A Letter from Pastor Mark



Dear Friends,

October is gone and November is here. Before we know it we will be gathering with friends and family and giving thanks for God’s blessings at our annual celebration of Thanksgiving.  After that the Christmas season will be upon us, and once again we will be caught up in the whirlwind of activity and preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Once again, I want to give each of you the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a manner that moves us away from the rampant commercialism and frantic pace that seems to permeate our lives during that time of year.

At Southport United Methodist Church we will be engaging in Operation Christmas      Transformation again this year.  This is an opportunity to celebrate Christmas where we focus less on ourselves and more on whose birthday it really is, Jesus. Operation Christmas Transformation is an opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a simpler, more meaningful way and help others at the same time.

Operation Christmas Transformation asks each of us to consider doing a little bit less in what we spend on gifts, decorations, parties and holiday food, and what we save we give as a birthday present to Jesus. Starting very soon there will be envelopes in each worship bulletin that will give you an opportunity to make a gift from what you save from not spending so much on Christmas to Operation Christmas Transformation.  You can make a straight gift to this fund, or you can purchase pictures of poinsettias for $10 each, and that money will go to the Operation Christmas Transformation fund as well.  These paper poinsettias can be purchased in honor or memory of individuals. Actual poinsettia plants can be purchased as well, but the $10 in that case goes to the purchase of the flower and not to the Christmas Transformation fund. 


What happens to the money that is given to Operation Christmas Transformation? It is divided equally between two funds. The first is the Pastor’s Benevolent Fund. This is money that we use throughout the year to help people with within and outside the church with needs they cannot meet themselves. Over this past year we have distributed thousands of dollars to help people with rent, utilities, gas money, food, medical expenses and much, much more. The second fund is the Pastor’s Ministry Fund.  This is a fund that helps us do ministry to reach people in our community for the cause of Christ that we could not afford to do without the existence of this fund. This fund has helped cover the cost of ministry outreach events and community mailings at Christmas and Easter and other special times of the year as well as various other ministry efforts

In 2013, let’s show the world that we know whose birthday we are celebrating.  Let’s join in the Operation Christmas Transformation and focus less on ourselves and more on the one who is the reason for our celebration, Jesus.


In Christ’s Abundant Love,
Pastor Mark




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