Our Life in the Church Downtown & Green Wood for the week beginning Sunday, February 2, 2020

Bulletin announcements are due by noon on Wednesdays. Send via email to adele@fumc-a2.org or call the church office, 662-4536.

First Sunday Centering Practices — In February we explore “Breath Prayer” with Debbie Houghton. Could being

mindful of your breath help you deal with moments that are anxious or uncomfortable? Come and give it a try today, Sun., Feb. 2 at 11am in Calkins Hall.

The next Immigrant Hospitality Team meet-ing is Mon., Feb. 3, 6:30-7:30pm at Green Wood. We will discuss immigration issues and educational opportunities for 2020.

Another FUMCN Open House will be held Wed., Feb. 5 from 10am – noon. Now enrolling 2020-2021 school year classes for 3, 4, and 5-year olds. Meet Ms. Juli, assis-tant teachers, board members, tour the classrooms, and find out more. Children are encouraged to at-tend. Returning FUMCN families and First United Methodist Church members are given enrollment priority until Feb. 5. Applications are online: fumcnpreschool.org.

You are invited! Please join us Sun., Feb. 9 at 10:45am in the As-bury Room to learn more about estate

planning, charitable giving strategies and the church’s finances. FUMC member Doug Gross, CFP, will present strategies for financial planning and answer any questions you may have. Please RSVP by Feb. 7 to finance@fumc-a2.org or call the church office at 734-662-4536. Let us know if you require childcare!

Do folks get tired of hearing you complain or worry? Stephen Ministers are eager to listen as you go through hard times or face tough decisions. If you would like to talk to a confidential and compassionate listener, contact Amy Kennedy (amy@fumc-a2.org) or Elaine Shaw (ekshaw@comcast.net) or the church office.

This is our First Weekend Food Drive!

Thank you for your donations that support the homeless and working poor in our community!

Update on Commitments for 2020 Our 2020 Goal: $1,221,00 Pledges as of Jan. 22: $899,806 Households responding: 198 Still needed to reach goal: $321,194

It’s not too late to submit a giving pledge for the year ahead. Mail yours in today or submit your pledge online: https://tinyurl.com/fumc2020pledge.

Are you curious about the intersec-tion of Science and Religion? Join us Sun., Feb. 9 at 11am when we con-tinue our conversation from January’s

session on the topic “On the Convergence of Spirituality and Science” led by Rev. Ken Whitt, DMin, author and Executive Director of Traces of God Ministries. The conversation will include three parts: Part 1: God is Just Love, Part 2:Climate Sci-ence, Sustainability Science, and Where is this World Headed? and Part 3: Ready, Our Children! to Find Hope and Be Love in a Future of Perils. We’ll meet in downtown Calkins Hall and you don’t need to have attended in January to join in the conversa-tion this month.

Mothers Too will meet Sun., Feb. 9 at 11am in the Aldersgate room to discuss personal and church issues in a nonjudgmental, caring way. Questions? Sarah Nooden (snooden@umich.edu, 663-5667).

Sign up to offer downtown altar flowers for worship services in 2020 — The poster is hang-ing outside the downtown church office. Cost: $50.

February Vital Conversations: Sermon Wrap - “Living as a Man of Color Today” In the spirit of this month’s sermon series on race and faith, Rev. Nick Berlanga will join us after the 9:30am service on Sun., Feb. 16 in Asbury to hold a Sermon Wrap with us. This is a time to answer questions and dis-cuss his sermon topic, Living as a Man of Color To-day. *Please be aware that February’s Vital Conver-sations will be held in the Asbury Room, and NOT Calkins Hall.

Maybe you’ve heard about the Henderson Appalachia mission trip and been intrigued. Want to

learn more? Come to the introductory information meeting Sun., Feb. 16 at 10:45am in the Aldersgate room for an all family casual conversation about the trip, the mission, and the family-friendly nature of the program. The Henderson Settlement mission trip is a great way to experience service with your family, create memories for all of you, and help es-tablish a foundation of service for children. Join us to learn more!

Two Sundays on Healthy Eating with Tom Jackson — Join Tom Sun., Feb. 16 at 11am in Calkins Hall as he leads a session about Dr. Robert Breakey’s presentation on the plant-based diet from this past October. What did we learn from Dr. Breakey’s talk about eating in a more healthy and mindful way? What are the implications on our own diets and health? On Sun., Feb. 23, meet with Tom in the Kitchen and the Social Hall at 11 am, where he will share some samples of the foods mentioned by Dr. Breakey in his lecture. Food will be prepared in the FUMC kitchen. All are welcome!

