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Dear Church Dear Church Family, Last week you should have received a pledge and volunteer commitment card in the mail. If you have not yet turned in your pledge card for 2013, I hope you will do so soon. We will consecrate all our pledge cards on December 9th, so please turn yours in by that weekend. You can do so at worship, through the mail, or online by clicking here. Every gift, large and small, is vital to the ministry of BUMC. If you are already tithing (giving the biblical standard of 10% of your income), I want to commend you for your faithfulness. If you are not tithing, I hope you will take a step in that direction this next year. For example, if you are currently giving 3% of your income, consider raising it to 4 or 5%. Our giving is an offering of worship to God, an investment in the significant ministries of BUMC, and therefore a sacred act of discipleship. Last weekend I preached a unique stewardship sermon, thanking the congregation for what you are already doing. If you missed worship, this is an important message for you to hear. If you would like to listen to the sermon via podcast, please click here. This weekend we will conclude our discipleship series, "Real Life Ahead," by focusing on service. We hope you will fill out your volunteer commitment card by this weekend and turn it in during one of our four weekend worship services. If you would like to see our service catalogue, explaining the various ways you can serve, or fill out your service commitment card online, please click here. Both your financial support and your voluntarism are crucial to the ministries at BUMC, so please turn in your commitments as soon as possible. When we became
members of BUMC, we promised God and the congregation that we would be faithful with our "prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness." Both our 2013 pledge cards and volunteer service cards are tangible ways to live out those sacred vows. Last Sunday, at the beginning of the Sunday school hour, BUMC dedicated the Billy Jim Vaughn Scout Memorial, located across from the main lobby entrance of the church. Many of you know that Billy Jim served as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop No. 1 for over seventy years. It is fitting therefore, that our church honor him in this significant way. The Boy Scout program had a profound positive influence on my life, so I'm very pleased with this development at our church, and am deeply grateful for the life and service of Mr. Vaughn. Finally, it was good to receive Braden and William Winstead as new members. Welcome to our church family. In Christ's Love and Service,
Martin