upcoming events & announcements

Stephen Ministry Opportunity: Stephen Ministry is our congregation’s one-to-one caregiv-ing ministry. God works through Stephen Ministers to plant a seed of hope and healing in a person whose life seems barren and forlorn because of some crisis or trage-dy. What do Stephen Ministers do? Stephen Ministers: Listen Explore feelings Pray Share Christ’s love Maintain confidentiality Attend to the caregiving process and leave the results

to God Stephen Minister care for people who are: Grieving In a crisis In need of long-term care Dying Hospitalized Divorcing Experiencing losses as they age Going through a crisis of childbirth The family and friends of people in crisis We will be offering Stephen Ministry training beginning in late September for new Stephen Ministers. This training will equip you and our congregation will support you, so that you can show God’s mercy, care, and compassion to another who is hurting. You will walk beside your care receiver, pray for him or her, and help him or her work through life’s difficulties. To learn more about becoming a Stephen Minister, con-tact one of our Stephen Leaders:

Frances Casey at 336-838-4719 Ann Absher at 336-670-2741 or 336-984-6598 Tamara Whittington at 336-838-8778 or 336-902-7447 Pastor Tim Roberts at 336-838-2691

Registration for 2019-2020 is open! The registration fee is $70. Contact Shannon in the office or Jane Phillips to register. There is a 10% discount if the full tuition price for the year is paid upfront!

Toddler class: Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 8am-12pm ($165/month) 2 year-old class: Monday—Friday, 8am-12pm ($190/month) 3 year-old class: Monday—Friday, 8am-12pm ($190/month)

4 year-old class: Monday – Friday, 8am to 12pm ($190/month) -Small class sizes and play-based philosophy of learning to promote creativity, constructive problem solving, and enhanced

language and social skills. -Bible stories and lessons with Miss Lauren and Pastor Tim.

-A playground with age-appropriate equipment. -Use of the Faith Center with riding toys and lots of room to run and play for days with uncooperative weather.

Upcoming Events & Announcements

Sunday, August 4th: 8 pm - Lock In to prepare for Youth Sunday (bring an air mattress or something comfortable to sleep on) Monday, August 5th: 8 am - End of Lock In Sunday, August 11th: 5 - 7 pm UMYF Meeting Sunday, August 18th: 5 - 7 pm UMYF Meeting Sunday, August 25th: 8:45 am & 10:55 am - Youth Sunday Services (No Evening Meeting )

Worship and Study Series Continuing—Last Day August 28

Are your goals too small? Are you living the "just get by" plan? Or is there a great-

er "God dream" for you that, if lived to the fullest, could permeate and inform

every move you make? We will be continuing the weekly study

following the theme of “Dare to Dream” each Wednesday in the church Library.

You will have two different times to choose to participate: either 9:30am or

6:30pm. You may also want to purchase the book that coincides with the study:

Dare to Dream: Creating a God-sized Mis-sion Statement for Your Life. You may

order the book Cokesbury.com or Ama-zon.com (where you may opt for an e-book format). So, let's start Dreaming!

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday begins on August 28 (4-6 PM) with a pool party at Linwood

pool. This program is for children grades K-5 and includes snack, bible lesson, rec-

reation, craft, and music. If you would like more information, call Lauren at the

office.

Fundraiser for Ismael Maldonado school (by Barbara Casey)

Please join us for dinner Wednesday, Sep-tember 4 at 5:45PM in the Faith Center to raise funds to provide school supplies

for the students of Ismael Maldonado school in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Barbara Casey travelled to Ponce in June 2018 with our youth group. While in

Ponce, they worked at the school constructing classrooms. In order to continue the support our community has provid-ed this school, she would like to provide needed supplies for

the students in this school.

Communion for Home-Bound Seniors We will be starting a program of bringing communion to our church members who are home-bound and those in assisted liv-ing facilities. These small services will be

every month on the first Tuesday after the first Sunday. If you know of a church member who is homebound and who

would like to take part in this program, please call the church office to make sure that they are scheduled for a visit.

Please be in prayer for this ministry that it will be a blessing to these church members.

3rd Grader Bible Presentations

& Youth Sunday On Sunday, August 25 at the 10:55AM service, we will be presenting bibles to the 3rd graders! Make sure not to miss this special Sunday as we encour-

age our young children to grow in their relationship with God!

Italian Night - Sponsored by Outreach

The Italian Night First Feast fundraiser will be Wednesday, September 11 at 5:45PM!

Adults: $7, Children $3 Menu: Pasta, Salad, Bread, Homemade Dessert & Beverage.

All proceeds benefit Children’s Hope Alliance (Rainbow Center).

Bring a toy to donate to Hope Ministries for Christmas!

Samaritan Kitchen Backpack Program The children of the church are going to Samaritan Kitchen to pack bags for the

Project Backpack. Teachers and counse-lors identify children who are food inse-cure and volunteers pack 7 meals into

bags that go in each child's backpack each weekend. The children are collecting do-

nations of non-perishable foods and per-sonal care products (toothpaste, etc) through Sunday, August 18 to take to

Samaritan Kitchen for this project. Collec-tion boxes are in the narthex and atrium -

look for the boxes that say "PROJECT BACKPACK." Last year, we donated 433 lbs of food and packed 120 bags! Let's

beat that record this year! Please call the office if you’d like suggestions of items to

pack!

Acolytes and Crucifer Training On August 18, we will have a brief cruci-fer and acolyte training immediately fol-

lowing the 10:55 service in the Sanctuary. We are expanding our crucifer and aco-lyte ministry to include all ages, so any-

one is welcome to come learn more about how to serve in this ministry.

"To Mars and Beyond!"

VBS is August 4th thru 8th! Sunday night is registration night with a pizza dinner

and games. Regular programming begins Monday night. You can register on the

church website: firstnw.org.

Working Through Conflict Several weeks ago, most of you re-

ceived a letter from the Church Council and Staff-Parish Relations Committee relaying that we were

looking into contracting with Plow-point to work with us through con-flict resolution. Unfortunately, we are not able to actually work with

Plowpoint, but Plowpoint did highly recommend two excellent individu-

als for us to consider to help us work through areas of conflict. With their high endorsement, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Claude Kayler,

the Director of the Intentional Growth Center at Lake Junalus-

ka (part of the Southeastern Jurisdic-tion), will meet with key leaders of the church during the last week of July for an initial meeting. During this time, he will work with us to design the process for us, as the church, to move forward. Please

keep Dr. Kayler and First patiently in your prayers as we allow God the

time and space to bring about divine healing.

Keepers

NO Keepers meeting in August

First United Methodist Church P O Box 1145 Office: 336-838-2691 N. Wilkesboro NC 28659 Website: www.firstnw.org

August Services

First United Methodist Church P O Box 1145 401 Sixth Street N. Wilkesboro NC 28659 Office: 336-838-2691 Website: www.firstnw.org LIKE US ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! “First United Methodist Church of

North Wilkesboro, NC”

The Grapevine

NOTE: If you wish to receive this publication via EMAIL instead of via US Postal Service (or prefer to be taken off the mailing

list), please email your request to [email protected] or contact the church office at

(336)-838-2691.

NOTE: If you are celebrating a

birthday or wedding anni-versary and your name is not listed, please notify

the church office!

01 Mike Noble

02 Debbie Johnston

04 Paige Love, Anne Shumate

05 Bud Connor, Wills Eller

06 Rachel Ware

07 Aaron Swofford

08 Kin Church

09 Jerry Absher

12 Greg Minton, Marjorie Wiggins

13 Sandy Cockerham, Catherine Howell, Bill Setzer

14 Annette Kinney, Betty Ware

15 Pam Lenderman

17 Pattie Black

18 Keith Lenderman

19 Molly Casey

21 Meredith Church

22 Scott Kinney, Ray Warren

23 Kevin Glaze, Holly Hall, Dick Hix

25 Alex Erhardt, Melinda War-ren

26 Bill Rhodes

27 Peggy Church, Mariah Glanzer, Kristen De Bord, Don Pardue

28 Andrew Huggins

29 Benson Wills

30 Bill Casey

31 Beth Hartong

Birthdays Anniversaries

01

Cy & Betty Brame Andrew & Lisa Casey Greg & Lee Ann Minton

03 Jim & Jodi Swofford

07 Edward & Frances Greene

08 Dave & Freda DeGruchy Christian & Julianna Stackhouse

14 Carl & Peggy Swofford

17 Kin & Vicki Church

20 Judge Jule & Gary Rousseau

24 Mike & Fay Kennedy

31 Jerry & Diane Eldridge

Open Hearts

Open Minds

Open Doors

UMM Breakfast August 25, 9:00AM!

