February 6

12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays - ZUMBA CLASSES. Classes are free to anyone who wants to come, however, there is no child care available so if you have children and want to come, please make arrangements for them during this time. Adults only please.

February 6

6:30 p.m. - 90-day Bible Study begins at the BSM on the UMHB Campus. For more information, click here.

February 7

7:30 a.m. - Methodist Men's Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall.

February 7

9:00 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. - 90-day Bible Study begins at FUMC Belton in the Fellowship Hall. For more information, click here.

February 10

IMMIGRATION LEGAL INTAKE CLINIC. Our church will be hosting for the 2nd year, an immigration legal intake dinic administered by Justice For Our Neighbors, a Methodist funded entity in Dallas/Fort Worth, among many American cities. Please spread the word to your friends and neighbors. Those interested in taking part in this clinic as clients should contact the church office to sign up.

February 11

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - TELL CONFERENCE at FUMC in Brownwood.

Open to the first 200 people who respond. Registration due by Feb. 3. Cost $40 (includes book, lunch and handouts). This training is based on Bob Pierson’s book “Time to Tell” and is designed to help you develop skills for sharing our faith in this new secular society. It is a fun and informative class you won’t want to miss. Questions: (325) 643-1555 Website: www.leadershipnexus.org/tell.php.

February 16

6:30 P.M. - RUN FOR GOD. See below for details.

February 20

Church Office Closed for President's Day

February 21

10:00 a.m. - UMW General Meeting in the Fellowship Hall. For more information about UMW, click here.

February 22

Ash Wednesday Fish Fry and Worship Services. There will be a service at 7:00 a.m., another at 12:00 noon and a third at 7:00 p.m. We will precede our worship service at 7:00 p.m. with a fish fry from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. For more information about Easter, click here.

February 27

11:00 a.m. - Lunch Bunch meets in the Fellowship Hall. Program: Winter, The Dolphin that Could! Video begins at 11:00 a.m.

Experience the amazing true story that has captured the world’s imaginations, and now been made into a movie. Watch never-before-seen footage as Winter, the dolphin, is rescued from the waters near Cape Canaveral, FL, and her path to survival.

Go behind the scenes at the Hanger Prosthetics Lab as they develop a new tail for Winter and how she is now inspiring children around the world.

Hostesses: Ellen Rojas & Janet Brown. Fried Chicken will be the main dish for this meal. Please bring salads, side dishes, or desserts.

April 1

Palm / Passion Sunday. For more information about Easter, click here.

April 8

Easter Sunday. For more information about Easter, click here.

"RUN FOR GOD" STARTS FEBRUARY 16th

Would you like an opportunity to become a better witness for Christ and work towards better fitness at the same time? If so, come join us Thursday nights for just such a challenge. Starting on the 16th of February at 6:30 p.m. you are invited to “Run for God.”

“Run for God - The 5K Challenge” is both a Bible study and a training program and it is designed with everyone in mind, from folks who have never run to those who have run for years. This is a 12 week program aimed at completing a 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) road run/walk, while maintaining a Christian focus. Each week this group will meet to have a Bible study, discuss how faith and running work together and have the chance to be motivated in fellowship. Every week a workout is provided to keep you working toward your goal, as well as information on other running topics such as stretching, weight loss, and running gear will be covered.

Church member Chris Baum will be guiding this group and would love to answer any questions you have about it. For any ladies who may be interested, but are hesitant, come join his wife, Marianne, a beginning runner herself to give it a try. Chris can be reached via email or contact the church office. So please come out and join us for faith, fun and fitness. Sign up sheet in the church office (call, email or come by).

Below is an outline of the class:

Thursday, February 16th - Week 1 - Introduction | Testimonies
Thursday, February 23rd - Week 2 - Running the Race Before Us | Gear
Thursday, March 1st - Week 3 - Run Your Race | Shoes
Thursday, March 8th - Week 4 - Free to Run | Stretching / Core Exercises
Thursday, March 15th - Week 5 - The Hay is in the Barn | Injuries / Injury Prevention
Thursday, March 22nd - Week 6 - If You Have to Ask… | Basic Nutrition
Thursday, March 29th - Week 7 - Starving the Rabbit | Common Weight Loss Mistakes
Thursday, April 5th - Week 8 - Yes, You Can! | Staying Motivated
Thursday, April 12th - Week 9 - The Right Race | Muscle vs. Fat
Thursday, April 19th - Week 10 - Pancakes / Waffles | Road Race Etiquette
Thursday, April 26th - Week 11 - Know Your MP3 | The Best Food for Runners
Thursday, May 3rd - Week 12 - The Finish Line | Race Day

The 5K Challenge is a practical guide to running and a 12-week training plan aimed at running a 5K, but with a Christian focus. Although people run for many different reasons, this book is for those who make God the center of their lives—or need to be reminded to do so. The tone is conversational and accessible, and the workout plans, discussion questions, and Bible verses make it both a practical resource and a workbook for individuals and groups, especially beginning runners. From advice about shoes and Christian music for one’s MP3 player, to tips on race etiquette, the book will be useful and inspirational. Run For God – The 5K Challenge is part bible study and part training program. The primary goal is to learn to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ while understanding the parallels of enduring a sport like running and enduring your faith. This study is for everyone! In fact, this study is designed for those who have never run, and if you have never ran in your life, there is no better time to start than now. Be ready for your first 5K road race in just 12 weeks, and learn how this sport relates to our faith in the process.

SPECIAL REQUEST FROM MEALS ON WHEELS

Due to circumstances at the Belton Senior Center, our church has been asked to provide drivers for Meals on Wheels for Friday, March 2 and Friday, March 9 (2 routes each day), and for Tuesday, March 6 (1 route). Please prayerfully consider helping at this time of need. You may sign up in the church office during the week or sign-up on Sundays in the Foyer. FUMC has always gotten praises for our support of the Meals on Wheels program.

