Happy New Year Everyone! I always love the start of a new year and all the expectation and excitement it brings. 2018 was full of a lot of ministry around the church. We saw our Veterans ministry grow, we continued to enjoy plenty of food and fellowship together, we continued to reach out to children in our community through Storytime in the Park, and we continued to worship and serve with one another. As I look back on 2018, I can t help but be overwhelmed with gratitude for all the ways God has been revealed through our church and through our lives together! Every year, when people celebrate the new year, it is a super-common practice for them to make new year s resolutions. People commit to exercising more, eating healthy, staying more organized, or any number of other positive habits they want to adopt in the coming year. I have certainly taken part in this annual tradition before, but very few of my resolutions have really stuck for very long. One year I wanted to stop pressing the snooze button in the morning when my alarm went off. And let s just say that the three alarms I set every morning are good proof that that particular resolution did not stick for very long I would venture to guess that I am not alone in wavering in my commitment to my new year s resolutions each year. Most people start giving up by late-february to mid-march. It s not necessarily due to lack of desire to make a change, but often due to the busyness of life and the difficulty of changing habits. A practice that I am trying this year instead of making a new year s resolution is setting an intention for the year. Instead of making a resolution, I am choosing a word for the year that functions kind of like an intention or theme. And I invite you to join me and do the same. What might be your theme or intention for the year? Gratitude? Joy? Contentment? As you consider your own intention for the year, I also invite you to join me in considering what the theme at Wesley UMC might be this year. I can t wait to see all that God will do in and through our church in 2019! Grace and peace,
Come join Pastor Sarah from noon to 1:00PM in the Conference Room on Tuesdays. We discuss a variety of themes and topics, but there is always rich discussion. All are welcome and we would love to have you join us! Wesley United Methodist Church Mission Statement: 826 NW 23rd Avenue Gainesville, FL 32609 Office: 372-2845 Fax: 372-9544! We are on Facebook!!! Pastor s E-mail: PastorSarah@wumc.cfcoxmail.com Secretary s E-mail: Terri Manche secretary@wumc.cfcoxmail.com Witness Articles E-mail: Sharren Gibbs sharren2@cox.net Deadline for articles: 15th of each month Website: www.wesleyumcon23.org Weekly Sunday Activities Sunday School Adult Ages @ 9:30AM Worship @ 10:45AM (Sanctuary)
Barbara Baldwin Agnes Burke Carolyn Clarke Joan Croft Betty Dees John Easter Kay Frazier Betty Holder Paula Mathis Barb Loehr Beth Loehr-Moody Pam McCormick Clydia Reichert Jan Ripley Beth Senn Margaret Singh Dale Smith Polly Teele Lester Wigglesworth Jr George Winburn Clarence Witt ST. FRANCIS HOUSE Mission Statement: The overall mission of St. Francis House is to provide emergency food, temporary shelter, transitional housing, and related support services in a safe, secure environment for people in the Alachua County region who, for whatever reason, find themselves confronted with homelessness and hunger. This ministry was established in 1980 by Father Baker, with a goal to provide the basic necessities to help the impoverished and hungry in the community. Contributions may be marked on your check or envelope and placed in the collection plate or on the altar. You may also mail your checks for St. Francis House to the church office during the entire month of January.
