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Midweek Update
November 13, 2024 |
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Thank you for your giving spirit and wonderful gathering on Convocation Sunday. If you have yet to make a pledge, please do so on Realm.
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Panera Fundrasier for Preschool
November 14th from 8am-8pm
Help us support our preschool. On Thursday November 14th, visit the Barracks Road Panera, mention FUMP (or use code FUND4U at checout) and 20% of sales will be donated to support FUMP.
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Inclusion Task Force Meeting
November 14th at 6:30pm
The Inclusion Task Force is on a mission to help Charlottesville First become a more welcoming, inclusive, diverse, supportive and safe place for members, people in our community that use our facility, and “ the whole city”. If you are interested in this vision, join us!
Please join us by zoom with this link.
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Rake-A-Thon
Saturday, November 16th from 9am-1pm
It’s time for our annual Rake-a-thon! Join your friends at CFUMC to help support Habitat for Humanity. Dave Wheatley is leading a group of youth and adults for Team CFUMC. Will you join us?
Why Participate in the Rake-A-Thon?
All proceeds raised through the Rake-a-Thon go to building future Habitat homes, getting us one step closer to our vision of a Greater Charlottesville community where everyone has a decent place to live.
Please follow THIS LINK to register for our team ASAP. Look under 'Faith Partner' to find the Charlottesville First UMC group.
Contact: Lara Upton if you’d like to sign up on our team! connect@cvillefirstumc.org
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District Conference
Sunday, November 17th at 3pm
We will hold our District Conference, Sunday, November 17, 3:00pm at Aldersgate UMC, 1500 East Rio Road, Charlottesville.
The Rev. Jay Carey, Living Waters District Superintendent will be giving the message. Communion will be served. Reports will be shared from the district board chairs and staff. In addition, we will vote on district leadership. Clergy and laity will vote on new board members for the District Leadership Board (DLB) and the District Board for Church and Location (DBCLB). Laity will vote on District Lay Members to the 2025 Annual Conference.
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"A Very Special Night" Children's & Youth Music Program
Sundays after Worship
Children and Youth are invited to join Kevin White and Lara Upton from 11:30am-11:45am on Sundays to practice 4 new songs that will be performed on Sunday, Dec 8th at 10 am and Tuesday, Dec 24th at 5 pm.
Contact Lara Upton at children@cvillefirstumc.org for more information.
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November One Thing Ministry
The One Thing Ministry for the month of November will be to collect lots of socks for Cville SockLove and to start collecting Sudoku, Crossword, and Wordsearch Puzzle books for adults for the UVA Stocking Project.
Cville Sock Love is a philanthropy run by two of our young congregants. The greatest need is for warm, basic adult socks and socks for young children, especially infant through age 5. These socks will go to area shelters, soup kitchens, PACEM guests, individual families by request, and the Child Health Partnership, a nonprofit providing at-home support to area families facing challenges.
Questions? Contact Carolyn McGee carolynmcgee@cvillefirstumc.org
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Bake Sale
November 24th after 10am Worship
We need bakers and buyers! The sale will benefit Bread and Blessings. Sign up here.
For more info contact Cindy Remington at mspoots@gmail.com
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Hanging of the Greens
November 24th from 4-6pm
Let’s dress up our church for the Advent Season! Pizza dinner to follow!
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SCUBA Christmas
December 7 from 2-4pm
Save the Date! To reserve your spot and register your family for this free event click here.
We hope to see you there!
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Events on Hold
Due to the busy-ness of this time of year Creative Worship, Dairy Market Dinners and Thursday Lunches will be put on hold until January.
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Advent Devotional Book
It’s time to start thinking about what you would like to contribute to the annual Advent Devotional Book!
No need to be a professional writer, just think of a personal experience or a thought that might go along with our Advent theme which is a quote from Willa Cather, “Where there is great love, there are always miracles.” Personal miracles can be big or small and when you think about it, what greater miracle is there than a baby, born of virgin, that came to save the world?
The deadline for the devotionals to be sent to carolynmcgee@cvillefirstumc.org is Nov. 18 but the earlier the better! The devotional books make
a great gift for family and friends.
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Relief for Appalachia
Following the devastating after effects of Hurricane Helene, the United Methodist Church and the Appalachian Service Project (ASP) are responding with opportunities to help. The Virginia UM Conference has set up a landing space at vaumc.org/helene with connections for prayer, emergency response team training, and a link to donate to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Our partners in the Appalachian Service Project (ASP) are on the ground already in some of the most hard-hit areas and you can donate to that organization at https://asphome.org/give
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Free Rides to Vote
Rides to Vote is a nonpartisan community program offering free transportation to Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents to vote in the upcoming November election. Transportation is offered for both early voting and on Election Day. Vehicles that can accommodate wheelchairs are available upon request.
