The writers of the book of Ecclesiastes gives us a wonderful passage in what we have come to call chapter three.  There, the writer writes: For everything there is as season and a time for every matter under heaven.  Years ago, I purchased a stone at a nursery that had the four seasons of the year on it, with a picture depicting each season (summer, winter, spring, and fall). I no longer have the stone, but there is a similar one at my mother’s house in Conway.

May I ask?  How do you feel about the four seasons?  I may be one of the few people that I know that loves the season of summer.  I am not a fan of being cold, and so Winter is a challenge for me.  I sneeze my way through the Spring when trees are budding and grass is just beginning to grow. I like the Fall when trees show off their splendor (though I worry that the leaves this year won’t be beautiful because of the dry spell we’ve been experiencing). What I don’t like about the Fall is that those leaves (beautiful or not), will need to be raked. So, count me in as a fan of the season of Summer.  I like the longer days. I like the yardwork. I like the heat (though the nearly one-hundred-degree days, I can do without).

The writer of Ecclesiastes is right, For everything there is a season. So, reluctantly I will embrace Autumn. There are some things that I do like about it. I like that school begins again and that there is a more formal schedule. I like that those who have been away during certain portions of the summer (me included), are home. I love the studies begin again and that ministries that took the summer off, are gearing up for a new year, a new theme, a fresh start.

I want to encourage you to make church a part of your Fall plans. On September 21^st, we will be participating in National Back to Church Sunday.  We will follow our regular worship service, but we will gather at 10:00 a.m. in the UMAC for a time of fellowship and food. If you haven’t been to church in a while, please come back. We miss you!  If you know someone who doesn’t have a church home, a community that they belong to, invite them to join you for one of our worship services and that meal. I’d also ask this, please pray that September 21^st will be a defining moment in the life of our church, a milestone that we can look back and say that it was a very significant day. Our sermon that day will focus on Paul’s words to the Hebrews and permission to provoke people to love and good deeds!

Let’s enjoy the cooler days of September, the beautiful leaves, and the fact that God has put us together for this season and for many to come.

Hope Always!

John

There will be no Wesley Kitchen Meal on Monday, September 1st due to Labor Day.

The church office will be closed on Monday, September 1st in observance of Labor Day.

Stewards
Christine Linville
Michele Elders
Pansy Dimick
Sherri Patton
Ruth Greer

9:00 Servers
Kristy & Tim Nelson
Kaye Jarvis

11:00 Servers
Brenda & Tommy Knight
Sandra Bainbridge

The Baxter County Fair is Wednesday, September 10th - Saturday, September 13th. We will have a booth in the commercial building again this year. We still have a few volunteer slots on Saturday.  If you can help, please sign up online using the button below or on the sign up sheets located at the welcome desk and church office. Grab a friend and get signed up! It's a blessing to visit with members of the community while representing our church family! Your ticket will be provided for you. Call Hollye in the church office if you have any questions.

Wednesday afternoon activities for Children and Youth will begin on Wednesday, September 3rd  and we need bus drivers and back up bus drivers  Please see Kyra Anthony or Laura Pedigo if you have any questions or would like to volunteer.

Backpack Food 4 Kids wants to thank everyone who participated in Bomberfest - the men who got the trailer safely there and back, the volunteers that stood in the heat and accepted and packed the food into bins, and those who unpacked and shelved the food Saturday morning.  We appreciate you all so much! We recieved 35 full bins of food (which is about 700lbs.) and $336.00! This will give us a good start for the school year. We started this school year with 299 backpacks the first week!

We could still use a few more strong individuals to help deliver the backpacks to the schools.  This takes about 2 hours on Wednesday morning on a once a month rotation. Contact Kathy Bauer if you can help.

We will soon begin making pretzel necklaces for ARKtoberfest which will be on Saturday October 4th. Thank you for your continued support as we strive to feed hungry kids!

Kathy Bauer

We will be kicking off More Than a Meal on September 17th at 5:15pm. We call this more than a meal because it is a combination of food, fellowship and faith. The Fellowship Meal begins at 5:15 followed by a short devotional will Pastor John.  This is a great opportunity to fellowship with our church family and grow as disciples. We will need volunteers to help prepare, serve and cleanup. If you or your group in interested in volunteering or sponsoring a meal, please contact Hollye Lee.

This September, First United Methodist Church will join with thousands of churches nationwide for Back to Church Sunday. We will be reaching out to those who we haven't seen in a while and inviting them to come to church on September 21st! We also encourage you to invite friends and neighbors to join us for worship that day.

With the recent statistics and studies showing that loneliness is a real issue in our culture, we want our community to know that our church is here as a resource and a place where people can connect, make friends and find support for when life gets hard. This year’s Back to Church Sunday campaign is designed around a “Life is Better Together” theme, encouraging all of us who regularly attend FUMC to invite friends and neighbors to overcome loneliness and find connection, support, and hope here at our church. As well as discover the deeper, spiritual benefits that faith can provide. 

