Countdown. Couts. Go WEST - Welcome, Equip, Serve, Transform. February 1, 2016 Volume 10 Issue 2. Worship. Sunday School. Church Office Hours

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1 Couts Countdown Go WEST - Welcome, Equip, Serve, Transform February 1, 2016 Volume 10 Issue 2 Worship 8:30 a.m. - Classic 11:00 a.m. - Contemporary Sunday School 9:45 a.m. 802 North Elm Weatherford, Texas Church Office Hours 8am - 5pm Monday - Thursday Closed on Friday Visit us on the Web

2 Matt Hall Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ! Welcome to the new year! As this year begins to unfold, I see a lot of positive things happening in the life of the church. A big thanks to Sarah, our Children s Ministry Director, and all of the volunteers that made this past Sunday a fun experience for the 17 children in Sunday School and a good time for the 25 attending our Wednesday afternoon KidZone. Our youth are planning to attend the Mid-Winter retreat at Glen Lake this weekend and they are making plans for the Summer mission trip to Arkansas. Our Bible study The Story continues. This week we are on lesson 15 and next week we will have some modified times due to the Super Bowl on Sunday and Ash Wednesday. Yes, this year Easter is early, March 27. So the forty days before Easter (not counting Sundays) begins February 10. I want to encourage you to pray for how God is guiding our church to share the good news, introduce Christ, and make a transforming difference in people s lives and in the community. The Church Council did approve a 2016 budget of $593,757 this past Sunday. We owe a big thanks to Eddie McSwain and the Finance committee for their hard work of putting the budget together. The budget represents how we see using our resources to proclaim the good news, introduce Jesus, and making a transforming difference in our community and the world. As this year unfolds we will need $76,737 more income than our current best estimate. Working together we can make up this difference. Personally I am working on a plan to come up with an additional $1000 between now and the end of the year, in addition to my 2016 pledge, to help make up this difference. I want to encourage you to prayerfully consider how God is leading you in this area. Every addition makes a difference. As Ash Wednesday approaches on February 10, make your plans to attend the service and either give up or take on a challenge for Lent. Do include in your Lenten prayers how God is calling our church to be a part of God s greater plan as the good news is proclaimed, Jesus is introduced to new people, and their lives and our community and world is transformed. Grace and Peace, Pastor Matt Financial Snapshot Jan - Dec 15 Jan - Dec 14 $ Change YTD BUDGET Ordinary Income/Expense Income Contributions 536, , , , All Other Sources 12, , , , Total Income 549, , , , Expense Apportionment 52, , , , Church Operating Expense 116, , , , Loans 97, , , Personnel 258, , , , Program Ministry 14, , , , Total Expense 539, , , , Page 2 Net Income 10, , , ,582.00

3 February 2016 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT The Story Sun.-5 pm Mon.-10:30 a.m Tues. - 6:30 pm Wed.- 6 pm 6 pm - Handbell Rehearsal 6pm Worship Mission 7pm Mission Teams Jr. League Basketball 8-3 Youth at Mid-Winter at Glen Rose 7Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany Transformation of the Lord Sunday - White No The Story 141st Sunday in Lent - Purple 8 6 pm - Handbell Rehearsal 15 The Story 6:00 p.m. Church Office Closed for Presidents Day 9 6:30 pm Frijoles & 42 7pm - Children s Mission Team pm Conference Room 10Primetimers 10:45 to BooRays Ash Wednesday Service 6:30 pm Tweens - Parents Night Out 5:00pm-7:30pm 11 5:30 p.m. CCA Board Women s Fellowship - 6:30 - home of Cissi Coonce 18: 6:30 pm-finance 12 Emmaus Community Gathering - 6pm at Silver Creek UMC 13 Jr. League Basketball Jr. League Basketball nd Sunday in Lent - Purple Boy Scout Sunday 22 6 pm - Handbell Rehearsal Chicks In Action 6:30 pm 6:30 p.m. Trustees Meeting 26 27Jr. League Basketball 8-3 Confirmation Noon w/parents District Leadership Lifeline Screening Fellowship Hall 283rd Sunday in Lent - Purple Confirmation Noon 296 pm - Handbell Rehearsal Leap Day Wednesday Schedule 2:00 p.m. - Prayer Force 3:30 p.m. - Kidzone 6:00 p.m. - Bible Study, Youth, Men s Basketball The Story January 31 - Feb 3 - Lesson 15 February 7 - Lesson 16 February 14 - Lesson 17 February 21 - Lesson 18 February 28 - Lesson 19 Page 3

