Wesley United Methodist Church September 2022 Newsletter What’s Inside: Note from Pastor UMM Trustee UWF Lay Servant & More
Note from Pastor Jana 1 What if we took our membership vows seriously? How transforming would that be for your life and the life of the church? A lot of members do take those vows seriously. They are committed. Then, there are some that probably forgot they even took vows when they became members. Or perhaps, you attend regularly, but aren’t an actual member (talk to me if that’s the case, we can change that!). Even if you aren’t an official member, I would hope you would hold these vows in your heart. In our membership vows, we vow to faithfully participate in the life and ministries of our local congregation through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. These vows will be the focus of my newsletter articles in the next several months. As we dream and vision for our church, we need to hold these vows up. We need to be living them out in so many ways. Our prayers can change things. We know this. Whether they change the situation or often times, our emotions get changed. We find clarity, we find hope, we find God. We know this to be true. We believe in prayer. That is why we send out prayer requests. We lift up people and situations in worship. We believe that prayer truly makes a difference. Let me first say, thank you to those who came to the planning retreat. We were able to flush out some things that need to be worked on here. We need to be better at communication. We have goals to expand hospitality in how we greet new people, dreams of a once a month dinner as a community plus new friends, sharing our story and hearing each other’s stories of faith. This is just a little bit of those dreams. Will you hold these in your prayers? May these ideas be mustard seed dreams that grow beyond our wildest imaginations. Let’s start praying, let God get to work, and respond by being the hands and feet of Jesus. Amen. Pastor Jana
UMM,UWF, Trustee Update 2 Trustee News The parsonage at 4101 Dallas has been prepared and put on the market for sale and has been listed for sale with Weichert Realty. The 2 dead trees on the South end of the sanctuary has been removed and hopefully will be replaced this fall with new trees that will compliment the sanctuary and not take away from it. Here is the link to view the parsonage sale. Be sure to share with others who might be looking for a house. https:// www.propertypanorama.com/4101-Dallas-StreetFort-Smith-AR-72903
Missions & Lay Servant Ministries 3 Carnall Elementary Outreach On the first day of school, we delivered cookies, water & backpack tags/keychains to the teachers and staff at Carnall. We hope to build a relationship with the teachers and staff at Carnall. So, our missions team is making it a monthly goal to do something for them each month. So get ready church. We may be asking you to help in this way. Front cover picture is the box of goodies dropped off. Farmer’s Market Wrap Up ICYMI (In case you missed it) The volunteer group on the last Saturday of the Mission are pictured: Billy and Peggy Higgins, Trefana Christian, Suzanne Gibson, , Chris Bates, and Stephen Christian. Photo credit: Jackie Nichols Our Three Month Mission in distributing produce donated by the farmers in the downtown Fort Smith market concluded last Saturday. The 60-70 lbs of veggies were sacked and distributed to the ten Blessing Boxes that stretch from the south to the north side of town. My heartfelt thank you to all of the Wesley members who volunteered to help with the Mission this season. It seemed always to be good feelings generated by this work that brought nature, food, and human kindness and need all together. Sincerely, Billy
Lay Servant Ministries, Bible Study, One Council, and AV Training This fall, there will be 3 opportunities around the district to participate in the Introductory Course. The advanced classes on Discovering Spiritual Gifts, UM Polity, UM Heritage and Preaching will also be offered. It is not necessary to have taken the Introductory Course before taking an Advanced Class, however, to be considered “certified,” the Introductory class must be taken at some point. If you are interested, there will be classes at St Paul in Fort Smith on October 15th. Click on the link for more information or talk to Carrie Miller. https://form.jotform.com/222263824049152 About Lay Servant Ministries Lay Ministry is the work of mission or ministry to which each believer is called. As Christians we are all called to this ministry or priesthood – not just clergy. Each of us has a responsibility to proclaim the Good News and reach out to others in l 4
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