Spotlight on Ministry - Week of December 7, 2009

Do you enjoy working in the kitchen? Is your favorite thing in the world creating delicious meals for others to enjoy? Then we have ministry opportunities for you!

Every month there are numerous opportunities to serve in kitchen related ministry. From Meals on Wheels to Midweek Encounters and from Thanksgiving meals (or other special events) to feeding guest mission teams at our facility, the kitchen is a happening place with lots of opportunities to serve.

If you have a passion for cooking and serving, then we encourage you to contact the office and we will get you connected to a kitchen ministry that works with your schedule!

Two Musical Worship Experiences on the Horizon

Part of coming together and worshiping as a group is telling about our story, the story of God, and how God's story intersects with ours. This is done week in and week out through the worship songs and hymns that we sing, the sermons we hear, the sharing of our gifts, celebrating what God is doing in our lives and praying for one another.

During special seasons of the Christian calendar, we have the privilege of experiencing our stories through special musical services provided by different choirs and groups within the church. This Advent season presents two incredible opportunities for us to experience the Christmas story through music!

After weeks of practice, our children's choir will be presenting their musical "Shepherds, Sheep, and a Savior" this Sunday at our 8:30 and 10:50 worship services.

On Sunday, December 13th, our Chancel Choir and orchestra will be presenting a Christmas Cantata at the 10:50 a.m. worship service. This cantata is the Christmas story from Prophecy to Fulfillment, with music and lyrics by Pepper Choplin, celebrated as if the story is brand new. It is his desire to offer us a fresh experience in singing of Christ’s birth. Choplin calls up folk styles to celebrate the story in Appalachian, Irish, Cajun and Early American flavors. There will be some new instruments in our orchestra, too.

Come and enjoy these special presentations of the Christmas story with your family and be sure and invite a friend!

Spotlight on Ministry - Week of November 9th, 2009

We are beginning a new series here at the UMT Port Arthur blog entitled "Spotlight on Ministry". We are increasingly getting questions about how to get into the flow of service here at UMT. To that end, we want to offer this ongoing discussion and series of posts that highlights the ministries of the church and offers you opportunities to step into service.

This week we want to highlight the Good Book. The Good Book is the bookstore inside our church that offers a wide array of Bibles, reference books, fiction and non-fiction by Christian authors and a variety of other items.

Currently, the bookstore is open on Wednesday afternoons and Sunday mornings. We would love to be able to offer this resource to folks coming in for Saturday evening services and at other times. In order to do this, we need your help!

If you would be interested in learning the ropes and serving in this ministry, we invite you to contact Ray Cline at: rjcline@hotmail.com and he can give you more information.

Blessings on your journey!

Upcoming Concert

Hello family,

I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that we have another big event coming up at our church. On Saturday, November 14th, Kerri Crocker and Shelly Wilson will be in concert in our sanctuary. Many of you know Kerri from previous visits and Kerri and Shelly have been ministering together with their music for a number of years.

This concert is absolutely free (CD's will be available for purchase). The concert begins at 5:00 p.m. with the Encounters Worship Team doing a short opening set. Then Kerri and Shelly will take over until about 6:30 p.m.

One of the things that I have been most impressed with when these two have come to do an event is how they are able to connect to a variety of age groups. They will cover some golden oldies and will have some fresh stuff from their latest CDs. It will surely be a concert that you won't want to miss!

If you would like to find out more about Kerri and Shelly and to listen to some of their music before the concert, I invite you to visit their websites listed below:
www.kerricrocker.com
www.shellywilson.com

If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at acts242@hotmail.com.

Remember, the best is yet to come!

Russell

Trunk or Treat

Today was a big day at the United Methodist Temple. It was time for our annual Trunk or Treat event. It is estimated that we had more than 700 adults and children come through to share in the food and fun.

Here are a couple of the pictures from today's fun:





To see more photos from this event, check out the Encounters Facebook page at www.facebook.com/encounters and while you're there, become a fan!

T-shirt Final Reminder

This Sunday will be the last opportunity this year to order one of the many items available with the new United Methodist Temple logo on it!

If you have not already ordered and picked up your UMT items, come by and see us in the narthex this Sunday, October 4th!

