Our church staff is here to help all generations experience true life change with Jesus.
Feel free to contact them.
LifeVision 200 – By the end of 2026, we dream of the day when Springfield First is multiplying disciples, bringing compassion, and sharing the hope of Jesus with the Springfield community and beyond.
PHONE 217.793.9760
WWW.SPRINGFIELDFIRST.ORG
PASTORAL STAFF
Dr. Roger Grimmett | Lead Pastor
Rev. Justin Snider | Pastor
MINISTRY STAFF
Allison Means | Director of Worship Arts
Brennan Pappas | Director of Technical Arts
Carli Burton | Director of Senior Ministries
Kacey Belitsos | EarlyLife & Preschool Director
Kelsie Fairfull | KidLife Director
Dr. See Tsai Chan | Associate Director of Music Ministry
Sharon Sweeney | Director of Connections
Sydney Pappas | StudentLife Director
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Bob Dodd | Executive Director
Dara Bose | Accountant & Publications/Social Media Manager
Dayton Emery | Technical Arts Assistant/Video Producer
Jenny Hutcherson | Financial Administrator
Josh Groves | Facilities Manager
Kathy Kerr | Administrative Assistant
Michael Howard | Print Shop
Sally Howard | Executive Assistant
custodial STAFF
Renoldo Gayton | Lead Custodian
STAFF emails:
First initial and Last name@springfieldfirst.org
Rembrandt isn’t the only one known for creating a masterpiece. God is the original artist painting with broad brushstrokes over his canvas. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s masterpiece created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God created in advance for us to do.”
Let’s think about the masterpiece God is creating here at SFUMC:
• Acts 29 prayer seminar in May inspired and ignited a renewed passion for prayer in our church and community.
• Vacation Bible School: Over 120 children experienced God’s love through the unconditional love of parents, teachers, and staff. (All VBS attendees engaged in our Feed Ukraine mission meal ministry.)
• We blessed the First Responders in our community with a free lunch.
• We sent a mission team to serve God’s people through Henderson Settlement in Kentucky.
• Evangelism seminar offered in August was designed to equip our people to share their Christian faith.
• G6 discipleship and New Member classes were held.
• We prepared breakfast for Lindsay Elementary School staff and teachers.
Compare our LifeVision statement with the several ministries that have taken place this summer at SFUMC. Are we fulfilling our church’s Vision?
I invite you to join us as we continue to be inspired “to see all generations experience True Life Change with Jesus.”
Roger Grimmett | Lead PastorOur church Leaders in our community
Schools
Teachers
Students
Your neighbors
Local businesses
First responders
The unchurched
On June 29th, several staff and volunteers gathered for the planned First Responders Drive-thru Lunch – the day the terrible storm quickly came up. Prior to that, it was a perfect summer morning: hot and sunny.
We had been preparing for a week, pre-packing bags, making hamburger patties, and figuring out how we could make it all work. Many wonderful volunteers were also here that morning to cook, wrap, pack, serve, wave, and greet! People lined the drive area, and the operation was running smoothly! We had 300 hamburgers and 200 hot dogs being grilled. We had bags filled with a napkin, chips, cookies, ketchup, mustard, and relish packets. Fresh off the grill, we wrapped, put hamburgers and hot dogs into bags, and sent off lunch with our first responders as they drove through. We even had a group of about 10 first responders who came inside to eat. What a joy it was to visit with them.
We’d been in the process for only about 45 minutes when the storm popped up. That put a stop to our fun lunch! We moved inside as best we could and had to take shelter. What a bummer! We came up with a new plan to deliver the meals in the following couple of days. We carefully packaged and put everything into our refrigerators and freezers. Another bust! The church was without power long enough that we lost all the meat (and all our other food in there too)!
Not to be deterred by the storm, we were still able to deliver about 100 lunches to various locations around Springfield. Dorothy Gayton, our wonderful chef, made yummy sub sandwiches. Eleanor Mack, Pastor Roger, and Sally Howard helped to wrap and bag. Josh Groves and Renoldo Gayton made the deliveries and had a little extra fun on the side with the Chief of Police and were treated to a tour at the downtown fire station. Rumor has it that Josh might know how to slide down the fireman’s pole!
God is good! What a testimony to the love in our church family for our first responders! Thank you to all of those who worked to make the two events a success. We look forward to our next opportunity to serve others in the community!
Kudos to all the brave souls who traveled to see the Cubs and Cardinals on July 27 in the 100 heat!
It was one for Cubs fans! Some of the group brought their grandchildren to enjoy a major league game.
This was just one of the many fun trips our Senior Ministries took this summer!
Monthly Senior Fellowship resumes
Thursday, September 14, in Rooms 5/6 from 9:30am–12:30pm with a hot lunch served at 11:45am. See our monthly Senior Ministries Newsletter for more details.
As part of our partnership with Lindsay Elementary School, we provided breakfast for staff and teachers as they prepared for the first day of school.
On July 23rd, an energetic and excited group of eight adults and two children embarked on a mission journey to Frakes, Kentucky. This is where the home of the historic Henderson Settlement, a United Methodist work camp institution, is located. The Henderson mission is to provide daily support for local residents of this community struggling with run-down housing and to assist those who are facing poverty. Nestled in the beautiful Appalachian mountains, this area has been hit hard with low-paying jobs for homeowners who cannot maintain the upkeep of their homes and live in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. Many struggle to feed themselves and their families.
Once we arrived, it was time to share a meal with the staff and all work camp attendees. We enjoyed eating with like-minded workers from other United Methodist churches from Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and Illinois. After dinner, everyone met in the worship center to learn more about the community needs and to obtain project information for our team. It was abundantly clear we would need to get a good night’s rest after the long drive in order to be prepared to side a shed settled into a mountain foothill and to build a porch with a metal roof.
