Last weekend, we had company from out of town and spent Saturday's sunny afternoon strolling down Third Street. We parked at the church. Started down on the east side of Third Street, stopping in shops, looking at menus along the way. We returned up the west side of Third Street. We talked about the community, visited a few more stores, and had a nice long stop at Graham's to indulge our sweet tooth. My friend, who is also a pastor, was astonished at how vibrant and busy Third Street was that day and we commented on how quiet it was for such a sunny Saturday. He noted that nearly every downtown in America is struggling or has already become desolate, but in Geneva, it's the opposite. Geneva is a vibrant. energetic, growing downtown.

We continued our walk back to church and I snapped this picture of 'Hope' ... Read the rest of Rob's message here.

The service will be livestreamed to YouTube and to our Website and posted later to Facebook

Micah 5: 2-5a,Colossians 3: 12-17

This advent year the Children of UMCG will participate in making donations to the World Relief Chicagoland Refugee Welcome Kits. The children are helping out by supplying the food and cleaning supplies. 

We will be decorating a UMCG Children's Christmas Tree this year in the Atrium area. Every week the kids will make ornaments that relate to the sermon theme. We will also have a "present" under the tree that will reveal the day's theme. Please have the children come and open the gift to get a peak of what they will be learning about.

Dec. 5 - PAJAMA Day!  Feel free to have the kids wear their favorite Pajamas this Sunday while we make Stars of Peace ornaments during Sunday School.

Dec. 12 - Family Worship and Children's Christmas Carols performance!  

Dec. 12 at 2pm - Come to Engstrom Park for our Tri-city Interactive Nativity experience! We will be singing our 2 carols again around 2:10pm near the petting zoo.

Dec. 19 - UGLY SWEATER DAY! Feel free to have the kids wear their favorite Ugly Christmas Sweater this Sunday while we make a manger scene ornament.

Contact: Julie Popplewell

Home Alone Discussion Series Continues: The series resumes this week, December 5, in both the middle school and high school Sunday school classes. You will be surprised how much this simple movie can spark conversations about faith. For the Home Alone weeks, middle schoolers will go directly to Sunday School rather than starting in the worship service.

Christmas Cookie Decorating Contest: We will be having our second annual youth ministry Christmas Cookie Decorating Contest from 2:00-3:30 NEXT SATURDAY, December 11. All 6th-12th graders are invited to participate, and the cookie mix and cookie cutters will be provided for you by our youth ministry. Cookie kits can be picked up at church on Sunday December 5 during youth Sunday school or after the service in the fellowship hall. If you cannot be at church on December 5 to pick up your kit, they will be delivered directly to families during the week of December 5-11. For health and safety reasons, we will not be supplying decorations to share. Please bring your own decorating supplies and ingredients

from home. Each student will have their own workspace (a table top) on which to decorate

their cookies.

Monday, December 6 for the Dec. 10 Messenger and Dec. 12 Bulletin

Monday, December 20 for Dec. 24 Messenger and Dec. 26 Bulletin

Monday, December 27 for Dec. 31 Messenger and Jan. 2 Bulletin

We have received the official dates that the church will be closed for remodeling. The church will be closed Monday, January 3rd through Saturday, January 15th.

Programs that you oversee or are involved with will need to be canceled or moved off-site during this period of time. Please notify the folks who will be impacted by this as soon as possible.

Worship on Sunday, January 9th will be online only; no in-person worship that Sunday, as well as no classes, studies or groups. Questions? Contact Debbie Sampiller.

Everyone is invited to the Church Council Meeting.

We are looking for individuals or families who can volunteer to take partr in our live nativity display on December 12 from 2-4pm at our TriCity Methodist Advent event in Engstrom Park in Batavia. Click this link to sign up.

After each service, a gift box will is located in Fellowship Hall available for collection of donations of gift cards (or money and we will purchase cards). Checks should be made payable to UMCG. What is collected will be distributed to Salvation Army, Kane County CASA, and the 2 homeless shelters we support – Lazarus House and Hesed House. Suggested range $10-$20 from Target, Walmart or Meijer. Gas cards are always welcome and teens love fast food or movie gift cards.

Questions? – Contact Carolyn Sprawka 630-222-4150 or Heather Pleus 630-452-2139

Your Committee on Church in Society

In our final report of 2021, we want to thank you personally and our entire congregation for its generosity in this challenging year. As we emerged from almost 100% virtual life to resumption of in-person worship, classes, committee work, and service, we have also made strides in funding our ministries. In the 4 months of the “Matching Funds” campaign our average monthly operating income jumped from $47,000 (Jan-July) to $58,900 (Aug-Nov). If we can finish 2021 with a strong December, we will be in a position to end the year with a balanced operating budget. We are very close!

And what do we accomplish when we support the budget, along with our many other special ministries?

Yes, UMCG is a special and committed body of Christ. Let us celebrate and continue to support all we do with “our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.”

We have created a list of folks who are not able to join us in worship, and we encourage you to take a few moments and send them well-wishes during the holidays. Call the church office if you would like a copy. It is also available in the church office.

We have more Monitors, a metal desk and an inkjet printer. Check out our cleanout page on our website for more information.

As people of faith, we have a special calling to honor all of creation and establish justice. The UMC Church and Society invites you to participate in the winter webinar series, “Climate & Community: A Faithful Action for Climate Justice,” where we will hear from experts and assemble toolkits to help us take the next steps post-COP26.

The NIC weekly eNews is here.

The NIC November Reporter is available here.

Submit information each week by Wednesday at 12pm for inclusion in Bulletin Announcements or the Weekly Messenger.  Please use the submission form. This form can also be found on the sign-ups page on our website. You may also send them to communications@genevaumc.org. Information sent to this email goes to Carolyn, Debbie, and Lorie.