Our Mission

To make disciples of Jesus Christ for

the transforma�on

of the world.

Our Goals

• To focus on intra- and inter-

genera�onal ministry

• To improve assimila�on of new

people

• To be a hospitable church

• To be a teaching church

• To care for people in need

Our Focus

January 1, 2013

through December 31, 2015

Ministry development with

children, youth, families and young

adults

Moving people

from

FELLOWSHIP

to

MEMBERSHIP

to

DISCIPLESHIP

UMW NEWS

UMW Women's Winter Retreat: The retreat will be held one day this year on

Saturday, March 7, 2015 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The fee for this retreat is $12.00

and this includes all materials, continental breakfast and lunch. Our Speaker will be

Deb Aultman. Her presentation titled "The Faith-Health Connection" will include

scripture, nutrition and health. You should make your check out to the UMW and give it

to Linda Doerr. If you have any questions you may contact Linda at 772-7568. Hope

to see you all there.

We are proud to announce the 2015 SMR (Special Mission Recognition) award

winners. The SMR's were presented at the Valentine's Tea held Sunday, 2/8/2015.

The Award recipients were Betty Stephenson, Marilyn Duke, Mary Kleinhans

and Carla Starr. Please congratulate these wonderful and well deserving women the

next time that you see them.

Treasure Sale: The UMW annual Treasure Sale is coming up in April, so please start

sorting and saving your items for this event. You may start leaving items in the

Fellowship Hall behind the wall at the far end of the hall Monday, April 6th. Please

bring clean lightly used items, we do not take clothing, but we do take

shoes, belts and such. The actual date of the sale is Friday, April

10th from 5-8 p.m.. and Saturday, April 11th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. We

hope to get lots of good items this year and look forward to the

congregations support for this Mission fund raising event. If you have any questions

please contact Carla Starr at (989) 854-0709 or Linda Doerr at 772-7568.

ICRH Rotating Shelter Week at First UMC

We will be hosting the Rotating Homeless Shelter again at First United Methodist

Church the week of March 8. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities available! We

need cooks and greeters and people willing to stay up late. Please consider being a

part of this amazing ministry. Sign up is available at SignUpGenius

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/70A0F44A5AE29A57-second1 or call the church

office, 773-6934.

Nutrition Club & Snacks for Pullen

For those of you able to provide support, we are continuing to accept donations to the

Nutrition Club and Snacks for Pullen Ministry. It is especially important this time of the

school year to maintain our current level of support. Winter is long

enough without being hungry as well. It is also critical to let these

children know they are cared about. Please contact me with any

questions. Thank you!! Amy Heminger

March 8

Bible Lessons for March:

The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado

Story of St. Patrick

Easter story

Activities:

We have art projects planned for both St. Patrick’s day and

Easter.

Next Family Meal — March 26 at 5:30.

No Kids Club — April 2

Remember, it’s never too late to invite a child to come to Kids’

Club.

Kids’ Club News

Education Ministry News Small Hands Serving God — March 2015

Game Day/Pizza Party

Some of God’s Way Campers and their families enjoyed a

Sunday afternoon of board games and pizza. There was an

intense game of Clue and Monopoly going on! And a couple

parents were playing the game Headbands! It was a

wonderful fellowship time for all!

Children’s Church Corner

Children’s Church has been off to a great start. We are seeing

a growing number of students each week. During March we will

finish up our lesson on Putting Other’s First. We will then be

starting a new lesson on courage. The children will enjoy les-

sons with Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen. They will also

learn along with the real Esther of the Bible that with God, they

can have the courage to do the right thing! They will discover

they can rely on God for his help, just like Esther did.

Schedule:

March 1: Coming Clean

March 8: Tell Me Why

March 15: Mordecai and Esther Save the King

March 22: This is No Easy Job

March 29: Esther Makes a Choice

Sunday School Connection

The kids have been busy learning new songs for worship every

week. They had a great time making Valentines for the shut

ins! We have also enjoyed welcoming new students and stu-

dents that we haven't seen in a while back. This month we will

be learning about Easter and the different symbols that go

along with it.

