First
Connection
AU G U ST / SE P T E M B E R 2014
First
Connection AU G U ST / SE P T E M B E R 2014
Contents
Our Mission: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Our Vision: Meet Friends. Meet God. Discover Life.
A Word from Rev. Donnie...............................1 Buddy Camp......................................................2 UMW...................................................................8 Community.........................................................9 The Well............................................................10 Our Father Sermon Series..............................11 Christmas in July.............................................12 Preschool / Childcare......................................17 Alex Missions...................................................18 Birthdays...........................................................22 Attendance........................................................24 Kitchen Talk.....................................................25
Our Journey:
Our Practices: On the Cover: Buddy Camp Photo, July 2014 First Connection is a publication from: First United Methodist Church of Alexandria 2727 Jackson Street Alexandria, Louisiana 71301 (318) 443-5696 www.fumca.org We would love to hear from you! Please send us your Feedback, Questions, Comments, Story Contributions, Photos, News or Ideas. Senior Pastor: Rev. Donnie Wilkinson, Editor: Julie Bacon, jbacon@fumca.org. Contributor: Bill Sumrall, bsumrall@fumca. org
Rev. Donnie
A Word From Rev. Donnie Abide and Abandon
This leads to hat words best describe the growing edges of the second word, your relationship with God? abandon. By A few weeks ago, I might not have been able to answer abandon, I that question with any clarity but a moment of insight mean learning and clarity came to me during a prayer retreat I went on to live with a profound in July. trust in God’s The retreat was an eight day Centering Prayer experience providence. that featured nine 20-minute periods of meditation Trusting that each day. Over the course of the week, two words kept God is slowly and lovingly rising to my awareness: abide and abandon. puting things Abide is the great invitation Jesus gives us most explicitly in place for in John 15, “Abide in me.” One growing edge in my own the next step on my journey into more fully becoming discipleship is learning to abide, live and rest in the the person God created me to be. presence of Jesus each moment of each day. Abide and abandon. Those are my words. What would Learning to abide is learning to let God’s love, strength your words be? and grace flow through me rather than trying harder to live with love, strength and grace. Learning to abide is Grace & Peace, learning to let Jesus live His life through me.
W
Rev. Donnie Wilkinson Senior Pastor
First Church welcomes new members Lucille Gates and Chad & Rochelle Perry! Lucille, pictured far right, joined the church on Sunday, July 6. She is pictured here with her daughter Lorraine Staats, left, who sings in the choir. Chad & Rochelle joined on Sunday, July 29. They have 3 children: Jason, Peter, and Kayla.
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Buddy Camp: It Takes A Village BY DC Sills, The Well Worship Leader
Hillary Clinton coined the phrase, “It Takes a Village� in 1996 when she released a book of the same name. And Stacey Debevec created quite a village at First United Methodist Church-Alexandria 15 years ago, when she lit the spark that started Buddy Camp. Buddy Camp is definitely a village of people that comes together each summer to create a safe, welcoming and above all FUN space for children of all abilities to experience life and God together. The July Buddy Camp village consisted of 100 campers, 100 counselors, Buddy Moms/Dads, numerous volunteers and of course the Buddy Camp Coordinators, Colleen Brooks and Lauren Guillory. There are a lot of moving parts and A LOT of characters and activity
which fill the halls of FUMCA with laughter, love and the spirit of grace. When asked what is it about Buddy Camp that brings people back year after year, Chandler Young, an
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incoming sophomore at Tulane University, said, “It’s kinda become a habit for me and I think I do it more for myself now than for anyone else. It is great to be with the kids, but I think I get a lot more out of it than they do.”
catchy song with good promotion, when you read the lyrics in the chorus, you might realize just why the song has such an impact and why it is so fitting for Buddy Camp:
Let it go, let it go, and I’ll rise like the break of dawn, Nell Bankston, who volunteers as part of the food let it go, let it go, service team each year, echoed Chandler’s sentiments, “I’m going to tear up just telling you about what this that perfect girl is gone! Here I stand, in the light of day, means to me to work this camp every summer. We (the volunteers) get so much more than we give. To see let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway! these 100 teenage counselors with these special needs and typical needs children, it just makes you glad to be And those words sum up what Buddy Camp is all here! I’m just so happy I can help in some small way.” about, realizing we’re not all perfect, but we’re all able While the theme of this year’s two weeks of Buddy to stand in the presence of God and experience His Camp was “Super Heroes,” if you visited the July Buddy grace. Knowing that whatever life throws at us, God Camp on the day that the Disney Princesses were there, will give us the courage to say, “The cold never bothered you would have thought the theme was “Let it Go.” me anyway!” Campers, counselors and volunteers alike all sang the Frozen anthem at the top of their lungs filling up the God Bless Buddy Camp and the Village it takes to keep dining hall. And while some might say that it’s just a the spark started 15 years ago burning brightly!
