My Anchor Holds (an acoustic/soul duo based out of Nashville, Tennessee) performed from 6:45 PM to 7:15 PM in Wesley Hall at St. Andrew United Methodist Church. Husband and wife, Jacob and Katie Eckeberger, are My Anchor Holds. Jacob plays an amplified acoustic guitar while Katie sings. More information about this couple is available at the website http://www.myanchorholds.net/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MyAnchorHolds, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/My_Anchor_Holds/.

Scott L. Engle, Ph.D. taught the first of three all-church study sessions titled “What Christians Believe” based on the Apostles’ Creed. This is a follow-up series to the “Connecting the Dots” study last fall.  John Wesley frequently quoted St. Augustine:
“In the essentials, unity; in all else, liberty; in everything clarity.”

The Apostles’ Creed began as a series of baptism questions. It carries a large part of who Christians believe Jesus is. Beliefs about Jesus define who we are as Christians.

Evil cannot be anything of substance because God did not create evil. Evil is that which destroys good. There is nothing that exists that God did not create. People choose to commit evil acts.

Who is Jesus? He is God’s only Son. He is fully divine and fully human. He is Lord.

Christ is a title not a name. Messiah and Christ are synonyms.

Caesar was known as lord. Jesus as Lord means that He is the master of creation. Since Caesar expected to be lord it was not acceptable for Jesus to be Lord.

Protestants have lost sight of the significance of the Virgin Mary. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born by the Virgin Mary. Therefore, Jesus was fully divine and fully human.

My Anchor Holds performed between 8:20 PM and 8:25 PM and class was dismissed by 8:30 PM. 

The 50+ Re-employment Group of Jewish Family Services in Dallas, Texas met on Monday, 18 February 2013. Mitch Jacobs led this session that was attended by 21 people. If you only apply for jobs on the World Wide Web, you have a 3 percent to 6 percent chance of landing. Job seekers should research people by whom you expect to be interviewed on Google and LinkedIn. Other useful websites include: http://www.onetonline.org/ and http://careeronestop.com/. Each job seeker gave their 30-second introduction and the group critiqued each introduction. 

SKYWARN™ Spotter Training, also known as SKYWARN™ School, was held in the Brownlee Auditorium of the Granville Arts Center in Garland, Texas on Saturday, 16 February 2013. The morning sessions provided basic storm spotter training and was attended by 367 people. The afternoon sessions provided advanced storm spotter training and was attended by 175 to 200 people. Thanks to the Garland Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for sponsoring these training sessions and paying for the use of the venue. This was the 38th consecutive year to have SKYWARN™ training in Garland, Texas.

Representatives of the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth, Texas, including Mark Fox, Dennis Cavanaugh, and Jason Dunn, taught this school. Online training from the National Weather Service is available at http://www.wdtb.noaa.gov/index.html. Follow National Weather Service of Fort Worth on Twitter @NWSFortWorth.

Next year the Garland, Texas SKYWARN™ School is scheduled for Saturday, 15 February 2014.

The following photograph of the Garland SKYWARN™ School on Saturday, 16 February 2013 is from Walt Mayfield, KE5SOO, ARRL North Texas Section Manager, via ARRL_NTX Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/116786575014964/. 

Seven Loaves Food Pantry served 266 individuals by distributing 3,639 pounds of food.

Joseph’s Coat gave 1,088 articles of clothing to 272 people.

Seven Loaves Food Pantry and Joseph’s Coat are ministries of Seven Loaves CommUnity. Both operate out of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. Other ministries of Seven Loaves CommUnity include Project Hope, West Side Clinic, and a legal clinic. 

