Holy Week Events Prepare for Resurrection Day (3/20/16 – 3/27/16)
Easter Sunday is quickly approaching! In order to celebrate the resurrection, we need to experience everything that led up to that glorious morning. On Palm Sunday, March 20, we considered the beginning of this Holy Week when our Lord entered Jerusalem. Our choirs led us through a special worship where to journeyed from the palms, through the cross, and to the empty tomb. During this special week, PUMC is providing some special opportunities to prepare ourselves for the majesty of Easter...
Read MorePUMC Planning some Fireworks with the Phillies! (7/2/16)
Attention Phillies baseball fans and fireworks fans! You are invited to be part of the church group attending the Phillies game against the World Series Champions, Kansas City Royals on Saturday, July 2nd at Citizens Bank Park! The game starts at 5:50 PM. A phantastic fireworks show will be right after the game! Seats are in section 313 rows 1 and 2 with a phantastic view of the game, the city skyline, and fireworks! You may drive on your own or by church van. Contact Doug Pownall as soon...
Read MoreMen’s Fellowship Retreats and Grows into Leadership (3/11/16)
Sometimes it’s really helpful to shift your focus from the daily routine, and get away to spend some time with friends around a time of learning, worship, and fellowship. And that’s exactly what a retreat is! For the 15th year in a row, our Men’s Fellowship group took a weekend apart and traveled to the Black Rock Retreat Center in Quaryville, PA. It’s a familiar place for us, but each weekend has its own character and its own take-aways of growth and learning. This...
Read MoreChoirs set to Lead Palm Sunday Worship (3/20/16)
Can it be Palm Sunday already? Didn’t we just celebrate or Lord’s birth??? Yes- we’re there. The Lord is coming! On Sunday March 20, we will “sing hosanna” to our Savior by worshiping in music. During both services, our Choirs and Praise Team will lead a musical journey through Holy Week. Traditional hymns and contemporary praise music will be sung by the choirs. The music to be “presented” will be familiar to most of the congregation, so sing...
Read MoreA Future with Hope: Billy’s Story
This post is another in a series of updates about our efforts to help people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012… Billy’s home was filled with 6 feet of water. Everything was destroyed, but they somehow took a strange comfort in knowing that everyone else was going through the same problem. But he was on his own… he lost his job, and was burdened with an overwhelming list of tasks that had to be done. He looked for grants eventually discovered “A...
Read MoreFor Lent, Let’s Lose a Bad Habit (2/28/16)
We are now into a season of preparation for the passion and resurrection of our Lord. This preparation- which we call Lent- involves reevaluating our Walk and then getting rid of anything that’s getting in the way. Last Week, Pastor Jim showed us how to give up the “bad attitude” of being judgmental. This week, we continued the series of “Bad things” by focusing on Bad Habits. Click the below “Play” button and scroll down to follow along (the...
Read MorePUMC Scrambles to Organize Easter Egg Hunt! (3/26/16)
Easter eggs… Really? Eggs represent life, and new life comes from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. So we’re going to use the symbol of Easter Eggs to help teach our children about the true meaning of Easter… and to have a little fun while we’re at it! On Holy Saturday, March 26, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, we will host our 8th annual Easter Egg Hunt. There will be lunch, a “special presentation,” and (of course) plenty of Easter eggs. Last year’s Egg...
Read MoreFor Lent, Lose the ‘Tude! (2/21/16)
We are now into a season of preparation for the passion and resurrection of our Lord. This preparation- which we call Lent- involves reevaluating our Walk and then getting rid of anything that’s getting in the way. With this message, Pastor Jim began a Lenten series called: “For Lent, Give Up Something Bad!” Too often we think of lent as being a time to temporarily give up something that’s not really bad… just to give up something as an act of sacrifice. But...
Read MoreOur Father’s House Rocks! (2/25/16)
We need to put Jesus Above All else! Is He greater than your favorite TV star? Is He greater than your favorite athlete? What about music? Is Jesus your favorite Rock Star??? On Thursday Feb. 22 a group from Our Father’s House (our preschool), joined their own “rock band”, picked up their plastic guitars, started out with “ABC Rock” and then moved on by “rocking” to many Spiritual Hits such as: He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands I’m Happy...
Read MoreBLAST Locked In on Getting Up in the World! (2/26/16)
Some major BLAST activity will be going on over the weekend of February 26-27. BLAST (Big Loud Awesome Spiritual Time) is our Youth Group. On Friday 2/26 we’re going to begin an overnight lock-in at the church by escaping to the High Elevations Trampoline park. After that, we’ll return to the church for an overnight “lock-in.” Here’s the itinerary: 8:30 – 11:00 PM High Elevations Trampoline Park 11:00 – 12:00 AM Pizza (back in the church) 12:00...
