Philip's Focus: The Week of August 21

 August is evolving as a month of special meetings and events. In this Beacon article, I want to communicate some of the dedicated events that have happened and are going to happen. These opportunities are varied but all important.
 
We have a called Charge Conference scheduled for August 28, 12:30pm in the Sanctuary. The sole purpose of this meeting is related to the proposed selling of the parsonage at 12 Meigs Drive. All members of the Church Council are the voting members of the Charge Conference. The Trustees, Finance Committee, and Church Council have all approved the sale. The Charge Conference is the final official approval needed to sell 12 Meigs. All are welcome to attend the Charge Conference.
 
Our “Open House” was a big success last Sunday Night! 
We had a great turnout at our Open House. Our congregation heard of children, youth, and adult opportunities from some of our ministries. One of the biggest highlights was the presence of new people in our church. There were even some new volunteers secured. Overall, it was a fantastic way to kick off the Fall schedule. A special thanks to our Rev. Matt Langford, our staff, and laity for what might have been our best open house ever!
 
Emmaus is back! 
Last weekend numerous lay persons from our congregation volunteered to assist the Men’s Walk to Emmaus at Blue Lake. We also had two pilgrims from our congregation participate in the 72-hour crash course in Christianity. We are so excited Emmaus is back! There are upcoming walks scheduled. If you would like to know more about attending the Walk to Emmaus, please contact our church office. We will be happy to share more information on how you can attend.
 
Our special offering for our Ukraine family continues throughout the month of August. 
As of now, we have received over $11,000. Thanks for your generosity! Our goal is to raise $45,000 for the support needed this year. In addition to our financial support, our congregation has been generous to fully furnish the home. Alice Biggar reports the rental house has been completely furnished and transformed into a beautiful home through the generosity of our congregation. We had a prayer of consecration Tuesday to prepare the home for the Tysiachnyi family. Also, as we gathered for prayer, we heard the beautiful Kingdom stories emerging and even multiplying of how God is providing for this family! What an exciting ministry of love is growing out of our church.
 
In following the direction of the Church Council, a new task force has been formed.
The purpose of this task force is to gather information and better understand current denominational matters. The goal of this team is to provide accurate information for our congregation. We had our first meeting last Monday. The team includes our four lay delegates to Annual Conference Mark Bethea, Dave Biggar, Jim Brantley, and Pat Gross. This team also includes Kyle Wilson (Lay Leader), Renata Steiner (facilitator), and our pastors. You can share questions and concerns with any of the people on this new team.
 
Also, for those that want to know more about what is going on in our denomination…
Bishop David Graves is having a meeting for laity August 21, 4PM at Pensacola First United Methodist Church. All laity are invited to hear directly from the Bishop. No reservation is required.
 
This Sunday, we will be preaching on hospitality through the teaching of Hebrews 13. This teaching will focus on entertaining angels unaware and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hope to see you in worship for what should be a great Sunday.
 
Shalom,  
 
Philip