'COVID' Tagged Posts
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. …
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…
All Saints’ Sunday
First Church Family, Over the past weeks, our worship focus has been on promises God makes to us, all across the Scriptures. Perhaps, the most significant promise is that of spending eternity with God in heaven because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the Cross and God’s redemptive act through Jesus’ Resurrection. This Sunday, November 7, is All Saints’ Day; a time we will recall the lives of those members of our congregation who have gone before us into God’s heavenly presence during the…
God’s Earthly Paradise
First Church Family, I’ve shared several times that I love this time of year. September and October are glorious here in God’s earthly paradise. Let’s be sure not to forget to offer God our gratitude. Thank you for your partnership in ministry. We delivered 482 pounds of food to Yokefellow yesterday! And we have a load of snacks for our college food ministry at CCC&TI ready to deliver, as well. Soon, we will restock our West Caldwell High School. And, we served…
First Day of Autumn
First Church Family, Blessings to you on this first day of Autumn! The temperature is supposed to dip into the 40s tomorrow night. I can’t wait for that! I pray that you are living life to its fullest as we move into the final quarter of 2021. We are healthy as a congregation overall, and are striving to not let fear paralyze us over virus concerns. We continue to invite persons to join us for in-person worship. The vast majority of…
Slowing Down
First Church Family, It’s good to have settled back in after some days away. I’m using this brief message to share several important updates with you: Ivey is away with family this week, so many phone calls will be going to our staff voicemails. We will respond to your messages while she is away. The office will be back up and running this coming Monday. The wave of the Delta variant of COVID has forced us to slow down returning…
September News
Dear First Church Family, I pray this newsletter finds you in good health and spirits. This past week has had its share of bad news: chaos and death in Afghanistan after our troop withdrawal, pain and loss in Haiti in the after-math of a powerful earthquake, flash flooding in western North Carolina and Tennessee that took lives and destroyed property, and rising COVID numbers in our community and state. I shared recently that September is one of my favorite months…
Trust in God
First Church Family, Monday is my sabbath. It is then that I take care of my gardens, catch up on devotional reading, and spend time with my family and friends. This past Monday I worked outside, canned vegetables for the winter, and caught up on some family things. But also, I monitored the plight of Haitians trying to recover from its latest challenge, watched in disbelief as Afghanistan was quickly turned back over to an oppressive regime, received information that our…
VBS Report
First Church Family, This week our Christian Life Center has been abuzz with children participating in our first Vacation Bible School in two years. The experience has been wonderful. Titled: “Rocky Mountain Railway,” together we have learned about the power of God, which is available in all areas of our lives. Many thanks to our Tara Hatton and Jamie Jones for their wonderful leadership; to our Danny Clark, who has gotten our facility ready to receive our volunteers and children…
Summertime News
First Church Family, What a wonderful respite we have had from the heat this week! Though I know the temperatures are going to rise again, this week has made me look forward to fall. Over the past days we have hired exceptional replacements for our Melanie Anderson and her assistant in our Robbins Preschool. Kendra Stuebe, from Christ Methodist Church in Hickory, will serve as our New Director and Lead Teacher. She has experience in the field and appropriate degrees and credentials. Our own…
4th of July Weekend
First Church Family, I pray you are having a safe and enjoyable lead up to the 4th of July weekend. I am looking forward to Sunday, when we will actually worship on Independence Day, at 10:00AM in our beautiful Sanctuary. The service will focus on God’s presence with us through Holy Communion. We will sing patriotic Christian hymns, and have our FUMC orchestra play patriotic music. Please don’t miss it. I’ve been asked if we could say the “Pledge of Allegiance” during the service.…
Preschool and VBS
First Church Family,At times, we think of summer as a period of time to relax, vacation, and get ready for the fall. While all of those dreams are partially fulfilled during this time, we are FUMC are incredibly busy following God’s plan. By now you certainly have heard that Melanie Anderson, our Robbins Pre-School Director of 27 years, is retiring this summer. Melanie leadership has kept our program at the top of the list of great pre-school programs in our county, and will be…