Skiatook First United Methodist Church

Methodist

Messenger Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the

transformation of the world!

1007 S. Osage P.O. Box 910

Skiatook OK 74070 www.fumcskiatook.com

Email: office@fumcskiatook.com

918-396-2519

Fax: 918-396-7973

January 2020

Community and Church in Skiatook

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not

please himself …………. 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we

might have hope. (NIV)

Skiatook First United Methodist Church has long understood that it is important to reach out to and serve our community. In fact, that is part of the very foundation of the United Methodist Church from the beginning. Our founder, John Wesley, understood it was important to love and serve his neighbors. He began preaching outside of the church for those who couldn’t make it on Sunday (which was frowned upon at the time!), he made it a priority to visit those who were sick and in prison, and he encouraged his fellow Christians not to just give money, but to actively participate physically in mission as well. Methodists have long understood that mission begins at home, in the local community, and then expands outward to all of our neighbors—nearby communities, statewide, and even around the world. This church has long been an important part of the local community. Skiatook’s history of local involvement goes back many years. This church has been a shining light to the community, and is well known for caring about children. From furnishing school supplies to over one hundred children, to Angel Tree furnishing gifts and clothes to 160 children (this year), to long understanding the need for affordable childcare with our After School Adventure Camp (which now also hosts before school hours.) We have taken care of temporary needs (lunches during the summer and during the teacher strike in 2018), and helped families with utility bills, groceries, and even flood relief. I am pleased to announce that SFUMC, in partnership with the Skiatook Rotary Club, and Skiatook Wal-Mart, has received a $5000.00 grant from Wal-Mart to do improvements and repairs at Exchange Park, just across the street from the church on Osage. We are the grant recipients (per requirements by WalMart for a non-profit), but the funds will be administered by Rotary, and the work carried out by all of us who want to volunteer. Improve-ments include painting, work on the basketball courts and play equipment, and other improvements. At this time, I am not sure when the work will begin (maybe this spring), but I hope we can count on us to be a part of the help on the playground. This is a great community project, and a great opportunity for various groups in the church to help (youth, men, Sunday School classes, etc.) What a great way to be in service to the community. Just as a heads up, we will also looking to expand our mission and service to Marrs Elementary. They are literal-ly a mission field across the street from us! Outreach and mission will be a vital part of our 20/20 Vision – Seek-ing God’s Perfect Vision For Our Church. Will you pray with me that we will continue to seek and to serve our neighbors in the coming year?

Happy New Year!

Pastor Susan

BACK TO SCHOOL 01/02

ASAC is now open before and after school.

KIDS NIGHT OUT

01/12/2020, 4:00—7:00

4 years—5th grade, $7 each

Nursery is no longer provided.

R s v p : with Miria 405-850-2253

J AN U A R Y 2 0, 2 0 2 0 — N O S C H O O L

ASAC is Open from 6:30am to 6:00pm

Drop in spots are available. Contact Miria

JANUARY 2020

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me,

and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven

belongs to such as these.”

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ! ! !

January 2020

Skiatook FUMC Youth

Happy new year!

And just like that another year becomes a memory as the next appears on the horizon with endless pos-

sibilities! We have a slow month in January after the craziness that was December. We survived the

talent show, the baked potato dinner and the Lockout all in one month!

We look forward to upcoming events in February, including our Valentine’s Dance on February 15th.

Have your kids stop by my office to pick up tickets to sell. The price for each ticket is $7 for adults and $5

for children, with a maximum of $25 for each family. To encourage participation, there will be a prize

for the youth that sells the most tickets. Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, right? We will

have a planning party on January 15th. Please come if you are interested in helping out with the food or

decorations for this fun event.

Fix

With our kiddos already back in class on the 2nd, Fix resumes on January 8th. Our first Fix til Six event of

the year will be January 29th. We are going to Bartlesville to go bowling at the Red Apple Bowling

Center. Please send your child with $20 for bowling, shoe rental and pizza. And as always, we will return

to the church at 6:00.

