District Roundup
Abingdon:
To help the church pay apportionments, youth at Virginia Avenue UMC are making Christmas cards on the computer and selling them. They're also offering to deliver cards within the church family, while asking that the amount saved on postage be donated to the youth. The project has other benefits as well, says the Rev. Connie Huffine: "We're hoping this encourages members to send Christmas cards to our shutins, and then the shut-ins will get visits from youth as they deliver the cards."
Big Stone Gap:
The Rev. Roy Corbin, pastor at St. Charles-Robbins Chapel, and his wife, Ruth Corbin. were recently honored by the World Methodist Evangelism Institute. At the Institute's 20th anniversary dinner in Atlanta, the Corbins received a plaque for "distinguished voluntary service in audio and videotaping of Institute Seminars around the world."
Chattanooga:
Since September, Hixson UMC has provided a special "treat basket" in the teachers' lounge at Hixson UMC. Parishioners are asked to donate specific snacks each month – such as apples and microwave popcorn in September, or crackers and pretzels in November. Volunteers replenish the basket each week – and were recently delighted when teachers requested devotional booklets along with the snacks. "We put 20 Upper Room books in the basket, and they were gone within two weeks," says Tim Smith, director of youth ministries.
Cleveland:
Responding to Bishop Ray Chamberlain's recent plea to "keep loving the children with deeds and not mere words," Wesley Memorial's Aldersgate/Bible Sunday school class sponsored a Holston Home child for Christmas.
Johnson City:
A Jonesborough UMC group recently undertook a project to provide warmth and comfort to domestic abuse victims, assembling 20 quilts to donate to Safe Passage shelter in Johnson City. Each quilt has a center block with scripture from Joshua 1:9: "Be strong and of good courage É for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Every new client who enters the shelter will be able to select a quilt to keep. The quilters plan to replenish the supply as needed.
Kingsport:
Members of Glen Alpine UMC recently joined with members from Wheeler, Hiltons and two Baptist churches for a mission trip to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico. Glen Alpine's Herb Creech led the team in building 11 one-room houses for people previously living in "pathetic" conditions – "in a pen or under a scrap of wood, just anywhere they could live," Creech said. The October mission was the eighth such trip to Mexico in seven years for Creech, who also participates on Holston's Volunteer Labor Team.
Knoxville:
"Walk Through Bethlehem," Church Street's annual reenactment of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' birth, happens Sunday, Dec. 15, from 1 to 7 p.m. Over the past five years, an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 visitors have experienced the village, where costumed characters, animals and Israeli dancers roam the streets. Admission is free. For more info, call (865) 524-3048 or visit www.churchstreetumc.org.
Maryville:
St. John's United Methodist Women presented their annual Church Ladies Luncheon & Market on Nov. 8.
Morristown:
Wesley's Chapel UMC recently dedicated a new playground memorializing the infant son of two church members. After Luke McLain Weems died in 2001, the Young Adult Sunday school class began holding fundraisers to raise $8,000. The church kicked in an extra $4,000, and the community donated materials and time to complete the playground, which now has a plaque in Luke Weems' name.
Oak Ridge:
First Oak Ridge UMC recently collected mittens and caps for Morgan-Scott Project for Cooperative Christian Concerns in Deer Lodge, Tenn.
Tazewell:
In 1997, Steelesburg UMC was closed due to membership and attendance decline. In 1998, a delegation from the former congregation appealed to District Superintendent Gene Lovell to reopen the church. The part-time pastor at Mount Pleasant UMC, the Rev. Jack Johnson, offered to serve both Mount Pleasant and Steelesburg. Today, Steelesburg not only exists, it's been transformed into a "bustling little food distribution center," says Lovell, providing food to 137 needy families. The food comes from Second Harvest in Johnson City, Tenn., where Steeleburg members pick up USDA products, surplus produce, and other edibles. "There is some cost to the project," says Lovell, "but thus far there have always been sufficient financial donations to make the program work."
Wytheville:
On Nov. 2, United Methodist Women representing several local churches met at Woodlawn UMC. The district's UMW president, Ellen Moore, led a study of the book of James. Woodlawn youth served the meal.
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