We’ll have this year's Advent schedule ready for you at church on Sunday at the Welcome Stations, both in the Sanctuary building and FLC. Be sure to pick one up to put on your fridge! If you need us to mail one to you, please call the church office - 405.372.5854

Join us TONIGHT, December 5 @ 6pm, for a festive evening in the sanctuary. The students from our Early Childhood Center will perform their Christmas Program. Come enjoy the sweet songs and smiles of our little ones as we celebrate the season together! After the program, the celebration continues in the FLC with a silent auction. All proceeds from the silent auction help support our scholarship fund, provide educational supplies, and update equipment for our Early Childhood Center. We can’t wait to celebrate this joyful evening with you!

Here is an update on our recent stewardship campaign, challenging us to Live a Life of Love. As of Dec. 4, we’ve received 167 commitments for a total of $1,176,948. For comparison, last year's campaign recieved 188 commitments for a total of $1,208,000. We still have about 50 commitments outstanding, totalling around $200,000. If we surpass $1,325,000 in commitments, that would be our largest total in recent memory.

If you’ve not turned in your card yet, I hope you will by simply returning it to the church office or dropping it in the offering plate during worship. It would help us in our planning for 2026 to receive your commitment before the end of the year.

Let's celebrate! We recieved 20 first time commitments, totalling $95,060. A special shout out to those who are making a commitment for the first time to our congregation. Thanks for placing your trust in us. We also had 59 increased commitments. The increased amount totaled $105,363. What a grace we've received from those who share so generously with our church.

In October, our Church Council approved a change to our budget year. We are planning to switch to a July-June fiscal year in 2026. We did this to shift the months in which we create our budget. Since we normally receive 25% of our annual income in November and December, a January budget start was almost impossible to execute. With a July 1 start to our fiscal year, we can take the spring months to adequately plan. Our planning is based on the commitments you made and our actual income.

As we prepare for this shift, know that our giving statements will continue to reflect the calendar year (Jan-Dec) and our stewardship campaign will continue to be held in November. Since 2026 will be our transition year, we have approved a 6-month budget (Jan-June) which depends on carry over from 2025. That is important to know as I offer you an update on how we are closing out 2025.

As of Nov. 30, our year to date (YTD) income is: $1,445,332. Our YTD expenses are: $1,439,754. This creates a surplus of $5,557. We are hopeful for a surplus of at least $40,000 carried into 2026, balancing our 6-month stub budget. We believe this is possible because December is always our highest month for contributions. Your year end contributions will be important in giving us a strong start to 2026. As always, we are grateful for your gifts.

Living in Love,
Pastor Charla

Our Staff has done a great job supporting our Church this year. Christmas is one of the times we show our appreciation. How do we do this? Each year the SPRC requests donations for Staff Christmas Bonuses. This special offering will be received through Dec. 14 and then shared with our staff later that week. If you’d like to contribute to this special thank you gift, please bring your donation to worship, look for an SPRC member, and drop it in one of the donation boxes they are holding. If you’d like to donate online, please CLICK HERE to access our directed donation page.

We are grateful for the dedication and commitment of our staff all year long. Thanks for your generous support of this offering during this special time of year!

It is time to order Poinsettias, or simply make an end of year contribution to support our church’s Foundation or Circle of Care. If you are looking for a way to honor or remember a loved one this Christmas, look for the order form in your bulletin this week. The deadline for placing your order is December 10, so don’t wait! If you’d rather place your order over the phone, please call the church office at (405) 372-5854.

Join us this Sunday, December 7 at 7:00pm at First Baptist Church (701 S Duncan St, Stillwater, OK 74074) for a powerful community presentation of The Mystery and Majesty by Joseph Martin, with orchestration by Brant Adams.

This inspiring work will be conducted by Keegan Rose and Brant Adams, and prepared under the direction of Natasa Karaca, Keegan Rose, and Brant Adams.

The evening features a remarkable collaboration between the choirs of First United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church, the Stillwater Chamber Singers, and singers from area congregations.

Come celebrate the season with this extraordinary musical offering - everyone is welcome!

You’re invited to our Children’s Christmas Program, A Charlie Brown Christmas! Come enjoy an evening of music, joy, and the timeless message of Christmas on December 14th at 5:30pm in the FLC.

Our OBI rep Brandi Atkinson sent me a video of an 8-year-old Stillwater child telling his story about having cancer and receiving blood transfusions which can be seen HERE.

I've been a blood donor, off and on, since 1974. That year I had learned that the husband of a coworker of mine was ill and that blood donations were needed. I was a 22 year old kid, fresh out of college, that wanted to help in some small way.

Generally, OBI doesn't ever 'cry wolf' when it comes to soliciting blood donations. Sometimes, an appeal will arise related to a severe weather event, when many drives have had to be cancelled. The need for blood products continues without regard to weather.

The next First UMC drive is Sunday December 14, from 8:30am-12:30pm.
If you are interested in signing up, please CLICK HERE.

Yours in Christ,
Ken Meyer

Our church is bringing the Christmas story to life on Saturday, December 20th from 5:30-7pm, and we need your help to make it happen! We’re looking for volunteers to portray villagers, shepherds, wise men — as well as anyone willing to share friendly animals for the scene. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the season and share the joy of Christ’s birth with our community. Contact Irene Upson today by CLICKING HERE and help us make this year’s Live Nativity truly special! 

Hope House is one shopping day away from wrapping up another year! The items you donate continue to help support our amazing foster families monthly. We are in need of a few items for the December 13th shopping day.

Volunteers are at the Hope House Mondays from 9am-11am for donation drop off. Items can also be dropped off during the week at southwest entrance of the sanctuary building.

Together WE are making a difference for children in foster care!

The Children’s Weekend Food Sack Program packed food sacks on December 2nd. We had some members of the Cowgirl Softball team, pictured above, along with our many regular monthly volunteers. We have such a great group of people who come and pack these food sacks with love and care for the food insecure children in the Stillwater Schools receiving these sacks.

We started the school year with requests by the schools for 617 food sacks per week. By mid November, the requests had increased to 721 per week. We always want to be ready for increases; with the disruption in SNAP and other food resources for families, we did meet the need. We will start the second semester in January increasing our food sacks packed from 2800 to 3000 per month. If current trends continue, we don’t expect the numbers to decline.

We appreciate everyone who contributes to this program by volunteering, delivering food sacks and giving financially. We will need $20,000 per month to meet the needs as we move into January 2026. All your generous donations have been a huge help and we are blessed.

This month, Sysco Corporate presented a donation for $2,000 in support of the Children’s Food Sack program. Pictured below: Ronny Jeck, our Sysco marketing associate nominated our program. Presenting the check is Jacob Naylor, the District Sales Manager. Sysco has been a great help for us to get our monthly food orders and have a food sack that contains products that are healthy and kid friendly.

- Karen Hinton, Nancy Allford and Linda Blum

You are cordially invited to join Mark Whitfield as he celebrates the 75th wedding anniversary of his parents, Whit & Jo Whitfield. A come and go reception will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at Legacy Village Main Building from 2 PM to 5 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend.