Today is World Communion Sunday , one of the six church-wide Special Sundays of The United Methodist Church. We celebrate that Jesus Christ has come to redeem the whole world, and affirm our deep bonds in Christ with Christians around the world, regardless of denomination, nationality, language, culture, ethnicity or race. The special offering today provides scholarships for U.S. racial and ethnic students and international students, on both undergraduate and graduate levels.
On Communion Sundays, usually the first Sunday of each month, we collect a special offering to share with our brothers and sisters at the Robinson Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church . Claiming our oneness in Christ Jesus and to help bridge the racial divide in our culture and because of our shared Wesleyan heritage, we support that congregation with a gift of $100 per month. During Communion, you can bring your offering forward. You can make a check payable to Bluff City UMC and write “AME Zion” in the memo line.
Our second Sunday of each month is Invite A Friend Sunday. We would like each person who regularly attends worship to be praying specifically for someone and to invite them to come to worship that Sunday. Of course, you can invite a friend to come any time, but we hope you will make a special effort for Invite A Friend Sundays.
Finance Team meets at 6:30 pm on Thursday, Oct. 6 , in the Fellowship Hall. Team members include: Tony Lundin (Chair), Nancy Forrester, Betty Malone, Elaine Good, Herman Carrier, Michael Forrester, Jack Hurlbert Tommy Forrester, Dan Perry, Jane Bellamy, Lelia Perry, Kim Lundin, Bruce Stewart, and Dan Gray.
Church Council meets Thursday, Oct. 13 , at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall.
Charge Conference is Sunday, October 30 . We will host several other congregations
Our Applebutter Making party will be at Ike & Andi Fleenor’s home, 3478 Weaver Pike, Bristol, on Saturday, Oct. 22. Please make plans to come out at 8 am and stay through the day. We’ll make applebutter in big kettles over an open fire, to benefit our church’s missions efforts in our community and throughout the world. It is a great way to serve Christ while getting to know each other.
The family of Joyce Durham would like to thank everyone who brought food, made monetary donations in her memory, called us with a kind word, sent a card or was just there to help with anything that needed to be done. The sudden loss of Joyce was made a little easier with the love and support we received from our friends and family. Your expressions of sympathy were greatly appreciated and will never be forgotten.
The Durham Family
Memorials given in Memory of Joyce Durham for the Carrier Hope House.
Joan Williams
Joyce & C. W. Fleenor
Glen Phillips
Matthew & Shaun Cunningham
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sams
Mr. and Mrs. Mike Wiles
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Melvin
Mr. and Mrs. John Wiles
At our last Annual Conference, our delegates pledged for a second year that we would encourage each church member to give 10 hours of service this year to children in poverty in our community. We hope that you are working toward that goal, and will encourage that in your Sunday School, Life Group, UMM, UMW, Circle of Faith, youth ministries, children’s ministries, etc.
At the last Annual Conference, our congregation was asked to bring two books to the gathering to be collected and then distributed to elementary school libraries . We gave one for distribution through the Holston Conference and we gave one directly to the Bluff City Elementary School library. Below is a thank you from a teacher at the elementary school:
“Thank you for the newest book titled Waiting by Kevin
Henkes. You made an excellent choice purchasing this book for the BCES library. It has a first grade accelerated reader level, which means I can label this book for my first grade students. I can use this book to introduce early readers to many other characters created by Henkes, such as Lilly, Wemble, and Owen. Henkes is a talented, award winning author that children can enjoy up through Middle School. Your gift in this library is certainly appreciated.
Sincerely, Mrs. Rutherford
We are glad to be building relationships with the elementary and middle schools, to share God’s love with our neighbors. If you would like to give additional books to the elementary school, you can choose from the following list and bring books to the church office by Tuesday, October 18:
¨ Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt de la Peña
¨ Waiting, by Kevin Henkes (we gave this book to the Elementary school)
¨ Touch the Brightest Star, by Christie Matheson
¨ Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most
¨ Famous Bear, by Lindsay Mattick
¨ Mango, Abuela, and Me, by Meg Medina
¨ Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett
¨ Me, Jane, by Patrick McDonnell
¨ The Night World, by Mordecai Gernstein
On October 31, we will be handing out candy and goodies to Trick-or-Treaters in the church parking lot. Your help is needed! We are needing lots of things to hand out, such as individually wrapped candy, popcorn packets, chips, packs of crackers, and juice boxes. There will be a box in the communication center in which to put your goodies. We will need to collect by Wednesday, October 26.
