Anniston First United Methodist Church

10/03/2026

There’s something pretty special about seeing in action. 💛

Wednesday night, our Family Ministries group gathered at Camp Lee to spread fresh mulch around the Lucy Bryan Memorial Playground—and some of our most eager helpers were also some of our youngest. 🥹

Little hands grabbed rakes and shovels and jumped right in alongside the adults, helping care for a place created for children to play, laugh, and make memories.

We’re so grateful for everyone who gave their time and energy to this project and especially thankful to see the next generation learning that there’s always a way to serve. 💚

The Lucy Bryan Memorial Playground continues to be a beautiful place of joy, love, and community at Camp Lee—and Wednesday night made it even sweeter. 🌿🛝

10/03/2026

Make plans now to lend a hand next weekend for our Children & Youth Ministries at Anniston First! 🛠️🌶️

We’ve got two ways to jump in, lend a hand, and support the next generation:

🛠️ Saturday, October 10 | 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Join us for a Work Day benefiting our Children & Youth! Our goal is to remove cabinets from two classrooms as we continue improving our spaces for ministry. Everyone is welcome, and if you have tools that might help, bring them along!

🔥🌶️ Sunday, October 11 | Immediately after the 10:30 a.m. Worship Service
Then stick around Sunday for the Fiery Furnace Chili Challenge, a fundraiser for our Youth Ministry! Bring your appetite and help us decide whose chili can stand the heat. 🥇

Want to enter a pot of chili? Sign up with Tina at [email protected] or 256-453-5101.

Two days. Two great opportunities to support our kids and youth. We’d love to have you be part of both! ❤️

10/01/2026

🍂🎃 HELLO, OCTOBER! 🎃🍂

We can officially say it now… Fall Festival is THIS MONTH! 🙌

Anniston First and Camp Lee are teaming up for an afternoon packed with fall fun on Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. And this isn’t your average trunk-or-treat. 👀

🎃 Costume Contest
🚗 Trunk-or-Treat
🚜 Hayrides
🧗 Rock Climbing Wall
🪢 Low Ropes Course
👻 Spooky Maze
🛶 Canoeing
💦 Water Zip Line
🎣 Fishing
🥾 Hiking
…and MORE!

Park at Lee Farm, then hop on the hayride over to Camp Lee for the fun!

🌭 Hotdogs, drinks, treats, and Fall Festival T-shirts will also be available for purchase.

Grab the costumes, bring the whole family, and get ready to spend Halloween at Camp Lee! 🍁 We can’t wait to see you!

📅 Saturday, October 31
⏰ 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
🌧️ Rain Date: Sunday, November 1 | 2–5 p.m.

09/30/2026

📖 What does it mean to take the Bible seriously?

This week on Rooted & Growing, we’re continuing our series on United Methodist distinctives with a conversation about how United Methodists read and interpret Scripture.

Scripture is at the center of our faith—but every time we open the Bible, we bring questions, experiences, traditions, and our ability to reason with us.

The Wesleyan tradition gives us a framework for navigating that faithfully: Scripture remains primary, while tradition, reason, and experience help us understand and apply its witness.

That doesn’t mean we’ll always agree. It means we’re called to read with humility, discernment, and a willingness to listen—to one another, to the wider church, and most importantly, to God.

Because the goal isn’t simply to know what the Bible says. It’s to allow Scripture to lead us more deeply into the way of Jesus.

🎙️ Listen to “How United Methodists Read the Bible” on Rooted & Growing, a podcast from Anniston First United Methodist Church.
🔗https://www.annistonfirst.info/rooted-and-growing/

📖 Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14–17

Honest conversations about faith, doubt, and following Jesus in an ordinary week — from the church family at Anniston First UMC in Anniston, Alabama.

09/29/2026

We’re thrilled to introduce Julie Talley as our Minnie S. Banks Director of Children and Community Ministries!

Julie is a credentialed medical social worker who has served on medical mission work abroad, and her calling fits a gift our church received back in 1991. Minnie S. Banks left a legacy to support medical mission work at home and abroad, and that gift now helps bring Julie’s experience home to Anniston.
Julie will lead our Children’s Ministry, direct Camp Lee Day Camp and our fall and spring break camps, and help revitalize our community feeding ministry, adding basic wellness screenings and referrals.

