Ebenezer's History 2023
Special Sundays in December - Days of Joy and Sorrow
As we recall the wonderful and profound gift that God delivered to us one day long ago, we invite you to join our church family and be a part of our worship of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ as we commemorate his blessed birth.
On Sunday, December 24, we will worship at 10:00 a.m., instead of the usual 9:00 a.m. Our Sunday school classes will not meet. In the evening, we will have our annual Christmas Eve service at 6:00 p.m. as we look forward to that special day of Jesus' birth and to his Second Coming. A day of anticipated joy!
On Sunday, December 31, our worship service will again be at 10:00 a.m. This will be a special service as we renew our commitment to our church and our Lord Jesus in a Wesleyan Covenant Service, and officially enter into our new connectional affiliation with the Global Methodist Church. A day of anticipated joy in a new day dawning for Ebenezer Methodist Church.
This is also the last day of service to Ebenezer by our pastor, Rev. Alan Gaylord. We invite you to bring a favorite dish of food or dessert to share at a pot-luck luncheon after the service in honor of Pastor Alan and his family. (Suggestion: bring lots of tissues as we say good-bye to Pastor Alan. NOTE: He and his family will be remaining in the parsonage through June 2024, until he is appointed a new place of service in the UMC.) A day of sorrow and gratitude as we say farewell to Pastor Alan.
Hanging of the Greens - Dec. 3
We will decorate the Chrismon tree on Sunday, December 3 during the worship service at 9:00 a.m. as we prepare for the Advent Season and the yearly celebration of Christ's birth. We invite you to come help and enjoy the fellowship.
New Website and E-Mail Addresses
Our new website is in the process of being re-designed to reflect our name and affiliation changes. The new website address is: www.ebenezerm-church.com. Our new email address is: emcdudleyshoals@yahoo.com. You may begin using both now while we work on closing out the old addresses. Our church is now affiliated with the Global Methodist Church.
Thank you to Rev. Kirby Vidrine
We had a guest speaker on Sunday, November 12, Rev. Vidrine; Major, US Army. He spoke to us about "The Veteran That Follows Jesus." We are grateful for insights about trusting in God even in very dangerous and adverse circumstances, which he dealt with when he was an infrantyman before becoming an Army Chaplain. It was sad to hear that, as a chaplain, he has had to deal with several suicides of soldiers.
Please pray for him as he continues to serve the soldiers in his service area. As Rev. Vidrine said, "Our only good hope is in Jesus," a message that he presents to the men and women in the armed services every day.
We thank all our veterans, currently serving and retired, for their willingness to give their lives for our protection.
Veterans Day Meal for Veterans of Community
We are honoring our veterans in the Dudley Shoals and Oakhill communities on Saturday, November 11th at 6:00 p.m. with a free meal and a short presentation. We are asking our members to prepare some desserts for this event, and we would appreciate some help in the kitchen and for serving the meal. Helpers should arrive early. Contact Monte or Bleaka Hollar to volunteer. Thank you.
All Saints Sunday Special Presentation, Nov. 5
We will remember and honor our members and our members' loved ones who passed on to be with the Lord since the last All Saints Sunday with a slide show and special liturgy during the 9:00 a.m. worship service on November 5.
(If any of our members have a name to add to the list, please call us now, and provide a photograph for us to use.)
Country Store Fundraiser - Saturday, November 4
We had a great turn-out for this fundraiser. Thank you to all our supporters in the community and beyond.
Ebenezer's women's group is gearing up for another great Country Store Event on Saturday, November 4 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We have gift baskets, homemade baked goods, lots of gently used items, and breakfast biscuits and burgers and hot dogs for sale. Come in and pick up a gift for a loved one, and find a bargain for yourself. Enjoy good hot and delicious food for breakfast and/or lunchtime. Then buy a dessert to take home.
Proceeds will be used to fund the Ebenezer Methodist Women's ministries in the coming year. We thank you for your support.
Trunk R Treat - October 28, 5-7 PM
Come one come all to our annual safe Halloween Party at our annual Trunk R Treat on Saturday, October 28, 5-7:00 p.m.
