Mission

Alternative Gift Fair

What do you buy the person who has everything? How about a goat, a colony of honeybees, or a beautiful handmade craft?

The Advent season is filled with many warm traditions, and one of those traditions at Downers Grove First United Methodist Church is the Alternative Gift Fair. Many of you are familiar with the beautiful crafts handmade by the artisans of the UPAVIM (United for a Better Life) cooperative in Guatemala. These are gifts that give twice - first, your family and friends will enjoy receiving these lovely items. Second, you will also be empowering the women of La Esperanza in Guatemala City by giving them an opportunity to improve the quality of life for themselves and for their families through access to education, employment opportunities, daycare services for their children, health care services, and programs for personal and professional development.  Choose from a large selection of colorful bags, scarves, Christmas ornaments, kitchen accessories, jewelry, and more.

Heifer International works with communities to find sustainable solutions to end world hunger and poverty. In the past, many of you have donated to Heifer's Living Gift program and some will recall the plaques that hang in the west stairwell recognizing DGFUMC for a high level of donations. This Advent season, MJC will partner with John Smoke to Fill the Ark in the hopes of once again reaching an impressive level of giving in our congregation. To learn more, come talk to Janet Farral in the Parlor about chickens this holiday season!

Best of all, you’ll be able to check off a few more names on your holiday gift-giving list while making a difference in our world. What a perfect way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

Please come visit us in the parlor after each service during the Advent season.

Location: 
Parlor
Date: 
Sunday, November 27, 2016 - 9:00am

Thanksgiving Offering

November 19, 2015 - 12:39pm

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we enter this season of harvest and gratitude, we are reminded of the importance and power of giving thanks every day of the year. Christians are called to “give thanks in all circumstances,” (I Thessalonians 5:8) and so experience the gifts of God that we might otherwise overlook. Thankfulness is a choice we can make that opens our lives toward greater contentment and joy, and opens our eyes to see our neighbors with God’s love.  

On Thanksgiving Day we are invited to reclaim the story of a meal long ago, shared in love and thankfulness among people who grew from feared strangers to trusted friends, that began our nation’s Thanksgiving tradition. And we are invited to remember those who in this day are in need of food, shelter, compassion, and justice.

One of the ways we as a church show God’s love for our neighbors is through our Thanksgiving offering. The Thanksgiving offering goes specifically to ministries of local outreach and social justice. Our gifts are directed through our congregation’s Mission, Justice, and Community Work Area (combining the former Mission and Church and Society Work Areas); and will be used to reach out to lives, speak out about needs, and work to bring improved circumstances to others through the organizations described on the reverse side of this letter. 

If you haven't received a Thanksgiving offering envelope, they are available in the church office.

May your Thanksgiving be blessed with God’s abundant love.

Pastors Jim and Greta McDonald
Mission, Justice and Community Work Area

DuPage United Fall Assembly - Addressing the Need for Expanding Mental Health Resources in DuPage County

DuPage United member institutions are invited to come together to push for focus and urgency on expanding services to address deep gaps related to mental health in our region. State’s Attorney Robert Berlin will be attendance.

Incarceration of DuPage County persons in mental health crisis is not appropriate and is expensive. Lack of training for responding law enforcement and lack of sufficient alternatives for responders makes this an unjust and unproductive situation.

DGFUMC members attending do not have to do anything at this assembly. Simply attend -- which shows your support as part of a larger community backing the research and proposed solutions of DuPage United on behalf of persons with mental health issues and those in crisis.

Being present at the meeting:

  • Helps put pressure on the legislators to release funding to deal with this costly issue because it costs FIVE times more to incarcerate someone than provide proper mental health treatment.
  • Supports crisis training for law enforcement personnel - who, due to lack of proper training & appropriate alternatives for people in psychiatric crisis, have no alternative except to incarcerate individuals in crisis.

Also on the agenda is the need for Crisis Triage Centers and other jail-diversion strategies. To learn more, visit dupageunited.org.

Location: 
Union Church of Hinsdale, 137 S. Garfield St.
Date: 
Saturday, November 14, 2015 - 3:00pm

Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) Volunteer Opportunity

Our church has the opportunity to be the welcome team at our United Methodist JFON (Justice for Our Neighbors) site at Wesley UMC in Aurora on Saturday, November 7, from 8:00 – 11:00 a.m., and from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Please come along with our group – see Pastor Greta or Jean Krusinski for more information. JFON offers free, caring legal advice and general guidance to immigrants.

Location: 
14 N May St, Aurora, IL
Date: 
Saturday, November 7, 2015 - 8:00am

September is Hunger Action Month

September 17, 2015 - 11:04am

Food insecurity exists in our Northern Illinois neighborhood. A 2014 study shows the following for the 13 counties (Boone, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will & Winnebago) served by the Northern Illinois Food Bank:

  • Children under age 18 make up 36% of our hungry neighbors, while seniors age 60 and older make up 9%.
  • Among all hungry neighbors, 40% identify as white, 33% identify as Hispanic or Latino and 17% identify as black or African American.
  • 66% of households that use the Food Bank’s services have incomes that fall at or below the federal poverty level.
  • Clients are making tough choices:  77% of households the Food Bank serves had to choose between paying for food and utilities in the past 12 months, and 62% had to choose between food and paying for medicine/medical care in the past 12 months.

Missions, Justice & Community Work Area is donating $1,000 to help fight hunger in Northern Illinois.

