A publication of :

First United Methodist Church

With Campuses at Caddo and Durant

5400 W. Main , Durant, OK 74701 580-924-4670 / firstumc@durantumc.org www.durantumc.org

Jesus took three of his disciples—Peter, John, and James—up on a mountain to pray. As

Jesus prayed, his appearance changed and he began to shine like lightning. Moses and

Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus about his exodus, or departure, that he would

fulfill soon. The disciples were sleepy, but then they woke up and saw Jesus’ glory and

who was talking with him. Peter started talking about building shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

He didn’t know what he was saying, but that never stopped Peter! Then a cloud appeared and

covered them and God spoke about Jesus from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I have chosen;

listen to him” (Luke 9:28-35).

Listen to him is our theme for Lent. We’re going through a large section of Luke’s Gospel (9:28-

24:8). I’m emailing and posting on the church Facebook page daily readings from Luke. The

Wesleyan Sunday School class is doing a study from a book called Listen to Him. You’re welcome

to join us. Let’s focus on Jesus and his words to us during these days leading to Easter.

Here’s a reminder that Serve Durant will happen on April 4. This is an opportunity to join with

friends from churches all over town to do service projects in Durant. Our youth have selected a

project to work on together. Your class or group or individuals can get involved. Go to

www.servedurant.com to see what projects are available and to register. Serving in the

community is part of our vision for the church growing out of our work with The Unstuck Group.

The church Leadership Team has met twice this year. This team combines what were the Staff

Parish Relations Committee, Trustees, Finance Committee, and Administrative Council. The team is

scheduled to meet on the fourth Sunday of each month. Anyone is welcome to attend, though only

team members vote. Officers that were elected in January are Chair: Darrell Mendez, Vice-Chair:

Jody Nelson, Secretary: Donnis Potter. We are still learning about this new streamlined

administration, but we believe it’s off to a good start and will help the church make quicker

decisions and release more people actually to do ministry. If you have questions about the

Leadership Team, contact me or one of the officers.

God Bless, Pastor John

Rev. John Breon—Senior Pastor

Kim Vincent — Director of Children’s Ministries

Pam Carey—Youth Director

Nancy Breon—Director of Music

Marylin Smith—Organist

Dhon Bowen—Worship Technology Director

Janice Balkenbush– Administrative Assistant

Sunday Happenings

9am Sunday School

10am Worship

11am Worship Caddo

The 25th Annual Bean Luncheon

Benefitting local & global missions is March 6th from 11am-

1pm. Volunteers are needed to prepare and serve. We need

church members to bring cornbread and desserts. There is a

sign-up sheet on the bulletin board and in the Sunday school

classes. The cost of the luncheon is $6.00. Tickets are on sale now. Need more

information? Call the office at 924-4670 or Diane Dixon at 916-0194.

March Sermons 1 “Rejoicing with Jesus” (Luke 10:17-24)

8 “Full of Light” (Luke 11:33-36)

15 “Unless You Repent” (Luke 13:1-9)

22 “Looking for the Lost” (Luke 15:1-32)

29 “Impossible for Us, but Possible for God” (Luke 18:18-30)

Sermons can be heard at durantumc.org. We welcome you to our services— Durant 10am and Caddo 11:00am.

Tai Chi meets on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 10am in the youth room.

This class is sponsored by OHAI.

The Tower is being e-mailed with this issue. Please make sure we have your current e-mail in the church office. A printed copy will be available at the church.

Bible Journaling Led by Beth Boothe

Join us on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday evenings from 5pm-

7pm in Room 200 as we study GOD’S WORD and illustrate our FAITH in

our Bibles. We are meeting early so as many people as possible can attend and we

understand if you can’t make it until after 5. Please come anyway and enjoy

the fellowship and fun!

Bring your Journaling Bible or journal, your pens/pencils/scissors/tape or glue and any other materials you like. Beth will provide your class kits and the materials you will

need. If you have any questions, please call the Church office: 580-924-4670.

Hope to see you there!

First United Methodist Church

5 Year Vision/Plan

Make a significant spiritual impact in our community

Put the next generation first

Serve our neighbors

Grow disciples through life-changing relationships

4th—Patty Wells

11th—Katy Eggleton

12th—Tim Smith

16th—Katie Nichols

17th—Morgan Martens

20th—Katie Campbell,

Sharon Mullins

21st—Scott Mendez

25th—Karen Graham

26th—Sandy Mazzone

27th—Marylin Smith

28th—Sharon Robinson,

Sydney Grover

31st—Carson Campbell

FUMC Statistics

February Average Worship Attendance: 163 Sunday School Attendance: 72

2020 Budget (expected income): $649,703 This includes the annual debt service on the building of $128,170.24.

Please keep our Soldiers

in your Prayers.

