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Worship Schedule

7:45 AM & 10:00 AM 

Sunday School 8:45 AM

   I stand amazed at the ways you are showing up for our Lenten Lessons! I am thankful for the various groups, providing food for us to fellowship and gather, in Jesus Name. I am also thankful for the many of you who partner with Elaine Passman to set up the beautiful tables for our Lenten Lessons. She also highlights specific themes used in worship and in times when we gather for fellowship.

    In fact, one of our “highlighted” individuals is Elaine Passman. I have often been told, “Pastor, you MUST go see Elaine’s garage. It is an adventure. In fact, it is BETTER than Hobby Lobby.” I am told if I go to Elaine’s house and she is not there, she may likely be found in one of the aisles of Hobby Lobby. I am so thrilled Elaine shares her treasures with us, whenever we need them. There is hardly a theme she cannot accommodate! Elaine does so much for our church. She has blessed us with her beautiful displays in the Sanctuary (on altars), and for special occasions: Veterans Day, National Day of Prayer, The Fourth of July, Memorial Day (remembering the saints who have gone before us), and in the Fellowship Hall for countless funerals, weddings, and other occasions. She recently donated monogramed “angels” to the youth, to aid in their fund raising, for camp this summer. She does everything with Jesus in her heart and a smile on her face! Thank you, Elaine. You are loved!

    Our next recognized member is our very own, “Cart Lady” (no, not CAT lady. CART LADY).  If you come early on a Sunday morning, a Monday morning, or ANY morning, for that matter, you are likely to see Marty Portmann pushing a rolling cart. One day, I called to ask her exactly what she is doing, as she pushes her cart throughout the church. She does SO MUCH with and without the cart. I will be honest with you, I was not sure of everything Marty does for First United Methodist Church, so I asked her to write down her (volunteer duties). This is her reply to my request:

“Pastor Beverly has asked me to talk about all the things I participate in here at our church to keep us running, but instead of focusing on what I do, I have decided to talk about my cart. It is an old beat-up Rubbermaid Tuff cart that sits between the two volunteer desks in the front part of the church office. If you see me with it, I am usually picking up or delivering items that need to go back to their original “homes” or to a room where they can be picked up. My cart helps us set up and take down communion elements on the first Sunday of each month and for other special occasions. My cart helps transport food items that you bring each month to the main hallway where Mr. Charles boxes items up to take to the Killeen Food Care Center. The cart goes with me as I pick up money bags the Monday after services, as well as bulletins and other papers that go into the recycle bags in the church workroom. The cart will also help transport a container of artificial flowers and flower picks to the Welcome Center area Easter morning where we will adorn our Easter cross with palm fronds and flowers as we celebrate our risen Savior. If you need to transport something from the parking lot, or a classroom in the building, please feel free to borrow the cart from the front office. Blessings, Marty”

Bev. Tuggle added this, on Marty’s behalf, which I think is worth reading:

Your cart is important to us, and we appreciate you sharing its use. But as someone who has worked alongside you for so many years, I know you are more valuable than the cart. It can be replaced, you, not so much. You are the first “face” that everyone sees when they walk into the church office. When you are away serving your community in other ways, I am often asked, “Are you Marty?” My only response is simple, “Not even close”. People associate FUMC-Killeen and Marty Portmann as the same. You know what goes where, who is responsible, and how it should be done. The only thing you are poor at doing is talking about yourself. So next time you are asked to tell others about yourself and what you do, point them in my direction! Thank you for all you do.”

    Finally, I want to share appreciation and give Kudos to our very own Chloe King!  

    I will be transparent. We worried about Chloe’s age when she came to us, this past summer. However, her age is a HUGE asset. Due to being young, she is EXTRAORDINARILY COMPUTER SAVVY! She is able to bring to life things I have had as mere “images” in my head. When I voice my thoughts to Chloe, she most often says, “I think I can do that.” She pulls up Canva and goes to work. She clicks, cuts, pastes, shades, rearranges, etc…until she has created the PERFECT image that I was able see internally; but not create externally. Chloe is kind, creative, and helpful to a fault. She never complains. She creates Sunday bulletins, create/posts newsletters, types Sunday slides, sends mid-week messages, works on Lenten Lesson bulletins…I cannot fully name all that she does. She works WELL passed the hours we pay her for and is just an all-around BLESSING TO OUR STAFF. Some Wed./Thurs., we work moment-to-moment, to ensure EVERYTHING gets completed in the (JUST) two days we have her per week. We rarely leave anything unfinished, unless it is not needed until the following week. Chloe even fills in for Jaime Garrett, as our tech/sound person on Sunday mornings, when she is needed. WE ARE BLESSED BY HAVING CHLOE WITH US AT FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, KILLEEN. Thank God, she is young. Hopefully, we can look forward to having her for many years to come!!

