Our Prayers Walk with Phyl Holmead!

Today Pastor Charles and Belinda visited Phyl Holmead to wish her every blessing as she prepares to begin her time as an interim pastor of a local Christian church. We presented a "Pastor's Journal" to her on behalf of the members of the First United Methodist Church of Sidney. Certainly, our prayers walk with her!

Ruby Kathleen Jenks' Funeral Service

Ruby Kathleen Jenks was laid to rest today on a beautiful October morning with friends and family gathered to bid her farewell.

Kathleen was born in Missouri in 1911 and was a member of First UMC for seventy-two years. She will be missed and remembered among the faithful!

Pictures may be seen at this link.

The UMW is on the Road!

Six of our UMW members were off to Sutherland UMC yesterday (October 25th) for a District training for ladies taking leadership positions in the local Units.

A great training was received and the fellowship to and from the training made the long day well-worth it for all in attendance.

Look for great things again from the UMW in 2009!!!

Youth Night at First UMC

The energy from the morning worship service carried over into the cold October evening with a youth grup that was burning to have fun. After putting in such a great group effort in leading the worship this morning, the group met in the fellowship hall for pizza and then it was across the street for an evening of bowling.

Costumes were the order of the day with Janet Rosenbaum (one of the leaders) really leading the way in a vintage poodle skirt and jet-black wig. Our youth are building community by building relationships, and the entire church and community are benefiting from their enthusiastic efforts.

For more photos, please see this link.

Youth Sunday at First UMC!

WOW! The energy was present in full-force this morninig! From the opening of the early service at 8:00 a.m. to the laughter ringing out from the kitchen following the monthly potluck, there was something for everyone today.

Pastor Charles led the early service in a remembrance of Reformation Sunday with the sermon, "The Reformation of Katie Luther." Katie was the wife of Martin Luther and a powerhouse of the early reformation.

In between services, there was faith formation classes taking place, choir rehersal, fellowship, farewells offered to Rick and Sue Trollier and much, much more.

The family service at 10:00 a.m. was a wild ride with our dynamic youth taking charge of the service. Following a presentation from the congregation to the Trollier's (who are moving to Colorado), the youth took off on a wonderful service highlighting their ministry trip to St. Louis this past summer.

The fellowship time which followed had a terrific turnout, and the food, as always, was worth every calorie!

There is still more to come tonight, and the week ahead promises to continue to offer ministries which make disciples who make a difference.

For more pictures, please see this link.

Animal Blessing in the Legion Park

As part of a community-wide effort to raise awareness of the needs of our animal companions, the First Annual "Who Let the Dawg's Out & Hello Kittie" Event was held on Saturday, October 25th, in Sidney's Legion Park.

Pastor Charles was at the park offering blessings to dogs and cats of all sizes. Each pet received an annointing and a prayer of blessing. And each companion was given a "dogument" to frame as a keepsake.

To see more pictures from the Park, please visit this link

Angel of Hope Luncheon

With glorious autumn weather surrounding Sidney, the Angel of Hope was unveiled in Sidney's Memorial Garden.

Afterwards, over 100 well-wishers took part in the fantastic food that had been prepared for their enjoyment at the First United Methodist Church (UMC) in Sidney. The fellowship was rich, and the love which brought everyone together was celebrated by one and all.

Thanks to all the First UMC members who helped to bring this community event together and who gave of their time and effort to offer hospitality to the community.

For more photos of Saturday's event, please visit this link.

First UMC is Cooking Today!

The kitchen and fellowship hall was the place to be today as a hard-working group of ladies made preparation for the Angel of Hope Luncheon and for the bi-monthly Care/Share meals. (see more pictures at this link).

First up tomorrow morning is the Care/Share ministry which will be delivering thirty meals to folks in the church and community.

About the same time, Pastor Charles will be in the Legion Park participating in the First Annual "Who Let the Dawgs Out & Hello Kittie" Event. This is an effort to raise awareness for pets who have been abandoned and those needing adoption in our area. Pastor Charles will be offering pet blessings between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. behind the Shelter House.

