Greetings! we are pleased to present your 2018 November - December First Presbyterian Church of Green Bay newsletter!
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"Food for Thought" by
Pastor Randy
Five Focus Points
I recently spent a week at Princeton Seminary to attend a class on “transitional ministry.” This phrase has been coined in the last few years to describe how pastors and congregations can be successful in these rapidly changing times. There is no longer a settled or stable ministry. Change is the new constant. One of the things I learned is that, in the midst of change, healthy congregations work on five focus points: heritage, mission, connections, leadership and future.
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Stewardship Sunday & Potluck Dinner
November 4
The kitchen table will be our communion table, as Jesus is our host and provides abundantly. Please join us on Sunday, November 4 at 10:00 a.m. Pledge cards are returned, followed by an old-fashioned pot-luck dinner immediately following the service. Please join us for this special morning!
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Christian Formation
by Ben Menghini
Greetings First Presbyterians,
October has been a busy time around the church with programs new and old. In November I will already have been at the church as the Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministry for four months, although sometimes it feels like I just started yesterday. Blakeley and I have enjoyed familiarizing ourselves with this church and the people in it as we have also become acquainted with Green Bay and De Pere.
This month the Christian Education committee has embarked on an ambitious but necessary task: updating our CE Goals for the first time in 10 years. For perspective, the last set of CE Goals were adopted in May of 2008, the same week that I was graduating from high school! In a decade a church can experience a lot of change, both in its own culture and in the culture it is ministering to.
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Presbyterian Pantry Update
by Mary Ginnebaugh
As many know, our church, Wequiock Presbyterian, and First United Presbyterian De Pere are the three churches that support the Presbyterian Pantry housed in the basement of our church. Becoming an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization in 2015, we have worked with the UW Extension Nutrition Education program to ensure we are providing nutritious food, as well as giving nutrition counselling to help people make healthy food choices. In 2017 our Pantry received a $4,000 grant from the Green Bay Packer Foundation to purchase a commercial refrigeration unit so we can now receive more fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt.
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Sunday School
November & December
Our Sunday School teacher in November is Brenda Hubbard. She will teach our children about the crazy family we all share in the church. Lessons will include how we forgive one another, and the different kinds of families that make up the church.
In December George Hubbard will teach Sunday School. George will lead the children through God’s Promise. These lessons point to Jesus as our hope in Advent.
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Presbyterian Pantry
Nov. & Dec. Needs / A God Story - Pantry Recipient Gives Back
For November, the Pantry volunteers are requesting donations of toilet paper, and for December, canned fruit. You can place them in the shopping cart in the narthex at your convenience. Don't forget, the Pantry can always use monetary donations as well!
For Genia Swafford, the Presbyterian Pantry was one of the places that helped her and her children get back on their feet again, and she wanted to give back. Her story ended up in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (this is a photo of the Press-Gazette photographer getting photos of them in the Pantry, prior to them interviewing Genia.
Read how this came about in the full article on our website Pantry page here. You'll also be able to access the Press-Gazette article there.
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Toy Shop Collection
November 1-30
Remember that we are collecting new (or very, very gently used) toys for any age for the Christmas Toy Shop. We need lots of donations! You can drop them off in the Toy Chest in the corner of the hallway from November 1-30. The Christmas Toy Shop will be on December 11 during Pantry. Parents and grandparents are brought through the room off Banner Hall so that they can select items for their children, while the children visit Santa.
Also, you can donate money and Jane Bies will shop for you! You can give by check (write “Toy Shop” in the memo line) or online. If you have any questions, contact Jane at (920) 621-6400 or email her at mrskakelady04@aol.com.
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Church Chix will meet November 6 at Angelina’s at 6:00 p.m.
Look for the signup sheet on the bulletin board.
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Collage Class
November 8 & 12
Do you have memorabilia sitting in drawers and closets, but no idea what to do with it? Bring those memories out into the light as a collage and work of art. Join our own Patcee Bucher and watercolor painter Sue Curtsinger for two sessions of collage art. Session 1 is composition and gluing, and Session 2 is painting and decorating. Bring your favorite memories, poems, and magazines, and a cookie sheet to transport your (drying) collage.
Session 1: Thursday,
November 8 at 6:30 pm
Session 2: Monday,
November 12 at 6:30 pm
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Prayer Baskets
November 18 - December 13
The Outreach Committee Ministry provides a complete Christmas for 3 families from Tank School, and we collect all the items needed from November 18 - December 13.
Each family receives blankets and a complete Christmas dinner. We will have 3 trees in the back of the sanctuary with tags identifying special gifts for our Baby Jesus, Star, and Angel families. Please feel free to take as many tags as you'd like - just put the tag on an UNWRAPPED gift and return it to the church. The Youth Group will wrap all the gifts during their sleepover in December. We will need 3 family coordinators - please let Stephanie Fahringer know if you can help!
