First
Connection
M A R C H 2015
First
Connection Ma rc h 2015
Contents
Our Mission: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Our Vision: Meet Friends. Meet God. Discover Life.
Church News.............................................................1 Thrive Student Ministries........................................2 James 1:27 Ministry..................................................5 March Lectio Bible Readings...................................7 First Kidz Children’s Choir Schedule.....................8 Easter Family Fun Day........................................ .....9 VBS: Everest..................................................... .........9 Letter to the Editor............................................ .....11 March Birthdays.....................................................12 Final Kitchen Talk..................................................13
Our Journey:
Our Practices: On the Cover: The Seekers Sunday School Class presented books to Emily Murphy for The Good Book Project on Sunday, February 8, 2015 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, revdonnie@ fumca.org Editor: Julie Bacon, jbacon@fumca.org Contributor: Bill Sumrall, bsumrall@fumca.org
Events
Holy Week Palm Sunday - March 29
Maundy Thursday - April 2, 6 pm, Sanctuary
Good Friday - April 3, 6 pm, Sanctuary
Day of Compassion - April 4
Easter Sunday - April 5
Monday, March 2, Ecumenical Worship Service, with Bishop Fierro Harvey and the Louisiana Interchurch Conference at 7:30 pm, in our Sanctuary. Open to all!
VBS needs 500 clean gallon milk jugs with the lids. Pease bring to the church office.
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FUMCA Youth in Shreveport at Air-U on January 25, 2015. Air-U is a large indoor trampoline park.
Thank you FUMCA! Recently I was blessed to be able to attend Perkins
Seminary at the beautiful SMU campus in Dallas for the first year of Youth Ministry Certification. Youth certification is a United Methodist graduate program that allows professional Youth Ministers to gain knowledge in every aspect of the UMC. This year was focused on the history of the UMC, mainly the Wesleyan history, and our book of discipline and social principles. I gained so much knowledge while attending, and am very excited to
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use this to make me more capable of serving this church and the community. I want to thank the congregation because without your generosity I wouldn’t have been able to attend. In His Service, Dylan Reed Student Ministries Director
Stand Out:
THRIVE Student Youth BY Bill Sumrall, FUMCA Communications Assistant
About 20 First Church youth are attending “Stand Out,” a Student Life worship conference with 1,500 fellow student participants this weekend.
of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
The website explains: “Every day, students have a choice to either blend in with the culture surrounding them or boldly stand out as a devoted follower of Jesus. Student “Since 1993, Student Life has served churches through Life Conference 2015 will look to the incredible life of inter-denominational Christian summer camps, confer- Daniel for inspiration and guidance in not only refusing ences & resources,” according to its website at www.stu- to go along with our culture, but to actually transform it dentlife.com. “We strive to support youth ministry with for God’s glory.” Gospel-centered, Bible-based experiences that transform youth & kids into devoted followers of Jesus Christ,” the Dylan said that as youth “grow and go into latter years of high school and into college, you want them to feel sewebsite states. cured in their faith and not feel the need to conform to Dylan Reed, First United Methodist Church Alexandria’s college lifestyles,” adding the conference experience is to director of student ministry, will lead the overnight trip to help them to be “better equipped, more prepared and to help them stand firm in their faith.” Houston, Texas. “It’s primarily to give them a corporate worship experience but to also prepare our youth group for the much larger Youth 2015 in the summer, just so they know what to expect,” Dylan said, during an interview Monday, Feb. 2, 2015.
Consulting his iPhone 6, Dylan quoted from the website that “students will leave Conference with a clear understanding that culture doesn’t have to sweep them away. Like Daniel, they can be firm and stand out (1 Corinthians 15: 57-58).”
This year’s conference theme is “Stand Out,” he said, “They’ll be able to see the struggles that people had in the which is based on Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the Bible and have Scripture where they can compare their pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing lives to, and say, ‘Oh, that happened to Daniel -- he had …continued on page 4 March 2015 | CONNECTION
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…continued from page 3 struggles where he had to stay firm in his faith.’ They may be having the same thing and they can stand firm because Daniel stood firm, “ Dylan said.
has been seen on ‘The 700 Club,’ TBN, ManaVision T.V. and Daystar Christian Television,” according to the Student Life website.