Travis Dill– Stateside

David Dill– Stateside

Isaiah Hanson- N Guard

Micah Hanson-S. Korea

Tim Hanson-Germany

Trey Hill– Stateside

Mark Long– Ft. Huachuca

Aaron McKinney– Tinker AFB

Camaron Smith-Stateside

Daylight savings begins March 8th. Remember to set your clocks ahead 1

hour so you don’t miss Sunday School.

FUMC First Kids News

NO JAM Time:

March 18th for Spring Break

Sundays: Sunday school @ 9am, Worship @ 10:00 / Wednesdays: JAM @ 6pm

Kimberly Vincent-- 580-380-5458-- childrendirector@dumc.org

Children’s Council

We have a wonderful group of parents that meet 3-4 times a year, for about an hour, to help

plan and put into place all of the children's activities here at the church. The Children's

Council will be meeting soon to plan Easter activities as well as VBS. Please consider joining

this vital group. We need you and your help! We are always needing more input and

volunteers. Please let me know if you would like to sit in on a meeting to see if the Children's

Council could be a right fit for you.

Did you know the kids have their very own worship service? Join us for Children’s Church each Sunday from 10:00-11:00 in the

theater room. Ages Pre-K to 6th grade welcome!

VBS is coming!! I know we just celebrated Christmas, but VBS will be here

before you know it. This year we will journey into a frozen land in search of the King’s mighty armor in Knights of the North Castle. If you would like to help in any way please let Kim know. Also start to be in prayer for

this wonderful week of outreach please! Thank you!

Wednesday April 8th

will be our annual Easter Egg Hunt. Soon plastic Easter eggs and candy will arrive at the stores, and we will need all the stuffed eggs we can

get to help make this a success. If you would like to donate money, I am glad to do the shopping and stuffing for you. Thank you for helping make this such a

great event for the kids. More egg hunt details to come!

Summer Camps are coming-YAY! The church will pay ½ the cost of camp for any camper wanting to join in on this awesome experience. If we can know and get your kiddo registered before April15th we can save $20. Here are the dates so you can start planning your summer.

Sonshine: entering grades: 1-2 June 20-21 $89 Growin’ in Grace: entering grades: 3-5 July 10-12 $198

6th Grade camp: entering grade 6 July 10-12 $198

Youth has started the year off with lots of fun activities. Come join us and bring a friend.

Calendar

Sunday, Mar. 1st—UMY 5pm-7pm

Sunday, Mar. 8th—UMY 5pm-7pm

Spring Break Mar. 15th—No Youth

Saturday , Mar. 21st - Jared Greer’s

Ninja Warrior Experience

(Look for details to follow)

Sunday, Mar. 22nd—No Youth

Sunday, Mar. 29th - Youth 5-7pm

March 20 & 21 we will host Jared Greer’s Ninja Warrior Experience. The Children’s

Department will be on Friday night and Youth will be Saturday night. Look for

more details soon!

ENCOURAGE. INSPIRE. OVERCOME.

Lydia Circle lost one of its members on February 8, 2020. LaJuana Hargrove of Bennington, OK passed away at her home surrounded by her family. She was a

wonderful addition to our Circle and so very gifted with yarn. LaJuana was also a very generous person and donated her entire collection of yarn, patterns, and books to our group. We will be able to

distribute many shawls, baby blankets, and hats because of her generosity. We thank her, we will miss her, and will

think of her often.

March Wedding Showers

Ryan Mendez & Ally McCoy

March 8th, 2pm to 4pm

registered at Target and

Kopper Kettle

Eli Breon & Kelsey Glenn

March 15th, 2pm to 4pm

Registered at Bed, Bath &

Beyond and Walmart

The 2020 Prom Closet was

able to help 49 young ladies

this year. We hope all of them

have a great prom!

Thank you to all who

volunteered their time to help

with this wonderful outreach! The next Care Team

meeting is April 8th at 1:00.

Our Heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Agnes Easterling. Agnes passed away February 22, just 2

weeks shy of her 87th birthday. Agnes was a constant fixture here at church and will

be missed.

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First United Methodist Church

PO Box 518

Durant, Oklahoma 74702

Volume 24 March 2020 No. 3

Remember In Prayer Military Personnel Travis Dill-stateside

David Dill –stateside

Tim Hanson-Germany

Micah Hanson –S. Korea

Isaiah Hanson– Oklahoma

National Guard

Mark Long– Ft. Huachuca

Camaron Smith-Stateside

Aaron McKinney– Tinker AFB

Special Needs

Sue Morris

Larry Marcy

Steve Kirven

Donna Milson

Special Needs

Dorothy Ratcliff

Irene Michael

Jo Ann Howard

Peggy Shepard

Nursing Care Myra Lester Robert Rhoden Esther Breon

Assisted Living Janet Tompkins

Home Bound Ann Endebrock Jack & Johnnye McBee

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Please notify the church office of any

additions or changes to the prayer list.

580 924-4670 / firstumc@durantumc.org.