Reports We are a Reconciling Congregation, welcoming all. … OFFICIARY_Updated.pdf2018 Annual Reports 2019 OFFICIARY First United Methodist Church 212 S. Park Street | Kalamazoo,

2018 Annual Reports

2019

OFFICIARY First United Methodist Church

212 S. Park Street | Kalamazoo, MI 49007

269.381.6340 | www.umc-kzo.org

We are a Reconciling Congregation, welcoming all.

Experience, Celebrate, and Share God’s love

OUR MISSION

We are called to

Experience God’s love

Celebrate God’s love

Share God’s love

OUR VISION

We are a Faith Community

Alive in Christ

Open to all

Growing in faith

Serving our neighbors

Active in the world

We are a Reconciling Congregation.

First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo invites

all persons to join us on our journey of faith.

Jesus Christ calls us to be an inclusive church

that exemplifies the kingdom of God.

We strive to move toward reconciling relationships with all,

affirming those who are marginalized

for any reason, including sexual orientation or gender identity.

We welcome all with

open hearts, open minds, open doors.

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2 0 1 9 O F F I C I A R Y 2 0 1 8 A N N U A L R E P O R T S

Table of Contents Page

Church Conference Agenda ........................................................................................................ 4

2019 Church Council .................................................................................................................... 5

First United Methodist Church Staff .......................................................................................... 6

Nominating Committee Report .................................................................................................. 7-14

Membership Report ..................................................................................................................... 15-16

First Church Ministers (volunteers) ........................................................................................... 17-20

Ministry Team Reports:

Building & Grounds ............................................................................................................... 21-22

Children & Families Ministry Team .................................................................................... 23-25

Church Council ........................................................................................................................ 26-27

Congregational Care Ministry Team .................................................................................... 27

Dream Team ............................................................................................................................. 28-29

Endowment .............................................................................................................................. 29

Finance ..................................................................................................................................... 30-31

First Stitchers ............................................................................................................................ 31

Food Pantry .............................................................................................................................. 32

Helping Our Neighbors Ministry .......................................................................................... 32-33

Hospitality Team .................................................................................................................... 33

Justice Team ............................................................................................................................ 34

Justice For Our Neighbors Ministry (JFON) ........................................................................ 35-36

Lay Leader Report ................................................................................................................... 37

Lifelong Learning Ministry Team ......................................................................................... 38

Memorial Committee .............................................................................................................. 39

Minister of Music ..................................................................................................................... 39-40

Music & the Arts Committee ................................................................................................. 41

Outreach Team ......................................................................................................................... 41-42

Pastor’s Report – Senior Pastor ............................................................................................. 43

Pastor’s Report – Pastor of Youth Ministries & Emerging Ministries .............................. 44-45

Pastor’s Report – Pastor of Children & Families Ministries .............................................. 46

Pastor’s Report – Pastor of Congregational Care ................................................................ 47

Pastor’s Report – Pastor of Congregational Development & Innovation ........................ 48

Pew Patrol................................................................................................................................. 49

Reconciling Ministries............................................................................................................. 49-50

Richard Knapp Bequest Review Committee ....................................................................... 50

St. Andrews Worship Ministry Team ................................................................................... 51

Social Justice and Youth & Young Adults Intern ................................................................ 51-52

Staff Parish Relations .............................................................................................................. 52

Stephen Ministry ..................................................................................................................... 53

Stewardship Team Report ...................................................................................................... 54

Trustees ..................................................................................................................................... 54-55

United Methodist Man: Dawn & Sunrise Patrols ............................................................... 56-57

United Methodist Women ...................................................................................................... 57

Worship Technology Vision Team ........................................................................................ 58-59

You Are Not Alone (YANA) Ministry .................................................................................. 59

Report of the Finance Committee ............................................................................................... 60-62

Trustee’s Report ............................................................................................................................ 63-64

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First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo

Church Conference Agenda

December 11, 2018 @ 7 p.m.

*Please stand in body or in spirit

WELCOME Rev. Steve Charnley

CALL TO ORDER & OPENING PRAYER Rev. Dwayne Bagley

*OPENING HYMN #203 (red hymnal) “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”

CELEBRATING THE WITNESS Video Presentation

ELECTION OF SECRETARY FOR CHURCH CONFERENCE Rev. Dwayne Bagley

ELECTION OF LAY LEADERSHIP Rev. Steve Charnley

CLERGY & DIRECTORS’ COMPENSATION RECOMMENDATION Dan Adams, SPRC Chair

MEMBERSHIP REPORT Rev. Steve Charnley

DIALOGUE WITH THE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT Rev. Dwayne Bagley

*CLOSING HYMN #2153 (black hymnal) “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me”

*CLOSING PRAYER Rev. Steve Charnley

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First United Methodist Church - Kalamazoo

2019 CHURCH COUNCIL

Co-Chairperson ............................................................. Karen Hassevoort, 569-5160

Co-Chairperson ............................................................. Vickie Winfield, 744-2338

Secretary ......................................................................... Jim Librizzi, (616) 644-2446

Lay Leader ..................................................................... Jonathan Richardson, 720-0166

Lay Members of Annual Conf. (8-year limit) ............. John Clark, 343-7285

Fred Douglas, 373-6838

Jonathan Richardson, 720-0166

Deb Search Willoughby, 349-9311

Molly Williams, 375-4867

Reserve Lay Member to Annual Conf. ....................... Lisa Coe, (269) 599-8979

Board of Trustees Chair ............................................... Larry Lueth, 324-3522

Finance Chair ................................................................. Molly Williams, 375-4867

Staff/Parish Relations Chair ........................................ Dan Adams, 343-2628

Lay Leadership Chair ................................................... Rev. Steve Charnley, 381-6340

Treasurer ........................................................................ Terry O’Connor , 342-4608

UMW Rep ...................................................................... Nancy Hilliard, 370-1883

Young Adult Rep .......................................................... Elizabeth Batten, 816-0804

First Care Board President ........................................... Deanna Welter, (231) 670-0373

Shaunna Padgett, 870-0714

MINISTRY TEAMS

Children & Families Ministries ............................... Jocelyn Newman, 615-3189

Congregational Care ................................................ Laura Van Vlack-Ailes, 349-9988

Robin Entenman, 344-2157

Hospitality ................................................................ Bruce Binns , 345-6279

Justice ........................................................................ Ray Sweany, 350-5977

Ann Sweany, 350-5977

JFON (Rep on MI JFON Board) ................................. David Lundquist, 352-0582

Lifelong Learning ..................................................... John Clark, 343-7285

Membership Engagement ....................................... Dave Lundquist,

Memorial Committee ............................................... Cheryl Anderson, 327-5436

Music & The Arts ...................................................... Liz Moon, 329-2899

Carol Hodges, 342-6647

Outreach ..................................................................... Mark Oudersluys, 345-0579

Reconciling Ministry Team ..................................... Lori Owens-Rogers , 574-360-6525

Diane Owen-Rogers, 377-8434

Security ....................................................................... Michael Seals , 744-4220

Seminary Intern Liaison........................................... Andy Vorbrich, 343-1906

Stewardship ............................................................... Jerry Bultema, 203-7435

Mike Cooper, 501-3700

St. Andrews Group (Worship Overview) ................. Carol Hodges, 342-6647

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CLERGY/DIRECTOR TEAM

Senior Pastor....................................................................... Steve Charnley, 381-6340, x227

Associate Pastor ................................................................. Julie Kline, 381-6340, x232

Pastor of Children & Families Ministries ....................... Dan Duncan, 381-6340, x231

Pastor of Congregational Care ......................................... Keith Treman, 381-6340, x211

Pastor of Cong. Development & Innovation ................. Manohar Joshi, 381-6340, x238

Minister of Music ............................................................... Jacqueline Stilger, 381-6340, x245

Church Business Administrator ...................................... Ruth LaMachia, 381-6340, x228

STAFF (not on Church Council)

Administrative Partner in Ministry ................................ Christine Landreville, 381-6340 x223

Bookkeeper ......................................................................... Curt Flowers, 381-6340, x229

Communications Coordinator/Webmaster ................... Jennifer Stupica, 381-6340, x224

Contributions Assistant .................................................... Brenda Tucker, 381-6340, x 236

Custodian ............................................................................ Pamala Roman, 312-6880

Custodian ............................................................................ Todd Bloomfield, 668-4711

Custodian/Security ............................................................ Vickee Seals, 929-4640

First Care Director ............................................................. Julie Meyers, 381-6340, x239

First Singers Director ........................................................ Rich Peavler, 629-4661

JFON Attorney ................................................................... Kathy Purnell, 743-2501

JFON Legal Assistant ........................................................ Coral Cervantes, 743-2501

Lead Audio-Video Technician ......................................... Max Neeley, 381-6340, x242

Maintenance ....................................................................... Austen Rial, (760) 672-0851

Office Assistant .................................................................. Thom Victor, 381-6340, x222

Office Assistant/Security .................................................. Robin Entenman, 344-2157

Organist .............................................................................. Bernie Foulk, 381-6340, x240

Security ............................................................................... Ernesto Escobedo, 290-9347

Social Justice and Youth & Young Adults Intern .......... Elizabeth Batten, 816-0804

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MINISTRY TEAMS

All ministry teams are active, functioning groups that have a particular mission within the overall

ministry of the congregation. Team Leaders are nominated by the Nominating Committee for a

specific term, usually three years. Members of the ministry teams either volunteer or are recruited by

the ministry teams themselves, the clergy staff, or Nominating Committee. There is no set term for

members of ministry teams.

ARCHIVES

Ray & Sue Eden, 375-9880 JoAnne Ivey, (630) 640-5963

Staff: Ruth LaMachia

CHILDREN & FAMILIES MINISTRY TEAM (CFM)

Chair: Jocelyn Newman, 616-890-0923;

Sharon Bunker, 329-1196

Kylee Adams, 343-2628

Molly Geerlings, 324-8213

Nate Hawthorne, 373-1546

Julia Librizzi, 616-644-2446

Joyce Moore, 553-9802

Liza Wolfe, 349-1492

Staff: Dan Duncan

CONGREGATIONAL CARE MINISTRY TEAM

Leaders: Laura VanVlack-Ailes, 349-9988; Robin Entenman, 344-2157

Judy Aardema, 381-3805

Dave Arnold, 323-2344

Wendy Arnold, 323-2344

Jim Barney, 251-1187

Janice Brown, 998-4799

Wayne Conner, 271-3513

Robin Entenman, 344-2157

Ruth Evelyn Graham, 327-8799

Carol Grant, 375-0321

Kay Gross, 629-5462

Ginnie Hessler, 382-3824

Carol Hodges, 342-6647

Bob Hunt, 373-1588

Joyce Moore, 553-9802

Lisa Stucky, 365-0649

Barb Toshalis, 365-0313

Ruth Ann Uggen, 671-4407

Staff: Rev. Keith Treman, Rev. Steve Charnley

FIRST CARE BOARD

Leader: Matt Morgan, 517-449-1400

Carol Hamet, 345-1684

Carol Holms, 327-8673

Karen Hornish, 375-9664

Ann Kneas, 873-1550

Judy Sims, 388-5220

Deanna Welter, 734-231-6058

Staff: Julie Meyers, Dan Duncan

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HOSPITALITY MINISTRY TEAM Leader: Bruce Binns , 345-6279

Maggie Binns, 345-6279

Sue Eden, 375-9880

JoAnne Ivey, (630) 640-5963

Lisa Stucky, 365-0649

Mark Stucky, 365-0649

Ruth Ann Uggen, 671-4407


JUSTICE MINISTRY TEAM (including Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON)

Leaders: Ray Sweany, Ann Sweany, 350-5977

Max Brinkley, 372-4507

Mollie Clements, 226-0910

Wayne Connor, 271-3513

Miriam Downey, 342-6630

Sue Eden, 375-9880

Nancy Hilliard, 671-4917

David Kingsley, 762-8485

David Lundquist, 352-0582

Ann & Dave Martin, 345-1251

Ellen McDonald, 372-1639

Beth Mitchell, 343-6806

Kari Parthasarathy, 303-7119

Sue Paul, 349-8218

Hank Rohs, 375-0758

Chris Schlegel, 345-2981

Len Schoenherr, 903-2182

Joan Schroeder (Gull Lake UMC)

Kelly-Jien Warner-Miller

Staff: Steve Charnley

1) Michigan United

Leaders: Mollie Clements, 226-0910

Ray & Ann Sweany, 350-5977

Staff: Steve Charnley, Julie Kline

2) Interfaith Coalition for Peace & Justice

Leader: Mollie Clements, 226-0910

Wayne Connor, 271-3513


3) ISSAC

Leader: Ray Sweany

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LIFELONG LEARNING MINISTRY

Leader: John Clark , 343-7285

Ellen & Max Brinkley, 372-4507

Andrew Eaton, 372-5644

Nancy Hyde, 375-8717

Becky Pence, 372-2312



MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

Leader: TBD

Dan Bunker, 329-1196 David Lundquist, 352-0582

MUSIC & THE ARTS MINISTRY TEAM

Leader: Liz Moon, 329-2899; Carol Hodges, 342-6647

Jim & Marilyn Barney, 251-1187

Carol Grant, 375-0321

Sally Hubbard, 344-7681

Molly & Roger Williams, 375-4867

Staff: Jacqueline Stilger, Bernie Foulk. Jennifer Stupica

OUTREACH MINISTRY TEAM

Leader: Mark Oudersluys, 345-0759

Wayne Conner, 269-271-3513

Bill & Mary Lee Dimond, 375-1504

Donna Dunyak, 344-0056

Donna Oudersluys, 345-0759

Ray & Ann Sweany, 350-5977

Pat Stevenson, 323-2722

Staff: Julie Kline

RECONCILING MINISTRY

Co-Leaders: Diane Owen-Rogers, 377-8434; Lori Owen-Rogers, 567-360-6525

Jim & Marilyn Barney, 251-1187

Mollie Clements, 366-4901

Vicki Eichstaedt, 344-0810

Jeanne Grubb, 447-4301

Carol Hamet, 345-1684

Karen Hassevoort, 569-5160


Dick Shilts, 375-7890

Kim Taylor, 353-2893

Dawn Wheaton, 330-5152


Staff: Rev. Steve Charnley, Rev. Julie Kline, Rev. Dan Duncan, Rev. Keith Treman, Ruth LaMachia,

Jacqueline Stilger, Lisa Batten

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STEPHEN MINISTRY

Leaders: Wendy Arnold, 323-3244, Donna Meninga (Sunnyside UMC), 388-5837:

Ann Kneas, 349-6376; Judy Sims, 388-5220

David Arnold, 323-3244

Sharon Dougan, 312-8602

Ruth Evelyn Graham, 327-8799

Becky Lawson, 375-0325

Claire Peek, 254-8245

Staff: Steve Charnley, Keith Treman

STEWARDSHIP MINISTRY TEAM

Leader: Jerry Bultema, 203-7435 and Mike Cooper, 501-3700

Allison Bland, 598-3233

Matthew Bland, 547-9133

Margie Bultema, 203-7435

Don Chalker, 375-9884

Harriet Chalker, 375-9884

Janet Cooper, 501-3701

Mike Cooper, 501-3700

Cari Miller, 330-0654

Dennis Moon, 329-2899

Gary Miner, 382-2605

Roger Williams, 375-4867

Staff: Steve Charnley, Ruth LaMachia

ST. ANDREWS WORSHIP MINISTRY TEAM

Leader: Carol Hodges, 342-6647

(Team comprised of leaders from each of the following constituent groups)


1) Emerging Worship Team

Molly Geerlings, 324-8213

Nancy Hyde, 375-8718

Bob Lane, 382-2390

Lori Owen-Rogers, 377-8434

Dawn Wheaton, 350-5152


Staff: Julie Kline, Jackie Stilger, Ruth LaMachia, Thom Victor, Marc Pendziszewski

2) Worship Enrichment Team

Co-Leaders: Deb Search Willoughby, 762-3529; Carol Grant, 375-0321

Nancy Douglas, 373-6838

Sally Hubbard, 344-7681

Kristy Lepley, 381-4842

Staff: Steve Charnley, Julie Kline, Dan Duncan, Jackie Stilger, Bernie Foulk

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YOUTH MINISTRIES

Jay Gross, 382-0597

Amber Walker, 321-0538

Derek Wheaton, 998-7829

Vickee Seals, 929-4640

Staff: Julie Kline, Elizabeth Batten

Youth Council

Lukas Bolton

William Fulton

Hannah Geerlings

Molly Gross

Natalie Gross

Emma Hampton

Hannah Koshar

Kameran Long

Thomas Murphy

Logan Neeley

Staff: Julie Kline

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ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEES

Administrative Committees report to the Church Council, except where Trustee fiduciary duties

direct otherwise. Staffing of the Administrative Committees, both the chairpersons and the members

of the committees, are filled by nomination of the Nominating Committee. The Board of Trustees,

Finance Committee, Staff-Parish Relations Committee and Nominating Committee are required by

“The Book of Discipline.”

