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April 2026 |
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Our Easter Announcement!In case you missed it, this past Sunday, Easter Sunday, just before our collection was received, I made the announcement that we had written a check and had paid off our building loan debt. The loan originated in September of 2011. The amount we borrowed was 2.5 million dollars. Back then, our monthly payment was around fifteen thousand dollars a month. Five years later we refinanced the loan, received a better rate, and our monthly payment came down to around eighty-three hundred dollars a month. In March of 2021, we refinanced again and received a better rate. And in March, we wrote a check paying off the debt completely. We are debt free! The announcement brought applause and a hallelujah or two. Our church was able to pay off this debt two years early because of you and your generosity. Our debt was also retired because of church members who remembered this debt in their wills. One of those members was Rod MacLeod, who left a gift in his will. The stipulation was that the funds could only be used for debt reduction. If there was a month when our giving was less than our payment, we dipped into the account. And when it was time to write the last check, your gifts along with his gift, enabled us to pay the debt in full. Our plan is to have a day to celebrate this accomplishment and to “burn our mortgage.” The date will be May 17th. We are just now beginning to put plans in place (I waited to get a team together until after the announcement), but tentative plans will be a wonderful worship service followed by a church-wide meal. That day, I would like for us to worship together as a church and to celebrate as a church. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for every gift that you make to this church. I preached a series of sermons last year on the theme Better Together. We are better together. Together we paid off this debt. Together we pray. Together we are here for each other. Together we serve. Together we tell others about what Jesus has done in our lives. Better Together. That is us! Let me quickly say this. The church will always have needs. Houses have needs and so does God’s house. We will be changing the name of our Building Fund soon (still working on its new name) and I hope that you will continue to give to the fund that helps with the upkeep and care of God’s house, our church. A project I hope we will consider soon is the roof on the oldest parts of our facilities. If we continue to give to the upkeep of our building, there won’t be the need to take out a loan. So join me in continuing to give to our soon to be renamed Building Fund. Easter is a time to celebrate! We celebrate that death does not win. Sin does not win. Life and light, win. Jesus being raised, resurrected, means new life right here and right now. Amen!
Lindley Reubin & Phil Garner |
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April Recipe Gallon Meal:Our April gallon bag meal is Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Chicken, a comforting and family-friendly dish. This month’s selection is a wonderful reminder of how a simple meal can bring warmth, encouragement and care to those around us. Each meal assembled is an opportunity to serve, support and uplift someone who may need a helping hand or reminder that they are not alone. Thank you to everyone who continues to give of their time and provides food or monetary donations, to make our Angel Food Pantry ministry possible. Listed above is the Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Chicken shopping list. If you would like to purchase any or all of the items listed, you may drop them off in the church office. Ingredients will be collected for bagged meal assembly and distribution. |
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More Than A MealWe will resume More Than A Meal on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, April 15th. We hope you will join us! We are having spaghetti! |
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Seekers Sunday School ClassSeekers Sunday School Class will begin a new 5 week study on April 12th. We will be using Max Lucado’s “Help Is Here” DVD study on the Power of the Holy Spirit. Study Guide is $14 and will be available in class. Seekers’ meets Sundays at 10:00am in Room #213. All are welcome anytime to come and enjoy! Sandra J. Bainbridge |
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Volunteer Appreciation ReceptionWe warmly invite everyone to join us for a special Volunteer Appreciation Reception on Sunday, April 19th as we celebrate and honor those who give their time and talents in service to our church. Please stop in the CWC before or after your service for a treat and refreshments. This will be a wonderful opportunity to come together in fellowship, enjoy light refreshments and express our heartfelt gratitude to all of our dedicated volunteers. Whether you currently serve, have served in the past or are interested in getting involved, we would love for you to be part of this meaningful time. Let’s gather as a church family to celebrate the spirit of service that makes our community so strong. We hope to see you there! |
