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First United Methodist Church in Mocksville will host the annual Sprinkle Preaching Mission on Sunday, Oct. 2-Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Due to the extended quarantine of COVID-19, this event has been missed the last two years. The guest speaker will be the Rev. Jan Brittain, recently retired and is an Elder with the United Methodist Church. Brittain was first scheduled in 2020, and again in 2021.

When Brittain committed her life to Christian service at age 16, she didn’t know any women pastors and assumed her life would take her overseas in missionary work. But God had other plans, and she served congregations of all sizes and many locations. She grew up the child of a United Methodist pastor in South Carolina, and so she knew the life. She counts her children and grandchildren among her greatest blessings.

Brittain’s personal theology is that God’s motivation is always love, the Jesus’s death on the cross is the means to our salvation, there are three essentials for effective and faithful living: time spent with God’s word, time spent in prayer, and time spent with God’s people. Her belief is that God formed and chose the church, and as flawed as it is, it is still the chosen agent for doing His work in the world. Her theme this year: “I Want You to Have it All.”

The Sprinkle Preaching Mission started from an endowment set in place in 1981 by Dr. and Mrs. Henry Sprinkle. The idea was to host speakers for the community each year to inspire  and grow in the knowledge of God’s love. Dr. and Mrs. Sprinkle came back home to retire in Mocksville where he became the Pastor Emeritus. Dr. Sprinkle was a graduate of Duke and Yale universities, and was married to Margaret in 1930. They spent the majority of their lives travelling the world for missionary work. They spent time in Europe, South and Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Australia, but were happy to settle in Mocksville to enjoy their retirement. Never one to stay still, Dr. Sprinkle was a golfer and could be found each day on the course at Hickory Hill Country Club (now Colin Creek Golf Club) where he was a charter member.

All are welcome. There will be five services: Sunday, Oct. 2 at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. (the two morning services will be the same message) and 7 p.m.; and Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7. Each evening service will be preceded by an old-fashioned Hymn Sing at 6:45, and there will be special music for each service, and childcare for ages 5 and under. An offering will be taken with proceeds divided as one fourth back to the SPM endowment, one fourth to the Backpack Buddies program sponsored by the church, one fourth to the Hunger Fighters program at Davie High School, and one fourth to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) for U.S. Disaster Response.

First United Methodist Church is at 310 N. Main St. Visit www.firstumcmocksville.org.