REV. DON HANSHEW, SENIOR PASTOR

REV. RACHEL COLLINS, PASTOR OF DISCIPLESHIP

Introducing a new group for those in the retirement season of life Seniors who want to be connected, involved, and grow together will find new opportunities for fellowship, shared experiences, and meaningful engagement in the Young at Heart Group - all while creating space for friendship, faith, and purpose. Along the way, the group will explore ways to grow in faith through conversation, learning, and serving together, while enjoying the freedom and wisdom this season brings. The first meeting of Young at Heart is on January 15 for the Lunch Bunch outing!

Lunch Bunch | January 15 | 11:30 a.m.

A new group has formed, and it’s all about good food and good company. The Lunch Bunch will gather once a month to enjoy a meal together while exploring new local spots. This group will meet on the third Thursday of each month, beginning on January 15. Participants are invited to bring lunch money and either:

Meet at church at 11 am to ride the bus together for a fun and unique travel experience or

Meet the group at the restaurant at 11:30 a.m.

For January, we’re keeping it close to home and heading to Rami’s for our first lunch outing.This group is sponsored by the Young at Heart Group, and all are welcome. Come join us as we share a meal, laughter, and time together around the table!

If you have any questions regarding Young at Heart, please contact Pastor Rachel.

Good Enough Faith: Letting Go of Spiritual Guilt

Second Sunday Study | January 11, 2026

9:45–10:45 a.m. | Wesley Hall

Ever feel like your faith should be more than it is right now?

More prayer. More Bible reading. More time. More energy.

If you’re juggling work, kids, schedules, and exhaustion, you’re not alone! And you’re not failing. In this one-session Bible study, we’ll explore the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42) and talk honestly about spiritual guilt, pressure, and what faith looks like in real life. The start of a New Year often comes with pressure to “do more.” This isn’t about adding another thing to your to-do list. It’s about discovering how God meets us right in the middle of busy, imperfect lives. Whether you’re new to church, deeply involved, or somewhere in between, this conversation is for you. Come as you are. No prep required. Expect a practical, honest, and hopeful way of approaching faith in life. This is part of our monthly Second Sunday Study series facilitated by Rev. Don Hanshew.

Congratulations! You have made it into Job!

Job is not a dreaded book of the Bible but an account of one man’s life journey through heartache and sorrow. 

Helpful tips for making your way through Job:

1. Read the account with the perspective that you know what Job does not. 
2. As you read, look for the times that Job cries out for a Savior. 

Job is a beautiful life story that many of us can relate to and hopefully causes us to cry out to GOD with praise, with tears and with hope.  Reading Plan >>

Fountain City Fellowship on Wednesday Nights

Our fellowship meal and discipleship classes bring meaningful opportunities for children, youth, and adults all in one evening. This semester offers a rich variety of ways to learn, grow, and connect, along with a tasty, shared meal.

Join the 5:30 p.m. dinner, followed by classes at 6:30 p.m. Whether you are coming for the food, the fellowship, or the chance to deepen your faith, there is a place for you.

We are honoring our past and present church members by having a featured recipe each Wednesday night in January from the Bicentennial Cookbook! Meals are $5 per adult and children 18 & under eat free.

January 7 Menu: Baked Pork Chops (recipe by Debby Dykeman & Sarah Clay Freeland) Please register for meals to help out our kitchen staff! Meal Registration >>

Check out the list of classes available this semester and register for a class >>

SERVING OTHERS

We want to send out a big thank you for the many hands and strong backs that came to take down our Bethlehem and Christmas decorations.  

Love and blessings to all the folks that live our church!

Community Meal | January 24

5:30 PM in Wesley Hall

Join us as we open our doors to the community for a warm meal and fellowship! This event is open to everyone in the church, our housed and unhoused neighbors, and anyone else who is HUNGRY. We have some great cooks so come and eat with us!

Knoxville Warming Centers

Four warming centers and an overflow site will open when the temperature reaches 25 degrees and below. Our church's support is to provide rides from Cokesbury UMC to the overflow site if needed. We are seeking a driver and rider on these nights. Please reach out to Gail Clift if you are interested in volunteering. You have to be a church member to drive the van but anyone can be the second person in the van.

