FIRST UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Fall Retreat Registration, Youth Taco Fundraiser, Ministry Fair
First UMC Newsletter
Worship
Topic: Called to Reconcile
Speaker: Pastor Zach
Time: 10:00am
Also available on 100.9 WKSR at 10:00am, Facebook, and YouTube
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Ministry Fair is this Sunday at 9am! Come Enjoy breakfast and learn about our church’s ministries!
The Youth Taco Bar Lunch is this Sunday! Come Enjoy some Tacos and support our Youth! Details Below.
Our Church Administrator will return to the office on Oct. 2.
November 1-3 we will have a church-wide retreat to Beersheba Springs. Sign up below.
First UMC can now send announcements via text message. Add this number to your contacts: 256-977-0446.
2025 Estimated Giving Cards
Sunday, October 6th, we will wrap up our Called Together Worship Series by celebrating all that God has done through us and with us. As we celebrate, you are asked to fill out an estimated giving card to help us plan for ministries in 2025. You can fill out the card in worship or by the link below!
This Week
WED 9/25
THURS 9/26
@9:00am Circle of Care
@5:30pm Disciple Bible Study
@5:30pm Community Wide RFD Meeting
FRI 9/27
No Events
SAT 9/28
No Events
SUN 9/29
@9:00am Ministry Fair
@10:00am Worship
@11:00am Youth Taco Lunch Fundraiser
@12:00pm No Bible Beans
@5:00pm Youth Group
MON 9/30
@8:15 Monday Morning Prayers
@3:30pm Social Talks
@5:30pm Nominations Committee
TUES 10/1
WED 10/2
@5:00pm Wesley Gathering
@6:00pm Community Garden
@5:30pm Table Planning
Ministry Fair
Join us before worship this Sunday, September 29th, at 9am, for our church’s ministry fair in the Fellowship Hall to learn what all we’re doing and how you can get involved!
Breakfast will be provided.
This Sunday will be a great day to bring a guest so they can learn about our church!
It's Time for Tacos!
Youth Taco Lunch Fundraiser on September 29th
After worship this Sunday
Food Tickets: $10 for 1 person or $20 for the whole family
Support our Youth!
What’s Up With Wesley?
Thank you for helping Wesley raise >$200 by purchasing Fall Decor and giving donations!
Wesley participants are thoroughly enjoying the meals provided this Fall
Disciple Bible Study: Deliverance
This week’s topic in Disciple is the story of the Exodus. God hears the cries of the Israelites in Bondage, calls a surprising hero to work for liberation, and leads them to freedom in the wilderness. Join us tonight as we ask questions like: What does it mean to be called by God? What is our role as Disciples to stand up to oppression? How do we make sense of the Exodus, especially as it serves as the backdrop to the rest of the Biblical story?
Community Garden
It’s been another great week in the garden! Ruby and Laura picked pockets full of okra, cherry tomatoes, a few peppers, and 20 bundles of corn for Fall decor.
Unfortunately, the drought this year has robbed Middle Tennessee of it’s pumpkin crop, so we won’t have pumpkins to sell this year. The lone garden pumpkin has gone to the playground for Growing Tree kiddos to enjoy.
Blessing Boxes
The first blessing box has been assembled and will be installed soon! The Explore Community Team has created a Facebook page that volunteers can post in: sharing resources and alerts when boxes needed to be filled.
Theologian of the Month
Our Theologian of the Month for the month of September is St. Oscar Romero (1917-1980). St. Romero was a Salvadoran Roman Catholic archbishop who was a vocal critic of the violent activities of government armed forces, right-wing political groups, and leftist guerrillas involved in El Salvador’s civil unrest in the 1970s-1980s. Although he was considered as someone who would not rock the boat politically for the Catholic Church or the government of El Salvador, which is what led to his promotion to be the archbishop of San Salvador, St. Romero quickly took to the streets of his new appointment and saw the poverty and violence the people of El Salvador experienced first hand. He quickly witnessed the horrors that his government was inflicting on the poor, the outcast, and those powerless against the political forces. This led him to be a voice of the poor. St. Romero was a forerunner for a theological movement known as Liberation Theology—a theological expression which teaches the church has a Divine Mandate to always be outspoken in defense of the poor—as it is with the poor in which we will find Jesus. Romero is most famous for saying, “Let us never tire of preaching love, for it is the force which will transform the world.” Because of St. Romero’s critiques of state-sanctioned violence against the people of El Salvador, his continued calls for democratic elections, and his unique ability to listen and use his platform for the poor, he received constant threats on his life. On March 24th, 1980, while presiding over the Sacrament of Holy Communion, he was assassinated by a sniper. During his funeral, tens of thousands of Salvadorans attended, as he was viewed as their collective priest. At his funeral, a bomb went off outside the Cathedral of San Salvador. As people fled, gunfire erupted killing 40 people and wounding more than 200. Upon hearing this news, Romero’s theological contemporaries from both the Protestant and Catholic traditions around the world echoed his call for the Church to take up Christ’s radical way of peace, mercy, and love. In 2015, Pope Francis declared St. Romero a martyr. Three years later, in March of 2018, Pope Francis canonized Oscar Romero to the sainthood.
Book of the Month
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion is written by moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt. When you read this book, you will quickly realize that Haidt is not interested in answering the ethical question of “what is good or wrong?” Rather, he is interested in investigating how human beings come to their ethical conclusions. Haidt draws on his 25 plus years of research and shows how moral judgements arise not from reason but from gut feelings. In this subtle, yet highly accessible book, Haidt gives us the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation. The Righteous Mind leads us from the science of how we reason and make ethical choices to how we can better understand one another as we seek to be in community with one another.
Children's Ministry Progressive Dinner
Thank you to all who participated in the Children’s Ministry Progressive Picnic last Sunday!
Opportunities to Serve
Circle of Care
Thursdays @ 9:00am in The Fellowship Hall
Join Circle of Care in boxing & delivering hot meals to our neighbors.
Anyone is welcome to show up and serve! No commitment required.
Matthew 25 Thrift Shoppe
Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday 9am-3:15pm
RFD Food Collection
RFD (Rural Food Delivery) is collecting donations in The Fellowship Hall. The item of the month is mac n’ cheese. Please drop off mac n’ cheese other non-perishable food items on the shelf in The Fellowship Hall.