First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo

Youth Tribe
2021-11-14 18:00 - 20:00, 2021-08-01 19:30 - 22:00 (America/Detroit) | MI
Teens are invited to join our active youth ministries at FUMC! Everyone has a voice as we learn together and take time to play, too. For more information and details on upcoming events, contact Pastor Matt Weiler at mweiler@umc-kzo.org.

When the Ground Shakes
2021-11-14 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
This is a text that does not directly relate to us in this time and place. It does however relate to us indirectly. We find ourselves nearing the end of a year during which the ground beneath our feet has shifted. And let’s be honest, the shifting has been occurring for several years now – the pandemic just had a particularly broad impact. We have been reminded (or perhaps we are learning) that our security, our assurance, our salvation is not found in the institutions we so value. Rather our salvation is in the God who raises Jesus from the dead. And so, may we fix our eyes on Jesus, because everything else is coming down.
In our worship this week you will be asked to consider and to write down a response to the prompt “How have I felt the ground shifting beneath my feet?” Perhaps it is the loss of a loved one or the changes in life due to the pandemic such as a loss of employment. Please bring your response to in person worship so it can be read aloud (anonymously) as part of a prayer experience.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Manna: Young Adult Ministry
2021-11-10 18:30 - 19:30 | MI
Join Manna, our weekly meetup for young adults in their 20s and 30s! In the Bible, Manna represents God arriving to a people who were yet discovering who they were. Manna was God’s provision. Manna was God’s way of teaching a people how to live and be together. Manna was preparing them for the journey ahead. Our Wednesday nights are like Manna! They are a time to study scripture, talk about current events, pray together and discover who God is shaping us to be for the journey ahead. Pastor Matt Weiler leads the group in conversation and reflection on Wednesdays at 6:30pm. Locations vary, please contact Matt at mweiler@umc-kzo.org for more information and to join the group email list.

Dawn Patrol
2021-11-10 07:30 - 09:00 | MI
Dawn Patrol is an intentionally diverse group of men who meet each Wednesday at 9am in the Parlor at FUMC Kalamazoo. Books that stimulate the sharing of stories are chosen. Our goal is growing in an understanding about, not only what it means to be a follower of Jesus in a divided world, but also what Christians are called to do to help bring an end to systemic racism that still harms so many People of Color. Masks are required for this event. Contact Pastor Matt Weiler at mweiler@umc-kzo.org for more information.

Godly Play
2021-11-07 11:00 - 11:30 | MI
Godly Play is offered for children 4 and older, as well as nursery care on the 2nd floor for infants through 3-year-olds with fully vaccinated and masked staff. Please contact jlibrizzi@umc-kzo.org with any questions.

All Saints Day
2021-11-07 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
All Saints is a day of remembrance for the saints. We celebrate the communion of saints as we remember the dead and celebrate our connectedness as Christians. The Christian festival of All Saints Day comes from a conviction that there is a spiritual connection between those on heaven and on earth. It is also an opportunity to express gratitude to God for the lives and deaths of all the saints that have influenced and shaped our lives. On this Sunday we remember that Jesus wept as he was surrounded by those who were grieving the loss of his friend Lazarus and as he was confronted by his sister, Mary. Grief and despair can be overwhelming and yet Jesus commands that Lazarus come out of the tomb, he is raised to new life. On this All Saints Day, we remember, we weep and we look to the promised possibilities of life beyond death and are reassured that Christ stands with God to wipe away tears and turn us in hope toward the resurrection that is possible.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.
On this All Saints Sunday, we will celebrate communion. Communion will be served in the sanctuary. We will have four stations in the front of the sanctuary and servers will come to persons who would prefer to be served in the pews. For those joining us for worship online, please bring bread and juice to your home worship space.

