Important information Sunday!

Pastor Bruce and your Church Leadership would like to discuss some information with the congregation prior to our annual Charge Conference in November. 

Please plan to attend one of two information sessions happening this month. 

The first session will be immediately following the worship service on Sunday, October 20th and the second will be in the evening of Friday, October 25th at 7 pm. 

Both sessions will be in the Gathering Place and all are encouraged to attend.

• October 19, Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat
• October 20, Information Session
• October 20, Flood Bucket Assembly
• October 25, Information Session
• October 26, United Women of Faith General Membership Breakfast
• October 26, Church Council
• October 27, JDC, Juvenile Detention Center
• November 2, Bread of Life Ministry
• November 3, All Saints Sunday
• November 3, Fellowship Feast
• November 10, Charge Conference
• November 16, Faith Promise Missions Meeting will be followed by a Pot Luck Luncheon
• November 23, Sacred Harmony Concert
• November 24, Consecration Sunday
• December 7, Christmas Caroling
• December 10, Santa's Ride
• December 14, Breakfast with Santa
• January 12, Poetry Slam

Weekly Events

• Sunday
• Children's Sunday School Classes. The children will meet in the sanctuary until just after Children's Time. They will then leave for Sunday School with their teachers. We are asking for volunteers to relieve the Sunday School teachers so they may periodically attend the full worship service.
• Youth Sunday School Class Time TBD
• Connections Adult Class Time TBD
• The Seeker Sunday School Class meets at 9:00 am.
• Pray for Pender
• The Impact Youth Group at 5:00 pm
• Monday
• Fun with Music
• Book Squad!
• Mary Martha Circle, online
• Tuesday
• Handbell rehearsals
• Pastor Bruce Bible Study
• Wednesday
• Ruth Circle
• AA Meetings at 6pm
• Thursday
• Pastor Bruce Bible Study
• Lectio Divina Prayer Group
• Choir Rehearsal at 6:30
• Praise Band Rehearsal at 7:30

Check here for other meetings.

All Pender Meetings run by the school year. Recurring meetings (weekly or monthly) taking place after June 30, 2024 will need to be scheduled again for the 2024-2025 school year.

Pender Members and Pender-sponsored groups such as Boy Scouts should go here, click add event. Please list your first-choice of room number. 

You will get an email when your event is approved. Note that you cannot add an event to a room that is already reserved for another meeting.

Miscellaneous Items:

• A service of interment for Richard (Dick) Busby, long-time Pender member, will take place at Arlington Cemetery, Friday, October 25 at 9:00. The congregation is welcome to attend.

• Pastor Bruce will be away next Sunday, October 27, preaching at the homecoming service of a former congregation, Manor Memorial UMC in New Market, VA. Donna Parker will be our guest speaker. He will then be on a personal retreat at Camp Highroad from Tuesday, October 29-Friday, November 1. If you have an emergency need during that time, please contact the church office at (703) 278-8023, or you may leave a message on Pastor Bruce’s phone: (434) 610-1115. He will check his messages each day and will be back for worship on All Saints Sunday, November 3. 

• Pastor’s Article

Are you cold yet? As the leaves fall from the trees and the squirrels gather their winter provisions, fall is unmistakably upon us, with winter right on its heals. My daily walks now require long pants and a wool hat. Cooked oatmeal has replaced cold cereal, hot cider for iced tea. It may be March before my hands thaw out. I’m missing summer already. 

Adjusting to the change of season is hard for some of us. But I am happy to report that the disciples of Jesus at Pender UMC are not growing cold as the temperature drops. This past Sunday we raised $3300 to buy supplies for UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) cleaning buckets that will go to help persons in North Carolina, Florida, and elsewhere as they clean up following the recent hurricanes and flooding. Combined with the gifts and efforts of thousands of United Methodist churches and tens of thousands of our fellow believers and citizens, we are putting into action the love of Christ where it is urgently needed. This Sunday, October 20, supplies for 44 buckets will be packed in the Gathering Place following our first congregational information session/conversation about the future of Pender UMC (1:00 or after). I can’t think of a better way to translate the emerging vision of God’s new future for us than to reach out to others with tangible expressions of God’s saving mercy and transforming power. All interested persons are invited to participate.

