THE SHEPHERD
Dear Church Family,
During the month of October, we will journey through a new Sunday series titled: Transformed by Grace. This series, inspired by John Wesley’s sermon “The Use of Money,” and part of our Stewardship journey, will remind us that generosity is one of the ways God’s grace changes lives. Wesley taught that “money is an excellent gift of God, answering the noblest ends,” and we are seeing this truth lived out through your faithfulness. Every gift entrusted to the work of the church becomes a tool of grace that blesses others and glorifies God.
Already this year, we have seen God’s Spirit move in extraordinary ways through your generosity. Eighteen lives have been claimed in baptism, and 56 new members have found a home here — each one a living testimony of God’s grace drawing people closer to Christ. Our mission team returned from Guatemala filled with joy after serving children and schools with Christ’s love. Here at home, our youth are gathering to grow in faith, our children are learning to trust God in worship and study, and our music ministry is bursting with new energy from children’s choirs to a youth tour on the Gulf Coast to the launch of a new Gathering Choir for adults.
We give thanks for all these blessings, but we also believe God is calling us to more. Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12). To sustain and expand our ministries, we rely on the faithful financial support of our congregation.
That is why we ask you to prayerfully consider what you will pledge for 2026. Your Estimate of Giving card supports the 2026 ministry plan and helps us prepare faithfully for the year ahead. Cards are available in the sanctuary and can be returned on Commitment Sunday, October 26 (or earlier) to the church office, or you can pledge online at newnanfumc.org/GIVE. You may also set up recurring donations or give through the envelopes provided in the pews.
Thank you for prayerfully considering this invitation. Your generosity makes it possible for Newnan First UMC to shine Christ’s light, bringing hope, healing, and transformation to our community and beyond. As St. Francis of Assisi reminded the church long ago, “For it is in giving that we receive.” Together, through God’s grace, may we continue to be a people whose love changes lives.
In Christ’s love and service, Rev. Andrew Chappell, Senior Pastor
When I look back on September, all I can say is… wow! So much to celebrate in the life of our church!
• Our preschool started the school year and had their annual consignment sale, and I have seen so many families positively impacted by that ministry already this year.
• In the Children’s ministry, we have had growing attendance for our Sunday School classes, a huge showing for our opportunity to hear our Cherub Choir in worship, and we had seven students and four adults attend the Children’s ministry retreat at Glisson.
• Our Youth have started confirmation, meet regularly for Bible Study on Wednesday mornings and Sunday mornings, and have been engaged on Sunday nights. We are so grateful for all of these ministries that pour into our families!
• We had 25 folks attend our New Members class during September– all excited and intentionally exploring what their membership vows mean for their next steps in faith.
• We had 18 individuals from our church who were able to serve on Saturday, September 20th for #ServeCoweta.
• Wednesday Night Suppers have been wonderful– full of energy, wonderful food, and life-giving fellowship!
All this, and so much more. I hope that you take a moment to celebrate all that is going on in the life of our church.
I also wanted to call your attention to a new, wonderful outreach ministry that has been approved by our Missions Committee and our Board of Trustees. It is called Art Ministry Outreach (AMO for short), and it is a ministry focused on using art to share our faith, reach out to our community, and draw new people to join us in our growth as disciples. Local artists, both members and non-members alike, will have the opportunity to submit art for consideration to be displayed for focused showings revolving around selected themes. The first major showing will be on December 6th during the Historic Church Candlelight Tour in our Annex Hall. We are excited about the opportunity to invite our neighbors into our church to fellowship and grow in our faith together! More information will be coming soon.
God is at work in our church and community. May we focus on where God is leading us as we continue to serve for the Kingdom.
