A note from Pastor Travis 12/3/20

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Dear FUMC Family and Friends,
 Advent is upon us. It is an exciting time of year. This year it will be different, still special, but different. As you know, because of COVID-19, we are not meeting for in-person worship, including on Christmas Eve. However, we are still holding virtual worship, and there are many ways for you to connect to the church. There are some important things for you to know and ways that you can be involved:

  1. The church Christmas Pageant. We are having a pageant, but it will be virtual. Jayleigh, the children, the children’s families, and Cory are all working hard to record the service. It will be on Sunday, December 20 as part of our virtual worship service. You will be able to see it on MMTV at 9:00 and Facebook and YouTube at 10:00. It will be a wonderful pageant and service, so invite family and friends to join us for it.
  2. Christmas Eve Service will be a service of Lessons and Carols, and it will be a virtual service at 6:00 on December 24. It will be available on Facebook and YouTube. One of the highlights of our Christmas Eve service each year is when we all light our candles (or glow sticks) as we sing silent night. This year, I invite you to take a picture of you and your family with lit candles and send it to me at reverendtravis@gmail.com by December 15 and we will include it in the Christmas Eve service. Please note that this means that the pictures will be on Facebook and YouTube.
  3. The Haiti Mission Team has reached its second goal of raising $1000 for the food bank. Thank you for your generous gifts. The third phase of our fundraiser is to raise funds for school supplies for Haitian students. Our goal is $12,000 between December 2020 and August 2021. As a part of this fundraiser, we are selling Christmas ornaments, and we are selling COVID-19 facemasks in the Haitian flag colors of bule and red. The ornaments are $10 a piece and can be customized. The masks are $ 25. If you would like to place an order, please email us at missions@fumcmelrose.com. Below is the list of ornaments (which can be personalized at no extra cost). Please include the letter indicating the ornament for each item you are ordering. You can send your payments to the church either as a check or by using our virtual giving option, https://fumcmelrose.com/new-donate-now/ Please indicate what you are purchasing in the memo area of the check or virtual giving option.
  4. Our stewardship program is an important part of the work of the church. It allows us to plan our budget and to prepare for our ministry. If you have not yet made a pledge, please do so as soon as you are able. If you do not have a pledge card, please let me know at reverendtravis@gmail.com or you can use our safe and secure virtual pledge card: If you would like to use the virtual pledge card follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScOx-lxnnPjbTaxcHY6Fz4X4PRLGzXdS5q4KuJ1jxzkXQgSOw/viewform?usp=sf_link 
     

Happy Advent,

Pastor Travis