Mission Statement To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. THE PASTOR S PAGE

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1 DECEMBER 2017 First United Methodist Church of Wabash, Indiana F I R S T E D I T I O N Mission Statement To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Our Covenant Together: Love. Lead. Teach. Transform. THE PASTOR S PAGE 110 N. Cass Street, Wabash, IN As I write this, Harry Connick Jr. is crooning White Christmas and people are rumoring first measurable snow. We are talking holiday traditions and Thanksgiving is only a handful of days away. Tradition is important. We will travel to family time together in Toledo. We will celebrate good family and memories of those who are not with us. We will eat. We will laugh. We might watch football. I don't know. Regardless, we will be thankful. And then the Christmas madness will begin. We will bake and decorate. We will sing and send cards. We will watch White Christmas and giggle over Bing Crosby singing Sisters. We will wrap gifts and plot secretly. Through it all we will remember Jesus. We will remember that the God of heaven wrapped Himself in humanity. We will wonder at the Story once again. And the songs will gain greater meaning. The gifts reflect and remind us of the greatest Gift God ever gave. The food reverberates and reconstitutes a greater communion. Jesus will weave throughout our moments. How will Jesus be woven through your days? Shalom, Rev Kurt Senior Pastor - Rev. Kurt Freeman Pastor of Visitation - Rev. John Cook office.wabfirstumc@cinergymetro.net Telephone: (260)

2 LEADERSHIP CLASS Starting in January, 1st UMC will be holding a leadership development class. If you are interested, please indicate on the blue card. This will include reading a leadership book (Anatomy of Peace), studying some Stephen Covey principles from Speed of Trust, and Christian spiritual formation practices. My reasoning behind this is to develop leaders who lead our congregation and community from a deep well of tools based in Scripture and informed by well-developed practices. Please see Pastor Kurt if you have any questions. Thank you. FCJ FCJ Preconsultation will either be January 19 or 20th. More information will be coming. Additionally, the consultation weekend is tentatively being looked at for mid-february. I m waiting to hear from the Conference. Rev Kurt THE ACCESS IS HAVING A BLANKET DRIVE I cannot tell you how many times we go to homes and blankets are a requested item; particularly around this time of year. We are going to try to collect as many NEW blankets as we can between Thanksgiving and December 8th. We will then distribute them during our Community Holiday Dinner on December 9th and deliver any that we have left over. Our goal is 100 blankets. Drop off sites: The Access, First United Methodist church or Modoc s. Thanks to everyone for your support of The Access. Liz Hobbs, Executive Director The Access Youth Center

3 YOUTH NEWS FROM NICK! Nick Jacobson

4 November news: FACT is going well. During the after school activities children are completing homework and working on reading and math skills with the help of our volunteers. We have made Thanksgiving table decorations to decorate the tables in the Mac for all to enjoy. We have also made home made noodles which will be used for our chicken and noodle soup meal and the children were able to take some home to share with their families. They really enjoyed these activities. In December, we will be meeting at 3:45 the first three Wednesdays to make Christmas table decorations. Thank you to all who have volunteered to help or provide food for this much needed ministry to the children and families in our community. Please spread the word to help our ministry grow. With the holidays upon us, practice for the Christmas Eve 5 pm service is underway. We are practicing during the 10 am junior church time and one final rehearsal on Friday, December 22nd, from 10:00 am-noon. There is still time to sign up and be a part of this wonderful tradition. We can always use adult help to ensure our program s success. Angel Hostetler Director of Children s Ministry DOOR OPENER: Larry Hoffman WORSHIP PARTICIPANTS FOR DECEMBER USHERS OF ST. JOHN, C a l Ei c h en a u er, Leader Bill Ridenour, David England, Steve Keffaber, Mike Gray, Fred Fry & Jim Burton GREETERS 12/3/2017-Daniel & Leslie Stauffer family 12/10/20217-Tim & Kelsey Sommers family 12/17/2017-Derek & Megan Palmer family 12/24/2017-Mark & Gloria McClatchey 12/31/2016-Dr. Orion & Mary Jane Toepfer COFFEE HOSTS 12/3/2017-Howard & Kari Halderman family 12/10/2017-Chad & Christy Maple 12/17/2017-Dave & Andrea VanCamp 12/24/2017-Larry & Cindy Hoffman 12/31/2017-Tom & Roseanne Turner WORSHIP Opening Prayer & Children s Parable 12/3/2017-Pastor John Cook & Alan Palmer 12/10/2017-Sacred Step Dancers & Pastor John Cook 12/17/2017-Jake Halderman & Denise Stouffer 12/24/2017-Dave Mann & Elizabeth and Rebekah Freeman 12/31/2017-Josiah Freeman & Tammy Whitenack

