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 September 23, 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 AFDS Report 5 Staff Spotlight 6 Ministry Opportunities 7 Children s Ministry 7 Music Notes 7 Women of Faith 8 Dear Friends, Today is September 23rd and I have experienced both joy and sorrow. If you think about it, each day of our lives usually involves some excitement and some discouragement. First, the joy. I had the privilege to gather with about 50 Silsbee Middle School youth at the awesome national event called See You At the Pole. This event is celebrating its 25th year and was started in Texas by just 10 students. It did my heart good to see these young people expressing their belief in Jesus Christ. Second, the pain. After the time at Silsbee Middle School, I took Nevis to Sherwood Animal Clinic to get a check-up and a fresh grooming. Now, Nevis is never too happy to visit the veterinarian, but sometimes it has to be done. What made my heart sad was to witness the grief and tears of a young man who had to unexpectedly terminate the life of his beloved dog. Losing a pet is something that many of us have personally experienced and it is extremely painful. Experiencing both of these events within an hour got me to thinking about how we are to handle life and all of its experiences. In Romans chapter 8, verses 35 thru 39 it says the following: Can anything ever separate us from Christ s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? (Even the Scriptures say, For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep:) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can t, and life can t. The angels can t, and the demons can t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can t keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. So, my friends, may we live life to the fullest knowing that God is with us in the good and bad times. In Christ, Pastor David

2 Harold Erwin Catherine Gorskie The Neylands Nancy Sanford Ed and Sonia Cain Pat Beard Patricia H. Donalson Dot Walker Patricia H. Donalson Patsy Eppes Juanita Stover Barbara Kirby Victery Sunday School Class Juanita Stover Worship 09/ / Sunday School 09/ /20 94 Gifts 09/13 $4, /20 $3, Methogram Schedule Oct 7 publication Please submit any articles and info by noon, Tues. Oct 6. Oct 21 publication Please submit any articles and info by noon, Tues. Oct 20. Please don t forget these upcoming Church Ministry Meetings October 5, 7:00 p.m. Trustees Committee Room 207, Cravens Hall 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. Everyone is reminded to attend the annual Homecoming parade of marching bands and decorated floats beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 3rd. Charge Conference Dauphin Room, McDonough Hall Installation Service for Rev. Alicia Coltzer to be held September 27 Our new District Superintendent, Rev. Alicia Coltzer, will officially be installed in a worship service on Sunday, September 27 at 3:00 p.m. at First UMC, Beaumont. The address for First UMC, Beaumont is 701 Calder Avenue in Downtown Beaumont. All are invited and a reception will follow the service.

3 It s pumpkin time again! In less than three weeks, our front yard will turn orange for a month. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and we can t do it without you. The pumpkin truck will be here October the 2 nd at 10:00 p.m. It will be a cool night to help come unload pumpkins. (That s what I have our staff praying for at least) We will need everyone there for unloading because we are getting even more pumpkins than we had last year! We will have water and coffee for those that need it! If you would like to sign up to volunteer for the pumpkin patch itself, visit our church website at The sign up link is on the home page. If you have problems or need assistance, please call the church. If you know of any schools or any other large group that would like to come to the patch please ask them to call the church office to reserve a time so we are prepared for them. Saturday, October 10th, we will have the Party in the Patch. It will start at 10:00 a.m. that morning, and will include face painting, family photos, train rides, refreshments for sale, and of course, pumpkins! The Party will continue through 4:00 p.m. We will then take a break to enjoy the Cruise n Silsbee parade, and return at 7:00 p.m. for an outdoor movie. Our plan at this time is to show Cars in keeping with the Cruise n Silsbee theme of the weekend. Please plan to come out and enjoy the day with us! James Borello Director Converge Student Ministries Ministry opportunity on October 10th at First UMC From 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 10th, hundreds of cars and people will be celebrating Cruise n Silsbee. The Missions Committee of the church would like to invite you to purchase small bottles of water from our local community stores and bring them to our church office by Wednesday, October 7th. We will then put a church label on each water bottle, and pass them out during the day s events. If you would like, you are invited to bring a cooler with ice to the front of the pumpkin patch to hand free water out to people who pass by our church. The Cruise Parade will begin at 5:00 p.m. that evening.

4 2016 Stewardship Campaign October 4, 11, 18 In verse one of one of my favorite hymns titled We are the Church the chorus says: The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. Well, as the people of First UMC, we are called to be responsible with our gift of stewardship. Stewardship, according to Wikipedia, is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. For us as Christians, stewardship is the belief that human beings are created by God to look after the Earth and its resources. Specifically, when it comes to the resources of First UMC, it is the responsibility of all of its members and supporters. As your pastor, I believe in the reality that God owns it all and we are called to manage what we have to the best of our abilities for whatever time we have. It is my hope on October 4, 11, and 18 to show you the why, how, and thanksgiving involved in stewardship. Stewardship is part of our membership vows to join the church. To remind us, we say that we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the church through our prayers, presence (attendance), gifts (tithes, offerings, and God-given talents), service (time given to actual ministry opportunities), and our witness to a Christian life daily so that we can share the good news of salvation given through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Monetarily speaking, our pledged tithes and offerings will be given to support the staff salaries, maintenance issues of church facilities, utilities, program materials, apportionments, and missional opportunities for Please start praying, and please be in worship on October 4, 11, and 18 so that God can give us a clear direction about how we should apply our stewardship responsibilities at First UMC in Pastor David On September 13 at the 9:00 a.m. service, Tom and Lydia Ishmael of 2351 US Hwy 96N, Silsbee, joined First UMC by transfer of letter from St. John s UMC in Texas City. Please take the opportunity to welcome them! Pet Blessing Ceremony on October 17 A new ministry event will be offered on the front lawn of our sanctuary on Saturday, October 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. This Blessing of Animals is being offered as a way to recognize the importance of pets in our lives. Saint Francis of Assisi was known for his love of all living creatures and this service will be an opportunity to bring your pet (any type of animal) to First UMC where Pastor David will say a special prayer of blessing for each pet. Each pet and owner will receive a memento for the event.

