Edmond First United Methodist Church

From Your Senior Pastor

erinpowers — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:49:36 +0000

In order to improve our care for one another we are changing our way of sharing in prayer concerns. Erin Powers, our Social Media Coordinator, is revising our prayer requests forms and they should be in the pews and on our web in just a few weeks. Presently you can send in your requests from our web page as well. It is easy and your confidential concerns will get to me as your Senior Pastor. Nancy Reynen will continue to be the person who compiles the lists.

What this means is you can pick up prayer requests forms throughout the church, just as we have been doing and be able to send them in from your home as well. Please do call the church office and let us know about hospital situations and deaths. If the office is closed let Don Vaught or I know by calling our cell phones, email us or text us. Our phone numbers are published and are on the phone system when you call the office and get our recorded message.

All of the prayer requests will be compiled once a week and sent out by email to those on our mailing lists. We hope to have this sent out every Thursday. Sunday School classes will receive copies of the prayer requests on Sunday mornings and we are in hopes the names will be shared in all classes. Also, we have each class developed with a phone tree so for emergencies please use these ways of communicating. They will be very helpful.

On Sunday morning those in the hospital and the reported deaths in our congregation of immediate families will be announced during our morning worship services. Every one we know who is in the hospital will be visited by our Hospital Visitation Team during the week and I will be visiting those with major surgery right before the surgery begins. Don is on call for me when I cannot make it.

Please do keep everyone in our state who has suffered some kind of storm damage in your prayers this week. Oklahomans are good at pulling together as we are in this church family. Also let us share the damages our congregational members are facing as we consider those prayer concerns.

Many blessings and keep safe!

Bert

Facing the Storms

erinpowers — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:47:28 +0000

Our prayers go out to everyone facing the results of a very serious tornado. We want to know your situation so please email us if you are out of power, have hail damage and/or tornado damage. Our church appears to be okay. We want to help each other. If any messages come to us as to how we can help those in surrounding areas it will be passed on to you.

Let us keep our state in our prayers. Blessings
Bert

THE METHODISTS GATHER ONCE AGAIN!

erinpowers — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:37:01 +0000

It is an annual occurrence, the time when United Methodists gather to celebrate the way God has worked through them during the past year and prepare for a brand new year. Our Oklahoma conference of clergy and lay delegates will begin on Memorial Day and conclude the following Thursday. We will be voting on Health Care Plans and Pension changes for 2014, sharing in the ordination and retirement of clergy, hearing wonderful speakers and being involved in mission projects. On the very last day all delegates will be sent forth in a stirring service of worship complete with our own Edmond First United Methodist Church choir singing with Judy Rogers directing and Wes Howl accompanying the choir. What a joy and honor! Our delegates include myself and Rev. Don Vaught and other clergy affiliated with our congregation, Rev. Kathy
Coit, Rev. Beverly Powell, Rev. Joe Davis, Rev. Roger Pitt, Rev. Jack Lyons and Rev. Mickey Potts. Our lay delegates are
Bill Turner, Marilyn Williams, Randall Stoner and Phyllis Gorman, one of the Associate Lay Leaders for the North OKC district. We will be saying goodbye to Rev. Dan Pulver, our present district superintendent, as he is being appointed as senior pastor to a local church after serving as our leader for eight years. We will receive a newly appointed district superintendent June 1, 2013 as Rev. Pulver has served the mandatory time allowed for service as a member of the cabinet. Names of the appointments will be published after the appointments are read and “set” by Bishop Robert E. Hayes at the close of the conference.

Rev. Don Vaught and I have no reason to think we will not be reappointed and we are excited about the year facing us
as your pastors. New ministries are being planned and in just a few months we expect to see evidence of our building
expansion program happening with steel beams being placed and the moving of dirt causing lots of change! Of
course, that depends on The City of Edmond and their vote on our project and how much those bidding on our pro-
ject say our building will actually cost. As Don and I look forward to this new conference year, we both feel so hon-
ored and humbled to be your appointed clergy. This is an historical time, as significant as the very first year, during
territorial days, when our church was first begun!

I will be taking a few days off the weekend before conference to celebrate that 45 years ago Mickey and I were married. My goodness we were young! Every year we usually celebrate at annual conference but this year it comes on the
Friday before and we are heading out of town! Rev. Don Vaught will be preaching on Sunday morning, May 26th and
leading our Experience 6:35 service with the emphasis on our conference Child Share ministry complete with the cook
out! Please don’t forget to shower our children who are placed in Foster homes with gifts that night!
Dear Congregation, thank you for a wonderful year of ministry and I eagerly await sharing in ministry with you as our
new conference year begins in June. May God be honored through every decision, every worship service and every
mission we share in together! Let us never forget that it is GOD we serve. This coming Sunday we celebrate Pentecost
with the honoring of graduates, a baptism and the realization that we are part of something very holy and world
wide. May we be open to allowing The Holy Spirit to blow us into new and exciting days as followers of Christ!

