Pastor David. Inside this issue:

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1 The mission of First United Methodist Church of Silsbee is to glorify God, make disciples, and transform lives in Christ October 7, 2015 A publication of : First United Methodist Church 670 North 5th Street, Silsbee, Texas Phone: (409) Rev. David Green Senior Pastor Rev. Nancy Ratchford Associate Pastor Come Visit Us At: Inside this issue: Gifts and Presence 2 Memorials 2 Upcoming Meetings 2 Converge Youth 3 Stewardship Campaign 4 Blessing of the Pets 4 Wreaths Across 5 America Staff Spotlight 6 Children s Ministry 7 Music Notes 7 Women of Faith 8 Dear Friends, In our current world situation, it seems that every day we are faced with new examples of violence. What is especially tragic is when these episodes of violence often involve children and youth, either as perpetrators or victims. As your senior pastor, viewing and trying to process these horrific events has been a struggle, I must admit. The one question that seems to keep coming up in my brain is if and when will these terrible acts end? The thing that you may not understand is that when you and I committed our lives to Jesus Christ, we are not called to be in isolation, but in community. And, if we live in community, then our joys and sorrows are to be shared by all. As a minister, one of my prime resources to address the many issues in life is the Holy Bible. In fact, I have many, many Bibles of different translations. One of these is called The Wesley Study Bible Common English Translation. One of the benefits found in this translation is examples of John and Charles Wesley and the Wesleyan tradition which help to interpret our faith and heritage. The following notes on tragedy are offered as a help in dealing with the raw realties of our world. The Bible does not flinch from reporting every sort of human tragedy. Many persons have been captured by its graphic storytelling and the inclusion of the full range of human experience. Though it is tempting to understand religious faith as an impenetrable bulwark against calamity, God s people are not exempt from natural or humanmade tragedies. Despite this sometimes unexplainable reality, God is still God and remains steadfast. The follower of Jesus reads this reality through the lens of justice and compassion, not the lens of overwrought revenge. May we all keep our faith in God secure that God still loves us and all of creation. In Christ, Pastor David

2 Harold Erwin Nancy Sanford Joyce McClung Nelson Long Herbert and Mary K. Muckleroy Ellen Buchanan Joyce McClung Dot Walker Patsy Eppes Robert Grote Kassie Moye Worship 09/ / Sunday School 09/ / Gifts 09/27 $3, /04 $9, Methogram Schedule Oct 21 publication Please submit any articles and info by noon, Tues. Oct 20. Nov 4 publication Please submit any articles and info by noon, Tues., Nov. 3. Please don t forget these upcoming Church Ministry Meetings October 12, 5:00 p.m. SPPRC Committee Room 207, Cravens Hall October 19, 6:00 p.m. Finance Committee Room 207, Cravens Hall Tuesday, October 20, 6:30 p.m. Church Council Room 200, Cravens Hall October 25, 12:00 noon. Charge Conference Dauphin Room, McDonough Hall Barbara Kirby Ellen Buchanan Brook and LaNita Gilchriest Joyce McClung Kassie Moye The Ward family Marianne Deadmon Lee Caldwell Rowena Caraway Joyce McClung Annual Charge Conference for First UMC to be held on October 25 Sunday, October 25 will be a very important day in the life of First UMC! On this day, several enjoyable events will occur. First of all, we will have one worship service in our sanctuary at 11:00 a.m. preceded by Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. Secondly, our new District Superintendent, Rev. Alicia Coltzer, will lead our charge conference at 12:00 noon in McDonough Hall. At this conference, we will approve the 2016 church budget, 2016 senior pastor s salary, 2016 nominations (laity ministry volunteers), and we will have a presentation on the importance of apportionments. A free BBQ brisket meal will be served following the conference. The Cornerstone and Young Adult classes will provide vegetable items, and the Unity and Victery classes will provide dessert items. The Men s class will make coffee and tea. Everyone who can attend the luncheon is asked to RSVP by calling the church office by Thursday, October 22.

3 Pumpkins are here and ready to roll! Roll to people s houses, that is. This is the largest fundraiser the youth do all year. This year, the money will be going to yearly activities and to help with finishing touches for the Methodist Center. We need you! We need you to sign up to help sell. You don t have to touch a pumpkin, just collect money. We also need you to spread the word. Without people spreading the word, it doesn t go anywhere. This town should be a-buzz about this patch. We have a lot of great things planned for this upcoming year and will be needing money to do a lot of those things. Imagine how great it would be if we could get kids in our community to come with us on trips and be able to enjoy our new youth facility. YOU would have helped make this happen. The youth are the future of our church and need to be shown how to be good stewards of this church. Will you be their role model? Ornaments are coming. I know, we haven t even made it to Halloween and your youth director is talking about Christmas. The youth will be creating ornaments for sale for your enjoyment. We will have a lot of different ones to choose from, so stay tuned. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Sarah and I would like to thank all that have prayed for us and given us gifts for our sweet baby Joseph. We have been surrounded by love and support from this church. We can t thank y all enough for throwing a wonderful baby shower and for all the gifts. Joseph will be one spoiled kid with all the love this church will give him. James Borello Director Converge Student Ministries Service Opportunities to Keep First UMC Silsbee Safe In putting together an emergency plan for our church, one of the requirements is an emergency church skills roster. Please review the following skills. If you have any of these skills, please call or the church office with your name and your skill. 1. First Aid 2. CPR 3. Heimlich 4. Triage 5. CPR Defib 6. Counseling 7. Fire Training 8. Plant Chemicals 9. Law Enforcement 10.Military Thank you for your willingness to help keep our church safe.

