Welcome to the First Methodist Church of Zephyrhills

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

#Day by Day calendar notes starting 11/08. See below in Week at a Glance.

#Food Pantry Holiday Meals Collection. See below in Ministry News!

#Soup Extravaganza November 8th! See below in What's Happening!

#Family Ministries Chili Cook Off and Pumpkin Carving photos. See below in Week at a Glance.

#Project Others Toy Donation Request. See below in Ministry News.

November 08, 2026 at The Big White Church on 5th Ave

Crusaders Sunday School Class 9:30 - 10:30am in Crusaders Classroom

The Crusaders Class is facilitated by Jeanne Narum.  

During November the Crusaders Class will explore the differences between the United and Global Methodist Churches and also watch the movie, "The Way."

Spirit and Truth Sunday School Class 9:30 - 10:30am in Truthseekers Classroom

Spirit and Truth Sunday class is facilitated by Greg Peavey.

Truthseekers Sunday School Class 11:00am - 12:00pm in Education Building

Truthseekers class is facilitated by a rotation of class members.

The class continues looking at the minor prophets through November, studying Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. The minor prophets are so named not because of their lesser importance but because of the short lengths of the material attributed to them.

Nursery: (8 weeks through pre-K) Opens 9:15am w/final pickup after services

Children's Church (grades K through 5) Dismissal during both sanctuary services

Youth Sunday School (grades 6 - 12) 10:00 - 10:30am Chapel Classroom

CONTEMPORARY SONG SET FOR SUNDAY, November 08

"Let It Rise" performed by Big Daddy Weave

written by Holland Davis

"Open The Eyes Of My Heart" performed by Michael W. Smith

written by Paul Baloche

"Surrender" performed by Jeremy Camp

written by Jeremy Camp

"Have Thine Own Way" performed by Terry Butler

written by Adelaide Addison Pollard and George Coles Stebbins

"Mighty To Save" performed by Hillsong

written by Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan

Youth Sunday School Series

Youth group continues its study series using

"Answers in Genesis"

This Week's Topic: Ezra Teaches the Law

For information on curriculum specifics connect with Karen Ezra at kezra@fmcz.org

Children's Church Sunday School

For more information on Children's Church connect with Carol Runyon at crunyon@fmcz.org

Live streams of both 9:30am Contemporary and 11:00am Traditional services are shown

 in real time in The Sanctuary Mother's Room, Cooper Hall, and the Nursery.

This Week and Beyond at a Glance Beginning November 08, 2026

The events noted at left are just a sampling of the regular meetings, activities, and events happening on our campus. For a full description of each week's happenings, be sure to go to our main website calendar!

Mark Your Calendars

Soup Extravaganza Youth Fundraiser

Sunday, November 8th FMCZ Youth Ministries will hold another Soup Extravaganza in Cooper Hall between 11:30am - 1:00pm. New home made soups and stews to sample. Admission is a donation to the Youth Rock the Universe trip in January 2027.

Blood Pressure Checks

Sunday, November 8th from 10:30 - 11:00am in Cooper Hall.

Church Office Closed

The church offices will be closed on Wednesday, November 11th in observance of Veteran's Day. All other Wednesday events will take place as normally scheduled. The office will reopen on Thursday with normal business hours.

Project Others

The Project Others Team is requesting donations of small toys and stuffed animals to put in their annual hand-made Christmas Stockings to be given to area children. You can bring your donations to Cooper Hall West any Friday during their meeting/work times, or drop them off at our church office labeled, "Project Others Christmas."

Holy Land Trip Status Meeting

Church members going on next year's trip to the Holy Land are invited to an informal meeting to answer logistical questions, update information, and check on the status of plans. 6:30 - 7:30pm in Cooper Hall, Thursday, November 12.

The annual FMCZ Chili Cook-off and Pumpkin Carving Event was a great success this year with a wide variety of home-made chilies to sample, ranging from mild to hot and spicy. Attendees voted for their favorite in each sample category then went back up for a full bowl of their choice. The delicious concoctions were accompanied by home made cornbread or crackers and drinks. Meanwhile, entrants in the pumpkin carving contest were busy cutting and slicing into their orange skinned gourds, creating a whole company of memorable pumpkin characters. It was a great night of fun, fellowship, and food. If you missed this event this year, be sure to join us next year for another great tasting harvest celebration.

