First United Methodist Newsletter ~ Starke, FL May, 2017 Welcome! This monthly newsletter will help keep you informed about the exciting things happening at our church. For a mailed copy, please call the church office. (904) 964-6864
A WORD FROM PASTOR MIKE I have shared with you from the pulpit that I am serving on the District Superintendents Operational Team. I am one of 12 from our district that are looking at churches that are dying and we have the difficult task to see why and to find ways to save then or close them. I want to share with you an article from Thom Rainer. What he said broke my heart. The good news, however, is that we are one of 5 out of 70 churches that have been cited as a church with promise that will be here for years. In the next 4 years, these are expected to be the fastest growing. But we still have to work together to keep the growth. Ask someone to church every day! Another church closed. This church had unbelievable potential. Indeed, it had its own “glory days,” but only for a season. But, 10 years ago, few would have predicted this church’s closure. Today, it is but another statistic in the ecclesiastical graveyard. I know. We don’t compromise doctrine. I know. We must never say we will change God’s Word. But many of our congregations must change. They must change or they will die. I call these churches “the urgent church.” Time is of the essence. If changes do not happen soon, very soon, these churches will die. The pace of congregational death is accelerating. What, then, are some of the key changes churches must make? Allow me to give you a fair warning. None of them are easy. Indeed, they are only possible in God’s power. Here are nine of them: 1. We must stop bemoaning the death of cultural Christianity. Such whining does us no good. Easy growth is simply not a reality for many churches. People no longer come to a church because they believe they must do so to be culturally accepted. The next time a church member says, “They know where we are; they can come here if they want to,” rebuke him. Great Commission Christianity is about going; it’s not “y’all come.” 2. We must cease seeing the church as a place of comfort and stability in the midst of rapid change. Certainly, God’s truth is unchanging. So we do find comfort and stability in that reality. But don’t look to your church not to change methods, approaches, and human-made traditions. Indeed, we must learn to be uncomfortable in the world if we are to make a difference. “We’ve never done it that way before,” is a death declaration.
3. We must abandon the entitlement mentality. Your church is not a country club where you pay dues to get your perks and privileges. It is a gospel outpost where you are to put yourself last. Don’t seek to get your way with the music, temperature, and length of sermons. Here is a simple guideline: Be willing to die for the sake of the gospel. That’s the opposite of the entitlement mentality. 4. We must start doing. Most of us like the idea of evangelism more than we like doing evangelism. Try a simple prayer and ask God to give you gospel opportunities. You may be surprised how He will use you. 5. We must stop using biblical words in unbiblical ways. “Discipleship” does not mean caretaking. “Fellowship” does not mean entertainment. 6. We must stop focusing on minors. Satan must delight when a church spends six months wrangling over a bylaw change. That’s six months of gospel negligence. 7. We must stop shooting our own. This tragedy is related to the entitlement mentality. If we don’t get our way, we will go after the pastor, the staff member, or the church member who has a different perspective than our own. We will even go after their families. Don’t let bullies and perpetual critics control the church. Don’t shoot our own. It’s not friendly fire. 8. We must stop wasting time in unproductive meetings, committees, and business sessions. Wouldn’t it be nice if every church member could only ask one question or make one comment in a meeting for every time he or she has shared his or her faith the past week? 9. We must become houses of prayer. Stated simply, we are doing too much in our own power. We are really busy, but we are not doing the business of God. Around 200 churches will close this week, maybe more. The pace will accelerate unless our congregations make some dramatic changes. The need is urgent. Hear me well, church leaders and church members. For many of your churches the choice is simple: change or die. Time is running out. Please, for the sake of the gospel, forsake yourself and make the changes in God’s power. Thom Rainer (website: President, LifeWay Christian Resources) is the president of LifeWay Christian Resources and the co-author of Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
Congratulations to our amazing 2017 High School Graduates We couldn’t be more proud! • • • • • • • •
McKenzie Dougherty (BHS) Ty Hamilton (UCHS) Pierson Lewis (KHHS) Maddie Miller (BHS) Kassady Perkinson (BHS) John Propes (BHS) Tessa Ricker (Eastside High) Elizabeth Whitaker (Homeschool High School Program & Santa Fe College)
CHURCH DIRECTORY PROGRESS A BIG THANKS to everyone who had their photos taken during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday. If you missed those dates don’t panic because we will set up the photo booth again on Mother’s Day, May 14, prior to and followig both services. Signups are available in the Firehouse Cafe. Although the cost of the directory is $10, You don’t have to purchase a directory to be in it. Why be in the directory? We want to know who you are. Putting a name with a face is a way to build relationships within our church body. If you’ve been attending FUMC for 5 months, 5 years or 25 years we would like to see your smiling face in the directory. The photo is very casual and no one will be calling you afterwards or trying to sell you prints. We encourage EVERYONE to have your photo taken. We can forgive without reconciliation, but we can’t reconcile without forgiveness. The insignia of the world is hatred – the badge of the believer is forgiveness.” Mike Moore
THIS SUNDAY – April 30th - please celebrate with Susan and Daryl O’Neal as their baby is baptized during the 9:45 service. CONGRATULATIONS to Terry and Mary Carver who joined the church last Sunday, April 23rd. Terry & Jennifer Vaughn served as sponsors. If you wish to join the First Methodist family, please see Pastor Mike. April was a busy but exciting month in the Kids’ Ministry. Many thanks to everyone who supported our efforts during the Strawberry Festival. The homemade pound cakes were a hit, we sold out of strawberry shortcake on both days, and this ended up being an amazing fundraiser for our group. The Kids’ Ministry sincerely thanks all our helpers, we had an amazing team! Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter were fun times for all our kids. They made crafts, worked on service projects, and learned about the love of Jesus. For those of you wondering about the Egg Hunt… 6,000 eggs were hidden and found at the parsonage! With 150+ guests it was definitely a success. Thank you to everyone who donated candy and supplies, we appreciate you. A huge shout out to the folks who stuffed those eggs and to the youth who came out to hide them. THANK YOU!!! May is upon us and summer vacation is right around the corner. Which means we are now planning for Vacation Bible School! VBS is scheduled for June 19th- June 22nd, for kids in Pre-K up to 5th grade, we will be doing VBS in the evenings again. We need volunteers so please see Shannon Whitaker if you’re interested in being part of that team. The theme this year is “Maker Fun Factory – Created by God, Built for a Purpose”. This is a fun community outreach that makes a difference in the lives of our children.
