✋ HURRICANE HELENE RESPONSE - PRAY. GIVE. GO.

Our hearts and prayers are with the people in Western North Carolina and across the Southeast who have been impacted by the devastation from Hurricane Helene. In the aftermath, so many people are left grieving, displaced, and desperate for help, and it's hard to know what to do. The road to recovery will be long, but we can continue to help in the following ways:

Pray - Pray for those impacted by this storm and their loved ones. Pray for those who have lost their homes and businesses. Pray for restoration of families, homes, power, and a sense of normalcy. Pray for the responders and officials who faithfully serve to aid before, during, and after storms. And pray for the faith leaders journeying with their communities during this difficult time and over the long haul.

Give - Give to our Disaster Relief fund (select Disaster Relief in the Fund dropdown). Donations will go to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) where 100% of gifts are utilized to offer aid and resources for the storm victims.

Go - Once efforts have moved out of the emergency relief phase with trained disaster relief workers, teams will be sent to help those impacted by the storm. If you are interested in being part of a work team, please contact Suzanne Botts.

✋ JOIN OUR DISASTER RESPONSE TEAM

Are you interested in helping to rebuild homes, communities, and lives after disasters hit? If so, we'd love for you to join our Disaster Response Team. There will be plenty of opportunities in the upcoming months to serve in Western North Carolina as well as in other NC areas that still need help from previous disasters. From mucking out mud to building relationships, there are many roles to fill with varying skill sets. To join our team, please fill out this survey. Have questions? Contact Suzanne Botts sbotts1@yahoo.com. We'd love for several of our team members to get Early Response Training. Click here for upcoming training dates.

✋ COLLECTING COATS & OTHER ITEMS TO HELP KEEP OUR NEIGHBORS WARM

As the weather gets cooler, we are collecting gently used and/or new winter coats, hats, and gloves for Western North Carolina and White Flag guests. Items can be dropped off in the collection bins at our church entrances. Additionally, the First Baptist Clothing Closet is in great need of gently-used men’s clothing. All sizes needed!

✋ HELP A CHILD THRIVE - BECOME A MENTOR

Do you have an hour a week to spare and a desire to help kids thrive? If so, at Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) there is a student waiting for you! It takes over 300 volunteers to make N2N happen, and each year there is a waiting list of students wanting to be in their program. N2N is looking for mentors for the 2024-25 school year. The commitment is one hour a week. You choose the day (Monday through Thursday) and a 4:30-5:30 p.m. or 5:45-6:45 p.m. time slot. Through N2N's after-school mentoring program, struggling students are growing 1.5 grade levels per year - 3x the national average! Click here to get involved!

✋ LOVE FEAST SERVERS NEEDED

It's time to start preparing for Advent, already! The Love Feast will be held again this year on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at 5:00 pm. Volunteers Becky Ogburn and Brenda Farlow will be leading our volunteer team of servers. This year we will need twenty-eight servers. Servers should gather in the Sanctuary on Sunday, 12/8 at 3:00 pm for training prior to the service as well as wrapping of the buns. Servers should wear white on the top, and black on the bottom (pants or skirts are acceptable!) We encourage both youth and adult servers to sign up. Servers do not need to sign up in pairs. Individual servers will be assigned a partner by our volunteer leaders.

Please note, members of the Chancel Choir, Youth Choir, Wesley Ringers and Youth Handbell Choir will be leading worship at the Love Feast and will not be available to act as servers.

Sign up here

❤️ CHURCH NAME TAG

You are invited to order a permanent nametag to wear to church on Sundays. Please sign up here to order a nametag.

❤️ DEATH AND FUNERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Below we share with you the death of loved ones in our Edenton Street community. Please take a moment to offer prayers of gratitude for their life and for their family as we grieve this loss together.

Joyce Ledbetter’s mother, Nellie Callaway, passed away on October 26, 2024.

To view funeral livestreams, click here.

To sign up for death and funeral emails, click here.

