PASTORS’ PEN

During this past month we celebrated “President’s Day” and recognized several of our Presidents who so nobly and power-

fully affected the people of this nation for good and for God.

One of those Presidents whom we recognized was Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States…a man of God

and a President who guided this country through one the darkest hours of our nation’s young history. Mr. Lincoln on two

separate occasions made these two statements about his life that I believe sum up his life and devotion to God and to others

so well:

“I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins

of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be

down inside of me.”

“I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end

brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all

wrong, then a legion of angels swearing I was right will make no difference.”

Whatever you are doing, whatever relationship you are engaged in, whatever act of service you can offer to others, and

whatever cause you find worthy of giving yourself to…give it:

-Your whole heart

-Your undistracted attention

-Your complete commitment

-Your maximum energy

For in doing so, this is our greatest act of worship to our God who created us.

Therefore, we ought to give our “all” to every task and every person our life

touches. This is how we measure the effort of our lives and the true measure of

our devotion to God and others.

As we think of our season of Lent, often we focus on what we give up or surren-

der so that we might be again be reminded of what Jesus gave up for us on the

Cross—His Life. Yet I challenge us to consider not only what Christ gave up, but

also consider that in giving up He was also serving.

This is my challenge, to myself and to you for Lent. Find something new this Lent not only to give up, but especially look

for someone or something honorable to serve and to give it your all… show them Christ in your service and thus reveal to

the world Christ through you.

Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

Pastor Ed

March 2012

The Gathering

COMING EVENTS

MEN’S LENTEN

BREAKFASTS The following dates have been as-

signed for locations of our 2012

Men’s Lenten Breakfasts. The

start time for each Saturday meet-

ing is 7:00 a.m. An offering will

be taken at each meeting to cover

expenses, with proceeds to go to a

mission project.

March 3 - St. Mark’s UMC

March 10- Goshen First UMC

March 17 - Faith UMC

March 24 - Bristol UMC

March 31 - Dunlap UMC

YOUTH —

CREATION

MUSEUM All youth are invited to go to the

Creation Museum in northern

Kentucky on March 16-18. The

museum gives a fresh perspective

on how God created everything

that we see.

The youth will stay in a church

for a couple of nights while there.

The cost will be around $50 per

person for the weekend. Contact

Jeff Karnes, 238-1939, if you

would like to go. We will be tak-

ing one of the church buses.

SOUP/ SANDWICH

LUNCH - YOUTH

FUNDRAISER The youth will be having a fund-

raiser meal for everyone on Sun-

day, March 25. They will serve

soup and sandwiches. There is

no charge, but donations are wel-

come! Serving will begin at

11:30 a.m. at the downtown cam-

pus, and at 12:00 noon at the Life

Center. Come and enjoy a good

lunch and support our youth

group! All proceeds will go to-

ward the youth summer mission

trip to Cleveland, Ohio, on June

10-16, 2012.

PRIMETIMERS The Primetimers will meet for lunch at the church on Thursday, March

15, at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be chicken penne pasta, salad, and brown-

ies, provided by the South Side Soda Shop. The cost is $5.00. Our pro-

gram will be given by Susie Warner. Susie will speak about notable Indi-

ana women she has known.

The bus will pick up at Greencroft at 11:00 a.m. All others will drive to

the church on your own. If you have questions, please call Bob Morris at

534-2791.

MOVIE On Sunday, March 18, at 4:00

p.m., we will have a free movie

night at the Life Center. The

movie we will show is

“Fireproof.” Everyone is wel-

come.

NEW DOWNTOWN CUSTODIAN Bobbi Smith has been helping out as our downtown campus custodian and

she is doing a wonderful job! She writes this about herself:

“I am married to my wonderful husband, Matt, who supports me in every-

thing I do. With a great passion for music and youth, I am coordinator for

youth music as well as a small group leader for the senior high girls. I also

enjoy singing on a praise team on Sunday mornings at the Life Center. Hav-

ing a knack for the creative, I take part in the worship design committee to

help come up with various ideas and themes for each week’s service. I have

also spent a year serving as a missionary in Honduras, teaching kindergarten

and first grade. My hobbies include: traveling, using my Spanish, reading,

scrapbooking, and watching movies with my amazing husband.”

NEW YOUTH PASTOR AT FUMC “Hi! My name is Brad Miller. I will be taking over as

youth pastor in June. I started working part-time on Febru-

ary 1. My family and I are extremely excited about this

new opportunity and have been enjoying meeting all of

you.

My wife, Sarah, who is the youth pastor at Faith United

Methodist Church, and I have lived in Goshen for 4 1/2

years. We’ve been married for seven years and have two

wonderful children: a daughter, Layla, who just turned 4,

and a son, Griffin, who is 2.

Thank you for welcoming us into your church family as we

take on the new challenges God has placed before us.”

-Brad Miller

SEASON OF LENT The Season of Lent is an important one in the life of Christians. Just as

we celebrate Jesus’ birth, we also celebrate his resurrection. There are

Lenten calendars with daily readings, activities, and prayers available at

both the Downtown church and at the Life Center. Please feel free to

pick one up as we journey these forty days to Easter. As you prepare for

this journey, you are invited to pick up the story of the pretzel or “little

arms” crossed in prayer. This visual is a reminder to us not only of the

history of this food, but of our attitude and prayer life. Blessings!

-Pam Kling

EASTER FLOWERS This year we will again be order-

ing flowers for our Easter church

service. The price is $12.50 for a

lily, and $9.50 for tulips. You may

take it home with you after the

Easter church service. The last day

to order is March 25. Please call

the church office, 533-9518, or fill

out the bulletin insert at church if

you wish to order an Easter flower.