Current Ministry, Mission, and Activities Notes

Mission of the Month for November 2026

Henderson Settlement

The Henderson Settlement has served its Appalachian community in Kentucky for many years and its Methodist roots run deep. Henderson Settlement is located in Frakes Kentucky and was founded in 1925 by Hiram Frakes. Rev. Frakes was a Methodist minister from Pineville, Kentucky, who had a dream of educational, economic and spiritual reforms in this area of Appalachia. Local families got together and donated 123 acres and Rev. Frakes started a school in the area. That was the beginning of Henderson Settlement. To learn more about this mission focus, please see the feature article in November's Messenger newsletter, available to download from this eBlast.

    If you would like to contribute to this important work in helping communities prosper while spreading Christ's Word, place your cash or check in the offering envelopes in the pews or pay on-line noting "Henderson" in the comment section.

During the month of November, please take some extra time to consider those non-perishable pantry ingredients that are the foundations of many happy holiday meals. The Pantry staff is asking our food donors to focus on providing those holiday staples that will help make Thanksgiving and Christmas meals extra bright with as many traditional elements and flairs as possible. Think about which meal items brighten a holiday table, and please consider donating those! As always, please be mindful of the quality and contents of the items you donate to ensure we are providing healthful meal items to those who need them the most. Thank you! 

Norma Hall Thrift Shop and Annex

Regular Hours ~ Wednesdays and Saturdays

8:00am - 12:00pm

Donations Accepted every Monday

8:00am - 12:00pm

Remember that proceeds from both Thrift Shop locations go to the support of numerous local and denominational charities and ministries!

Please send information via email text and photos as attachments to tjgale@fmcz.org

The desk is manned Monday through Wednesday ~ 9:00am - 2:00pm

Explore the many and varied ways that you can give back with your own talents, skills, and unique perspectives. Click the link above.

FMCZ Campus and Business News

First Methodist Church of Zephyrhills

38635 5th Avenue, Zephyrhills, Florida 33542 | 813-782-5645

Use of Campus Building Rooms: Rooms in the Administrative Office building, Cooper Hall, and the Education building are always available for ministries, groups, and church members to use. However, in order to coordinate dates and times and prevent overlapping space needs, all rooms must be scheduled through the Office Manager. Call 813-782-5645 or email tgale@fmcz.org.

We make many investments in our lives, perhaps one of the most significant is the investment we make in our spiritual life and community. Whether we give of our talents, our energies, our time, or our financial resources, when we give back, we invest in the practical application of our faith. The FMCZ church family has always proved most generous in supporting our ministries as they continue to grow and expand. Did you know that along with giving for current needs, anyone can set up Planned and Legacy gifts that will continue to fuel our growth and ministries far into the future. If you are interested in learning more about Legacy Giving please connect with a member of the Permanent Endowment Committee.

Our trustees are continuing work on active repair and renovation projects needed to maintain safe and efficient physical facilities.

If you wish to donate specifically to this campus stewardship fund, please designate your gift as "property preservation".

Congregational News

Corrections to our November1st All Saints List

For last Sunday's All Saints observation, several of our church members who passed away in the later months of 2025 were overlooked for inclusion on our list. We regret that they were not officially recognized during the service and include their names here for remembrance and prayers for the families and friends they left behind. Our deepest apologies for the oversight.

Shirley DeBoe

Larry Gower

Harry Kehr

Fay Kingery

Please note that some names no longer listed on our weekly prayer list have been moved to a the long-term prayer list in our Messenger on page 10. This prayer list will be updated with each new Messenger edition.

Scripture Readings for the Week of November 08, 2026:

Sunday, 11/08: Matthew 25:31-45 (NIV)

Monday, 11/09: Genesis 25:19-26

Tuesday, 11/10: 1 Corinthians 9:20-27

Wednesday, 11/11: John 20:11-18

Thursday, 11/12: 2 Kings 6:1-7

Friday, 11/13: 1 Peter 3:8-12

Saturday, 11/14: Proverbs 13:11-23

First Methodist Church of Zephyrhills | 813-782-5645

Email Communications Desk: tjgale@fmcz.org |Website: www.fmcz.org

Church Office Hours: Mondays -Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.