Did you know? Our Starke UMW group provides gift cards on the birthdays of every child being served by the Bradford/ Baker Guardian ad Litem program.
~ UNITED STUDENT MINISTRY ~ MAY Sunday May 7 - FIREHOUSE 6 - 8 PM Sunday May 14 - NO YOUTH (Mothers Day) Sunday, May 21 – Service to honor our Graduates Sunday May 21 - UNITED May Event (TBD: Rebounderz Trampoline Warehouse or Beach Trip) Sunday May 28 - NO YOUTH (Bradford Graduation & Memorial Day Weekend)
In addition, for many years our UMW group has sold RADA knives and raised thousands of dollars for missions. You may have a few yourself! Perhaps you received a set of steak knives for your wedding?. To see a catalogue or order knives, please call Carolyn Eaves 904-964-5812 or find her on Sundays in the nursery. The Tomato Slicer is the 2nd most popular knife.
FUMC PRAYER GROUP
**Upcoming Events** June 19 – 22 – Vacation Bible School July 24-28 2017 - Confirmation Week for rising 6th graders and above
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN Have you wondered just what kinds of activities the women of the church are involved with? Sunday, June 25th, will be a celebration of our United Methodist Women. Ladies will be assisting the pastor, ushers, and greeters for the services that morning. You’ll learn about the mission work and contributions made by the UMW to our community.
PLEASE consider joining us. We meet every Thursday morning to pray for all of those listed in the Sunday Bulletin under Prayer Concerns. Our group meets at 10 AM in the Conference Room. We pray for those in the hospital, those experiencing ongoing physical or emotional challenges, and those experiencing grief due to loss. We pray regularly for our church, schools, and community. If you wish for prayers, please notify LaTanya at the church office. Our group will keep your requests private if you wish. If you are aware of an answered prayer regarding someone on the Prayer Concern list, we urge you to also call so that we can offer thanks in our prayers.For more information, contact Laurie Mullins.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT DINNER MENU – MAY
5/3 5/10 5/17 5/24 5/31
Baked Ham, Mac N Cheese, Green Beans, Rolls, Cookies Hamburgers, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Cobbler Baked Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Collard Greens, Cornbread, Cheesecake Meatloaf, Mash Potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls, Cookies Chicken Tenders, Black-eyed Peas, Rice Pilaf, Cornbread, Coconut Cake
CONNECTION TEAM We are so proud of all our Connection Team volunteers. It takes a large and dedicated team to make the various ministries of our church thrive. The list of helpers is long, but special thanks go to: Kathi Fellows and her team for the beautiful decorations in the Fellowship Hall, the Firehouse Café, and the sanctuary, Della and Patti Koehler for coordinating the food teams and Cindy Futch and Melba Johnson for their leadership with greeting teams for both services. There are so many great opportunities to serve; we would love for you join us. To join the Connection team, call LaTanya in the church office and someone will be in touch to help plug you in. GINA’S BLESSINGS UPDATE We are encouraged and grateful for the generosity and support of “The Well” project. The Fish Dinner fundraiser was a huge success! In just the past month, we have raised over $10,000 and we are now in sight of our goal. We now have a bid of $400.00 for the beautiful “Gina’s Blessings Quilt, and we plan to declare the winner the first week in May. The current high bid for the tickets to The Great Escape Room in Jacksonville is $50.00. We have 4 tickets available. The retail values of these tickets are over $100. This would make a wonderful gift. We believe it will be possible to celebrate the opening of the ”Well” on our trip to Loita Hills, Kenya this summer Our entire family (except for Kimmie) will make the
journey, including Gina’s children Morgan who is now 21, Colton and his wife Brooke. We are very happy and excited to share that we now have 80 at risk children attending high quality boarding schools due to the compassion and love from our sponsors. We will send tuition funds to Pastor Solomon in late April for the May term. If you are not already involved, we’d love for you to join the Gina’s Blessings family. Contact Bill or Tina, and check out our website, www.GinasBlessings.org for more details.
Brown bag lunch and Experiencing God bible study begins May 16th 11:00 – 12:00 in the Firehouse.
THE STEWARDSHIP DRIVE IS COMING! The Finance Committee is looking forward to sharing plans and dates for the upcoming drive very soon. Would you like to make a submission to this monthly newsletter? Please contact LaTanya by phone or email and she will notify the Newsletter Team. We ask that th you try to do this by the 15 of each month.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 200 N Walnut St. Starke, FL 32091 Church Office: (904) 964-6864 Senior Pastor: Mike Moore Secretary: Website:
LaTanya McBride http://firstumc.cc