Dear <<First Name>>,

I am so excited about the growing attendance in our children's department at First Methodist Carrollton. And here's the best news: over one-third of those attending were in the nursery and pre-school area. That's the future, folks! I'm deeply appreciative of the work our volunteers do with our kids. Keep up the great work!

Here is what Cindy Johnston, our interim Children's Director, said recently:

Does children's ministry matter? You bet it does! I was raised in the church, but it wasn't until high school that anyone ever shared what it meant to know Jesus as my personal Savior. I wish someone had shared Jesus with me earlier, and that's why I am committed to sharing Jesus with kids. It has been a busy two months! I have lots of new families and their children to get to know. It's fun to be in a growing church environment.

I also want to commend everyone on the tremendous interest in the home meetings we have been having on the future of First Methodist Carrollton. These meetings have aimed to share as much information as possible concerning our future in the United Methodist Church. There has been much organizational controversy in the UMC over the past several years. As a result, UMC churches are prayerfully considering how best to fulfill God's vision for the future. Over the past three weekends, we have had almost 150 attend the home meetings, with one more this weekend and a final meeting with our student ministries next Wednesday evening.  If you would like to attend this meeting on Saturday morning, click here, and we'll follow up with more information on the location.

Sunday, I will preach on Paul's third missionary journey in Acts 18 – 21. We will focus on the Ephesus revival in Acts 19 as Paul gets the church at Ephesus back to the basics of the faith. It is an exciting story of faith, God's divine action, and the salvation of Jesus.

Pray for our Church. Together we can do great things for Christ and His Church. 
See you Sunday,

Pastor John Allen
P.S. Here is the link to this week's study companion.