Welcome to Groups Ministry at PUMC!
Here at PUMC we offer a small groups system designed to reach new people for Jesus and help those who are already following Jesus to grow in their discipleship. We offer three types of groups:
Connect Groups: Connect with others. Build spiritual friendships.
Grow Groups: Grow in your relationship with God and in the character of Christ.
Serve Groups: Serve our church, our community, and our world.
Semester Based Small Groups
One of the great things about this small groups system is that it is semester based. Typically, when we ask people to join a group for Bible study, or service, it’s for a group that is already established and that never ends! That’s not how our culture works. Our culture is organized around the school year, and the school year is organized by semesters. So we offer groups that follow this pattern of semesters:
January to April: Winter Semester (groups meet)
June to August: Summer Semester (not all groups meet)
September to December: Fall Semester (groups meet)
Imagine more people than regularly attend worship, participating in life-changing small groups! The semester-based system also makes leading a small group easier because you’re only leading for three months! Anyone interested? Give me a call!
Group Source
Each group is featured in this Group Source catalog which will give you a group description, dates and times, as well as leader, and contact information. But don’t worry, sign-up will be easy; simply use your Connection Card on Sunday morning.
I am excited about the way in which God is using this new system of doing small groups to ignite authentic life in Christ in the lives of those in our church and beyond. The Spirit is on the move at PUMC!
See you in a group! (or two, or three…!)
Pastor Tish
Here at PUMC we offer a small groups system designed to reach new people for Jesus and help those who are already following Jesus to grow in their discipleship. We offer three types of groups:
Connect Groups: Connect with others. Build spiritual friendships.
Grow Groups: Grow in your relationship with God and in the character of Christ.
Serve Groups: Serve our church, our community, and our world.
Semester Based Small Groups
One of the great things about this small groups system is that it is semester based. Typically, when we ask people to join a group for Bible study, or service, it’s for a group that is already established and that never ends! That’s not how our culture works. Our culture is organized around the school year, and the school year is organized by semesters. So we offer groups that follow this pattern of semesters:
January to April: Winter Semester (groups meet)
June to August: Summer Semester (not all groups meet)
September to December: Fall Semester (groups meet)
Imagine more people than regularly attend worship, participating in life-changing small groups! The semester-based system also makes leading a small group easier because you’re only leading for three months! Anyone interested? Give me a call!
Group Source
Each group is featured in this Group Source catalog which will give you a group description, dates and times, as well as leader, and contact information. But don’t worry, sign-up will be easy; simply use your Connection Card on Sunday morning.
I am excited about the way in which God is using this new system of doing small groups to ignite authentic life in Christ in the lives of those in our church and beyond. The Spirit is on the move at PUMC!
See you in a group! (or two, or three…!)
Pastor Tish
Please note: A sign-up form is given in the green shaded box at the end of the catalog information.
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Connect with others and build spiritual friendships. |
1. Membership Exploration – Scheduled as needed
Interested in learning more about the ministries of PUMC? This is the ticket for you. Indicate your interest and we will set up an appointment to meet with the pastor to learn about our commitment to prayer, presence, gift sharing, service, and witness. Those who do so are eligible for church membership, but joining is not required. Come explore membership with PUMC and its mission!
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
Interested in learning more about the ministries of PUMC? This is the ticket for you. Indicate your interest and we will set up an appointment to meet with the pastor to learn about our commitment to prayer, presence, gift sharing, service, and witness. Those who do so are eligible for church membership, but joining is not required. Come explore membership with PUMC and its mission!
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
2. Bingo Night – Saturday – January 28 - 6:30 pm – Fellowship Hall
Looking for a fun evening with friends? Here it is! Join us for fun and games. Bring a snack to share and invite a friend. Drinks will be provided.
Beth Feldpausch, portlandmiumc@gmail.com
517-647-4649
Looking for a fun evening with friends? Here it is! Join us for fun and games. Bring a snack to share and invite a friend. Drinks will be provided.
Beth Feldpausch, portlandmiumc@gmail.com
517-647-4649
3. Bonfire Night – April 29 - 6 pm – At the Feldpausch Home
Looking for some outdoor fellowship? Come to the Feldpausch home @ 6316 Gibbs Rd. for a potluck/bonfire night. Bring a lawn chair and a dish to pass. The church will provide hot dogs, buns and paper products. The Feldpausch’s will provide s’mores and drinks.
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
Looking for some outdoor fellowship? Come to the Feldpausch home @ 6316 Gibbs Rd. for a potluck/bonfire night. Bring a lawn chair and a dish to pass. The church will provide hot dogs, buns and paper products. The Feldpausch’s will provide s’mores and drinks.
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
4. Monthly Book Club – Via Email
Come and join our Book Group! No scheduled meeting, just lots of good reading. At the first of each month, two books will be selected for reading with a description emailed to you. Read one or both, then give a review via email to vgbalser@aol.com. I will coordinate and share with the group. The books will be borrowed from the public library (hard copy) and placed in the office lounge area, available to read online, or purchased in used books online. We usually have enough to go around and to date there are eight of us.
Vickee Balser, vgbalser@aol.com
239-671-9879
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Grow in your relationship with God and in the character of Christ. |
5. Monday Bible Group – Ongoing one-year Bible study – 4 - 5 pm – Church lounge
The One Year Bible follows each day as we read a passage of the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. We discuss our readings of the week with the group. A wonderful way to keep the Lord’s word in your daily life.