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Chair: Larry Lueth Vice-chair: Chris Bovid

Treasurer: Carol Hodges Secretary: Thom Victor

(Officers elected by Trustees at their January meeting)

2019 2020 2021

Chris Bovid, 735-255-0901 Larry Lueth, 324-3522 Richard Long, 808-1820

Thom Victor, 404-772-1353 Kari Parthasarathy, 303-7119 Mitch Wilson, 327-7131

Michel Pierce, 375-4526 Carol Hodges, 342-6647


1) Building & Grounds

Chair: Thomas Schaberg, 327-1821

Steve Hassevoort, 388-3025

Chuck Hubbard, 344-7681

Bill Smith, 344-4402

Ray Sweany, 350-5977

Larry Taylor, 353-2893

Sally Vorbrich, 808-0733

Jim Willoughby, 349-9311

Mitch Wilson, 327-7131

Staff: Ruth LaMachia, Austen Rial

2) Kitchen Committee

Chair: Ray Sweany, 350-5977

Barb Miller, 343-3339 Liz Moon, 329-2899


3) Richard Knapp Bequest Committee

Chair: Karen Hassevoort Secretary: Larry Taylor

2019 2020 2021

Daniel Russell, 352-8645 Paul Cutler, 350-5740 Jerry Bultema, 203-7435

Miriam Downey, 342-6630 Dennis Moon, 329-2899 JoAnne Ivey, (630) 640-5963

Jay Gross, 382-0597 Lisa Whittaker, 370-0901 Larry Taylor, 353-2893

- 13 -

4) Permanent Endowment Fund Committee for Bequests and Gifts

Chair: Jeanne Grub, 447-4301

Chris Bovid, 734-255-0901 Terry O’Connor, 370-7306

Keith Mumma, 598-1313


COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (CONALD)

Chair: Steve Charnley, 381-6340

2019 2020 2021

Fred Douglas, 373-6838 Ed Hessler, 382-3824 Dawn Wheaton, 330-5152

Lisa Stucky, 365-0649 Ellen Rowe, 381-4255

Ex-Officio Lay Leader: Jonathan Richardson, 375-3722


FINANCE COMMITTEE

Chair: Molly Williams, 375-4867

2019 2020 2021

Allen Stupica, 352-7765 Shirley Palmer, 344-2592 Sandy Gower, (517) 204-5359

Jeremy Welter, (231) 670-0373 Sally Vorbrich, 808-0733

Ex-Officio: Treasurer: Terry O’Connor, 342-4608

Church Council Co-Chairs: Vickie Winfield, Karen Hassevoort

SPRC Chair: Dan Adams, 343-2628

Lay Member to Annual Conference: John Clark, 343-7285

Lay Leader: Jonathan Richardson, 375-3722

Trustee Rep: Carol Hodges,

Stewardship Co-Chairs: Jerry Bultema, 203-7435; Mike Cooper, 501-3700

Staff: Ruth LaMachia, Steve Charnley. Curt Flowers

JFON ADVISORY GROUP

Leader: Mollie Clements, 366-4901

Miriam Downey, 267-7909


Ann Sweany, 350-5977

Ray Sweany, 350-5977

Cathy Ur, 342-1376

Beth Mitchell

Jimoh Bibilomo

Albert Gasake

Janet Jones

Sharat Kamath

Adelene Mushikiwabo

Chris Schlegel

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MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

Chair: Cheryl Anderson (17), 327-5436

Lou Bradley, 349-6504

Bob & Jan Hunt, 373-1588

Linda Lueth, 324-3522

Durrell & Marsha McKenzie, 375-9895

Sarah Wilson, 327-7131


STAFF PARISH RELATIONS (SPRC)

Chair: Dan Adams, 343-2628

2019 2020 2021

Carol Hurley, 324-4034 Nancy Hyde, 375-8718 Dan Adams, 343-2628

Mark Stucky, 365-0649 David Lundquist, 352-0582 Tammy Eaton, 372-5644

Lori Owen-Rogers, (574)360-6525 Tim Faillo, 867-349-0063 Bruce Grubb, 447-4301

Ex-Officio:

Lay Member Annual Conference: John Clark, 343-7285

Lay Leader: Jonathan Richardson, 375-3722


- 15 -

- 16 -

First Church Ministers

Academy Class Planners

& Presenters

Bruce Binns

Steve Charnley

John Clark

Andrew Eaton

Tammy Eaton

Ron Grant

Carol Hodges

Nancy Hyde

Mantu Joshi

Andrew Lehman

David Lundquist

Becky Pence

Diane Owen-Rogers

Dick Shilts

Lisa Stucky

Mark Stucky

Ann Sweany

Jerry Toshalis

Deb Search Willoughby

Acolytes

Ella Adams

Owen Adams

Collin Bland

Josie Bland

Nicholas Dolislager

Layla Eaton

Andrew Hampton

Janae Joshi

Isabella Ledlow

Sam Ledlow

Carolyn Librizzi

Lucas McGinnis

Alex Moon

Evelyn Moon

Zoe Newman

David Wilkinson

Andrew Wright

Adult Handbell Choir

Ken Archey (Equipment

Manager)

Marilyn Archey

Connie Elzinga

Yvonne Fulton

Lucas Geer

Paula Hall

Carol Hodges

Kameran Long

Cari Miller (sub)

Elizabeth Moon (sub)

Gina Rakowski

Vickee Seals

Anne Sherfield

Laura VanVlack-Ailes

Derek Wheaton

Elise Warnicke

Molly Williams

Kathy Winchell

Angel Tree Coordinators

Pat Stevenson

Paul Stevenson

Archives

JoAnne Ivey

Ray Eden

Sue Eden

Bronson Park Food

Pantry

Cheryl Anderson

Wendy Arnold

Janie Bare

Jim Barney

Marilyn Barney

Maggie Binns

Ray Eden

Sue Eden

Pat Elzerman

Ashton Fredenburg

Carol Grant

Ron Grant

Joan Gray

Paul Gray

Paula Hall

Carol Hamet

Dave Hamman

Kathy Harriger

Nancy Hilliard

Carol Holms

John Holms

Deanna House

Sally Hubbard

Jan Hunt

JoAnne Ivey

Jan Kayser

Janie Kinaf

Judy Kingsley

Barb Kortes

Joanne Lehman

Richard Long

Ellie Miller

Carol Mulligan

Carol Oakley

Don Oakley

Donna Oudersluys

Ellen Portis

Judy Ross

Linda Schell

Judy Sims

Ginger Spaniolo

Sally Stevens

Joyce Treece

Kim Urban

Diane VanGemert


Howard Vindedahl

Sue White

-17-

- 18 -

Molly Williams

Roger Williams

Mitch Wilson

Sarah Wilson

Vickie Winfield

Shelly Wisdom-Long

Chancel Choir

Jim Barney

Marilyn Barney

Buff Coe

Lisa Coe

Wayne Connor

Joanne Decker

Kristen DeBruin

Fred Douglas

Nancy Douglas

Roberta Gabier

Barbara Goodwin

Joey Gottschall

Ed Hessler

Karen Hornish

Isaac James

Shannon Kelley

Leonard Marcilous

Elaine Martin

Cari Miller

Dennis Pence

Jane Rettke

Hank Rohs

Lois Schmidt

Vickee Seals

Judy Sims

Halle Shadrake

Ginger Spaniolo

Tom Stobie

Thom Victor

Saj Williams

Children’s Ministry

Leaders

Dan Adams

Kylee Adams

Matt Bland

Margie Bultema

Lisa Coe

Mary Lee Diamond

Pat Elzerman

Emilie Faillo

Tim Faillo

Molly Geerlings

Carol Grant

Nancy Hilliard

JoAnne Ivey

Janie Kinas

Julia Librizzi

Magen Lindstrom

Katy McGinnis

Ashley McKenzie

Shondo Miller

Brian Moon

Joyce Moore

Andrea Murphy

Jocelyn Newman

Matt Newman

Carol Oakley

Donna Oudersluys

Kari Parthasarathy

Daniel Russell

Penny Russel

Anne Sherfield

Adriane Siefert

Colleen Treman

Ruth Ann Uggen

Lisa Whittaker

Shelly Wisdom-Long

Liza Wolfe

Jennifer Wright

Communion

Coordinators

Chuck Hubbard

Sally Hubbard

First Beats (Children’s

Choir)

Colin Bland

Kelcey Briggs

Tessa Hawthorne

Carolyn Librizzi

Kameran Long

Alex Moon

Evelyn Moon

Zoe Newman

Sean Willoughby

First Singers

Wayne Conner

Chris Haber

Carol Hodges

Joyce Moore

Ron Moore

Laurie Nelson

Lori Owen-Rogers

Sue Paul

Rich Peavler

Chris Peavler

Michel Pierce

Jan Schoenherr

Allen Stupica

Andy Vorbrich

Molly Williams

Kathy Winchell


Jim Willoughby

First Stitchers

Judy Aardema

Doris Ball

Maggie Binns

Louella Bradley

Miriam Cook

Chris Cupper

Lena Ellinger

Pat Elzerman

Gwen Haake

- 19 -

Sally Hubbard

Kristy Lepley

Linda Lueth

Ellen McDonald

Lois McGlinsey

Marsha McKenzie

Liz Moon

Carol Oakley

Ellen Portis

Jennifer Stupica

First Strings

Kay Alexander

Kohler Briggs

Mary Butler

Steve Charnley

Buff Coe

Chris DeWolf

Chris Haber

Nancy Hyde

Mike Krischer

Nick Rankin

Anne Sherfield

Allen Stupica

Diane Taylor

First Word Mailing Team

Nancy Hyde

JoAnne Ivey

Joyce Moore

Molly Williams

Roger Williams

Gardeners

Judy Aardema

Jim Willoughby

Hospital Calling Team

Max Brinkley

Bob Hunt

Joyce Moore

Lisa Stucky

Ruth Ann Uggen

Lay Liturgists

Judy Aardema

Lisa Batten

Janice Brown

Edgar Chapel

Buff Coe

Lisa Coe

Lynne Corbus

James Cupper

Jessica Davenport

Kay Gross

Karen Hassevoort

Ginnie Hessler

Carol Hodges

Carol Holms

Carol Hurley

Nancy Hyde

Ann Kneas

John Kneas

Kristina Ledlow

Julia Librizzi

Kameran Long

Linda Lueth

Elaine Martin

Tim Mullikin

Jocelyn Newman

Laurie Nelson

Terry O’Connor

Diane Owen-Rogers

Lori Owen-Rogers


Jan Schoenherr

Michael Seals

Christina Stamper

Mark Stucky

Kim Taylor

Joyce Treece


Thom Victor

Andy Vorbrich

Amber Walker

Dawn Wheaton

Derek Wheaton

Molly Williams

Vickie Winfield

Meal Ministry

Sharon Dougan

Robin Entenman

Donna Oudersluy

Lisa Stucky

Keith Treman


Dawn Wheaton

Office Volunteers

Sharon Bunker

Harriet Chalker

Deanna House

Robin Entenman

Joyce Moore

Becky Pence

Joyce Treece


Fay Woolrich

Parish Nurse

Robin Entenman

Pew Patrol

Nancy Hyde

Sue Paul

Jeanne Plott

Jan Schoenherr

Molly Williams

Photographers

Ray Eden

Keith Mumma

Jennifer Stupica

- 20 -

Prayer Shawls

Joyce Treece

Prayer Bear Ministry

Jennifer Stupica

Sound/Lights

Greg Anderson

Jonah Bolton

Lukas Bolton

Andrew Eaton

Drew Eaton

Bob Lane

Thom Victor

Ukulele Krush

Joanne Decker

Susan Eden

Layla Eaton

Carol Grant

Molly Gross

Nate Hawthorne

Nancy Hyde

Christine Landreville

Lori Owen-Rogers

Jane Rettke

Lois Schmidt

Jacqueline Stilger

MaryAnne Sumney

Thom Victor

Ushers

Timothy Barrera

Lukas Bolton

Dan Bunker

Janet Cooper

Mike Cooper

Michael Deaton

Andrew Gill

Greg Gill

Jay Gross

Ken Hall

Karen Hassevoort

Steven Hassevoort

Diana Lundquist

Tom Lundquist

Durrell McKenzie

Tim Mullikin

Dennis Moon

Liz Moon

Pam O’Connor

Terry O’Connor

Michel Pierce

Wendell Pierce

David Russel

Kim Taylor

Larry Taylor

Jim Treece

Elise Warnicke

Molly Williams

Roger Williams

Van Drivers

Fred Corbus

Jay Gross

Bruce Grubb

Dave Russel

Dan Victor

Wedding Hostesses

Carolyn Betke

Sharon Bunker

Kaye Chodl

Molly Geerlings

Carol Hamet

Joyce Moore

Sherry Oliver

Joyce Treece

Liza Wolfe

BUILDING & GROUNDS COMMITTEE

by Tom Schaberg, Chair

The B & G Committee membership as of November 26, 2018, included Steve Hassevoort, Chuck

Hubbard, Ruth LaMachia, Austen Rial, Tom Schaberg (Chair – B & G), Bill Smith, Ray Sweany- (Kitchen

Chair), Larry Taylor, Sally Vorbrich, Jim Willoughby ( Grounds Chair), and Mitch Wilson. Ruth

represents Business Administration, and Austen is our Maintenance person.

