Vacation Bible School at Tuscumbia First United Methodist Church will be held July 6-9. The schedule for the 4-day school is; Sunday evening 4:00 - 7:00, Monday - Wednesday mornings 9:00 - 12 noon and Wednesday evening 5:30 - 7:30.

This year kids will join a Lab Crew where 5 elementary children form a small group. Each Lab Crew has an adult or teenage Crew Leader. Crews rotate through seven stations every day, and the daily Bible Point is reinforced at every station and throughout Power Lab in all-new Creative ways.

Each year Tuscumbia First United Methodist Church sends a number of its children to Elementary Camp at Camp Sumatanga located near Gallant, Alabama. This year the children will be attending two one-week camps beginning July 6 through 18.

Elementary Camp is a place where campers grow as disciples of Jesus Christ by offering opportunities for spiritual, physical, and emotional growth. Campers are organized into family groups with each group led by the same 2-3 counselors all week long. The entire day at Elementary Camp is scheduled with activities. Camper check-in begin each Sunday at 4:00 pm on the Front Porch of the Sumatanga Lodge. Parents are welcome to attend a closing program, each Friday at 4:00 pm. Check-out will begin at 5:00 pm. The cost of camp includes snacks, crafts, a t-shirt, and pictures for the week.

We had a wonderful "Wild Ride Through God's Word" last week at AVALANCHE RANCH. The children were excited and seemed to boil over with enthusiasm! Through 5 different Bible stories, we learned that God is Real, God is With Us, God is Strong, God is Awesome and God is in Charge. We were blessed on Sunday night with enough youth to almost have one per child and enough adults to spread all over the church. We averaged 70 children each day (excluding the 14 at Camp Sumatanga), 30 youth and more than 20 adults. The children made prayer bears that will make the Honduras trip and be distributed to the children there. Their offering of $72.50 will go to help pay shipping costs. I want to thank everyone who worked in each station - Sing & Play Stampede, Chuck Wagon Chow, Cowpoke Crafts, Chadder's Wild West Theater, Wild Bible Adventures, Spotlight Drama and Preschool. We could never have pulled this off without our youth Crew Leaders and our sound technicians - they were great! I am so proud of our church for the awesome support of our VBS in 2008! (And thank you so much for the beautiful vase!)

Beth

Children from Calvary Baptist in Tuscumbia and Tuscumbia First United Methodist joined together to present Dottie Rambo's Down By The Creek Bank Sunday, May 20. The first performance was held at Tuscumbia FUMC during the early service. An afternoon performance was held at Spring Park in Tuscumbia along with a picnic. Patrice Brown of Calvary directed the musical portion of the play and the choreograph was under the direction of Suzie Yarbrough of Tuscumbia Methodist.

In her opening remarks Children Director, Beth Wilcoxson, pointed out that because this was the 25th year the musical was performed nationwide, many who are parents now can recall the songs written in the musical.

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