firstunited methodistchurch With you on your journey Alternative Christmas Market, November 8 and 15

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1 With you on your journey Volume 39 Issue 22 October 22, 2015 Alternative Christmas Market, November 8 and 15 Outlet mall too crowded? Forgot to clip the coupon in the paper? Online shopping lonely? The SERVE committee invites you to shop til you drop at the annual FUMC Alternative Christmas Market, November 8 & 15, 8:30am-12:30pm, Fellowship Hall. Free parking! No coupons needed! No crowds! Our vendors include the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, Heifer Project International, Red Sari, Arkansas Rice Depot, Harmony Health Clinic, the Child Development Center and many FUMC projects. They will be with you on your journey as you start the holiday season. By purchasing gifts that give twice, you can honor your friends and family by contributing much needed assistance to many local, regional and global United Methodist-supported programs. Credit/debit cards accepted and even real money! Join us for a stress free shopping experience. To volunteer please contact Jane Harkey, jane.harkey@sbcglobal.net, , or Patty Barker, pbarker7215@yahoo.com, IN THIS ISSUE: NEWS Town Hall Meeting and Charge Conference November 8th at 4 pm KIDS@FIRST Sign up now to help with the Children s Forum! YOUTH It s time to register for Ozark Mission Project! MUSIC Guest Choir on October 25th Arkansas Tech University Chamber Choir MISSION & OUTREACH Special early bird coffee offer! MISSION COVENANT Our promise is to be with you on your journey. Our purpose is to love God, love others, and change the world. Our mission is to be an inclusive downtown congregation that builds Christian community where people experience God s transforming grace. 723 Center Street Little Rock, Arkansas firstunited methodistchurch DOWNTOWN LITTLE ROCK

2 CHURCH CALENDAR: October 25th - November 7th Sunday, October 25th 8:30 am - First Light (Chapel) 9:00 am - First Word (Cokesbury Center) 9:15 am - Children s Choir (Rm) 9:45 am - Sunday School 11:00 am - First Tradition (Sanctuary) 12:00 pm - Connect the Rock for Youth 3:00 pm - Harvest Festival (24311 Kanis Road) 5:00 pm - First Youth (Youth Studio) Monday, October 26th 12:00 pm - UMW Faulkner Circle (Fellowship Hall) 6:00 pm - Meditation Group (Prayer Room) Tuesday, October 27th 7:00 am - Tuesday Study Group (Rm 204) 9:00 am - Sew & Serve (Rm 207) 9:30 am - AR United Methodist Museum Opens 12:00 pm - StewPot (First Presbyterian) 12:00 pm - CDC Council Meeting (Rm 210) 5:30 pm - East Side Alanon Family Group (Rm 205) 5:30 pm - FANN Meeting (Fellowship Hall) 6:00 pm - UMW Sarah Circle (3429 Buckhorn Trail) Wednesday, October 28th 9:00 am - CDC Chapel (Chapel) 5:30 pm - Center Street Ringers (Rm 250) 5:30 pm - SWAG (Youth Studio) 7:00 pm - Chancel Choir Rehearsal (Rm 258) Thursday, October 29th 12:00 pm - Thursday Bible Study (Rm 204) 1:00 pm - Sew & Serve (Rm 207) 5:30 pm - First Word Band Rehearsal (Cokesbury Center) 6:00 pm - Color Me Calm (Rm 209) 7:00 pm - Ensemble Rehearsal (Lickerts Home) Saturday, October 31st Don t forget to set your clocks back one hour, Daylight Savings! Sunday, November 1st 8:30 am - First Light (Chapel) 9:00 am - First Word (Cokesbury Center) 9:15 am - Children s Choir (Rm) 9:45 am - Sunday School 11:00 am - First Tradition (Sanctuary) 12:00 pm - Lunch with the Staff (Fellowship Hall) 5:00 pm - First Youth (Youth Studio) Monday, November 2nd 5:00 pm - Staff Parish Relations Committee Tuesday, November 3rd 7:00 am - Tuesday Study Group (Rm 204) 9:00 am - Sew & Serve (Rm 207) 9:30 am - AR United Methodist Museum Opens 5:30 pm - East Side Alanon Family Group (Rm 205) Wednesday, November 4th 9:00 am - CDC Chapel (Chapel) 5:30 pm - Center Street Ringers (Rm 250) 5:30 pm - SWAG (Youth Studio) 6:00 pm - Stewardship Leadership Dinner (Cokesbury Center) 7:00 pm - Chancel Choir Rehearsal (Rm 258) Thursday, November 5th 12:00 pm - PALS Journey Group (First Cup Cafe) 12:00 pm - Pastor s Bible Study (Rm 204) 1:00 pm - Sew & Serve (Rm 207) 5:30 pm - First Word Band Rehearsal (Cokesbury Center) 6:00 pm - Color Me Calm (Rm 209) 7:00 pm - Ensemble Rehearsal (Holt s Home) Friday, November 6th 6:00 pm - Refuge Retreat for Youth Begins NEWS & EVENTS Charge Conference & Town Hall Meeting Sunday, November 8th, 4-6 pm Come hear where God is leading us. Sunday, November 8th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., we will hold our annual Charge Conference meeting by celebrating what God has done through us over the past three years and looking forward at the vision God is laying in front of us. We will conduct our yearly charge conference business such as voting on 2016 leadership. There will also be a time of town hall style question and answer. Join us for the Town Hall and Charge Conference meeting to hear all the great things that lay ahead for First Church and the important role you play. United Methodist Women Faulkner Circle Monday, October 27, at Noon Our next meeting will be on Monday, October 26, 2015 at noon in the Fellowship Hall. Bring your lunch and join us for fellowship and the mission study. Mary Ann McKuin will lead the study and discussion for Chapter One of Latin America: People and Faith. Also, bring your donations for the Christmas Store at Cookson Hills. The Stones and Carol Sherer will deliver the donations on Thursday, October 29. You are invited to the United Methodist Women Sarah Circle Tuesday, October 27, at 6:30 pm at the home of Carol Sherer, 3428 Buckhorn Trail After dinner our speaker will be Paula Johnson. She will be talking about FLAME - Funding Loans as Ministry to Entrepreneurs. This is a microlending ministry by which our church makes small loans to individuals, mainly women, who would otherwise be unable to get one. Paula uses the webbased to make loans as small as $25 to specific entrepreneurs in different parts of the world who can not get a regular loan. As the money is repaid, it is recycled to other entrepreneurs. We will hear how much has been loaned over the years since the beginning of FLAME in 2007 and to whom some of these loans have been given. All funding for FLAME comes through donations by individuals. Carol Sherer at clsherer@hotmail.com or call at if you can come. Hospitality & Sound Booth Volunteers Needed! First Church strives to be warm and friendly to all those that walk through our doors! However, we need more volunteers on Sunday mornings! Please see the list below, register to volunteer online at Answer phones for a 1 or 2 hour shift on Sunday morning. Serve on the Hospitality Team and greet for 1 shift every 5-6 weeks. Deliver Journey Bags to first-time guests on Sunday after church.