Committee members are to be commended for their participation and dedication to the B & G team’s

work. Regular monthly meetings were held, and several other special project meetings were also

necessary. THANK YOU ALL !

Two high priority projects were completed during the year. First, in June, Stained Glass Specialist Willet

Hauser was contracted for $77,000 ($45,000 R. Knapp Fund, and $32,000 Trustees). The project included

scraping lead based paint from 77 stained glass windows on the first and second floors. Then, two coats

of special metal coating paint was applied. The project took about six weeks and was completed about

July 7, 2018. Much appreciation goes to Austen for his close project management working with the

Willet Hauser specialist. With his constant oversight, the final job met our quality expectations. Thanks

also to Ruth, who had to do much juggling of schedules to accommodate the contractor.

The second project was not planned or expected. Thanks to Jim Willoughby’s observation in August

finding a chunk of limestone on the sidewalk on Park Street at the narthex entrance, immediate follow-

up showed that we had many cracks and loose limestone on the façade of the sanctuary on Park Street.

The B & G Committee and Trustees approved a $45,000 contract with Building Restoration LLC to make

repairs. The cost was paid from the Trustee account. The work started in September and was completed

about November 7, 2018.

OTHER PROJECTS STARTED OR COMPLETED IN 2018:

Parlor renovation cabinets and new A/C.

Close wall opening in Parlor where old HVAC was located - Austen

Remove and replace storm windows in First Care so stained glass windows could be scraped and

painted – Austen & Pam

Replace Carriage House outside light and change to LED – Austen

Paint Fellowship Room – Austen

Repair and replace many emergency lighting fixtures – Austen

Re-tar flat roofs (Tichenor Roofing) – Austen oversight

Replace choir practice room door handles with lever type handles to meet ADA specs – Austen

Install wood plates in restrooms for auto door openers – Austen

Install 5 grab bars in restrooms ADA stalls – Austen

Install 6 portable A/C units in third floor offices – Austen

Stain and varnish window sills in all third floor offices and conference rooms – Austen

Remove and replace ceiling tiles in room 208 and in hallway for new HVAC installation – Austen

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Build and install new cabinets in Kitchenette – reuse doors. Drew Bolton contractor. Cost $1,200 –

Trustee repair fund

Install under cabinet light in Kitchenette – Austen

Install cabinet door latches in Kitchenette – Austen

Build shelves for DVD equipment in Parlor – Austen

Painted new screen casings in Sanctuary – Austen

Painted wire channels for new cameras and emergency lights – Austen

Replace all parking lot lights with LED fixtures and bulbs – ESPER

Installed new HVAC and controls in First Care. Cost $28,000 – Building Reserve Fund

Install new emergency lighting and exit signs to meet Fire Inspectors requests. Cost $6,500 –

Building reserve Fund

HVAC controls upgrade. Cost $6,500 – Building Reserve Fund

New refrigerator for Kitchen. Cost $3,100 – Building Reserve Fund

Barrier free door openers for two restrooms in Perk area. Cost $9,625 – Building reserve Fund.

Control unit repair for Sanctuary rafter lights. Cost $753 – Trustee repair fund.

Three stained glass windows in room 200 were covered with new storm windows on inside. Covers

lead based paint and lead caming. Cost $1,200 – covered with original storm window project fund.

Replace wiring on large chiller by food pantry – chewed by mice. Cost $1,600 – Trustee repair fund.

Paint room 308 – Austen

Ceiling tiles replaced in Pastor’s hallway – Austen

Sidewalk joints uneven – Austen ground down high spots

B & G team approved final plans for Youth Breakfast Bar

B & G approved plans for adding more cameras

Ten Year Capital Plan was approved by B & G Committee and the Trustees on I January 2018.

The annual Sanctuary cleaning was done on Saturday, January 20, 2018. The team was organized

and led by Deb and Rich Karnemaat.

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CHILDREN & FAMILIES MINISTRY TEAM (CFM TEAM)

by Jocelyn Newman, Chair

Team Members: Jocelyn Newman, Rev. Dan Duncan, Rev. Mantu Joshi, Sharon Bunker, Molly

Geerlings, Julia Librizzi, Magen Lindstrom, Joyce Moore, and Liza Wolfe.

“The Mission of Children and Family Ministry is to welcome, support, sustain and guide all children

and families as they grow in God’s love. We move toward this mission through safety, acceptance,

excellence, grace, joy and scripture.”

The CFM Team aspires to meet this mission with each curriculum, program, and activity that the team

develops and/or organizes for the children and families at FUMC. This report will detail the offerings

First United Methodist Church has provided for children and families during the past year.

Sunday School (Sept. through May):

9:15– Noon Infant/Toddler Child Care, “Toddlers & Twos” Deep Blue

9:30-10:30 Preschool through 2nd Grade “Deep Blue”

“ 3rd Grade “Deep Blue”

“ 4th - 6th Grade “Submerge”

Godly Play (Sept. through May):

11:15-Noon 4 to 6 year olds

11:15-Noon 7-8 year olds

June – August:

10 a.m. – end of worship Infant/Toddler care & “Deep Blue” curriculum

Godly Play (one group)

Gathering Time

This program takes place on Sunday morning in “The Arches”, the gathering space for families on the

2nd floor. Children partake in a tasty snack donated by our weekly volunteer “Snack Hero.” First Bells

rehearse one or two times per month, and ring in worship at the 11 a.m. worship about once per month.

All other Sundays the children participate in a 10 minute Sunday School assembly prior to their class

session featuring singing, announcements, and occasional mission activities.

Godly Play

This Montessori-inspired program is held in two specially-equipped rooms on the second floor,

following the “Time with Children” in the sanctuary (11 a.m. service during the school year; 10 a.m.

service in the summer) until the adult worship is finished. Godly Play is both a worship and educational

experience, based on a multi-sensory telling of a Bible story, a time for “wondering” about how the story

connects God with our own lives. Children also have the opportunity to work with the material on their

own, share a “Feast” together, and also participate in communion on the first Sundays of the month.

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Family Fun Nights

CFM is continuing with the Family Fun Nights generally held on the third Friday evening in September,

October, November, January, February, March, April and May (but with exceptions depending on the

activity!). This is a time for families with children to come together for an evening of nothing but fun

and fellowship. We have had pumpkin carving and candlemaking events with pizza/potluck dinners in

Wesley Hall. Many additional events are off-site, including swimming and bowling nights and our first

ever family sledding event. We also held a summer gathering at the Markin Glen Park and coordinated

a family night at a Kalamazoo Growlers game. This important ministry is continually growing and

despite its name, is open to anyone who would like to attend!

Parent’s Night Out:

A new re-occurring event begun this year, the Parent’s Night Out allows families to bring their children

to church for the evening and then head out into the downtown community for dinner and fellowship

with other parents. Children are supervised by prescreened and background-checked caregivers, many

recruited through the Wesley Foundation. This popular event was held twice in 2018 (with a third

“Moms Night Out” event as well) and already has two additional dates in the plans for early 2019.

Check-In/Security:

We offer safe, restricted access to the children’s rooms on the 2nd Floor. Entrance is available through

only 2 entries on Sundays – the West Stairwell and the elevator. Our check-in procedure gives us the

ability to both accurately identify the children, responsible adult, which class they will be in, and to

highlight any pertinent allergies/medical conditions. Background checks are performed on every adult

responsible for child care and teaching. There is an assigned Security Team member each Sunday who

is readily available each week.

Vacation Bible School:

The theme for this year’s annual week-long immersion in the Bible was "Abundance Orchard" held June

18th-22nd. As usual, we partnered with three other downtown churches: First UCC, First Presbyterian,

and St. Luke’s Episcopal. First Presbyterian served as host this year, which featured a hunger action-

themed curriculum written by the leaders from each church. We had close to 100 kids involved at some

point in the week, age 4 through grade 5. Many thanks to the capable volunteers from our church!

Musical Offerings:

First Bells with Liza Wolfe (Spring) and Carol Grant (Fall) – see above.

Children’s Choirs and more - Jackie Stilger, our Musical Director at FUMC provides musical several

opportunities for young children in our congregation. On Sunday mornings following “Time for the

Child in All of Us”, the children ages 4- 3rd grade participate in a 10 minute time of singing. On Tuesday

afternoons, First Beats (children in third through 8th grades) meet and participate in a more advanced

level of musical praise, including singing, bell ringing and Orff instruments. The congregation has

enjoyed many offerings this year from our talented children under Jackie’s exceptional guidance,

including the annual Christmas pageant and musical performance during worship in late spring. CFM’s

goal is to help Jackie in any manner possible, including sign ups, advertising, costumes, supervision at

rehearsals and performances, and food offerings at events.

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Acolytes

CFM oversees the acolyte program in our church, and Jennifer Moon has assumed coordinator duties

this fall. Pastor Dan leads the training of 3rd graders at the beginning of the year.

Children’s Library:

FUMC is blessed to have a wonderful collection of books for children on the 2nd Floor in “The Arches.”

Our goal is to help the children, both congregational members and First Care children to make this

wonderful resource a well-used and loved space.

Baptismal Books

As a useful memento of the sacrament of baptism, CFM has been purchasing Baptismal books for newly

baptized children (The Children of God Storybook Bible, by Desmond Tutu). The congregation is

encouraged to sign the books with encouraging phrases and to remind the child and family that they are

part of a larger story and family than just their own.

Ongoing Ministries, Programs and Events for FUMC Children and Families:

September: 3rd Grade Bible Presentation

Sunday School Kick-off

October: Family Fun Night: Pumpkin Carving and Pizza

Parents’ Night Out

November: Food Blessing and Give-a-way

Family Fun Night: Candlemaking

Parents’ Night Out

December: Children’s Christmas Pageant

Christmas Eve Family Service

January: Family Fun Night: Swimming & potluck

Providing books for the children at a Costa Rican Methodist Children’s

Home

February: Family Fun Night: sledding

March Family Fun Night: bowling

April: Palm Sunday Procession: Bronson Park churches, & Brunch

May: Sunday School Celebration

First Beats’ Musical

Moms’ Night Out

June: Vacation Bible School: Bronson Park Churches

July: Growler’s Game

August: Family Fun Night: Summer Family Picnic

The CFM team continues to be present in the welcome and support the children and families of FUMC

through the provision of many varied opportunities for ministry and participation, to encourage and

assist them as they grow in God’s love, grace, mercy and love.

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CHURCH COUNCIL

by Matt Newman, Church Council Chair

As I come to the end of my third and final year as Church Council Chair, I know that I am blessed to be

a part of such a wonderful church family that goes to tremendous efforts to put our mission in action

here in our local community, and across the greater community we touch. I would like to encourage all

our ministry teams to continue to take full advantage of our engaged Council, and use our inclusive and

mission driven approach to continue to Experience, Celebrate, and Share God’s Love.

The Church Council provides for planning and implementing a program of nurture, outreach, witness,

and resources in our Church. Through the administration of this function, the Council envisions, plans,

implements, and annually evaluates the mission and ministry of the Church. First United Methodist

Church of Kalamazoo has a robust and diverse array of ministry teams and committees that work in

concert with a truly mission centric and dedicated staff to put our mission into action.

The Church Council provides oversight, coordination, and direction in this process and is the group

responsible for legislating key policy decisions on behalf of the congregation and its constituent groups.

The Church Council membership is comprised of Church ministry team and administrative committee

leaders, clergy, directors, and other lay members holding leadership positions. Our approach is non-

hierarchical, allowing each ministry team and administrative committee much leeway to carry out its

responsibilities. The Church Council meets most months on the fourth Tuesday at 7 p.m. Members of

the congregation are welcome to attend our meetings. Any member of the congregation may have a

voice, but only Church Council members may vote on decision items.

A few of the key initiatives approved and/or supported by the Church Council for the year include:

continued support to the Church’s Technology Team for planning and very successful implement-ation

of enhancements to our worship and outreach capabilities to include virtual services in the community;

support and partnership with the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission to include further discussion on how to

better support the homeless population in Kalamazoo; continued focus on security, emergency drills,

and enhancing knowledge to prevent violence and promote appropriate reactions in emergency

situations; further development of outreach ministries; support and expansion of JFON; support for

implementation of the Kids Adventure Program (KAP); continued focus on topics affecting the Global

Church and how our local mission fits; support for UMCOR Hurricane Response; partnership with the

Trustees and Dick Knapp Bequest Committee to support proposals for a Global Mission Fellow and a

consultant to help asses potential areas of growth in our mission and worship; and the completion of the

budget process resulting in a balanced budget for 2019 prior to the end of the calendar year. (Thanks to

the Finance Committee led by Molly Williams, the support of our many ministry teams, and the

continued generosity of the congregation to again make this a reality!)

I have again been humbled this year by the tremendous amount of work our Church does for our

community and the continued generosity of the congregation. Our membership continues to grow and

our many wonderful new members and families jump in and roll up their sleeves to serve in our

mission. This is truly a testament to the active, compassionate, and mission driven congregation that

make up First Church. I know many of you are actively engaged in initiatives, and for those of you who

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are not, there is always an opportunity. All you have to do is ask! I am truly grateful for the

opportunity I have had to serve our church family and our community as the Chair of the Church

Council. We had an amazing year in 2018 and I sure it will be even better in 2019!

CONGREGATIONAL CARE MINISTRY TEAM

by Robin Entenman & Laura VanVlack-Ailes, Co-Chairs

The methods of keeping in contact with our homebound members have had a significant addition this

year. Because of the creative work of the Technology Committee, our homebound members now have

two ways to connect with church services. We now have our weekly satellite services at both Friendship

Village and Heritage Community. Members with computers also have the option of streaming the

service at home or borrowing a church DVD player to watch a DVD of the service. These are great

advances but personal contact is still important, so our committee mission continues to be to help our

homebound members have regular contact with their church family. Our 12 committee members make

regular monthly visits to 19 church members. We augment these visits with telephone ministry. The

quarterly communion services at both Friendship Village and the Heritage Community continue. Our

post-hospital care team and meal ministry continue to operate when requested by the pastors. Some 75

of our church family attended the Four Score and More luncheon in their honor this fall and greatly

enjoyed hearing Ukulele Krush.

COSTA RICA MISSION TEAM

by Sue Eden

A team of sixteen adults known as the KaZoo Crew spent the week of January 27 to February 3, 2018 in

Coronado, Costa Rica working at the Methodist Children’s Home. This was the third year that First

UMC has sent a team to help with the construction of the multi-purpose building. Members raised funds

to cover the cost of building supplies and home operation cost. All personal costs, including airfare,

were paid by team members.

The week was spent with activities such as stuccoing walls and painting roof trusses.

“Heart-prints for God” was our theme for the week. Each child at the home received a book with that

title. All craft activities were based on that theme, too. Of great joy was being able to give each child a

teddy bear with a heart print on the paw that said “Jesus Loves You.” Interacting with the children is the

greatest reward of the week.

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DREAM TEAM

By Mark Oudersluys, Team Facilitator

Five years ago, at the kick-off for the last Forward in Faith Campaign, the church’s consultant Jeff Susor,

stated that he believed that Forward in Faith would be the last building campaign for First United

Methodist Church. However, he went on to say that from his conversations with individuals within the

church, he believed that the next capital campaign the church would undertake would be for outreach or

to address community needs.

