It's time again for the annual P(aper), P(lastic) and H(anger) Collection. 

Recycle your extra clothes hangers and paper and plastic bags! Plastic bags will be given to Irving Cares for use in their food pantry. Paper bags and hangers will be used during the Missions Garage Sale in August.

Drop off your donations in the collections boxes located in the Ministries Center from May 13 - May 27.

The 2012 Irving Great Days of Service (GDS) finishes this weekend, April 20, 21. The GDS Closing Celebration for volunteers & homeowners is Sun. Apr. 22. The time is 2:00 pm @, First UMC. Refreshments will be served.

The PPUMC/GDS house repair project located @ 1008 English will be completed on Fri. afternoon 4/20. The house project for Sat. Apr. 21 is located @ 1731 N. Nursery. Repairs needed are carpentry, electrical, plumbing, painting & yard. Team captain is Frank Spitzig. We need more volunteers to help complete this project. Lunches, drinks & fellowship are provided.

Volunteers bring hope, caring and fellowship to our neighbors in need. Also their homes are repaired and their neighborhoods are improved.

The Missions Committee appreciates your support & generosity for this local annual mission project. Contact Andy Schellenberg to volunteer or for details.

You for additional information or to volunteer you may contact Rev. Dana Norton at danna@ppumc.org or 972-255-4185, ext. 202 and she will get you in touch with Frank or Andy.

The PPUMC Missions Committee will be at the Kroger Store on Beltline collecting food for Irving Cares on Saturday, March 31.

The PPUMC Children’s Ministry, Adult Ministry and Music Ministry sponsor this year’s fun and tasty event. All funds raised will support the PPUMC “Community Awareness Fund”, a special fund helping those individuals who come to our church for much-needed help!

Want to test your chili-making skills? For a $10.00 entrance fee, you can be one of twenty competitors in the cook-off! Your chili could be named “Crowd Favorite”, “Spiciest”, “Most Unusual” and possibly even “Judge’s Winner”. The entry deadline is Sunday, March 18th.

Here’s what else you can do!

Help Underwrite the Cost of the “House” Chili:
Competition chili will be available for sampling, but we will be preparing “house” chili in our newly refurbished kitchen for our meal. We hope to defray the cost of the “house” chili with donations.

Come to the Event:
Ticket prices are: Adult - $7.00, children up to 10 years old - $2.50 and children 2 and under - free. Your adult ticket will include the meal and 3 sampling tickets. Additional sampling tickets will be available at 3 for a $1.00!

Volunteer to Help at the Event:
We welcome volunteers to help serve, tally judge’s scores, assist contestants, etc.!

To sign up as a contestant, to volunteer or to purchase tickets for the Chili Cook Off, please visit the Chili Cook Off table in the ministries area starting Sunday, February 26th. You may also contact Karla Martin at kj_martin@att.net to sign up as a contestant or if you need additional information.

Come join us for great food and great fun!

Grab your favorite kids and come explore Robotics with American Robotics Academy on Friday, March 23 from 6:30-8pm in Fellowship Hall.

Have fun with the Lego Technic gears, axles, beams and bricks, building wacky contraptions. Add a motor, and watch your contraption go. We welcome dads, boys, girls, grandpas, uncles, special friends, and even moms. It is most appropriate for pre-k – 5th grades but everyone is welcome.

Do you have a story or a lesson to share?

Now is the time to start listening for how God will guide you to share your experiences as part of our journey together as the body of Christ.

Your contribution will be do February 19th, but it’s not too early to start praying of how you will share in this important time in the life of our church.

This Sunday, Feb. 5th, 140 million Americans will tune in to the Super Bowl football game. There will be parties with abundant food, friendship and fellowship. At the same time, there will be people worrying about staying warm, finding shelter and a warm meal.

Our youth will hold soup pots at church doors to collect cans of soup and donations for the Souper Bowl of Caring. They will join young people in churches across the country to collect money for those who are hungry and hurting. In 2011, over 18,000 groups participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring generating over $9 million.

