Holiday celebrations take on a different meaning when you are grieving. Are you in need of finding a way to survive the holidays? Do you wonder how to celebrate when your loved one is gone?

Join the Grief Share Support Group on Wednesday, November 19th, for a special “Surviving the Holidays” class from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in rooms F154/155, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. This class may be beneficial in helping you plan a holiday schedule that is best for you during the holiday season.

For additional information, please contact Brenda Bridges at 770-313-6002, Sue French at 404-434-8001, or call the church office at 770-476-3776.

Make plans to join us on Wednesday evenings at Duluth First United Methodist Church for activities for everyone:

• Wednesday Night Dinners:  5 to 6:30 p.m. in Hinton Hall, 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center;
• Book Bunch for kids (ages 3 – 4):  6:15 to 6:30 p.m. in the Louise McDaniel Memorial Library, 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
  
• DuluthKids (ages Kindergarten through 5th grade): 5:45 to 7 p.m. in the Children’s (C and D wings) classrooms. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
  
• Youth Bible Study (grades 6 – 12): 6 to 7 p.m., room F149, 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
• Parent Connection Group: 6 to 7 p.m., room F207, 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
• “The History and Archaeology of the Bible” Class for Adults: 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
  
• Happy Sacks: 6 to 6:30 p.m., room F152, 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
• Yarn Art Ministry: 6 to 7 p.m., room F205, 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
• Handbell Ensemble rehearsals: 6 to 7 p.m., in the Sanctuary. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION;
• Chancel Choir rehearsals: 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Don Lee Music Suite. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
  

The Wednesday Night Food Drives at Duluth First UMC for the Hands of Christ Duluth Co-op are our weekly mission project, combined with the many Wednesday evening activities offered at the church.

The competition is fierce and the stakes are high as the Children’s Ministry takes on the Youth Ministry to see who can collect the most diapers for A Beacon of Hope, a local ministry that provides holistic, life-affirming, integrated sexual health care that fosters knowledge and hope, transforming the lives of women and their families for generations, using scripture and medical accuracy as their cornerstones.

The diaper collection competition will go through Wednesday, November 19th. For every package of diapers you bring in, please cover a “poop” emoji with a red diaper (Children’s Ministry) or a blue diaper (Youth Ministry) on the Diaper Drive bulletin board located in the Atrium. The team who collects the most diapers gets to pie the other team in the face!

For additional information about A Beacon of Hope, please visit their website at www.friendsofbeacon.com. Thank you for your support!

If you still have an Operation Christmas Child shoebox that you took to fill, please return your completed shoebox to the Narthex, the Veterans Memorial Gathering Room, outside of Hinton Hall, and outside of room F145, located on the 1st floor of the lower level of the Sheldon Family Life Center no later than Friday, November 21st, at noon.

You can still fill a shoebox online through the month of December. The cost of the Build Online Shoebox is $30, and this is a quick and easy way to participate in this mission - no shopping going store to store, no lines, no driving. The DFUMC Goal Page is active and you can complete an online shoebox by clicking on OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD ONLINE SHOEBOX. Online shoeboxes are delivered to certain locations with special customs and cultural needs. This year we hope to fill 80 online shoeboxes. The deadline to complete online shoeboxes is Sunday, December 21st.

Operation Christmas Child is a worthwhile and fun project for our Sunday School classes, Women’s Circles, Youth Group, and families with their children to undertake. Let’s try to better Duluth First UMC’s total of 160 boxes we packed last year! For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Charlie Doerlich by e-mail at chaz3d@gmail.com or call 678-662-2115.

The Hugs for Soldiers Ministry is collecting care package donations for soldiers serving overseas. Take part in Christmas for a Soldier 2025, our 22nd Christmas for supporting our troops. Please help us spread some holiday joy to troops who can’t be home during the holidays by donating the following items.

Christmas Cards: Deployed service members would love to receive a handcrafted or signed card from you with holiday wishes.  Do not seal your cards in envelopes; we do not need envelopes.  All cards are mixed and re-boxed into larger boxes so that your cards are received at various military bases. PLEASE…NO GLITTER on cards! Glitter will come off during the two-week shipping overseas.