In February of 2017, when it was apparent that the Forward in Faith Campaign was nearing completion,

the Outreach Team asked the Church Council for permission to form an exploratory committee to

evaluate the advisability of undertaking a capital campaign to provide assistance to individuals in our

community. After the church council approved the formation of the committee, a small group of

individuals began meeting to review past church involvements and the potential of a future capital

campaign for others. During this time, the group developed a set of operational guidelines and selected

a Bible verse which would describe the goal of the campaign, Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is,

there will be your heart be also.”

FIRST UMC is located in the center of the city, has always had a heart for the city and its residents, and

has a long history of community engagement. How can we best continue to invest our treasure, time,

talents and love in our city? In November 2017, the church council approved a motion to bring the

question of a campaign to the congregation at its annual meeting. At the December 2017 meeting, the

congregation gave its approval to establish a committee to study and develop recommendations that

would involve raising approximately $1,000,000 to make a lasting impact in Kalamazoo.

In February of this year, a group of twenty individuals began exploring how the church could make a

difference in the community. In March, the congregation was asked to provide direction as to what

areas the Dream Team should concentrate it efforts. The congregation indicated their two highest

priorities were housing and hunger. In April, the team began to have discussions with a wide variety of

organizations to learn more about poverty, homelessness, affordable housing and hunger in Kalamazoo.

For the last eight months, the team has met with non-profit organizations working in the areas of

housing and hunger, housing development companies, financial institutions, community foundations,

and with government officials. We have learned that the issues related to poverty and homelessness are

extremely varied and complex. We have also come to realize that while we are undertaking a rather

unique project for a church (having a capital campaign to address the needs of individuals in the

community), we are not the only organization working to address these issues. As a result, we are

attempting to work in conjunction with not only non-profits but also with the city of Kalamazoo and our

community foundations. If we are successful in working together on common goals, we can

significantly increase our impact.

Through our discussions, the team has learned that we have a group of non-profit organizations that are

very effectively addressing the needs of housing and hunger and we are currently in discussion with

these organizations to determine how we can work together. The opportunities are many but how are

we as a church called to best collaborate with these organizations? In one of our discussions when we

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were trying to discern the best approach, one of our members said, “Any organization can write checks,

you are a church, you should be about relationships.” As a result of this discussion we asked ourselves,

how can the Dream Team encourage/foster new personal relationships not only in the community but

also within the church?”

This brings us back to five years ago and our last Forward in Faith campaign. In reviewing what he

learned from our congregation, our consultant indicated that the most vivid memories individuals

recalled were those that created a sense of accomplishment and personal interaction, when the

congregation worked together to help establish Loaves & Fishes, renovate a house for Housing

Resources, and remodeled a house for Open Doors.

The challenge of the Dream Team is to prayerfully discern which of the many opportunities under

consideration will once again passionately unite us as we seek to bring about change in our community

and ourselves. After a series of congregational information sessions, the Dream Team will bring

recommendations to the congregation early in 2019 that not only include a list of possible activities, but

also provide opportunities to become personally involved in improving our community. Between now

and then, the Team asks for your prayers as we continue to be in conversation with many potential

community partners, working together to review projects, their anticipated costs, and the timing

required.

ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE

By Rev. Steve Charnley

We eagerly look forward to the coming year with the renewed energies of the Endowment Committee

led by their newly nominated chair, Jeanne Grubb. This year’s activity included the reception of the

following gifts:

$50,290 from Allen & Marguerite Briggs - Undesignated

$18,302 from Ruth & Robert Peterson – Undesignated & $1,000 for ASP

$20,227 from Virginia & Nolen Weller for UMCOR

$5,442 from an anonymous donor for Ministry Intern Program

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FINANCE COMMITTEE

by Molly Williams, Committee Chair

The Finance Committee develops and monitors First UMC’s annual operating budget, and it watches

the accounts of many other off-budget activities. We receive and review detailed monthly reports of the

operating budget and other funds. Our role is to be informative and transparent, and to provide

information to Church Council so that it has adequate information to make financial decisions.

The 2018 operating budget of $994,918 was developed in fall 2017 based on requests from ministry

teams and committees and on members’ estimates of giving and other anticipated sources of income.

This budget provides the infrastructure to keep our doors open. The dominant expense categories are

personnel costs of clergy/directors and lay staff ($653,711) and building expenses including utilities,

maintenance, insurance, and office operations ($184,450). We also fully honor our connectional

commitment of Ministry Shares to the wider United Methodist Church ($121,342). The remainder of the

budget covers program expenses such as supplies for worship, education, and congregational care.

The pledge campaign for the 2019 budget culminated in a Consecration Sunday in October 2018,

although the Stewardship Team continues to contact members who have not responded. Our

recommended budget for 2019 is approximately $1 million.

In addition to the operating budget, we also monitor the following special funds:

First Care

Memorial Funds

Youth Missions Fund

Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON)

United Methodist Women

Designated Funds - a long list of special offerings and other ongoing projects

Consolidation of these reports allows Finance Committee to see the overall financial status of these off-

budget activities, although each group is responsible for managing its own income and expenses.

We offer the option of electronic giving through Vanco Payment Solutions. This service allows

donations to be made on-line or via credit or debit card. We can also accommodate credit/debit card

purchases at fundraisers offering food or craft items. This service also permits setting up individual

accounts for periodic or one-time giving. Thus, regular giving to FUMC can be now accomplished

through this new electronic giving service as well as the continuing options of automatic debits or

offering envelopes.

Special offerings outside the operating budget are requested about once a month. Many of these are

sanctioned by the United Methodist Church, such as Human Relations, Peace with Justice, Native

American Ministries, and World Communion Sundays. The Christmas and Easter offerings support

missions recommended by the Outreach Ministry Team. These special offerings are listed regularly in

our monthly newsletter The First Word. There are sometimes unanticipated emergency appeals in

response to natural disasters or manmade suffering. Other ongoing projects, developed through this

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local church, also deserve our support – Justice for Our Neighbors legal services for immigrants, the Food

Pantry (part of the Loaves & Fishes network), Helping Our Neighbors assistance to community members

with short term financial needs, You Are Not Alone Sunday evening meals, Pastor’s Discretionary Funds,

Youth Missions, and others. These projects are all independently managed and supported. This church

provides space in our building for these ministries, but the direct expenses are not part of the operating

budget.

If you have questions about your church’s financial operations, please feel free to ask. The ongoing

generosity of our members and friends keeps our doors open and offers Christ to the world through our

mission to Experience, Celebrate, and Share God’s love.

FIRST STITCHERS

by Linda Lueth & Ellen Portis, Co-Chairs

First Stitchers is alive and well! In fact we are busier than ever and for the first time, continued working

through the summer months without taking a break! Other organizations such as Westwood UMW,

Blind Persons Training Center, Greenleaf Trust employees (for their Day of Service project), and even

high school students (who tie fleece blankets for National Honor Society credit) have also helped this

year, enabling us to donate 465 items so far in 2018, including 60 receiving blankets made for the UMW

Sudanese Mid-wife Project. And we will be making another delivery before Christmas! Our donations

of pillows with new beautiful handmade pillowcases and fleece tied blankets have gone to the Eleanor

Street Shelter. We also provided the KAP kids with a lightweight fleece blanket. Other fleece, flannel,

knit or crocheted blankets and patchwork quilts have gone to the local chapter of The Binky Patrol,

which donates to various non-profit agencies throughout the county to those in need.

It was great to partner with other ministries of the church this year, including UMW (we're sewing

another batch of receiving blankets) and to be able to lend our machines and provide sewing instruction

to the KAP kids this summer.

Funds were raised this year by a Blessing of the Blankets special offering ($302), various Memorial gifts,

UMW and Outreach Team support ($500). This support has allowed us to purchase 2 new sewing

machines, refurbish some of our older machines (purchased by UMW years ago), buy solid color cotton

and flannel, fleece, travel and regular size pillows, rotary blades and thread. Fortunately, the vast

majority of our material is donated by members.

Join us on Thursday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Fellowship Room to sew, knit and

fellowship over a brown bag lunch. Or if you prefer to work at home, we can always put your creations

to good use. Come when you can, we'd love to have you join us. The need for comfort items is great.

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FOOD PANTRY

by Carol Holms, Co-Chair

The Bronson Park Food Pantry receives our food from Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes as well as our local

church family. For 37 years, our community has partnered with Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes to

provide food assistance to those trying to make ends meet. Loaves and Fishes distributes food to 74

distribution sites throughout Kalamazoo County. Loaves and Fishes provides an average of 700 people

with groceries each day. Many thanks go to the generosity of local growers and the help of weekly

volunteers who make this program possible.

Our pantry here at First United Methodist Church is open 1-½ hours a day, five days a week. For the

months of July through October, our pantry served 1,254 households. Volunteers from our church have

worked diligently to make books available to the children who come to the pantry. At the present time,

we currently have volunteers who fill 51 positions each month.

Please consider volunteering for this worthy cause as we are very proud of the work we do here at our

Pantry. We ALWAYS NEED VOLUNTEERS!

HELPING OUR NEIGHBORS MINISTRY

by Kim Taylor, Facilitator

This ministry helps those in our community facing emergencies with utilities and housing. We continue

to see people on Thursday mornings from 10 a.m. until noon.

From January 1 until November 16, 2018, Helping Our Neighbors (HON) saw 343 people who returned

166 pledges for payment. Total payout for 2018 was $11,476.36. Our percentage of paid pledges has

decreased from 58% in 2017 to 48% in 2018. These figures represent a slower start to our year, with

crowds not being seen until late July. We have continued to be busy up until this report was written in

mid-November. The 343 people that we saw had $282,801.69 of need they were trying to cover. They

found $132,434.40 in pledges from other sources.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) changed their emergency utility plan in

September. Until that time, DHHS only helped from November 1 until May 1. As of October 2018,

DHHS will accept emergency utility requests year around. We had hoped to see our lines of people

needing assistance decrease after October 1, but that has yet to occur. Many weeks we have turned away

four to six people even though we have had two people working each week.

This year was the second and final year of Richard Knapp Bequest funds for Consumers Energy clients

during the DHHS lock-out period. We had 46 utility pledges between May 1 and November 1 paid at

$100 each. Splitting that total between Helping Our Neighbor Funds and the Richard Knapp Bequest

Funds meant $2,300 came from each account. Recently HON was blessed with an anonymous gift to

raise our standard pledge amount from $50 to $75 for one year.

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Our dedicated intake workers include Cheryl Anderson, Joyce Treece, Nora Hauk, Tammy Eaton,

Timothy Mullikin, Janine Kennedy, Nina Victor, and Kim Taylor. We currently have four people

interested in becoming intake workers, and we are planning a training session in early December.

Helping Our Neighbors has been blessed with three interns during the past year. Dominique Bunker

worked last winter and produced an Annual Report with great graphics that we utilize to explain our

ministry. Isabel Alloway worked during the summer and switched us to an online database that is

accessible from anywhere. That has allowed us to more fully examine demographics and need.

Elizabeth Batten is helping through spring of 2019. She has worked to increase our number of workers

and will help with the upcoming training. Gwen Nagle is new to us and is helping with phone calls.

Our database work continues to be managed by Carrie Hybels. Welcome Desk workers Laura VanVlack-

Ailes and Becky Pence help sign people in and answer questions while they wait to see our workers.

Office staff continues to provide support in countless ways.

Our neighbors are blessed by your gifts to the Helping Our Neighbor Fund and your prayers.

HOSPITALITY TEAM

by Bruce Binns, Team Chair

Hospitality may be seen as Perks! on Sunday, but it is a part of all we do in our church life. So that we

can continue to see growth, we welcome you to seek the stranger who enters the doors of the church and

looks for a friendly face.

We have had three Inquirers classes this last year resulting in about 50 new members. In each class

a common theme is the welcoming and greeting all felt as they came to church.

In the last year, we probably have hosted Perks! for thousands of folks. They enjoy the snacks and

fellowship time. The children’s Perks table has been a wonderful addition. Summer Perks! was hosted

by various committees during the summer months, giving the regular crew a break. Thank you! We are

always pleased with members and friends of the church who sign up to be hosts as well as bring

goodies. In the year ahead we would be delighted to have more participants, especially new members of

our congregation. It's a great way to get acquainted.

The hospitality continues! We all love hearing the happy sound of chatting during Perks after being

welcomed at the door. To learn more about how to be a welcoming congregation, I invite you to read the

book titled Beyond 30 Seconds: Developing a Welcoming Congregation by United Methodist

Communications, which discusses the need to spend time with a new visitor.

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JUSTICE TEAM

by Ray and Ann Sweany, Team Co-Chairs

The Justice Team is that part of the structure of our church that focuses on the need to guide our society in

insuring justice to all its peoples. By necessity, this requires being involved politically and our

effectiveness is improved when we are allied with others of similar mind. The Justice Team’s role is to

bring issues and avenues to the attention of the congregation so that they can individually and collectively

be involved. In last year’s report, we recognized the involvement of those in the Reconciling Ministry

Team; those active in MOMS and other groups seeking to decrease gun violence; the efforts of the Youth

Tribe to make people aware of human trafficking and labor exploitation and those active in the Kalamazoo

Coalition for Peace and Justice. To this we add the increased activism of the Dawn Patrol. We also note the

recent recognition by the Church Women United of Julie Kline for her social justice work.

ISAAC. This was the first year of our active involvement in ISAAC, Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy &

Action in the Community. Members of the congregation have been active in the Taskforces for Affordable

Housing and Racism. The only Taskforce in which we didn’t have active participants was Poverty. Our

awareness of issues of affordable housing were stimulated by our involvement in the city-wide reading

program centered on Matthew Desmond’s book, Evicted. A group of about 30 read the book and joined in

discussions at an Academy Class led by Steve Charnley. The Justice Team hosted a dinner in May for

church people to become more familiar with the Foundation for Excellence in Kalamazoo and in Shared

Prosperity Kalamazoo, in particular. City Commissioner David Anderson was the featured speaker. There

were about 50 at the meeting representing a number of churches, mostly drawn from our ISAAC

connection.

ADVOCACY – Immigration. Ann Sweany, the clinic coordinator for JFON-Kalamazoo, and others from

this congregation organized a protest gathering outside the Calhoun County jail to protest the separation

of families at the border in May. With help from Jennifer Stupica from staff, the plan grew via Facebook to

include probably 200 people who used a variety of homemade signs to communicate their displeasure with

the insensitivity of the treatment of immigrants by our government.

ADVOCACY – Voting. The Team was particularly interested in assisting the congregation’s involvement

in the mid-term elections. Petitions for anti-gerrymandering and voter-inclusiveness initiatives were

circulated after services; both measures were ultimately approved by voters. We publicized registration

deadlines and absentee voter information. These efforts included oral announcements and discussions at

the beginning of our Sunday evening dinners, You Are Not Alone.

ADVOCACY – Poverty. Our involvement with You Are Not Alone drew us into the debate over

controversial recommendations before the City Commission that affected homeless individuals and six

people submitted comments to the Commissioners who were affiliated with YANA.