Our members will be decorating their car trunks and truck beds with scary and not-so-scary decorations, then handing our lots of free candy to all the trick or treaters who come by. Come inside for a free hot dog meal with brownies and cookies for dessert. Everything is free! This is our way of thanking our community for their prayers and support throughout the year. Bring your kids, grandkids, and the neighbors' kids, and have a good time on us.
2023 Homecoming/$10,000 Sunday - Report
We enjoyed seeing faces that we had not seen for a long time at our annual Homecoming Service. Rev. Frank Gordon gave us a sermon that was very appropriate for our current time. We enjoyed wonderfull food after the service. And we pray that God will bless you all for your generosity! We received a grand total of $12,379.75 for our offering, of which, $10,493 goes to our General Fund. Thank you for your support and prayers. May God be glorified, and salvation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ be promoted in all that we do here at Ebenezer Methodist Church.
We are looking forward to a great Homecoming Service on October 8 this year. Worship begins at 10:30 a. m. We have a great deal to celebrate and look forward to in the coming year as we move from the United Methodist Church to Global Methodist Church, and continue with our ministries in our church and community.
Our speaker for this Sunday will be former pastor, Rev. Frank Gordon. We are asking our members to prayerfully consider giving above and beyond on this day of celebration. Our goal is to raise $10,000 over our regular offering amount. God bless you for your generosity and continued support.
If you can, please bring a dish or your favorite food or a dessert to share at the covered-dish meal we will have after the worship service. (Sunday school classes will not meet on this Sunday.)
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Golf Tournament, September 30 - Report
The golfers were blessed with a great meal and a beautiful day for golfing at our Tournament. We raised close to $5,000. Thank you to all our participants and donators. Congratulations to the winning team of Jason Collins and Colby Collins.
We are sponsoring a Golf Tournament at Granada Farms Country Club on Saturday, September 30. Please see the September Newsletter for all the information. Forms may be picked up at Ebenezer UMC.
Businesses and individuals can sponsor a hole for $100. Signs will be provided to honor our sponsors.
Please register by September 23. Contact Kim at (828) 499-0886 to register or pick up forms at our church.
Proceeds will help fund our disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church process and costs. We thank you for your support.
Barbecue Fundraiser, September 22-23 - Report
Praise be to God, and a great big "Thank You," to all our friends and neighbors who gave so generously to this fundraiser. May God bless you all for your generosity and support! We cleared $14,370! Special thanks to the local churches and their members who bought barbecue plates, and all the businesses that helped gather orders and collect the money for the lunchtime deliveries on Friday and Saturday.
We also thank Jeff Yount of Jeff Yount Construction and Grading and his crew that prepared the meat and beans and helped dish it out to our customers. May God bless all of you.
Mark your calendar now! We will be serving up mounds of barbecue in September. We deliver to local area businesses for lunch time on Friday, September 22. Get your order in now.
Eat-in or take-out. Friday, September 22, 11:00-7:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 23, 11:00 a.m. 'til sold out.
Adult plates are $10; children's plates are $5 with barbecue, sauce, slaw, baked beans and roll. Eat-in and take-out plates picked up at Ebenezer include a choice of dessert, and eat-in plates include a beverage.
Also on sale: Whole cooked Boston Butts for $35, and Chopped BBQ for $10 a pound bag. Please order by September 18.
For business lunches, Boston Butts, and bagged barbecue orders call:
(828) 896-7368 or (828) 499-0886.
All proceeds go toward the disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church process costs and fees.
We thank you for your support and prayers.
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Called Charge Conference - August 27 - Report
There were 59 full members present for the vote on Sunday. The motion to disaffiliate from the Western North Carolina Conference (United Methodist Church) passed with 54 "yes" votes and 5 "no" votes. No one abstained. Our Board of Trustees will be representing us in the disaffiliation process.
After that vote, we had another church conference and voted on a motion to apply for membership in the Global Methodist Church. Motion passed unanimously. The Chairperson of the Church Council will begin the process. We will be retaining the name of Ebenezer Methodist Church, dropping the United part. We are not required to and will not add Global to our name.
