DGFUMC Welcoming Statement
God, as known to us in Jesus Christ, welcomes all.
We welcome people of any race, national origin, ethnicity, 
gender, sexual orientation, age, social or economic status, employment status, or life situation;
including people with physical or mental illness or disability.
We practice loving acceptance of each person and respectful discussion of our differences.
Growing Together Update
From October, 2007, until March, 2008, the Growing Together Final Phase Committee reviewed the findings from the Growing Together focus group meetings and gathered input from staff and "stakeholders" for each identified area. This information was provided to the Building Committee to pursue preliminary cost estimates from our architect. In addition to the cost estimates, the Building Committee also provided direction for the most efficient bundling and sequencing of the various elements of the overall project.
On Tuesday, April 8, 2008, an All-Church Conference approved the recommendations of the Growing Together Final Phase Committee unanimously. The Building Committee is now charged with implementing those plans. You can review their progress in the minutes to their meetings, which will be posted on the Building Committee web page.
| Building Committee |
Bucket Sundays
As we have done in years past, Church and Society Work Area will be passing out empty buckets on Sunday, April 27 and May 4 after the worship services. We ask the congregation to fill the buckets with cleaning supplies and return them on Sunday, May 11 or May 18. The buckets are then delivered to local food pantries for distribution to their clients. Items such as soap and cleaning supplies cannot be purchased with food stamps and are greatly appreciated. At the request of the pantries and to be kinder to the earth, please do not include products that contain bleach or ammonia.
Thank you!
Theatre of Western Springs
Jack Philips, Artistic Director
On Wednesday, May 14, Young At Heart, a group of senior adults will gather in Chapel Hall at noon for lunch and to hear a program by Jack Philips, Artistic Director of The Theatre of Western Springs. This community theater is a remarkable theatre founded in 1929.
Cost per person will be $10.00. You may sign up on Sunday mornings in the Parlor or call Marilou Welch at church.
All-Church Potluck Picnic
In the Park
Food, Fun, Fellowship
in Fishel Park
following the 11:00am Service.
The main course will be provided and each family is asked to bring a
side dish to share. Tickets will be on sale in the Parlor between services beginning April 20.
Cost: $2.00 per meal, $10.00 max per family
There will be fun activities for all ages after lunch.
Fiction Book Group
Through the course of the year, the Fiction Book Group will meet every two months, to discuss works of fiction. We seek to find the intersections between our reading and our lives, between the characters we encounter and our own experience. Most of all, we ponder the big questions posed by the book, and the ways in which they inform, or are themselves addressed by, our Christian faith and understanding.
This year, stories by writers from four different continents, set in five different countries, which in various ways explore family relationships, the passage of time, and the struggle to live with integrity with ourselves, and those closest to us. The group will meet on the second Thursday of alternate months, at 7pm in the Parlor. All are always welcome! Led by Jonathan Dean.
- April 10: Affliction
- by Russell Banks
June 12: Disgrace- by J.M. Coetzee
- August 14: An Artist of the Floating World
- by Kazuo Ishiguro
- October 9: Midnight's Children
- by Salman Rushdie
- December 11: Rebecca
- by Daphne DuMaurier
Copies of the books will be available at Anderson's Bookstore at 10% discount (20% for Anderson’s Book Club members).
Junior High Mission Trip
Rogers Park
The United Church of Rogers Park is a United Methodist Church at Ashland and Morse in Chicago. The name of the church came years ago when it was a united church having both United Church of Christ and United Methodist pastors. Rogers Park is a diverse community with great need. UCRP serves not only as a church but as a community center for the neighborhood.
This year, the Junior High Mission Trip is to serve the community of UCRP. The trip is open to incoming 7th graders through those going into 9th grade. On Sunday, July 13 we'll ride Metra and the "L", to Rogers Park. We will prepare and serve the Community Feast, the Sunday night meal for the neighborhood. On Monday and Tuesday we will paint and clean part of the church. We will sleep at Evanston FUMC on Sunday and Monday.
|More Details|
Youth Mission Trip
Reelfoot Rural Ministries, Obion, Tennessee
Reelfoot Rural Ministries is a mission program of the Memphis Conference of The United Methodist Church located in rural, Northwest Tennessee. Our four-county service area includes Lake, Obion and Dyer Counties of Tennessee & Fulton County Kentucky. This rural area surrounding Reelfoot Lake is an area of extreme poverty. Lake County, for instance, has the lowest per capita income of any county in Tennessee. The combined lasting effects of farm mechanization and a lake culture have left economic scars difficult to erase.
The youth will be working in all the ministries that Reelfoot Ministries is involved in. These include home repair, painting, delivering meals to shut-ins, working in the thrift store and working in the kitchen at the center. Be prepared to work on any of the tasks given to us. Remember that we are there to serve our brothers and sisters.
If you plan to come on this trip, please register by May 11 with a $50 deposit.
|More Details|
Post-High Youth Group
Mission to Nassau
We often think of the Bahamas as a tropical island paradise where everyone is happy and rich. That is simply not true anywhere in the world. Poverty is an everyday reality in Nassau.
In July and August, 2008, the Post-High Youth Group will be conducting a mission trip to Camp Nassau, one of the projects run by Mission Encounter. Their mission will include roofing, repairing and painting homes and churches, as well as getting to know our sisters and brothers in Nassau and those from other parts of the United States.
If you are interested in participating in this unique experience, contact Nick Nicholas.
Nassau Application: MS Word | PDF
| PHYG in London 2007 Online Diary |
On Your Behalf
- What is it?
- How does it work?
- How can I serve others with prayer?
On Your Behalf is a group of church members who lift others up in prayer. There are no meetings! All praying is done at your convenience. Requests for prayer are provided to us each week and are kept confidential.
If you would be interested in joining us or need more information about serving others with prayer please call the church office at 968-7120.
When your reaction to yours or another's misfortune is "Oh, my God!", turn it into a gentle prayer.
Daily Update
RSS News Feeds
RSS news feeds provide a way of keeping track of the rapidly-changing content available on the internet. At First United, we are using this relatively new web technology in two ways:
- As a way of identifying newly added web content concerning the programs and events in the church life.
- As a way of alerting the congregation to late-breaking news, such as weather cancellations or urgent appeals for help.
The news feed is now maintained by the church office and will be updated as soon as the information is available. Although it is meant to be read by special news readers, the feed is also published on the web as the Daily Update page. Add this page to your favorites to keep abreast of the latest news as it breaks.
Find out how you can use RSS to keep up to date with the latest news and events in the life of First United Methodist Church.
|RSS News Feeds|
