Greetings from Higgins Memorial UMC in Burnsville, NC!

I am writing to request your help to create a special gift for one of your former pastors, Dr. John Fowler. Pastor John is our current pastor and is retiring after a distinguished 41-year career faithfully serving our Lord in full-time ministry. As you may already know, Pastor John and Liz served at First United Methodist Church of Franklin for four years, from July 2008 to June 2012.

Our Family Life Committee is putting together a video montage to celebrate their dedication and need your help to create it. We are asking each of the eight churches where Pastor John served to provide short video clips and photographs, as described below.

·         Short video clips (20-30 seconds):  We are hoping you could identify two or three members of your congregation who were attending during Pastor John’s ministry and who could record a short video (20-30 seconds using a cell phone) recalling a fond memory, word of thanks or other expression of gratitude for their ministry. For those who may not have the technological skills needed, perhaps you or someone else could record a video of them, or perhaps provide a voice-over of their written note.

·         Photographs of your church:  We also plan to include photographs of each church where Pastor John and Liz served. Could you provide a few pictures of both the exterior and interior of your church? If the exterior view could include the name of the church, that would be great, or perhaps one of the church and another showing the name. The interior view could be from the pulpit, or of the pulpit, where Pastor John would have preached.

·         Photographs of Pastor John and Liz:  If anyone might have photographs of Pastor John and/or Liz at church activities, we would be most grateful to receive a copy. Even a cell phone picture of an actual photograph would be helpful. These might be snapshots taken at a fellowship dinner, youth event, revival, or any kind of gathering – any and all will bring sweet memories to mind for Pastor John and Liz!

·         When needed – June 10:  If at all possible, we need to receive these items by June 10. I recognize this is not a lot of time, so we appreciate your assistance on this important gift to Pastor John and Liz! You don’t have to wait until you have everything – just send what you have as it becomes available and we will immediately use it to create the presentation.

·         Send videos and pictures to me via text to my phone (or by email):  It will probably be easier if folks text me the video clips and photos (unless original photos are provided). My cell is 850-228-1228. Or, by email, henkelag@outlook.com. Regular mail works, too: 177 Kelly View Drive, Burnsville, NC  28714.

Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or text me on my cell phone at (850) 228-1228 or send an email (henkelag@outlook.com), whichever is most convenient for you. And, if there is someone else within your congregation better suited for this request, please share their contact information with me and I will follow-up with them directly.

With a grateful heart, and many blessings for you and your ministry,

April Henkel