If you got to the end of the recently sent Vision View, you will notice that autocorrect changed one word. But always remember that FUMC is a church family dedicated - DEDICATED! - to living out God's will in our lives!

Invitation to Listening to the Congregation Sessions

Sunday, January 23: 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

or

Wednesday, January 26: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

The congregation of First United Methodist Church is cordially invited to attend a "Listening to the Congregation" session with the Vision Team as we move forward as one church. Members of the Vision Team will listen as the congregation offers input through a conversational format that has been designed to offer a safe environment for discussion, as well as social distancing, and contact with a minimum amount of people. Masks are highly encouraged.

During the session, participants will be divided into groups of 10-12 people who will stay in an assigned room during its entirety. Vision Team members will be assigned one question and will move to each group to facilitate discussions in order for participants to only be around those 10-12 people.

Vision Team members will bring chart paper with a question written at the top, participants will be asked to put their thoughts on post-its which will be placed under the question, and discussion will follow. This method will allow participants to be honest, open, and anonymous, if desired. Through open discussion, individuals will be able to voice any contributions that they would like to make to the group. Leaders will then change rooms and take a new question to the next group.

We pray that 100% of our congregation will participate in one of the Listening sessions offered. Child care will be provided, if requested. We ask that all participants pre-register in order for the Vision Team to adequately plan how many leaders will be needed for each session, as well as how the spaces need to be prepared to ensure that our groups stay small. Please register via the link below. If you have any questions, please contact the church office: 336-889-4429.

JanuaryVision Team Meeting Update

January 3, 2022 Meeting

On January 3, the FUMC Vision Team met virtually. The meeting was opened with a prayer, followed by a devotional based on Isaiah 60:1-3, a reference to seeing the light of Christ. Our leader asked where we had seen the light of Christ, and our answers centered around family, Christmas activities (Salvation Army bell ringing), feeling the hope of Christ during this pandemic, and our church (Christmas Eve service, the Christmas music). We realized that the light of Christ is everywhere; it’s up to us to see it.

Our meeting had two objectives: to discuss our reading in small groups and to organize into sub teams to do listening and information gathering.

Four Sub Teams were laid out for us, explained, and team members chose the area that best fit their gifts. The Sub Teams are as follows:

• Team 1: Congregation Demographics (Richard Nifong, Jane Lain, Gary Vanlandingham)
• Team 2: Congregation Listening (Sharyn Andrews, Ginny Carpenter, David Cook, Sandy Franks, Willis Greene)
• Team 3: Community Demographics (David Miller, Debra Swing, Amy Nissen )
• Team 4: Community Listening (Marshall Morgan, Cindy Green, Rick Swartz, Kim Myers)

After some discussion about the purposes of each group and the work ahead, we moved into a discussion of our reading, Canoeing the Mountains. Our leader asked a question and we then broke into small groups to discuss each question. It was quite fun and interesting. It seemed that we always wanted to talk more than the time given to us and hated to see the last minute count down on each question! This exercise brought our reading to life and helped us remember important information that we had read.

We ended our meeting by referring to our Guiding Principles (found below) and praying over the work that is ahead of us. In all that we do, we pray and ask for God’s will to be done in our work and in our church. How blessed we are to be a part of this church and a church family dedicated to living out God’s will in our lives!

May the hope, peace, joy and love of Christmas rule in all our hearts!

Ginny Carpenter

Church Council Co-Chair