To schedule a free ride to vote, call or text Kate Fraleigh at (415)-601-3076.
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Congregation Connect
This ministry gives CFUMC a chance to reach out to congregants who may have mobility or immunity issues or may be living elsewhere or possibly traveling and not able to attend and faithfully worship with us on line. CFUMC wants to connect and get to know on line worshipers just as we get to know our neighbor sitting next to us.
We envision offering a virtual Portico via zoom meetings during the Portico time 11:00-11:30am where remote worshipers log into a zoom meeting to get to know each other. However, this requires the online worshiper to send us their email, strictly for conveying the zoom link, unless they want other announcements as well. Congregants can also click on the QR code at the beginning/end of our service to get the zoom link.
What is needed to help this ministry continue?
A volunteer from our live congregation is needed to host the meeting each week. If you are interested, you will be trained (easy-peasy!) Ideally we need 4 to 5 volunteers to host, which would mean the volunteer would only have to man the computer once a month. (We have 3 volunteer hosts so far!) There is no agenda, just a chance to make new friends!
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Our Current Gallery Artists
Our new artist exhibition “Portraits of Morocco" is the photography work of our own Fred Schneider! After traveling through Morocco several years ago he decided to bring home some of his images and stories and share them. Take a moment to take in these beautiful photographs and read the accompanying descriptions. Thank you Fred!
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Having Trouble Logging Into Realm?
Are you getting ‘invalid credentials’ on your device when you try to login to Realm?
You can use this document to help troubleshoot the issue. There are directions for both Android and iOS/Apple.
Sorry for any inconveniences you may be experiencing. You can always use www.onrealm.org from your phone’s browser or a computer browser. If you are having other access issues, please send an email to financialsect@cvillefirstumc.org.
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Love INC Cville
After rent and utilities, the most requested need is for furniture. Love INC Cville is desperately looking for volunteers with vehicles to pick up and deliver furniture that has been donated to Love INC for distribution to our neighbors in need. Without the ability to deliver the furniture, large amounts end up in the dump instead of going to those who desperately need it.
To inquire about how to help, message Raymond Klein, Executive Director of Love INC at raymond@loveinccville.org .
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Have Something to Share?
Did you take photos at a recent church event?
Did you get together with friends and snap a selfie?
Do you have an upcoming event that you want to invite others to?
Please consider sharing your snaps and events with me (Erica Gregory) so I can post to our social media pages! We have so many amazing things going on, and this is a fun way to spread the word.
Just email coms@cvillefirstumc.org with a little blurb about the photo or event.
And be sure to "Like" us on Facebook to follow along!
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PACEM 2025
CFUMC will be hosting our unhoused neighbors in partnership with PACEM February 8 - 21, 2025.
Please mark your calendars and contact Jon Scheumann for more information please contact jonscheumann@gmail.com or 434-422-1749.
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Just the Book You Were Looking For!
Looking for a new study for your small group? Visit our curriculum library, just to the left of the stage, at the back of the Fellowship Hall.
The room will be open every Sunday and during the week by appointment with carolynmcgee@cvillefirstumc.org If you are interested in starting a small group and need some assistance or ideas, see Carolyn! |
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AV Training
Would you like the opportunity to be trained on our AV (Audio Visual) equipment? We would love to have some new folks who might be interested to go through this training and then sign up as a substitute for worship and other events!
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Thank You For Your Continued Support to Loaves and Fishes
One of the many ways that CFUMC fulfills its mission is by serving people who are hungry, in part through the financial support and volunteers we send to serve at the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.
Here's a recap of what was accomplished in September:
- 2,760 total households
- That is an average of 184 households/719 people receiving groceries on each of the 15 distribution days in September.
- 10,789 individuals:
- 37% aged 0-18; 52% aged 19-59; 11% aged 60+
- Roughly 9% of households last month were first-time visitors, and approximately 33% 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.
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Women at the Well
Thursdays at 9:30am
We are studying “Searching for Sunday” by Rachel Held Evans. This author describes faith as less of a club to belong to and more of a current to enter into. Her ideas are both comforting and slightly terrifying and really….isn’t that what faith really is?
Come join us, and fall in love with God all over again! |
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Monday Grad Chats
Mondays from 12-1pm
Are you looking for a space to connect with other graduate students who are a part of UVA's Progressive Christian Community?
