Sunday Announcements 8/13/23

Below are the announcements given on 8/14/23.  Please refer to your directory for contact information.
Announcements-plan-20230813.pdf

A renewal leave is a well-established clergy practice in the United Methodist Church and is supported by the Book of Discipline. Renewal leaves give pastors extended time to step away from the demands of pastoral leadership to rest, renew and recharge. The key word is renewal. Renewal leaves provide pastors time for spiritual growth, practicing self-care and for reflection in order to become more effective in ministry and to better serve their congregations. Pastoral renewal leaves can also be renewing for the congregations they serve.

Our Staff-Parish Relations Committee approved Pastor Ferdie’s 2-month renewal leave for July and August.

During his renewal leave, Pastor Ferdie will not be responding directly to your emails. Please contact our Lay Leader, Donna Stock, with any urgent needs to contact him (soupstock2@msn.com, home phone 425-226-9023, cell phone 206-465-7121). Our Congregational Care team will be here to assist as needed (Catherine L, care@fairwoodumc.org). Emergency pastoral care will be offered by Job P. (Jgplaw1@gmail.com, 206-334-6475) and Tom C.

While Pastor Ferdie continues his renewal leave, we will hear from a variety of wonderful speakers.

August 13   Megan Sethia – (our FCUMC interim Director of Children & Youth Ministries)

August 20   Job Pangilinan – (now serving as Student Pastor at Tibbetts UMC in West Seattle)

August 27   Andy Lang – (educator and author of Unmasking the Inner Critic)

Blackberry picking and Ice Cream Sundaes.

Yummmm!  We will be outside enjoying nature, exploring, doing crafts, playing nature games, and planting things.  Be sure to wear “OK to get dirty” clothes, no sandals, and bring a jacket and dress for the weather!  As we explore, there is a great chance you will see our friendly rabbits, ducks, blue damselflies, squirrels, and hopefully our three deer.

Our new church sign is installed in front! Thank you to all the people involved in the project.

The Single Ladies Luncheon in August will take place on Monday, August 14th at 11:30 am.

Location:

River Rock Grill

Maplewood Golf Course

4050 Maple Valley Hwy, Renton, WA 98058

For questions or a ride please call Sharon Ramos.

Community Groups would like to celebrate our groups and church by having an all-church picnic on Sunday August 20 @ 3:30 out on our church lawn. Bring your own food, drink and chairs/blankets. After the picnic, we’ll attend the concert at Allen Park in Fairwood which begins at 5:00pm. This is mostly about fun and food, but we’d also like to process how groups have been going and how to proceed from here.

 What are community groups you might ask?? Six Community Groups were organized at a potluck lunch in March when 53 people attended, enjoying good food and fellowship together.  Groups are meeting on Tuesday and Friday evenings, Saturday mornings and Sunday after worship for approximately ninety minutes. Most groups have been meeting monthly for 4-5 months. (If you are interested in joining a group please contact Jan Bigbee-Hansen.  We want to keep the sizes balanced as much as we can.)    

Generally, groups begin their meetings with prayer, meditation or a spiritual reading, then check in with each other and after that participate in an activity of the group’s choice (or just visit). One group prepared and ate ice cream sundaes.  That’s the idea of Community Groups, three simple actions. Centering, Checking In, and Play/Conversation/Meal.

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Our new church website is now live!  Visit www.fairwoodumc.org for a newly designed website.  This visitor-focused site has simple navigation and is viewable on all types of devices (mobile, tablet and desktop/laptop).  Since it is a work in progress (yes, we know some things still need work), please let Heather Spates know if you see something that needs updating. communications@fairwoodumc.org