With you on your journey Volume 41 Issue 22 October 12, 2017 NEIGHBORHOOD GATHERINGS A few weeks ago you should have received a letter in the mail inviting you to a Neighborhood Gathering. These meetings in various homes are a time to share how God is bringing our vision to life at FUMC and ways you can further empower that work. We are trying to get as many people to these gatherings as possible, so make a reservation by contacting Christi Harper in the church office at 501-372- 2256 or charper@fumclr.org. Also, if you are unable to attend the Gathering (in your neighborhood) listed in your letter, or if for some reason you did not receive a letter in the mail, please call the church, and we ll find one you can attend. Sunday, October 15 at 4:30 pm Jeanie & Greg Burton s Home,1412 Rockwater Lane, North Little Rock Sunday, October 15 at 6:30 pm Delia Prather s Home, The Heights, 5510 Stonewall Rd, Little Rock Monday, October 16 at 5:30 pm Jenny Adair s Home, West Little Rock, 16219 Nation St, Little Rock Monday, October 16 at 7:00 pm Elaine & Loyd Bultena s Home, Hillcrest - 308 Fairfax, Little Rock Monday, October 23 at 5:30 pm Martha Faulkner s Home, 11723 Fairway Dr, Little Rock Monday, October 23 at 7:00 pm Kathy & Brad Workman s Home, Downtown, 315 Rock St. Unit 1801, Little Rock Monday, October 30 at 6:00 pm Stones Throw Brewery, Downtown, 402 E 9th St, Little Rock IN THIS ISSUE: NEWS & EVENTS Faith & Film is back! Sunday, Oct. 15th at 5:30 pm Sowell Lecture Series Bishop Janice Riggle Huie Sunday, October 22nd 5:30 pm KIDS @FIRST Exciting news from children s ministry. FIRST YOUTH Sign up for church league basketball OUR VISION As a community and individuals, we seek to be good neighbors to make Little Rock a place where children THRIVE. We will use all facets of our everyday lives to work for the things children need: Trust, Health, Relationships, Imagination, Value, and Education. 723 Center Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 501.372.2256 www.fumclr.org firstunited methodistchurch DOWNTOWN LITTLE ROCK
NEW & EVENTS Our church has an exciting opportunity coming October 22nd and 23rd as we host the inaugural Sam and Martha Sowell Lecture Series for Church Leadership. Our faithful member, Martha Sowell, is passionate about the church thriving in the future and has established this lecture series to empower and equip leaders of the church. Our guest presenter will be Bishop Janice Riggle Huie. Bishop Huie served as the Bishop of the Arkansas Conference for 8 years and then the Texas Conference for 12 years. She is a renowned speaker and leader all over the world even beyond Methodist circles. She is known for her vision of how the Christian church is changing and her ability to mobilize ministry to meet the changes. Our church will be deeply enriched by all she has to share. On Sunday, October 22, Bishop Huie will preach at both our 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. services. Then we will have a special service that evening at 5:30 p.m. that will feature her preaching and great music. The second day of the series, Monday, October 23, will feature a lunch and learn conversation for our church leaders. WEEKLY BIBLE READINGS October 15, 2017-19th Sunday after Pentecost Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14 October 22, 2017-20th Sunday after Pentecost Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22 It s Harvest Festival Time! October 29th at 3 pm It s that time of year again! First Church will be heading west to Rush and Linda Harding s farm located at 24311 Kanis Road in West Little Rock for our Harvest Festival. This event is always a lot of fun! Food will be served, so we need your RSVP. Please go online and register at www. fumclr.org/registrations or fill out the Journey Card on your announcement sheet or bulletin this Sunday. In the event of inclement weather, an email will be sent to all those that registered online, and announcements will be made Sunday morning and on Facebook. We look forward to a wonderful afternoon of food, fellowship & fun! United Methodist Women s Faulkner Circle Monday, October 23rd at Noon, Fellowship Hall The Faulkner Circle will meet Monday, October 23, at 12 noon in Fellowship Hall. The circle will continue their study of Missionary Conferences of the United Methodist Church in the United States. The speaker will be Rev. Donna Hankins-Hull sharing her experiences with Red Bird Missionary Conference where she and her family (Including her parents) have served many times as Volunteers in Mission. All are invited to attend and bring a sack lunch. United Methodist Women Sarah Circle Tuesday, October 24th at 6 pm Helen Herr s home, 1607 N. Hughes Street After dinner our speaker will be Haley Jones, our new Director of Community Engagement. Haley is a native of Mississippi and attended Birmingham-Southern College before going to Boston University for seminary. She spent the past two years in Coventry, England, doing work in community reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral. This summer she was commissioned as a provisional deacon in the Mississippi United Methodist Conference working towards being ordained in a couple of years. We look forward to hearing about her plans for ministry. Please email Carol Sherer at clsherer@hotmail.com if you are able to attend. United Methodist Women s Lunch & Program Sunday, October 29th at Noon The program will be presented by Sonya Murphy, the new Director of Camp Aldersgate. Last month Martha Faulkner explained the long history UMW has with the Camp. Last Sunday FUMC supported the Camp s Annual Fish Fry, and UMW baked for the bake sale. Hearing Ms. Murphy share her vision for the future of a Camp we all love will be interesting. Please make your reservation by calling the church office at 372-2256 by Friday 10-27-17. Ample food preparation depends on your reservation count. Houston Disaster Relief Trip Interest Meeting Have you felt called to help with disaster relief in the wake of the devastating hurricanes across the south? We are partnering with other United Methodist Churches in Little Rock to send a team in early December to do disaster relief work in the Houston area. If you are interested in joining the team, please email Haley (hjones@fumclr.org) or call her at the church (501-372-2256). All skill levels are welcome for the mucking and cleaning of homes. We will have an interest meeting to talk about logistics and dates on Monday, Oct. 23 at 5:30 pm in the Agape classroom. Volunteers needed in children s ministry! First Church is focusing on strengthening our children s ministry! But to do that - we need your help! We are currently looking for prayer buddies, Sunday school room helpers, part-time Sunday school teachers, greeters, floaters, worship helpers and more! Contact Tammy Felder (tfelder@fumclr.org) for more information.
