The Newsletter of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur, Alabama August 24, 2016

Transcription

1 The Newsletter of the First United Methodist Church of Decatur, Alabama August 24, 2016 Spiritual Leadership I heard Coach Jere Adcock reflect on the last season and talk about the season ahead for the Decatur Red Raider football team. What I heard him say was that last year s team had much more talent than its win-loss record reflected. His assessment was that a missing element on the team was a player stepping up and giving spiritual leadership. In previous years when spiritual leadership was evident, there was a player, usually a senior but not always, who encouraged other players to attend the Fellowship of Christian Athlete meetings, who volunteered to pray for the team, and who contagiously congratulated team members when they made a good play or put in extra effort and encouraged them when they were down. I know fans of every football team want to see a player give spiritual leadership on their team. It builds morale and confidence and galvanizes the players as a team to do anything necessary to help their brothers succeed. Several years ago now, the church I served owned a piece of property in Birmingham next to an African American Baptist congregation. Our Trustees recommended and Board voted to give the property to that church because they needed it for parking. I met with the pastor to discuss the transfer. It turned out that the pastor was the father of former Auburn linebacker Carlos Dansby. In the course of our conversation we discussed what a dismal start the Auburn team had and how they had finished strong, sweeping their SEC rivals. He told the story. The team was down after consecutive losses to begin the season. His son spoke to the coach and the coach to the team chaplain, and the chaplain called him to come and talk with the team. He identified the lack of spiritual leadership as a problem that causes churches, teams, and entire communities to unravel and dissolve. He challenged the players to step up and be spiritual leaders and promised them God would not leave them hanging. God would come through. One of the players broke out in a song in the African American tradition that became the trademark of the team that year: I am a hard fighting soldier on the battlefield, I am a hard fighting soldier on the battlefield. I am a hard fighting soldier on the battlefield. I keep on bringing souls to Jesus by the service that I yield. You got to talk right, walk right, sing right, pray right on the battlefield, You got to talk right, walk right, sing right, pray right on the battlefield, You got to talk right, walk right, sing right, pray right on the battlefield, And keep on bringing souls to Jesus by the service that you yield. The team sang that song in the locker room every week and it fortified them as they finished the year strong with consecutive victories. I tell you this story because I believe every Sunday school class, every church organization, every ministry team, committee, board, council, choir, task force, and worship congregation in our church will rise or fall, succeed or fail, depending on the spiritual leadership that steps up in that group. If attendance has fallen and morale is low, who will step up and compel members to approach church with at least as much commitment as players on a football team approach practice? What kind of football team would yours be if players were as committed to attending it and working hard for it to the same degree you and I are to our church? Who will lead by word and example to help our church live up to its potential? Hughey Sunday, September 4 Only One 10:00 a.m. On Sunday, September 4, we will have one worship service (Communion) at 10:00 a.m. Sunday School will be at 9:00 a.m. Since so many people have told us they will be out of town that weekend for Labor Day, we ask that all of you who are here come together at one time to worship at 10:00. We will have a much more energetic service in one large gathering than we would in two smaller ones. Prayer List August 24th Edition Wendy Smith & family, death of her father Dr. Billy Farris Jane Nabors, Decatur Health & Rehab, Room 108-B Ed Kirby Marguerite Stone, recovering from fall Winnie Reed Turner Lacaze, lung cancer (he is a friend of Galvin Gray) Sammy Dean, continued recovery from car accident Kayleigh McClendon - brain tumor Our city and country Kirkes Family, death of father Steve from garage fire Please fill out a prayer card found in the pew pockets or your prayer requests to aquinn@decaturfumc.org for publication in the next newsletter.

