New Senior Pastor Appointed
The Frazer family is preparing to welcome its new senior pastor, Dr. Larry Bryars. Bishop Paul Leeland of The Alabama West Florida Conference appointed Dr. Bryars or “Larry” as he prefers to be called, to Frazer to serve as senior pastor beginning July 1. Larry is currently serving as District Superintendent in the Marianna/Panama City District. He is originally from Stockton, Alabama and isn’t a stranger to Montgomery, having served as senior pastor at Aldersgate UMC. Larry and his wife Vicki have been married 38 years and have three grown sons. He says he feels tremendously blessed to be appointed to a church like Frazer. “I’ve known the pastors and people of Frazer for years and have long admired the church, so I feel very humbled to be chosen to lead and come only seeking God’s will for Frazer and will pray diligently to find that.”
Great Day of Service
Several hundred Frazer members hit the ground running Saturday, March 12, for the Great Day of Service. This year Frazer added a block party at Chisolm Elementary as part of the church’s service to the community. Inflatables, puppets, games and the resurrection story made for a fun and meaningful time of fellowship. Meanwhile, other Frazer family members were busy painting, building, planting and cleaning at locations all around the Montgomery area, including MANE, Garrett Elementary, and Pike Road School to name only a few! Still another group of volunteers spent the morning at Frazer assembling meals for various ministries. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to make this truly a “Great” day of service!
Frazer Students
It was a great Wednesday night of students opening their Bibles and studying God’s Word together. Along with those engaging in the studies, the Frazer Students ministry also had around 20 student leaders who assisted our adult leaders in leading small groups.
We started five new studies:
1) Men Among Boys
2) Brave Girl
3) Why Jesus?
4) Apologetics
5) The Armor of God
These are open groups and students can join anytime. The groups meet each Wednesday night other than the last Wednesday of the month, when students gather for the new high energy time of worship called IMPACT! The next IMPACT happens Wednesday, March 30, at 6pm in the Fellowship Hall. Plan to be there and invite a friend!
English as a Second Language
Frazer’s English as a Second Language, or ESL ministry, recently held its regular Tuesday evening group session. While the primary focus of these sessions is to teach the English language, attendees also enjoy a snack supper and devotion along with the lesson. Volunteer teachers Sharon Adams, Natasha Holland and Lee Werling led the most recent ESL advanced class. With the addition of several new students to the Advanced Class, Sharon planned an “icebreaker” that encouraged the students to introduce themselves to the class by using everyday items found around the home.
Boy Scouts
A local Frazer sponsored Cub Scout troop is back from a fun weekend at the USS Alabama. We’re told the boys had a FANTASTIC time! For more information on the troop, please contact Kristen Cunningham at 334.669.5794.
Celebrating the Frazer Family
Frazer member and volunteer photographer Lee Werling recently captured a perfect example of the Frazer spirit. As he was leaving Wednesday night supper, Lee snapped the photo below of Corporal Derrick Davis interacting with some of the children from the nursery as they were out for a stroll around the Frazer Atlanta Highway site. Our thanks to Corporal Davis for his constant smile, compassionate spirit and his skill in getting us across Atlanta Highway safely each Sunday morning!
The Children’s Ministry is celebrating with two families who watched their little ones get baptized at Frazer. Susan and Nick Moss were all smiles as Sam made his decision to follow Christ through water baptism.
And little Dawson Gross stole the show in the Sanctuary, as his parents Michael and Marcilla along with pastors Tim Thompson and Neil Epler joined in baptizing Dawson. Dawson discovered himself on the big screen and had a great time pointing at the special event happening before his eyes!
This is just some of the Breaking Good News happening in our Frazer Family! Stay tuned for more details of how God is moving through Frazer UMC.