Wesley United Methodist Church 2200 Phoenix, Fort Smith, AR 72901

www.Wesleyumcfs.org

January 2018

A Promise to God

The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. (Jeremiah 31:31 CEB) With a new year comes a desire to make a new commitment. So often it is this time of year that inspires us to make a change in our lives. Maybe it is to lose weight, or learn a new skill, or maybe heal a broken relationship. How often does that commitment involve changing our relationship with God? Yet couldn’t we all use growth in our relationship with God? For the month of January we will be spending time reflecting on how the church needs to hold on to some things that are important to our identity, but also needs to change some things in order to grow our faith and that faith of others. How do we know what we need to hold onto and what we need to change, though? It takes a lot of reflection and conversation. John Wesley recognized that such yearly reflection and recommitment was important, which is why he developed the Covenant Service. As part of that service, he developed the Covenant Prayer. We will spend this first few weeks regularly reciting this prayer, as it allows us to remember what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus. To get ready, here is a copy of the prayer for all of us. May it help us remember what is important to our journey of discipleship, and may this year allow us to grow closer to Jesus than we ever have.

I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing: I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Grace and peace, Pastor Michelle

Community Office Hours

Mondays, 8:15 to 9 a.m. at

Miss Anna’s

Wednesdays, 8:15 to 9

a.m. at Bob and Ellie’s

THE PASTOR

IS

MICHELLE

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Christmas parties. We always enjoy these times of fun and fellowship together. Evening Stars will meet this month at our usual time of the second Monday of the month, which this month will be January 8. We meet at 6:30 p.m. Morning Glories are also returning to our usual schedule, so we will meet the third Tuesday, January 16 at 10 a.m. also in the Rock House . All women are invited to join us at either gathering.

GRIEF SHARE

Grief Share meets on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 pm (till 7:30ish) at

Goddard United Methodist Church. This is a faith based program

that is open to all that have a “loss” and can use some additional

information to cope and work thru.

Goddard United Methodist Church

1922 Dodson Avenue

Fort Smith, AR 72901

Phone: 479-785-1415

*Cindy Peevy: 461-648

*Jackie Nichols: 461-5353

United Methodist Men meet at Cavanaugh for breakfast the first Saturday of the month at 7 a.m.

UMW NEWS AND ACTIVITIES

Music Notes

Greetings Wesley UMC Family! I hope that each of you were blessed with the music that was presented for Advent and Christ-mas. I love carols, and always enjoy the Christmas Eve lessons and carols service. As we enter the new year, we are looking to continue to build on our success in 2017. We hope that you will consider being a part of that success. We can always use new voices in our Chan-cel Choir and our Bell Choir. If you would like to sing or ring, consider joining a hard-working group of folks who also like to have a lot of fun. If you don't ring or sing yourself, I hope that you will think of some folks that you can invite to be a part of our church and our music programs. Yours in Christ, Shane Sanderson.

Looking for a few friendly

people to serve as greeters,

ushers, and liturgists.

Contact Pastor Michelle if

you want to help!

The Wesley staff thanks

the people of Wesley for

our Christmas gifts of

offering. You are a won-

derful group of people to

work with!

January’s Experiences

(see Facebook page for details):

January 6— Giving in Mission

January 13—Social Media Workshop/

Worship

January 20—TBA

January 27— Cate’s Baby Shower

The Experience Worship Service has moved to 5:30 p.m. Saturday nights and is transition-ing from a contemporary worship service to an experiential worship service. What does that mean? It means that every week we have an experience where we identify where God is present. We believe that God is part of our whole lives, and this service allows us to live that reality out. We are still in the “soft launch” stage that involves experimentation with the format, but we would love to have you join us!

Wesley Vision Statement:

Know Jesus, Grow Faith, Go Serve!

Remember to collect hats and gloves for area kids in need and pin them to our lattice in the hallway!

New Worship Schedule

Begins in January

Wesley’s contemporary service The Experience is moving to Saturday evening, so beginning January 7, Cavanaugh’s worship service will move to 10:45 a.m. This change will allow Pastor Michelle to stay at Wesley for the whole 9:30 service, and then she will be able to remain at Cavanaugh and greet people as you are leaving. The only major change to the Wesley Order of Service will be moving the greeting time to earlier in the service. Pastor Michelle hopes this will allow her to connect better with people on Sunday mornings. Let’s look forward to a new year and new connections!

