First United Methodist Church of Orange

The Forum Volume 84 issue #11 November 2015

All Church Thanksgiving

Potluck Luncheon immediately following worship

Sunday, November 15, 2015 in Messenger Hall

Sign-up in the courtyard to bring something to share. Then, invite a friend, co-worker, or even a stranger

to join us on this special day.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 2 Peter 1:2

All Church Conference

Thursday, November 12th at 6:30 p.m. Come meet our District Superintendent, John H. Farley, at this important annual meeting.

2

THE FORUM

FAITH FORMATION The holiday of Thanksgiving falls always on Thursday. If it were really about being thankful, the day would be on a Friday or Monday so we’d all get that three-day weekend. But that’s not what the Pilgrims of Plymouth were thinking about when they sat down all those centuries ago to share a meal of thanks. They were celebrating God’s blessings of a great harvest in a most uncertain time in a brand-new land. As a national holiday, Thanksgiving is secularized. Yet, in almost every American family tradition, there is a point during the day when talk turns to what people are most thankful for. The cutest responses always come from the pint-sized people who often cite new toys or pets, but for the most part, we humans are thankful for the ones we love. We are thankful because we know that our time with them is precious—and limited. Holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, are hardest for those who have lost a loved one. They remember the happiness of the season and feel the hard reality that an important piece of that happiness is now gone. While in his letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul urged Christ’s followers to be joyful at all times, that’s just not always possible. When terrible things happen in our lives—death of a loved one, a crippling accident, an inability to have children, a break-up—it is only right and just to cry and mourn and scream at God. We ask God, “How could you let this happen?” when we feel like our heart has been cut out. The only way to ride it out is to experience it completely. This ability to feel is what makes us human. But Paul was not telling his flock to hide their true feelings, so they could always be happy. Instead, he was trying to encourage and reassure the early Christians that Jesus was indeed going to come again. In that knowledge, he urged the Thessalonians to be thankful and to give praise. This is a promise Christians can find assurance in today. Yes, Paul was correct that we should be thankful in all circumstances—thankful to God for God’s goodness and grace, even if we don’t feel up to the task. Eventually, it will get better. When you have an open dialogue with Jesus about everything you’re feeling—the doubts, the turmoil, the grief—the weight will be lifted from your shoulders and you’ll have even more to be grateful for than before. The ultimate goal is to be able to be joyful, prayerful and thankful to the Lord at all times. With God’s help, this can be achieved. This year, when you sit down at your Thanksgiving table give thanks for the people surrounding you in love but also give thanks for the creator of love itself. For it is truly right to give God thanks and praise. Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise. Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you. All the earth worships you; they sing you praises to you, sing praises to your name.” (Psalms 66, 1-4) What is one thing that you are thankful for today? P.S. We have an opportunity at our Church Thanksgiving Potluck to bring those to our table in need. Let us be challenged to bring someone we would normally not bring to church so that they may begin to see and feel the love of Christ in their lives in a tangible way, for it is our church that seeks out and welcome strangers as family. Maybe it’s that estranged family member? Maybe it’s a friend you haven’t talked to for years? Maybe it’s that homeless person you see each day in downtown Orange…..who will you bring? Grace and Peace, Peter Joseph (M.Div) Director of Faith Formation

3

The Forum

YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES

“THE GOD SQUAD” Youth Fellowship for 6th – 12th grades

November 1 The Gathering @ Community United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach

November 8 SSP 2016 Deadline for Sign-ups November 29 Nerf Wars with Yorba Linda United Methodist (or January)

SIERRA SERVICE PROJECT

Are you thinking about making a difference abroad? Our youth will be going on our third Sierra Service Mission Team trip next summer to either Spokane, WA or Tsaile, AZ to work on a Native American Reservation. The deadline to sign up is Sunday, November 8th.

There is an opportunity for junior high to go on a separate team. If interested, see Peter before November 8th. Please begin looking at your calendars and deciding on dates: June 25 - July 3 OR July 23 - July 31 OR July 30 - August 7.

There will be a Sierra Service Project Meeting directly after church on Sunday, November 8th.

Peter Joseph Director of Faith Formation

Email: peter@fumco.org x Cell: 714-473-8086 x Office: 714-532-6363 x203

The God Squad Goes Bowling!

4

THE FORUM

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

CRANBERRY TEA It’s almost time - November 7th we will come together for our lovely Cranberry Tea and I hope all of you have planned on being there. Many hostesses have decorated lovely tables and are awaiting their guests. We have some lovely entertainment planned for your enjoyment. This year’s theme is “My Favorite Things” on celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music.

