Who is in your Circle of Ten?

Who is in your Circle of Ten?

Other churches might envy the steady visitor traffic we have at First Church.  We do not have trouble attracting visitors.  Our challenge is welcoming and retaining them. Robert Crossman of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership proposes that worshippers pay attention...
Keeping Holiday Celebrations Low-Waste

Keeping Holiday Celebrations Low-Waste

A Message from the Earth Care Committee While you are observing your holiday traditions, the Earth Care Committee has some suggestions for reducing the waste they often generate. When hosting parties, use your china, glassware and cutlery instead of plastic or paper...
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...
Earth Care Library Recommends: Braiding Sweetgrass

Earth Care Library Recommends: Braiding Sweetgrass

The word in the Potawatomi language for the soft grass that grows near sun-filled meadows is wiingaashk, what author Robin Wall Kimmerer describes as the “sweet-smelling hair of Mother Earth” while also noting that its scientific name, Hierochloe odorata, means “the...
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...
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...
The Origin of Worship in the Park

The Origin of Worship in the Park

On June 19, 2022 our congregation celebrated Juneteenth, co-sponsored the YWCA annual Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate, and continued to celebrate Pride Month.  That morning — a perfect June morning– First Church also began the 23rd summer of Worship in...
Covenant Groups are Road Trips with Friends

Covenant Groups are Road Trips with Friends

First United Methodist Church is a community of Christians inviting all persons to grow in their relationship with God and to live their faith in the world. The journey of faith is not a solo trip.  By yourself you can get stuck, run out of gas, take a wrong turn,...