Join us for our annual Churchwide Family Picnic on Sunday, September 21st at 5:30 pm in the small parking lot south of the Family Life Center! It’s pot-luck style, so bring your lawn chair and a main or side dish to share. Hosted by our Momentum Youth; drinks and paper goods will be provided. If it rains, we’ll move inside to the multi-purpose room!

Chartered in 1988, the Stillwater First United Methodist Church Foundation has been serving our congregation for 37 years. Our Foundation was established to receive and steward planned gifts, memorials, and donations with care and purpose. Chartered by the State of Oklahoma and recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) religious and charitable organization, the Foundation serves as a trusted home for legacy giving.

This Sunday, we’ll celebrate the ministry made possible by our Foundation at all three of our services. For a sneak peek, see their newly designed website by CLICKING HERE. Representatives from the Foundation will be available after each service to answer questions you might have. We are grateful for what our Foundation has already made possible and we hope that you will consider a legacy gift to our future.

In the Gwartney house, we are fans of the old Batman TV series. When I think about our next sermon series, “Holy Hard Conversations,” naturally I imagine Robin saying, “Holy Hard Conversations, Batman!” If you’re a fan of this series too, you know Robin can be a bit dramatic. His recognition of something being difficult, even impossible, always ends with an exclamation point.

However, for our next topic, Robin is not exaggerating. Conversations, particularly when we disagree, are hard these days. How can we talk to someone on the opposite end of an opinion from us? How can we make sure we are heard? How can we make sure they are heard? These are some of the tough questions we’ll attempt to answer in this series – informed by our faith in Jesus Christ.

This Sunday, we’ll begin with a prayer that Jesus prays over his disciples right before his death: I pray that, “...that they may be one, as we are one.” Jesus actually prays that we would be unified as his followers. Our question for this Sunday is, how can we become a faithful answer to that prayer? Next week, we’ll talk about what gets in the way – the obstacles. In the final week, we’ll look at a plan for having these hard conversations in scripture.

Is there a hard conversation you are afraid to have? Have you had a hard conversation that went wrong? It is often easier for us to avoid conversations or push them to a venue where we can keep a safe distance: social media or text. This simply won’t result in the unity for which Jesus prays. What will? Join us on Sunday and let’s talk.

Meredith Woodruff (pictured on the right) presented the UWF program on September 3rd.  Her presentation was titled, "A Woman in a Man's World".  The women attending appreciated her experience.  The meeting concluded with a discussion of the Spaghetti Lunch hosted by UWF.

Every fall, our nominations committee engages the work of creating a slate for the coming year’s leadership. We’ve been preparing for this work through the spring and summer. Last Sunday, we met to begin this work in earnest.

We’ll be nominating for the following positions: Church Council, Staff Parish Relations Committee, Finance Committee, Trustees, Missions Committee and Worship Committee. In addition to the work of this committee, I am also working on building out several task forces. If you’d like to be considered for a leadership position in the coming year, please CLICK HERE and use this response form and let me know. This is the time to raise your hand!

Thanks,
Pastor Charla

Our church choir is thrilled to announce a special collaboration with the local Baptist church to present a Christmas cantata on Saturday, December 7. This joint musical celebration will bring together singers from both congregations to share the joy and hope of the Advent season.

Rehearsals for the cantata will begin on Tuesday, September 17, and will take place at the end of our regular choir rehearsals from 8:00–8:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. As we move closer to the presentation date, rehearsal time will expand to allow for more focused preparation.

This is a perfect opportunity for anyone in the community who loves to sing to be part of a larger collaborative choir without making a long-term commitment. New singers are welcome to join us through Tuesday, October 8. Whether you are a current choir member or someone who simply wants to lend your voice for this special season, we invite you to join us. Together, we will prepare music that celebrates the coming of Christ and creates a meaningful worship experience for all who attend.

If you have ever thought about singing in a choir, this is the ideal time to step-in and experience the beauty of making music in fellowship.

We are excited to announce that we now have new office hours at the church, which are Monday - Friday from 8am - 4pm!