Daily Bread

April 27, 2021

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, a group of church members tripped it down to New Life Baptist Church. (Take a look at the pictures below.) There Rev. House and his team met us to share more about the homeless ministry they run in their church building every weekday. New Life Baptist Church is one of our mission partners, and we are blessed to be anticipating a visit from Rev. House to preach in worship here at fpcw on Pentecost (May 23).

Please join me in prayer using the powerful words of the 16^th-century Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila.

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Please be in prayer for our sisters and brothers in Christ at New Life. You are loved and never alone, friends!

With gratitude and Easter hope in Christ,

Pastor Jeff

On Monday, members of the mission committee traveled to the historic Pullman neighborhood to visit one of FPCW's long-standing mission partners New Life Baptist Church. Founded by the Rev. Robert House in 1989, the church serves homeless, hungry, and poor people in the community through a meal program, food pantry, clothes closet, and overnight shelter.

The group toured the facility, met with staff and guests, and was so impressed with the efforts of Rev. House and his wife to reach out and serve some of the neediest in their community. Rev House will be preaching at FPCW on Sunday, May 23, and we look forward to welcoming him and representatives from his congregation on that Sunday.

Rev House will be preaching at FPCW on Sunday, May 23, and we look forward to welcoming him and representatives from his congregation on that Sunday.

“Teach Us to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church and Today”

7 Weeks, 8:30-9:30 am, April 11 – May 30

New Adult Faith Formation Class: “Teach Us to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church and Today” (through – May 30, 8:30am over Zoom)

Have you ever wondered why we recite the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday? What did it mean for the early church? Why are we still reciting it today? What do all of its phrases mean? Why are Luke’s and Matthew’s version of it a bit different? Join us for this seven-week class as we explore this famous and formative prayer together. The recent book by Justo Gonzalez, Teach Us to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church and Today, will be our guide. Led by Pastor Jeff, we’ll gather over Zoom each Sunday for a hour beginning at 8:30am (April 11 – May 30). We’ll begin our study by diving into the uses of the Lord’s Prayer in the early church. Then, we’ll spend the remaining six weeks walking through the prayer phrase by phrase. Scanned chapters from Gonzalez are available for your edification, but reading them in advance is not required to attend the class. We are all students here – come and deepen your prayer life with us! (Zoom Link; Meeting ID: 832 3379 4440; Passcode: 389051; Call-In: 312-626-6799)

Flower Ministry

As we move to in-person worship, and live-streaming our worship services we will again have flowers on our communion table. If you would like to sign up to offer flowers in memory of or in celebration of a loved one we will post a flower chart in the narthex for you to sign up. Questions? Please reach out to Linda Malstrom if you are interested in giving flowers for worship.

Now that the staff is almost completely vaccinated we will begin to have regular office hours, 10 am - 2 pm beginning Monday, April 26th. If you need to swing by the church outside of these times let us know and we can accommodate you.

Community Caretakers:

Connecting Our Elders & Vulnerable Populations with the Vaccine

The Wilmette Village Caretakers program is working with the Women's Club of Wilmette to assist our elderly, at-risk, and less tech-savvy populations navigate the difficult online landscape of booking a vaccine appointment. They are also coordinating transportation options for those who have secured an appointment. If you are in need of help signing up for a vaccine appointment or getting to your appointment, please contact Alex Arteaga at (847) 853-7502 or arteagaa@wilmette.com. If you’d like to sign up as a volunteer to help others schedule their appointments, please click here. Thank you for supporting the health and safety of our community!