If you somehow have missed the invitation, please plan to stay after worship this Sunday to join us for this needed conversation about God’s work and Pender’s future. Those who have been helping us to address our specific needs will update you on our progress, and together we will consider God’s providential hand that seems to be in evidence with a new and exciting proposal for our consideration. This will impact us all, so as a part of our Pender family, we want you to be informed, and we need your input as we discern our faithful way forward together.

Like some of you, my heart is warmer than my hands in winter. Thankfully, God is the reader of hearts and minds, as well as a caretaker of our bodies. How good to know that, in every season, the Lord of life is watching over us and working among us to bring about his perfect purposes, the new creation he is bringing to pass in his church and for the world. With the Gospel on our lips and the Holy Spirit warming our hearts, we will stay on fire all year around.  

Pastor Bruce   

Hurricane Flood Relief

The United Methodist Church in keeping with our Wesleyan heritage of embodying the gospel in acts of charity, is quickly responding to the great human need following the flooding in North Carolina and elsewhere. The Virginia Conference is encouraging every congregation to contribute to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) that is already on the ground to bring relief to the suffering.  

Sunday, October 20, we will assemble Flood Buckets after the Information Session. We will have pizza, soda and cookies.

Thank you for helping Pender to respond to human need with Christ-like compassion.

On the fourth Sunday of the month, October 27, people in the Pender community lead a one hour worship service at Fairfax Juvenile Detention Center (JDC). This worship service supports teenagers (7th to 12th grade) and the staff.

Worship service is from 1:30 to 2:30 PM. Volunteers are asked to meet at JDC at 1:15 PM. You do not need to have any special skills, just a willing heart and spirit to share the gospel with teens and young adults.

November 23 at 6:00 pm

Great artists take numerous musical styles and influences, add their own talents and personality, and create a unique sound all their own. Sacred Harmony personifies that. With a sound unlike any other group in Gospel music, the Tennessee-based trio is breaking through barriers with their blended style.

      With so many blessings behind them, it’s what the future holds that is the most exciting as you will see a country style added to their set and new faces in 2024. “We are excited to see the doors that the Lord is opening to spread his word in song. We truly appreciate each church, each concert, and each person that we are blessed to worship with,” stated. Janet Weaver .

https://sacredharmony1.com/bio-our-story

Ministry opportunity - would you like to serve your church and the Lord?

Please consider signing up to serve communion. We celebrate this sacrament on the first Sunday of each month and on other special Sundays throughout the year. 

Please contact Donna Parker at musicalmother@gmail.com if you would like to be a part of this wonderful ministry.

We need you! Our wonderful and dedicated children's Sunday School teachers deserve the opportunity to attend the worship service with their families. 

There are sign up sheets in the Narthex with two slots available each Sunday between now and the end of the year. 

You do not have to plan any lessons or even teach. 

We are just in need of extra hands and eyes in each of the two classrooms. 

Please prayerfully consider volunteering for just one Sunday and give our teachers a blessing. 

You will be equally blessed!! 

There are two clear tubs in the Narthex labeled "Trunk-or-Treat donations".

All candy must be individually wrapped.

Thanks to all contributors for being SO SWEET!!

Pender's Annual Trunk or Treat is returning bigger and better than ever!

Get ready for some fall fun! Join us for the Pender Fall Festival on October 19, from 2-4 pm in the church parking lot.

Here’s what’s in store:

Trunk or Treat – Wear your costumes and collect tons of candy! (Hint - adults can dress up, too)

S’mores Station– Snack on ooey-gooey s’mores!

Karaoke Station – Show off your singing skills with your favorite tunes!

Estimation Station – Test your guessing skills and see how close you get!