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Joint Thanksgiving Service
November 20
You are invited to a joint Thanksgiving Service with First United Presbyterian Church of De Pere on Tuesday, November 20, at 7:00 p.m. Andy Parks, First United's Chancel Choir Director, will lead the combined choir in singing the anthem John Rutter's "For the Beauty of the Earth." The offering will be for the Presbyterian Pantry of Green Bay and Pastor Randy will be preaching. The service will be held at the De Pere church (605 N. Webster) and is a day earlier that we have done it in the past (Tuesday night rather than Wednesday night.) We hope you'll be there!
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Advent Workshop
November 25
Join us for an Advent Workshop on Sunday, November 25 following worship. We'll again have a craft, wreath-making, and cookie decorating. Sandwiches and fun will be shared.
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Youth Lock-In
December 14
We will meet at church at 6:30 on Friday. The Unga Bunga Tribe Youth Group will wrap the gifts donated through the Prayer Baskets effort, for the three families from Tank School who most need the Christmas assistance.
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Chantelles Concert
December 15
Enjoy Holiday Cheer AND Benefit the Pantry! Saturday, December 15, at 2:00 p.m., join us for the Chantelles Christmas Concert which will be benefiting the Presbyterian Pantry. It will be held this year here at First Pres.
Let us help you "get in the mood" for Christmas. The Chantelles offer traditional, secular & novelty songs. A little dancing, a bit of "sing-a-long" and lots of smiles, just for our audience. Admission via canned food or cash donation to go to the Pantry.
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Christmas Eve Pageant
5:30 pm December 24
Be sure to join us at the Christmas Eve (December 24) service at 4:30 p.m. for a performance by the young people of "Crazy, Busy, Peaceful Holy Night", which focuses on a family running in every direction and potentially missing the peace of Christ in the midst of Christmas craziness. The pageant will be organized and produced by Mary Steeno, Jenn Christianson, Jill Stenson, and Amy Wittman. Contact Mary, Jenn, or Amy to let us know your child(ren) will be part of it. We will start practicing the music on Sundays at 9:15 a.m. mid-November (watch for dates.) Rehearsals will be on December 15 and 22 in the morning (watch for time).
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Christmas Eve Service
7:30 pm December 24
The second service on Christmas Eve will be a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. The service will include a recounting of the Christmas story, congregational singing, and special music by vocalists and instrumentalists. The service begins at 7:30 p.m. with an extended prelude beginning at 7:00 p.m.
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Welcome to Rose Schumacher
Our new Chancel Choir Accompanist
Rose joined the staff of First Presbyterian in August 2018. She has taken piano lessons since she was six years old. She also plays organ and takes voice lessons.
She is in high school, and she and her two sisters have been home-schooled their whole lives. She enjoys singing, acting in community theater, composing music, making films with her sisters, drawing, painting, and sewing.
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Christian Gehri
Update
For those who missed it on Facebook, we thought you'd enjoy an update on Christian Gehri, who is playing in the UW Madison Marching Band. Christian says "The band takes up a majority of my free time so that is what I mostly do. I have some performances throughout the state that we call gigs which are a ton of fun. Other than that I really enjoy spending time with my four housemates who are also in the drumline and have become some of my closest friends. The band is a ton of very hard work, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. This is a photo from last year but it is probably the best photo of me in my uniform. It also was featured in the 2018 band calendar in the photo montage they have for each month!" Wonderful to hear what's happening with you Christian. Keep up the great work and God bless!
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3rd - Delores Nelson; Robert Nickel;
Eli Solper
4th - Christian Gehri; Nancy Kwaterski;
Sandra Siewert
8th - Leah Joslyn; Donald Krueger;
Taylor Wittman
10th - William Price
12th - John Jansen
13th - Scott Zernicke
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14th - Connie Early; James Jansen
17th - Alyssa Thomas
18th - Andrea Christensen
20th - Diane Anderson; Floyd Bucher;
Alexander Leicht
21st - Anthony Young
23rd - Matt Gehri
26th - Virginia Nixon
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1st - Deb Shober
2nd - Joshua Kabacinski;
Samantha Phillips
3rd - Ruby Korver
5th - John Early; Eleanor Gauthier;
Kathyrine Gauthier
6th - Patcee Bucher; Russell Hansen;
Sue Mattison
7th - Tracie Davis
8th - Jay Rietz
10th - Pat Piaskowski; Jim Weise
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11th - Kelly Charapata; Debbie Gauthier
12th - Russ Christensen; Beth Ryder
15th - Gary McNitt; Thongdy Sisavath
21st - Jessica Gauthier; Ashley McCormick
22nd - Kirke Ryder
24th - Barbara Leicht; David Nero;
Ted Schimmel
26th - Peggy Wolfe
29th - Kenneth Solper
30th - Wyatt Laughrin
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