Happy New Year from HBUMC! There's so much in store in the days ahead. We can't wait to gather together in this new year!

Norman Wirzba, Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke University, will help us kick off the 2026 Winter Wednesday Night Dinner season next Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Our theme for the evening is Breaking Bread Together, and Professor Wirzba will explore how the production and consumption of food are ideal windows to explore life with God, with each other, and with all of creation. Food is much more than fuel or a commodity to purchase as cheaply and efficiently as possible. It is instead, God’s declaration of love to us and our commitment to share life with each other. We will reflect on the ways our shared meals embody care for one another and for creation. Drawing on scripture we will also explore how the ways we eat are regular invitations to witness to God’s presence among us.

Dinner will be served from 5:00-6:30pm. The presentation will begin at 6:30pm. Whether you come for dinner, bring your own, or just come for the talk, we hope you will join us! Click here to sign up for dinner.

January is Stephen Ministry month at HBUMC! Over the next few weeks, we will be celebrating this essential ministry and sharing ways to get involved. For those who are new to the term “Stephen Ministers,” these are individuals in our congregation skilled in caring for those facing challenges in their lives. They have undergone extensive training to develop and nurture their caring skills. Stephen Ministers exist to walk alongside anyone in our congregation in need of support during a difficult season, providing confidential, no-cost support. This ministry has been thriving at HBUMC for over 30 years and we look forward to sharing more about how to utilize and/or support this ministry.

Click here to read more about Stephen Ministry!

This winter, we’re offering three new book and Bible studies beginning Wednesday, January 14 and running through Wednesday, February 11:

• Parenting & Grandparenting as Prayer | 6:30–7:30pm, led by Matt Ashburn and Mary June Jones
• Esther Bible Study | 4:00–5:30pm, led by Lindsey Nugent
• Richard Rohr’s The Tears of Things | 6:30–7:30pm, led by Pastor Sarah, David & Dianne Jones

Register here and please note that the signup link includes three tabs at the top — one for each study. We hope you’ll join us!

• Wednesday Nights are almost here! Fellowship, dinner, kids’ activities & more - there’s something for everyone.
• 5-6:30 PM: Open Gym (All Ages) - children must be accompanied by a parent
• 5:30-6 PM: Children’s Choir (K–5th Grade)
• 6:30-7:30 PM: Children’s Fun and Fellowship - K-2nd Grade meet in the Children's Fellowship Hall, 3rd-5th Grade meet in Room 113 (5th Grade Sunday School room)

• Elementary Movie Night is next Friday, on January 9th @ 5:30 PM. Bring a friend and watch Zootopia with us. Register in advance!  

• Sunday, January 4th: JOY Class & Confirmation will be held at 10am! There will be no UMYF this week. See you January 11th!
• Access our spring youth schedule here!  
• Parents and volunteers - sign up to volunteer for the spring here! 

Join us on February 1st from 5-6:30pm for a warm, delicious evening of food and fellowship - all in support of the HBUMC Youth Summer Service Trips to North Carolina and the greater Appalachia region! 

Bring your family, invite your friends, and enjoy both meat and vegetarian chili options, homemade with love by our church community. Whether you’re joining us for dinner, picking up pre-ordered quarts, or grabbing extra for your freezer, every purchase directly supports our youth mission work.

In addition to our chili dinner, we will host bingo and a chili cook-off competition for prizes! Enter your chili to win!! 

Registration closes January 28th at midnight! Click to learn more and sign up.

To sign up, please click here!

New Covenant Groups are launching in early 2026, with several day and time options available. A Covenant Group is a small circle of 5–8 people who meet weekly for one hour to share, pray, and hold one another accountable in following Jesus. If you’re interested in learning more, fill out our Covenant Group Interest Survey today and take the next step in growing your faith in community with others.

Join the UMM for Race & Real Estate in Raleigh: Faithful Responses to Displacement

with Rev. Rob Stephens, January 20 from 6:30-8:00pm. A native of Winston-Salem, NC, Rev. Stephens is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a trainer and organizer with the Racial Equity Institute, and Faith Outreach Coordinator for the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW). He is a member of the Men of Southeast Raleigh, Housing Chair for the Raleigh-Apex Branch of the NAACP and works with the newly formed Alliance of Rooted Communities, a network of over a dozen Black neighborhoods in the Triangle working together to counter displacement and build on the rich history and power in our communities. Dinner is $10. Click here to register.

You’re invited to join the pastors for conversation and coffee in the Parlor on Sunday, January 25 at 10 a.m. Whether you’re new, or a longtime member looking to catch up with the pastors, you are welcome! RSVP to sswandell@hbumc.org. Childcare available.

Fairport Farms is growing their Certified Naturally Grown, regenerative produce throughout the winter by installing new tunnels on their property to provide nutritious food to those that are food insecure in our communities all year.

For the first time they will offer a 4-week Winter CSA season in January 2026, with an option to donate shares to the NC State Food Pantry. Deliveries will be on the following Fridays: January 23, 30, February 6, 13.

The Winter CSA share will be shorter than our usual 8-week seasons, making it a great time to give the CSA a try. Click here to learn more and sign up by January 14.

This winter our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farmers, the Eatons of Fairport Farms near Oxford, NC, are growing organic produce to be donated to the local Farm to Fridge Program in Granville County. Please support Elvin and Madeline in this effort to provide fresh, nutritious, local food to food insecure individuals in their community by donating in $25 increments. Each $25 donation provides about 5-6 regeneratively grown vegetables. Click here to give now. (Choose CSA-Donations from the drop-down and add “Farm to Fridge” in the Memo box.)

Prayer Requests

We believe God is present in the prayers we lift up for one another.

To add a name to the prayer concerns bookmark, published each week in the bulletin, please email prayer@hbumc.org. If your prayer concern is confidential, and you want only to share with the pastors, please indicate so in your email. We will keep names on the prayer bookmark for one month, unless otherwise requested.

Please hold these places and people in your hearts this week:

DEATHS

Francis J. Taillefer, father of Ashley Mahan 

PRAYER CONCERNS  

Zack Anstett 

Dorothy Ashworth 

Bill Collins 

Steve Gill 

Pat & Bud Gore 

Gilbert Hay 

Trish Holmes 

Roqia H. 

Jo Ann & Nevelle Jones 

The Mahan family 

Steve Motter 

Jane Preiss 

Jim Riggins 

Sue Robertson 

Gladys Rose  

Theresa & Dick Stevens 

Victoria Sullivan 

Billie Lee Whisnant 

ONGOING PRAYER CONCERNS

Our Government Leaders 

Those Affected by Natural Disasters 

Our In-Crowd Members 

Peace in Palestine, Israel, Haiti and Ukraine

OUR CHURCH LEADERS

Pastors David, Sarah, Matt, and Claire 

Our HBUMC Ministry Team 

District Superintendent Alan Felton

Bishop Connie Shelton