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Buddy Camp
Buddy Camp - Session One: June 2-6
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Buddy Camp
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Buddy Camp
Buddy Camp - Session Two: July 28 - August 1
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Buddy Camp
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UMW
UMW
United Methodist Women
BY Nancy Richards, UMW Co-President
U
MW is not just about making casseroles and cakes, selling salsa, doing food sales and hosting a Christmas Coffee. The Grace and Faith Circles of UMW both collected offerings to purchase detergent for Laundry Love. We contribute to and support many community missions such as Buddy Camp, CASA, Shepherd Center, Hope House, Community Healthworx, Habitat for Humanity, Homeless Coalition, Friendship House and the Methodist Children’s
Home. Members volunteer for many, many church activities. Shown here are those working to provide breakfast, snacks and lunch for the 200 participants at the July Buddy Camp. We invite all ladies of FUMCA to join UMW. Interested in UMW? Contact Nancy Richards at nancy@cenlatravel.com
UMW Ladies helping during Buddy Camp. (left to right) Jo Bower, Nancy Richards, Jean Lohrey, and Nell Bankston.
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In
the
Community
Louisiana Officers Association’s 5K Walk/Run fundraiser for Buddy Camp
BY Mike Wood, Business Administrator
O
n Tuesday, July 22nd, the Louisiana DARE Officers Association sponsored a 5k Walk/Run fundraiser in support of Buddy Camp. The event kicked off at 8 a.m. at the Lake Buhlow Recreation Area of Pineville. I participated to represent FUMC-A and
I am very glad I did. The turnout was great for a Tuesday morning as DARE Officers from all over the region came to participate. And, of course, there were many from our community with a heart for Buddy Camp who were there also. It is wonderful to see another
outstanding civic organization stepping up to support Buddy Camp. More photos of this event can be viewed on our facebook page at: www.facebook.com/fumcala
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Beyond Alex Missions
The Well
We Are All Sheep BY DC Sills, The Well Worship Leader
In a speech to young adults who were in the process of discerning whether or not they were being called to become pastors, Jeff Huffman, Associate Pastor, Church Planter at St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Kansas City, stated, “You are not the shepherd, if your calling is to be a shepherd of sheep, then do not become a pastor, because you are not the shepherd. We are all just sheep and there is only ONE Shepherd!” And how true is that!?
T
here are many pastures that the Good Shepherd leads us through and to, even here at FUMCA. On Sunday mornings, we are blessed to have many pastures from which to feed our soul. We have the 8:30 am Traditional pasture…um..worship service, then we fed during the Sunday School hour and then we move to decision time - which 11 am pasture will we graze? Traditional or contemporary. Now, most people have strong preferences of worship styles. I was a dyed in the wool 8:30 am person for YEARS, and still have a great fondness for “Big Church” and the 8:30 folks. While, I always supported the contemporary worship service at FUMCA, I always said, “That’s just not for me.” Then this dumb, smelly sheep (that is me), was led by the Shepherd to help restart
what was once “not for me,” the contemporary worship service. As usual, He knows what we need and moves us to the pasture where our souls can be most nourished.
to roam as long as we follow our Shepherd’s commands. See you on Sunday! Come as you are…leave blessed!
The grass is not greener in any pasture at FUMCA, just different You may contact DC Sills at lengths and types of grass. So my itsmedc@dcsills.com challenge to you is to expand your horizons at least one Sunday a month and try worshiping in a different pasture. Let the Shepherd lead you down to the Well and experience worship with us. The great thing about having a Shepherd is that there are no fences or gates, we are free
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Upcoming
Upcoming Sermon Series: Our Father September 7 14 21 28
Our Father Your Kingdom Come Daily Bread Forgive Us as We Forgive
October 5 Lead Us 12 Deliverance
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Christmas
in July
BY Bill Sumrall, Communications Assistant
U
naccompanied minors mostly from Central America and Mexico have and continue to surge across the U.S. border with Mexico.
