Communications

Contact Us

For more information, email us at fumcwaoffice@fumcwa.org or call 414-774-5500.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

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It’s that time of the year again when you can place your order for Poinsettias for Christmas Eve Services. All orders and payments must be submitted by Sunday, November 23rd. Please check the order insert in the Sunday bulletin for details. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Church Office at 414-774-5500.

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Charge Conference

The First United Methodist Church of West Allis (FUMCWA) will hold its 2025 Annual Church Conference on Sunday, November 16, after worship in the sanctuary. Rev. Heidi Loomis from Oak Creek Community UMC will be the presiding elder. The agenda for the Charge Conference includes the Approval of the Membership Audit, the 2026 Church Budget (including Pastoral Compensation), the Nominations Report for 2026, Lay Preachers’ Certifications, and Audit Reports. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

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Grace Notes

Members & Friends of FUMCWA,
This morning, I was rereading a sermon manuscript I preached in 2008. I expounded on the story of Abraham and Isaac, the son he and Sarah were longing for for so long. And yet, after some years, God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac to prove his faith. I think of us now, being asked to give with utmost faith and generosity.
We know the story has a happy ending, but I wonder what would have happened if Abraham wasn’t stopped and he killed Isaac? What would his faith mean after the outcome? Or, would Abraham have ignored God’s command and went into hiding to save Isaac?
When God calls us to co-create and be stewards of God’s creation, would we ignore God’s call of offering the gifts God gave us? Would we hide from God because we fear we will not have enough for ourselves? This is a difficult question, given our reality right now of cuts to programs we rely on for our retirement, our health, our welfare.
There is always a choice—a choice to say yes to God or to manna, a choice of fear or trust. Choosing God is to choose over fear. Choosing God is never easy. The story of offering Isaac to God is not about God, but about us being open to God’s call for generous giving. For Abraham, God came first. When Abraham chose God, it was not an option to save his son. For Jesus, God came first. And it wasn’t easy for Jesus; it isn’t easy for us now. But time and time again, God shows up and provides generously. Stewardship is a significant part of our lives as people of God. In Genesis, God created humans to steward God’s creation. As professing Jesus’ followers, stewardship defines our sense of being—the gifts and graces of each of us given and shared to make the reign of God visible.
We, as a congregation, have been reflecting on stewardship and the reasons we give. We will consecrate  our gifts to God through the presence and ministries of First UMC West Allis on Sunday, November 9, followed by an Ethiopian coffee ceremony performed for dignitaries and offered by Nardos. May we choose God and heed God’s call to give with bold faith and trust, so the world may know God through the people of First UMC West Allis.
Thank you for your witness!
Pastor Grace

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A Message From Our Lay Leader, Tom Bolton

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Part of God’s great design to this earth is seasons. We experience wet and dry seasons, the typical four sea sons of winter, spring, summer, and fall, and there are planting seasons and harvesting seasons. We see creation moving through seasons each year, and we ourselves live through seasons, as well. In these seasons we learn to depend on and come to expect things. So, too, we find in the Bible that our lives go through seasons.
Ecclesiastes 3 affirms two important reminders:

1. The things we go through in life are not in vain.
2. Our situations will not last forever.

If you are in a certain season of life, you can be confident the season will come to an end at some point. This verse serves as a reminder that our circumstances will change and that is something we can come to expect in life. Whatever God takes us through has purpose, perhaps to deepen our faith or to help us achieve breakthrough in an area of life.
We will get over our sorrows. We will get out of the valley. We will go through hardships. And whatever season of life we find ourselves in, it will have a beginning and it will have an end. We will enter new seasons, too. Ones that bring relief, hope, or a deeper sense of faith.
It’s helpful to also read other translations of this verse to get a better idea of its meaning:

• “Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses”. – Good News Translation
• “Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven” – God’s Word
• “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth” – The Message
• “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” – NIV

I love the fact that Ecclesiastes also emphasizes that there is joy in each season. I find joy in each of the seasons that we are progressing through in our Church. I had the pleasure to attend three significant funerals this Summer and Fall. The celebration of life for Tom Brown was amazing, as I anticipated. There are many things that struck me about it, but I want to share three things:

• There were students of Tom from many generations at his memorial; he influenced many many people in a Christ-like way, and that influence is being passed on to new generations;
• Tom Brown really did live in a Christ-like manner, and that legacy is well-remembered;
• Tom Brown planted many seeds in our Congregation and beyond, and it is God that makes them grow. I saw many kids from our past at church–now fully grown and amazing! I was also delighted to visit with Bishop Don Ott at the service. He was a product of First Church, and preceded my time here. But as I had many opportunities to hear him speak in recent years, he has been a great influence on me. He is another reminder to me about the value of different seasons in our lives. God
  speaks through us in each season.