Here are the items you have to choose from (and they come in a variety of colors and styles):

T-shirts - $12.00
Hats - $12.00
Tote Bags - $15.00
Embroidered Shirts - $29.00 and up

Don't miss out on this opportunity!

Hands on Mission

Today was an awesome day! Nine folks came together today to serve. We had a few folks from each of our services (Contemporary, Traditional, and Encounters) participate together. We spackled, hung doors, hung protective sheeting in a shower to make it usable, got a garage door opener working, replaced 17 cabinet closures, and a couple of child latches. It was a very productive day.

We got most of the things on the list that we wanted to get done, done. We will be returning on October 10th to finish patching the cracks and painting. If you would like to join us to help complete this Random Act of Kindness, please contact Russell Hall in the church office or at acts242@hotmail.com

Shirt Sales Reminder

The communications team reminds us that the final opportunity to purchase t-shirts, embroidered shirts, hats, and tote bags with the new United Methodist Temple logo on them is approaching fast!

These items available come in a variety of colors and styles and are priced as follows:

T-shirts - $12.00
Hats - $12.00
Tote Bags - $15.00
Embroidered Shirts - $29.00 and up

This final opportunity to order/purchase these items will begins THIS SUNDAY, September 27th and runs through Sunday, October 4th. Look for the communications team to be located in the narthex on Sunday mornings.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this team by buying these UMT items to wear as a witness in the community.

See you Sunday!

More about Encounters

Over the last couple of days, we have come across a number of people that are still unclear about what Encounters is and what it is not. In an attempt to help clarify, I want to offer the following details:

Encounters is the name that we have given to a very large outreach program here at the United Methodist Temple. Currently, there are a number of different ministries that are occurring under the "Encounters - an outreach of the United Methodist Temple" label.

#1 - Saturday evenings we are having a worship service (currently taking place about every other week, but scheduled to be weekly after the first of the year). This is a third worship service at UMT and is open to EVERYONE. The service follows a different order of worship and has a different style and feel to it, but it is a worship service that is open to anyone that wants to come. At this service, we preach a relevant gospel message that is applicable to everyone. This is not, I REPEAT IS NOT, just a service for folks in recovery. This is a service for anyone wanting to grow in their relationship with Christ (just like any other service here at the Temple).

#2 - On Thursdays we are offering a Bible study that we are currently calling Midweek Encounters (but the name is subject to change) that discusses the 12 steps of recovery from a biblical perspective. Because the steps came out of the scriptures we feel that they have some relevance to all Christians whether they are in a 12 step program or not. We believe that the 12 steps are 12 steps to a life of freedom in relationship to Jesus Christ and as such, everyone can benefit from studying them. Very basic Christian principles are at the heart of these steps. Things like honesty, faith, hope, love, confession, amends making, etc are all taken directly from the scriptures. These are things that all Christians are directed towards. As such, this class is open to anyone that wants to explore the relationship between the scriptures and the steps as it relates to their lives.

#3 - Came to Believe is the name of our Christian 12 step meeting that is specifically directed towards people in recovery. It operates like any AA, CA, NA or other 12 step group, but is open to people wrestling with any kind of addiction. This is a place where we can hold one another accountable to our programs of recovery and process what is going on in our lives from week to week. It is also a place where we do not have to check our relationship with Christ at the door.

#4 - Random Acts of Kindness are just our ways of being missional and evangelistic. Maybe a better way to put it is that these are additional opportunities to reach out to our community with the love of Christ. Sometimes this means taking care packages to families waiting in ICU, while other times it means working on a house (painting, etc). Through small gifts of service we are able to share the love of Christ with people in our communities.

#5 Lifegroups - Because the larger faith community meets on Saturday evenings, they miss out on Sunday school opportunities. Lifegroups is the small group version of Sunday School. These groups get together to pray for one another, study together, and serve together. These little communities help keep people from becoming disconnected in the larger community of faith here at the United Methodist Temple.

I hope that these descriptions have been helpful. I would ask that you do me a favor: if you are still unclear about any of the new outreach ministries or about our new worship service, please ask. It is important that everyone know and understand what is happening. With the right information, we can help direct people to the best fit for their worshiping and growing needs here at the Temple. To meet with me or find out more information about these happenings, please call the church office or email me at acts242@hotmail.com.

