Text Box: Greater Things John 14:12 November 6, 2007 Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church 4809 Bell Hill Road, Bessemer, AL 35022 Fax: (205) 428-6135 Office: 428-4056 Parsonage: 936-9540 FLC: 428-4920 e-mail: Pleasant Hill4809@aol.com Alan Head, Pastor Monica Harbarger, Student Minister e-mail: PHImpactyouth@aol.com Web Page Address: www.ph-umc.com


Text Box: Celebration Well, our year of celebration, that of being 175 years old, is fast coming to a close. It’s been a wonderful year! Every event was carried out so well - and I think it was the direct result of a great and hard working Celebration Committee team. Each member, along with so many others who worked with them, carried out their special work area tasks with such zeal and enthusiasm. We have our own beautifully designed tee-shirts, commemorative plates, and memory booklets as specal keepsakes of the year. The old fashioned hymn sing and ice-cream supper will stand out in our memories for a long time. Then there was the skit-night and dinner that not only educted us on our history but was so much fun, too. Jonesboro Day was a great success and we have the Old Jonesboro antique bell as a special reminder of that day, and don’t get me started on our Heritage Sunday celebration. I could go on and on about that. All I’ll say is that it was fantastic! So many people worked so hard to made it the success that it was. Thanks, team, for all your hard work and a great big thank you to every one who had a part in making this year, 2007, a year to remember My hope is that every one enjoyed this special time in the life of Pleasant Hill as much as I did. We have much for which to be thankful for God has given us our own little promised land. He has put his trust in us that we will carry on the tradition that our ancestors left to us. Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities to carry out the Lord’s work. Thanks again for a job well done. Frances Howard, Historian



Text Box: There is a vintage dress and bonnet that has been in the church office for at least two weeks. If this is your dress, please pick it up or call the church office and let the secretary know what to do with it. Also, a very pretty broach has been turned in to the office. If you have lost one, please come by and see if this is yours. We are running out of room in the office and need to clear some things out. Thanks.


Text Box: A big THANKS to everyone who helped out at our annual Trunk-or-Treat! We had a good number of trunks and they all looked GREAT! I still have to figure out which Sunday School class had the most trunks out there for our contest. It seemed like we had a lot more people come through this year than any year I can remember, since food and candy have never ran out early before. We hope and pray some of those that were visitors will come back and worship with us and that all had a fun time here. Kid's News On Wednesday nights we are practicing a few songs for our Christmas Dinner on Dec. 5. We will not meet the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 21. We will also be making Christmas t-shirts on Wed., Nov. 28 to wear for the Christmas Dinner. So every child needs to bring a white short sleeve t-shirt and wear clothes they can paint in on Wed., Nov. 28. On Sunday nights we are practicing for our Christmas musical, "Silent Night, the Birth of a Carol". We only have 5 more weeks to practice until we perform on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 6:00pm. So if you are in the musical, it is important to be there every Sunday night for practice. We will also have an extra practice the Saturday before the musical on Dec. 8. I will announce the time for that practice at a later date. If you as a parent have a preference of morning or afternoon for this practice, please let me know. You can reach me, Tonya Koll.


Text Box: POINSETTIAS FOR ADVENT Beautiful white poinsettias will adorn the sanctuary during the four weeks of Advent. If you would like to purchase a poinsettia in honor or in memory of a loved one, please contact Trish Evans. pevans2252@charter.net


Text Box: LUNCH FOR LIFE Many of you have seen the Lunch for Life Posters hanging around the church. I am very grateful that Taylor is now healthy and no longer looks sick like he does on those posters. This campaingn has started a Christmas giving tree program. You can log onto www.Lunchforlife.org/TaylorWatts and click “giving tree”. Every $5 puts an ornament on Taylor’s Tree. The money does not go to Taylor or any of the kids with trees, they just like seeing their tree fill up with ornaments. The money goes to Lunch to Life which has raised over $500,000 for Neuroblastoma research and clinical trials. If you are looking for a fun and easy way to help this holiday season this is a good charity that is very near and dear to us. Kim, Jim, Taylor and Logan Watts


Text Box: Thanksgiving Celebration Dinner Wednesday, November 14 6:00 pm Mark your calendars! Time flies – and so do turkeys! It’s nearly “turkey time” again and time to join your church family to celebrate! Turkey, dressing, bread and drinks will be provided. Plan to bring a dish (salad, vegetable or dessert) and join in. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!


Text Box: Notice: The church office will be closed the week of Christmas, Dec. 24 through Dec. 28.


