EASTER IS NO JOKE

This year the date of Easter is a little unusual because it falls on April 1--April Fools’ Day. The date of Easter is set by the lunar calendar. It’s the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, corresponding roughly to the Passover celebration in the Jewish faith. Since 1900, Easter has been on April 1 only four times: 1923, 1934, 1945, and 1956 (The wedding day of Richard and Jaunice Griffin of our congregation!). Then it was 62 years until it happened this year. The next time Easter is on April Fools’ is 2029, in just 11 years. United Methodist Communications even came up with a graphic to mark the unusual day:

A quick search of the internet turned up many ideas for Easter-themed April Fools’ pranks: putting broccoli inside your chocolate bunnies, or hot sauce inside your marshmallow peeps, gluing your plastic eggs together, etc. I have never been a fan of April Fools’ humor. Pranks intend to make other people seem foolish, and that’s kind of demeaning. Not what Easter is all about. Yet there is a sense in which Easter, if not a joke, is at least a surprise for the forces of evil, sin and death in the world. The forces of darkness thought they had defeated Jesus. He was dead. All hope was lost. Love and faith were exposed as false. Then on the third day, Christ arose! Light overcame the darkness. Life overcame death. Sin was conquered, and love reigned supreme. This is a crazy surprise! Even Paul refers to is as “the foolishness of God” in I Corinthians: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” We can laugh this Easter, not at someone else’s expense, but at the foolishness of thinking God could ever be defeated. I laughed at this picture which texters will get immediately:

(Translation: You only live once. Laugh out loud. Just kidding. Be right back. --Jesus.)     So come to church this Easter. There will be no pranks. Just a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and the victory of our God. And joy--lots of joy!

Rev. Bud Reeves Senior Pastor breeves@fsfumc.org

A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM

Spring Break is a particularly slow time at our church. All of our child centers are closed which greatly reduces the amount of traffic and activity around the church. We’ve just wrapped up Wednesday Night Life. We have a number of staff and church families on vacations or trips which is obvious in our church attendance on Sundays. It’s a different sort of week compared to normal, which is not all bad. We can collect our breath before the chaos of Holy Week and Easter. But this week has been anything but boring. If you were in worship on Sunday, March 18 - especially in the 8:30 Roebuck Chapel service - you were blessed to greet and hear from two different Youth Groups who were organizing for mission and service this week. First of all, at the 8:30 service we prayed for and commissioned our own Youth group who were then leaving for Orange, Texas to spend their Spring Break partnering with local United Methodist disaster relief efforts as that area continues to recover from Hurricane Harvey. Just think about that! While they could have gone skiing or gone to the beach, here we have a large group of teenagers committing their Spring Break to mission and service. As I write today, I look forward to our group's safe return and hearing their stories of God's faithfulness.

Second, just as our Youth were headed out of town, we welcomed another group from Southern Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My seminary classmate and dear friend, Zac Workun, is director of Youth and Middle School ministries at SHBC. Their middle school students came to Fort Smith for a short mission trip including staying at our church for 3 nights. They attended all of our worship services on Sunday morning, helped around church, then spent Monday and Tuesday serving at the Good Samaritan Clinic, Community Rescue Mission, and Antioch Center & Garden. This was their first experience in out-of-town missions and for many of them their first time attending a Methodist church. They loved the organs!

On Monday evening around 9pm, I was able to join the SHBC group in Roebuck Chapel for a service of worship including foot-washing and Holy Communion. Zac invited me to lead them through the full Methodist liturgy, which they do not usually experience. It was a profoundly beautiful moment as the students asked plenty of questions about the order and prayers as we continued to connect the words back to their service that week. As we were wrapping up, a young boy in 6th grade asked, “Why do you think, I mean, the Romans wanted to kill Jesus, and so they crucified him, and he died. But then, just a couple hundred years later, many people in that region became Christian? Like, they tried to kill him but they only made more Christians?” Amen. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”  I spend plenty of time with wise and wonderful adults, but this month the Youth and Children are leading and refreshing my soul.

Rev. Dane Womack Executive Associate Pastor dwomack@fsfumc.org

HOLY WEEK & APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

Friends, it strikes me as both ironic and deeply real that I received news about my appointment change and composed this article on the eve of Holy Week. The human emotions felt in Holy Week-- the waiting, the joy of entering Jerusalem, the betrayal from friends, the confusion of the crowds, the pain and the hope-- are human emotions we feel around the year. In fact, one of my pastor friends in Texas used phone emoticons to capture ALL the many emotions of Holy Week. (credit: Rev. Jacob Breeze).