5 BOY SCOUT TROOP 429 FUND RAISER BREAKFAST SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2nd THIS IS THE FINAL BREAKFAST TIL SPRING 2018! 7 AM to 10 First United Methodist Church FREEWILL DONATION PANCAKES EGGS SAUSAGE BISCUITS & GRAVY UPCOMING VOTE ON PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED THROUGH THE MEMORIAL FUND All members are invited to participate in the congregational vote on Sunday, December 3rd, following the 10AM worship service. Please come to the sanctuary to select the projects to be funded by the Memorial Fund for this year. Thank you. Cal Eichenauer and the Memorial Fund Committee SUNDAY WORSHIP SCHEDULE 8:00 a.m. in the Chapel 9:00 a.m. Bible study 10:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary Coffee hour following the 10 a.m. service, in the MAC Communion on the first Sunday of each month CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES 5:00 p.m. Children s service (MAC) 11:00 p.m. Traditional candlelight service in the sanctuary NEWSLETTER DEADLINE FOR JANUARY NEWS IS DECEMBER 15

6 KIDS FIRST NEWS CORNER REMEMBER F.I.S.H. THE FIRST SUNDAY of each month is Collection Sunday for F.I.S.H. Please bring dry and/or canned items you would like to contribute to the Friends In Service Here food pantry, to church, on Sunday, December 3rd. All contributions will be delivered to F.I.S.H. during the week. Suggested Items: Canned fruit & vegetables, cereal, pasta, tuna, canned meat, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce. Your donations are always greatly appreciated. A huge thank you to Megan and Derek Palmer for organizing the piein-the face event for Kids First and to everyone who received the pie in the face! We also appreciate our donors because we raised $ WISH TREE Kids First We will not be seeking food donations for the month of December. Our Christmas wish tree is up again this year in the Kids First area. Thank you for all the support annually. Missie Edwards Director Kids Hope Oh, my goodness! I can t believe Christmas is right around the corner! Time is going by so quickly!! I want to update everyone on how Kids Hope is going so far this year. I am excited to let you know that we started mentoring in the Wabash Middle School this year, along with OJ Neighbours Elementary. We currently have 3 mentors in the Middle School and 15 mentors at OJ Neighbours. The students were very excited to see their mentors were back again this school year. The teachers are always telling me how much the students look forward to their mentoring day. The smile you get when your student sees you is priceless! And all it takes is one hour a week! If you are interested in being a mentor or would like more information about the Kids Hope mentoring program, please me at tracypeas@gmail.com or call me at (260) It s not too late to get started this school year!! I want to thank all the current mentors who are willing to take time out of their week to spend with their student. The volunteers are the ones who are and will continue to make this program a success! Tracy Peas, Kids Hope Director

7 NEW BEGINNINGS MINISTRY NEEDS CHANGE FOR A CHANGE 1 ST UMC WILL COLLECT CHANGE THE LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH WATCH FOR THE RED JAR! BLESS YOU Wesley Academy Fundraiser Wesley Academy is partnering with Pizza Hut in a fundraising program. For only $10, you can purchase a discount card that offers a total savings of over $100 if all discounts are used. There are 6 discount offers on the card and each offer may be used up to 4 times. In addition to our local Pizza Hut, the cards are honored at 12 locations in Ft. Wayne, and 27 other cities in Indiana and Ohio. 100% of your $10 purchase price goes directly to Wesley Academy, so this is a great opportunity for you to help us obtain items from our wish list while saving on your own Pizza Hut purchases. Our wish list includes: equipment technology and curriculum programs educational toys to support creative play and learning scholarship assistance The discount cards offer great savings and make wonderful appreciation gifts to family, friends and coworkers! Please see Susan Vanlandingham, Jenn George, or Dave Mann to purchase cards, or leave your name and contact information on the information table outside the preschool door and we will see that you are contacted. Thank you for your support! Susan Vanlandingham, Director Wesley Academy