#LoveYourNeighborLR In the wake of tragedies, we believe that prayer and action must go together. Prayers are a must: prayers for victims, prayers for their families, prayers for the medical professionals caring for the injured, prayers for our nation, and certainly prayers that tragedies like what happened in Las Vegas will never happen again. We want to invite you to do some intentional act of love to counteract this act of violence. Nothing we can do can will make it go away, yet love is the antidote to the poison of this kind of destruction. So, we challenge you to do something, no matter how small, to serve as a proclamation that love is more powerful than the worst acts of violence. Maybe you ll pay for the order of the person behind you in a drive through. Roll your neighbor s trashcans back to the house on trash day. Make an extra effort to call a friend or loved one you haven t talked to in a while and make sure they know you love them. Make a gift to an organization of your choice. Kindly write your elected officials about how you think we should respond to this as a community. Whatever you do, take a picture of it, post it on Facebook and tag the church, email us and tell us what you did (landrews@fumclr. org). This is not bragging. It s a proclamation of God s love. There is a spirit of angst and anger in our world right now. You can feel it everywhere, and it was there before the shootings in Las Vegas. Yet, to live faithfully in the midst of that is to move against the winds of anger, violence, hatred, and revenge. Be the love we want to see in our world. Pass it on. Pick up some cards this Sunday to pass out in order to spread the message of love in our community! YOUTH Shop Early for Christmas Support the Causes You Love This year the Christmas CareFair (previously the Alternative Christmas Market) will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 5 and 12 in Fellowship Hall. We ll have guest singers presenting Christmas carols and lots of opportunities to support FUMC and community causes from the Arkansas Foodbank to Camp Aldersgate to our own Five to THRIVE Backpack Ministry and Sew and Serve. Christmas in October for Cookson Hills Center in Oklahoma United Methodist Women are collecting new unwrapped gifts for the Christmas Store at Cookson Hills Center in Oklahoma on Sundays in October. Please place the gifts in the large Christmas boxes around the church. Some suggested new gifts to buy for the Christmas Store are: FOR CHILDREN: Toys for all ages, dolls, trucks or cars, books for all ages, wooden puzzles, legos and warm clothing FOR TEENS: Toiletries, games & clothes such as jeans or T-shirts FOR WOMEN: Bed sheets, pillows & blankets for twin or full beds, glasses, dishes, crock pots, pots & pans and warm clothing FOR MEN: Small tackle boxes with hooks, lines, lures or weights, fishing poles, screwdriver sets, rakes, shovels, flannel shirts or blankets a story from Cookson Hills... One of our parents came in to shop for her and her four children. She picked out their gifts, and the gift for herself. When it was time to pay, she said she had been saving all year long to pay for Christmas but it was in pennies. She asked if that was ok, and she set a bags of pennies down. I told her if she needed them, it was ok. She didn t have to pay. she said oh no this way she can do her part. She wanted to do this if the pennies were ok. I told her, yes they were perfect. I thanked her, and she gave me a hug. The she said this will be a great Christmas. 7th-12th Grade, Girls & Guys Register online fumclr.org/registrations
Welcome New Members We recently welcomed Rob Walton and Katie Jones into church membership on Sunday, October 1st. Katie joined by transfer of membership from Baton Rouge First Untied Methodist Church. A special congratulations to Rob on his profession of faith and baptism. We are honored to be part of your faith journey. We recently welcomed Jimmy, Jacklyn and Moxley Powell into membership during First Word. You may recognize Jimmy - he is in the First Word Praise Band! We are excited to officially welcome you to our community of faith! Latitude - An Evening of Stories and Songs features Little Rock native Leslie Darwin O Brien, daughter of Beverly and Gary Darwin. Leslie is an American singer and actress best known for her lyric soprano vocals and interpretation. She recently toured Cuba as part of the Havana Jazz Festival. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and Central Arkansas Library System. For more information, contact Madelyn at 501-918-3030 or mganos@cals.org. KIDS@FIRST News from the Children s Department We are excited to announce a few changes in our area! Each Sunday, after our Children s Sermon in First Word at 9:00, we will transition to our chapel, located just outside the nursery, upstairs. This is an intentional time for preschoolers through 5th graders to experience the ritual and tradition of worship. During our time together, we will read scripture, talk about ongoing missions in the church and how we can actively participate in them, learn the Lord s Prayer, collect an offering, sing the doxology, discuss prayer requests; and, finally, we will close with a benediction