Snack Items:

• Individual packets of hot chocolate, apple cider, assorted flavors of tea bags individually wrapped;
• Instant Ramen Noodle Soup 3 oz. packets;
• Microwave popcorn;
• Holiday candy (this is a great time to ship chocolate);
• Cereal/granola/energy bars, Trail mix, nuts, sunflower seeds, fruit snacks;
• Slim Jims, beef jerky.

Other Items:

• Handmade holiday ornaments. Use your creativity and skills to make ornaments! From painted wood ornaments to beaded wreaths and everything in between, your ornaments can be anything you like. PLEASE NOTE: No glitter, no breakable ornaments, nothing dangerously sharp and nothing made out of food/candy.
• A new pair of socks.

The deadline for donations is Friday, November 21st. Donation boxes will be located inside the back entrance to the Sheldon Family Life Center and on the stage in Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall.

Monetary donations are also appreciated to help purchase items not received and for postage.  Checks are made payable to Duluth First UMC with Hugs for Soldiers written in the memo section, or go to the ONLINE GIVING page on the church’s website – www.duluthumc.org – click on MISCELLANEOUS GIFT and specify “Support Our Troops/Hugs for Soldiers.”

For further information, contact Angie Doerlich by e-mail at hugsforsoldiers@gmail.com or call 404-316-8183. For additional information about the Hugs for Soldiers Ministry, please visit their website at www.hugsforsoldiers.org.

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 November is:

• Sunday, November 23rd: Friendsgiving at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth Center (“The Fish Tank”);
• Sunday, November 30th: 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.

Make plans to join us for Hope for the Holidays - A Candle Lighting Service of Remembrance, on Monday, November 24th, with services at noon and 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Join us for a program of reflection followed by candle lighting in memory of your loved one(s). The 7:00 p.m. service will be streamed live on the Duluth First UMC Worship page on YouTube.com. Childcare in Childcare Corner will be available for both services.

We are asking people to send in names of loved ones that they would like to be read aloud during candle lighting. Please send the name(s) by e-mail to Tracy Brinker at tbrinker@duluthumc.org by Friday, November 22nd. Please put “Service of Remembrance Names” in the subject line of your e-mail.

We understand the holiday season may be a challenge for individuals and families who have lost someone special. Duluth First UMC has established a meaningful time for people to come together…to reflect, to remember and to honor those lives that have meant so much.

The Worship Committee invites you to join with them on Saturday, November 29th, at 9:00 a.m. in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall and in Hinton Hall as they come together to prepare the church’s Advent and Christmas decorations and decorate for the holiday season.

The stars will once again adorn the front lawn of the church during the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons. The stars will go up on the front lawn on Saturday, November 29th, at 9:00 a.m. If you would like to help install them, please simply show up to help!

Do you participate in Sunday School, Small Groups, or Fellowship Groups at Duluth First UMC? Please let us know more about them and what other types of studies you would like to participate in! Don’t participate in any groups? Let us know a topic or type of group you would be interested in participating in.

Please take a moment to fill out the survey by clicking on ADULT SMALL GROUP SURVEY. Print outs of the survey can be found on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center. If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Dr. AnnaKate Rawles, Associate Pastor, by e-mail at arawles@duluthumc.org.

The wonderful volunteers of our church library, The Louise McDaniel Memorial Library, have put together an Advent Devotional Calendar for everyone to use during their journey this Advent season. The Advent Devotional Calendar will be available:

• In worship handouts on Sundays, November 30th and December 7th;
• For download by clicking on ADVENT DEVOTIONAL CALENDAR;
  
• At the Information tables located in the Narthex (the main entrance to the Sanctuary) and in the back of Hinton Hall on Sunday mornings.

The Worship Committee invites you to remember or honor a loved one with a poinsettia this Christmas season. The poinsettias will be used to adorn the Sanctuary and Hinton Hall on Sunday, December 21st, and on Christmas Eve. The cost per poinsettia plant is $20. You may pick up your poinsettia/poinsettias following the worship services on Christmas Eve. Printed copies of the poinsettia Remembrance/Honor listings will be available at the worship services on Sunday, December 21st, and at the three worship services on Christmas Eve.

