If you have a student (or if you are the student) who is a member of Duluth First UMC and is graduating from high school, trade school, college, or graduate school, please send a picture of your student by e-mail to Ken Willi, Director of Communications, at kwilli@duluthumc.org AND Rev. Min Lee, Director of Youth Ministries, at mlee@duluthumc.org. Please put Graduate Recognition 2026 in the subject field of your e-mail.

Please be sure to include:

• the graduate’s name;
• the name of the school they are graduating from;
• their next step plans (i.e. college, military, trade school, graduate school, job).
  

All pictures and information need to be received by the end of the day, Sunday, April 26th.
 
PLEASE NOTE: Youth-led Worship and Graduate Recognition Sunday in all three services is scheduled for Sunday, May 17th.

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 April is:

• Sunday, April 26th: Kickball Night with Level Creek UMC Youth Group, from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Please meet here for this event - 5160 Gladstone Parkway, Suwanee, 30024.

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.

If you would like to show your support and appreciation for the teachers and staff at Duluth High School and Coleman Middle School, we can use your help. We will be delivering large snack baskets for the staff lounges at both schools during Teacher Appreciation Week, beginning Monday, May 4th.

Your donations of snack items will help make this possible. We need individually wrapped candies, breakfast bars, peanut butter crackers, etc. Collection spots for your donations will be located in The Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall and on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center until Sunday afternoon, May 3rd. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. David Burchett, Assistant Pastor, by e-mail at dburchett@duluthumc.org.

Thank you for your help to ensure our local teachers and school staff feel seen and appreciated!

Parents of Christian Beginnings Preschool & Kindergarten kids are invited to a Parents Coffee Get-Together, with coffee provided by Break Coffee Roasters, on Tuesday, May 5th. Come hang out together beginning at 9:45 a.m. and enjoy a hot cup of coffee in the cul-da-sac area outside of the church offices located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center.

We thank Break Coffee Roasters, with locations at 3122 Hill Street NW in Duluth and 235 N. Perry Street in Lawrenceville, for providing the coffee.

Join The Road Runners on Tuesday, May 12th (please note change of date), for a flower-filled day with a guided tour at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with lunch to follow. The group will leave the church’s back parking lot at 9:00 a.m.

The cost is $40 per person and includes entry into the gardens, tour, and transportation via a 15-person van (please see notes below). The cost of lunch will be on your own.

PLEASE NOTE:

• In order to attend you must be able to get in and out of a 15-passenger van and be healthy enough to travel several hours by car.
• We must have a minimum of 12 people to sign up in order to rent a van, otherwise travel will be via caravan.
  

To register please click on ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDENS TRIP, or contact Rev. Dr. AnnaKate Rawles by e-mail at arawles@duluthumc.org. All registrations must be received by Tuesday, April 21st.

The need for blood doesn’t take a spring break! Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. All blood types are needed now to help save lives. Spring into action and give patients a fighting chance by donating blood.

An American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held at Duluth First UMC from 3 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13th, in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall. Please consider donating blood as the Red Cross is experiencing the worst blood shortage in over a decade.

To schedule an appointment:

• Click on BLOOD DRIVE ONLINE REGISTRATION;
• 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.

In 2025 The United Methodist Church launched a new vision statement - “To love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously.”  As a result we, as United Methodists, are recommitting ourselves to supporting clergy and United Methodists around the world. John Wesley made education a core commitment of his Methodist movement going back to its earliest days. In 1748, just a decade after his heart-warming spiritual awakening, Wesley established the still-thriving Kingswood School to provide high-quality education to the children of coal miners, as well as adults.

So it makes sense that as the people called Methodist “spread scriptural holiness over the land,” they planted not only churches but also schools for all ages. Those campuses eventually came to include United Methodist seminaries and theological schools to educate clergy around the globe. But ensuring would-be pastors can pay for their education has long been a challenge — especially in Africa, the Philippines and parts of Europe. While 71% of United Methodist clergy in the U.S. have a master’s degree or higher in theology, less than 5% of clergy in Africa, Europe and the Philippines can say the same.

That’s where Miracle Sunday comes in. The one-time offering is scheduled to take place in the denomination’s more than 30,000 congregations on Sunday, May 17th, the final Sunday of this year’s Easter season. The offering will raise funds for the Endowment for Theological Education in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. We will take this offering during worship on May 17th and invite you to participate in this important mission of The United Methodist Church. This offering is in addition to your giving to the general fund.

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 Mondays, June 8th and 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.

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, June 10th, 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!

Mark your calendars and save the date for “Rainforest Falls: Exploring the Nature of God” Vacation Bible School. Registration is underway for the 2026 Vacation Bible School, being held Monday, June 22nd through Friday, June 26th, at Duluth First United Methodist Church. Vacation Bible School, held from 9 a.m. to noon each day, is for kids going into pre-Kindergarten (age 4 as of September 1st) through rising 6th graders. The cost is $30 per child with a maximum of $70 per family. Each day participants will participate in Bible story time, sing songs, play games, make crafts, and eat snacks.

In addition to registering participants, we are also registering adult and youth volunteers. We especially need shepherds, who are adult volunteers in charge of a group of 6-10 kids. Shepherds do not need to prepare anything in advance. They lead their group to the various activities where other volunteers are in charge. If you would like to help but are only available one or two days that week, you can put your available dates on your registration. We often need substitute shepherds. Also, the Childcare Corner is available for the children of volunteers if you have a child who is not old enough to be a participant.

Everyone who registers by May 24th is guaranteed a VBS t-shirt and copy of the music. All Vacation Bible School participant registration forms, as well as volunteer forms, are available by clicking on VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2026.

For more information, please contact Leslie Yokeley, Director of Children’s Ministries, by e-mail at lyokeley@duluthumc.org, or call 770-476-3776, ext. 138.

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.

It is time for summer camp registration at Glisson Camp and Retreat Center! Registration for Summer 2026 is open for members of North Georgia United Methodist churches and returning families of Summer 2025 campers.

Glisson Camp and Retreat Center offers Summer Camp in the forests surrounding Cane Creek Falls near Dahlonega, GA. Since 1925, this place has become holy ground as thousands have had their faith strengthened through God’s presence there in creation and Christian community. Glisson Camp and Retreat Center is part of the North Georgia Camp & Retreat Ministries of the United Methodist Church’s North Georgia Conference. To see the schedule and/or register, as well as view promotional materials/videos, please go to https://glisson.org.