Charlottesville Youth Collective

Sunday, April 28th at 6-7:30pm

Save the date! The Charlottesville Youth Collective will meet the final Sunday in April. This includes youth ages 6th to 12th grade. Join us for food, fun and fellowship at Restoration UMC.

For any questions, contact Lara Upton.  

10th Annual 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge

April 1st through April 21st

Food Solutions New England will host its 10th annual 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge from April 1, 2024 to April 21, 2024.

Each year, thousands of individuals and hundreds of officially participating organizations join in a shared journey of learning and charting a course of action to dismantle racism in our food system and our world.

The 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge is simple! You commit to deepening your understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism for twenty-one consecutive days in April of each year. 

For more information or to register, click here. 

Our April One Thing Ministry will benefit our own sweet preschool as they celebrate 40 years! Bring a birthday gift (no need to wrap!) of any of the following:

• Card Stock (any color)
• White Card Stock
• Smelly Markers
• Tissues
• 9 x 12 Construction Paper (any color)
• Clorox Wipes
• Paint Sticks
• Chalk
• Sandwich Ziplock Bags
• Gallon Ziplock Bags
• Napkins
• Paper Towels
• Elmer’s Glue Bottles

If you would like for someone else to do the shopping for you, just put “FUMP Birthday” in the memo line of your check. Thank you in advance!

The Charlottesville Church Softball League is Starting Up Again!

Starting Friday, May 3rd

The Charlottesville First UMC softball season begins May 3rd. Join us for an Opening Night kick-off party starting at 5:30 PM. Players and fans are welcome for a pizza dinner at Darden Towe Park, then stay to cheer on our youth and adults as they play softball.

Let us know how many slices of pizza you would like at: connect@cvillefirstumc.org. Hope to see you there!

Good News Global Celebration Breakfast

Saturday, May 11th at 9am

Come see what God is doing behind the walls at Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. The speaker is William & Mary Head Football Coach Mike London.

The breakfast will take place at Portico Church on 2nd Street.

To register, fill out the form here.

• Please make sure to register your child(ren) AND yourself. This ensures the proper paperwork is filled out.
• If you get a message that the age group you need is full, please register in the separate waiting list registration field. We hope to get enough volunteers to have space for everyone that is interested in joining us on our SCUBA VBS 2024 dive!

As we celebrate the 40th birthday of FUMP in worship on May 5, we are looking to collect memories from you! If you have a special and/or humorous memory of your time at the preschool,

Please send them to fump@cvillefirstumc.org where they will be collected and displayed! Thanks in advance for your contributions!

Be sure to save the date! A potluck dinner will follow the worship service that day!

The Tassell College Scholarship was established in memory of Patrick Wayne Tassell and is awarded to high school seniors who are members of Charlottesville First UMC and have demonstrated leadership and achievement in Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts, Venturing (BSA), Exploring (BSA), Sea Scouts (BSA), or Camp Fire.

Scholarship awards, between $1,000 and $2,000, are paid directly to the institution that the awardee will be attending in the coming academic year. Further information and the application form are available from Hu Shaffer, Charlottesville First UMC Scouting Coordinator <has2u39@gmail.com>.

Applications must be returned by June 1, 2024, to be considered.

The pastoral letter, We Are on the Way to a Better Church comes from Bishop Ken Carter, Resident Bishop of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference and Abingdon Press author.

Bishop Carter addresses matters that will be taken up by the delegates to the General Conference of The United Methodist Church in Charlotte, NC beginning April 23. He writes with hope that decisions made by the global body “will help each local church to more fully offer the grace of Jesus Christ to all of the people who live in our communities.”  In the letter Bishop Cater provides background information and suggestions for Christian conversation about important matters of faith, practice, and church governance.

Read the letter here.

The solar project is moving along. We have an electrical permit to change the electric service and are waiting for the equipment. We hope to have that complete by June 1.

Scaffolding will be erected on both sides of the sanctuary about the middle of May. Roof work on the West side of the sanctuary will begin at the end of May. Solar panel installation and solar wiring will begin on June 17. The project should be complete by August 1.

The net-metering application has been submitted to Dominion Energy by Tiger Solar. We are waiting for
information on which Dominion rate schedule we can use.
The permit for the Solar Installation will be submitted to the City of Charlottesville by Tiger Solar in the
next two weeks.

Kevin Palmer is handling our request to the IRS for our Federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. George Batten is working on finding and submitting applications for additional grants to help cover the costs for the solar installation. We already have a $2,500 grant approved from Apex Energy which was submitted by Ty Gallander. An anonymous CFUMC donor contributed $104,000 to get us started on the project.

The contractors and CFUMC Solar Committee are meeting by-weekly to coordinate the installation.

There’s a lot going on with the Earth these days. And while we know that individual actions can only get us so far in combating climate change, they can help tip the scales toward progress. Here’s your Earth Day reminder of things you can do to live more sustainably: 

• Cut back on meat. You don’t have to go vegan — a little goes a long way. When you eat seafood, try to make sure it’s local or fish pole- or line-caught.
•  Wear your clothes for as long as you can. Try to think beyond trends and become a more mindful shopper.
  
• Freeze your produce to make it last longer and avoid waste. You can even freeze food scraps to take to your local compost collector.
  
• Take note of how much plastic you use, then try to cut back.
  
• Switch to clean energy and climate-friendly appliances like induction stoves.
  
• Use your voice and your vote. Let companies and your representatives know that climate is a top priority for you.

Help us gather the names and info of our soon to be graduates in our CFUMC family.

Please send us the name, photos, next steps or any additional information you want to share with us about your graduates for a slideshow presentation on graduate Sunday. We would love to celebrate with you. 

Already a graduate? We would also love to know what our young adults are up to. Please share your information with us to help us update our directory and connect with you while you are away or living locally.

Email info to connect@cvillefirstumc.org

• 2,649 households -that’s an average of 156 households on each of the 17 days we gave out food.
• 10,385 individuals: 37% aged 0-18; 51% aged 19-59; 12% aged 60+  
• Roughly 8% of households last month were first-time visitors, and approximately 32% of our clients visited us twice in the month. 

So, if you are ever wondering where your donations go, rest assured that more than just the utility bills at church are being funded! Thank you all for such generosity, and please consider making a donation via their website so that we can continue to support our community through Loaves and Fishes.

The instability in Port au Prince is creating food and diesel is becoming scare, and people are in need of shelter. 

Friends of Fort Liberte have reached out asking for your prayers, as well as donations that will help those who are in need. 

Their website has more information about the featured fundraiser to Emergency Food Relief. If you  would like to donate, you can do that here.

Charity is crucial, but how can equitable opportunities reduce the need for charity? Social Justice ministries aim to bridge the gap between needs and rights, promoting access to opportunities through education, advocacy, and community networking. As Pope John Paul II said, "Nobody too poor to give, nobody too rich to receive." 

The proposed focus for our initial conversations will be:

• Building an ‘Age-friendly’ Charlottesville for all ages (Health equity partnerships)
• Education and action (Community dialogue and involvement)
• Networking for support (Local organization analysis and collaboration). 

Faith Explorers

Sundays at 11:15 am

Clothes Closet

Prayer Quilt Ministry

Contact Teri Guertler if you need a prayer quilt for someone going through a difficult time, or if you would like to help in the creation of the prayer quilts. No experience necessary.