Holy week brings all sorts of emotions. And any United Methodist pastor knows appointment season is a roller coaster of emotions. As you have heard by now, on July 1 I will begin serving the congregation and community o f Sylvan Hills United Methodist Church in Sherwood, Arkansas as their pastor. I am truly humbled to receive this news and excited to begin ministry with the people of Sherwood. I am thankful for this new opportunity to serve and see how the Holy Spirit is at work! I am getting excited about the opportunities ahead and professional growth in my pastoral skills. I am learning more about the Sherwood community, which is a suburb of Little Rock and about the vibrant ministries and intentional mission outreach of my future church. At the same time, there is a heaviness in my heart as I will be leaving the fine folks of Fort Smith First United Methodist Church and the Fort Smith community. I cannot begin to count all the ways the Fort Smith community and FUMC have shaped me throughout these last three years. You all have taught me so much. You all have supported my pastoral development in every way over these last three years. It has been a great joy to serve the Fort Smith community and First UMC Family as one of your pastors! I have loved being a pastor at this church and in Fort Smith. It was an incredible time of celebrating 175 years of our awesome church. I have been blessed beyond measure to have had the chance to live life in Fort Smith. Life is worth living here! On top of living in a great community, I’ve had the chance for a little over 1,000 days to do ministry with an incredible group of kind and faithful saints. I am forever grateful for the love and friendship I have found these last three years in Fort Smith. Each of you will have a special place in my heart. Just think, I still may be around to come back for the church’s bicentennial in just 24 short years! We’ll still have three more months of ministry together before I leave. But we’ll have the rest of our lifetimes together to do the joint ministry of the kingdom. While its too early to start saying goodbyes, it’s never too early to say, “thank you.” This church is a phenomenal sign of God’s kingdom in our downtown community and throughout the River Valley. You are all witnesses of the good news and have been such encouragers. Thank you for teaching me, for believing in me, for being a place open to new ideas and ministry experiences. You are all rockstars. This was the church I served when I was ordained and this church will always hold fond memories and special saints. Thank you all, thank you for making a difference in my life and in the kingdom.

Rev. Sara Bayles Associate Pastor sbayles@fsfumc.org

MISSION SPOTLIGHT: YOUTH SPRING BREAK

Each month, we’ll feature a short article on one of the many mission ministries of our church. We hope to let our church family know of the ongoing missions and the ways in which they can support this great work.

This spring break, First Youth traveled to Orange, Texas to provide Hurricane Harvey relief for those still suffering from its devastating effects. It was amazing! None of us really knew what to expect or what the severity of Harvey was going to look like. The first two days we went to Mrs. Hayne’s house to help with the rebuilding process. We primed walls, peeled wallpaper, and cleaned up her yard. The third day we went to Mrs. Linda and Mr. Jimmy’s house and essentially did the same. Both households had lost everything, yet they had the most optimistic and prayerful outlook on life. They kept saying how blessed they were to have us, but in reality, we were the ones who were truly blessed to have met them and hear their stories. Overall, this trip was a blessing in disguise. Not only did the youth build bonds with each other, we built a stronger a bond with Christ through the mission work in Orange.                   Submitted by Isabella Udouj

DeAnna Newman  has been on staff at First United Methodist Church for a year as the cook/custodian. She grew up in Inglewood, California. She loves tacos and the Golden State Warriors. When she isn’t at FUMC, she loves to cook as a hobby. Before coming to work at FUMC, she was employed at McDonalds.

DeAnna Newman

THIS SUNDAY - APRIL 1

6:30 am Sunrise Service, Riverfront Amphitheater 8:30 am - Sanctuary - Rev. Bud Reeves Offertory ”Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Anthem” “Thine Be the Glory” arr. Marty Cope Chancel Choir and Brass Quartet “The Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah Chancel Choir    Gaye McClure, Chancel Choir Director Brass Quartet: William Ratcliff, Randy Graham, Trumpet Paul Johnston, Jared Meyers, Trombone Nancy W. Vernon, Organist Vivian Apple & Emma Gulstad, Acolytes 8:45 am Holy Grounds, Narthex 9:45 am Sunday School 9:45 am Egg Hunt (See details below)   11:00 am - Sanctuary - Rev. Bud Reeves Offertory ”Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Anthem” “Thine Be the Glory” arr. Marty Cope Chancel Choir and Brass Quartet “The Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah Chancel Choir    Gaye McClure, Chancel Choir Director Brass Quartet: William Ratcliff, Randy Graham, Trumpet Paul Johnston, Jared Meyers, Trombone Nancy W. Vernon, Organist Dylan White, Mary Vivian Ivey, and Anna Claire Roberts, Acolytes   11:00 am - Connexion FLC - Rev. Dane Womack “Awake My Soul” “Christ is Risen” “Because He Lives” “Stronger” “He is Risen”

