Central United Methodist Church will once again be hosting a Red Cross blood drive. It is scheduled for 11:00 am to 3:00 pm on December 17th. As always, the need for blood donations is high. A new aspect of the blood draw is that you will be provided with information on how to check back with the Red Cross to see if they have determined if Covid antibodies are in your system. During the draw, a number of precautions will be in placed in consideration of Covid-19 restrictions. To register for the blood drive, go to redcrossblood.org and enter the code CUMCRICH. There you will be able to select a time for either a blood draw or a PowerRed draw. Hoping to see the time slots fill up quickly. Thanks.
Sierra Leone Christmas Children’s Feeding Program
Our custodian, Pastor Paul Samura provides us with an opportunity to support our brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone through an annual feeding event for local churches within the Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone. All Wesleyan Churches in Sierra Leone have functional auxiliaries – Men, Women, Young adults, Youths, Junior Youth Challenge, and Good News Club. Each year, Pastor Paul and other US based pastors and students select 2-3 Good News Clubs each to support the feeding program which involves providing food, a Christmas party and gifts for children.
UMW and Missions will provide monetary support and wanted to invite the congregation to come alongside them. Please mark your gifts for the Sierra Leone Pastor’s Fund so that we may distribute this gift to support 3 Good News Clubs and the children that are a part of them. You may contribute until Sunday, December 6th. Between all of us, we hope to collect $600. Thank you for your support!
Zoom Gathering after Sunday Service
Let Us Go Now to Bethlehem:Tuesdays, Dec. 1st – 22nd You are invited to join Pastor Jen as she participates in this offering from Conference leadership and author Rev. Todd Outcalt for a Tuesday afternoon focus on joy and the miracle of Christ’s birth through Let Us Go Now to Bethlehem: Daily Devotions for Advent and Christmas. With leadership provided by Bishop Trimble alongside pastors Oscar Ramos-Gallardo, Marcy Patrick, and Pete Ward, we’ll gather for a devotional focus designed to bring you rest and encouragement in the midst of this season. Meetings will be held Tuesdays, December 1-22 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). For the Zoom link and to register, contact Luska.Natali@inumc.org. If you have any questions, contact Pastor Jen for more information and let her know if you’ll be on the call with her!
Creative Hands
Creative Hands would like to thank everyone for their continued support of our projects benefiting local charities. We will not meet in the month of December so that we can mask up, stay safe, and enjoy the holiday season.
The Tuesday Group
The small group, “THE TUESDAY GROUP” invites you to join us, starting on Tuesday, December 1, for a 4-week Advent study. We meet at 6:30pm via Google “Hangouts”. Please email Jim Puckett if you’d like to join us. jpuckie@yahoo.com
~The Christmas story, or Advent, is more than a sentimental myth or a quiet manger scene we use to decorate our living rooms. The Christmas story is the good news of God entering into our darkness. Join J.D. Greear in this four-session series as he takes a deeper look at Jesus as Emmanuel, our Wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father, and the great I Am. When you know Jesus, you will realize Christmas is more than a nice story—the arrival of Jesus changes everything.
Natural Disaster Relief
You may have just seen pictures from Hurricanes Eta and Iota. Did you see those from Typhoons Gone and Vamco? Across the world, natural disasters are devastating communities. The United Methodist Committee on Relief or UMCOR is one of the best long term recovery agencies in the world. If your heart breaks over these natural disasters or other worldwide areas of concern, please keep them in your prayers and if you are able, give through these avenues.
It’s time to order your Christmas Poinsettias!
Christmas Poinsettias are $12.50 each and come in your choice of Red or White. The deadline for all Poinsettia orders is Monday, November 30th. If you would like to order your Poinsettia, you may fill out the order form that will be in your bulletin during Sunday Worship and drop it in the offering plate or you may contact Christin at 765-962-8543 or christin@richmondcumc.com with the following information. Please make all checks out to Central United Methodist Church with “Poinsettias” in the memo line.
From:
In Honor Of:
In Memory Of:
Number of Poinsettias:
Color you would like: Red or White.
If you would like to place an order for Sunday altar flowers in 2021, please call the office at 765-962-8543 or email Christin at christin@richmondcumc.com. Each order costs $25 and is billed through Jack Daggy Flowers. There are plenty of open dates in 2021!
Sounds of the Season
The 2nd annual Sounds of the Season holiday concert is going virtual this year! It will premiere on Central’s Facebook page Saturday, December 12th at 7pm. The program will feature a diverse collection of beloved Christmas classics, sacred and secular alike. Performers will include Minister of Music Madeleine Demetriades on piano and organ, Wesley Ringers Bell Choir, Chancel Choir and many others ready to get you into the Christmas spirit! You won’t want to miss this!
Spice Up Their Life!
It’s time again to donate spices for the Indiana Women’s Prison Christmas bags. It’s been a hard year, so they will be delighted to receive a bottle of spice to use for cooking in their dorms. NO GLASS bottles, please. SUGGESTED SPICES: garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, Italian seasoning, cinnamon, oregano, cayenne, pumpkin pie spice, Taco seasoning. Give your spice donations to Ann Cashner or bring to the church office. NO parsley, NO paprika, NO bay leaves. NO GLASS!
The new 2021 UMW Program Book will be coming out in January. You may pick up your copy at church following the service or we will mail it to you. There will be no UMW
meeting in January. The 2021 UMW “asking” is $15.00.
Commitment Cards
We are humbled by the initial wave of commitment Central has already undertaken for ministry in 2021. You all have again and again showed this community your willingness to pay the bill for the light to shine brightly from 1425 E Main and beyond. We are all truly blessed to be a blessing. If you have not yet offered your commitment card, please continue to pray over what God has set upon your heart. When you have discerned, you can either place it in the offering plate this Sunday or mail it to Central UMC, 1425 E Main St. Richmond, IN 47374. Alternatively, you can login to Realm (our private online directory) and share your pledge commitment through clicking on the Giving tab and then the pledge button. Together, we will offer Hope, Faith, and Love for years to come.
Tech Help in Fellowship Hall
Thank you to all who came during our last session for some tech help! The next sessions are planned for Dec. 9th, Dec. 23rd, and Jan 6th at 3:00pm. If you would like to come to a session, send an email with a description of your problem/question so I can look it over: TechHelpCUMC@gmail.com
Advent Virtual Hymn Study
Tuesdays in December at 2:30, thru 12/22