With a grateful heart,
Bert

LIFE LESSONS FROM THE MOVIES

erinpowers — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:42:16 +0000

The Reverends Bert and Mickey Potts will lead an adult class on Wednesday evenings during June and July. Bert is our Senior Pastor and Mickey is her husband, also an ordained clergy and pastoral counselor. Participants are invited to come, and with good humor, reflect on life issues ranging from our family of origin (father, mothers, brothers, sisters) to the realization that conflict is not only inevitable but necessary for a fulfilling life and a God centered purpose.

Come, laugh, meet new friends and learn more of the ways we can change and grow through our modern challenges and certainly God’s grace.

It will be a refreshing way to spend summer evenings together as our children and youth are actively involved in Summer Son Fun and Vacation Bible Camp!

The class will meet in the CAC.

The World Methodist Council: First Friday Letter

erinpowers — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:43:15 +0000

Here’s what’s happening from all around the globe…

At the end of a violent and chaotic April, General Secretary Ivan Abrahams challenges our worldwide family to demand peace.

The Wesleyan Holiness Women’s Clergy recently held an event and the 45 representatives from the Free Methodist Church, USA were in attendance. Here’s a recap.

The World Council of Churches alongside the Caribbean Conference of Churches recently held an event focusing on new directions for diaconal work. A report of the event can be found here.

With the help of the United Methodist Church a new music ministry was launched in Cameroon.

In other news from the United Methodist Church, a historic trip to China to renew old friendships and reach out to Chinese Christians recently concluded.

A ministry to the elderly has launched to great success in Germany. Read about it here.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush recently opened his Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. You can read about the Library as well as the impact that it will have on SMU here.

It has already been a busy 2013 for the Methodist Church in India, and you can read about their activities here.

And finally, May 24, 2013 marks the 275th Anniversary of John Wesley’s Aldersgate Experience. To commemorate the event, the World Methodist Council would like to hear your stories of faith. Here’s how to share…

The Path for Moving Forward Involves Us All!

youth — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:36:14 +0000

A few months ago my faith was shaken, somewhat,as I looked at the challenge of ministry ahead of us and the lack of financial support to meet that challenge. I began to think of the hard issues, like cutting back on ministries and staff. However, leaders pulled together and said, “We can do this budget! Each of us must do our part.”

Some leaders chose to increase their monthly pledge.Some made new pledges. Others decided to trim their budgets and find new ways to fulfill their minis-try goals. As a result we have a strong budget and away to support it.

Not only that but when the appeal was put out regarding the need for food and monies for food at Skyline Ministries, $3500 was given! When we asked for help to continue the long tradition of giving half the tuition for youth going to camp, over a $1,000 was raised. When some of our Music Scholarship students needed help, we gave!

I could go on and on about the generosity of this congregation. What I do want you to know is that be-cause of your faithfulness our staff is working together in brand new ways, energized and ready to give all they have to fulfill all our Kingdom ministry goals. To do this we have some changes in staff responsibilities: As of June 15th, Rev. Don Vaught will expand the ministries of Discipleship to include Stephen Ministries, Addiction Ministries,Staff Leader for Church and Society, Missions,Adult Studies, Welcome and Nurture,Scouting Ministries, United Methodist Men,Disciple Bible Study Classes, College Age Ministries and Centerpoint Adult Classes.His duties are now including working with some of the above ministries to put together EXPERIENCE 6:35 services as well as share other pastoral care responsibilities. Our New Business Manager, Aimee Hallenbeck will take over the coordinating of set up and take down responsibilities and supervise our custodial service, Calhoun Maintenance.The Board of Trustees have new ways of handling all of our contracts and policies for building use. The policies have been updated to make all of this much easier.

I hope you can become as excited about this as I am, because I believe we are on the verge of true transformational ministries. It is not the New Building Expansion that will change us, but the way we use that new building. To upgrade to the new level of excellence our new building will bring, it is important to prepare now for the expanded ministries we need to be faithful. We want to be ready!

I hope each of us will live with a deep sense of gratitude that we are pulling together to keep faithful to the call God has given us as a faith community. It is a “mighty fine” honor, dear friends, to serve Christ with you! Hold on to your Hats, the winds of Pentecost are a blowin’ us toward a new day of service!

