The ST.PAUL United Methodist Church 525 Beech Street Abilene, Tx 79601 325.672.7814 indow www.stpaulabilene.org "SendW out Thy truth and Thy light; let them lead us." --Psalm 43:4a April 1, 2017 Holy Week Schedule Annual Easter Offering During the season of Lent and Easter, we have been asking you to save for our annual Easter Offering. This special offering has become a wondeful tradition at St. Paul. For this year’s offering, we are asking you to give $80/person to Missions, above and beyond your committed offering. Mission is what makes us St. Paul UMC. We are a very giving and generous community that has been able to show the love of Christ through our giving. Our goal in giving is to fund more projects that help to make people’s lives better. Wednesday Night Wednesday Night Dinners Opportunities We begin the evening with Communion at 5:00 p.m. in the Griswold Chapel, followed by a Fellowship Meal at 5:30 p.m. with the program and/ or class beginning at 6:30 p.m. Children’s Choirs and Youth activities are also held on Wednesday nights. April 5 Pot Luck Dinner Bring your favorite dish or dessert to share Chicken provided by the church April 12 No Evening Meal or Programming due to Holy Week Activities April 19 Dinner Hosted by: Kitchen Ladies Mexican Pile On April 26 Dinner Hosted by: Hailey Jo on the Go Sloppy Joes Resurrection Sunday Easter is a story about death. Normally, we don’t like to think or even talk about death. But, death will touch us all in some way, shape or form. In the movie, The Shack, the story centers on a family that has lost their young daughter. We are led to believe that it was a very tragic death. The father, even after months of losing his daughter, is still inconsolable. The body is never returned and so the wounds of the family remain open. We celebrate Easter because the body of Christ was returned to us. In the Gospel of John, we are introduced to Mary Magdalene. There are various Mary’s in the New Testament. There is Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary the sister of Martha and this Mary who some believe is the same person who anointed Jesus’s feet. Regardless, we know that she was the frst person to see the risen Christ. She was the one to see this new body, this new spiritual confguration of Jesus. She saw what we can only dream about - life after death. On Sunday, April 16, 2017 we will celebrate again the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We call this special day Easter Sunday. It is a proud day for over 2 billion Christians. A day when we proclaim to the world that “He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed.” A few weeks ago, I asked you all to write down three names of people you could invite to church on Easter Sunday morning – April 16 at 11:00 AM. Not because we want big numbers for attendance, but because there are people out there in Abilene and the surrounding area, in 2017, who we know - need to meet the risen Christ. There are some that have been separated from the One that loves them more than life. As Christians, we are the seed, the instrument to connect and re-connect people to our Savior. So over the next two weeks, put your heart and soul into fnding people to invite to church and let that be your gift to Jesus this Resurrection Sunday. I hope to see you and everyone you love there. See You Then!!!! Felicia PS We will also have a Sunrise service at 7:00 AM at Diamond Back Golf course. If you have never been to it, come and see a beautiful outdoor service. It is a wonderful way to start the day. Courtyard Transformation Before During After Birthdays! High School News April 2 April 17 The High School youth have been staying Gretchen Bullock Ken Burgess very busy going on Winter Retreat, attending the Citywide Youth Conference and completed our April 3 April 18 Ladies & Gentlemen Series. We just returned from Jennie Gerard Jean Kay Erwin a Ski Trip to Monarch, Colorado. A huge thank Diane Osborn Mike Hall you to each of you that supported us by purchasing Marshall Turnbull Reed Young shares. The youth also had a great time coloring boxes for Global Samaritan. April 6 April 20 Patti Mendenhall Norma Lopez April 7 April 21 Levi Ritchie David Spencer April 8 April 22 Robert (Bob) Barnes Will Dix Vade Giles Zana Slaughter Haley Jo Oates Cooper Yungblut April 23 Anita Fergus April 9 Ian