Name: Cumming First UMC
Address: 770 Canton Highway, Cumming, Ga. 30040
Phone: 770-887-2900
Website: www.cfumcga.com
Services: Year-round 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., then May through August, a 9 a.m. service at Bald Ridge Marina is added.
Worship style: 8:45 a.m. less formal with camp meeting style music. 9 a.m. lake service camp meeting casual. 11 a.m. traditional with pipe organ.
Average Sunday attendance: 1,000
Minister: Rev. John Cromartie
Denomination affiliation: United Methodist Church
History:
The first church site cost $50 in 1832. Members built a log meeting house on the acre site, and updated with a white frame church in 1840. In 1914, a new brick church took the place of the frame building. In 1957, the church was incorporated and a new church constructed on Pilgrim Mill Road. The move to the current site on the side of Sawnee Mountain was made in 1989.
Pastor’s path:
Cromartie grew up in Gainesville, earned an undergrad degree from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Georgia. After years in private practice and serving as director of Georgia Legal Aid, Cromartie enrolled in Candler Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1988. He’s been the senior pastor at Cumming First since 1997.
The pastor is known for his love of hiking the Appalachian Trail. When he turned 60, the church gave him a two-month sabbatical and he walked 900 miles. Between 1990 and 1994, he hiked the entire trail. While he usually makes the trek alone, his wife has accompanied him on the Georgia portion. He, his wife and three children hiked Kilimanjaro in the 1990s.
Ministries:
More than 350 people are active in the intercessory prayer ministry, through praying and sending notes locally and around the world.
“We’re known as a very active church in terms of community outreach,” Cromartie said. He highlighted the food program, which serves 400 people weekly, and 500-600 each Thanksgiving. The church also has a busy ESL program and Hispanic ministry.
Through the children’s ministries, 12-14 summer camps covering music, art and science will take place this summer. An after-school program hosts about 100 children who are picked up from their schools and brought to the church.
Cromartie estimates 380 children are enrolled in the weekday preschool program. Members of the youth groups make regular mission trips to Ecuador, where church members have had a year-round presence for the last 10 years. The church youth members stay active throughout the summer with recreational and mission projects.
Church missions are regularly featured during Sunday morning “Ministry Moments,” in which short videos are shown on large screens. It has been an effective way to keep worshippers posted on different ways to serve.
An arts festival is planned for May 8-15, and features afternoon and evening concerts, a luncheon music series and art exhibits. The event usually attracts several thousand people. For a detailed schedule, visit http://www.music.cummingfirstmethodist.com/.
Thoughts from the pastor:
“Cumming First is a place that just loves to be in ministry. The members love to gather for fellowship and worship; they have a passion for serving. They love to touch the lives of others and be involved. They are always coming up with new ways of serving and new ministries. It’s just a dynamic place to be. It’s been a wonderful 15 years for me here.”
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