The outdoor church setting where the devotionals were held gave way to a fabulous mountainous valley with three wooden crosses outlining the views. Our group was the first to lead the devotionals with a skit about how crazy life was for everyone during the COVID pandemic. We stated how grateful we are to move forward now and very blessed to once again be able to help those who are in need in this settlement community. Each devotional ended with a group sing-a-long.
Our project was designed for a family of five facing hard times. The father had been working at a warehouse when a pallet of frozen foods fell on his back. He was in a great deal of pain but thankfully hadn’t broken any bones. The mother was in training for a job at the local school near the Henderson Settlement. They have three children – two girls and one boy ages 12, 10, and 6. We brought outdoor games and comfort gifts for the children to enjoy.
To be sure the shed and the porch were completed this week, we split into two separate teams. Because the shed had been previously built, the siding team was able to size and level the structure to begin nailing down the siding, soffit, and fascia. The porch team analyzed the best spot on the back of the home for the stairs layout. Once they had a plan determined, they busily began cutting the wood deck boards, upper support boards, side boards, spindles, and steps. Nailing it all together was really hard work in the daily sun during a week when the average temperature was in excess of 90 degrees with high humidity. When it came time to add the metal roof to the porch, God provided an overcast morning. Working with the hot metal was still challenging, but much better without the sun beating down so intensely.
One morning, part of the crew toured the food pantry. It is a small but well-organized area within the Settlement. The pantry serves 336 families in this community, which is an increase of 85 families just this year. The pantry director was very grateful for the $2,000 check the church provided; it will allow them to buy up to 2 weeks' worth of food. Needy families can receive food once a month, while senior citizens can come more frequently.
As previously stated, the home was located on a foothill of the Appalachian Mountains where our views were absolutely beautiful. With all hands working together so well, we were able to take a few hours mid-week to travel throughout the local community. This excursion gave us time to re-group and recover for the work that remained. As a result, we were able to complete the siding on the shed even while another work camp team built an eight-foot ramp up to the shed. We also added doors, which was not on our project list to complete. Once the porch was complete, we took pictures with the family. They were so pleased with this addition to their home.
Our final gathering with all the work camp crews took place on Thursday evening. It was such a blessing to hear the experiences each team had this week. Especially gratifying were the words of young students who shared how humbled and blessed they felt serving these families. We closed by sharing Communion.
The message we took away from this mission trip was to be the “hands and feet of Jesus” for this community – one project at a time. It was clear the family and the staff at Henderson were very grateful for our services that were only possible because of the support of the Missions Council and this church. Thank you very much for your love, guidance, support, and prayers.
Kayla: This summer, Kayla served as the Worship Life Intern under Allison Means. She spent the summer learning how services are planned and what it looks like behind the scenes. From developing an understanding of how to select the perfect songs for Sunday morning worship to leading band rehearsals, Kayla has acquired many new skills she hopes to use throughout her life. She has spent a lot of time with Allison, learning how to take notes on the flow of a song and scheduling band members from week to week. She is especially grateful for the opportunity to lead both worship and prayer, gaining confidence in her ability to speak in front of the congregation. Kayla would like to thank everyone at Springfield First for giving her this wonderful opportunity and for their constant support and encouragement. She will be a sophomore at Calvin University this fall majoring in Psychology and Social Work. Kayla is a member of the women's golf team at Calvin and she is excited to begin her job on campus as a Worship Apprentice, taking the skills she learned this summer into a new environment as she continues to grow in her faith and leadership.
This new G6 Class started August 6, 2023. They learned the six charactreistics of a deeply devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. Many participants from this class will take the next step to become members of Springfield First United Methodist Church
Aidann: Aidann has been an Intern for the past year assisting in Kidlife. She has enjoyed working with Kelsie Fairfull and learning so much about the Kidlife flow. There have been many fun events that Aidann has helped plan including Magic with a Message, Easter Sunday, the Spring Festival with Lindsay School, VBS, and more! Over the summer, she enjoyed working closely with two of her friends, Katherine and Kayla. There was never a dull moment in the office with new things on the agenda each day. Aidann will continue to work with Kelsie throughout the school year. She is excited to take on more responsibility and help Kidlife grow into an amazing ministry. This internship has made Aidann realize that her passion is to work with children after college. Aidann is currently a sophomore at Lincoln Land and will continue her studies to obtain an Elementary Education degree.
Katherine: This is Katherine’s second summer interning for the church. This year she focused more on graphic design and social media. She learned how to use the program InDesign to make the Connection Cards, the What's Happening, and the Restroom Flyers. She also worked closely with Allison Means making weekly social media content. When she wasn’t working on her weekly tasks, she was often doing side projects with the other interns, Aidann and Kayla. Katherine helped with setting up VBS and led the Preschool Yellow Group. She plans to continue working throughout the school year and focus more on social media. She is going to be a senior at Springfield High School and plans on going into graphic design in college.
This summer, StudentLife not only had a ton of fun, but also experienced the love and power of Jesus. We had many events, plus the week-long Never the Same Camp at Indiana Wesleyan University. Special shout-out to Kelli Blaise and Adam Lanter for joining our crew as leaders for the week! We are blessed to say we truly came back "never the same" because of what God has done.
On June 29, a storm hit our area and we were without power. We are so thankful that we were able to meet for both a Contemporary and Traditional service in the Atrium on July 2. It was a wonderful reminder that God does not require a flashy or polished production to worship. He only asks that we bring ourselves as an offering to Him.
SpringfieldFUMC