Sweetheart Dinner and Movie on Friday, 15 February 2013 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas was sponsored by the United Methodist Men. About 25 to 30 couples participated by sharing a variety of Italian themed food items. Pellegrino® sparkling mineral water mixed with flavored syrups and crushed ice was the main beverage. Coffee was also served. Foods included sliced red and green apples, carrots, celery with caramel and ranch dips; cantaloupe; five cheeses; dip and chips; salads; lasagna; spaghetti, and breads. Deserts included fresh strawberries with whipped cream, carrot cake, chocolate cake, fruit pies, and cobblers. Festival Hall was quickly rearranged from round dining tables to two rows of sofas for the movie. We enjoyed watching the movie “Midnight in Paris” written and directed by Woody Allen. This was a pleasant evening of conversation, dining, and entertainment. 

United Methodist Men of St. Andrew United Methodist Church cooked and served regular and blueberry pancakes at the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. Fruit and candy toppings for the pancakes, orange juice, and bottled water were served. Images of giant stacks of pancakes were projected onto the east wall of Wesley Hall. Tables were decorated with Mardi Gras beads and chocolate coins. This event for the entire family was hosted by the Children’s Ministry of St. Andrew United Methodist Church of Plano, Texas.

Scott L. Engle Ph.D. teaches a Bible study on most Mondays. He taught a study of Philemon on Monday, 11 February 2013 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. Paul wrote this letter himself, rather than have a scribe write it for him, to Philemon regarding Onesimus who was Philemon’s slave.

On the next three Monday nights (18 & 25 February and 04 March 2013), this class will meet in Wesley Hall rather than Piro Hall. Scott will teach an all church Bible study titled “What Christians Believe” on these three Monday nights. See http://www.standrewumc.org/connect/events-and-registration/#c9190 for a description of this study.  

50+ Re-employment Group met on Monday, 11 February 2013 at Jewish Family Services in Dallas, Texas. Allison Harding led this session that was attended by 21 people. Allison is the Director of Career Employment Services at Jewish Family Services - Dallas.

Every person in the workforce or looking for employment should have a LinkedIn profile that is 100 percent complete. Unemployed persons network through their LinkedIn contacts to find people in their target companies.

Resume on Monster, Career Finder, Indeed, and similar websites needs to be generic. This resume needs to be updated weekly to keep it near the top of the list that recruiters see; otherwise, it moves further down the list each week. Recruiters look at resumes near the top of the list only. When a recruiter responds to a resume on one of these websites, continue to use that resume instead of providing a customized resume.

There are two categories of recruiter: executive/independent and corporate/in-house. The executive/independent is NOT interested in a job seeker unless they see potential to place them in a job. The only get paid when they match an applicant to an employer. Corporate/in-house recruiters are typically 21 to 28 years old who are looking at 200 to 1000 resumes each business day.

Do NOT pay for job search tools. There are plenty of FREE tools for job searches.

Jobs from $35,000 to $70,000 are GONE! They are on the road or highway to NOWHERE. These jobs have been replaced by entry level jobs at $25,000 plus bonuses. Get off of the NOWHERE highway, and get out of your box. Go to professional society meetings and volunteer. Every place where you interact with people provides opportunities to meet somebody who will provide information that leads to a job. You never know when or where you will meet the person.

Likewise, stay in contact with former colleagues. People who you have worked with know what you can do and enjoy doing; therefore, they can recognize job opportunities that might be a good fit for you and provide you information that might lead to your next job.

There is an average of 1000 applicants for each job description. Each resume gets seven seconds of the recruiter’s attention. Buzz words need to be near the top of resume. If the recruiter sees something related to the job they are trying to fill, they will read more of that resume.

Use STAR stories in interviews to distinguish yourself from other applicants. STAR is a mnemonic for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Thus, a STAR story describes a situation, the task or action performed to produce the result.  Hiring managers are more likely to remember the candidate who told a STAR story than candidates who do not tell STAR stories. 

Seven Loaves CommUnity managers met on Monday, 11 February 2013. Six people participated in this meeting. Seven Loaves Food Pantry, Joseph’s Coat, and West Side Clinic were represented.

The food pantry served 1800 people during January 2013.

