Half-Day

Happiness!

Our March 5 Half-Day Hooray! event was a wonderful start to our once-a-month outreach to District 65 families looking for somewhere to spend the afternoons during teacher in-service days each month. The afternoon included gym time, stories, crafts, and music. Thank you to all who served as volunteers and to Abby Cunningham, our amazing director of children's ministry. The next session is April 9 at 12:30 p.m.

Sunday Worship Service

The Second Sunday in Lent

March 16, 2025 | 9:30 a.m.

"Everything [in] Between: Faith & Works"

Rev. Dr. Tassie Green, Interim Senior Pastor

Luke 10:38-42

In person and online!

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Bethany Vaughan Named Interim Youth Director at FPCE

First Pres member Bethany Vaughan has been named by the Our Children, Our Families Council as the church's interim youth director. Her first day will be this Sunday. Bethany has been a regular volunteer with the youth for over a year and recently traveled with the group on their trip to Wisconsin for their retreat. A professional musician, Bethany regularly helps lead worship at FPCE with both instrumentals and vocal performances. She takes over for Ben Graham, our current youth director, who will be leaving FPCE at the end of the month to move with his family to Portugal.

Confirmation Class Takes Another Field Trip Sunday Morning

Join us this Sunday as our youth confirmation students take an off-site visit to Vineyard Christian Church of Evanston, 2495 Howard Street. Students and families are asked to gather at 8:15 a.m. in the First Pres church lobby. We will take the church bus to the service at the Vineyard, which begins at 9 a.m. The group is expected to return to FPCE around 11 a.m.-ish.

Pastor from Sister Church Visits March 23

Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, senior pastor of our sister church, the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, will be with us on Sunday, March 23, 2025. He will be preaching in the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Service and then be our featured guest at a light luncheon in the Dining Room following the service. All are welcome to attend, and no reservations are needed. Rev. Isaac will share with us about the current situation in Gaza and the West Bank and discuss his soon-to-be-released book, “Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza.”  Besides his pastoral role, he is also the director of the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice and conference director of Christ at the Checkpoint.

Lectio Divina Bible Study Continues Monday at 9:30 a.m.

Rev. Dr. Tassie Green is leading a Lectio Divina Bible Study in connection with our Lenten teaching series “everything (in) between” beginning at 9:30 a.m. These classes run each week through April 14. All are invited to attend in person in Room 213 or online on Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81090885840?pwd=40ks3W9Be6jLbArgjNLUiQIDFuLqtN.1

Immigration Crisis Classes March 16 & 30

On March 16 and 30, Angela Muganwa, FPCE member and Program Manager for Community Integration for Heartland Human Care Services (HHCS) in the Greater Chicago Area, will lead a two-part class after the service at 11 a.m. in the Dining Room. This Sunday, Angela will give an overview about what is happening with immigration and refugees, including the impact of new policies and program/personnel and budget cuts. She will then train us for action on March 30 where we will be “sent out” in a number of ways (like Ruth and Naomi), two by two. Come and be part of the church’s standing with “the refugee and stranger” in our land.

Book Club to Discuss "Leaving Time" on April 1 

The Community Nurse Book Club will be discussing Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult at its April 1 meeting. The author’s website at jodipicoult.com describes the story this way: "13-year-old Jenna Metcalf is on a quest, searching for her mother, Alice, an elephant researcher, who disappeared 10 years earlier after a tragic accident."

SLC Celebrates 90th Anniversary with April 5 Event, Silent Auction

School for Little Children is celebrating its 90th anniversary on Saturday, April 5, 7-10 p.m. at FPCE on the 2nd floor. This fundraising event includes cocktails and appetizers, a silent auction, balloon pop, a wine pull, and a roving magician. SLC, Evanston's oldest part-time preschool, has been educating, nurturing, and inspiring young children in the Evanston and surrounding communities since 1934 and currently serves 120 children ages 2-6. You can purchase tickets or make a donation to the school at the link.

https://firstpresevanston.org/slc-auction

Souper Saturday Seeks Food Items for Guests

Please join us serving our community through a special food drive for Souper Saturday. Food items should be for individual servings and brought to the front desk. The foods needed are: various kinds of chips; cups of fruit; juice boxes or bottles; and cookies or sweets. No extras please. We will keep the collection going until March 30. Thank you in advance for giving to and serving others in this Lenten season. See https://firstpresevanston.org/food-drive/ for details.

Many of us have faced a challenge in our lives for which we feel there is no solution. In these uncertain times, employment layoffs, family turmoil, changes at church, or any of life's other unexpected occurrences, we are encouraged to turn to God in prayer for His help and direction. But doing so on our own can present its own challenges. 

Here at FPCE, the pastoral care group Stephen Ministry is available to be with us as we journey through life's trials and seek the recovery of a rich and clear life. Stephen Ministry offers the companionship of a trained Christian caregiver who is available to meet regularly with those who reach out, and praying for God's hand to take hold of situation.

Contact Interim Senior Pastor Tassie Green or Congregational Nurse Julie Ruchniewicz at the church office (847-874-1472). They will connect you with a Stephen Ministry member to help you through these difficult times with the love and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Mission Prayers

Praying for Jeff and Christi Boyd, Mission Partners in D.R. Congo.

Please pray for Jeff and Christi Boyd, our mission partners based in D.R. Congo, working regionally for Presbyterian Church (USA). Jeff serves as Regional Liaison for PC(USA), and Christi is Regional Facilitator for Women’s and Children’s Interests in French Speaking Africa and South Sudan for PC(USA).

Please pray for Jeff and Christi Boyd as the PC(USA) World Mission Department will officially end on March 24. Global engagement for PC(USA) will continue, but in a much different form. All mission coworker positions are terminated as of March 24, and only some will be appointed in different roles. The Boyd’s shared recently that “one of us was invited to serve as an International Ecumenical Liaison. The other has not been offered a position.” Jeff and Christi have each had established roles with PC(USA) for 35 years now. With these changes, they are faced with deciding whether to continue with only one of them having a role.

Please pray: 

• Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them as they discern where God is calling them and how God is calling them as a couple, and as individuals.
• Pray that they will have joy in serving in this new season, whether on the Mission Field, or in some other place and capacity.
• Pray for the hurt and frustration they may be experiencing as a result of only one of them having been “rehired.”
• Pray that the relationships built and established over many years in Africa, will not be broken, but can be maintained despite all the changes.
• Pray for their children, Matteus, Salome, and Naomi, living in the Netherlands that as they see their parents make these next decisions, that they will be encouraged and built up as a family.
• Pray that Jeff and Christi thrive as they serve Christ, whatever that looks like in the future. 
• Give thanks for their selfless dedication and service to Christ, for perseverance through many very hard times, and for the love they have poured out to so many.

May “The Lord watch over their coming and going now and forevermore.” Ps 121:8

Session Meeting Summary

February 25, 2025