Consecration Sunday: Hope Is Infectious
2021-10-31 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~Romans 15:13
This last Sunday of the series offers a time of celebration and naming of hope for the future and a dedicating of our gifts. We sing and speak of the day when all will be one, when all will be fed, when all will be loved. We imagine what the reign of God looks like and commit anew to live that out as disciples of Jesus who is hope of the world. To this hope we return again and again, to this hope we find our purpose and reason for living. Our inspirational hoping can inspire and motivate others. Hope is infectious. When we are centered on hope, others will be encouraged, others will notice and wonder, “What have they got that I do not?” Let us offer hope with abundance that is communal centered and leads to joyful and generous living.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Stewards of a Hope Filled Future: Hope Is Practical
2021-10-24 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
Hope is Practical. The gospel is not. When the blind man shouted out begging for Jesus’ mercy, the crowds told him to sit down and to be quiet. Against popular demand, Jesus invited the man to come to him and then asked the man, “What do you want?” Was it not obvious? He wanted to see again. In case the readers have any doubt the man states this clearly for Jesus. The man received what he wanted and in return he followed Jesus. There is, in this very brief story, the image of the reciprocal relationship Christ calls us into. Christ’s mercy meets our need. We receive healing and in response, we follow Jesus. The journey begins with hope; hope that Christ will see our need. The journey continues with hope; hope that the risk of following will outweigh the cost of “going back.” Hoping that our lives might change is a practical thing. Where Jesus might lead us next likely is not.

Stewards of a Hope Filled Future: Hope Is Healing
2021-10-17 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ~Matthew 15: 22b
As Jesus entered Tyre and Sidon, a Canaanite woman presented herself as a one-person welcoming committee. She approaches him with shouting, “Have mercy on me.” She is in despair and yet, she draws near to Jesus with hope in her heart believing all that she has heard and that he can heal her daughter. Hope is a desire for something to happen. Hope compels us to believe that things will get better, that there are other ways for us to perceive and respond to our situations and circumstances. Hope boldly proclaims that helplessness or hopelessness is not a viable option that brings abundant life. Hope is a step of healing and is followed by further steps that courageously shout for mercy. Let us gather as a hopeful people, shouting for mercy and believing that hope heals ourselves and others.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Stewards of a Hope Filled Future: Hope Broadens the Mind
2021-10-10 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
Hope broadens the mind. As we enter into the second week of our “Stewards of a Hope-Filled Future” series this week, we are challenged to examine in what and whom we invest our hope, and, to allow the gospel to inspire our imaginations. As the theologian Walter Brueggemann asserts, we Christians struggle to imagine that God can do anything with our future alternative to the present we know. (He of course says this way more elegantly…) We invest our hope in stuff and not in God’s promises. Our greatest deficit is our lack of imagination. But, according to the first chapter of Ephesians, we have been given a great inheritance by the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And so, can you imagine what God can do with our lives?
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Stewards of a Hope Filled Future: Hope Moves you Forward
2021-10-03 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” ~Jeremiah 29: 11 -14
World Communion Sunday is a hope filled table. On the first Sunday in October, United Methodist congregations join many Christian churches across the globe in celebrating World Communion Sunday. United Methodists believe in an open table, anyone may receive communion. We believe the communion table, the giving and receiving of bread and cup are signs of grace and hope. It is a communal act. We receive strength from each other, we gather, we are joined together in the moment and are nourished for the journey of Christian faith. This Sunday also finds us beginning a new worship series, “Stewards of a Hope Filled Future.” Even with the continued unknowns of the pandemic, we embrace hope, believe in hope, and become hope for the world. In United Methodist Churches around the world, a special offering is collected on World Communion Sunday to fund scholarships for seminarians, we too will participate in this special offering. Come, let us be stewards of a hope filled future.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.
Note: It is a communion Sunday. Communion will take place right after worship outside in the picnic table yard at FUMC. For those joining us for livestream worship online, please bring bread and juice to your home worship space.

