18-20 | KATIE GILBERT
OCTOBER 25-27 | R.G. WILSON-LYONS
In an effort to make sure we are providing everyone in our congregation with the pastoral care needed, particularly in crisis situations, we want you to be aware of our on-call schedule going forward. If you have a pastoral care need Monday – Thursday, you can call the church office or email any of our pastors and we will respond promptly. How-ever, if you have a pastoral care need Friday - Sunday, below is the on-call schedule for the month. You can reach the person by email, cell phone, or by clicking the “pastor on-call” option on the church phone.
October 13 | GOD THROUGHOUT CREATION 2 S A M 2 2 : 2 - 3 , D E U T 3 2 : 1 1 - 1 3 , H O S E A 1 3 : 4 - 8
October 20 | GOD OUR SHEPHERDE Z E K I E L 3 4 : 1 - 1 6 , P S A L M 2 3 : 1 - 4 , L U K E 1 5 : 1 - 7
October 27 | GOD EMBODIED IN WOMEN P R O V E R B S 8 , I S A I A H 6 6 : 6 - 9 , I S A I A H 4 2 : 1 4 - 1 7
W h i l e o u r B i b l i c a l t e x t i s e x p a n s i v e a n d d i v e r s e i n i t ’ s n a m i n g o f G o d ’ s l i k e -n e s s , w e o f t e n f a l l p r e y t o r e l y i n g o n t h e m o s t c o m m o n l y u s e d e x p r e s s i o n s , n a m e s , a n d a t t r i b u t e s t o d e s c r i b e o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e D i v i n e . D u r i n g t h i s 3 w e e k s e r i e s w e w i l l e x p l o r e t h e v a s t n e s s o f w h o G o d i s r e v e a l e d t o b e i n S c r i p t u r e a n d l o o k f o r w a y s t o e n l i v e n h o w w e r e l a t e t o a n d l o v e o u r C r e a t o r . T h e d e e p e r o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e f u l l n e s s o f G o d , t h e d e e p e r o u r u n d e r -s t a n d i n g m a y b e o f G o d ’ s p r e s e n c e a t w o r k i n e a c h o t h e r a n d c r e a t i o n .
If there is a First Church event that you would like to have shared in any of our First Church communications (the bulletin, newslet-
ters, or TV slides), please contact Katie Gilbert at [email protected]. All information for the Monthly Connections must be submitted by 5:00pm on the 15th of the month prior. Please help us as we work to communicate all that is happening at First Church!
If you are in need of space at First Church for an event you are hosting, it must be reserved on the First Church Calendar. To reserve a room please visit our website at www.firstchurchbhm.com and find the “Facilities Usage Request” form which can be found under the forms tab in “Media.” You must fill out the form and return it to Jennifer Waters at [email protected]. Jennifer will then be in contact to let you know if space is available. Thank you!
RESERVING SPACE ~ A T F I R S T C H U R C H ~
Church Office Hours: 9:00am - 4:00pm Monday through Thursday
Have you recently moved or made changes to your contact information? We would love to know! First Church is working to update our database and we need your help to do so. Please send any changes or updated information to [email protected]
TUESDAYS:6:30pm - Young Adult Small Group
WEDNESDAYS:1:00pm - Prayer Shawl Knitters
5:30pm - Youth Bible Study6:30pm - Chancel Choir Rehearsal
FRIDAYS:~ Church Office Closed ~
6:45am - Men’s Prayer Breakfast
SUNDAYS:8:30am - Communion Service
9:45am - Sunday School11:00am - The Loft & Sanctuary Services
5:15pm - Youth Bible Study
October 14 6:00pm - Executive Council
October 10 6:30pm - First Church 101
October 15 6:00pm - Trustees
October 16 11:30am - Garden Club
October 22 6:00pm - Staff Parish Commitee
October 20 3:00pm - Back Lot Bash
October 2 7:45am - Reconciler Breakfast
October 4 6:00pm - Outdoor Movie Night
October 6 9:00am - Offering of Letters
OCTOBER CALENDAR
WEEKLY CALENDAR
518 North 19th Street • Birmingham AL 35203205-254-3186 • www.firstchurchbhm.com
FIRST CHURCH BIRMINGHAM STAFF
Senior Pastor: Stephanie York Arnold
Pastor: R.G. Wilson-Lyons
Minister of Invitation: Katie Gilbert
Minister of Youth & Young Adults: Jonathan Goss
Minister of Children & Church Events: Linda Underwood Thorne
Minster to the Grieving: Herb Williamson Deacon in Residence: Emily Nelms Chastain
Organist: Cathy Shelton
Design: Blake Hobbs
Choir Director: Patrick Evans
Loft Worship Leader: Katherine Mullen
Office Administrator: Peg Thompson
Maintenance Supervisor: Ron Dates
Nursery Director: Ginger Gambill
Wedding Director: Betsy Pate
Executive Director of Early Learning Center: Robin Pate
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