I would like to ask a favor of your Sunday School class. As you probably know, Mike Long will be on vacation the month of July. During this time he will be praying and working on his sermons for next year. Being a pastor of a large church like ours is extremely difficult and stressful. I would like for those in your Sunday School class to send Mike and Terri a note of encouragement during the month of July. They will be spending a lot of time at their lake house in North Carolina, so it would be great if your class could mail their notes to that address. Mike and Terri Long, 1198 Elf School Road, Hayesville, NC 28904

Last Friday in Mike’s Friday Blast, he requested prayers for the following:

Sermon preparation around the next practice of Fruitful Congregations—Risk-Taking Mission and Service.
Ways to reinvigorate our worship services.
How to encourage every member to find some ministry for service and live out his/her membership vows.
Ways to help people stay connected and/or reconnect at RUMC.
Wisdom on bucking the national trend of declining worship attendance.
How to focus my time on the things that really matter and that energize me rather than drain me; getting back to regular exercise; for my critics, feel free to pray for my premature death, because exercise may kill me anyway!
Effective ways to address the real issues that threaten to divide our denomination, so that RUMC is prepared to handle whatever decisions are made about the Bishops’ proposed “Way Forward” in the years ahead.
Wisdom about exciting community opportunities that are developing around Canton Street.
Guidance on how to better organize our lay leadership teams and staff for effective ministry in a changing, unchurched world.
Wisdom about how to handle criticism by speaking the truth in love.
Thanks again for all you do for your Sunday School class and for our church.