Firstconnectionnewsletter

First

Connection

J U N E 2014

First

Connection J U N E 2014

Contents

Our Mission: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Our Vision: Meet Friends. Meet God. Discover Life.

Our Journey:

Our Practices:

Letter from Rev. Donnie...................................1 New Members....................................................1 Austin Rinehart..................................................2 Skeeter Run........................................................5 New Staff.............................................................6 Mexico Mission..................................................8 Buddy Camp: Week One................................12 Laundry Love...................................................13 H20 Monthly Items.........................................14 Small Group Study...........................................16 Kitchen Talk.....................................................17 Attendance........................................................17 New Website.....................................................17 VBS...................................................................18

On the Cover: The Kneeling Christ, bronze, 1973 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 Editor: Julie Bacon, jbacon@fumca.org.

Contributor: Bill Sumrall, bsumrall@fumca. org

Rev. Donnie

A Word From Rev. Donnie “How far will you let me carry this moment?”

But I want to.

T

I want to let God carry the day moment by moment by moment.

hat is the question God asks us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty five days a year. “How far will you let me carry this moment?”

“As you go about your daily life, your work, your play, your rest, will you let me guide you? Will you let me direct your steps? Will you let me give you strength when you feel weak? Courage, when you are filled with fear? Peace, when you are fraught with anxiety? How far will you let me carry this moment?”

“I know how easy it is to get caught up in the busyness of life. Work and family and friends pull you this way and that. I know there is always more that needs to be done. But if you will let me, if you will let me carry this moment, I’ll be with you in your work and family responsibilities and bring a touch of grace to all that you do.”

“How far will you let me carry this moment?”

To be honest, most of the time my answer to God is, “None.”

Most of the time I do not even think about God as I go through my day much less allow God to carry the present moment.

And so a thousand times a day I have to begin again. A thousand times a day, I realize I am not allowing God to carry the moment, and so a thousand times a day I have to begin again. I have to return to God and rest in His gracious offer.

And when I do, when I allow God to carry the moment, well that is the moment I experience the truth of the scripture that says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; quietness and trust will be your strength. (Isaiah 30:15) Grace & Peace, Rev. Donnie Wilkinson Senior Pastor

First Church welcomes the Ruggles and the Bristers as new members!

Fred and Ashley Ruggles and their children, Grayson (19), Caroline (16) and Myer (12), they joined on Sunday, June 1.

Delano “Dee” Roosevelt Brister, joined the church on Sunday, June 1, along with his wife DeAnna Teutsch Brister (not pictured - she plays organ for another church and was unavailable).

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Helping us ‘do church differently’

BY Bill Sumrall, Communications Assistant

Meet Austin Rinehart, Our Pastoral Summer Intern Austin Rinehart is using his summer internship to help Louisiana, a small town north of Monroe in Ouachita us “do church differently” at First United Methodist Parish near the boundary with Union Parish.

Church of Alexandria.

“My concentration is in congregational leadership and “We’ve got to evaluate why we’re doing things and ask development ... basically, what that means is, church the question, ‘why are we doing this?’ Is it because this planning and planting -- so, starting new churches, is the model we’ve lived in for so long or is it because revitalizing old churches,” Austin said. this is a need in our community and are we meeting the need?” he said during an interview Thursday, May 29, He spoke with his former pastor at St. Andrews UMC in Sterlington, the Rev. Donnie Wilkinson, about 2014. opportunities to help out wherever Donnie would be Austin, 23, just finished his first year of earning a “and that was the same year he was appointed here in Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Alexandria,” Austin said.

Theological Seminary, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church that is located “Donnie’s focus is church revitalization and north of Chicago, Illinois, on the Evanston campus of congregational development, (and talked with him Northwestern University. He is a native of Sterlington, about) being involved in a little bit of that work, and so 2 June 2014 | CONNECTION

I got with Donnie last year and kind of hashed it out and made some plans and here we are. I’ll be here until the end of August,” Austin said.

“One of my main responsibilities is going to be overseeing Buddy Camp, and also, as the church has been growing, the needs of the church have also been growing, and so one of the things I’ll be doing is starting and recruiting and implementing a congregational care ministry -- so, finding people within the congregation who might feel called to do that type of work, getting them together, reading Scripture, doing a study, really diving into what congregational care means, what that looks like, and putting a plan in place,” he said.

