Ashland Place

UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

October 30, 2025

E-News

This past Sunday was a beautiful day in the life of our church, and we want to begin by saying thank you. Your presence, prayers, and pledges made Consecration Sunday a true celebration of faith and commitment. As we gathered to dedicate our pledge cards and lift them up in prayer, we were reminded that every act of giving is both a response to God’s grace and a participation in God’s mission of love among us. We give thanks for the many ways that the Ashland Place family is joining in on what God is already doing in our church, community, and world. May we continue to join in by offering our hands, our hearts, and our lives for the advancement of God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven!

This coming Sunday, we will tune our hearts to sing God’s praise as we celebrate another sacred day in the life of the Church: All Saints Sunday. We will gather to remember and celebrate the saints who have gone before us in faith. This includes members of our congregation as well as the great communion of saints of every time and place whose lives continue to bear witness to God’s love and grace. Sunday’s service will include a time of remembrance in which the names of those who have entered the Church Triumphant during the past year will be read aloud as a Response to the Word. As each name is spoken, a candle will be lit and a bell rung in their honor as we give thanks for the eternal light of Christ that shines through their lives and continues to guide us today.

All Saints Sunday invites us to give thanks for the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us and to renew our own commitment to live as faithful disciples in our time and place. With each candle lit and with each ring of the bell, may the final verse of our beloved hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation,” be the prayer of our hearts: “Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with thee” (UMH 545).

We look forward to celebrating, remembering, and worshipping with you on Sunday! May the gifts we give, the lives we honor, and the ministries we share all point to our One Foundation.

We bless your holy name, O God,

   for all your servants who, having finished their course,

   now rest from their labors.

Give us grace to follow the example

   of their steadfastness and faithfulness,

   to your honor and glory;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For this coming Sunday's bulletin...

Hoover, Debra, Come Fill Our Hearts

Volunteers

We're expecting a surge of clients during the approaching holiday season, and could use some extra hands, especially on Thursdays from 9:30am to noon. The upcoming dates are November 6 and 20, and December 4 and 18. Please consider helping us help our neighbors and community.

Thanksgiving Food Donations

Every year, The Joseph Project provides Thanksgiving food baskets to our clients. Please consider helping to feed these families by donating through the signup below. Place the donated food on the back counter of the Fellowship Hall by Sunday, November 16th at 12:00 noon.

Christmas Card Fundraiser

Christmas will be here soon, and The Joseph Project will once again sell custom Christmas cards. This is our biggest fundraiser, and the money goes directly back to feeding our clients. As part of the included price, we will address and provide postage for your cards, so that you don't have to! A sales table will be set up in the Fellowship Hall starting November 9 and will be there every Sunday until the ordering deadline of December 7. A link to order online will be coming soon.

For more information about any of these things,

please contact Stephanie Alexander at skalexander@bellsouth.net.

We're excited about Sunday night.

We will welcome guests from the New Song service at Christ United, who will lead us in a sing along with scripture mixed in.

 Come join us!

A message from former Ashland Place Pastor and retired Bishop Lawson Bryan...

I wanted to let you know about a wonderful opportunity to see how Alabama is leading the way in a national response to dementia.

Last year, the Respite for All Foundation commissioned the filming of a documentary, A Place of Belonging, and we’re very happy to announce that it will be broadcast on Alabama Public Television on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 8pm CT.

As part of this broadcast, I joined executive director Daphne Johnston for an in-studio interview that will be shown after the documentary.

I hope you’ll tune in. I also hope you will share this information about the broadcast with anyone who you think would be interested. 

Other PBS stations around the country will be able to broadcast the documentary as part of their Silver series, and we’d love for APT to have large viewing numbers to share with them. We are hoping that the broadcast audience demonstrates tremendous interest in this model of care.

So please tune into your local Alabama Public Television station on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 8pm CT to watch A Place of Belonging – and ask others to watch too.

Exciting Things are Happening in the Children’s Ministry

We have a number of activities on the calendar for the next two months. Please keep these dates in mind and join us for Sunday School @ 10:00 every week! 

November: Emphasis on thankfulness and giving with mission projects and family sharing

December 10: Children’s Nativity Program - 6:30 pm Sanctuary  

December 14: Children’s Christmas Breakfast - 10:15 am Fellowship Hall

During the month of November, if you would like to share a story of Thanksgiving with the children or have an idea for a mission project, please let us know. Parents are always welcome to join us.



We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with everyone!! 

WEEKLY YOUTH HAPPENINGS

Sunday School (10:00am)

Sunday evening fellowship (5:30pm)