5 Pumpkins Coming for First UMC on October 2nd Our annual delivery of fresh pumpkins will take place on Friday, October 2nd at 10:00 p.m., after the Homecoming game. Volunteers are needed to unload the delivery truck as safely and quickly as possible. If you can help, please bring work gloves, wear blue jeans, and bring a flashlight. AFDS is off to a great start! This week (September 23) we are celebrating our grandparents! We hosted a chapel service in their honor. The kiddos learned grandparent songs to intermingle with our regular chapel songs. We are so excited to host this event again. This was be the third year. The first year we had it in the Dauphin Room and ran out of chairs! Last year, we held it in the sanctuary and had a full house! We had it in the sanctuary again this year and had another large crowd. Pastor David taught our lesson about The Ten Commandments, which goes along with our secular lesson of the week, Letter C. We are also learning about Families in our monthly unit. Going along with the Letter C and our monthly theme, we are Collecting Can goods for Christian Care Center which helps out needy families! Then the following week is Homecoming. We will celebrate with various fun days for the kids, including Hat Day, 80 s Day, Crazy Hair Day, Duct Tape Day and Hometown Pride Day! We are looking forward to this fun week too! We would love to have you come by and visit with us and see our fun school. We are always looking for folks to help us with programs/visits. If you have any contacts with community helpers, we would love to have them visit our school. Types of folks we would love to have come talk to the kids include, but are not limited to: Police Officer Fire Fighters Ambulance/Emergency Personnel Game Warden Artist Doctor/Dentist/Nurse/Medical Professional We also would love to have folks just come in to read to the students. They love to hear someone else read beside their teacher. If you would like to volunteer to read or if you have any expertise in a subject that preschoolers might find interesting please contact me! We d be delighted to have you visit. Also, check out my blog allfaithsdayschool.blogspot.com. I m trying to get better about blogging more often. Traci Turner, AFDS Director traciturner77@gmail.com

6 Your church staff would like to share a little about ourselves so that you can get to know us better. Staff Member: Marianne Deadmon Position on Staff: Financial Secretary How long have you been working for the church? Since August 2013 Tell us about your family My family included Charles Deadmon, my husband. We have one daughter, Cynthia and she brought us Roy King, our son-in-law, two grandchildren, Toby and Shari; and Toby s family, wife Meredith and children Riley, Tommy, and Mackenzie. Are you from Silsbee? If not, where are you from? Both Charles and I came from Jackson County, Oklahoma. Since we left there, we roamed the Western part of the US for about 25 years with his work. We also spent some time in the Eastern states. In the early 1980 s we settled in Silsbee. What are you doing when you are not at work? Most of the time I am working on various aspects of genealogy. What is your favorite hymn or praise song? How Great Thou Art What brought you to church work? There was a vacancy that I felt I could fill and wanted to help my church. What is your favorite part of your job? I love anything to do with accounting. That is the favorite part of the job, but being with people is a great asset, too. If you have any other questions you would like to ask Marianne, she welcomes your s at finance@silsbeeumc.com.

7 New Ministry Opportunities Wanting to find your place of service at First UMC? Well, we have new opportunities that just might be right for you! 1. Clean and reorganize the kitchen and pantry in Cravens Hall. 2. Re-do and keep current the entry bulletin board/announcement board in Cravens Hall. Free to design in any Christian way. Guidance from church administrator available. Check/change board once a week. 3. Help design and implement new welcome station for Narthex of Sanctuary. Guidance from Pastor available. Update monthly and check weekly. 4. Plant and maintain flowers in front of sanctuary, lighted church sign, and lettered church sign. Free to choose any plant style. Check and maintain once a week. 5. Greeters for the 11:00 a.m. service. Greet guests and members as they enter the church before worship. 6. People to hand out water during Cruise n Silsbee. See article on page 3 for full details. All of these opportunities can be done on your schedule. Please contact the church office if interested in any of these opportunities. Music Notes Are you looking to serve in a ministry within the church? Chancel Choir could be for you! Chancel Choir Recruitment Party and Luncheon! September 27, 2015 Immediately following the 11am service in Cravens Hall Learn more about choir through games, food, and fun people! We are still in need of drivers to pick the children up at school for Faithweaver Friends. Trunk or Treat is October 25 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.. Come and open your decorated trunk or tailgate full of candy. Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy. Games are available if you would like to have one by your vehicle. Glenda Delano, Director of Children s Ministries

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