The Flame Newsletter October 2017

Transcription

1 The Flame Newsletter October

2 Frankly Speaking October is going to be one of our busiest, most rewarding and fulfilling months ever! This newsletter is full of the details, (Well, most of the details anyway.) You are invited to prayerfully consider participating in all or some of these things. As your pastor, I wish to emphasize that you should feel no pressure to do all of these things and to decide which ones would be best for your household, not only in terms of schedule availability, but also in terms of spiritual growth. In a nutshell, here s a partial list: October is financial stewardship month, and commitment Sunday is October 22. Children s Sabbath is October 8. Kids will lead us in worship and children s choir will sing! Brisket Sale and Auction fundraiser for playground project, October 14 Laity Sunday, is October 15. City of Sachse FallFest, Saturday October 28. ONE worship service with potluck luncheon to follow, Sunday, October 29. FUMC FallFest sponsored and hosted by children s and youth ministries, October 29. October Missions (see separate article in this newsletter for details) o North Texas Food Bank, Saturday October 7 o Collection of the Month: Shoes for One Man s Treasure o Collection of Groceries for Holiday Meal Project o Upward Basketball and Upward Cheer o Kairos prison ministry, October o Wheelchair Ramp, Saturday October 28 o On-going school supplies collections for Caldwell Elementary School o Tutors needed at Caldwell Elementary School See you in worship, and at some of these other events too! Love, Frank When you enter the Welcome Center, you will notice some nice changes, especially some informative bulletin boards. I wish to direct your attention to the mission s bulletin board, as pictured here. You will see that opportunities for you to be in mission and ministry are divided by calendar into this month and the following months. Each month will contain opportunities to go and opportunities to collect. For example, in October, there is an opportunity to go to the North Texas Food Bank on October 7, and an opportunity to go build a wheelchair ramp on October 28 th. There is an opportunity to collect shoes for One Man s Treasure. 2

3 October Missions: Only One Word: WOW!! North Texas Food Bank field trip Join us Saturday, October 7, for a morning of work at the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB). We ll meet at the church at 8:00 a.m., and caravan to the Food Bank. We ll spend a couple hours there sorting canned and boxed goods, and then lunch together. The NTFB is located at 4500 S Cockrell Hill Rd, Dallas, TX Shoe Drive for One Man s Treasure To benefit One Man s Treasure, which is a ministry to men who have just been released from prison, we are collecting men s shoes that are in good-to-excellent condition. Keep in mind that these are intended to be shoes that somebody could wear to a job interview. Please do not donate shoes that show wear and tear. Shoes must match, of course, and include shoelaces. Missions Market on October 15 Sunday, October 15, is Laity Sunday. On that day, we will celebrate the work of our church in worship. Don t want to spoil any surprises now, but you will be really glad you attended worship on that day. Groceries drive for Holiday Meal Project Toward the end of October, we will begin collecting groceries for our Holiday Meal Project. We will distribute a list of items to buy and donate. Please do not vary from the published list. In much the same way as we collected specific items for the Flood Cleaning Kits in September, we will collect specific items for a holiday meal kit. Stay tuned for further details. Our Relationship with Caldwell Elementary School As you remember, we have partnered with Caldwell Elementary School in the Garland Independent School District. Caldwell E.S. is located only minutes from our church near the intersection of Kingsley and Saturn Rds. We have already conducted one drive to collect school supplies, and the school will need a continuous flow of supplies. The school also needs us to act as after-school tutors. You are invited to prayerfully consider this opportunity to serve and share. To apply to be a tutor at a Garland ISD campus, one must follow the process outlined below: How to apply to volunteer at Caldwell Elementary School 1. Provide an official government photo ID to the front office of any campus in the Garland ISD. Information from your ID will be entered into the Raptor Visitor Management System. 2. The office staff will provide instructions to complete an online application, which can be done at home or in the main office of any campus. Note that online applications with incomplete records or those with insufficient information will be deleted. 3. A criminal background check will be completed and an sent to notify you of your acceptance to begin volunteering. For those who may not have an , a District administrator will inform you of this information by telephone. 3

4 New Members in September: Barbara Hudek joined September 3 Dana Kreck joined September 10. (She s also Jennifer Ames Mom!) Angela Carmichael joined September 10. BBQ Dinner and Auction, October 14 th! You are invited to come to a BBQ dinner with all the trimmings on Saturday October 14 th in our Family Life Center (FLC). Tickets are only $10/adult, $5/child, or $25/family. Plus, there will be live and silent auctions for exciting prizes. All proceeds go towards making improvements to our playground. In this one special and important event, we will experience stewardship, fellowship, worship, mission, discipleship, and evangelism all in one! UPWARD Returns to FUMC Sachse!! Spread the word! Upward Basketball and Cheer is returning to our church and we need your help. Help by spreading the word that registration is now open through our website, Also, we will need volunteers to serve as coaches, referees, administrators, scorekeepers, refreshments, the works. 4

5 Adult Sunday School Classes All classes meet at 9:45 a.m. every Sunday morning If you have been wondering which Sunday school class to visit, here is a list and short description of our present Sunday school classes for persons age 18 and up. All persons are invited to each class. Open Door A wonderful mix of fellowship and Bible study. The class s attitude is reflected in its name, Open Door. The class works to apply Bible lessons to life. Wired Word An intentional look at current events and life events and how our view of those events is shaped by our faith. Also, a look at how our faith shapes our response to world events. Outlanders A combination of Bible study and current events, with personal reflections and insights shared in class discussion. Disciple Fast Track Begin a lifelong love for your Bible in a fun 24 Sunday course. Led by Kathleen Israel and Angela Carmichael and will include reading or listening to the Bible, videos to go with the lessons and discussion. Jump in and get your feet wet. The participant workbook is also available on line at smile.amazon.com in Kindle form for only $10. The Kindle edition is downloadable to your android smart phone or iphone, or ipad. Participants will need a total of two workbooks, one for each Testament, old and new. A Word from Kelly Ross, Our Music and Worship Director! I am so excited to be a part of FUMC Sachse! Thank you so much for making me feel at home with each of you. Please keep sharing your name with me a few more weeks. I have had the privilege to be a part of several congregations in my career and I must say FUMC Sachse is the most loving and friendliest church I have ever been a part of. Let me take this opportunity to invite those who would like to be a part of the choir to join us each Wednesday for rehearsal. Rehearsal starts at 7:00 P.M. in the sanctuary. We started our Christmas musical Carols and Classics recently. If you would like to sing with us at Christmas, you can join us around 7:40 on Wednesday nights as we focus on the musical. As we get closer to Christmas our start time for Christmas music will get earlier. We also need a few more handbell ringers. We rehearse at 8:00 P.M. on Wednesday night. If you are interested, please contact me. A couple of unexpected blessing for me as I join you here at FUMC is the privilege to serve alongside the Crossfire band. They are some outstanding musicians. Another blessing is Mason Galloway. He is talented young man! Let me encourage you to express your love and appreciation to these musicians for their service. 5 Usher Teams Growing To serve as an usher is a very important role. It s more than simply handing out bulletins. The usher is often the first person one of our guests sees when they visit our church, so the ushers set the tone for hospitality. We have a great team of ushers, and we are ready to invite more people to serve in this way. Look for a sign-up sheet at Sign-Up Central.

6 Meal Teams Forming Sometimes, a family or neighbor needs help with meals. It might be because of a family illness or at a reception before or after a funeral for a family member. Our Member Care Committee invites you to become a part of our Meal Team, which will eventually have a catchy name, like the Casserole Corps or Dinner at your Door, but for now, it just needs people. Look for the sign-up sheet in the welcome center. You are invited to say yes to this opportunity to prepare and serve. You will see that the sign-up sheet will be divided by month, and you may sign up for one or two specific months, or every month, or any number in between. Pickleball With the new school year, we're looking to change the schedule of our Pickleball sessions to meet more people's schedules. If you've been wanting to play but Wednesday isn't your best day, or 12-2 pm and 7-9 pm aren't available times for you, please let Melissa Trammell-Hayes know what would work better for you. We'll continue with the Wednesday schedule through September. To sign up, you can contact Melissa on or mtrammellhayes@outlook.com, or sign up at this link: Stained Glass Window Fund As many of us remember, we established a Designated Fund for our stained-glass windows in our sanctuary. The latest estimate for the big window above the chancel (faces East) is approximately $25,000 (plus installation). Currently, our Stained-Glass Windows Designated Fund stands at just over $9,000. If you would like to re-direct some of your Second- Mile giving (that's the giving that is above and beyond your normal tithe), either in honor of a loved one or in memory of a loved one, or simply because this is an effort that is dear to you, your gifts are most welcomed. College Secret Prayer Partners The College Secret Prayer Partners ministry needs You! This year we will be praying and encouraging for over 30 students. If you are interested in participating in this Ministry or if you are a student that wishes to be added to the list please contact Wendy Pounds at breezypounds@gmail.com Sachse Chamber of Commerce Fall Fest is coming up soon, Saturday, October 28 at Heritage Park in Sachse. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to advertise our church and invite people to be our guests for worship. We need lots of volunteers to staff our booth at Sachse Fall Fest that day, in two-hour shifts. Maybe your Sunday school class could staff the booth that morning or afternoon? Or your music or other small group. Let Rev. Frank Rahm know if you can help on that day. It s a great way to spend a beautiful day outside! 6

