A Word from Pastor Anne
An Abundance of Appreciation
This has been a busy fall here at SAINT PAUL! 50th Anniversary, Crop Walk, A Thanksgiving Event dinner-dance and the annual United Methodist Men (UMM) golf tournament. Not to mention Stewardship campaign, Step Up to the Plate for Jesus, and our Ministry Center construction.
Special thanks to
- Our Outreach team inviting us to mission for the hungry,
- Linda Canuto, Paz Flores and Vi Bautista for their leadership and planning the dinner dance,
- Our United Methodist Men for another fun day of fellowship and witness,
- Our Finance team inviting us to Step Up to the Plate for Jesus and worship God with our commitments,
- The many people who participated and joined in to help!
When I think about our church, my heart is warmed at the sight of people following Jesus. Our many leaders make these special events happen. Other leaders continue throughout the year in ongoing ministries such as worship, small groups, SPYouth, Kingdom Kidz, prayer team, visitation, caring, Abode Services, Aegis Living, Trustees and Staff Parish.
At the beginning of the year, we talked about how we have about seventy leaders in different positions, offering their gifts and talents to serve God and build this community of Jesus followers more like Him. Kind of like the 72 followers that Jesus sent out two by two in Luke 10:1.
Recently our Committee on Nominations and Lay Leadership met to look at inviting people into ministry and leadership. As I looked through the names of people here at SAINT PAUL, I think we have over 200 people of all ages who serve in some way and many in multiple ways! That is in a church of about 300 (official) members.
I hope you received a letter from me and Ken Mehlhorn, our Finance committee chair, as part of our recent Stewardship campaign. My heart warmed as I saw your names. I thought of you and your family, saw your faces in my mind and where you sit in church. I give thanks for you and the many things that you each bring to this part of the body of Christ at 33350 Peace Terrace in Fremont! May God bless you and continue to grow you as His follower!
Recently there has been a 7-day gratitude challenge going around on Facebook. You are to post 3 things you are grateful for each day for 7 days and challenge 2 other people to join you. What if we do that and challenge one person at SAINT PAUL and another outside so it keeps coming back around to do again and again? What a great thing to keep doing together!
St. Paul United Methodist Church 