Foundery Circuit of the Iowa UMC

11/24/2025

In conjunction with the Preston parade of trees please join us at the Preston United Methodist Church on Friday December 5 to view a variety of nativity scenes. The church will be open from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Come and enjoy all the beautiful decorations in our church and in the Preston area.

10/15/2025

Join the Preston Methodist Church for their annual soup supper. Sandwiches, soup and desserts are on the menu.

10/08/2025

08/20/2025

The Preston church is collecting items for the Midwest Mission Ingathering.

Items still needed for School kits are: 40 one subject notebooks, 14 erasers (2"), 5 pencil sharpeners, 19 boxes of 24 crayons, and 10 cloth bags (directions on the Mission website).

Items still needed for Personal Hygiene kits are:
7 new hand towels, 5 bottles 12-19 oz. shampoo, and 7 bottles 8-10 oz. lotion.
If you have questions contact Carol Struve at [email protected]. Please have donations to Carol by October 5.
Other kits and any directions that can be provided are listed on the Midwest Mission website. Thank you for any donations you are able to provide.

03/27/2025

Circuit Training planned for April 26th!

The Foundery Circuit will have a training event entitled “The United Methodist Church in Changing Times” on Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. at the First UMC church in Maquoketa. Lunch will be provided. There is no charge to participants and it is open to all interested persons. We will have a discussion of the new Social Principles of the UMC, and there will be speakers on the topics of criminal justice, Christian Nationalism and organizational changes in the UMC. If you would like to attend, please contact Maquoketa UMC at 563-652-4420. If you have any questions, please call Bert Watson at 563-357-8251 or Colleen Pateros at 563-321-0450.

SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY
9:00 Introduction
9:15 Opening Devotion (Rev. Jeff Bixby)
9:30 Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolf speaking on criminal justice
10:15 Break
10:30 Regionalization (Rev. Tim Bonney)
11:00 Christian Nationalism (Rev. Eric Schubert)
12:00 Lunch
12:45 Social Principles (Community of all Creation)
1:30 Social Principles (The Economic Community)
2:15 Break
2:30 Social Principles (The Social Community)
3:15 Social Principles (The Political Community)
4:00 Adjourn

(For each section of the Social Principles I am anticipating discussion in small groups for 30 minutes and then coming together in the entire group for 15 minutes. There will a set of discussion questions for each section of the Social Principles.)
A copy of the new United Methodist Social Principles will be made available to each participant. The Social Principles can be accessed on line by going to UMC Justice.org and by clicking on “Social Principles as Adopted by General Conference, Charlotte 2024” and by clicking on “English” under “Learn all the Social Principles in the booklet.” Participants wanting to know more about Christian Nationalism may order from Cokesbury optional recommended books “Taking America Back for God” by Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry or “The Religion of American Greatness” by Paul Miller.

12/04/2024

New Trainings announced for 2025!

Classes:

“Leading through the Lens of Conflict, Coaching, and Consulting” led by Rev. Cephas Davis.. The class will be held on Feb. 22, 2025 at the Maquoketa FUMC from 9-5. The class emphasizes healthy ways to deal with conflict. Rev. Cephas Davis is the pastor at Maquoketa First UMC and has these degrees-Mdiv. MDR. MPA Master of Dispute Resolution Conflict Consultant/Mediator/Negotiator. Reading requirement: Conflict Without Casualties by Nate Regier. A free will offering will be taken for the lunch provided. To register, call the Maquoketa United Methodist Church 563-652-4420 or e-mail [email protected]. Please provide your name, phone number, e-mail and church.




“THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN CHANGING TIMES” The class will be held on April 26, 2025 at the Maquoketa FUMC from 9-5. This seminar is being facilitated by Bert Watson a member of the DeWitt United Methodist Church and a retired attorney. Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolf will speak on criminal justice. Rev. Tim Bonney will speak on regionalization. Rev. Eric Schubert will present information on Christian Nationalism. Bert Watson will lead a discussion of the current United Methodist Social Principles. Reading requirement: The current social principles of the United Methodist Church. A free will offering will be taken for the lunch provided. To register, call the Maquoketa United Methodist Church 563-652-4420 or e-mail [email protected]. Please provide your name, phone number, e-mail and church.






“Mental Health First Aid” led by Rev. Laurie Finn. Rev. Finn is a retired deacon in the Episcopal Church and a certified trainer for this program. The program teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adults. The class will be offered on Sept. 27, 2025 from 9-5 at the DeWitt United Methodist Church. The cost of the required manual is $25. Rev. Finn will hand them out at the class. A free will offering will be taken for the lunch provided. To register, call the Maquoketa United Methodist Church 563-652-4420 or e-mail [email protected]. Please provide your name, phone number, e-mail and church. The class limit is 15 persons. If more are interested, we will schedule another class at a later date.

09/12/2024

On September 8th, 41 people from 6 churches in our Circuit made 600 rice meals which will feed 3600 people. On our trip to the Midwest Mission in Pawnee, Illinois, we also delivered 5 sewing machines & one bicycle and picked up three looms to expand the plarn project to 3 more of our churches. The fellowship was wonderful & having the chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus, very meaningful!

08/21/2024

Sign up now for Rice Meal/Blessing Meal event

07/04/2024

The Preston United Methodist Church is involved in School Kit and Personal Dignity Kit

Mission projects for the Bishop's Ingathering the first week-end in November. We collect
supplies all year, but begin collecting in earnest in mid-summer and early fall when the school supplies are on sale. We are collecting for this year now.

The school kits include paper, scissors, pencils, sharpeners, rulers, erasers, colored pencils,
and crayons. Each kit is placed in a one-handled cloth bag. The pattern for the bag is on the Midwest Mission website.

https://www.midwestmission.org/

The personal dignity kits include a new hand towel and wash cloth, as well as a toothbrush,
soap, deodorant, and shampoo, all placed in a one gallon resealable plastic bag.

Other kits accepted are a Layette kits, Birthing kits, and Feminine Hygiene kits.

Information on the kits, their specific sizes and donations, and for the items the mission supplies can be found on the Midwest Mission website.

If you are interested in providing supplies for this mission project or you have any questions,
you can get in touch with me at [email protected] or call 563-577-2387.

When disaster strikes, we send requested supplies and prepared kits. Items are also pre-positioned in the U.S. and internationally.