Habits of Hospitality: Sharing Our Authentic Selves
2021-09-26 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“…Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” -1 Thessalonians 2:8(b)
During the last week of July the FUMC Kalamazoo Youth Tribe, along with a great number of adults, came together for a week of service around the community as well as in the church. There was a tremendous amount of work accomplished and the love of Christ was surely made known to our neighbors and among one another through our actions. Even more, this week created space for the the young people of FUMC to share their authentic selves with one another. After a year of pandemic isolation, Kalamazoo Service Project (KSP) was a week where our young people were seen and affirmed and acknowledged. There was a space for everyone’s gifts to be used, for everyone to learn to new skills, and importantly for everyone to let their guards down and play a little. In worship this week, we’ll hear the story of KSP through the testimony of participants, through video and through song.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Habits of Hospitality: Welcoming All the People
2021-09-19 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you.” -1 Thessalonians 1:9a
The scriptures this day invite us to connect, and they point us toward true community where none is better than another, none are excluded from the presence and love of the risen Christ. Not sure you are welcome? Hear this good news today – all are welcome! The Apostle Paul visited many places in his life and each time an enthusiastic church came to life. He encouraged “Radical Hospitality” long before it became a common phrase of the modern church. Imagine an enthusiastic church practicing radical hospitality that is guided by gentleness, invested in strength-based method and steadily gives thanks to God. Let’s imagine and live enthusiastically into a church community that welcomes all people.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Habits of Hospitality: Offering Peace
2021-09-12 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“If anyone is there who shares in your peace, your peace will rest on that person.” ~Luke 10: 6a
Jesus sends more than seventy out on a mission of peace. He says, “Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” They are to offer peace, receive peace and reassure all that “The Kingdom of God has come near.” The mission and invitation are as simple as it is every time we make it: when you endeavor to love your neighbor and live in peace with each other, there’s always room for you, no matter whether you think you “fit” or not, no matter whether you’ve been coming to church a long time or not in a long time, whether you worship online or in person. Welcome home. Peace be with you. Jesus moved forward with hope and promise. And so shall we. Come, join us for “Hospitality Sunday” this Sunday and each Sunday. God loves all people. And so do we.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am. You are invited to our Hospitality Sunday kick off event on Sunday, September 12 at 9:15am on the church front lawn. Learn more through this link.
Note: We will be collecting prayers of joys and concerns. If you are coming to the church to worship, please bring a written prayer with you if you would like to share. There will be a basket at the door to collect the prayers. If you are worshipping from home, you can add your prayers to the chat box on YouTube or submit them through our online form.

When John Wesley Lost His Mind
2021-09-05 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
Faith without works is dead. One of the most often quoted bible verses from one of the shortest books in the New Testament. It becomes a mantra of sorts from churches that like to get things done. And there’s nothing wrong with getting things done. Jesus calls us to do justice and so we do. But sometimes we can get so caught up doing justice that it comes at the expense of our own personal spiritual lives. Our Wesleyan tradition calls us to a balance or a praxis whereby we reflect of the love God in our lives, we respond to this love by doing justice, and in turn we reflect on the work of justice making and the love of God within the work. So may our faith be found alive, and fueled by a reflective practice of being loved by God and being the love of God.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.
Note: It is a communion Sunday. Communion will take place right after worship outside in the picnic table yard at FUMC. For those joining us for livestream worship online, please bring bread and juice to your home worship space.

Begin Where God Begins
2021-08-29 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
John Wesley said once that “Religion if it is not to be the pious form of worldliness, if it is instead to be the response to the action of God, must begin where God begins, among the poor, the despised, the oppressed, and the marginalized.” The key words in his teaching are begin where God begins. God began by taking on the form of human flesh and living with and as one with the poor, the despised, the oppressed and the marginalized. God began by proving to the world that God is not some distant overbearing unknown figure rather that God is here, right here with us and within in, listening and being with us. God did not begin with a snap-of-the-fingers quick fix, or a financial distribution program, or a soup kitchen rather God began by simply being with. This is where God begins and so this is where we are to begin – with.

