When was the last time you stopped and really thought about how blessed you truly are?  Some people might say they think about it all the time, while others might not give it a second thought.  When you ask someone how they know they are blessed, they might say, “Well, I have a nice car, a nice house, I have food on the table, clothes on my back, and a comfortable bed to sleep in every night.”  Another person might answer that question differently by saying, “I know I’m blessed because Jesus loves me, my family loves me, and my friends love me.”  While those might sound like respectable answers, do you know what they left out?  Their church.  Neither of those people who answered the question of how they know they are blessed said anything about their church.

When you think about how truly blessed you are, does your list include Duluth First United Methodist Church?

My friends, we should all feel both grateful and blessed to be a part of Duluth First United Methodist Church.  We should feel blessed that we can worship God openly and freely in this place.  We should feel blessed because our church shows us how to be a follower of Christ.  We should feel blessed because our church teaches us to, “Do good; Do no harm; and Love Jesus.”  We feel blessed because our church loves us and cares about us from cradle to grave.  We feel blessed because our church teaches us that God is Love.  We feel blessed because our church teaches us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.  And we feel blessed because our church not only teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves, but it shows us how to do it by going out into the community to spread the love of God and care for those neighbors – the lost, the needy, and the least of these.

Those are just some of the reasons why Duluth First United Methodist Church makes us feel blessed.  And those are some of the reasons why we give of ourselves in the form of our time, our prayers, and our tithes, gifts, and offerings.

As you take time now to think about how blessed we all are to be a part of this church family, and just how wonderful this place is, think also about how you can help our church grow.  It takes all of us to financially support the myriad of ministries here at Duluth First United Methodist Church.  It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about, and talking about, our giving plans for next year, including how we can all “Grow One Step” in our giving.  It simply means that if you gave 5% of your income to the church in 2025, plan to give 6% of your income in 2026.  It’s a small jump, but it makes a big difference.

I hope all of you feel as connected to Duluth First United Methodist Church as I do, and I hope that you and your families feel all the love and blessings that God has given to this church.  In the coming weeks, please think about, and pray about, your giving plans for the coming year.  Make your plan now to Grow One Step.

Peace and blessings to all,
Bryan Johnson,
Stewardship Committee Chairperson

Grow One Step charts for the 2026 Stewardship Campaign can be found:

• At the church information centers located at the main entrance to the Sanctuary, and inside Hinton Hall (on Sunday mornings);
• Online by clicking on GROW ONE STEP.
  

If you need an Estimate of Giving Card for the Duluth First UMC’s 2026 Stewardship Campaign, you can find them:

• In the pew pockets in the Sanctuary for Traditional Worship services;
• At the church information centers located at the main entrance to the Sanctuary, and inside Hinton Hall (on Sunday mornings);
• Fill your Estimate of Giving online by clicking on ESTIMATE OF GIVING.

Our congregation is blessed with tremendous facilities which assist the church in the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ.  On any day of the week you can witness the church in action with activities such as worship, Youth Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Christian Beginnings Preschool & Kindergarten, Bible studies, other small group studies for a variety of ages and interests, community meetings, meals being served, counseling, outreach ministries, and much more. Our challenge as the caretakers of this space is to maintain these facilities so as to enable these many missions a place to continue for years to come.

The needed repairs and upgrades to the buildings are financed through the Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Fund. Like our own homes, there are various parts of the structures that have a finite life span. As a reminder, the church campus is over 90,000 square feet, which is roughly the footprint of 35 typical houses. The systems that need repair or replacement can be the heating and air conditioning complex, roofs, parking areas, lighting, sound systems, video equipment and much more.  In recent years the church has been able to replace the chillers (to provide cool air) and the boilers (to provide warm air) in the Sheldon Family Life Center and is replacing the controls that manage the heating and air conditioning in the entire facility, at a total cost of $360,000, which has exhausted our Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Fund. In 2021 the church conducted a facility study that detailed we would need to spend 3 million dollars in the next 10 years on our buildings. We are blessed as a church to have begun this process, but we need everyone’s help to continue to meet our facility’s capital needs when they arise.

Please consider making a gift to our now empty Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Fund to help provide for these needs and enable Duluth First United Methodist Church to continue the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ.  If you would like to make an online gift (one-time or recurring), please click on LONG-TERM FACILITIES MAINTENANCE. Thank you for your generosity!

Robert Gates,
Duluth First United Methodist Church Trustee Chairman

We are thankful for your gifts to the church and we welcome them in many ways. Below are some of the ways you can give:
 
Preferred (safe):

• Recurring online gift. Click on ONLINE GIVING and follow the prompts to set up recurring giving. This allows you to give automatically a specific amount at whatever interval you choose - once a week, once a month, once a year, whatever works best for you. If you are growing one step each year toward the tithe (10%), as many of us are, all you have to do is change the amount once each year to reflect that growth, and it’s done!
• Giving online, whether in-person or remote. Click on the QR code printed in the order of worship if worshiping in-person, or click the link on the screen if you are worshiping online.
• Through the church website anytime: duluthumc. org, go the the ONLINE GIVING page (bank account or credit card).
• Check in-person.
• Cash in-person.
  

Not preferred (less safe):

• Check or cash sent through the mail.
• Using the bill pay service through your bank (this ends up being a paper check that is sent through the  mail).
  

While the church welcomes any gift, we have found the most safe and efficient ways to give are in-person or online through the church website and we recommend recurring giving. We would recommend NOT sending gifts through the mail at this time as we have had a few issues receiving gifts through the mail. Additionally, if you are using your bank’s bill pay service to send your gifts, they are likely sending your gift by check through the mail.

On Sunday, February 6th, we kicked off the Crossing the Finish Line 2022-2028 Capital Campaign. This is an exciting time for our church. With the pledges from this campaign, we have the very real possibility of paying off the mortgage and being debt free for the first time in decades.

Duluth First United Methodist Church, the church family, and the community have been profoundly blessed by the building of the Family Life Center, especially in the areas of faith, hope, and love.  Some examples are:

• FAITH: Youth Group, Children’s Ministries, Scouting, Contemporary Worship Services, Sunday School classes, Bible studies, Prayers and Squares Prayer Quilt Ministry;
• HOPE:  Happy Sacks, Grief Share, Stephen Ministry, food drives for Hands of Christ Duluth Co-op;
• LOVE: Wednesday Night Dinners, Hugs for Soldiers, Yarn Arts Ministry, support for Seneca Street UMC in Buffalo, NY.

There are many more ministries that we have participated in which would not have been possible without the Family Life Center.  It is an integral part of our service to God, this church, and this community.

The outstanding mortgage is $1.3M with monthly payments of $20,000.  We will pay this debt off with this Capital Campaign which will see us Crossing the Finish Line. Imagine how much more we will be able to grow our ministries with the mortgage paid off.  What a celebration that will be! Isn’t it exciting to be a part of this endeavor?

You can still make your pledge online by clicking on Crossing the Finish Line Online Pledge Form, or download a paper form by clicking on Crossing the Finish Line Paper Pledge Form.

Please pray for our Church, our Church family, and this Campaign. Prayerfully consider the amount of your pledge, and let us join together in Crossing the Finish Line.

Ann Fleming

Campaign Chairperson