7 Children s Ministry What an amazing great weekend we had at Camp Bible. Our sweet children gathered with others around our conference and we spent our day learning about God's love for just them. Our children also helped in leading worship with one of their favorite songs. I am so thankful for these inspiring weekends with our children. We have added to our nursery staff so please help us welcome Elisa Bennet and we are still looking to add another person so if you know someone interested please have them send me a resume to jennifer@sachsefirst. Our nursery is growing and we want to be ready to serve our families. Please mark these dates on your calendar for children's ministry October 8 - Children Sabbath both worship services. Children will lead our worship that day. October 15- Sunday school Mission Sunday Projects October 29- Fall Fest in the Family Life Center from 5-7pm OUR church s Fall Fest is Sunday evening, October 29. The FUMC Sachse youth and children s ministries will be hosting a Fall Festival on October 29 th from 5-7 in the Family Life Center. Children are invited to come dressed in their Halloween costumes. There will be a bounce house, fun house, and other games for the children. Pizza, popcorn, and water will be sold for $.50/ each. This will be a fun family event! Youth The youth have had a great September! In Sunday school, we ve been studying Moses. We collected supplies and filled UMCOR cleaning buckets along with the church. On September 17, we had a guest speaker, Andy Stearn who spoke about Kairos prison ministry and One Man s Treasure. The youth made placemats and posters for Kairos. The church will be collecting gently used men s shoes that could be used for job interviews for One Man s Treasure. October schedule: 1 9:45 SS- Moses 5:01- UMYF 8 9:45 SS- Moses 3:30- TBT, 5:01- Hot Topics 15 9:45 SS- David (1) 5:01- UMYF- Science vs. Religion speakers 22 9:45 SS- David (2) 3:30- TBT, 5:01- UMYF 29 5th Sunday- Missions 5:01- Fall Festival *Truth Be Told band will be meeting on the 2 nd and 4 th Sundays this year. United Methodist Men Events Be sure to sign up for the Men s Retreat, November 3-5 at Prothro Retreat Center on Lake Texoma! It will be a time of intentional spiritual growth, spirited fellowship, good food and fun. UM Men offers two opportunities for fellowship each week on Monday mornings and Wednesday mornings and all are invited. Mondays, 10:00 a.m., Country Club Café, 2260 Country Club Rd, Wylie Wednesdays, 6:30 a.m., Starbucks in Firewheel, faces Hwy 78. Wheelchair ramp for September is Saturday, October 28. (Always the 4 th Saturday of the month.) Meet at the church at 8:00 a.m. All people (women and men) are welcome (age 16+). 7

8 United Methodist Women Events October 5 th UMW Dining Out October UMW Fall Plant Sale Continues October 24th Around the World Book Club All women are welcome at every UMW event! Looking for a rewarding and fulfilling volunteer opportunity? We need front-office help here at the church. Good on the phone? Good on the computer? Love God? Love People? Have 4-10 hours per week to give to the church? Call Rev Frank Rahm or Brad Boganwright at the church office to volunteer. Kairos Prison Ministry URGENT Help Needed! Friends, it is again time for the Kairos Ministry and we are in need of cookies. If you would like to bake cookies for this important ministry, the directions are the same as last year. Be sure that your cookies include no candies, fruit, m&m, nuts, or coconut. We will need these in the freezer at the church office kitchen no later than Wednesday, Oct. 18th by 9:00 a.m. We will be leaving that morning. Sorry for the short notice, but we do appreciate all the prayers and cookies we can get. Just to let you know, we give 649 ladies a dozen cookies on Saturday night, plus serve cookies to the 36 ladies and officers we see Thursday - Sunday, and it has been a big part of sending a prayer of love from Jesus with these cookies. Thanks in advance for all your help. Blessings, Carolyn Jones and Lisa Morgan 8

9 QUALIFIED CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS If you are required to make a Required Minimum Distribution from your 401K and/or Traditional IRA accounts, it may be possible for you to make a Qualified Charitable Contribution direct to your church and/or other 501(C) Corporation from these funds. If so, those dollars would not be taxable as income. This benefit is especially valuable if you take the standard deduction when filing your federal income tax return. You should talk with your fund administrator and tax consultant before deciding if this option is available and makes sense for you. Two Additional Ways for you to contribute to your church: Givelify and Smile.Amazon.com Givelify: This is an app you can download to your smartphone. Once you have downloaded the app, you can give to the church even when you are out of town on vacation. You can choose to give to the general budget, or to a specific area of ministry or ministry/mission event. Also, many of us are already shopping at Amazon.com, and with the holidays coming, even more so. Now, login to smile.amazon.com, (with all of your usual Amazon login info), select First United Methodist Church Sachse as the organization you are supporting, and a portion of your purchase is given to the church! 9

10 October 3rd 7pm Worship Committee Meeting October 8 th 12:30 pm Nominations Committee October 10th 7pm Missions Committee Meeting Trustee Meeting October 17th 7pm Member Care Committee Meeting October 19th 7pm Finance Committee Meeting October 23 rd 7pm Administrative Council 10