8 CLUB 345 December 17th 11:30 1:00 Pizza or Subway (if you have an allergy, let me know and I will make sure to have something you can eat!) Christmas Story and Gift Exchange Special Project!! Teresa Harris BRIANNA S HOPE UPDATE Brianna's Hope has now meet 14 times since August, Lives are being changed and people are finding ways to live a better life. We continue to have people each week. The group has said they wanted to share their prayer requests with not only the group but with our church. The group continues to seek ways to recover from their addiction and have come together to support each other, no matter where they are in their addiction. Please continue to pray for ABLBH (A Better Life Brianna's Hope). We are in need of people to contribute food, help serve and clean-up the kitchen area. If you can help, please contact Cathy If you would like to provide financial support, please make your check payable to First United Methodist Church and on the memo line please write Brianna's Hope. Thank you for supporting this Thursday night worship service. Blessings, Pastor John Cook December Board Meetings Due to the holidays, several of the church committees will not be meeting this month and will resume in January, In the event a committee member is unsure as to a meeting status, please check with your committee chairperson for confirmation.

9 CHRISTIAN BOOK emarks 2017 We will not meet in December and resume again on Tuesday, January 16, Our book for January is James Alexander Thom s book, Follow the River. If you have questions, please contact (260) to have a book to read over the holiday. Sondra Harrell BOOK remarks: LITTLE FREE LIBRARY Many of you may have already noticed the Little Free Library located as you enter the first set of church doors, off the parking lot. At present, this library contains children s books which are available to any child in the community. A child may take a book and keep it, or he/she can take a book and return it or replace it with another book as a way of sharing. If you have any children s books in new or gently used condition that you would like to donate, or have questions concerning this library, please contact me. Sondra Harrell (260) Contribution Statement: As in the past, many of our church families have asked how much do I owe to meet my pledge commitments for this year. We will be mailing contribution statements at the end of November. These statements will show the pledge total thru December 31, 2017 and the amount donated through November 30th. The amount (if any) required to meet these annual pledges by the year end will also be indicated Pledge Statement: If you have made a pledge to our Church Budget for 2018 it will be on your pledge statement. Please review this information to ensure we have it listed correctly. If you believe you had made a pledge to the church budget and you did not receive a pledge statement, please notify our church office. Contribution Services: If you are interested in other means of making your financial contributions to the church, the church will accept shares of common stock instead of cash. Also, if you would like to prepay a portion or all of your 2018 pledge, this contribution must be received by December 31 st. If you are interested in either of these options, please contact our Treasurer Melvin Rennaker.

10 Offering Envelopes: If you are currently not using offering envelopes and would like to start using them for the year 2018, please notify the church office. If you are currently using offering envelopes and would like to stop using them in 2018, please notify the church office. The Offering Envelopes for the year 2018 will be available after January 2nd, in the Gathering Area FINANCIAL REPORT October Monthly Approved Budget Amount Year-to-Date Percentage $431, $35, $359, % October Year-to-Date Income $26, % $378, % Expenses $41, % $346, % Difference ($14,100.19) $31, GENERAL BUDGET OVER- VIEW Beg Balance Income Expense Ending Balance $43, $378, $346, $74, EXPENSES Actual YTD Actual YTD Percentage Anticipated YTD Annual Budget Percentage of Budget Missions & Tithe $ 60, % $ 58, $ 70, % Staff Parish $162, % $160, $ 192, % Ministries $ 15, % $ 26, $ 31, % Trustees $108, % $114, $ 137, % TOTAL $346, % $359, $ 431, % NON-BUDGET MISSIONS INCOME October Year-to-Date UMCOR - US Disaster Relief $ $ 2, UMCOR - Puerto Rico $ $ New Beginnings $ $ Nomands $ $ Kids First - Pie-in-Face Fund Raiser $ $ Kids First Scholarship Fund $ $ Wesley Academy Scholarship Fund $ $ Mel Rennaker, Treasurer

11 Poinsettias PLEASE PLACE YOUR ORDER BY DECEMBER 10TH COST = $13 Check one: For the Chapel For the Sanctuary Yes, We/I would like to purchase RED WHITE Poinsettia(s) designated as follows: In Memory of By * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In Memory of By * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In Honor of By * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To the Glory of God By Each year we decorate our church with many beautiful Poinsettias. If you would like to help, please fill out the form above and put it in the offering plate or turn it in to the church office. Payment is to be made to the church, but be sure to write Poinsettia in the memo section of your check. THIS FORM WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AND AVAILABLE THROUGH THE CHURCH AS WELL.

