This Lent, we will be looking at the people around Jesus who were witness to his final days. This will inspire us to think deeply about our own grief, trauma, and heartache as we have also witnessed loved ones suffer or have suffered ourselves.

During Adult Sunday School on March 16 - 30, we will have a guest speaker. Rev. Leah Challberg LICSW is a licensed therapist and owner of Rootwise Mental Wellness. Over these three Sundays, she will be presenting on grief, loss, and trauma.

March 16 will be "An Introduction to Loss, Grief, Stress, and Trauma.

March 23 will focus on how how mental health effects our bodies, memories, beliefs, emotions, and urges.

March 30 will focus on meaningful mental health next steps.

Faithful Hospitality begins today! Please remember that our building will be extra busy over the next couple of months. If you have questions or need to reserve space in the church building for an activity, please reach out to the church office.

Volunteers still needed. Sign up here.

Welcome to Lizzie Neuhauser who has taken on the role of Temporary Church Administrator. Office hours will be Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 2:00pm.

We hope to post the position for the full description this week to begin accepting applicants.

March

9 Rob and Machael Kelley

16 Rob & Stacey Boucher, Paul Cousin & Carol Dallman

23 Mike & Lori Neuberg, Curt & Susan Bergmann

30 Tom & Pam Vitulli, Jeff Bryan & Liz Kramer

Below is the first draft of this program year's Coffee Hour Schedule. There are some new names on the list, if you are a new member or regular attender, check to see if you have been added. If you would like to be included, but don't see your name, please reach out to the church office and we would love to add you to the schedule.

Coffee Hour servers bring treats to share and set up and clean up the coffee time with lemonade and coffee between Sunday School and Worship (Sept-May) and after worship (June-Aug.) Wherever possible, people are assigned to their birthday month.

Volunteers are urgently needed to prepare and serve Wed School Dinners! This is a practical and fun way to serve our community and support faith formation and music programs by providing a meal before programs begin on Wednesday evenings. .

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084CADAD29A5F5C16-50979841-wednesday#/

We love all the ways that individuals and families provide financial support to Fairmount. Thank you! However, we have a couple of requests to help our volunteer-led financial processes run smoothly and to assure your gifts are credited according to your wishes:

1. If you are making a donation against your pledge by check, it's helpful if you indicate the intended pledge fund on the memo line of your check, such as “Operating”, “Building” or "$x Operating and $y Building". Our counters do not have access to your confidential pledge information and so cannot otherwise verify your intentions.

2. If your pledges or other donations are made from your IRA (a “Qualified Charitable Distribution”), or from a Donor Advised Fund (“DAF”) please verify that the financial institution’s mailing adequately identifies you as donor and specifies your intentions for the gift. Critically, there have been instances where such checks do not identify the donor and where the institution cannot reveal that information. Given how difficult those orphaned checks are to resolve, we would appreciate if QCD and DAF givers would provide the office with the name of their financial institution and any automated schedule that may have been established, so we can make those connections if needed.

The Finance Team thanks you!

Mark Your Calendars:

• Join the Annual Fairmount North Shore Fall Hiking Weekend- Save the dates of September 26-28 to join other Fairmount folks for a fall weekend of hiking and fellowship in Grand Marais. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Aspen Lodge in Grand Marai under Fairmount Avenue Hiking Group. There are also Airbnbs, cabins, campgrounds, and other lodging available in the area. The weekend will provide opportunities to explore nature and/or shops, hike (or relax), gather with others from our group, and a Sunday service on the shore. Please join us for an intergenerational weekend on the beautiful shore of Lake Superior!

A Joyful Welcoming Community

• Wed School Dinner- Help Needed! Volunteers are needed to prepare, serve, and clean up for Wednesday School Dinners. This is an important and fun way to be community. Sign up for a time that would work for you.
• Faithful Hospitality Volunteers Needed! Fairmount Avenue UMC is providing sleeping space for families experiencing homelessness as asylum seekers, specifically families with children, who have come through our southern US border. Volunteer Training will be held on February 18 and February 20 at 6:00pm each night. Volunteers are encouraged to attend one session. Sign up to volunteer here.
• Members and friends are invited to a program on "Preparing and Updating Health Care Directives". It will be presented by Ed Holland In the Wesley Room on Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 PM. Everyone over the age of 18 should have a health care directive. Reservations are not required, but the Health Team would appreciated knowing if you plan to attend in order to plan for materials. Inform Jan Heilig by phone or text 320-292-2334 if you plan to attend.