2 The Urban Acre Community Garden Update The teamwork and attitude of volunteers in the ground preparation, planting, watering, harvesting, and delivery of the produce have made our church s first venture into community gardening one of pure joy and amazement. When people ask how we have kept the garden looking so green and producing, we start the answer with God has blessed this garden. There is also a long list of things we did right to make the garden as successful as it has been this year along with a growing list of things of lessons learned that will improve the way we garden next year. Our fall garden expansion is underway at The Urban Acre. While we are still harvesting a bountiful crop from our summer garden almost every day of the week, we will plant our fall garden, in new ground broken and prepared for planting, over the past two weeks. Plans for next spring include spreading our plants farther apart so they will not grow on top and each other and our harvesters and our neighbors can get to them without damaging vines and plants. This 45x60 foot fall garden extension will allow us to do that. Our fall crop lineup will include cabbage collards, turnip greens, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, kale, broccoli, Irish potatoes, and carrots. The first step in preparing our fall garden was to break the ground. Greg Clemons and Will Waller brought an ATV and a disc harrow plow do the job on Saturday, August 13. For those of us who broke the ground for the summer garden with walk behind tillers, this was a great relief and welcome innovation in our approach. Will is Greg s neighbor and a member of Central United Methodist Church. A remarkable development in our gardening has been the folks who are not members of First United Methodist Church that have pitched to help with the garden. Because the garden is dedicated to improving the diets of our neighbors, many community minded people want to be a part of it. Jake Reed, owner of and chef at Albany Bistro Restaurant, showed up to help us plant pumpkins on June 28. And so did Suzanne Wright, Alabama Director of the Society of Saint Andrew, a gleaning ministry that our church supports through Faith Promise Giving. On August 17, we had another dump truck load of gin compost (gin trash) delivered to our garden site from Servico Cotton Gin in Courtland. In May, we blended this compost into the native soil before planting our summer garden, and you see the result. Our plan this time was to rake out dried grass from our newly plowed ground and then spread the gin trash with shovels, scoops, and wheelbarrows. We had 15 people show up to spread our first dump truck load back on May 24. When we gathered August 23, our volunteer numbers were down considerably. When I arrived at the garden early that morning, I had in my Jeep and on the back carrier rack all the tools I thought we would have that day to spread the gin trash and till it into the native soil. I was in the process of unloading my wheelbarrow and tiller when I received a text message from one of our garden team members, Greg Clemons. He told me his father and a friend from Hartselle were coming to the garden later that morning with a tractor and tiller to help us. I shared the news with our small work team. We had a spring in our step knowing help was coming. And what help it was. Bill Clemons and Bobby Atkinson drove up in a pickup hauling a 16-foot trailer loaded with a tractor equipped with a front-end loader and a PTO driven tiller mounted on the back. We had posted on The Urban Acre Facebook page that we expected God to show up at our workday. God did show up in the form of Billy, Bobbie, and a John Deere tractor. That may not be the Trinity as such, but these men and that tractor were what we needed. God surely came through and is continuing to bless The Urban Acre. Our next workday to set out plants and get seed for the fall garden in the ground is Tuesday, August 30 starting at 8:00 a.m. We will be there until the garden is completely planted or 1:00 p.m., whichever comes first. The Urban Acre Community Garden now has a Facebook page. Type in the name in the search window on Facebook and like our page. That way you will know about developments in your community garden as they occur.

