October November Inspire

October 2018

Inspire Newsletter of the Central United Methodist Church

The Meddling Preacher

We give thanks for the many
ministries around our church. “Let your love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one

another with mutual affection…Romans 12:9

If you can hang on a bit longer, November 6 will be here and gone in just a
couple of weeks. The polls will open and close, ballots will be tallied, talking
heads will pontificate, and the relentless ads will stop. We have become a
nation that is so polarized that it feels like we are a nation of two countries.
Election day will come and go, but that won’t suddenly end the divide.

Quite frankly, I’m not sure what to do about that. Of course, as a pastor, I can
urge us to love genuinely, as Paul urged us to do. I can urge us (as we should)
to fight for justice, to speak out against all the ‘isms’, and to advocate for the
poor and marginalized. That is, indeed, the way of Jesus.

But, what DO we do as people of faith? Well, first of all, as your pastor, I en-
courage you to vote. Elections do have consequences, and we who claim to
follow Jesus, must allow that to guide our lives in all that we say and do. If we
are living out a calling to be disciples of Jesus, our faith will invariably call us
to engage our world through our Christian lens. That will invariably shape our
politics. And it will probably draw us into the voting booth.

Through which Christian lens, though? The evangelicals? The progressives?
The conservatives? The Quakers? Baptists? Methodists? Non-Denomination-
als?

How about through the lens of Jesus? The same Jesus who healed the sick,
spoke out against those in power, ate with sinners, and died at the hands of
the empire. The same Jesus who welcomes the stranger and call us to peace.
The same Jesus who said love God and love others. Everything else is sec-
ondary. Are THOSE things guiding ALL that we do both inside and outside the
voting booth?

What did Jesus teach? What did he do? Whom did he welcome. With whom
did he talk and heal? Who did he hang out with?

Well, there I go meddling again.

Regardless of what box you check, you can do this: In the weeks leading up
to the election AND beyond, let us practice what Paul preached about love.
Oh, and maybe John Wesley’s three simple rules wouldn’t hurt too: to do no
harm, do good and stay connected with God. November 6 isn’t going to make
things all better. But we know that, don’t we?

Keep the faith. Keep the faith. Keep the faith. God is with us.


Jimmy

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Ministry Spotlight

Central hosted the Moxie Matters tour with Jen Hatmak- OUR CENTRAL LIGHTS LUNCHEON MEETING, the
er and Nicole Nordeman. Over 300 were in attendance. first Tuesday of each month, would like to increase its
Special thanks to our volunteers who helped serve. gathering, so anyone who would like to attend, please
(some not pictured). do!  One does not need to be a “Senior”, nor a retired
person!  Our church food manager prepares a delicious
meal, at a nominal cost of $6.00!  He would like to see
more people there to enjoy his “cheffery”, plus, he said,
“You have such good programs!”
We really do.  The last two were a local avid birder
with his video of “Backyard Birds,” and the Executive Di-
rector of the “Joy of Music” School, for which about 100
volunteer music teachers help youngsters from homes
unable to provide instruction or instruments, learn to
perform on their chosen instruments.  One of our own,
Charles Parham, is a teacher there.
Please come to the next program and lunch on
Tuesday, November 6th.

NOONDAY RECITALS - There are 2 left for the year.
Monday, November 19 - Vocal Recital
Monday, December 17 - Ecumenical Bell Ringer Recital

BEAUMONT MAGNET ACADEMY Pastor Jimmy visits with Jean Forester, who will turn 99
on November 17.
We are continuing our food drive for our partner
school, Beaumont Magnet. Every Thursday, volunteers Church Directory
from Central go to Beaumont to stuff food bags. They Do you ever pull out that last family picture and
could always use more food donations. realize how young the children are or the baby is not in-
Please consider bringing any of the following protein cluded or the oldest moved out several years ago? Our
and dairy items: chili, ravioli, beef stew, tuna, beanie wee- church directory is beginning to look that way.
nies, beans, soups, small peanut butter, boxed drinkable Please check your listing in the directory to make
milks, snak-pak pudding, breakfast essentials, etc. Cans sure the infomation is still correct and that you have
must be 8 ounces or smaller, and have a poptop, because a photo included. Contact Kathy Gant to arrange for
the children must carry the food bags home, and some someone to take a new one or pick a family favorite and
families do not have a can-opener or microwave. email it to Kathy at [email protected].
Please help where you can. There is a sign up sheet, If you aren’t in the directory yet, please let Kathy
on the Sign Up Central Board, to volunteer to fill bags. You know. You do not have to be a member, we ‘d like ev-
CAN make a difference! eryone included. There is a printed copy of the current
directory on the office counter or you can go to http://
ELECTION DAY CAFÉ i The Election Day Café will be on directory.instantchurchdirectory.com/73968936/church-
Tuesday, November 6. We expect a very large turnout directory.pdf (password 201e3rd).
this time and we ran out of goodies in August. Please
think about donating for the Café as well as volunteer- 1
ing to serve. There is a sheet on the Sign Up Central
board. Thank you!

THE VOLUNTEER MINISTRY CENTER (“VMC”) needs
calendars for the year 2019 to give those neighbors
who get their own place to call home. There is a box on
the church office counter marked for VMC Calendars,
Our lunch team delivers those to VMC when they take
lunch each month.

