May 18 - 31, 2008
Cover Story

WELCOMING OUR NEW STAFF MEMBERS

We are excited to introduce you to our two new staff members!

Camille Mattick, Minister of Children & Family Life, comes to us from Malibu UMC where she served as their Director of Christian Education. Camille is already in the office part-time until mid-June when she will join us full-time. She’s jumped right in by beginning to work with our Sunday School program and our new camp C. A. S. T. summer program.

Camille will be Commissioned as a Permanent Deacon at Annual Conference in June. She has a Masters of Arts in Religious Education from Claremont School of Theology as well as a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater Direction. Camille is married to Rev. Andrew Mattick who is the minister at Malibu United Methodist Church and they have two children Madelyn (5) and Jackson (2).

Robert English, Minister of Youth & Intergenerational Ministries, will be graduating from Claremont School of Theology with a Masters of Divinity and has a Bachelors of Arts in Religious Studies from Arizona State University. Robert will serve as our Youth Director as well as develop and implement programing for our multitude of generations at FUMC. He has an eclectic background in youth and children ministries as well as visual and performing arts and audio-visual technology. Robert’s appointment to FUMC begins July 1.

We are excited to announce that Robert will be getting married in October to Allison who is presently completing the process of becoming an Episcopal priest.

We are delighted to have Camille and Robert joining our team! Plan now to invite them to your fellowship group, or out for coffee or lunch. You will enjoy getting to know them.

---

CHOIR RECOGNITION SUNDAY - ONE SERVICE
Sunday, May 18 @ 10 am
We will return to one worship service at 10:00 am on Sunday, May 18. It will be a Family Sunday in addition to Choir Recognition Sunday with beautiful music by all our choirs! After the service will be our annual All-Church Cookout with hotdogs, hamburgers, veggieburgers, traditional sides and fixins plus dessert for $8 (adults) & $5 (children 10 and under). There will be games, crafts, a bouncer and more! It will be a fun day for everyone. Be sure to join us!

FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
Due to the Church Office by May 19!
Methodist Foundation Scholarship applications are available in the church office. All students entering college or university programs in the fall are invited to apply for the financial support which will be awarded on Scholarship Sunday, June 29. The due date for applications to be returned to the church office is May 19!

CALLING ALL SURFERS
Sign up for Vacation Bible School!
VBS will take place August 4 - 8, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. We are teaming up with Westwood UMC for this year’s event entitled “Beach Party! Surfin’ Through the Scriptures.” VBS is open to all children preK - 5th grade AND there are opportunities for youth and adults to participate as well! Brochures are available in the church office. Register early as space is limited!

camp C. A. S. T.
Registration Forms In Church Office
Camp C. A. S. T. is a summer program of FUMC’s Children’s After School Theater. The program for children K - 5th grade will be held from June 23 - August 2, 8 am to 5 pm. There is very limited enrollment. Please register early!

A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC - JUNE 1
The Music Department invites you to our “Festival Of Music” concert on June 1 at 7:30 p.m. Joining our Chancel Choir will be the Santa Monica College Concert Chorale and the Los Angeles Concert Orchestra. The program is a special tribute to Halsey Stevens, long-time chairman of the Composition Department at the University of Southern California and noted American composer and musicologist, to honor the 100th anniversary of his birth. Mr. Stevens was a great friend of this church, having written several compositions especially for us. We honored him on his 75th birthday with a gala concert, and are pleased to be able to honor him again on this occasion. You are invited to join us for a special Pre-Concert lecture by Kimberlea Daggy of KUSC at 6:30 pm in Simkins Hall. Besides the works by Mr. Stevens, the choir will present one of the most timeless choral pieces of all time: Requiem by Gabriel Fauré. Tickets may be obtained through the church office in advance, or at the door the night of the performance. Suggested donation: $15, Senior/Student $10.

GODSPEED, PAUL & MICHELLE
Paul and Michelle’s last Sunday with us was May 11. They are moving to San Jose where Paul has accepted an exciting position and where they will be closer to family and long-time friends. Paul is going to be the Senior Business Analyst for Cypress Semiconductor. He will be working with small teams of other analysts on projects to save the company money or improve efficiencies with processes with their vendors and customers. It will be similar to the work he did in the Marine Corps. Though Cypress may not be a household name, most people have their products in one device or another from computers to cell phones to Ipods.
Michelle is looking forward to pursuing opportunities to teach and perform in the areas of music, theater, faith and worship. Michelle’s parents and brother live in Castro Valley which is about 30 miles from San Jose and Paul’s brother lives in San Jose. Paul and Michelle’s time with us has provided for rich relationships and we will miss them. Godspeed, take care and stay in touch!

