View as Webpage

We illuminate our community with God’s grace as we lovingly accept, listen to, and serve all in the Spirit of Jesus.

SUNDAY SERVICES TAKE PLACE IN-PERSON & ONLINE AT 9:00 AM

Worship Service airs live on our Website , YouTube  and  Facebook at 9 am.

Go to the Worship Page on our Website to find more information about future services.

OCTOBER 22, 2023

Jesus is not a card carrying member of any party - John 18:28-38

For generations American political parties have laid claim to Jesus as their own. Certainly Jesus resonates with the social positions of both political parties, but Jesus is a king of a kingdom not of this earth. He is the king of Heaven which comes on earth. Jesus teaches us that there is an uncomfortable third way of existing in our political climate. That third way seeks to reconcile differences unto Jesus himself. Join Pastor Rob as we seek to be reconciled to each other and to Jesus. 

The deadline for submissions for the week's Bulletin Announcements and/or Messenger is every Wednesday at Noon. Please click here for the COMMUNICATIONS submission form -- all requests for communicating an event should be made here, including getting items on the calendar and reserving rooms for your event. This form can also be found on the sign-ups page on our website. If you cannot use the submission form please send them to communications@genevaumc.org. Information sent to this email goes to Carolyn, Lorie and Kimberley. 

ALL SAINTS DAY IS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5

If you have a loved one you would like included, please submit a photo with their name to the church office by next Wednesday, October 25. Digital copies can be sent via email.

Contact Lorie in the office with questions: lorie@genevaumc.org 

YES -- WE WANT YOU TO HAVE YOUR PHONE THIS SUNDAY!

This Sunday, we are launching UMCG’s new Discovery Tool. In less than five minutes you can be matched with ministry opportunities to serve at UMCG based on your interests, skills, passions, and preferences. We are excited about this new tool and we believe this will help our members and friends to joyfully serve in our ministries within and beyond the church! 

We invite everyone in church to use the tool during church. We will have folks to help get people connected to the tool and we’ll even have paper copies of the survey for those who don’t do smartphones.  

We need YOU to help with Rummage Sale!

Rummage Set Up: Monday, October 23 – 6:00 pm

• Lots of muscles are needed for this, as we get Fellowship Hall ready

Donation Drop off: Tuesday, Oct 24 & Wednesday,  Oct. 25 - 9 am- 7 pm 

• When you come to drop off your items, it would be greatly appreciated if you could stay for a bit to help unpack, sort and put items on tables. Childcare will be available on request for parents willing to help out.)

Bake Sale: drop off baked goods in the church library on Thursday, Oct 26 by Noon

Sale Days: Thursday, Oct 26 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Friday, Oct 27 9 am –5 pm, Saturday, Oct 28 9 am - Noon

  All hands on deck as we welcome shoppers.

Clean up: Saturday Oct 28 from 12:30 – 2:30 pm   Lots of fun to pack it up and ship it off. A job well done!

***Rummage Pick Ups – Have a bigger item to donate, but it won’t fit in your vehicle? Call Lorne Tweed at (908) 723-2617. 

Rummage Questions?

Bobbi Alderfer, (630) 272-9445

Jenean Larsen, (847) 707-6598

Nancy Tweed, (973) 216-3363

Wendy McKeehan, (630) 310-9861

Bake Sale Questions?

Joan Hansen, (630) 251-4628

A NOTE ABOUT DONATING:

• Donating season appropriate clothes are always appreciated by our shoppers.
• Please be selective and considerate when you are making your donations. Cleaning your items before bringing them over is a great help! 
• There have been some changes as to what we can accept:

 We cannot accept any items that are broken, in need of repair or mending, badly stained or dirty.  Click here for a link to the Kane County Recycling Center for instructions on what they might be able to take off your hands! We gladly accept current best sellers and children’s books, but please NO encyclopedias, magazines, textbooks; and due to new laws and landfill rules, no car seats, older cribs, mattresses, computer equipment, monitors, TVs, printers.  We also cannot accept those lovely, big entertainment units, as we have an impossible time selling them. We hope you will understand this limitation.  If in doubt, please call one of the organizers referenced above.

Fun, Games, Music, Magic, Dancing, Poetry, Comedy, Skits

Everybody has some talent or ability to share! Can you sing? Can you play an instrument? Can you talk?

Can you greet? Can you decorate? Can you help? Click here to sign up!

We are holding our 2nd Annual fundraiser

for the UMCG Operating Budget

Saturday, November 11 at 7 pm

Have fun while supporting our church!

Contact Howie Pribble

 hwpribble@gmail.com

for ideas or assistance

October is Pastor Appreciation month, so to show our appreciation for all that Pastor Rob has done for UMCG, we will be having some cake in Fellowship Hall after the service on October 29th. There will also be a white board provided for any one who wishes to write a note to Pastor Rob.

If you cannot be at the service/appreciation event on Oct 29th, please feel free to reach out to Pastor Rob via email, rob@genevaumc.org or by phone (630) 232-7120, to express your appreciation.

Thank you - Staff Parish Relations Committee

Pub Theology: Beverages, Conversation, and God

Co-Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, and the United Methodist Church of Geneva!

Join Pastor Rob and others for an open and honest conversation about things that matter, at a table where all perspectives are welcome. We aim to dive deeply into topics involving faith, meaning, identity, culture, politics, and more! Bring your questions and your curiosity and respectfully engage with people of varying religious traditions, philosophical perspectives, and life experiences. A good time to be had by all!

October 26, 2023,

6:30-8:30pm

Sturdy Shelter Brewing

10 Shumway Ave Batavia, IL 60510

RSVP Here

DOWNTOWN TRICK OR TREATING!

Don't miss seeing Pastor Rob and Dr. Greg at downtown Geneva's Downtown Trick or Treating event next Thursday afternoon, October 26! Catch up with them and get some candy outside of GROW at 220 S. Third St from 2-5 pm.

Feeling generous and want to donate some candy to the cause? Please drop off any peanut-free bagged and individually-wrapped candy in the church office anytime before Wednesday evening - we sure appreciate it!

Church Council's October 24th meeting at 7 pm will have an in-person AND Zoom option. The in-person option will be in the Basement Gathering Room. 

Click here for the agenda.

Zoom: Click here to join via Zoom, Meeting ID: 835 6262 6225   Passcode: 876867

Our next Friendly Visitors check-in meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 7 at 10 AM in the library. This group visits, or talks on the phone with, our homebound members and friends in their home or care facility once or twice a month.

We invite anyone who is interested in becoming a Friendly Visitor to attend this meeting and learn more about this vital ministry in our church.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Christine Donovan- (630)-698-0021, Nancie Lillie - (231) 845-6097 or Pastor Rob - (815) 290-0989

Sunday, October 29

To complement Pastor Rob's sermon "Speaking The Truth To Power", Director of Music Scott Stevenson will be leading a rock band in some famous songs of protest by such artists as Bob Dylan, The Who and The Beatles. Guest musicians will be Dave Ramont, Scott Tipping, John Abbey and Tom Leddy.

Sunday November 5

Weekly cantata rehearsals begin, 10:30 am - Noon in the Sanctuary. This year's cantata, written by our Director of Music Scott Stevenson, is entitled "Christmas Portraits". The three sections - "Cathedral Christmas", "That Night in Bethlehem" and "A London Yuletide" - highlight carols from different countries and languages. The cantata will be presented on Sunday, December 17, at 9:00 am and 10:30 am, and will feature a ten-piece chamber orchestra. All are invited to be a part of this highly anticipated Christmas tradition. No sign-up is necessary - just show up at the first rehearsal! 

Dave Dias is getting the Men's Club back together and is inviting all the men in the church to a breakfast meeting on Saturday, November 4 at 8:00 am in the Parlor.

Dave would like the Men's club to start to engage with the community again outside of our fundraising efforts. He would like to see us as a Men’s club going to Feed My Starving Children, The Northern Illinois Food Bank and anything else people would like to do.

Please give us a ballpark of how many are going to be there, We hope-- like in years past-- everyone who comes can kick in a few bucks to cover the cost of food.

Please reach out to Dave with any questions and RSVP here so he knows how much food to order.

Thank you,

Dave Dias

630.816.0966

diasfamily2006@gmail.com

Office Volunteers Needed



Do you have office or computer skills and are interested in helping out at church? Consider volunteering in the office! Hours are typically either 8:30am-12:30pm or 12:30pm-4:30pm, but we are pretty flexible. Even if you can't commit long-term, but are interested in helping we would love your help. (We have a few regular volunteers that need to take some extended time off.) If you have computer skills, that is a bonus, but willingness is so appreciated.

If you are interested, contact Carolyn Burnham at carolyn@genevaumc.org 

Educational Opportunity:

Beyond the Basics of Waste Reduction and Recycling

November 8 at 7 pm

Batavia Public Library

Kane County Recycling Coordinator Clair Ryan will discuss trends in waste and recycling generation in Kane County and how we all as citizens can influence those trends by refocusing on the “three R’s” of reducing, reusing and recycling. She will talk about the latest recycling guidelines and other local opportunities to keep our “stuff” out of landfills.

This is the first part of the "Fighting Climate Change at Home Series".

Please register here.

A big thank you to the amazing church “crew” who came to move our rummage sale donations to the church prior to our move to The Holmstad. Our new address is 700 W. Fabyan Pkwy., Apt. 233C, Batavia, IL 60510.

We certainly have a wonderful church family! Don & Ann Oberholz

October needs are:



• pasta sauce
• canned beans(except green)
• canned fruit
• shampoo and conditioner
• mustard
• ketchup

Prairie Central eNews is here.

The NIC weekly eNews is here.

Download the NIC Reporter here.

United Methodist Communications has created a video series The Recap to help us gain a better understanding of what is going on in The United Methodist Church, find inspiration in stories of ministry, and learn how our denomination is transforming the world.

Find All of the Episodes Here