STAFF PARISH August 26, 5:30 PM

STEPHEN MINISTRIES

August 12, 7:00PM

UMW CIRCLES NO CIRCLES IN AUGUST

UMW EXEC COMMITTEE

August 27 at 4:30 PM

BOARD OF TRUSTEES August 20 at 5:30PM

FINANCE COMMITTEE

August 18 at 6:30PM

CHURCH COUNCIL August 13 at 6:00PM

WORSHIP COMMITTEE

August 19 at 5:15 PM

Sunday, August 4

Communion

8th Sunday after Pentecost

8:45 AM: Early Worship

9:45 AM: Sunday School

10:55 AM: Late Worship

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Sunday, August 11





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Sunday, August 18





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Sunday, August 25

Youth Sunday · UMM Breakfast





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CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Monday-Thursday: 9am — 5pm

Friday: 9am—12pm

Staff Weekdays Out of Office

Pastor Tim Roberts: Fridays

Lauren Jolly: Fridays

Marie Chambers: Wednesdays &

Fridays

Pastor Sylvia Wilhelm:

In Office Tuesdays

Office Closed Wednesday, 8/14

(Staff Retreat) & Monday, 9/2

(Labor Day)

Good Fruit If there is any one thing that I like most of all about summer, it has to be fresh fruit and veggies. I love sinking my teeth in sweet and savory corn-on-the-cob, especially when it sprays those sitting around you as you take that first bite. It’s making my mouth water just think about it. But, to sort of borrow from Forrest Gump, fruits and vegetables are like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get. Over the years, I have learned and developed various skills of determining the “goodness’ of this food from the ground. These aren’t any new ideas, just some of the ones that have stood the test of time. Of course, one of the first things we do is to look at the produce. Our eyes are great discerners of freshness. For example, if a to-mato is black when it should be red or if it has hairs growing out of it, it is generally a good idea to leave it alone. So, the first test is to use our eyes. A second thing is to pick it up and feel it. Is it too firm or too soft? This takes a bit of experience. For canta-loupe, if your hand easily penetrates the rind all the way to the center, it probably would be best to leave it alone. Many people smell the produce. Simply said, if your nose says no, listen to your nose. For melons, we usually thump them. This too takes some experience to ascertain what the difference is between a thud and a thump. All of these, plus the myriad of other folk methods, help inform us of what we can expect of its primary function – how does it taste? When it comes to food, we can easily forgive the color, texture, scent, and sound - as long as it tastes good. For many years, it seemed that we could rely on these indicators, that is until – genetics. Now I am not completely against genetically modifying fruits and vegetables, I know it often has its place, but I believe most of us have bitten into some beautiful, luscious, fra-grant tomatoes, only to be overwhelmed when the sense of having bitten into…Styrofoam. Disgusting! What’s the point of having the appearance if what’s inside re-veals something starkly contrary? For people of faith, this notion should strike an accord. Is the fruit we produce not only appealing to the eye but also something to savor? Are we merely posing to be people who profess a faith in God or do we exemplify it with our actions? We may live in a hungry world, but even those who are famished expect and deserve nothing less than the best. Many years ago, a wise and godly man wrote to a church in an ancient town called Galatia. He knew the people in the fledgling church struggled with an understanding of their purpose, so he summed it up like this: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentle-ness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! That’s the fruit I love to savor! How about you? Godspeed, Pastor Tim

Attendance and Offering

6/30 7/7 7/14 7/21 7/28

Sunday School

64 61 N/A 45 58

Worship 137 137 137 149

Offering $17,847

$8,338 $5,205 $7,932 $4,363

Birthday 40 36

Anniversary 17 13

Get Well 5 5

Sympathy 1 2

Thank You 1

Card Ministry

June July

2019

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