3 Hilltoppers The Hilltoppers (50+ ministry) are preparing for our fall trips! Stay tuned for additional information about our trips: September 15- Belle Chevre Cheese Shop in Elkmont, TN October 20- Huntsville Botanical Gardens November 10- Lunch at Stone Bridge Farm in Cullman, AL December 15- Christmas lunch in the Fellowship Hall Mission Moments During our Global Impact Celebration, Eric Swanson spoke to us about being an externally focused church. In his book, The Externally Focused Quest, he tells us, Externally focused churches, by definition, are churches that believe that the gospel is and always has been a message that is best expressed in both words of love and works of love. As I look at the many agencies that we support I am overwhelmed at how far the impact of our church reaches. The St. Clair family is preparing to travel back to Lesotho in the next few weeks. Pray for them as they return to their home and ministry there. They have asked us to pray especially for the children as they transition back to life in Lesotho. Our Urban Acre Garden is providing harvest that is distributed to five of our partners to provide fresh produce for local clients. Both our words and our works are focused on reaching out. As the leadership of the GIC and Missions Teams has prayed about the year ahead, we have decided to focus on living a life of missions. Our theme is Seasons of Love. There will be many opportunities to share your gifts, talents, and resources with both our local community and with the global community. One of our new opportunities to live out our mission is our Hands-On Missions. These will be held on the first Wednesday of each month following our First Fellowship dinner. Our first project on September 7 will be putting together birthing kits in cooperation with UMCOR and the Disaster Relief Warehouse. If you would like to bring items to contribute to the birthing kits, we need wrapped hotel/travel-size soap. These are just for single use. Come join us for Hands-On Missions. Shannon Shannon Season of Love Kick-Off Event Save the date for a Seasons of Love Kick-Off event on Sunday, October 2! There will be fellowship, food, and opportunities to make an impact! You don t want to miss this special afternoon. If you would like to receive text message updates about Seasons of Love activities and opportunities to serve, to (Enter as the phone number as the message and send). If you use the Remind App, search and join the class. Thank You Thank you to Bill Finley for making the holder for our acolyte candle lighters. The actual lighters were purchased earlier in honor of Virginia Vickery s 80th birthday. Dinner on Us! If you know of a friend or family that you think would love to be a part of Decatur FUMC, invite them to dinner at First Fellowship. Their first visit will be on us. Shannon has coupons that are good for complimentary dinner during our Wednesday evening meal. You could drop one in a note to a friend or let Shannon know. She will be happy to send one out. United Methodist Women United Methodist Women circle meetings will resume in September. The Tidwell circle will meet on September 12 at 10:00 a.m. at Jane Boozer s house. The Lydia circle will meet on September 13 at 10:00 a.m. at Becky McKenzie s house. All women in the church are invited to be a part of this ministry. For additional information please see Betty Ann Mitchum. A Retreat for Women of All Ages Oct Oct. 30 at Sumatanga Retreat Center A time to: Relax, Reflect, Refresh, Refill Rev. Sheri Ferguson will lead as we expand our understanding of Simplicity and Boundaries; how they relate, and how our understanding of them inform who we are. Mollie Erickson will be there for afternoon Yoga, if you wish to stretch a bit. There is also the labyrinth experience guided by Sheri, and the possibility of a mountain hike. If you would rather, you can take a nap, or bring a good book and find one of the many rocking chairs around camp. The afternoon is yours for the taking - to relax, reflect, refresh, or refill as you choose. Cost per person: (Includes housing, meals, transportation, and program expenses.) 1. Two Night Single Occupancy $ Two Night Double Occupancy $ One Night Single Occupancy $ One Night Double Occupancy $80.00 A $40.00 deposit is due by Sept. 22. Make checks out to FUMC with Women s Retreat in the For line. If you have questions, please call Donna McAnnally at or Sandy Reynolds at We will leave mid-morning and will be back by lunch time on Sunday. This will leave plenty of time to get ready for Trunk or Treat at our church that evening.

