Southport UMC Newsletter

July 4 and 7 – Support Community Food Pantries July 7 – Community Meal in the morning and Church Picnic at 12:15pm July 4 to 28 – Christmas in July Supporting Homecroft Back to School and Community Festival Movie Night July 14 to 20 – Mission Team to Upper Sand Mountain Alabama July 14 and 28 – Madison Avenue Health Care Worship, 1:30pm July 18 – God’s Will Breakfast Team Serving at Fletcher Place Community Center July 21 – Ronald McDonald House Team Serving Dinner at Riley Hospital July 27 – Ronald McDonald Team Serving at the House on IUPUI Campus FAITH PROMISE SUPPORTED MINISTRIES   Thanks to your faithful contributions the following ministries continue Blood Drive Sundays (contact the church office) August 11, November 17 Interfaith Hospitality Network Serving Homeless Families (IHN) (Leaders: Paul and Maggie Lucas) September 29 – October 13 Clothing Drive in August Jubilee Ministry (contact the church office) Christmas in July and December R...

Please signup today to get your family photo taken for our new directory.   We still have plenty of openings.   Just go to our website and you can sign up or call the church office at 317-784-9508 and we can sign you up.  

Okay, do you want the good news or the bad news first?   I recently ran across a cartoon of two cavemen and one caveman said to the other, “The good news is I invented fire today.   The bad news is I burned dinner.”   That kind of sums up this finance article, I have some really great news to share with you, but I have to pair that with a warning not to burn dinner. The good news is you did an AMAZING job on raising funds for the Congregation Comfort Campaign!   You gave over $30,000 to be used for the new HVAC units in the Worship Center.   That is an astounding job and we thank you for your generosity. Now, I must share a word of caution.   I do not want this in any way to take away from the previously mentioned praise.   However, I must bring this up or I am simply not serving you well as your Financial Officer.   We saw a drastic drop in budget giving in May (that’s your regular tithes and offerings).   May’s budget giving dropp...

Blest Be the Tie I won’t go into all the ways that God is helping all of us seize this moment and to live into the kingdom future that God has in store for us all.   Mostly because I don’t know all of them.   But I trust that God’s hand is upon us, working to bring to fruition the mission and ministry we all strive to fulfill.   I am excited about what Pastor Duane will bring to the community of faith and know that he has needed gifts for the church for such a time as this.   I am not worried about you or about me, since I know that God’s got this! So instead, let me simply say thank you.   Thank you for the privilege of serving as your pastor for these two years.   Thank you for the ways that you have responded to my ministry, in worship and Bible study, but also continuing to be active in mission in our wider community.   I know I didn’t create these ministries; they were here long before I arrived.   But as your pastor, I was pleased to...

Dear Friends, We are excited to be joining you soon.   The two of us met in Indianapolis, were married in Indiana, and have quite an extended family connection here.   It feels good to come home.   We’ve already begun to fall in love with the church.   It seemed like an instant connection with members of the staff and Leadership Team.   There are dynamic worship experiences at Southport UMC, opportunities for spiritual growth and fellowship, and programs of service that help many people.   We are looking forward to being part of such a vibrant and active congregation.   We can’t wait to get to know you. Duane and Brenda Thompson

Be sure to join us Sunday, June 23, for refreshments between services as we wish Pastor Derek and his family farewell.  In his short two years at Southport United Methodist, Pastor Derek has impressed on us the importance of love as a focal point for our walk with Christ.  Jesus commanded us in Matthew 22 to “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, which is only superseded in importance by “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”.   While the news of Pastor Derek’s move came as a great surprise to all of us, the heart and prayer of our congregation should be that God will direct his path and future ministry as he joins the leadership team of the Discipleship Ministries in Nashville, Tennessee, where he will be working to instruct new pastors in their roles in training others to make disciples that will Connect, Serve, Grow, Give, and Go!  Leadership Team