Schedule:

March 1: New Clothes

March 8: Baby Animals/Easter Bunny

March 15: Easter Eggs

March 22: Spring Flowers/Easter Lilly

March 29: Cross and Empty Tomb

Reminder: No Sunday School April 5

Resurrection Story

Please join on us on Easter Sunday, April 5, at 10:05 a.m. in

the Multipurpose Room for a fun and exciting way to learn

about the Resurrection Story of Christ. The students will start

off in the Multi-Purpose room where they will hear the story

and then go around to the different rooms and collect different

eggs with the story inside of them. They will then end in the

Multi-Purpose room where they will get a goodie bag.

Youth

Please save the date, Friday March 27th for a fun Youth Lock-In

for teens in 7th – 12th grade. The festivities plan to start around

8pm on Friday night and will last until Saturday morning around

9am. Those hours will be filled with fun, fellowship, faith…and

probably tons of food, games, movies, and always an exhausted

group when it's all said and done. I'm really looking forward to this

event as it is always a great chance for all of us to be together for

an extended period of time and it allows for all of us to get to

know each other better. An event like this always takes a lot of

planning and prep too, so please contact me if you would be

willing to donate food or volunteer your time to assist with this

great event for our Youth.

Scholarship Opportunity-The Scholarship Committee is now

taking applicants for the Mary Elizabeth and Everett B. Sproul

Scholarship. This scholarship is given to further the education of

college students who have chosen career fields that will enhance

the human condition, thus reflecting the caring Christian concern

exhibited by the Sprouls. A $1,500 award (over two semesters)

is available to college juniors, seniors, and graduate students

who are either 1) members of First United Methodist Church, 2)

immediate family of members of First United Methodist Church,

or 3) currently active in First United Methodist Church.

Applications are available in the church office.

S2 Continues

Just a reminder to Youth and Parents about our S2 Program

on Sundays from 10-10:45am in the Youth Room. Each

week we have enjoyed some great content plus we often

make fresh popcorn while we have our discussions. If you

haven't come to check it out, I urge you to do so. S2 is a new

take on the traditional idea of Sunday School and has been

tremendous for all those who have attended…but we have

plenty of room for others to join us as well.

Winter Jam 2015 Full of Gods Love

We attended Winter Jam 2015 at The Palace of Auburn Hills

and over 17,000 believers packed the stadium full of God’s

love! There wasn't an empty seat in the house and the

performers at the show couldn't say enough about the size of

the crowd that night and mentioned it

was there biggest show to date. From

the music to the special speakers and

all the unique video packages, they

were all full of God’s love! As we all

jammed out to the music, you couldn't

miss the other Youth Groups and

families all around us with their hands

in the air praising Jesus!! In speaking with some of our

Youth that attended you could tell they enjoyed the music,

but the overall experience was so much more than that.

God’s love is powerful and is often displayed in so many

different ways!

Youth Ministry of Mt. Pleasant First United Methodist Church

MONTHLYMONTHLYMONTHLYMONTHLY NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER

March 2015

Director Derek Okrie

3/2

Kendall Farnum

3/3

Grace Zimmerman

3/4

Don Johnson

Beverly Steele

3/5

Don Felisky

Gary Mark

Emmy VanderVeen

3/7

Wendy Honey

3/8

Anderson Sickles

3/10

Antoinette Tucker

3/11

Grayson Carnes

3/12

Fay Gilbert

3/13

Tom Nothstine

3/14

Pamela Gray

Randy Recker

3/16

Joan Sampson

Jeff Crawford

Grace McIntosh

3/17

Patterson Smith

3/18

Nancy Marshall

3/21

Lilly Terraccino

3/22

Don Volz

3/23

Rob Louisell

David Kingsworthy

3/24

Arlene Dunham

3/25

Candace Farley

Mary Montney

Kari Martin

March BirthdaysMarch BirthdaysMarch BirthdaysMarch Birthdays

Please wish these folks a very happy birthday...

