First Methodist Church Winnsboro

I have been extremely humbled this week … I came home late last Wednesday night after an intense 3 1/2 day Board of Ministry meeting where we interviewed 18 potential new candidates to become ordained pastors in the United Methodist Church. It’s quite amazing to see how the Holy Spirit works in this important discernment process – I can’t explain it, but it’s powerful and it’s truly based on holy conferencing among the lay leaders and clergy on the Board. It’s painful to tell candidates they aren’t quite ready … this year we had 6 who we hope will come back next year. But I am so excited to tell you that the 12 people we referred for commissioning are AMAZING!! They have incredible VISION for the future of what the Church will look like in this changing world and they understand that making disciples for Jesus Christ requires some innovating ideas. Please say a prayer for all 18 of these people who are called to serve Christ in the years to come!

I did, however, come home exhausted and … SICK!  Oh, I may have had a slight cold in years gone by … I remember having strep throat when I was 16, but I don’t even have a thermometer in my house because I’m fortunate to have a good immune system! But when I got up with a fever on Monday, I broke down and went to the doctor and learned I had a viral lung infection … wow, this has knocked me off my feet!!  I say I feel humbled because I know I’m going to feel miserable for another day or so, but there are people who struggle every, single day with health challenges that are MUCH more difficult than this! Please, please, please … call people you have not seen in church, write a note to someone you know is struggling, or drop by and see someone from your Sunday school class or choir who might not be feeling that great.

LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO CONNECT?

We have 3 adult Sunday school groups that meet on Sunday mornings where relationships grow deeper and people study together to strengthen their faith. They all welcome visitors ANYTIME so why not visit them and see if one of them might be right for you? If you haven’t found a small group to plug into yet, please consider being part of a new class that Amy Moss will be starting at the end of this month. What might that look like? What would inspire YOU to belong? Let’s talk about it on Sunday, February 17th at 10 AM … come meet new people and share your thoughts about what this new class might look like.

WHAT’S AN ENDOWMENT FUND??

We’re very excited to roll out the details on our NEW Endowment Fund!  As approved by the church membership last October, the $200,000 gift from the Milner Estate has been used to start a NEW Endowment Fund to enable people to give to the church in a way that is socially faithful to further our mission: TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST. What is it? How does it work? Why have we done this? After dinner on, Wednesday, February 20th, come meet Rev. Carol Montgomery from the Texas Methodist Foundation and she’ll explain it all with our new Endowment Committee.

MUSIC MINISTER UPDATE

God has answered our prayers by sending us 2 excellent candidates for our position of MUSIC MINISTER. Representatives from our Staff Parish Relation team are finishing interviews this week and we hope to be making an offer soon. Won’t you please pray with me that God’s hand continues to guide our decision making process and that our new Music Minister will be a wonderful addition to our worship experience.

We have time to thank Judy Beaty appropriately for all she has done over the last 2 years to lead and guide our choir but let me begin now … JUDY BEATY YOU ARE AMAZING!!  Judy’s selfless gift to help the church through this time has been absolutely incredible and while I know she is looking forward to turning over the reigns, I will always rely on her for her knowledge and ideas … she truly IS amazing!!

EPHESIANS CONTINUES!

If you miss a week of our Sunday study on the Book of Ephesians you can listen on the website (CLICK HERE) or watch the VIDEO on your Facebook (just scroll to ANY Sunday and you’ll find them!) This Sunday we’re continuing Ephesians Chapter 2 … our focus will be on verses 11-22 so you might want to read the whole chapter. (HERE)

What an exciting worship we had yesterday!! The Spirit was hard at work and it was so wonderful to see so many people there and quite a few NEW faces! (104 people there!) It makes a BIG difference when the “whole family is at the table” so don’t miss the movement that Jesus is orchestrating!

We are full steam ahead into the new year and with the installation of our new CHURCH COUNCIL, I have been overseeing the “passing of the baton” from former leaders to new leaders! This leadership team is the group of people, elected at the all church CHARGE CONFERENCE in the fall, to provide for planning and implementation of a program for nurturing, outreach, witness, and management of resources in the church. They also vision and plan for the future, implement strategies and annually evaluating the mission and ministry of the church: to MAKE DISCIPLES of JESUS CHRIST for the transformation of the world.  I am excited to work with them all and I’m excited to work toward our 2019 goals!