Speakers at the Student Life Conference include Leonce David Nasser is an Iranian-born Christian evangelist and Crump, Sammy Lopez and David Nasser, with worship author of “Jumping Through Fires: The Gripping Story music provided by the group “Rush of Fools.” of One Man’s Escape from Revolution to Redemption” published in 2009. According to the Student Life website, Leonce Crump is currently “the lead planter and pastor Nasser “was born in Iran but left the country with his famof Renovation Church, a transcultural church in the un- ily at age 9 during the Iranian Revolution. After almost a der-served area of downtown Atlanta that is also a mem- year in exile, his family moved to America. At age 18, he ber of the Acts 29 church planting network,” Student Life rejected his Muslim heritage and became a Christian.” website states. Rush of Fools is a Christian rock/contemporary Christian In addition to serving the Atlanta, Ga., church since 2008, music band from Alabama, Wikipedia says, known for Rev. Crump was a National Football League player who their 2007 hit single “Undo,” which “was the most played signed with the New Orleans Saints, playing part of the song of 2007 on Adult Contemporary Christian Music 2004 football season, according to www.linkedin.com, radio stations, according to R&R magazine (and) was then director of wrestling operations and coach at the the No. 1 Christian song for five consecutive weeks from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2005 before June 4 to July 2, 2007 on ‘20 The Countdown Magazine’s’ becoming New Hope Church associate pastor 2007-08, charts.” Wikipedia adds: “The band’s name was taken FaithBridge Foster Care consultant in 2009, and attend- from the Biblical passage, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.” ing Reformed Theological Seminary 2009-13, graduating with a master’s of divinity degree in theology and theo- Dylan also quoted from the Student Life website to exlogical studies. plain that “students can live out this ‘counter-cultural’ faith today at home, play, work and school because of the Sammy Lopez is “lead pastor of Mighty Fortress Chris- Gospel’s life-changing, culture-shaking message (Colostian Fellowship in San Antonio, TX, and one of the most sians 3: 1-17); Christ makes believers a new creation (2 sought-after Hispanic communicators in the nation, Corinthians 5:17), granting the power to look and act difspeaking to thousands of people of all ages each year. He ferently from the dominant culture (Titus 3).” ☐
FUMCA Youth at the 2015 Winter Conference in Houston, February 6 & 7. 4 March 2015 | CONNECTION
James 1:27 Ministry First Church has begun a new ministry called the James 1:27 Ministry for members in need of handy jobs around the house directed to widows and elderly couples. The James 1:27 Ministry also includes the “Your First Fish” ministry that provides opportunities for orphans, fatherless, or special needs children to get outside and go fishing. BY Randy Koncinsky
Hello
my friend and fellow church member. Have I got some great news for you! Just recently, our pastor and church staff made a decision to begin a new ministry at FUMCA. This ministry was born out of inspiration that we read in James 1:27, as follows: “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit and serve the widows and the orphaned or fatherless in their affliction.” Webster’s defines affliction as the handicap, misfortune, hardship or adversity and sorrow.
help? Many of our widows have served in or supported our church for a very long time and God says in His word that it is now time for your church to serve you! This new James 1:27 Ministry is not reserved to our widows only. All of our elderly couples can benefit from this service as well. We do ask that all requests be restricted to our members only. It is the vision of this church that enough volunteers with like passion will join our team so that our ministry can broaden and many others outside our congregation can be blessed through our love and servanthood.