• The "People Who Lunch " group will next gather on Friday, April 4 at 11:30 at Andiamo Italian Restorante 80 N. Snelling . Call or text Cindy Bevier at 651-210-2329 by April 2 to reserve your spot.

• ·Spanish Language Class meets Sundays from 2:00-3:00pm. Come to learn conversational Spanish. $25 suggested donation to pay the instructor. Sign up online or just show up.

Igniting Hearts and Minds

• Sunday Night Bible Study - Sunday evenings at 6:30-7:30pm. Come when you can. We will begin with this week's lectionary reading and discuss future readings. This Bible study will give tools to help you read the Bible on your own as well as dig deep into the context of scriptures and encourage discussion. This Bible Study will meet in the Wesley Room.
• Adult Sunday School- Sundays at 9:00 am in the Wesley Room. During Lent, we will look at the story of Jesus’ last days from a mental health perspective. With guest teacher, Rev. Leah Challberg LICSW, for three Sundays, we will be guided to think deeply about grief, stress, and trauma in our own lives.

• March 16— “Emotions, Stress and Chronic Stress
  March 23 - “Trauma”
  March 30—”Grief and Loss”

• Confirmation for Adults - This Wednesday all are invited to dig deeper into the core teachings of Christianity and faith practice as a United Methodist. Whether you were confirmed years ago or never at all, this class will offer opportunities to think deeply about your faith. We will meet Wednesday evenings from 6:30-7:30.
• Followers Youth Activities - For all 6-12th grade youth. Join activities throughout the winter! For more information, contact Cindy, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, at 763/321-8077 or email cindy@faumc.net.

• Y.A.M. Activities - For all young adults (ages 18-30). Join in activities throughout the winter! Come often. Come as you! For more information, contact Cindy, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, at 763/321-8077 or cindy@faumc.net.

For God's Work

• Faithful Hospitality Volunteers Needed! Fairmount Avenue UMC is providing sleeping space for families experiencing homelessness as asylum seekers, specifically families with children, who have come through our southern US border. Volunteer Training will be held on February 18 and February 20 at 6:00pm each night. Volunteers are encouraged to attend one session. Sign up to volunteer here!
• Worship Volunteers Needed! We need volunteers to assist as ushers, greeters, liturgists, and to serve on the Worship Committee. Volunteering is flexible to your schedule. Contact the church office if you think you can help by emailing admin@faumc.net.
  

• First Fruits - We’re so grateful to all who have recently signed up to volunteer. If you are interested in delivering food donations to Keystone Community Services after our monthly donations, please contact the church office or click here: Help Collect and Deliver First Fruit Donations to Keystone

• Adopt-A-Drain– Sign up to Help! We are looking for volunteers to clean the storm drains near the church: 3 at the corner of Fairmount and Saratoga and 2 on Fairmount just east of Snelling. Volunteers are asked to pick up and clear trash, leaves, snow and debris to allow water to drain. Please go to Fairmount Ave UMC: Adopt a Drain Signup to sign up for a month. If you have any questions, please contact Nita at nitahanson@gmail.com.

• Help Serve a Meal at Provincial House - Project Home is looking for volunteers to serve meals as a part of its weekend meal teams at 1880 Randolph Avenue. There are four shifts available every weekend on Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner. This opportunity is great for groups of 3-6 people. Currently the way it works is for one person to sign up for the shift and then bring another 2-5 others with them to help. The link for more information and to sign up: https://tinyurl.com/PHMealTeams2023

Worship Resources for Online Worship:

• Be sure to follow Fairmount Avenue United Methodist Church on Facebook.
• Subscribe to Fairmount Avenue UMC's YouTube Channel. We will be using YouTube to offer other creative learning experiences as well as publishing our weekly worship.

Giving online is easy through our PayPal Giving Fund page. Click the image on the left to check it out!

"A joyful, welcoming community; igniting hearts and minds for God's work."

Email: pastorshawna@faumc.net
Website: www.faumc.net
Location: 1523 Fairmount Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651.699.1335
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fairmount-Avenue-United-Methodist-Church-133875616634215/