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Update: December 8, 2023
Greetings McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! It’s hard to believe that we are already in December, the last month of the year. As we approach the rest of this month in the Season of Advent, we are focusing on the idea of “being the present” of hope, peace, joy, and love throughout the season. ** Christmas Eve ** This year, Christmas Eve falls on Sunday. I sent a survey out to all of you asking your opinion, “should we have one…
Update: November 12, 2023
Hello McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! I announced to the congregation this morning that I will retire at the 2024 Annual Conference in June. With this announcement and the delivery of the retirement letter to the Bishop and the other appropriate persons, it is official. I will be leaving McFarland UMC in June 2024. What does this mean for McFarland? Well, we all know that McFarland UMC is in good shape financially because of the stewardship of Roy Brookshire and Don…
Update November 5, 2023
Hey McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! Today is All Saints Sunday. All Saints Day is always November 1. However, we tend to celebrate All Saints on the first Sunday of November. It is a day when we remember those in our congregation who passed on since the last All Saints Sunday. This year, we remembered 7 of our Saints from McFarland: Myna Castings, Kenneth Hays, Peggy Kelly, Benny North, Tina Campbell, Jim Price, and Ryland Donald. We also remember Laura Trent…
Update: September 17, 2023
Hey McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! So far, the period from Homecoming through today has been filled with special activities. I’d like to share them with you now. First, thanks to everyone who made Homecoming a special day for us. Thanks to our District Superintendent, the Reverend Mickey Rainwater, for bringing the message. Thanks to everyone who cooked and cleaned for making the day special. And a special thanks to Barbara Leonard and Linda Mills who researched and composed our bulletin…
Update: AUGUST 2023
Hey McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! I want to share an update with you on this 10th day of August, 2023. Can you believe that we are already in the month of August? Where has this year gone? I’m not sure. Anyway, there is information that I need to share with you. ** Homecoming ** We will celebrate Homecoming on Sunday, August 27th, 2023. Our preacher will be the Reverend Mickey Rainwater, our new District Superintendent. Mickey will share the message…
Update: June 29, 2023
Hello McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! It is hard to believe that 2023 is half over. It is also hard to believe that July 1 will mark the beginning of my sixth year in service to this congregation. What a time it has been. I want to thank the Reverend Fred Dearing for substituting for me on June 25th. Fred brought a message of hope from the people of South Sudan. If you would like to contribute to the ongoing work…
Update: May 22, 2023
May 22, 2023 Hello McFarland! Pastor Wayne here! I start this update with a note of sadness. Kenneth Hays passed away today following a massive heart attack. I spent time with Dot, her son and daughter-in-law at the hospital. As you can imagine, Dot is in shock, but is O.K. at the moment. Funeral arrangements have yet to be made, but will be handled by Wilson’s Funeral Home in Fort Oglethorpe. I will post to our Facebook group and send…
Update May 6, 2023
We are just finishing up the first week in May. This Sunday, May 7, will be the Fifth Sunday of the Season of Easter. We will gather around the table this Sunday as we celebrate Holy Communion together. We continue with the lectionary sermon series A Living Hope this week with the topic “Like Living Stones.” The scriptures this week are Acts 7:55-60; Psalms 31:1-8, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14. Here is a message from Marvin Mills about Sunday…
2023 Annual Conference Hands on Mission Project
We have a hands-on missions project each year for Annual Conference. Once again, this year, the mission project for the Scenic South District is home buckets for the Ishe Anesu Project for Underprivileged Children in Zimbabwe. This is a project that we have been doing for the last few years. This year is adding a couple of elements that we haven’t supplied in the past. Since 2019, we have sponsored 36 buckets each year and we have purchased supplies in…
You Are Welcome Here
On Saturday, April 22, 2023, Ann Russell, McFarland’s lay member of the Holston Annual Conference, and I travelled to Central United Methodist Church in Knoxville to attend a called session of the Annual Conference to consider the request of 264 out of 842 congregations to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church under paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline (our United Methodist Book of Law) which allows churches to leave the United Methodist Church over disagreements of conscience over the…
