Month: May 2022

Pentecost Sunday 2022

Cheri Simonet
Pentecost Sunday

“Pentecost” comes from a Greek word meaning fiftieth day, as it falls fifty days after Easter. On this day, the Holy Spirit came with wind and flame, empowering the disciples to proclaim the good news of the risen Lord to all people. Pentecost falls on June 5th this year and we are going to celebrate the coming of the Spirit with wind, flames and the sacrament of communion!

The Worship Committee has planned some special decorations for the Sanctuary and some creative elements in our service to add to our celebration. Please plan to wear red, orange or yellow to worship that day and join in the fun as we get fired up about the Spirit!

We hope you can join us for Pentecost Sunday in-person or virtually via our Facebook livestream.

20 on 20

Cheri Simonet
Mary Belanger

The day was 20 on 20. May 20th was Mary Belanger’s 20th anniversary having served our church for 20 years. So, during worship on Sunday, May 22nd we recognized our church custodian extraordinaire as an invaluable asset to our building and community as a whole. Following worship, we celebrated this 20th anniversary milestone with a special coffee hour reception that included cake by our amazing cake-lady.

But who is Mary Belanger, really? Well, she’s a rockstar!

Mary’s a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She’s been married to John for 33 years and together they have 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Something you may not know about Mary is that she LOVES to workout. On any given day you can see her heading to the gym at 5am to get her workout in before work. And she hops on her bike and takes a ride whenever she can.

Mary says what she loves the most about being part of the church for the last 20 years is the people. The congregation and staff are what makes her work world go round.

Although Mary enjoys church cleaning, she’s less than enthusiastic (like most of us) about doing her personal cleaning at home. But at work or at home, Mary loves working outside in the yard. On any given day in spring, summer, or fall you’ll find her picking up the yard, tending to the flower beds and shrubs or making a statement on her riding lawnmower. Our landscape is as beautiful as it is thanks to Mary’s time, effort, and talent.

Mary says her B&G committee rocks and she couldn’t be happier being part of the team, and that she looks forward to being on the team for another 20 years. We should be so lucky! THANK YOU, Mary for all you do! We LOVE you!

Welcome Aubrey Elizabeth

Cheri Simonet
Aubrey Morien

On May 1st we welcomed Aubrey Elizabeth Morien into our family of faith through the holy sacrament of baptism. Aubrey, the daughter of Joel and Brittany, is three years old. She’s known for being fun, energetic, loves playing, spending time with her parents and especially loves baking with Grandma.

Aubrey is enthusiastically looking forward to participating in the next Sunday School year. We saw the excitement in her as she prepared for baptism and became part of the conversation with the grownups.

In our faith, we recognize baptism as signifying the spirituality that’ll be there for Aubrey as she grows and as a community of the faithful, we’ll foster her spiritual upbringing as she walks the path toward confirmation. Aubrey’s baptismal sponsors are Brandon and Kaylie Heider, and Ashley Rabe. The Morien family would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support as they walk forward with Aubrey on their family’s journey of faith.

Vacation Bible School 2022

Cheri Simonet
Vacation Bible School

The Christian Education Committee is excited to begin preparations for our 2022 Vacation Bible School! Our theme this year is Heroes and our lessons will include learning qualities that make heroes what they are and how we can be heroes to others in our own life. We’ll explore the Armor of God, make our own hero, and learn to trust our hero. Each evening we’ll walk through scripture, activities, crafts, songs, and games. Our goal is to cultivate children’s young faith and inspire the heroes in all of us.

Bible School is led by members of our CE Committee and is open to children aged 4 through those who have completed fifth grade. Older children and youth are welcome to participate as volunteers. This year we have four fun-filled evenings planned from July 11 through 14. We ask that children are dropped off shortly before 5:30 so our light meal can begin at 5:30, and our evening ends with class concluding at 7:30.

This is an excellent opportunity for friends, neighbors, cousins, and grandchildren. Please spread the word to members and non-members alike, the more the merrier!

Registration is online only this year so Register now. Registration deadline is Wednesday, July 6th.

To volunteer or for questions please contact our Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries, Joel Morien, at (920) 437-8121 or ce@firstpresgreenbay.org

We look forward to seeing the children at VBS in July!

New member lunch and conversation

Cheri Simonet
Welcome New Members

You have been attending worship for months, maybe even a year… you know plenty of people, some of them by name… you participate in Bible study or serve coffee fellowship or act as greeter or usher… why should you join the church?

Membership has its benefits, and we’d like you officially in the fold! Anyone interested in membership at First Presbyterian is invited to a light lunch and brief conversation with Pastor Katie following the fellowship time on Sunday, June 12th.

We will review the membership commitments in the Presbyterian Church (USA), our national denomination, talk about this church and its ministries, and answer questions participants may have. Please indicate your interest in attending by RSVP to office@firstpresgreenbay.org or call (920) 437-8121 by June 8th so box lunches may be ordered.

