WEEKLY CONNECTION VOLUME 47 No. 8 FEBRUARY 22, 2017

March 1, 2017 Service & Imposition of Ashes

6 p.m.—Sanctuary

Primetimers $2 Movie Night!

Tuesday, February 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the CLC (starting a little earlier than

usual this month)

The Horse Whisperer

Call Kathryn 213-1337 to reserve a seat and

box of popcorn.

MARCH 1, 2017 TUPELO FURNITURE MARKET, BLDG 5

TICKETS: $15

Ticket Locations: Wayfill Jewelry, Stones Jewelry, Midnight Pottery, Joyful Creations Gift Market, Sweet Tea and Biscuits Café, Room to Room Furniture, Salvation Army Social Ser-vice Office, Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary Members & Advisory Members, and at the door the day of the event

We need volunteers to donate bake goods or serve soup. If you would be willing to help, please call (662)842-9222, (662) 231-6063.

The Sesquicentennial Committee is pleased to announce that our ninth focus in the celebration of First United Methodist Church of Tupelo's yearlong 150th anniversary celebration is to bring back Bishop Larry Goodpaster to preach. Bishop Goodpaster earned his B.A. degree from Millsaps College and earned his M. Div. degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Upon receiving his M. Div. degree, he served a variety of ap-pointments in Mississippi including Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church from 1998-2000 as well as District Superintendent of the Tupelo Dis-trict. Bishop Goodpaster was elected to the episcopacy at the 2000 Southeast-ern Jurisdictional Conference and assigned to the Alabama-West Florida Area where he served for eight years. In 2008, he was assigned to the Western North Carolina Conference where he served for eight years prior to his retire-ment on September 1, 2016. In 2008, Bishop Goodpaster also had his book, “There’s Power in the Connection” published by Abingdon Press. He and his wife, Deborah, were married on September 26, 1971 while he was attending Candler School of Theology. They have two daughters, Amy and Lucy, and they are blessed with five grandchildren. Please review the “fun facts” in the upcoming weeks to learn more about Bishop Goodpaster and his ministry. We invite you to make a priority of attending on Sunday, February 26 as we welcome back Bishop Goodpaster as he preaches at all three services. As an additional reminder, we want to flag two upcoming church priorities. First, please make sure to sign up for the pictorial directory photos in Febru-ary or April. The available timeslots are as follows: February 21-24 from 2:00-9:00 p.m.; February 25 from 10:00-5:00 p.m.; April 11-14 from 2:00-9:00 p.m.; April 15 from 10:00-5:00 p.m. Second, we want to flag a church

wide event associated with our sesquicentennial year that we want to make sure you have on your calendar in advance – Sunday, April 2 for the Feast of the Family. This event will start at 5:30 pm and be filled with fellowship, food, and a program involving information about our history, interviews of current church members, and pictures from the Sesquicentennial year. We will share additional infor-mation about how to offer support closer to this event, but we hope you will go ahead now and lock in this date in your calendar as a priority! Fun Fact for Wednesday, February 22—Did you know that Bishop Goodpastor was the Senior Pastor when our church celebrated our Centennial Anniversary of the Sanctuary Building? This celebration took place in January 2000, and our Sanctuary is the oldest brick structure in Tupelo.

-Stewart McMillan

A Message from the Sesquicentennial Committee

LIBRARY NEWS

New in the Library:

For Such a Time as This: Stories of Women from the Bible, Retold for Girls

This book, written by best- selling author Angie Smith, retells 40 remarkable stories. It offers a fascinating look at the lives of biblical women and then links each story to today’s reader by closing with a reminder about God’s goodness.

The Congregational Life Committee needs your financial help! Our mission project for Shrove Tuesday will be putting together Health Kits for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). According to their web-site, UMCOR is a ministry of The United Methodist Church through the General Board of Global Ministries. UMCOR’s work reaches people in more than 80 countries, including the United States.

Relief-supply kits help provide care for the most vulnerable people during times of crisis. UMCOR collects 6 types of kits for global distribution and cleaning buckets for US distribution after storms. Kits help sustain eve-ryday life for people who lack ready access to essential supplies. They provide vital support for UM-COR’s global development work and make a tangible difference in people’s lives

Please consider making a financial gift to our project. Your tax deductable contribution can be made by noting “Health Kits” on your check written to FUMC Tupelo. Thank you for helping us meet our goal of supplying 420 Heath kits!

JOB OPPORTUNITY Meals on Wheels Coordinator

Meals on Wheels, a part of Methodist Senior Services, delivers meals on a daily ba-sis to the homes of the Elderly in the Tupelo community. The Meals on Wheels Co-ordinator is responsible for organizing meal routes, obtaining vendors to provide food and recruiting and managing volunteers.

Qualified candidate should have experience working with the Elderly, public rela-tions or fundraising experience and excellent public speaking skills. College courses preferred with excellent computer skills required. Excellent driving record and the ability to pass a Motor Vehicle Report.

Methodist Senior Services offers excellent benefits with 12 locations in Mississippi. We offer a variety of services and options to meet the diverse needs of our elders. These include: Apartments and Cottages; Personal Care and Assisted Living; Green House Homes; Skilled Nursing Care; Memory Care; Pharmacy; Outreach Programs and Therapy. We have over 1000 employees who are dedicated to serving the elders in: Gulfport, Tupelo, Raymond, West Point, Clarksdale, Columbus, Leakesville, Yazoo City, Hernando, Columbus and Hattiesburg.