RESTRUCTURE. The Justice Team has lost members and struggles to continue in the mold of past

years. We have recognized that participation in the Justice Team is often on top of being actively involved

in groups that are directly involved in advocacy. We are actively discussing a plan whereby a group of

representatives from justice-seeking groups allied with the church would meet quarterly to make decisions

that impact the status of their endeavors and to identify new opportunities for involvement.

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JUSTICE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS (JFON)

by Ann Sweany, Clinic Coordinator JFON-Kalamazoo

Justice for Our Neighbors, or JFON, is our immigration legal services ministry located on the third floor

of the church. JFON is a ministry of hospitality that welcomes immigrants by providing affordable,

high-quality immigration legal services, engaging in advocacy for immigrants’ rights and offering

education to communities of faith and the public.

Those we serve. It has been a joy to see a number of successful applications by immigrants with JFON’s

help. In one report, Alex Gillett reported receiving this good news for about 20 people over a short

period time, reducing open caseload at that time from more than 40 to 21 at the time Kathy Purnell

began working with us as attorney. Through our relationship with JFON-MI, our office worked with

Bethany Christian Services to contract with them to work on unaccompanied refugee minor cases,

initially about a dozen children/youth. Here in our office, we complete the intake process, and,

depending on needs, follow-up may be done by our staff or staff in Traverse City, Grand Rapids or

Southeast Michigan. Currently, Kathy Purnell has just accepted 2 new asylum cases and recently

represented 2 youths in court. The range of her cases so far have included, in addition to

unaccompanied minors, adjustment of status (application for legal permanent residence), and asylum

cases, including one LGBT and one gang violence case. Clients have come from, for example, Honduras,

Mexico and Senegal.

We watch with concern, either proposals for changes in immigration policy, or actual implementation of

policies that are of concern. One such case was the separation of children from their parents last

summer. We joined some 200 concerned people in front of the Calhoun County Jail, which serves as an

ICE detention center, to protest this policy. Currently, we are participating in the public comment

period about proposed changes on “public charge” which would affect many people seeking to make

their status more permanent, in particular to become legal permanent residents or citizens. Another

concern is a ruling on “Matter of A-B” which affects people who previously might have been able to

receive help after having been victims of domestic violence in their home country, including those

instances in which the home country’s government provides little to no protection in such cases.

Structural change. 2018 has been a year of structural change and changes in personnel. As of Jan. 1,

2018, JFON-West Michigan and JFON-Southeast Michigan merged to become one organization, JFON-

Michigan. In the spring, Jonquil Bertschi (sounds like “bird-shy”) accepted the position of Executive

Director of JFON-MI. She works out of an office in the east side of the state, but has been to Kalamazoo

a number of times, and has worked hard to establish a strong relationship with our clinic. JFON-MI will

likely reach out to those who have supported our clinic in some way. It is now possible to donate

specifically to our clinic through the state organization, as well to give a more general gift to JFON-MI.

Raquel Owens increased her hours to strengthen her position as Site Director of JFON-Grand Rapids

and of our site. You will usually see her in our office on Tuesdays as well as some other times. We

value both Raquel’s and Jonquil’s abilities as we strive to more effectively serve those who seek our

help. Both were an essential part of the process of interviewing candidates and hiring our legal assistant

and attorney.

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Personnel changes. Our former attorney, Katrina Pradelski, resigned in the fall of 2017, pausing for a

period and eventually accepting full-time employment elsewhere. We were well-served in the interim

period before hiring her replacement by Alex Gillett, who is based in the Grand Rapids JFON office.

Legal assistant Aita Wellington also resigned from our office to take a full-time position downtown.

This summer, we hired Coral Cervantes, a Kalamazoo College graduate and graduate student at WMU,

as our new legal assistant, and soon after, hired Kathy Purnell, part of teaching staff at WMU, as our

attorney. We are fortunate to have both of them on board, with their skills and passion for our mission.

We were delighted to be able to welcome Kathy to our office full-time, where she works with

immigrants in appointments and in our monthly intakes. She also reaches out to detainees who are

being held for deportation at the Calhoun County jail, and has begun monthly clinic hours at Kalamazoo

Public Library. From the beginning, we have worked on advocacy and outreach to the community, and

Kathy has greatly expanded these efforts.

Church support. We are grateful to FIRST UMC for its support in many ways. We couldn’t operate

without the physical space provided in this building. Staff helps with security, with pastoral support,

and a deep interest in our mission. We have a strong core of volunteers, many of whom are from the

church; likewise, many members of our advisory committee come out of the church. The Justice Team

has offered moral and logistical support as well, as has the Church Council.

Financial. Although we are connected to UMCOR and to National JFON, we are responsible for raising

all our operating funds. With expenditures in 2018 around $98,000, this is a challenge. We are grateful

to receive needed funds from many sources, including a gift from last year’s Christmas offering and a

large multi-year grant from the Richard Knapp Bequest; many individual gifts; gifts from other churches

and from the UMC District; our own UMW and other UMWs; Kalamazoo Community Foundation;

Battle Creek Community Foundation; and a recent multi-year grant from Stryker-Johnston.

The Knapp grant came at a critical time in planning for our continuing work, not only for 2018, but

ongoing. Battle Creek funds help a great deal with our work with those facing deportation proceedings.

Grants from Kalamazoo Community Foundation and Stryker-Johnston allowed us to contract with

Kathy Purnell to expand that position to full-time, and late this fall also to expand legal assistant hours

to full-time. Both are much-needed in order to better meet the needs of our immigrant neighbors. We

are always looking for additional sources of funds, so as not to rely too heavily on any one person or

organization.

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LAY LEADERSHIP

by Karen Hassevoort, 2018 Lay Leader

What an honor it continues to be to serve as lay leader of our vibrant, thoughtful, loving, accepting and

generous congregation. This is the last of my three years serving as lay leader and it has been a joy to

serve and to interact with clergy, staff and the congregation in this capacity and be part of such an active

faith community. As you read the numerous reports, you will hear about many of the things that we

have to celebrate this year -- from the work of The Dream Team and the listening and synthesizing that

they have been engaged in to the groups that meet regularly and the many outreach, ministry and

mission projects and activities that happen within and outside our walls. All are evidence that the

people who are part of our church and our community want to embody, show, teach and carry the love

of God and Jesus Christ into the world. In each activity and opportunity, the evidence of the collective

generosity of spirit and sharing of time, talents and gifts is readily apparent. Wherever you look and

walk, you can feel the warmth and energy when you enter the church throughout the week to attend a

meeting, class, or program, or participate in the many ministry activities that are carried out by clergy,

members and friends. Together, as we continue to struggle with political and social issues that would

seek to divide us, it is very evident that we are connected and drawn together in community to combine

our talents and gifts and work to make the world, our world, a place of greater peace, justice and love

for all, where there is enough food, shelter and medical care for each of God’s children.

We continually remember and give thanks for all of those who have come before and helped establish

and sustain our church and faith community and for their sacrifice and vision. For those who are no

longer physically with us because of their passing from this earthly life or because they have moved, we

are grateful for so many things, friendship, memories and their contribution to our lives, history and

ministry. We know that their lives continue to bless us in countless ways and we seek to use well and

wisely gifts, bequests and memorial funds which allow us to spread God’s love in the world. These gifts

help us to continue to be a vital congregation, striving to share God’s love and serve our

neighbors. Hosanna in the highest for this time and place and the lives of all who gather with us in

community to promote peace and justice for all.

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LIFELONG LEARNING MINISTRY TEAM

by John Clark, Chair

Maintaining high quality opportunities for lifelong learning is important to the spiritual growth

of our congregation. Information about Christian education for children and youth can be

found in the Children and Families Ministry Team and Youth Tribe reports, respectively, while

this report focuses on adults. Our team focuses on Sunday mornings, but we also help to

coordinate other educational programming that occurs throughout the week (for example, the

Just Faith class offered this fall).

Sunday morning Academy Classes meet during the 9:30 Church School hour. Most Academy

Classes feature small- or large-group discussion, thus providing participants the chance to ask

questions, discuss, and seek God’s will about significant faith issues. Participants have praised

Academy Classes for their diversity and their quality and for being challenging, provocative,

and thoughtful. Leadership is provided by members of the FUMC community.

Academy Classes offered in 2018 include the following:

Evicted (Steve Charnley)

Walking the Bible (John Clark)

The Challenge of Paul (Steve Charnley)

We Shall Not Be Moved (Lori Owen-Rogers and Deb Search Willoughby)

Worshipful: Living Sunday Morning All Week (Carol Hodges)

Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It (John Clark)

The Future of the United Methodist Church (David Lundquist and Lori Owen-Rogers)

Reclaiming Jesus: Confessing our Faith in a Time of Crisis (Jerry Toshalis)

The Challenge of Paul, Part II (John Clark)

Seeking a Path to Racial Harmony (Dick Shilts and Andrew Lehman)

Sip-and-Sing (John Clark and Lisa Stucky)

Family Foundations is an on-going Sunday morning class targeted at the parents of young children. This

class has created a greater sense of community among this key demographic in our faith community.

Rev. Mantu Joshi brings his considerable talents to serving as the point person for the class.

Inquirers classes are offered periodically throughout the year. These classes are designed to acquaint

potential members with our congregation and the United Methodist Church. In the past year, two

Inquirers classes were led by Rev. Steve Charnley with assistance from various members of the

congregation. Both yielded large groups of new members. The Academy Planners group meets

periodically throughout the year to discuss potential topics, books, videos, and class leaders. The group

welcomes suggestions from members of the church family.

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MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

by Cheryl Anderson, Chair & Linda Lueth

The Memorial Committee oversees the gifting and spending of funds provided through memorial gifts

to the church. The Committee meets three to four times per year, as needed. When a memorial gift is

received, thank you notes are written to the givers and acknowledgements are provided to the

deceased's family. The Memorial Committee determines how memorial funds may be spent if the donor

or family has not specified. Current members include: Cheryl Anderson, Lou Bradley, Steve Charnley,

Bob Hunt, Jan Kline-Hunt, Ruth LaMachia, Linda Lueth, Durrell McKenzie, Marsha McKenzie, and

Sarah Wilson.

During the first ten months of 2018, approximately $4,300 was received in memorial gifts, about 1/3 of

the amount received in 2017. Donors and families designated over half of this total to such ministries of

the church as music, Pastor’s Discretionary Fund, HON, JFON, YANA, Dawn Patrol, Costa Rica Mission

Trip, Stephen Ministries, First Stitchers, and a new designated fund for our satellite services. The

Memorial Committee approved three projects out of our undesignated funds this year: DVD players for

our homebound members, two chairs for the youth lounge, and microphones to enhance the sound

quality of congregational response and singing for our recorded worship services.

We are thankful that people remember their friends and loved ones with a memorial gift to the church.

MINISTER OF MUSIC

by Jacqueline Stilger

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” - Martin Luther

The music ministries are alive and well here at First! We are blessed with artistic and expressive

musicians that are dedicated to a faithful life in Christ through music.

Chancel Choir continues to sing nine months out of the year nearly every Sunday. The choir has grown

to nearly 30 people over the last year. We are competently supported by our wonderful Choral Scholars

program and Halle Shadrake, Shannon Kelley, Joey Gottshall and Isaac James have become very special

members of our choir. The goal of giving them a place to call their spiritual home has been met and

exceeded expectations. Lasting friendships have been built and one of the Choral Scholars even moved

in with a choir member for the semester when she was between apartments and not ready to sign a full

years lease. The choir and congregation is fully and capably supported by our dedicated organist Bernie

Foulk. First Singers also remains healthy and steadfast. Led by Rich Peavler and accompanied by

Carol Hodges, they sing twice monthly at the 8:30 service. They sing more often in Advent and Lent.

First Singers and Chancel Choir enjoy the opportunity to sing together for various events and our last

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‘Sing Out Sunday’ was a joy to present. Our choirs sing together, pray together, support and care for one

another, and the beautiful foundation for all of it is the expression of music through song.

First Beats, our children’s ensemble remains vital and energetic. They participate in worship almost

monthly and often sing in conjunction with the Chancel Choir. It’s great to see their faces as they are

surrounded by the powerful sound of the adult choir! They presented the musical “Daniel and the

Lion’s Den” this past June. Many thanks goes to Carol Grant and Jane Rettke for their tireless work in

making the costumes and scenery/sets.

Emerging Worship Band utilizes the talents of many of our teens of the congregation as well as some

adults, too. We continue to explore presenting different kinds of music and making the service spirit-

filled. Ryan Deminiuk has been a faithful percussionist for the group, and we are grateful for his

presence.

Our adult/youth Handbell Ensemble was able to purchase a 3-octave set of Malmark handbells, thanks

to a generous grant from the Dick Knapp fund. We were able to purchase them used, which cut down

on the cost a quite a bit. A new 4rth octave was ordered to complete our 5-octave set of Malmark bells.

These bells are superior in every way to our old bells. We are grateful to Molly Williams for her tireless

work in making it all happen and for her continued work on the maintenance of the bells.

Ukelele Krush is a new ensemble started in the summer. There is resurgence in the popularity of this

mighty instrument and it has taken off here at First! In August, twelve people strummed and sang in

church and we also presented a sing-a-long at the Four Score and More luncheon. We meet together on

the third Sunday of the month at 3:00 to play together, learn from one another and enjoy each other’s

company. The future of the group will unfold with time, but for right now, we are having lots of fun!

In May, our beloved Liza Wolfe stepped down from directing First Bells after 17 faithful years. We are

so grateful for her leadership and advocacy for our youngest members. Carol Grant has graciously

stepped in to fill her big shoes. She is assisted by pianist Jane Rettke.

Another fairly new ensemble is First Strings, led by Anne Sherfield. First Strings is an ensemble made

up of members and friends of First. They offer a place for anyone who is a string player, brand new or

very experienced, to share their gifts and skills. They rehearse on scheduled Saturday mornings and

have developed into a lovely ensemble that the congregation appreciates. Many, many thanks go to

Anne for all that she does to assist this group.

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MUSIC & THE ARTS COMMITTEE

by Carol Hodges & Elizabeth Moon, Co-Chairs

The Music and The Arts Committee supports the work of local performing artists and shares the fruits

of that work with the church and the wider community. We normally sponsor Lenten and Advent

Thursday noontime recitals. These are fifty-minute, free, lunchtime concerts that feature area musicians.

During Lent, we heard five different organists: Thomas Fielding of St. Augustine’s Cathedral in

Kalamazoo, Carrie Groenewold of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Kalamazoo, Sipkje Pesnichak of

Jackson First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth Bruce of Kalamazoo’s First Presbyterian Church, and Rob

Hlebinsky of Grand Haven First Presbyterian Church.

In Advent we look forward to hearing Hazeltree on December 6. This is an ensemble of close female

harmonies accompanied by various string instruments. On December 13, the Frank Silva Jazz Trio will

perform. The final concert will be on December 20 with our own four choral scholars singing.

We appreciate the work of team members Jim and Marilyn Barney, Roger and Molly Williams, Sally

Hubbard, and Carol Grant, who made the post-recital receptions possible.