J.O.Y. (Just Older Youth) Lunch returns on Mon., Feb. 17 at noon. Folks over 60 years old will enjoy a baked potato and salad bar luncheon. Food will be prepped by our youth and served by our Visi-tation team. Placemats will be created by our chil-dren. That day we will hear stories from the Holy Land pilgrimage. Come and join in the fun! RSVP by Thu., Feb. 13 to Tina Alee at tina@fumc-a2.org.

Our Life in the Church

Register now to take part in Lenten Groups!

Why should you participate in a Lenten group? Connection, connection, connection — to each other, to our church, to God.

Each group will have a designated leader. The leader will contact his/her group members the week of Feb-ruary 23rd to set up the time and place for the first meeting. The group will then decide how they want to proceed for the 5 weeks of group time, March 1 through April 5. *Reserve March 20 on your calen-dars; the group activity for all groups that week will be a meal shared together at church. Stay tuned for details! These are our three Lenten groups for 2020:

• HEALTHFUL EATING – The standard American diet is known to be the root cause of many of our most com-mon chronic diseases. Make a different choice! Let go of your hindering habits. Cultivate radical well-being by changing the way you eat. Join a small group to explore together how adopting healthy-eating can regain wellness.

• COMMUNITY SERVICE – Let go of inaction and culti-vate compassionate service – volunteer at Love Thy Neighbor, Food Gatherers and our church. Working together can help us learn to make God’s love real for others and ourselves.

• THE VARIETY PACK – Experience a different group activity each week – let go of isolation and cultivate camaraderie. This group will eat together, serve to-gether, watch a movie together, and discuss a devo-tional together as different weekly activities. Enjoy the fellowship of your church family.

With questions please contact Debbie Houghton at debbie@fumc-a2.org. Sign up via our website: https://www.fumc-a2.org/lent-groups

In February and March the downtown display cases feature knitted pieces from sev-eral congregation members.

Teen anxiety and depres-sion are on the rise. Mental health is a growing concern for families. Join us for a showing of Screenagers: The Next

Chapter, a documentary following physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston as she discovers solu-tions for improved adolescent well-being in the digi-tal age. Sun., Feb. 23, 6- 8 pm. This film is 70 min-utes, and we will spend the remainder of our time in conversation together about protecting teen mental health and community resources. Tickets are free and can be ordered at www.fumc-a2.org/screen. Community members are welcome!

You’re Invited! Dinner for 8 is an opportunity for us to become better acquainted with one another. Sign up to dine with new friends 3 to 4 times in the year ahead. Your group may decide to meet in each others’ homes or meet at a local restaurant. Dates and times will be decided by your group. If you can’t make all the dates, that’s okay. This activity is intended to be “parents’ night out,” so please plan to arrange for childcare if needed. In early March, you will be assigned to a group and given instructions. The rest will be up to you! (Online sign up: www.fumc-a2.org/d48)

Your preferred location for dinners:

__Homes __Local Restaurants __No Preference

__Ann Arbor area, or __other: ___________________

Your information:

Name _________________________________________

Address _______________________________________

City _____________________ Zip __________________

Email _________________________________________

Phone (Cell or Home) ____________________________

Occupation ____________________________________

Interests ______________________________________

Hometown ____________________________________

Schools attended _______________________________

Stage of life (young family, family with teens, young adult, retired, empty nesters, older single, other?) _________

Are there 1 or 2 people you have met at church that you would like to know better?

______________________________________________ (Submit this form to the church office)

Dinner for

Eight

Be sure to introduce yourself to the newest members of our Congregation!

Bob & Nancy Crawford Bob and Nancy moved to Ann Arbor eight years ago from Raleigh, NC. They have three children—John (22), a senior at Davidson College in NC; Katherine (20), a sophomore at Kenyon College in Ohio; and Margaret (16), a sophomore at Pio-neer High School. Bob works for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as the VP

of Marketing and Customer Experience. Nancy is the direc-tor of A Little TLC Home Health Care. They have volun-teered at the church for the last few years with the youth group and Nancy recently started working with the Small Group Initiative. Together they love college basketball (Go Tar Heels!), trips to North Carolina to visit extended family,

and walking their three dogs.

Katie Stoffel-Duffy Katie and her husband Kevin have three children—William, Roger, and Sissel. She is the Senior Vice-President of Sales for Narmex Enviro Products. She enjoys camping, knitting, reading, hiking, triathlons, and lots and lots of kid-

sports-watching.