Austin had previously served as intern to the congregational care minister at Noel Memorial United Methodist Church in Shreveport.

“I’ve got a plan in place, we’ll go through about a month or two of study, and talking about, and getting our plan in order, and then we’ll start that, hopefully in August,” Austin said.

In addition, he plans to work with Donnie as First Church begins its capital campaign.

“I’ll be preaching and teaching. And then hopefully ... a summer small-group study,” he said. “I’ll do the same thing Donnie is doing and (preaching) once or twice a month, perhaps. We haven’t set a plan yet on what Sundays and how (between traditional/contemporary services) but that’s definitely one of the responsibilities.”

Austin received his call to the ministry his senior year in high school.

“I had been involved in some youth activities in the “I worked with our pastor of congregational care at (Louisiana Annual) Conference, mainly ... and just my former church to do this, pretty much, same plan, really felt a call from God to pursue seminary, to pursue so basically what that looks like, we’ll train laypersons religious education, and so that led me to Centenary within the congregation who feel a call to serve in (College) in Shreveport, and then from there on to whatever capacity that might look like,” he explained. seminary,” he said.

“Basically what congregational care is -- it has different forms in different churches and they can kind of define what that is -- but basically, those persons who are home-bound, who can’t make it to church, those persons who are sick, in the hospital, who are making a transition from this life to the next, walking with people in the midst of all that, being present, offering Christ, especially for those who are home-bound, serving Communion,” he said.

Rev. Donnie introducing Austin on Sunday, June 1

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“I am a cradle Methodist -- I’ve been here since the beginning; I was baptized in Bastrop, La., and confirmed in Sterlington, and have always been faithful to the United Methodist Church because she’s been faithful to me, so I look forward to continuing that relationship in the future,” Austin said.

“For a brief period, for about a year, Donnie was my pastor, and to be able to see the impact that Donnie has had on our (Louisiana Annual) Conference and, specifically this church in just a year that he’s been here, it’s amazing,” he said. “I’m blessed and humbled to be able to work with him, to learn a little bit and ... to be able to be in his shadow for just a couple of months.”

“I think the church, specifically the United Methodist The church where Austin is otherwise employed is Church, has lived in a set model for so long. We’ve done First United Methodist Church of Palatine, Ill. “I church the same or very similar since am the associate director of their our inception. We’ve lived out what contemporary service called Connect,” it means to be Methodist in virtually he said. the same ways, and I think, if the church is to move into the future and “I’ve been to Alexandria quite a few to grow and to be lights in the world times. I’ve never lived here or worked and show Christ to other people, here but it’s Central Louisiana -- it’s we’ve got to break out of the model the heart of the culture here -- and like -- we’ve got to do church differently,” I was telling somebody earlier, we’re he explained. two hours from everything and so you can really go anywhere in the state and “So it’s really about being inwardexperience things and new things,” gazing, looking at ourselves, Austin said. evaluating who we are and really Austin distributing books on be outward-gazing, to look at our Sunday, June 1 “I’m excited. It’s a new place. I’ve been community and say, ‘What are the in Monroe, I’ve been in Shreveport, needs of the community and how Alexandria, and I guess now I’ll have can we meet those?’ Because essentially that’s what to go to, like, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles to round the church should be about, is being engrained in the it all out. But I’m just excited to be in a new part of the community,” Austin said. state, to meet new people and to create new relationships because I have some here -- Tracy MacKenzie out at “And it seems, from conversations that I’ve had with Horseshoe, we have a really, really great relationship, people, is that this church was so engrained in the and so just to connect with more clergy in the area, I community when Alexandria was started, when First think that would be really beneficial,” he added.

Church was the church of Alexandria, and so we have to ask the question, ‘How can we get back to that?’ How can we be so engrained in our community that when people think of Alexandria they think of First Church,” If you would like to contact Austin, he can be reached at austin.rinehart@me.com or through the church he said. office.

“I think the church here is in a transitional phase, especially with Donnie and his gifts and graces that he brings to the church, and so I’m just really excited to work with him,” Austin said.

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New Staff

New Staff at First Church Kasey Heard Executive Director of the Weekday Children’s Ministry (Preschool and Childcare Director)

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n May, the Weekday Children’s Ministry Program (WCM) merged the Preschool Director position and the Childcare Director position into one all-encompassing position as the Executive Director of the WCM. Today, we are happy to introduce you to the new Executive Director of WCM, Kasey Heard.