Finnaly, we are expecting anywhere from 125-150 for lunch following the unveiling of the Angel of Hope statue in the Memorial Garden here in Sidney. The Angel of Hope is a national effort to support those grieving from the loss of a child.

To learn more about the Angel of Hope project here in Sidney, Nebraska, you can go to
this link.

God bless all those who work to spread love and hope among the people!

More from an Amazing Sunday

In addition to Pastor Appreciation Sunday, First UMC was alive with activity and the blessings were showering down from sunrise to deep into the October night.

Prayer shawls were blessed at the 8:00 a.m. service. Two of them were given at the 10:00 a.m. service. The first was to Phyl Holmead who shared with the congregation that she has been called as the interim pastor of a church in Kearney, beginning in November. The second shawl was presented to Martha Walker who was recognized for being a member of our church for 80 years.

Our children blessed us with music at the 10:00 a.m. service. There was joy all around, before - during - and after the service. What a blessing the children and their leaders are!

It was a fantastic day, and the week to come promises to be another exciting one in the Kingdom: Praise be to God!

Pastor's Appreciation Sunday at the Church!

Wow! What a wonderful Sunday it is today!

Charles was surprised with a lovely and delicious cake in honor of Pastor's Appreciation Sunday at the FUMC! (One side was chocolate; the other side was vanilla.) Folks enjoyed sampling the cake between services and then after the 10:00 a.m. service. What was left will be enjoyed as dessert at the Alpha potluck dinner tonight! Yum; yum; yum!

At both services, Charles wore the gorgeous stole that Arlene Christensen crocheted for him. It is blue (Charles' favorite color) with antique white stripes on it.

At the 10:00 a.m. service, Donna Bahr, chair of the Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee (S/PPRC) presented Charles with a breath-taking cross framed in a special shadow box. It will be a lasting reminder of his time here at the First United Methodist Church in Sidney, Nebraska.

After church, we enjoyed going out to lunch with some of the church members. All in all, it was a lovely morning at church!

For special folks who take the time to remember their pastor in such a very special way, we give thanks to God! Praise be to God!!!

The Gift of a Pizza Made us SMILE!

What a surprise!
In honor of Bosses' Day, we were told that a pizza
would be delivered to the parsonage tonight!

It arrived right on time at
6:00 p.m.

It was true to its title: A supreme pizza! Yum-yum-yum!

Praise be to God for such thoughtful folks!!!

Our Church Website Viewed More Than 4,000 Times!

Great News: Our church website has been visited over 4,000 times in the last year! WOW!

God is SO good!!!

Evening UMW Circle, Oct. 15th

The ladies of the Evening Circle met tonight, and laughter was the order of the day!

Edie Baumbach brought pumpkin pie for the evening refreshments, and Eleanor Zilmer arranged the table decorations with a fun Halloween theme. The program featured Pastor Charles who talked about some of the many different types of crosses in his collection.

There is such a positive energy coming out of the evening circle! The sky is the limit as to what these amazing ladies will do next!

Pie in the Parsonage!

Thanks be to God for a loving parishoner who has generously baked Pastor Alkula not one but two pies
this month: Pastor's Appreciation Month!

And he was loving enough to share his apple and pumpkin pies with his bride Belinda. What a great fellow!

P.S. They tasted SO good! They were heavenly!!!

More from Columbus Day Weekend

The ministry of First UMC doesn't stop at noon!

The afternoon saw Pastor Charles and Belinda taking worship services to the residents of the Memorial Health Center (MHC) and the Golden Living Center. At MHC, Shirley Oliverius and Mae Talich joined the residents, including Elva Lostroh. Thanks to Shirley and Mae; they both really helped with leading the singing!

The evening again saw action taking place on different floors of the church. The Alpha Course continued in the lower level while two floors above, the youth applied the finishing touches to the third floor kitchen.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow; come back and find out!

Shiprock Mission Trip Report

At the 10:00 a.m. service this morning, Bea and Bill Dinkel offered a report of their mission trip to the Shiprock Mission with the Navajo people in New Mexico. They took some pictures and shared them with the congregation during the fellowship time after the service. (If you double-click on the pictures above, they will double in size, and you can see the pictures a lot better!)