Many thanks and many blessings,

Russell

New Community Information Service

From time to time we receive information about community services that we feel is especially important to pass on to you. Our current submission discusses one more tool that we have at our disposal to receive information relating to weather and law enforcement issues. Check it out below:

New Community Information Service

The Cities of Groves, Nederland, and Port Neches [and soon Port Arthur and Beaumont] are joining a Community Information Service designed to deliver important, timely information to residents regarding weather related and law enforcement issues. You can register for this service at www.Nixle.com .

This service, Nixle, delivers trustworthy and important neighborhood-level public safety and community event notifications instantly sent to you by cell phone text message, email, and web. There is NO Spam or Advertising.

Nixle is completely free (standard text message rates apply for cell phone subscribers who do not have text plans with their cell phone providers).

The service is simple to use, reliable and trusted. Register now and learn more at www.nixle.com.

The cities ask you to share this information with your neighbors or friends in the community and recommend that they register to receive neighborhood information.

Stay connected to your world, from the public safety alerts that are relevant to you, to the important neighborhood advisories you want to know about, and other valuable community information. You decide what information you want and whether you want it sent to your cell phone, email, or just simply over the web.

To register, go to www.Nixle.com and click on the “Register Now” button. Fill out the forms, and you’re done!

If you need help in registering, the City of Groves has equipped the staff at the Groves Public Library to help you. Please visit the Groves Public Library and ask them to help you register for Nixle.com .

Please share this information with your friends and family!

Labor Day Celebration!

Are you looking for something to do on Monday, September 7th!?!

We have just the thing. You are invited to come join us as we open our doors to the community for a Labor Day Family Fun Day. Check out the flyer below for all the details:



In addition to the bounce house we will have a 20' high superslide and lots of fun and games for both adults and children. Don't forget to register to win discounts on manicures and pedicures or a $50.00 gift card or 1 gig Ipod Shuffle or much, much more!

Shirt Sales - A Final Opportunity

The communications team wants to let you all know that there will be one final opportunity to purchase t-shirts, embroidered shirts, hats, and tote bags with the new United Methodist Temple logo on them.

These items come in a variety of colors and styles and are priced as follows:

T-shirts - $12.00
Hats - $12.00
Tote Bags - $15.00
Embroidered Shirts - $29.00 and up

The final opportunity to order/purchase these items will be from September 27th through October 4th. Look for the communications team to be located in the narthex during those dates.

The communications team wants to give an EXTRA BIG THANKS to everyone who has supported this team by buying these UMT items to wear as a witness in the community.

Keep an eye out here, in the bulletin and in the newsletter for more information!

Blessed to be a Blessing to Others

This morning in worship, Jesse talked about living our lives out of the overflow of our hearts. Simply put, we are blessed to be a blessing to others.

Jesse reminded us that lives are changed not by what we say or profess as much as by what we do. When we go on mission trips or do outreach, our actions speak volumes.

I am writing this to let you know that the missions team that went to South Dakota is not the only group of folks that has been living out of the overflow of their hearts the last couple of weeks.

Earlier this month, you were invited to participate in a hands on missions opportunity right here in Port Arthur. Encounters and UMW collected school supplies for two different projects. When we heard that all of the bags for United Methodist Women were taken and filled, we were elated. But it didn't stop there.

Working together we gathered more than 17 tubs of school supplies. In addition to these supplies, hundreds of dollars were donated to our little project. When it was all said and done, hundreds of folders, pens, pencils, spiral notebooks, packs of paper, highlighters, scissors, erasers, markers, map pencils, Kleenex, hand sanitizers, and the like were gathered together.

On Thursday, August 20th, Ken Burke and Russell Hall gathered with other Rotary Club members and Cedar Ridge staff to fill and hand out 72 back packs to families with financial need. The children helped ranged from Kindergarten to 5th grade. But we're not done yet.

This coming Wednesday, the remaining supplies will be taken to Sam Houston Elementary School and will help more than 150 teachers and students get the school year started on the right foot.