Drop-in Weekly Gatherings The groups below welcome visitors at any time.

Join one or more groups to enjoy fellowship while seeking to know God, love others, and serve the world.

For more information on a group listed, contact the church office or consult the website.

SUNDAYS: Global Issues (11am Chapel) This group meets to dis-cuss timely and meaningful topics, Sept.- May. This class uses the “Great Decisions” text from the Foreign Policy Association (fpa.org). All are welcome.

TUESDAYS: Brown Bag Bible Bible Study (12:00pm Chapel) A one-hour midday drop-in study. Bring your lunch and join our study of the Gospel of Matthew!

TUESDAYS: Paint Studio (2:00pm location Asbury) A group of watercolor artists meets weekly to work on personal and group projects. People working in water-based media are welcome!

WEDNESDAYS: Alcoholics Anonymous for Women (4:30-5:30pm Green Wood)

FRIDAYS: Alcoholics Anonymous (9:30-10:30am Social Hall)

FRIDAYS: L.O.V.E. Thy Neighbor Bag Lunch preparation (6:30-7:30pm Kitchen) Prepare bag lunches for distribution to our community homeless.

SATURDAYS: Men Of Faith (8:00am Asbury) Gathering of men interested in exploring faith expression.

SATURDAYS: Alcoholics Anonymous (10-11:00am Social Hall)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2

Adult Faith: Centering Practices (11:00a) Calkins Doug Hanton Visitation (12:00p) Sanctuary Doug Hanton Memorial Service (1:30p) Sanctuary Doug Hanton Reception (2:30p) Social Hall

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Visitation Team (3:30p) Chapel Immigration Hospitality Team (6:30p) Green Wood Resource Team Meeting (7:00p) Chapel Second Quartile (7:30p) Aldersgate

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4

UofM ASINA Class (2:00p) Kitchen Boy Scouts (7:00p) Social Hall

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5

FUMCN Open House (10:00a) Classrooms Staff Parish Relations Committee (7:00p) Green Wood

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7

Inclusive Justice (9:00a) Green Wood GW Coffee House: Claudia Schmidt (8:00p) Green Wood

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8

Global Art & Crafts Exhibit (5:00p) Global Music Dinner (6:00p) Social Hall Global Music Concert (7:30p) Sanctuary

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 Financial Planning (10:45a) Asbury Adult Faith: Science & Religion (11:00a) Calkins Mothers Too (11:00a) Aldersgate

Notable meetings on our calendar

Meetings unique to the days ahead are listed below. Scan qr code at right for our full calendar.

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Feb. 14 - Green Wood Coffee House: Carla Cooke Feb. 15 - Stamp Camp Fundraiser Feb. 16 - Henderson Appalachia trip info meeting + Deadline to sign up for Lenten Groups and Dinner for 8 Feb. 17 - J.O.Y. Luncheon Feb. 22/23 - UMW Worship Feb. 23 - Way Forward Learning Session #2

Green Wood Coffee House Series Join us for exceptional music, coffee, and dessert in an intimate setting at one of our Green Wood Coffee Houses.

All concerts begin at 8pm. Doors open at 7:30pm. Seating is first come, first served. Refreshments available.

Reservations are highly recommended! (1) Online reservations/purchases may be made through the webpage (www.greenwoodcoffeehouse.org), (2) Conventional reservation method is to call Green Wood (665-8558) and leave a message with your name, no. of tickets, and performance date; then write a check to “FUMC” for the total, with “GW Coffee House” in the memo and send to: GREEN WOOD - 1001 GREEN RD., ANN ARBOR, MI 48105. We’ll see you at the door at 7:30 p.m. on performance night. Either way you make your reservation, tickets aren’t mailed.

Feb. 7 - Claudia Schmidt Feb. 14 - Carla Cooke Feb. 28 - Juggernaut Jug Band Mar. 6 - Mary Gauthier Mar. 27 - Stephen Bishop Apr. 3 - Fred Eaglesmith

Apr. 17 - Don Campbell Apr. 24 - John Ford Coley May 1 - Don White May 8 - Bryan Lachlan & Amelia White May 15 - Tom Chapin

OUR SPRING 2020 SCHEDULE!

PRAYER REQUESTS The FUMC Prayer Chain is here for all members, friends, and visitors. If you have a prayer concern,

you may email your request, write the request and place it in the Prayer Request Box in the narthex, submit your request via the church website, or contact one of the pastors directly. To submit via email, contact Olivia Fanning at olfanning@icloud.com.