Love and Hard Things
2021-08-22 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation, Spirit. All these words are packed into these final verses of the book of Ephesians. These are among the most pious and abstract words in all Christian grammar. Truth like a belt, righteousness like a breastplate, peace like a pair of shoes, faith as a shield, salvation a helmet, and the spirit a sword. Together these theological words are according to this disciple of Paul (more on that to come in the sermon) the “…full armor of God.” And why do we need the full armor of God? That we might live in the power of God. And this word – power – is the most intriguing of them all. The church has a peculiar relationship to this word, power. We embrace power and we are embarrassed of power. We leverage power and we say that power is not Christlike. We claim power in our baptism, we confront power, we deny power. This book of the Church, the book of Ephesians concludes by imploring us to embrace the power of God. Your baptism asks if you accept the power of God. So what is this power? And to what, or where does it lead us?

Live as Children of Light
2021-08-15 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.” -Ephesians 5: 13-14a
We are called to live as children of the light and we are to shine the light on that which brings darkness. Join us for worship as we light candles in prayer, exposing and naming some of the darkness and despair that may keep us awake at night or certainly troubles our soul. Join us as we proclaim the psalms, sing hymns and make melodies to God, giving thanks and rekindling our light so that we may shine for the world and for Christ who is our center point. Let us look for the light, in the stars, in the time we share with friends or by beginning a gratitude journal and by holding onto a hope that will not let us go. As we worship, we will claim the light, cultivate the light and celebrate the Light of the World. If you are worshipping from home, bring some candles into your worship space so that you may bear witness to the Light.

Summer Concert Series: Hazeltree
2021-08-08 16:00 - 17:00 | MI
Hazeltree: Traditional acoustic songs and tunes from Ireland, Scotland, England and America

Hazeltree is ensemble of close harmonies, guitar, mountain dulcimer, mandolin, flute, and drum. In Irish tree lore, the hazel embodies creativity, wisdom and transformation… Find more information at https://www.facebook.com/hazeltreemusic.

Attendees are asked to enter the church through our parking lot entrance, located on Academy St. Please sign in as you enter the church and we ask all attendees to remain masked to ensure hospitality and protection for all vulnerable populations. Freewill offerings will be gratefully accepted, but admission for all summer concert series events is free.

The Fragrance of Christ
2021-08-08 10:00 | MI
On this Coffeehouse Sunday we hope to bring in the aroma of herbs from our gardens, patio boxes or even from the wild. We invite you to bring offerings of herbs with you as you come to the sanctuary or if you will be worshipping from home, add some herbs to your worship space. A life worthy of our calling means that as Christ followers our lives offer a sweet-smelling fragrance to the world that is a kindness and tenderheartedness that will not be quickly forgotten, but will be savored by those whom we encounter. Along with our herbal offering, we will also receive an anointing so that our prayer may be “Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and your love.” For those worshipping in the sanctuary, you will be invited to the front lawn to receive an anointing for those at home, please gather oil or lotion so that you may anoint yourself at home. We will also be collecting prayers of joys and concerns. If you are coming to the church to worship, please bring a written prayer with you if you would like to share. There will be a basket at the door to collect the prayers. If you are worshipping from home, you can add your prayers to the chat box on YouTube or email them to prayer@umc-kzo.org. May we live in love and be a fragrant offering to Christ and the world.

Summer Concert Series: The Great American Songbook and All That Jazz
2021-08-01 16:00 - 17:00 | MI
The Great American Songbook and All That Jazz with Terry Lower (piano) and Dr. Barry Ross (violin)

Pianist Terry Lower has been a fixture on the Michigan jazz scene for over 30 years. He is both a dazzling soloist and a superior accompanist. Find more information at https://terrylowermusic.com/.
Dr. Barry Ross is the Concertmaster Emeritus of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Founder of the Kalamazoo Philharmonia and a Professor of Music Emeritus at Kalamazoo College. In his over four decades of residing in Michigan, Dr. Ross has appeared as conductor, concertmaster and a concert violinist throughout the country and maintains an active performance schedule.