The Cranberry Tea is an annual event held the first Saturday in November, sponsored by the United Methodist Women. Proceeds from the sale of tickets goes to their Mission Fund. This is a fabulous event that you won’t want to miss, so get your tickets today!

QUIET DISCIPLE On November 14th, our UMW unit will welcome other UMW women from within our District as we celebrate our Quiet Disciple of the Year. Each unit nominates someone from their church for this honor and all will be celebrated. Persons honored will have demonstrated their discipleship through quiet and consistent acts of service to others and to their church. It is a very special honor to receive the Quiet Disciple Award.

LADY TWIGBENDERS Lady Twigbenders will meet Thursday, November 19th at 1:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room.

Mary Clark will be the hostess and Charlotte Johnston will give the devotion.

“Each should use whatever gift SHE has been given …” 1 Peter 4:10

Janice Self and Kay Johnstone have been given the gift of creativity and sewing. They are truly living up to 1 Peter4:10 - ”Each should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Have you noticed the beautiful new banners and paraments currently being used in our sanctuary and Pastor Bill’s colorful stole that matches them? These are the products of two gifted and generous ladies in our congregation. Janice Self picked out the various colors of Batik cloth to design and sew together the pieces of the cross designs. Kay Johnstone did all the appliqueing needed to secure the three angels on the banners representing Faith, Hope and Love.

We have the opportunity to continue enjoying these beautiful banners in worship service until they change for the Advent season. I know that many of you have already thanked them for this special use of their talents. If you don’t know who they are, ask someone to introduce you so you can thank them.

5

The Forum

FUMCO HOLIDAY EVENTS

ALL CHURCH THANKSGIVING POTLUCK Sunday, November 15th

immediately following worship in Messenger Hall

FAMILY ADVENT WREATH & CHRISTMAS CRAFT WORKSHOP November 22nd in Messenger Hall

Join together with our FUMCO Family in the opportunity to create an advent wreath to have at home during this special season. Create some memories for yourself or with your children with Christmas workshop craft projects for all ages. We will be gathering directly after church for wreath making, with crafts into the afternoon. Our youth will be offering food and snacks, so don’t worry about lunch. Put this on your calendar now as this is such a busy time. Exact times and additional information to come. Look for the sign-up table & sample crafts in the courtyard on Sunday.

THANKSGIVING EVE SERVICE Wednesday, November 25th

7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary

CHRISTMAS CAROLING & SOUP SUPPER Sunday, December 13th

at 3:00 p.m. in Messenger Hall Join us as we go out and spread some Christmas cheer.

No singing experience needed! Then return for a delicious soup supper prepared by our choir.

CHRISTMAS CANTATA Sunday, December 20th

at 4:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary “Come to the Manger”

Come be inspired as the choir brings the story of Jesus’ birth to us through a combination of traditional carols and spirituals written and arranged by Mark Hayes.

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES 5:00 p.m. Family Service 7:30 p.m. Candlelight Service 11:00 p.m. Communion Service

Bring your family, invite a friend, and join us on this special, holy night. We have something for everyone!

6

THE FORUM

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x�x x�x�x�x�x�x Newcomers Fellowship

"We are wrapping up our first year of Newcomers Fellowship on Saturday, November 21st (please note that change from our usual 4th Saturday of the month). We are delighted to have the Worship Design Team host dinner and provide us with information on their work throughout the year and for the upcoming Advent Season! Please RSVP to the church office by Monday, November 16th or see Bonnie on the patio on Sunday!

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x�x�x�x�x�x�x�x

OUTREACH

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD SHOEBOX MINISTRY

The boxes for Operation Christmas Child are available on the patio following service! When you return your boxes, please put them in the Narthex - they must be returned by Sunday, November 15th. The boxes have all the info needed to fill them. Please do not put any liquids or candy that will melt in the boxes as they are moved around to different staging areas. Also, it would help if you would put a rubber band around your box to make sure all your items stay inside. If you don’t want to fill a box but would like to contribute, you can donate money towards the shipping cost which is $7.00 per box. Thank you very much for sharing God’s love with children all over the world. If you have any questions, please call Helen Huston at (714) 322-2886 or Joyce Claussen at (714) 633-4934.

