News and Announcements
In Memoriam
• Betty Ewig died on Wednesday evening, November 27. A memorial service was held at the church on December 3. Rev. Jim McKenzie and Rev. Don Niederfrank conducted the service.
• Donna Riemer died on Thursday afternoon, November 14. A memorial service was held at Eernisse Funeral Home on December 7.
Congratulations
• To Kim and Sven Olsen on the birth of their second daughter, Elva, born on Thursday, October 24.
Special Thanks
• To Terry and Mark Sdun and Holly Ternes for hosting Fellowship Hour after the 10:00 service on Sunday morning, December 8.
• To Kyle Guschl and his family for providing Nursery Care on Sunday morning, December 8.
• To Savannah Anderson, Sarah Bloemer, Kurt Blum, Jennifer Dimmer, Tina Olson, Dawn Rychtik and Shandy Roehrig, members of our Church School Team, who conducted our Church School Sunday in December. The kids created Advent Candle table decorations.
• To David Franks and Louise Mollinger for opening the Christmas tree lot on the weekdays, and to Scott Symes for opening the lot on the weekends.
• To Nicki Lesnik and her family for setting up and decorating our sanctuary Christmas tree.
• To Phil Stepanski and Tracy Bretl for providing Special Music on Sunday morning, December 1.
• To Brett and Jennifer Dimmer for hosting Fellowship Hour after the 8:00 service on Sunday morning, December 1.
• To the dozens of high school students who unloaded our Christmas trees (almost 400!) on Tuesday, November 26. Special thanks to Ralph Perez for coordinating their participation!
• To Joe Rychtik for directing the unloading of the Christmas trees and for organizing the lot.
• To Joe and Bev Mueller for completing a number of fix-it projects throughout the church.
Archives
November 19, 2019
November 6, 2019
October 30, 2019
October 24, 2019
April 24, 2019
April 3, 2019
March 21, 2019
March 14, 2019
ADVENT REFLECTION AND COMMUNION
Each Thursday evening during the church season of Advent, December 5, 12 and 19, you are invited to join Jim for an Advent experience and Communion. We gather in the church sanctuary at 6:00 and are on our way by 6:30. Please help spread the word!
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
We have planned three evening services for Christmas Eve at 5:00, 7:00 and 9:00. The 5:00 service is designed especially for children (see invite from Pastor Jim below). The 7:00 service features the Chancel Choir and Christmas Brass. At the 9:00 service we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion and enjoy special music provided by a quartet from the Chancel Choir. All three services include candle lighting and a selection of traditional Christmas hymns. Please invite your neighbors and friends to come and join us.
CHRISTMAS EVE CHILDREN'S SERVICE - AN INVITE TO THE KIDS FROM PASTOR JIM
HEY KIDS! Christmas Eve is coming, and I have a special service planned just for you. That’s right – our first service at 5:00 is a Kid-Friendly-Service designed especially for the young ones among us. I will lead us in a fun-filled time of singing Christmas hymns, telling the Christmas story and one
big Christmas surprise. Don’t miss it. See you on Christmas Eve at 5:00! -Pastor Jim
ANNUAL STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN
Our annual Stewardship Campaign is now underway. Members and friends of the church are asked to make a formal pledge to support the church financially in 2020. Please visit our Stewardship Page for more information.
FAMILY SERVICE AND CHURCH SCHOOL SUNDAYS
We celebrate a Family Service on the fourth Sunday of each month at 10:00. The service includes the participation of our 8th Grade Confirmation Class and Children's Choirs. Our next Family Service is this coming Sunday morning, December 22.
Church School meets on the second Sunday of each month at 10:00. All children 4K through 7th grade are invited to participate. Our next Church School Sunday is Sunday morning, January 12.
CHRISTMAS FUND OFFERING
For over 100 years the United Church of Christ has received the Christmas Fund offering to provide emergency assistance and support to retired clergy and church employees who do not have adequate retirement income. We receive this offering on Sunday, December 22 and 29. To learn more about this special offering, click here.
