Recent News

Please join us next Sunday at the 9:30 and 11:00 workship services for Choir Dedication Sunday. Each choir (bells, too!) will be presenting special music for the congregation. We hope to see you then!

The Guatemala Connection would like to thank everyone who helped welcome our visitors from UPAVIM in Guatemala and made their visit such a success. To those of us who opened our homes, provided transportation, accompanied trips, made donations, purchased crafts, attended the barbecue, translated, and for the overall sharing of our lives our heartfelt thanks goes out to you all.

Special thanks to Kay Mundy, Ann & Bill Ault, Sharon Harman, Bruce Ritter, Jim Mizener, Don & Caryl Safford, Julie Stone, Dana Murphy, Kim Steele, Mark Pitstick, and Kay Miller.

If you are what you eat, then how is the earth related to what we grow
and what we consume?  

As Christians, we are all charged with the responsibility to care for our planet.  This 2013-14 church year the Environmental Stewardship Work Area has chosen as its theme "The Green Tomato."  Why did we choose this topic?  We all wanted to better understand the interrelationships among how we eat and environmental stewardship.  Perhaps there are things that we can do that will benefit both ourselves and the planet. 

Specifically, as our overall population continues to live longer, we all are aware of the need to eat more healthily throughout our lives.  We also are aware that we must be responsible care-takers of the Earth.  We will be looking at the effect food production has on our Earth’s environment and the implications environmental stewardship has on how and what we eat.  Some of the topics we will examine are:

• the benefits of locally grown food/produce
• how meat production and use impacts the environment
• how herbs can be used with health and environmental benefits
• the health aspects of food as it may pertain to Type II diabetes, valve replacements, cholesterol, plaque and cancer
• the benefits of organic food for children, and what sustainability means with respect to food and the environment. 

We hope you are also eager to find out more about "The Green Tomato."  Bon appétit avec la responsabilité!

We will soon be welcoming five women from the UPAVIM cooperative in Guatemala City to Downers Grove. They will be here from October 3 to 11, staying with DGFUMC families and participating in the life of the church, including worship, Sunday School, UMW meetings, etc. They will also see the outreach activities of our congregation, such as PADS and Family Shelter Services. They will be accompanied by Brian Tyler, an American working for Sister Parish, the organization that coordinates our connection to Guatemala.

Here we are posting an introduction to each of them. We hope you will all have a chance to meet them soon.