2024 General Conference Info Session
2023-11-19 09:15 - 10:15 UTC | Dining Room
On November 19 at 9:15, the Reconciling Task Force and the Pastor’s Advisory Team will co-sponsor an adult education class (high schoolers and young adults welcome) to update interested congregation members about what to expect at the UMC 2024 General Conference, scheduled for April 23 – MAY 3 in Charlotte, NC. Our speakers will be Rev. Izzy Alvaran, Regional Organizer for Reconciling Ministries Network, and Rev. Neal Christie, Executive Minister for Connected Ministries of the Baltimore/Washington Conference. Izzy and Neal will discuss efforts to support the Regionalization proposal, as well as the proposed Revised Social Principles of the United Methodist Church. The 2024 General Conference will be very important to the future of the United Methodist denomination. You will want to attend. This will be a hybrid class, so interested congregation members can attend either in person or by Zoom. Watch for further information about the Zoom option.

First Church Ministry Tour
2023-11-19 09:15 - 10:15, 2023-12-03 09:15 - 10:15 | Glenna Hall
Whether you are a new visitor or someone who has been worshipping here for over a year, we invite you to further explore First Church. This ministry tour is a great way to learn more about this faith community – -and is also the first step in the membership process.
First Church Ministry Tour
Sunday, Nov. 19, 9:15-10:15am
OR Dec. 4, 9:15-10:15am.
Meet in Glenna Hall.

Please RSVP here. (If you are interested but can’t make it, please use the RSVP form to indicate your availability for an alternate time.)

This tour is an opportunity for First Church visitors to explore who we are as a congregation and what we do in addition to 10:30 worship on Sundays. On the tour participants will:

Learn about our primary ministries: Mission and Outreach programs such as Soup Kitchen, Sack Lunch Ministry, and our Overnight Shelter; Children’s and Youth Ministries, Adult classes, Bible studies, and groups; Music Ministry; Fellowship groups and opportunities; Congregational Care.
Consider some key facts around First Church history, our identity as a Reconciling Congregation and member of Interfaith Action of Evanston; and our membership.
Visit rooms on multiple floors where, as Pastor Grace says, “the magic happens!” — and learn where the bathrooms are! (Note that walking is involved, and access to other floors via the elevator is an option to stairs.)

Before and after the tour, information about membership and the upcoming Inquirers Class (January/February 2024) will be available. Questions are always welcome.
Mary Taylor-Johnson, Director of Communications and Membership
mary@faithatfirst.com

Bottoms Up!
2023-11-19 17:00 - 20:00
Bundled Blessings Diaper Bank presents, Bottoms Up! Sunday Nov 19 from 5-8pm at Double Clutch Brewing Company in Evanston. Join us for a casual evening of fun and fundraising as we celebrate 10 years of diaper distribution in our community.
Purchase tickets here and/or donate to the diaper bank. $85 early bird pricing, $100 after Nov 1.
With the distribution of 37,000 diapers each month, now more than ever, we need your support. Hope to see you on the 19th!
Questions? Email bundledblessings@outlook.com and follow us on Instagram @BundledblessingsDiaperBank.

Thanksgiving Soup Kitchen
2023-11-23 11:00 - 15:30 | Dining Room and Kitchen
We are excited to be able to serve a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal to our Soup Kitchen guests on Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 23. We expect to have 65 guests. It takes a village to feed our village! You can provide support by bringing food and/or volunteering in the kitchen or dining room.
To help serve the meal, click here to choose a 90-minute shift: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CAFAD28AAFB6-45291290-thanksgiving
To contribute food, click here to choose your dish(es): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CAFAD28AAFB6-45424085-thanksgiving
Thank you! And many thanks to our steadfast Kitchen Lead Elaine Moy Johnson and Dining Room Lead Ann Weatherhead!

