Straight to the Point
May 25, 2021
COVID-19 UPDATE:
Church is open for in person services!

Due to recent CDC Covid Guidelines these changes have occured at FCUCC:

  • Masks are no longer be required in the building for fully vaccinated people. Please be respectful of those who chose to continue to wear a mask.

  • The green tape has been removed from the pews and people are allowed to sit wherever they choose.

  • We will be resuming Joys and Concerns during the church service. Since we are live streaming we will request that only first names be used.

  • Fellowship will begin again soon starting with only beverages being served.

  • The worship service will continue to be live-streamed on Facebook and You-Tube.

If you have any questions call Pam Ridgway (712-202-8304) or contact the church office.
Council Meeting

The next Council Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 20th immediately following the Sunday Church Service.
Strategy Design Team

An ad hoc Strategy Design Team has been established to develop a 1-5 year organizational plan for the church. Current committee members are Earl Miller, Jim France, Dick Owens and Barb Knepper. They are looking for 1-3 additional business minded members experienced in strategy design. If you are interested please let Michael know and he will pass that information on to the committee. If you have any questions regarding the committee please contact Pam Ridgway or any current member of the committee.
Admiration Series Book Study

The Sunday morning admiration series will be reviewing the book:
Twelve Ordinary Men
by
John F. MacArthur

(Copies are available on Amazon)
Community Central
Hosted by Lois Darrow
 The checkin will be held on 
Wednesday evening at 7 pm. 

We will send a ZOOM invitation.
Farmers to Families Food Box
Fall Festival
Submitted By Jan Nowlen
  Plans are being made for fall festival. The only definite activity at this time is the rummage sale. We have a lot of items already and will continue to accept items over the summer. Plans are to hold the sale the first weekend In October.
   Discussion will continue on holding the bake sale and Children’s Closet.
    It’s going to take a lot of volunteers to put this together so please be thinking about what you can do to help.
    Covid could change all of this but hopefully won’t.
Moving-On Box Ministry
Submitted by Ginger France
In supporting the 'gift' of moving on, we fill lives with hope and household essentials for those leaving transitional housing at CSADV, Crossroads, Welcome Home, and Women Aware.

MOB Needs:
Towels/washcloths
Saucepans
Calendars
Toasters
Dishtowels/Dishcloths
Dish soap
Dishes/bowls
Glasses (plastic, if possible)
Sanford Center
Submitted by Jan Nowlen
 The food requests for the after school program have a few additions. The items we have listed weekly are still important, but they are now expanded to include:

  •   Country Style Peppered Gravy Mix
  •   Pillsbury Southern Style Biscuits—24pack
  •   Doritos and Cheetos Mix Snack Pack
  •   Cheez-it Snapped Variety Pack
  •   Jimmy Dean Sausage and Egg and Cheese Croissants—12 pack

Chicken Nuggets
Hot dogs and buns
Individual packaged servings of chips,
Treats (no peanuts),
Fruit cups
Juice boxes
Large cans of Nacho Cheese
6 pack boxes of macaroni
  (These two items can be purchased at Sam’s Club)
Large cans of chicken noodle soup

You can drop your donations off at church or at the Sanford Center. If you would prefer to send a monetary donation, please send it directly to the Sanford Center and mark it after school meals. Thank you!
The Sanford Center Summer Program
Submitted by Jan Nowlen
The Sanford Center Summer Program will run Monday thru Friday starting June 7 thru August 13. Hours will be 7:30-4:30.

They will be opening a second location at 6100 Morningside Ave. to help serve more children. If you know anyone that might be interested, please have call Gina at the Sanford Center—-252-0581.

