Santa Monica FUMC

MAY 17 IS GAME DAY!
The United Methodist Women will hold their annual Game Day on Saturday, May 17, at 1:00 pm. They would like to invite all church members who are interested in playing Bridge, Mah-Jong and Scrabble (or other games) to sign up with Joy Williams, (310) 476-9480, by May 3. This is a fundraiser for missions. Refreshments (pie, tea & coffee) will be served. Door prizes will be drawn. $10 per person will be asked at the door.Why not plan to spend a lovely afternoon with friends and help UMW with their mission objectives! All are invited.

CHOIR RECOGNITION SUNDAY & ALL-CHURCH COOKOUT
ONE WORSHIP SERVICE AT 10 AM - MAY 18!
We will return to one worship service at 10:00 am on Sunday, May 18. This will be our Sunday morning worship time throughout the summer. May 18 will also be a Family Sunday, meaning that all children remain in worship with their families (nursery care will be provided for infants and toddlers). It is Choir Recognition Sunday with beautiful music by all our choirs! After the service will be our annual All-Church Cookout with lunch provided by the bridge young adult group. There will be hamburgers, hotdogs, veggieburgers, all the sides and fixins AND dessert and drinks will be included! Adults $8 and children 10 and under $5. There will also be a bouncer, games for all ages, crafts and much more! It will be a fun day for everyone. Be sure to join us!

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 through August 2 from 8 am to 5 pm (Mon - Fri). Extended care for an hour before and an hour after will also be available. The camp will culminate with a production of the musical Honk! on August 1 & 2. There is very limited enrollment. Please register early! Visit the camp C. A. S. T. webpage.

CALLING ALL SURFERS! SIGN UP FOR VBS
It’s NOT too early to sign your children up for this summer’s Vacation Bible School taking place on August 4 - 8 from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. FUMC is again 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 now available in the church office. Register early as space is limited!

L. A. GALAXY'S FAITH & FAMILY NIGHT
Like soccer? We’ve done baseball. We’ve done basketball. Now, for the first time ever, it’s time to join as a United Methodist family and watch some soccer by the L. A. Galaxy! Our local MLS Soccer team is hosting “Faith and Family Night” on June 7 at 7:30 pm at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The Galaxy will be playing the Colorado Rapids. With the winning combo of Beckham and Donovan, we are sure to see some very exciting soccer! Stay tuned for more details in the weeks ahead.

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.

SANTA MONICA HABITAT PROJECT CANCELLED
FUMC and four other congregations are partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. We were focused on what was to be Habitat’s first build in Santa Monica. Unfortunately that build is no longer going to happen. However, we look forward to other opportunities. Habitat’s statement regarding the project follows:

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (HFH GLA) values our partnership with the Santa Monica Interfaith Partnership (SHIP). We appreciate the support of the five congregations that make up this interfaith partnership, and especially the passion of the great clergy leaders of each Santa Monica congregation to respond to needs in their community. The SHIP coalition’s commitment to action has been inspiring and we appreciate your pledge to support the HFH GLA Santa Monica project.

For nearly 20 years HFH GLA has advocated for affordable housing throughout Los Angeles County and we believe that healthy communities have housing that is affordable to everyone who lives and works in them. For more than five years Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles have worked towards the goal of building affordable homeownership opportunities on our site in Santa Monica. It was after several thoughtful conversations taking into consideration the changing economic realities of our supporters and the lack of economic viability of this site as designed, that by mid-March our Board of Directors made the decision that we can not move forward with the development of this site. The leaders of this organization take very seriously their responsibility to our donors and partners, and after careful consideration this tough yet critical decision was made. The decision was ratified by our Board of Directors on March 25th. This was a disappointment to many of us because we have envisioned working side by side with wonderfully committed partners and we have invested hundreds of hours of staff time to make it work.

The decision to not move forward on this site, in no way diminishes our strong desire to develop a long term partnership with the SHIP coalition. We look forward to continuing the dialogue on how we can engage the partnership in other builds, on the Westside or in other communities; in advocacy around the need for more housing; and in any of our exciting programs. We have several opportunities and meaningful projects available that the SHIP coalition can focus on which will make an equally meaningful difference in the lives of hard working families.

The need for serving Westside communities is great and we pledge to continue to be the best ambassadors for hard working families on issues of decent, safe and affordable housing in the Greater Los Angeles area. Over the next few weeks and months HFH GLA will be working on plans for other opportunities including “A Brush with Kindness” home renovation projects in Westside communities benefiting seniors, disabled persons and low-income families. Our goal is to be able to outline this plan to you by June 1st.

We want to congratulate you for the great work and progress you have already made working together. It has been inspiring to watch this great coalition exhibit the goals of Habitat for Humanity ~ Building Hope, Lives and Communities. If you have further questions, concerns or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact Patty Lee, Faith Relations Manager at extension 106 or by email to plee@habitatla.org or Jo-An Turman, Director of Communication and Marketing at extension 121 or by email to jturman@habitatla.org.

REACHING ACROSS THE MILES
A sermon by Rev. Patricia Farris on “Diversity” was telecast on WTTV in Chicago on March 2. You can find out more and even watch the video at www.30goodminutes.org.

