Pastor Malinda's musings ...
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Remembering the Saints
Dear friends, Today is a Holy Day. It’s a day each year that we remember and give thanks for the lives of people who’ve left an indelible mark on our hearts. For some, this is a day that brings tears because the pain is still very raw after losing a
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Countdown to AvonFest
Dear Friends, Words cannot express the impact that the ministries of our mission arm Avondale Samaritan Place have on so many lives. From the people we serve to the people who volunteer to serve, I’m continually amazed at the ways in which so many people are changing lives and our
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A Change of Season
Dear Friends, After worship yesterday, my family drove around the neighborhood. My kids wanted to see the Halloween decorations on people’s lawns while my husband and I wanted to see all the beautiful trees in their fall glory. I’m always amazed at the warmth of the colors this time of
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Capital Improvement$ Update – Genero$ity Abound$
Dear Church Family and Friends, The pledges and contributions keep coming in as we work together to raise funds for the church’s current capital improvement projects. To date, $204,330 has been pledged or donated toward our goal of $500,000. Thank you to everyone who has committed to giving so generously!!!
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Capital Improvements Update – Clo$er to Our Goal
You’ll recall an email that I sent a couple of weeks ago about our capital needs and our financial goals for accomplishing them. Our most pressing needs include a new HVAC system for our sanctuary and life safety updates (including a wired fire alarm system and new exit hardware on
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Capital Improvements Update – We Need Your $upport
Dear Church Family and Friends, When our church was founded in 1887, our forebears had a vision for sharing Christ in Avondale. During its 135 years of existence, God has touched countless lives through worship, baptisms, weddings, funerals, Sunday School classes, Vacation Bible School, and so much more. Many of
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New Life at the Church
Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. ~John C. Maxwell Dear Church Family and Friends, There are exciting things afoot at the church … and I wanted to let you know about them. We have a new-to-us school moving into the church this week – Red Mountain Community School (RMCS). The
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World Games Impact
Dear Church Family and Friends, It’s exciting to have the World Games taking place in and around Birmingham this month. I’m looking forward to going to a few sporting events and enjoying having folks from around the world here in town. One of the venues is right next door to
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Music Ministry Update
Dear Church Family and Friends, One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 100 because it calls us to sing praises to God and to come into worship with thanksgiving in our hearts. Music feeds our souls and enhances our worship of God whether we come in praise or in sorrow
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The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Dear Church Family and Friends, I’m excited to welcome YouthServe back to our church campus for their first overnight camp since 2019. This is a great organization – led by our church member Jennifer Hatchett – that brings teenagers together from all walks of life to teach them about community
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Celebrating our Past + our Future
Dear Church Family and Friends, Happy birthday, church!!! When I say “church” I’m not talking about our local church here at Avondale UMC … I’m talking about the church universal. This Sunday we, the church, celebrate what’s known as Pentecost Sunday. It’s the Sunday we remember how the Holy Spirit
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Finding Connection
Dear Church Family and Friends, The District Superintendent recently tasked the pastors under his care to come up with one word and one picture to describe how their congregation has emerged from the pandemic. When I first read it, I was like, “What???? One word? One picture? That’s crazy talk!” (No
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Capital Needs & Improvements
Dear Church Family and Friends, Many of you were drawn to our church because of our wonderful hospitality and emphasis on loving everyone without exception. In addition, you truly appreciate and love our beautiful, historic building. You also understand that with an almost 100-year-old building come capital improvement and maintenance
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Worship, Pray, Serve — Holy Week & Easter at Avondale UMC
Dear friends, The season of Lent is drawing to a close, and I can’t wait to celebrate Easter with all of you … but as you all know, we can’t celebrate Easter without first going to the cross. We have some meaningful opportunities next week designed for you to meditate
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Meet Our New Staff Members
Dear Church Family and Friends, I’m very excited to introduce you to some new additions to our Avondale UMC Team! We’ve had hiring teams for Music Ministry, Nursery, and ASP who’ve worked diligently over several months to interview candidates for several positions that we had open. Their dedication paid off,
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We’re All in this Together!
Dear Church Family and Friends, This Sunday is Pledge Sunday. This is the time of the year when everyone is invited to prayerfully consider what they can commit to giving to the church for 2022. The phrase “We’re all in this together!” is especially true in the life of Avondale
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Giving Thanks
Dear Church Family and Friends, We may never appreciate the power of gathering together in person more than we do today. Although the pandemic has filled our lives with challenges and concerns, one good thing it has done for us is that it made us all thankful for things that
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A Future with Hope
Dear Church Family and Friends, I’m starting to feel like the fog is lifting, and I am seeing bright glimmers of light. For so long I’ve felt as though we were all walking blindly through this dense COVID fog. When we first went on lockdown, I didn’t think the isolation
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Update: COVID Protocols
Dear friends, Throughout the pandemic our church has worked hard to keep our congregation and community as safe as possible from COVID. We’ve sought and continue to seek to follow one of John Wesley’s (our Methodist founder) simple rules which is to “Do No Harm.” Given the spike in COVID
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Return to Sanctuary
Dear Church Family and Friends, The week has finally come for us to return to in-person worship in the sanctuary. We’ve been through a long winter since the beginning of the pandemic, and in many ways, I’ve felt like the apostles of the early church as we’ve sought to find
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Garden Refresh
Dear friends,The Great Garden Refresh of 2021 is underway on our street corner, and it’s looking quite lovely. Several folks had been talking for a few years about needing to replace some plants in the beds that had long since seen better years and were starting to wane. Plus, we’d
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Worship – New Location
Dear Church Family and Friends, If COVID has taught me anything, it’s to be flexible. For the most part, I’ve always been a “roll with it” kind of gal … but throughout the pandemic, I’ve had to roll-with-it more than ever before. This past Sunday was another roll-with-it kind of
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ReOpen Update
Dear Church Family and Friends, I’m writing to keep you updated on a timeline for returning to worship in the sanctuary. Some of you may be wondering how the decisions are made about Virtual Worship, Worship on the Lawn, and Worship in the Sanctuary … is Pastor Malinda making these
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Easter Worship & Reopen Update
Dear Church Family and Friends, Monday marked one year since COVID-19 forced us to suspend in-person worship in the sanctuary. I remember that weekend well as I agonized with church leaders over whether to suspend worship or not, and then ultimately realizing on Saturday evening that it was the only
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All Our Losses, All Our Griefs
Dear friends, This week has been a tough one in the life of our congregation. Complications from COVID-19 took the life of our second oldest member, Bill Copeland. Just last summer, his beloved wife of 72 years, Betty (our third oldest member), died as well. Compounding our grief is the
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