The Shepherd - April 2024 by Newnan First UMC

Pastoral Notes

Dear Friends and Family of NFUMC,

He is risen! This truly is the greatest moment in the Christian calendar. Just when we thought Good Friday and Holy Saturday had swallowed up hope, Easter Sunday shows us that hope is not gone! The tomb is empty. Love has conquered death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is risen!

Founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley saw the resurrection as not just a historical event, but a declaration of God’s ultimate victory. The empty tomb signiﬁes the conquest of sin and death, offering humanity the promise of new life in Christ. This new life, Wesley stressed, isn’t just a future reward; it begins now, a transformation of our present existence.

The resurrection is foundational to who we are as it strengthens our faith in God’s power and love. It dispels doubt and despair, reminding us that even in the face of darkness, God’s light prevails. Not only that, but the resurrection of Jesus empowers us, by Christ’s grace, to live a holy life. This means actively pursuing good works, serving others with love and compassion, and striving to reﬂect Christ’s teachings in our daily actions.

Of course, the risen Christ is not gone. Jesus continues to commission us to share the message of salvation with the world. Through our words and actions, Jesus invites us to become instruments of God’s redeeming love, inspiring others to experience the power of faith. May the message of the resurrection ﬁll you with renewed hope, a deeper understanding of God’s grace, and a commitment to living a life that reﬂects the transformative power of Christ. And a special welcome to these new members: Polly & Danny Davis.

In Christ’s love, Andrew Chappell

INFUMC Friends,

t is good to be back! The Bell family had a very eventful 8 weeks during my paternity leave as we added Wallace into our family’s number. The transition from one to two children is not for the faint of heart! We are tired and joyful.

Each Easter celebration, I am grateful for the new life that God brings. I am grateful for all the ways that God has been at work in our church while I was on leave- through the Lenten lunches with Christ’s larger Church community; through your financial giving throughout Lent to support our mission partners at Bridging the Gap; through vows being spoken and baptismal waters on confirmation Sunday; through a wheelchair ramp build at Palmetto UMC; through 20 new folks getting certified for our Early Response Team at a training hosted by our church. These are all God-sightingsways that God’s spirit has been on the move to usher in the new creation.

It is interesting, coming back and catching up on several hundred emails- piecing together a story of everything that happened while I was on Paternity leave. When I was in seminary, I read an essay that argued that God can only be experienced in the past tense. I don’t know if that is true all the time, but it is certainly true most of the time- it is a lot easier to see God at work when you are taking time to look back and reﬂect. It truly is astounding to take stock of everything that God has done in our church and community in just a couple of months.

This Easter season, take some time to think back and look for God. Where has God been at work? Where has new life surprised you, sprouting up where there was pain, death, or suffering? As Andrew mentioned in his Easter Sermon, resurrection is God’s deﬁning action. God is weaving resurrection into our lives and communities every day—I pray that you and I may take the time to see it.

Happy Eastertide!

Connor Bell

phall@NewnanFUMC.org | 770.253.7400

April Menus - Wednesday Night Fellowship

lease be sure to RSVP by NOON the Tuesday before WNF (April 9 & April 23 this month). Use the corresponding QR codes to sign up for each evening’s fellowship supper. WNF is $8 per person and $5 for children under 10 years old. Families of four with children under 12 are $25.

April 10

Pork Chalupas with Fritos, Lettuce, and Tomatoes

April 24

Chicken Roll-Up with 7-Layer Salad

Root345 & Uth - April Menus

April 7

French Toast & Sausage

April 14

Mac & Cheese

April 21* Spaghetti & Rolls

April 28* Pizza

*Uth has other events scheduled April 21 & 28, 2024. Details on that page.

Tongue-Burner Award Winner* Ed Tigchelaar

1 TBSP Olive Oil

1 Large Onion, Chopped

1 Large Green Pepper, Chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped

1 lb Lean Ground Beef

1 lb Bison Beef

2 c Beef Broth (organic)

1 can Mushrooms

1 8oz can Tomato Sauce, drained

1 15oz can Diced Tomatoes, drained

1 15oz can Pinto Beans, drained

3 TBSP Chili Powder

1 tsp each Oregano, Cumin, Coriander, Salt ½ tsp Cayenne

Brown beef in olive oil and drain juice. Remove from pot. Sauté green pepper, onion, and garlic. Add back beef and remaining ingredients. Bring to simmer and cook 30 minutes

ABecause He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives.

nd thus, the season of Lent comes to a close. I want to start by thanking everyone who either participated in or attended the Lenten Concert Series events in its inaugural year. It is my hope that this can be a growing ministry in the years to come, that we might continue to provide our church and the greater community with these opportunities to reﬂect and prepare for Easter each year.

The next couple of months are busy ones in the lives of our student singers. The Children’s Choirs, along with our Children’s Ministry, are working on a presentation for Children’s Sunday on May 5th. Make sure to put that date in your calendar - you won’t want to miss it!

Our Youth Choir and Ensemble are also in the ﬁnal stages of preparing for their tour to California! Students will get to experience the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as getting to see Yosemite National Park. We will sing along the way and have a service opportunity so that we might give back to the communities that have welcomed us on our journey. We are so grateful for the support you have provided, and will continue to provide, to those students. It is such a unique opportunity for these young singers, and we are excited to have opportunities like this to offer our youth.