UNITED METHODIST FAMILY DODGER NIGHT
Mark your calendars now! The United Methodist Family Night at Dodger Stadium will be Friday, July 11, at 7:40 pm. The Los Angeles Dodgers will be playing the Florida Marlins. We have a new location for seats this year which will be located in the infield Reserve Level. Tickets are $17 ($28 value). More information coming soon!

MORE EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT FUMC
We’re happy to announce that FUMC has joined eScrip! Now, when you shop at eScrip merchants, the church gets a percentage of your purchase.
Participating merchants include Vons, Macys, Pep Boys, Bristol Farms,
OfficeMax and more. It’s simple to register:
-Log onto www.escrip.com
- Click on “sign up” and enter our group name (First UMC) or group ID number (166442608).
- Register your grocery club and your debit/credit cards (optional).
- Then start shopping!
If you have any questions or need help signing up, please contact Emily in the church office.

---

A Future With Hope

The theme of this General Conference of the United Methodist Church was “A Future With Hope.” As the global body met in Ft. Worth, April 23-May 2, this theme was lived out in worship, in sermons, in plenary debate, in presentations and even in the countless “sidebar” conversations in hallways and elevators.

A Future With Hope. It is a mighty theme to carry over into our work at FUMC as a new appointment year approaches. We are in a time of staffing transition as we bid Godspeed to Paul and Michelle as they leave for new employment close to their families in the Bay area. We thank Paul for his leadership in worship and his many contributions to our mission life through Habitat, the Gulf Coast Work Team, Big Sunday and others.

We are in the midst of saying our good-bye’s and thank-you’s to the Beeman family for their many contributions to the life of our church and will have more opportunities to do so in the weeks ahead before Brad’s last Sunday with us on June 15th.

And we have begun to welcome two new people into our staff. Camille Mattick will be commissioned as a Deacon at Annual Conference in June. She joins us as pastor for Children and Family Ministries. Camille is already working with us 10 hours a week, focusing on summer Sunday School and Camp C.A.S.T. and will become full-time June 19. Robert English, who is in the candidacy process to be ordained as an Elder, comes as pastor of Youth and Intergenerational Ministries. His appointment begins July 1st.

As this appointment year concludes, I am completing ten years as your Senior Minister. The time has flown by. I am so very grateful to serve with you through these years of building on our glorious past and strong present as we move together into God’s future, a future with hope. We are literally re-building the church as we go, day-by-day, step-by-step, person-by-person, family-by-family. And if at times we tremble, or wonder if our progress is fast enough, or fear that our efforts are not productive enough, we must but remember that we live into a future entrusted to us by a loving God. And God continues to shower us with countless blessings and marvelous companions with which to do the work entrusted to us.

God’s future is unfolding in our midst. Let us rejoice, give thanks‒and move forward with eager anticipation for all that lies ahead.

---

CONDOLENCES
We extend our deepest condolences to Ron Theile and his family in the death of his father who died on May 7 in Chicago.

CONGRATULATIONS
We want to congratulate Chris Reagh on being promoted to Cashier at her Pavilions store on Montana. Now, in addition to seeing her lovely smile in the floral department, you might just find her at the grocery register! Way to go, Chris!

We salute Melanie Gullett who participated in the Revlon Run Walk for the Cure on Saturday, May 10. She surpassed her fundraising goal and asks for prayers that the funds will actually find the cure. Nice job, Melanie!

Jeffrey Davenport, son of Jeanne and Richard Davenport, was a member of our youth group during his years in high school. He is now graduating from USC with a double major in German and print journalism. Despite his cerebral palsy, Jeffrey has participated in the marching band at USC all four years and is being recognized with the Spirit of Troy award for being the most inspirational member of the band. Congratulations to Jeffrey and his family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Polly Todd Anderson was born May 14, 1907. She reads the Los Angeles Times every day, does crossword puzzles, enjoys praying and worshiping God and visiting with her family and friends and wonderful neighbors. She was involved with UMW for over 15 years and has been on multiple committees in our church. She has two daughters, Judy Fite and Nancy Schweizer, and 3 grandchildren, Scott, Todd and Kellie Fite. She drove extremely well until the ripe old age of 95 when she decided to give up driving voluntarily because “someone at that age shouldn’t be driving anymore.” When asked her favorite year that she has lived so far, she said, “1-100!” Polly’s family celebrated with her on her birthday at her apartment in Santa Monica. We hope it was a wonderful time, Polly!

Service