Month: June 2024

2024 Ordination and Installation

Cheri Simonet
Deacons
Elders

Sunday, July 14th

“There are varieties of gifts, but it is the same Spirit who gives them. There are different ways of serving God, but it is the same Lord who is served…Together we are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.”

These words, taken from the service of ordination and installation in the PC(USA), are a reminder of our calling to service in the church. This is the time of year when our Deacons and Elders complete terms of service and begin new ones.

With many thanks to outgoing Deacon Linda Christensen and outgoing Elders Jane Bies and Jon Tessier, we are pleased to welcome new Deacon Mike Melton, as well as new Elders Kirke Ryder and Deb Shober to service! They have each served in various ministries prior to this term and bring a wealth of experience to their roles. The Session has set the date of Sunday July 14, 2024 for their ordination and installation in worship and they begin their service officially at the scheduled July meetings of the respective boards. Please take a minute to thank them all for their willingness to serve and keep them in your prayers as they lead us.

July 2024 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Church Chix Socials

The Chix had a fabulous time at their June 6th social. There were 5 Chix in attendance when they dined at Highland Howies Pub & Grill. The food and service were excellent and there was an abundance of laughter throughout the evening. The next social is planned for July 11th at 6pm when the Chix will dine on the West side of town at Parker John’s BBQ & Pizza located at 2851 S. Oneida Street. To RSVP there’s a sign up sheet on the bulletin board or email office@firstpresgreenbay.org.

Graduation Sunday

On Sunday, June 9th we celebrated the graduation of Nana Berko and Gaby Jimenez. It was a fantastic celebration where we recognized all their accomplishments and the pursuit of their gifts. Nana graduated from Xavier High School on May 29th and will study Biology/Pre-med at Macalester College. Gaby graduated early in January from Preble High School and will be attending Empire Beauty School with the goal of owning her own beauty salon post graduation. They were reminded that their church family is here for them as they journey forward. Check out our photo gallery!

2024 Graduation Sunday
2024 Graduation Sunday
2024 Graduation Sunday
2024 Graduation Sunday
2024 Graduation Sunday

Lillian Walker Baptism

Congratulations and blessings to Lillian Walker and family on her baptism last month. She was surrounded by her extended family and friends, and it was wonderful to have so many guests with us in worship. While Pastor Katie was expected to carry Lilly down the aisle to introduce her, it was decided that carrying an 11-year-old was not necessary! Check out our photo gallery!

Lillian Walker Baptism
Lillian Walker Baptism
Lillian Walker Baptism
Lillian Walker Baptism
Lillian Walker Baptism

Confirmation Cookout

The confirmation cookout was an awesome experience with everyone in attendance. Several games were played, prizes were awarded and it was a fantastic time. Everyone brought a dish to pass and George grilled out the main course. It was an amazing evening that had the 3 F’s—fun, food and fellowship. Thank you to everyone who attended and to our hosts George and Brenda Hubbard who put together an incredible party for the confirmands and mentors.

Parking Lot Resurfacing

Big thanks to everyone who helped make the parking lot project such a success! We were able to communicate the need to our neighbors who park with us to clear the lot for several days and church members mostly stayed away also, so the company had an easy time of cleaning, sealing, and then striping the newly refreshed surface. It is great to have the wider parking spaces as well.

Potluck Picnic 2024
Potluck Picnic 2024

Outdoor Worship & Potluck Picnic

Our annual outdoor service was great fun this year, though once again we had to move inside due to weather.  We did have plenty of people and a hilarious re-telling of the story of Jonah the prophet, with a jellyfish and singing sailors. We are grateful to the large cast of characters who quickly pivoted to a sanctuary setting—it still worked!  We all have a better understanding of what it must have been like in the belly of that great fish, how to befriend a jellyfish when you need help, and what it means to wear sackcloth and ashes when you have to repent. The potluck picnic was especially delicious this year, too.

Personal Hygiene Drive

Personal Hygiene Supply Drive

Thank you to everyone who supported our personal hygiene drive that benefited the Child Protective Services and Foster Care systems in Brown County. Special thanks to our confirmands and kids from the Nativity of Our Lord on Oneida Street who made substantial donations.

Softball Stats

Our softball season got underway in May and the team was so excited to be back on the field. Unfortunately our efforts didn’t result in a win for games 2 thru 5 in June. We’ve put up a good fight and gotten better with each game but haven’t been able to bring home a win yet this season. But we’re not going to get discouraged! We keep swinging and shooting for a win. Our last game of the season will be on Sunday, July 14th at Field 3 and we play ball at 6:45pm. Please come out and join us for the final game of the season before play offs!

Rundowns will publish with our Connections issue on a monthly or bimonthly basis. To submit rundowns for consideration contact us at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org by the 15th of the month to be included in the following month’s publication. And, as always, we look forward to receiving your Rundown of what’s been Happening Now!