Text Box: Scrapbook Workshop There will be a scrapbooking workshop Friday, November 9th from 5:00-11:00 p.m. It will be held in the Fellowship Hall. The cost is $10.00, which buys your dinner and other goodies. This workshop is for anyone who is interested, be they male or female, novice or professional. Whether you like to do traditional scrapbooking or are all about digital storybooks, I can help you get started. If you think you don’t have time or are not creative, a picfolio is just for you! What better way to celebrate our heritage than by getting those pictures out of your shoeboxes or computers and into an album for all to enjoy. Please call Christie Peebles for more information and to register. Come and bring a friend to enjoy the fun!


Text Box: MISSION TO ECUADOR Thanks to everyone who has prayed for me and supported me prior to and during my trip to Ecuador. This was a fantastic experience for me and I am humbled every time I have the opportunity to serve our Lord. As Christians we have a responsibility to serve in some way. Service doesn’t always mean being directly in the mission field although it is a powerful experience. Service also means supporting those in the field through prayer, money, and goods. Thank you for your service in this way. We traveled to a small village in the mountains of Ecuador where we tent camped for the week. Every day we would travel to various remote villages that are just tucked away in the mountains. We had the chance to play with the children, talk with the families, learn from their culture, and observe their way of life. Although their means are very weak, their death rate is very high, and their accommodations are minimal they embraced us, shared their gifts, and practiced the up most form of hospitality. We go with the ultimate goal being to share the message of Christ with a people who have never heard of Him. We are held accountable for sharing our own personal testimony. It isn’t a scripted story we share…it is our story. We witnessed 720 people give their life over to Christ and begin to learn about His many promises for them. What an honor it is to be on your knees with someone who is openly and honestly laying everything down for Jesus Christ. Can you imagine struggling with getting your basic daily needs met, dealing with sickness regularly, death surrounding you and one day waking up to the wonderful gift of heaven you have inherited? Bill Connelly, the founder and former Hoover firefighter, has done such a wonderful job in developing this ministry and has a passion for the souls of everyone he comes in contact with. It doesn’t matter if you are a villager in Ecuador or you are standing in line at Wal-Mart with him. You will hear his “Easter story” and he will passionately tell you about Jesus. I look forward to many more trips with him and hope that some of you will join us on a trip. As many of you know, I am planning one for spring/early summer but we need 12 people committed to this experience. If you would like to participate in this, please let me know. Thanks again to your continued prayers. I feel the power of those prayers working in my life. Joey Harbarger


Text Box: All Saints Sunday This past Sunday, November 4, was All Saints Day. This is the day that we honor those saints from our fellowship who have died during the last year. Those we remembered this year are: Edwin Thomas Calhoun Jane Ethridge Frances Huey Albert J. Kendrick Ruth Moore Howard Southard James Walker Alex Woodall There was a rose on the altar in memory of each of the persons named and a member of the family was invited to take one with them after the service. We are thankful to God for this crowd of witnesses that have gone on before us.


Text Box: JOINT THANKSGIVING SERVICE Sunday, November 18 6:00 P.M. The Baptist Church at McAdory Our Minister, Rev. Alan Head, will be delivering the message. Let’s have a really good turn out of Methodists to support him! “Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is good.”


Text Box: WHITE CHRISTMAS During the month of December we will be receiving our White Christmas Offering to support the United Methodist Children’s Home. You will be receiving a letter shortly with more information.
Text Box: NOTICE Newsletter Deadlines Due to the way the weeks fall and the upcoming holidays, the newletter deadlines have been changed for November and December. The deadlines for these two months are the first and third Mondays at 12:00 noon. We will return to our regular scheduled deadlines of the second and fourth Mondays in January. Because of this there will be three weeks in a row at the end of December and beginning of January that we will not have a newsletter. Please check the dates of any activities you wish listed in the newsletter and get the information in to the church office in plenty of time to be printed in the appropriate edition. Thank you for your cooperation. -Jean


Text Box: Thanks to everyone who helped make our youth auction a success. We raised over $4000 and the donations continue to come in. This money goes directly to assist youth in participating in our mission trips and retreats. I know how important it is for a teenager to feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves. We work hard to create a sense of community where these young people feel productive, useful, needed, and helpful. Pleasant Hill has helped create this community over the years and although the youth change, the community remains constant. This weekend I am taking the middle schoolers on a retreat at Camp Sumatanga put on by the North Alabama Conference. We have 20 youth going which is a wonderful thing. Please pray for us as we travel and as we explore our faith journey and widen our spiritual connections with God through others, through nature, through experiences, and through worship. We will not have youth Sunday, November 18th. It is the Community Thanksgiving Service at The Baptist Church at McAdory. Please make plans to attend this service as a family. It is a wonderful time of worship and fellowship for McCalla.