Your one simple Random Act of Kindness will impact more than 200 lives. We have truly been blessed to be a blessing to others!

Thank you for your continued faithfulness and support.

We are already planning for future Random Acts of Kindness. Keep an eye out here and in the newsletter for other opportunities to continue to live out of the overflow of God's grace.

Remember, the best is yet to come!

Russell

Encounters Update

There are a couple of really important things getting ready to take place with our new ministry - Encounters - and we wanted to take a moment to pass along the information to you.

MIDWEEK ENCOUNTERS:

What is it?
- a 13 week study that looks at the twelve steps of recovery from a biblical perspective. It will be a time of worship, prayer, testimony, Bible study and growth.

When is it?
- Thursday evenings beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Where is it?
- The United Methodist Temple, 4101 Highway 73, in the Life Lessons room.

Who can come?
- Absolutely anyone. Whether you are just curious about the workings of the 12 steps and how they relate to the Bible or are looking to grow in your own journey of recovery, all are invited to come.

Additional info:
- Childcare is being provided free of charge
- A sandwich dinner is being provided free of charge
- All materials are being provided free of charge

Please RSVP to the church office or by emailing acts242@hotmail.com if you are planning on attending to where we can have enough food and materials for everyone.

LABOR DAY FAMILY FUN DAY

On Monday, September 7th, we are going to open our hearts and doors to family and friends for a day of bounce houses, super slides, games, food, door prizes and other give aways...all absolutely free of charge. The best part is that the majority of the activities will be indoors, so we will play and fellowship come rain or shine (and think about how nice it will be to beat the heat for a little while!)!

If you and your family or friends are not doing anything on Labor Day, come by and see us at the church between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to join in the festivities.

ENCOUNTERS WORSHIP

Mark your calendars for Encounters first worship service at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 19th! Childcare and a children's program will take place during worship (we will release the kids part way through the service).

This is the first of our preview services, which gives us (and you) an opportunity to worship together and iron out any glitches between now and the time we launch in January. We will have about 7 or so of these between now and the end of the year.

Please join us for these and other events coming soon here at the United Methodist Temple! And keep an eye out here, in the Messenger and Template for even more news.

Things to Remember

We wanted to take an opportunity to remind you all of a few important things going on in the life of the church.

First, if you have not already signed up for portrait time with Life Touch, please do so in the narthex on Sunday or go online to our website to make your appointment. This is not Olan Mills...there will be no hard sales and when we are done, we will have a beautiful and up to date photo directory of our church family. Remember that the directory won't be complete without your participation! If you are unable to make an appointment in the time slots available, contact Carol Wommack to submit your own photo.

Second, we want to thank everyone that helped fill all of the bags of school supplies for United Methodist Women and UMCOR. If you missed the opportunity to be a part of that hands on missions activity, don't worry, Encounters is still collecting school supplies for children in the Port Arthur ISD. You can pick up a list of supplies online (or ask Russell for one) and you can drop your supplies off in the tubs provided outside of the sanctuary. Remember that we are partnering with the Rotary Club to provide 200 backpacks to children in need in our immediate area (they are providing the backpacks and we are including some basic supplies). We are asking that all donated supplies be at the church by Sunday, August 16th (and if you would prefer for us to do the shopping, we will gladly welcome your donations and do the shopping for you!).

Finally, remember that this is the last Sunday to order your new UMT shirts. Whether you choose mesh, T, or button up, we encourage you to support UMT (and the communications department) by purchasing and wearing one of our new shirts. With all of the designs, styles and colors available, there is a shirt for everyone! See Ruth in the narthex for more information or to submit your orders.

On a completely different note, this weekend Russell Hall will be preaching both services here at the Temple. This will give Russell and opportunity to meet more of the congregation and vice versa. Come join us this weekend as we take a look at the opening verses of chapter 8 in the Gospel of John and explore the realities of "The Gospel Truth"!

Hope in Times of Grief

This week, Rhonda Lynn Broussard, a very dear and special member of our church family went home to be with the Lord. Visitation will take place at Levingston's Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and services will be here at the UM Temple at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.