Linda Sandborn, lsandborn@hotmail.com
517-899-9848
The One Year Bible follows each day as we read a passage of the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. We discuss our readings of the week with the group. A wonderful way to keep the Lord’s word in your daily life.
Linda Sandborn, lsandborn@hotmail.com
517-899-9848
6. Coffee and Conversation – Sundays – 10:00 - 11:00 am following the 9 am Traditions Service – Welcome Center
Dive deeper into the topic of the day’s sermon. Share your questions and inspiration with others as we seek to live the message in daily life.
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
Dive deeper into the topic of the day’s sermon. Share your questions and inspiration with others as we seek to live the message in daily life.
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
7. Thursday Afternoon Bible Study– Fellowship Hall– 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Wednesday night Study Group is morphing into Thursday Afternoon Study Group! We will start meeting at the church on Thursday afternoon 3:00 to 4:30 starting January 26, 2023.
Contact Carol McLane so a book can be purchased for you. I hope you will consider joining us as we study the Miracles of Jesus.
Carol McLane, carolmclane0350@gmail.com
517-526-3608
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Serve our church, our community, and our world. |
8. United Women in Faith – 1st Thursday of the Month - 10 am – Fellowship Hall
The United Methodist Women (UMW) is a community of women whose purpose is to know God and help others know Him too! This group is open to all women, and all women are invited. Two of the best benefits of our group are fun and friendship! Our focus is missions, especially local missions in our own community. We are all about helping others with meals, adopting a family at Christmastime, and helping children with payment for school lunches, to name a few. We also offer financial support to the Grand Rapids United Methodist Community House and to the needs in other countries through our UMW district. We like to come up with a new mission project every few months and are looking for new ways to help others. To financially help do these things, we have a few fundraisers during the year.
Jan Mosser (jmosser62@gmail.com)
517-647-6458
9. Chicken BBQ – Monday – May 29 – 11 am - 2 pm
To be Held at: VFW Post 4090
1324 E. Bridge Street, Portland, MI
Proceeds will be split between PUMC and VFW. Interested in helping?
Connie Almy, cjalmy@yahoo.com
616-443-9436
To be Held at: VFW Post 4090
1324 E. Bridge Street, Portland, MI
Proceeds will be split between PUMC and VFW. Interested in helping?
Connie Almy, cjalmy@yahoo.com
616-443-9436
10. 2nd Thursday Meals – Every second Thursday of the month
We deliver meals to our homebound friends. Asking for help to plan, cook, and/or deliver.
It’s a wonderful way to share the love of Jesus in a concrete way.
Sherry Miller, sherrymillersings@gmail.com
517-285-0640
Linda Sandborn, lsandborn
517-899-9848
We deliver meals to our homebound friends. Asking for help to plan, cook, and/or deliver.
It’s a wonderful way to share the love of Jesus in a concrete way.
Sherry Miller, sherrymillersings@gmail.com
517-285-0640
Linda Sandborn, lsandborn
517-899-9848
11. Media Team - Weekly – Year-Round – 9 am Service
Have a good ear for music but don’t play an instrument or sing? How about running a sound board or the computer. Help with inputting the weekly service into the computer for projection. Help with picture-taking for events, services, programs & anything we can use for our web site and Facebook Page.
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
Have a good ear for music but don’t play an instrument or sing? How about running a sound board or the computer. Help with inputting the weekly service into the computer for projection. Help with picture-taking for events, services, programs & anything we can use for our web site and Facebook Page.
Pastor Tish Bowman, pastortish@gmail.com
517-994-8545
12. Backpacks for Bellies – Tuesday Nights – SONIC Room
This is a community endeavor to ensure local school children have enough to eat on weekends and when school is not in session. To volunteer. Follow PBB on Facebook and use the signup genius platform.
Michelle VanSlambrook,517-285-6518
This is a community endeavor to ensure local school children have enough to eat on weekends and when school is not in session. To volunteer. Follow PBB on Facebook and use the signup genius platform.
Michelle VanSlambrook,517-285-6518
13. The Soup Project– Tuesday Mornings– Kitchen
The Soup Project provides fresh healthy soup qualifying residents in the Portland Public School District. To learn how to volunteer, go to www.thesoupproject.org.
The Soup Project provides fresh healthy soup qualifying residents in the Portland Public School District. To learn how to volunteer, go to www.thesoupproject.org.
14. PUMC’s Prayer Team – Weekly
Receive a weekly e-mail from our Prayer Chain coordinator with an update on how to pray for our church and with prayer requests from the congregation.
Lisa Ayotte, layette@sbcglobal.net
517-242-4906
Receive a weekly e-mail from our Prayer Chain coordinator with an update on how to pray for our church and with prayer requests from the congregation.
Lisa Ayotte, layette@sbcglobal.net
517-242-4906
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Grow in your relationship with God and in the Character of Christ |
15. Sunday School – every Sunday – 9 am
Ages 3 - 5th Grade
Mary Bresnahan, marybresnahan331@yahoo.com
517-526-7571
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Bring Your Group to the Table |
Our Vision: Transforming lives, families, and our world through Jesus Christ. |
Would you like to introduce a group to our church? Have an idea for something, but not sure how to go about it? We can help you get started with a new ministry for the love of Christ. It can be youth oriented, Christ oriented, Fellowship oriented, mission oriented, or learning oriented. Any theme that ensures we are reaching out for the good of Christ.
Beth Feldpausch, Office Administrator
You may register on the sign-up form below for any of the events in our catalog or email or phone the contact person listed with the event.