We are so glad to have Rev. Scott Meador, Heather, Emma and Sophia here. We pray they will feel blessed and welcomed as part of the First Church family. There are a couple of opportunities for you to meet and greet them other than on Sunday mornings. On Wednesday, July 14th and 21st there will be an Open House from 5:30-7:00 p.m. and you can come any time during that time to Meet & Greet & Eat. Please make one of these evenings a priority and bring the whole family. There will be a sign up sheet in Wesley room so we know how much food to prepare. Please contact Jane Adams, Donna Jorgenson, or Linda Stamper if you have any questions. Come have a good time.

-Staff Parish Relations Committee

We have been so blessed the last 13 years to have Dennis and Nancy Bailey as our leader and watchful guide. We will certainly miss them, but now it is time for another change and to look forward to new things and new ideas in the future.

During this transition there is a lot of packing to do, cleaning, etc. Deh Ehlers, Judy Price, Diane Kurtz, Doug Derr and myself proceeded to wash all of the windows, inside and out, at the parsonage. I sincerely wish to thank those who stepped forward to attack this large task. We will also have the carpeting cleaned prior to the Meadors moving in.

The Trustees did their inspection of the parsonage and found everything to be very adequate, although there is need for some updating, as time and money will allow.

Be sure to thank Judy Price and Kendall Heppe for contributing to the beautification of our outdoor areas with flowers. They do a great job!

Also, don’t the pew cushions look brighter? We had them all steam cleaned the end of May

Virginia Sleeper,
Trustee Chairperson

There is a very good summary of what happened at 2010 Annual Conference on The Iowa Annual Conference of United Methodist Church web-site www.iaumc.org. There are audio and visual reports on the speeches and activities so all can view or listen to them.

We met at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines where we were able to be seated at round tables all on the same level. The conference began on Sat. morning June 5th at 10 a.m. and concluded around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8th. We attended business sessions morning, afternoon and evening to do the “work” of the conference. They called it “worshipful work” and the business was interspersed with worship and music which was lovely. We had a keyboard player from Nashville and he was terrific and kept us “heavenly” minded. We had reports from various ministries within the UMC conference.

I thought the Lay Leader’s message was very good. We were priviledged to see Jonathan and Mara Bailey ordained as future elders in the UMC church and that was a treat. Dad and Mom Bailey were proud of them and we were too.

There were several special offerings which totaled $26,000 to go towards mission projects and the pages who help distribute paper throughout the sessions. A motion was made and passed to plant 83 trees to replace the paper used at conference!

It was determined we should all be in prayer over immigration reform that would be effective and fair to all concerned.

With all our heart we want to thank everyone for their prayers, their cards, wonderful words given, and the generous gifts given in our “goodbye” time. Thank you so much for your kindness and your generosity. Your encouragement means everything to us.

Most of all we want to thank the congregation and the people of our church for just being who you are and for helping us grow in our faith in the last 13 years. We will never forget you.

-Pastor Dennis and Nancy Bailey

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Dear Pastor Bailey & First United Methodist Church, Thank you for your prayers, telephone calls and food that you brought over during my recent shoulder surgery. I am progressing slowly with rehab - I am getting to be a pretty good left hander! Again thank you for your thoughtfulness.

-Janet Larson

7-4-10 “Truly Free”
2 Kings 5:1-15 What does it mean to be free on Independence Day?

7-11-10 “Who is My Neighbor”
Luke 10:25-37 The timeless story of the Good Samaritan teaches us about love and life.

7-18-10 “The Head of the Body”
Colossians 1:15-28 The body of Christ is called to mission and ministry.

7-25-10 “The Prayer of Life”
Luke 11:1-13 The Lord’s Prayer still impacts us today.

“A farmer had one old horse that he used for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbors heard about it, they sympathized with the old man over his bad luck. “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone agreed that this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, who replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and forced every able-bodies young man to go fight in a war. When they saw that he farmer’s son had a broken leg, they let him stay. Everyone was very happy at the farmer’s good luck.

“Good luck? Bad luck? Who know?”

Life is a lot like that. Sometimes it seems like things are going well, and at other times, things seem to be going badly. And we let those things dictate our feelings and our outlook on life. When things are going well, we’re happy and we think God is with us. If they are going badly, we get discouraged and think that God must have abandoned us. We end up being tossed around by our circumstances.

But the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4 that he had learned to be content, even happy, in all circumstances. He was happy when things were bad (he was in jail at the time), and he was happy when things were going good as well. That’s the great thing about being part of God’s family. We really don’t have to worry in our circumstances, because no matter what, we have hope in Christ. “We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love him”. Romans 8:28.

July 2010 Sunday Helpers Schedule:

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