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Our On-Line Newsletter
The ePistle November 15, 2007 I pray you all have a wonderful weekend (hopefully staying warm). We (Pastor Mike, Carroll Harris, James Farrish, Linsey Wisdom, Megan Potts and Paula Gordon) will be at our youth ministry conference this weekend learning new ways to minister to our young people. Keep us and the youth in your prayers. You are in mine. In Christ, ***************** Keep in your prayers: · Linda Driver will have surgery Today at 1:30 in Atlanta · Laree Benton had bladder surgery on Tuesday · Anne Boone is in the hospital in Asheville · Gay Kattel’s cousin passed away this week. Keep Gay and her family in your prayers. ***************** HAPPY
BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK TO: HAPPY
ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEK TO: ***************** The Community Thanksgiving Service is on Tuesday, November 20. We gather with the community for a meal and worship at 6:00 p.m. at the Highlands Rec Park. It is our turn to provide salads. If you can bring a salad that night please call Sonja in the church office. ***************** All youth plan to be at church for Sunday school this week Sunday November 18th. Jan Potts will lead the session on being a servant to God. Come and worship and spend time with each other. No Youth Group Sunday Night, November 18. AMAZING BIBLE RACE – Keep Reading this week and next. We will meet again and discuss Sunday November 25th. ***************** YOUTH MISSION TRIP SUMMER 2008…. PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR NOW NEW YORK CITY!!! We will be going to New York City July 25th to August 3rd 2008. We will be working in Brooklyn to help with inner city ministries. We will help with Vacation Bible School, prayer walks and spending time with people within the community sharing our life and our faith with them. We will have some free time to see some sites within the city as well. We need to do a lot of Fundraising to go. All youth and adults who want to go must pay a $50 Deposit by December 16, 2007 (no exceptions) so that I know who all will be working to pay for their trip and we can reserve our spots with the company organizing our trip. NEVER LET MONEY BE AN ISSUE! WE WILL RAISE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR YOUR TRIP YOU JUST HAVE TO BE WILLING TO WORK! Youth who are currently in sixth to twelfth grades are invited. INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!!! ***************** · The Parenting class is doing a series on parenting. · The Buck’s SS class (starts at 9:30 at Buck’s Coffee Shop) is studying “If Experience is Such a Good Teacher, Why do I Keep Repeating the Course.” · Griffin Bell’s class is learning and growing through Ephesians. (meets in library) · Butch Smart’s class is continuing through the Bible and is currently in Deuteronomy. (meets in parlor) · John Baumrucker’s class is beginning a new study of Mark, the first written of the gospels. This will be an in-depth study of the book, with each week only dealing with about half a chapter. Guidebooks are on the table in the Board Room. There are also excellent classes for children and youth. ***************** An offering for United Methodist Student Day will be taken on Sunday, November 25: “United Methodist Student Day calls the Church to support students as they prepare for life in uniting faith with knowledge.” More than 3,000 students attending United Methodist-related and other accredited colleges and universities received a scholarship during the 2006-07 academic year. Approximately 400 are seminarians responding to their call to ministry and enrolled in seminaries and theological schools across the United States. ***************** Can you help? The youth are painting their room downstairs. We have raised enough funds to purchase our desks for our computers and for after school studying. We are still needing to raise about $3200 to buy a new sofa (sectional from Ikea), a large bean bag sofa (for lounging and reading), and a new computer. We have already received a donation of one of the two computers we want to add to our room for the Amazing Bible Race and other projects we may have in the future. If you are able to donate toward the purchase of the following items, please speak to Pastor Mike or put your gift in the collection plate with a note as to how you want your donation to be used. The costs are as follows: Sofa (Red Sectional from Ikea) $1500 (Includes Shipping) Bean Bag Sofa $520 (Includes Shipping) Computer (workstation from Gateway) $1200 (Thank you to Dottie Travis who came and saw what we had, and planned our room using her gifts and experience to make it a room for youth. Thank you also to Rays for Donating Carpet. Thank you to the Robinsons for donating a refrigerator. Finally thank you to the trustees for allowing us to make the room “ours”!) ***************** Update