Brothers April 24 Mike Ramsay Cristian Santana-Lopez Jarod Rosson Casey Terrell Jori Sechrist April 26 April 10 Raider Burks Ann Bell Bill Libby April 27 College News Dick Burton The College Group has been studying the book of April 11 John each week, while sharing dinner and fellowship Trinity Surles April 28 time together. They have attended several local Ruth Gollihar events such as chili cook off, a Blacklight 5K Run, April 12 Mikel Hawkins and Chick Fil A nights. K.K. Armstrong If you are college age and looking for a quality Dennis Newquist April 29 community to get plugged into, please contact Rylee Hope Saltzgaber Marilyn Cole Director Katie French at 325-672-7814 or at Marv Gerard [email protected] April 13 Lily Rachel Mollet April 30 Ron Perkins George Shepard April 16 Adrian Fowlkes Zoe Fowlkes Bill Gollihar Darlene Jones Activities at a Glance... Sunday, April 2 Tuesday, April 11 Tursday, April 20 8:30 am Worship Service 9:30 am UMW Meeting 11:45 am Staff Book Study 9:45 am Sunday School 9:30 am Staff Meeting 3:00 pm Home School Hang Out 11:00 am Worship Service 11:30 am Holy Week Luncheon 5:00 pm Board of Trustees 12:30 pm Contemporary Service @First Baptist Church 2:45 pm “The Jungle” @Johnston 1:30 pm Wesley Court Communion Sunday, April 23 5:30 pm Confrmation Class Wednesday, April 12 8:30 am Worship Service 7:00 am UMM Breakfast 9:45 am Sunday School Monday, April 3 10:00 am Prayer Team 11:00 am Worship Service 7:00 pm Boy Scout Troop 3 11:30 am Holy Week Luncheon 12:30 pm Contemporary Service @St. Paul UMC 5:30 pm Youth Nerf Wars Tuesday, April 4 7:30 pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal 5:30 pm Confrmation Class 8:30 am Staff @Food Pantry 9:30 am Staff Meeting Tursday, April 13 2:45 pm “The Jungle” @Johnston 11:30 am Holy Week Luncheon Monday, April 24 4:00 pm St. Paul @Food Pantry @First Christian Church 7:00 pm Boy Scout Troop 3 3:00 pm Home School Hang Out Wednesday, April 5 Tuesday, April 25 10:00 am Prayer Team Friday, April 14 9:30 am Staff Meeting 5:00 pm Communion Service 11:30 am Holy Week Luncheon 2:45 pm “The Jungle” @Johnston @First Central Presbyterian 5:30 pm Fellowship Meal 6:00 pm Good Friday Worship Service 6:30 pm Children & Youth Activities Wednesday, April 26 6:30 pm Jewish Traditions Program 10:00 am Prayer Team 7:30 pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal Sunday, April 16 Easter Sunday 5:00 pm Communion Service 7:00 am Sunrise Easter Service 5:30 pm Fellowship Meal Tursday, April 6 9:45 am Sunday School 6:30 pm “All Things Young” Class 11:45 am Staff Book Study 11:00 am Easter Worship Service 7:30 pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal 3:00 pm Home School Hang Out 12:30 pm Contemporary Service Tursday, April 27 Sunday, April 9 Monday, April 17 11:45 am Staff Book Study Palm Sunday OFFICE CLOSED 3:00 pm Home School Hang Out 8:30 am Worship Service 9:45 am Sunday School Tuesday, April 18 Friday, April 28 11:00 am Worship Service 9:00 am Caring Hearts Visitation 6:00 pm Youth 30-Hour Famine 12:30 pm Contemporary Service 9:30 am Staff Meeting Begins 4:00 pm Youth Annual Leaves Raking 2:45 pm “The Jungle” @Johnston Missions Fundraiser Sunday, April 30 5:30 pm Confrmation Class Wednesday, April 19 10:00 am Prayer Team 8:30 am Worship Service 9:45 am Sunday School Monday, April 10 5:00 pm Communion Service 5:30 pm Fellowship Meal 11:00 am Worship Service 11:30 am Holy Week Luncheon 6:30 pm Children & Youth Activities 12:30 pm Contemporary Service @Highland Church of Christ 6:30 pm “Putting Your House In Order” 5:30 pm Confrmation Class 7:00 pm Boy Scout Troop 3 7:30 pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal Welcome, April ! My offce has a perfect view of the St. Paul courtyard progress. This week I’ve heard stump grinders, pick axes and shovels in full force, working hard at making a fresh beautiful space for all to enjoy. All of the dry leaves, sawdust and weeds have been taken out and new foliage is going in right now! How awesome is it to know that God works on our hearts this way too? All the overgrown limbs of sin and troubled times can be cleaned out, making room for joy and forgiveness! Spring is a wonderful time to see the cycle of rebirth in our neck of the woods. I’d like to think that it’s one of God’s reminders of how he offers us new life, even after a bitter cold season.