12 DECEMBER 2017 BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 B-Melissa Ford 2 3 A-Dan & Tammy Ford 4 B-Lennox Fansher B-Daniel Stauffer A-Terry & Shirley Keaffaber B-Amy Ford 8 A-Travis & Christa Schuler B-Tammy Ford B-Bettie Miller 9 A-Lamoine & Sally Scott 10 B-Rex Reimer 11 A-Derek & Megan Palmer 12 B-Jonathan Engle A-Joe & Lynne Getz A-John & Angel Hostetler 15 B-Sabrina Wagner 16 B-Bill Rager 17 B-Elly Engle B-Ida Gerber 18 A-Robert & Susan Vanlandingham 19 B-Rebekah Freeman 20 B-Jacob Schuler B-Susan Stewart 21 B-Dan Ford B-Mason Payton 22 B-Lynne Getz B-Josie Ridenour 25 Happy Birthday Jesus! B-Cindy Hoffman 26 B-Zoella Lyons B-Katie Ogan 27 B-Tom Ehret B-Alexander Reed B-Jennifer Wagner 28 B-Jenna Halderman B-Susan Hunter B-Alyssa Stout 29 B-Larry Curless B-Kelsey Sommers 30 B-Whitney Myers 31 Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes:

13 DECEMBER 2017 EVENTS & MEETING SCHEDULE Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 7am-10am- Boy Scout Free Will Breakfast (MAC) 3 Communion 9am-BS w/pastor Kurt 11am-Memorial Fund vote (sanctuary) 5:30pm-7:30pm- Youth progressive dinner 4 6pm-Cub Scouts Pack meeting 7pm-Boy Scouts meeting 5 1pm-Musicale practice 6pm-Cub Scouts den meeting 6pm-Ad Council Bd meeting 6:30pm-Wesley Academy Bd meeting 6 3:30pm-FACT 7 5:30pm-Trustees board meeting 6pm-Briana s Hope 8 5:30pm-1st Wesley Academy Xmas program 7:15pm-2nd Wesley Academy Xmas program am-BS w/pastor Kurt 5:30pm-7:30pm- LaFontaine 11 6pm-Finance board meeting No Boy Scout meeting 12 NO Cub Scout meeting 13 5:30pm-FACT 14 6pm-Briana s Hope am-BS w/pastor Kurt 6pm-6:45pm-Youth Xmas party 7pm-Cantata 18 7pm-Boy Scouts meeting 19 11am-5pm-Red Cross Blood Drive 20 3:30pm-FACT 21 6pm-Briana s Hope 22 Wesley Academy holiday break starts thru January Christmas Eve 8 & 10 services as usual 9am-BS w/pastor Kurt 5pm-Kids & family service 11pm-Traditional candlelight service 25 Merry Christmas Church closed 26 Church closed 27 5:30pm-FACT Church office and Kids First open 28 6pm-Briana s Hope New Year s Eve 9am-BS w/pastor Kurt Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes:

14 FUMC CARES For prayer needs during the w eek, please call Janet Leeka ( ) to start the prayer chain. If you or a family member is hospitalized or having a medical procedure performed, please let the church office know. Homebound: Kate Mitting Autumn Ridge: Bill Kramer Heritage Pointe (Warren Home) Health Care: Maxine Haist, 801 N. Huntington St. (Room 258), Warren, IN Heritage of Huntington: Dorotha Harvey, 1180 W 500 N, Huntington, IN (Room 215) Millers Merry Manor East Martha Langstaff, David Deepe (Room 120) Peabody s Retirement Community: Independent Living: Wes & Norma Wingert The Inn Apartment: Lamoine & Sally Scott (Room 224) Smock Memory Unit: Jayne Pepple Tulip Place: Connie Squires (Room 135) Health Care: Mary Keppel, Terry Cusack Timbercrest Retirement Community: Health Care: Ann Hunter Wellbrooke: Pat Mouser (Room 330) Others: Sue Burton (home, prayers appreciated) Military Members: Jonathan Ridenour, Army SSGT (Hawaii); Kristin Valentine, US Coast Guard (Florida); Brandon Terry (Ft. Benning), Jesus Ratuita (Kuwait), Jonathan Wiemer, Marines (Okinawa), Joe Lee, Air Force (Florida) Prayer Bowls: 1. Daniel & Leslie Stauffer 2. Aaron & Hannah Arrendale 3. Austin & Ann Deardorff 4. The couple s name will be announced in the future If you are expecting, and will be raising your child in this congregation, FUMC wants to honor this special occasion by placing a rose bowl on the altar. If you would like a rose bowl, please notify the church office or Angel Hostetler.

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