Pastor Mark Fowler is away on bereavement leave, following the death of his father. Mark will be back on January 14. The First Church staff are taking a well-deserved break from December 28 - 31. In the meantime, for pastoral emergencies, please contact Rev. Maribel Celiz or Rev. Paul Melrose on the following schedule:

Would you like to donate or update your gift of investment securities? This can be executed by the Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation free of charge.  

You will find the security transfer form that you can give to your investment management company.

Please have your check sent to: First United Methodist Church - PO Box 7578, Madison, WI 53707

Thank you! - Kelly Walling, Financial Systems Coordinator

Old Befana has a new broom! Since none of us can gather for performances this season - neither our musical cast nor the audiences who love the show - our 35th year will be, of necessity, very intimate.

We invite you to join us this year via Zoom, on January 3 at 11:15! THE ZOOM LINK IS HERE. We’ll present it as we did that long ago Yuletide night, with composer Ken Lonnquist and forever-troupe-member Joanne Schilling offering an intimate musical-storytelling experience from home. Ken and Jo will sing and narrate with guitar, bells, chimes and percussion. There will be a Q&A following the performance.

Befana’s message - that peace, goodwill and a better world may be found within the hearts of all of us - has never been more needed. We’re delighted to bring the story to all who cherish it as part of their own annual holiday tradition. The pandemic won’t keep Old Befana from flying your way on her Zoom-Broom!

Covid-19 has prevented us from meeting in person, so I have set aside two virtual town hall gatherings to virtually meet you, to begin to have a conversation about our children’s ministry, youth, young adults, and young family gatherings. We want to give you an opportunity to share your ideas, ask questions, share new ways on how we can continue to grow at First Church.

Our Zoom meetings are on January 6 and 7, at 6:00pm both nights. You only need to attend on the date that works best for you. Click here for the January 6 Zoom link. OR Click here for the January 7 Zoom link.

Flower sponsorships are open for all of 2021. Sign up here to reserve your spot!

We are excited to join First Baptist Church of Madison, WI in hosting Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara of UW Madison for a virtual talk on January 10, 2021 at 2:00 pm, Central. The topic of her talk will be on the history of race-based slavery in America and the complicity of its core institutions - including the church. There will be time for questions following the talk. You can find information about First Baptist Church-Madison, WI’s Racial Justice work at this link, and more information about the talk, including Dr. Clark-Pujara’s bio and information about co-sponsors, at this link.

To register, please click here or email [email protected].

Paul DeLong, Drive-up Greeter & Registrar; Sonja Foldvari, Walk-up Greeter and Registrar; Carolyn Betz, Lead Assembly; Abby DeLong, Cold Foods Assembler; Megan Zuba, Blessing & Prayer, Shopping Buddy; Maggie Wilson, Shopping Buddy; Ben Gessert, Runner; Max Varner, Care Calls; Dale Metcalf, Receiving & Stocking; Margot Fisher, Hope’s Home Ministries Chair; Rev. Dr. Mel Vance and Rev. Linda Vance, Printed Devotions.

Deliveries that went out on Christmas Eve included a Christmas meal, homemade desserts, a Christmas gift box filled with special items, gas cards for individuals with vehicles living out of their then "car camping", and a very special message from 2nd graders of Franklin Elementary along with a a Christmas message from the Vances and prayer, survival gear, and Love!!! Read more about the Franklin Elementary and NAMI partnership here.

Tickets are available now for the 2021 Lyons Lecture at home! The Lyons Lecture Committee is pleased to welcome Dr. David Galston.

The event includes two virtual lectures and two live Zoom question and answer sessions. This virtual event starts at 10:00 a.m. with the first lecture, and the second lecture begins at 1:30 p.m. Learn more, and purchase tickets here.

If you are interested in any of these, please contact Josie Gobel or call her at: 920-988-0705 and Josie will have the DVD’s for you to pick up on Tuesdays between 2:00 to 2:30 – or she will make arrangements to meet you at the church parking lot at a time convenient for you. Click here for a list of available titles.

Church Women United's Zoom Human Rights Celebration can be found here.

TERRACYCLE UPDATE: Terracycle recycling is back at church! This pilot program is called the T.T.T. Terracycle Drive-up & Drop-off, from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. every Tuesday. Find more details here.

We have learned that some members and friends of FUMC are once again receiving fraudulent emails from Kelly Walling or Rev. Mark Fowler, asking for help and contributions. These emails appear to come from church staff, but they are from a FALSE Gmail account. 

DO NOT RESPOND to these emails. DO NOT CLICK in the emails - they are a SCAM and are not from First Church or Pastor Fowler. When you receive emails from us, they will be from our Constant Contact mail service (as this one is) or from an address ending in FUMC.ORG.

The staff of First Church would never contact a member via email to solicit donations or funding of any kind. If you are unsure about any email message, please contact the Welcome Center at 608.256.9061 or email at [email protected].

Thank you for not responding to this spam attempt, and be careful what you click.