March Mission Challenge

For the month of March, we will be collecting spaghetti for the OPEN M Food Pantry. Donations can be left in the bin outside of the main doors or at the table near the Welcome Center.

February Mission Challenge Update

For the month of February, we collected 124 jars of jelly/jam. Thank you so much to all who donated!

Acme Cashback Update

Thank you so much to all who brought in their receipts. They have been totaled and submitted to Acme. This year the receipts earned the church approx. $235!

OPEN M

We will be packing lunches for OPEN M on Friday, February 27th beginning at 9:30 am. Thank you to all the ladies who baked cookies last month, we have enough to cover this month's lunch also!

Women's Luncheon

Our next luncheon will be at noon on Wednesday, April 8, at Macaroni Grill in Montrose. Bev and Nancy will need your reservation by the end of the day on Monday, April 6. You can call or text Nancy at (330)814-4081 or Bev at (330)696-1183.

Communion Prep Team

We are excited to work toward returning to monthly communion and would love your help! We are looking for volunteers to assist with preparing the bread and juice ahead of time. If you are interested in serving in this meaningful way, contact the church office.

Greeters



Anyone who would enjoy saying hello and helping direct visitors with basic questions about our church like, “Where are the restrooms?” and “Where is the sanctuary?” are welcome to sign up to greet at the side or main entrance doors. We ask greeters to be at church 15 minutes before the service starts and remain there 5 minutes after the service begins so all who are attending worship are welcomed. You can serve monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly and at your convenience! For those who are interested, sign up here. If you prefer to sign up with Katie, you can do so in the church office during the week!

District Newsletter: February 13, 2026 "Northern Waters News"

OPEN M Newsletter: Summer 2025

Weekly Groups:

Java & Jesus—Sundays at 11 am

Using the scriptures from Sunday's worship service, we dive deeper into them and discuss applications to our Christian lives. No preparation is needed. So come meet fellow parishioners and take part in the discussion. We meet in Room 8 in the basement at 11 am after worship.

Contact: Jo Quandt jmquandt@yahoo.com

Wired Word—Sundays at 11 am

The Wired Word discusses big questions and scripture loosely related to a current event each week while we enjoy a time of fellowship. No preparation needed and it is a new topic each week, so it's ok if you can't come every week. We meet downstairs in room 3/5/7 after the worship service.

Contact: Samantha Gunkelman samevin@yahoo.com

Pickleball Group—Tuesdays, 6:30-9 p.m. (Adults only)

Players of all levels are welcome. Consider joining this fun group. We have a weekly text to confirm players so please send your contact info to Beth or Marjorie.

Contact: Beth Gerberich bgerberich825@gmail.com or Marjorie Dye marjorietdye@gmail.com 

Tuesday Morning Bible Study—Tuesdays at 9:30 am

A little history, a little theology, a whole lot of life application! Every Tuesday morning except the last of each month.

Contact: Bill Liming bliming75@gmail.com 

Women’s Bible and Book Study—Wednesdays at 10 a.m.

A combination of book and Bible Study as guided by the participant’s interests. A time for prayer and fellowship, as well. 

Contact Marjorie Cossin marjorie.cossin@gmail.com 

Monthly Groups: 

Bible and Beer Men’s Fellowship—Last Monday of the month at 7 pm

We gather the last Monday night of each month beginning in September from 7-8:30 PM at a rotation of houses. We wrestle with issues of life and faith. Bring your favorite beverage. Snacks provided (usually pizza!).  

Contact: Bill Liming bliming75@gmail.com 

Eat, Pray, Play - Next meeting TBD

This month the Eat Pray Play group will join with the Children and Youth ministries for a caroling event on Dec 21st. We will have lunch after the Sunday School hour, head out to caroling from 1-3pm and then come back for some hot chocolate. Click on the here to sign up for food.