Join us every Monday starting September 2nd from noon to 1pm for a free lunch at Wesley at UVA and a discussion on a topic of interest.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
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Adult Fellowship Group
Sundays following Worship in Room 208
Please join us to explore what it takes to live the courageous life Jesus offers us, guided by a book and DVD by Tom Berlin, “Courage: Jesus and the Call to Brave Faith”.
For further details, contact Pat Graham Annew41@outlook.com. |
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Men’s Bible Study
Tuesdays at 8:00 am
The Tuesday Morning Men’s Study will be studying the N.T. Wright thoughts on the book of Matthew.
His thoughtful insights will bring contemporary application of Scripture to life. All are invited.
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Faith Seekers Class
Sundays 8:45 am
New Study: The After Party Project Course
The purpose of this study is to reorient Christian thinking about politics in an effort to heal political divisions in the church and cultivate key Biblical virtues like humility, kindness, and hopefulness in Christian political engagement.The After Party equips viewers to reorient their hearts on the person of Jesus such that our status as beloved sons and daughters of Christ comes before any partisan identity. This study is by Curtis Chang, David French, and Russell Moore and will include videos and discussion each week.
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Faith Explorers
Sundays at 11:15 am in Room 308
Starting on October 20, Faith Explorers will begin a new study of John Newel’s book, “Christ of the Celts”. This study will explore some of the teachings of ancient Christianity, prior to the establishment of Christianity as the religion of the Roman empire and subsequent doctrinal practices. Celtic Christianity, which is still practiced today, is more about love and forgiveness than about judgement and doctrine. All are welcome to join with us as we prepare to celebrate once again the coming of Christ.
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Interested in Reading?
Pastor Alex's book,
A Space for Peace in the Holy Land: Listening to Modern Israel and Palestine, can be purchased as an e-book on Amazon for $4.99.
If you are not a Kindle reader, simply purchase the book as if you were (so that the publisher will be paid) and we will print a physical copy for you here in the church office.
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UVA Learning Programs
UVA's Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is offering a series of online learning programs on topics such as Microagression, Introduction to DEI, Introduction to Implicit Bias, Introduction to Difficult Dialogues, Introduction to Equity, and more!
These are great opportunities to engage with our community and educate ourselves on issues of inequality. Click here to learn more about their offerings and to register. |
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Caring Writers
The Caring Writers are a group who enjoy sending cards and letters to those who are homebound, feel isolated, or just need to know that someone cares. The commitment is to send a card or letter to two recipients per month.
If you are interested in becoming a Caring Writer, please contact George Batten or Maurya Batten. You can also contact either of them if you know of someone who would enjoy being on the recipient list. |
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Music Ministries
Our Music Ministry includes choirs, bands, instrumental ensembles, and soloists of both traditional and contemporary sounds. There is no shortage of ways to praise God through music, and everyone is invited to explore the gift of music, even if you are just singing along in the congregation!
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Enjoying the food and fellowship at Portico Café after worship?
Thanks to those who recently gave monetary contributions for Portico Cafe - we have enough funds for coffee and creamer for the next couple of months, so you won't see the donation jar any time soon!
We will continue to host Portico Cafe outdoors as long as the temperature is above 50 degrees and not raining. Otherwise, it will be held in the Gathering Space.
Email Lisa Hanrahan if you want to sign up to bring treats. A sign up sheet is also available by the coffee area. The success of Portico Café depends on the generosity of church members to help or contribute food! |
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Rainy Day Blues?
“Love the City” umbrellas will be left at the Front and Welcome Center entrances for all to borrow and then return on rainy days!
If you would like to purchase an umbrella to support our Nurture Ministries and our CFUMC Vision of
“Love the City," they are $20. Put “umbrella” in the memo line of your check. |
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The Quiet Center
Sundays at 11:15 in the Chapel
The Quiet Center is an after-church gathering of, and for, anyone who wants to know more about grief’s journey. The sessions are “stand alone,” to join anytime and as often as you wish, to explore the many faces of grief and to share with each other our time, our experiences, our presence and our prayers.
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Congregational Prayer Time
Now Tuesdays at 12:00 pm on Zoom
Meeting ID: 882 7977 8844
Passcode: 968327
If you are interested in praying for our church and community, be in touch with Carolyn McGee for the link. |
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Assistance for Ukraine
UMCOR International Disaster Response and Recovery, Advance #982450, is collecting funds for humanitarian assistance.
You can donate directly online or designate "Ukraine relief" on your checks made out to CFUMC. |
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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.
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