First United Methodist Church
Bristol, Tennessee
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Your Weekly e-Newsletter and Events Schedule
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Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 15, 2019
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Luke 15:1-10
Recovering Lost Things
Rev. Brandon Berg
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From the Pastor’s Pen
There are days I feel like a delicious serving of Waffle House hashbrowns: smothered, covered, diced, and capped. Also scattered, but Waffle House doesn’t offer that. They just end up that way on my plate.
What do you do on days like that? Do you have days like that? Maybe you don’t.
Maybe you handle them with more aggression than I do. Maybe you put your foot to the proverbial gas pedal and plow on through whatever is in your way.
I don’t find that works for me. Maybe most of what I do requires more gentleness than a bulldozer.
What do I do? Maybe nothing consistently, but I guess I exercise some of a list of options:
(1) Let things go. Some things can wait or just aren’t that important.
(2) Delegate. Sometimes this is easy, and exactly the right person is available at exactly the right time. Sometimes delegation is more difficult, and it takes more time and effort to show someone how to do something than it would have taken if I had just done it myself.
(3) Have another coffee. Sometimes that clarifies things, but sometimes it just makes things worse, since too much caffeine and stress will lead to a migraine if I don’t
(4) eat. Nourishment is important. It’s a fundamental part of
(5) self care. Also included here is appropriate rest and exercise and medical and emotional therapy.
(6) Medical and emotional therapy. I’m just going to say that again, because we are still, in 2019, told that we ought to be able to handle things without medicine or without talking through stress and baggage with some trained to professionally listen and guide us. The truth is that we need those therapies a lot more than we admit to ourselves.
(7) Pray. Pause. Be silent. Breathe. Reconnect with your Source. This probably ought to be item (1) but let’s be honest, it’s usually a lot farther down the list than this.
(8) Just meet the deadline. Sometimes good enough is, in fact, good enough.
(9) You probably have a handful of other options with which you could populate this list, but I’m not going to come up with them in this particular moment because I am fulfilling number (8) and am, in fact, feeling much like a batch of Waffle House hashbrowns.
Also, I don’t suggest Waffle House as an appropriate option for (4) because that negates (5).
So don’t be hashbrowns. Be a lily that doesn’t toil or spin. Be full of joy and beauty, because that is how God intends you to be.
And that’s better than good enough. That’s perfect.
Peace,
Brandon
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Our Feed the Hungry
offering this week is for
Local Missions.
This program provides
an opportunity for us
to support internal church needs, as well as immediate local mission needs.
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NEEDED: Meals on Wheels Coordinator
Over 600 meals per year have been served, with a grand total of some 11,400 meals over a 19-year span at FUMC-Bristol.
Please prayerfully consider whether you can assume this vital mission role and keep
Meals on Wheels alive at our church.
Contact Brenda Hobbs or Julie Blanton
423-967-6638 423-914-9820
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Safe Sanctuary video training was held last Sunday and Tuesday.
We need people – especially leaders and leader assistants – to be trained in
appropriate ways to assist children and adults in our church and how to
handle situations that may arise.
The video has been shared by Susan Groseclose of our Conference headquarters.
There will be another session Tuesday, September 17th
6:00pm in Tankersley Hall.
Please contact Suzanne Goyette to sign up.
(home 423-753-7172 or cell 423-967-4247)
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A Note From Suzanne Goyette:
“He has told you, Human One, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with God.” -Micah 8:8 (Common English Bible)
I want to share something wonderful with you: 18 people in our church Have attended Safe Sanctuaries Training! Now I ask, have you considered that because of our baptismal covenant with God, we are brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and children together in our faith?
Safe Sanctuaries is more than a book or a class; it is a model of what a healthy community looks like. We live in a modern world where we face modern challenges and must be vigilant,
whether we realize they touch us or not.
Social media, an aging population, and rapidly changing concerns provide us with new opportunities to grow and expand our ministry. I invite everyone in our congregation and the others we may gather with to consider how we approach the ways we can provide refuge.
Safe Sanctuaries provides us an opportunity to bring not only safety, but care and healing
to our more vulnerable members.
It is my prayer that we become and continue to be the definition of the word Sanctuary.
Forever grateful- Suzanne Goyette
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FUMC First Annual Harvest Fete Fundraiser
Saturday, September 28, 10am to 4p
We are just a little over 2 weeks out!
Gather items for the Jumble Sale
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Bring previously used yard signs to the church.
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Bake cakes, pies, bread, cookies, cupcakes….
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Volunteer to help where needed at Fete.
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Isaiah 6:8 reminds us of a time when Judah was in great distress, but in the midst of this turmoil God asked for a servant and Isaiah said, “Send me.”
We see a time of great distress in the Bahamas and will continue to see great need as our neighbors along the entirety of the East Coast continue their evacuation from Hurricane Dorian. While we do not know the full extent of damage as of yet, we do want to be prepared to serve others in their time of need.
We are asking our churches to begin preparing Cleaning Kits and Hygiene Kits for UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to use for their disaster relief.
Look for information about hygiene and health kits, as well as donations to international and national UMCOR response efforts in next week’s newsletter.