The Community Outreach Team is continuing to provide support to our unhoused neighbors by checking on them and providing warm items and other resources. Our donation ask for January includes hand warmers, gloves and thick socks. Please leave these in your Sunday School classrooms and they will be picked up. Thank you!

If you give via automatic withdrawal from your bank or in Realm, please check your giving schedule amounts to ensure they match your 2026 financial commitment. Please contact Ashley Garren if you have questions.

Faith Promise is Now Part of the General Fund

The ministry once called Faith Promise, which supported local, national, and international mission partners, will now grow from the same root system as our general ministry budget. By uniting all giving into one shared commitment, we are expressing a deeper truth. Everything we do is mission. Every class taught, every child nurtured, every meal served, and every act of compassion offered in Christ’s name are all part of the same living tree that bears fruit for the kingdom of God. Having one unified budget allows us to see more clearly how the ministries of Fountain City United Methodist Church are connected. If you were previously giving to Faith Promise, please combine that giving with your General Fund contributions. 

There’s still time to make your financial commitment for 2026. Consider how your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness can nurture the roots of this church and extend its branches of love even further as you prayerfully complete your commitment card. Rooted in faith and renewed by grace, together we will grow.

Learn more and make your commitment >>

Blessing Box Needs:

• Peanut butter
• Granola bars
• Chunky soups
• Travel size shampoo

God’s generosity provided through you is amazing, thank you and praise Him.

NEWS AND NOTES



Couples Event

We are so excited to be planning a couples event at FCUMC! Mark your calendars for March 20-21, 2026 for a fun, engaging, eye-opening weekend. Whether you're married, engaged, or even just thinking about it, you and your partner are invited to be part of our inaugural weekend! 

But first, we'd love to hear from you - please complete a short (we promise!) survey about what would help make the MOST of a couples ministry, and be the first to know what's coming!

Take the survey >>

While Fountain City UMC is already blessed with beautiful worship spaces, the placement of altar flowers adds a lovely touch. It is also a wonderful way to honor or remember those we hold dear. 

This year, we are taking registrations for altar flower sponsorship in a new way. Using Realm, congregants can select a Sunday to sponsor in 2026, specify the colors or types of flowers to be used in the arrangements, and enter the dedication they would like to see in the bulletin that Sunday morning. The cost for altar flower sponsorship is still $65 and can be paid online at the time of registration. Registrations are only one per Sunday and are first come, first serve, so please register to select your Sunday! Contact Chad Chamberlain in the church office at 865-689-5175 with any questions or for more information.

In order to inform our community about our wonderful Sunday School classes, we have launched a Sunday School Promotional Video Initiative. You have probably seen a few of these videos on our social media! We are asking each Sunday School class to film a 30-second video that covers the following: 

1. Name of your class
2. Room number
3. Age range 
4. One sentence description of your class

These videos are being posted on the church's Instagram and Facebook page! Please complete this form to select a date and time for Britney Barthol to visit your Sunday School class. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Britney. 

FOUNTAIN KIDS & FOUNTAIN LITTLES



Family Opportunity!

Sunday mornings, as well as Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, can be a very hectic time for parents getting kiddos to church. We do appreciate parents who put in the effort and care of the spiritual lives of their children. If you are running late on Tuesday or Wednesday night, our amazing Miss Teisha has a plan! Please take a few minutes to bring your kiddos to the kitchen and she will have your dinner. Both you and your child will receive teaching better with a tummy full of Miss Teisha’s food. 

Sunday morning, we will have simple breakfast bags in the welcome center. Please share with your check-in person that you are running late and need a breakfast bag. You and your kiddos have the opportunity to take a breath and a moment to eat at the welcome center before checking your child in at our secure KidCheck system.

We love our families at FCUMC and we want to help with the “getting to church” stress. I am so thankful to all of our church staff for navigating ways for your family to have your best experience on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please do not hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity.

Love you all,

Miss Donna

Children’s Director

23rd Annual Father Daughter Dance Registration is Open!

Saturday, January 31, 2026 | 5:30–8:00 pm

Fathers, grab your best girls and head on down to FCUMC for our ever-popular Father Daughter Dance! DJ Tara will join us once again. We will also have a special photobooth opportunity. Let’s make some memories!

Tickets are $25 per daughter and father/ father figure, and $5 per additional daughter. This is one of the biggest fundraisers for our Fountain Kids Ministry! Everyone is invited so share with your friends, your family, your neighbors, and your coworkers! All ages are encouraged to celebrate the special relationship between fathers and daughters.

