Church, 

 It was announced on Sunday May 21, 2023 that the result of our congregational vote was to become a Global Methodist Church. This will be our next chapter as believers who worship at Second Ave. Thank you to everyone who prayed, dialogued, and voted. Here are a few things to pay close attention to in the next few weeks.

1) Annual Conference did approve our disaffiliation. The next step is settlement sometime during the month of June. After the settlement as a church we will no longer be United Methodists. If you have any questions about the timing or anything related to the settlement please reach out to me directly. 

2) Paperwork has been filed with both the state and the denomination to become a Global Methodist Congregation. It is the leadership’s intention to update you frequently along the way

3) You may share on social media, share with family and friends, and share openly the result of the church’s vote to become a Global Methodist Congregation.

4) Ad Council will have a meeting to discuss membership and to iron out a few details needed to be discussed in the short term. Please submit to the church office any questions you may have during this time. If an answer is available someone will update you with an answer.

5) Please continue to pray for our church, other churches that have disaffiliated, as well as pray for those who will remain United Methodist. All human beings are loved by God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and as a church it is my hope that we continue to treat everyone with love, respect, and a desire to encourage all to repent of their sin and live into the newness of the life Jesus wants for all of God’s sons and daughters.

6) It is my intention as your pastor to continue to guide, lead worship, share life with you, pray for you and with you, and be present with everyone in our church’s next chapter. We are just getting started on the amazing ministries the Holy Spirit has for us, Church.

Thank you for being faithful. Thank you for being generous. Thank you for being the church. You are the great hope of this world.

Blessings, Pastor B

Join us Sunday as we hear from guest speaker, Jen McConnell, as she brings the message “Under Construction.”  Services at 8:15 & 10:45 am, Sunday school at 9:30 am for ages 4-adult.

There will be a video from Pastor Brian at the beginning of the service announcing the winner of the vote and what is our next chapter here at 2nd Ave! 

Next Sunday, May 28 is our Potluck Lunch. We will meet in the social hall following the 10:45 service. Please sign up on the round table in the sanctuary if you plan to attend and with what dish you plan to bring to share.  

The church office will be closed on Monday, May 29 for the Memorial Day holiday.  

There will be a Monday evening Bible Study beginning on June 12 at 6:30 pm. This will be held at the parsonage. Please sign up on the round table if you plan to attend.

Please take note of the new church email address and website:

Email: office@2ndavechurch.org
Website: 2ndavechurch.org (The old ones will still work for now, but will eventually go away.)

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the moms here at 2nd Ave yesterday!  We hope you got to have some breakfast and spend some time with your 2nd Ave family.

Our Next Chapter voting concluded yesterday and the results and our new name will be announced next Sunday at 8:15 & 10:45.  Our name will begin with 2nd Ave/Second Ave and our social media and other things will be under 2nd Ave Church/Second Ave Church.  The church email address and website address will also be changing in the next few weeks and you will start to notice anything that says “UMC” or “United Methodist” will start to removed from the building. We will be keeping you as updated as possible throughout the process.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.   

If you have a 2023 high school or college graduate you would like to recognize here at 2nd Ave, please contact me with their name, where they are graduating from and any future plans they would like to share, by Tuesday, May 16th at noon.

Please make sure to visit the VBS Stellar Station in the Elevation Room to volunteer, get a star off the board of items to donate or pick up a treat for your child that includes the registration QR code!

UPCOMING HERE AT 2nd Ave

5/20 Soup & Sandwich Lunch 11:30 am

5/26 Food Pantry 11 AM

5/28 Church Potluck Lunch (please sign up) 12 pm

5/29 Memorial Day–Office Closed

6/5 Summer Office Hours begin 8 am – 1 pm Mon-Thurs, available by email until 4 PM Mon-Fri.

If you ordered chocolate covered pretzels, they will be available to pick up between/after services this Sunday only.

The ROCK wrapped up this past Wednesday for this school year; they had a great night of outdoor activities & fun as well as a visit from Brainfreezers! Thank you for all the support for the ROCK this year whether it was financially, volunteering, or your prayers. Please reach out to Ashley if you would like to help out next school year at ashleymiller1228@gmail.com.

Reminder: the office will be open M-Th 8:30-1:30 this week and available by email until 4:30 PM.

Please sign up on the round table in the sanctuary if you’d like to make a soup for next Saturday’s luncheon. You will also find a sign up sheet for the Potluck Lunch on the 28th as well as a summer Bible study.

VBS will be here before we know it! If you’d like to volunteer or would like to donate snacks, please visit the VBS station located in the Elevation Room.

Sunday is the last day to pick up and turn in a ballot for the Next Chapter here at 2nd Ave. The options are Free Methodist, Global Methodist or Independent.  If you have any questions, please contact the church office ASAP.  Ballots must be received by the end of the 10:45 service on May 14.

We will celebrate all the Moms here at 2nd Ave with pastries and beverages in the Gathering Place next Sunday from 9:15-10:30  am.  Everyone is welcome!  

This Wednesday is the final ROCK of the 2022-23 school year. Thank you to everyone who made this year a huge success. The ROCK had their largest amount of kids registered ever (over 150!) and it was all possible because of those who volunteer and donate to the ROCK!  Please be in prayer if you’d like to help out next school year.  The program will begin again in September.  Contact Ashley with any questions ashleymiller1228@gmail.com

Next week the church office will be open 8:30-1:30 and available by email until 4:30 pm.  

SAVE THE DATE!

