The Spirit: Happy Mother's Day!
Welcome to the May 2025 edition of The Spirit!
Today we celebrate mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, and all motherly figures!
We were especially blessed to have Rev. Dr. Mary Maaga, our District Superintendent, as our guest preacher today. We hope you enjoyed her engaging sermon on 'The Faith of Our Mothers' - inspiring each of us to share our faith and invite others to genuine church family.
Now, because there's a lot happening at First Church in the coming week, we're going to put upcoming events first with articles second. Let's jump into it!
Next Week: Houchin Blood Drive (Signups Needed!)
Roll up your sleeves and help save lives at our First United Methodist Church Blood Drive next week on Sunday, May 18th. Our goal is to collect 24 units, which would be enough to impact up to 72 lives in our community!
Every successful donor will be entered to win a $2,500 Disneyland gift card and receive a limited-edition tumbler!
We need more signups! To register (it's fast and easy), just tap or click the link below to go directly to our page with Houchin Blood Bank.
Tap Here To Register To
Donate Blood At Church
Starting Today: Women's Retreat Registration Opens!
After being inspired by Dr. Maaga’s sermon today, we invite you to join her again! Dr. Maaga will be the featured speaker for our First Church Women’s Retreat. The event is centered around the theme ‘Landscapes of Christian Faith’ and will take place here, at First Church, on Saturday July 26th.
A digital copy of the full program outline provided on the trifold given out in the Narthex today is available below, with a web-friendly version coming soon.
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Women's Retreat Brochure
Women's Retreat
Registration Opens Today!
Registration will be available at the Welcome Desk in the Narthex beginning now and leading towards the middle of July. If you have a physical brochure with a tear-away registration, you may mail in your registration too.
However, we also have a mobile / web payment option for anyone interested in registering online. That link is available via QR codes on paper promotions or via the link below:
Tap or Click Here To Register
Women's Retreat Tickets
Thank you for your generosity and interest in being a part of this highly anticipated full-day women's event at First Church!
Wednesday May 21st: Senior Get-A-Way’s Grand Slam Finale (With Free Lunch!)
Our First Church Seniors are rounding the bases for the final day of their Get-A-Way on Wednesday, May 21st! We're celebrating with a baseball-themed bash to swing into the summer off-season.
Enjoy FREE hot dogs, popcorn, and Cracker Jacks! Join us as we knock this Senior Get-A-Way season out of the park with a fun, festive send-off!
Come enjoy a wonderful free baseball themed lunch with enthusiastic people on May 21st!
June 7th: Pastor Brian & Barbara Mark's 50th Wedding Anniversary at First Church
Please RSVP: To join Pastor Brian and Barbara Mark for their 50th wedding anniversary celebration, please be sure to call 661-319-2290 to RSVP before June 1st!
Pastoral Article: Unexpected Grace
Pastor Jason's May article deeply considers lessons from Holy Week and explores considerations and applications to us as individuals and our church as a whole.
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Read 'Unexpected Grace'
By Pastor Jason
April 27th Meeting Recap: Property Considerations
First Church Property Strategy Meeting Brief
Representatives of the Stay Here & Grow Team, Move to Grow Team, and Trustees met on Thursday April 24th to begin discussing strategies to close our budget gap and increase our income enough to hire a Family Ministries Director.
Why did we meet?
We gathered to talk openly about the church's serious financial situation and start planning for a healthy, growing future. Pastor Jason wanted to hear from everyone and find common ground.
What do people love most about our church?
Overwhelmingly, it's the PEOPLE! The welcoming feeling, the connections, and working together. We also cherish our traditions, the beautiful chapel, the music (organ/choir), and the church's generosity. It feels like "home."
What's the big challenge?
Financially, we need about $125,000 more each year just to cover our current bills. On top of that, to really grow (especially with families and youth), we need to hire another staff person, which would cost about $100,000/year. So, we need to find ways to bring in about $250,000 extra annually. If we don't, our savings will run out in about 4 years.
Does Pastor Jason want us to move?
He was clear: his ideal scenario is to find the money needed so we can stay and hire someone to focus on growth right away. He doesn't want to move (it's hard work!), but he recognizes it might be an option we have to consider if we can't make staying work financially while also enabling growth. He's committed to finding the best path forward, whatever that is.
What happens next?
This was just the first step! People are volunteering for small groups (subcommittees) that will dig deeper into both the "Stay" and "Move" options. They'll look at costs, possibilities, challenges, etc. Pastor Jason will be in touch with volunteers. We'll have another meeting within about a month to hear updates.
How can I stay informed?
Pastor Jason recorded the meeting and summaries like this will be shared. The goal is open communication as we figure this out together.
Want all the details? Read the full Q&A at the link below:
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Full Property Meeting Q&A
New Church Calendar!
As part of a move into Google Workspace to make coordination with volunteers and committees more seamless, we've also moved our church calendar to Google Calendar.
Birthdays & Anniversaries are moving onto the calendar directly! Right now we've only added May's dates, but very soon the entire year will be available!
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View The Church Calendar
Photo Highlights From First Church This Month!
Palm Sunday
Easter Sunday
Growing in Faith
Thank you to everyone who works so hard to make First Church feel like family!
Worship Volunteer Schedule
We plan to have volunteer listings return to the Sunday bulletins in a couple of weeks!
Have a Happy Mother's Day!
Thank you for reading The Spirit!
We're looking forward to further improving the experience (and timelines!) of our releases. We expect things will become even better in the near future!