Grace and Peace, Connor
Baptisms
Mary Stewart Thomas | September 28, 2025
Daughter of Elizabeth and Will Thomas
CHURCH STAFF
Rev. Andrew Chappell, Senior Pastor Rev. Connor Bell, Associate Pastor
Rev. Lisa Dempsey, Associate Pastor
Seth Crile, Building Manager
Dr. Caitlyn Dixon, Minister of Music
Janet Marie Gunnels, Communications Director
Patty Hall, Kitchen Hostess
Jodi Horne, Nursery Coordinator
Tiffany Hanson, Church Sexton
Carol Hartenbower, Administrative Assistant
Carrie Horsley, Church Sexton
Bonnie Krider, Asst. Director of Music
Owen Lambert, Finance & Business Director
Dr. Dawn McCord, Organist
Susan Mitchell, Preschool Director
Paul Mosley, Youth Minister
Julie Perkins, Accompanist
Kim Stokes, Finance Secretary
Andrea Stuart, Director of Children’s Ministries
Stephanie Mott September 7, 2025
Elizabeth Thomas September 28, 2025
Patricia & Mabry Collins September 28, 2025
See the full 2025-2026 Photo Album here!
Susan Mitchell
Preschool Director
smitchell@NewnanFUMC.org
770.253.1237
We are excited to share that our recent consignment sale was a wonderful success! Our total sales were over $67,000. Thanks to the many hands that worked together—those who volunteered, shopped, and spread the word—we were able to raise funds that will directly support our preschool ministry. Beyond the financial blessing, the sale also provided a great opportunity for families in our community to find affordable clothing and goods, while experiencing the kindness and fellowship of our church family.
As we celebrate this accomplishment, we are also stepping into a new school year with joy and anticipation. Our preschool classrooms are once again filled with the laughter and energy of little ones eager to learn and grow. We are grateful for our dedicated staff, supportive families, and, most importantly, for God’s guidance and presence as we nurture children in both faith and knowledge.
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 15th for our annual Fall Festival! This special evening will be filled with fellowship, fun, and a chance to celebrate the season together. We’ll enjoy a delicious potato and chili dinner, plenty of games and activities for all ages, and even a time for kids to dress up in their favorite family-friendly Halloween costumes.
We invite you to continue praying for our preschool staff, students, and families throughout the year. Your encouragement and support make such a difference, and we look forward to all that God will do in this new season.
Blessings, Susan
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
We are in full swing of school and Children’s Ministry fun! We have wrapped up our school kick off, Promotion Sunday, new Sunday School classes, started ROOT345, and our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and amazing chaperones have gone to Camp Glisson. It feels like we have done so much and we are just getting started! This month we are diving into so many exciting things! New Sunday School lessons, amazing things in store for ROOT345, Holy Ghost Marshmallow Roast, and so much more!
The next several weeks are going to be packed full of fun for our 4-year-old to 2nd Grade Sunday School class. We will be wrapping up all the lessons about Jacob and see him reunite with his brothers. We made rainbow coats, learned about Jacob’s faith in prison, then we learned about how his faith helped him save so many people! We are also starting a new Faith Word of the Week! This is going to be a fun and innovative way to learn great words from the Bible and use them! Our lessons coming up this month are going to about Moses’ life! We will spend our time working on activities, reading stories, and doing cute and fun crafts! In our Older Sunday School class they are continuing to travel down Route 66, and diving into the fun and exciting lessons from all 66 books of the Bible. They have made stops all the way to Psalms. But don’t worry, we can catch you up, if you want to come! We are kicking off Proverbs!
In Wiggle and Worship and Children’s Worship we talked, acted, and made booklets all around the Apostles Creed. This coming month we will talk about acting in love, we will learn that not only do we trust God but God trusts us. We will explore what it is like to be happy in God’s love, and learn to live like a disciple! We will get to play games, engage in activities, have fun in interactive lessons, and create super cute crafts! During the 11am service our younger kids have fun in the Wiggle and Worship Class (2 and 3 year olds in the Preschool) and Children’s Worship (4 years old to 2nd grade). Wiggle and Worship is in the nursery in the lower level of the Parish Hall in the Preschool. Children’s Worship is on the Children’s Floor. Children’s Worship is released from the Main Sanctuary in the Big Church. You can pick your children up upstairs on the Children’s Floor! We play, pray, wiggle, and praise, and have the best time ever!
ROOT345 is for any 3rd, 4th, and 5th grader! Last month, we talked about being rooted in faith and we will be wrapping that up the first week of October. Then we will be talking about being “Accepted.” In this wonderful series, we will learn that we are all created in His image, talk about the meaning of grace and know what to do when we make mistakes, we will discover the need to love everyone, and how we can fully trust God! We explore scripture, play games, and do many kinds of challenges to help us learn how we can use scripture in our everyday life! ROOT meets on the Children’s Floor on Sunday evenings, from 6 to 7:45. We have dinner together and then go into our lessons. Our lessons are packed full of games and activities. If you have a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade child, we would love to have them join the fun! Bring a friend, get a treat!
