Crosswinds Newsletter
April 13, 2022 - Volume 612
A Word From the Pastor
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He is Risen! He has Risen indeed! I love Easter Sunday.  There’s an energy around Easter that is unmatched throughout the church year. We wear our best. We’re happy to be there. We even forget that we’re Methodists and let loose by shouting, “Amen!” during the service. It’s great. Everyone looks forward to Easter Sunday.

In my experience, I’ve found that it is easy for the excitement of Easter to overshadow, or possibly even eclipse, the other events of Holy Week. We’re so ready to celebrate before the empty tomb that we forget the anguish of the Garden in Gethsemane or the agonizing despair of the cross. There’s a cost to rushing past the stories of Jesus’ being anointed and Judas’ betrayal. The cost is that we miss the wonderful movement from darkness to light, hopelessness to hopefulness, defeat to victory. It is this movement that helps us encounter the glory of what Jesus has done. We stand in danger of missing all that if we brush past the ebb and flow of the events of Holy Week. While it might not be easy, sometimes you have to look into darkness to see just how brightly our hope shines. 

This week, let us be intentional about walking through the story of the events that made up that fateful week so long ago. There are several ways to do just that. You can follow our WayPoint readings for the week. You can also join us for our Holy Week services: Wednesday Night Prayer Service at 7:00 PM (Sanctuary), Maundy Thursday at 6:30 PM (FLC) and Good Friday at 6:30 PM  (Sanctuary). These worship opportunities will enable you to better experience the hope that is ours on Easter Sunday. And what a hope we have in our Risen Savior.

Pastor Brady Johnston
Opportunities to Serve

VBS registration is open to volunteers (and students). Click on VBS Registration.

Help prepare communion 2-3 times per year. Contact Pastor April for more details.

Children's Sunday School volunteers are needed. Please contact Keelee by email or phone, M-Th, 8- 4. 

Help with Audio Visual (AV) at 8:30 or 11 AM worship services. Please email Tyler Coherd for more information.
Worship Together During Holy Week
Order Your Easter Lilies TODAY
Orders must be placed by TODAY, April 13th!
Order Easter lilies in honor or memory of a loved one and help decorate the church for Easter! Easter lilies will be placed around the altar in both the Sanctuary and the FLC. They may be taken home after service on Easter Sunday or they can be donated to someone in the community through the church. The cost is $15 per plant. To order, complete and submit this form. Payment can be made by cash, check made out to FUMC Midlothian or online at fumcmidlo.org/give. Please memo your payment “Easter Lilies”. Checks may be mailed to 800 S. 9th St., Midlothian, TX. 76065. Quantities may be limited, due to availability.
Attention, Senior Class of 2022
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We are excited to honor you throughout the month of May. But in order to do that, we need some basic information from you. Please complete the form that is linked in the button below by April 20th, so we can get everything together and ready to celebrate you! Also please drop 2 to 3 pictures, labeled with your name, into the Google folder linked in the button below. The sooner you can do this, the better, so don't wait! If you have any questions, please email Valerie Dick.
Senior Sunday is May 1st
Mark your calendars!
A Lenten Season of Prayer
During the season of Lent we host Open Prayer, Mondays through Thursdays, 10 AM to 12 PM in the Sanctuary. April 14th is the last day of Open Prayer.
Guided Prayer Hour is a Wednesday night prayer service we're hosting through May 18th. Join us Wednesdays from 7 to 8 PM in the Sanctuary.
During this season of Lent, I want to challenge our church to be praying for the specific things listed on our prayer card (linked here). Each request is accompanied with a scripture, which I encourage you to incorporate into your prayers. I want us as a church to be praying together over each specific request for that day because there is power when we pray together. I believe that our seeking the Lord together in prayer will be reflected in our church and community. -Pastor Brady Johnston
Interested in praying the Psalms? Click the button above to view Pastor Brady's guide.
Confirmation Update
Last Sunday, our confirmands received their Bibles during each of the worship services. These Bibles are special for our teens and have been inscribed by church members, encouraging them in their faith journey.