“Like most people, I first became aware of this growing problem on the border with the unaccompanied minors over the past six weeks or so as it began to make the national news,� said the Rev. This August, members of First United Donnie Wilkinson, senior pastor Methodist Church Alexandria are at First United Methodist Church sending them an early Christmas. Alexandria, interviewed Monday,
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July 28, 2014. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials recorded 4,059 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S. border in fiscal year 2011, according to online news sources, but since then, that number has doubled each year until
it has reached crisis proportions with tens of thousands of women and children migrating from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. “One of my first thoughts was, ‘How bad does it have to be in Guatemala for a parent to send their 11-year-old daughter’ -- who is the same age as my child -- ‘how bad does it have to be, to pay somebody who you don’t know, to smuggle them a couple of thousand miles into the country?’” Wilkinson asked. Photographs of children and teenagers illustrated the gravity of the situation for him, along with reports that many of the girls evidenced sexual assault among their hardships.
“What is it we can do?” Wilkinson wondered. “What’s a simple thing that we can do that would alleviate a concrete need?”
Wilkinson said he corresponded with the Rev. Dr. John Fluth, asking about practical ways to help, and Fluth responded that many of the children coming across now have “Through the Methodist connection, no clean clothes, most times only I saw that a classmate of mine from the clothes they wear. Rev. Fluth Perkins School of Theology at SMU included a list of things they make is the senior pastor at First Methodist sure every child has while being Church in Brownsville, Texas, and I processed by authorities, such as reached out to him,” he said. two or three pairs of socks and two or three pairs of underwear. The City of Brownsville’s official website states it is in the “That’s where the idea was born,” southernmost part of Texas and lies Wilkinson said, for First UMCA’s on the border with its sister town Christmas in July donation drive of Matamoros, Mexico. Alexandria to collect 1,000 pairs of socks and is about 590 miles away, according underwear in all children’s sizes by to MapQuest, a drive of more than July 31. nine hours. “We’re sitting in our collaboration
Stuffed animals for the children at the Immaculate Conception Refugee Center in Brownsville, TX.
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room with the staff and we started kicking around ideas -- how could we frame this issue in a way that would make it concrete, that people would understand?” he asked.
underwear ... just a little extra show of love for them,” he said.
“And then of course other people want to “Growing up, for Christmas, in the participate, want to stocking every year, there’re going to help and are sharing be socks and underwear, and those the resources out of are two very practical things that we gratitude for the gifts need, something that’s concrete. We that God has given decided to frame it in that way,” he them,” he added. said. “Most likely they Wilkinson added that in the story of will never meet these the first Christmas, Jesus becomes children face to face -a refugee with Mary and Joseph but wouldn’t that be an fleeing from Bethlehem into Egypt incredible story, if 10 to escape political violence. “We’re or 15 years from now, remembering Christ’s birth and His a child now grown is own status as a refugee, as a child, a classmate of one of by helping these refugee children,” our families’ kids and he said. they meet in college and they find they are More than 1,000 pairs of underwear from Alexandria and were donated by July 28 “and we are say, ‘when we came within 15 or 20 of the pairs of socks,” across the border, it was Wilkinson said. “We’re going to well people from Alexandria exceed this goal ... at least 330 kids that gave us this gift,’” he will have more than enough clean said. socks and clean underwear that they will know comes from a community “A team from the church in Alexandria that is reaching out is going to make a very, Austin Rinehart, Clara Woolf, and Wayne McConnell to and showing Christ’s love to them.” very quick trip down to Brownsville, Texas, week thousands upon thousands of food, clothing and es In addition to clothing, financial to First UMC there and donations have also been made. deliver the socks and spend the day United Methodist Bishop Cynthia interacting with the children and Fierro Harvey, whose own family “This church is incredibly, incredibly seeing first-hand the situation and were immigrants from Mexico into generous,” Wilkinson said. “First then coming back,” Wilkinson said. Texas, has written her thoughts UMCA is among the most generous about the crisis that gives additional congregations that I’ve ever been “Specific details are going to be concrete ways individuals can help a part of and some people have worked out in the next day or two through the structure of the United enjoyed going to the store and and we hope to take it on the road Methodist Church, which can be physically buying the socks and the first week in August,” he said.
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also our citizenship as members of the Kingdom of God and hold those citizenships in tension and how we can live out our faith by welcoming the stranger, providing hospitality to foreigners, to strangers, to sojourners in the land.” The first link is to the group that made the film: http://www. thestrangerfilm. org/ and the second link is to the movie itself: http://vimeo. com/97163476.
