Information Station is a 3-week course especially for new members and those interested in becoming members of Duluth First United Methodist Church. Join us on the following dates from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Conference Room, located  on the 3rd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, to learn more about what Duluth First UMC has to offer you!

• Sunday, April 27th: Learn about the United Methodist Church and the history of Duluth First United Methodist Church.
• Sunday, May 4th: Learn about small group opportunities for growth, fellowship, and service in the church.
• Sunday, May 11th:  Tour of the church and the surrounding campus.
  

Please make plans to join us!  If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Beth Brown Shugart, Associate Pastor, by e-mail at bshugart@duluthumc.org.

The need for blood doesn’t take a 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 14th, 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.

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 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. 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.

Everyone who registers by Sunday, May 25th, 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 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.

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.

Stop by the church’s Louise McDaniel Memorial Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, and check out one of our many new titles for your Spring reading. New titles include:

• The Women by Kristin Hannah (New York Times Bestseller Adult Fiction);
• The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home by Heath Hardage Lee (Companion Book to The Women Adult Fiction);
• The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up: Find Your Path, Face Your Shadow, Discover Your True Self by Beatrice Chestnut (Adult Non-Fiction);
• The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Juvenile Fiction);
• Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss (Kid Fiction).
  

If the church is open, the library is open! You can also go online an access the library’s online catalog by going to https://dfum.scoolaid.net/bin/home#0. If you have any questions, please contact the library’s volunteers by e-mail at library@duluthumc.org.

You are invited to participate in the 2025 Operation: Taste of Home, the Hugs for Soldiers Ministry’s 22nd annual “Gift of Caring: Cookies for Soldiers” Collection Drive of Girl Scout cookies for our military men and women. Girl Scout cookies are a great symbol of America, and in fact, they continue to be one of the most requested items by soldiers.

Show your support for our soldiers and your local Girl Scouts by purchasing an EXTRA box or two of cookies. This is a wonderful community service project for our Girl Scouts along with their families, friends, and neighbors to support our soldiers. Deployed soldiers are in stressful situations, but when they receive a box of cookies from home, it sends a message to the troops that America is thinking of them and their safe return.  
 
You may drop off your cookies in the collection box located inside the back entrance to the Sheldon Family Life Center. You can also attach a personal message to your donated boxes - 2” x 4” mailing labels work best.

Thank you for helping us put a smile on a service member’s face! If you have any questions, please contact Angie Doerlich by e-mail at hugsforsoldiers@gmail.com.

As most of you know, Dr. David Daniel, our Minister of Music & Worship Arts, will be retiring at the end of May. The church is planning a reception in his honor on Sunday, May 18th, so that our congregation will have the opportunity to formally say goodbye and thank him for his 18 years of ministry here at Duluth First UMC.  The reception will be held in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall immediately following the 11:00 a.m. worship services that day. A love offering will be taken. You can give by:

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

Reverend Beth Brown Shugart has also announced her retirement for 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.

How does God’s “small, still voice” break through the noise, busyness, chaos, and overstimulation filling our daily lives? With so many digital media “mining” the attention of our congregation, especially our children and youth, it can be difficult to compete.

So at Glisson Camp & Retreat Center in the forests surrounding Cane Creek Falls near Dahlonega, GA we don’t. Instead, we offer people a peaceful place and a “creative dislocation”, during which the distractions found elsewhere don’t exist. (That's right – cell phone-free!) Then we combine the absence of distraction with the safety and belonging created by our small group camping model, and we find our summer campers have a quieter mind that’s much less guarded, and more available to the presence of God’s Spirit.

That’s why for 100 years folks have said you can feel God’s presence at Camp Glisson like nowhere else. Your family of camp and retreat ministries is your partner in helping children, youth, and young adults hear God’s small, still voice. Each summer we hire and train an outstanding, committed staff of young adults who want nothing less than for the campers they guide to experience God’s love and to discover and remember that they are gifted and called by God.

When campers spend a week immersed in God's creation...practicing Christian community and servant leadership together...amazing things happen.  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. Camp Glisson is part of the North Georgia Camp & Retreat Ministries of the United Methodist Church’s North Georgia Conference.

Camp ministry isn't just fun – it’s transformational:

"My daughter came home a new person. She experienced Christ in a very real, tangible way in addition to having loads of fun. When she told me of her experiences and all she learned as well as the friends she made and the fun she had, I had tears in my eyes. This experience was everything I could have hoped for her and more." 2024 Camp Glisson Parent

There are many spots still available for joining in on the faith-forming fun at Camp Glisson this summer – opportunities for growth and transformation for the kids in your church and your neighborhood. Several years ago one UM congregation recruited neighborhood kids to come to Camp Glisson, partnering with us to pay their way, and helping them get to camp. It was a transformative experience for everybody!

You’ll also want to know about the following financial resources that are available so that kids can access camp more easily:

• The Campership Fund: Camp Glisson works hard not to turn campers away because families can’t afford the cost of camp. Due to the of the generosity of Camp Glisson donors, financial help is available to families who are unable to pay any or all of the camp fee.
• The First Camper Fund: For many, summer camp was never a part of their family tradition. Some of those families experienced additional structural barriers to participating in camp. As a way of lowering one barrier for families trying summer camp for the first time, Camp Glisson is working with North Georgia Conference partners to help underwrite camp fees for new campers.
• The PK Fund: New this year! Thanks to a generous donation from a retired clergy member, Camp Glisson has limited funds available to assist young clergy families, for whom the cost of camp makes attending impossible, with half the cost of a camp week.

Click on SUMMER 2025 to see Camp Glisson's Summer 2025 schedule. Registration is open to everyone. For questions or additional information, To see the schedule and/or register, please go to https://glisson.org.