First United Methodist Church

Spring Serve Day - April 28

10am Worship | Service Projects to Follow

New Member Class Testimonial

We believe you will find the FUMCWP new member classes to be informative, invitational, and engaging. From its first to last moments we felt a part of a caring community and came to know our new classmates as partners in shared learning. Our pastors provided us with easily understood explanations of the deep core principles of Methodism. Additionally, their guided “walkthrough” of the Bible renewed and reacquainted us with all the resources it provides for personal study and prayer. Perhaps the most meaningful moments of the three-night series were those spent with congregational lay leaders. Their stories demonstrated one of the main reasons we chose to join this church.  To be sure, our church feeds our spirits in worship and through its family ministries. However, it is a vibrant family because we are invited to involvement and service. We are a multigenerational community with countless opportunities to be in fellowship with other members on an ongoing basis. Simply put, each of us may choose to live out our faith with a fellowship group most meaningful for us. And there are countless multigenerational options for us to do so. We think you’ll find the new member program will prepare you to go deeper in your faith journey and invite you into a welcoming fellowship community.

~Lloyd Jaeger and Beth Ann Miller


Are you interested in becoming a member? We would love to invite you to our next set of new member classes this July via Zoom!

Devotion from Arnetta Rodgers, Our Gracious Host Pillar Leader

“Lord, I want to be a Christian…”

“Lord, I want to be a Christian… inna my heart, inna my heart…”

That’s how we sang that old Black spiritual at Howard University, my alma mater.

These days, those words present a personal struggle and a challenge. How to be a Christian? Events of the past few weeks have removed a scab from my people… a scab that has covered wounds that have pained us for over 400 years. My hearts aches.

Growing up, our children experienced numerous incidents of racism: questions regarding their competence in swimming (two of our sons were nationally ranked swimmers)… “Black people do not know how to swim” was the underlying message. Though accomplished academically, athletically and professionally, throughout their lives they have continued to experience racially motivated challenges. While a graduate student at University of Virginia in Charlottesville, my son was threatened by a policeman who placed a gun in my son’s mouth. He was the only Black among a group of white students celebrating the end of the semester at a party in the white students’ apartment. A neighbor had complained about the noise at the party. While a student at West Point, another son and his friends while stopping at a rest stop, were challenged/harassed by state patrolmen, for no apparent reason.

“Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart…”

“Lord, I want to be more holy inna my heart, inna my heart…”

Events of recent weeks present personal challenges. Throughout my life, I have benefited from the encouragement, support and friendship of whites… “Betwix and between…” Knots. We have always lived in integrated neighborhoods, often in neighborhoods where whites clearly did not want us as neighbors. Our children had/currently have white friends. Professionally, my husband’s best friend was a white man who supported my husband when others did not. I currently live in a white residential community. My sons are runners. When they come to visit, my heart skips a beat when they go for a run in my neighborhood… I know there will undoubtedly be questions/concerns whether they ‘belong’ in my neighborhood. One of my daughters-in-law is white. When she and my grandchildren come to visit, there are ‘stares.’

“Lord, I want to be like Jesus, inna my heart, inna my heart…”

“Lord, I want to be like Jesus, inna my heart.”

I need your prayers. You need my prayers, too. Let us pray for one another. Amen

#402 in the United Methodist Hymnal