For Consideration Send Resume to: Merrin Cantin, V.P. Human Resources Methodist Senior Services; Merrin.cantin@mss.org

UMC United Methodist Women is sponsoring a shoebox ministry in our congregation through UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). Similar to Franklin Graham’s Christmas Shoebox project, these boxes are given to children in Third World countries as a faithful gesture of caring. There are some key differences, however.

Our boxes are delivered to and distributed by the United Methodist missionaries in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Dominican Republic, and the boxes are provided free-of-charge to us by UMCOR. They also provide a small Spanish language coloring book that tells the Christmas story, although the boxes are distributed year-round, not just for Christmas. A list of appropriate items and instructions is included with the box, so that there is uniformity and also some freedom to customize the contents for specific gen-der and age of the child. Each box requires $5 for shipping overseas and for handling expenses incurred by the missionary when the shipment arrives (by truck, car, or cart to remote locations).

Our plan is to offer the boxes in the Gathering Room and at Wesley Hall during church events beginning February 26 through March. Completed boxes can be returned at any time to the church office, with the goal of April 2-9 for final return of all boxes for shipping. For those who would like to participate without filling a box, please consider helping with the shipping fees. Make a check out to FUMC and designate “Mission Shoeboxes” so we can cover more boxes. Our goal: Collect 150 completed boxes to com-memorate our Sesquicentennial Anniversary! More information will be available with the boxes and through Sunday School classes. Please consider helping UMW with this simple, inexpensive, but very loving ministry.

~~Kathryn Gatlin, for United Methodist Women

The United Methodist Women will collect Toilet Paper for Helping Hands

during March. Please bring these donations to the Old Fellowship Hall

and Wesley Hall.

CHILDREN’S NEWS

CHILDREN'S COUNCIL MEETING

Sunday, February 26 12 p.m.

Wesley Hall

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL Mark Your Calendars

June 5-9, 2017 A Mighty Fortress

CAMP LAKE STEPHENS 2017 Camp Lake Stephens brochures for 2017 are now in the office. You may also go online to www.camplakestephens.com or call the camp office at 662-234-3350 to register. Be sure to register

early because camps fill up quickly!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26 8:45 Worship, Wesley Hall 9:45 Fellowship, Gathering Room 10:00 Sunday School 11:00 Worship, Sanctuary 12:00 Children’s Council Mtg, WH 4:00 Scouts, FH 5:00 Youth Choir 6:00 Youth Small Groups 6:00 6th Grade Small Group MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27 9:00 MDO/Kindergarten 5:00 Preschool Teacher Training, GR 5:15 Stewardship Committee, CR 7:00 Scouts, Scout Hut TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28 8:00-11:30 Clothes Closet Open for Donations 9:00 Preschool/Kindergarten

9:00 Invitation Worship Planning, CR 10:00 Faithbuilders, 207 10:30 Staff Meeting, Conference Room 2:00 Littlest Angel Choir 2:30 CASA, CLC 3:15 Carol Choir 5:15 Shrove Tuesday, WH 5:30 Primetimer Movie Night, CLC WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 6:45 Youth Prayer Breakfast, Connie’s 9:00 Preschool/MDO/Kindergarten 2:30 CASA, CLC 3:30 Jubilee Singers, Jubilation Choir 6:00 Ash Wednesday Service, Sanctuary 6:00 Youth Worship 7:00 Chancel Choir THURSDAY, MARCH 2 9:00 Preschool/Kindergarten

9:00 Invitation Worship Planning, WH 2:30 CASA, CLC 5:00 Preschool Teacher Training, WH FRIDAY, MARCH 3 7:00 Prayer Group, Chapel 9:00 Kindergarten 2:30 CASA, CLC 5:30 Cayson/Mize Wedding Rehearsal, Sanctuary SATURDAY, MARCH 4 9:00-12:00 Helping Hands Open 9:00 Preschool Teacher Training, WH 5:00 Cayson/Mize Wedding , Sanctuary

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH—TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI CALENDAR FOR FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4, 2017

SERVING SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2017

ACOLYTE/CRUCIFER: 8:45 Traditional: Gavin McCoy (A), Anne T. Green (C) 8:45: Addie Eckard (A) 11: Mary Hodges (A), Baxter Bray (C) TV OPERATORS: Joe Bailey, Jim Holder, Jason Pannell SANCTUARY SOUND: 8:45: Butch Dendy 11: Robert Marion GREETERS: 8:45: Elsie/Dick White 8:45 Invitation: Stephen Southworth 11: Polly/Richard Crenshaw USHERS: 8:45: Jim Black, Jim Denton, Ron Stephens, Phillip Wil-liams 8:45 Invitation: Chan Brown, Jack Foster, Lynn Hol-land, David Pace 11:00: Mickey Akers, Mike Armour, Marshall Briscoe, Randy Daniels, Phil Ruff

STEWARDSHIP 2017 Budget Goal.....................................$2,424,213.45 2017 Needed Weekly ....................................$45,739.88 2017 Two Month Budgeted Amount ..........$404,034.75 Last Week’s Offering through 02/16 ............$74,095.54 2017 Offering through 02/16 ......................$432,287.29 Spent to Date 2017 through 02/16 ..............$279,497.47