Star Tree
2023-11-26 09:15 - 12:00 | Fountain Foyer
Gifts for Evanston Children! You are welcome to give a gift to a child, through Evanston Y.O.U., from our Star Tree. You can pick a child whose parents asked for help with gifts, from the Star Tree, on 11/26 or 12/3 at church, before or after church. If you want to sign up for a gift sooner, email Linda MacCracken (linda.maccracken@comcast.net) and you will be matched with a child’s gift request. Each star ask includes the child’s gender, age, and wish list items. Please budget $50 per star.
Drop off wrapped gifts with the star attached on Sunday, December 10 by 9:30 am at First United Methodist Church. Please help make Christmas merrier for children in our Evanston community, in partnership with Y.O.U. Pick up a star at church on Sunday November 26 or December 3, or email Linda MacCracken, if you and your family would like to participate in this wonderful program. We also welcome online donations—please designate them for the Star Tree support.

Bringing Light Into Advent Darkness (small group)
2023-11-27 19:00 - 20:00
The practice of lighting Advent candles symbolizes the process of increasing candlelight each week in the face of increasing darkness, or shorter daylight, each week.
Using the four Advent candle themes—hope, love, joy, and peace—this three-week, small group experience offers four different prayer practices. This group invites participants to explore breath prayer, examen, praying scripture, and intercessory prayer. The goal is to encourage one another to pray intentionally during a season so frequently filled with anxiety, stress, and grief. The hope is that our renewed prayer practices may lead us into a new year that continues Advent themes. No experience necessary.
The Zoom experience begins Monday, November 27 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. and continues on December 4 and 11. Facilitators are Mary Cauble and Bonny Roth. Register here. For more information, contact Tom Scott, at tom.scott.goblue@msn.com.

Single or Solo Fellowship Christmas Dinner
2023-12-02 17:30 - 19:00
This year it will be a dinner party, hosted by Abbey Ogunbola. Starting at 5:30 pm on Saturday, December 2. The main course will be baked ham; bring an appetizer, side dish or dessert to share.
If you are single or attend First Church as the solo member of your family, please join us for an evening of good cheer and good food! RSVP by November 30 to Marion Clemens at redmarion77@comcast.net, or call Nancy Braund Baroch at 847-910-5612.

Journey to the Common Good: Fostering Connection and Relational Discipleship During an Epidemic of Loneliness
2023-12-03 09:15 - 10:15 | Room 33
Despite the proliferation of opportunities to be connected by social media in 2023, people feel less connected than ever. The increasing lack of connection has been called by some an “epidemic of loneliness.” Moreover, the divisiveness over political and social issues in our culture continues to foster alienation and not connection. This lack of connection is being felt across age groups, and people are spending less time with one another in person than two decades ago. If one of the ministries of the church is to foster community and encourage individuals to thrive in community, how can and how does the church address the lack of connection in today’s society? Being part of a church community involves being connected and feeling close to one another in the community. Being in church means feeling cared for by others. During this epidemic of loneliness, in what ways can the church create the kind of community in which people care for others and feel cared for? The three classes in this series will focus on the increasing lack of connections in society and the ways that the church can respond to this situation by cultivating relationships and interconnectedness in the face of this “epidemic of loneliness.” Adults of all ages are encouraged to attend each session.
December 3: Interconnectedness in Youth
December 10: Interconnectedness in Middle Life
December 17: Interconnectedness in Elder Life

Club123
2023-12-03 12:00 - 13:30
Club 123 promotes fun, fellowship, and service for children in grades 1-3, once a month on Sundays following Worship from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m., with lunch provided!
Please register in advance, noting any dietary restrictions or food allergies in the memo field. Pick-up at the front Church Street entrance (516 Church St.). Register here: https://onrealm.org/faithatfirst/PublicRegistrations/Event?linkString=MjkyZDA4YjctNGIyMy00OWRjLWIwZmItYjBjODAxNzI5M2Uy

Youth Ensemble Rehearsal
2023-12-07 15:00 - 15:45 | Sanctuary

Festive Prelude
2023-12-07 18:30 - 19:00 | Sanctuary

Pageant Dress Rehearsal
2023-12-09 10:00 - 12:00 | Sanctuary and Dining Hall
A required dress rehearsal for children involved in the pageant on Dec. 10. This is a closed rehearsal only open to immediate family.

Couples Salon Holiday Gathering
2023-12-09 18:30 - 22:00
Join FUMC Couples Salon at the Hagedorns’ house for a festive evening of food and fellowship hosted by Sue and Jim Hagedorn and Caroline and Bryan Wagner. Please bring an appetizer, side dish or dessert to add to the holiday buffet.
Please RSVP to Sue Hagedorn at shagedorn123@aol.com to let her know you are coming and what dish you are bringing to share.

