Small Groups

Each Advent season we offer an Advent study on multiple days and times of the week. Watch for more information about this year’s study in the fall of 2025.

Sun Prairie United Methodist Dartball – Dartball is a game, played like baseball but with darts and a dartboard. We meet for games, fun, and fellowship on Thursday nights (October -March) at 7:00 pm at participating area churches.  SPUMC is part of the Prairie Dartball League. We welcome new players, and you need not have any prior experience to play. If you are interested in this group, please contact church office

Hey parents, 

Are you looking to connect with other parents as we all navigate this wild thing called Parenthood? Let’s navigate together! Parents can meet in the Fellowship Hall on Sundays from 10:15-11 am as part of the FamJAM. A table will be reserved for the group. You can grab some coffee and snacks, laugh, sigh, and embrace it all!

Gardening Team is a fun and relaxing way to spend time with family and friends as you help keep our UMC looking beautiful. There are two options offered: Garden Bed Crew and Maintenance Crew.

Garden Bed Crew: We’ll help pick a section for you to work on during the Spring-Fall growing season. Twice a month, you’ll work on things like weeding, ‘dead-heading’ flowers, and clearing away dead leafage. In the Fall, all perennials and grasses need to be cut back. We have a ‘Mulch Day’ in the Spring that our members and volunteers spread new mulch on the beds. You will be the ‘artistic’ caretaker of your garden area, so you’ll have the freedom to plant annuals, perennials, or thin existing plants as you see fit.

Maintenance Crew: You will be called on approximately 3-4 times a growing season to bring your tools to help with fertilizing grass, trimming bushes, cleaning up and cutting back plant materials in the Fall, and helping at Mulch Day.

Please consider joining our Garden Club by contacting the church office. 

Grace Café:  There are two separate Grace Cafe book groups for women of all ages, each with their own study/discussion materials.  

Thursday Night Grace Cafe meets on Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:00 pm.  Grace Cafe Friday Morning meets on Friday mornings from 9:30-11:30 am. 

The focus of these groups is to share in fellowship with other women and to grow in our faith through meaningful discussions of faith-based books, poetry, and songs.  Typically there are sessions in the fall, winter & spring. Both groups often participate in the churchwide Lenten and Advent studies. 

If you are interested, please contact the church office via email (office@sunprairieumc.org) or by telephone (608-837-5554), to let them know which group you are interested in joining. 

The only cost associated with these groups is the cost of the study material. If you need childcare, please let the office know so arrangements can be made. We hope you can join us.

Our Knit Crochet Pray group creates prayer shawls, baptismal blankets, confirmation shawls and caps. They provide a significant ministry of comfort and support. If you, or someone you know, would like a prayer shawl please have them contact the church office and we will make sure they receive one. Would you like to be a part of the creation of these garments? We meet every 2nd and 4th Monday at the Wesley House. The 2nd of the month is a more informal meeting with fellowship and a time to help one another with projects. The 4th Monday of the month we share in a devotional, prayers and fellowship. Please consider participating in this worthy mission. All skill levels are welcome as we are happy to help! Contact the church office if interested at office@sunprairieumc.org

Lenten Study

From the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane to the garden in which Jesus was buried and raised, our faith stories move through a variety of fertile soil.  We will journey through Lent with this in mind.  Our Wednesday, Sunday and Online Lenten study will use a curriculum called Just Like Me, that uses the theme of gardens to look deeper into Scripture, growing in our faith and community engagement.  We will also bring in other resources to help us think together about In the Garden.  No need to purchase a book for this study. 

Our two Grace Café groups and Men’s Group will use a Lenten study book titled A Time to Grow:  Lenten Lessons from the Garden to the Table.  It is written by Kara Eidson, a UM pastor in Kansas.  

Please contact the church office to sign up for one of the studies so we know how many to expect. (office@sunprairieumc.org or 608/837-5554).

Lent Study Opportunities

-Wednesdays, noon-1:00 pm, Chapel

(March 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9)

-Sundays, 10:15-11 am, Chapel

            (March 9, 16, 23, 30, April 6)

-Mondays, 6:30 pm, Online (a zoom link will be sent)

            (March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 7)

-Grace Café, Thursdays, 6:30-8 pm, Classroom

-Grace Café, Fridays, 9:30-11 am, Chapel

-Men’s Group, Saturdays, 8-9 am, Conference Room

The M and M (short for Mary and Martha) small group is for women who desire to grow spiritually through study and discussion in a positive, encouraging environment. We are completing our watching and discussion of the 2nd season of “The Chosen” on May 9th. Then we take a break for the summer. A decision will be made by August as to if we will continue with the 3rd Season of “The Chosen” or instead return to the choice of a book study. Meetings are discussions led by group volunteers. Confidentiality is necessary as we grow through conversation and prayer requests. This group meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month from September through May from 6:00-7:30 p.m. The coordinators are volunteer church members: Donna Cole, Brenda Carlson-Hahn, Marcia Flaherty.

The Saturday Morning Men’s Group meets at the conference room at the church. We start at 8:00 a.m. and are usually done about 9:00 a.m.  There are currently twelve men in the group.  We start with a check-in on how our week was.  Next, we discuss our current book study, sharing what was meaningful to us. Approximately 50 minutes into the hour we share our prayer requests/concerns/joys to be mindful of during the coming week.   We trust each other to maintain confidentiality in our sharing. We end with a closing prayer.  Once a year we try to get to a Brewers game for a fun social event.  Please contact the church office for more information.

Men in Mission is a men’s group that meets to work on mission projects and helping out those in need.  We also meet socially a couple times a year for dinner. Days/Nights vary, so you can help out with a project if you are available.   If you are interested in this group, please contact the church office. 

The SPUMC Lady Walkers are a group of women who walk together weekly. We walk on Tuesdays and Thursdays September through May at 1:30pm.  June, July and August we walk at 9:00am.  We walk various trails and parks throughout Dane County and beyond. Most walks are one to two miles in length and take about an hour.  For more information or to join this group please contact the church office via email at office@sunprairieumc.org or by calling 608-837-5554.