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Easter ExtravaganzaWe had a wonderful turnout and a wonderful time at this year's Easter Extravaganza! We went on an Easter Expedition and learned all about Easter through hands on experiences! We did have rain but we made due with our egg hunt moving indoors! You can view photos from the event on our church Facebook Page. The button below will take you to the candid photos from the event. If you would like to view the photo op photos, you can see them here→ Easter Expedition Photo Op. Thank you to the many volunteers for making this an amazing event! I wish I could name you all! Oh wait! I can!!! Also, a huge shout out to Greg Elders for the use of his jeep! Easter Extravaganza Volunteers |
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Confirmation SundayJoin us Sunday, April 26th as we celebrate Confirmation Sunday, a special time for our amazing confirmands as they take a big step in their faith journey and publicly affirm their faith and commitment. We invite you to attend services that morning to support these confirmands and commemorate this meaningful moment with them. During the Sunday School hour, join us in the back of the CWC for a reception full of smiles, snacks, and fellowship. |
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Senior SundayOn Sunday, May 3rd we will recognize and celebrate our Class of 2026 High School seniors as they prepare to graduate and embark on the next phase of their lives. There will be a reception with refreshments in the UMAC Commons during the Sunday School hour at 10:00. Please make plans to attend the reception to congratulate them and wish them luck on their next chapter! We would like to invite all our graduating seniors to be a part of both of our Senior Sunday services in which we will have a video celebrating you and all of your accomplishments, a gift from the church, the presentation of a cord to wear at graduation, and a reception. We also would like to provide senior families with yard signs to celebrate your student! We don't want to miss anyone, so please reach out to Kyra Anthony to get on our list by ASAP and include one senior picture of your student. In this email, would you also include your student’s plans for after graduation. We then ask that you send in pictures of your student participating in church activities throughout the years, pictures of them as they have grown, and pictures of their greatest accomplishments for the senior video that will be played on May 3rd. These pictures need to be submitted by April 22nd. We also ask that parents put together a poster board to be displayed at the church during senior Sunday services and the reception. We hope that you will join us in this season of celebration and allow us to participate in this momentous occasion of your life. |
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Celebration DayAs you know we have paid off our building debt! This is cause for celebration and we are currently putting together a team of volunteers to plan this important day. What we do know so far is that there will be one service that day so that we may all celebrate this accomplishment as one church! We will also have a meal where we will fellowship with one another and burn the note! You will not want to miss this special day so mark your calendars now for May 17th! Look for details to come! |
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FUMCMH ScholarshipsScholarship applications for the 2026/27school year are now available for graduating High School seniors who plan to pursue a post secondary education. Apply online from the youth page of the website fumcmh.org or use the button below. Application deadline is April 15th to be announced at the school awards night. July 1st is the final deadline to apply for the scholarship. |
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First Kidz Ministry CornerHello Families! We've had a crazy, busy start to Spring! Hard to believe it's April already! Hopefully those really cold days are gone! I'm ready to put my garden in! The kids did an amazing job of waving palms and singing on Palm Sunday (even with several of them missing)! I am very proud of them. Easter Extravaganza was so much fun! I hope you will check out all the picture using the links in another section of this newsletter! It takes many volunteers to pull off this event and I am so grateful for all who helped including the election workers who stuffed many eggs!! Believe it or not I am starting to look at VBS because it will be here before you know it! We will be doing a Holy Land adventure this year as we visit Rome to learn about Paul and the underground church! VBS will be June 8th-11th from 9:00am to 11:30am. Please let me know if you can help! We will need many volunteers as well as pop up tents for our marketplace! Look for more information on that to come! God Bless! Laura Pedigo
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605 Student Ministries605 Students, Friends, and Families, April 26th- Confirmation Sunday: Everyone is invited to join us Sunday April 26th during worship to celebrate our Confirmation students! They will be honored at both services with a reception during the Sunday School hour. Mark your calendars and help us celebrate! Kyra Anthony |
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Prayer ListConcerns: |