Thanks to your generous donations our lunch bag program is doing great! In fact, the word has gotten out and we are serving more people than ever. Of course that means we need more food donations than ever! Items needed to fill the bags include: Vienna sausage, Beanie Weenie, granola bars, box juice drinks, individual applesauce or fruit cups, small boxes of raisins, cheese & crackers, peanut butter & crackers or any other item that would fit nicely into a sack lunch. All donations, large and small, are greatly appreciated. Please place your donated items in the specially marked collection bins in the Narthex on Sunday mornings or bring to the office during the week.

“When did we ever see you hungry and feed you . . . whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me”

- Matthew 25:38-40

7

The Forum

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS 4 Nadine Tardie 5 Nate Wisely 7 Sylvia Coussa Danny Lentz 9 Shirley Katz 12 Rita Suthers 13 Pastor Bill Johnson Charlotte Johnston 14 Dorothy Utter 17 Judith Weigard 20 Barb Swanson 21 Joe Schubert 23 Virginia Eaton Kay Johnstone 24 Jim McCracken 25 Sarah Fast 26 Claudia Bakenhus 29 Ruth Davis

ANNIVERSARIES

PRAYER & PRAISE REQUESTS x� Prayers for Janice Self’s daughter, Megan and

her family, whose mother-in-law passed away from cancer.

x� Prayers for Lori Pittman’s bother-in-law, Matt Barkley, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Prayers of healing for Ronda, a friend of Donna Nelson who is undergoing chemo.

x� Prayers for Gabriel Sleenhof who broke his collarbone and for Annika Sleenhof who has a stress fracture in her hip.

x� Praise for Sany Elias’ neice, Christine Stevens, who just finished another round of Radiation Therapy. She has been fighting cancer for several years with radiation and chemo.

x� Prayers for our shut-ins, the homeless, the hungry, the sick, the lonely, the unemployed, our military so far from home and all the others not mentioned, but known in our hearts.

2 Stuart & Mona Ward 24 Chris & Susan Simpson

JOYS . . . CONCERNS . . . CELEBRATIONS

Nancy Bjorkland, Diane Brown, Ken Brown, Virginia Easton, Jay Farrell, Simon Gohil, Bonnie Goodrich, Shirley Katz, Cybil Low, Mary McKenerick, Jackie McCracken, Meg Murray, Carol Nameth, Jim Salling, Charles Schroeder, Shirley Somers, Freida Stevens, Patricia Stone, Rita Suthers, Karla Turner, Nena Williams, Betty Wisely

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

First UMC Orange ePrayer Chain “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.” - Philippians 4:6 Did you know our church has a Prayer Chain? We have many devoted members, with caring hearts who have dedicated their time to provide this Christian service by praying for the needs of others. You are invited to submit your prayer requests to prayer@fumco.org. Your request will be forwarded to the church’s prayer team. If you would like to join our prayer warriors and receive prayer request notifications, you can join our ePrayer Team by sending an e-mail to prayer@fumco.org with your name and the word “Subscribe” in the subject field.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers and support after Ron's Dad passed. Dad's loss was a shock in that it happened so suddenly. To have you with us at such an emotional time will always be remembered. Thank you for your many kindnesses.

Shirley & Ron Katz

8

THE FORUM

Outreach Ministries of First UMC, Orange

FAMILY PROMISE Casey Crosbie, Exec. Dir. 714-353-0428

FUNCO Parent operated child-care Becky Billingsly, Coordinator 714-944-7156

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Orange Co. Central 714-556-4555 Meets Monday and Friday evenings in room 205

NARANON Meets Thursday evenings in room 205

161 South Orange St. Orange, CA 92866

Phone: 714-532-6363 Fax: 714-532-5496 www.fumco.org

Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Sunday Morning Schedule 8:30 a.m. ......... Choir Rehearsal 9:00 a.m. .. Adult Sunday School 10:00 a.m. ..... Coffee/Fellowship 10:30 a.m. .................... Worship

Sunday School for ages 4-6th grade following the

Word for Children.

United Methodist Youth Sunday Fellowship

5:30 - 7:00 p.m. 1st & 4th Sundays

Office Staff Telephone Extensions: Dial 532-6363 and extension: Pastor 201 Rev. Bill Johnson

Programs 203 Peter Joseph, Director of Faith Formation

Mike Short - Director of Music Sylvia Coussa - Bell Choir Director Joe Schubert - Organist

Administration 204 Karen Mendoza, Office Manager 216 Carol Rathbun, Communications Secretary

The deadline for the December edition of

The Forum

will be November 21st