Join us this Sunday for week seven of the Fruit of The Spirit series, where we will focus on what it means to be faithful. Due to our air conditioning being out in the Sanctuary, Worship will be a little different this weekend with all services in Founders Chapel. Come to any of our services for fun gospel-style worship featuring the pastors' favorite hymns and enjoy free popsicles after each service.

When we build friendships, we tend to trust the people who are dependable. We want our friends to be someone we can count on, someone who is faithful. In 1 and 2 Samuel, we witness a deep friendship between David and Jonathan. They go through turbulent times but remain steadfast in their commitment to each other. Similarly, God calls us to be faithful in all we do. This means our friendships, our family, and our work. When people come to know us as faithful people, they get a glimpse of a faithful God.

We look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday!

At First Grapevine, we are dedicated to doing all we can to keep our children, youth, adult volunteers, and staff as safe as possible. In order to do this, our conference adopted the use of the Ministry Safe Safety program. All adults who volunteer with youth and children are required to go through Ministry Safe training. We will be hosting several Ministry Safe trainings leading up to VBC for our new volunteers.

The upcoming trainings will take place on July 19 at 6:30 PM, and on July 20 at noon in the Office Conference room. Only new volunteers who have not previously been trained need to attend this class. To RSVP for the class, email hayleyp@fumcg.org.

July 24-31|Sanctuary & Founders Chapel Atriums

GCISD needs new backpacks for pre-qualified K-12 students attending GCISD's 11th Annual Back-to-School Fair on August 6. Backpacks for all students must be able to hold a laptop computer.

You may place donation in the Church's donation bins located in the Sanctuary and Founders Chapel Atrium. The deadline to bring donations is July 31.

Join us for a free Sounds of Summer music concert on August 7 at 3 PM in the First Grapevine Sanctuary (422 Church St., Grapevine, TX) and a dessert social following the concert. Sponsored by the Grayful Spirits, this special concert will feature FUMC Grapevine musicians, including Jason Chavarria, Ashley Winland, Rebecca Kraft, Scott Ayers, and more. The concert will be a mixture of religious and secular favorites. A love offering will be collected as an expression of appreciation. Be sure to invite your family and friends for this summertime treat. All ages are welcome to attend.

We are excited to announce new ministry at Silver Lake Elementary this coming school year. Campus Connections will provide much needed support,  connection and fun for the students and the volunteers as well. The ministry provides two ways to participate: Pen Pals and Club Leaders.

First through Third Graders are working on their writing and communication skills, and the teachers say having a pen pal is a perfect way to do both! This will be a weekly opportunity for you to correspond with a student with post cards.  A volunteer will deliver the post cards each week between FUMCG and Silver Lake. Knowing that an adult that cares about them enough to write them each week goes a long way in building a child’s confidence.

Students are also in need of a fun and educational break from class for 30 minutes every two weeks. In these clubs, a small group of students will be pulled out of class to join an interest club of their choice led by a caring adult. How can you help? “Any thing your members like to do as a hobby or skill, I guarantee there are kids here who want to learn more about it.”- Ariel, Silver Lake Counselor. That means literally anything: board games, knitting, art, chess, crafts…the sky’s the limit.

Both opportunities will be from October-December and February-Spring Break.

Do you have a few minutes to spare to make a difference in a child’s life? Please see the sign up genius below to register your interest.  We will have an informational meeting at the beginning of the school year. For more information, please contact Pastor Allen (allenl@fumcg.org).

This team brightens people’s lives weekly. The recipients are surprised and thrilled to receive flowers during a time when they may not be at their best. It truly helps to know someone in the church is thinking about them when they are going through difficult times. What better way to serve God than to brighten someone’s day with fresh flowers. The Altar Flower ministry team needs volunteers to help put the flower arrangements together and deliver the flowers to the recipient’s home. If you are interested in serving in this ministry, please email Amanda (amandaw@fumcg.org).

The Campus Angels Ministry is looking for Church members interested in supporting College Students with regular cards and small care packages through out the 2022-23 school year. The ministry would also like to hear from all current Campus Angels ministry college students and incoming new college student freshman, if you would like to have a Campus Angel for the 2022-23 school year.

If interested in being a Campus Angel or having a Campus Angel assigned to you, please sign-up below.

Join us as we kick off a week of prayer for our GCISD schools! We will begin at the campuses of Cannon and Silverlake Elementary with a prayer walk at 8:00 AM, Sunday, August 14, to pray for the students, teachers, staff, and parents and our volunteer programs at each of these schools along with all the others in our community. Our Prayer Team and pastors will lead these walks. We will then begin a week of daily prayer (our church will provide a prayer guide) for all our schools. We encourage all to visit the campus of your neighborhood school any time before school starts to pray specifically for that school and all those who will be beginning the 2022-2023 school year. For more information, contact Pastor Allen (allenl@fumcg.org).

Christian condolences to Ray & Lydia Zirkel and family on the loss of Ray’s dad, Zeke Zirkel, on July 13. Ray & Lydia are our missionaries in Costa Rica and are directors of the Methodist Children’s Home.

First Grapevine held its third Carter Blood Drive this year. With the rise in COVID in Tarrant County, the heat wave, and summer vacations, our sign-ups were lacking. However, due to Pastor Grant’s plea for members in worship to donate, we were able to surpass our goal for sign-ups. Twenty-nine units of blood were collected; that’s enough to save as many as 87 lives. A very special thanks to our faithful donors who make it a priority to give. Also, thanks go to Pastors Grant and Carly for promoting the drive during worship, to our new Carter representative, Ashley Wenzel, to Carol Rigdon, who assisted in the drive, to Priscilla for advertising, and Jeff Mullins for the set-up of equipment. Our next drive will be on Sunday, October 16.

Sincerely,

Miriam Ward

Blood Drive Coordinator

We are excited about our ministry and missional events. This is just a friendly reminder that we have some procedures to make your ministry or missional events successful. Our Media and Communication Guide lists deadlines for e-news, updates to the website, ministry spotlights, videos, and more. The First Grapevine Brand Identity Standard Guide will help to ensure that your marketing materials are in line with the church's brand standards. If you have an upcoming event, be sure to let us know by filling out the Room Request form on our website (FirstGrapevine.org/roomrequest) or by entering it into ServiceU so that our staff can help make your event possible. We couldn't do church without you. Thank you for helping others experience and share God's love!

First Grapevine, A United Methodist Church

FirstGrapevine.org | Link to E-News