3/26

Pam Buys

3/27

Betty Assmann

3/30

Keri Powers

3/31

Betty Wolters

Margie Williams

Jacqui Pridgeon

March themes are Fairy Tales, Insects, Pond Life, Spring (weather). The color for the month is yellow, the shape is diamond, letters E T M. Parent-teacher conferences are Mar. 5 and 6. No school for students and no child care. The week of Mar. 9 we will enroll within the school for the 15-16 preschool year. The week of Mar. 16 we will enroll the waiting list from this year. The week of Mar. 23 we will enroll church and past families. Open enrollment is Apr. 7. Mar. 11 we will have a school bus ride for the older students so they know the rules. Mar. 17 the children will wear green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Mar. 26 and 27 will be Yellow Days. The children will wear yellow and we will have a yellow snack. Spring Recess is Mar. 30-April 3. Classes resume Apr. 6. We had a successful pancake supper and silent auction—profit almost $3,000! Happy Spring! Cheri Recker

LETTERS: E T M

INSECTS

COLOR: YELLOW DIAMOND

POND LIFE

MARCH 2015 WORSHIP VOLUNTEERS

The Great Heritage Service at 9 am

The Bridge at 11 am

March 1 March 8 March 15 March 22

Outside Greeter

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed Steve Pung 773-2644

Welcome Center Host(ess)

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed Volunteers Needed

Usher/Greeter Volunteers Needed Deb Skinner 773-4340

Volunteers Needed Sue Pung 773-2644 Joan Sampson 772-1811

Refreshment Host(ess)

Claire Powers cepowers1220@gmail.

com

Deb Skinner 773-4340

Joan Sampson 772-1811 Sue Pung 773-2644

March 29

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed

Carole Merwin 989-644-5968

Carole Merwin 989-644-5968

March 1 March 8 March 15 March 22

Outside Greeter

Nancy Lewis 773-2438 Al & Nancy Lewis 773-2438

Al Lewis 773-2438 Volunteers Needed

Welcome Center Host(ess)

Nancy Lewis 773-2438 Volunteers Needed Nancy Lewis 773-2438 Volunteers Needed

Greeter Nancy Priestap 772-5541 Kathy Stuart 989-433-0325 Nancy Priestap 772-5541

Volunteers Needed

Mark & Suezell Francek 989-289-2066

Usher Debbie Lawrence 773-5888 Jenni Snider 810-687-5321

Volunteers Needed

Carla Starr 989-854-0709 Linda Doerr 772-7568 Volunteers Needed

Debbie Lawrence 773-5888 Jenni Snider 810-687-5321

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed

Liturgist Cindy Hales 989-560-4786

Volunteer Needed Margie Williams 772-6308

Bruce Kilmer 772-9896

Refreshment Host(ess)

Volunteer Needed Marc & Connie Schroeder 989-382-5378

Deb Aultman 773-3846

Volunteer Needed

March 29

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed

Marc & Connie Schroeder

989-382-5378

Volunteers Needed

Kendall Farnum 989-854-0343

Jacqui Pridgeon 773-1885

Please call the church office or use SignUpGenius to volunteer to serve in the worship services. Your smiling face and willing heart are the hands and feet that touch lives. Please prayerfully consider Pastor Diane’s invitation

to worship at one service and to serve at one service.

Summer Camp 2015 Opportunities

2015 Summer Camp Opportunities: It is time again to start making reservations for summer camp. Our church,

through the West Michigan Conference, has a great camping program and funds to help send our kids to camp. Don't

forget, we provide 1/2 of the registration fee for you and we also have scholarships available to help cover the rest of

the cost. For a complete summer camping schedule and registration there are catalogs in God's Way Camp and the

Youth Room, or you may go online to umcamping.org. For scholarship information contact Amy Heminger at (989)

773-6934 or aheminger@mtpfumc.org. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Amy Gallagher at

agallagher@mtpfumc.org.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

9:00 Great Heritage Worship Service 10:05 Sunday School 11:00 The Bridge/ Children’s Church 11:00 4th Day 3:00 Youth Group Laser Tag

2

1:00 UMW Exec. Board 3:15 Prayer Group 6:30 Gamblers Anonymous 7:00 Boy Scouts 7:00 Toastmasters

3

9:00 Women’s No Agenda Coffee 5:30 Church & Society 5:45 Communications 6:30 Youth Ministry 7:00 Financial Peace University

4

8:00 ICRH Shower & Breakfast 4:30 Genesis Bells 5:30 Yoga 5:30 Clarion Ringers 7:00 Chancel Choir

5

7:30 Men’s No Agenda Coffee 8:30 Preschool Conferences 4:00 Kids’ Club 6:30 Praise Band 6:30 Narcotics Anonymous 7:00 Wesley Circle