    Doing these “Member Highlights” is one of my favorite things to post in our Newsletter. Be patient with me. My hope (it may take me years), is to highlight EVERY member of the church, despite the role you may play in the church. WE LOVE EACH OF THE MEMBERS AND WANT YOU TO KNOW IT! So, be patient…you may be highlighted when you least expect it!

Blessings! 

Thank you to the 71 of you who came to our Church Council Meeting, on March 30, 2025! The food was AMAZING. Thank you to EVERYONE WHO HELPED. Gabby, we heard you made those delicious pies right there in our kitchen! I ran into Dagmar Bain (early on Sunday). She was drenched with sweat, because she too had been laboring in the kitchen LONG before people began arriving for Sunday service. I am communicating that it is not JUST the United Methodist Men who provided that wonderful meal for us. There are women who did their part as well. Please note, not EVERYONE agrees with the recommendations that came forward out of the meeting. We allowed those who disagreed, to voice their opinions and have “their say.” Following the discussion, a vote was taken; and the following recommendations prevailed:

1. The Church will go back to the original worship times (before the summer of 2024). Members understood the change was TEMPORARY and not permanent. The recommendation is to return to worship at 8:00 am and at 11:00, with Sunday school in between the two services.
2. We will begin EXPLORING what it might look like to begin a VERY informal Sunday afternoon service. We have created two DISCOVERY TEAMS. One team will research the PROS and CONS of such a service and consider all of the obstacles we may face. After doing so, the team will recommend that we proceed with the idea, or that we “scrap it” and go in a different direction. The second team is a WORSHIP DISCOVERY TEAM, who will investigate, study, and discern the many pieces needed to provide for a unique “worship experience.” We will only move forward IF/WHEN BOTH teams agree the ideal is valid and viable. We will then proceed with recruiting the necessary leaders, voluntary musicians, etc…We expect the teams to take the summer to complete their work.
3. When we have filled in the “gaps” for each of the age groups represented in our church, we plan to advertise our church in “all the ways we can.” We cannot do this, if we do not have the personnel needed (we STILL need Sunday School teachers who are, or are willing to become, Ministry Safe).

The Council also voted on HTC 2025 Annual Conference Delegates to represent the church, on June 8-10^th. Marvin Rainwater and Ken Smith are our current lay delegates to the Annual Conference. Carol Dugger resigned from the role as lay delegate to the Annual Conference because she is now the District Lay Leader. Beth Robinson will take Carol Dugger’s position. 

Marvin Rainwater will be out of state during this year’s Annual Conference. Colleen Smith-Fey will attend Annual Conference 2025, in his absence.

    Finally, Vickie Haynes will serve as our alternate. She may attend the annual conference but will not be a voting member this year. She will observe and familiarize herself with United Methodist “conferencing” and will be prepared, should she choose or is voted on to serve again in the future.

THANK YOU, DELEGATES, FOR YOUR WILLNESS TO SERVE!! Registration will open in April. I will send you the link!

Since Mrs. Pearl Hubbard passed on Friday, March 28, many may have thought that last Saturdays Confirmation Class was cancelled. We are thankful to Declan Lee and his father for attending. Since he was the only confirmand in attendance, we postponed the classes. Please note that both sessions of the class are now on

Saturday, April 5th, from 9:00 - 3:00.

Breakfast, lunch, and snacks wil be provided.

Parents who wish to have their child baptized should let the Pastor know on Saturday. The Baptism and/or Remembrance of Baptism Service will be on Sunday, April 6th.

- Something For Sallie -

First of all, let me tell you who Sallie Hodge is, as our, “sister in Christ.” Sallie is a graduate of the Cordon Bleu Culinary School. She is a qualified chef!! However, she was unable to secure a job in Killeen as a chef, so she applied to work at our Child Development Center, WAY back in 2012. Sallie fell in love with the children and the staff and has been with us for the past thirteen years! She is one of the most trusted and beloved of our daycare staff. If you work in the church office, as an employee or as an office volunteer, you KNOW Sallie! She is known to come into the office and give her BIG Ol’ Sallie hugs to everyone present! If someone is down in the dumps, Sallie prays for them. When we need daycare coverage at the church, so that we can have special events/activities (apart from Sunday mornings), Sallie OFTEN covers for us. She is an active member of HER church; yet considers herself closely affiliated with OUR church. She sees both, the CDC staff and our members as her “family.”

