Published: March 1, 2024

March 14 is Pi Day (3.14...) and in honor of this numerical coincidence, our youth will be selling Pies following our worship services on Sunday, March 10 in the Welcoming Hall. This year, we will have a focus on pizza pies, but we still plan to have a selection of dessert pies available for purchase as well.

Pizza pies are $10 - $12

Dessert pies are $15

100% of proceeds support our youth missions

Published: March 1, 2024

Saturday, March 16, 9am lend us your hands for our annual cleaning of the Asbury First campus grounds! We will meet to pick up twigs, rake leaves, and clear away the detritus of winter. Meet from 9 am to 1 pm. No green thumbs required!

Contact David Strong with questions at dstrong@asburyfirst.org

Published: March 1, 2024

Do you love perusing books? Do you love cozy places to sit? Would you love a quiet place to catch up with a friend after the service? 

The Asbury First library is a perfect place for all three of these activities, located just around the corner from the Gathering Center in the Education Wing.

Our library collection database is also all online!

The bibliocart on March 3 will focus on Lent, Easter and Women’s History.

Published: March 1, 2024

One of the central tenets of United Methodism is holy conferencing. Each year, clergy and laity from all of our Upper New York churches gather together in Syracuse to fellowship and to make decisions for the church. All members of The United Methodist Church are invited to submit petitions and resolutions to this annual conference. This year, a team of members from Asbury First have put together a resolution to prohibit firearms from church property. Below is a link where you can read the resolution; and, if you would like, you may add your name as a supporter of the resolution. All signatories received by March 10 will be included in the submitted resolution to our Upper New York Annual Conference.

CLICK HERE TO READ AND SIGN THE RESOLUTION

Published: March 1, 2024

UMCJustice.org recently published a thought-provoking article on The United Methodist Church's response to the violence in the Middle East as viewed through the lens of the Holy Season of Lent. If you're looking for ways to engage personally in the call for peace, the end of the article lists four powerful ways to promote a ceasefire and de-escalation in this conflict. 

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE

Published: March 1, 2024

Friday, March 15 at 7:30 PM, Asbury First

ROS’s glorious, rich sonority is showcased in this program of great choral works by Aaron Copland, R. Nathaniel Dett, Randall Thompson, Jean Ford, and Norman Dello Joio with keyboard accompaniment. Opera choruses, psalms, spirituals, and a jubilant Walt Whitman setting written in the year and month of ROS’s founding, make for an unforgettable evening of music. Please visit rossings.org/road for more information.

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

It is with very mixed emotions that we announce that Lori Young, our Director of Property Care, is stepping down from her full-time position to concentrate on her career in landscape architecture. Lori has been presented with an opportunity to build a full-time landscaping business, Sacred Breadth, where she will specialize in creating beautiful gardens and sacred spaces for healing, contemplation and prayer, which is a return to her academic and experiential background and passion.

We are sad to see her go, but excited to see the wonderful work this new venture will stimulate. Lori will continue with us on a part-time basis as Property Administrator so she can oversee and supervise the work and training of staff, fully implement automated applications, and serve as liaison to Monday Morning crew, Property Stewardship Committee, Garden Team, and Community Garden Team, among others.

Recruitment efforts to fill the full-time position of Property Care Director is in process.

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

Asbury First is part of the Harvest Home Coalition that sponsors local home construction with Habitat for Humanity. We are planning an Asbury First work day at a Rochester construction site sometime this spring. If you might be interested in participating, please email Dave Kennedy at DAKennedy@Frontiernet.net so we can gauge the level of interest. Specify whether you would be able to work on a Friday or a Saturday. Work sessions are 9 am to 3 pm. 

No experience is necessary. Everyone 16 or older is welcome to participate. We will make plans based upon your responses. 
 

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

Mondays, March 4 and 11, 6:30 - 8 pm, Hybrid - Red Room (Community Outreach Center - the red brick building next door to the church) and Zoom

We are pleased to be offering these classes for any and all interested in joining Asbury First, both in person and via Zoom. This is a two-part series of classes sharing information about what it means to be a United Methodist, as well as information about ministries at Asbury First. Please bring a bag supper, if you'd like. Light snacks and beverages will be provided. Our hope is to have everyone join on Sunday, November 12. You need not register to attend, but if you know that you will be there, we’d love to know! Simply email or call Deb Bullock-Smith at 585-271-1050 x117 or dbullocksmith@asburyfirst.org.

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

Invest in your family's future now!

Later this year we will be breaking ground on Asbury First's Columbarium project – a sacred, consecrated outdoor space on the southeastern outer wall of 1040, designed to provide a final resting place for the remains of our loved ones. Instead of buying a plot in a cemetery, one can reserve a niche for a pair of urns that will be built into the garden-like columbarium.

These niches are available to all, but space is limited so reserve yours now.  

Stop by the Columbarium table in the Welcoming Hall after the 11 am service to learn more.

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

1010 Tuesdays | March 12, 8 am

Have you wondered what goes on at the newly renovated Community Outreach Center? Here’s your chance to See For Yourself!

Monthly, every 2nd Tuesday, join us for what we call 1010 TUESDAYS! Meet us at 1010 East Ave at 8 am for a simple breakfast, a brief tour of the facility, and stories about these life-changing services. Bring a friend or colleague, and help us spread the word about the Community Outreach Center. 

RSVP today by visiting asburyfirst.org/1010tuesdays or calling (585) 271-1050 x117.

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

It's pretzel time! 

Join us March 10, 11 am to noon in Fellowship Hall for fun, fellowship, and all things pretzels! This 40 year tradition is educational, entertaining, and delicious.

Contact Paula Dugan for more information at pdugan@asburyfirst.org or at 585-271-1050 x111.

Published: Feb. 19, 2024

Join us February 25 for the final visiting preacher in our winter preaching series, the Rev. Joe Kim!

The Rev. Joe Kim serves as Lead Pastor of Bothell United Methodist Church outside of Seattle, WA. He has served in and with communities of faith for over 15 years, both in the non-profit sector and in the local church. He has traveled around the world as a speaker, preacher, workshop leader and facilitator, encouraging people of faith to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.

Published: Feb. 19, 2024

Kearstin Piper Brown and Friends from the Black Students Union at Eastman
 

Sunday March 3 at 3 pm, Asbury First, Sanctuary – FREE! 

Ahead of her Metropolitan Opera debut, don’t miss soprano Kearstin Piper Brown’s very special performance. 

This performance is sponsored by WXXI

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An Evening with the internationally acclaimed Spelman College Glee Club 

Wednesday, March 13 at 6:30 pm, Asbury First, Sanctuary

$25 (adults), $10 (students)

Now celebrating its 99th season, this historic Spelman College Glee Club has a reputation for choral excellence.

Tickets will be available at a table in the Welcome Hall after worship, or by calling Bill Davis at (585) 266-4500.

Published: Feb. 16, 2024

Join us February 18 for another visiting preacher in our winter preaching series, the Rev. Katie McKay Simpson!

The Rev. Katie McKay Simpson is the Senior Minister of University United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, LA. For eighteen years, she has served as a pastor, community leader, and planter of new ministries among Louisiana congregations located in Bossier City and Lake Charles. She is a graduate of Centenary College of Louisiana and received her MDiv from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL and she is presently working toward a PhD in Organizational Leadership at Eastern University outside of Philadelphia. Katie has been an active voice for inclusion in the Annual, Jurisdictional and General Conference levels of The United Methodist Church. She is married to Taylor and together they have three children—Eva, Jack, and Sam.