ONE SERVICE ON DECEMBER 29
The Sunday following Christmas, December 29, we celebrate with one service at 10:00. Ken Matthews, a life-long member of our church, will conduct the service for the 31st time, he started back in 1989!
OUR INTERIM MINISTER
Our Interim Minister, Rev. James McKenzie, began serving the church the first week of November. Jim has enjoyed meeting each of you, and invites you to call or stop by anytime. Welcome, Jim!
SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE
Rev. Franz Rigert, our Conference Minister, met with the Search Committee at the beginning of November. The Committee received the first set of Ministerial Profiles (sixteen to be exact!) at that time. They met on November 20 to discuss the first five candidates, December 1 to discuss the next five candidates, December 11 to discuss five more candidates. Since then, two additional candidates have come in! They plan to meet this coming Sunday morning, December 22, to discuss the remaining three current candidates.
Our Completed Church Profile
Meet the Search Committee
JEFF'S RETIREMENT
As many of you know, Jeff retired at the end of October. His last Sunday was October 27. He will be missed beyond words!
Jeff's Farewell Letter
25th ANNUAL HOLIDAY COAT DRIVE
Harborview Cleaners in Port Washington is hosting their annual Holiday Coat Drive for the Port Washington Food Pantry. You may bring coats to the cleaners now through the end of the month. They will clean the coats free of charge and deliver them to the Food Pantry. Harborview Cleaners is owned and operated by Barb Bahr, a member of our church.
LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH MINISTRY
Our church partners with four other churches in Port Washington and Saukville to support the Lighthouse Youth Ministry for middle and high schoolers. To learn more about the group, visit their website and check out Lighthouse - Port Washington Saukville Ecumenical Youth Ministry on Facebook.
LIGHTHOUSE FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
Lighthouse Youth Ministry has a goal to raise $25,000 by the end of December to purchase furnishings for their newly renovated Lighthouse Headquarters. Please consider supporting Lighthouse by making a donation or purchasing something from their new Amazon Wishlist!
NURSERY
Every Sunday morning during the 10:00 service we provide a nursery for children newborn through 4-years-old. Care is provided by our 8th grade Confirmation students and their families. Parents are required to register their children, and to sign their children in and out of the nursery. We want to do our very best to make the nursery safe and secure. There will be no Nursery on Christmas Eve and December 29.
FELLOWSHIP HOUR ON SUNDAY MORNINGS
We host a Fellowship Hour following our 8:00 service on the first Sunday of each month, and following our 10:00 services on the second and fourth Sundays of each month.
WEDNESDAY LUNCH AT CHURCH
Every Wednesday at Noon, you are invited to meet with our Interim Minister, Jim, at church for lunch and Bible study. The group always takes time to visit before reflecting upon the lectionary reading for the upcoming Sunday. Coffee is provided, but please bring your own lunch. There will be no Lunch on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
MEN’S BREAKFAST
Men in the church are invited to gather for breakfast every Thursday morning, at 8:00. The group meets at The Beacon restaurant in The Harborview hotel in downtown Port Washington.
SNOW CANCELLATION POLICY
With winter upon us, we want to remind you of the snow cancellation policy for our Sunday services. If it should be necessary to cancel one or both of our Sunday services, we will put a message on the church answering machine by 7:00 on Sunday morning. Please call the church office, 284-2022, if you have any doubts about the weather.
YOGA AT CHURCH
A yoga class is held in Fellowship Hall every Wednesday evening from 5:15 - 6:15. The cost is $10 per class. For more information, please contact Susan Niederfrank at susanniederfrank@gmail.com.
MEDITATION AT CHURCH
A meditation class is held in Fellowship Hall every Wednesday evening from 7:00 - 8:00. The cost is $10 per class. For more information, please contact Kierstin Cira at kierstincira@msn.com.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
An AA Group meets at our church every Sunday afternoon at 3:00. For more information, please contact the church office.