Newnan First UMC’s Holy Ghost Marshmallow Roast ROOT345, UTH, and parents all come together at our Holy Ghost Marshmallow Roast, an annual family mission event on October 26 in the Parish Hall. We gather together from 6:00-8:00pm for a time of fellowship and to serve our local community. Dinner begins at 6:00pm followed by assembling weekend bags for Backpack Buddies. Stay tuned for a list of items they’re requesting. The evening ends with a marshmallow roast, sharing a time of fellowship that spans all ages in Newnan First UMC’s community of faith. We highly encourage the whole family to attend and share in a night of service alongside your children and students.
SATURDAY , OCTOBER 18 SATURDAY , OCTOBER 18 4:00-8:00PM 4:00-8:00PM
Paul Mosley
Youth Director
pmosley@NewnanFUMC.org
770.253.7400 (x219)
September has been a great month at UTH. Biscuits and Bibles has been growing with more students and adults joining us for a dive into the Word before school on Wednesdays. We went on an adventure to see the Gwinnett Stripers beat the Durham Bulls. Confirmation launched with an awesome class of nine students, diving into and owning their faith. On Sunday Nights, we have spent four weeks working through a series on friendship called Close Friends. Three of those weeks, we heard messages about different aspects of friendship: being the kind of friend to others that you want your friends to be to you, putting the right people close to you as close friends shapes our future, and how to walk away from friendships in a graceful way when they may not be the best influence anymore. All of this was further refined in our Practice night. We went through stations that allowed us to Hear, Pray, Talk, and Live out all that we talked about and helped up take the Word and put it into practice in a real way. It was awesome, and we are looking forward to more Practice nights in the future!
In October, we have a ton of awesome events happening. We will be starting a new series on the duality of Freedom and Responsibility called “Anything Goes” on Sunday nights, and it is going to be awesome. On October 15, we are helping run the games for the Preschool Fall Festival, which is a great chance to serve the kids of our church and local community while getting service hours for all the clubs our students are a part of. Our Fall Retreat to Great Wolf Lodge is October 17-19, and it will be filled with discipleship and fun! As a student said: “Jesus and Waterslides, what’s not to love!” Then we will be closing out October the Holy Ghost Marshmallow Roast on October 26, in the Parish Hall from 6:00-8:00pm!
We are so excited for all this and more on the horizon. God is at work among these students and families, and we cannot wait to see how this upcoming month is going to impact our students in such an amazing way. Thank you, Newnan First UMC, for your support of these students and the work we are doing alongside them and their families!
New Series: Anything Goes
Many of our students are starting to gain more freedom, whether it’s moving to middle or high school or learning to drive. But is that freedom unlimited, is it really an “anything goes” sort of freedom? Or does that freedom come with some boundaries and responsibility? As students experience more freedom, it’s important for us to help them answer this question: how can I choose to use the freedom I do have to honor God, love others, and respect myself? We will be diving into the concepts of freedom, responsibility, and how those two mesh together in this series called “Anything Goes.”
Xtreme Winter Conference: Signup Deadline OCTOBER 12!
Dates: December 29-31. Cost: $250. Join us for a Christian Music conference in Gatlinburg, TN December 29-31. This will be three days full of great worship, awesome speakers and some of the biggest names in Christian Music. We will have the opportunity to worship and dive into our faith, but also explore Gatlinburg and go on some mountain adventures! The trip cost $250 which covers the conference, the hotels, the adventure activity on Dec 30, and a t-shirt. Students will need to bring money to cover the cost of their own meals as the conference does not cover them. Registration closes on October 12. You can register with the deposit only now and pay the rest closer to the trip if you wish. If you have any questions, please reach out to Paul Mosley at pmosley@newnanfumc.org.
Upcoming Events
10/12: No UTH or Confirmation (Coweta Fall Break)
10/15: Preschool Fall Festival
10/17-19: UTH Fall Retreat to Great Wolf Lodge
10/26: Holy Ghost Marshmallow Roast
