News and Announcements
In Memoriam
Special Thanks
• To the crew that took down the Christmas tree lot on December 19: Bill Bond, Mike Jaquet, Bradd Lemke, Angelo Lopez, Joe Rychtik, Matt Schlehlein and Scott Symes.
• To the following families who contributed to one or more of the six community organizations that our church supports on an ongoing basis as a Christmas Gift: Joy Bloemer, Allen and Patt Cottrell, Brett and Jennifer Dimmer, David Franks and Louise Mollinger, Dave and Jeanne Mantsch, and Jerry and Sara Packard.
• To the following folks who helped support Family Promise's Christmas efforts: Jeanne Mantsch, Terry McManus, Matt and Sarah Riemer, Jane Schneider and Dianne Taylor.
• To Phil Stepanski and Tracy Bretl for changing our Sanctuary windows for Advent.
• To Nicki Lesnik and her family for setting up and decorating our Christmas tree in the Sanctuary.
• To Lorraine Halls for facilitating the distribution of Advent Candles to every church member and friend. Thanks to Council members Jeanne Mantsch, Bill Bond, Marti DeMario and Mike Spalding and helpers Lynn Baierl, Joe and Bev Mueller, Peter Muehleis and Karl Pradel for delivering candles.
• To Kathy Bretl for being appointed to serve as our church Treasurer.
• To Barb Olson for her work ensuring our website is secure.
• To the over two dozen high school students who unloaded our Christmas trees (over 400!) on Tuesday, November 24. 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 Connor and Jodi Cowen and family for stamping, labeling, folding, stuffing and sealing the Stewardship Materials!
• To Jane Spalding for helping with our Christmas wreath bows for the tree sale.
• To Peter Muehleis for putting the garbage bins at the curb each week.
• To Joe Mueller and Claude Zimmerman for conducting weekly walk-throughs of the church building and grounds.
Archives
November 1, 2020
October 21, 2020
October 14, 2020
CANDLELIGHTING ZOOM GATHERINGS
DECEMBER 22 and 24 (CHRISTMAS EVE)
We invite you to gather with us via Zoom at 6:00 on Tuesday evening, December 22, the last Tuesday evening of Advent and also at 6:00 on Christmas Eve. Members and friends are invited to light candles at home as Rev. Don lights candles in the Sanctuary and shares Scripture and other readings. Each gathering will last 10-15 minutes. Please email Amy Gilhooly, our Communications Director, at amyg@portucc.org, for the Zoom link.
December 22 - The Candle of Love
December 24 - The Christ Candle
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST
Do you have some Christmas music to share? Members and friends of the congregation are invited to share their own performances of Christmas music as part of a First Congregational Church Christmas Playlist, to be released on YouTube on Christmas Day. It will include a number of staff members performing in addition to members of the Chancel Choir. If you're interested, just upload your performance to YouTube and share it with Brett Dimmer at brettdimmer@gmail.com. Please submit by Wednesday, December 23. All ages and skill levels are welcome!
PRIVATE TIME IN THE SANCTUARY
Individuals and households are invited to spend some quiet, private time in the Sanctuary between now and Epiphany. We will open the space for one visit between 10:00-11:00 each day. Plan to keep your coat on! To schedule a visit, please text Rev. Don at (262) 339-7123.
STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN - REMINDER
The Stewardship Committee thanks the almost 80 individuals and families who have completed and sent in their pledge forms. We are halfway to our pledge goal of $215,000. The Committee would like to encourage everyone who have not yet pledged to Ponder their love of the church, Plan their giving, and Respond by sending in the form or submitting their pledge online! Please visit the Stewardship page on our website for more information and forms.
CHRISTMAS TREE SALE - UPDATE
Our 35th Annual Christmas Tree Sale was a success! All of our trees and wreaths sold out mid-way through December. Many thanks to everyone who supported the sale!
WE HAVE OFFICIALLY CALLED OUR NEXT MINISTER
Our church officially called a new settled minister to our church at the end of September, after a unanimous affirmative vote. Rev. Scott McLeod will begin serving our church on January 1, 2021. You can get to know Pastor Scott and his wife by watching a Virtual Meet and Greet. We also invite you to view the Call Sunday Church Service that Pastor Scott conducted. A warm welcome to Pastor Scott!
DON NIEDERFRANK TO SERVE THROUGH END OF YEAR
Rev. Don Niederfrank (one of our church members and retired UCC minister) is serving as our Interim Minister through the end of December. Don conducts our virtual church services, holds a weekly meeting with our office staff, and is available for pastoral care. We appreciate Don's service and support during our continued time of transition!
STAR ORNAMENTS - THANK YOU
Special thanks to all of the kids who decorated wooden star ornaments to give to our customers at our Christmas Tree Sale! All of the ornaments turned out extraordinary! Check out some of the completed ornaments by clicking here.
FALL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING AND BUDGET REQUEST
Our annual Fall Congregational Meeting was held on November 29. Thank you to everyone who attended. Jeanne Mantsch, our Church Moderator, prepared a Meeting Summary for those who were not able to be in attendance. The main item of business was the presentation of the proposed 2021 Church Budget. If you would like to receive a copy of the proposed budget, please email Lorraine Halls, our Financial Administrator, at lorraine@portucc.org. We vote on the budget in January.
OUR FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR
Lorraine Halls has been officially hired as our Financial Administrator. Lorraine is transitioning to this position after serving as Treasurer for almost four years. We welcome Lorraine to our office staff! Lorraine can be contacted at lorraine@portucc.org.
LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH MINISTRY
Lighthouse Youth Ministry has two updates they asked that we share. First, they have hired a new Youth Director. Second, they will be meeting virtually via Zoom for the remainder of the year. As always, all middle and high school kids are invited to participate. For more information, you may click here.
lighthouseyouth.org/events-calendar
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. If you would like your child to participate, please email Amy Gilhooly, our Communications Director, at amyg@portucc.org.
"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!
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 was $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.
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.
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.
