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

LOCATION Adjustment:

In-person worship at 11:00a.m. Sundays in the Tankersley Hall (temporarily) 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

Clinch Mountain District welcomes nationally-known United Methodist author, coach, and speaker Kay Kotan.

Is your congregation seeking new people but unsure about how to attract them?  Are you wondering: “How do we develop relationships with unchurched people? How do I share my own story or experience of Jesus with others? How can my church build a culture of invitation? If you or your church are asking these questions, come join us at the Get Their Name Workshop at Addilynn Memorial UMC on Saturday, March 26th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Sunday Training – 3p.m.-5p.m. will focus Cooperative Parish Ministry and Missional Hub training. 

Church Leadership Teams, Vision and Planning Teams Encouraged to Attend

Clergy Will Receive 0.6 CEU’s!!!

The cost for this event is $15 which includes lunch on Saturday and 2 of her books Get Their Names and Eight Game Changers for Being the Church in a Post Pandemic World with your pre-registration.  This training will help everyone learn how to invite others to our church.

To pre-register for this exciting event please click HERE. We hope to see you there!

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Deadline to Register March 18 

May 2-4, 2022

Black Fox Lodge

3171 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN

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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 24, 2022

Somebody with a child psychology degree could explain this, but I’ve found it to be definitively true: children thrive in routine.

Now, they might rail against it, scream at bedtimes and deadlines and tedious work, but regularity and predictability gives them a stable foundation. From a rooted place, they can grow and blossom and discover their various and incredible gifts.

But routine isn’t just good for kids. It’s good for adults too. And cats and dogs and probably chinchillas, but I’m a bit more concerned about people. People thrive in routine. Unfortunately, we’ve been thrown out of routine for the better part of two years now, and our spirits are suffering for it.



So I want to make a proposition. Lent is just around the corner, a season into which we cycle with beautiful regularity and predictability. That seems like a good time to reclaim routine in whatever ways we can discover it. Maybe it won’t look quite like it did two or three years ago, and maybe we can discover new life-giving routines and ritual that we can sustain hereafter.
That’s what I want to dive into this season. Thriving in what routine and ritual we can grasp in today’s normal; making a point to practice normalcy.

I wonder what avenues you’ve found that have kept you grounded, that have offered you some sense of normalcy and routine? Where are you thriving right now? I bet if you name it, it’ll become an even more life-giving thing.

So for the next five weeks, journey with me. Keep me accountable. Tune in on Sundays, and I’ll do my best to help us all along, even as the path veers toward Jerusalem and the cross. There’s something predictable and grounding about that, too.

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 24- Mar 2, 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