Read MoreYoung Adults are Fixin’ for Fun on the Beach! (3/5/16)
Ocean City? Beach? It’s only March!!! So what? It’s getting warmer, and our new Young Adults group can’t wait to take advantage of the tastes of Spring that we’re slowly being blessed with. On Saturday March 5, we’re traveling to Ocean City to play Ultimate Frisbee on the beach and enjoy other fun on the boards. We will finish with dinner there and then head back to Pitman UMC. Meet at Pitman UMC at 2:00 PM and we will be returning approximately 7:00 PM. Please...
Read MoreBoy Scouts set to Hold Spaghetti Dinner! (4/2/16)
PUMC is honored to host Boy Scout Troop 55, and one of the great things about that is their annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser! This year’s dinner will be served in our Fellowship Hall on Saturday April 2, from 4-7PM. Here are the details: Menu: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, and… Etc. Food: Tastes great! Service: Friendly, and Fast as an Eagle! When: Saturday April 2, 4-7PM Price (adults): $10 Price (kids): $8 (smaller portion) This is an annual...
Read MoreWho’s Your Valentine? (2/14/16)
February 14… Valentine’s Day! Is it just another “Hallmark Holiday?” What is Love? What do we do with it? And bigger than that, what does it mean to be loved by God? And- really important- what do we do with THAT??? Pastor Jim took a look at these questions (and at some questionable pop music) during his sermon of February 14, 2016. Click the below “Play” button and scroll down to follow along (the recording is from the 9:30 service)… The...
Read MoreValentine’s Day Love Appears at PUMC (2/14/16)
The letters “PUMC” stands for “Pitman United Methodist Church”, but they mean so much more than a building, or a particular church, or an institution. “PUMC” is simply a gathering of people who are motivated by the Holy Spirit to grow closer to God and to extend His love to others. We are a people who see the Cross and react by reaching out our own arms. In our church on this morning of the day we call Valentine’s Day, the Holy Spirit’s work of...
Read MoreA Future with Hope: The Hope Chain
This post is another in a series of updates about our efforts to help people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012… On this Valentine’s Day, let’s turn our attention to others and in some way latch on to the way that God loves and cares for His children with the Body of Christ. Here is the story of the Hope Chain… A Future With Hope On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey. The destruction left by that storm was...
Read MoreCongregants Get a Dress-Down! (2/7/16)
As soon as we arrived to worship on Sunday February 7 (2016), we knew things would be different. Actually, Pastor Jim always tries to keep us on our toes, but this Sunday he greeted us wearing a Jerry Rice San Franscisco 49’ers jersey! One look around the sanctuary and it was easy to see that something was up when people were wearing clothes emblazoned with names such as Phillies, Eagles, Steelers, and Flyers. It was Super Bowl Sunday, and we were going to change things up a bit to...
Read MorePlaying on God’s Super Team (2/7/16)
Super Bowl Sunday! The day of the Big Game! In a few hours the Denver Broncos would battle the Carolina Panthers; each team trying to reach the endzone and to win the Super Bowl prize. Both teams taking their turns making mistakes (fumbles and turnovers). During our worship service we observed this “special day” by dressing down and wearing our favorite team jerseys. Our goal wasn’t to worship Sports; our goal was to learn whatever spiritual lessons we could from this...
Read MoreLenten Devotional for 2016
Members from four local churches have come together to produce a Daily Devotional for this year’s Lenten season. The booklets were published in hardcopy form and distributed within the participating churches, but electronic copies of the devotions are presented here. If you want a printed copy, visit or contact one of the participating churches: Evangelical UMC (Clarksboro) Zion Community Church (Clarksboro) Trinity United Methodist Church (Mullica Hill) and Pitman United Methodist...
Read MoreAsh Wednesday Service (2/10/16)
The Christian calendar has taken us from Advent, through Christmas, through Epiphany, and now we have reached Lent. Everything from the birth to the wise men leads us to this time that climaxes with the resurrection of our Savior on Easter Sunday. The season of Lent is a time of reflection: How is our relationship with God? Am I obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit? Am I growing closer to Christ? And, if not, what’s getting in the way? Pastor Jim’s Lenten sermon series is...
Read MorePUMC Celebrates Ministries with Luncheon (1/31/16)
Just a quick glance through our church newsletter (Steeple Notes), or through the “Coming Events” section of our bulletin, or at the Monthly Calendar (see the link on the website sidebar), reveals that this church is “busy.” But being “busy” and “doing things” doesn’t necessarily mean we’re “doing things” that glorify God. But when the Holy Spirit leads us into these activities, we are then participating in the...
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