Advent at RUMC
The Advent season at RUMC will begin on Saturday, November 25th with the annual “Hanging of the Greens” decoration party in the Sanctuary beginning at 4:00 PM. We will be putting up our Advent banners and decorating our big Chrismon tree. When we are done it will begin to look a lot like Christmas. Everyone is welcome to attend the decorating extravaganza and get into the Christmas spirit.
The annual Christmas Boat Parade will assemble at the Riverview Civic Center just across the Alafia River from our church parsonage at dusk on Saturday, December 2nd. Visitors are welcome to bring their lawn chairs to parsonage lawn and view the parade from the river’s edge. As usual, Santa will be waving from one of the many decorated boats as he passes by. The parade should be fun for the whole family.
The Chancel Choir will be presenting their annual Christmas Cantata on Sunday, December 10th at the 10:30 AM Service. There will be no 8:00 AM service on that Sunday so that everyone can come and enjoy the music.
There will be two services on Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24th. There will be a 10:30 AM Christmas service in the sanctuary, and a Christmas Eve and Communion Service at 7:00 AM.
The RESTORE Food Pantry
Thanksgiving Food Giveaway
The RESTORE Food Pantry has been providing our neighbors with generous amounts of food for the Thanksgiving Holidays. In addition to our regular USDA deliveries, including lots of grapes, blueberries, and other produce, we are proving 230 families with $15 Publix gift cards as well as specially prepared Thanksgiving Holiday bags courtesy of our partner church, South Shore United Methodist Church. For the past month, we have also been receiving generous food donations from our neighbors at Lighthouse Mission on 78th Street, Feeding Tampa Bay, and the Winn-Dixie grocery store on U.S. Highway 301 and Lake St. Charles Avenue. The last Thanksgiving pickup for RESTORE will be on Tuesday, November 23rd from 10 AM until Noon. The RESTORE Food Pantry is an Equal Opportunity provider for all eligible recipients regardless of race, age, or gender.
It’s Time to Order Your Poinsettias
Once again, we are offering Poinsettias for sale. Each 6 ½” inch post can be purchased for a contribution of $10.00. Poinsettia order forms are available next to the Sunday bulletins. Please include an order form, together with your payment, cash or check made payable to RUMC) in an offering envelope and place it in the offering plate. Or you can order at the church office any weekday morning between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The deadline for all Poinsettia orders is Thursday, December 7th.
New Member Sunday
Pastor Telcy and the Care Committee are planning our next New Member Sunday for Sunday, January 14th. That is the special day when we will welcome new members into our church and celebrate both our New Members and our longtime members with a special luncheon after the 10:30 AM service. If you and your family are interested in becoming new members of Riverview First United Methodist Church, please contact our pastor, Rev. Louis Telcy.