JANUARY CALENDAR

Dance Planning Party…………. 15

FIX til Six…………………………29

STUFF TO KNOW

• Youth on Wednesday nights from 6:00-8:00

• FIX on Wednesdays from 3:00-4:30

• FIX til Six will be on the last Wednesday that school is in session every month

• Questions? Call Meg at (918)906-0414. Texting is even bet-ter!

Misc. Happenings

Servant Spotlight

Thanks to:

Bobby & Tracy Rosser and John & Mona Keeline for being greeters during December

Debbie Bennett for changing the church sign in December

Carolyn Brooks for sewing and repairing pew cushions

Robin Edens, Tracy Rosser, Lau-ren Radcliffe, & Dale Cooley for providing music Christmas Eve

Cathy Allred and the worship committee for all their work deco-rating the sanctuary for Advent

Cathy Allred for preparing Com-munion each month

Patti McKinney & John Burris for helping with the youth lockout

Sheril Lewis and all who made our Angel Tree mission a success

Gifts are given…

In memory of Gary Dunham, be-loved son, by Marietta Dunham

To the LAF Building Debt Relief by Glenn & Mary Nelson

To the LAF Building Debt Relief by Glendell Brown

Our Condolences

Our heartfelt condolences go out to our

friends who recent-

ly lost loved ones.

Kimberly Lester’s

dad, Dianne Shaw’s

sister, and Patsy

Reid’s mom all

graduated this life

during the month of December. We con-

tinue to be in prayer for each of these

families.

Leadership Team Retreat

Our 2020 Leader-ship Team will meet for a retreat on Saturday, Feb. 1 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. All members of the LT are asked to be there if at all possi-ble. However, anyone else may attend that chooses as well. It is open to the general church. We will review how the team works, approve a 2020 budget, discuss other church business, and work on visioning and goals for our church. Please join us in room 103. Coffee, drinks, and snacks will be provided.

ASAC

Expansion

Our after-school program is now

also a before school program, too!

Opening at

6:30am, chil-

dren must be

dropped off

before 7:30am,

when they will

be taken to

Marrs elementary to begin their

school day. Children who attend

other schools will be shuttled to the

appropriate building by Skiatook

Public Schools. There are currently

two openings for grades pre-k

through 5th grade. If interested,

please contact Ms. Miria at (405)

850-2253.

United Methodist Men

Our United Methodist Men are pleased to

announce the winner of the side of beef:

Kingdom Come Ministries who help provide

meals to the homeless. Congratulations to

Meg and her team! The United Methodist

Men appreciate all who purchased a ticket to

help support this fundraiser. Proceeds will

help fund future

UMM missions.

Thank you!

We wish to thank our church family for their outpouring of love and prayers as we mourned the loss of our beloved father and grandfa-ther. The spoken words, hugs, and cards helped to ease our sorrow. We miss his earthly presence every

day, but we find comfort in the knowledge that his life was well lived, and we shall see him again one day.

Sincerely,

Vernon, Kimberly, and Matthew Lester

United Methodist Women

The UWM will hold their next meeting on Thursday, Janu-ary 9th at 10 am in rom 103. All ladies of the church are invited.

PARKING

Effective immediately, we

must ask that everyone park

in a marked parking spot. we

must ask people to stop park-

ing along the drive on the

East side of the building. (Between the

main church building and the LAF) It has

gotten so that vehicles cannot drive

through if needed. Specifically, an emer-

gency vehicle has no way to get through if

we are parking along the grass. We appre-

ciate your cooperation .and understanding.