NOTHING BUT NETS DOES WELL FIRST YEAR
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- Nothing But Nets, an anti-malaria campaign of The United Methodist Church and other partners, raised more than $18 million from 60,000 donors during its first year. A new report issued by the United Nations Foundation said the total was raised as of December 31, 2007, to buy and distribute insecticide-treated sleeping nets for families in Africa. More than 700,000 nets has been distributed in the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Chad, Mali, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

During 2007, the campaign attracted broad participation across The United Methodist Church through local churches, youth groups, annual conferences and individuals. Organizers also partnered with a number of bishops’ offices to host special malaria awareness events in Miami, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Detroit and Minneapolis.

“It’s just phenomenal what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time,” said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, United Methodist spokesman for the campaign. “It’s been more like a movement than a campaign. The reality is that we can save a child’s life for such a small amount of money, and that message has really touched people’s hearts and compelled them to get engaged.”United Methodist News Service

See the Church Calendar for a full list of activities and to verify exact times and dates.

Reviews

Rev. Patricia Farris is now one of three co-editors of the on-line Circuit Rider Book Reviews. You may find them here: Circuit Rider Reviews

Click on the above link for our Church Newsletter, the electronic version of the Sentinel = the eSentinel!

The church wants to be aware of the happenings of our church community and their family and friends. Please contact the church office if you know of any information that you feel might be important to communicate to our pastors and staff and/or for inclusion in the Sentinel. Feel free to call or email us with news of: births, deaths, anniversaries, graduations, special honors or any other celebrations or concerns.

OPEN SUNDAYS
If you’ve ever had to take care of business in the church office (in person or by phone) on a Sunday, you know how convenient it is. Volunteers man (and woman!) the office before and after worship services, and we’re looking for a few good people to add to the ranks. Whether you can serve once a month or even once every two months, please call Mary Clark at (310) 473-2326 or Nancy Perov at ext. 100 in the church office for more information or to sign up. We’ll train you on the telephone system and everything else you’ll need to know. All ages are invited to join in this important service.

Two exciting and vital ministries at the church need your participation and support. We are recruiting and training USHERS for both services, serving on a rotating basis. We are also seeking BREAD BAKERS who might have a calling to bake a loaf of bread used for Holy Communion each month. Contact the church office if you are interested.

If you have been wanting to be more involved in the church but are unable to or not interested in making a long term commitment, consider being a Lay Lector. The responsibility requires less than 20 minutes of your time at an individual Sunday worship service once every couple of months. Being a Lay Lector involves: leading a “call to worship” which means reading the “leader” portion with the congregation responding, and reading “the lesson” which is a portion from the Bible for that Sunday, at the pulpit. This happens at the beginning of each service (within the first 15 minutes), after which you may return to your pew. Believe it or not, that is it! We are always looking for members who are willing to fill this position. If you would be interested, please contact Linda Burch at (310)393-8258 ext 114. You will be providing the church with a great service.

TWIDDLING YOUR THUMBS?
Prayers & Squares, our church’s quilt ministry group, needs help sewing quilt tops for future prayer quilts. The tops are made by machine, so you need a sewing machine. We will provide you with a kit that includes instructions and fabric that is cut and ready to sew. Our church has “prayed” 55 prayer quilts between January and November of 2004. This is a wonderful ministry that touches the lives of the recipients, those who pray and those who help make the quilts. We appreciate your help and participation. If you can sew tops occasionally, please contact Maile Marquand at (310) 313-0177 or Sue Payne at (310) 452-1214.

Tithing
If you would like to tithe regularly to FUMC, there are several options. Please view our 2008 pledge card, print it out, and send the completed form to the church office. If you have any questions, please call the church and speak with Bill Prescott, FUMC Business Administrator, (310) 393-8258, ext 108. Thank you so much for your generous support for the ministries of our church.

More 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.

Giving to FUMC - Online!
• Effective since late August, the FUMC website, www.santamonicaumc.org, now permits the use of credit cards to make donations for various church causes, such as the Shelby Center, Prayer Quilt Ministry and many others. The link to giving options also permits credit cards to be used to purchase various services and items, such as concert tickets, poinsettias, Easter lilies and class registration fees. All purchases will have a 3% service charge added to the amount charged. There is no extra charge for donations. Check it out!

Out of Ideas?
• Not sure what to buy for a family member’s birthday or anniversary? Do you have a friend that you would like to thank for his or her hard work? Our donation certificates might be just the answer. We’ve recently received several requests for donations to various funds such as Vacation Bible School and Missions Council in honor of special people. If you are interested in making a contribution in someone’s name, contact the church office. We can discuss the type of personalized “In Honor Of . . .” certificate you would like created to present to the gift recipient.

Ralphs Card:
• If you shop at Ralphs and have a Ralphs Club Card, you can earn money for FUMC. Just call the church office with your card number to be signed up.

Albertsons and Sav-on:
• This particular program called Community Partners, also applies to Sav-on pharmacy. First you have to have an Albertson’s Preferred Savings Card. If you don’t already have a card you may sign up for one at your local store or click here. If you already have a card, click here and go to the “In The Community” logo. You may also sign up by calling 1-877-9-EASY-4-U (1-877-932-7948). Once you’re signed up with Community Partners, a percentage of the money you spend at either store (when you use your card) will come back to support our United Methodist Youth Fellowship program!

*Albertsons and Sav-on have raised the amount of funds they return to our organization to 4%! So, when you use your Preferred Savings Card (if it is linked to the Community Partners program) you will be raising even more money for FUMC’s Youth Ministries!