ALL CHURCH

TOUCH A TRUCK THIS WEEKEND! We are having a free Touch A Truck event for the entire family on April 27th from 11-2pm. This event is being sponsored by the Missions Team! We ask that each person who attends, that is able, brings a non- perishable food item(s) or clothing item(s) to fill the church bus to help support our local schools as well as ongoing missions we have at the church. 

Join us for a great day of fun trucks, heavy equipment, and some delicious food trucks! Learn about local services available throughout your city as well as ongoing missions here at our church for our families as well as throughout the city, state, country, and even internationally!!

CRASE TRAINING FOR THE CONGREGATION ON APRIL 28TH. HAVE YOU SIGNED UP? PASTOR LIZZY AND ST. MARK’S HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS TRAINING AND SAID IT IS WELL WORTH YOUR TIME. The information given is poignant to more than just being in a church setting, school setting, etc. It’s about situational awareness in ALL situations. We encourage all of our congregation to attend. Columbus Police Officer Rick Hannah, who specializes in active response training, will be leading this training, Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events, at GCUMC following the 11 o’clock services. There may be sensitive content, so we ask that you use your discretion on children or youth attendance. IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND, PLEASE EMAIL NICHOLEA@GCUMC.ORG. We will provide lunch for those attending!

2024 RUMMAGE SALE SCHEDULED FOR JUNE! Are you doing some spring cleaning? As you clean, set aside those items to be sent to the UWF Annual Rummage Sale! One of the biggest fundraisers of the year for this ministry, everything BUT clothing and shoes is accepted (you can drop those off at the Free Store!).

   Drop Off: Back door of Family Life Center (FLC)

     June 10^th, 8am-8pm; June 11^th, 8am-5pm; June 12^th, 8-3pm

  Sale: Church Family: June 12^th, 4-8pm

     Public Sale: June 13^th, 8am-5pm; June 14^th, 8am-6pm &

         June 15^th, 8-12pm

ST. MARK'S

FAJITAS FUNDRAISER APRIL 26^TH! We will be having our first fundraiser. On APRIL 26th, we will be selling Chicken Fajita, refired beans, rice, salsa and homemade tortillas!! We will have two pickup times: 12pm and 6pm. You can decide if you want to pick-up at Purple Door or St. Mark’s. Please support this fundraiser as we are looking to do some building repairs. Plates will be $15 each. Please contact Pastor Lizzy to secure your plate (lizzyo@gcumc.org or 614/917-7304).

KIDS & FAMILY

ATTENTION SENIORS (HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE)!  We need your baby and senior photos!  We will be recognizing graduates on May 12^th and we will be showing a video of all the pics!  

INTERNSHIP! Students entering 6^th grade or older in the fall are invited to apply for our internship. Join to learn more about the church, ministry and serving using the gifts God has given you. Applications are at the Info. Desk.

CAMP! Church camp will be here before we know it and it takes a LOT of supplies for all the campers for the whole week in order to do their activities. We’ve created an Amazon wishlist to help offset the cost of what we need to buy. We’d love for you to check it out and if you feel led, donate an item or two. We will be updating the list as time goes on. Find it HERE .

CAMP FAMILIES! Please remember that your next payment is DUE. There are scholarships available as needed. Please contact Pastor Brandi ASAP for that information!

DADS NIGHT! Upcoming: 5/5, 6/7, 7/7, 8/2, 9/1, 10/4, 11/3, 12/6. RSVP:  Pastor Brandi . 

SAVE THE DATE! This year's DADS RETREAT will be November 1st-3rd! More information coming soon, reach out to Kyle Jordan or Bo Blackstone with any questions!

MERGE! 

Merge is our mid-week family programming. It begins at 6:30pm on Wednesday evenings and takes place in our Family Life Center (FLC). 

Current study: INTO THE BIBLE VERSE! 

 We ask that you sign up, if possible, as this helps us have enough materials and
prepare for the evening: Click HERE  

               On the signup, there are also opportunities to serve, whether it is providing snack, helping with the preteens or sharing the message with the kids.  We would love for you to share your gifts with our families!

