Our 2023 Youth Confirmation Class will be done a little different this year. It will be led by Pastor Duane and will have two parts. The first part will be a joint learning experience with the whole church using the study Creed: What Christians Believe and Why. This study will begin on the first Sunday of Lent and go through the six Sunday during Lent (February 26 to April 2.) Confirmands will use their own youth study Read more…
There is a place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins, and there the grass grows soft and white, and there the sun burns crimson bright, and there the moon-bird rests from his flight to cool in the peppermint wind. Many folks are familiar with the artist Shel Silverstein. Shel found creative expression in prose, verse, artwork, and music. His eccentric poetry and his accompanying line drawings have been a favorite of teachers, parents, and children for decades. Read more…
Summer is just around the corner and we’re planning an exciting Vacation Bible School (VBS) experience! Are you looking for a safe, friendly, and fun environment for your kids? Join us for Operation Restoration VBS! First United Methodist Church will be hosting Operation Restoration: Mending God’s World VBS. During the program, kids will learn how to be menders of the universe as they explore daily themes of feed, heal, forgiven, pray, and rest. In just one Read more…
Dear Lafayette Faith Community, I am currently serving as the president of the board for Family Promise of Greater Lafayette. If you are not familiar with Family Promise, we are the only homeless shelter that serves families while keeping them together as a family unit. There is a large house behind the Northend Community Center. It is our shelter, but it looks like a house… purposefully. While there the families receive case management services. During COVID, Read more…
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,the desert shall rejoice and blossom;like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.Isaiah 35:1-2 Rebecca Eyrick is part of the family ministry team at First United Methodist Church. A senior at Purdue University studying Environmental Public Health, Rebecca has a passion for ecological restoration and community education. She delivered a sermon based on Isaiah 35:1-10 on December 11, 2022 at First Church. Read more…
Happy New Year. The turning of the yearly calendar falls right about at the center of the Christmastide season—halfway between Christmas on December 25th and Epiphany on January 6th. There’s something that feels right about the symmetry of this changeover. I feel like the ending of 2022 is filled with hope and joy. I look around every Sunday and my heart is buoyed by an optimism that is radiated out from all of you. There has Read more…
Sundays 9:45 am – 10:45 amRoom 211 Beginning Sunday, January 15 and led by various members, this class will start the new year with Amy Jill (A.J.) Levine’s Signs and Wonders: A Beginner’s Guide to the Miracles of Jesus. Levine’s work has been very well received by classes in the past, and best of all, she will cause you to think! The Rev. Dr. Richard Simpson of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts says this of her presentation on the miracles: Read more…
Sundays 9:45 am – 10:45 am Room 209 This beloved class is returns this January! If you have been wishing for a fellowship class that provides time to connect with one another, make new friends, and includes meaningful devotional time, this is the place for you. We will begin with a four-part video series: Common Ground by Amberly Neese (no book required). One reviewer says this about Neese: “[She] is a speaker, humorist, and encourager with a Read more…
Join us as we celebrate the birth of our Lord this Christmas season. Christmas Eve Service – 7:00 pm Christmas Day Service – 11:00 am (one service only) New Year’s Day Service – 11:00 am (one service only)
Last month at our Charge Conference, First Church joined with other congregations at St. Andrews UMC to explore a taste of Messy Church. We enjoyed a light meal and then we played with various hands-on activities—arts, crafts games, all connected to a biblical verse and theme. It was really fun! I first encountered the Messy Church concept several years ago when serving at Robert Park United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. Rev. Dr. Andrew Scanlan Holmes, Read more…