✋ eSTREET KIDS SUNDAY MORNING VOLUNTEERS

Volunteering for eStreet Kids Sunday morning Ministries is a fun and rewarding experience and we want you! We are looking for youth (6th grade and above) and adults of any age to help serve as Sunday School and Wiggler Worship leaders and helpers.

The time commitment for Sunday School Helpers and Leaders is 9:15-10:15am.

Lesson plans will be sent via email the beginning of each week and all materials be ready when you arrive on Sunday morning.

Sunday School will kick off for the fall on September 8th.

Wiggler Worship is during the 10:30am services.

For Wiggler Worship, you will sign up to walk children from either the Gathering or Sanctuary. You can also sign up to lead the lesson!

Sunday School Trainings will be offered August 18th and September 22nd from 9:45-10:15am in the Library.

If you have questions, or want to learn more, email Shannon Montague, Director of Children and Family Ministries, at smontague@esumc.org.

❤️ ESTREET KIDS MUSIC & WORSHIP ARTS

Join us Sundays, 4:00 - 6:00 PM as we train our children to be worship leaders through the arts! All children in Grades K-5th are invited to participate as we learn about music, dance, singing, and leading in worship! You may participate in one, two, or all three of our areas:

Liturgical Dance | 4:00-4:40 | Room 357

Children's Choir | 4:40-5:20 | Room 161 (K-1st Grade) or Choir Annex (3rd-5th Grade)

Handbells/ Handchimes | 5:20-6:00 pm | Room 161 (K-2nd) and Choir Annex (3rd-5th Grade)

Questions? Message Dr. Filippa: fmduke@esumc.org.

❤️ JOIN THE CHANCEL CHOIR

Do you love to sing? We'd love for you to join the Chancel Choir this fall! We are a fun-loving group of singers that meet weekly to lead worship at the 10:30 Sanctuary service. We rehearsal on Thursdays at 7 pm and welcome all voice parts to our group. We are beginning our rehearsals for the fall on Thursday, August 22nd and would love to see you there! All youth and adults are invited.

Contact Dr. Filippa Duke (fmduke@esumc.org) to learn more about our ministry and how you can be a part of the choir community at Edenton Street!

❤️ JOIN THE WESLEY RINGERS

The Wesley Ringers are excited to be back in action this fall and we would LOVE for you to join our group! This is a fun ensemble of ringers that meets on Sunday nights from 6:30-7:30 pm. Now is a great time to learn about ringing bells as all of the parts are covered by at least one ringer. This means that it would be an ideal time for new ringers to join without the pressure of being the only ringer on a part! No prior ringing experience is necessary, but music reading is very helpful. Contact Dr. Filippa Duke at fmduke@esumc.org to learn more (and find out how to be a part of introductory bell ringing lessons!).

✋ WEEKLY MEAL PROGRAM

Join us in this win, win effort!  You get a night off from cooking, and proceeds from each meal go to A Place at the Table to help our neighbors facing food insecurity.  You can purchase small or large dishes.  Pick up is on Sunday mornings or you can arrange a time during the week.  

Click the links below to place your orders!

Nov 10: Baked Ziti w/Italian Sausage (order deadline 11/5)
Nov. 17:  Beef Pot Pie (order deadline 11/12)

❤️ NEW BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations to Matthew & Crystal Hawks on the birth of their daughter, Hazel Elaine, on October 26, 2024

Have you or someone you know had a baby? We want to know! Please fill out this form and submit so we can welcome and support our families.

❤️ PRAYER + CARE MINISTRY

You are not alone. In a hurting world, Edenton St. has people who can be Christ’s presence to walk with you and pray for you during difficult times. There are multiple ways you can submit a request for Prayer + Care.

• Online- esumc.org: Heart / Prayer Request
• Prayer + Care Request Cards: Boxes are located in the Narthex, Garden Gallery Welcome Wagon, Kerr Hall Lobby (Gathering), and the Curtis Center Lobby and can also be placed in the offering at any of our three worship services.
• On the reverse side of the request cards, you will find the website / App path, mailing address, and church phone number.