• May 28 at 12 pm: Church Potluck (sign up in the sanctuary)

• May 29: Memorial Day-Office Closed

• June 18: Father’s Day celebration

• July 6 – 6:00 pm: Splash Park evening

• July 10-14: VBS

• July 22: Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

• July 24-28: Rise Up Camp 

Join us Sunday as we continue our series Third Chapter|Three Verses|One Hope, with this week’s message “Church of Phillipi.”   We will celebrate Holy communion at both 8:15 & 10:45 am.

Voting for our Next Chapter will continue this Sunday; Jill will have ballots available between services for you to pick up in the Elevation room.  Ballots due no later than Mother’s Day, May 14, at the end of the 10:45 service.  

There are milk chocolate covered pretzels available to order to pick up Sunday, May 14.  They are 2/$1 and all proceeds benefit the church.  Must order ahead of time.  There’s an order from here at the church or you can order using this link and pay at the church.  See Jody Langguth or Deb Shawley with any questions.

Ashley is asking for donations to purchase VBS T-Shirts; the kids loved getting these shirts last year and would love to provide them again.  They cost $10  each and she expects around 50-55 kids.  Please pick up an envelope that’s for VBS T-Shirts and place your donation in the offering plate if you’d like to help cover this cost.

Please visit the round table in the sanctuary to sign up for the May 28 Potluck Lunch, to make a soup for the Soup & Sandwich Luncheon on May 20, sign up for a summer Bible study and more!  

Join us Sunday as we continue our series “Third Chapter|Three Verses|One Hope” with this week’s message Church of Ephesus.  Services at 8:15 & 10:45 am, Sunday School for age 4 through adult 9:30 – 10:30.

Sunday begins our voting for the Next Chapter here at 2nd Ave. Ballots will be available on Sundays or during office hours.  You must pick up your ballot in person (only exception are our at home folks).  Please return your ballot by placing it in the offering plate on Sundays, placing it in the church mail box if we are not open, or by dropping it off to the church office.  Ballots must be received back by May 14 at the end of the 10:45 service to be counted.

VBS SAVE THE DATE!  This year’s VBS will be held July 10 through the 14, please contact Ashley if you would like to volunteer to help out!  ashleymiller1228@gmail.com

Our Next Chapter voting will begin next Sunday, April 30. You will need to pick up a ballot in person either on Sundays or during office hours (the only exception is for the folks on our homebound list, these will be hand delivered and returned).  Ballots must be turned back in no later than Sunday, May 14 by the end of the 10:45 service (ballots can be placed in the offering plates on Sundays, placed in the mail slot or turned into the church office).  Any adult who regularly attends or anyone under 18 who is currently in confirmation class, or has been confirmed here at 2nd Ave is able to vote.  If you have any questions, please reach out ASAP to get the answers before placing your vote.

The church office will be closing at noon on Tuesday, April 25, we will still be available by email until 3:30 pm.

This Friday is our monthly food giveaway; if you’d like to help out and haven’t before, please contact Pastor Brian for information.  Any Blair County resident in need is welcome; we begin at 11:00 am but it is suggested you arrive early. This is a drive through food pick up.

Sunday, May 14 between services, there will be a Mother’s Day celebration in the Gathering Place. All are welcome. We will have pastries and beverages available to celebrate all the mothers we know.  (If anyone would be able to pick up a box of coffee on their way in to the church to be here around 9:15-9:30, it would be greatly appreciated. Just let Jill know!  We will reimburse you.)

This Saturday is the monthly Soup & Sandwich Luncheon. If you’d like to make a soup please let us know.  Lunch is served 11:30 am – 1:00 pm. All are welcome.  Dine in or take out available

The nursery is looking for more volunteers. You must be 18 or older and have clearances and training.  The nursery is staffed during our 10:45 service for kids 3 and under. Without more volunteers we may not be able to have the nursery staffed each Sunday.  

The ROCK is winding down for the year however, they will be in need of more volunteers for the 2023-24 session.  The ROCK had the most kids registered ever this year (135!!) and unfortunately will not be able to function without more volunteers.  {Specific needs are folks who are interested in working with our Youth age students (6th-12th grade) as this was the largest group this year, most weeks having around 30 kids}  Please reach out to Ashley for more information ashleymiller1228@gmail.com  

Have a musical gift?  The Praise Band is looking for folks that play instruments to join them on Sunday mornings!  We do ask that you attend Praise Band practice several times before joining in on Sunday mornings; please reach out to the office for more information.

Friday, Pastor Brian will be here in the sanctuary for a time of reflection and prayer from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm.  We will be going Juanita UMC at 7:00 pm for the Good Friday service.  

PRAYER VIGIL INFORMATION
Our prayer vigil will begin at 8:00 pm and run until 8:00 pm Saturday. Please CLICK HERE to access the prayer vigil guide Pastor Brian put together. Printed copies will be available here at the church for those praying here. If you are praying here (reminder, this is only available from 8:00 am – 8:00 pm Saturday) there will be a classroom set up on the Elevation Room side for prayer, but you may pray in the sanctuary, etc. Only the right side sanctuary door will be open during this time).

Easter Sunday services are at 7:00 am and 9:30 am. Breakfast will be held from 8:15 am to around 9:00 am in the social hall.  All are welcome!  

The church office will be closed until Tuesday, April 11^th. The office will be available by email Friday until 12:30 pm. Please email us at 2ndaveumc@gmail.com as replies to this email are not received.