This year, I’m very excited to be diving into ways to attract people to the love of Christ.  Ken Ragsdale recently sent me a few short articles on this very topic and they DO make me think … what does it take to help someone see the VALUE of being a “church person“?  This article, 6 REASONS PEOPLE WALK AWAY FROM CHURCH was excellent (and short!) and the last one, “7 Ways to REACH the Nones” was also terrific. (And short!) I hope these make you think too because THIS is our task – to feel so inspired by what’s going on at FUMC that we want to share it with the world!

MUSIC MINISTER SEARCH IS ON!  I want to thank John Massey, Mary White, Danny McMahon, Judy Beaty, JaneAnne Newton and Amy Moss (Worship Chair) for their hard work and exceptional input to our discussions on music in worship at FUMC. We have met over the last 3 months and have now focused our efforts on a search for a new MUSIC MINISTER. (Job description attached.)  This is a 10 hour/week position and Judy is excited to help this new person, (and I believe God knows who it will be!)  If you know anyone who “knows anyone”, or you know anyone who might be interested, send them to our website/WORSHIP.  Thanks to Cyndie Ewert,

DO YOU HAVE VERIZON?  As you know, we use a FREE text service for all the prayer requests (60 have committed to PRAY when there is a need), and we also use it to connect groups i.e. Church Council, Youth, Care Team, Choir, etc. Sadly, VERIZON will be charging Remind a new fee that makes it impossible for them to continue supporting free text messaging for anyone who has Verizon Wireless as your phone carrier. Beginning January 28, 2019, the people in our groups who normally get your Remind messages as texts will no longer receive these messages if you have Verizon Wireless as your phone carrier. HOWEVER, to continue receiving your messages,  download the mobile app HERE or enable email notifications HERE (scroll down the page to “Get Email Notifications”—both of which are free of charge.)

WOMEN’S COMMUNITY BIBLE STUDY STARTS THIS WEDNESDAY: 9 AM  The Community Women’s Bible study led my Linda Suche starts back up this Wednesday and Linda has extra books so just come! There are also some other places for women to plug in … knitters, hand quilters, prayer quilters and crafters. (Crafters will start back in February).

PLEASE CONSIDER A WALK TO EMMAUS IF YOU WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR FAITH:  If you are looking for a way to grow in your faith, please pray about attending a 3 day Walk to Emmaus! (There is very LITTLE walking involved … WALK just reminds us of the people walking back home after the death/resurrection of Christ and not recognizing Him.) This incredible discipleship ministry is designed to deepen personal faith and build church leaders and as Pastor Debbie would say, during this time of spiritual renewal, prepare to be amazed by God!  Men, your Walk is first …. details are on our website or talk to Pastor Debbie or those who have experienced this remarkable event: Amy & Danny Moss, Jane Anne and J.A. Newton, Carla Chitsey, Penny Boice, Michael Park, Suzie Hamm, Sara Hays, or Laura Morrison. (If I missed you, please let me know!)

SAFER DOORS/NEW LOCK:  I want to thank Danny Moss, Ed Page and Jim Dyson for helping re-key the locks in Wesley Hall!  The VOLUNTEER Safety Team is continuing their work on making ALL of our doors safe – now, in the event of a fire,  doors in Wesley and the sanctuary have PUSH BARS making exit immediate, which has led to the need to re-key, and Asbury Hall and FLC will be done in the near future. The TRUSTEES will release keys to those who need access to buildings.    

LOOKING AHEAD:  New small group “studies” starting on Wednesday nights, February 6th 

… ALPHA: I am excited that we’ll be having another ALPHA group for anyone that missed the experience in the fall, or for anyone YOU know who does not have a church home and is interested in talking about “not so basic” faith issues. These 10 weeks are CONVERSATIONAL based discussions on topics that appear to be simple but are anything BUT simple! 

… A LIFE WORTH LIVING: another study that is going to be terrific is a conversational course based on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This small group will  look at some of the things Jesus Christ does for us TODAY … the things that make Life Worth Living!

THIS SUNDAY is BAPTISM SUNDAY: This special event in the life of the church not only remembers the baptism of JESUS but it also helps us remember OUR baptisms, and the significance of what it means to be included in the family of faith. Baptism reminds us we are ALL dependent upon the grace of our loving God and in baptism, it’s not about the what the person being baptized does – it’s ALL about what GOD does!  If you or your children would like to be baptized on Sunday, let’s talk! 

Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)  

Debbie Lyons, Pastor

First United Methodist Church Winnsboro

301 Church Street, Winnsboro, TX. 75494

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