Bring your family, friends, and all your fall vibes for an afternoon of fun! You won’t want to miss it!

This will be a lot of fun for everyone.

Pender Hill School will be collecting toys for the Santa's Ride program again this year. We are excited to work with the Fairfax County Police Motor Squad to collect new toys and books for children in local hospitals.

Coming soon - Items can be donated in the marked bins in the Church Lobby and the downstairs Preschool hallway until December 10.

The date for the motorcycle Santa, will be December 10^th.

Please contact Sarah Hocker with any questions.

Hi Sunday School Families & Friends, 

There are some wonderful family/children's activities happening ithis year. Please come and enjoy! All are welcome -- and invite a friend!

Western Fairfax Christian Ministries ("WFCM") Current Request for Donations

WFCM has been providing food and services to the community for 37 years! Pender was one of the twelve founding churches that set the path and began the journey.  Becky Bryan is our current liaison with WFCM.  Please contact her with any questions.

In May more than 700 families were provided groceries from the Food Pantries, a 15% increase over May of 2023. Serving more families means we have a greater opportunity to make an impact with our donations. 

There are multiple ways you can support this community ministry.  The ways we hear of most often are donations of goods or money. Another way to participate is through volunteering of time to work in the Food Pantry.  If you are interested in volunteering, contact the WFCM office or Becky Bryan.

Financial donations to be used to stock the Food Pantry can be made to Pender to be forwarded to WFCM.  In a recent newsletter, WFCM explained that, because of the savings that flow out of bulk purchases, a donation of $100 is used to purchase the equivalent of $600 of food. 

For donations of food and toiletry items, you may leave your gifts in the grocery cart located by Pender’s front doors.  OR, you can order from Amazon for direct delivery to WFCM at 4511 Daly Drive, Suite J, Chantilly, VA 20151.

~~~

The WFCM blue cart is between the two front doors of the church.

Most needed items in the Free Food Market this month:

• Flour (Maseca preferred)
• Sugar (1 or 2 lb. bags)
• Vegetable Oil 
• Pasta Sauce
• Pasta
• Cereal (low sugar preferred)
• Pancake Mix 
• Family Sized Snacks (crackers, pretzels) 
• Canned Chicken 
• Toiletries: bar soap, body wash, toothpaste, hair shampoo, toilet paper, and baby wipes (NOTE: we are not currently in need of diapers size 0-5 due to our partnership with Greater DC Diaper Bank. Please only donate larger size pull ups size 4T/5T for toddlers, size 6 diapers, or baby wipes if you want to donate items for babies.)

Please only donate larger size pull ups size 4T/5T for toddlers, size 6 diapers, or baby wipes if you want to donate items for babies.

Please no:

* Expired food

* Glass jars

* Egg Cartons

Read this month's WFCM Newsletter.

The WFCM Food Pantry is accepting outside donations at their address below. There is a greater need for food but fewer donations.

You can also help by ordering from Amazon for delivery to WFCM. Rice, beans, canned fruit, diapers (Sizes 4, 5, 6), pasta, pasta sauce, etc.



                   WFCM

                   4511 Daly Drive, Suite J

                   Chantilly, VA 20151

Financial contributions are also accepted (cash, check or through our website). Please mark your tax deductible donation "WFCM Food Pantry." This will be recorded on your giving statement.

Thank you for your continuing support of WFCM. In 2021, Pender donated 6,128.74 pounds of food and personal care items to help the needy in the community. Thank you for your ongoing and generous support of WFCM.

Pender is an open and welcoming church. We accept and embrace all persons, period. All people are blessed children of God. Pender is a caring and praying church community; we believe as Christians that we are called to follow and practice the ways of Jesus Christ, who is our ever present and living God.

Our mission is to practice and embrace, providing unconditional love and acceptance of all of God's children as He loves and accepts all of us.

We do not discriminate based on age, mental, physical, or intellectual ability, culture, gender, race, religious belief or unbelief, or sexual orientation.