OUTREACH TEAM

by Mark Oudersluys, Chair

The First United Methodist Church Outreach Team acts as an advisory body for the church related to its

outreach ministries and missions at local, national and international levels. Outreach ministry has been

a fundamental purpose of First United Methodist Church throughout its history. Our ministry of

service to those outside of the church continues to be the way we most often identify ourselves. It is our

hope that if you are not already involved in any First United Methodist Church outreach ministries, this

information will inspire you to contact someone who is. Join us by lending your gifts, talents, energy

and time to make the world a place where all people can experience, share, and celebrate God’s love.

During the past, year the members of First UMC have repeatedly given their time, talents and finances

to, as John Wesley said: “Do all of good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in

all of the places you can, at all of the times you can, to all of the people you can, as long as ever you

can..”

The following are a few of the highlights from the past year.

Missionary Support. This is our second year of support for our three new missionaries. As you may

recall our new missionaries are:

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Desiree l. Segura-April. Desiree is associated with the General Board of Global Missions and was a

resource person for The Children at Risk Ministries in Nicaragua. This fall we learned that she and her

husband were evacuated from Nicaragua to Tegucigalpa, Honduras because of civil unrest. Desiree’s

mission has also changed in that she will now serve Global Ministries partners in all of Latin America &

the Caribbean.

Will & Ella Faircloth. Will & Ella are missionaries in Costa Rica associated with Methodist Church of

Costa Rica and are involved with the Methodist Children’s Home as well as the Methodist Seminary and

new church starts. This year marks their fourteenth anniversary of working in Costa Rica. However, as

they put it, the Big News is that they are expecting their first son who will be born in December.

Donna Pewo. Donna is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries and is serving as a

Church and Community Worker primarily with children of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes in a rural area

west of Oklahoma City.

This past year in addition to providing our monetary support for the missionaries, we provided

additional funds for Desiree’s and Donna’s “children at risk programs.” We also provided additional

funds for the children’s home in Costa Rica.

Volunteer in Mission. At the present time, First UMC has one annual work/construction trip to the

Methodist Children’s Home in Costa Rica. In 2019, the church will again be the first team to begin

working at the site in the new year. The team is always looking for additional volunteers who would be

willing to travel to Costa Rica with them. For those that would like to participate but may find the

expense a barrier, a scholarship fund has been established to help defray this cost.

Mission of the Month. Each month the congregation is invited to support a local organization, project

or school. The variety of items donated have met specific needs at Ministry with Community,

Community in Schools, YWCA Domestic Assault Center and their Trafficking Shelter, Pretty Lake

Camp, our Bronson Food Pantry, Eleanor St. Shelter and Salvation Army’s “Share the Warmth Coat

Drive.” When we deliver your donations to the above organizations and agencies they continue to be

amazed at the generosity of this congregation. You are definitely making a difference in a significant

number of people’s lives.

Crop Walk. This year’s Crop Walk was again led by the Youth Tribe with amazing results. In 2018 the

Youth Tribe raised a total of $5,122 to fight global hunger and for another year FIRST UMC led all local

churches in donations. A very big thank you to the Youth Tribe for their leadership.

Finally, this past year the Outreach Team significantly expanded its membership in an attempt to have

representatives from all of the church’s main outreach activities be part of our discussion. Additionally,

this past year, the team developed a list of 10 suggestions that could improve the effectiveness of the

team. We have implemented several of those suggestions and will continue to work on the remaining

ones. Is there more that we can do? Yes, there will always be opportunities to do all the good we can

do, in all of the places we can. If you have any ideas for new areas of outreach, or would like to be an

active partner in this discussion, please consider becoming a member of the Outreach Team which meets

the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the church parlor.

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PASTOR’S REPORT – SENIOR PASTOR

by Rev. Steve Charnley

New Members. Together with Bruce Binns, our Hospitality Leader, and Rev. Julie Kline and Derek

Wheaton, who led our Confirmation Class, I invite you to celebrate the reception of 57 new members this

year! (See the membership report prepared by Administrative Assistant Christi Landreville for the list of

names.) I encourage you to get acquainted with these new persons and deepen our relationships on this

journey of faith and service in Christ’s name.

A Teaching Church. Nurturing a new generation of faithful leaders has become one of our signature

ministries with the hiring of interns made possible through our Knapp and Intern Ministries bequests.

During 2018 we have been blessed with the talents of Dominque Bunker, Laura Rolf, Isabel Alloway, and

Elizabeth Batten. We are becoming known as a teaching church wherein young adults can find their call

to ministry both inside and outside the church.

Satellite Services. Beginning in the summer of 2018, Rev. Keith Treman and I launched two Sunday

satellite services using our new video technology: one at Heritage Community at 3pm and the other at

Friendship Village at 6:30pm. They have been well received and are being supported by Marc

Pendziszewski and Thom Victor. Each Sunday an average of 30-40 persons gather for worship, creating

community while receiving the music and message from our morning service. In addition, our service is

viewed by those at home through live streaming and archived viewing.

The Way Forward. Bishop Bard blessed us with his presence early this fall, holding a listening session

regarding the way forward in dealing with our the struggle in the UMC around issues of inclusion.

Whereas we are clear and unequivocal about our stance of welcome and full inclusion for our LGBTQI

community, it was helpful to have the bishop’s perspective as we prepare for the General Conference

called for February in St. Louis. I am indebted to Dave Lundquist and others from our Reconciling

Ministries Team in helping us inform and inspire our congregation on this journey. I’m confident, with

God’s leading, that we can find a way forward. Regardless of the outcome in February, I invite you to join

me in echoing Martin Luther’s words in the Reformation, “Here I stand, I can do no other.”

Building Bridges for Inter-racial Dialogue. One of the most fulfilling parts of my ministry this past year

has been my participation in and leadership of Dawn Patrol, our historic Wednesday morning men's

fellowship. The inter-racial friendships have deepened as the sharing of life stories continues. These

stories have set a stark contrast of our society's preservation of white privilege at the expense of persons of

color. In addition, I have been inspired by my membership in the Northside Ministerial Alliance and the

relationships created with my African American colleagues in ministry. Particular among them is our

growing relationship with Allen Chapel AME (African Methodist Episcopal) led by Rev. Gloria

Clark. One of Just Faith Classes is meeting at Allen Chapel this fall and we are in conversation about

launching a satellite for HON (Helping Our Neighbors) at their church serving the Northside.In my fifth

year at First UMC, I am grateful to Bishop Bard for this appointment, for my stellar colleagues with whom

I work, and most of all, for the dedicated members who generously give their prayers, presence, gifts,

service, and witness to make a difference in our community and in our world.

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PASTOR’S REPORT – ASSOCIATE PASTOR

by Rev. Julie Kline

As I sit down to write this year-end report it is the perfect Michigan winter morning that follows

Thanksgiving and leans into the almost beginning of the season of Advent. A winter snow storm has

befallen us throughout the night and we wake to a beautiful, white blanket of snow, while the snow

clings so becomingly to the trees that willingly bared their branches to receive its freshness. It is an in-

between week as the time of thanksgiving and gratitude opens into the season of waiting for the

Messiah to be born. As God’s people, we begin to line the mangers of our hearts with gratitude that is

then layered with the hopes and dreams for all the world to find Peace and be reconciled.

Christ the King Sunday is the gateway between these two seasons of our souls. It is often a Sunday that

emphasizes the Lordship of Jesus, the King of heaven and earth, Ruler of every creature and heart. It is a

Sunday filled with praise and adoration and a longing for the Prince of Peace to reign with power. As I

prepared to preach for Christ the King, I was struck by the phrase of our lectionary assigned scripture

from the Gospel of John, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus does claim a kingdom of liberation,

he is The Liberator for the poor and the captive, and he will bring sight to the blind, release to the

prisoner and proclaim the year of our God’s favor. He will bring about this kingdom through the

inspiring of hearts and the intertwining of lives so that we are free to love, free to do justice and be

fiercely courageous in the face of fear as we claim ourselves kin to Christ and kin to one another.

Each week we pray that this kingdom will come. Each day as we open the doors of our church, open our

hearts to others and open our minds to engage with the entirety and mystery of God’s kingdom coming

and we engage with hope. It is our calling and while we may not always get it just right, it is done with

love and the faith that grace will flow guided by the Holy Spirit. It is encouraging to me and always a

source of joy that our church is engaged in kingdom work. There is always something happening within

our church dwelling, as we live into our vision:

We are a faith community! Alive in Christ. Open to All. Growing in faith. Serving our neighbors.

Active in the world.

The kingdom and kinship of Christ is active and engaged as we feed our neighbors through our food

pantry, bringing some relief to the hungry. Kinship is established as we sit down with our neighbors

through the ministry of ‘Helping Our Neighbors’ and assist in helping with the payment of necessary

utilities. Bread is broken and a safe place of community is established each Sunday evening as ‘You Are

not Alone’ gathers. Kinship ties are hoped for in the recognizing of humanity and the opportunities to

pray together and share life stories with compassion. It is not the arrival of the kingdom but it is

kingdom work. Time and again we open our doors so that neighbors may meet, find sanctuary, work

toward the healing of addictions, find solutions to gun violence, inspire one another with teachings,

pray for our world, and dream of providing affordable housing. The kingdom work is tireless and it is

our kinship that sustains us and gives us the courage and stamina to open the doors of the church day

after day. This is the kingdom that is Jesus; this is the kinship of liberation that is carried out by

reaching, preaching, teaching, and inspiring others to follow.

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The Youth Tribe is always an exciting hub of kingdom work as the youth intentionally reach out and

inward in the midst of their busy lives to seek love for one another and for neighbors. Our Youth

Council continues to help create programming that engages the youth in fun and fellowship but deeply

grounds them in service. This year in Cocoa & Class we have been exploring the vows of membership

more thoroughly as each week we focus on the key components of prayer, presence, gifts, service and

witness. I have joyfully embraced the challenge of finding ways to actively be involved with these

components and not just sit down and talk about them. This has led us to button prayers, hot chocolate

missions around downtown, prayer walks throughout some of the most interesting parts of the church,

notes of encouragement to recipients of food, among many other engaging ways of learning practical

ways to live out our vows of faith and membership. Our apple pies and crisps were once again a

beautiful project and wonderfully received by the congregation. We are deeply grateful for the

generosity of Gull Meadow Farms who once again bestowed the gift of a crate of apples. Our

participation with the Appalachia Service Project will be one of the defining themes of our ministry not

just for a week in late July, early August but as a precedence in our ongoing walk of faith that seeks

kingdom living each day.

Both the Youth Tribe and Young Adult ministries have been influenced this year by our Encounter

MICall Intern, Elizabeth Batten. We welcome her support role with the Youth Tribe and look forward to

further areas of leadership from her as 2019 unfolds. Elizabeth has placed a great deal of energy and

time exploring ways to engage and involve Young Adults within First UMC and beyond. Young Adults

ministry has waxed and waned and Elizabeth has needed to explore options of truly beginning again

while seeking to understand the needs and desires of young adults for spiritual development. Please see

her report under her title, Social Justice Coordinator and Youth & Young Adult Intern, for further

insights and challenges for us as we make sacred space for Young Adults in our midst.

Emerging Worship is a place for many to find their souls filled with Spirit led worship. For the first time

this summer we held Emerging Worship in the Sanctuary and were delighted with the enhancement of

our new technology to these times of worship. The Emerging Worship Team and worship participants

agreed that the space may not be as fluid as the Wesley Hall but it was more welcoming for the larger

summer crowds as we all worship with just one service at 10am. Emerging Worship strives to make

kingdom living come by engaging the senses in multi-sensory worship. I believe my favorite worship of

the year came just this month. We intentionally broke pots to represent our lives that can sometimes feel

broken or scattered. Together, table teams worked to glue these pots back together with hot glue guns. It

was a sight to behold. The creations that were produced certainly represented the hope and the faith that

holds our lives together. At the end of worship we offered these cracked but held together pots upon the

worship table as we offered our lives as broken vessels to be kingdom workers for God. Each pot was

placed upon a light and as we closed worship in the darkened hall we were reassured that the Light of

God shines through our brokenness with beauty and power.

As we follow The Liberator, who is Christ the King, whom reigns within our hearts and calls us to be kin

working for and with one another to bring about God’s Kingdom let us go with courage, believing that

each small act of love is powerful and worthy.

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PASTOR’S REPORT – PASTOR OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES MINISTRIES

by Rev. Daniel M. Duncan

I am now beginning my fifth year in this position at First Church, and feel blessed to serve on a team

marked by dedication, harmony, and excellence, as well as conviviality!

Regular parts of my position include recruiting and training the many volunteers who serve as teachers

and leaders in our children’s and family ministries, giving the ‘Children’s Message’ during the second

service, and every two to three months the adult sermon in both services, helping with pastoral care with

Julie and Steve, performing weddings and funerals both in our congregation and as a community service,

make home visits to new families with children in our church, help coordinate baptisms, serve as the staff

member of our Children and Family Ministries Team, provide leadership in our downtown-church joint

Vacation Bible School, and make sure that our nursery is adequately staffed (we’ve had several staff

transitions over the past year). In this position, I serve on the First Care preschool Board of Directors, and

lead a bi-monthly worship time with the three age level groups for the First Care children.

We continue to work on ways to invite, welcome, and integrate new families with children into our

church. The Sunday morning gathering of parents with young children, Family Foundations, continues to

thrive and has been blessed by the thoughtful and wise leadership of Rev. Manohar Joshi, who moved

here with his family last year, has taken root and has a regular attendance between 8 and 20 people. We

have a roster around forty people in this demographic.

We continue to staff our nursery in anticipation of infants as well as toddlers (at age four the children

attend a Sunday School class or Godly Play). Sharon Bunker is our lead nursery coordinator. We also have

Deb Linderman and Samantha Lee as nursery caregivers, both new to us in the last year.

Godly Play continues to be our age-appropriate worship experience for children for the 45 minutes we

have with them after the children’s message during the 11 a.m. service and the summer 10 a.m. service.

We have our 4-6 year olds meeting in Room 203, and our 7-9 year olds meeting in Room 200. Most of our

team of Storytellers and Guides continued from the first year of this, with the addition recently of Magen

Lindstrom as a Storyteller and Liza Wolfe as a Guide.

This summer our tradition of the mainline downtown churches sponsoring a joint Vacation Bible School

continued, this year hosted by First Presbyterian Church. The title was “God’s Abundant Orchard,” based

on curriculum through Church World Service, which the leaders augmented with material we wrote

ourselves.

The Children and Families Ministry Team plans an amazing number and variety of “Family Fun Nights”

as well as other events, and leadership of that area will continue for a third year with Jocelyn Newman.

I have some involvement in endeavors beyond our congregation: continuing to serve as a leader of a high

school United Methodist adventure camp in the summer (last summer was kayak camping on Grand

Island in Lake Superior for a week). I also added an adult adventure kayak camp this past summer. Both

of these are through Camp Kinawind.

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PASTOR’S REPORT – CONGREGATIONAL CARE

by Rev. Keith Treman

I hear it often; “Thank you for offering this opportunity!”

It was a beautiful group of about 20 of our Four Score and More Group that gathered in Directors Hall at

The Heritage for our Quarterly Communion. There is a time for sharing, praying, singing, worship,

meditating and sharing Holy Communion together. Many are First UM Church members, but not all.

Usually Pastor Steve, Jackie Stilger, Carol Hodges or Carol Grant, and I are there to lead the group. This

happens at Friendship Village as well and includes lunch prior to our Communion time. Those who

attend are always so very thankful to the church for offering this opportunity!

