Springtime is here and Senior's are graduating! Please send any applications for the First Congregational Graduating Senior Scholarship to the office and/or treasurer as soon as possible. Application is simply your name and relationship to the church, including an essay about what it means to you to be a part of First Congregational in Sioux City.

  The date for the rummage sale has been set for the last weekend in June. With the large accumulation of items we have, we need to start much earlier than usual to get ready on time. We will be setting up tables and bringing items down from the storage rooms on Wednesday, May 4, at 6:00. Todd is going to staff part of our workers from some of his students. We will still need all the help we can get for that set-up time and look forward to seeing you there. We will also be adding a daytime work slot so that those of you who would prefer to help out during the day will have the opportunity to do so. We will also keep our Wednesday evening time slot.

We have also given thought to expanding the sale days to allow for the last day to be a free day. We would run the regular sale on Thursday and Friday and then have a “Free Day” on Saturday. This would allow for us to get rid of a lot more things and not have so much to pack up. This would also add more time slots for workers. Please Let me know your thoughts on this.

As I pointed out last week, each Sunday of Easter has a special emphasis: 

Easter Sunday and Pentecost correspond to pre-existing Jewish feasts: The first day of Pesach (פסח) and the holiday of Shavu'ot (שבועות). 

The first eight days constitute the Octave of Easter.

The Ascension of Our Lord is celebrated on the 40th day of Eastertide (a Thursday).

Eastertide ends with the third major festival of the Church year, The Day of Pentecost. In the meantime, we will hear wonderful biblical accounts of what Jesus did between the Resurrection and his Ascension into heaven.

The Sleep in Heavenly Peace organization will be moving a new space which is not conducive to store mattresses and bedding. Council and Building and Grounds have approved allowing them to use space on the second floor for that purpose. They will be moving in here soon. We are thankful that we can provide space for this wonderful organization!

The Open and Affirming Task Force has had its first meeting in which we looked at the process through which the task force and the entire congregation will use to meet the requirements to become an official Open and Affirming Congregation. We plan to meet twice a month and will keep the congregation informed of our process. Please keep us in your prayers as we move forward to live into our sign at the bottom of the stairway to the second floor: “Jesus didn’t reject people. Neither do we.”

In August of 1932, Thomas Andrew Dorsey was at a revival meeting in St. Louis, Missouri when he was notified by telegram that his wife had died. The telegram read, “Your wife just died.” A friend drove him home through the night. When he got home, he discovered that his newborn son had also died. Although Dorsey grew up as a preacher’s kid, he cried out upon hearing the news, “God, you’re not worth a dime to me right now.”

Within a week, he reported that a strange calm came over him. A few weeks later he wrote this heart-wrenching hymn, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” It was performed at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in South Chicago, Illinois for the first time.

“Precious Lord, Take My Hand” was one of over 250 gospel songs Thomas Dorsey wrote. “Peace in the Valley” is another famous one.

“Precious Lord, Take My Hand” has been published in over forty languages. It was one of the favorite songs of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

May’s Mission of the Month is Mary Treglia Community House. After a meeting with Mercedes Dimas from Mary Treglia, the Missions Committee decided there is a terrific need for help in resettling Afghan refugees in our area. Mercedes listed a few areas in which we could be of help: financially – many of the refugees that have been brought to this area by an area business has provided little support for these folks and they are in great need of things to set up an apartment as some of them are living in hotels, English as a second language teachers – Mary Treglia is providing ESL classes each Tuesday and Thursday evenings and they can use help with these classes, mentoring – these people need to have someone with whom they can relate, ask questions and get information when needed, transportation – there is a need for transportation to appointments, etc., they all have transportation to and from work, it is just other things. Gift cards to Wal-Mart would be greatly appreciated, if you want to help with providing gift cards, the best way would be to write a check to the church with “gift card” on the memo line. The Missions Committee will purchase the gift cards and get them to Mary Treglia.

If you would like to help in any of these areas, please let someone on the Missions Committee know or if you have questions, please ask. 

Members of the Missions Committee are: Ginger France, Peggy Hoffmeyer, Ruth Holder, Jan Nowlen and Donna Popp.

In supporting the 'gift' of moving on, we fill lives with hope and household essentials for those leaving transitional housing at Safe Place and Welcome Home.

Dishes/Bowls/Silverware

Saucepans

Cookie sheets

Cake Pans

Bath towels

Toasters

Dish cloths

Calendars

Laundry Soap

A big "thank you" goes out to our volunteers who helped with services this week.

Worship Leader- Anne Shaner

Live Stream- Pam Ridgway/Jerrod Kiernan

Sound/Lighting- Kevin Knepper

 Screen- Jerrod Kiernan

To access the directory online visit members.instantchurchdirectory.com and you should be able to create a login using the email listed in the church directory. If you need any help accessing the directory or would like a copy emailed to you, contact the church office for assistance.

Click HERE

Giving last month amounted to $12,291, from mail-in, online giving, and Sunday offerings.

You can help us stay on track by mailing in your check or setting up an automatic payment from your bank. You can also contribute through a simple app called Tithe.ly. 

Go to http://get.tithe.ly to sign up online, or download the app on any iPhone/Apple or Android device.

Sunday 11:30am-3:30pm

Monday-Thursday 9am-1pm

Monday 9am-12pm, 1pm-4pm

Tuesday 2pm-5pm

Wednesday 2pm-5pm

Thursday 9am-12pm, 1pm-4pm