Stay tuned next month for a little information about their theme and goals in the music they plan to share while on tour!

Best,

Caitie

April

First Kids

Children’s

Missions + Fun ‘n Frolic

Aileen Burnett, Missions & Senior Adult Coordinator aburnett@NewnanFUMC.org | 770.253.7400 (x206)

Please sign up for the Domestic Mission Trip by May 5!

On March 16th, NFUMC hosted a Basic ERT class and added 18 new badged ERTs to our conference. They are: Chuck and Terri Anderson, Nancy Capponi, Cole Cunningham, Dianne Glenn, Eric Harlan, Carol Hartenbower, Mitch North, Ruby Reid, Chris Steed, and Andy Whitlock, A huge thank you to our trainers, Rev. Scott Pickering and Bill Pound. Also, thank you for supporting our Give It Up for Lent campaign for Bridging the Gap. Finally, Hank Arnold from Coweta F.O.R.C.E. presented a moment for mission on March 17th, giving insight to their work in our community.

UPCOMING MISSIONS

One Roof: April 1-21

Filling food bags for their seniors. Requested items are fruit cups, soup, saltines, and single-serve mac & cheese. Any easy-open, easy-serving items and plastic grocery bags are also appreciated.

Domestic Mission Trip: July 13-18, 2024 at Epworth by the Sea, St. Simons Island. Sign up by May 5 to secure your spot. Contact Paul Mosley or Aileen Burnett for more information.

Bridging The Gap’s Summer Lunch Program: June 3, 5 and 7. Volunteers needed!

Fun ‘n Frolic

On March 19th we hosted a Lunch ‘n Learn focused on spam, fraud and safety. We enjoyed lunch with NPD Oﬃcers Lee and Griﬃth. Thank you for coming to learn how to keep yourself safe.

If you signed up for the Hills & Dales on April 11, 2024, we’ll leave the church at 9:15am. Remember to bring extra cash for lunch!

Cotton Fair in Gay, Georgia

May 4 | 8:00am-4:00pm | $12

RSVP to attend by April 29th

Steel Magnolias at The Legacy Theatre

May 5 | 1:00pm-5:30pm | $36

RSVP to attend by April 16th

Nashville Trip

September 21-24 | $977 (D) - $1,326 (S)

RSVP to attend by July 11th

UTH

Paul Mosley, Director of Youth Ministries

pmosley@NewnanFUMC.org | 770.253.7400 (x219)

Conﬁrmation Sunday is always one of my favorite Sundays of the year, and this year was no exception. It was so awesome to celebrate these students and their families. Thank you to everyone who came out in support of the hard work each conﬁrmand put in. We also dove into a great new series, broke some silly records, and celebrated Easter and what it means for us today all in the past month!

Following Easter and spring break, we will continue our series on dealing with stress called Everything Everywhere and have a ton of fun events. We will be having our ﬁrst Small Group Scatter this month on April 21. Following our series on stress we thought it would be awesome to have the kids get together with their small groups and just have some fun! During the Small Group Scatter, each Small group is deciding what they will do, and I cannot wait to tell you about their adventures! April 21 is also our Pre-Summer Parents meeting and the night seniors will put their ﬁnal hand print on the wall. UTHapalooza is also around the corner on April 28. I can’t wait for all the awesome programming and growth we have in store this month. Come join us!

UTHapalooza

Join us for an awesome celebration of the end of the school year at UTH! We will be grilling out hamburgers and hotdogs before the all out Color War that evening. UTHapalooza cost just $10 for dinner and the tshirt just for this event. We are asking everyone to sign up by April 14 so we can get the shirts ordered in time. You can register with this QR code:

Senior Sunday Registration

The end of the School year is fast approaching and for our oldest UTH that means graduation. We want to collect some information from you so we can honor your seniors this Senior Sunday (May 19). Please ﬁll out the form at this QR code and answer as much of it as you can. We understand that their future plans and details may change leading up to Senior Sunday, and we will update them as necessary.

UPCOMING EVENTS

APR 7

Everything Everywhere Series Week 2

APR 14

Everything Everywhere Series Week 3

APR 21:

Pre-Summer Parents Meeting, 4-5pm Senior Hand Print Night, 6pm Small Group Scatter, 6:30pm

APR 28

UTHapalooza

Preschool + Kindergarten

Nancy Martin, Preschool Director nmartin@NewnanFUMC.org | 770.253.7400

Summer Enrichment Registration Opens April 8th

ABIG Thank you to all those who worked the Children’s Consignment Sale, it was a wonderful success! Our gross sales were $60,000, with the preschool keeping 30% of that to put toward our ministry. Thank you, church family, for your support of our sale and our preschool.

There are still spots available in some of our Preschool classes for this fall:

• 3-year-olds MWF

• 4-year-old Pre-K

IT’S CAMP TIME!

NFUMC Preschool Summer Enrichment registration opens on Monday, April 8th for current families and April 15th for the public. Tuition is $150 per week and is available for ages 16 months through rising ﬁrst graders.

Age-appropriate math, reading, and writing activities will be included for each class. Our camp dates and themes for each week can be found on our website: nfumcpreschool.org (choose Summer Enrichment under Admissions).