Fayette Friendship Community Church
A United Methodist Congregation
Congratulations to our members celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this month!
July 2021 Birthdays
July 2021 Anniversaries
This month we say goodbye to Pastor John Tomlin and begin the process of welcoming our new Pastor Kimberly Dugger to NFUMC. Pastor transitions are always hard and especially so since we’re just starting to come back from the Covid shutdown. Rev. Tomlin and Rev. Dugger are hard at work on the transition and your Board of Servants met with Rev. Dugger on June 1st as part of the transition process. We’ll be making more announcements about the transition throughout the month of June as we continue to work out the details.
One of those details is how we will handle the dual appointment of Rev. Dugger to both NFUMC and Friendship UMC. The two churches are only three miles apart and very similar in our congregation makeup which offers some intriguing possibilities. The Board met with our District Superintendent Susan Landry in late May on this subject leading to a very worthwhile discussion about a possible merger between NFUMC and Friendship UMC. Friendship is a small church with limited facilities while NFUMC is a church with very good facilities that needs more people to fill them. There are many positives for both churches with a merger, but many questions as well.
The Board will meet with leaders from Friendship during June to continue the discussion and then hold another Town Hall meeting with our congregation to get your opinions. Be assured that your voice will be heard during this process and that in any merger we will continue to worship on our campus while welcoming and incorporating the heritage of Friendship UMC.
In the midst of all this change we must recognize the superb efforts of Rev. Tomlin to bring us through this year of Covid as a congregation made even stronger through adversity. John has preached inside, outside, virtually and any other way he could think of to keep bringing the Word of God to this congregation. He will always be special to us and a member of the NFUMC family.
We have one more month to worship with Pastor John, so let’s enjoy our return to fresh air worship, the great music, great sermons and our fellowship with one another.
Yours in Service,
Steve Justice – 2021 NFUMC Board Chair
Congratulations to our members celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this month!
June 2021 Birthdays
June 2021 Anniversaries
There has been some recent confusion about what has been going on in our denomination. To clarify a matter, please understand there is no issue requiring a congregational vote before NFUMC at this time. There was a called General Conference in 2019 to consider proposals regarding revising the Book of Discipline’s stance on homosexual marriage and the ordination of homosexual clergy. At that conference, a denominational commitment was made affirming the current wording in the Book of Discipline not allowing these two actions.
We will have more information regarding upcoming legislation after this year’s Annual Conference. For example, also coming out of that special called General Conference was an exit strategy for how churches may disaffiliate with the denomination; procedural matters regarding this process still need to be worked out within our Annual Conference. Additionally, details about last year’s regularly scheduled General Conference (which happen every four years) which was postponed due to Covid are still forthcoming as well.
The Pastor and Board of Servants will endeavor to keep everyone up to date as more information becomes available.
Congratulations to our members celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this month!
May 2021 Birthdays
May 2021 Anniversaries
