Month: October 2022

You’re Invited to Trunk-or-Treat 2022!

Cheri Simonet

Spread the word to friends, family and neighbors!

All are invited to our

Halloween Trunk-or-Treat event!

Sunday, October 30th at 2pm

Trunks of cars will be open and decorated for Halloween and parked around the perimeter of First Presbyterian Church’s parking lot located at 200 South Ashland Avenue, Green Bay.

We invite everyone to come and trick-or-treat at our trunks moving from one car to the next to collect treats, and perhaps play a game along the way.

Please pass this on to all those little ghouls and goblins that you know, and join us!

All Saints Sunday 2022

Cheri Simonet
All Saints Sunday

For all the saints, who from their labors rest…

November brings us to a season of thanksgiving, and we are surely thankful for all the “saints” of this congregation and throughout our extended families who have gone on to their heavenly homes in the past year.

On Sunday, November 6 we will celebrate All Saints’ Day in worship, remembering especially Marjorie Crowl, Carol Houston, Bob Nickel, Ginny Nixon, Alan Russell, and Beverly Wood.

We have reached out to surviving family members, inviting them to participate in this special celebration. We are looking for a picture or two of each deceased member to project during the worship service. As those photos are projected, we will join in prayer for all the saints and remember each name. As the names are read, a family member or friend will come forward to light a candle for each one. Following the recognition of all our members, others will be invited to come forward and light a candle for a friend or family member they have lost in the last year as well.

We remember and give thanks for all those who have gone before us to show us the way—don’t miss this special worship experience.

Advent Workshop 2022

Cheri Simonet
Advent Workshop

Sunday, November 27

It seems like we barely put away the Thanksgiving leftovers and suddenly it is Advent! Advent begins this year on Sunday, November 27th and we will kick off the season with our annual Advent workshop following worship.

Open to all ages, this event will feature crafts, activities, and Kevin’s famous chili lunch. Plans are shaping up for some very special gift-making stations, so you can get a jump on your gift list by creating homemade hot cocoa spoons or soup mixes.

We also plan to include an opportunity to decorate gift bags for meals that go out through the ADRC (Aging & Disability Resource Center). And of course, as always, we’ll have cut-out cookies to decorate (and eat!).

Please join us for this all-church celebration.

Christmas Prayer Baskets 2022

Cheri Simonet
Christmas Prayer Baskets

Sunday, November 20

We are excited to once again be ‘adopting’ three families from nearby Tank Elementary School to bless with our love, prayers and Christmas gifts and a meal. We will obtain wish lists for the children and adults in each family and those wishes will be in three separate baskets on the table in the back of the Narthex. Members should take a tag or tags from the baskets and return gifts to the church unwrapped by December 15. Monetary contributions are also welcome.

We are also in need of individuals or households who would be willing to coordinate each of the three families. The coordinator’s role is to make sure the wishes are distributed and returned, then to deliver the gifts and meal. Our youth will wrap and tag all the gifts.

If you’re interested in becoming one of the coordinators, please contact the church office at office@firstpresgreenbay.org or sign-up sheets are on the Outreach bulletin board below the steps.

Thank you for your support!

FMSC 2022 MobilePack Rundown

Cheri Simonet
FMSC MobilePack

The 2022 Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Mobilepack was a great success during the week of October 3rd! 

Over 614,520 meals were packed during the Mobilepack, which will feed 1683 kids for an entire year!! 

There were over 2,800 volunteers that came to pack food during the 10 different packing sessions. There were also 75 different event support volunteers from the churches that worked in greeting, registration, and roving to make sure everything ran smoothly.

While the Green Bay Mobilepack is finished for the year, we are still in need of donations to help cover the cost of the food that was packed. 

Please prayerfully consider a generous donation to this worthy cause. Select FMSC in the dropdown menu and Donate Now!

And, check out our 2022 Photo Gallery!

Thank you for your support!

YouTube Channel Debut – Subscribe Today!

Cheri Simonet

The Communications and Technology committee is excited to share that our @FirstPresGB YouTube channel has debuted!

Please visit First Presbyterian Church of Green Bay – YouTube to watch the latest and greatest from our video gallery, and while you’re out there please SUBSCRIBE!

Our complete collection of Gestures of Generosity videos are on the channel for your viewing. Our first video, Motivations for Giving, was shared during worship earlier in October. Even if you viewed the videos when they premiered during worship, they’re worth viewing again so please visit our channel. And, if you missed it in worship you haven’t missed out altogether – visit our channel!