All Church Breakfast
2023-12-10 09:00 - 10:00 | Dining Room
Come join us on December 10th as the youth provide a breakfast in the dining room! Starting at 9am, the youth will be flipping pancakes. Come for food, informal conversation and a bit of holiday cheer before worship. Hope to see you!
To help us plan (and minimize waste), please RSVP here.

Pageant Rehearsal
2023-12-10 09:15 - 10:15 | Sanctuary and Dining Hall

Pageant Sunday
2023-12-10 10:30 - 11:30 | Sanctuary
Children Pre-K through Grade 6 retell the Christmas story in scripture and song during the 10:30am worship service.

Stewardship Meeting
2023-12-11 18:30 - 20:00
On Zoom.

J.U.M.P.
2023-12-15 16:00 - 18:00 | Dining Room
J.U.M.P. (Junior United Methodist People) serves as an introductory youth group for students in grades 4-6 and meets monthly on Fridays from 4:00-6:00 p.m. In November, J.U.M.P. will assemble care packages for guests at First Church’s winter overnight shelter and take a musical look at why the Grinch’s “heart grew three sizes” through the lens of our faith. Please register in advance here: https://onrealm.org/faithatfirst/PublicRegistrations/Event?linkString=ZjM3OGU4NzQtMGMxMC00N2VkLTliZDEtYjBjZjAxNDk0ZDU0

Architecture Tour of First Church Sanctuary and Tittle Chapel
2023-12-17 11:35 - 12:05 | Sanctuary
What well-known women’s suffrage and temperance movement leader has her own stained glass window at First Church? Who carved the reredos above the altar in the sanctuary ? When was Tittle Chapel built, and who is it named after?
Stick around after worship on Dec. 17 for a 30-minute architecture and history tour of the First Church sanctuary and Tittle Chapel led by our resident expert Bill Brown. We gather in the rear of the sanctuary after the postlude. Please RSVP here.

Youth Ensemble
2023-12-24 15:00 - 15:45 | Sanctuary
Instrumentalists in grades 6-12 are invited to play Christmas carols before and during the 4:00pm Family Service on Christmas Eve. The group will rehearse together at 3:00pm before the service in the Sanctuary. Music is available in advance for any instrument. Please email brian@faithatfirst.com if your child would like to play.

Christmas Eve Family Service
2023-12-24 16:00 - 17:00 | Sanctuary
Nursery care beginning at 3:45 pm.

Chancel Choir Rehearsal
2023-12-24 18:00 - 18:30 | Sanctuary

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with Choir, Handbells, Strings, & Organ
2023-12-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Sanctuary

Music Rehearsal
2023-12-24 22:30 - 23:00 | Sanctuary

Christmas Eve Candleight Service With Communion, Soloist, & Organ
2023-12-24 23:00 - 2023-12-25 00:00 | Sanctuary

Adult Connection
2023-12-31 09:15 - 22:15 | Glenna Hall
All adults welcome for coffee and conversation with First Church friends!

First Reads Book Group
2024-01-02 19:00 - 21:00
The January book is Herland by Charlotte Gilman Perkins.
This book group is open to all. Contact Janet Lutz for zoom information and book calendar.

Compline Night Prayer Service
2024-01-02 20:30 - 21:00
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 via Zoom, are patterned after the ancient monastic tradition of Compline (meaning completion)–the final prayer of the day. We will follow a simple liturgical format for this service of quietness and reflection before rest. Persons of all ages are encouraged to give this spiritual practice a try. The zoom format invites participation from anywhere! We are enriched when family & friends in many locations join in. The services, sponsored by the Faith Formation Council, will continue through Lent, concluding on March 19th. Participants may attend as schedules allow. Contact Tom Scott (tom.scott.goblue@msn.com) to sign up or with questions.

Wednesday Morning Bible Study
2024-01-03 10:00 - 11:30
On 1/3/2024 we will begin the 10 week study of Eve Isn’t Evil by Julie Faith Parker. It is available through Cokesbury.com or from Amazon.
Contact Janet Lutz to be added to email list.