For more information, contact Pastor Katie at kestes@firstpresgreenbay.org or (920) 437-8121.

Outdoor Worship and Potluck Picnic

Cheri Simonet
Outdoor Worship

It was a loooooong hard winter for many of us, and we are ready to send it packing. BYOC: Bring Your Own Chair! and join us on the front lawn for a special outdoor worship experience followed by a potluck picnic on Sunday, June 26th at 10:00 a.m.

It’s time to get the church out of the building and enjoy the beautiful summer weather while we can. If you have portable chairs, bring them along, but we’ll have some folding chairs set up from here as well. We’re planning to wheel a keyboard out the front door, do away with the screen and bulletins for one week, and show the neighborhood and community that we can cut loose a little bit.

After worship, hotdogs on the grill and side dishes provided by all of you—we’ll gather for a potluck picnic and fellowship time. Maybe even a game or two!

Please sign up on the bulletin board to help with planning and indicate what you might share for our meal. All are welcome—this is a great opportunity to invite friends, neighbors and relatives to come to church with you.

Let’s have a party

Cheri Simonet
Room Rental

Please help us get the word out about our facility providing the perfect setting for small group meeting needs. Our church facility has several rooms available for rent, but primarily our Fellowship Room and Banner Hall. The rooms are great for hosting youth groups, baby showers, bridal showers, cooking classes and meeting rooms for professional and/or personal use. The convenience of kitchens attached to both rooms allow for food to be brought in by meeting organizers or have the gathering professionally catered.

Throughout the year our rental space hosts Boy Scouts of America troop, Early Head Start program, Lifeline Screening, American Red Cross blood drives, and German, painting, and cooking classes. Room rental is available seven days a week. Cost for rental is customized or complimentary based on your needs.

Please consider us as your host when you’re planning upcoming gatherings, and tell your friends, family, and neighbors to check us out next time they’re looking for a space to host their next gathering. For those who are interested, encourage them to give us a call to schedule a tour of our rooms at 920-437-8121 or email office@firstpresgreenbay.org. We look forward to the opportunity of hosting you and your friend’s upcoming or recurring events!

Church Chix are next week

Cheri Simonet
Church Chix

We are so excited to see all the women who’ve signed up to join us for our Church Chix return on June 9th! Covid knocked us out in early 2020, but you can’t keep the Church Chix down! If you haven’t signed up already, there’s still time to reserve a chair at the table for a night of fun, food and fellowship. Continue to spread the word to women of ALL ages, members, and non-members alike. The more the merrier – we’ve already received 17 RSVP’s to attend! It’s going to be one heck of a party that you and your friends don’t want to miss!

Our sign-up sheet to join is on the bulletin board or you can email an RSVP to office@firstpresgreenbay.org. During our gathering we’ll decide which day and week of the month works best for future months, so the first Thursday of the month has yet to be locked in.

Our dinner reservation is for 6:00 pm at Village Grille in Allouez off Hoffman Road. Some Chix like to meet up for a cocktail the hour before dinner so that’s an option and before our evening wraps up, we’ll decide where next month’s dinner will be, trying our best to alternate the east side of town with the west side of town. There’s no monthly commitment required – join us when you can.

For more information, please contact Linda Michael at lindan9woa@gmail.com or by calling 920-347-0261. To let us know which day/week of the month works best for you please contact office@firstpresgreenbay.org.

So, if you haven’t already RSVP’d, do it today and join the Church Chix June social for a great night of laughter that’s sure to be memorable!

We have a story to tell

Cheri Simonet
Take a Picture

We need your help. Our many events and opportunities for fellowship throughout the year make us who we are. Telling our story is how we’ll attract new members to our family of faith, and we can’t tell our story without your help.

A photographer sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board for all our upcoming events during the month of June. There’s a photographer in every one of us and a camera in just about everyone’s pocket these days. We’d love to post your pictures of our events on our social media and website to show all those in the digital sphere who we are and what we’re about. We are the storytellers of our story.

Please consider signing up as a photographer for an event that you plan to attend. Send your pics to communications@firstpresgreenbay.org. We can’t wait to see them!

Need a meal or a ride?

Cheri Simonet
Deacon Carpool

If you are temporarily in need of a meal or are needing a ride to church, the Deacons have programs in place to help.

Perhaps you’re recovering from an illness or surgery and are in need of a few meals to help you get by until you are recovered, the Deacons have a network in place to help you get through your difficult time. Please call the church office at (920) 437-8121 and we’ll make meal arrangements for you.

If you are in need of a ride to church the Deacons also have a network in place for you to be picked up, brought to church and returned home. Again, you can just call the church office at (920) 437-8121 and travel arrangements can be made to assist your needs.

As Deacons of First Presbyterian Church our primary goal is taking care of our members when difficult situations arise. Please allow us to help you with meals or a ride when the needs arise. Reach out to our office anytime Monday through Thursday between the hours of 9:30am and 2:00pm or contact our Deacon Moderator, Linda Michael, at (920) 347-0261.