4 Alexia Claborn, Director of Children s Ministry, Thank You! A big thank you to Stefanie and John Underwood for hosting our Back to School Water Party. What a wonderful day of fun and fellowship as we begin a new school year! We hope your beautiful lawn has recovered from the abundance of water. The Big KAHUNA water slide was a big hit - even Pastor Hughey enjoyed a trip or two down! Sunday Morning Volunteers Volunteers for Sunday, Aug. 28th Sunday School Pre-school Room #215 Leigh Ann Blankenship Jessica Mitchell K-2nd Room #207 Barbara Ashwander assistant TBA 3rd-5th Grade- - Room #306 Betty Ann Mitchum assistant Mike Ward Children s Church (Aug. 28) 8:45 AM Teacher- Alexia Claborn Assistant- Bailey Copeland 11:00 Service Teacher-Alexia Claborn Assistant-TBA Volunteers for Sunday, Sept. 4th No Sunday School one service at 10:00 a.m. Children s Church 10:00 Service Teacher- Alexia Claborn Assistant- Shannon Booth Children s First Fellowship Elementary 5:30 -Elementary Choir 6:00-7:00- Bible Story and Lesson Pre- School 6:00- Pre-School Choir 6:20-7:00 -Bible Story and Lesson Upcoming Important Dates Aug. 31st 4:00 Children s Ministry Committee Meeting Oct. 23rd Power of Pink Walk Oct. 30th Trunk- or- Treat Acolyte Information Volunteers Needed We are looking for Sunday School Teachers / Assistants, Children s Church Teachers / Assistants and First Fellowship Volunteers. Please contact Alexia if you are able to volunteer in any of these areas. The best way to contact me is by , text or call at the following: aclaborn@decaturfumc.org and cell Aug. 28th 8:45 Bristol Rayne Teal 11:00 Miller & Davis Roberts Sept. 4th One service at 10:00 a.m. Mary Elizabeth Booth, Hunter Claborn & Crucifer- John Benton Claborn Sept. 11 8:45 Bristol Rayne Teal 11:00 Mary Bibb Pylant & John Benton Claborn

5 Youth Dates Sunday, August 28 10:00 Sunday School 6:00 Brown Bag Supper; 6:30 UMYF Wednesday, August 31 5:00 First Fellowship Dinner 6:00 Youth Bible Study Thursday, September 1 7:30am Senior High prayer breakfast at Chick Fil A Friday, September 2 DHS Football Breakfast 6:15 a.m. Cooks, 7:15 greeters and servers, 7:45 a.m. clean up Sunday, September 4 10:00 Worship No Sunday School or UMYF Wednesday, September 7 5:00 First Fellowship Dinner 6:00 Youth Bible Study 7:00 Youth Ministry Team Thursday, September 8 7:30am Senior High prayer breakfast at Chick Fil A Buy a Brick from the Youth! The youth will be selling engraved bricks for the Courtyard entrance by the Columbarium. Each brick is $75 and profits will go towards youth missions and outreach. Order forms are located throughout the church and from the church office. Please contact Beth with any questions. You can give order forms and check to any youth! Decatur High Football Breakfasts Our church will be hosting the football team, coaches and cheerleaders again this fall for breakfasts on the following mornings: Huntsville, Thursday August 25th Austin, Friday, September 2nd Hazel Green, Friday, September 16th Athens, Friday, September 30th Hartselle, Friday, October 14th Sparkman, Friday, October 28th Volunteers are always needed and appreciated. Cooks arrive at 6:15 a.m., greeters and servers arrive at 7:15 and clean up is at 7:45. It takes about 25 volunteers to pull off one breakfast. Sign-up sheets will be in the adult Sunday school classes. If your business would like to sponsor a breakfast ($250) we will give proper recognition at the breakfast. Thanks! Youth This Fall The youth are excited to get back to our normal routine this fall with the start of school! We hope all of our students, grades 6-12, will find a way to get plugged in. If you ever need anything, please let Beth Green or John Underwood know! UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) is our Sunday night ministry. We begin at 6:00 with Brown Bag Supper. Each student brings their own dinner to eat on the third floor- usually fast food. Starting at 6:30, we will have various types of programming from destination unknown, missions, game night, seasonal parties, worship, and more. Wednesday night Bible study began on August 24 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. on the youth third floor. We break into Jr. high (6-8 grades) and Sr. high (9-12 grades) for a time of Bible Study. We will begin this fall with a study on Means of Grace. Sunday School meets each Sunday morning at 10:00. Both Jr. high and Sr. high combine for a lesson. Currently, we are continuing a study on the book of Revelation. Senior High prayer breakfast meets each week on Thursday mornings at 7:30 a.m. at Chick Fil A. After we eat, we spend time sharing prayer requests, praying and hearing a devotion. Students provide their own transportation to school. Junior High prayer breakfast meets each month on the first Monday at 7:45 a.m. at Bojangles. Rides are provided to Oak Park Middle School. If the first Monday is a holiday, we will meet the second Monday (September and January). College It s time to collect addresses for our college students! Throughout the year, we mail our students cards and care packages. We don t want anyone left out. Please send Beth your students name, school, mailing address, and expected year of graduation. Family News Congratulations to Blakely Clemons for graduating from Columbus Girls Academy (high school) last week!