Confirmation is going great and our kids are learning and growing with each week. Please keep our confirmands in your prayers. Confirmation Sunday is May 15. Mark your calendars!
Communion Stewards Needed

Are you interested in helping prepare the sacraments for worship? We are looking for a few people to help prepare and clean up on Communion Sundays. We are helping to create a team volunteers that would serve in this capacity two to three times per year, the first Sunday of the month. If you were interested please click on Pastor April and let her know!
VBS Registration is Open
For Volunteers and Kids!
VBS Returns June 12th-18th
6-8:30 PM

Ages 3yrs (must be potty trained)
 through entering 5th Grade

Volunteer Training is June 1st at 6:30 PM

Visit FUMC VBS 2022 for more information
VBS Cookout on May 22nd!
Plan to eat burgers and hotdogs after church and support VBS!
Mark Your Calendars
April 14th: Maundy Thursday 6:30 PM
April 15th: Good Friday 6:30 PM
April 17th: Easter Sunday
April 24th: Discover Grace
May 1st: Communion
May 1st: Senior Sunday
May 1st: State of the UMC Townhall Meeting
May 6th: GGP Program
May 8th: Mother's Day
May 8th: Next Steps
May 13th: GGP Graduation
May 15th: Confirmation Sunday
May 22nd: VBS Cookout
June 1st: VBS Training
June 5th: Pentecost
June 12th: Next Steps
June 12th-16th: Vacation Bible School (VBS)
June 19th: Father's Day
See weekly information below.
Weekly at FUMC
Open Prayer Mondays through Thursdays from 10 AM to 12 PM in the Sanctuary, during the season of Lent.
April 13th is the last day of Open Prayer.

Godly Play Children's Worship gathers during 8:30 and 11 AM worship services. Elementary age children are invited to go with our Children's Ministry Team to worship together in the Fellowship Hall. Of course, children are always welcome to stay with their parents throughout worship.

Sunday School Classes meet between services from 9:45-10:45 AM.
+Children's Sunday School Classes meet in the Sanctuary building, various rooms
+Youth Sunday School Classes meet in the FLC upstairs, Jr. High room
+Bill Theiss Fellowship Class, FLC room 109
+Adult Bible Class, FLC room 110
+Upper Room Class, FLC room 201
+Open Door Class, FLC room 107
+Servant's Hands, FLC room 204
+New Horizons Class, FLC room 203

Bell Choir meets Mondays 6-7 PM. Contact the church office or Paul Martin with any questions.

Men's Monday Night Bible Study meets Monday nights from 7-8:30 PM in the Sanctuary Building Workroom. The study is coordinated by Don Garret.

Pastor April's Bible Study meets Wednesday nights from 4:30-5:45 in the sanctuary. The study is "Gospel According to John" and it is not necessary to attend every week, as each week is a different "study".

Chancel Choir meets each Wednesday at 6 PM. Contact the church office or Paul Martin with any questions.

DivorceCare & DivorceCare4Kids meets Wednesdays from 6:30-8 PM in FLC rooms 201 & 203. Please contact Monica Wilson with any questions.

Guided Prayer Hour is a Wednesday night prayer service we will host through May 18th. Join us Wednesdays from 7 to 8 PM in the Sanctuary.

Discipleship Groups meet at various times trough out the week. New groups can form at any time! For more information, please contact the church office.

Confirmation Class meets every Sunday at 9:45 n the FLC Senior High room through May (except for Easter).

God's Garden Preschool follows the MISD school calendar and is only open on MISD classroom days. GGP hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM.

Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 AM - 4 PM and Friday 8 AM - 12 PM. Pastors are available for non-emergencies, Monday through Thursday during office hours.
Worship Together
Sunday, April 17
Easter Sunday
Jesus’ Resurrection
John 20:1-10
8:30 & 11 Traditional in the Sanctuary
11 AM Contemporary in the FLC
WayPoints are daily devotionals designed to help us prayerfully engage God’s Word so that we might respond in obedience. We encourage everyone to participate in the WayPoints. They are available at Waypoint and FUMC Facebook.
Sunday School: 9:45-10:35 AM
Godly Play: Children's Worship During all Sunday Morning Services will return soon!

Creation Kids Links:
Stay connected in Creation Kids Children's Ministry! Follow us on our Facebook page, Creation Kids, and our Instagram page, @creationkidsfumcmidlo, to keep up with resources for connection. For more information, email Keelee Allen.
Junior & Senior High Youth meet
Wednesday nights during the school year from 6:30-8 PM and Sunday School from 9:45-10:35 AM.

Stay connected in FUMC Midlo Youth Ministries! Follow us on our Youth Facebook page, FUMC Midlo Youth (public) and our Instagram page, @fumcmidloyouth. Youth and Youth parents, join our private Facebook Group, FUMC Midlothian Youth. For Remind 101 for Youth, text @midloyouthto the number 81010. If you have any questions, please email the Youth Team.
We offer Nursery and Early Childhood Care (infant through pre-k) during our Sunday morning worship services. Please email Keelee with any questions. For information regarding God's Garden Preschool, go to God's Garden. Thank you!
God's Garden Preschool
Though GGP is currently full, you can register to get on the waitlist. Visit God's Garden online to learn more about this program or click below to register!
Prayer Requests
Please send your prayer request to MaryBeth or Joy. If you want to join our Prayer/Card Ministry group, send your request to Joy. Not everyone sends cards, but you can pray, thus PRAYER/CARD ministry.

New Prayer Requests:
Boyce Whatley - waiting on liver transplant
Janis & Randy Osburn - death of her mother

Continuous Prayer:
Karen Wilson, Dorothy Wares, George & Dee Culps, Don Lish, John Lowe, Chelsea Peel, Jim Sibley

Military:
ARMY - Matt Carroll, Tim Kruettner, Harold Barton, Josh Schenck, Austin Lockwood
NAVY - Matthew Price, Andrew Cantrell, Zachary Tucker, Thomas Shirley, Matthew Watford
AIR FORCE - J.D. Culps, Andrew Miller 
MARINES - Josh Dunaway,  Bradley Perez, Elizia Delapaa, Cash McAdoo
NATIONAL GUARD - Derek Boots
TEXAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD - John Jackson

Remember in Prayer:
Our world, our country, our community leaders, all our military troops and first responders around the world, our church, our pastors, the staff, church members, visitors, and Midlothian community



Men, women and children (with the help of an adult), if you'd like to thank the church in the newsletter and/or become a part of the Prayer/Card ministry, please send an email to Joy Price. Thank You.
Thank You for Your Generosity
Thank you for your generosity! We continue to do great ministry as a church because of you and your faithfulness. We encourage you to continue giving to the church's ministry either by mailing in your financial gifts or giving online by clicking on the button below. Every gift helps us do greater things for God's Kingdom!
*Please note that we are using a new online giving system. It should be much easier to use, cost effective and will help our staff be more efficient. Thank you!
Church Staff
Senior Pastor: Rev. Brady Johnston
Executive Pastor: Rev. Dr. April Fehler
Children's Director: Keelee Allen
God's Garden Preschool Director: Michelle Coffin
Traditional Worship Leader: Paul Martin
Contemporary Worship Leader: Jason Westbrook
Administrative Assistant: Mary Beth Mayo
Finance Coordinator:
Organist: Laurie Duke
Media Director: Valerie Dick
Facilities Director: Matt Sanders 
FUMC Midlothian | 972-775-3993
Office Hours: M-Th: 8 AM - 4 PM, F: 8 AM - 12 PM
Pastors are available for non-emergencies Monday - Thursday during office hours.