As we remember Rhonda we are reminded of laughing and singing and genuine worship (some of my own fondest memories are of her worshiping with us at the VBS kickoff and the times that she was able to sing with the praise team). We are reminded of times of joy and the blessing that she was to our individual lives and the life of our church. As we lean into God in these moments of loss, I am reminded of these words penned by Charles Wesley:

If Death My Friend and Me Divide

If death my friend and me divide,
thou dost not, Lord, my sorrow chide,
or frown my tears to see;
restrained from passionate excess,
thou bidst me mourn in calm distress
for them that rest in thee.

I feel a strong immortal hope,
which bears my mournful spirit up
beneath its mountain load;
redeemed from death, and grief, and pain,
I soon shall find my friend again
within the arms of God.

Pass a few fleeting moments more
and death the blessing shall restore
which death has snatched away;
for me thou wilt the summons send,
and give me back my parted friend
in that eternal day.

Charles Wesley, 1762.

I pray that these words are as encouraging to you as they have been to me. They have been words of hope in many times of loss in my life.

Join me as we continue to pray for the family and for one another throughout this season:

Eternal God,
we Praise you for the great company of all those
who have finished their course in faith
and now rest from their labor.
We praise you for those dear to us
whom we name in our hearts before you.
Especially we praise you for Rhonda Lynn Broussard,
whom you have graciously received into your
presence.
To all of these, grant your peace.
Let perpetual light shine upon them;
and help us so to believe where we have not seen,
that your presence may lead us through our years,
and bring us at last with them
into the joy of your home
not made with hands but eternal in the heavens;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Preparing for Sunday Worship

Have you ever run up against the odds? Have you ever been discouraged by people and obstacles in life? If you answered yes, then you won't want to miss Rev. Jesse Brannen's sermon entitled "Discouragement" this coming Sunday.

As preparation for Sunday worship, we invite you to sit with the passage of scripture that Rev. Brannen will be preaching from. It comes to us from the prophet Nehemiah, chapter 13, verses 6b-13, and reads as follows (from the New International Version):

"Some time later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah's household goods out of the room. I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense. I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and singers responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. So I rebuked the officials and asked them, 'Why is the house of God neglected?' Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts. All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and oil into the storerooms. I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because these men were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their brothers."

We look forward to seeing you Sunday morning!

Prayers for all of those going to BIG HOUSE

This Thursday our junior high youth will be going to BIG HOUSE. What's that you ask?

BIG HOUSE is an acronym, which stands for Believing In God and Helping Others Understand through Service Everywhere.

BIG HOUSE is for Jr. High youth (those who have completed 6-8th Grade), who work to repair and repaint needful churches and social agencies. Work Projects for BIG HOUSE include; painting churches, doing landscaping, handrail repair, preparing meals, stocking food at a pantry, etc.

On Thursday, more than 2 dozen of our youth and a number of adult volunteers will be heading out to participate in this year's BIG HOUSE.

We ask that you keep the youth and adult volunteers in your prayers this week. Pray for the work that God will do in them and through them. Pray for their safe travels.

Thanks to each of you going on this trip for your faithfulness and service! We are anticipating stories and pictures from the trip when you return. You are truly a blessing!

UMTemple Shirt Sale starts Sunday

The Communication Committee of UMT is sponsoring a shirt sale - the best way to get out the word that UMT is a great place to grow spiritually and personally is for YOU, the body [and hands and feet!] of UMT to 'show your colors' by wearing a UMT shirt when you minister and work and enjoy recreation activities.

Shirts available are: T-shirts, polo shirts, dri-mesh shirts, denim shirts, and dress shirts. The t-shirts are screen-printed with the UMT logo, all other shirts are embroidered. We also have hats and tote bags. Stop by the table in the main hallway to see the samples!

Order yours soon so you can show your colors and your support of UMT to everyone you meet!

any questions, email Ruth at rhstanley[at]yahoo[dot]com.....

Encounters Update

This past Saturday (July 11th), we launched our first Christian 12 step meeting called Came to Believe. The meeting was both well attended and well received. Finally, Port Arthur has a 12 step group where Christ is central to the recovery process.

