Aerial shot of the grounds of St. James UMC, the site of Saturday's Spring Fling 2024!

Spring Fling 2024

THIS Saturday, April 27

Throughout the Grounds of St. James UMC

Spring Fling raises money for St. James UMC to give grants to local non-profits.

Here are 5 Ways to Help Our Community through Spring Fling:

Tent Yard Sale on the Field — OPENS at 6:30 a.m.

Chicken Dinner Sales from the CLMC Breezeway —

BEGINS at 10:30 a.m.

Sweet and Savory Food to Go in the Fellowship Hall —

OPENS at 8 a.m.

Book Sale in the Fellowship Hall — OPENS at 8 a.m.



Family Ministry Fun Event on the Field —

Bounce House OPENS at 8 a.m.

Dunking Booth OPENS at 9 a.m.

NOTE FOR BUSY MOMS & DADS:

Nursery will be available all day on April 27 to enable you to volunteer!

Tent Yard Sale

How to Enjoy

The Spring Fling Tent Yard Sale is back. It opens at 6:30 a.m., and the good deals go quickly! 



FOR THE FIRST TIME CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS MAY BE USED FOR YOUR PURCHASES!

Barbecue Chicken Dinners

How to Enjoy

Don't forget to pick up your pre-ordered chicken plates, starting at 10:30 a.m. Pick up is from the breezeway along the front of the CLMC.

If you'd like to join the fun in prepping the chicken dinners, it is not too late, especially if you like getting up early. The chickens go on the grills around 4:30 a.m. They will be plated along with beans, potatoes, and rolls beginning at 8:30 a.m., and they will be ready for distribution at 10:30 a.m. Click HERE to volunteer to help cook, plate, or distribute the dinners. Check those categories under "Chicken Dinner Cooking."

Sweet and Savory Food to Go

How to Enjoy

Sweet and Savory Food to Go opens at 8 a.m. on Saturday in the Fellowship Hall. Come choose among an array of fine foods, including baked goods, casseroles, jarred pickles and other vegetables, and breads.



FOR THE FIRST TIME CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS MAY BE USED FOR YOUR PURCHASES!

Book Sale

How to Enjoy

The Book Sale shares space with Sweet and Savory Food to Go in the Fellowship Hall and also opens at 8 a.m.

Come check out the selection of hardbacks and paperbacks of fiction, non-fiction, and a bunch of books on matters of faith.

FOR THE FIRST TIME CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS MAY BE USED FOR YOUR PURCHASES!

Family Ministry Event

How to Enjoy

The Bounce House opens at 8 a.m. for the children of shoppers at the Tent Yard Sale.

The Dunking Booth opens at 9 a.m. Pay $5 to get three chances to dunk one of our lucky dunkees: Pastor Tom, Pastor Laura, Pastor Kuda, Miss Dana, Spring Fling Chair Stephen Gray, and Charlie Hairston! You can buy as many chances as you'd like!

Don't miss Spring Fling 2024 this Saturday!

Worship Notes for April 28, 5^th Sunday of Easter

God's Love

Pastor Tom will lead all Worship Services, which will focus on God's love and ours, based on 1 John 4:7-21.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

1 John 4:16-17

The greeting question is How did you participate in Spring Fling?

Messy Church this Sunday

The theme for the Messy Church Worship Service at 11:30 a.m. this Sunday, April 28, will be a global topic, "All Nations Praise."

Folks from all over the world will be led in song by Victor Ihuka. A variety of international food (Mexico, Polynesia, Korea, Poland, and more) will be served during the lunch portion of the service.

People from different parts of the world will share their worship experiences.

Activities include global snack tasting, South Indian dance, reading the Bible in various languages, and crafting peace cranes, a practice begun in Japan after World War II.

Please come! This is your last chance to attend Messy Church until August.

Coming Soon in Worship!

Communion Sunday on May 5

As May 5 is the first Sunday of the month, Communion will be celebrated at all services on that date.

One Church Service on May 19

In celebration of Pentecost, we will have a One Church Worship Service on Pentecost Sunday, May 19. The Worship Service will be at 10:30 a.m. in the CLMC.

After the service we will have a lunch of grilled pork chops, grilled chicken, and a variety of sides. There is no charge, but donations will be welcomed and accepted.

Bishop Connie Mitchell Shelton will be our special guest. Third graders will receive Bibles during the service. Spring Fling grants will be distributed to our grant recipients.

Two Worship Services on Sundays during Summer Months

From June 16 through August 18, St. James UMC will have two Worship Services on Sundays. Services will be at 9 a.m. in the CLMC and 11 a.m. in the Sanctuary.

The CLMC 9 a.m. service will continue as a contemporary service. The 11 a.m. service in the Sanctuary will be a traditional service.

Opportunities to Serve at the Homeless Shelter

Breakfast at Community Crossroads Center Homeless Shelter on 4/28

This month St. James UMC is serving breakfast at the Community Crossroads Center homeless shelter this Sunday, April 28.

Please email Greg MacDaid to let him know if you would like to help out, or if you would like to be added to the list of volunteers for future service (see below). Contact Greg at gregmacdaid@gmail.com.

Here are future dates in which St. James UMC volunteers are serving at the shelter:

May 19

May 26 (Memorial Day Weekend)

June 16 (Father's Day)

June 23

July 21

July 28

Join them!

Dinner and a Movie Returns May 8

5 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall

Jesus Revolution

The next offering of the monthly series, "Dinner and a Movie," will be Jesus Revolution. The movie, starring Kelsey Grammer, is the true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California.

