Greetings Topeka First UMC,

I hope that you are having a great week! This has been a busy week for our church. The Board of Ordained Ministry for the Great Plains Conference has been conducting Ordination interviews this week. 41 people have been interviewed this week! We have received numerous compliments on the church facility and the hard work of the staff!

Our Mission collection for the month of February will focus on clothing needs at Scott Dual Language Magnet School!  There will be collection bins in the Celebration Room for donated items.

The Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl! Bishop Wilson (Great Plains Bishop) and Bishop Farr (Missouri Bishop) have challenged the bishops from Pennsylvania and New Jersey in a food drive. From the Great Plains Conference: ... "the Great Plains Conference and sister annual conferences in the United States have an opportunity once again to score a victory against hunger in another Sacking Hunger Challenge! FIRST BLOCK END START SECOND BLOCK Bishop David Wilson of the Great Plains Conference and Bishop Bob Farr of the Missouri Conference are teaming up again to encourage churches to gather as much food as possible for food pantries in their mission fields. We’ll enjoy a friendly competition with the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey conferences — both of whom root quite heavily for the Eagles." To do our part for this challenge, we will have a table set up here at church, and we would invite you to bring your non-perishable items that will be donated to a local food pantry. We have until February 16 to collect food for the challenge. 

On Sunday we conclude our sermon series, "Be the Bridge" as we move to witness. In Matthew 28, at the end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, 

"19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

How do we witness? By remembering where we have been! Over the past four weeks we have worked through prayer, presence, gifts, and service. On Sunday we will pull all five practices together to effectively witness and launch into being the bridge this year. We will also celebrate Holy Communion at all three services. 

Sunday night will be our State of the Church dinner and meeting. Chili dinner begins at 5:00 pm, and the meeting starts at 6:00 pm. The meeting will include updates from ministry areas, review of 2024, and looking ahead to a capital campaign in 2025. We will also have a question-and-answer session at the end of the meeting. 

After Shawna sent an email last week asking for folks to sign up to greet, serve communion, and read liturgy, we had quite a few spots fill up!  Thank you! Please take time to sign up to help greet and hand out bulletins before the service you usually attend.  Additionally, the 2025 Liturgist schedule is now open!  Both links remain the same throughout the year. 

See you Sunday,

Pastor Brad