Coming Events

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is on the ground now helping in Haiti. Learn more...

Unbinding Your Heart for Lent
Dr. Jim Standiford, Senior Pastor

Beginning this Sunday, February 14, and through the Lenten season, we will be focusing our attention in worship on “Unbinding Your Heart.” This exciting time includes reading the book by Martha Grace Reese, sharing in small groups, Sunday worship and sermons focused on the reading materials, and times of personal prayer. We hope that each one of us will enthusiastically enter into this special time during Lent.

Wednesday, February 17, is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Do plan to be with us for Vespers that night, followed by dinner (get your ticket right away), and to hear the Reverend Jeff Kirby from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS. It will be a rich evening and a great start for your Lent.

On Sunday, February 21, the first Sunday of Lent, we will be sharing together in the Sacrament of Holy Communion in all of our Sunday services.

By the way, last Wednesday we shipped off 350 health kits to UMCOR for distribution in Haiti. Thank you for your generous and quick response to this need.

See you in worship,
Jim Standiford

Lenten small groups begin this week

• Would you like to reinvigorate your prayer life?
• Would you like to develop deeper relationships with others?
• Would you like for your faith to come alive?

We are offering a congregation-wide Lenten study, based on the book Unbinding the Heart. It will consist of a sermon series on the Sundays February 14 through March 21; a guide for daily prayer; small discussion groups offered at several times during the week; all culminating in our glorious celebration of Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter.

Learn more and sign up for a small group now...

Monday, Feb. 15 – new Interfaith Day of Service

The Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Day of Service was rained out! But the rain didn’t dampen our desire to work side-by-side for our community, so it’s been rescheduled for Presidents Day, Monday, February 15.

We’ll meet at the same place – Presidents’ Way behind the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park – for garden work as previously arranged.

If you plan to join us on February 15, there’s no need to re-register – we still have your information. If you can’t participate, contact Beckie Henselmeier at beckie@fumcsd.org to keep our registration list accurate. If you or additional friends want to participate, register at www.fumcsd.org/KingDay.

Ash Wednesday Dinner to feature Rev. Jeff Kirby of the Church of the Resurrection
Dinner tickets now on sale

Our annual Ash Wednesday dinner and program is Wednesday February 17 in Linder Hall. This year we are blessed to have Rev. Jeff Kirby speak about Unbinding Your Heart. Jeff currently serves The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. He is a national and international educator, guest speaker, and developer of leaders.

The Church of the Resurrection began in 1990 with four people and a dream. “Our dream was to launch a church that would reach thinking people who were not actively involved in a church and help them to see how the Bible and the Christian faith could change their lives, and how they in turn could change the world.” Today, Church of the Resurrection is indeed one of America’s fastest-growing churches and one of the largest churches in the Methodist denomination with more than 15,000 people in worship, study and service.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent for the church. You are invited to Vespers communion and imposition of ashes at 5:15 for the prelude that helps us prepare our hearts and leads into worship at 5:30.

Dinner will follow Vespers at 6:15 p.m. Dinner tickets are $14 and will be available on the patio starting January 31, or in the church office. Childcare is available by reservation in the church office, or call 619-297-4366. The catered meal features baron of beef, roasted chicken, twice baked potato, vegetable blend, tossed green salad, assorted rolls and chocolate mousse.

We look forward to seeing you there

"A Different Drum" benefit concert

On Sunday, February 21, at 7 p.m. in our Sanctuary, Bob Plimpton will be joined by percussionist Jason Ginter in a concert entitled "A Different Drum," featuring Mussorgsky's popular "Pictures at an Exhibition" in a special arrangement for organ and percussion created by the artists specifically for this concert.

Additional music for organ and percussion by Karg-Elert, Paul Creston, and the jazz xylophonist George Hamilton Green, plus an organ solo by Rheinberger, make the first half of the program.

The entire offering will be donated to the California Music Project, to supplement music in the public schools, and American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) for humanitarian relief in the middle-east.