Kasey Heard is living the dream!

Kasey Heard is living the dream! She spends her days surrounded by over 100 of the most brilliant comedians in Central Louisiana. These humorists range in age from 6 weeks to 5 years old and occupy much of the First United Methodist Church building each Monday - Friday. When the comedians leave in the afternoon, Kasey goes home to heaven-on-earth. She and her husband live next door to her parents, two houses down from her grandmother and 3 houses away from her sister’s family on “Folse Hill” in beautiful, downtown Ruby, where Kasey’s father is the self-proclaimed mayor. Kasey and her husband Ron have been married for the best 9 months of their lives. If you need to find Kasey and she is not at work, you can likely find her sitting on her front porch rocking, digging in a junk shop for a “treasure” or on a road trip with her husband.

Email Kasey at kheard@fumca.org

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New Staff

Clara Woolf Director of Hospitality & Service

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Is God calling you to serve in a way you’ve never considered before?

am elated to announce that I will be back on staff, full-time, at First United Methodist Church, Alexandria! I have missed being a part of the church family in this aspect and super excited to serve again! My new title is Director of Hospitality and Service, and I officially started Monday, June 9. I will oversee the first time guest process, volunteers and missions. I have always wanted to work in ministry, but I was never sure in which direction God was calling me. I feel God allowed me to be a part of many different ministries and areas to spread His love to prepare me for this position. Sharing God’s love and making sure everyone knows about the wonderful gift of His sacrifice on the cross are the two most important things to me. As a Christian, I am called to share His love and His light and encourage other Christians to grow in their faith journey.

Serving can be humbling, but it is also our calling as Christians. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10. Laundry Love is the newest outreach opportunity at FUMCA, with many more on the way. Another outreach opportunity is creating a ‘Fire Box’ process for families who lose everything in a house fire. First Church already supports ‘missional’ outreach opportunities such as Pumpkin Patch, Live Nativity, being an usher on Sunday morning or visiting first-time guests. These are all means of service to God and His people. Is God calling you to serve in a way you’ve never considered before? Is He placing something on your heart to stay in the area you are already serving? There will be opportunities to volunteer for these missions, but there will also be opportunities to hear from the congregation what missions the church members would like to see and be a part of. I want to know what desires, interests, skills, abilities and anything else our congregation has to offer our church family, community and beyond. So be expecting to hear from me, soon!

Email Clara at cwoolf@fumca.org

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Beyond Alex Missions

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Beyond Alex Missions

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Beyond Alex Missions

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Buddy Camp: Week One - June 2-6, 2014 12 June 2014 | CONNECTION

Alex Missions

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Alex Missions

H2O: Helping 2 Overcome Homelessness In August 2013, Volunteers of America started a much needed ministry called Helping 2 Overcome Homelessness (H2O). This event is held once a month in the Emmanuel Baptist Church parking lot located on Jackson street in downtown Alexandria from 10am – 1pm. The purpose is to reach out to anyone in need of food, clothing and referrals to resources. First Church plans to be a part of this ministry by passing out essential items. The next H2O event is June 26, and the most COLD WEATHER CLOTHING & ITEMS needed items include: BUG SPRAY, HOMELESS GEAR Backpacks Coats (No dress coats please) TENTS, TARPS AND PEANUT Sleeping Bags Hoodies BUTTER CRACKERS. Other items Tents Sweatshirts (no sweaters please) Knit Caps requested are listed to the right. If Tarps Camping Mess Kits Gloves you are interested in donating items Hiking Boots Sunglasses or would like to pass out items on Bike Coats Tennis Shoes (no dress shoes please) June 26 and share God’s love with the Umbrellas Jeans Sweatpants homeless, please contact Clara Woolf. Blankets Bug Spray

Clara Woolf can be reached at the church office at 443-5696 ext. 106 or emailing at cwoolf@fumca.org

Most needed items: • Bug Spray • Tents • Tarps • Peanut butter crackers

Thermals Socks Hand & Foot Warmers WARM WEATHER CLOTHING & FOOD ITEMS ITEMS Granola Bars Tank Tops (men & women) Juice Boxex, Gatorade, Sports Drinks Shorts (cotton) Bottled Water Pocket T-shirts Fruit Snacks T-shirts Fresh Fruit Underwear Peanut Butter Crackers Mens Boxers M-XL (new only) Jerky Womens 5-11 (new only Trail Mix Baseball Caps Fruit Cups Sunscreen Nuts Tennis Shoes (no dress shoes please) Other Non-perishable Foods PERSONAL HYGEINE Soap Deodarant Toothbrush Toothpaste Powder Shampoo Conditioner Disposable Razors Shaving Cream Washcloths First Aid Kits & Supplies Lotion Hydrocortisone Cream Calamine Lotion