Wills and Estate Planning Workshop on May 22

Registration Opens Today (April 25) for "Top Ten Reasons to Have a Will"

Having a will is arguably one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your family. Not only can a will legally protect your spouse, children, and assets, it can also spell out how you would like things handled after you join The Church Triumphant.

While each person’s situation varies, here are the top ten reasons to have a will:

1) You decide how your estate will be distributed.

2) You decide who will take care of your minor children.

3) You will avoid a lengthy probate process.

4) . . . .

To learn the next seven top reasons to have a will, please join us as the United Methodist Foundation leads a Wills & Estate Planning Workshop at St. James United Methodist Church.

When: Wednesday, May 22, 5:45-7:15 pm

Where: St. James UMC Fellowship Hall

Cost: FREE

What: A light meal and beverages will be offered

There are more than 10 reasons to write a will, but how to begin the process can be the most complicated factor. While knowing your state's laws is key, you don't have to be an expert to write your will. 

Rev. Lynn B. Benson, Director of Legacy Giving from your United Methodist Foundation, will lead this workshop as you begin to craft your wishes into a legal document. A local estate planning attorney and CPA will be included in the Q&A panel discussion during the workshop.

Registration: April 25-May 20



Register by calling the church office at 252-752-6154 or by clicking HERE.  

For more information, please contact Betty Lou Watson at 910-964-1662.

Special Called Charge Conference this Sunday

The St. James UMC Administrative Board will have a special called charge conference this Sunday, April 28, at 2 p.m. in Room 23. The only item on the agenda will be the approval of the compensation of the new associate pastor as recommended by the Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC).

Refugee Ministry Update

St. James UMC Refugee Ministry team members (left to right): Dan Swartout, Alice Arnold, Jena Kerns, Cindy Watson, Holly Hoag, Brenda Columbo, Daewon Goldenbaum-Yang, and Barbara Koska

The Refugee Ministry is still hard at work supporting our wonderful families. When we started, we told Interfaith Refugee Ministry, a refugee resettling agency in New Bern, that we would take one family. As other refugee families came to town, our hearts led us to help them also. We are now involved with FIVE families. 

It has been challenging but oh so rewarding! We have helped them find jobs and each household now has a car. Holly Hoag, our Spanish-speaking team member, has helped everyone get tax returns filed. A number of us have helped carpool our 4-year-old to Sadie Saulter School in the morning and to St. James UMC Afterschool in the afternoon. He now speaks English like a pro! 

We celebrated each person at birthday time—one mom told us it was the first birthday party her child had ever had. Our present goals with the families are to encourage them to be independent and to help them assimilate into this new country. We will soon start the process of helping them get their green cards. If anyone knows an immigration lawyer who would be willing to donate time to help with this process, the families would be so appreciative. It can be expensive for them.

At the Interfaith Refugee Ministry's annual fundraising dinner called "Dinner in 5 Continents" in March, St. James was awarded the church co-sponsor award for our ministries with these families (see photo, above left). 

We encourage you to become involved with this amazing ministry by volunteering your time, financially donating, or both! To volunteer, contact Daewon Goldenbaum-Yang, our wonderful, hard-working committee chair, at daewonyang@gmail.com. 

To donate financially, contact our equally wonderful St. James financial administrator Marianne Leventry. If you want to know more about the ministry, please talk with any one of the pictured committee members (above right).  

Family Ministry News

Early Registration for VBS has Begun

VBS this Summer:

Camp Firelight July 7-11 in the CLMC

Early registration for children of VBS volunteers has begun. You MUST be signed up HERE to volunteer in order to register your child for this summer's VBS. Early registration runs until May 1. Once you are registered as a volunteer, click HERE for early registration.

Scholarships are available for those who express need and are unavailable to pay the registration fee.

Regular registration runs from May 1 through July 1. We welcome children who are potty-trained through rising 5th graders to join us on this adventure!

We would love to have rising 6th through 12th graders and older join us as a volunteer! That being said, if your rising 6th grader is not yet ready to volunteer and would like to still join a group, they are most welcome to. Just put "rising 6th" as your grade level.

Youth and Volunteer Training (First Aid & CPR, Safe Sanctuaries, questions about scenarios) will be on June 30 starting at 3 p.m.

Want to get involved but not sure how? Contact kuda@stjconnect.org or kristine@stjconnect.org. Please be in touch if you can help with any of the following:

• Snacks and appreciation items for volunteers
• Cooking dinner for volunteers each night
• Decorations
• Craft supply items

Scholarship Deadline Extended to April 30

Applications for scholarships offered by St. James UMC, administered by the Board of Trustees, are now due on April 30. Eligible applicants are members of St. James who are graduating high school seniors and current college students. To access an application, please click HERE.

Senior Breakfast — Sunday, June 2 — Save the Date!

The St. James UMC Family Ministry team will host a breakfast to honor graduating high school seniors on Sunday, June 2, in the Fellowship Hall. The breakfast will be held after the 9 a.m. Worship Service. Contact kuda@stjconnect.org or kristine@stjconnect.org for reservations.

Prayer List



Donald “Stumpy” Winborne, Jim Barrett, Steve Vaughn, Mae Shugart, Frank Tayloe, Ed Askew, Ginger Priddy, Brad Barrett, Scott Wells, Woody Peele, Maggie Lamm, Rochelle Benson, Barbara Tenpenny, Irene Gerow, Bryant Rouse, Betty Kay Foster, Gene Foster, Rick Moore, Paxton and Rivers Berry