FUMC E-News

E-News: 4/22

In This Issue:

This Upcoming Sunday, April 26th

Earth Care Sunday

FUMC's Pillars: Lead, Nurture, Steward, Celebrate

Lead:

Prayer and Action for Earth Day
Creation Care Summit

Nurture:

Festival Choir Begins
Storytelling Night

Steward:

Styrofoam Collection
Composting

Celebrate:

New Staff Additions
The Story of Our Lives Worship Series
Haydn's Mass in Time of Distress

Calendar at a Glance

First Things First: Prayer List

FUMC Merch

This Upcoming Sunday:

10:30-11:30am

Preacher: Rev. Michael Malcom

11:30-12:30pm

Community Hour in Great Hall

Hosted by: Earth Care Committee

Earth Care Sunday with Rev. Michael Malcom: April 26th

The Earth Care Committee is excited to welcome Rev. Michael Malcom—Executive Director of Alabama Interfaith Power and Light and author of Climate Justice, Climate Hope—as our guest preacher on Sunday, April 26 at 10:30am.

Join us after worship:

At 11:30am, meet Rev. Malcom in the Great Hall and have your book signed.

Continue the conversation:

How can we make a difference through climate justice? Stay for a deeper discussion with Rev. Malcom in the Great Hall, followed by lunch at 12pm.

Suggested lunch donation: $15
Copies of Climate Justice, Climate Hope will be available for purchase during Community Hour.

Learn more about Rev. Malcom here!

Sunday Sign-Ups:

Acolyte

Community Hour Host

Cross Bearer

Flowers

Scripture Reader

Lead Beyond Our Walls:

Action and Prayer for the Planet at Evanston Ecology Center: April 26th @ 3-5:00 pm

Sponsored by the IAE Working Group on Climate Change and Justice. Prayer and music that honor the planet and Earth Day.

Pop-Up choir and service project.

Attendees may take part in a clean up project of the canal

Nurture Within Our Church Community:

Festival Choir Begins: Wednesdays @7:30pm

First Church’s Music Ministry invites local singers to participate in our upcoming Festival Choir concert featuring Haydn’s “Mass in Time of Distress” (Missa in angustiis) also known as the “Nelson Mass.”

Our first rehearsal will be Wednesday, April 8 from 7:30-8:15pm and rehearsals continue weekly until the concert on May 15.

Music will be provided at the first rehearsal, but you may preview the Novello edition of the score online. Please know that even if you can only join us for some of the rehearsals, you can still sing on the concert.

Email Brian or simply join us at rehearsal.

The congregation and community are invited to attend the concert in our sanctuary on Friday, May 15 at 7:30pm. Admission is free - please share the Facebook event with any friends who might be interested in enjoying an evening of sacred music in our sanctuary.

Storytelling Night: May 6th @6pm

Food. Friends. Fantastic stories.

Come for the potluck, stay for the storytelling! Members of our congregation will take the mic to share meaningful, funny, and memorable stories from their lives.

You just bring a dish and enjoy the night.

Potluck begins at 6:00pm and storytelling begins at 6:30!

Kindly RSVP here

Steward:

Styrofoam Collection: May 16th

10am-12pm

We are collecting Styrofoam and could use your help. We are looking for:

Styrofoam to recycle
2-3 helpers to be present during Styrofoam intake (Church St. doors)
Drivers to transport the Styrofoam to the collection sites (Abt, Mt. Prospect Public Works, DART)

If you’d like to volunteer and enjoy some Saturday morning fresh air and exercise, all while helping our community keep our environment clean, then please email Roxann or sign up here to let her know which third Saturday, 10AM-Noon, you are available during the months of April-August.

Thank you!

Celebrate:

Welcome New Staff Members

Please join us in warmly welcoming several new members to the First Church staff!

Carlos Perez joins us as our evening and weekend custodian. Carlos will help care for our building through room and event setup as well as maintaining our shared spaces. We are grateful for the work of Josefina Rivas, who previously served in this role and moved on to other employment earlier this spring.

Carlos moved here from Tennessee almost 3 years ago and is proud to call Evanston home. His little family of 3 including his wife and son, love and enjoy all the great things the Evanston family has to offer.

He and his wife have a cleaning business and he is a Fitness Coach and former bodybuilding competitor, and he is currently going back to school for child psychology.

Mike Schmidt, our Facilities Manager, oversees building vendor management, repair projects, and the overall care of our facilities, helping ensure our spaces remain welcoming and well cared for.

Carlos' email address is: custodian@faithatfirst.com

Jennifer Wolfe is our Interim Front Office and Communications Coordinator through mid-July. Jen will be in the front office during weekday office hours and on Sunday mornings, and she will continue producing our email and print communications.

Jennifer Wolfe is excited to be taking on the role of front office assistant for the summer. She is a member of First Church and attends with her husband and their daughter London. They came to First Church because it looks like Hogwarts castle and stayed because of the community they found here.

Jen can be reached at: office@faithatfirst.com

We offer our deepest thanks to Claire Amey, whose care, creativity, and dedication over the past year have truly strengthened our communications and community life. Her final day will be April 30, and she will be greatly missed.

The Story of Our Lives Worship Series

This Easter season, we follow the risen Jesus through stories—stories of confusion and recognition, fear and courage, friendship and hope. Before the disciples become the leaders of the church, they are simply people trying to find words for an experience that has changed everything. As we listen again to these resurrection stories, we’ll discover how our own lives are woven into God’s ongoing story—shaping us to live with honesty, connection, and hope in a world still longing for good news. Join us each week for worship and opportunities to practice telling and living this story together.

Haydn's Mass in Time of Distress: May 15th, 7:30-8:30pm

Mark your calendar!

On Friday, May 15th, the Festival Choir and Orchestra of First United Methodist Church of Evanston presents Haydn’s Mass in Time of Distress (Missa in angustiis) also known as the Nelson Mass. The program will be conducted by Brian Schoettler with soloists Kari Sorenson, Christine Ebeling Mando, William Johnson, and Joshua Green.

The 7:30pm concert is free and open to the public.

Calendar at a Glance:

April 25: Lake North United Methodist Men Organizational Meeting

April 26: Earth Care Sunday: Guest Speaker, lunch, and more; Interfaith Action Evanston's "Prayer for the Planet" at the Ecology Center; ASP Training

May 2: World Labyrinth Day

May 3: Confirmation Sunday Breakfast and Service

May 6: Storytelling Potluck Night

May 15: Festival Choir Concert; YA Retreat

May 16: Styrofoam Collection

May 17: The Great First Church Bakeoff

June 7: ASP Training

June 14: Outdoor Worship in the Park Begins; 10:30am Worship Moves to Tittle Chapel

June 21: Race Against Hate

June 22: Creation Camp Begins

July 11: ASP Mission Trip

Check out the church calendar for details and a complete listing of events.

Please submit event information and room reservations via the Communications and Calendar Request.

Caring for Each Other:

The First Things First webpage is updated as needed each week. This page lists current prayer requests and reminds us to care for each other and welcome new persons in our midst.

First Things First

This webpage is only accessible via the link in the weekly E-News or by using the search bar on the website.