Register now for True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World, the 2025 Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Duluth First United Methodist Church. Registration is underway and True North VBS will be held Monday, June 16th, through Friday, June 20th. 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 4th 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. These are adult volunteers who are 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, as substitute shepherds are often needed. Also, childcare in Childcare Corner is available for the children of volunteers if you have a child who is not old enough to be a participant.

All Vacation Bible School participant registration forms, as well as volunteer forms, are available online by clicking on vbspro.events/p/005420.

For any of you who enjoy crafting, decorating and have creative ideas, we would love to have you join us! Decorating plans are already underway and if you would like to be involved with this fun project, please contact Leslie Yokeley by e-mail at lyokeley@duluthumc.org.

Over the past five years, it has been a joy for our congregation to be a part of the Summer Reading Camp at Seneca Street UMC in Buffalo, NY, by packing backpacks here in Duluth with school supplies for the children in Buffalo. The backpacks are then shipped to Buffalo from Duluth and distributed to the children at the end of the two-week Summer Reading Camp for use in their upcoming school year.

This year we will have a new approach to our Backpacks for Buffalo ministry. A portion of the backpacks will be processed as we have done for the last five years, while for the remainder of the backpacks we will buy and collect the school supplies and have a “Backpack Packing Party” - open to all ages - where we will come together and fill backpacks with the collected school supplies.

Here is how it will work:

• Backpacks for Kindergarten - Grade 8:  Instead of selecting a backpack, you will select one or more school supplies cards and will buy the school supplies listed on the card, turning the supplies in by Sunday, July 6th. A “Backpack Packing Party” for all ages will be held on Saturday, July 12th (please note change in date) from 10 a.m. to noon in Hinton Hall where we will come together and fill the backpacks with the collected school supplies. Afterwards we will come together for continued fellowship and a lunch.
• Backpacks for Grades 9 - 12:  As done in past years, you will select a backpack which will include the school supplies list and a note on the return process. You will shop for the school supplies and return the completed backpack by Sunday, July 13th.

We believe this new approach will offer a greater number of our members to participate in the Backpacks for Buffalo ministry.

The collection of the school supplies for Kindergarten - Grade 8 will start on Sunday, June 15th, and end on Sunday, July 6th. The backpacks for Grades 9 - 12 will be available beginning on Sunday, June 22nd, and need to be returned by Sunday, July 13th.  The “Backpack Packing Party” for all ages for the Kindergarten - Grade 8 backpacks will be held on Saturday, July 12th (please note change in date) from 10 a.m. to noon in Hinton Hall.

Thank you for your continued support of this important Backpacks for Buffalo

ministry!

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.

Our schedule for the month of June is:

• Sunday, June 15th: No Sunday Night Gathering (Father’s Day);
• Sunday, June 22nd: Sunday Night Gathering at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”);
• Sunday, June 29th: Sunday Night Gathering at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”).
  

Our schedule for the month of July is:

• Sunday, July 6th: Sunday Night Gathering at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”);
• Sunday, July 13th: Sunday Night Gathering at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”);
• Sunday, July 20th: Gwinnett Stripers Baseball game at 1:05 p.m. at Coolray Field. Please be on the lookout for more information;
• Sunday, July 27th: 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.

Reverend Beth Brown Shugart will be retiring at the end of June. A retirement reception in her honor will be held on Sunday, June 22nd, in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall immediately following the 11:00 a.m. worship services that day.  Please plan to stop by to thank Beth for her 11 years in ministry with our congregation. A love offering will be taken. You can give by:

• Check made payable to Duluth First UMC with Rev. Beth Brown Shugart Love Offering in the memo section;
• Online by going to ONLINE GIVING page of the church’s website. Select Miscellaneous Gift and enter “Rev. Beth Brown Shugart Love Offering” in the “Donation Made To” box.

The Book Club invites you to read The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, and then to join  them on Monday, August 11th, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center for a discussion of the book. Amy Burk will lead the discussion.

In The Alice Network, an enthralling novel from New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and `an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

“Both funny and heartbreaking, this epic journey of two courageous women is an unforgettable tale of little-known wartime glory and sacrifice. Quinn knocks it out of the park with this spectacular book!”—Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of America’s First Daughter.

On Sunday, March 30th, Duluth First United Methodist Church celebrated the commissioning of its two newest Stephen Ministers, Sally Southerland and Randy Yokeley. Stephen Ministers are committed Christian people who express God’s care through their lives to others. They receive 50 hours of initial training in important caring ministry skills and concepts; are commissioned as Stephen Ministers after completing their initial training; visit another person regularly and dependably and offer Christian support and care; participate in regular support and supervision under the guidance of trained Stephen Leaders; are committed to preserving the confidential nature of the caring relationship; serve for at least two years; receive continuing education and skill building throughout their years of service.

For more information or to request the support and care of a Stephen Minister, contact Rev. Dr. C. Kay Fuino by e-mail at ckfuino@duluthumc.org or call Stephen Leader Ann Fleming at 678-644-9108.