Other Improvements at Parsonage Last Month

This last month, a motion detector light above the garage was installed. 

Also installed...  GARAGE DOOR OPENERS:  WOW!  Belinda is so happy and relieved.  (When it had been snowing or raining, we had been leaving the garage door open sometimes because we didn't want to get out of the car and close the door manually.) 

We're hoping that the garage will remain free from snakes and other unwanted critters.  Praise be to God!!!

Paint Can Make Such a Difference!

What a Difference a Month Can Make!

The parsonage backyard looks very different. Pastor Charles painted the gates and the picnic table!

What a Difference a Month Can Make!

The first couple of pictures are from pastor's meeting with church members in December 2009.  The last two reflect how it looks now.

The UMW @ First UMC

The UMW at First UMC met tonight at the church for the annual "Prayer and Self-denial" program.  Bobbie Lester presented the materiel which looked at the theme, "Property makes mission possible."

The prayer for tonight's program was:

Gracious God, as enter into a period of prayer and reflection, give us clarity to remember Your goodness in our lives and the lives of those we love and hold dear.

Keep before us the fact that we are fortunae, and that You expect us to share Your love with others in whatever way we can.

Guide us on this journey of self-denial.  Show us the path You want us to take.

May our actions be what You desire Your children to do.

This we ask in the name of Your Son, Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

The group also re-packed nineteen health kits for the UMCOR effort in Haiti.  Peggy Garner will be sending them to UMCOR's  Sager Brown Warehouse in Baldwin, Lousiana tomorrow.

February 7th in McCamey

On the way to church this morning, Pastor Charles and Belinda delighted in seeing some deer taking a stroll along the highway.

And what a joyful services we had at the First United Methodist Church in McCamey and at the McCamey Convalescent Center! We are blessed to have a choir that leads us in worship each week which really makes a difference! And celebrating communion with your church family always makes for a special day!  In the afternoon, Bobbie and Bill Lester and Belinda joined Pastor Charles in the weekly worship service at the convalescent center.  Afterwards, they enjoyed visiting some of the residents in their rooms.

A letter from the Conference Treasurer

Grace and peace to you in the name of Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Please relate to your cngregation how proud I am to be associated with a church which is so generous and committed to living out its faith as pat of the United Methoidst Church.  During 2009 you were one of 279 churches in the Southwest Texas Conference which gave 100% of their connnectional share of ministries.  As a conference, we gave 95.92% of all funds apportioned to our churches.

This year particularly, your generosity makes me proud.  Because of the apportioned funds which were received, The United Methodist Church was able to immediately be in Haiti after the tragic earthquake.  We are able to support the surviviors of that earthquake through UMCOR knowing 100% of the money goes directly to relief efforts because your apportioned giving supports the "overhead" of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM)and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) itself.

This especially came home to many of our members of the Southwest Texas Conference, when the life of one of our own clergy, the Rev. Clint Rabb, was lost in Haiti.  He was in Haiti as a staff member of the GBGM working to facilitate ministries in that country in which our church was already involved.

I am also proud because I know that 2009 was a tough year financially for many of our members and many of our churches.  We had difficulty making our dollars stretch far enough to support our families and to support our church.  Fortunately, those who were able to do more stepped up and gave more.  I also know that many churches gave more to local ministries and support of those in their communities who were in need because of the economy.

You and your church have been faithful servants of the Lord.  You have been a blessing to Christ's work in the world.  Because of your faithful giving, I am especially proud to be joined with you as members of The United Methodist Church, connected in faith and ministry.

Blessings, Rev. David A. Seilheimer
(Treasurer & Secretary, Office of Finance and Administration, SWTX Conference)