News and Announcements
In Memoriam
Special Thanks
• To Diana Pasten for serving as a Parent Helper for our first in-person Confirmation Class on Sunday evening, April 11.
• To Mike Dimmer for clearing the beds around the northwest corner of our church and trimming the shrubs around the perimeter of the church grounds.
• To the following people who have read scripture passages for our online worship services:
April 4 - Mike and Jane Spalding
April 1 - Confirmation Class
March 28 - Eric and Tina Olson
and Phil Stepanski
March 21 - Ryan and Jodi Cowen
and Bruce Laabs, Jr.
March 14 - Jean and Ruby Hoffmann
March 7 - Mark Pasten and Ralph Perez
February 28 - Emma Jacque and Cathy Jones
• To Kathy Bretl for providing a solo for our worship service on Maundy Thursday, April 1.
• To Marti DeMario, Sherrie and Mike Dimmer and Jennifer Dimmer, for assisting Pastor Scott with the Palm Sunday Drive-Thru and for preparing the cinnamon rolls.
• To Phil Stepanski and Tracy Bretl for changing our Sanctuary windows for the season of Easter.
• To Becky Chandler (Gabe's mom) and William and Lenore Chandler (James Mitchell's grandparents) for serving as drivers for the Confirmation Class trip to Holy Hill.
• To Kylee Olson for playing special piano music on March 21 and to Lily Dimmer for playing special piano music on March 14.
• To Pru Palecek and Glenyss Gilliam for offering multiple four hand piano pieces for our online services.
• Thank you to Eric, Tina, Kylee, and Collette Olson and Jeanne Mantsch for delivering our donated goods to Family Promise of Ozaukee County. Thanks also to the Olson Family for creating a fun promo video to help encourage us all to donate to our Family Promise Paper Goods Drive.
• To Barb Olson for continuing to help Amy Gilhooly make website enhancements. Thanks to Barb for adding PayPal buttons on the site.
Archives
March 7, 2021
February 24, 2021
February 3, 2021
January 27, 2021
January 20, 2021
January 13, 2021
January 6, 2021
December 30, 2020
December 22, 2020
November 1, 2020
October 21, 2020
October 14, 2020
APRIL E-NEWSLETTER
Click here to view the entire April "Congregational Connections" monthly e-newsletter. Or, you can click on specific pages:
Page 1 & 2: Pastor Scott's Lead Article and Wednesday Group
Page 3: Holy Week Information
Page 4 & 4A: Palm Sunday Photos
Page 5: Lenten Connections Recap
Page 6: Moderator Message, Thanks, Layreaders Wanted
Page 7: Financial Update and PayPal
Page 8: Confirmation Class Trip to Holy Hill
Page 9: Camps, Thanks, WCUCC Virtual Choir
Pages 10-12: Reopening Updates
Pages 13-15: Property Team Spotlight
Page 16: Justice Invite, WCUCC Greeting, PPS Enrollment
Pages 17-20: March 2021 Church Council Minutes
Page 20: April Scripture Passages
Page 21: Thank You to Readers and Musicians
Page 22: PSA - Preventing Falls Seminar
Page 23: PSA - School Supply Drive
Page 24: Our Church Bulletin Board
Page 25: April Calendar
Page 26: April Birthdays and Anniversaries
WEDNESDAY NOON GROUP
(
EXCITED TO WELCOME BACK SMALL GROUP MINISTRY TO CHURCH!)
On Wednesday, April 7, the Wednesday Noon Group met as the first small group to start meeting again at the church. Our church suspended in-person gatherings at the beginning of the pandemic, and now, just over a year later, we are excited that small groups can meet in-person again.
If you are interested in being a part of the Wednesday Noon Group, please call or email the church office to reserve your spot each week. At this time, we can only have nine participants, plus Pastor Scott. The group will discuss the Lectionary scripture passages for the coming Sunday morning worship. In keeping with Reopening Team guidelines, the group will meet in Fellowship Hall (staying socially distanced), will wear masks, and will not eat food.
new! PAYPAL ONLINE GIVING
Good news! We have PayPal up and running to help make giving to the church as easy as can be. You will see the PayPal button on the home page. Please contact us if you have any questions or any problems using this new giving feature.
PASTOR SCOTT'S FIRST MONTHS AS OUR PASTOR
Our pastor, Rev. Dr. Scott McLeod, has enjoyed a great start here at our church. Scott invites you to call or email anytime, his new email address is pastorscott@portucc.org.
If you have a chance, check out the two newspaper articles on Pastor Scott's transition:
Ozaukee Press - FCC welcomes new pastor on Jan. 1
Elkhorn Independent -
Pastor takes a leap of faith
And, for your enjoyment, check out two videos that Pastor Scott and his wife, Rev. Laura McLeod, have recorded together:
Rappin' with Rev. Laura featuring Scott McLeod (Feb. 2021)
Virtual Meet and Greet with Pastor Scott and Rev. Laura
(recorded the week before Call Weekend back in Sept. 2020)
OUR CONFIRMATION PROGRAM
You might be interested to know that Pastor Scott is conducting a Confirmation program for our current 8th graders with the expectation they will be confirmed on May 23rd, Pentecost Sunday. They were able to meet in-person for the first time at their Sunday evening, April 11th class. Please be thinking of these individuals as they continue their Confirmation journey: Brady Calder, Gabe Chandler, Hope Gilhooly, Cash Mantsch, James Mitchell, Sam Pasten, Carter Schlehlein and Mya Ternes.
"STAYING THE COURSE" - OUR STATUS
Our traditional in-person church services continue to be suspended at this time. First Congregational Church will continue to provide spiritual guidance and care. During this time, we welcome you to call or email if you have any pastoral needs or questions.
MAKING PLEDGE PAYMENTS
Since we are not currently conducting in-person church services, we wanted to let you know that you can drop off your pledge payments by using our mail slot to the right of our Webster Street entrance. Or you can simply mail it to the church. Thank you!