“There are so many direct commands from God in the Old and the New Testament; God reminding us that we were strangers and that God rescued us, that God welcomed us, and that because we were strangers, our forefathers were ouring a warehouse on the border in Texas, where every strangers in Egypt, we ssential items are distributed every week. know what that’s like, and we are to welcome found online at http://www.la-umc. the stranger ourselves, as an act of org/news/detail/1300. love, as an act of welcoming God,” Also, a short documentary film is Wilkinson said. available online that Wilkinson said He cited Matthew 25, where Jesus “can help re-frame the whole issue talked about separating the sheep of immigration and hold in balance from the goats. “He says, ‘I was a our dual citizenships, one as citizens stranger, and you welcomed me.’ of the United States of America but The Greek word we translate as stranger is xenos, which is the same
root word that we have xenophobia from,” he said. “It is not just somebody you don’t know but it is somebody from a different culture, who speaks a different language, and Jesus said, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’ And those who welcomed the stranger, welcomed the foreigner, ‘are welcoming me.’” As the crisis developed, Wilkinson said Jesus’ words have come to him in a new way -- “that reaching out to these children and showing them compassion, the same compassion that God has shown us, by meeting them at their moment of need, we have the privilege of showing compassion to Christ Himself.”
This story was writen before Austin Rinehart, Clara Woolf and Wayne McConnell visited First UMC in Brownsville, Texas, August 4-6. While there they delivered the 1000 pairs of collected socks and underwear and worked with local organizations to identify how our church can best serve the needs of the community in the future. If you would like to be a future part of this ministry, contact Clara Woolf, cwoolf@fumca.org.
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Preschool/ Childcare
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Preschool/ Childcare
Goodbye Summer! BY Kasey Heard, Director of Preschool and Childcare
It’s almost school time again! First Kids Preschool will be back in session September 2nd. Our Open House will be August 26 at 6pm and our teachers will come back August 18th to begin getting their classrooms in order and ready for a new year with new friends! We are filled to capacity in each of our classes. We are looking forward to the new school year. Our summer has been very busy and very
successful. During our favorite days, we played in shaving cream, made pancake pigs, took buggy rides and had classroom campouts. We are sad to see our summer come to an end, but we are so anxious to begin a new school year!
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Alex Missions
Why Serve? BY Clara Woolf, Director of Hospitality and Service
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34 & 35
While at the Last Supper, this is the first thing Jesus tells the disciples to do after revealing He will not be with them much longer. Prior to this, Jesus washed all of the disciples’ feet. This act must have been very shocking to the disciples because normally lower servants would wash a master’s feet. Jesus took the role of a servant to serve His disciples and show them love by cleansing them.
what I have actually called you to be are servants.” Something else that stands out to me in this Scripture is that Jesus says to love one another right after Judas left the upper room to betray Jesus. It’s almost as if Jesus was preparing the disciples to have the mindset of no matter what people have done to you or if you agree with their actions, we are COMMANDED to love one another.
So “Why Serve?” I personally feel God commands us to serve. If we want to live a life for God, then love like Jesus by serving. “Who do we serve?” Jesus says to serve one another, which would include your family members, your classmates, your employer, strangers in the store, the homeless, anyone that God is tugging at your heart to help. “How can we serve?” Ask God to Jesus was using His final moments with His disciples reveal this to you. He may just want you to help your to tell them He is the example to follow and to love like next door neighbor in a way that no one else can. He He loves. I love the way Dino Rizzo paraphrases this may want you to participate in H2O (Help 2 Overcome Scripture in Servolution: “It’s as if He’s saying to them, Homelessness) and give encouraging words to the ‘Look, it’s been more than three years, and we need to homeless while passing out clothing and food. He may put an end to this competition and pride. If you want want you to give an offering even though money is tight. to really understand the gospel, and if you want to be able to truly be great, you all need to get used to being I challenge everyone to ask themselves: “What keeps me a servant. We’re never going to accomplish any lasting from sacrificing my time and convenience, like Jesus change in the world if you don’t choose to accept what washing the feet of His disciples, to serve someone in a I have just shown you; this is the heart of serving, and small, humble way?” After washing their feet, He said “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:15-17)
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Alex Missions
H20: Helping to Overcome Homelessness
BY Clara Woolf, Director of Hospitality and Service
H2O was a success for the month of July! THANK YOU to Nancy Richards, Ling Stokes & Austin Rinehart for serving! August marks the one year anniversary for H2O. This month we will also celebrate the August birthdays of the homeless. Our children have decorated sacks containing toiletries to give as birthday gifts.
