top of page

Pastor & Church Updates


Loving our Neighbors – Mission & Outreach at Auburn First
After being without a mission team for many years, we restarted our Mission & Outreach Committee this year. This committee has its work on our vision of Community, Compassion, and Commission. Our priority this year has been to track all that AFUMC is doing as well as to start some new activities that fit with our vision. This will give us an idea of where we can have the most impact. We can then increase in certain areas and start looking beyond our walls to make a greate


Blessings of Surprise!
I have a confession to make. I am a planner. I plan everything. Whether that is how we spend our money, where and when we go on vacation, the family meals, my day, and even what I wear. Sometimes, planning has benefited me, especially when it has come to finances. And yet, often when it comes to faith, planning has rarely been helpful. After all, I had never planned to study religion, go to seminary, or become a pastor. Yet, here I am.


Church Update: Staff Parish Relations Committee
Greetings from the Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC). The SPRC provides a connection between our staff and the congregation at Auburn First UMC. In many ways, the SPRC functions like a secular Human Resource Committee. However, we work more like an advisory personnel committee, focusing on spiritual support, ministry alignment, and work-life balance.


Just in Time Blessings
In the book of Genesis, God calls Abraham to leave his homeland and to go to the land God will show him. Then God says that God will bless Abraham so that he may bless others (Genesis 12:1-3). Over the last few weeks, I have been amazed by all the ways that God continues to bless us.


Church Update: Growing with RIDE.
As a RIDE. Committee, we acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. So, as followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.


Methodist Mothers
This weekend, we will celebrate our mothers and all they have done for us. We will let them sleep in, take them out to lunch, buy them flowers, and send them cards. But the way we honor them today is not the way we have always done it. In fact, the origins of this holiday show us that the Christian values of loving our neighbor and promoting peace are central to this celebration.


Board of Trustees Update: Caring for Our Church Home
The Board of Trustees at Auburn First United Methodist Church is charged with the care and stewardship of the church’s buildings and grounds. In practical terms, Trustees help ensure that our facilities are safe, functional, welcoming, and ready to support worship, fellowship, education, and outreach.


A Teacher’s Last Words
During Holy Week, we remember triumphant events, like the washing of the
disciples’ feet and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, as well as the more sorrowful moments like Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution. Yet, in the Gospel of John, we also get the final words that Jesus shares with his disciples.


Sunday, March 8, 2026
This week we continue our Lenten Sermon Series: Seeking: honest questions for a deeper faith. Today, we read from John 6:1-14,22-35. Pastor Cara helps us reflect on what we hunger for and how we satisfy that hunger.


Sunday, March 1, 2026
This week we continue our Lenten Sermon Series: Seeking: honest questions for a deeper faith. Today, we read from John 3:1-17. Rev. Craig Parrish reflects Nicodemus and the difficutly we have changing our minds.


Sunday, February 22, 2026
This week we continue our Lenten Sermon Series: Seeking: honest questions for a deeper faith. Today, we read from John 2:1-11.. Pastor Cara reflects on the voices we listen to and how to cut through the noise.


Sunday, February 15, 2026
This week we begin our Lenten Sermon Series: Seeking: honest questions for a deeper faith. Today, we read from Isaiah 58:1-12. Pastor Cara guides us as we reflect on the purpose of fasting and the kind of fast God asks of us.
bottom of page