First United Methodist Church of Bristol, Tennessee

Your Weekly e-Newsletter and Events Schedule

Welcome to In-Person Worship Again….

If you are uncomfortable with worshiping in person or unable to join us for whatever reason, please tune in as we live-stream the service on Facebook.

> Wear a cloth mask that covers your mouth and nose continuously.

> Maintain at least six feet of space between yourself and anyone outside of your immediate household.

> Minimize your use of the lavatory and sanitize the spaces you use

Schedule Adjustment:

In-person worship at 11:00a.m. Sundays in the sanctuary can also be viewed on the church Facebook page.
If you have not connected to FUMC via Facebook, please go do that. You can also connect to Rev. Berg on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. He will try to share uplifting and empowering things on those media.

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Last Sunday at First UMC

Three Springs United Methodist Church has issued a challenge to the churches of Bristol. They are turning Super Bowl Sunday into Souper Bowl Sunday and collecting soup for the Proverbs 3:27 Mission at Hunt Memorial United Methodist Church. Rev. Terry Fleenor has already been promised $1000 of product from Food City, and is working on other connections. What do you think we can do? Let’s put our hands to work to feed our local folks who live with housing insecurity. We are Christ’s hands today!

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Camp News

February 2022

Current Camp Needs

We are currently looking for used EMPTY Lysol wipe containers, they do not need to be the Lysol brand just the cylindrical containers. If you would like to help us accumulate these please let us know by contacting us at 423-349-8401. We appreciate your generosity. 

Amazon wish list 

We have an Amazon Wish List that has been created for Camp Bays Mountain. There are multiple items on the list that we will need before summer camp gets started. If you are interested in purchasing something from our wish list please follow this link. https://campbaysmountain.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a17cbf2bb496b3ced2b9319b&id=8beadc862d&e=f23250abd0

We are Hiring! 

If you are someone you know is interested in working at camp this summer please apply online. We are looking for counselors (18+ years old), support staff (16-18 years old), and adventure staff (21+ years old). https://campbaysmountain.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a17cbf2bb496b3ced2b9319b&id=1bf8d98617&e=f23250abd0

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From the Pastor’s Pen
February 10, 2022

I’ve been at Ministers’ Convocation this week hearing speakers talk about hospitality. Quite a large chunk of what was shared related to the work done at the front of the church to help folks feel welcome in our space, in our community. That’s important stuff, and it might be that we’re neglecting some of it right now, or that we can do some of it better, but I’m concerned that it doesn’t address a much deeper problem.

I hope you’ve heard this before, by the way.

Folks seem to remember a time in the middle of the last century when people went to church because it was the thing you do. All we had to do to evangelize was open the doors. I don’t know if that was ever really the case, but our stories of full pews and our focus on doing the right thing inside sure makes it clear that that’s what we remember.

Whether or not that was ever true, it certainly is not today.

Generations of folks have been turned off by churches for a lot of reasons. They will not come just because we hope they do, or because we open the doors, or even because we invite them.

And you know, that’s okay. Bringing people in our doors isn’t the mission of the Church, anyway.

Christians are called to follow a Christ who did the vast majority of his ministry outside, meeting people where they are, feeding and healing and loving and proclaiming good news and showing them that the Kingdom of God is right here, right now, in the places where those things happen.

And that’s still true.

So it’s time to step out and be the Church. It’s nothing new; it’s just not the way it’s typically done anymore. It’s time to bring food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. It’s time to bring the good news of Jesus Christ out of our doors and into our lives and into the lives of the people around us.

And there are a lot of places and ways to do that. I hope you’ll step into one today. The world needs good news right now. The world needs Jesus.

Peace,
Brandon

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Morning Prayer

Rev. Berg streams morning prayer live on Facebook on weekday mornings in the 8:00 am hour.
Share your prayer requests with him or join him online.

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HELP FOR HAITI UPDATE

The items collected for the Haiti earthquake are on their way to Haiti.  The Preptits took them to Memphis to start them on their way.  There is a person chosen to pick them up and save them until they can be used.  Right now the Preptits are not able to travel to Haiti. The situation is just too dangerous.

Please pray for the Haitian people and the Preptits.  This is a most difficult time.

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The Love Beyond Borders campaign aims to raise funds for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. The initiative has emerged from First United Methodist Church, Boise, ID and seeks to engage The United Methodist Church in supporting COVAX alongside UNICEF, the key vaccine delivery partner.

All funds raised will be sent to UNICEF for this project. More information about Love Beyond Borders is here.

A Note From Our Lay Leader

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From the Finance Committee:

The year-end report is not good.  We finished with a -$41,348.27 balance.  This means we have borrowed that much from our restricted accounts. We owe that much to ourselves!  Also, you may remember we have had two PPP loans during the pandemic.  

We have some money left in the restricted accounts.  The Trustee Committee can free this money for other uses.  To date they have not had to do that.  We are getting rent from three sources. All of those involved in church work have done their best to hold down expenditures.

We are not alone in this financial position.  This has been the story for many churches.  What can you do or suggest to make 2022 a year we begin to build back?  We have a history of missions and community involvement.  Let’s come out of our Covid coma and know God is with us in this time of worry.

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Calendar of Events

Feb 10-16, 2022

First United Methodist Church
Rev. Brandon Berg, Pastor (276.237.6498) 
322 Vance Dr., Bristol, TN 37620
www.fumcbristol.org

Our Vision – Building A Community Where Anyone Can Become A Deeply Committed Christian