6 Upcoming Events 8/28, 6:00 p.m. - UMYF Brown Bag; 6:30 p.m. - UMYF Activities 8/30, 8:00 a.m. - Workday at the Urban Acre U.S. Postage Paid Non-Profit Org. Decatur, AL Permit No /30, 10:00 a.m., Women's Bible Study, Courtyard Conf. Room 8/30, 10:00 a.m., Hilltoppers Meeting, Archives Room 8/31, 4:30 p.m., UMW Executive Board Meeting, Bride s Room 805 CANAL STREET N.E. DECATUR ECATUR,, AL PHONE (256) FAX (256) /31, 5:00 p.m., First Fellowship Meal and Classes, Fellowship Hall and Sunday School Rooms 9/1, 7:30 a.m., UMM Breakfast, City Café 9/1, 7:30am Senior High prayer breakfast at Chick Fil A Please place label here 9/2, DHS Football Pancake Breakfast, Fellowship Hall, cooks arrive at 6:15 a.m. Find Us On Social Media Like us on Facebook: Hughey Reynolds, Senior Minister, hreynolds@decaturfumc.org Charlie Elliott, Custodian Patrick McCormick, Director of Worship, patrick@decaturfumc.org Melissa Wiley, Housekeeper Beth Green, Minister of Discipleship, beth@decaturfumc.org Sandy Callahan, Food Manager Cindy McCulloch, Finance Secretary, cmcculloch@decaturfumc.org Wayne Keller, Accompanist Alyson Quinn, Church Secretary, aquinn@decaturfumc.org Cindy Brigman, First Grace Director, firstgrace@decaturfumc.org Alexia Claborn, Director of Children s Ministry, aclaborn@decaturfumc.org Ruth Moyers, Organist Shannon Booth, Director of Outreach, shannon@decaturfumc.org Upcoming Worship Services VISION STATEMENT: Growing in Christ, Sharing God s Love through Inspiring Worship, Empowering Ministries Equipping Persons for Ministry, Promoting Well-Being Sunday, August 28, Rev. Hughey Reynolds, preaching 8:45 and 11:00 a.m. The Character of a Christian Hebrews 13: 1-16 Sunday, Sept. 4, Rev. Hughey Reynolds, preaching Only one worship service at 10:00 a.m. Known By God Psalm 139: 1-6, Flood Relief In response to the flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi, Decatur First UMC is sending $2,000 to support the United Methodist Committee on Relief's disaster relief work. These funds came from your Faith Promise giving committed during the Global Impact Celebration. Additional gifts to support disaster relief may still be given through the church. Please make checks out to FUMC and mark them for UMCOR. Scheduled To Serve August 28 Acolytes: 8:45 Bristol Rayne Teal 11:00 Miller & Davis Roberts Ushers: 8:45 a.m. Jim Surber, Gerald New, Dennis Altice, Michael Boozer 11:00 a.m. Ricky Clay, Jeff Earley, Ronald Matthews, J. Robert Fite, Phil Corazzari It s never too late to sign up for a Wednesday night class! Details are on the bulletin board outside the Fellowship Hall. First Fellowship August 31 Find an opportunity to grow in discipleship through great groups and classes. First Fellowship classes will begin at 6:00 p.m., following the meal at 5:00. The menu for August 31 will be Meatloaf, Creamed Potatoes, Fried Okra, Biscuits, Salad Bar, Peanut Butter and Jelly and Cheese Sandwiches, and Butterfinger Cheesecake Pie. No Reservations are required! $6.00 per adult, $6.75 to go plate, $5.00 salad bar without hot bar, $18.00 family of three or more (hot bar), Child s meal 10 & under without hot bar is free.