You are not alone.

✋ EVENT SPACE @ ESUMC

If you are part of an organization that needs event space, please consider using our church's beautiful facilities!

Our Facility Use Policy, which was written and adopted by our Board of Trustees in 2022, exists to identify opportunities for persons or organizations to rent our facilities for a fee. All requests are carefully vetted and fees determined based on a tiered structure outlined in our Facility Use Policy. Please note, all church sponsored events take precedence over outside event rentals!!

Since the adoption of this policy, we have rented our space to many corporate entities, non profit organizations, and individuals wishing to use our facilities for meetings, recitals, basketball tournaments and even children's birthday parties. If you or someone you know wishes to rent our facility for an outside event, please use this link to submit a request.

❤️✋ SPECIAL NEEDS MINISTRY

eStreet Kids will be launching a Special Needs Ministry this fall. Our goal is to train and create a team of volunteers that can be a buddy to a special needs child on Sunday mornings while the family of the child attends worship. We will provide all training necessary, the only qualifications are patient, compassionate and willing. If you are interested in leading, or volunteering as a buddy, please contact Shannon Montague, Director of Children and Family Ministries at smontague@esumc.org.

❤️ ALTAR FLOWER DONATIONS

Have you ever thought about blessing our traditional service with altar flower donations?  It can be from a study group, Sunday School class,  family, several families, a memorial, or a celebration and more.  If you are interested, please contact Lewanna Stout at  grammystout@nc.rr.com and she will lead you through the process.

❤️ PRAYER RESOURCES

At ESUMC, we use four elements to form our decisions. These are: prayer, discernment, consensus and communication. Prayer is at the top of that list. As we move through a challenging season, we lean on prayer more than ever before. Therefore, we are providing some tools to guide your individual prayer practices. By clicking here, you can find three methods of connecting with God in tangible ways. May this be a blessing to you.

✋❤️ SUNDAY MORNING HOSPITALITY

We are in search of more Sunday morning greeters to offer God's welcome to all who enter our doors on Sunday mornings. If you are looking for a way to plug into a new ministry, and feel a call to welcoming others into our church family, we invite you to serve as a Sunday morning hospitality servant. For more information about joining the Sunday morning hospitality team, please fill out this form.

✋ WEEKDAY HOSPITALITY

We would love for you to join our dedicated team of weekday receptionists to offer God's welcome to all who enter our doors! No computer skills necessary, and training will be provided. For more information, please fill out this form, or email Lewanna Stout at grammystout@nc.rr.com.

✋ FIXER UPPERS MINISTRY

Are you a church member with basic maintenance and handy person skills? We invite you to join our new ministry group, "Fixer Uppers"! As part of this group, you will have the opportunity to volunteer your time and skills to perform basic punch list projects around the church. Help us keep our church in tip-top shape and create a welcoming environment for everyone.

If you're interested in joining the Fixer Uppers ministry group, please fill out this form, or contact Brian McGuire at bmcguire@esumc.org

👤❤️ CHILDREN’S MINISTRY SUNDAY MORNINGS

Nursery (ages 3 months-3 years old) 8:15-11:30
Sunday School (ages 3 years old- 5th grade) 9:45-10:15
Wiggle Worship (ages 3 years old-2nd grade) During the 10:30 services.
Worship Bags with Activities available in for all services for ages 2nd through 5th grade.)

If you have any questions or would like to know more, reach out to Shannon Montague, Director of Children's and Family Ministries. smontague@esumc.org

✋ DOORSTEP MINISTRY

Our Doorstep Ministry helps vulnerable neighbors avoid homelessness by providing financial assistance with rent and utilities to get them over a bump in the road such as an unexpected medical bill, car repair, or temporary job loss. You can help a family stay in their home or keep their utilities on by donating to this vital ministry. Give here.

✋ A BRIDGE INTO A NEW SEASON

Join us as we covenant together, household by household, to continue to be in the ways of Jesus in the year ahead.

Click Here To Make A 2024 Pledge