October 2022
Greetings from your Pastor and welcome to the beginning of fall. School is back and the fall schedule is humming here at Somerville First. We are in our final preparations for this year’s Charge Conference. It is currently scheduled for Tuesday night, November 1st at Rossville UMC. Thanks to many of you for being willing to serve on our various committees, the hard part of setting our Lay Leadership for 2023 has been completed. As we look toward next year we are also beginning to look at the budget for our church. During this time of planning for next year, you may be called upon to assist us in this process. I know that you will be ready, willing and able to help us be about serving the great people of our community, sharing Christ with them and displaying a church “Where Love Abides”.
We are all facing a time where we will need to make our own feelings known within the church and to our community. With the Mid-Term elections upon us and other important questions coming to us within the church and our community, we must be ever aware of the manner that we carry ourselves. We must always make every effort to remember that those that do not see everything as we do are children of the same God that we profess. We are charged by that God to always let love shine through whatever darkness may be upon us. We are to love our enemies and work with the Holy Spirit toward our mutual salvation.
The Alabaster Box Sunday School Class has resumed meeting. They meet in the CAC in one of the class rooms. The Pairs and Spares have also moved their class into the CAC for Sunday School. Exciting changes have been made in the Student Ministry, which you will see on other pages of this document. Please feel free to contact Kim to find a place where you can fit in and/or help.
We are already making preparations to have a “Community Celebration of our Veterans”. The celebration will be on Wednesday the 9th of November and we want you to help us let our veterans know how much their service has meant for us all. If you have any ideas that will make the evening more meaningful or if you are available to help, please contact Amy Campbell.
It is my understanding that the Annual Bazaar is gearing up well. Crafts are being worked on and all of the vendor booths have been assigned. Keep that Saturday also on your calendars (November 12, 2022).
As we proceed with the business of being the Church here in Somerville, Tennessee may we endeavor to extend Christ’s love to all of our community, providing the same grace that God continues to provide to us, each and every day. And may the peace of God bless your hearts and minds as we live through these trying times.
Glory to God
Bro Don VanVoorhis
