Helping people follow Jesus.  That’s what we do, right?  When it comes down to it, that’s what our church does best, and we’ve been doing it for over 150 years!  I borrowed that statement from Pastor Terry who visited the Homebuilders Sunday School class a few weeks ago.  We had been studying spiritual gifts and part of our discussion that day was centered on how we can use our own spiritual gifts to further the mission of The United Methodist Church.

The official mission statement of The United Methodist Church is, “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  Or, put simply, to help people follow Jesus.  Sometimes that means welcoming a visitor to our church, and other times that means listening to, praying for, and supporting the person that sits next to you in the pew on Sunday.  It can also mean putting together a backpack for a student in Buffalo, or bringing food items for the Hands of Christ Duluth Co-op on a Wednesday night.  It’s crocheting a blanket, or tying a knot on a prayer quilt.  It’s inviting someone to Sunday School or to supper on Wednesday night.  It’s teaching the children about Jesus, or caring for them in the Childcare Corner.  Helping people follow Jesus means singing in the church choir, or leading the services on Sunday morning.

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines a disciple of Jesus as someone who believes in His message and molds their daily behavior after Him.  Our church does a wonderful job of spreading God’s love out into the world.  We are a welcoming and loving congregation that loves God and loves our neighbors.

All of the wonderful things our church does to shine His light into the world happens because of the generosity of it’s members.  That’s You.  Your giving to the church allows us to keep and maintain our beautiful campus, to pay for a wonderful church staff, to fund things like our Youth Group, Trunk or Treat, our amazing music ministry, the children’s ministry, Wednesday Night Supper, Bible studies, Senior activities, etc. Everything we do to help people follow Jesus is made possible by your generosity to our church.

Please plan to increase your giving to the church by 1% more of your income in 2027.  If you’re giving 5% now, grow to 6% in 2027, and so on. Not only will you be Growing One Step toward the tithe (10%), but you will be helping our church do what it does best.  Help people follow Jesus.

With joy and blessings to all,

Bryan Johnson,
Chair of Stewardship Committee

Grow One Step charts for the 2027 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 2027 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