Text to Join

Cheri Simonet
Text 920-375-7597 to Join

Although we were officially cool last year, we’ve recently changed our texting platform which means you’ll need to opt-in to continue receiving text messages from us.

To opt-in and continue receiving messages you can simply Text to Join. Text the word Join to (920) 375-7597 and after the word Join type in the email address and send. When you receive the response type in YES and send. You’ll receive a confirmation text that you’ve been opted-in. You can opt-out at anytime.

And as before with our old text provider, you have our commitment:

  • The maximum text messages you’ll receive from us each month is 3 (if any)
  • All messages will be church related, relevant and time sensitive in nature
  • If there’s nothing to communicate during any given month, then you won’t hear from us
  • Once you opt-in, you can opt-out at anytime

What we WON’T DO:

  • We WON’T send reminders about when worship is (we assume you know that!)
  • We WON’T remind you of communion days (we assume you know that, too!)
  • We WON’T send reminders about when Pantry days occur
  • We WON’T text you earlier than 8am and no later than 9pm
  • We WON’T clutter your message inbox with irrelevant messages
  • We WON’T disrespect your message inbox

What we WILL DO:

  • Above all we give you our promise that we WILL respect your message inbox!
  • We WILL only send relevant, church related, time sensitive messages such as weather alerts that might cause cancellations or reminders of important events about to happen

Thank you for being part of our text communication efforts!

Freedom House Supply Drive

Cheri Simonet
Freedom House Supply Drive

This July, the Freedom’s Future campaign for Freedom House will raise important funds and supplies to help adults and children. Each family in shelter at Freedom House is on a path to financial stability, emotional well-being and permanent housing.

We ask for your help restocking supplies so families feel loved and cared for.

Consider donating the following items:

  • Laundry Detergent
  • 33 Gallon Garbage Bags
  • Toilet Cleaner
  • Window Cleaner
  • All-Purpose Cleaner
  • Disinfectant Wipes
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Tupperware
  • Paper Plates
  • Paper Cups

All supplies can be dropped off at the church in the back of the Sanctuary. Thank you for your support!

Email Awareness Scam

Cheri Simonet
Email Scam Awareness

Email scams are everywhere and despite the best attempts to spam filter these messages, many still make it to our inboxes.

We wanted to make you aware of a recent scam email that everyone at the church office received and we fear many members may have received as well.

The bad actors were able to farm Pastor Katie’s image, email address and logo from our website so in the body of the email it appeared to be a legitimate message when in fact it wasn’t.

Email Scam Awareness

To verify whether an email is legitimate always check the sender’s From address in the header of the email. It may say Pastor Katie Estes but the email address after her name should always read kestes@firstpresgreenbay.org. This most recent scam we received had an originating email address of leadpastor19@icloud.com. That’s how you know it’s a scam.

Always check the originating email address before responding to or taking action on the message that you receive.

We may not be able to prevent the scams from happening but by being aware and diligent we’ll prevent bad actors from performing more bad acts where we’re concerned.

Confirmation Summer Social

Cheri Simonet
Confirmation

July 14th

The confirmation class and mentors will be having a social on Sunday, July 14th following Fellowship Hour. We’ll carpool to Deb Shober’s house in Sobieski who graciously offered to host the event.

The main course will be chicken on the grill and everyone is asked to bring a dish to pass. The social is an opportunity for everyone to get together and build on the relationships that were formed between confirmands and mentors during our hours of confirmation class. We’re excited for a night filled with food, fun and fellowship.

The confirmands will be confirmed sometime this fall. Stay tuned for the date to mark your calendar.

Church Chix Gather July 11, 2024

Cheri Simonet
Church Chix

Please join us, women of all ages, for our July Church Chix Social on Thursday, July 11th!

Our dinner reservation is for 6:00pm and we’ll dine on the West side of town at Parker John’s BBQ & Pizza located at 2851 S. Oneida Street.

Some Chix like to meet up for a cocktail the hour before dinner so that’s always 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. No monthly commitment required.

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 the office at (920) 437-8121.

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

Worship Service June 16, 2024

Cheri Simonet

This week we continue our summer sermon series with “The Gospel According to U2: We Get to Carry Each Other” and scriptures John 14: 1-6 https://bit.ly/3xbtftt and 1 Corinthians 13 https://bit.ly/3KDuwwm. Join us as we celebrate our fathers and worship the Father!

Worship Service June 2, 2024

Cheri Simonet

This Sunday, June 2, we shift fully into summer mode with a new sermon series called “The Gospel According to…” that will focus on finding theology and faith in popular culture. We begin by looking at the much-loved comic strip of the Peanuts, with Pastor Katie’s reflection on “We Need Each Other”. Our scripture is 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27, https://bit.ly/3WXZ6s3 and we will share the sacrament of communion by intinction.