Attendees are asked to enter the church through our parking lot entrance, located on Academy St. Please sign in as you enter the church and we ask all attendees to remain masked to ensure hospitality and protection for all vulnerable populations. Freewill offerings will be gratefully accepted, but admission for all summer concert series events is free.

AXIOS
2021-08-01 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“…lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” (Ephesians 4:1). In the book of Ephesians, the Greek word used by the author for worthy is AXIOS. Axios is a reference to a set of scales on which one would place a set of weights on one tray, and an item to be weighed on the other. When the item is equal to the weight it is worthy (AXIOS) of the weight. Live a life worthy (in AXIOS) of the calling to which you have been called. It is the question we ask of ourselves in worship today. Is the life I am living worthy of the calling to which I have been called? The rest of the passage, as does the worship, offers several bits of good news in response to the question. 1. God has called each one of us. 2. All of us in the body of Christ are called collectively. 3. By God’s grace we are forgiven and renewed again and again when our lives fall short of their calling. All of this is proclaimed and affirmed in the Bread and Cup of Communion which will we share this Sunday.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.
Note: It is a communion Sunday. Communion will take place right after worship outside in the picnic table yard at FUMC. For those joining us for livestream worship online, please bring bread and juice to your home worship space.

Summer Concert Series: Bernie Foulk and Jacqueline Stilger
2021-07-25 16:00 - 17:00 | MI
Organist Bernie Foulk with Jacqueline Stilger featuring the Letourneau organ of First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo

Bernie Foulk joined the staff of First United Methodist Church in 2007 as organist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance as well as master’s degrees in library science and organ performance.
Jacqueline Stilger has been the Minister of Music at First United Methodist Church since 2009. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from the University of Louisville, where she studied with Melvin Dickenson, and a Master of Music degree in Organ and Church Music from Indiana University, studying with Dr. Marilyn Keiser.
The Letourneau Organ: The concert will feature the three manuel, 54 rank Letourneau pipe organ, Opus 52, installed in the church in 2000. The music will span the centuries with pieces from the renaissance period through contemporary.

Attendees are asked to enter the church through our parking lot entrance, located on Academy St. Please sign in as you enter the church and we ask all attendees to remain masked to ensure hospitality and protection for all vulnerable populations. Freewill offerings will be gratefully accepted, but admission for all summer concert series events is free.

Doing Justice as Prayer
2021-07-25 10:00 - 11:00 | MI, United States
For this final sermon in our summer preaching series The Renewing Work of God, we turn to the work of Doing Justice as Prayer. Throughout this series we have been encouraged to set the intention of prayer while doing everyday ordinary things such as planting seeds, going for walks, making music and art and eating. Today we turn our attention to the act of doing justice and wonder how the work of justice itself can be prayer. The late congressman John Lewis who marched across the bridge to Selma in March of 1965 was known for likening that walk to prayer. “When you pray move your feet” he would say. Sometimes the work of doing justice can be met with terrible violence as Lewis experienced on that bridge. Sometimes justice making can happen quietly and almost unnoticed. Either way, the work of doing justice is a participation in God’s ongoing plan to mend our broken universe to wholeness. Setting the intention of prayer while doing justice is intentionally tapping into God’s ongoing work. It brings rest to our weariness, peace to the chaos surrounding us, and the assurance that this is God’s work and not ours alone. Doing Justice is Doing Prayer.

Beyond Doing
2021-07-18 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“Be still and know that I am God.”
As we pray, we are seeking love, we are drawn into God because we are called by love, we come out of prayer filled by love and ready to impart that love. Throughout this series we have explored the many adventurous ways to pray. Yet, it is love that centers us and at times stills us, so that we may be filled with God. It is good to do prayer and it is also worthwhile to be still so that we may be filled with God. When God is our home place, we will be filled and we become prayer in our living and breathing. Let us experience God’s love as we worship.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.