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OTHER ITEMS Batteries Flashlights Duct Tape Manicure Sets Air Pumps Sewing Kits Baby Wipes

Alex Missions

Volunteers of America Homeless Outreach Program

Street Outreach

4th Thursday of every month 10am-1pm* Emmanuel Baptist Church Parking Lot January H2O will be Thursday, January 30

basic essentials

helping 2 overcome

food & water

H20

HIV testing referrals to resources

on site services

How you can help 

Donate needed items or sponsor a drive. Go to our website for a list of needed items

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Sponsor this monthly event

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Volunteer to help organize, hand out items and sort donations

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Become a partner to provide on site services

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Light Up the Life of someone in need by making a donation

homelessn

ess

Providing support, care and healing to our homeless community in Central Louisiana JANUARY 30 HOODIES BABY WIPES BEENIE WEENIES APRIL 24 DEODORANT WASH CLOTHS BEEF JERKY JULY 24 POWDER BATTERY OPERATED FANS/ MISTERS FRESH FRUIT OCTOBER 23 SLEEPING BAGS/BLANKETS SOCKS CANDY

FEBRUARY 27 RAIN COATS/PONCHOS FIRST AID KITS VIENNA SAUSAGE MAY 22 BACKPACKS SUNSCREEN SPORTS DRINKS AUGUST 28 BABY WIPES DEODARANT CHIPS

MARCH 27 UNDERCLOTHES SOAP FRUIT CUPS JUNE 26 BUG SPRAY TENTS/TARPS PEANUT BUTTER CRACKERS SEPTEMBER 25 WATER SQUEEZE BOTTLES YOGA/SLEEP MATS GRANOLA/PROTEIN BARS

NOVEMBER 20 HAND WARMERS GLOVES/KNIT CAPS FRUIT SNACKS

DECEMBER 18 THERMALS COATS SNACK CAKES

YOU CAN HELP BY DONATING THESE ITEMS THAT ARE THE GREATEST NEED —ITEMS CAN BE DONATED AT THE H2O EVENT OR AT 3704 COLISEUM BLVD.

For more information or to donate contact Tracey Antee @ 318.442.8026 www.voanorthla.org/cenla/h2o

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Small Group

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Kitchen Talk

BY Wayne McConnell

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hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful June weather. The kids aren’t (too) bored yet, Buddy Camp #1 just ended, VBS is coming up, baseball season is progressing, and the fields and gardens are producing delicious produce. In my last article I advised you to wash your produce using a solution of white vinegar and water. Recently, I was made aware that it is best to use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar. If everyone grew their own fruits and vegetables or bought all organic fruits and vegetables, you would know what your family was eating. Everyone is not able to do

those things, so what are we to do? The Environmental Working Group’s annual “ Dirty Dozen” report is a list that gives us guidance in this area. The following is a list known as “The Clean Fifteen” (meaning that they have less pesticides than the “Dirty Dozen”) avocados, pineapple, sweet corn, sweet peas (frozen), onions, cabbage, mangoes, papayas, asparagus, kiwi, eggplant, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes. The following list is the “Dirty Dozen”; apples, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, nectarines (imported), cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, snap peas (imported), and potatoes (add kale and chilies as they are plenty

“dirty”). If purchasing 100% organic 100% of the time is too expensive, then copy these lists and pick up these “clean” foods without putting your family’s health at risk (or grow your own).

“An organic peach and a nonorganic peach may not look all that different, but the invisible imprint conventional agriculture leaves on the latter is no joke—for the environment, for farm workers, and for consumers.” as quoted by Willy Blackmore.

Remember, enjoy what you eat, give thanks for what you have and invite someone to dinner.

Attendance May 25, 2014 June 1, 2014 June 8, 2014

Church

Sunday School

250 271 271

102 86 104

Our Website We’ve updated our website! www.fumca.org. Check us out online and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. Tell us how we’re doing communicationwise. Send us your thoughts, comments and ideas. We always strive to improve.

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