6

8:30 Preschool Conferences 12:00 ICRH Committee

7

8:30 Men’s Group Bible Study 9:00 UMW Retreat

8 Time Change

9:00 Great Heritage Worship Service 10:05 Sunday School 11:00 The Bridge/ Children’s Church 11:00 4th Day 5:00 Youth Group 6:00 ICRH Shelter Week

9

2:00 Staff Meeting 3:15 Prayer Group 6:00 ICRH Shelter Week 6:30 Gamblers Anonymous 7:00 Boy Scouts 7:00 Stephen Ministry

10

9:00 Women’s No Agenda Coffee 6:00 SPRC 6:00 ICRH Shelter Week 7:00 Financial Peace University

11

4:30 Genesis Bells 5:30 Clarion Ringers 6:00 ICRH Shelter Week 7:00 Chancel Choir

12

7:30 Men’s No Agenda Coffee 4:00 Kids’ Club 6:00 ICRH Shelter Week 6:30 Praise Band 6:30 Narcotics Anonymous

13

12:00 ICRH Committee 6:00 ICRH Shelter Week 6:30 Youth Group Service Event

14

6:00 ICRH Shelter Week

15 Newsletter Deadline 9:00 Great Heritage Worship Service 10:05 Sunday School 11:00 The Bridge/ Children’s Church 11:00 4th Day 5:00 Youth Group Game Night

16

3:15 Prayer Group 6:30 Gamblers Anonymous 7:00 Boy Scouts 7:00 Toastmasters

17

9:00 Women’s No Agenda Coffee 11:30 Mackenzie Circle 6:30 Finance 7:00 Board of Trustees 7:00 Financial Peace University

18

8:00 ICRH Shower & Breakfast 4:30 Genesis Bells 5:30 Clarion Ringers 5:30 Yoga 5:45 Wednesday Fellowship Meal 6:00 Missions 7:00 Education 7:00 Chancel Choir

19

7:30 Men’s No Agenda Coffee 4:00 Kids’ Club 5:00 Kids’ Club Family Meal 6:30 Praise Band 6:30 Narcotics Anonymous

20

12:00 ICRH Committee 2:00 AA Conference Set Up

21

7:00 AA Conference 8:30 Men’s Group Bible Study

22

9:00 Great Heritage Worship Service 10:05 Sunday School 11:00 The Bridge/ Children’s Church 11:00 4th Day 5:00 Youth Group Game Night

23 1:00 Mary Martha Circle 2:00 Staff Meeting 3:15 Prayer Group 6:30 Gamblers Anonymous 7:00 Boy Scouts

24

9:00 Women’s No Agenda Coffee 6:00 Church Council 7:00 Financial Peace University

25

8:00 ICRH Shower & Breakfast 4:30 Genesis Bells 5:30 Yoga 5:30 Clarion Ringers 7:00 Chancel Choir

26

7:30 Men’s No Agenda Coffee 4:00 Kids’ Club 5:30 Kids’ Club Family Meal 6:30 Praise Band 6:30 Narcotics Anonymous

27

12:00 ICRH Committee 8:00 Youth Group Lock in

28

29

9:00 Great Heritage Worship Service 10:05 Sunday School 11:00 The Bridge/ Children’s Church 11:00 4th Day 5:00 Youth Group

30

3:15 Prayer Group 6:30 Gamblers Anonymous

31

9:00 Women’s No Agenda Coffee 7:00 Financial Peace University

Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE

PAID Mt. Pleasant MI 48858

Permit No. 131

400 South Main Street Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858

March 2015

April Newsletter deadline is March 15th.

2015 Lenten Calendar

March 29 – Palm Sunday choral presentation, 9 a.m.

Service

April 3 – 7:00 p.m. - Good Friday Service featuring

The Seven Last Words of Christ

April 5 –

• Easter Celebrations at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

• The Resurrection Story for children in the

Multipurpose Room at 10:05 a.m.

Worship Attendance

2/01 176

2/08 222

2/15 152

2/22 192

Wedding

Oluremi Abayomi

and Emily Kabbe

Baptisms

Yeonhyang Kim

Alexander Kim Petro

Zena Kim Petro

Grace Elizabeth

VanderVeen