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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: United Women in Faith President Sue Piper leads the congregation in the Call to Worship on Sunday, January 26. Thank you to all members of Church Street's UWF who helped lead us in worship for UWF Sunday!

This Week at Church Street

Registration closes TOMORROW - Four Course Meals

Registration is open to sign up for Four Course Meals, a time where pairings of church members or those regularly attending gather for a delicious meal and fellowship once a month for 3 or 4 months in a group member's home or at a local restaurant. It's a great opportunity to get to know others in your church family who you have not yet met!

If you want to join us for fun, fellowship, and FOOD, email Ann Reego at ann.reego@gmail.com to sign up no later than February 1.

Please include the following information in your email:

Names in your pair / couple

Address, phone number, and email

Are you willing to entertain 4 couples if needed?

Any allergies (food or pets) 

Any pets that you have in your home

If you are single, find a partner, or we will try to pair you with a single in our group! We are looking forward to new friends joining our group!

Church Street News & Opportunities

Did you miss the livestream of Resurrection 2025?

Catch the Youth Band's performance in this video of Resurrection 2025 here! You can see the Youth Band at around the 41-minute mark in the Friday PM session video.

Volunteer Opportunity - Call for Greeters!

If you are available to help welcome guests to our church home as a greeter, please contact greeter coordinator Kit Brown directly at kit_brown@bellsouth.net or 865-304-1051.

Calling knitters and crocheters! 

Service Circle is looking for knitters and crocheters to join the Prayer Shawl group. We have lots of yarn and patterns for you. All experience levels welcome!

If you are interested in participating in this ministry, please contact Nancy Carmon, ncyellen@gmail.com.

This year, Church Street will join other churches in Knoxville in February to spread love in our community and to remind our neighbors that we have more in common than not. Everyone is worthy of being loved! There are two ways to get involved with Love Your Neighbor Knox at Church Street this month:

Donate canned food: Everyone in the Love Your Neighbor collective is partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank to add a service element to our Love Your Neighbor initiative. Join us as we collect food to stock the shelves for our hungry neighbors during Second Harvest’s slowest season of the year. Bring canned foods to the Welcome Center!

Sign up to park cars with UWF - February 8

The main UWF fundraiser each year is parking cars in our church lots for the 2025 House and Garden Show. Church Street's United Women in Faith will be parking cars to raise funds for missions initiatives they support locally, regionally, and internationally every year.

They need your help -- sign up below for a short time slot on Saturday, February 8 at the church!

Parking for this event supports all UWF Mission initiatives, including but not limited to: 

• Wesley House Community Center, locally
• Henderson Settlement / Red Bird Mission, regionally
• UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), internationally

Anyone is welcome to sign up below to help support UWF on February 8.

We are excited to invite you to the Tuesday, February 11 General Meeting of Church Street United Women in Faith (UWF)!

You may know that we have several UWF Book Reviews each year which follow our General Meetings and lunch; however, several of us found The Book Woman’s Daughter to be so inspiring that we wanted to share it with those who attend our upcoming General Meeting. It is written by Kim Michele Richardson, and although it is historical fiction, it was inspired by the very real “blue people” of Kentucky and the fierce Packhorse Librarians who used the power of literacy and the hunger for books, particularly in rural areas, to help overcome fear during the Great Depression.

Delivering this book review will be our own Verna McLain who many of you know is a longtime Church Streeter and UWF member as well as a voracious reader and an excellent speaker. She will make this book come alive for us by offering a glimpse into the lives of women who serve as excellent examples of the overarching purpose of United Women in Faith--improving the lives of women, children and youth.

The Bookwoman’s Daughter is just one of the many books on the UWF Reading Program list. Much thought and input from women all over the world goes into the compilation of this annual list on which you will find books that will inform and enrich your lives. This particular book is classified under the “Education for Mission” section of the UWF Reading Program.

Following the book review, we will enjoy a delicious lunch featuring chicken tenders, vegetables, salad and assorted desserts. Lunch reservations are necessary. Please call the church office at 865-524-3048 by Friday, February 7 to register for lunch. Lunch will be $15. You may pay online, drop a check by the office, or pay in person on the day of our meeting!

For more information, please email Susan Dominick, UWF Vice President and Program Resources Coordinator at susanlynnedominick@gmail.com.