to send us out into our week. Understanding the elements of worship and why we do them is so important for a child s understanding of the purpose of worship. We will travel from the chapel into the theater for music practice at 9:42. Yes, you read that correctly. Mr. Kyle wants us to arrive at 9:42! Mr. Kyle, Mr. Kent and Mr. Brent are enthusiastically leading us as we learn to sing and read music. We love them!! At 10:00 we break into small groups for Sunday school. Our Sunday school classes just started their new curriculum! We have wonderful lectionary material from Sparkhouse, which follows the same scripture readings we will hear from the pulpit. This material was specifically chosen to help maximize opportunities for parents and caregivers to speak to children about what they learned each week. When we know what the children studied earlier in the day, it helps us to make sense of their interpretations of the stories. Sunday school is over at 10:40, and the children are ready to be pickedup. Any children who are not dismissed by 10:55 will travel with us upstairs into the sanctuary for the First Tradition worship experience. If your child remains with us during that time, the children will transition back downstairs for play and fellowship after the Children s Sermon. We strongly encourage parents and caregivers to keep their children in grades 2-5 with them in worship. It s important, developmentally, for them to worship alongside you. We are teaching children of all ages HOW to worship in our Children s church time together right now, but it is my vision for the near future that these bright young people will be in worship praising God and worshipping right along with you! Be on the lookout for more changes as we identify opportunities in our space. I invite you to be unceasing in your prayers for our children, our programs and for me as I get settled and as we all await God s amazing plan for our Christian Education. I am thrilled and privileged to serve with you here at First UMC. I can t wait to see what God will do here! Tammy Felder
2017 Charge Conference Sunday, November 5th at Noon Each year, we hold a meeting called Charge Conference to celebrate what God has been doing through our church and to look forward to where God is leading us next. Along with some business items, it is a time to report to our District and Conference the state of First Church. This meeting, led by our District Superintendent, will be Sunday, November 5th at Noon in the Cokesbury Center. All church members are invited to attend for this time of celebration and visioning. Packing backpacks on Sunday, October 15th! FRIENDS & FAMILY Sympathy To Michael Poole and family following the death of his grandfather, Jewell Poole, on October 3rd. To Rickie Smith and family following the death of her grandmother, Betty Little, on October 3rd. To Jim Yeary and family following the death of his father, Carl Yeary, on October 9th. Memorials & Honorariums In Memory of Charles and Dorothy Robinson by Bill & Harriet Robinson In Memory of Bequita Gray (Music Ministry) by Mr. & Mrs. Ted Darragh, Nancy & Craig Wood, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Cress, Cherry Light In Memory of Michael Clark (Booker School Partnership Program) by Ag Heritage Farm Credit Services FLCA, David & Meleah Arnold, Abby & Damon McKelvy, Patricia Rhine Brown, Sybil, Samantha & David Curran, Doug & Jessica Szenher, Tom & Susan Colford, Mary Ann Lee, George & Mary McMorran, Abigail Buchanan, Jane Harkey, David & Laura Elrod, K.M. & G. L. Tuck, Nancy & Craig Wood, Michael & Kay King, Don & Mary Blessing, Barbara R. Lusk, Nancy Paschal FUMC has a NEW mobile app! The FUMCLR App allows you to register for upcoming events, volunteer for a service opportunity, catch up on the latest sermons, view recent newsletters, receive push notifications, give an offering on your mobile phone, and more! It s a wonderful way to stay connected wherever you are! To download, visit your apple or android app store and search for First United Methodist LR. In Honor of David Freeman by Julian & Sybil Smith
firstunited methodistchurch LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS The First United Methodist In the First Place (USPS692-190) is published every other week for a total of 26 issues by the First United Methodist Church, 723 Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-4317. Editor, David Freeman ; Managing Editor, Lesley Andrews; Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas. www. fumclr.org. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FUMC In The First Place, 723 Center Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-4317 PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID LITTLE ROCK, AR <<FullNameWithSalutationsAndNoTitles>> <<AddressLine1>> <<AddressLine2>> <<AddressLine3>> Follow us! facebook.com/fumclr The next issue of In the First Place will be published on October 26, 2017. Submission deadline is October 22. Does it ever feel like your life is dictated by whichever way the wind blows? More than just fashion trends, popular culture, and technology, do you feel like all your life choices are made by the cultural norms and patterns?