Southport UMC Newsletter

Dear Friends, I would like to share with each of you a new direction that we will soon be taking regarding offering a church library.   Traditional libraries have focused on collections of physical books.   That requires a considerable amount of effort to keep the books shelved, cataloged and organized.   Traditional libraries have served us well in the past, and the library at the church is a good example of giving people good options for their Christian reading choices. However, I think we would all agree that our world is changing rapidly, and that is true in the area of the “printed word” as well.   Many schools are moving away from physical textbooks to electronic textbooks loaded on e-readers or tablets.   Very soon future generations will envision books as something to be downloaded on an electronic device rather than a physical volume with paper pages.    Libraries are moving toward electronic versions of books and many libraries are at least offering the cho

Pastor Mark has said numerous times that we are only one generation away from Christianity becoming extinct.   That is why it is so important to reach and nurture the next generation.   It is important that we create faith that sticks as our youth head out on their own.   Based on research, somewhere between 50% and 70% of youth that are in a youth group will eventually walk away from church as they venture out on their own.   And contrary to belief, most of them will not come back to church. That is why the Leadership Team recently approved making the Student Ministry Director a full-time position. We have hired   Kelcey Snyder to be our new full-time Student Ministry Director, starting July 1.   Kelcey has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Olivet Nazarene University.   He has served as Youth Leader at three different churches, most recently at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Midland, Michigan. Kelcey is very excited about the opportunity to gu

“ONE BODY ONE MISSION” is a student ministry for boys and girls ranging from 5 th through 9 th grade.   It is open to all boys and girls     whether they attend Southport United Methodist Church or not.    As “one body,” the goal is to teach the youth about Christ in new ways.   The youth should know that they are “one body” as they learn and work together, as they serve others, and as they accomplish the mission of Christ’s church to make new disciples. If you want to know more, adults, please attend an informational meeting Sunday July 13, 2014, at 12:30 p.m.

We will be collecting food for Hunger, Inc. July 3 and July 6.      The food item for July is Pancake Mix and Syrup.     The food collecting for August is July 31 and August 3.     The food item for August is cereal. If you need to know the collection items for each month, you will find the complete list under missions on the website:  www.sumc.org  Last month the shelves were very empty, and many people in need were in the waiting room at Hunger, Inc.  So, please consider serving as Jesus' hands and feet to help those in need.  And thank you so much for donating to this worthy community need.