Capital Improvement Project Update

The New and The Old Our new Play and Pray area on the east lawn of
the church is almost complete and it is beautiful. Funded through our capital
campaign, this new addition to ministry space should serve the church well for
years to come as a place to gather to play, pray and worship. Once the new
sod has taken root and the material for the sidewalk, slide and log climbing are
installed, the area will be open for use.
Some members have noticed the stone that was placed at the eastern
entrance to the side. It is a cornerstone from the old Broad Street Methodist
church that was built in 1886 and lost to fire in 1924. The stone was created to
recognize the original Broad Street church that was built in 1870 and served
our congregation until the new church was built in 1886. Both churches were
located on the corner of 5th and Broadway. The stone reminds us that while
Central Methodist has a 90 year history on Third Avenue, our founding congre-
gation built our first house of worship 148 years ago.

Further Updates:

Parking lots: Work is complete except for the addition of 2 more arrows.
Window Preservation: Work continues and will for months to come.
Wi-Fi upgrade: Installation complete, working on fine tuning reception.
HVAC for Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall: Completed. Worked well all summer.
Bathroom addition on 2nd floor: Drawings complete, getting pricing,
will be worked on this winter.

Youth & Children’s News

As November approaches I reflect on the many memories that I have from the last
two years of serving and ministering with you all. During my time at Central, I have
had the opportunity to see many of your children grow up , mature and transform
into the people that they are today. Christy and I have made many new friends and
we know that those friendships won’t end when we leave. We will look back at our
time at Central with fond memories.

Update on Search To the children and youth, I hope that I have challenged you to see your faith as
something more than a Sunday experience. I know that each and every one of you
are special to God and I hope that you know that each of you are special to me as
well. Thank you for my first Resurrection experience. Thank you for always being
willing to serve when the need was great. The best advice I can give each of you is
to be obedient to God’s call on your life, he is in control even when we think we are
in control.

The SPRC has been conducting Thank you Central UMC for taking Christy and I into your family like we had grown
interviews for our next Director of up here. Thank you for allowing us to love and minister to your children and youth.
Children and Youth Ministries. We
are very close to making our next Blessings,
John Lansford

hire. Before that, we want to honor

John and Christy’s ministry with a Please Note - Our Charge Conference has been moved from Sunday, November

reception on Sunday, October 28 4 to Monday, November 19. As a result, the monthly Leadership Council meeting

after the worship service. Please has been moved from Monday, November 26 to Monday, November 19 as well.

join us and you are invited to bring Administrative teams will meet at 5:30 and Charge Conference will begin at 6:30

cards/gift cards as a thank you! pm.

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Updates and News...

Po licy Con grataurleatinioonrsder... INSPIRE is published by

When requesting Guild members to Congratulations to Don Loy who has Central United
provide the arrangements. The CUMC been approved as a Certified Lay Speak- Methodist Church
Flower Guild will provide an altar er in the United Methodist Church. Lay
arrangement for those who want to speaking ministries is important to the 201 Third Avenue,
contribute flowers as a memorial or overall health of the church. To be cer- Knoxville, TN 37917-7286
honorarium for a Sunday morning ser- tified, Don was rercommended by the knoxcentralumc.org
vice. Please use these guidelines when church, completed a course of study 865-524-1659
making your request: (which included classes on preaching
1. Make your request by contacting and UM polity). Certified lay speakers Our Vision: Making Christ
Melynda Whetsel at 865-599-2730 serve by preaching when requested by known by extending hospitality,
or [email protected] or the pastor, district superintendent, or serving the community, and
Becky Hutton at 865-805-1414 or committee on Lay Servant Ministries. embracing all.
[email protected]. Thank you for following God’s call, Don!
2. Make the request at least 2 weeks Our Staff
in advance. We celebrate some very
3. The cost is a minimum of $50, any special birthdays! Rev. Jimmy Sherrod
contribution beyond this would be Pastor
used to build inventory for the Mary Lib Beck celebrated her 89th birth- 865-805-5373
Flower Guild and its ministry. day on Oct. 19th. Katherine Hoskins [email protected]
Deposit your payment with the celebrated her 90th on Oct. 26th. Jean Laurie Cullen
church office prior to the Sunday Gangaware will be 89 on Nov. 1st. We Administrative Assistant
your arrangement is to be placed. give thanks to God for you! [email protected]
4. A fresh flower arrangement will be John Lansford
designed and created by one of the Director of Children & Youth
Guild members. The arrangements [email protected]
will be in a plastic liner that you can Lauren Gangaware
take with you. If the liner can’t be Children’s Ministry Assistant
removed, you may take the whole [email protected]
container but you MUST return it to George Hayden
the church. Please let the office Music Director
know if you prefer the arrangement [email protected]
be used in our Welcome Center or Charles Parham
another church function. Organist/Building Coordinator
[email protected]
Carolyn Cottrell
Pianist
[email protected]
Perry Starkey
Food Services
[email protected]
Jeff Criswell
Custodian
[email protected]
Doug Johnson
Facilities Manager
[email protected]

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