Imagine yourself in a new career.  You welcome weary travelers, wash dishes, distribute underwear and toiletries, and listen patiently to the stories of difficult journeys.  Is this the kind of work that appeals to you?  Why not join us for  our last RITI of the season,  Friday night, March 9th, night at APMUMC, and see if you have a future in inn keeping. You might be able to get in on the ground floor of a growing and challenging field.  The work isn’t that hard, your co-workers will show you the ropes, and the benefits are out of this world!

Call Judy or Emalie if you are interested in an inn keeping internship. 615-403-8455

Dear Friends,

Don’t forget your gently used or new undies for our homeless guests! Please bring these important items for our sweet friends at Room in the Inn. There will be a suitcase in the Fellowship Hall to collect these items.

Emalie

Who invited you to church?  Whom do you invite inside?

William Wallace Brown, Jr., who died Oct. 17, 2004, at age 68, was given a permanent resting place in the burial garden at St. John’s Episcopal Church, across from the White House, according to The Washington Post. St. John’s is called the “church of presidents” since nearly every U.S. leader since James Madison has worshiped there. more…

Many thanks to our new innkeeper, Joe Gleaves.  He has all the qualities we need in an innkeeper.  He remains cheerful and helpful on very little sleep, and he listens to ridiculous stories with patience and calm.

Join us on the second Friday of the cold weather months as we welcome our homeless guests to Room In the Inn at Andrew Price UMC.  We need cooks, servers, dish washers, inn keepers, lunch makers, coffee makers (people who can make coffee, there is a coffee maker machine there, but it is not fool proof), and gentle listeners. Call Emalie or Judy if you would like more information. 615-403-8455.

There were cobwebs on the fellowship hall door the other week.  I’m sure there are cobwebs all the time.  I’ve just never seen them before, because someone usually removes them before I walk through the door.  Who usually does this?  Julia arrived, and made coffee.  I had never even wondered who made coffee.  I guess I believed that elves arrived early and made coffee. Julia Witt does it now.  Bob Mitchell made coffee for years, but now, Julia makes the coffee.  more…

Please come!

We will hold our next Administrative Council meeting on February 20th, right after the worship service.

Committee chairs, our focus will be on our finances, so please look at your plans and programs in terms of finances so we can make good plans together. more…

Hickory Bend will be welcoming more homeless guests to Room In The Inn this season.  Our first evening is November 26th, the day after Thanksgiving.

We will need many of you to volunteer again, and we would love to have new volunteers!  Will you join us for any of these duties?

• serving supper
• bringing part of the meal
• making beds
• handing out lingerie
• making lunches
• doing laundry
• inkeeping
• making breakfast
• cleaning up more…

Our Council labored at the recent retreat to list and prioritize projects for our congregation to plan and execute.  We used three categories, dividing our projects into those that require mostly time, those we can do with the money we have, or we are close to having, and the last category labeled “Pie In The Sky” at least for now. more…

You are called to be a minister!  What is your ministry?  Each of us has spiritual gifts, and those gifts, being God given, call us into our ministry.  Ministry is not only for our ordained ministers — essential as they are to our ministry at Hickory Bend UMC — they cannot do everything alone!  Each of us is called and gifted for ministry.

Our recent Council Retreat focused on discovering our unique gifts and exploring where they lead us in ministry. Everyone on the council was asked to complete a rather lengthy survey compiled by Charles V. Bryant.  As a council, our strengths are perhaps not surprising, or perhaps they are astonishing!  Out of 32 listed in the survey, here are our council’s top ten: more…

Are you looking for a new career?  Probably not.  Are you looking for a new way to serve the least of these?  Probably so.

Please join us for our last Room in the Inn for the season.  Come and see what innkeepers do.  We would love to have a cadre of innkeepers trained for Room in the Inn next year.  Do you have a couple of hours to come visit and see what we do?  Come to Andrew Price UMC any time after 5:30 Friday night, March 26.  Bring your children or your friends.  Bring anyone who would like to see what happens when you offer hospitality to those most precious to our Lord.  You will be amazed.  You might not find a new career, but the benefits are out of this world!

Call Judy or Emalie