PRETEENS (5th-6th)!! 

UPCOMING:

5/31 Putt Putt

HEY TEENS (7th-12^th grade)! Teens meet on Sunday evenings, starting at 6pm for a time of dinner, worship, message and a service opportunity. We are currently studying the book of Revelation.

We are looking for DINNER volunteers! Sign Up here .

UPCOMING:

Check back for exciting activities!

Questions on any of the above or to RSVP for events, contact Pastor Brandi .

If you'd like to visit our Children/Family/Teens page, go here .

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR MOTORCYCLE BLESSING - MAY 19^TH. We are inviting everyone to join us for service at 11am that day and will bless the bikes afterward. Stay tuned for more details!

BIBLE DRIVE! Thank you to all who have purchased Bibles for our Bible drive. This is a need that is ongoing, and we will ALWAYS be in need of more Bibles. We do have a particular link to purchase. Go to our website to purchase!

TECH – We are in need of tech personnel for both our traditional and contemporary services. Able to serve? Contact Traci, 614/439-8558 or traciw@gcumc.org to get plugged in! It’s a GREAT place to be!

FOOD/BACKPACK PROGRAM @ HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY - Will you join us in helping Highland Elementary and their backpack program? This program allows students to have food on the weekends when they are not coming into the school building. OUR BIGGEST NEED IS BAGGED/CANNED MEAT AND INSTANT RICE! Here are some of the items you can bring in! 

Breakfast: oatmeal, pancake mix and syrup, cereal-box or bars etc.

Meal: canned meat, noodles, etc.

Side: Easy Mac, soup, canned pasta, etc.

Drink: Kool-Aid mix, water, flavored water, etc.

Fruit: canned or cups

Veggie: canned or cups

CHOIR! Our Traditional Choir is always accepting new members! Rehearsals every Wednesday @ 7pm in our sanctuary. All are welcome! Questions? Contact Julie .

MENTAL HEALTH: REAL TALK, REAL SUPPORT - What's Happening? We will soon add a second meeting each month at a different location - The Buckeye Ranch! Watch this space for updates!

• REAL TALK is a peer-led support group for parents and caregivers of children with mental health struggles. Find peace, strength and empowerment in the company of other parents dealing with the same kind of struggles. 
• REAL TALK provides a safe, authentic space for sharing hard truths, exploring real feelings and celebrating successes.

                         JOIN US:  4th Tuesday of Every Month, 6:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room.

• CONNECT ON FACEBOOK HERE .

For questions, contact Sheri Dunagan, sheri.dunagan@att.net or call/text 614-439-7110.

GET INVOLVED! We love being able to serve our families and our community and we have SO many opportunities to plug in at The Purple Door Church. We are fully open and have all of our activities available to our congregation and community! There are plenty of places for you to serve – WE NEED YOU and want to encourage you to check out list of opportunities – go to our website: https://www.purpledoorchurch.com/opportunities-to-serve.

A LOOK AT WHAT WE NEED: It truly takes the hands and feet of ALL of us to do our part to make this church run day in and day out! We have some AMAZING volunteers who make this place exceptional and a place to call HOME. Here is a look at where we could use some help:

TECH TEAM (both Traditional and Contemporary) - Contact TRACI WURSCHMIDT 

SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS – Contact PASTOR BRANDI 

MONEY COUNTERS – Contact KELLI NEWHOUSE 

LANDSCAPE TEAM – Help keep our grounds looking glorious! Kids are welcome! Contact SANDY

HOSPITALITY TEAMS – Contact Pastor Brandi, or sign up HERE .

WE NEED CHURCH OFFICE HELPERS - We need volunteers to work in the church office. You mainly will be answering the phones and other small jobs that might need to be done. If you are available, we need several spots to be filled on a regular basis: the second and fourth Tuesday in the afternoon from 9am-noon and the first and second Wednesday afternoon, 12-4pm. Also, we always need substitutes to fill in spots for our regular volunteers. If interested, please contact PEG ADDINGTON  or 614/270-1639.