clothing and referrals to resources. The next two H2O events are August 28 & September 25, and the most needed items to pass out are BABY WIPES, DEODORANT, CHIPS, WATER SQUEEZE BOTTLES, YOGO/SLEEP Please consider being a MATS, & GRANOLA/ part of this ministry by PROTEIN BARS. Other either passing out items items requested are listed or donating! This once a to the right. month event, created by the Volunteers of Ameri- If you are interested in ca, is held in the Emman- donating items or attenduel Baptist Church park- ing the event to pass items ing lot located on Jackson out and share God’s love street in downtown Alex- with the homeless, contact andria from 10am – 1pm. Clara Woolf at 443-5696 ext. 106 or email cwoolf@ The event reaches anyone fumca.org. who is in need of food,
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In
the
News
The story above was featured in Louisiana Now, Summer 2014, pg. 11. www.la-umc.org 20 August/ September 2014 | CONNECTION
At Church
July Laundry Love Report BY Clara Woolf, Director of Hospitality and Service
451
loads of laundry were washed and dried for July’s Laundry Love! You made that possible! Thank you! Please consider being a part of this ministry by either serving or donating! Duties include inserting quarters, putting detergent and dryer sheets in the machines and spreading God’s love. This is a once a month event held at Top Spin laundromat located on the corner of Jackson Street and Bolton
Avenue in downtown Alexandria from 4pm – 7pm, or you can choose an hour to serve. The next two Laundry Love’s are August 28 & September 25. Please contact Clara Woolf at 443-5696 ext. 106 or emailing at cwoolf@ fumca.org if you are interested in participating.
First Kidz - Children’s Choir Children’s Choir Sings @ 11am service the following Sunday’s: September 7 October 12 November 16 December 7 Children’s Choir practice Wednesday evenings @ The Gathering, 6-7pm email Elizabeth, egarvin@fumca.org for more details
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Birthdays
August
1
Birth
Sarah Crenshaw Suzette Harpe Helen Koncinsky Madelyn LeSuer Jodie Roberts
2
James Adams Maddie Marlowe Kevin Mayo Charlie White
3
Ann Roy Richard Sanders
4 5
Bennie McSparrin Camden Berry Ben Hislop
6
Max Jeane Trey Roberts Sally Willis
8
Nita Bergeron George Foote Dana Humphries Judy Perdue
9
10
17 18
11
19 21
Shelby Pulley Robert Royer
Samantha Adams Rae Belle Adams Lou Fomby David Pulley Rebecca Roy
MacKenzie Curry Sandra Sietman Jean Tarver Hailey Urena
12
Nancy Baker Shelley Hislop Anna Land
13
Carolyn Blackwood Alice Young
14
Charli Bravinder Eleanor Chadwick Joan Ferry
15
Marianne Knoles-Lewis Virginia Ringer Sarah Willis
Sylvia Jackson
Tom Goodwin Sandra Kerney Jenny Shelton David Mobley
Jarrell Lee Maunette Risher
22 23
Donna Parker Sally DeWitt Russell Doine Sarah Ogle Marsha Reed
24
Lee Portwood Ron Slipman
25
Troy Edwards Carla Gremillion
26
Thomas Broadwell
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27
Russum Garvin Jason Johnson
28 29
Diane Butter
Teresa Ball Chris Reid Melva Slaughter
30
Emma Ford George Koncinsky William Long
31
Gladys Miller
Birthdays
1
9
2 3
10
September
17 18
25
hday George Ogle Edith Rabalais August Foote
Ruth Brooks Toni Foote Houston Keppinger
4
Otis Goins Anna Goodwin Kathey Hunter Tom Mercer Grayson O’Quin
5 6 7
Caitlin Kelly
Thomas Crenshaw Elaine Conner Betty Latimer
8
Watts Webb
Addie Hensel Russ Marrazzo Judy Miller
Christy Mayo Robert O’Quin Alice Rickerson
11
Bryan Fillette Marica Holland Velvet Jeter Ann Miller
12
John David Allison Lois Maxwell
14 15
Gracie Murphy
Michelle McKenzie Randy Miller Ann Rayford
16
Ann Rayford Paula Roberts
Everett Raborn
Caroline Hyde Abigail Tidwell
19
Susan Abbott Nelwyn Harris Barbara Hartt Kameron Warren
20
Ceil McCann Scott Sanders Sara Simmonds Jon Wainwright
21 22
Gretchen Willis
Jennifer Conkle Hope Norman
23 24
Charles Weems
Michael Crowell Gabe Miller DC Sills
26
James Bloss Virginia Rand Matthew Stokes
s 27
Gerald Foret Emma Marlowe
28 29
Matthew Crenshaw Mary Brown Earl Humphries Christopher Provine
30
Jonathan Peyton Ruth Slipman
Maggie Schroeder Donald Stafford
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Attendance July 6, 2014 July 13, 2014 July 20, 2014 July 27, 2014 August 3, 2014 August 10, 2014
Church
Sunday School
237 270 276 246 311 255
183 108 110 88 107 109
Charge Conference The 2014 Charge Conference for First Church will be held Thursday, October 2 at 3:00pm located at Newman UMC.