    Sallie began having some serious health problems. She cried out to the Lord for help. She found herself going from emergency room to emergency room, trying to resolve her physical problems. Finally, doctors discovered she has an EXTREMELY LARGE HERNIA. Other internal issues were discovered; and collaborating doctors agree Sallie NEEDS three separate surgeries. The doctors think it is best to do all three surgeries at the same time; so, she can heal from all three surgeries simultaneously, without having to be off from work at three separate times (Sallie has no spouse). Now, understand, despite working in our CDC for the past thirteen years, we DO NOT offer health insurance!  Sallie must “self-pay” to have the hernia removed and her other physical problems addressed. The cost of the three surgeries is $6,000. Sallie has been taking extra jobs wherever she can, to try to secure the money herself. She has made some good progress; but MUST have the money by the end of April, or her surgery (scheduled for early May) will be cancelled.

    SALLIE DID NOT ASK US FOR HELP. Marge Dicus and others knew of her plight and wanted to help. Marge and her friend, Melva came up with the idea of making a quilt and having a raffle on Sallie’s behalf. Others heard about their idea; and love Sallie so much, they too, wanted to help. We now have (at least three) items to be raffled off, in order to raise money for Sallie.



    If you have ANY misgivings about Sallie’s using the money improperly and not for its intended purpose, take it on the word of “countless” people in our church and CDC parents/staff (including mine), we are $100% confident that Sallie is godly, upstanding, has deep moral convictions. Remember, this idea was NOT Sallie’s idea. So, I hope you can find it in your heart, to buy some raffle tickets. Let us offer Sallie “a little something” to help us keep one of our best CDC employees with us for many years to come! 

Beginning April 6th, there will be a table with tickets for sale in the Welcome Center on Wednesday, April 9th, and Sunday, April 13th. Tickets will also be available during the week in the front office. Tickets are $1.00 per ticket, or 6 tickets for $5.00. The drawing will take place on Holy Wednesday/Spy Wednesday, April 16th, following our final Lenten Lesson.

- Opportunities at FUMC - Killeen -

Click to view the Church Calendar

Below is a list of highlighted events for the upcoming week. Items in italics indicate off-site events. Click on the link above to view the full church calendar.

Confirmation Sunday, April 6

7:45 AM & 10:00 AM | Worship

8:45 AM | Adult Sunday School Classes & Emmaus Prayer Group

3:00 PM | Girl Scout Troop #6105 Troop Meetings

4:00 PM | Youth Group Meeting

Monday, April 7

8:30 AM | Frisch Park Workday

Tuesday, April 8

9:30 AM | Mary Ruth Circle Meeting - Book Study

10:00 AM | Domino Group

10:30 AM | Quilting Circle

5:30 PM | Son N' Fun Bunco Fellowship

Wednesday, April 9

9:00 AM | CDC Kinder Dance

10:30 AM | Morning Bible Study with Ken Smith

1:00 PM | Grief Share Group

6:00 PM | Lenten Lessons with snack meal by Methodist Men

6:30 PM | Webelos Pack #211 meet with Community Leaders

Thursday, April 10

6:30 PM | Cub Scout #211 den meetings

6:30 PM | Rainbow Emmaus Gathering - Harker Heights Methodist

Friday, April 11

8:30 AM | Frisch Park Workday

Saturday, April 12

8:00 AM | United Methodist Men's Breakfast Meeting

10:00 AM | Easter Egg Hunt

Palm Sunday, April 13

7:45 AM & 10:00 AM | Worship

8:45 AM | Adult Sunday School Classes & Emmaus Prayer Group

9:00 AM | Guiding Young Minds (GYM) Sunday School Class

4:00 PM | Youth Group Meeting

General Fund/Building Fund Offering

**Note - Totals are tallied from Tuesday to Monday of the following week after the Sunday offering is reported. If there is a Monday holiday, the Sunday offering will be entered on Tuesday but the reporting will be added to the previous week's tally to ensure we always have a Sunday offering included in each week's totals.

Total Attendance for March

Please report all your small group attendance to the office after each meeting or email your attendance to the church office. Thank you!

2nd Thursday 6:30 PM Potluck Fellowship/News/Worship/Holy Communion