This meeting is an ongoing meeting that takes place every Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. and we want to encourage everyone to help spread the word about this fantastic ministry. If you know of someone that may be interested they can contact Russell in the church office for more information or to pick up flyers for the meeting.

This is just another step in our process toward launching a 3rd service and a larger recovery ministry here at the United Methodist Temple. The larger ministry, known as Encounters, is beginning to take on a life of its own. Much has been done in the past month to further the process along, but there is still much to do.

If you have heard about Encounters and wondered how to get more information or get plugged in, then this is for you:

This coming Thursday (July 16th) at 6:00 p.m., we will be hosting an Encounters launch team meeting in the Life Lessons room at the Temple. The meeting is open to everyone, whether you are just seeking more information or are looking for somewhere to serve; all are welcome.

This week we will take a closer look at our upcoming schedule of events and get updates on what teams are forming and what some next steps are to stay on track for our target launch date of January 9th, 2010.

Come join the excitement and see what God is doing here at the United Methodist Temple!

A Day Worth Celebrating

Today, folks from all of our Sunday school classes and from both of our worship services mixed and mingled as we celebrated the conclusion of our successful building campaign. How did we celebrate you ask? With lots and lots of food, of course!

To all of those that prepared the food and those that helped serve and staff the brunch, we offer a huge round of applause and a hearty thank you for your gifts of service. For those that helped to make the vision for the building campaign a reality, we offer our thanks to God for the gift that you all continue to be to our community. A final round of thanks goes to our audio visual folks for an incredible slide show of all of the physical work that has taken place at our church over the past few years.

We encourage you to keep and eye out here, on the website, in the Messenger and in the Template for more opportunities to fellowship (and eat!).

Recovery at the Temple

We believe that love, mercy, grace, redemption, and reconciliation are at the heart of the gospel. With this in mind, we want to continue to be intentional about meeting people where they are at and providing resources and opportunities for them to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

To that end we would like to introduce you to a new outreach at the United Methodist Temple.

On July 11th, we will launch our first Christian 12 step meeting called Came to Believe.

This meeting utilizes the 12 steps, principles, and promises that are a part of other 12 step organizations (that were originally birthed out of a Christian organization known as the Oxford Group), but recognizes that the God of our understanding is found in the triune God whose face is Jesus Christ.

This group is open to all regardless of what the issue is that we wrestle with. This is because although we have found that our behaviors of choice may manifest themselves in a variety of ways (codependence, alcoholism, drug addiction, food issues, sex, gambling, cutting, relationship issues, and so on), we have discovered that the underlying causes of these issues are quite similar. Additionally, we have discovered that there is but one solution - a growing relationship with Christ.

If you or someone you know is looking for a safe place to process and work through these various issues, we invite you to join us for Came to Believe!

Here's the 411:

CAME TO BELIEVE

What:

A Christian 12 step meeting focused not on the differences of our dependencies, but rather on the healing and wholeness that is offered to us through Jesus Christ.

Who:

For anyone looking to strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ while journeying the 12 steps of recovery.

When:

Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m.
Beginning July 11, 2009

Where:

The United Methodist Temple
4101 Highway 73

Meeting will be held in the Life Lessons Room
(Just look for the signs near the East entrance of the church)

For more information (including directions to our facility) contact Russell at the church at (409) 962-5762.

Our Concert with Jana Alayra

If you hang around the United Methodist Temple for very long, you will discover two very important things. First, we have programming and worship that reaches a variety of interests. Whether it is contemporary or traditional, children or adults, discipleship oriented or social, there is something happening at the Temple for just about everyone. The second thing that you will notice with anything that the Temple undertakes, is a level of excellence. We simply won't engage in a program or outreach that doesn't meet this core value of ours.

To that end, huge props must go to our Children's Director, Brook Wommack, for her work in organizing and implementing an incredible Vacation Bible School kickoff last Sunday. For those who weren't able to be at the Temple last Sunday night, we were blessed with the return of Jana Alayra. She lead us in more than an hour of worship, story telling, testimony, dancing and laughter. It was an incredible time of fellowship and worship together. The sanctuary was alive with more than 200 people in attendance.