on church computers: When I first arrived, I was surprised by the amount of technology used in our church. I was pleased to see that the children were able to use computers for learning, which is vital in today’s society. I was disappointed when I realized how out of date some of our systems were as well as the inability to communicate with each other and share printing capabilities. I have been in conversation with John Gaston and the trustees to try to rectify this problem. We have some money set aside and earmarked to update our children’s computers; however we are unable to fully utilize our computers without updating our entire system. Our goal is to bring our church administrative computers up to date by adding a server to our system, this will help us secure our system and block access to unauthorized users. This will also allow us to control internet access in a safe and controlled environment for our children and youth. The purchase of a server and the necessary wiring for connectivity will cost approximately $7500 which is not budgeted. We also do not have it in our budget for the youth computers (one youth computer, the funds have been donated). With your help we can bring this project before the trustees for approval, once we have the funds donated. If you believe in the importance of our children’s future won’t you consider donating? For more information see Pastor Mike or John Gaston. ***************** Raising funds and awareness of children's needs here in North Carolina. The children are raffling a quilt to raise money for children in need right here in North Carolina. This quilt was donated to Emma Harris by her Nana. While at her previous school and churches Emma raised over $500 by asking for donations to the Children's Home in Winston Salem. This is a home run by the United Methodist Church to help children have a better tomorrow. They help with temporary and permanent housing, adoption, counseling and much more. All proceeds of the raffle will go to the Children's home. You can get your raffle tickets from the church office and from parents of children of Highlands UMC. The suggested donation for tickets is $2.00 a piece or 3 tickets for $5. Tickets can be purchased Sundays and Wednesdays and from Sonja in the office. ***************** Youth Christmas party will be held Sunday December 16. Keep this date on your calendars and look for more information to come. ***************** Furniture Sale! Planned for next spring. We need your help. From time to time someone has furniture to donate for our sale, that will be used to landscape the area in front of the church and fellowship hall, but we have no one to call on to pick it up. We need strong men to help move the donations. We also need storage space in close proximity to the church. We have a truck that we can borrow. If you have a space or are willing to help or have any furniture you would like to donate, please call Dotty Travis, 526-9884, Sherry Janes, 526-8824 or Gay Kattel a526-2746. ***************** The Men's Study Group Tuesdays, at 7:30 am. Our study book is "Sinning Like a Christian: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins." Books are available in the Church office for $9.00 each. Please join us for a morning filled will food, fellowship, fun, and an enlightening learning experience ***************** Pastor's Wednesday Night Bible Study: There will be assigned readings for each week taken from the book, "The Bible Tells Me So: uses and abuses of Holy Scripture" by Jim Hill and Rand Cheadle. This book is currently out-of-print so copies of each reading assignment will be handed out each week and are available in the church office. The study meets in the Fellowship Hall -- beginning promptly at 6:15 and will last approximately one hour. ***************** Building Program: Rob Webb, of the Rural Church Division of the Duke Endowment, will be coming to Highlands UMC on November 30th to discuss our building expansion program. If you have any questions, suggestions, helpful criticisms, or advice in regards to the building program, please speak with a Building Committee member. Concerns have already been raised about the initial plan having too few additional pews, and the need for bathrooms at the front of the sanctuary (closest to Main Street). Please let your opinions be made known to the committee. Members are: Dennis Hall (Chairman); Page Bernstein, Lance Hardin, Sherry Janes, Herb James, Clarence Bauknight, Nancy Bonner, Tay Bronaugh. ***************** Ministry with Children SUNDAY SCHOOL: Elementary students will begin their Advent Series Called in the Manger. This takes a closer look at how Jesus started life just like us as a baby. We will explore the meaning of Emanuel, God with us. ***************** Wednesday Evenings… Please bring your child. Elementary and Preschool Children will begin working on our Christmas program. Parents please help