In conclusion, we want all of our widows and elderly couWIDOWS MINISTRY ples to know that your church loves and appreciates you As we all know, aging in life presents a host of new chal- very much. We are here to serve not only your spiritual lenges, such as limited mobility, driving obstacles, limited needs, but other every day ordinary needs as well. We will budgets and loneness, with little or no family support. So, refrain from listing examples of possible requests because where does the widow turn, or to whom can she turn for you alone can determine your individual needs. There…continued on page 6
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…continued from page 5 sky located at 5345 Hwy. 28 East in Pineville, LA. This is a private 12-acre tract that is fully fenced and has ducks and geese on a 4-acre pond. We are asking that you call (318) 443-5696 and leave a message with Clara Woolf, if “Your First Fish” you know someone who would benefit from this type of TO THE ORPHAN, FATHERLESS, SPECIAL NEEDS The second part of the James 1:27 Ministry involves any outing. Unlike the Widows Ministry, this outreach is not special needs children as well as the orphan and fatherless restricted to our FUMCA members only. There are some child. This ministry is named “Your First Fish.” It is great particulars that must first be addressed, such as safety isto provide opportunities for these children to attend out- sues, insurance, etc. before we are able to schedule our ings that afford them a chance to enjoy the outdoors and first event. However, please call so that we may begin to catch their first fish. All events related to this ministry collect needed information for each request. Hopefully, will be held at the property of George and Helen Koncin- we will be prepared to begin sometime this summer. ☐ fore, at your own discretion, please call (318) 443-5696 and leave a message with Clara Woolf.
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Lectio Guided Bible Reading meets in the Fellowship Lounge every Wednesday, 10am Read online at fumca.org/bible Daily Devotional Bible Reading Plan March
1 - Num. 28-29; Mark 8 2 - Num. 30-31; Mark 9 3 - Num. 32-33; Mark 10 4 - Num. 34-36; Mark 11 5 - Deut. 1-2; Mark 12 6 - Deut. 3-4; Ps. 36; Mark 13 7 - Deut. 5-6; Ps. 43; Mark 14 8 - Deut. 7-9; Mark 15 9 - Deut. 10-12; Mark 16 10 - Deut. 13-15; Gal. 1 11 - Deut. 16-18; Ps. 38; Gal. 2 12 - Deut. 19-21; Gal. 3 13 - Deut. 22-24; Gal. 4 14 - Deut. 25-27; Gal. 5 15 - Deut. 28-29; Gal. 6
16 - Deut. 30-31; Ps. 40; 1 Cor. 1 17 - Deut. 32-34; 1 Cor. 2 18 - Josh. 1-2; Ps. 37; 1 Cor. 3 19 - Josh. 3-6; 1 Cor. 4 20 - Josh. 7-8; Ps. 69; 1 Cor. 5 21 - Josh. 9-11; 1 Cor. 6 22 - Josh. 12-14; 1 Cor. 7 23 - Josh. 15-17; 1 Cor. 8 24 - Josh. 18-20; 1 Cor. 9 25 - Josh. 21-22; Ps. 47; 1 Cor. 10 26 - Josh. 23-24; Ps. 44; 1 Cor. 11 27 - Judg. 1-3; 1 Cor. 12 28 - Judg. 4-5; Ps. 39, 41; 1 Cor. 13 29 - Judg. 6-7; Ps. 52; 1 Cor. 14 30 - Judg. 8; Ps. 42; 1 Cor. 15 31 - Judg. 9-10; Ps. 49; 1 Cor. 16
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First Kidz - Children’s Choir
Children’s Choir Sings @ 11am services the following Sunday’s: March 29 April 26 May 17
Children’s Choir practice Wednesday evenings @ The Gathering, 6-7pm email Elizabeth, egarvin@fumca.org for more details
Save The Date:
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Help us collect 500 gallon milk jugs with lids for VBS. Bring to the church office.
