Wesley-ism Series

One of the many things I love about the Methodist Church is how we began. John Wesley, his experiences, his teachings, and his life’s work are an inspiration to all of us.

On January 1, Pastor Kristen led us through a traditional Wesleyan Covenant service to kick off an inspiring and fascinating sermon series on John Wesley and his “Wesley-isms”.

Our highly skilled media team recorded her sermons and here they are for you to enjoy in case you missed any.

Preach Faith Until You Have It

My Heart Was Strangely Warmed

All the World is my Parish

Are You Awake

 

 

Welcome New Members!

I’m writing this post on Tuesday, February 14th, Valentine’s Day; the day we profess our love to those closest to us. But it was two days ago, on Sunday, when I felt big love at First Church.

What an exciting day as we welcomed nine new members into our family. Our new cohorts had completed their New Member class and stood before us. They were a diverse group on many levels except for one; they shared a desire and commitment to be with us in the Body of Christ.

The day Pete and I joined the church, I was extremely pregnant with our twins (now 19 years old!). I remember not wanting to have our picture taken, being self-conscious of my ever-expanding belly. But we prevailed and were welcomed with open arms, just as our nine were welcomed in this week.

Let’s pray for all our members and remember the promises we ALL make when we join the Methodist community and are welcomed into Christian love:

• To be loyal to Christ through The United Methodist Church
• To do all in our power to strengthen its ministries
• To faithfully participate in its ministries by prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Englewood Update – Donations Needed

This past year we have connected with a fellow Methodist church in Englewood as a way to share God’s love. Here’s an update on what we’ve done recently and an opportunity to give more. Thank you to Dianne Batzkall for leading this ministry and everyone who’s donated and contributed their time and gifts.

Christmas Treat Bags

At Christmastime, the church delivered 100 bags of donated candy, hot chocolate, pencils and other treats for the children of Englewood. All the supplies were donated by First Church members and friends. Thank you to everyone!

Sewing Ministry

The Englewood church is working on setting up a sewing ministry as a way to help their local areas. They are refurbishing a room that will serve as a sewing class and work room. They have a member who is a professional seamstress and has volunteered to provide sewing lessons. And they are hopeful that, with their newly acquired skills, students will be able to make useful items for the community.

Dianne and her team are helping to provide many of the supplies needed to get this program started. They have picked up eight sewing machines in cabinets from the Methodist Midwest Mission Distribution Center in Chatham, Il., near Springfield, Il.  Six of these machines have already been delivered to Englewood.

In addition, they are collecting materials which will provide the students with some basic tools.

If you would like to help, please consider donating the following items for the Sewing Kits:

• Measuring Tape
• Pin Cushion and Straight Pins
• Tailor’s Chalk
• Thread: Black, White, Beige
• Stitch Ripper

They will also accept used clothing patterns, and misc. sewing tools and fabrics.

The classes are planned to begin Jan 15.  You can drop off your donations near the entrance at First United Methodist Church in Glen Ellyn. The first of the donations and the remaining sewing machines will be delivered on January 14 and there will be additional deliveries as time permits and donations are made.

 for you to drop your donations which will be delivered on Jan. 14 along with the remaining sewing machines.   This will be an on going collection and items will be delivered as time permits.

Community Rummage Sale Update

Last September, we hosted the first Community Rummage Sale and had a great response. Thank you to Jason Tews for leading the effort and providing this update.

It all started with an idea in February 2015. It resulted in:

• Raising $7,302.81 (after expenses) between two individual sales
• Distributing the proceeds to five organizations – First United Methodist Church General Fund and Trustees, Children’s Resource Center – Designated Charity of GWHS Choir, Pediatric Cancer – Designated Charity of GWHS Theatre, ASP & PATH – Designated Charities of the Rees family
• Helping 104 total volunteers experience the joy of serving the community – 74 of which came from outside the First Church Congregation

In early 2016 the Church leadership/Council had discussed and approved a plan to support a new All Church Community Garage/Rummage sale that would build on the hard work and reputation of the UMW at First United Methodist Church that has been built over generations.

The vision was to create an event that encompasses several organizations to increase community involvement and service, as well as increase participation and lessen the work load on any one individual. Imagine including all members of FUMC, the GWHS Choir, GWHS Theater, Boy Scouts, Youth Groups, etc. Many of these organizations look for a way to serve to give back to the community and in turn create a team building activity. If properly involved and led, we can dramatically lessen the workload on our Church family. We would also increase recognition within our community, on a large scale, as well as increase attendance and potential customers. The more people that are involved will equate to more people that will attend to support their family and friends that are supporting and volunteering at the event.