Contact the First Church Staff ph. (318) 443-5696 Rev. Donnie Wilkinson, Senior Pastor
revdonnie@fumca.org; extension 101
Elizabeth Garvin, Director of Children’s Ministry egarvin@fumca.org; extension 102 Clara Woolf, Director of Hospitality & Service
cwoolf@fumca.org; extension 106
Kasey Heard, Director of Preschool & Childcare
kheard@fumca.org; extension 119
Mike Wood, Business Manager
mwood@fumca.org; extension 103
Suzy Richey-Smart, Administrative Secretary
ssmart@fumca.org; extension 0
Julie Bacon, Communications Director
jbacon@fumca.org; extension 104
Bill Sumrall, Communications Assistant
bsumrall@fumca.org; extension 108
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Kitchen Talk BY Wayne McConnell
H
ello, a lot of activities have been in full boom since I last communicated with you; successful completion of Buddy Camp II, our wildly successful mission “Laundry Love” continues aiding our community, school has begun, our church delivered 1000 pairs of socks and underwear to the immigrant children in Brownsville, TX, and our church continues it’s mission to serve, with Christian love, those in need. There are two upcoming opportunities to serve those in need; they both have to do with food, a favorite topic of mine. Keyhole Garden. The first opportunity is our church, in partnership with L.S. Rugg Elementary School, will build a “keyhole garden” on their campus. This will provide the faculty a valuable teaching tool in the areas of math, science, English, reading and health. The children will have the chance to see and taste vegetables that they may not have access to otherwise. If you are not familiar with keyhole gardens - it is a six foot circular compost pile that is topped with soil and has a slice taken out of the side, thus the name “keyhole.” A circle of chicken wire one foot across and four foot tall allows
for the “feeding” and watering of the garden. This type of garden is ancient and very productive, easy to care for and inexpensive to construct. If you think you would like to be part of this project, look for a meeting that will provide the when, where, who, etc. There are ways that you can help now - begin hoarding and storing cardboard, cardboard, and more cardboard, newspaper, phone books, natural materials (cotton, wool, silk), sticks, grass clippings, leaves (green and brown), aged manure, and anything that is natural. We will establish a drop off point or we will arrange for pick up. The students, faculty and staff will have ownership of this garden for years to come.
Help us collect: Cardboard Newspaper Phone Books Cotton, Wool, Silk Sticks Grass Clippings Leaves Aged manure
of the Cenla Food Bank, but a pantry that will feed any of God’s children who express a need, who are hungry. I felt this call more strongly after reading a book that was given to me by Rev. Donnie; “Take this Bread” by Sara Miles. I invite you to read this book, it will make you laugh and cry, it will change your life. By the time you read this article there should be several copies in the church office to pick up read and pass on. There is a fantastic food pantry functioning along these lines in Baton Rouge at St. Mathew Methodist Church; a group may be able to go for a visit in the near future. This is a large undertaking that will take many hands so it will come to fruition. We will be meeting in the near future to establish a group of individuals who would like to work to make it possible to do as Jesus commanded, “feed my sheep” (literally). Thank you all for reading and caring. Remember be good to each other, love all, serve all and invite someone to break bread with you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Food Pantry. Another project I feel the Lord has called me to bring to our congregation is to establish a food pantry at FUMCA, not just a satellite
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Buddy Camp 2014