You, too, can help fight hunger with a donation:

Donate to the Northern Illinois Food Bank: 
A $1.00 donation to the NIFB = $8.00 in food distributed to area food pantries
Donate online at solvehungertoday.org
Mail a check made out to Northern Illinois Food Bank (273 Dearborn Court, Geneva, IL 60134)
Make a gift by phone, call 630.443.6910.

Support Hope's Front Door

July 31, 2015 - 9:52am

Over the past 15 years, Hope’s Front Door (HFD) has provided emergency assistance to those in desperate need who include the unemployed, underemployed, homeless, seniors and disabled…more than 17,000 individuals and their families in Downers Grove and five neighboring villages. After determining their immediate needs through compassionate conversation, clients are helped with food, medical, dental and/or transportation vouchers, plus a clear pathway into the network of social agencies that can assist them with long-lasting changes to end the cycle of living crisis to crisis.

The Missions, Justice & Community work area recently made a donation to HFD. There are a number of ways you can personally support the organization:

Opportunity to Support 2015 United Church of Rogers Park Summer Camp

July 24, 2015 - 9:48am

Even though our youth have returned from their mission trip to United Church of Rogers Park in Chicago, there are still opportunities for your to support the 2015 Summer Camp. Please see the attached for how you can contribute.

Sister Church Planning Session

Sunday, July 19
11:00 a.m.
Room 218

Connect your hearts and hands with our sister church and its neighbors.

All members of DGFUMC are invited to join a planning session exploring ways that our congregation may further help to serve the needs of United Church of Rogers Park – a Methodist congregation, our sister church in Chicago – as UCRP serves the needs of its ethnically and economically diverse community.

For many years, our junior high youth have spent a week in mission at UCRP assisting with the Children’s Summer Camp (much like our Vacation Bible School). Following their example and having seen first-hand the challenging and productive Christian outreach of UCRP, the Missions, Justice & Community work area is initiating a more intentional relationship with UCRP so that throughout the year our adult members, too, may provide support to our sister church. The support might include assisting with a community program, helping to maintain the church rain garden, donations for their weekly Sunday night meal for the hungry or simply putting away supplies at the end of a neighborhood program.

UCRP Deacon Wes Dorr will attend this meeting to share opportunities where we may partner in mission. Many of you will remember UCRP pastor Rev. Catiana McKay who attended DGFUMC (when she was attending Garrett Theological Seminary), sang in the choir and led Stephen Ministries. 

For more information about UCRP, see ucrogerspark.org.

Location: 
Room 218
Date: 
Sunday, July 19, 2015 - 11:00am

Letter/Prayer Mission Delegate to Guatemala Opportunity

June 26, 2015 - 8:38am

Be a Letter or Prayer Mission Delegate to Guatemala.

We are sending seven delegates to Guatemala City from July 13-21 to continue to deepen our relationship with the families of UPAVIM, our hermanamiento facilitated through Sister Parish, an organization that pairs communities of faith in Central America with churches in North America. As we work together to build the Kingdom of God on earth, we share each other’s experiences so that we can better understand and overcome the sources of injustice and oppression, promoting mutual respect and dignity for all people, advocating for human rights and working for social and economic justice for all.

You can participate in this delegation by being a letter or prayer sponsor. It is important for the delegates to know that they represent our church community and that they carry with them your thoughts, blessings, and hopes for a safe and meaningful experience.

To be a letter sponsor, simply write a note of encouragement that the delegates can open and read each day they are there. Notes need to be turned into the church office by July 9. You may also email your letters to Sheila at sheila@dgfumc.org to have her print your note for the delegates. To be a prayer sponsor, commit to pray for our delegates on any of their mission days. This year’s delegates are Dale and Jessie Faber, Penny Fox, Michelle Loconte, Ray Osborn, Claire Pitstick and Samantha Snyder.

They will be commissioned during the 10:00 a.m. worship on Sunday, July 12.

UMC Response to Nepal Earthquake and How You Can Help

May 1, 2015 - 1:12pm

United Methodist respond to Nepal EarthquakeMany of you have been asking how our congregation, and the United Methodist Church as a whole, is responding to the devastation caused by the earthquake in Nepal.

For many years, the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church has been in mission with the people of Nepal. This existing relationship positioned UMC to take immediate steps to assist the people of that nation, including providing household and community water filtration units for survivors, and working with United Mission to Nepal, a partner in community-based health and education projects in Nepal for more than 60 years. To read more about these efforts, click here.

Closer to home, the Mission, Justice and Community Work Area of DGFUMC, has approved an immediate emergency gift of $1,000 from our congregation to the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s (UMCOR) Disaster Response in Nepal to support relief efforts.

You can also help with relief efforts. Individual gifts may be sent through UMCOR, using the code Advance #982450. To send a gift electronically, click here.  To donate by check, please make your check payable to Advance GCFA, write the Advance number 982450 on the memo line and mail to:

Advance GCFA
PO Box 9068
New York, NY 10087-9068

To donate by phone, please call 1.888.252.6174.

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Welcome

God, as known to us in Jesus Christ, welcomes all.

We welcome people of any race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social or economic status, employment status, or life situation; including people with physical or mental illness or disability.

We practice loving acceptance of each person and respectful discussion
Reconciling Ministries Network of our differences.

Affiliated to Reconciling Ministries Network

First United Methodist Church 1032 Maple Avenue, Downers Grove, IL 60515 - Phone: 630.968.7120 - E-mail: dgfumc@dgfumc.org

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