Here is a slide show containing some of the great moments of the concert (my favorites are the ones with the dads dancing with Jana!):



Special thanks to Jana, her husband and Brook for another great concert!

A Connectional Church

The United Methodist Temple is a connectional church.

As a local and regional expression of the United Methodist Church, we reach out to numerous zip codes and communities with the grace of God, seeking to connect people in deeper and more meaningful relationships with God and with each other. This is reflected in our vision:
"A joyful people coming to Christ in a deeper, more intimate relationship,empowered and emboldened by the Spirit of God to restore hope, break down barriers, enrich lives, and reshape futures toward the fulfillment of God’s purposes."
and our purpose:
"We strive to be a loving family of Christ, extending grace to all through joyous, Christ-centered
Fellowship
Learning
Outreach
Worship, and
Service."
A place where Christ's love FLOWS!

But that is not what makes us connectional in the United Methodist sense of the word. What makes us connectional is our covenantal relationship with other United Methodist Churches in varying size regions expressed as Districts, Annual Conferences, Jurisdictions, and so on.

At times, people want to know what is happening in the life of the larger structures in which we participate. Simply put, they want to know what is going on in our 'connection'. To that end, we have placed links on the right of this blog that will take you directly to the websites that are maintained for these other parts of our connection.

Are you interested in what the Bishop and cabinet are up to in our Annual Conference? Are you curious about the next district wide training event or gathering? Are you excited to find out about what new curricula or discipleship tools are being developed for use in the local church? Are you wanting to know about all the ways we are involved in mission and ministry around the world? If you said yes to any of these questions, then the information you are looking for is now only a click away!

We invite you to check out the links on the right and see what is happening in the rest of our connection. Check back often for updates and information regarding the Southeast District, the Texas Annual Conference, and the larger United Methodist Church. We are truly part of a meaningful connection that is having a tremendous impact in the world. We hope that you are blessed by your participation in the connection!

Our New Blog

First, let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Russell Hall and I am the newest addition to the staff here at the United Methodist Temple. I just recently began my journey with the Temple on June 10th of this year. It has been a whirlwind ride and I am loving every minute of it.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to meet and hang out with many folks from both services. I would like to offer you my thanks for the way that you have made Erica, Bailey and I feel welcome. From the pool parties, ice-cream socials, and craw fish boils to the times of conversation and prayer, you all have truly made us feel like members of the family. For that we are eternally grateful.

In the weeks and months to come, we will continue to meet and hang out with as many folks as we have the opportunity to. If there is anything that I can do to help equip, empower, or encourage your ministry here at the Temple, please don't hesitate to call the church office.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about a few of the exciting things that I am a part of here at the Temple.

First, you will notice that this blog and the website both are undergoing some changes. I am working with Ruth, and together we are redesigning these two communications tools with an eye towards functionality and outreach. You are likely to experience some changes in the look and feel of both sites in the weeks to come as we seek to make these sites more interactive and user friendly and even more reflective of who we are as a community of faith here at the Temple. While we will continue to update the website with current events, pictures and calendar items, this blog will serve as an additional way in which we can communicate what is going on at the Temple. On the blog we will be able to post even more pictures and articles about our life together. Additionally, we would like to see the blog become a place of deep reflection, conversation and participation. One of the ways that this can happen in the future is through conversations about our Sunday sermons, our Bible studies, our Sunday School classes, and posted Christian thoughts for the day. To that end, we would love to hear how what you experience on Sundays (or in Bible study or one of these other venues) is making a real impact on your life. Such testimony, when shared with others, can have a deep and transformative impact on those around us.

The second thing that I have the privilege of being a part of is the development of a third service and outreach ministry called Encounters. In a nutshell, Encounters is a place for folks who wrestle with all kinds of hurts, hangups and habits. It is a place for them to encounter the grace of God and experience real healing, real redemption, and real wholeness. From time to time you will see information posted here, on the website, in the Messenger, and in the Template; but if you are interested in following what is happening with Encounters in more detail, you are welcome to follow the Encounters blog by clicking here or on the link on the right side of this page.

It is an exciting time here at the United Methodist Temple. I am honored to be a part of what God is doing in this incredible place. Stay tuned for more updates very soon!

Shalom,

Russell