4 Frequently Asked Questions: What curriculum are we using? We are currently using an online resource called DKLT. In Children s Church and Sunday School the lessons are presented in story form and children explore the story through activities using all modalities such as: Lego my Bible, Puppetry; Drama, and art. In January we explored the arrival of the kings, Jesus trip to the temple as a young boy, Jesus time in the dessert, the miracles of loaves and fishes, and Jesus healing the ten lepers *What are we doing for Lent? All of our learners will hear the stories leading up to the Last supper and the crucifixion in age appropriate ways. It is important as one cannot have the good news without knowing what came first. Ash Wednesday and the Sunday following there will be activity boxes for families to take home and work with through out Lent. Tweens have been busy working hard on outreach projects and having fun! They cut uppers for shoes through Sole Hope, which supplies shoes for children in Uganda. For further information on Sole Hope please go to They have tied fleece blankets for the shut ins at Couts, and will be holding a Parents Night Out entertaining children with movies, snacks and crafts from 5:00-7:30PM. On Wednesday, February 17. The tweens will be assisted by Miss Sarah and the regular COUTS sitters. Please call the office to reserve a spot for your family. The fun activities the tweens have participated in thus far are: Glow in the Dark Putt Putt, Bumper cars, Burgers at Braums, and going to Tavern Cinema to see Norm of the North. Mark your calendars: March 6, Painting with a Twist March 16, St Patrick s Day Party Thank you to the parents with out whose help this program would not be possible. Ask Miss Sarah! Please feel free to ask about our programs or questions your children may have. Best way to reach me is by cell Or at sarah@coutsumc.org Starting in February, the Couts Safety Team will begin the final phases of Ministry Safe. You will receive more information through soon. Page 4 Children s Church on Sundays during the 11 o clock Service Interested in helping? Call the church office or talk to Sarah Moden-Alliston or Mona Holderfield.

5 Loving God. Loving Neighbor Newsletter February 1, 2016 Youth Mid-Winter February 5-7 Please be in prayer for the 10 youth that are attending Mid- Winter. The youth will leave the church on Friday at 5:15 p.m. for an exciting weekend. Thanks to Rob Worsham and Amy Roberts for going as adult sponsors. We still need health/release forms that are signed and notarized for all attending. Youth Are Meeting on Valentines Day 5:00-7:00 p.m. possible migration event CTC UMC Mission Trip Combined Jr. High/Sr. High (youth who ve completed 6th - 12th grades) June Cost $235 if paid by March 4th will be going to Arkansas Rumor Has It Migration Season is Upon Us The Youth Mission team met on 1/31/2016 and wanted to let everyone know that we would be asking the participants to pay $100 deposit for summer mission trip registration. The youth will be aggressively fundraising through the spring with the goal of covering the remaining amount of cost and the cost of vans and fuel there and back. If they make more, they will reimburse the amount paid for the deposit back to each family. We always need and want adults to join us on the Mission Trip. Adults (must be 21 or over) to sponsor. Rob Worsham, our Youth Coordinator, wanted to share how great a blessing it has been to go on these trips. Adults please prayerfully consider if God is calling you to this. ministry. If you want to receive Couts UMC Youth news, subscribe to our updates by visiting our Facebook page and clicking on the Signup button. You can also CTRL + Click on this pic, or use the QR code: To receive mobile updates by text message, text keyword coutsyouth to Join us for our Youth Sunday School every Sunday at 9:45am. We meet just across from the Fellowship Hall! Check us out at Couts Youth on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Page 5