How did this come about? Bob Plimpton recalls that years ago his principal organ mentor, Robert Elmore, performed "Pictures" with the principal percussionist of the Philadelphia Orchestra with great success. Bob mentioned this to his friend Jason Ginter, and they thought it would be fun to create their own version. When invited by the Cultural Events Committee to present a concert during 2010, they seized on the opportunity to showcase First Church's remarkable Blackinton pipe organ in this unusual mix.

The percussion effects Jason has created are spectacular. Coupled with organ sounds you probably have never heard before, all that can be said is "come and hear for yourself!"

Rather than accepting a fee for the performance, Jason asked that the money go to support music education programs in the public schools. The California Music Project is doing remarkable things locally to supplement shrinking school music programs.

For years Bob has supported the scholarship program of ANERA, and is thrilled by the relief work they have done for over 60 years in supporting education, medical programs, agriculture and economic development in the middle-east. They are non-sectarian and non-political, simply bringing aid to suffering people.

A close friend of the performers, Elaine Baldintwin, has agreed to finance all the expenses for the concert (printing, postage, etc.) so that the entire offering will be given to these causes. Come, enjoy, and help us spread the word!

New School of Christian Studies class:
New Religions, Cults, and Communes:
Alternatives to Mainstream Religion

Monday, February 22 and March 1, 2010 7:00-8:30 p.m., Trotter Chapel

Dr. Rebecca Moore Chair and Professor in the Department of Religious Studies San Diego State University

San Diego is home to many alternative religions: Theosophy, Self-Realization Fellowship, Unarius Academy of Science, the infamous Heaven's Gate, and many others. San Diego is also home to Ted Patrick, the inventor of "deprogramming."

What is the appeal of these alternatives to the mainstream? Why do people join new religions? And are these groups dangerous?

This two-week course looks at new religions from a scholarly perspective. The first session examines who joins, why they join, and if there is any merit to theories of brainwashing to explain group membership. The second session looks at specific groups in San Diego: what their beliefs were (or are), what impact they have had in the region, and what future prospects look like.

Tuition: $30 one person; $50 two people registering together. Students free.

Register now...

Never too early to plan for golf!
Third Annual Golf Tournament Set for April 19

Golfers and non-golfers: the Third Annual Holy Hole-in-One Golf Tournament is scheduled for Monday, April 19 at the Riverwalk Golf Club in Mission Valley.

Registration is at 11:30 a.m., Tee-off at 1 p.m. and the event will wrap with an early dinner and awards program. It is a time for fellowship while raising much-needed money for the church's operating budget.

There are many ways to contribute: 1) Sign up individually or as a foursome to play; 2) become a $500 Tee-sponsor (by giving individually, teaming with friends to make a joint contribution, or small groups such as a bible study group working together to sponsor a Tee); 3) become an underwriter at any amount, or, 4) provide golf-related items for prizes.

Register now...

Contact Tom Hamilton (619) 297-4366, ext. 110, or Rhona Gorder (619) 297-3442.

Food Ministry opportunties
To help, contact Brenda Blake 619-297-4366, x125 or bblake @fumcsd.org

Treasure Boxes
$$ Donations: $30/box

Consider gifting a family in need this holiday season by purchasing a Treasure Box for a family in need.

Treasure Boxes are designed to support the needs of low-income families. Each month we donate 40 gift boxes to low-income SPIN families. Each box is stocked with frozen protein, vegetables, side dishes and desserts and ready for purchase (just $30 each). The November and December boxes will contain a complete holiday meal.

Mark your check with “Treasure Box” on the memo line and drop in the collection plate, deliver to the church office or mail.

Neighborhood Family Meals

We continue providing and serving food and enjoying fellowship with families, teens, seniors and transients in need of a nutritious, hot meal. 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Normal Heights UMC.

The upcoming confirmed dates are: February 22, March 29, April 19, May 24 and June 28

Volunteers are needed to prepare a main dish, salad or dessert.

For more information, or to sign up contact Brenda Blake.

Photo: Matthew Parker