For the 8th (or so) consecutive year the First Methodist Church Valentine Banquet will honor the widows and widowers in our midst with an evening of good food and entertainment on February 13 at 6:00 pm at the church.  The theme this year is “ The Grand Ole Opry” and there will live entertainment, straight from competitive FUMC auditions, and authentic Tennessee food from the kitchen of a credentialed Tennessee chef.

Everyone is invited to get your tickets and plan to attend.  We have had attendance approaching 100 the past few years, so make your plans now. Tickets are on sale Sunday mornings before and after worship and Wednesday evenings during the fellowship dinners. Tickets are $12.50 each or two for $25.00. If your ticket has the following logo on it, you are good to go:

The event is sponsored by the Sunday Scholars Sunday School Class and proceeds go to the church and to the Junior High’s mission project. After such great reviews last year, the Junior High Youth will again be serving the food. Dress for the event is casual, western, country, or whatever you want to wear.           

In late December, the Council on Ministries, authorized a ceiling to floor refurbishing of the sanctuary including the north and south  entrances. The plan is to complete work that can be performed without interfering with worship services prior to mid–February. After that time, work will begin on the ceiling which will necessitate moving worship services to the Family Life Center while major work is performed in the sanctuary. The project is scheduled to be completed in time for Easter Sunday, April 4. There will be some inconvenience during the construction phase, but it will be great to have the sanctuary looking good again. Shown below are pictures taken this week showing work (painting) in progress in the balcony.

Honestly, I wonder how we could reach younger people. They, as a group, are turned off by religion but turned on to spirituality. They are turned off by conformity and status quo. They embrace celebration, diversity and creativity. Even as I write this article, I realize that I am using a more archaic from of communication. Even as I post this on the web site, I realize that I need to do this in a face book and twitter. So far, Reed doesn’t face book nor twitter but I am beginning to realize I may need to change. (Do you think?)

I remember the good ol’ days when we typed out the newsletter on a typewriter and printed it on  a mimeograph machine that you loaded with ink that had a lot of alcohol in it. You could get high just being in the room with all that alcohol but that’s a different story. Back to trying to reach out to our young and being relevant.

The words we use in church are as foreign as Latin which few bother with any more. In fact English may be on the way out with all the abv. we get with text messaging. I can see the day when the Lord’s Prayer may start like this, “Our Fthr wh art in hevn,” To be relevant, hvn hlp us.

Still though, we need to find ways to reach out to our younger citizens. They do want a sense of adventure even through the church. They want to celebrate God’s love, They want freedom for themselves in a world they see as growing less free. The want to be inspired, and have an impact on their world. They want passion and an sense of an irrepressible faith. They are waiting for a church to shatter expectations.

I am not sure how to do that but the question is whether or not we can? How to reach out to them can be figured out. The question is do we want to? If not, as we age and wonder where they are, we need to not get so senile that we can’t remember when we had the chance but didn’t pursue it.

Peace and grace. Reed.

CTCYM Leadership Training

Each year, The Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church conducts a summer mission project for youth.  In this program, youth and their adult leaders, spend a week in communities assisting the residents with repairs to homes, churches, and generally helping those with needs. The program is called Central Texas Conference Youth in Mission (CTCYM) and the blessings received by both the recipients and the providers of this service are many and long lasting.  Several hundred youth participate each year.   

Saturday, a Conference training session was held at First Methodist for leaders who plan to participate next summer.

Faith Builders Are At It Again

Faith Builders is a team of people sponsored by the United Methodist Men of our church who get together to assist people in our community who need help in making repairs to their homes. Saturday was another work day for Faith Builders and we were able to assist members of our community with removal of some heavy furniture, repairs to some kitchen  faucets, and general cleanup around the church. A larger planned project to repair a leaking roof was postponed because of rainy weather.

The Children’s Time at the First Worship Service

Nothing is quite so beautiful as the children and their time with the Pastor at the altar rail. Some of the children at the early service are shown below.

Health Kits

Health kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of natural disaster. We want everyone to put together as many kits as you can. Have them here at the church the week of February 5th so we can ship them out.

Health Kit Items:

Place these items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.

• 1 hand towel (15″ x 25″ up to 17″ x 27″, No kitchen towels)
• 1 washcloth
• 1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
• 1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
• 1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
• 1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
• 6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
• $1.00 to purchase toothpaste
  (NOTE: UMCOR Sager Brown is now purchasing toothpaste in bulk to be added to health kits before shipping to ensure that the product does not expire before they are sent.)

Important Kit Assembly Information

• All items included in kits must be NEW items. 
• All emergency kits are carefully planned to make them usable in the greatest number of situations. Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that kits contain only the requested items-nothing more.
• Do NOT include any personal notes, money or additional materials in the kits. These things must be painstakingly removed and will delay the shipment.

Due to a staff change, we won’t have a newsletter this week. Look for one next week and we will update everything. Sorry about not having one.

Reed

Attention! Attention!

We are starting a new ministry to benefit Hillsboro Interfaith Ministry and the people in our community. The 2^nd  Sunday of each month, beginning on February 14, will be “Chuck Wagon Sunday”.  The children who are present at each of the worship services will be pulling a wagon through the sanctuary.  In this wagon, we would like you to place food items—canned goods, cereal, beans, rice, etc.  All this food will be taken to Hillsboro Interfaith Ministries to benefit people in our community that need help.  You will want to participate in this ministry.

Remember, Chuck Wagon Sunday starts on Valentine’s Day.  Bring some food!

Also, if you have a wagon that you would like to donate, contact Becky Cliett.

I thought we might share some New Years Resolutions. Hope you like them.

Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. Others don’t take you all that seriously either.

Envy is a waste of time.

Life is too short to waste time hating others.

Realize life is a school and you are here to learn.

Smile and laugh more.

Call your family…often.

Each day do something good for others.

God heals everything.

With God, the best is yet to come.

Those came through an e-mail and they are really good. If you keep all those, you will have a great, wonderful and fulfilling 2010.

Peace and grace. Reed.

A baker’s dozen members of the Staff and Council met Friday night and Saturday to define responsibilities, develop working relationships, outline some long term goals, and begin planning for 2010.  The church organization has been modified somewhat in the expectation that we will be more focused on certain programs and generate broader participation. We want to be more effective in making disciples of Jesus Christ.  Photos follow:

Terrific Nights Together (TNT) restarted Wednesday, January 6 with a great spaghetti dinner and good fellowship. This fellowship dinner is held each Wednesday night during the school year at 5:30 in the Family Life Center.  It provides members of the congregation and other people in the community the opportunity to share a good meal and get better acquainted. The meal is paid for by a good will offering by those attending. You are invited to attend.