This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us who love our church to be inviters! Did you know that eight out of ten people say they are open to visiting church if invited—they are just waiting for an invitation! We will have card invites available that you can share with anyone and everyone you know! Look for our "Invitation Stations" to get some!

It's going to be a great day and we want EVERYONE to plan to attend worship that day as well as our "All Together Brunch" at 10:00. We will even have fumcmh adult and kids shirts available for order that day!  It's gonna be a fabulous time!

Pastor John will be leading a new Bible Study starting Sunday, September 21st at 5:00 pm in the Conference Room. The study, Believe by Randy Frazee, is a 30 week study, divided into three 10 week sections with time in between each section. That seems less scary, doesn’t it? This study is video based. We will begin each week with a video and then delve into the lessons. We have copies of the book and workbook available in the office. The cost is $20.00 for both. You can sign up on the church website, at the welcome desk on Sunday Mornings or by calling the church office. Contact Hollye in the with any questions.

Evening Joy is starting a new Women's Bible Study this fall. We will be reading the book Forgiving What You Can’t Forget by Lysa Terkeurst. In this six week study we will be discover how to move on, make peace with painful memories and create a life that’s beautiful again. The study will begin Tuesday September 23rd at 6:00PM and run through October. You only need the book to read each week for this study and we have copies available in the office for $16.00. There is a sign up sheet located at the welcome desk or sign up by calling the church office. Contact Hollye in the office with any questions.

Students in the 6th-8th grades and their families, plus any students who have not yet been confirmed, interested in learning more about this year’s confirmation class are invited to join Kyra and Pastor John in the youth room at 10:00AM. We hope to give you all the information you will need about our class this year and answer any questions you may have. 

If you would like to stay in the know with all things First United Methodist Church Mountain Home, download our church app. You can access news and events, watch services, listen to sermons, receive important push notifications and more; all via your phone!  Simply click on the button below from your phone to download the app. You can also use the QR code above using your phone's camera.

Refuge is an opportunity for Jr. High/Middle School youth to be introduced to the connectional events of the Arkansas Conference Council on Youth Ministries of the United Methodist Church. They enjoy a weekend in the beautiful outdoors, focusing on Christ, developing friendships, and having fun while getting away from the busyness of life. This event will be held at Shepherd of the Ozarks, a great setting filled with large, comfortable log cabins surrounded by bluffs and a creek.

By now school is well underway and hopefully you are all having an amazing school year so far! We are so excited to be back to First Kidz Wednesday afternoon ministries begining Wednesday, September 3rd! We are continuing with our DIG IN curiculum. Last year's program was "Foundations of Faith". This year the program is called "The Life of Jesus". We start our Wednesday afternoons with snack once the kids arrive. We then move into uplifting and exciting worship music followed by fun, interactive bible activities and end with recreation. Pick up is at 5:15pm.

If your kids aren't already coming on Wednesdays, you can register them using the button below. This year all the children as well as the volunteers will recieve a First Kidz Ministry t-shirt!  

Reminder: Acolyte training will be on Wednesday, September 3rd.

Congratulations to our newest acolytes, Kaylee Booth, Everly Drennin, Caroline Reed and Thomas Reynolds!

Thank you to the volunteers who are already helping with Wednesdays. If you are interested in helping out on Wednesdays or Sundays for Sunday School, please email me at llaw@fumcmh.org. There are many low stress and easy ways to help. We need bus drivers, bus riders, teacher helpers and recreation supervisors. Plus, the kids are so much fun!

Have a great September! See you Wednesday!  

God Bless!

Laura Pedigo
Director of Children's Ministry

Happy September 605 Students, Friends, and Families! 

It is hard to believe that fall is here, and school has been going for a couple of weeks. August flew by, but we had a blast before school started and then took some time to settle back into the schedule and flow of the school year. 

Students enjoyed sharing in one last bible study and lunch at Salsa’s, we splashed into the new school year with our back to school at the pool and beat the heat one last time with an ice cream treat before school started. 

With September starting we are looking to the youth year ramping up and kickstarting so many amazing things for our students. 

We are excited to be back on Wednesdays beginning September 3^rd. With youth starting back that means our meals are starting. We can’t do this without your help. We would love to have you/your family sponsor a meal for our youth this fall. You are invited to cook something and bring it to us, you can order something to be delivered, or sponsor a meal financially. Contact Kyra Anthony to sign up or follow the meal train link found here or in your weekly parent email. https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/y54m0l

In order to help with communication we are encouraging all students and families to join our Band group on the app. This new platform will help us stay connected more instantly, communicate about different events while they happen, and provide resources to you all in one place. This will not replace our weekly emails and paper newsletters, or social media, but we hope that this will be just one more touchstone of information for families as we continue this crazy thing called life together. Please follow the invite link here or in your parent email to join our band. A QR Code for this link can also be found on the bulletin board outside the contemporary worship space at the church.  https://band.us/n/a0a3b1afQbX4D

Just a little update on Sunday School! We took a break this summer from our class, and we are still analyzing what will be best for our students and our community regarding Sunday School. Keep an eye out for future information after the start of Wednesday programing on what Sunday School will look like moving forward. 