From The Desk of the YP

Hey Everyone ... It looks like Spring is just around the corner and winter wasn't that bad!

Hope everyone is having an exciting 2012 ... As I know this has already been an extremely busy year for me and

is just going to be getting busier ... Especially with the job change coming up later this year and the big event I

have worked with WFRN Family Friendly Radio to bring everyone in the area ... with the WFRN Friend Fest ...

Hope all of you can be a part of that.

In addition to that, as most of you know, the church has already hired my replacement ... Brad Miller ... and he is

already helping out with youth ministry so that the transition can be a smooth one.

In addition to that ... We have a lot of things planned that are coming up soon in the Youth Ministry.

First of all ... March 16 - 18 we will be taking a group down to the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky (just

outside Cincy) to get a fresh perspective of how God created everything that we see. This should be an exciting

trip, and we will be staying in a church for a couple nights while there ... The cost will be about $50 per person

for the weekend and we are hoping for a good size group to go along.

In addition ... March 25th at both campuses the youth will be doing a soup and sandwich lunch as a Mission Trip

fundraiser. As you may know, we are headed to Cleveland June 10 - 16 and need to raise around $5,000 for the

trip. Hope you can help by eating lunch with us this day.

As if that wasn't enough ... We will be doing another Mission Trip Fund Raiser on April 22nd at both campuses,

as the youth will be serving Spaghetti and Salad just after the morning service. All proceeds from this dinner goes

to the summer Mission Trip as well.

That is just a few things we have going on as I finish up my time here ... If you have any questions feel free to

contact me!

In Christ

From the desk of the YP

Jeff Karnes

jeff@elevateumc.com

574.238.1939

FITNESS CLASSES

*A healthy mind, body, and soul.*

6 week sessions starting March 5th.

Monday—6:00 a.m. & 9:30 a.m.—Body Sculpting

Tuesday—6:00 a.m. & 4:30 p.m.—Cardio Dance

Wednesday—6:00 a.m.—Kickboxing

Wednesday—9:30 a.m.—Cardio Dance

Thursday—4:30 p.m.—Pilates

The cost is $5 per class or you can purchase

a punch card for $25.

For more information, contact Aimee Brinson, at

(574) 343-4770.

aimeebrinson@goshenfirstumc.org

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No.136

Goshen, IN

First United Methodist Church

214 S. Fifth Street

Goshen, IN 46528

Phone: 533-9518

www.goshenfirstumc.org

www.goshenlifecenter.org

Address Service Requested

“Thank you for your contributions to our church in memory of Morrie. We have loved the church so very much

and we have been so happy here. Thank you again for loving us so much and giving us so much spiritual food.”

-Peg Herring

“Thank you for your donation of 184.45 pounds of food to The Window in 2011. It was helpful in feeding and

giving hope to many.” -Sharon Helmuth, for The Window

“Thank you so much for the pink carnation for my birthday. It brightened my day. And also thanks for a great

church family and the Sheets family for delivering it.” -Betty Kessler

“To the GIFHN Hosts—I wish I could remember all of your names. We really enjoyed your company and loved

the food. Thank you also for all the help with the homework and advice. With great appreciation.”

-Stephanie & Brandon Palmer

“Thank you for the beautiful birthday carnation, and to the Sheets family for bringing it. I appreciated it.”

-Carol Eldridge

“Thank you so much for all of the cards, visits, well wishes, and prayers during my recent hospitalization. It is a

rich blessing to have the support of my church family during times of need.” -Bob Morris

March 1

Angela Hutchings

March 2

Eric Groves

March 5

Joel Hach

Dorothy Timmons

March 6

Mallory Payne

Phyllis Flora

Gary Huber

March 8

Audrey Miller

Brittany Beers

Margaret Perrin

March 9

Todd Gingerich

Carolyn Hach

Abigail Miller

Natalie Miller

Karen Lyndon

March 10

Jeff Showalter

Jeff Battles

March 11

David Mehl

Merle Yoder

Patty Ford

March 12

Rachelle Crowder

Kylie Gran

March 13

Wayne Smith

Dan Blucker

March 14

Gene Stutsman

March 15

Michelle Meier

Susan Colglazier

Jessica Elliott

Tim Giddens

March 16

Fred Feick

Keri Silcox

Bobbi Smith

March 17

Ellen Oswald

John Potter

Patricia Puffer

Lauren Grant

Alison Taylor

March 18

Don Showalter

March 19

Dora Aust

Jean Morris

March 20

Carole Evans

Garrette Wilde

Alexis Johnston

March 21

Evelyn Moyer

Jamie Stoll

March 22

Alison Mattern

Don Wallace

March 23

Wanda Erickson

March 24

Mardell Wiggins

March 26

Terry Beres

Arthur Beutter

Diana Kendrick

Trisha Stewart

HAPPY MARCH BIRTHDAYS!

March 27

Mike Stutzman

March 28

Garry Anglemyer

Kayla Miller

Blak Wiess

March 29

Deborah Starnes

Ron Troyer

John Fisher

March 30

Bryce Bender

Marlene Eldridge

Reagan Sheeley

March 31

Dick Hinckley

Don Stevens

Anthony Campagna

Tiffany Stoll

THINK ABOUT IT! “The difference between persever-

ance and obstinacy is that one

comes from a strong will, and the

other from a strong won’t.”

-Henry Ward Beecher

“The race is not always to the

swift, but to those who keep on

running.” -Author unknown

“It’s often the last key in the bunch

that opens the lock.” Author

unknown