Castleton United Methodist Church

Your blood donation directly impacts lives in our community.

Find the link to sign up to donate at the blood drive hosted at Castleton UMC on Sunday, October 4 at:
https://castletonumc.org/events/blood-drive/

ONE WEEK TO GO! ✨🎨

Can you believe it?! Our Art & Craft Fair is just ONE WEEK away! 🥳💗

The countdown is officially ON, and we are getting SO excited to welcome you!

Whether you’re looking for something unique, handmade, creative, delicious or simply want to enjoy a wonderful day out — there will be something for everyone! 🛍️🎨📚

✨ What can you look forward to?

🛍️ Amazing local vendors
🎨 Beautiful handmade crafts & artwork
🎁 Unique gifts
📚 Our special Readers Corner featuring wonderful authors
🍰 Delicious treats
🤝 Community, creativity & connection
💖 And plenty of surprises along the way!

📅 Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
📍 Castleton UMC – Castleton, Indiana

Bring your family, friends and shopping bags and come support our amazing local vendors, artists, crafters and authors! 🛍️❤️

ONE WEEK. ONE AMAZING DAY. SO MANY REASONS TO COME!

🎨💕 We can't wait to see YOU there! 💕🎨

On October 28, we're hosting a township judge candidate forum organized by the Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance. This is a great opportunity to learn about the judges on the November 3rd ballot and how they plan to serve their townships.

Learn more on the GIMA website at:
https://www.indymultifaith.org/events/township-judge-forum

Less than 3 weeks until the annual Castleton United Methodist Art and Craft Fair!

Follow along on their page to learn about all the talented local vendors coming on Saturday, October 3!

❤️✨ Please help us welcome Vally Allen from Crossroads Guild Inc. to our Art & Craft Fair! ✨❤️

Vally brings a wonderful selection of useful handcrafted items for the whole family, home, and even your furry friends! 🏡🐾

You'll find practical and beautifully made kitchen towels, adult cover-ups and bibs, festive holiday décor, and other thoughtful handmade treasures.

With something useful for everyone, this is definitely a booth you'll want to visit while browsing the fair! 🎁✨

We are delighted to have Vally and Crossroads Guild Inc. as part of our talented vendor lineup.

Be sure to stop by, discover their handmade creations, and show your support! ❤️

Grateful for our partnership with the ministry of Soup's On

See you at 10:00 AM on Sunday!

Don't forget that tomorrow, September 6, we're worshipping together at ONE service at 10:00 AM.

We'll return to our regular 9:00 and 11:00 schedule on September 13.

The ball has been tossed!

Thank you, Pastor Cindy, for serving as Interim Senior Pastor while Pastor Matt was on clergy renewal leave. Thank you for walking with us through the hard and the joyful moments of the summer. Thank you for your leadership, patience, honesty, humor, and willingness to stay in the room when the conversations aren’t easy. We are so grateful for you and your ministry among us.

Help us officially welcome Pastor Matt back on Sunday, September 6. We'll be together at ONE worship service at 10:00 AM.

"At Castleton United Methodist Church on the Northeast side, for example, about 25 congregants gathered after Sunday church services in their fellowship room to make signs. Then they walked up and down a city block while in prayer. Occasionally, cars driving past the group would honk or wave.

Susanne Ayers, a retired Spanish teacher at North Central High School, has visited people detained at Miami Correctional Facility. She said it's been "heartbreaking listening to their stories."

She teared up as she told congregants about the conditions inside the facility that some detainees have told her about, such as not having enough soap to wash their clothes.

"We listen to their stories," Ayers said. "They're just thrown in there. The food is terrible, and it's awful. ... So many of them were just going about life. In a car, stopped for no reason. Stopped because of the color of their skin. Some of them were nabbed at work."

The church has been doing vigils and prayer walks, as it calls them, over the past several years, including to pray for community members who have been victims of gun violence. The church hosted a vigil back in 2022, for example, when a three-year-old and a 22-year-old were killed nearby.

This time, they said it was not just community members here but from across the globe that drew them out to walk in sprinkling rain.

"It's been a mission of this church to be very conscious of what's been going on," said Mary Kleiman, a member of the church. "You're housing God's children in deplorable conditions. These are human beings. It just hurts."

via IndyStar

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/30/indiana-vigils-call-for-end-to-miami-ice-detention/91532365007/

On August 28-30, congregations across Indiana will be hosting prayer vigils and making their voices heard against the inhumane and unjust detainment of immigrants at the Miami Correctional Facility (a.k.a. The Speedway Slammer).

CUMC, which has been involved in this issue for the past year, will be joining the effort by hosting a prayer vigil/prayer walk on Sunday, August 30, beginning at noon.

Find details about where to meet, lunch, signs, and various ways to join the prayer walk at:
https://castletonumc.org/events/weekend-of-public-witness/

As God’s people, we want to:
Lend our voice to the voiceless
Raise awareness of the issue
Publicly declare where we stand
Beseech God to intervene on behalf of our immigrant neighbors
Seek an end to ICE Detention at the Miami Correctional Facility

We have been asking the question, “What if Jesus was serious about Justice?” Now, as a matter of public witness, we’re inviting our neighbors in the community to ask this question too.