A New Year Begins

Special events occur each year to celebrate the seasons.  For example, in February the Sunday Scholar’s Sunday School Class sponsors a Valentine Banquet.  This celebration is open to everyone, but especially honors the widows and widowers in our congregation by providing them a complimentary dinner.  The delicious 3 course meal is prepared and served by class members, with the special addition of Junior High Youth servers in ‘09.

Spring

In the spring we host an Easter Egg hunt for the children usually on the Sunday prior to Easter.  We also have Palm Sunday activities, Maundy Thursday and/or Good Friday services and Easter Sunday Services with special music and lovely lilies filling the sanctuary.

A church wide garage sale is usually planned for a spring Saturday.  Everyone enjoys having an opportunity to clean out closets and also to buy new (to us) absolutely special and necessary items!  The garage sale is open to the public and always brings out a large crowd.

Another spring favorite is the United Methodist Women’s Salad Luncheon.  Delicious salads of all types are provided by church members and people throughout the community look forward to the event.  This is one of our biggest events each year. Proceeds go to UMW missions and projects.

Summer

Summer is filled with activities involving our children and youth.  Early summer usually means that our United Methodist Youth are getting ready for and going on their mission trip.  Building wheel-chair ramps, repairing roofs, painting, etc. for those who are no longer able to do such projects for themselves, brings blessings to the youth and their sponsors.   (See the youth page for more info.)

Vacation Bible School is a 4 evening activity for our school age children usually during the month of July.   Vibrant colors, learning about Bible characters, snacks, and fun activities are included in the event.  Completing the summer activities, August brings an ice cream social sponsored by the UMW.

Fall

The fall season offers an opportunity to enjoy the colors of the season by way of the Pumpkin Patch.  Sales of pumpkins of all sizes and special story time for kindergarten children are a few of the special activities.

Also scheduled to coincide with Pumpkin Patch is FUMC’s Annual Harvest Festival. A Bake Shoppe, the Country Store with handcrafted gifts for sale and a silent auction are only some of the activities available each fall at this festival.  Both Pumpkin Patch and the Harvest Festival fall in Mid-October. This year’s Harvest Festival is October 21st.

Winter

December is a busy month, beginning with Breakfast with Santa on the first Saturday of the month.  Food, fellowship, and photos with a special gentleman in a red suit are the activities for the younger set.  Then the adults enjoy Cookie Wonderland on the second Saturday.  Church members bake and decorate dozens of cookies for sale to the public.  Other seasonal treats and gifts are also available.

The year ends with the special events surrounding Christmas: beautiful poinsettias,  decorating the Chrismon tree and other areas of the church,  a choir cantata and children’s programs,  Christmas caroling, and a Christmas Eve candlelight service are just a few of the activities with which we celebrate the birth of the Christchild.