The goals for the event were:

• Create awareness of First United Methodist Church of Glen Ellyn
• To have FUMC ‘be known’ for this event
• Create an opportunity for many people to experience the joy of serving – whether big or small
• To create an opportunity for organizations outside of our Church to share in the joy of serving and raise money.

Fundraising:

The fundraising goal of the event would be to help generate funds for all organizations involved – but for FUMC it’s more about being recognized in the community and for providing many the opportunity to experience the joy of serving. The committee decided to split proceeds among participating organizations.

Thank you First Church for your support and prayers!

 

Gifts of the Season

Two weeks ago, we were treated to a wonderful musical performance from our choir during the Christmas Cantata service. The music was exceptional as always and a wonderful gift to the congregation. As I was sitting and enjoying new renditions of old favorites, I was struck by the faces on every single person in the choir. Everyone looked happy – as if they were receiving a great gift too!

On Christmas day, my family volunteered to staff the welcome center. The afternoon started out slow, but by mid afternoon the Great Hall was full of guests resting on mats or gathered around tables eating a simple meal of soup, muffins and cookies, or sitting by the TV near the stage watching a basketball game. As each person came to the serving table, they thanked us and complimented the cook. We offered them clean socks and a few hats and scarves that had been donated. Again, they thanked us for the gift. At the end of the afternoon, they packed up their things and headed out, thanking us again. The small gestures we made that afternoon were indeed small but appreciated by the recipients. And like the choir, we were happy to give and in the giving felt we were receiving as well.

I imagine that day Jesus was born, bringing to all of us the most awesome gift of the Messiah, that God was also pleased to be receiving His lost sheep back into the fold. I image that Jesus, in his brief life of giving and giving and giving, was also happy to see His followers open their hearts to His love and light. And in his last breath, I imagine Jesus again receiving the comfort of the Father as he gave the greatest gift of all.

Let us always remember that giving is not meant to be just once a year. God gives his love to us each and every moment and asks only that we share the good news; that we extend that gift to others. Let us be like the choir – beaming with excitement and happiness that we have great gifts to give; gifts of God’s love.

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Who are the United Methodists?

Did you know the United Methodist Church is the 3rd largest Christian group in the United States? Behind the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, we are the largest mainline protestant denomination. But what does that mean? How are we connected to 9 million other Americans who identify as United Methodist?

When it comes to faith, I often focus solely on what’s happening at our church, our First Church Glen Ellyn, but I’m coming to appreciate that beyond our walls is an enormous organization that is transforming the world on a bigger scale.

Today’s post was written by Bob Anderson who serves as our Lay Leader to the Northern Illinois Conference of the UMC. He sees what’s happening on a bigger scale and we both thought it would useful to share more of that here. This is a first of (I hope) many entries from Bob reflecting on our place within the UMC.

Thanks, Bob!

_______________________________________________________

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a connectional church, with a number of structural levels that have been established to enhance and support the missional objectives of the church.

The General Conference is the primary legislative body of the church, and is the only body with the authority to speak for the entire church. Delegates to the General Conference are elected from Annual Conferences, and is composed of an equal number of laity and clergy delegates. It meets every four years, at which time various legislative actions are taken to enhance mission and business of the church. These actions result in a revision of the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s book of law, and Book of Resolutions, policies of the denomination on current social issues.

The UMC has five Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States, based on and named according to large geographic areas: Northeastern, Southeastern, North Central, South Central, and Western. These bodies meet every four years, soon after the General Conference meetings, to elect bishops (chosen from the clergy) to provide leadership for the churches in their areas.

Each Jurisdictional Conference is composed of several Annual Conferences. Annual Conferences are administered by a bishop, the conference staff, and numerous committees. Bishops serve Episcopal Areas, which are composed of one or two Annual Conferences. Each Annual Conference meets yearly, usually in May or June, to consider resolutions and programs that will be used to govern their conference. Membership of the annual conferences consists of all clergy assigned to (or retired from) their conference, and an equal number of lay delegates, elected from local congregations.