Winter Weather and Church Closure

The months of January and February are the two months each year we seem to get the most severe weather. During the week, we will follow the lead of Skiatook Public Schools. If they are closed, then the church will also cancel regularly scheduled activities. Sunday morning cancellations will be de-termined by 8:00 a.m. Please check e-mail and Facebook for the most reliable info. We may or may not be able to get it on the local news, though we will make the effort. Safety is of our utmost con-cern.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

11:00: Yoga Lev-el 1

2

1:00: CHUMS’ Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6:00: Level 2 Yoga

3 10:00: Yoga 10:30: Prayer Group

4

5 9:30: Sunday School

10:30: Worship

6

11:00: level 1 yoga

7 6:00: Girl Scouts

8 11:00: Yoga Lev-el 1

3:00-4:30: FIX

5:30: Choir Prac-tice 6-8: Youth

9 10:00: UMW 1:00: Budget Meeting 1:00: CHUMS’ Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6:00: Level 2 Yoga

10 10:00: Yoga

10:30: Prayer Group

11

12 9:30: Sunday School

10:30: Worship 4:00-7:00: Kids’ Night Out

13 11:00: level 1 yoga

14 6:00: Girl Scouts

15 11:00: Yoga Lev-el 1

3:00-4:30: FIX

6: 00 Youth

16 1:00: CHUMS’ Game Day 4:30: Chair Yoga 6:00: Level 2 Yoga

17 10:00: Yoga 10:30: Prayer Group

18

19 9:30: Sunday School 10:30: Worship

20

11:00: level 1 yoga

6:00 Quilting Class

21

6:00: Girl Scouts

22 11:00: Yoga Lev-el 1

3:00-4:30: FIX

6: 00 Youth

23

1:00: CHUMS’ Game Day 4:30: Chair Yoga 6:00: Level 2 Yoga

24 10:00: Yoga 10:30: Prayer Group

25

26 9:30: Sunday School 10:30: Worship

27 11:00: level 1 yoga

6:00 Quilting Class

28

6:00: Girl Scouts

29

11:00: Yoga Lev-el 1

3:00-6:00: FIX til SIX

6: 00 Youth

30

1:00: CHUMS’ Game Day 4:30: Chair Yoga 6:00: Level 2 Yoga

31 10:00: Yoga 10:30: Prayer Group

1 9am-1 pm

Leadership Team Retreat

N O S C H O O L , A S A C O P E N 6 : 3 0 a m - 6 p m O F F I CE C L O S E D

Skiatook First United Methodist Church

1007 S. Osage

P.O. Box 910

Skiatook, OK 74070

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

PLEASE RECYCLE!

Thank you to all who have contributed and given in some way to the ministries and work of the church this year. After the December bank state-ments have been rec-onciled, we will mail

out 2019 Giving Statements. Please feel free to look over them and contact us if there are any questions or concerns. Also, a huge thank you to those who turned in pledge cards for 2020. We have not yet begun to work on budg-et for 2020, but finance will meet on Jan 9 to hammer out a budget for 2020. We are confident that God will be faithful, and that God’s people will be faithful and we will have what we need to continue thriving, fruitful min-istry here at FUMC.

As we explained all during Advent, our Christmas Eve offering went to Circle of Care. Our Christmas Eve offer-ing was $1467.00. This allows us to pay our apportion-

ment to Circle of Care of $908.00, and then divide the remainder among other outstanding missional appor-tionments. We will make that final 2019 payment early this week, so that it will count for the calendar year. We expect to finish out 2019 payments at 70-80%. Though it is disappointing to not be able to pay 100%, we know we have done the best we can, and will work towards 100% next year.

Our hope and prayer is that we will be able to fully fund our missional obligations during 2020, as well as contin-ue our local missions here in Skiatook. We will not have any large capital fundraisers for 2020 (unless there is an unforeseen large emergency.) We do have a Trustees emergency maintenance fund of over $7000, as we know there will be repairs, and heat and or air units re-placement coming up soon. Through your faithful-ness and generosity, we will continue to fund our budget, work towards the LAF debt, and be in mis-sion to our community! We are doing the work of God’s Kingdom here, and you are part of it! Thank you!!!!