Night Prayer Services Return This Winter

Night Prayer Services Return This Winter

On Tuesdays beginning January 2nd, you are invited to a thirty-minute Night Prayer Service to end your day in community and peace. These services from 8:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., available online via Zoom, are patterned after the ancient monastic tradition of Compline...

Join the 5th Annual Interfaith Action Walk for Warmth

The family-friendly Walk for Warmth on January 15, 2024 is hosted in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day of Service. Join us in the fight against homelessness in our community. There is no charge to register for the walk, but advance registration is required....
A Message About Interfaith Action and Support

A Message About Interfaith Action and Support

Melissa Appelt, a longtime member of First Church and current Board President of Interfaith Action of Evanston, made the following remarks near the beginning of worship on October 15, 2023.  Rabbi Rachel Weiss of the Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue in Evanston...
Member Spotlight:  Elizabeth Raymond

Member Spotlight: Elizabeth Raymond

 By Mary Taylor-Johnson, Director of Communications and Membership The second Member Spotlight features Elizabeth Raymond, who first visited worship in March 2022, joined First Church that summer, and jumped right in to serve in volunteer roles. When she isn’t...
Festival Choir Welcomes Local Singers

Festival Choir Welcomes Local Singers

First United Methodist Church of Evanston invites local singers to participate in our upcoming Festival Choir concert featuring Bach’s Cantata No. 147 and Willan’s cantata The Mystery of Bethlehem. Bach Cantata No. 147 was premiered 300 years ago and features the...
We are a Mission Links Church.  (What does that mean?)

We are a Mission Links Church. (What does that mean?)

  Guest writer:  Alli Henry, Mission and Outreach Committee Chair First Church Evanston was one of 43 congregations awarded a “Mission Links Church” designation at the 2022 Northern Illinois Annual Conference. The Mission Links program enables...
Meet Sydney Harkrider

Meet Sydney Harkrider

  Sydney Harkrider will be installed during July 9 worship as our new Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries.  Between the two worship services on that day, the congregation will have the opportunity to welcome her to Evanston and First Church.   We had a...
Practicing Our Welcome

Practicing Our Welcome

In the first four Sundays of summer worship, we have welcomed 79 adult visitors.   Summer worship typically does attract a number of local and out-of-town visitors to First Church, yet these numbers are amazing. With a strategic plan that articulates that we will...
An Origin Story of Worship in the Park

An Origin Story of Worship in the Park

Originally written and published in the June/July 2013 issue of Faith at First, First Church’s former print newsletter, this piece outlines how and why Worship in the Park began.  The story is worth revisiting as we begin our 25th year of Worship in the Park....
Member Spotlight:  Bill Brown

Member Spotlight: Bill Brown

  By Chris Webler, Guest Contributor     If a church is fortunate, there are a few people in the congregation who decide to donate a significant portion of their time to their church. First United Methodist Church of Evanston has been the recipient of such a...