NEW MINISTRY - L.I.F.E. Living in Faith Everyday

This is one of our newest Teams which is currently in the building process and looking for members to launch this awaited team forward. Open Door LIFE has a focus of reaching out to, designing, attracting, and then develop programs to continue follow-up with visitors who come to First United Methodist Church - Belton.

This Team will also focus on developing ways for the Church family to reach out to the unchurched in our community and to connect those seeking to develop a relationship with Christ. Some of the Spiritual Gifts and Talents for this Team are friendliness, discipleship, creativity, communication, faith, vision, diversity, and the ability to work with staff and other ministry Teams.

Please contact Janet - Lay leader, Pastor Darren or the Church Office to sign up for this LIFE Team Opportunity.

L.I.F.E. - Membership Team

LIFE (Living In Faith Everyday) - Membership is forming and recruiting a Team Leader and additional members.

LIFE - Membership Team looks at small group opportunity effectiveness in relationship to New Members — Current Members, and steering New Members into mission & ministry opportunities. This Team will also focus on developing Current Member retention programs and perform a periodic Membership audit. Some of the Spiritual Gifts and Talents being sought for this Team are service, encouragement, faith, administration, passion, a desire to shepherd Visitors — New Members - New Christians, and the ability to coordinate with Church Staff and Ministry Leaders on projects. Please contact Pastor Darren, Lay Leader — Janet, or the Church Office with questions or to serve on this Team.

L.I.F.E. - Open Door Team

Open Door LIFE Team is Forming Open Door LIFE (Living In Faith Faith Everyday) is one of our newest Teams which is currently in the building process and looking for members to launch this awaited team forward. Open Door LIFE has a focus of reaching out to, designing, attracting, and then develop programs to continue follow-up with visitors who come to First United Methodist Church - Belton.

This Team will also focus on developing ways for the Church family to reach out to the un churched in our community and to connect those seeking to develop a relationship with Christ. Some of the Spiritual Gifts and Talents for this Team are friendliness, discipleship, creativity, communication, faith, vision, diversity, and the ability to work with staff and other ministry Teams. Please contact Janet - Lay Leader, Pastor Darren or the Church Office to sign up for this LIFE Team opportunity.

This is a new ministry in our church whose mission will focus on supporting the aesthetic livability, organization, and function of both the Fellowship Hall and FLC kitchens and related meeting areas. As a diverse Church Family and Community driven Church, we will benefit from the mission of this Team. We have a Team Leader and are looking for Team members with spiritual gifts to fill out this talent pool necessary to fulfill this LIFE team’s mission.

We need people with one or more of the following spiritual gifts, skills and talents to be on this team: Communication, Organizing, Cleaning, Event Planning Coordination, Service, Delegation, an ability to work with people of all age groups, Ministry Staff; Committees, Teams, and members of the Community. Please contact the Church office if you would like to serve on this team. If you have questions, please contact Pastor Darren or Janet (Lay Leader).

CALENDARS FOR SPONSORING SANCTUARY FLOWERS AND BULLETINS AVAILABLE

BULLETIN CALENDAR 2012

The bulletin calendar is up! Honor or Remember loved ones by sponsoring the bulletins for a Sunday. The cost is $22. The calendar is located in the hallway across from the Fellowship Hall kitchen. All money goes into the budget which is where we pull our money to pay for the bulletins.

FLOWER DEDICATION CALENDAR 2012

The new Altar Flower dedication calendar is up!

We had to make some changes to our flower ministry due to the closing of Heartfield Florist. The florist we have decided to use is BJ’s. The cost of a set of flowers (2 vases - 1 pair) is now going to be $35. Because of this cost increase we will no longer have two sets ( 2 pairs) of flowers in the sanctuary.

We are asking that there be only one dedication each week; however, if two people want flowers on the same date, you can contact the first person who signed up and see if they would be willing to split the cost, and you could each take one vase home ($17.50 each person), and each have your special dedication.

Please make sure that you get this information to the church secretary at least a week ahead of time. We will not be able to do the split unless there are two people who want to split the cost. All money for flowers goes into our flower fund.

MENTOR PROGRAM FOR YOUTH

Mary Anna would like to start up a mentor program for our youth if there is interest within our church. One adult would be assigned to a youth as their mentor. As their mentor, you would agree to greet them at church, pray for them, get to know them, encourage them in their faith journey, at least once a quarter get together with them, maybe go to their concerts or games, or maybe volunteer at Helping Hands together (or some other service organization), etc.

Basically the idea is to invest in their lives by developing meaningful relationships with them. It’s a great opportunity to get to know our youth better and show them that there are people within the church (besides their parents) that love and care about them. If you are interested in being a mentor to one of our youth please call the church office and ask for Mary Anna or send her an e-mail.

SNACK SUPPERS NEEDED FOR YOUTH

We need people to provide our youth with a snack supper on Sunday evenings around 6:30 p.m. It is easy to sign up - just call the church office and we will put you on the calendar. We would like people to sign up in advance so we are not looking for people at the last minute to bring food. To get it in the Spotlight, please call no later than Tuesday.

You can prepare the food either at home or in our church kitchen or you can bring hamburgers or pizza from a local restaurant. We have drinks, cups, napkins, utensils & plates available for you to use. Bringing a dessert is optional!

Parents of youth usually sign up 2 or 3 times a year or more. You do not have to be a youth parent to sign up, however. Individuals, committees, Sunday School classes or other church groups are welcome to participate, too. There are usually around 18-22 youth that are served weekly.

To see what dates are available, please click on the Youth Ministry page and scroll down to the bottom.