This year our Live Streaming of the (11am/ 10am summer) church service began. This offers a way for

those who can only worship from home to do so. For those who worship from home but do not have

internet capabilities, we provide CD’s, DVD’s, bulletins and even DVD players. We hear how very

thankful people are to the church for offering these opportunities!

This year we started our two satellite services each Sunday. The service at The Heritage begins at 3

p.m. and the service at Friendship Village at 6:30 p.m. A cooperative effort from church staff, church

members, and staff at The Heritage and Friendship Village make these services possible. We hear how

very thankful people are to the church for offering these opportunities!

It was a blessed time in Israel with those who traveled from First Church in October and November as

Colleen and I served as Hospitality in Jerusalem at the Olive Tree Hotel.

My job description for ministry is to support the pastoral staff in its efforts to offer care to the

congregation and to help coordinate the many wonderful caring ministries serving the church. My 10-

12 hours per week, normally Monday and Wednesday with some Sundays, are spent meeting with

Pastor Steve on Monday mornings to map out the schedule for the next few weeks. I meet with Stephen

Ministry Leaders and Congregational Care Team leaders regularly to plan quarterly Communion at

Friendship Village and The Heritage Community, assist monitoring Stephen Ministry and Care Team

relationships. I primarily call on our seniors who worship at home, senior living communities and care

centers. With over 160 members 80 years of age and over, I help coordinate our Four Score & More

Luncheon, birthday cards and anniversary cards. It takes all of us working together to care for others.

There are many caring ministries at work within the church from Stephen Ministry to Congregational

Care, from United Methodist Women Circles to Post-Hospital Care Ministry, and from Pastor of

Congregational Care to informal congregational visits to Parish Nurse. This congregation takes caring

for others seriously and takes this part of our ministry together seriously. We are in this together and all

are encouraged to make visits in person, by phone call, by email, card, Facebook, video chat, or twitter.

Many times when I visit, I see the cards you are sending to each other. They sit on the coffee table, the

bed stand, or are posted on the bulletin board.

Thank you for your faithful witness and ministry together.

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PASTOR’S REPORT – CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AND INNOVATION

by Rev. Mantu Joshi

As I shared in my sermon last month on “The Power of Listening,” according to Kira Asatryan’s book,

Stop Being Lonely, research has shown that as technology has increased our ability to communicate with

ease, loneliness has actually increased. Of course, individuals may have some profound exceptions to

this trend, but overall, people are feeling lonelier. Asatryan’s observation is that so much of our

communication (90%) is non-verbal and a text or tweet cannot capture this information. Also, she shares

that closeness is not so simple to achieve and yet this real depth of connection is that hunger people are

having, even unconsciously.

The challenge of technology is that people often initially feel more connected, but when this connection

never leads to closeness, there is a despair that enters the soul. When I was asked to help with our

technology and social media, I felt a ripple of holy fear. What if we simply do what the mainline culture

is doing? What if we create more loneliness and disconnection by steering our people to whatever is

most popular? I began to change my thinking from “What can technology do (for the church)?” to

“What should technology be (for the loneliness God wants to heal)?

I have been praying this year that God would give me a heart for the people who are feeling this lack of

healthy “closeness” with others. I have been praying that we as a church would find our way to not

simply add to brokenness, but to act in a countercultural way.

In order to think of technology and what technology “should be” I reflected on lessons learned in

changing diapers and washing dishes while I was a stay-at-home Dad over the last seven years. At that

time, I found myself often reflecting on the writings of Brother Lawrence, who was able to find the Holy

even in washing the dishes, or preparing food in the kitchen. In this time, when I was pulled back from

my previous identity as a senior pastor, I found myself finding God in the everyday work of parenting a

child with special needs. Letting go of my ego a bit, and living into the work of caring for our children, I

began to see the world a little more like Brother Lawrence.

So, in this context of Church work with technology, I began to wonder if the same every day holiness

could be applied even into the chaotic world of “likes” and “hyperlinks”. What if technology could also

be a sacred act? What if we opened Facebook and instead of just political adds and cat videos, we

instead found sacred pieces for living in true community?

To this question, I further asked what technology would look like if it were seen as everyday worship,

just like Brother Lawrence in the kitchen. To this end, I also took a look at ancient patterns of worship

and began to form a new way of seeing social media and technologies. I will share more of this in future

First Word newsletters.

For now, I ask, do you also have a heart for those who are feeling loneliness in the 21st Century? Are

you interested in asking, “what should technology be and do”? If so, please email me and perhaps a

small group of us can re-imagine what the church can do to love our neighbor in the 21st century. My

email is [email protected] or you can message me on Facebook.

mailto:[email protected]

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PEW PATROL

by Molly Williams

Have you thought about why you always have hymnals and bibles within reach during worship? How

the attendance folders always have blank forms and a writing implement ready to record your

presence? Why there are always prayer cards and offering envelopes in the pew pockets? Within a few

days following each worship service, one of our volunteers organizes the hymnal racks and replenishes

the attendance folders and the prayer cards and offering envelopes in the pew pockets. Usually, a

volunteer works for one month, but we freely substitute as needed.

The task takes two to three hours for one person to refresh all the items in the sanctuary, including the

balcony and chancel areas. When the sanctuary is used mid-week for weddings, memorial services,

rehearsals or performances by outside groups, and additional worship services during Lent or Advent,

there is sometimes a need for an extra mid-week check-up as well.

We could use another volunteer or two, since our numbers have shrunk to five Pew Patrollers, one of

whom is taking a short leave. Would you like to help? To volunteer, contact any of the team. We’d be

happy to show you what we do and add you to the schedule. Current volunteers are: Nancy Hyde, Jean

Plott, Molly Williams, Sue Paul, and Jan Schoenherr (on leave).

RECONCILING MINISTRIES TEAM

by Diane and Lori Owen-Rogers, Co-chairs

Current Members: Diane and Lori Owen-Rogers, co-chairs; Staff: Rev. Steve Charnley, Rev. Julie Kline;

Elizabeth Batten, Lisa Batten, Mollie Clements, Tammy Eaton, Karen Hassevoort, Andrew Lehman,

David Lundquist, Ellen McDonald, Dick Shilts, Deb Search Willoughby, Nina Victor

This year, the Reconciling Ministry Team is discerning what it might mean for First UMC to claim an

expanded identity of reconciling to include extending our welcome to all marginalized people. We seek

to support the leadership of the church and its members to develop a deeper analysis of systems of

oppression that are held in place by the status quo of the supremacy of whiteness. The framework of the

supremacy of whiteness requires winners and losers, power over others, and keeps us fighting with each

other. Rather the Reconciling Ministry Team is working in collaboration with others to bring the vision

Jesus provides us in the Lord’s Prayer of God’s Kingdom on Earth, or what Dr. King refers to as the

beloved community. The Reconciling Ministry Team exists to cultivate a reconciling church that is

known in our community as an ally for justice and welcoming of all people including those of various

races, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, citizenship statuses, ages, occupations, levels of

education, and economic statuses.

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The Reconciling Ministry Team has wrestled to develop a united vision of reconciling work under this

expanded view. Our work has included the following tangible activities designed to develop a deeper

analysis of reconciling work at First UMC:

● 3 Academy Classes were facilitated by team members

○ We Shall Not be Moved

○ The Future of the United Methodist Church: Is it Settled or Uncertain?

○ Seeking a Path to Racial Harmony

● 12 additional participants attended the 2.5 day “Understanding and Analyzing Systemic Racism”

workshop for a total of 24+ people who have attended from First UMC; attendance was supported by

funds from the Richard Knapp Bequest.

● 13 staff and members convened to discuss the impact of the 2.5 day anti-racism training; this will

become a regular practice with meetings held three times a year as we seek to hold each other

accountable to move forward in the church’s reconciling work.

● Lisa Batten is attending the Faith Alliance of OutFront Kalamazoo’s monthly meeting as the First

UMC Reconciling Team’s representative.

● 15 active team members participate in monthly, 2-hour team meetings with this number growing

throughout the year The Reconciling Ministry Team is working on other ongoing projects that will be

announced in early 2019. We are working with the clergy to expand our team’s reach to involve all

members in deepening our understanding of what it means for FIRST UMC to be a reconciling church

and for us to truly understand how to have open hearts, open minds, and open doors.

RICHARD KNAPP BEQUEST REVIEW COMMITTEE

by Karen Hassevoort, Chair

As I continue to serve as the Chairperson of the Richard (Dick) Knapp Bequest Committee as established

by the Board of Trustees, I can provide witness to the many ways in which monetary gifts allow us to

respond in many rich and diverse ways to expand our ability to provide ministry and/or direct service

and outreach through projects that provide support for: full-time employees for Justice For Our

Neighbors to assist with immigrant rights, promoting study and support for small groups and the use of

technology/social media for updating or rethinking how we engage in worship and connections in

ministry, funding to help improve maternal and infant health outcomes among South Sudanese

refugees, and funding to support outreach to children in our community with a summer faith-based arts

enrichment program. What a joy and a challenge as we work together to discern and make decisions

faithful to the spirit of the bequest. This group is inspired by the countless examples and abundant

evidence of efforts of so many throughout our congregation to share God’s love in the world.

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ST. ANDREWS WORSHIP MINISTRY TEAM

by Carol Hodges, Chair

St. Andrew’s is a worship oversight group that meets quarterly. While the staff deals with weekly

worship planning, our group looks at the big picture of worship and discusses possible changes.

This year our big focus was technology in worship. Derek Wheaten, along with a team of other

congregation members, has been working on implementing technology around the building. After the

November 2017 roll-out of the use of two large screens in the sanctuary, Derek’s group continued to

work with the staff and the congregation as new things were tried. The use of screens was accompanied

by a new projection system and an improved sound system. The old sound booth was upgraded and an

additional technology room was added next to it.

Marc Pendziszewski was hired to be our chief technology staff member, and he trained a small group of

volunteers to run the equipment on Sunday mornings. We have also started live-streaming our 11:00

service every week. Each service is archived and available on YouTube. There is a link to our YouTube

channel on the church’s website.

On Sunday afternoons this video recording of the morning worship service is presented at the

Wyndham Retirement Community at 3:00 p.m. and at Friendship Village at 6:30 p.m. These satellite

services enable an additional group of church members to worship as a part of the larger congregation.

We also continue to enjoy the creativity shown in altar art by Deb Search Willoughby as well as the

musical gifts of the four choral scholars from Western Michigan University, Isaac James, Joey Gottshall,

Halle Shadrake, and Shannon Kelley.

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT INTERN

by Elizabeth Batten

Serving as the EncounterMICall Intern in Youth and Young Adults, I have met one-on-one with former

Youth Tribe members and young adults in and out of the church. We have had regular gatherings

specifically for young adults as well as invitations to join the many wonderful opportunities at First UMC.

One look around the church we can see a lack of young adults. We have an opportunity at First UMC to

shift the culture to be in ministry with young adults, which ultimately leads to growth in the church. We

can open our hearts to young adults by being in relationship with those already in the church, sit with, as

well as take an interest in the young adults who attend and are sitting alone. Young adults have an

abundance of gifts, skills, and energy needed in the church today.

We can open our minds to young adults by reading “From the Ground Up, Beginning a Young Adult

Ministry From Scratch” in Relevant magazine. One misconception is that young adult ministry is an older

version of youth ministry and we need to understand the difference. We can open our doors to young

- 52 -

adults by offering opportunities to be part of spiritual growth and the worshipping community outside of

Sunday morning (the majority of young adults work at this time). For young adults, there is no one-size-

fits-all worship style, time, or way in which they encounter God.

How will we as a church open our hearts, minds, and doors to being in ministry with young adults? In

what ways will you open your hearts, minds, and doors to being in relationship with young adults?

STAFF PARISH RELATIONS COMMITTEE

by Dan Adams, Chair

As First United Methodist Church continues to grow, the SPRC continues to serve the people, the staff,

and the clergy.

Our current staff and clergy continue to hold themselves to the highest standards and are working

together to ensure the church’s principles and missions are accomplished. Senior Pastor Steve Charnley

continues to lead in a way that is growing the church in a time when many appear to be shrinking. He is

active in his role within the church but is also committed to be a presence in the community. He continues

to set and seek high goals and we are blessed by his ministry.

Revs. Julie Kline, Dan Duncan, and Keith Treman continue to give every effort in supporting the overall

growth of the church. They work wonderfully as a team with the staff and each other. Rev. Julie continues

to lead the emerging worship service which has grown in popularity and is an effective ministry. Rev.

Dan continues to head up our children and families ministry and has had continued success with the

“Godly Play” ministry during regular worship. Rev. Keith had a great year continuing his role as Pastor

of Congregational Care; the church’s outreach mission to those members who are not able to attend on a

regular basis do to health and age. Other members of our Sunday worship including Jacqueline Stilger

(Minster of Music) and Bernie Faulk (Organist) continue to fill the sanctuary with music and pageantry.

Ruth LaMachia continues to lead the office and lay personnel. Through efforts and gifts, Rev. Mantu

Joshi has become a part of the ministry team on a consultation basis for 11 months. He is helping the

church create new disciple groups and is working on approaches for building community through social

media. The SPRC has attempted to make improvements on staff appreciation and held a Clergy

Recognition Service to honor all current and retired clergy. The church has also become very dedicated

and successful in advancing efforts to provide “online” services for those who are unable to attend

regular worship.

First Church continues to strive in its goal of sharing and experiencing God’s love. As it does, the SPRC

will continue to provide support in all that is possible.

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STEPHEN MINISTRY

by Wendy Arnold, Stephen Minister

In 2018 First UMC of Kalamazoo celebrated 33 years as a Stephen Ministry (SM) congregation. During those

years, over 85 lay persons trained to become Stephen Ministry Caregivers. They brought confidential, one-

on-one, distinctively Christian care to hundreds of Care Receivers within the congregation and community.

This ministry is named after Stephen, the early Christian martyr (Acts 6) who was commissioned by the

apostles to do acts of caring for those in need. Over the years, our Stephen Ministers have offered a caring

presence to persons experiencing large or small life changes, challenges, or crises.

Stephen Ministry remains a viable group within our congregation. There are currently ten actively serving

ministers. Our team remains committed to connecting and networking with active Stephen Ministry

programs at other area-wide churches in order to participate in combined training sessions or for other

mutually beneficial purposes. Our group is blessed to have the Rev. Steve Charnley and Rev. Keith Treman

as our advisors. We are grateful for their insightful monthly meetings with the Stephen Ministry leaders and

his timely referrals as well as their spiritual care and support they offer for the work of our group.

Stephen Ministry training equips God’s people for effective caring ministry. Trainees practice listening,

communication, relationship, and spiritual caring skills. They study various situations common to life and

learn how to best support Care Receivers with appropriate care in these circumstances. The training is open

to church members whether or not they intend to become active Stephen Ministers. After completing the 50

hours of training, participants may choose to be commissioned and serve as Stephen Ministers or simply use

their skills in their personal lives. Commissioned Stephen Ministers are additionally supported with

periodic continuing education and skill building. Currently, we meet once or twice a month for that skill

building and group supervision. We support one another with prayer for our personal concerns as well as

for God’s guidance and grace in our caring relationships.

