To enquire about or lead a weekly Lenten group (virtually or in-person) please email Jennifer Hatchitt at JenniferH@fumcwp.org. You will receive more information about training and how your group will be formed.
Author: FUMCWP Admin
Lenten Small Groups!
Family Life Can be Wild Sometimes… Taming The Lions
We all have experienced tumultuous times at home one time or another… but there are sometimes situations where families cannot move past their problems effectively. Whether it’s navigating issues within a newly blended family, setting boundaries for teens, helping couples with conflict resolution, or seeking better knowledge of oneself, when your thoughts resemble a lion’s den rather than a calm respite, it’s time to consider getting a little help!
You may discover that help is much easier to find than you thought! 4Pillars Counseling & Enrichment Center has recently opened on our second campus, known as Reeves Center. The newly remodeled Reeves Center is just 15 minutes south of First United Winter Park, at 1100 N Fern Creek Ave., Orlando.
Running & Faith | Devotion from Pastor Rachel
Devotion on Liberation | By Pastor Philip
Joy Ukelele Club
In 2018, a group of aspiring ukulele players formed the Joy Uke Club. Since then, we have come together each week to donate our time and talent to provide musical outreach to the Winter Park community. In the last Christmas Season, our club performed sing-a-longs for over one hundred people in assisted living programs, community centers, churches, and civic clubs. Our biggest program in 2021, took place at the Reeves Center where we had so much fun singing for the crowds at the ‘Awesome Autumn’ event.
What we have learned in all these years, is the music of the ukulele always brings joy! One can’t help but smile! The singing is rewarding for both the strummer and the sing-along participants for whom we sing and play.
Learn To Play The Ukulele!!
We are now offering a lesson series entitled “Learn the Ukulele In Five Easy Lessons”. This popular little instrument is easy to play and is sure to put a smile on your face. You don’t have to read music or have any experience in playing an instrument, to join this class.
All that you need is a ukulele, the love of singing and having fun!
Lesson Dates:
February 23, March 2, 9, 16, & 23
12:00pm – 1:00pm
Don’t have a ukulele? The Winter Park Library can lend you a ukulele, (yes, just like a book).
Already know how to play? Join us every Wednesday afternoon from 1:00pm-3:00pm.
To sign up for this series, contact JenniferH@fumcwp.org
All are welcome… Come Sing, Strum, Smile!
Reeves Center Update – February 2022
Great things are happening at Reeves Center, our second campus located in the Colonialtown N Neighborhood!
- The 4 Pillar Counseling and Enrichment Center is open with three therapists consulting with clients who may be having issues like anxiety, life transitions, grief, loss, and/or family conflicts. For more information about the therapists, visit their webpage or email 4pillars@fumcwp.org.
- A lay team has begun research in developing a business plan for a community coffee house ministry with the intent to create a neighborhood meeting space in the community. Be on the lookout for more information coming soon!
- Working with the Colonialtown North Neighborhood leadership, our dance ministry Studio 150 will be offering dance and exercise classes starting soon at the Reeves Center.
- We are excited to be celebrating our second annual Pet Blessing Community Celebration on April 9 from 10am-12pm at the Reeves Center. There will be a petting zoo, a dog treat hunt, games, hands-on crafts, and much more. Everyone is invited to join us for this spring celebration! For more information or if you would like to volunteer contact Denise Meyer at denisem@fumcwp.org or call the office: 407-644-2906 ext. 281
The mission of the Reeves Center is to build disciples through belief and action by serving the community with the love of God and love of neighbor.
Justice | Devotion from Pastor Philip
United Methodist Women’s Ruth Circle
Our UMW’s Ruth Circle held their annual Rummage Sale on September 23-24, 2021. Ruth Circle spent 4 days receiving and organizing donations, from all over Orlando/Winter Park, to prepare for the sale. The sale was a blast and raised over $5,800 to be dispersed to local charities.
After the sale, The Boys and Girls Club collected a large truck-full of items – from furniture to home and kitchen appliances to clothing. In addition, children’s books were sent to The Friends of the Library in the rural mountain town of Burnsville, N. C. who gave them out as Halloween “treats” to children, many of whom have very few books in their home.
5 Numbers You Need To Know!
Fasting | Devotion from Pastor Rachel
I don’t know about you, but Sunday’s sermon on Fasting was very eye-opening. I too must admit that fasting is not a regular practice for me either except for during the season of Lent. I have always been of the understanding that fasting was a practice that was about denial and giving something up, and I have not had the discipline to do this consistently. However, as we explored a new way of understanding the practice of fasting during worship, I began to feel the weight of this opportunity more.
As a reminder, Pastor David laid out four reasons why fasting should be a part of our faith practice.
It creates a deeper connection with God
Fasting is an invaluable teacher that allows for appreciation about our abundance
Fasting teaches us about our values, priorities, and motivations
This practice is most effective when fasting from becomes fasting to
What I would like to dive into more this day is how we move into a deeper appreciation for our abundance. We are a blessed people. We have more than we could ever need or want. We have been given so much and I am constantly surprised by God’s goodness toward me. One of the lessons I will forever remember from my time in seminary is that “Jesus came to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.” To afflict is to affect or trouble, or to distress so severely and I would label myself as one that is comfortable. I know that in comparison to the rest of the world, life is pretty good for me, and if you are reading this on your phone or IPad, in a heated home, maybe while you are enjoying a cup of coffee, I would say that life is pretty good for you too. Is it wrong to be comfortable and have an easy life, no, not at all. But our lives of comfort and convenience can lead to an off-balanced perspective. If we grow too comfortable, we can easily forget how grateful we are for the abundance in our lives.
I believe that the practice of fasting helps recalibrate our off-balanced perspective. Maybe it is because I have traveled extensively or served on mission trips early in life but I feel like I am constantly fighting the battle of excessiveness. I see it when I walk into my children’s play-room and see more toys and playdoh and costumes than anyone should ever have. I see it in my refrigerator when we don’t eat all of our leftovers and we throw away food that ends up forgotten about and wasted. I see it in my closet with the extra shoes and the pairs of jeans in many colors and styles. And this is just my home, my family, my world…what about yours?
What can fasting teach us, as a blessed and wealthy community about our abundance? Remembering that fasting is not about guilt; it isn’t practiced to create shame about the fact that we have more and spend more than a lot of other communities. But it is to realign our priorities and values around people and not things. I am having this conversation with my children constantly about the importance of people over toys and sharing over stubborn ownership. We talk a lot about thankfulness and not asking for more. We start struggling with this as children and it continues in us throughout adulthood. At some point in all of our comfortable lives we begin to assume that our comfortableness is owed to us and this endangers our appreciation of God’s abundance toward us.
And so I invite you into this space with me as I am repenting of the excessiveness in my own life not to wallow in guilt but to step out of my bubble and thank God for all that I have been given. Would you join me in this space?
What can you be thankful for this week that you have in excess and what can you fast from? I have been giving thought since Sunday as to how I might fast this next month from something like caffeine, or extra shopping. And how I might move from the denial phase of what I used to think fasting was into the blessing phase of what it actually is. For instance, can I use the excess food I have in my fridge to make a meal for a family in need or for a colleague at work? Or how can I use the time that I normally spend online shopping instead to write an encouraging note to a friend or reading my Bible. These are just a few examples of how you might apply a practical implication from Sunday’s sermon on Fasting this week.
In the end it isn’t about what you give up or even what you take on; it is the position of your heart. It is in the daily and hourly acknowledgement of the goodness of God and the abundance of resources, support, and opportunities we have all been given. What might the Holy Spirit be speaking into your heart this week?