Thanks to our videographer, Tom Shoffelman, for your incredible, creative, talent! And, although our Gestures of Generosity videos are complete and commitment Sunday has passed, it’s not too late to turn in your pledge card so please send those in soon.

Our worship video archive will remain housed on our Facebook Livestream video archive.

FUPC 2022 Thanksgiving

Cheri Simonet
FUPC 2022 Thanksgiving

Saturday, November 19

Our sisters and brothers in Christ at First United Presbyterian Church in DePere have invited us to join them for a special worship service celebrating Thanksgiving followed by a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, November 19.

Worship will be at 4:00 pm and will include choir members from both congregations as well as Pastor Katie alongside Pastors Meggan and Luke. Who knows what creative elements might be included!

Dinner will follow the service and all are welcome. Please sign up on the bulletin board or call the church office to have your name added to the list. We will arrange for transportation as needed. Let’s have a big showing from our congregation in response to this gracious invitation—we ALL have so much to be thankful for.

Reading Corner – What Kind of Christianity

Cheri Simonet
What Kind of Christianity

A History of Slavery and Anti-Black Racism in the Presbyterian Church

Like most Americans, Presbyterians in the United States know woefully little about the history of slavery and the rise of anti-Black racism in our country. Most think of slavery as a tragedy that “just happened” without considering how it happened and who was involved.

In What Kind of Christianity William Yoo paints an accurate picture of the complicity of the majority of Presbyterians in promoting, supporting, or willfully ignoring the enslavement of other human beings. Most Presbyterians knew of the widespread physical and sexual violence that enslavers visited on the enslaved, and either approved of it or did nothing to prevent it. Most Presbyterians in the nineteenth century-whether in the South or the North–held racist attitudes toward African Americans and put those attitudes into daily application.

In short, during that period when the Presbyterian church was establishing itself as a central part of American life most of its members were promoting slavery and anti-Black racism. In this important book William Yoo demonstrates that to understand how Presbyterian Christians can promote racial justice today, they must first understand and acknowledge how deeply racial injustice is embedded in their history and identity as a denomination.

November 2022 Church Chix Social

Cheri Simonet
Church Chix

Please join us, Chix, for our November Church Chix social on Thursday, November 3rd!

Our dinner reservation is for 6:00pm at The OC located at 465 Marina Lane. 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.

To attend, you can email an RSVP to office@firstpresgreenbay.org or there’s a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board.

For more information, please contact Linda Michael at lindan9woa@gmail.com or by calling 920-347-0261.

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

November 2022 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Congratulations Eric Sperduto!

Aaron and Jody Sperduto’s son, Eric, was recognized in October by the Green Bay West Rotary Club as one of their Students of the Month. Eric is a senior at Pulaski High School. Congratulations on your accomplishment, Eric!

Fall Clean-up THANKS!

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful fall day to do our fall clean-up! It was sunny, warm and in the 70’s which made our chores feel far less chore like. The yard was cleaned up and the windows were washed. So much was accomplished thanks to the help of our amazing volunteers—Pat McCormick and his granddaughter, Grace, Pete Blashka, Dave and Lisa Solper, Judy Knutzen-Nerad, Kirke Ryder (our magician on windows), Joel Morien and John Belanger. Mary says a big THANK YOU to one and all! We couldn’t have gotten it done without you!

BURM Conference

What can be said about connecting with our partners in Russia, the Christians in Ukraine who are suffering from the war, the refugees in Belarus who are being used as pawns in a political game, the authoritarian regimes that are rising to political power in Europe and elsewhere, and the fact that we’re fighting wars over access to fossil fuels that are also degrading our planet?

Lots can be said, and lots was said – we learned so much at the Belarus, Ukraine, Russia Mission (BURM) Network conference October 6-8. We were honored to host the event in-person and virtually via our Facebook Livestream. There was a LOT of great information. Ellen Smith, our mission co-worker shared her recent newsletter telling us about how refugees in Belarus are at risk and details about her recent travels. Everyone walked away with a better understanding of the region, its challenges and what we can do to get involved. For more visit BURM 2022 Network Conference Rundown.

Confirmation Class and Apple Crisps

On Sunday, October 23 our Confirmation Class gathered to make and bake apple crisps for some of our homebound members. There were lots of apples to peel and dice, LOTS—dozens of apples. Later that afternoon the crisps were delivered to great acclaim and appreciation. Thank you to our confirmation class for your outreach efforts!