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If God is calling you to help, contact our Children’s Coordinator, Suzanne Goyette. We look forward to a bountiful harvest from fruitful young disciples!
(home 423-753-7172 or cell 423-967-4247)
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Last week’s
altar flowers,
donated by Judy Ditmore
in memory of Jeff Ditmore,
were delivered
by The Wagners
to Hospice House.
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First UMC Monthly Financial Report
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August 31 Balance: (-$19,678.48)
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Worship Last Sunday
Message by Rev. Jane Taylor from Luke 14: 25-33 The Cost of Discipleship
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When we become nameless in a sea of humanity
or wander from safety to find ourselves alone,
God calls us by name
and carries us in embracing arms.
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When we are misplaced and all but forgotten,
God finds us in our tucked-away crevice
with joy lighting a divine countenance
and shining into our relieved hearts.
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Reading Buddies Orientation
Thursday, September 12th, 5:30pm
Tankersley Hall
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As Autumn draws near, our Committee on Lay Leadership is prayerfully discerning the best teams to guide FUMC through 2020 and beyond.
If you have felt God tugging at your soul to take on or continue specific ministries within our church and community, please talk to a member of the Committee ASAP:
Brandon Berg, Rebekah McGrady, Alan Hale, Nate Hubbard,
Suzanne Rollins, Sue Dietz, Trinka Felty, Alan Gorrell
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The Board of Trustees
invites you to take home
to your garden
some of the richly fertilized soil under the blue tarp beside our Vance Road sign.
Take as much as you like,
and leave the tarp.
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Annual Meeting
Officer’s Training &
Spiritual Enrichment Experience
MeadowView Resort & Conference Center
September 14 – 15, 2019
Spiritual Leader
Reverend Sandra J. Johnson
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The Chancel Choir has begun to rehearse music for Christmas. We practice on Sundays at 12:15 p.m., immediately after the traditional worship service. Won’t you come and join us?
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Love One Another
John 13:35
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
September 28, 2019
East Tennessee State University Mini Dome
Purposes of event:
To Worship Jesus Christ
To serve the Body of Christ
To Restore Appalachia from Drug Abuse
Event Schedule
1:30 PM – Doors Open
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Public Prayer Service
3:30 PM – 5:45 PM – Organization Expo (Recovery Organizations)
3:30 PM – 5:45 PM – Block Party with Food Trucks
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM – Public Reading of Scripture
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Main Event
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District Conference
September 29
3:00 p.m.
Pleasant View United Methodist Church
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CROP Hunger Walk –
We are five weeks away from the
Southwestern Virginia CROP Hunger Walk
on October 6 at Emory & Henry.
We can make a difference in the lives of those who are hungry
if we will all pitch in and help.
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You may also contact David St. Clair at 276-944-4614 for more information.
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Group of “Eight”: reserve the date! We will meet for an early supper on
Saturday, October 5 at La Cucina restaurant in Mountain City.
More information soon.
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District Youth Festival of Gifts and Talents
October 20
4-6 p.m.
Emory & Henry College
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November 3
All Saints Sunday
November 17
Charge Conference
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Weaver Memorial UMC
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Hiwassee College Alumni Association, Inc. (HCAA, Inc.) is trying to contact all persons who attended Hiwassee College to keep them informed regarding efforts to revive Hiwassee and restore it to the service it was built upon.
Below are links and address for more information:
hiwasseealumni@gmail.com (copy and paste) to send direct email
https://forms.gle/tejanSbjKu1pyens9 fill out to be added to an information list
Hiwassee College Alumni, Inc., PO Box 65, Madisonville, TN 37354
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Send Your Pictures and Announcements
to Publish in the Newsletter
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Send your photos and announcements for the Newsletter
call Carol at 423.652.2811 Tu-Th, 9-2.
For each publication, information is
needed by noon on Wednesday.
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Your Church Event and Planning Calendar
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September 12-18, 2019
Thursday, September 12
6:00pm-Yoga with Jean-The Upper Room
6:30pm-Mankind Project-Youth Room
8:00pm-AA
Friday, September 13
5:30pm-Belly Dancing Class-Yoga Studio
6:30pm-Belly Dancing Class-Yoga Studio
7:00pm-NA
Saturday, September 14
Sunday, September 15
9:30am-Sunday School
9:30am-The River Contemplative Worship-Tankersley Hall
10:00am-Common Ground Worship-Chapel
11:00am-Traditional Worship Service-Sanctuary
12:15pm-Choir Rehearsal
8:00pm-AA
Monday, September 16
6:00pm-Belly Dancing Class-Yoga Studio
Tuesday, September 17
8:00am-Men’s Prayer Group-TH
6:00pm-Safe Sanctuary Training-TH
8:00pm-AA
Wednesday, September 18
To make changes or additions to the calendar contact Alan Gorrell 423-652-7377
or Sandy Gorrell 423-652-1987.
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First United Methodist Church
Rev. Brandon Berg, Pastor (276.237.6498)
322 Vance Dr., Bristol, TN 37620
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Our Vision–
Building A Community Where Anyone
Can Become A Deeply Committed Christian
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First United Methodist Church of Bristol 