We thank everyone who prayed us through this decision and voted at the meeting. We ask you to continue to pray for us as we go through the process and pay the costs for leaving the UMC. We know that we have done what was necessary, because of the way the United Methodist Church is moving. We will remain true to God's Word, and thank you for any support that you can give us.
On Sunday, August 27th, starting at 4:30 p.m., we will have a Charge Conference to vote on whether or not to exit (disaffiliate from) the United Methodist Church organization. Only full members of Ebenezer UMC will be provided a ballot and be allowed to vote on this proposal. Assuming the vote calls for us to disaffiliate, we will authorize persons to represent Ebenezer in the process, and vote on whether or not to apply to join the new Global Methodist Church..
Please pray continuously for this vote and process. Our church will be open for prayer on Saturday, August 26th, 9-11:00 a.m.
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Community Fun Day! August 19 - Report
We had a great turn-out for the Community Fun Day. We ran out of hot dogs near the end. The day was gorgeous weather wise, and everyone looked like they were having a great deal of fun.
Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate life, the last days of freedom before school starts, and our appreciation for all members of our community. God loves you, and we do, too. We invite you all to come and worship our beautiful Lord with us on Sundays.
Come to our annual last blast of summer vacation from school for our Community Fun Day on Saturday, August 19, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p. m. We offer up lots of free activities and free food to all our friends and neighbors and their children. Activities include: petting zoo, reptile zoo, fire truck display, water slide and more! Free food includes hot dogs, fruit popcicles, brownies, cupcakes and more!
Children should be accompanied by a responsible adult. For the waterslide, bring a towel and wear appropriate attire.
This is our way of thanking our community for their support of our church and its ministries throughout the year. Thank you! And have a great time!
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Red Cross Blood Drive - July 24 - Report
Thank you to everyone who gave blood and helped with this drive. The Red Cross collected 29 products! May you be blessed by God for your willingness to give.
We are gearing up for our regular summer Blood Drive on Monday, July 24th from 2:30 - 7:00 p.m. Please sign up now at RedCrossBlood.org and enter: Ebenezer UMC to schedule an appointment online. You may call the church office to sign-up also. Hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
We will be serving a spaghetti meal and desserts/snacks to our donors and workers.
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Town Hall - Leaving the UMC, July 16
Report: We thank everyone who attended our Town Hall meeting about Leaving the UMC. We had a good crowd with good questions from the audience. We give special thanks to Jim from the Global Methodist Church and Phil, pastor of Grace Chapel Methodist that recently joined the Global Methodist Church organization, who helped answer some of the questions. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We thank you for any support you can provide us.
We inivite our members and everyone in our community and elsewhere to come to our Town Hall on Sunday, July 16th at 4:00 p.m. to find out why we are considering leaving the United Methodist Church, what this move entails, and where we will go if our members vote to disaffiliate from the UMC. A representative of the new Global Methodist Church will be present to answer questions, too. Refreshments will be served before the presentations and question and answer session. This meeting will be held in the Christian Life Center.
Finding Hope Ministries - July 9
Report: Thank you to everyone who gave to the special love offering for Finding Hope. We raised $529. The kids from Romania, along with our youth had a wonderful time at the pool party and cookout after Sunday school. The Lord blessed us by letting the sun come out soon after we arrived at the Burson's house for the event. Special thanks to Paul and Annette Burson for cooking the food, and lending us their home and pool.
We will host some youth from Finding Hope Ministries on Sunday, July 9, who will bring our message this Sunday during the 9:00 a.m. worship service. We will take up a special love offering during our regular Thank Bank offering. Please plan to give generously to this worthy ministry.
A cookout will be held for the ministries kids and our youth at a nearby member's house and pool. Ebenezer's youth who wish to attend must stay for Sunday school class and bring bathing suits and towels/change of clothing for the cookout. A parent or guardian should attend the cookout, too.
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BBQ Chicken Fundraiser, June 24
Report: Thank you to everyone who bought the chicken and helped with this fundraiser. We raised over $2100. We give a special shout out to the members of Dudley Shoals Baptist Church who are praying for us, and many of them came by for a plate. God bless you all.
Join us on Saturday, June 24 between 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for a delicious lunch or supper of barbecue chicken leg quarters with baked beans, slaw, roll and choice of dessert, and drink for 410 per adult plate. Profits will go toward our church budget/ministries.