$10
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Letter to the Editor: Ask and Ye Shall Receive A few weeks ago, a “ community” person I know asked me to help her find a replacement for the delapidated bike she was trying to use to get around. I put a note on a Facebook page where folks buy, sell and trade items, got no responses. Didn’t think about it too much, with other things on my mind. And Dang it, she asked me again if I had any leads on her bike! I could have kicked myself for not working harder on the need she had! You know what I mean? You may have heard something like this before: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.“ Well, I sure wasn’t doing it! I had done nothing else about that bike and was caught up in my own little world. Well, you might also have heard “Seek and ye shall find.” I jumped on my regular Facebook site and asked if anyone had a bike they weren’t using and within one hour a dear friend fellow church member and all round good person responded! Hallelujah and Hooray! Not only am I off the hook for dragging my feet and being just a wee bit too selfcentered, but a really nice person in a great deal of need is going to get a big ole blessing from our church through a friend of mine. And my friend will have given this person such freedom and ability to move forward in her life, it is incredible. It’s not just the bike, it’s the giving and the caring and the loving that is being shown to a fellow human being who is struggling, who has a need and who now will see what a great God we have to give us this opportunity to serve him, “for whatever you do to the least of these you do also to me.” It’s turning out to be a great day! -Susan McConnell
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Kimberly Deshotels Austin Heard Kayla Perry Ronald Slipman Suzanne Williams
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Max Gassiott
Cale Smith Cathy Wicker
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Hannah Haskins Walter LaCroix
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Trey Brooks Mary Ivey Abbey Williams Jane Woolf
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Jack Ewing Ludi Harris
Bettye Benten Kenneth Edwards Josh Hyde Kirk Vizzier Dayton McCann Jayson Perry Kristen Shumate
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Tess Taylor
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Sean Davis Pat Puckett Clint Ward Lisa Lauve Kirk Cooper Kathryn Dammon Cole Debevec Grant Hislop Addie Nance Rhonda Ranson Bill Sumrall
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Bobbie Owens Evan Sanders
Jackson Bacon Tess Brown Janice Hayes Annie Portwood Julian Zona
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Paul Dauzat Sherry Murphy John Reed Sara Crocker Cameron Thornton
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Mike Murphy William Seeling Benjamin Cathey Katie Dyke David Berry Patty Eskew Jimmy Logsdon Lisbeth Munsterman
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Caroline Adams Garrett Mayo
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Janna Foret Billy Liberto Cheryl Sooter
Lindsey Daniel John Davidson Andrea Warren Barbara Wildman Taylor Perry Lilly Touchet
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Barbara Carlton Sara Dantzler Cathy Robinson
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John Cathey Jean Lohrey
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Rod Baronet Trey Carlton
Kitchen Talk BY Wayne McConnell
Greetings, it has been a while since I wrote to ya’ll. I was suffering from a virus, my first major sickness in 6 years, I felt awful, but I’m over that. It has been (and is) a winter that has seen much sickness among everyone. I have some news that you may have heard or not. By the time you read this, I will have stepped down as the cook for the Wednesday night Gathering. February 18th is my last time to cook. Several factors have come into play to bring this about. First, my family is purchasing a house in Pineville. This will take up my time and energy, establishing a new home and building new gardens. There are also health concerns. My angina has become more prominent. My doctor suggested that maybe I should consider not working on my feet 10 hours in a day (I reluctantly have come to agree with him). I have become tired. I enjoyed cooking for the Gathering and
I thank those individuals who came to help me recently. I don’t know who will take over the task of cooking for the Gathering - whoever it is, enjoy their efforts. This is my final Kitchen Talk article. I’ve enjoyed having a platform from which I could share my views on food and nutrition. I feel that God has led me into this vocation and that He wants our church to address the issue of hunger in our community, whether through feeding the hungry or providing them with food (staples) or teaching them to grow their own food. I’ll see you in the dining room on Wednesday nights; remember to eat your veggies (& fruit), eat natural (not processed), support local agriculture, shun GMO food at all cost, be kind, and feed the hungry (no one deserves to be hungry). God bless you and know that you are loved. Love ya’ll.
The Seekers Sunday School Class donated proceeds from their annual Super Bowl Party fundraiser to Thrive Student Youth (Dylan Reed, Director of Student Ministries in the blue shirt) and The Good Book Project (cover image) on Sunday, February 8, 2015.
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For Sunday Hospitality, to help be an usher, greeter, scripture reader or communion server. It’s easy to sign up online at VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/76PkFp.