3 Sign Up Today to Help Children s Forum (November 17-19) We need people to sign-up for 2 hours shifts especially Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday until 3:00 pm to help our guests maneuver our building. Sign up here to help: Preschool Chapel You are invited to 9:00 am Wednesday chapel for CDC students and church preschoolers. Stay-at-home moms, dads and friends are invited to attend with their 3-5 year olds. Our chapel is located on the 2nd floor. Announcing Shop and Drop! Christmas shop while your child discovers the Joy of Christmas through games, crafts and snacks! Dec. 5th, Noon 4pm. Games, Crafts, & Snacks. Cost: Early Bird by 11/22 - $10 per child/ $20 max per family. After 11/22 - $15 per child/ $25 max per family. Register online fumclr.org/registrations. Save the Date: To visit a very special guest from the North Pole on Dec. 5:00 pm. More details about that event to come! LINK Junior Leadership Joins our F.L.A.M.E. Ministry This past Sunday, our own Paula Johnson met with our tweens and explained FUMC s F.L.A.M.E. Ministry (Funding Loans As Ministry to Entrepreneurs). She presented them with two $25 gift cards to begin their support of those around the world who need resources to better their lives. They developed their own address and password, so they can follow the process and make further loans. These LINKs are our 4th-6th graders, folks. Let s thank God for their huge hearts! And thanks to Paula for bring them this opportunity! Loan #1 (kiva.org loan ) Agriculture: $25 to Susana in the Philippines. She has requested a loan to buy feed and other supplies for her livestock. Loan #2 (kiva.org loan ) Retail, Renewable Energy Products: $25 to Gloria a member of Christ Our Lord Group in Ghana. She is 27 years old and a single parent who lives with her three year old child and three relatives. She has requested a loan to purchase Elsa stoves for resale in her retail business. Interfaith Library at FUMC, Opening Nov. 15th A new Interfaith and Ecumenical Library will open Sunday, November 15 at First United Methodist Church, 723 Center Street, in downtown Little Rock. The library is a joint project of FUMC s Serve the World Committee and Interfaith Arkansas. The library will serve as a center where books about different religions and faith traditions may be stored, studied and shared for the purpose of promoting dialogue, understanding and cooperation with those of different faiths. There will be two events on November 15th at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Both events will feature a lecture by Dr. Harbans Lal on the Sikh tradition and interfaith relations. At the afternoon program there will also be a brief celebratory service with various representatives of the different faith traditions. Both events will be held in the chapel next door to the new interfaith library.

4 FIRST YOUTH Sunday Night Youth 5:00-5:35 Snack Supper, 5:45-6:15 Large Group 6:20-7:00 Break-Outs (7-8th Confirmation- Worship/ 9-12th Grade - An Epic Project ) Sunday Morning at the Movies This month we are watching Big Hero 6 during the Sunday school hour. Come hang out, eat popcorn and watch part of this fun movie every Sunday this month from 9:45-10:50 am. Find out how a movie about a robot personal health care companion relates to our faith and how we can live out our faith in our lives. Ozark Mission Project Though we are entering the holiday season, I know many of you are already planning your schedules for next summer. One of the opportunities our youth have each summer is OMP. This week long mission trip has always been a popular event not only with our church, but also with many other UMCs around the state. Registration for OMP opened recently and many of the more desirable camps will fill up quickly. In the past we have reserved spots at one or two camps and everything worked fine. Given the dynamic of our group and the crazy schedules we all have, we cannot continue to simply reserve spots and hope that they are filled. Starting this year, OMP will not give any refunds. Last year, we paid for 2 spots that we didn t end up filling due to last minute drop outs. I have to be the one to register students from our church, but you can go to their online and see what spots are left by going to I will do whatever I can to help get students registered for Ozark Mission Project camps this year, but I can t do that without your commitment. THIRD AGERS Noontime Book Review Tuesday, November 10 As part of the Third Agers Group (TAG) program, Greenville South Carolina author, Sue Lile Inman, will be our special guest. The program is open to all members and friends. Sue, raised in Little Rock, is the sister of John Lile. She will review her first full-length novel, titled The Year of the Snake: Set that year in a fictional southern town, it focuses on a crisis-filled year in the life of the senior minister of Harmony Presbyterian Church. Well-developed characters and an intrigue-filled plot are centered within...a beautiful meditation on the nature and complexity of faith, according to Ron Rash, author of Serena and Nothing Gold Can Stay. Sue Inman, a lifelong Presbyterian and church elder, graduated with a B. A. in English from Agnes Scott College. Her M. A. in English is from Clemson University where she taught rhetoric and literature courses; she also taught at Furman University. She was a founder of Emrys literary journal and served as its first editor. Retired from college teaching, she now leads Writing-on-the- Spot workshops two semesters a year. Her published poetry books include Voice Lessons, 1998 and Miriam in the Wilderness, Just as the late and beloved Katie Rice did for our church, Sue is the author of the history of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she and her husband Sam are longtime members. A deli lunch for $10.00 per person will begin at 11:45 am on Tuesday November 10th in the Fellowship Hall. The program will begin at 12:15 and will include a time for questions and discussion before closing by 1:30 pm. If you prefer, you may bring your own lunch, or not eat at all, though reservations are requested for seating purposes. Call the church office, or Kassandra Johnson kjohnson@fumclr.org, to make a reservation. Questions? Call Pat Lile, or lilepm@sbcglobal.net. Sanctuary Flowers - Reserve Today! Providing sanctuary flowers is a beautiful way to celebrate loved ones. Not only do the flowers provide beauty on Sunday morning, they also provide a powerful ministry through the Flower Girls. On Monday morning the flowers are re-arranged into smaller vases and delivered to our hospitalized and homebound members and friends by the Flower Girls. In an effort to provide this opportunity to our entire church family, all dates in 2016 are currently open. If you would like to place flowers in honor or memory of loved ones on a specific date or occasion, call Kassandra Johnson in the church office at or send her an , kjohnson@fumclr.org.