Annual Conferences are further divided into Districts, which are geographic divisions of the Annual Conference, and are administered by District Superintendents. They are clergy (“elders”) of the Annual Conference, and are appointed by the Annual Conference Bishop for six-year periods. Districts provide support to their clergy and congregation, especially in terms of clergy oversight and congregational training and learning activities.

The final step of this structural tree is the local Charge or Church) Conference the body in the local church which oversees the activities of that church. It usually establishes a number of committees to lead those activities, and includes such groups as the Staff-Parish Committee (for personnel matters), the Finance Committee (to develop, generate funds for, and manage financial matters of the church), the Trustees (to manage the buildings of the congregation), and other committees as desired by the Church.

Outside the United States, the church has established seven Central Conferences, which act in a fashion similar to the Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States. Bishops oversee the activities and operations of their Central Conferences, serving Episcopal Areas that include one or more Annual Conference. There are seven Central Conferences – three in Africa, three in Europe and Eurasia, and one in the Philippines.

In the first half of the twentieth century, annual conferences outside the U.S. became autonomous, particularly in most regions of Asia and in all of Latin America. A large majority of these autonomous churches are affiliated autonomous or affiliated united churches with The United Methodist Church and send non-voting delegates to General Conference.

The Glen Ellyn First United Methodist Church is in the North Central Jurisdiction, the Northern Illinois Annual Conference (with approximately 1000 members) and the Aurora District (with approximately sixty churches). Our Bishop is Rev. Sally Dyck, and our District Superintendent is Rev. Richard Wisdom. At the 2016 Church Conference, Bob Anderson was re-elected to be its lay delegate (Maurlea Babb as alternate) to the Northern Illinois Annual Conference.

 

Source: UMC website (umc.org), obtained on 10/11/2016.

Community

It was Wednesday, November 9th. I stood outside the Church in the chilly fall air. Not yet 7 pm, it was already dark. Daylight savings and the changing season were steadily marching us toward that longest night coming next month.

My job this evening was to welcome our visitors from the local Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Inside members of First Church had brought cranberries and rolls and stuffing and mashed potatoes and, of course, pie. Jack Ridge manned the kitchen overseeing the Turkey that would be so enjoyed later that evening.

After the surprising election results from the night before, I had read in the news all day that people were upset, shocked, disappointed, angry, and fearful. I prayed that our church be the light in the night and that our Muslim guests be warmly welcomed.

The first group I encountered included several men, a woman and 2 boys. One of the men told me his name was Naeem (which means blessing in Arabic). As the rest of the group went inside, Naeem and his youngest son stayed with me. He said he didn’t feel right leaving me alone outside. The 6 year old little boy bounced around the parking lot, sometimes hiding behind his father while he told me about his love of soccer and basketball and recess and lunch. When he was occupying himself using the parking curbs as balance beams, Naeem explained to me how the Ahmadiyya community was a separate sect of Islam from the groups we commonly think of. He said in his home country of Pakistan, his people are persecuted for their differences and one of the men in the group had lost a brother not too long ago to this persecution. He told me how Glen Ellyn and Wheaton felt safe to him because there are so many churches. I prayed that he always feel safe in our midst.

Finally, as dinner time was nearing, we went inside. As I entered the Great Hall I could smell the good food, see the smiles, nodding heads, and hands clasped together in greetings. The voices echoed against the high ceiling as people shared words with one another. Pastor Kristen whistled to get our attention to begin the meal with prayer.

I sat at the long table set aside for the women and we shared stories about food and holidays and names. Two of the women were named Nadiya, which means Hope.

After we ate and settled in with dessert, The Imam explained the 5 pillars of Islam and asked if there were questions. We talked about prayer and exchanged Qurans.

I left with my spirits lifted, it was a good night for us in Glen Ellyn. The food and fellowship were truly a Blessing of Hope that we might bring people together in the name of God.

_______________

Thank you to everyone who helped make it a such a wonderful evening and especially to Pastor Kristen for bringing us together. To learn more about the Ahmadiyya faith, visit their website: http://www.ahmadiyya.us/.  To attend an open meeting with the Ahmadiyya community, they invite you to join them at Panera in Rice Lake Square beginning Wednesdays, 7-8 pm, from November 30th. If you plan to attend, RSVP to Tabligh.chn@ahmadiyya.us.

Transformation Workshop

A couple weeks ago, about 15 of us gathered in the dining room. The topics were: confirming our Mission, Values and Guiding Principles and connecting with God and each other.