We thank you for your support.
Father's Day Display, June 18
Thank you to everyone who contributed pictures and items for our Father's Day display. The table was full. Our fathers gave fullness to our family life, too. Thank you, Lord, for these good men.
We invite our members to bring in small items, photos, or photos of larger items that remind you of your fathers to use in a table display on Father's Day on June 18. Help us to honor and celebrate our fathers.
Mother's Day Display & Celebration
Thank you to everyone who brought items for our Mother's Day display. Here is a photo of the table.
We invite our members to provide us with small items or photos that remind them of their mothers. These will be used in a display honoring our mothers during our regular worship service on May 14th at 9:00 a.m. Please label and bring in your items for display by May 11th. All items will be returned.
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Community Yard Sale with Food, May 6, 2023 Report
The Ebenezer women raised over $750! Thank you to everyone who participated and bought the food.
Our women's group is sponsoring a community yard sale on Saturday, May 6 from 7:00 a.m. to Noon. Anyone in the church or community can rent a table for $10, and sell their used items (keeping proceeds for themselves). The women will be selling breakfast biscuits and, later in the morning, hot dogs for lunch. Food sales proceeds will go toward our Action-MISC fund to help our church with the disaffiliation process.
Easter Sunday Sunrise Service
Report: We were blessed with the presence of 101 people on Easter Sunday. Thank you to everyone who came, worshiped with us, and ate up all that great breakfast food. We are especially grateful to those who contributed to our ministries and to help us pay our bills. May God bring you back to us each Sunday for your blessing and ours.
Get up early Sunday, and join us for our worship service at 7:00 a.m. on April 9th as we celebrate our risen Lord Jesus! There will be lots of singing and praise lifted up to our merciful and powerful Lord.
A free breakfast will be served in the Christian Life Center after the service. (Sunday school classes will not meet.)
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Holy Week Services
Report: Since it rained much of the day, we had the service in the sanctuary with 27 attending. We invite you to join us for our special services the week before Easter Sunday. On Maundy Thursday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m., we will have a worship service in the sanctuary with Communion. On Good Friday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m., we will commemorate Jesus' death while assembled in the Ebenezer Church's cemetery. There will be readings from the Passion narratives. Please bring a lawn chair to use.(This service will be in the sanctuary if the weather is bad.)
Poor Man's Supper/Arts, Crafts Show - Report
Thank you for the very generous donations you gave to our church during this fundraiser. These funds will be set aside to help us with the disaffiliation process for our church from the UMC. We raised over $1400. May God bless you for your help, and guide us as we continue to stand for Christ and his Word.
Ebenezer's Poor Man's Supper is even good for the rich! Have a full plate of pinto beans, cornbread, and all the fixin's for a donation on Saturday, March 25, 4-7:00 p.m. You can also browse through the collections of local artists and crafts people for a unique gift for a friend or for yourself.
We invite our local artists and crafts people to bring in their creations to sale to those who come to eat. You keep your own proceeds, though a donation would be appreciated.
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Red Cross Drive - March 13, 2023 Report
After finally having our Red Cross Blood Drive (postponed from an earlier date), we collected 19 units of blood. We thank everyone who participated by giving blood or helping take care of the donors.
We have rescheduled our winter blood drive to Monday, March 13, 2:30-7:00 p.m. Please schedule your appointment online or call the church office at 828-396-2214, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to let us know you are coming. We need to keep a list of everyone who plans to give to keep the Red Cross from canceling the drive again.
Please visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter : Ebenezer UMC to schedule an appointment.
You can streamline your donation experience and save up to 15 minutes by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass to complete your pre-donation reading and health history questions on the day of your appointment.
Soup and sandwiches will be served to our donors, workers, and volunteers for free. Snacks, sweets, and beverages will be provided, too. We thank you for your generous support of the Red Cross and our church.
New Year's Day; Epiphany Sunday 2023
We will begin the New Year with a worship service at 10:00 a.m. Sunday school classes will not meet. Roy Hamby will bring the message to us while our pastor is on vacation. Happy New Year to everyone!
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