Blessings,
Bert

UMM Breakfast Meeting, May 18 8:00 a.m

youth — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:13:30 +0000

Jim and Leslie moved to Edmond in 1980, a week into their marriage. They joined Edmond FUMC in 1980, and helped start the Young Married Sunday School class that is now Open Door. Jim is an excellent teacher and has taught Open Door class since 1983 and taught youth Bible studies for many years. Jim is an enthusiastic OSU graduate. He and Leslie have four daughters. Jim is an Electrical Engineer and retired from the engineering staff at the Western Electric/AT&T Technologies/Lucent Technologies/Alcatel-Lucent factory in Oklahoma City. He is now a manufacturer’s representative selling the same type of equipment he used at his previous job.

Jim will offer his testimony on Saturday, May 18, and you will not want to miss it! The morning will also be filled with fellowship and great food. Come be a part of it we need to get to know you!

WHINING N DINING AT THE SNACK N YAK

youth — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:07:17 +0000

SPIRIT ACT PRESENTS 3 PERFORMANCES OF “WHINING N DINING AT THE SNACK N YAK” by R. Eugene Jackson
Friday, June 7, Saturday, June 8, at 7:00, and Sunday, June 9, at 2:00

Your won’t want to miss this hysterically funny comedy about the employees and patrons of this small town cafe. Yes, there is even a live chicken in this cafe and a poor girl who has been waiting for 2 days to be served. Come and find out why everyone seems to want to buy the Snack N Yak.

Tickets go on sale Sunday, May 19, in the CAC. Tickets are at the unbelievable low price of $7.00 for adults and $6.00 for students (elementary through UCO). A nursery will be provided for little ones. You may also reserve tickets by emailing spiritact@fumcedmond.org and you can pick them up and pay at the door at the will call table.

SEE YOU AT THE SNACK N YAK!

CHANGE IS COMING TO SKYLINE URBAN MINISTRIES

erinpowers — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:52:17 +0000

You may, or may not, already have heard that Skyline has sold 8th Street Methodist Church. After serving downtown the Oklahoma City poor from this site for nearly 40 years, the building has been sold to St. Anthony’s.

Because of its condition and the strains, and cost, produced by trying to maintain two widely separated sites, the Board decided last year to seek a buyer. Included in this was the intent to save the beautiful stained glass windows: ultimately they will go to the Conference archives. Purchasers for the organ are currently being sought. “We will continue to operate from that site until early 2014. At that time we plan to have opened a Regional Food Bank Food Resource Center at 15th and Byers, the McKee Center. It will be nearly 7000 sq. ft. in size and will include space for the Eye Clinic. The facility is designed by the Food Bank, with refrigeration, shelving and other operational equipment provided by them through a grant. It will enable us to serve an area of the city without a food closet and to consolidate Skyline activities in one place.

To Donate for the Bolivian Children’s Sunday School Materials Project

erinpowers — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:09:58 +0000

Can you imagine having scads of children in your church, but no Sunday School Material? No way to teach the children about the love of God? No way to make it relevant to their lives? The children are just supposed to sit there and listen and be quiet for 3 HOURS as the adults worship?

Well, that’s the way it was in Bolivia until just 4 years ago. But the IEMB, working with the Oklahoma Annual Conference began to develop its own culturally-appropriate curriculumwhich deals with the real-life issues Bolivian kids enconunter.

The funds for this project comes from the children of Oklahoma! We encourage churches to have the “Bolivian children’Christian Education Fund to be their VBS Missions Of fering. Our goal is to get enough churches willing to do that, that we will be able to rotate the mission around the Conference, and each local church only raise money for Bolivia every third year. $400 will provide for the printing of the material for one entire District.

We have finger-puppets from Bolivia to handout to your little ones; photos, and powerpoints you can show the kids, and the parents about this mission Project, and you can even invite David or one of the other Oklahoma pastors involved in this project to come and speak to your group.

Please forward this email to your VBS Director and have her/him to register. This is one of the vital ministries of the Oklahoma Conference, and we desperately need your help. Register now by clicking here. (If you are already set on a specific mission, sign up to make it your VBS Mission Offering for 2014 at the same place.)

If you’d like to donate personally, send a check made out to: “Conference Treasurer” on notation line put “Bolivian Children’s CE Fund” and send to “Conference Treasurer, Attn Hallie Xie, 1501 NW 24th St., Okla City, Ok 73106. Or you can donate online directly to the General Board of Global Ministries for this project by clicking the donate button: