The May 2025 edition of First Family should now be in your homes. The online version on this website, is viewable, downloadable, and sharable. You can find information on church activities, as well as a photo album of FUMC’s April adventures in this issue. If you want to go back and find something specific, you can also find years of First Family, available in the archives at any time.
The UM Creation Justice Movement will be offering a series of seven online workshops focused on building and strengthening Conference-level Creation Care ministries and teams. Workshops are free of charge and will be offered via Zoom starting mid-day Monday, November 1. The first workshop will be held Monday, November 1 at 12:00 noon CT. The topic of the first session will be “Why is this our Mission?: Creation Care and Wesleyan Theology.” It will be led by the Rev. Pat Watkins. You can register for this workshop https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ocOqvrDIvGtNRI2REJmfcisDlbkCF_Xch
Seven Minnesota United Methodists who feel called to environmental justice and creation care were recently commissioned as Earthkeepers and have begun working on projects to transform their communities and the world. FUMC’s Naomi Yaeger shared this about her project.
The average plastic bag is used for 12 minutes just one time. This is one of many pieces of trivia that Yaeger knows firsthand, and reducing waste is an issue she feels strongly about.
Years ago, she was on the national United Methodist Women Green Team and gave talks in churches. Then in 2010, she planned a no-waste graduation party for her daughter and a no-waste family reunion for 75 people.
But it was while serving on the sustainability committee for Duluth’s annual Rhubarb Festival last summer that she came to an important realization: “I found that most people don’t know the difference between compost, recyclables, and waste—and I really enjoyed teaching people about it,” said Yaeger, a member of First UMC in Duluth. “I thought, ‘This is probably a ministry for me.’”
Yaeger’s project will involve teaching groups in her area how to have zero-waste events. Her motto: “Duluth doesn’t do it dirty.”
“God created the earth and all the plants and animals,” she said. “It’s everything on earth we need to protect.”