FUMC Homecoming Service & Meal 2016

Join us on Sunday, October 9 for a wonderful service of fellowship as we celebrate Homecoming and the 159th Anniversary of FUMC Hillsville.
Our guest speaker for the 10:30 am worship service will be Reverend Mike Hubble, who served our church as pastor from 1978 to 1984. We will be led in worship by bluegrass legends Jeanette and Johnny Williams with Stevie Barr. A bountiful potluck meal will follow the service in the fellowship hall. A nursery will be provided for the service.

Currently retired, Mike Hubble was appointed District Superintendent of the Abingdon District in 2009. Mike holds an A.A. from Hiwassee College, a B.A. from Tennessee Wesleyan College and an M.Div. from Candler School of Theology. Mike is married to Margaret Reed Hubble and has two adult sons, Daniel and Adam. In an article in THE CALL about Mike’s appointment as District Superintendent, Mike said,”I think Holston Conference’s best days lie in the future and am excited to be a part of what God is doing. In particular, I know God has a dream for his Kingdom’s work in Holston and pray that we can catch sight of that vision and faithfully be about our given mission of ‘making disciples for Christ for the transformation of the world.'”

Since her debut solo release in 1994, Jeanette Williams has quietly become one of the most successful and celebrated women in bluegrass music. Her list of awards, accolades, and career highlights continues to grow, as does her adoring fan base. Jeanette burst onto the national scene in 1999 with her Doobie Shea Records release “Cherry Blossoms in the Springtime”, which spent 9 months on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Album Chart. In support of her album, Jeanette and her band increased touring and winning fans from coast to coast, and internationally, with her powerful songs, angelic voice and warm, sincere personality. Touring, recording and industry awards have become a mainstay for Jeanette.
With more than ten SPBGMA nominations, and three wins for Female Vocalist of the Year (2009, 2012 and 2013), two IBMA awards (2006 and 2009 Recorded Event of the Year, with the Daughters Of Bluegrass) two songwriting awards (2007 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest, 2008 IAMA Songwriting Contest) and over twenty years of performance experience in Bluegrass and Bluegrass Gospel, Jeanette is expanding her repertoire to include her early influences of Classic Country, Blues, Roots, and Rock n’ Roll. On February 18, 2014 Jeanette released the first single from her upcoming solo project on Nashville’s Off Row Records.

A fine bluegrass banjo player, Stevie Barr was born in 1975 in Galax, VA, in the very heart of old-time string band country. The son of Rebecca and Thomas Barr, he grew up in a family dedicated to making music, and was playing banjo by the age of four. Thomas, a fiddle maker, owned and operated Tom Barr’s Fiddle Shop in Galax, a gathering spot for bluegrass and old-time musicians the world over, and Stevie literally grew up in the shop, taking it all in and becoming a fine player in his own right. He made his first recording, a cassette of bluegrass banjo classics, in 1986. He formed the bluegrass group No Speed Limit with Jacob Eller on bass and vocalist Amber Collins (who was only 16 when the band first came together), who were eventually joined by Josh Pickett on guitar and Ryan Blevins on mandolin. The group released a CD, Bluegrass Lullaby, in 2005, followed by a second, Sweet Virginia, a year later in 2006. Barr has also released two solo albums, Then and Now Bluegrass Banjo and Along the Crooked Road, which appeared on Arhoolie Records in 2007.