I also attended the funeral for my dear friend Bonnie Bartelt’s father…Ron Bartelt lived a good, righteous life. He was a perfectionist, a man who loved people and loved to praise Jesus in his words and music. What a legacy he left through his children and many generations of friends!
Memorial endings bring us beautiful new beginnings, it seems to me. I am thinking too about the generations and seasons of our local churches.
A dozen of us shared visions at a Retreat last summer. One of the cool things to me was that there were very active contributions from some of the more quiet members, and that added a lot to the product. We shared our main activity visions at a Church Council meeting on October 20th. We concluded the retreat with five main visions to pursue. Work committees have already started working on some of these:

• Revitalize our building for more community use. We are having a study done to help us plan this. Many of you will be involved in helping to define and develop this in the next few months. The consultants were onsite two weeks ago, and they met with Trustees and Pastor Grace. Pastor Grace will be updating this project in more detail.
• Develop a music academy at First Church to serve the greater community with Church music programming and teaching. This will take advantage of our background, contacts, reputation and talented resources.
• Strengthen our Food Pantry and maximize safety and loving care for our clients and servants. This is such a great mission for us.
• Provide ongoing education and training on Christian Social Ethics, building on what we have started in recent years.
• Engage our whole congregation in being a welcoming, inclusive community, that is a place of comfort and community for many cultural and diverse backgrounds. We will make use of training that we have received in the past, and partner with other congregations and communities and share our invitation with many others. There are many ideas raised to help with this. We will discuss and engage more and more as a full community of Christ.

As I noted a year ago and recently, many of us are getting more mature, and we still have lots to share yet. Our roles as Disciples don’t end; there is no mandatory retirement date for discipleship. This is a great season for First Church–a time to plant new crops and a time to harvest. I love seeing new seedlings.
Tom Bolton
God loves you and so do we. Discipleship Never Ends.

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Stewardship Message:

As we take a moment to reflect on our journey together, we, the staff of First United Methodist Church of West Allis, want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering stewardship and support. Your generosity and commitment to our mission have made a remarkable difference in our faith community. Thanks to your faithful contributions—both financial and in spirit—we have been able to keep a full time pastor, continue the Senior League, have very talented and knowledgeable music directors who continue our children’s and adult choirs, along with our amazing worship music, enjoy many special events and gatherings, maintain the building, keep our children safe and loved while their parents worship, and keep someone in the office for many other needs and wants of our church family. These accomplishments reflect not only the resources you’ve shared but also the love and dedication that you bring to our ministries.
Your stewardship embodies the values we hold dear and serves as an inspiring reminder of the power of community. We are continually uplifted by your willingness to lend a hand, share your talents, and support one another. Together, we are creating a vibrant environment where everyone can grow in faith and service.
As we move forward, we are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and look forward to continuing this journey together. Your support fuels our mission and encourages us all to strive for greater impact in our faith community. Thank you for your steadfast stewardship. We are truly grateful to have you as part of our ministry family.
With gratitude and blessings,
FUMCWA Staff

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Church Office Needs Your Help Maintaining Servant Keeper 

• The Church Office needs your help with Servant Keeper Family Profile Updating:
  Our Church Management System is called “Servant Keeper.” Your membership and contribution information will be available online on their website.
• An invitation has been sent to your family email address. If you have not received this, please contact mfuller@fumcwa.org. The email will be coming from: no-reply@servantpc.com
• You will click on “Manage My Family” where you will be prompted to create a password to log in.
  (Please write this down somewhere because the church will NOT have your password.)
• Your family information will pop up. Click on Profiles and Giving History – you can access information as an individual or as a whole family.
• You will have the ability to update your name, address, phone number, email address, etc. You can
  even upload a picture of yourself and/or your whole family.
• You will also have the ability to look at and print your contribution statements. To do so, click on “Giving History”, “Detail”, “View & Print” (or you can save it to a PDF file)
• You will also have the ability to access the online church directory.
• The red circle at the right of the screen is for logging out.
• If you have issues after you get your invite – please contact mfuller@fumcwa.org
  For future access to your profile, please create a Bookmark, save it to Favorites OR go to www.servantkeeper.com/member-portal/westallisFUMC to sign in.

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Monday Morning Messenger

Every Monday morning, the church office will send out a communication via email that includes a verse for the week, a prayer for the week, the week’s calendar, church office hours, and need(s) for the week. This communication will be sent to all those who have an email address. Please contact the office if you have a new email address.

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LIVE Service Streaming 10:30am Sunday Mornings