Mission

Hunger in Northern Illinois

October 9, 2014 - 1:32pm

The DGFUMC Missions Work Area recently made a $1,000 donation to the Northern Illinois Food Bank as part of September – Hunger Action Month. That donation will enable $8,000 worth of food for our neighbors. 

A new study by the Food Bank and Feeding America shows that nearly 600,000 people in northern Illinois turn to food pantries and meal programs to feed themselves and their families – 71,000 people each week.

• Children under age 18 make up 36 percent of our hungry neighbors, while seniors age 60 and older make up nine percent.
• 66 percent of households that use the Food Bank’s services have incomes that fall at or below the federal poverty level.
• 77 percent had to choose between paying for food and utilities in the past 12 months
• 62 percent had to choose between food and paying for medicine/medical care in the past 12 months. 

See below for more information about the Hunger in America 2014 study and to learn about hunger in our community and the United States:

Hunger In America 2014 – The National Report

Winter Blessing Bags Assembly and Dinner

Care Package AssemblyUnsure how to help when you see homeless individuals at traffic lights or at the train station? Our congregation will be making winter blessing bags on Wednesday, October 22, in the gym. The bags may be kept in cars and handed to people at intersections.

Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. and bag assembly will begin at 6:30 p.m. All ages welcome! No cost! Join us as we enjoy a time of fellowship and assemble Ziploc bags full of helpful items. 

The following items are needed to fill the bags:

  • Travel size lotions, individual packets of peanut butter or cheese crackers.

Items may be dropped off in the church office or at the purchase with a purpose table.

Location: 
Gym
Date: 
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - 6:00pm

Pastors' Friday Reflections

September 13, 2014 - 8:21am

Two grade-school aged brothers brought their Imagine No Malaria (INM) can to me last Sunday, Rally Day. It was filled to the top with coins they had collected over the summer, and they were eager to turn their money in so it could begin to do the life-saving work for which it was intended.

There are many other children, teens, and adults in our congregation who share that eagerness of pooling our saved incidental money for INM. This Sunday, September 14, we'll do just that!

Imagine No Malaria

June 1, 2014 - 8:28am

Imagine No Malaria

The United Methodist Church has worked in Africa for nearly 200 years operating churches, school, hospitals and clinics across the continent in places where no one else will go. For this reason, the UMC was invited into a global partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation to help lead the effort to end malaria on that continent. Going beyond distributing bed nets, the Imagine No Malaria comprehensive plan includes ongoing prevention, education, treatment and communications to end preventable deaths by malaria.

However, malaria is only a preventable, treatable and beatable disease IF resources are available.

Give NowA gift of $100 saves a life – will you save at least one life?

Pause and consider...

Care Packages for the Homeless

Unsure how to help when you see homeless individuals at traffic lights or at the train station? On May 21, our congregation will be making homeless care packages that may be kept in cars and handed to people at intersections. Pizza will be served as we enjoy a time of fellowship in the Gym, starting at 6pm, and assemble Ziploc bags full of helpful items.

During May we will collect the following items in the church parlor:

  • Care PackageGallon size Ziplock storage bags
  • Socks (Men and women)
  • Rain Poncho
  • Chapstick
  • Comb
  • Individual Kleenex packets
  • Non-perishable foods such as Tuna Salad with pop-tops
  • Fruit cup or applesauce snack
  • Crackers with peanut butter or cheese
  • Granola or cereal bar
  • Juice boxes

Look for the Homeless Care Kit collection box at the UMW table in the parlor.

Please register below so we know how many supplies are needed. If you need any more information, contact: Ina Osborn

Location: 
Gym
Date: 
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 - 6:00pm

Spring Tornadoes

May 1, 2014 - 1:09pm

Spring tornadoesAs you know, several communities, particularly in Oklahoma and Arkansas were hit by devastating tornadoes last weekend and are in need of our prayers. As with all such disasters, UMCOR is on the scene responding to those in need. If you wish to support their work, you can visit  the UMCOR Disaster Response Advance #901670 and click on the "Give Now" button.

Rogers Park Mission Trip

Our annual trip to United Church of Rogers Park is this week. We will be helping with the Kids Club.

Location: 
Open Door, UCRP
Date: 
Sunday, July 27, 2014 - 12:00pm

Senior High Mission Trip

Our Senior High group is going on it's annual Mission Trip. This year we are going to Glenwood, MN, through Group Workcamps.

Location: 
Open Door, Glenwood MN
Date: 
Sunday, July 13, 2014 - 12:00pm

Generations in Solidarity

Honoring voices of the past, bringing hope for the future

Generations in SolidarityPlease join us on Saturday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. for a public screening and discussion of Generations in Solidarity – a 45 minute documentary film which explores the governmental and faith-community relationships between North and Central America over the past 25 years.

Filmed on location in Guatemala, El Salvador and North America, Generations in Solidarity tells the story of how Sister Parish, an ecumenical social justice organization, began to link faith-based communities between North and Central America.  Their goals during the darkest days of the civil wars in Central America were to provide hope and stand in solidarity with the people of Central America – who continue to struggle for justice today amid violence, globalization and environmental degradation. The film encourages us to establish long-term relationships and interconnectedness with faith communities in Central America, challenging us to discover how the role of solidarity is as important as charity in providing support. We are asked to reflect on the source and nature of injustice in Central America and the parallels to environmental and social issues being faced in the U.S. today.

Click below to see the trailer and register for this event.

Date: 
Saturday, April 26, 2014 - 7:00pm

2014 Easter Offering - Gifts of Hope and Healing

April 7, 2014 - 1:57pm

Easter SundayDear Church Family,

As we anticipate trees quietly beginning to blossom and flowers stretching towards the emerging sun, we are reminded that Easter will soon be here. On Sunday, April 20th, we will worship with full hearts, proclaiming to the world that “Christ is alive!”

Easter is a wondrous celebration of Christ’s Resurrection and the promise of eternal life. And it is a time to remember that Jesus came to heal and provide hope to all. Each year we invite our congregation to help carry out this mission of hope and healing by participating in our Special Easter Offering.

GIve OnlineThis annual offering helps fund the outreach of our congregation’s Missions Work Area which takes seriously its role as stewards of your generosity and compassion.  This year we are asking that you consider enhancing your Easter giving so that, as a church body, DGFUMC can increase its outreach in a more impactful way. The resources gathered on Easter Sunday will make a critical difference in the lives of individuals in DuPage County, as well as in national and international missions programs.

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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.

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

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