PRAYER BOX – Did you know we have a Prayer Box located in our parking lot? It is a little purple mailbox located in the front of our parking lot facing Columbus Street. Our Prayer Chain is committed to praying for the people of this church and our city. If you have a prayer request, you can drop it in that box at any time. Prayer requests are collected weekly and prayed over by our committed prayer team.

PRAYER TEAM - Prayer is powerful and an amazing gift from God. We have the opportunity to talk directly to our Creator and the ability to pray on the behalf of others. Our prayer team started meeting this past Monday and we will continue to meet every week on Mondays at 9am. During our time together, we will be praying over our Sunday morning prayer requests, needs of the church, our community and nation. We will be prayer walking the church as well. If you are interested in joining, please contact CLARENCE DINNEN.

TO REQUEST PRAYER - If you'd like us to pray alongside you, you may fill out a prayer card during one of our services and put in the offering plate or in the offering boxes outside of our worship spaces; or, you may send an email to commuincations@gcucm.org . We would be honored to pray alongside you.

*RIGHT NOW MEDIA - Just a reminder that Right Now Media is available to all of our members as you think about your relationship with God in this upcoming year. Right Now Media is a database FULL of online Bible studies and social groups for individuals, families, children and groups. We often use this media resource in our Bible studies and small groups throughout the year. It’s a GREAT resource for you or for your family to be able to plug in to God’s Word and in the times we use it in our own church group setting. If you’d like to take advantage of this FREE online resource, contact Pastor Brandi to get set up. She just needs your email address. Your faith journey isn’t one you were ever meant to take alone. God made us for community!

         MONDAY NIGHT STUDY, 7PM, VIA ZOOM, BEGINS APR. 22^ND

       UNASHAMED, by Christine Cain

Shame has no place in the purpose, plan, and destiny God has for us because shame lies to us, robs us of the freedom we long for, and shackles us in the prison of our past.

In this five-session video Bible study, author and teacher Christine Caine weaves examples from her life with those of biblical characters who failed but overcame their shame to show how God heals us and redeems us. In her passionate style, she explains that if we want to change our futures, we have to believe God is bigger than our mistakes, our inadequacies, our pasts, and our limitations. We have to believe God created us for a unique purpose, has a specific plan for us, and has a powerful destiny he wants us to fulfill.

God has already won the victory over sin and shame, and we do not need to spend our lives believing the lies of the deceiver. Instead, we can allow ourselves to be defined by God's truth and choose to see ourselves the way God does - through the lens of his eternal perspective. So join the journey. Stop merely existing and start thriving. Lay hold of the power of Jesus Christ today and step into his future - a beautiful, full, life-giving filled with purpose. You can live unashamed!

Sessions include:

1. Run, Don't Hide
2. Today Is the Day
3. Possess Your Inheritance
4. God Never Wastes a Hurt
5. Highly Unlikely

TUESDAY EVENING BIBLE STUDY, APRIL 9^TH – MAY 21^ST: Pastor Brian will be leading a new Bible Study Tuesday evenings at 6:30pm April 9^th through May 21^st. It will follow our Easter series “The Tomb is Still Empty” We as Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But what does that mean for us today? How does this event affect our today? Each week we will look at the Scriptures and the themes for worship on Sunday morning. Please join us. 

           WOMEN’S STUDY – SATURDAY MORNINGS, 8AM, VIA ZOOM

         BEGINS APRIL 13TH
         GRIT DON’T QUIT, by Bianca Juarez Olthoff

          WATCH TRAILER HERE 

Developing Resilience When Giving Up Isn’t an Option

We all have moments where we’re so worn down that it’s hard to get back up. The difficulties of life come at us fast, and we can struggle to believe God has remembered us in our suffering. But tough times can cultivate the grit we need to persevere, fight back, and regain our hope in Christ. In this five-session series, pastor and bestselling author Bianca Juárez Olthoff will help us learn how to keep going through every difficult circumstance no matter how many times we fall down. Using the life of Paul the Apostle as a backdrop, Bianca will teach us about cultivating perseverance, discovering the benefit of resilience, and why having grit can change your life.

THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY

We meet every Thursday morning at 10am, and this year, we are studying the Book of Revelation. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and check it out. We have a great group of fun and caring ladies, but gentlemen are certainly welcome too!

BIBLE JOURNALING - 3RD MONDAY OF EACH MONTH, 6PM, CHURCH OFFICE

Are you creative? Do you enjoy time in the Word? Join the two together, and come hang out with us on the 3^rd Monday of the month at 6pm at the church office. Questions? Contact Pastor Brandi, BrandiB@gcumc.org. 

PURPLE DOOR WOMEN’S GROUP: Join our new group! Our next meeting will be May 6th, 10am in the Hospitality Room. Our focus is on our church and parishioners/shut-ins. On May 11th, 9am, we will have a “church spring cleaning day.” We need men, women & teens. Sign up sheets will be in the Great Hall on April 28th and May 5th. Need more info.? Contact Jean Davis, 614/282-8590.

FAJITAS FUNDRAISER APRIL 26^TH! We will be having our first fundraiser. On APRIL 26th, we will be selling Chicken Fajita, refired beans, rice, salsa and homemade tortillas!! We will have two pickup times: 12pm and 6pm. You can decide if you want to pick-up at Purple Door or St. Mark’s. Please support this fundraiser as we are looking to do some building repairs. Plates will be $15 each. Please contact Pastor Lizzy to secure your plate (lizzyo@gcumc.org or 614/917-7304).

PRAYERS NEEDED! May 23^rd, we will be joining a “Multicultural Event” at one of our schools we partner with. Join us in prayer so we can shine the light of God! We will be giving away some Jesus merch!

THE BLESSING STATION -

We offer a small food pantry to our community. If you have food to donate, we look for dry beans, chickpeas, lentils, rice, and pasta; canned goods (tomatoes, corn); cereal; snacks; spaghetti sauce; tuna and chicken.

“THE LITTLE HOUSE” - With the help of the Free Store and lots of donations, we have been operating the “Little House” where we can provide different resources specific to the new families in the country/state. These items include household items, bedding supplies, kitchen supplies, kids toys and when we have some, furniture. This has been a blessing to the community and also to share the love of God. We have the opportunity to pray for those families we are serving and give them a Bible. Contact Pastor Lizzy for more information or ways to connect with this ministry: LizzyO@gcumc.org.

As you know, we were looking for a teacher for our nursery and God heard our prayer. We are thankful to have Micah and Yoselin Eller helping with this group. If you are still interested to come to our campus and serve our Sunday School Classes, let us know! REMEMBER: language is not a barrier. Most of our kids go to school here and speak English.

BOOK COLLECTION! We are collecting Christian base books or coloring books (for babies to high school age). If you have some in good condition, we will take them! We have been buying some for our toddlers at the dollar store. This is to share with the kids who are attending the afterschool program in our church.

There will be a box on the Information Desk with a sign

 “Iglesia Hispana / St. Mark’s Campus.”

CAN YOU GIVE A DAY? Do you love your church and cleaning is something you enjoy? Every month, we have a cleaning day at our west side campus, St. Mark’s Iglesia Hispana. Every 3^rd Saturday of the month at 9am, we go through our building and make it pretty! Email Pastor Lizzy for more info: lizzyo@gcumc.org.

Looking for a place to fellowship with other women, gain encouragement, give encouragement and grow deeper in your faith? We have several groups (aka “Circles”) that meet regularly throughout the week, have different areas of interests, and we’d love to invite you to find your fit!

We currently have three Circles:

REBECCA CIRCLE - meets the third Tuesday of the month @ 11:30am. For more info. or questions, contact Ann Beal (614-371-4472) or Peg Addington (614-877-4200), who are the leaders.