The soup will go to Irving Cares. All of the money will be donated to the special fund in our church that helps members of PPUMC who need financial assistance. Since the Souper Bowl of Caring began in 1990, more than $81 million has gone to help people in need. Please support the youth of our church in this effort to “love our neighbors” by dropping your dollar in the soup pot on February 5.

PPUMC is offering five Candlelight Communion services in celebration of Christmas Eve. A "Christmas Service of Hope and Remembrance" will be held in the sanctuary at 2:30 p.m. The Reverend Dana Norton, associate pastor, will lead this special service designed to minster especially to those who have experienced grief or loss this past year. This “Blue Christmas” service will seek to offer a word of hope and encouragement, and will include communion and special prayers of healing for all those present. Child care provided with 48 hours notice to Cori Bell 972-255-4185/cori@ppumc.org.

At 5:00 p.m., a Children’s Celebration of Christmas will be presented, led by the children of PPUMC. This family-friendly worship service will include readings of scripture, communion, familiar Christmas carols, and a reenactment of the Christmas story as performed by the children of our church. Child care is provided.

A traditional Candlelight Communion service will be offered at 7:00 p.m., officiated by Dr. Bill La Barr, senior pastor. The Chancel Choir and organist Ken Surley will present the music for this service. Child care is provided.

We will also be offering a non-traditional Christmas Communion Service at 9:00 p.m. with music led by Plymouth Park Praise. This service will include old and new carols in a contemporary style, as well as a message from Dr. La Barr. Communion by intinction will be served at the close of the service. Child care provided with 48 hours notice to Cori Bell 972-255-4185/cori@ppumc.org.

Our 11:00 p.m. service will be a Meditative and Reflective Service of Communion with Dr. La Barr preaching. This service will be prayerful in nature, as together we await the arrival of Christmas Day. No Child care provided.

PPUMC offers a range of worship opportunities to help you and your family prepare to welcome again the Christ child into our world. We hope to see you Christmas Eve!

You may not have yet realized that this year, Christmas Day falls on a Sunday!

In lieu or our usual Sunday morning worship schedule, PPUMC will be holding one service of worship in the Sanctuary at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 25th. After opening presents with the kids and enjoying a Christmas feast with the family, come join us for a celebration of worship as we give thanks for our blessings and welcome to our world once again the Christ child. Kids are invited to come in their p.j.'s and bring a toy which we will bless as part of the service. We will sing Christmas Carols and hear Dr. La Barr preach about the shepherds in the field in a sermon entitled "To be a messenger of peace." Let us worship together with a joyous, great, and informal Christmas Day service!

As we give thanks for our blessings and look ahead to the celebration of Christ's birth, PPUMC Missions Committee suggests a variety of opportunities to meet the needs of persons in our community and around the world.

This year's projects focus on helping neighborhood children, families and senior citizens, plus several area ministries. Detailed lists of needs and donation information is available at the Missions display in the Ministry Center. Opportunities for individuals, families, Sunday school classes or groups include:

Selecting a Salvation Army Forgotten Angel from the Missions Christmas tree and purchasing one or more gifts for a child, teen or elderly Metroplex resident. Gifts are needed no later than Sun. Dec. 4.

Adopting a student (and their siblings) from Farine Elementary School, our church's Partner In Education. Gifts are needed by Sun. Dec. 11.

Providing toys and clothing for children with an incarcerated parent through the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Program. This year the PPUMC Youth have adopted the families.

Adopting a resident of a local nursing home. Suggested needs are sweat tops and bottoms, small-size lotions, shampoo, soap, lap throws, magazines, etc. Donations need to be back by Sunday, Dec. 4.

Making donations to the Bethlehem Center in Dallas, the Methodist home in San Antonio, the Denton Wesley Center Campus Ministries, the Methodist Home in Waco, and the UMCOR Texas Wildfire Fund. Checks may be made out to PPUMC and marked for your selected ministry or placed in the appropriate envelopes in the Ministry Center.

Remember our church and neighbors during this holiday season. Share the love and real meaning of Christmas by giving your time and money generously.