Tomorrow (Sunday, July 29, 2018), we’ll celebrate the successful completion of Vacation Bible School (VBS) by sharing a video montage of photos. If you want a copy of the video, just bring a thumb drive, and I’ll be happy to make a copy for you. For the sake of brevity during the worship service, I had to leave a lot of photos out, but if you want to see the extended cut with more photographs that’s available also.
Category Archives: Children and Youth
Theatre Kids, Boy Scouts, and VBS, Oh My!
We had a great day at Abilene First UMC yesterday. The building was full of kids all day. We started off with Great Plains Theatre Camp in the morning and afternoon and Boy Scouts and Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the evening. I can’t speak for Great Plains Theatre or the Boy Scouts, but VBS is off to a great start! Thanks to everyone who has and is pitching in.
P.S. Just in case it wasn’t obvious, the title of this post is a reference to “Lions and tigers, and bears, oh my!” in the Wizard of Oz.
VBS Starts Today at 6:00
Join us this week for an exciting Vacation Bible School adventure! VBS will be held Monday, July 23, 2018, through Wednesday, July 25, 2018, from 6:00-8:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church. Supper will be served. There will be a cookout and pool party on Thursday, July 26, 2018.
Youth Swim/Ice Cream Party
The youth will have a Swim/Ice Cream party on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Karlene Taylor’s Pool, 509 Ridge Road, Abilene, Kansas.
UMC Camps and First UMC Camp Scholarships
Whether your child is looking forward to summer camp, or you’re looking forward to sending your child to summer camp, or some combination of the two, enrollment has started. The Great Plains Conference Camp webpage has an overview of each of the six camping locations. Camp Horizon (the camp down by Arkansas City) is where First UMC has traditionally sent campers. It may be worth noting that Camp Chippewa (near Ottawa, Kansas) is slightly closer.
Great Plains Conference camps are wonderful, but they are not cheap. However, First UMC will provide a scholarship (a campership) for half the cost of attending camp to any child or youth who is a member or an active participant in church activities. (If money is still an issue let us know and we’ll see what we can do about it—we don’t want anyone to miss out.) Simply enroll your camper and then email office@abilenefirstumc.org or bring in proof of camp registration to the church office to be reimbursed
You can learn more about the United Methodist Camps from brochures available in the narthex, by visiting www.greatplainsumc.org/camps, speaking to Jenny Collins (who has been a trooper and gone ever year) or by asking youth who has gone recently.
I’m So Happy to Have Been Wrong
Yesterday, eleven members of the Ring Praise Youth Bell Choir treated both worship services to their rendition of Come, Christians, Join to Sing. It was spectacular. And it reminded me of how horribly wrong I had been when Lisa Divel approached Jenny and me about starting a youth bell choir. I liked the idea of a youth bell choir and I encouraged Lisa in her efforts, but I didn’t think it would work. In fact, I was sure it was going to fail and I just didn’t have the heart to break it to her. My reasoning was that because kids today are busy with countless extra-curricular activities, Lisa wasn’t going to find anyone interested in taking the time to be in a bell choir. Well, I forgot about the Holy Spirit and I underestimated Lisa and the youth of this church. Clearly, it can be done and it can be done well. The eleven members are soon to be twelve. I’ve rarely been so happy to have been wrong.
Care Packages for College Students
From Wendy Robinson via Julie Mayden:
We will be sending care packages to our college students again this year. We are blessed with 29 college students to whom we can minister this year. The youth will be making cookies and purchasing a few items to include in the boxes we send. We are encouraging you, the congregation, to help us let the college students know we love them, miss them, and encourage them to perform well on their finals. So there will be a basket in the Narthex beginning mid-October for donations of non-perishable items or monetary donations to help aid in the shipping of the boxes to the students. We thank you in advance for your prayers and donations for the college students.
*Parents of college students: Please note, we can’t get these wonderful care packages to the students without a correct address. Please send the complete and correct address of your college student to Wendy as soon as possible; we don’t want to leave anyone out!
No Children’s Sunday School Next Sunday
A friendly reminder that there will be no Children’s Sunday School next Sunday. Wendy Robinson is taking Maya up to Hamline University in Minnesota (for some unfathomable reason they ask first-year students to show up on a Sunday).
Children and Youth Volunteers Needed
Adult volunteers are needed to help with Sunday School, Power & Light, and Youth Group. If you are looking for a fun and entertaining hour or two, we have the spot for you! You will get to make some fun new friends and learn a lot. No experience is necessary, just an open heart and a fun attitude! Contact Wendy for more information.
Blessing of the Backpacks 2017
Next Sunday Morning, August 13, 2015, we’ll have the blessing the backpacks. All children are invited to bring their backpacks up to the chancel with them during the children’s time. The backpacks, and more importantly the children they belong to, will be blessed for the new year of school.
VBS Announcement and Update!
For VBS (Vacation Bible School) Volunteers: There will be a training and orientation for VBS volunteers today, Sunday, July 16, 2017, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
For VBS Attendees and Their Parents: This year our joint VBS (Vacation Bible School) with Trinity Lutheran Church will be held at their place (302 North Cedar) from Monday, July 17 through Wednesday, July 19 from 6:00-8:30 p.m. with supper being served from 6:00-6:30 p.m. On Thursday, July 20, from 7:00-9:00 p.m., there will be a VBS cookout and pool party at Eisenhower Park. VBS is open to kids three years old and up through fifth grade. Registration forms are available in the Church Office
Vacation Bible School 2017
This year our joint VBS (Vacation Bible School) with Trinity Lutheran Church will be held at their place (302 North Cedar) from Monday, July 17 through Thursday, July 20. This will be an evening VBS from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with supper being served from 6:00 to 6:30. VBS is open to kids three years old and up through fifth grade. Both registration forms and a list of items you can donate should be available in the Narthex beginning this Sunday.
