Announcements

We are encouraging our church members to be welcoming and supportive, and reserve the last row of pews for our guests, parents of young children, and those with special needs requiring them to be near the exit doors.

Office hours are 9:00 a.m. - noon and 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. The office doors will normally be unlocked during those hours. However, the other doors to the church will remain locked. We ask anyone entering the church, including those who have keys, to enter through the office so that staff will know who is in the church.

One staff member will be present during the noon hour and will answer phones between noon and 1:00 p.m, although the door will be locked. If you need to visit the office during the noon hour for church business, please call ahead.

Videos of our worship services are available, if you would like to borrow them.

Now is the time to end your dependence on plastic bags by bringing reusable bags to the store. Target and Dillons even give you .05 back for each bag you bring in. You can pick up an Aldersgate Methodist Church reusable bag at the Welcome Center for just a few dollars.

Aldersgate collects aluminum cans to help support its environmental projects. You can help too by dropping off your cans in the receptacles at the far end of the parking lot (near the Boy Scout shed). Every can counts!

The environmental committee is encouraging those who attend classes or meetings to bring their own mug instead of using a disposable cup.

Aldersgate has several recycling projects. There are containers available for print cartridges, aluminum cans, Klothes Kloset, Campbell's soup labels, General Mills education box tops, Tyson A+ for education, plastic bags, and other mission collections. Compact florescent light bulbs are picked up for recycling every first Sunday in the office.

The Klothes Kloset serves an average of 16,571 families, with an average of 3.4 members in each, for a total of 55,694 people per month. Your generosity permits the Klothes Kloset to server the needy without expense to them. Donation bins are located in the Sanctuary lobby.

The Klothes Kloset is currently running very low on winter clothing for infants, children, and men. We also need all kins of bedding.

The Community Food Ministry, at 1611 North Mosley, is in need of paper and plastic grocery bags.

If your group has any food left over from a meal you have served at Aldersgate, please consider donating it to the United Methodist Open Door Drop In Center. They serve meals to the homeless Monday through Friday at 353 N. Market. The phone number is 269-4250. Please don't leave food in the kitchen unless you have contacted the group your are donating the food to.

There are now Prayer Request Cards in the pews. If you would like to submit a Prayer Request to the AUMC Prayer Request Team, please place the cards in the wooden Prayer Request box at the Welcome Booth.

Sign up at the Welcome Booth for the Prayer Vigil held on the 3rd Friday and Saturday of each month.

There is also a number from the Upper Room that you can call to speak to someone and request prayers: 1-800-251-2468.

Make sure you send one parent only to pick up your Cross Trainers. Each child under 5th grade needs to be checked out of their classroom.

If you have an excess of fruits and vegetables, sack them up and bring them to church with you on Saturday or Sunday. Leave them in the mission area, and a committee member will deliver them to Open Door.

There is a food pantry located with the other mission items. It will be stocked with non-perishable foods, and is open to anyone in need.

Aldersgate earns 5% cash back on purchases made at Office Depot. If you do not already give the points to another organization, just give them our phone number (722-8504), and they will credit our account.

If you shop at Dillons or Food for Less, did you know that you could maintain your grocery budget and help Aldersgate at the same time? Aldersgate offers grocery certificates and gift cards for Dillons, and cards for Food for Less. The certificates and cards are purchased by the church at a discount, and then you purchase them at face value. Stop by the Welcome Booth on Sunday morning or the church office during office hours.

There is a problem on Sunday mornings when people park on the street. The visibility is limited both on entering and exiting.

If your group takes part in a Mission Opportunity, please let the church office know. We would like to recognize all of the mission work that takes place here at Aldersgate.

The Caregivers and church office would like to be able to respond to those of you who are hospitalized, have a new birth, experience an illness or death in the family, or just need prayers. If you find yourself in any of these situations, please let us know so that we can be of assistance to you.

All 66 books of the Bible, in a set of 50 disks of the Old Testament and 16 of the New Testament, are narrated by Max McLean. You can find this in our church library. McLean is committed to recapturing the early oral tradition of telling the Bible story with expression and understanding that makes the listening to his reading of the Bible a joyous experience.

The History Committee documents the events of Aldersgate in the church scrapbook. If your Sunday School class, committee, Bible study, or group has an event, please send any copies of pictures you may have to the church office, along with a brief narrative about the who, what, where, when, and why. Pictures will not be returned.