5 MISSION & OUTREACH Special Early Bird Coffee Offer An order for the Alternative Christmas Market will be placed with Equal Exchange, our Fair Trade wholesale company, from whom we purchase our coffee on October 29th. If you want to special order a box of 6 bags of coffee, please contact or at afalkowski@fumclr.org. Call for flavors available. You will be able to pick up your order and pay for it at the Alternative Christmas Market. Communion Sunday - November 1st Tiffany had to leave for Oklahoma City to be with her daughter and her family. She was having death threats from her drug addicted husband and his friends. Her family purchased a ticket for her and she would leave on the coming Saturday. She received word that her husband would be returning earlier than expected on Friday. I was taking a client to the bus depot on Thursday, and walked to the counter where she was unsuccessfully trying to change her ticket. She turned toward me, surprising both of us, with wet eyes, not knowing how she would pay for a new ticket. Our church purchased it then and there. I had assisted her in successfully finding work a month earlier. She contacted me soon after her arrival to tell me that she was safe and starting a new job. How was it possible that I would be there at that time and place? How wonderful that we were able to provide for her need. We are frequently blessed with these God Thing opportunities. Thank you for supporting this ministry. Anthony Falkowski, Director of Mission and Outreach FRIENDS & FAMILY Thank You To my Church Family: Thank you for your prayers, phone calls and cards following my surgery. Full recovery is taking longer than I expected, but I am making good progress. I have another MRI scheduled in November and will know more then. I am blessed to have such wonderful support from you and I am look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you for your continued prayers. Donna Jackson REMINDER: Set your clocks back one hour Saturday Night, October 31st when you go to bed! Sympathy To Brian and Terri Kinder and family following the death of Brian s mother, Virginia Kinder on Oct 15th. To the family of Floy Luppen following her death on October 8th. Memorials & Honorariums The Memorials and Honorariums from October 6th-21st will be listed in the next newsletter that will be published on November 5th. MUSIC NOTES Children s Choir Advent Rehearsals: Sundays 9:15-45 November 15, 22, 29 December 6, 13 and 20th Children s Choir Will Sing December 20th 11am First Tradition Service FUMC Awarded Grant for New Stove On Tuesday, 10/20, Representative Warwick Sabin presented FUMC a check for $2,000 to assist in purchasing a new stove for our kitchen. This Mini Grant was made possible through the state General Improvement Funds as recommended by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. Our church members, Patty Barker and Kathy Webb, lead the Alliance team. We will be using this new stove for our various Food ministry events, such as Cooking Matters, UMW luncheons, Pancake breakfasts, etc. Many thanks to our various volunteers as well who support all of these ministries, especially Elaine Bultena, chair of the Food Ministry program. Ring with the Center Street Ringers! It is not too late to join and ring for Christmas! If you have wanted to ring and never thought you had a chance here it is! We meet on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 pm. If you are interested, please John Churchwell at jlchurchwell@ fumclr.org. WEEKLY BIBLE READINGS October 25-22nd Sunday after Pentecost: Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8, 19-22; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52 November 1-23rd Sunday after Pentecost: Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44

6 firstunited methodistchurch LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS The First United Methodist In the First Place (USPS ) is published every other week for a total of 26 issues by the First United Methodist Church, 723 Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas Editor, David Freeman ; Managing Editor, Lesley Andrews; Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas. www. fumclr.org. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FUMC In The First Place, 723 Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID LITTLE ROCK, AR Follow us! facebook.com/fumclr The next issue of In the First Place will be published on November 5, Submission deadline is November 1.