Here are now some highlights of what is happening this September followed by a full calendar for the month: 

September 3^rd- The First Youth of the Year! Following the same schedule as last year we will see students in 6-8^th grades for youth from 3:30-5:30PM. Dinner for all will be 5:30-6:00PM. At 6:00PM we will have youth for 9^th-12^th grade students ending between 7:30-8:00PM, our time can vary based on activities and strength of conversation!

September 21^st- High School Hangout! We are beginning to have these Sunday evening events once a month for students in 9^th-12^th grades. We hope you will join us for a time of community, fun, and food. This month we will be meeting at the Escape Room in Mountain Home at 5:00PM for some group fun followed by walking to dinner together somewhere downtown! All students in 9^th-12^th grades are invited along with parents and volunteers who would love to hang out with us! 

September 28^th- Confirmation Information Meeting! Students in the 6^th-8^th grades and their families, plus any students who have not yet been confirmed, interested in learning more about this year’s confirmation class are invited to join Kyra and Pastor John in the youth room at 10:00AM. We hope to give you all the information you will need about our class this year and answer any questions you may have. 

Refuge 2025: More information about this trip for students in 6^th-8^th grades will be coming to your emails soon. The current registration due date is set for September 24^th (this may change) with Refuge being November 7^th-9^th. Mark your calendars for that weekend and be on the lookout for more information coming to you about this trip.

Full September Calendar:  
September 3: First Youth of the Year
September 9-13: Baxter County Fair (There are still spots to volunteer for our fair booth if you are interested) 
September 10^th: Youth Group 
September 17^th: Youth Group
September 21^st: Back to Church Sunday- Worship and Brunch 
September 21^st: 5:00PM High School Hangout at the Escape Room in Mountain Home 
September 24^th: Youth Group
September 24^th: Refuge Registration Deadline
September 28^th: Confirmation Information Meeting at 10:00AM in the youth room 

Blessings, 
Kyra Anthony

Because the last day of August falls on a Sunday, Montly giving is not included in this newsleter.  There will be an email sent out next week with August Giving.

Prayers After Loss:
Friends of Barbara Sandberg on her passing. 

Concerns:
Kathleen Carr (08/24/25)
(Sue Storm)
Chris Holm (08/05/25)
Diana Blackburn (08/04/25)
Lucille Walther (07/31/25)
(Skyler Law) 
Nick Suntken (07/24/25)
(Linda Vornheder’s Grandson)
David Francis (07/22/25)
(Denny Francis’ Brother)
Lois Nichols (07/20/25)
(Joyce Holsted)
Sandi Franklin (07/20/25)
(Kaye Jarvis’s Niece)
Bill Wagner (06/29/25)
Joyce Holsted (06/15/25)
Bruce Burr (06/15/25)
Jaymeson Miller (06/08/25)
Lisa Dennis (06/08/25)
(Mike Densmore’s Niece)
George Rohr (06/01/25)
(Christine Rohr)
Wally Smietanski (05/19/25)
Jack Chance (05/06/25)
Krew Hudson (05/06/25)
(Classmate of Emma Jones)
Mona Brewer (04/22/25)
Bob Dickerson (04/13/25)
Teresa Kenyon (04/01/25)
Rexene Watson (03/23/25)
(Tom Yoder’s Sister-in-Law)
Bryan Tomlinson (03/17/25)
(Gail House)
Natalie Tyson (03/13/25)
(Mary Margaret Pearson)
Ruth Ramaker (03/02/25)
(Kristi Nelson’s mother)
Bobby Myers (02/27/25)
(Gail House’s Cousin)
Mike Thompson (02/25/25)
(Bev Thompson’s Son)
Curtis Gomez (02/23/25)
(Christine Rohr)
Genie Widerstrom (02/18/25)
(Rebecca Williams)
Nancy Cox (02/16/25)
(Christine & Cleo Holm)
Bonnie Benham (01/19/25)
Kate Melnik (01/13/25)
(Tom Yoder)
Wesley Werner (1/7/25)
Doug Dethloff (12/22/24)
Pat Harris (12/01/24)
(Tina Benton)
Paula Flippin (12/01/24)
(Tina Benton)
Diane Lucas (12/01/24)
(Tina Benton)
Emily Jones Griffin (12/01/24)
(Teresa Kenyon)
Elden Lowe (11/19/24)
(Jill Chandler’s Nephew)
Tim Dorram (11/12/24)
(Yvonne Hall)
Matt Zipperer (10/29/24)
(Sue Storm)
Sharon & Wendell Dennis (10/13/24)
(Debby Bodenhamer)
Jack Knight (09/22/24)
(Jill Chandler’s brother)
Ruth Clark (09/19/24)
Sue Robinson (09/01/24)
(Marilyn Bonecki)
Denise Rohr (08/18/24)
(Christine Rohr’s daughter)
Ronald Robinson (07/29/24)
(Marilyn Bonecki)

YOUTH
In honor of our grandchildren
Bill & Mary Margaret Pearson