Our church will once again be providing cereal, juice boxes, snacks (no peanuts), and water bottles. We will need to do a bit more this year to cover both locations. Cash donations or gift cards are also welcome. You can drop your donations off at the Sanford Center or at the church.
The Warming Shelter

The Warming Shelter is one of the local agencies that we try to support. If you would like to donate to them, their currents needs list is below:

Cash to pay utilities and security staffing
Granola bars of any kind,
Tube Socks,
Brown Jersey Gloves (inexpensive ones 10/$10)
Men’s and Women’s underwear( Medium and large sizes).
The Soup Kitchen
Updates from Jan Nowlen
The Soup Kitchen has been hit hard with the expanded need of families and individuals needing food assistance during COVID-19. They have been serving well over 3,000 meals per month and are running critically low on some items and are completely out of others.
Current Soup Kitchen Needs:
Stick Butter
Bread
Hamburger Buns
Lunch Meat for Sandwiches
Egg Noodles
Sandwich Bags
Dishwasher Soap Pods
Face Masks
Erik's Closet Needs:
Hats
Gloves
Jeans
Underwear
Tennis Shoes
Shampoo
Conditioner
Lotion
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Kleenex
(Travel Sized Toiletried Preferred)
You can drop donations and gift cards off at the Soup Kitchen or Mail them to:

717 W. 7th Street
Sioux City, Iowa 51103

If you want to make a online donation to the Soup kitchen please use the following:
Venmo : @siouxland-soupkitchen
PayPal : siouxlandsoupkitchen@gmail.com
All donations can be issued a receipt for tax purposes.
Donna Popp
George Owings and family
Anne Cleghorn
Sharleen Sorum (Michelle Schwerin's mother)
Laura Traum
Madison Darrow
All Teachers and Students
Thank You, Volunteers!

A big "thank you" goes out to our volunteers who have helped with Sunday Services this week. These were:

Fill-in Minister - Todd Siefker
Worship Leader - Eileen Helvig
Live Stream - Jim France
Sound/Lighting - Kevin Knepper
Screen - Jerrod Kiernan
Directory
Managed by the Office
We are using Instant Church Directory. Printed versions of our directory are available in the narthex or by request. Please inform the office of any directory updates that you would like to include for yourself or your family. You can also pick up one of the directory update forms on the table outside the church office or find it on our website.

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.
Join Us
We invite you to engage and strengthen your faith with these practices:
 
THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP: Live Streamed on Facebook and Youtube, and recorded
We Live Stream our Sunday morning worship service via the church’s page on Facebook and Youtube at 10:30am on Sunday mornings. Each service is recorded and then available to play at any time on those platforms. If you have trouble figuring out how to access the worship service via Live Streaming or viewing the recorded services, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the church for help. 
 
THE PRACTICE OF LEARNING: Zoom learning sessions each week 9:30 a.m. each Sunday.
Engage your mind in learning, do some theological reflection, ask some hard questions about God and life, and test your embedded theology to see if that is where you are now, or where you want to be.

With Todd Siefker taking over the responsibilities of sermons on Sunday morning services and the 9:30 a.m. book study, we have temporarily suspended our Wednesday night Admiration Series meetings.
A Closing note about ZOOM:
If you don’t have the ability or the equipment to use Zoom or Facebook to participate in the practices we have named, please call the office. We will be happy to work with you in order to find a solution that will enable you to fully participate in the life of the church.

Link to our Youtube where you can watch our services live and recordings of past services:
Click HERE
Remember to Support FCUCC Financially During this Time!
Updates from Church Treasurer

FCUCC Finances for April 2021

Giving in April amounted to $11,062, all from mail-in and online giving.

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. 
        Tithe.ly is our online, app and web-based giving system. Tithe.ly is convenient because it:
·        Accepts debit, credit or bank account info
·        Can be set up for a one-time payment, or automatic regular payments
·        Can be changed at any time (there are no contracts or commitments)
Go to http://get.tithe.ly to sign up online, or download the app on any iPhone/Apple or Android device.
Church Office Hours

9a.m.-1p.m. Monday-Friday

Church Staff:

Michael Danner, Church Office

Todd Siefker, Intergenerational Coordinator

Jim McCrory, Custodian

Michael Danner, Organist

Jessica Orr, Nursery Coordinator
Church Contact Information
(712) 239-3385
office@firstcongregational.net
www.firstcongregational.net


office@firstcongregational.net

tsiefker@gmail.com

building@firstcongregational.net

office@firstcongregational.net

jessica.orr@hotmail.com
4600 Hamilton Boulevard
Sioux City, IA 51104
(712) 239-3385