Contact: Jennifer Dyer mzumcstudent@gmail.com

Food Bank Service Team—Last Tuesday of the month at 9 am

"You found me hungry and you gave me something to eat..." Live out the words of our Savior and make a huge difference in the lives of countless people across the greater Akron area. 

Contact: Bill Liming bliming75@gmail.com 

Other Groups (meeting frequency varies):

Golf Club—Next meeting TBD

This will be a social golf group, providing an outlet to those interested no matter ability.

Contact: Lee Christman (leechristman1@gmail.com), Brad Beltz (bbeltz11@msn.com), and Mark Gerberich (mwgerberich@aol.com)

Children's Bulletins are available on the tables in the back of the sanctuary for kids ages 3+ and 7+.

Children’s Church

If you have a child who is at least 3 years old up through those who are in or have just completed 3rd grade, please feel free to have them join us during the worship service for Children’s Church.

Sunday School

Sunday School classes are available for all our school-aged children. These classes are offered at 11am after the worship service and are split into 3 different grade levels. See the breakdown below for more information.

Nursery Care: under age 3 - during Worship services in Nursery (Rm 103)

Children’s Church: ages 3 through 3rd Grade - during Worship in Rainbow Room (Rm 106)

Sunday School for Grades PreK-Kindergarten: 11am-noon in Harmony Harbor (Rm 104)

Sunday School for Grades 1st-3rd: 11am-noon in Rainbow Room A (Rm 106)

Sunday School for Grades 4th-5th: 11am-noon in Rainbow Room B (Rm 107)

Interested in volunteering for our Children’s Church or Sunday School programs? 

We would love to have you! Adult and Youth volunteers are crucial to our programs and we will assist you with anything you need to know prior to volunteering. Please reach out to Bethany to volunteer.

3/1 - CHANGE from calendar

Our calendar says that we will be having a youth family meal on 3/1. I don't know what I was thinking when I put that. We will be on the youth retreat from 2/27-3/1 and will not return home till close to 2pm. So we will not be having an evening youth group or a youth family meal that day (3/1). There will also be no youth Sunday School or Confirmation class on 3/1. 

Summer mission journey - (6/21-6/26)

Our journey this year will take us to Steubenville Oh to work with a ministry called Urban Mission. They have many different projects and activities for us to help with including light home repair, a thrift shop, community garden, and food pantry. The total cost per person is $275, this includes lunch and dinner while we are there and the cost of staying at the mission. I am asking each participant to pay $100 to reserve their spot on the trip by April 7th. To sign up for the trip please fill out the google document found by clicking here.

Fundraising

The participant fee does not include the total cost of the trip and so we are hoping to raise $3500 to help cover the cost of van rental, breakfasts on the trip, supply fees, as well as any fun activities we plan to do. To do this we are going to use the traditional Palm Sunday breakfast (3/29) as an opportunity to do this. We will have a couple of youth and adults share their experience on mission trips and then the "big draw" will be a talent show where people can buy a 10 minute slot for $25. This is open to the whole church and any kind of talent is welcome. There will be a sign up for the show on Sunday.

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please reach out to Jen.

We will end the month of February with the letter "S". Our centers will have the children counting stars, learning about snakes, spiders, and our five senses. This week's scrumptious snacks will include spaghetti and meatballs (yes, we will be singing the song!) s'more cereal, snowball cheese balls and strawberry muffins. On Friday February 27th, we are having an in-house field trip with Miss Abigail. She will be mixing games, songs and stories with yoga positions and breathing techniques. She came last year and we loved it so much we decided to bring her back again!

Registration for the 2026-2027 school year has begun! Please help spread the word about our wonderful preschool to your families, neighbors and friends. We have new and exciting things in store for our returning students and new students! 

February Snack & Activity Calendar (click here)

February Preschool Newsletter (click here)

Office Hours:

Monday - Friday

9 am - 2 pm

565 N. Cleveland-Massillon Road, Akron, OH 44333

(330)665-9817

www.mzumc.org