Submit a Lenten Devotion - due February 14

You are invited to participate in Lent this year by writing a devotion to be included in the weekly Lenten email. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 5, this year and ends with Easter Sunday, April 20. Therefore, seven weekly Lenten devotions and six for Holy Week, equaling a total of thirteen, will be needed.

Each devotion can be a short reflection of your thoughts, feelings, and personal practices pertaining to this season. Some relevant themes to consider include:



• the disciplines of spiritual preparation like fasting, sacrifice, prayer, and meditation;
• committing to 40 days of deeper Bible study and devoting more time to prayer;
• Lent as a time of reflection, self-examination, confession, and heartfelt repentance;
• what the death and resurrection of Jesus means;
• contemplations on the significant events during Holy Week.

Your devotion should include a title, a scripture, a devotion text of around 250 words, and a closing prayer. Devotions may be submitted to Zayna Trammell at zaynatrammell@gmail.com no later than Friday, February 14th.

Spring Lecture Study - Prodigal Age with Sean Hayden

We seem to live in a time of division, of diminishing resources and narrowing paths ahead. Can the Church move beyond the supposed alternatives of the present? Can we see differently, so that we may live differently? Christ’s parables seek to refigure both, our seeing and our living. These meditations take the Prodigal Son as a parable of our time.

Dr. Sean Hayden (whom you might recognize from last year's Summer Lecture Series!) will lead us in a four-week study of "A Prodigal Age: Four Meditations on the Church in Our Time." All lectures will take place at 4 pm in CLC 120.

Childcare will be provided. Children 4 and under will be in the nursery and 5 and up will be in the gym.

February 16

1st Meditation:

The Divided Life:

Searching for Wholeness in a Fractured World

February 23

2nd Meditation:

The Far Country:

Wisdom and Want in a Secular Age

March 2

3rd Meditation:

The Authority of Compassion:

The Church in a Culture of Resentments

March 9

4th Meditation:

Adam and Christ:

Or, Lost (and Found) in the Cosmos

Grief and Loss Support Group begins February 19

This eight-week grief and loss support group is for anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, a major life transition, or any kind of loss at any time in their lives. Find connection, community, and meaning in the midst of grief as we share the love of God with each other. Our first meeting is Wednesday February 19 at 6:30pm in Room 103.

If you have any questions please contact Zayna Trammell at zaynatrammell@gmail.com or Kristen Struyk at knstruyk@gmail.com.

IN MEMORIAM

John M. Adams

JOINED: 11/10/1974 DIED: 01/17/2025

Caroline Fulller

JOINED: 05/04/1997 DIED: 01/24/2025

Our Prayers

Christian love and sympathy to

The family and friends of James Bryant, husband of Trudy Monaco, who died on January 28.

New Arrival

Jacob Dawson Werner, daughter of Emily and Jay Werner, granddaughter of Elizabeth Craig and great granddaughter of Ray and Lucy Hand, was born on January 24.

Baptism

Braxton Daniel Bowlin, son of Tori DeRosa and Zach Bowlin, was baptized on January 26.

Welcome New Members who joined January 26!

Zach Bowlin, Tori DeRosa and Braxton Bowlin

Our Presence

January 26 - 590

In Person Worship - 456

8:30 am - 140

11 am - 299

Nursery - 17

Online - 134

Soup Kitchen January 30 - 25 Volunteers, 114 Meals

Our Gifts

Memorials

Bob Paulson

Stephen Ministry: Barbara Paulson

Traudel Powell

UMCOR: Service Circle

Honorariuams

Chandler Rosecrance

Youth Fund: Kathleen Henderson

Gray & Gentry Pattillo

Conversations on Race: Kathie Bemis

Rev. Catherine Nance

Minister's Discretionary: Don K. Ferguson & Family

Altar Flowers

The Chancel Altar Flowers are given by Frank Word in loving memory of his wife Clatty Word.

All are welcome at Church Street!

We believe every person is of sacred worth and created in God’s image. We welcome and celebrate the gifts God has given to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, status, economic condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation. We respect diversity of opinion and expressions of Christian faith. We believe God loves everyone unconditionally! As God loves us, so let us love and serve in the name of Christ.

Church Street United Methodist Church

www.churchstreetumc.org

P.O. Box 1303, Knoxville, TN 37901

Office: 865-524-3048 Fax: 865-521-0288 Pastor On-Call: 865-320-9100

Please call the church office to reach a specific member of our staff.

Church Street Office Hours: Monday - Thursday, 9 am - 4 pm and Friday, 9 am - 3 pm

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