First United Methodist Church Non-Profit Organization

123 West Church Street U.S. Postage PAID First United Methodist Church
Barnesville, Ohio 43713 Barnesville, Ohio 43713
740-425-3245 740-425-3245
Permit #3
Pastor John Partridge
secretary@barnesvillefirst.com pastor@barnesvillefirst.com

Last month I asked you to join me in deepening your

relationship with Jesus, to spend time with him and to get to

The Cross and Flame

know him better. In an effort to help us along in that process, our
church will be providing several new opportunities. First, with the
number of youth in our confirmation class, it seemed obvious that
we should re-establish our youth group. Two of our members,
Jerry Rush and LuAnn Swallie have stepped up to the challenge
and will lead regular youth meetings beginning on Friday,
February 4th. Please watch your bulletins and the church
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Facebook page for further announcements concerning times,
dates and locations. I don’t know how many youth will ultimately
ANYWAY be a part of this group but there seems to be a great deal of
interest. On Saturday January 29th we will be attending Winter
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Jam, a Christian rock concert, in Columbus. As I write this we
Forgive them anyway.
still have a week to go for our youth to make invitations and let us
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives; know who is coming but so far we have over 24 youth and adults
Be kind anyway. who are planning to attend.
Second, we have had a number of people asking why our
If you are honest, people may cheat you; church doesn’t offer more opportunities for Bible study, and so,
Be honest anyway.
beginning on Sunday, February 6th (at 7:00 pm) we will offer two
If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous of you; such opportunities. To get us started, each study will last for six
Be happy anyway. weeks. The first will be a study for women only entitled “Woman
of Blessing” by Juanita Ryan and will be led by my wonderful
The good you today, people will often forget tomorrow; wife, Patti Partridge. The second will be open to both men and
Do good anyway.
women alike, led by me, and entitled, “Knowing Scripture” by
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Carolyn Nystrom
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. Finally, as I met many of you over the summer and fall,
and as we have had discussions during various meetings, I have
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; been asked why we didn’t offer a Sunday school class for adults
It was never between you and them anyway. under the age of forty. Clearly we have plenty of younger folks in
our congregation but when it comes to Sunday school, this does
seem to be a group that is underrepresented.
“The Paradoxical Commandments,” Kent M. Keith
Continued on next page
 ANNOUNCEMENTS
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FEBRUARY 2011 Thanks to all who helped prepare and deliver meals for the shut-ins during the
holidays. Thanks to all who donated food for St. Vincent De Paul. Thanks to all who
donated gifts for the 4 Christmas families that we helped this year. Thank you to all
who helped deliver them. The Mission’s Committee
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We want to thank each and every one from your church congregation for their
Front Door continued support to our food pantry during the holidays. This has been so
Mary Martha
appreciated and will help us feed the needy in our area. May God continue to bless
6 Bobby Johnson Family 6 Dennis & Grace Stephen each of you!
13 Bobby Johnson Family 13 Dennis & Grace Stephen St. Vincent De Paul
20 Daryl & Sue Ward 20 Brenda Miller & Barb Burkhart *************************************************************************************************
27 Rick & Ronna Allen 27 Brenda Miller & Barb Burkhart Thank you kindly for the lovely Christmas box of fruit, candy and cakes. It was so
much appreciated. Thanks for thinking of me. God Bless, Roxie Workman
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I would like to thank everyone for their cards and notes that I received during the time
6) Payne Johnson & Kyden Anderson I was “Student of the Month.” Your thoughtfulness will be remembered. Sara Sells
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13) Steven & Thomas Ervin My sincere thanks to my church family for the delicious Thanksgiving meal you
20) Karlee & Kaylee Wehr delivered to me during the holidays. Thank you to the H. I. S. (Hearts In Service) for
the decorated box of fruit and cookies. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to
27) Olivia Fisher & Madison Detling each and every one! Sincerely, Janet Armstrong Ball
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WANTED
Are you good at talking? Can you use your computer to send email? You might just be the
person we need. Contact Pastor John if you are interested.
6) In Honor of Roxie Workman’s 96th Birthday
By: Sonny & Barb & Family In conversations over the past several months, our church leaders have discussed our ongo-
ing need for someone to help us stay on top of public relations for our church. There are
13) In Loving Memory of Mark Plumly, Frank & many activities happening here but we have not always been good at telling our community
Esther Harp what we’re doing.
By: The Family
Time needed: Only an hour a week or less.
20) In Honor of Hollie & Helen Detling’s
You would need to email or call (425-1912) the Barnesville Enterprise when we have a new
54th Wedding Anniversary
activity to add to our church listing, and occasionally send in photographs and short articles
By: The Families of Lou Ann, Marla & Bill describing upcoming events and telling others about the results of past events.