Tickets are going fast so don’t delay! Register now >>

YOUTH MINISTRY

Resurrection 2026 | January 23-25

LeConte Center, Pigeon Forge, TN

Resurrection is an annual weekend retreat filled with worship and spiritual growth for youth and their mentors. Each year over 12,000 individuals come together in Pigeon Forge, TN to celebrate the God of The Resurrection.

Students in 6th-12th grades (and parent volunteers!) are encouraged to register! Registration includes lodging in a cabin (the Legacy Lodge in Pigeon Forge), entry to the event, and some meals. A deposit of $50 is suggested and the total cost per student is $100. Scholarship opportunities will be available to cover some of the expense for students who participate in our January fundraisers!

All students who have attended multiple youth group events in the last six months are invited to sign up, including new events leading up to Resurrection. If have a question about your student’s or your student’s friend’s eligibility, please contact Matt Randle.

This registration is for youth only. If you are interested in being an adult chaperone, please contact Matt. A parent meeting will be announced soon to discuss Resurrection as well as information for the coming year. Register >>

ADULT MINISTRY

Pasta Making Party!

Teisha Clapp, FCUMC Director of Food Services, is hosting pasta making classes on Monday, February 2 and Tuesday, February 3 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the FCUMC kitchen. The delicious results will be used for a Pasta Feast at Fountain City Fellowship on Wednesday, February 4!  

Space is limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please select either Monday, February 2 or Tuesday, February 3 from the drop down menu.

Register >>

Sacred Kneads Bread Making Event

February 2 | 3-6 pm

Teisha Clapp and Pastor Rachel will meet with Sacred Kneads, FCUMC’s bread making group, on Monday, February 2 from 3-6 p.m. in the FCUMC kitchen. Bread made during this session will be served at the Pasta Feast at Fountain City Fellowship on Wednesday, February 4. Space is limited and slots will go fast, so be sure to register soon!

COFFEE & FELLOWSHIP ON SUNDAYS AT THE WELCOME CENTER

Stop by the Welcome Center before or after worship (8:00-10:45 a.m.) and let us bless you! See you Sunday!

SUNDAY SCHEDULE

8:30 a.m. Traditional Service in the Sanctuary

9:45 a.m. Sunday Morning Discipleship

11 a.m.Traditional Service in the Sanctuary

11 a.m. The Journey Contemporary Service in the Gym

Childcare and children's ministry is provided from 8:30 a.m. through the conclusion of the 11 a.m. worship services.

FOUNTAIN KIDS SUNDAY SCHEDULE

Fountain Kids Sunday School • 9:45 a.m.

Fountain Littles Sunday School • 9:45 a.m. 

Fountain Kids Bible Experience • 11 a.m.

Fountain Littles Childcare • 11 a.m.

Sunday Bulletin for January 11, 2026

THE SPIRIT NEWSLETTER

Check out the January 2026 edition of The Spirit Newsletter.

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Friday: 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

NEXT UP AT FCUMC

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

January 11: Second Sunday Discussion | 9:45 a.m. | Wesley Hall

January 15: Lunch Bunch Outing | 11:30 a.m. | Rami's

January 23-25: Resurrection Event for Youth

January 27: Free Community Meal | 5:30 p.m. | Wesley Hall

January 31: Father Daughter Dance | 5:30 p.m. | Gym

February 2: Pasta Making Classes | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | FCUMC Kitchen

February 2: Sacred Kneads Bread Making Event | 3-6 p.m. | FCUMC Kitchen

February 3: Pasta Making Classes | 10 a.m.-2 p.m. | FCUMC Kitchen

Pastor On Call

After Hours & Weekends

When you need urgent pastoral care while the church office is closed, text or call 865-689-7894 to reach the

pastor on call.

Pastor Don's email:

Pastor.Don@fountaincityumc.org

Pastor Rachel's email:

Pastor.Rachel@fountaincityumc.org

Live-Streamed Worship Services:

11:00 a.m. The Journey Contemporary worship and 

11 a.m. Traditional worship

 are live-streamed on our YouTube channel. Our Tuesday night Celebrate Recovery service is live-streamed on the CR North Facebook page and available on YouTube after its conclusion.

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