Living god’s vision througH church

Know Jesus—Grow Faith—Go Serve

New Online “Sunday” School Option Would you like to be part of a Sunday School class or Bible study, but struggle to fit it in to your Sunday schedule? Or maybe you are planning to worship on Saturday nights instead of Sundays now. Or perhaps you are more open to study during the week than on the weekend. If any of these fit your situation, and yet you would like to grow deeper in your faith through study, you may want to try an online study. The class will involve weekly about 30 minutes of independent study, and then once a week you will join a group through an online/mobile video conference call program called ZOOM, which allows participants to see each other and engage in discussion. Discussions will also last around 30 minutes, and probably not occur on Sunday. Pastor Michelle will lead the class, and the schedule will be determined by the needs of the participants. You could also invite friends and relatives who want to study with us. If you are interested, contact Pastor Michelle and we will bring you in to the group! Michelle Morris: 870-635-1519 or michelle.morris@arumc.org

Commission on the Way Forward Town Hall Meetings What is the Commission on a Way Forward Town Hall? The Commission on a Way Forward Town Hall meetings will be strategically facilitated to allow partici-pants to provide feedback and ask questions about the preliminary models the Commission on a Way Forward proposed. These meetings have a threefold purpose:

Provide attendees with an overview of the history, process, three preliminary models, and next steps of The Way Forward.

Facilitate discussion among attendees about strengths, weaknesses, and questions regarding the three preliminary models.

Gather feedback to share with The Commission on a Way Forward. Your participation and input will be extremely beneficial, so you are invited to attend any of the sched-uled gatherings. It is important to note that all the meetings will be the same, so please RSVP for the one that is most convenient for you to attend. When and where are these taking place? Bishop Facilitated Meetings:

Saturday, January 20, 10:00 am at Central UMC Fayetteville (same day as One Council re-treat)

DS Facilitated Meetings: Sunday, January 28, 3:00 pm - Northwest, Russellville FUMC (Wesley may take a van if there

is enough interest) Register Now: It is time to register for the Commission on a Way Forward Town Hall meetings. Seating is lim-ited, so reserve your place today! Click here to register: https://arkansasconferencetownhallmeetings.eventbrite.com

Wesley’s One Council Members Lay Leader/Lay Delegate: Donna Moreton *Justin Hayes George Jensen Harley Strang Patrice Hulsey Gloria Cates Amy Cates Tracy Olcott *Jackie Nichols *Carrie Miller Suzanne Gibson Rachel Arnold *Blanche West (chair) Frances Hunt Rick Schmitz *Sydney Fulbright * member of SPRC subcommittee

Leadership Retreat for the One Council

On Saturday, January 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the folks appointed to Wesley’s One Council should plan to attend a one-day retreat at the Fort Smith Library Main Branch. We will learn about team building as well as make some overall plans for this year. We will be meeting with Cavanaugh’s One Council members as well. Some of the time will be spent reflecting together about the future of the church in general, and some will be time spent separately setting goals for our individual congregations. Make plans to attend the whole of this day so that we can grow and learn together!

Want to get text updates about Wesley?

Send these messages to 81010:

For Wesley, send @wesleyfs

For Sanctuary, send @wes930

For The Experience @wesxp

Sat January 6 United Methodist Men, 7 a.m. CUMC

January 6 Experience Giving in Mission (bring anything you

want to donate to area organizations or the Blessing

Box) 5:30 p.m. Fellowship Hall

Mon January 8 UMW Evening Stars, 6:30 p.m. Rock House

Tue January 16 UMW Morning Glories, 10 am. Rock House

Wed January 17 Let’s Do Lunch, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. CUMC

Sat January 20 One Council Leadership retreat, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fort

Smith Main Branch Library

January 20 Way Forward Meeting, 10 a.m. Central Fayetteville

Sat January 27 Experiencing God through a Baby Shower—Shower

for Cate Brown as part of Experience worship,

5:30p.m. Fellowship Hall

Sun January 28 Way Forward Meeting, 3 p.m. Russellville First

November

Birthdays:

1-Don Groves

2-Jill Morris

3-Barbara Ruple

8-Landon Miller

11-Theresa Pendergrass

12-Brandon Smith

15-Dakota Cox

15-Cathie Fisher

17-Monroe Moreton

26-Denver Dunn

27-Matt Fort

29-Will Cates

30-Lil Turner

November

Anniversaries:

7-Jim & Sharon Bell

January

Birthdays

02—Keagan Cox

05—Michelle Morris

05—Rosie Turnquist

06—Debbie Green

09– Mike Gibson

11—Jackie Nichols

11—Mary Ross

17—Leo Patterson

21– Norma Strang

22– Jerry West

22—John Barton

23– Carol Tuck

29—Carrie Miller

30—Patrice Hulsey

30—Kylie Pendergrass

30—Gail Swearingen

31—Nelson Payne

Anniversaries

30—Terry and Patsy

Hendrickson

Tues: *Cub Scouts 6p Weds: *TOPS 10a *Bells and Choir 6/7p Sat: *The Experience Worship 5:30p Sun: *Traditional Worship 9:30a *Sunday School 1030a *Youth 5p