me thank Alison Tate for taking the lead in this year’s program. Many have volunteered to help, please let Alison know your availability and talents for helping. ***************** Kids Night out will be hosted by Highlands United Methodist Church November 30th. We need 2 more people to help with Preschool Children. Please Call Allison Tate to let her know that you can help. 526-0388 ***************** Breakfast with Santa is around the corner. We have all of our helpers lined up. Please RSVP with Sonja if you plan to come. ***************** Holy Land Trip - Check out the new full color brochure!! We are pleased to announce that we have 12 people signed up to go on this spiritual pilgrimage to the land where Jesus walked and taught. We have 24 spaces for this trip. The trip is $2799 including breakfast and dinner and 4 - 5 star hotels. Reserve your space today before they fill up. ***************** Baby Bottle Project: We are asking you to participate in a special fundraiser to help The Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center. The Center counsels women facing unplanned pregnancies with kindness, respect, prayer and compassion. They are a Christ-centered, non-profit organization whose goal is to educate, encourage, and empower women to choose life and carry their babies to term. Please pick up a bottle after church to take home to collect your spare change. Please return the bottles by November 30. ***************** Women’s Bible Study meets on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. and is studying “The Amazing Collection”. It’s a good time to join in the group, just come, no need to sign up. Women of all ages are invited to attend. Childcare provided. Call Jan Potts with questions at 526-4263. ***************** MUSIC Director of Music Ministries Update: We are interviewing a candidate today. We hope that by this time next week we will know who will be joining our ministry team and we can make plans for them to begin in January. Search Committee members are: Glenda Bell, Nancy Butler, Patty Campbell and John Gaston. ***************** Library Books: Please check the overdue list next to the library cart in the hallway to see if you have a book that hasn’t been returned. We appreciate your help. We also have new books! ***************** Handbell Rehearsals: Adult rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. Children’s rehearsals are at 4:45 p.m. ***************** Youth Sunday School – We are studying “Claim the Life” which takes us deeper into what God has in store for each of us. We will begin with singing praise to God, and then we will go into our weekly study. BRING FRIENDS!! ***************** Amazing Bible Race. This is a challenging, fun and interactive way to get into God’s word and read through our Bibles together and with other youth groups around the country in about a year. Pastor Mike and Paula Gordon are leading 2 teams of youth with other adults Sunday Evenings prior to our regularly scheduled youth time. This is for those youth who want to commit to a more serious study. This requires daily and weekly reading and participation. See Pastor Mike for more details. ***************** Mission – X ??? Wednesday evenings youth are invited to join their families for Supper. Following Supper all youth will join Pastor Mike and Luke downstairs for a time mystery. (????) Youth will continue to be surprised with Mission X. This exciting evening is never predictable. Whether we sit around a camp fire and enjoy Christian fellowship or we walk around town sharing God's never failing love, we will be active in our expression of our faith on Wednesday evening. Come join Mission X and always BRING FRIENDS!! ***************** Regularly scheduled Sunday Youth continues on Sundays, from 6:00pm-8:00pm. We will have food, fun and fellowship as we grow closer to each other and God. Supper will be provided. Always bring friends!!!! ***************** In November, we encourage you to bring sugar and canned fruit for the food pantry. (Please do not bring applesauce as the church gets it for free.) You can leave it in the box outside of the Sonja’s office. ***************** Leave a Legacy…Currently we have over $200,000 invested in the United Methodist Foundation of Western North Carolina. A packet was distributed after worship and is available to pick up from the church office. The Saints Society is the group of people who have already contributed with a financial gift or by including HUMC Endowment in their estate planning. This is a great way to ensure the long term ministries of HUMC and to help the “kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Please prayerfully consider a gift to the HUMC Endowment. You can contact the church office for more information. |
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Copyright © 2007
Highlands United Methodist Church
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