OUT
WITH THE OLD——IN WITH THE NEW
There
is a lot to do before we say good-bye to 2008. There is the Christmas
Cantata and Church Wide Christmas Caroling on the 21st of December.
There are the Christmas Eve
Services
on the 24th @ 3:30 and 9:30 p.m. There is the Sunday after Christmas
where Nan will be preaching at the 8:30 am. service and J.D. Spencer
will be preaching at the 11:00 a.m. service. Before the year ends we
need to make sure that our giving is up to date, if you are not sure
where you are in regards to your 2008 pledge you can call the church
office and Monette can look that up for you. Also, if you have not made
your financial pledge or your service commitment for 2009 you can also
do that by contacting the church office. 2008 was a great year. We accomplished
many things. Our music program is strong and vital, our youth and children's
ministries are growing, and we have had 52 new members — that is one
per Sunday— WOW! Our missions program continues to reach great heights
through FAITH PROMISE. I could go on and on. As we go into 2009, we
have a strong and solid foundation to build on. 2009 will offer many
challenges and with the foundation that is already in place we will
face them and be victorious once again. God will provide and God wants
to do mighty and amazing things through us. A day of training for church
leaders will be sponsored by the Murfreesboro District on January 25,
2009. I am excited about out Lenten Season as well, because starting
the later part of Feb. and going through Easter our church wide theme
will be “THE FIVE PRACTICES OF FRUITFUL CONGREGATIONS”. God was so good
to us as a church family in 2008. I can’t wait to see his goodness in
2009 and I am excited about the way that we are going to respond to
his goodness and faithfulness. It was great in 2008—— It will be fine
in 2009!!!!
On
the journey,
Randy
WED
NIGHT LIVE
A MID-WEEK SPIRITUAL BOOST
6:15-7:10
Adult Studies: "Quiet Strength" led by Bro Randy,(10 sessions) "The
Will of God"" led by John Rampy(5 sessions) Youth Handbells Children's
Choirs Carolers (age 3-1st grade) Choristers (2nd-5th grades) Praise
Team Rehearsal Nursery care when requested. Supper begins at 5:30. Chancel
Choir at 7:15.
UPWARD
BASKETBALL
HELP NEEDED
Our church’s Upward Basketball teams started practice on December 1st
with 232 kindergarten through 6Th grade boys and girls participating.
This self-supporting program funded the refinishing of both the gym
floor and the stage this past summer and gives several scholarships
to needy children from our community to take part in our program. Games
will start on January 10th with twenty-six teams playing each Saturday
through February. We are thankful for all the folks that help and are
always able to use additional volunteers in various areas such as announcing,
scorekeeping, refereeing, Gym administrators during practices, game
day set-up and cleanup, and concession stand workers. Contact Jim Gallagher,
Eric Trussell, or Fayna Edens for added information and to volunteer
to help – you will be indeed blessed Jim Gallagher, coordinator
MISSIONS
This
joyous time of year is also a time for sharing. Our church is blessed
with many generous people. ANGEL CLOTHES PROJECT: Because of your contributions
to Faith
Promise,
we were able to supply 96 children in our community with new clothes
and coats. From Faith Promise, we spent about $7,000. Some of our church
member shoppers spent some of their own money to add candy, toys, books
or blankets to the gift bags which we then delivered to the Campora
Center for distribution. Thank you to all of our shoppers who helped
make this a Very Merry Christmas for our county children. FOOD BASKETS:
Faith Promise contributions paid for 12 food baskets. Eight of the baskets
were given to our missionary from Mexico, Enrique Hernandez who is distributing
them to Hispanic families who have lost their income, their jobs or
their health. There are still many needs in our city and county. Please
remember to donate to your favorite charity this month. Every dollar
that goes to Faith Promise is returned to the community charities. May
God bless you and your family during this Christmas season.
UNITED
METHODIST WOMEN
God’s Golden Acre:
A
Biography of Heather Reynolds Heather Reynolds gave her life to God,
then waited for the call to serve. While visiting South Africa, she
encountered the human and social devastation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
and knew this was God’s call. This book can be found in the UMW section
of our library. Interesting reading. Only 319 pages. Try this one. Ms.
Hortense and I would like to thank all of our ladies who have accomplished
their goal of reading 4 or more books in 2008. Donna Hughes & Hortense
Montoye
From
the Wesley Preschool
This school year
is going by so fast. It is exciting to see the children grow and change.
I feel very blessed to be “Gran” to so many little ones. Again we have
lost a student
because
the family needs full time care. Please be prayerful about this situation
and what we as a church might do to meet this need in our community.
Parents in our community want full time Christian care for their children.
I consider this to be a critical need in our community. I am happy to
report that we also added a student the first week of December so the
enrollment continues at 32. We do have some openings available if you
know of someone that ould be interested in attending preschool. We had
a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with our families. Our Tuesday/Thursday
class had 21 in attendance and Wednesday/Friday had 52 in attendance.
For the month of December we are planning our Christmas party with a
special appearance by the jolly ole fellow. We are teaching about the
nativity and the true meaning of Christmas. Instead of drawing names
and shopping for presents, we have asked each child to bring a book
for a gift exchange. We will also be making Christmas shirts with reindeer
on them. We will use the children’s feet for the face and their hands
for the antlers. We are still collecting can items for Good Samaritan’s
and encouraging the parents to talk to the children about giving to
those in need. Please feel free to come by and visit Wesley Preschool.
We are very proud of the children that attend here. You will be blessed
by seeing the children and how happy they are here. We pray that each
of you have a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. Fayna A.
Edens, Administrator
“Created
By God”
February 5-6-7
Where do you want your children and grandchildren to get their
sexuality
information and moral values? TV? Movies? The internet? School? For
almost 40 years, The United Methodist Church has provided Christian
resources and training to help parents with the difficult conversations
about sexuality, values, and Christian behavior. One of those programs
is “Created By God” for older children and younger youth, and their
parents. Again this year, WFUMC 5th-8th graders have this opportunity
in conjunction with two Murfreesboro churches, Trinity and St. Mark’s
UMCs, who have provided this ministry for 13 years, as do many UM churches
throughout Middle TN and the nation. The format requires parental participation
on one evening and one afternoon, and the students on another evening
and a Saturday. Plus, adults from our congregation will participate
as team leaders, and remain confidential contacts for the students.
(Wanda Denton and Mikey Butner, Jason Woodall, Sr. Nan)