FIRST KIDS

At Shipwrecked VBS, we will get ready to venture onto an uncharted island where kids will survive and thrive. Along the way we will anchor the children in the truth that Jesus will carry them through all of life’s storms. Save the date! VBS is June 11-15! It will be time to be Shipwrecked but Rescued by Jesus. You can help by signing up to lead a crew (shepherd) of children through the week, look for and purchase an item (or two) from the VBS giving tree, bring food for the crew leaders, help with prep work and/or pray for each child who attends our VBS.  Need more information contact Hillary Key (870-918-1916) Our Ship’s Captain (VBS Chair), Kelly DeSoto 651-3405 or Sally Ware at the church 782-5068.

Sally Ware Director of Children's Ministries sware@fsfumc.org

UMW CIRCLE MEETINGS

UMW Circle Meetings: April 10 at times listed: ·  Ruth, 10:00 a.m., FLC 101 ·  Rebekah, 10:00 a.m. at the home of Margaret Graham ·  Hannah-Elizabeth, 1:30 p.m., Friends Classroom ·  Deborah, 10:00 a.m., Narthex   UMW Unit Meeting, April 17 at 10:00 am, Fireside Rm.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Jan & Jerry Walrod Jerry & Jan Walrod, owners of Walrod’s Hardware transferred to FSFUMC from another UMC on March 4 in the Roebuck Chapel.

Dana Davenport Dana Davenport transferred to FSFUMC from another UMC on March 4 in the Roebuck Chapel.

Clay Gilliland Clay Gilliland transferred to FSFUMC from another UMC on March 4. Clay is a native to Fort Smith and is moving back after living in Little Rock for the past 32 years.

Susie Brooks Susie Brooks transferred to FSFUMC from another UMC on March 11 in the Connexion Service.

Matt, Kim, Emma, Ella, Eli Friery Matt, Kim, Emma, Ella, Eli Friery transferred to FSFUMC from another UMC on March 4 in the Connexion Service. Matt works in loans at US Bank. Kim is a homemaker.

Cathryn and Alex Hoge (Also pictured is their nephew Corbin) Alex and Cathryn Hoge joined FSFUMC from other denominations on March 11 in the Connexion Service. Alex works at ArcBest while Cathryn is a children’s speech therapist with In-Sync Therapy.

IN OUR PRAYERS

For those in the hospital: ·Eleanor Vernon We mourn with: The family and friends of Betty McLenden. Burial is April 23 @ 2:00 pm at the Fort Smith National Cemetery. Lee Andra (Gary) White and Dylan White in the passing of their uncle and great uncle Jerry Gillum. Ben (Lane) Shipley and Benjamin Shipley in the passing of their father and grandfather Harry Shipley.

RECENT MEMORIALS

Recent Gifts in Memory of:   Joe Haynie by Susan Chaney, Anna Hernandez Linda Jacimore by Lynn Curry & Clay Gilliland Ila Sass by Chapel Sunday School Class David Hardin by Nancy Jungman Yleen Marie Phelan Brown by Mary Aiken Jay Ryan Hightower by Pat & David Hightower Charlie Reutzel by Larry & Jan Nelson Johnnie Dickey by Uplifter’s Sunday School Class

WEEKLY CALENDAR

Sunday, April 1-Easter 6:30am Sunrise Service, Riverfront Amphitheater 8:30am Classic Worship, Sanctuary 8:45am Holy Grounds, Narthex 9:45am Sunday School 9:45am Egg Hunt 11:00am Classic Worship, Sanctuary 11:00am Contemporary Worship, Family Life Center   Monday, April 2-Easter Monday Church Offices Closed   Wednesday, April 4 10:00am Prayer Group, Prayer Room, 2nd Floor 3:30pm Children’s Choir 5:30pm Holy Communion, Roebuck Chapel 7:00pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal   Thursday, April 5 7:00am Youth Breakfast Club, Chick-fil-a 10:00am Knitters & Knotters, Narthex 12:00pm UMM Bible Study/Lunch, Fireside Room   Friday, April 6 6:30am UMM Bible Study Breakfast, Fireside Room 10:00am Pacesetters, Fireside Room

FIRST UNITED METHODIST NEWS published weekly except the last week of the year by First United Methodist Church 200 North 15th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901.

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