Straight to the Point
June 22, 2021
Guest Minister Rev. Dr. Bob Summers-Here June 27th
Submitted by Dick & Verlee Owens 
It is my privilege to introduce you to the Dr. Bob & Juliet Summers. It only took a little arm twisting to convince them to take a few days off and come for a short visit with us. Since they were coming for the weekend, and Bob being a  retired UCC pastor after 37 years of ministry, I decided the polite thing to do was to invite him to prepare a sermon for us, and he agreed. I was sure he would because Bob has a passion for worship. He frequently reminds people that “ I see worship partly through the lens of learning. “ Further, he views sermons as an educational moment that may lead to a new emotional response.

My first acquaintance with Bob came about because of our shared interest in the United Church of Christ and the positive influence it has had on our lives.  Both of us  believe that the UCC embraces both a conditional and unconditional covenant which forms a continuum, from traditional to progressive. The traditional parts embrace a conditional covenant and the more progressive parts embrace an unconditional covenant. We are stronger as a domination by holding these two sides of our covenant in tension.  

Please join with us on June 27th as we welcome  Dr. Bob and his wife, Juliet to our Sunday morning service.

Dick & Verlee Owens 
Owings' Family
Thanks to all who donated to the collection for Samantha (George Owing's daughter).  Thanks to your generosity, we were able to deliver a check for $1,000 to Samantha.

George Owings' daughter, Samantha, recently lost her husband in a motorcycle accident. She is expecting their first baby (George's first grandchild) in about a month. If you would like to give a monetary gift to show support and love to Samantha, it can be mailed to the church office with notation made on the memo line.

George Owings-"What my daughter really needs right now is a working vehicle~something reliable that she can get to her doctor's appointments."
If you or someone you know can help with this need, please let me know or call the church office (712) 239-3385.

Our gifts are a tangible way to share Christ's love with Samantha and her dad, George, at this difficult time.  

Thank you~
Ginger France
Missions Committee
Pastoral Search Committee 
Submitted by Earl Miller
The committee has been actively receiving pastor profiles since we posted the church profile in early April.  Each candidate offers a unique opportunity for us and our goal is to bring forward a candidate that you all can embrace and rally behind. That is a tough goal but one we are committed to in our work. Our committee meets weekly on average as a group and several times a week in smaller groups. The future of FCUCC looks bright and we are carefully discerning who we would like to recommend to the congregation as the next pastor to help lead us. We are optimistic that we will find the right candidate in the time that God determines is appropriate.
 
Your prayers for our discernment are welcome.

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)
Carrie Lego Munoz Recieves Georgia Teaching Award
Submitted By Brad Lego
Carrie, daughter of Weny and Brad Lego, recently received the 2021 Georgia Regent's Award for Teaching and Learning. Carrie is an assistant professor of Marketing at the University of North Georgia. In other good news, her son's finished their school year with honors!
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.
ARC Summer Program
Submitted by Jan Nowlen
We are happy to welcome the ARC summer program to our church.  They will be using the upstairs rooms for the next five weeks.

ARC of Woodbury County is a non-profit organization founded in 1954 and affiliated with ARC of Iowa and the ARC of the United States.  ARC of the United States is the nations largest non-profit,volunteer organization devoted to improving the lives of people with disabilities.  ARC of Woodbury County is driven be a single goal---to do our part in making the world a better place for all.

Church members have been asked to provide snacks for the participants--28 young people ranging in age from 5 to 22 and 15 staff---on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next 5 weeks.  Snack time is between 9:30 and 10:30 each day.  We have two slots left to fill.  Please call Jan Nowlen at 490-5328 if you would be able to help out.  Snacks can be things like cookies, chips, fruit snacks, bars, etc.  Each item needs to be individually wrapped.  If you can help pass out the snacks, that would be good to and help provide interaction with the participants.

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 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.

We are delivering our second grocery cart of donations this week and welcome more items each week.
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)
The Warming Shelter
Submitted By Jan Nowlen
The Warming Shelter has closed until winter arrives again. They are open two days a week so laundry can be done and also so people who use the facility to get out of the heat. Portable showers are also open a couple days a week. Donations can be used now or when they reopen. The Warming Shelter now has a list of items on Amazon that you can order and they will be delivered direct to The Warming Shelter.  You can go to The Warming Shelter's website and get the direct connection to Amazon.

Warming Shelter Wish List
Juice Boxes
Fruit Cups
Ramen Cup-o-noodles
Granola Bars
Individual Wrapped Snacks

Styrofoam Cups
Plastic Cutlery
Napkins
Paper Towels
Socks (All Sizes)
Foot Powder
Hand Warmers
Shampoo
Body Wash
Shaving Supplies

Laudry Soap
Bleach
Floor Cleaner
Toilet Cleaner
Disinfectant Wipes
Air Fresheners
The Soup Kitchen
Updates from Jan Nowlen
The Soup Kitchen is accepting school supplies for thos that need them in preperation for the upcoming school year and to help with summer school and camp activities. You can drop off new school supplies now between 12-4pm Mon-Fri at the back door. There is a doorbell if It's Locked. The Soup Kitchen now has a list of items on Amazon that you can order and they will be delivered direct to the Soup Kitchen. You can go to the Soup Kitchen's website and get the direct connection to Amazon.

Current Soup Kitchen Needs:
Highlighters
Wide ruled notebooks
3 Subject notebooks
3 Ring binders
folders
Expo fine tip dry erase markers
Basic markers
#2 Pencils
pens

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
Donate to the Soup Kitchen Online!
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
Lois Darrow
Madison Darrow

Thank You, Volunteers!

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

Fill-in Minister - Todd Siefker
Worship Leader - Barb Knepper
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.
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.
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. Every service is recorded and available to play at any time on those platforms. If you have trouble, 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 through theological reflection, asking hard questions about God and life, and test your embedded theology to see if that where you want to be.

With Todd Siefker taking over the responsibility of the Sunday sermon and 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 these practices, please call the office. We will be happy to help you find a solution 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
FCUCC Finances for May 2021
Updates from Church Treasurer
Giving in May amounted to $10,590, 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. It's 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.
Remember to Support FCUCC Financially During this Time!
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