It was decided that a brief meeting beginning at 3:45 PM and ending before the pantry opens at 4:00 PM is the most convenient time for face-to-face meetings. New technology including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will be used to exchange information and minimize the need for face-to-face meetings. Successful non-profits are on the cutting edge of technology. Seven Loaves volunteers are encouraged to like, follow, and connect with the Seven Loaves CommUnity on these social media.

Most volunteers at the Thursday food pantry are retired or otherwise unemployed. This enables them to be at the pantry during typical business hours. Most volunteers at the Saturday food pantry are currently employed and only able to volunteer on Saturday.

Terry Breedlove is arranging to print Certificates of Appreciation on card stock. This certificate will be given to organizations and individuals who provide significant support to Seven Loaves CommUnity. The organization or individual will be named on the certificate and the function of Seven Loaves CommUnity supported will be identified. Chic-fil-A will be one of the first to receive this Certificate of Appreciation.

One possible project is to place boxes with billboards in various businesses to collect change donations. Another possible project will be Seven Loaves Check Printers placed in automobile dealership; this could be an Eagle Scout project.

Kohl’s Department Store is accepting nominations of persons less than 18 years of age to recognize for their volunteer activities. Terry Breedlove is open for nominations of Seven Loaves volunteers who can be submitted to Kohl’s.

West Side Clinic has been canceled due because there were no medical care providers. Paid staff has been removed. Financial qualification is scaring potential clients away. Clinic is in desperate need of consistent leadership.

Email distribution lists need to be updated to enable appropriate information about each part of Seven Loaves CommUnity to be sent to each address.

Terry Breedlove has ordered four new signs that have the correct pantry times displayed.

We need to get word out that Seven Loaves volunteers can get credit for Seven Loaves Food Pantry by volunteering at the North Texas Food Bank. They need to sign in on the Seven Loaves Food Pantry account at the North Texas Food Bank. 

The United Methodist Men (UMM) of St. Andrew United Methodist Church (SAUMC) met on Saturday, 09 February 2013. Steve Sutton led this meeting attended by 16 men.

Messenger of Hope Scholarship
There was a brief discussion about the Messenger of Hope Scholarship.

Sweetheart Dinner & Movie
Online registration for Sweetheart Dinner & Movie is progressing and the variety of food items being brought is better than might be expected. Registration ends on 11 February 2013. This event is on Friday, 15 February 2013 and begins at 6:30 PM in Festival Hall. The movie “Midnight in Paris” should begin at 8:00 PM.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
The United Methodist Men need to arrive at the church on Tuesday, 12 February 2013 at 4:30 PM to prepare pancakes for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. The program begins at 6:00 PM in Wesley Hall. Ten men signed up to help at this event.

Registration
Register for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and/or the Sweetheart Dinner & Movie at http://www.standrewumc.org/connect/events-and-registration/.

Fearless by Max Lucado
Jim Vittetoe led the continuation of this study. Chapter 5 My Child is in Danger – Fear of Not Protecting My Kids was discussed. The agenda for this discussion was:

• Current Day
  
• Jesus Day
  
• Responses
  
• Discussion

Fears include:

• Loosing Child to Accident
• Not Helping Financially
• Enabling Poor Financial Behavior with Financial Assistance

SAUMC UMM 2013 Objectives
Discussion of what should be done in 2013 over and above the usual activities. 

What actions need to be taken to increase the UMM membership? 

People will join activities before they join the group. 

Have staff minister speak to UMM quarterly. These sessions might have to be on a day other than Saturday to accommodate the staff minister’s schedule. It might be possible to arrange for interns from Perkins Theological Seminary to fill this objective. – Tom will take the lead on this. 

Messenger of Hope Scholarship – Mike, Jeff, Joe, and Micah will take the lead here; will be invited to join these leaders

• Help kids find more scholarship dollars (http://www.fastweb.com/)
  
• Keep focused – expand scholarship program – mentor students throughout their college career (Rotary Club Model)   with one United Methodist man paired with one college student; however, MinistrySafe might require two adults per student
  
• Provide team mentoring – team with United Methodist Women
  

Social Activity – Scott will take the lead for this