FUMC boasts a vibrant men’s ministry through our local branch of the national United Methodist Men movement. As such we are connected with UMM groups across the Methodist connection .

Locally, our men are very active in the life of the church. And our organization is active in the lives of our men. We conduct a monthly breakfast and business meeting on the second Saturday of each month. Then we work on our spiritual health through a monthly study session on the fourth Monday evening of each month. Men of the church are invited to attend either or both of these events every month.

Nationally, through our connection with United Methodist Men, we are privileged to participate in the publication and distribution of Strength for Service. This is a devotional made available to deployed military troops at no cost. It contains daily scripture passages along with commentary, intended to help the service personnel to remember the love of God, while in difficult service.

We also have a reputation as being a funding source in our congregation. During the baseball season, we work in food service at Fifth Third Field for Dayton Dragons minor league baseball games. We receive pay for our efforts over the baseball season. During the balance of the year, we support many ministries and missions of our church with our funds. We have given funding to our Youth groups, the softball teams, music groups, outreach efforts, and many more ministries. The men are pleased to be able to be so generous with the money that is earned working the baseball games. We also have an enjoyable time working the baseball games and enjoy the perspective of seeing stadium operations from the inside. Please consider working a baseball game in the next baseball season.

The United Methodist Men offer financial assistance to ministries, teams and groups of First United Methodist Church. To request financial assistance, please download this request form to begin the funding process. Fill it out and return it as a hard copy or email to the individuals listed on the form.

The men have these formal positions in our organization – Mike Zimmerman and Gene McCormick handle our finances, John Stalcup is the coordinator for our involvement with the Dayton Dragons, while David Finney handles communications and leads our Study Nights.

We ask of the men of Springboro to consider joining one of our events, to get to know our interesting crew of guys, to be in service to God’s people, and to be active in spiritual development.

UMM Update as Meetings Resume This Fall

Now that summer is winding down, our men will return our focus to activities intended to help us grow in faith. We will resume our monthly Bible study on Monday, September 26, beginning at 7:00 pm. We will end by 8:00 to allow the men to see their children before bed, and maybe, just maybe, to watch a little Monday Night Football. Our monthly breakfasts will resume on Saturday September 10, at 8:30 at Springboro Bob Evans restaurant. Any men of the church and their children, are welcome to attend. We met our obligation to the Dayton Dragons over the summer and earned about $3,000, which we will share with the many teams and ministries of our church over the next 12 months. We will also support our youth groups by working with them as Parkling Lot attendants at the Waynesville Renaissance Festival. We will make quite a bit of money for the youth through this effort. A few of our men have privately purchased Strength for Service, a national United Methodist Men project that provides small devotional books to troops of the US military. We are proud to support this effort and will continue to do so. Please speak with one of the men for information on how to help with this mission. Our next church-wide golf outing will occur soon. Please watch for details on this and sign up to play. We enjoyed the June golf outing and look forward to our next event.

Women In Faith – Service, Fellowship, Friendship and Fun

The church women's group, Women In Faith, is open to all women in the church. The group usually meets twice a month, for a bible study on the second Monday of the month and a business meeting on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Both meetings start at 7:00. Older girls are always welcome to attend meetings and help with service projects.

Most of our service projects are funded by a church bazaar that Women In Faith coordinates on a Saturday in late November during the city's Christmas In Springboro celebration. We have a café with sit down meals, a Country Store selling all kinds of food items, Grandma's Attic selling gently used items, apple dumplings and many vendors. Funds from the bazaar are used to support the church  in various ways.

(We serve our famous broccoli soup in the cafe - click here for the recipe: Broccoli Soup. Lorraine Sower also has a good recipe for a very thick Broccoli Soup that stays thick even after it cools. Try that recipe by clicking on this link.)

For more information on Women In Faith, please contact: the President, Shelly Houser; the Secretary, Maria Dershem; the Treasurer, Judy Cook or call the church office.

Dinners for Eight

Dinners for Eight (DF8) has been a unique United Methodist social tradition for many years. Dinners for Eight is a fun way to become acquainted with those in the congregation you have not yet met or see regularly each Saturday or Sunday for services but don’t have the time to really connect.

How does it work?

DF8 will begin this October through March, and over those next six months each group will meet four times in each other’s homes to share a meal and fellowship together. The size of the groups are generally seven to eight with a combination of couples and singles. The host(s) provides the beverages, main dish and a vegetable while the other group members provide either an appetizer, salad and/or vegetable or dessert to complete the meal. (What is served is not as important as the time you spend together for fun and fellowship!) A leader will be appointed from each group to get everybody together for the first meal and to organize when, where and who will host the other three gatherings. If each group leader chooses, a theme is decided and participants may be asked to bring a picture of a favorite holiday, share hobbies, play a short game, etc. Most gatherings occur on weekends and generally start around 6:00 pm.

New groups will be formed every six months. Everyone previously in a group will be included in the next round unless notified otherwise. Please join us! You will have a great time and discover that we all have interesting backgrounds and life stories to share.


Wednesday night Fellowship Dinners and Discussions:

For 5-6 weeks each fall and spring we have dinner together followed by a discussion connected to our worship series. The main dish is provided. You are asked to bring a side dish or dessert. Childcare is provided during the discussion time. Everyone is invited to join us for this wonderful time of faith and fellowship!  For more information, click on "more" on the website panel called Wonderful Wednesdays.


Clearcreekers:

This group of older adults meets on the third Wednesday of each month for lunch and a program.

The Clearcreaker's next meeting will be September 21st, in Fellowship Hall from noon to 2:00 p.m. We will be serving Beans, Cornbread & Fried Potatoes for lunch. Please bring your own eating utensils Bowls will be furnished for the Beans. Please bring a salad or dessert to share. The September Program will be "The Hithergreen Strummers". This is a dulcimer group from the Centerville Hithergreen Senior Center. Mark your calendar and plan on joining us for some good music, food, and fellowship.

Softball:

The men’s team begins practice in the spring and plays through July. The coed team begins in August. They are always looking for more players. Contact Jack Eley for more information.