Month: April 2018

Last Sunday, our Green Team had a table in the courtyard to celebrate Earth Day.  To follow up, this ministry will be sharing Green Tips so that we can all be better stewards of the environment. 

Eco-Friendly Green Tip for Gardeners

Using pesticides and weed killers may be the easiest and most obvious way to keep your garden under control, however, these harsh chemicals can cause substantial damage to the environment. In addition, these chemicals pose a danger to our wildlife and insects such as butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. Here are a few alternatives to the harsh chemicals:

• Apply natural fertilizers, such as your own garden compost, to help your plants grow vigorously and therefore more resistant to pests and parasites. Winter Park offers free backyard composters for residents.
• Use plants that have been specifically bred to be resistant to common diseases and problems.
• Remove weeds by hand rather than dousing them with weed killers.
• Plant your garden densely, which makes it harder for weeds to get a foothold in your soil.

RESOLVING CONFLICT RESOURCE GUIDE

Materials:

• The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, The Arbinger Institute
• A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Edwin Friedman
• Ted Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Adichie
• YouTube, “Friedman’s Theory of Differentiated Leadership Made Simple”

Our Church Family:

• Share your prayer concerns at fumcwp.org/prayer.
• Join the prayer group Gathered In His Name. This group meets the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month in the Marcy Chapel at 8:15am.
• Join a Connect Group to grow in greater community and relationship with people in our church family! Click here to get connected.

RESOLVING CONFLICT SERMON NOTES

Week 1: Understanding Shalom and Peace

• Jesus welcomes us and our stories in all of our mess and brokenness so that we may look at others as valued human beings whom God loves. In this truth we find a heart of peace.
• What are some ways in which you have treated someone as an object (an issue, an agenda, a particular viewpoint, sin, etc.)? How can you move to be a peacemaker by welcoming them in the fullness of their story? What does it look like to move from trying to be right to becoming a peacemaker in your life?

Week 2: Recognizing a Heart of War

• When we choose to see others as objects, conflict rises in our own hearts. A heart of war is created. We bring our own agenda to the situation, which makes it easy to move from misidentifying another’s issues to justifying our assumptions of them.
• How do you change the context of the conversation from accusatory to supportive? How do you recognize when you are either vilifying or honoring others?

Week 3: Moving to a Heart of Peace

• When we have conflicts in our relationships, defensive reactions come to the surface that act as barriers to moving us forward. This creates in us an immediate response of a heart at war. This is the way of the world. As Christians, we are called to another response in our relationships – a heart of peace, that allows the flow of God’s grace in surprising ways to bring understanding and unity.
• Is my motivation Christ-like in bringing understanding or is my motivation to be right? How can I step away from the conflict and view it in a different, more Godly light?

Week 4: Becoming an Agent of Peace

• We perpetuate conflict when we look at external circumstances, instead of naming our own inner turmoil. We all have passions, beliefs and needs. They can be a uniting force, by encouraging us to look for our similarities instead of letting them divide us.
• How do I choose to love my neighbor as myself? How do I embrace unity, and not uniformity?

Celebrating the Risen Lord

We recognize that we are a vibrant family built on God’s grace here at First UMC of Winter Park. As gracious hosts, we understand that we are to pursue intentional relationships with all people, knowing that everyone is at a different point in their faith journey.

Earlier this month we celebrated the Risen Lord throughout our Holy Week services. In addition to the Holy Thursday and Good Friday services, our campus held 5 Easter morning services. Pastor David and Pastor Jayne led our congregations Easter about the Powerless & Victorious nature of our Savior. Listen to both Pastor David and Pastor Jayne’s sermons here as a reminder that He is Risen! 

With over 2500 worshippers in attendance Easter Sunday, we are grateful for the hospitality of our church family. We know it takes the service of many workers to prepare our campus for Holy Week. Thank you to all who provided flowers and served in a variety of capacities!

Family Ministry: Important Announcement

We are excited to announce a new approach to the discipling of the Children of First UMC Winter park, called Family Ministry.  Family Ministry is a church-wide strategic plan to help families launch their children into a lifetime of Christian Discipleship.  This plan includes the spiritual, educational, physical, and emotional growth and engagement of children, youth, and their parents. We will provide this support through the following areas:

• Provide support to children, youth and their families as they transition through both development and spiritual milestones of preschool, elementary, middle and high school students.
• Develop strategies for each ministry to welcome and support new families to the Family Ministry by partnering with our weekday preschool, new membership, and new parents through activities and communication.
• Connect families to the greater church body through intergenerational worship, youth, and young adult ministries.
• Create opportunities for the enrichment of parents as the spiritual leaders of their homes through serving events, parenting classes and seminars, and connections at spiritual milestones.

To accomplish these tasks, we are launching a search for the Director of Family Ministry.  Please be praying that we find the right person to lead us in this new exciting direction.   Click here for more information about this position.

We thank you for your prayers and support.
– Rev. Jayne Rideout