All proceeds go to Seeds of Hope, whose funds are used to help meet the needs of God’s people living in Duluth and Suwanee--often strangers, widows, orphans, homeless, those who are lost, and those who are without hope--who come to Duluth First United Methodist Church seeking assistance. In 2025 the number of assistance requests has been much higher than in the past. If you would like to contribute extra above/beyond the cost of your poinsettia(s), we thank you for your additional support of Seeds of Hope.

You can place your order for poinsettias with

• Credit or debit cards – please click on POINSETTIA ONLINE ORDER FORM;
• Check or cash – please click on POINSETTIA ORDER FORM to download an order form.

NOTE: All orders must be received by Sunday, December 14th, by 5 p.m.

Our Food Ministry staff, along with our amazing Dinner Belles and Beaus volunteers, prepare excellent meals at very reasonable prices. Enjoy fellowship around the table with family and friends.

The menu for Wednesday, December 3rd, is Chicken Parmesan, spaghetti noodles, sautéed zucchini, Brussels sprouts, garlic bread, and dessert. For the kids – pizza.

Dinner service hours are 5 to 6:30 p.m., with to-go boxes available from 6 to 6:30 p.m.

The prices for Wednesday Night Dinners are:

• $10.00 for adults (including seniors and from 11 years up);
• $7.00 for children 10 years and younger;
• $30.00 for family meals (nuclear family members only – husband, wife, their children under 18 years);
• $7.00 for salad bar only, which includes the salad bar, a choice of baked potato or sweet potato, dessert and a drink.

Credit/debit card payments, as well as cash and checks, are accepted.

Join us Wednesday, December 3rd, in Hinton Hall, located on the 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, as we come together for a Christmas Trivia Game Night. The game will begin at 5:45 p.m. We hope that you join us for Wednesday Night Dinner beforehand.

Our Food Ministry staff, along with our amazing Dinner Belles and Beaus volunteers, prepare excellent meals at very reasonable prices. Enjoy fellowship around the table with family and friends.

The menu for Wednesday, December 3rd, is Chef Juan’s special fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn medley, biscuits, and dessert. For the kids – the same.

Dinner service hours are 5 to 6:30 p.m., with to-go boxes available from 6 to 6:30 p.m.

The prices for Wednesday Night Dinners are:

• $10.00 for adults (including seniors and from 11 years up);
• $7.00 for children 10 years and younger;
• $30.00 for family meals (nuclear family members only – husband, wife, their children under 18 years);
• $7.00 for salad bar only, which includes the salad bar, a choice of baked potato or sweet potato, dessert and a drink.

Credit/debit card payments, as well as cash and checks, are accepted.

PLEASE NOTE: The Wednesday Night Dinner on December 10th will be the final one for the 2025 season. Wednesday Night Dinners in Hinton Hall will resume on January 7, 2026. Have a blessed and safe Christmas and New Years holiday!

Join us Wednesday, December 10th, in Hinton Hall, located on the 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, as members of our Music & Worship Arts Ministry lead us in a Christmas Carol Sing-Along. Caroling will begin at 5:45 p.m. and will feature favorite sacred and secular songs. We hope that you join us for Wednesday Night Dinner beforehand. Dinner service begins at 5:00 p.m.

All are invited to attend our Christian Beginnings Preschool & Kindergarten’s Christmas Program on Thursday, December 18th, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary. Church members are invited to join our students’ families to come and see each grade put on a holiday show. We look forward to seeing you there!

Dear members of Duluth First UMC,

My name is James Dykes and I am working on completing my Eagle Scout project. My project at Duluth First UMC consists of building new benches and tables for the church community.

I have been a member of Boy Scouts since 2016 and have been working to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. If you would like to support me in my Eagle Scout project, please click on JAMES DYKES' EAGLE PROJECT. Thank you for your participation and support.

James Dykes,
Eagle Scout candidate