Sunday Morning Class: Short Stories by Jesus
2021-07-11 11:00 - 12:00 | MI
Join us for Sunday Morning Class after worship at 11:15am: In person in the Parlor at First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo or online on Zoom
Short Stories by Jesus: Led by John Clark
Jesus knew how to tell a story. He knew that in order to get his message across he needed to relate to the people who gathered to listen—first century Jews—who lived in a very different world than the one in which we live today. In the video-based “Short Stories by Jesus,” New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine takes us back in time and explains how original audiences understood Jesus’ parables. We’ll learn how new interpretations of the parables continue to challenge and provoke contemporary readers two thousand years later.
Need the Zoom link? Email KalamazooFUMC@umc-kzo.org.

The Prayer of Planting
2021-07-11 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad.”
Have you ever planted a garden and even though you know what you put into the ground, still you marvel at the way in which those seeds magically produce beans and squash and tomatoes and peppers and…all the amazing things? Of course it isn’t magic–it is God’s handiwork doing what it is supposed to do. This is how planting, be it in a giant outdoor garden, or a shoot of basil in your kitchen window, can be prayer because planting seeds is tapping into the ancient and holy and sacred work of God that stems back to God’s first acts of creation. In worship today, we hear a parable of a sower whose work of planting was done with a kind of joyful reckless abandon. The sower scattered seeds in all kinds of soils and rocks trusting that God could make anything grow anywhere at any time. We also celebrate Kathryn Sappington’s two years of ministry with us as a Global Mission Fellow, celebrate and acknowledge the seeds she has planting among us, and send her off to grow in her new adventure in seminary. Join us this Sunday online and in person for this special Coffeehouse Worship Experience.

Holy Food
2021-07-04 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
Today, we gather around the table of grace to receive the bread of life and the cup that overflows with blessing and love. It is a holy feast. What if by way of doing prayer we made every meal an extension of the Communion table? From “Beyond Words” the author writes, “Consuming food becomes a sacred activity, one that combines intention, gratitude, and celebration as the main courses.” The Eucharist is the centerpiece of our faith. Jesus called us to a table of remembrance, all of us, from the faithful to the one that is betraying and invites us to eat and drink, remembering that grace is food for the soul. As ways of doing prayer, let us establish tables of grace each time we settle in to eat and drink, sharing the love of God through one of the most basic of human needs. Come, receive from the table of grace.
Join us in person or online for worship on Sundays at 10am.
Note: It is a communion Sunday. Communion will take place right after worship outside in the picnic table yard at FUMC. For those joining us for livestream worship online, please bring bread and juice to your home worship space.

Sacred Healing
2021-06-27 10:00 - 11:00 | MI
“Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!”
I spent a week at Wesley Woods High School Camp recently with a large group of teenagers and every morning and evening we sang. (Don’t worry, we were outside and a strong majority were vaccinated!) We sang contemporary worship songs by the fire with guitars and we sang “Amazing Grace” a cappella. One of our staff members shared with me that he was not much of a singer, but for some reason, the singing drove him to tears (he’s also not much of a crier). A most memorable moment of singing came on the Friday Night after party. We strung lights and lit up balloons by the lake front at midnight and had a Par-ty! And when a certain Taylor Swift tune came on, every kid on the shore belted it out word for word. These were all acts of prayer. I don’t know if they all consciously knew they were acts of prayer, but I am clear that God was there in those moments. It was prayer. It was also prayer when we stopped and listened to the bullfrogs in the evening when the sun went down and then again when we covered a slip-n-slide with shaving cream (yes…). Prayer is singing and prayer is listening, as author Kristen Johnson Ingram reminds us. This week in worship we will look at moments when scripture points us to this truth, and examine how we can set an intention of prayer in our singing, our listening and in our playing.
