Pastor Jim & Nancy Retirement Celebration: Pastor Jim will retire on July 1, 2022, after 44 years of ordained ministry. On Sunday, May 22, we will have Pastor Jim & Nancy's Retirement Celebration with a Worship Celebration Service followed by a lunch in the Fellowship Hall. We invite and encourage everyone to be in church that day, and to stay for lunch and celebrate with Pastor Jim and Nancy. Also, there are blank cards in the church office and in the Sanctuary foyer if you would like to share special times and memories, and to let him know how much we appreciate ALL he has done for us, and the church! Fill it out and turn it into the church office, or drop it in the box in the foyer on Sunday.

Welcome our New Pastor & Family: As we announced Pastor Jim's retirement, we welcome our new Pastor, CJ Hill & wife, Amy, and children - Madeleine, Tim and Abby, to First UMC! Pastor CJ has been appointed the new pastor here effective July 1. Pastor CJ currently serves as one of the pastors at Community UMC in Fruitland Park, FL. You are invited to send a welcome note to:

Pastor CJ & Amy Hill & Family
Community UMC
309 College Avenue
Fruitland Park, FL 34731

New Prayer Boxes: The Prayer Team, under the leadership of Linda Bushong, and with the assistance of Kathy Houser, wanted to have a new Prayer Request Box in the lobby area of the Sanctuary and a brand new Prayer Box outside (located at the cul-de-sac) for the community to leave prayer requests. Prayer requests from both prayer boxes will be prayed on by the Prayer Team on Monday mornings. Special thanks goes to Jim Brandeberry for designing and building the prayer boxes.

Online Weekly Devotional: Every Wednesday evening, Pastor Jim is sharing a weekly devotional on Facebook as a way to provide connection with each other and with God. Look for it on Wednesday on Facebook!

Crafty Ladies: Our Crafty Ladies are meeting the first Wednesday of each month in the Seekers Sunday School classroom at 9:00 a.m. Make plans to come, and have a great time of crafts, good food and fellowship! Masks are now required for everyone to keep everyone safe and healthy! We hope to see you there!!

United Methodist Men's Breakfast: Our men meet every Thursday morning for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. at Schalamar Creek Golf and Country Club. We invite men of all ages to come join us every week for friendship, learning, prayers, and of course, chow! We will even pay for your first breakfast ourselves! See you there!!

Awaken Youth Ministry: Our Awaken Youth Group meets every Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the Youth room in the Educational building at the church. All youth are invited, so come and bring your friends and enjoy a great time of fellowship after school! We hope to see you there!!

The Bridges of America: The Bridge of Auburndale is now collecting again the following items:

Magazines
Toiletries (New) personal and full size,
Women's clothes
PJ's in good condition
Casual business clothes for interviews
New towel sets: bath towel, hand towel, washcloth

Collection bins will be available in the lobby on Sundays or bring them by the church office.

Writing of Bible Scripture: Our church is challenging those who would like to be in God's word daily, and one way to study and memorize verses is to write them down.

Each day, all 365 days, you will take 5 minutes and HAND WRITE the scripture for the day. Each month has a theme, but on a daily basis, you will have one scripture to write and try to memorize for that day. You could use a small notebook, or 3 x 5 index cards, whatever you want to use.

Write the scripture for that day (work on your writing skills) and then repeat/read the scripture throughout the day (Memory Skills) Who knows? It may be JUST what you need for THAT day. I am planning on putting them in a file box for future reference, but you do what works for you! It is not near as hard as the daily readings, not near as time consuming, but the lasting effects are eternal! Won't you join us in 2022 to improve your memorization skills and your write skills? Contact the church office for your copy of verses for the month, or pick one up from the table in the Sanctuary foyer on Sunday!

Grief Support Group: Are you interested in GRIEFSHARE? Several persons have requested that we again offer a group of GRIEFSHARE, a national Christian based grief support group. With a personal workbook, videos, and group sharing, persons are helped in their grief journey. New video resources to help people deal with the Covid Pandemic in the midst of grief.

Let the church office know if you are interested i attending Griefshare. Also, do you prefer morning or evening group, in-person or online or hybrid? Contact Pastor Jim for more information?

Amazon Smile and UMC Market: When you are shopping online, don't forget to use Amazon Smile and UMC Market! Our church receives a small amount of a financial gift from these companies/stores! It is an easy way to raise funds for your church when you order online.

Sign up for Amazon Smile and select First United Methodist Church of Auburndale as your preferred charity at: smile.amazon.com

Remember to shop for deals at smile.amazon.com, or with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon app, and AmazonSmile will donate to us at no cost to you!

UMC Market is Back in operation! Are you using UMC Market when you buy anything online (on a website other than Amazon)? With UMCMarket.org, giving is as easy as 1-2-3

1. Go to UMCMarket.org and select your local ministry and click to join and give
2. Select from thousands of stores and shop for your everyday items
3. Each purchase generates a donation to your ministry, sent directly to your location.

Use UMCMarket.org when you shop online!!