6 Couts Campers Meet to Plan 2016 Camping Season Sounds like the Couts Campers are planning some exciting weekends for The group met at the home of Ron and Marion Dearman and have come up with the schedule below and hope that there will be others in the church that will join them for these great camping/ministry weekends: Mar 4-6 Apr May June 3-5 Jul Aug Sep Sep 30-Oct 2 Nov 4-6 Cleburne State Park Proctor Lake, Loop #5, Copperas Creek Oakdale Park, Glen Rose, TX Jellystone Park at Whispering Pines, Tyler, Texas Inks Lake State Park, Hill Country OPEN Lake Mineral Wells State Park Purtis Creek, Canton (for 1st Monday weekend) Beaver's Bend State Park (OK) For more information, please contact Cissi Coonce or Marion Dearman. Chicks In Action Meeting We had a great meeting on Jan. 26th. Thank you to all who attended. Our group planned some really good projects and activities. The chart contains information about the meetings that we planned. Feel free to share with those who might be interested. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 23. We will meet at 6:30 p.m. at Couts. A light meal will be provided. There will be a short devotional and we will make soup and cookie mixes. These will be used to give to visitors who visit our church as well as to people who are ill, have had surgery or just need a soup mix and cookie mix. Any one can attend and be a part of Chicks In Action. Next Women s Ministry Fellowship Thursday, February 11, :30 p.m. - Home of Cissi Coonce The next meeting of the Women s Fellowship group will be Thursday, February 11, 2016, at 6:30 pm at the home of Cissi Coonce Overton Drive, in Weatherford. Bring a snack to share with the other women. Trustees Update The Couts Trustees met for their first meeting of the year on January 21st at 7:30 p.m. They elected a chairperson, Jamie Greene, and welcomed the new members. As a matter of update the Trustees are working on: 1. The small 2008 white mini-van has a torn head gasket and will cost $2,700 to repair. 2. We are still taking donations for the new 15 passenger white van. To date we ve received $10,500 of the 27,000 cost. 3. The Scout Lodge has been returned to working order after a problem with the city sewer backing up in it. Thanks to John Park, Carlene Coover, Roland Real and Becky Bond for mopping and cleaning. Thanks to Chris DeArman for re-installing the fixtures and getting the water back on and to Rodger Johnson and Cub Scout Pack 275 for putting the walls back up in the restroom. Page 6

7 Prayer Breakfast Saturday, February 6th 8:30 a.m. Fellowship Hall Everyone is invited to come and be a part of our Saturday Prayer Breakfast. We ll gather at 8:30am and have breakfast, sing praise, and pray for Couts, Weatherford and our Country. Please bring a breakfast dish to share. Primetimer s Lunch Wednesday, February 10th Everyone is invited to join the Primetimers at Boo-Rays for lunch. Meet 10:45am. For Seniors 50 and above There will be an organizational meeting for our 2016 Confirmation Class and their parents on Sunday, February 21st at Noon in the Fellowship Hall. A light lunch will be served. The Confirmation Class is offered to current 6th graders, anyone past 6th grade that has not previously taken the class, and anyone that has taken the class before but was not ready to be confirmed. For questions, please Due to Mid-Winter Camp and the Super Bowl, the class start date was moved from Feb. 7th until February 21st. Annual District Training for Finance, Trustees, and SPRC members Sunday, February 21st from 3 pm - 6 pm Arborlawn UMC - Fort Worth, Tx. There is a component for everyone from 5:00 to 6:00 pm on Church Safety in an Open- Carry World This is for all new and current members of Finance Trustees and SPRC. There was a called CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING on Sunday, January 31st in the Fellowship Hall. The Council met for the first time in There was a brief report from Couts Christian Academy Board Chair, Marion Dearman. 1). The Church Council approved: A motion from the Lay Leadership Committee to appoint Roland Real to a one year term on the Trustees. Roland has been on the Trustees for 3 years and will fill a vacancy on that committee. 2). The 2016 Budget in the amount of $593,757 3). The use of Peach/Harvest Festival Funds to fund Kidzone and VBS Thanks so much to our new Church Council Chair, Chris Safford and to Eddie McSwain, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, for their Leadership and great attitudes about Couts UMC. Page 7

8 Go Welcome, Equip, Serve, Transform Couts Methodist Church 802 North Elm Weatherford, Texas W E RE ON T HE WEB - V I S I T US WWW. C OUTSMETHOD I S T C HURCH. C OM Healthy Church Initiative Reading List Session 2 Recreating the Church by Richard Hamm Session 3 Renovate or Die by Bob Farr & Kay Kotan Session 4 Shaped by God s Heart by Milfred Minatrea Session 5 Simple Church by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger Session 6 The Externally Focused Church by Rick Rusaw & Eric Swanson Session 7 Beyond the First Visit by Gary McIntosh Session 8 Unbinding the Gospel by Martha Grace Rees Brad Bishop Billy Burris Matt Couch Warren Crouch Will Dowd Derek Geyer Michael Gilliam Jeff Johnson Cory Jones Blake Hubbard Mike Hebert Hunter Hiett Our Military Kali Yarnell Lussier Matthew Mitchell Josiah Sorrells Doug Yarnell Cody Williams Page 8 February Birthdays February 1 Richard Safford February 4 Janice Rice February 5 Waymond Torbett February 6 Clenton Collier February 9 Verna Polvado February 10 Crystal Samson February 13 Jean Grant February 14 Amy Roberts February 15 Kate Jenkins February 16 Roland Real February 17 Kayliegh Bazzell Ean Bazzell February 19 Weston Jester February 21 Cameron Streck February 22 Jackie Newman February 23 Carol Real February 27 Kristi Roberts February 28 Allene Bielss February 29 Ashley Arthurs