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bring it up to the level it needs to be in or-der to meet the requirements of the con-ference. One aspect of this is the necessity for a yearly Safe Sanctuaries training for ALL church leaders, as well as, every church members. If you are involved in the life of the church in any aspect, you need to consider becoming trained, so that you can’t help others of us follow these important guidelines. More information about the upcoming training is detailed further in the newsletter.

Our second goal is to revive the church newsletter, which I am aware had fallen between the cracks over the past few months. Beginning with the May 2017 issue that you are reading, the church’s leaders and staff are committed to seeing that you receive a high quality, informa-tional, relevant and timely news. As those of us who are a part of the Celebrate Re-covery ministry know, situations do not happen over night, and cannot be fixed over night. It will be a work in progress while we make our way through the de-tails of the best content and effective means of delivery, as well as, how to use it to spread the Gospel to those outside the church; especially, the unchurched.

Andretti and I are currently engaging in discussions of a weekly electronic publi-cation that will provide almost real-time updates. As always, it is a privilege to serve you as your pastor. Pastor Josh

Wedowee First United Methodist Church

Loving God - Serving Others - Growing Disciples

The Hickman Herald

Leadership Training 2017

“Give me 100 leaders who hate nothing but sin and love nothing but God, and we'll change the world.” - John

Wesley

The first of March we held a leadership training event. This was done for couple of reasons. The first was that people had con-fessed to me that they did not understand their role on a particular committee in which they served, or even understood the purpose of a specific committee. Secondly, this event was more than educa-tional training. It was an important time for the church to set goals for 2017.

The leaders who attended were chal-lenged to propose two attainable goals. Although, a slight sidebar discussion developed regarding the purchase of a church van, it was determined that was not a ministry goal and the shift was back to more readily attainable goals. Following a very good discussion, it became clear that two worth while goals would be to create a Safe Sanctuaries pol-icy which would meet or exceed the North Alabama Conference requirements and to improve upon church wide communica-tion.

The first goal is to work on a Safe Sanctuaries policy. Some of you may be a little confused by this goal since we do have a policy that is already in place. However, today it requires some s work to

May 2017

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A Note from Church Council Chairman, Carl Battles… First, I would again like to welcome Laura Campbell and Andretti Daniel as new members to our staff here at WFUMC and thank you both for the great job you are doing.

Our church council is made up of the chairmen of the various committees and other key positions, but our meetings are open to all. We try to have a council meeting each quarter. We start with a covered dish lunch following the 11:00 am service and follow with our business meeting. It is a great time to enjoy food, fellowship and learn what is going on in our church. We have set the dates for this Council Meetings and they are as fol-lows:

I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting. Thank you and God bless,

Carl Battles

Music and Worship

By Laura Campbell

The Chancel Choir continues to practice regular-ly, and these eleven dedicated singers bring an anthem each Sunday to enhance our worship. Although we practice and take pride in our mu-sic, what we do is done to glorify God and not ourselves. We appreciate your applause as a spontaneous expression of your appreciation and hope that you, our fellow worshippers, are moved by the message in song which we offer. I truly appreciate and enjoy the members of our Chancel Choir but want to express our need for more voices. If you have even thought about singing with the choir, please come on Wednes-day evenings at 6:30 and give us a try. When there are only eleven persons and several are away on a given Sunday, we are left being very short of voices. Please consider joining us. The choir needs you. The Chancel Choir has a new look now that our

choir robes have arrived. A look that will be en-

hanced upon arrival of our stoles. We were sur-

prised they arrived before Easter. The delivery

date was to be the day after Easter Sunday. The

robes were purchased by your gifts to the Choir

Robe Fund.. The majority of these monies were

gifts given in memory of Janie Austin. Janie’s

daughter Veronica is a valued member of our

choir and requested that memorials for her

mother be made to the Choir Robe Fund. We of

the choir thank Veronica for this request.

Upcoming Sermon Series… Have you ever noticed that the word communi-ty has the word “unity” in it? The Sunday

following Easter, April 23, we began a new ser-mon series where we are looking at our basic need for community and how we cannot thrive without it. This is true for eve-ryone, but even more importantly

for those who bear the name of Christ. Come and join us as we learn and grow into a com-munity which truly reflects Jesus, our Lord. Invite a neighbor or a friend to come join you!

4/23 Our Real, Need

4/30 Expressing Real Gratitude

5/07 Making Real Promises (Rev. KiKi W. Terry)

5/14 Living the Real Truth

5/21 Offering Real Hospitably

April 30, 2017

September 17, 2017

December 3, 2017

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Thank You I know that so many of you here at the church do things that are not always seen and because they are not seen, they go without a word of appreciation. As, your pastor I’d like to take this time to thank you for doing what you do to make ministry happen.

Whether it is trimming the crepe myrtles, sending notes of care and appreciation, serving with the Lighthouse ministry or Celebrate Recovery, singing in the choir, wrangling and caring for children in the nursery or Sunday school, or outside activi-ties like an Easter egg hunt, I thank you.

You bless my heart by living out your faith in practical ways.

Pastor Josh

THIS & THAT

One of the things Jo Ann and I enjoyed as we spent 30 years in the Air Force was the travel involved. The joys of travel include not just the marvelous sights seen, but also the many people met. Some of these people become real friends and some are acquaintances. How do we tell the difference? Let me give you a few hints gathered from many different sources:

“A best friend is like a four leaf clover; hard to find, lucky to have.” “A friend knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. “Good friends are like stars, the darker the night, the brighter they shine.” “Friends make life half as hard and twice as good.”

“Good friends are like angels, you don’t have to see them to know they are there.”

I could fill up more pages than you would ever want to read, but I will stop with just a couple more comments. Do this: “Plant seeds of kindness, and grow a garden of friendship” I consider the Church my greatest gathering of friends, I hope you feel the same. If we are not friends, yet then let’s get together and close that gap because “If friends were flowers, I’d pick you.” Help me make our Church the friendliest place in town. Sidney

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May Birthdays 1st Dan Marg 6th Janice Eller 8th Carl “Big Guy” Battles 10th Ben Johnson 12th Stephanie Kirby 20th Ruby Dubose 21st Cliff Israel 27th James “Little Jimmy” Alpha O’Quinn, IV

April Birthdays 8th Laura Campbell 10th Eddie Deering 13th Bettie Parris 15th Mike Commander 19th Robert Mount 23rd Joey Burns 27th Gregg Johnson

H appy Birthday

H appy Annive rsary

April

8th Barge & Valeria Garner

May 14th Mike & Beverly Commander

15th John & Beth Drake 30th Jimmy & Johnnie New

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Sunday, May 21, 2017

Fellowship Hall.

Rev. Kiki W. Terry will provide Safe Sanctuaries training for the entire church. As your pastor, it is my re-

sponsibility to you to emphasize how important it is for you to come and learn how this invaluable ministry will impact you, Wedowee First, and future congregants.

Regardless of what you may have heard, or what you may think Safe Sanctuaries is about the need for clarity and complete understanding is needed. Safe Sanctuaries is NOT just for those who work with the children & youth of our church. In the ever changing world we live, it is important that all church members have this training.

As your pastor I am urging you to come and learn all that goes into making our church a safe place for minis-try to happen. Pastor Josh

Please, RSVP to the church office by May 19, 2017.

June 18th - 23rd.

United Methodist Men Are providing scholarships to

Wedowee First youth.

Applications available in the church office.

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