Category: CONNECT

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Meals with Jesus: a worship series

Jesus did a lot of ministry during meals that he ate with a wide variety of people: religious officials, government officials, friends and strangers. Through these meals he shared God’s grace, community and mission.

Join Christ UMC Elmhurst and First as Pastors Jim and Joe explore Jesus’ meal ministry. Two of these services will be “breakfast church”. Breakfast church will include breakfast, a Jesus story and table discussion about the story. June 2 will be the first breakfast church at First UMC Elmhurst. June 30 will be breakfast church at Christ UMC

Worshippers will be invited to consider if they would like to host a dinner church in the community later this summer.

Come and experience Grace, Community and Mission!

DateScriptureChurch Address
June 2Luke 5:27-32First
June 9Luke 7:36-50Christ
June 16Luke 14:1-24First
June 23Mark 1:37-39First
June 30Luke 9:10-17Christ
July 7Luke 10:38-42Christ
July 14Luke 11:37-44First
July 21John 21:1-17Christ
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A New Creation Sermon Series

In the coming weeks, First Church will be having conversations about faith and caring for the earth.  The Christian scriptures are rich resources for this conversation.

The conversations that we will consider at 9:30 am Sunday Worship:

April 14 A Special Responsibility (Genesis)

April 21 Facing Creation’s Brokenness (Romans)

April 28 A New Creation (2 Corinthians)

In addition, join us for two activities that will aid us in this conversation.

April 14               7 am – 8 am       Birdwatching at Churchill Woods.  Join Pastor Joe, an amateur birder, will help us experience some of our avian kin.  Churchill is a DuPage County birding hotspot because of its diverse habitats.  We’ll meet at the picnic shelter entrance parking lot.  Bring binoculars if you have them.  Possible species include: woodpeckers, warblers, water fowl and wading birds.  Please sign up here.

April 27               9 am – Noon       In honor of Earth Day, the Illinois Prairie Path corporation, in cooperation with the Friends of the Great Western Trails, several municipalities, DuPage County and other partner organizations, has scheduled its annual cleanup for Saturday, April 27 at 9am. Please note that exact time and date are set by each site coordinator.  We will probably be cleaning up in Berkeley, Bellwood or Maywood as that is where volunteers are needed.  Please sign up here.

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Lent at First Church

Worship (Available on Facebook)

February 14 6 pm                              Ash Wednesday Dinner and Service (Wesley Hall and Sanctuary)

February 18-March 17, 9:30 am              Sunday Morning Worship (Sanctuary)

March 24       9:30 am                       Palm Sunday Worship (Sanctuary)

March 28       7 pm                              Maunday Thursday Worship (Sanctuary and Prayer Stations)

March 29        7 pm                              Salt Creek Cluster Good Friday Service (Prince of Peace UMC, Elk Grove Village)

March 31      9:30 am                        Easter Worship (Sanctuary)

                           10:30 am                     Scavenger Egg Hunt and Brunch (Wesley Hall)

Small Group

Wednesday    10 am                            Small group discussion on the scriptures with devotional booklet. Devotional Book available from church office for $3. (Feb. 21-March 27; Aldersgate Room)

Prayer

Six prayer stations will be located on the first floor (Narthex, Quiet Room, Aldersgate) for personal prayer throughout the Lenten season.  Each station is self-guided.

Service

Feed My Starving Children              March 23, 2pm                       

Schaumburg Packing Facility         740 Wiley Farm Court

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Keep the Dream Alive

Keep the Dream Alive – CELEBRATING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON 

To commemorate the March on Washington, the Anti-Racism Task Force of the Northern Illinois Conference UMC is organizing two back-to-back events in Chicago. Our purpose is to continue to work towards a more equitable society for all and to live out our conviction that “racism is incompatible with Christian teaching.” Sign up HERE.

KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE  – Sunday, August 27, 2023 

Light Lunch , 1:00 at First UMC- Chicago 

Worship Service, 1:30 at First UMC- Chicago 

March & Rally, 2:30 at Daley Plaza, Chicago 

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ASIAN HISTORY & CULTURE

THURSDAY, MAY 25

Over 15 people gathered in Wesley Hall to participate in the Northern Illinois Conference’s Second Quarter Film Series highlighting Asian American and Pacific Islander History and Culture.  Participants watched Pew Research Center’s Being Asian in America.

We gathered over a meal catered by Ming Chef and heard a brief history of AAPI in North America by Dr. Dr. WOOHEE ANNE JOH.  She also facilitated four panelists reflecting on their experiences of living in the United States and the church.  You may watch this presentation by clicking this link.

The next film series is

PRIVILEGE, POWER AND RACE PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Thursday, September 21, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Different locations across the conference

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Join us for this FREE event Comemmorating Juneteenth

Sunday, June 18, 2023 – 10:30 am-12 Noon – First United Methodist Church of Elmhurst, 232 S York St, Elmhurst

We will have music, soul food, guest speakers, education, and activities for people of all ages.

This event will take place outside but will moved inside if the weather is bad. Restrooms will be available during the event.

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Youth Group Service Retreat

June 2-4, 2023

During the weekend the youth will serve at DuPage Habitat for Humanity, The Northern Illinois Food Bank, and The Night Ministry in Chicago. In addition, we will travel to the DuSable Museum of African American History to see the virtual reality exhibit “Step Into History, The March”.

For fun, we will go to an escape room and will have a lock-in at the church on Saturday, June 3.

Cost for the retreat is $25 each for Friday or Saturday, $50 if attending both days. All food, supplies, and admissions are included in the cost.

Click HERE to register.

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Birding with Pastor Joe

York Woods, September 11, 2022; 7 am-8 am; overcast and rain.

Hermit Thrush Photo courtesy of Cornell’s All About Birds

Four people took a chance today to go birding with Pastor Joe. We learned that DuPage County is home to 268 observed species and that York Woods was the first forest preseve of DuPage County. Woodpeckers were the most abundant bird family represented so we learned how to identify male and female wood peckers.

We heard many hermit thrushes and were rewarded with one on the path flitting its wings.

We recorded 14 species:

3 mourning dove

1 great blue heron

6 red bellied woodpecker

3 downy woodpecker

1 hairy woodpecker

1 eastern wood peewee

1 great crested flycatcher

10 blue jay

1 black capped chickadee

3 white breasted nut hatch

2 European starting

4 hermit thrush

10 American robin

6 common grackle

1 northern cardinal