Thank you for your outstanding Food Drive support during the Wednesday Night Dinners, as your weekly donations enabled Hands of Christ Duluth Duluth-Op to serve an increasing demand for food. However, during the Spring and Summer months, a slowdown in donations is experienced. Hands of Christ’s food inventory is at very low levels. It’s not a crisis but is something we need to be attentive of, as more individuals are being served than ever before.

Over 60% of the food distributed by Hands of Christ comes from donations. Their current need is based upon the increase in the number of clients served each week. On a typical week, over 125 clients are served, resulting in a weekly distribution of over 4000 pounds of canned and dry products.

Duluth First UMC will be holding a Food Drive for Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op on Sunday, July 12th, during service hours for the donation of the following items:

• canned peas,
  
• canned fruit,
• canned tomatoes (diced, whole, stewed),
• spaghetti/pasta,
• jelly (plastic squeeze bottles are preferred).

There will be multiple locations around the Sanctuary and in the Sheldon Family Life Center to receive your food donations.

Thank you for your continued support of Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op. If you have any questions, contact Charlie Doerlich by e-mail at chaz3d@gmail.com or call 678-662-2115.

Students in the 6th through 12th grades are invited to join us on Sunday nights for Sunday Night Gatherings from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”), located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. Sunday Night Gatherings include great dinners, fun games, amazing worship, inspirational and relevant messages and life-changing small groups.

The Sunday Night Gathering schedule for July is:

• Sunday, July 12th: Sunday Night Gathering at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”);
• Sunday, July 19th: 2026 FIFA World Cup Final Watch Party at 3:00 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”);
• Sunday, July 26th: Sunday Night Gathering at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”).

Please click on YOUTH MINISTRY for more information.

Questions? Please contact Rev. Min Lee, Director of Youth Ministries, by e-mail at mlee@duluthumc.org.

The summer is too long to go without seeing our friends! Preschool-aged children, their siblings, and their grown-ups are invited to come play at the church on Monday, July 13th from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. We will have popsicles for the kids and iced coffee for the grownups!

Join us on the playground if the weather is nice, and if it is raining or way too hot, we will be in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Dr. AnnaKate Rawles, Associate Pastor, by e-mail at arawles@duluthumc.org.

Be on the look out for other meet up opportunities this summer by following us on:

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DuluthFirstUMC;
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/duluthfirstumc.

A new small group class, utilizing Bart Ehrman’s New Insights into the New Testament Seminar for 2025, is being offered at the church on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings beginning July 7th and 8th. This class, led by Pete Fleming, features videos of ten New Testament scholars’ lectures on various aspects of the Historical Jesus Quest. Classes will meet twice weekly for ten weeks beginning July 7th and 8th:

• Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.;
• Wednesdays from 5:45 to 7:15 p.m.

Participants may attend either class.

Video presenters include Amy-Jill Levine, Dale Allison, Elaine Pagels, Paula Fredriksen and others. Each class will view one 40-minute lecture, followed by a time of discussion. Participants are encouraged to read E.P. Sanders’s book, The Historical Figure of Jesus, which presents the basic outlines of the Historical Jesus scholarship. The book can be purchased for under $10.

Please contact Pete Fleming by e-mail at lfleming3832@att.net or Rev. Dr. AnnaKate Rawles by e-mail at arawles@duluthumc.org to register and also letting them know which day you will attend. Once the size of each class has been determined, participants will be notified of the classroom location.

Senior Adults are invited to join us once a month this summer for a time of coffee, conversations, and fellowship. Bring a game, something you want to discuss, or just show up to enjoy time together!

We will meet on Wednesdays, July 15th and August 12th, at 9:30 a.m. in the cul-da-sac area outside of the offices on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. AnnaKate Rawles, Associate Pastor, by e-mail at arawles@duluthumc.org. We look forward to seeing you there!

Our Thursday morning Women Studying Together study group will begin a “Names of God” study on Thursday, July 16th. Names in the ancient world carried for more significance than they do in the modern world. It was often thought that the name described the essential nature and character of a person. God revealed himself to people in various ways, often with a different facet of his character as part of the name. Why so many? Why not just the word 'God'?

How does my relationship change with the people who know my name, what about my nickname? Will knowing more about God's names and titles help my relationship with Him? That is the purpose of the study—not just to know, but to grow toward our awesome God who has revealed his name to us.

The “Names of God” study begins Thursday, July 16th, with an anticipated completion date of August 20th. Women Studying Together meets from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center.

There is no book to buy, just bring your Bible and join us. There will be assigned Scripture readings for each class, and a discussion of the name/title revealed in that section. Discussion will be led by Jenny Masterson.  As we study, we ask questions, search for answers, share our stories, laugh and pray together. We welcome all women. If you have any questions, please contact Jenny by e-mail at jennybobm@comcast.net.

The Library Book Club will meet on Monday, July 20th, at 10:00 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, to discuss The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a WWII historical fiction novel about a young woman, Yona, who was kidnapped as a child and raised in the forests of Eastern Europe, learning to survive off the land. After her kidnapper dies, she encounters Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis and uses her wilderness skills to help them survive, while they teach her about love and community, all while she grapples with her past and identity. The story is inspired by true accounts of Jewish partisans and survival groups during the war.

The need for blood doesn’t take a summer break! Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. All blood types are needed now to help save lives. An American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held at Duluth First UMC on Wednesday, August 12th, from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall.

To schedule an appointment:

• Visit www.redcrossblood.org and enter the sponsor code dufumc;
• Call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767);
• Contact Tracy Brinker by e-mail at tbrinker@duluthumc.org, or call 770-476-3776, ext. 112.
• Last, but not least, be a “walk-in” on Blood Drive Day.
  

The Library Book Club will meet on Monday, August 17th, at 10:00 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, to discuss The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

The Kitchen House is a historical fiction novel set on a Virginia plantation before the Civil War, following orphaned Irish girl Lavinia who becomes an indentured servant and is raised by the plantation's enslaved people, particularly Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter. The story explores themes of race, class, family, and loyalty as Lavinia straddles the worlds of the kitchen and the big house, leading to tragic events that expose the harsh realities of slavery and the bonds between the characters.

GriefShare Support Group, led by the church’s Stephen Ministers, will walk alongside you through the loss of a loved one. GriefShare is a safe, welcoming place where people understand the difficult emotions of grief. Through this 13-week session, you’ll discover what to expect in the days ahead and what’s “normal” in grief. Since there are no neat, orderly stages of grief, you’ll learn helpful ways of coping with grief, in all its unpredictability—and gain solid support each step of the way.

Our next session of GriefShare Support Group classes will start on Wednesday, August 26th and continue through December 2nd, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in room F153, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. Gain access to valuable resources to help you through your grief. GriefShare also offers Bereavement Candlelight Services the Monday (November 23rd) before Thanksgiving, and a “Surviving the Holidays” class on Wednesday, November 18th.

For more information, please visit the GriefShare website at griefshare.org, or contact Tracy Brinker, Bereavement Coordinator, by e-mail at tbrinker@duluthumc.org, or call 770-476-3776.

We are actively recruiting new members to the Flowers Ministry, a fun ministry which creates beautiful floral arrangements used to adorn the worship spaces in the Sanctuary and Hinton Hall for Sunday morning worship services. A training workshop will be held in April where you will have the opportunity learn how to make beautiful arrangements that will be placed in the Sanctuary and Hinton Hall to add beauty to our worship spaces.

If you are interested in being part of our Flowers Ministry, please contact Verena Lucía Anders, Minister of Music & Worship Arts, by e-mail at vanders@duluthumc.org or speak with James Dykes.