I was impressed with the passion and sharing in the room. I heard stories of how we all reach beyond ourselves to serve and connect. I was encouraged by affirming words that we ARE going in the right direction, and I was reminded that putting GOD first is sometimes easier said than done.

If you missed the event, you can provide your input through the “Transformation To Go kit” that includes activities for all ages. Simply download it and return to the Church office sometime over the next month.

And whether you attended or not, the notes from the event are available for you to review here. These comments will be used to update our final version of the Mission/Values/Guiding Principles and help us plan for our upcoming all-church planning meeting in January.

The All Church Planning meeting will become an annual event at which plan how to move forward as congregation. Following this initial meeting, more detailed discussions, team building and training will happen throughout the Spring so teams are ready to launch the new programming in the Fall of that year.

As we continue our transformation journey, please pray for our Church. Let us reflect on what we have done, who we are, and how we respond to God’s grace through Jesus Christ.

I leave you with this animated history of Church. A beautiful reminder that Church is always changing.

 

Annual Charge Conference 2016

On September 26th, District Superintendent Rev. Dick Wisdom visited First Church for our Annual Charge Conference.

If you haven’t attended a Charge Conference OR if you haven’t attended for a while, you may not know what happens during this event. Even though I have been a member of First Church for 20 years, this was actually the first time I attended myself!

So what is it? The Annual Charge Conference is a yearly event during which our church ‘reports’ activity to the District Superintendent and receives his or her guidance for the coming year. Our District Superintendent is Rev Dick Wisdom. He oversees the Aurora District that is part of the Northern Illinois Conference led by Sally Dyck.

• The meeting is open to all members of the church.
• The meeting date and time is set by the district superintendent, not our church leadership.
• The meeting lasts between 60-90 minutes.
• The meeting MUST include a vote by the church members to pay the head pastor (we don’t talk about pay, we just agree to pay the pastor).
• The meeting is presided over primarily by the district superintendent.
• The meeting is more about reviewing the past, not planning the future.
• A report is handed out at the meeting that lists all the teams, committees, and roles within the church as well as summaries of what has been accomplished by the church in the past year. If you want a copy of the Annual Conference report, you can request one through the church office.

In this year’s meeting, after some opening comments, Rev. Wisdom asked attendees: “What would you like to celebrate from this past year?” Here were some of the things lifted up:

• The CAT survey, the insight it has given us and the hard work around it’s implementation and follow up
• The upcoming church directory that we so much need to update our member information
• The staff and the supporting lay leadership
• Our family ministries programming
• The increase in children in worship recently
• The new stairs leading to our Duane Street entrance
• The music ministry
• The community rummage sale and all individuals, and groups involved and affected by it
• The improved communications including the car magnets and brochures about the church
• Our loyal members
• The new sewing ministry
• Selling of the parsonage and the hard work from the Trustees to make it happen

So much good work! 

Then Rev Wisdom offered some messages to the congregation. I can’t possibly do justice to his words but I can share some of the messages I took away:

• Jesus is with us to pull us up when we feel a battered in our faith.
• There are many unchurched around us who only know church from what they hear in the media or stories they hear from others. We need to help them see church as a safe place.
• We can’t assume people know anything about us, about Methodism, about Christianity – it’s up to us to “be” church and make a difference in people’s lives.
• It’s not about performance and numbers, it’s about relationships.
• Help others experience a different kind of Christian – think about the disciples.
• People meet Jesus IN someone before they meet Jesus. How are we showing, witnessing Jesus?
• We don’t have to earn God’s love, it is already there for us. Our actions are in response to God’s love.
• Jesus isn’t looking for success, he’s looking for significance.

And then we had cinnamon rolls…because we are Methodists and a meeting wouldn’t be a meeting without food. Annette did a wonderful job setting a lovely table of treats and beverages.

If you attended the meeting, what did you think? If you couldn’t make it, what would you like to celebrate? We’ve accomplished so much this past year, I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

Remembering 9/11

On September 11th, Evan and Pastor Kristen led a brief service outside the church early in the morning. The sun was shining bright, not too unlike the September 11th that happened 15 years ago.

A sizeable group gathered, listened, sang, and stood quietly at the two moments the towers fell. We prayed and remembered that day and what it meant to us. We prayed and thought about those around us affected by the tragedy. We prayed for and remembered the survivors and the heroes lost that day. And we prayed for and remembered our children, growing up in this post 9/11 world.

I recorded a bit of the service and wanted to share it here.