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‘Thank you’ a lot. ‘I think it’s so great the church does this.’ ‘Can I get more?’ ‘I really like your sermons.’   ‘Your church does so much for our community.’ Then after flipping pancakes, I visited with the other stations and volunteers before I greeted folks, sat with some diners and heard their stories. And I woke up Tuesday, to write my blog and realized how much our Pancake Breakfast is a way we embody our mission and values.   Our mission at the United Methodist Church of Geneva is to “illuminate our community with God’s grace as we lovingly accept, listen to, andRead More →

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On this Memorial Day weekend, we gather not only to flip pancakes, sell plants and serve coffee, we gather to remember and honor the brave persons who have sacrificed their lives for our country. It is a solemn occasion that allows us to reflect on the values of freedom, justice, and peace that these individuals fought to protect. As we honor their memory, it is also a time to reaffirm our commitment to these values within our church. We must be careful in our celebrations because sometimes our Christian identity can get confused or consumed by White Christian Nationalism. White Christian Nationalism often promotes theRead More →

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This guest blog features the introductory and first edition of a new monthly newsletter written by our Director of NextGen Ministry, Dr. Greg Coates. We hope the information is helpful and invite anyone to “Opt-in/Sign-up” to receive these monthly e-newsletters moving forward. May 2024 – Since joining the staff of the United Methodist Church of Geneva last summer, I have spent a significant amount of time observing, thinking, and praying about the state of the children and teens in our local communities.  Having been hired last summer as the “Director of NextGen Ministries,” I took pride in joining a local church that perceived the pressingRead More →

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This past Sunday we celebrated confirmation. In keeping with the series on Making a Methodist, I preached about the means of grace, the outward and tangible signs of God’s inward love in our lives. These means of grace are conduits in which we can experience and share in God’s unconditional love for us. Confirmation is one of these means of grace. Along with our two sacraments baptism and communion, John Wesley identified several other means of grace: prayer, scripture reading and study, fellowship, fasting, worship and serving others. The whole service on Sunday was filled with means of grace. This little two-year-old often hangs outRead More →

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About the time that this is published on Friday, I’ll be in the dentist’s chair getting my regular cleaning. About a month ago, I got an email that kind of looked like the graphic above asking me to click to confirm or call to reschedule. Then last Friday, I got another one. I appreciate these reminders. I thought my appointment was the week prior and that I had missed it! We’re celebrating confirmation with three of our students this Sunday – Liv Cahill, Jaclyn Eakins, and Charlie Popplewell – along with students from Baker Memorial, Batavia, and Wesley Aurora United Methodist Churches. Confirmation is muchRead More →