27) OPEN Currently we are missing many opportunities to tell others about the good things that are
happening at First Church. Can you be our “Go To” person?
 ANNOUNCEMENTS FEBRUARY 17 Wayne Wittenbrook
1 Ruth Ritchie 18 Greg Lake
************************************************************************************ 4 Tony Yarnall 18 Olive Brown
4 Brenda Flood 19 Casen Riley Flood
5 John Thompson 20 Angela Smith
5 Corinne Betts 21 William Henry Johnson
6 Gilbert Dodd 22 Roy Cozad
6 Cathy Wildman 22 Kelsey Menges
6 Thomas Jackson Doan 22 Adam Matthew Gray
7 Allison Doan 22 Ashton Rae Gray
7 Dan Hannahs 23 Anne Ward Carpenter
IN MEMORIAM: New chairs have been purchased for the choir loft in 7 Barbara Workman 23 Rick Taylor
memory of Nancy Plumly with donations given to the 9 Nancy Cozad 24 Debbie Temple
Music Memorial Fund in her memory. Nancy loved music and was a 8 Marsha Ward 26 Emily Carpenter
devoted and much loved member of the choir for many years. 8 Aaron Wildman 26 Annabelle Plumly
******************************************************************************************************************* 9 David Mayberry 27 Judy Johnson
10 Landon James Koch 27 Joe Miller
ALL COMMITTEE’S WITH A CHECKING ACCOUNT. PLEASE TURN IN YOUR 11 Roxie Workman 28 Daniel Ryan Donovan
BOOKS TO BE AUDITED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE BRING THEM IN TO 14 Don Hanse 28 Collin Michael Crosier
THE CHURCH OFFICE OR GIVE THEM TO JOHN CHEFFY. 14 Richard Hanse
************************************************************************************************** 14 Kara Menges
Thank you to Pastor John for the wonderful funeral service for Polly Peters and being 15 Susan Groves
there for us at our time of sorrow. Thank you to our church family for the wonderful 15 Luke Jefferson Merhige
food you served following the funeral. Your kindness and sympathy will always be 16 Laura Jean Byers
remembered. The Peter’s Family
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FEBRUARY
Dear Church Family, To each & every one thank you for the nice box of Christmas
goodies. Marian Smith 4 Roy & Becky Steele
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I would like to thank the church and everyone who helped me and my family out during 7 Aaron & Cathy Wildman
Christmas time. I really appreciate all you thoughtfulness and caring.
Love and Thanks, Angela Stephens 10 John & Carol Thompson
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15 Richard & Helen Jane Johnson

STUDENT OF THE MONTH AND MILITARY OF THE MONTH 24 Hollie & Helen Detling
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ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO TURN IN A NAME WE CAN USE FOR
STUDENT OF THE MONTH OR MILTARY OF THE MONTH, PLEASE
CONTACT THE CHURCH OFFICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
740-425-3245. WE WILL NEED A PICTURE OF THEM AND THEIR
ADDRESS.
 As a result, I hope to begin a new Sunday school class in February that will minister
to this group. Planning for this class is not yet fully developed so please watch your
bulletins for more information.
Do you remember what they say at the end of all those infomercials on television?
“And that’s not all!” The things that I mention here are just a few of the opportunities
and activities happening at First Church. Add to these the discussions about events
whose planning is a bit farther out and the many events being planned by the Hearts
in Service group, the mission’s committee, and others and you will find that this is a
very busy place. Please make sure that you come to church and that you carefully
read your bulletins each week or you will be bound to miss something great. As
they say, “If you miss a week, you’ll miss a lot.”
Pastor John
Just when life was brightest
Just when your years were best
You were called from this world of sorrow
To a home of eternal rest.
THOSE WHO WERE CALLED HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD
Marvin Steele 01-16-2011
(Nephew of Roy Steele)
SOWER GROUP
Building Repair Jobs Needed! Are you “local” to the Epworth Center
in Bethesda? Do you know someone who could use a building
repair? To qualify for assistance there must be financial need, the
person should own the home, the work environment must be safe,
and there needs to be restroom facilities for the SOWERS. Please
personally visit the applicant and receive their permission to submit
an application. Projects in the past have included: handicap ramps,
porch repair/construction, siding, roofing (one-story or trailer),
painting, etc. We try to stay within an hour radius of the Epworth
Center, since our groups travel daily to and from the worksite. Visit us
online at www.epworthcenter.org to download the referral form (with
complete details) or contact us at 740-484-4705. Deadline to receive
referrals is March 15.
Help us celebrate the 15th anniversary of SOWER by getting
involved. There are mission opportunities available year around.
We’re collecting plastic coffee containers to use for the summer for
painting jobs. Visit our website or contact us for more mission ideas!
Save the date; Thursday, April 7 from 2:00p.m.—7:00 p. m. we’re
having an open house and highlighting our new prayer room!
 February 2011
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5
Pastor John 9:15 BAMA Mtg at the 6:00pm Hand Bell Practice 7:00pm Youth Group meets
Chaplain on Call Walton Home 7:00pm Chancel Choir Practice at the home of
Pastor John & Family

6 9:00am Trustee Mtg 7 8 9 10 11 12

Pastor’s Study
2:30pm Brownie Pastor John 5:00pm Girl Scout 2:30pm Daisy Mtg 7:00pm Youth Group meets 8:00am Men’s Prayer Brkfst
Chaplain on Call Staci Graham at Main St. UMC
Souper Bowl Luncheon/
prepared by Joe Miller
Mtg/Amanda McEndree Leader Mtg
6:00pm Hand Bell Practice 10:30am Cadet Mtg
7:00pm Men & Women Bible Study at the 7:00pm Chancel Choir Practice
FUMC Penny Christman

13 9:00am Mission’s Mtg 14 6:30pm Finance Mtg 15 16 17 18 19

Edith Bishop Nims FH 7:00pm Ad Board Mtg Pastor John 6:00pm Hand Bell Practice 7:00pm Youth Group meets
Edith Bishop Nims FH Chaplain on Call 7:00pm Chancel Choir Practice
2:00pm Pastor John BHCC

7:00pm Men & Women Bible Study 7:00pm Pastor John

FUMC Village Council Mtg

20 21 22 23 24 25 26
2:30pm Brownie Pastor John 2:30pm Daisy Mtg 7:00pm Youth Group meets
Chaplain on Call Staci Graham 10:30am Cadet Mtg
Mtg/Amanda McEndree
7:00pm Men & Women Bible Penny Christman
Study FUMC 6:00pm Hand Bell Practice
7:00pm Chancel Choir Practice

279:00am Worship Comm. Mtg 28

Pastor’s Study

6:30pm H. I. S. Mtg
Edith Bishop Nims FH

7:00pm Men & Women Bible Study