21 Office Closed 22 11 12 Adult Class 9:30AM Sunday School in the Park 10:00AM Worship Service 10:45AM Wesley Wednesday Dinner 5:30 PM Committee Meetings 6:00PM Choir Practice 7:00 PM Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 6 Communion Sunday 7 8 1 2 3 Noon Pastor s Class 6:30PM Nightingales 13 14 15 10AM Morning Stars Noon Pastor s Class 20 Installation of UMW officers 27 28 29 Noon Pastor s Class Noon Pastor s Class 9 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 5:30PM WWS 6:00PM Trustees 16 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM SPRC 23 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Finance 30 2:30PM Wesley Whittlers 6:00PM Admin Council Noon Card Club 10 Noon Card Club 11:00AM Veteran Moms 17 Noon Card Club 24 Noon Card Club 11:00AM Veteran Moms 31 4 5 18 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Gainesville, Florida 32609 352-372-2845 FLORIDA ARBOR DAY 19 25 26 FH & Conf. reserved Florida Trail 8:30 5:00
We will take the month of January off, and then meet again in February for our Valentine s Day lunch! More on that later... Blessings, ~Donna ALACHUA GIRLS ACADEMY Girls' Academy will continue in 2019, and our first goody bags will go over to the academy close to Easter, which is April 28th this year. This year will be funded by donation only since we will not have a budget. Just as a reminder, you can bring your donations to the closet in the conference room. Suggestions for donations include word search games, pens, pencils, sharpeners, hair barrettes, nail polish, key chains, costume jewelry, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crackers, cookies (individually packaged). Items should be small enough to fit into a small gift bag. Thank you, everyone, for your continued prayers for this ministry. Many blessings, Joyce Welsh Storytime in the Park Children's Church will resume around mid-march. Thank you to everyone who helped fill in on Sundays when one of us needed help. Please continue to pray for this ministry and look forward to upcoming details. Blessings, Joyce Welsh, Sherry Adams, and Diane Blucher WESLEY WEDNESDAY SUPPER If you missed the annual Christmas Dinner on December 12 th, consisting of ham, cornbread dressing, cranberry salad, and the usual other fixin s, then you missed a good one. Lots of folks were there, some that we hadn t seen in a while. It was a wonderful time of fun, food, and fellowship. Our monthly WWS will be on Wednesday, January 9th at 5:30 PM. If you are not on the permanent list for supper, please let the office know by noon January 7th if you plan to attend. Also, if you are on the permanent list and are unable to attend let the office know. The cost is $6.
CELEBRATION BAGS The character trait for December was Compassion - "showing concern for others through words and actions." Omari, one of "our" first graders, is proudly showing his award as Mom and big sis look on! We are pleased that this event happening at Metcalfe has helped improve parent interaction. At the first event, only three or four family members were present. The December event had 16! Cindy Holmes
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THREE WISE WOMEN HAD GONE TO BETHLEHEM INSTEAD OF THREE WISE MEN? THEY WOULD HAVE Asked directions. Arrived on time. Helped deliver the baby. Hired someone to clean the stable. Made a brisket. And brought practical gifts. AND WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE SAID TO EACH OTHER AFTER THEY LEFT? "Did you see the sandals Mary was wearing with that robe?" "That baby doesn't look anything like Joseph!" "Can you believe they let all of those disgusting animals in there?" "I heard that Joseph doesn't have a job." "And that donkey they are riding has seen better days!" "We'll just see how long it will take to get your brisket dish back."
1/9 6:00PM Trustees 1/16 6:00PM SPRC 1/23 6:00PM Finance Committee 1/30 5:00PM Administrative Council 1 st Irma Hales 2 nd Joyce Welsh 5 th Joe Reichert 8 th Paula Mathis 10 th Ron Case 14 th Linda Yaxley-Nosko 20 th Betty Dees Christopher Blake Grayson Nosko (Linda Yaxley-Nosko s grandson) 27 th Paul Humphlett 28 th Jim Nelson 31 st Bob Bulatewicz 19 th Lisa & Matt Alday FUN AND GAMES Join the Canasta card club at Wesley United Methodist Church! Have fun and meet great people! Invite family and friends, the more the merrier! When: Thursdays, 12:00 Noon (except holidays) Where: Wesley United Methodist Church 826 Northwest 23rd Avenue Fellowship Hall Call Harley or Pamela Christensen at 352-505-0694 for information. We have wonderful members waiting to teach you Hand and Foot Canasta! Card Club Guidelines Bring a sack lunch and beverage if you wish. Please arrive on time if possible. Please help clean up after the games end. Please give us your email address and phone number in case of scheduling changes. A sign-up sheet will be passed for volunteers to come at 11:30AM to set up and make coffee.