Are you ready for the last 2 months of the year? Time seems to go by too quickly, unless you are a student in school. Then time seems to drag.

What an amazing beginning we have had to the school year. Our normal back to school events were a success. Our October fun was . . . fun. I am grateful for all of the ways you have supported our ministries, have volunteered your time, and let others know of the great ministries of our church. Keep it up!

As we turn the calendar, we have 2 big events in front of us: the 2025 Stewardship Campaign in November and Advent/ Christmas in December. Check out the articles in this newsletter to learn more about what is planned. The events in December will be great ones to invite your friends and neighbors to.

Finally, in October the Leadership Board shared the update of the church's financial position and upcoming budget. We hope you had a chance to review the information. If you have any additional questions or ideas on how to move forward both in the short-term and long-term, please contact me or one of the Leadership Board members. We would love to continue the conversation.

God continues to work through us as Parker UMC. 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). 

Pastor Laura 

We often think of blessings as things we receive. While it is true that God, by grace, freely gives us all that we have, we are not just passive recipients of God's blessings. Just as God blesses us through people in our lives, so does God promise to bless others through us. When we live from a place of gratitude for God's gifts and trust in God's provision, we can be agents of God's blessings in our world.

Join with us as we explore our blessings.

• November 10 - A Legacy of Blessings - "I Know Who I Am": 2 Corinthians 9:1-5.  Through Jesus' gift of salvation, we are called to live into our legacy of giving generously of the grace we have received.

• November 17 - Blessed People Bless Others - The Grace of Increase: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10. All that we are and all that we have come from God. We are stewards through whom God is blessing the world.

• November 24 - Overflowing Blessings: 2 Corinthians 9:11-15. When you release the blessings you have been given, they will overflowinto the world in indescribable ways.

• November 24 - Commitment Sunday. Bring your commitment cards to worship.

We will journey through Advent this December with The Heart That Grew Three Sizes. Finding Faith in the Story of the Grinch.

We don’t know why Grinch hated Christmas. We just know he did. In this Advent series, Matt Rawle explores the faith themes in the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, including how did the Grinch’s heart grow three sizes come Christmas morning? How did Christmas save the Grinch? Could it be that the very thing we think we hate is the thing that changes our lives?

This Advent and Christmas season, look at a familiar classic through the lens of faith and see how Christ speaks to us through our culture.

Also mark on your calendar:

• December 8 -- Advent Fun at 11:30 am. 

  • Enjoy a Potluck lunch.

  • Visit with Santa and take your own photos.

  • Play games, have a snowball fight.

  • Enter the Cookie Bake-off.

  • Relax and watch a Christmas movie.

• December 15 -- Messiah presentation at 9:00 am service only. Spark service will be at 10:30 am in the Fellowship Hall.

• December 22 -- Longest Night Prayers at 5:00 pm in the sanctuary. 

• December 24 -- Christmas Eve services at 2 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm in the sanctuary.

Our youth had a great October helping with Trunk or Treat and packing meals at Lifeline Mission, as well as growing in community and faith!  Our youth continue to invite new friends to church, Sunday School and youth group, and we saw many new faces this month. Many of our youth are finishing up their fall sports and activities, and Noelle and Cody have been busy watching all of our youth in action and cheering them on in their ventures. 

Would you like to join in the fun?  Reach out to Cody. 

We had our first Youth/Family Dinner on the first Sunday in October and had over 40 turn out to share a meal, connect with other families of preteens and youth, listen to our youth share the hard things they experience, and talk about mental health.  

If you are looking for a place to connect with others on the same journey, join us the first Sunday of the month from 5-7pm.  For more information, reach out to Cody.

Thank you for all of your support this fall! You made trunk or treat a huge success! In one week of asking for more volunteers to decorate a trunk, we had 21 more volunteers help out! We had a totally of 31 trunks handing out candy to the hundreds of kids that showed up! Thank you for the overwhelming amount of candy you brought in to share with the kids from the community! It was just enough, we handed almost every piece of candy out that day! Thank you!

The Fall cook-off was a fun afternoon, filled with good food and good conservation. We had enough chili and mac-n-cheese to feed everyone! A big thank you to the team of judges! You had a lot to sample and consider! 

Best Chili went to Jamie, Best Green Chili went to Chrissy, Best Spicy Chili was given to Teague, Dory won the most Creative Chili. Julie took Best Mac & Cheese, the Cheesiest Mac was given to Noelle and Marylyn went home with the Most Creative Macaroni and Cheese.  

We hope to see you all at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off and church potluck on December 8 at 11:30.

Great news! We have received some amazing donations to cover our sanctuary needs. The organ, lights and projector/screens are fully paid for. Thanks to everyone who donated!

We still need about $3,000 to create an organ maintenance fund. Check out the organ campaign on this website. 

If you have any questions, please speak with Pastor Laura.

We want to extend a big thank you to the team who organized, fund-raised, and made sure our Feed My Starving Children MobilePack went forward this year.

Thanks to Tami Knowles, Julie & David Kronbach, Chrissy O'Shea, Tia Reinschmidt, and their families for their tireless work and using their marketing muscles to make sure this was a success.

And many thanks to each of you who supported this event through donations, purchasing items, attending fundraisers, and packing meals. It truly is a joint effort and we could make a difference to so many across the globe.

Thanks!

Our Parker UMC smartphone app will be updated in early November. You will be required to update the application.

If you have any questions, please speak with Sarah Blankman.

We are looking for people to help us in creating (and performing in) videos used in church advertising campaigns.

Are you comfortable in front of the camera? Are you comfortable and experienced behind the camera?

If you are interested in joining this team of volunteers, please contact Jason Anderson or Li Roberson. 

At the end of October, the Leadership Board shared our financial status. We have amazing ministries happening that are making a difference. But our building expenses, including our mortgage, are a challenge.

We are looking for those of you out-of-the-box thinkers to help us consider how to address our building challenges. 

If you are creative and thinking outside of the box, please reach out to Eric Ross or Pastor Laura Rainwater. Use your gifts to serve our church!

Our annual Church Conference meeting will be Saturday, November 23, 9 am in the church sanctuary.

We will vote on a few items and celebrate the amazing things God has done through us in 2024.

Everyone is invited to attend. Church members are eligible to vote.

Every Wednesday we send out our weekly email, the Midweek Message. This includes updates and announcements of the different ways to get involved through classes, small groups, and volunteer activities. You also will learn what Sunday's worship theme is.

If you do not receive this weekly email, please contact Sarah in the church office. Additionally, most of the information is in the Sunday bulletin and in the worship slides.

We hope we can keep up to date on what is happening in our church!