Watch the video to hear more about Julie, and please join us in welcoming her!

09/27/2026

🥣 What do biscuits have to do with how United Methodists read the Bible? Apparently, quite a bit.

This Sunday in our UM Distinctives series, Pastor Tammy took us into the kitchen—at least figuratively—to help explain the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and the way Methodists approach Scripture.

Just like a biscuit recipe brings different ingredients together, our understanding of faith is shaped through Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Scripture remains at the center, while the other three help us wrestle with what it means and how we live it out in the world today.

And because no biscuit illustration should be purely theoretical… there were actual biscuits, too. 😋🧈

Faith, theology, and breakfast—just another Sunday at Anniston First. ❤️

09/27/2026

🥣 The biscuit is back. 😂

A few years ago, Pastor Tammy welcomed everyone to “worship with the biscuit” instead of the bishop… and apparently we’ve been working toward this Sunday ever since.

Because what do biscuits have to do with how Methodists read the Bible?

More than you might think.

This Sunday, Pastor Tammy will be talking about Scripture and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral—a way of understanding how Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience work together as we grow in faith.

Flour. Milk. Butter. Salt.

Each ingredient matters. But how do they work together? And what happens when one gets left out?

Join us at Anniston First as we continue exploring what makes the Methodist way of faith distinctive.

Worship with us this Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Anniston First United Methodist Church, 1400 Noble Street, Anniston, AL.

And yes… this time we really do mean biscuits. 😂 Julie is making sure there will be plenty waiting in the narthex.

Come hungry. 🧈📖

09/26/2026

When we said Family Ministries was willing to get their hands dirty… we apparently meant soaking wet, too. 😂🌧️

Wednesday night brought a DOWNPOUR, but that didn’t stop this crew from spreading mulch at the Lucy Bryan Memorial Playground at Camp Lee. ❤️

This playground is such a special place, and we’re grateful for every person who continues to help care for it so that children and families can enjoy it for years to come.

By the end of the night, everything—and everyone—was completely soaked, but there was plenty of laughter, teamwork, and love poured into every wheelbarrow and shovel full.

Sometimes serving together looks like muddy shoes, wet clothes, pouring rain, and a job worth doing anyway.

Thank you, Family Ministries, for showing up and loving this special place so well. ❤️

Camp Lee

09/26/2026

Our Book of Revelation Bible Study wrapped up yesterday at Called Coffee! ☕️📖

Over the past several weeks, this group has gathered around the table to read Scripture, ask questions, share perspectives, and grow together in faith. We’re grateful for everyone who joined us along the way—and for the conversations and fellowship that made this study so meaningful.

There’s something special about opening God’s Word together. ❤️

09/24/2026

🎙️ New Episode: Grace, Grace, and More Grace

What if grace is bigger than forgiveness?

In this week’s episode of Rooted and Growing, we continue our series on United Methodist distinctives by exploring one of the ideas at the heart of Wesleyan theology: grace.

United Methodists believe God’s grace is already at work before we even recognize it. Grace meets us with forgiveness and reconciliation. And grace keeps working in us, shaping us throughout our lives.

We call these movements prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace, but together they tell one beautiful story:

✨ God makes the first move.
✨ God welcomes us home.
✨ God keeps forming us into people who love more fully.

Grace is not something we earn, and it is not simply one moment in our past. It is God continually at work in us—drawing us toward Christ and toward the people God created us to become.

🌱 Rooted in grace. Growing into the life of Jesus.

Listen to “Grace, Grace, and More Grace,” the newest episode of Rooted and Growing: An Anniston First Podcast.

📖 Ephesians 2:4–10 • Romans 5:6–8 • Philippians 2:12–13

🔗https://www.annistonfirst.info/rooted-and-growing/

Honest conversations about faith, doubt, and following Jesus in an ordinary week — from the church family at Anniston First UMC in Anniston, Alabama.