Pleasant Grove UMC - Thomasville, NC

Kids Ahoy, a “day-trip” adventure for children K-5th grades, will set sail for the summer on Monday, June 16th at 8:00am.  We will return around 5:00pm.  Our first destination will be the Ledford Pool for a day of swimming, fun, and food.  We will have a cookout for this first excursion.  Cost is $6.00/child.  The following are excursion dates and destinations.  This year please have your child wear the T-shirts that were purchased last year.  If you child does not have a t-shirt and you need to purchase one please contact Jamie by June 6th.

June 16        Ledford Pool/Cookout
June 23       Baa Moo Farm/Bag Lunch
June 30       NO KIDS AHOY/4TH OF JULY HOLIDAY WEEK
July 7          Tubing on Dan River/Bag Lunch
July 14        City Lake Park/Bag Lunch
July 21        Natural Science Center/Bag Lunch
July 28        Hanging Rock/Cookout

We are starting a second worship service that will be called LUV – Lift Your Voice, this service will be a Praise and Worship service.  Starting on June 15, 2008 LUV – Lift Your Voice will be held in the Kennedy Christian Life Center at 8:30am each Sunday morning.  This will be a multi-media experience in worship.  Our Worship Committee and our Alternate Worship Team have worked diligently to develop this worship service, our Praise Team has been practicing weekly, our pastor is writing sermons that are relevant to today’s young adults and we are excited to see it come together.   Our purpose for developing this second worship service is to continue fulfilling our Mission Statement which states “Reaching neighbors with God’s love through service, study, prayer, and presence”.

As many of you are aware, Dr. Karl Coke offered to come here and teach a class once a month.  The first course will be “Fire and Water Baptism”.  In this class, Dr. Coke will discuss how the earth and baptism relate to Fire and Water. It will be a topic on how science is mixing with the Bible.  This will take about three hours to go over, from 6:00-9:00pm.  The cost is $50.00 per student.  If you are interested in this class by Dr. Coke please sign up at Pastor Keys’ Office Door.

On Saturday May 10, the Costa Rica Building team will host a Pancake Breakfast/Yard Sale/Silent Action.  The breakfast will be from 7am till 10am.  The Silent Action will be from 6am to 11am with last bids at 11:00am.  We will have a number of items that are new or like new to be auctioned off with this silent auction, so come see what we have in the KCLC on May 10, 2008.  We will also have a Yard Sale that morning from 6am till 12:00pm.  All funds raised from this event will help offset the cost of the trip to Costa Rica.  If you have any items to donate to the yard sale please have them to the church by Friday May 9, 2008 between 5 -7pm.  If you have items that need to be picked -up please contact Fred Smith or Pastor Keys. Thank you for your support of this ministry.

We are excited about our upcoming Memorial Day and Homecoming Service here at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church.  Our speaker is Rev. Kenny Coker.  Kenny is a Thomasville, North Carolina resident.  Kenny received his undergraduate degree at Columbia Bible College in Columbia, SC in June 1996.  He received his Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in December 2002.  He was a full time pastor from 1996-2002, and then a North American Church Planter.  God called Kenny to Oak View Baptist Church as the Minister of Evangelism and Outreach in July 2006.  Kenny served as our youth Director during the mid 90’s under the direction of Dr. Rick Auten.  Kenny was married to Kathryn in 1996.  Come join us for this great service of worship!

Deep within your heart and mine God is communicating his love to us. Through His Holy Spirit dwelling deep within us, God is telling us what we ought to embrace and what we ought to avoid. This encounter with our loving God deep within us is the core experience of faith. Becoming more mindful of God’s presence deep within us and learning to live our lives more and more in communion with Christ is to follow what Christ called the way and the truth. The United Methodist way is to live our lives as a pilgrimage seeking holiness. We are called to be faithful to Christ’s will at every moment. I invite you in this new year to embrace this way of life by listening carefully to the voice of God deep within and choosing to obey God when He says now is the time:

• To be more serious about your spiritual life
• To learn about your faith and its doctrines
• To worship with joy and enthusiasm
• To share about what Jesus Christ means to your life
• To share yourself and your possessions more generously

As your pastor, I encourage you not to be afraid to listen to God deep within. I hope you can hear God calling you to a fuller, richer and more meaning life. In this newsletter you will find opportunities to find ways to go deeper in faith. Please read this newsletter carefully each month and join us on our way.

May God Bless you always!

Pastor Keys Pendleton

Our Disaster Recovery Team will leave for Gulfport, Mississippi after worship on January 27, 2007. We will be staying at Camp Love which is located at a church. You will need to bring your towels and sleeping bags. Three meals a day are furnished. One person from each team is asked to assist with the preparation of these meals. It cost the Mississippi Conference approximately $15 per person/day to have these camps open. We will need to make a donation to help cover the cost of our stay. Transportation is not provided. The vehicles that we take down will be the transportation used to and from the work site. A 1 to 4 ratio of skilled to unskilled is requested in order to keep all persons actively working. We will leave Mississippi on February 1, 2007 to arrive home late on Friday night. If you are interested in being a part of this Disaster Recovery Building team a sign-up sheet is on Pastor Keys’ office door, or you may contact Pastor Keys.

The Young Adults Class is having a study (during Sunday School) of the book of Revelation. This is being taught by Pastor Keys and all are invited to attend. If you have any questions please contact Pastor Keys.

Well summer is here and the kids have had a few weeks of rest from school.  I hope you have enjoyed it so far.  The summer is my favorite time of year because every time you look around you see the beautiful landscape that God has made for us to enjoy.  I hope that you and your family have planned a big summer of fun.  What ever you do I pray that you stay safe and always remember to put God first. I also want to take this time and say thanks to the church congregation and friends for all that you gave to the youth in love offerings for the Mother’s and Father’s Day bulletins.  This church means a lot to the youth.  It makes no difference what we are doing as a group the church is always there in great support of what we do. Also, don’t forget our summer that we have planned.  Be sure to look at the church calendar and see what is going on from week to week.  We will also be putting it on the phone tree, in the bulletin, etc. so be sure that you don’t miss out on the fun.  If you have any questions about summer activities or events please be sure to contact Jamie Johnston at the church office, 475-1124.
May God Bless you this summer and stay safe!
Love Jamie, Jane, Stephanie, & Cole
Phil 4:13

Summer has arrived and with that we have already experienced hot temperatures which is probably indicative of many more to come. The Outreach Committee met on Tuesday night, June 12th, to discuss where we are and what is remaining for the rest of the year.  Everything is running smoothly thus far. The second quarter has now come and gone and with that being said checks will be sent to the Wilderness Trail as well as TCCM, from our 100 in Missions fund. For the third quarter we will turn our attention to supporting UMAR and Nicholas Kithinji, missionary to Cambodia. Thanks to all those who donated and fixed food to help feed the hungry at TCCM, in April.  Once again, I was so proud of our youth and how they took control in making that a success.  I do truly believe that we were the ones blessed. I know with summertime comes vacations and various other activities.  Please don’t forget to continue to support 100 in Missions.  Without your support we would not be able to spread God’s love by giving to others. Have a safe and enjoyable summer.
Love In Christ,
Jan McKinnon
Outreach Chair