HANNAH CIRCLE - meets the 2nd Monday @ noon. For more info. or questions, contact Sue Flowers (614-357-7935) or Nina Riley (614-579-4624), who are the leaders.

MIRIAM CIRCLE – meets the 3^rd Sunday of each month @ 12:30pm. For more info. or questions, contact Brandi Blackstone (614-402-6706) or Tami Adams (614-545-8887), who are the leaders.

Each of the Circles would love to welcome new members. You do not need to be a member of our church. If you are interested in any of the Circles, please free to call the leaders or just show up at a meeting. Our UWF Circles are a wonderful way to meet new people and learn more about what actions they each do to help our church family and community.

TOUCH A TRUCK - We are having a free Touch A Truck event for the entire family on April 27^th from 11-2pm. This event is being sponsored by the Missions Team! We ask that each person who attends, that is able, brings a non- perishable food item(s) or clothing item(s) to fill the church bus to help support our local schools as well as ongoing missions we have at the church. 

Join us for a great day of fun trucks, heavy equipment, and some delicious food trucks! Learn about local services available throughout your city as well as ongoing missions here at our church for our families as well as throughout the city, state, country, and even internationally!!

CURRENT FUNDRAISERS:

SHOP AT KROGER AND GIVE BACK! Did you know that you can make a financial contribution to our Missions Task Force JUST by shopping at Kroger? It’s simple! All you have to do is link your Kroger Shopping Card to Grove City United Methodist Church.

Go to Kroger.com and log into your digital account (or create a digital account, if not already created).

Scroll down to “Community Rewards” and click. From there, you can select our organization by either scrolling or searching for “Grove City United Methodist Church.” Make sure our name matches our organization number, which is XY804. Enroll. Easy as that! Kroger will make donations to the organization based upon spending of those whose cards are connected to that organization.

Any questions regarding enrollment need to be directed to Kroger individually.

FREE STORE:

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! The Free Store is in need of additional volunteers to help with sorting clothes weekday mornings at 9am.  You choose what day or days and how long you want to work. Come and join us — we would love to have you as part of our team!! Contact John Hampson, 614/313.4666.

Thanks to your generosity, we now have plenty of Adult Men’s and Women’s Winter Coats. WE CAN STILL USE CHILDREN’S WINTER COATS - both boys and girls. 

We are also in need of toiletries: shampoo, toothpaste, and soap.

Monetary donations are also welcome.

******PLEASE NOTE: WE ONLY ACCEPT CLOTHING. WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLIANCES, TOYS, OR FURNITURE.

CAFÉ:

The time slots to volunteer in the café are: 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30am.

A sign-up sheet will be on the Mission Counter in the café area. If you’d like more info. or to volunteer, contact Pastor Lizzy . 

Refreshments are available in the café upon donation and all proceeds will go to further Missions projects throughout the year.

COMMUNITY MEALS!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THIS MINISTRY.

DON’T FORGET, OUR COMMUNITY MEAL IS THE SECOND SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH, 4:30-5:30PM, and is for our congregation, as well as for the City of Grove City!

THE NEXT FREE COMMUNITY MEAL IS THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 13^TH, 4:30-5:30PM!

What is the “COMMUNITY MEAL?” It’s a time for us as the Purple Door Church to come together, to fellowship with one another as it is a meal for our congregation, as well as come together with our community and serve them. It’s a time for us to gather and share God’s Love with others.

     What can I do to HELP? There are several ways you can help. 

1.    Preparation - prepare the meal, put to-go bags together, wrap plasticware and cut desserts.

2.  Set up - put up tables & chairs and set the tables

3.  Serve - kitchen servers, table servers and drink servers

4. Tear down - clean up dining room, clean up kitchen, put away leftovers, etc.

5.  Bake - desserts of all kinds are needed (cakes, pies, cookies, etc.)

If you have any questions, please reach out to Angie Russell  or 614/270-1743, or contact Pastor Lizzy .