From the Pastor… (Page 8)
Helping Those in Need
First Church Family, Last Thursday, in a conversation with our Pete Kidder, Caldwell Habitat for Humanity executive director, I came to understand that: there are houses within a mile of our church where families with children live on dirt floors. more than 7,000 houses in our county are heated by portable kerosene heaters and by opening the oven. 7,764 families in our county spend almost one-third of their total income on housing. and many mobile homes in our county are so poorly insulated that…
April News
First Church Family, It’s finally spring! I pray you are experiencing new life in Christ as we are reminded of God’s restoration of the earth after a long, dark, cold winter? One of the most important things we do as Methodists is participate in the ministry of the church worldwide. Paying our Apportionments is a way we participate. Recently, our District Superintendent wrote us about our faithfulness. United Methodist Church family, Congratulations and thank you for your…
Youth and Ministry
First Church Family, I pray you are in good health and spirits. Important things are happening in our church family. Over the past weeks, we have sought to recharge our youth ministry. During the past two years of COVID restraints, our Tara Hatton led us well. In the couple of months since she left the program to take better care of her family, we have prayed about moving forward and asked our congregation to assist us in recommitting ourselves to supporting a strong youth program. …
Spring Is Coming
First Church Family, I pray that you are enjoying seeing March flowers bloom. Spring will be here soon! Our Lenten worship theme is “The Bible: Full of Failures”, with a special focus on those who failed Jesus leading up to His Crucifixion. All of our worship will be directing us to a powerful experience of Holy Week, beginning on Palm/Passion Sunday, and extending through Easter Sunday, April 17. Please put the date of Palm/Passion Sunday, April 10, on your calendars…
March News
First Church Family, I pray that you are enjoying seeing March flowers burst through the ground. Spring will be here soon! I know it’s early, but I want to share several things with you about Lent, which begins on Wednesday, March 2, and continues through Saturday, April 9. A service of Dispensation of Ashes will be held on Ash Wednesday, at 6:00pm in our Sanctuary. All persons, regardless of age or membership, are invited. Our Lenten…
Moving Forward
Dear First Church Family, After a couple of icy mornings, we’re beginning to see the sun. And what a pleasant surprise that has been! About twenty-five students, parents, and grandparents stayed after church Sunday to begin the conversation of moving forward with our youth program. It was a good meeting. We all want the program to move forward productively; and we will see to it that will happen. I have already had preliminary interviews with two youth leader candidates who could…
Being a Blessing
Dear First Church Family, As I write this on Groundhog’s Day morning, the sun is out… oh goodness, another six weeks of winter! This past Sunday was our Tara Hatton’s last official Sunday as our Director of Youth and Family Ministry. Tara has done a wonderful job with us and hasbecome an integral part of our church family and our leadership team. Tara has shared that she will continue to worship and serve with us on a volunteer basis. What a…
February News
First Church Family, When February begins, we celebrate the half-way mark of winter. And we’ve felt its fury over the past weeks with snow, ice, and bitter cold. I enjoy every season, but I must say that I’m looking forward to seeing daffodils burst through the ground in the next weeks. In worship during February, we will be talking about performing a “check-up” on our spiritual lives. So many people get caught up in what I termed the…
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Founder
Dear First Church Family, Wow have I missed you! When our leadership and I made the decision to not have worship this past weekend because of the winter storm, I prayed that God would use the time to create a hunger among us for being in worship in-person. After all, as the old adage says: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That certainly was true for me. And I pray that it was the same for you. Though we made…
Snow Day Policy
First Church Family,While no weather report is ever perfect three days out, every report we are seeing projects a 100% chance for very cold temperatures and heavy snow on Sunday. Coupled with the fact that several staff members and families are sick, and that we don’t wish to put anyone (lay volunteers, staff, and potential attendees) in dangerous situations on Sunday, most likely we will not have services, or even an online worship presence. We will confirm this decision on Saturday, via email and on our…
We’ll Miss You
Dear First Church Family, I pray you have enjoyed moving over into 2022. Our Youth and Family Ministries Director, Tara Hatton, writes the following note to us: The past two years have brought challenges and hardships to each of us. In my own personal life, 2021 was the most difficult year I’ve yet to experience. In January, issues in my marriage came to light which led to many months of stress and turmoil culminating in separation in August. My husband,…
Happy New Year!
First Church Family: In early December, upon embarking on an Advent adventure we called: “Christmas Is Not Our Birthday,” I shared with you that our leadership team approved a Christmas program that requested financial gifts be contributed to something Jesus would want for His birthday: the access of clean drinking water for His children. Several members of our team researched and vetted four different non-profit well-drilling entities who help communities that have no access to clean water gain that access and chose a long-standing non-profit:…