4 2016 Stewardship Campaign Consecration Sunday October 18 On October 18, at both of our worship services, each individual or family will be invited to turn in their completed Investing in the Future 2016 pledge card. During a time in each service, everyone will be invited to come forward and place their card in the urn or on the altar rail. A time of prayer will accompany this aspect of worship. First Annual Blessing of the Pets Ceremony on October 17th All pet lovers are invited to bring their pets on a leash to the front lawn of First UMC from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturday, October 17. Pastor David will offer a blessing prayer for each pet and they will receive a St. Francis medallion. This opportunity to celebrate the lives of our pets is done to also celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi, a 12th century monk, who was known for his love of animals. Please be sure to tell your animal loving friends about this opportunity. On October 4 at the 11:00 a.m. service, Jason and Jan Morgan, and their daughter Jayde, of 6037 Country Club Road, Silsbee, joined First UMC. They come by transfer of letter from St. John s Episcopal Church in Silsbee. Please take the opportunity to welcome them!

5 The church office received the following letter from the Silsbee Woman s Club, and wanted to share it with you: To Whom It May Concern: The tradition of laying wreaths to honor our veterans during the holiday season began in 1992, when Morrill Worcester of Worcester Wreath Company found himself with extra wreaths at the close of the holiday season. He donated 5,000 wreaths to be placed at the headstones in Arlington National Cemetery, thus creating Wreaths Across America to Honor, Remember, and to Teach. Today the program has spread to all 50 states, ceremonies at sea, and in 24 national cemeteries on foreign soil. In 2008, the United States Congress unanimously decreed the second Saturday of December as Wreaths Across America Day. The Silsbee Woman s Club is proud to sponsor Wreaths Across America in our community. The cost of the live wreath is $15.00 with checks made to Wreaths Across America. Silsbee Woman s Club and the City of Silsbee will host a program on December 12, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at the Veteran s Memorial Park (across from the Ice House Museum). The ordered wreaths can be picked up that morning from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Rudaisile Pavilion. Any wreath not picked up by 10:00 a.m. will be placed on a veteran s grave at a local cemetery. We encourage everyone to come help us honor and remember not only our veterans, but our men and women in uniform now. In life, they honored our Country; in death, our Country honors them. To place an order, please contact Kathy McBride at Leave a message if there is no answer, and she will return your call. Orders will be taken until November 20, 2015, so that the wreaths can be shipped to us for the December 12 ceremony. Sincerely, Imogene Nelson President, Silsbee Woman s Club First UMC Church Council meeting moved to October 20th The church council of First UMC has moved its regularly scheduled meeting from October 26 to October 20. At the October 20 meeting, the main agenda item will be to approve the 2016 church budget and charge conference paperwork. Everyone who has an interest in the participation and financial aspects of our ministries is invited to gather in Cravens Hall, Room 200 at 6:30 p.m.

6 Your church staff would like to share a little about ourselves so that you can get to know us better. Staff Member: James Borello Position on Staff: Director of Converge Youth Ministries How long have you been working for the church? For a year and a few months at First UMC Silsbee. I have been working for churches for over 9 years. Tell us about your family Well, my family is growing. Sarah and I have been married for four years, and we have a baby boy on the way. Are you from Silsbee? If not, where are you from? I am not from Silsbee. I was raised in Missouri City, which is in Southwest Houston. What are you doing when you are not at work? I volunteer here in Silsbee with the fire department. When I am home, I love watching TV and playing video games with my wife. What is your favorite hymn or praise song? Oceans is my favorite praise song and my favorite hymn is Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus. What brought you to church work? I was raised at Westbury UMC where a lot of people had faith in me and helped me through rough times. I had an amazing youth choir director that helped me and that s where I saw my calling to work in ministry. What is your favorite part of your job? Hanging with the youth and college kids and teaching them about God. If you have any other questions you would like to ask James, he welcomes your s at james.borello@gmail.com. During the month of October, you can also find him sitting out at the Pumpkin Patch a lot of the time.

7 Faithweaver Friends is going strong. We have 22 students. There are yummy snacks and fun music. We also have Bible stories, games, and crafts, that bring children closer to Jesus in a fun way. There is always room for more children, so tell your friends. More information and registration forms are available in the church office. We are really looking forward to October 25th. That is when we will have a Trunk-or-Treat. The hours are 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. It will be a lot of fun with a bouncy house and lots of games available for you to sponsor. Come and enjoy this event. Open up your decorated trunk full of candy. Please let Glenda Delano know if you are going to participate so I can have a better idea of how many cars to expect. I sure hope for a bunch! Music Notes A big, warm WELCOME to our new Chancel Choir members! Also, please see below for details on our upcoming Christmas cantata. We welcome anyone that would like to come sing in the cantata with us! Glenda Delano, Director of Children s Ministries Homebound Holy Communion Available Each Month Each month at First UMC, Pastor Nancy and dedicated laity bring Holy Communion to the homes of church shut-ins and those too ill to attend church. To add your name to the list to receive this, or to volunteer your time, please contact Jennifer in the church office at December 13, :30 a.m. First UMC Silsbee, Sanctuary

8 First United Methodist Church 670 North 5th Street Silsbee Texas RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED