New First UMC Website!

First United Methodist Church has a new website! Head over to www.fumcames.org and check it out now! The new website features a full calendar and information about our many groups and programs, but the most exciting part of the site is where it can take our ministries in the future. We know what some of the next additions will be (like posting sermons or even whole worship services for download), but even more content will come from you - the members and constituents of First UMC.

So as you're exploring this new site ask yourself, "How can this great new tool enhance the ministry that I'm already doing? What do I want to share with other members or visitors?" Then share those ideas with me or with Adam Laug, our volunteer site manager, so we can help make them come alive.

Michael Card Concert - April 18th

A great concert and great mission opportunity!

On April 18^th First Presbyterian Church in Conrad, Iowa will host Christian singer/songwriter Michael Card. Card has a special talent for “singing the scriptures” and bringing the Biblical story to life. Tickets for this concert are $12 in advance or at the door, and all proceeds will benefit a unique cooperative farming mission with farmers in Iowa and Madagascar. For more information or to order tickets, please contact Bob Kruse at 641-366-2402. To plan shared transportation, please contact Julie Primmer.

Ash Wednesday

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the church season of Lent. Ash Wednesday is an opportunity to take a step back and reflect, repent, and be renewed by God's Holy Spirit. This Ash Wednesday we will gather with members of First Christian Church and United Church of Christ - Congregational for dinner and worship. We will share a soup supper at 5:30 and worship at 6:30 at First Christian Church at the cornet of 6th and Clark.

I hope to see you there!

Summer Stretch

This summer we will partner with St. Andrews Lutheran Church and Collegiate Presbyterian Church for an exciting new youth program - Summer Stretch. Summer Stretch will include worship, Bible study, service, and recreation for middle school student, led by high school students, and supervised by adults. Activities will last from 8:30am until 4:30pm every Wednesday in July, culminating in a trip to Valley Fair on August 5th.

Details are still being finalized, but more information and registration forms will be available in the church office and mailed to members at the beginning of March.

Relay For Life

A team of high school students from FUMC plan to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. The Relay for Life will be held at Iowa State University on March 26 and 27.

Please consider helping us raise money for the American Cancer Society. We will be selling luminaries that will help decorate our “campsite”. You can purchase a luminary in honor or in memory of someone who has battled cancer. These luminaries will be for sale following worship services in March.

If you are a cancer survivor, we invite you to become an honorary member of our team. A special lap of the relay is reserved for cancer survivors.

To learn more or get involved please contact Samuel Primmer or Pastor Sean.

Puppet Festival - February 26-27

Puppet Festival is one of the biggest events of the year for our Up With Puppets ministry. It is a chance to join together with puppet groups from many different churches, share our creative ideas and get new ideas and techniques. It is an opportunity to join with others who share God's good news through puppet ministries and be encouraged and to grow in our puppet skills and our faith.

This year our group will attend Puppet Festival in Chicago on January 26th and 27th. The group has been hard at work to prepare songs to share at the festival, and we send them out with prayers that God's grace and love will change lives through their ministry.

For more information about Puppet Festival or our Up With Puppets program, please contact Pastor Sean or Kathy Van Pelt.

High School: Faith and Sexuality study begins

Wednesday the 3rd is the beginning of a 7 week study for High School youth. At 6:30, youth who have signed up for this study will meet in the North Balcony room with their leaders - Greg and Emily Fuerst and Pastor Sean. Parents will meet with Cami McColley, Carrie Copley, and Steve Moore in the Faith and Reason Classroom at the same time for a parallel discussion.

If you are a High School youth who is not signed up for this study, we hope to see you on Wednesday evenings through February and March as well. You will be welcome to join the middle school group with Susan Campbell, Sandee Bodholdt, and Elizabeth Godfrey in the West Balcony room or to help lead the children's activities with Ellen.

No matter where you plan to get involved, I hope to see you Wednesday Night!

ASP Sign-up Deadline

The deadline to sign up for the 2010 Appalachia Service Project trip is today, February 1st. I have heard from many people that they are interested in the trip, but so far have only received 12 registration forms. If you are planning to join us on this excellent mission trip, I need your registration form, along with your $80 registration fee, so that I can supply accurate numbers to the ASP Headquarters in Johnson City, Tennessee and send them the first part (more than half) of our group registration payment.

ASP is a great opportunity to grow in faith, bond as a group, and share God's love with those around us, so I want to being as many people as possible, but in need to have accurate numbers, and I get those from registration forms. So if you are planning to join First and Collegiate UMC's, either on the July 24-August 1 trip led by members of Collegiate or on the July 31-August 8 trip that I will lead, I need you to e-mail me right away and submit your registration form this week.

Registration forms are availalble in the First UMC office or online at: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATcruhTy4Q1yZGN4ODN4eDZfMGYyN3B4ZmR4&hl=en