The Stephen Ministers ask that all members of our congregation be alert to the hurting in our midst, and to

remind each other of the availability of this caring ministry. For further information or confidential inquiries

about seeking a Stephen Minister for oneself or a friend, one may contact any of the pastors or a Stephen

Ministry Leader (Wendy Arnold or Donna Meninga).

Stephen Ministers are here to care, listen, love, and offer hope in Christ's name. Continue to pray for us as we

pray for you. Thank you for supporting a ministry which enables us to bear one another’s burdens and

willingly give and receive care that strengthens and equips our congregation so that we may all continue to

“experience God’s love, celebrate God’s love, and share God’s love.” We are grateful for the privilege of

serving God and you in this special ministry.

You may contact any of the following Stephen Ministers for more information: David Arnold, Wendy

Arnold, Sharon Dougan, Becky Lawson, Donna Meninga, Claire Peek, Ruth Evelyn Graham, Ann Kneas,

Judy Sims, Marian Burkey, Rev. Steve Charnley, and Rev. Keith Treman.

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STEWARDSHIP

by Jerry Bultema & Mike Cooper, Co-Chairs

The 2018 Stewardship committee consisted of 13 members: Jerry & Margie Bultema, Mike & Janet

Cooper, Don & Harriet Chalker, Matt & Allison Bland, Roger Williams, Dennis Moon, Gary Minor, Rev.

Steve Charnley and Ruth LaMachia. The committee met several times throughout the campaign and

selected the theme Giving Is Heart Work early in the planning process. This year we added a

stewardship brochure to our campaign and continued our First Word articles. Additionally, individual

committee members provided Stewardship Moments during worship and we sent letters to the

congregation throughout the campaign. As of November 11, 2018, donations were ahead of last year’s

total. We hope to have final numbers after the first of the year. Part of our plan for 2019 is to add two

new members to our committee. It is our belief that younger parishioners would be valuable assets to

the Stewardship Committee. If you would be interested in joining this team, please contact either Jerry

Bultema or Mike Cooper.

TRUSTEES

by Larry Lueth, Chair

The Trustees are charged to supervise and maintain all property belonging to the congregation so that

the ministries of the church can be effective. This responsibility includes the church building,

furnishings, and grounds, as well as its financial assets.

The financial assets overseen by the Trustees, totaling approximately $2.013 million, include both

discretionary funds and several restricted funds. Most are invested at the United Methodist Foundation

of Michigan. The figures listed in this report represent October 31, 2018 balances.

The Permanent Endowment Fund ($832,297) is managed by a separate Endowment Committee, but is

included in the Trustee report. This fund receives special gifts and bequests. Its earnings (up to 5% of

its three year average asset value) are distributed to support church operations. In 2018 that amount

was $29,081.

The Parsonage Escrow Fund ($196,686) holds the proceeds from the sales of our former parsonages.

From this Fund, the Trustees provide partial support ($15,000 in 2018) of the pastors’ housing allowance.

The Mary Lou Robinson Fund ($32,988) holds the remains of a bequest designated to support local

outreach ministries. These funds are dispersed at the request of the Outreach Ministry Team.

The Cora Pountain Library Fund ($10,465) generates earnings that support the church’s library and

other Christian education items.

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The David H. Rohs Memorial Youth Program Fund ($18,037) is a bequest from David Rohs to be used to

support youth ministries. These funds are available for youth need based scholarships for youth

activities. Also, through an application process, the funds are available for post-secondary educational

opportunities. Five scholarships were given out in 2018 totaling $8,000.

The Building Reserve Fund ($296,936) was established in 2017 to begin setting aside funds to pay for

major capital expenditures as identified by the Buildings and Grounds Committee in the Ten Year

Capital Plan. This Fund was initially seeded with $100,000 in 2017 from the Trustees Parsonage Fund.

Future undesignated bequests will be put into this Fund. Guidelines have been approved identifying

how and when these funds will be used in the future.

The Richard G. Knapp Major Projects Fund ($433,796) is a bequest from Dick Knapp to be used for major

projects. A subcommittee of the Trustees receives proposals and makes recommendations for the

distribution of these funds. So far in 2018 four projects were approved totaling $138,000. The Trustees

are scheduled to review four or five project requests in December.

Discretionary funds in checking and savings accounts ($123,525) comprise the funds available to the

Trustees for property maintenance.

During 2018 capital expenses of about $133,000 were funded by Trustee monies. Richard Knapp monies

paid for approximately $120,900 in projects. Major projects included the following:

1. Scraping and painting of 77 stained glass windows on the first and second floors

2. Front of sanctuary façade repair

3. New HVAC in First Care

4. New emergency lighting and exit signs

5. Building HVAC controls upgrade

6. Security camera upgrades

7. Youth breakfast bar

For a list of the total projects completed in 2018 see the Buildings & Grounds report.

Trustees received two new bequests totaling $72,309 in 2018. We, along with the Endowment

Committee, encourage members and friends to include the church in their estate plans.

The Trustees for 2018 are Ric Brown, Chris Bovid – Vice Chair, Steve Charnley – Senior Pastor, Carol

Hodges – Treasurer, Ruth LaMachia – Church Business Administrator, Larry Lueth – Chair, Kari

Parthasarathy, Michel Pierce, Tom Schaberg – Buildings & Grounds Chair, Thom Victor, and Mitch

Wilson.

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UNITED METHODIST MEN: DAWN PATROL

by Dick Shilts, Andrew Lehman

This was another unprecedented year in this 50+ year-old group. “This is a bunch of old guys; where is

this new stuff coming from?” WE think the Lord above is doing something new; what else can it be?

From the fall of 2016 through the spring of 2017, we studied the book Dear White Christians by Jennifer

Harvey. While that length of time on one book was not new, we wondered how our conversations

might have gone if we had had some people of color present with us. So we intentionally set out in the

summer of 2017 to invite several African-American men to our Dawn Patrol. From the fall of 2017 until

present, we have been engaged in “story-telling” conversation. That was a bold step, but we

immediately felt it was working well. It was uncomfortable at times, but we stuck with it and with each

other as relationships grew. By the grace of God, we were doing what the pundits on TV say ought to

be done after racial nightmare followed racial nightmare across our country. Week by week we were

doing it: talking and listening across racial lines—slowly beginning to lower the barriers between us.

Story-telling has continued and deepened. We spent eight weeks or so last spring going through several

articles Pastor Charnley brought us from the April 2018 issue of National Geographic, which had race as

its focus. This fall we decided to extend the time of our meetings from an hour to an hour and a half—

unprecedented in Dawn Patrol history—so we’d have more space to get further into the issues raised.

Back in September we discussed the question of what to do for 2019. It was quickly decided to continue

on the path we have been on for the last two years. Getting a dozen old codgers to agree on anything

quickly is a miracle in itself. It was evident that we wanted to probe the area of racism even more

deeply—evidence, we think, that the Holy Spirit is working. We also owe a great deal to our black

brothers who have joined us and trusted us with their thoughts and observations. (Also noteworthy is

the fact that almost half of the group regularly go to Nina’s afterwards for breakfast, enabling us to

continue our interaction.)

Since September we have been working through Debbie Irving's classic book Waking Up White, a book

we would love to see recommended as “required reading” across our congregation. Maybe we cover

one page, maybe five, in a week; but always the conversation has been lively, enlightening, and

challenging. How long it will take us to finish the book is, as with many previous books we have

tackled, yet to be discovered.

There have been losses that we mourn: Jim Martin, Russ Gabier, and Paul VanWestrienen are no longer

with us; their input and fellowship are greatly missed. Our group ended the 2016-17 time period

averaging 8-9 people per session. We are now averaging 12-14 per session, and we welcome new folks

with open arms. It is also worth noting that Dawn Patrol met through the 2018 summer months for the

first time, taking turns sharing facilitator roles. Now approaching our third year, we are confident that

God is guiding us. We are grateful for the leadership of our ministerial staff. We go forth in faith

toward that which we cannot yet see, hopeful that we are helping to build the kingdom of God, here on

earth, daily. If you’d like to join Dawn Patrol, they meet on Wednesday mornings from 7:30-9:00 a.m.

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UNITED METHODIST MEN: SUNRISE PATROL

by John Clark

The Sunrise Patrol is a men’s group that has been meeting on Monday mornings for more than a

decade. Originally a spinoff of the long-standing Dawn Patrol, the group has created its own identity.

We currently have about nine members. All are welcome to join our fellowship.

We typically organize our discussions around a book. In 2017-18, we used Immigration and Justice for

Our Neighbors, edited by Jennifer Clark and Miriam Downey. This collection of poetry and prose

contains works by both local and national writers, including many from our congregation. The book

stretched our literary chops—there are few poets among us—but the power of the writing challenged us

to think about the plight of the “other” in our midst. Immigration and Justice for Our Neighbors is a

fundraiser for our local JFON office. We give it a strong recommendation.

For 2018-19, we’re reading Strive by local author Tim Hiller. A former Western Michigan University

football player, Tim worshiped with our congregation during his time at WMU. The short devotionals in

Strive work nicely in our free-flowing discussion format, and books by or about athletes have been a

regular theme of our weekly meetings.

While we use books to give us a theme, the discussion and fellowship brings us back together week after

week. Small group ministry is an essential part of the Wesleyan tradition. Those wishing to join our

small group can meet us Mondays at 7 a.m. in the Fellowship Room.

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

by Nancy Hilliard, Chair

United Methodist Women (UMW) has had a productive year, with programs of relevance, spiritual

fellowship and giving to ministries locally, nationally, and internationally that support women and

children.

In Oct, 2018, our UMW Sunday focused on homelessness in the Kalamazoo area, with our pulpit

guest/classroom leaders from OpenDoors Kalamazoo; $2,600 was raised for that great organization in

our special offering that day.

We invite women and friends of First UMC to join UMW.

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WORSHIP TECHNOLOGY VISION TEAM

by Derek Wheaton, Chair

Members: Derek Wheaton (chairperson), Mark Stucky, David Lundquist, Mike Cooper, Jim

Willoughby, Mitch Wilson, Kay Gross, Lynne Emons, Ruth LaMachia, Bob Lane, Marc Pendziszewski

The exciting ministry of the Worship Vision Technology Team has taken off this year! Last fall, the final

touches on installation of technology enhancements in our Sanctuary, Wesley Hall, Parlor and

educational rooms and Welcome Center area were completed. We successfully debuted the screens and

equipment on November 5 for All Saints Sunday, displaying visually the saints who have gone before us

in the sancturary. Later in December, the SPRC confirmed the hiring of a visual technician, Marc

Pendziszewski.

The hiring of Marc has ensured that the ministry of visual technology has blossomed! We debuted Live

Streaming on our You Tube channel in January of 2018! We have received several affirmations from

those who are traveling, not well, and/or shut-ins who rave about the opportunity to have a being there

worship experience! We continue to publish each week not only the opportunity for Live Streaming, but

archiving the service for posterity.

Marc led training for our Care Team to teach them how to share our Live Streaming service with shut-

ins. He led the team on how to utilize DVD monitor players that could be used in the home if no

internet capabilities were present and a DVD was preferred.

The use of visual technology in the Sanctuary has grown. As the worship planning team has gotten

more comfortable with the use of technology, videos have been shown, pictures have been displayed

and referenced, and three full Emerging Worship services were held in the Sanctuary for the first time

last summer to utilize the full scope of technology visual enhancements! The sound enhancements and

hearing aid system has ensured that everyone, no matter where they are located in the Sanctuary, can

clearly hear the service as it progresses. Again, rave reviews from the congregation affirmed the purpose

of this technology, so that people could fully see, hear, participate, and celebrate worship!

Our congregation has gotten comfortable in the use of technology in the Parlor, Fellowship Room, and

educational rooms and utilize the monitors well to share the word of Christ through educational videos.

The video monitors installed in our entry and welcome center area display announcements and recent

pictures of members in action as disciples of Jesus Christ. On occasion, for memorial services, life story

videos and pictures have been projected.

With the help of Rev. Keith Treman, two satellite services were launched this year! Each Sunday, the

recorded service is shown at 3:00pm at Heritage and 6:30pm at Friendship Village. Participants receive

a bulletin and the full use of hymnals to follow and sing along during the service. Again, several

participants shared their appreciation of having the opportunity to celebrate, experience, and share

God’s love via a satellite location. We even had a non-member who was attending the service on a

weekly basis join the congregation! Praise be to God!

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As we look to next year we want to continue to see where God where lead this ministry. We are

working with youth to cull their interest in volunteering in both the sound and video booth. We are

culling interns from local college programs who might be placed to learn about our system and work

alongside our video technician, Marc. We are interested in finding ways to utilize our video

conferencing technology to connect with the greater world. We will continue to see how we can grow

this ministry in ways that we have yet to uncover! Our eyes and ears are open, we continue to listen to

God and seek direction to where we can lead through head, heart, and hands.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE (YANA) MINISTRY

by Ray Sweany

You Are Not Alone (YANA) is a community meal served on Sunday evenings starting at 5:00 p.m. The

meals are nutritious and prepared with love. Anybody is welcome to join us. Many who join us are

food insecure, others are not. The prep work, serving, and clean-up are shared responsibilities. For

more information, you can contact Ray Sweany; 269-350-5977 or at [email protected].

You Are Not Alone is a mix between the beloved community and the descriptions of the early church as

recorded in Acts. We imagine a group who are bonded together by love and by as much as a need for

community as for a need for food. I am haunted by the testimony of 20 or more homeless people before

the City Commission on August 28. People whose lives were in turmoil viewed themselves as unloved

and unwelcome. “There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t consider suicide.” (Matthew 25) challenges

us to share the love of Christ where it seems so needed. As we become bonded, we find other things to

share besides food. We have assisted in housing, transportation, simple needs of warm clothing and

bedding, stuffed animals as well. We share prayers.

We blur the meaning of “we” and “they.” As a result, some of those who came for food are now formal

members of First United Methodist Church. Clearly, others consider First UMC their church even if

they never join the earlier services in the morning or formally. Just as clearly, “they” join in the loving,

the sharing of what there is to share, and the praying. Clearly, many of the “they” are “us.” Others are

visitors who share the food and they are the recipients of so much more.

Last year, we served over 5,892 people at a cost to our designated account of $10,336. This worked out

to be $2.05 per meal. You Are Not Alone is bigger than First United Methodist Church and the actual

cost of our program is greater than what was shown because in-kind food has been donated by a variety

of individuals as well as other churches, principally Westwood United Methodist Church, St. Luke’s

Episcopal Church, and Gull Lake UMC. To add to the complexity, the number of people served is also

greater than the number shown above. At the end of the meal, the leftover food is either packaged for

takeout or offered as seconds. Often, we hear the stories of those who are not present, but in need of

food: children who were left at home, shut-ins, partners who were watching over belongings are among

the stories. Probably unspoken are people just wanting to ensure good food for the morrow.

mailto:[email protected]

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Documents

Reports We are a Reconciling Congregation, welcoming all. … OFFICIARY_Updated.pdf2018 Annual Reports 2019 OFFICIARY First United Methodist Church 212 S. Park Street | Kalamazoo,