News and Announcements
Congratulations
• To Lou Probst. Lou turned 100 years old on Sunday, September 20!
Special Thanks
• To Barb Olson for helping the Justice Team build a page on the church website.
• To Joe Mueller and Claude Zimmerman for conducting weekly walk-throughs of the church building and grounds.
In Our Prayers
• Jim Melichar continues to undergo treatment for glioblastoma (brain cancer). Please keep Jim and Sherri, and their family, in your prayers.
In Memoriam
• Paul Tutas died on Monday, September 14. Pastor Jim conducted a private Memorial Service at Eernissee Funeral Home on September 22.
• Lloyd Smith died on Friday, September 11. The family is planning to have a Memorial Service sometime next summer.
Archives
WE HAVE OFFICIALLY CALLED OUR NEXT MINISTER
Exciting news! Our church officially called a new settled minister to our church on Sunday morning, September 27, after a unanimous affirmative vote. Rev. Scott McLeod will begin serving our church on January 1, 2021. Rev. Don Niederfrank will be serving as our interim minister during the months of November and December.
CALL WEEKEND SUMMARY
Jeanne Mantsch, our Church Moderator, prepared a summary of the Call Weekend and Special Congregational Meeting that occured at the end of September. If you would like, you can view it by clicking here.
"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. We are continually working toward the return of in-person worship. In the meantime, we welcome you to call or email if you have any pastoral needs or questions.
INTERIM UPDATE
Pastor Jim is going to be providing interim ministry at a church in Middleton, Wisconsin starting in November. He will be serving our church through the end of October. We thank him for being with us during a year of transition. Rev. Don Niederfrank will be serving our church as interim minister during the months of November and December.
THE WORK OF THE JUSTICE TEAM
Our church Justice Team has created a new Justice page for our church website. We welcome you to take a look! The Team invites you to a virtual Book Discussion on November 9. Click here for more information.
WINDOW AND BELL TOWER REPAIRS
Our Property Team Chair, Jim Clements, along with Joe Mueller and Claude Zimmerman, discovered considerable window frame rot on a number of our windows as well as needed repairs to the Bell Tower.
The cost of these exterior repairs is $46,200. We were able to pay over $13,500 toward the project from our Memorial Fund (with the families' permission). While dealing with the adverse effects of the pandemic, the UCC Cornerstone Fund made low interest loans available to congregations. We applied for and were approved to receive a grant of $25,000. This first year we pay interest only and in years two and three the borrowed amount will be repaid. Funds from our checking account make up the difference. We are in the final stages of completing the repair work.
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR CHANGES
Owen Madson has resigned as our Financial Administrator. We would like to thank Owen for his many years serving our church in this capacity. Lorraine Halls, our church Treasurer, has been assuming the responsibilities, with support from our Finance Committee.
CHURCH SCHOOL VIRTUAL PROGRAM
A reminder that our Church School has resumed this fall as a virtual program, with a video produced by the Church School Leadership Team as well as a take-home project of Legos. If you have not had a chance, we invite you all to view the video.
LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH MINISTRY
Lighthouse Youth Ministry is back in action this fall! All middle and high school kids are invited to participate in upcoming Lighthouse events. Please click here to see their current flyer.
OUR CONFIRMATION PROGRAM
You might interested to know that our new minister, Pastor Scott, is planning to conduct our Confirmation program the second half of the program year (January to June) for our current 8th graders. He is looking forward to it!
THANK YOU TO THE SEARCH COMMITTEE
The Search Committee put in 17 months of time and work to bring our church a quality candidate who they feel is a great fit for our church. Sincere thanks and congratulations to the committee members: Joe Mueller (Chair), Kurt Blum, Brad Katzer, Doug McManus, Sarah Riemer, Shandy Roehrig, Holly Ternes and Joe and Grace Wilsnack (Youth Representatives). For your interest, the Search Committee prepared an overview of their work.
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!
WORSHIP IN THE GAP AND GAP CHATS
As a way to continue to stay connected while our church services and activities are suspended, we are pleased to provide you with our YouTube video series, Worship in the Gap. Huge thanks to Brett Dimmer for producing the series!
Click on the links below to view each episode:
Episode 58: Worship in the Gap - October 18, 2020
Episode 57: Worship in the Gap - October 11, 2020
Episode 56: Worship in the Gap - October 4, 2020
Episode 55: Gap Chat, Confirmation
Episode 51: Gap Chat, Justice Website
Episode 53: Worship in the Gap - September 20, 2020
Episode 52: Worship in the Gap - September 13, 2020
Episode 51: Worship in the Gap - September 6, 2020
DONATIONS TO FAMILY PROMISE
Family Promise is currently in need of the following items: paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent pods, deodorant for women, body wash for women, shaving cream for women, new bath towels and gas cards.
You may drop off donations in our church entryway before 3:30 during the week, or you can drop them off directly to Family Promise (136 W. Grand Avenue here in Port Washington). If you would like to make a financial donation, please send it to the church marked Family Promise.
DONATIONS TO THE FOOD PANTRY
We invite you to stop by the church to make contributions of non-perishable food items so that we can continue to support the Port Washington Food Pantry. You may drop off donations in our church entryway before 3:30 during the week.
Items on their request list include: progresso soup, pudding, flour tortillas, rice-a-roni, knorr sides, mustard, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, cookie mix, vegetable oil, shampoo, bar soap and dish soap.
