Blog

Gestures of Generosity, September 2023

Cheri Simonet
Gestures of Generosity

Thank you for your Gesture!

We have struggled for years over the challenge of cooling the Fellowship Room during the hottest summer months, and in an amazing gesture of generosity an anonymous donor has done the research, arranged for the electrical work, and installed a room air conditioner in the window for us! If you haven’t been in the Fellowship Room much in the last month, be sure to stop by and see for yourself just how cool and comfortable it can now be. Deep gratitude to the donor for caring for our physical as well as spiritual health.

St. John Shelter Donations

Also, in early August we were blessed to have so many members who answered the call for blankets and backpacks for donation to St. John’s Shelter.

It didn’t take long after asking before people opened their hearts and generously donated to this great cause! Stephanie Fahringer’s car was overloaded with all the donations that were received.

A special thanks to Elliot Stensen who spent that morning helping out at the Pantry and the afternoon helping load up the blankets and backpacks that were given. Susan at St. John’s helped unload the car and it was just amazing how guests lined up immediately and asked for a blanket. Within just a few minutes all the blankets were passed out.

A BIG THANK YOU to all who contributed, especially Lisa and Dave Solper’s friends who donated MANY! God has blessed us so we could in turn bless many folks truly in need.

If you have a Gestures of Generosity story to share, please contact Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and tell us your story.

Worship Service August 27, 2023

Cheri Simonet

On this final Sunday in August, Pastor Katie will reflect on “Who Do You Think You Are?” with a focus on Matthew 16: 13-20 https://bit.ly/47Hy5vT. We’re excited to have new members Kris & Mike Melton share their gifts in a special music piece featuring Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem “Pied Beauty” and an arrangement of “For the beauty of the Earth” by Faye Lopez.

August 22, 2023 – Did you know?

Cheri Simonet
Did you know? Tuesday Trivia!

Our Name that Member! feature gave us the opportunity to learn just how well we really know each other. But how well do we know our church?

Here’s this week’s Did you know? Tuesday Trivia!

When was the 2nd church building erected on the present site?

a) 1902

b) 1892

c) 1880

Answer:

On October 16, 1892, with Rev. J. F. Young as pastor, the 2nd second church building was fully equipped and including electric lights, was erected on our present site. The cost of this building, $7,000, was a gift from David McCartney, a local banker.

Thanks for playing!

We want you to do more than just play Did you know?, we’d also like you to contribute! If you have some church fun facts to share, please send those to Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and we’ll have your contribution added to an upcoming Did you know? Tuesday Trivia!

Worship Service August 20, 2023

Cheri Simonet

This week we are blessed to have two members share their gifts in special music from Elliott Stenson on cello and Bruce Deadman on euphonium. We continue our journey through Matthew’s gospel with a challenging story from Matthew 15: 21-28 https://bit.ly/3P0KBiw and Pastor Katie’s reflection is “Talking Back to Jesus.”

Worship Service August 13, 2023

Cheri Simonet

This week we continue our journey through the gospel of Matthew with the story of Jesus walking on the water from Matthew 14: 22-33 https://bit.ly/3OPiByk. Elder Nancy Siewert will preach on “When Faith Fails.”

Worship Service August 6, 2023

Cheri Simonet

On this first Sunday in August, we welcome Pastor Katie back after a few weeks away and celebrate the sacrament of communion together as well. Our scriptures are Isaiah 55: 1-3, 12-13 https://bit.ly/3QkbCPj and Matthew 14: 13-21 https://bit.ly/3Oik7Yj, and the sermon is titled “A Catering Problem.” Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges will share her beautiful voice in a solo for special music: “Come to Jesus” by Chris Rice.

August 8, 2023 – Did you know?

Cheri Simonet
Did you know? Tuesday Trivia!

Our Name that Member! feature gave us the opportunity to learn just how well we really know each other. But how well do we know our church?

Here’s this week’s Did you know? Tuesday Trivia!

Our church congregation was established May 26, 1876 therefore we are appropriately named First Presbyterian Church.

FALSE

Answer:

Here’s why the answer is FALSE: The church we know as Union Congregational located at 716 S. Madison Street chartered September 21, 1835 and was named First Presbyterian Church because they were the first Presbyterian Church in Green Bay. At that time, Union also shared affiliation with the Congregational Conference. In 1851 Union ceased its affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and became a charter member of the Winnebago Association and Wisconsin Conference of Congregational Churches so they no longer used the name First Presbyterian Church making it available for our use 25 years later in 1876. We weren’t actually the first but the second albeit we had the hand me down name which allowed us to become the “First” when we were established 41 years after the official First Presbyterian Church was established.

Thanks for playing!

We want you to do more than just play Did you know?, we’d also like you to contribute! If you have some church fun facts to share, please send those to Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and we’ll have your contribution added to an upcoming Did you know? Tuesday Trivia!

Worship Service July 30, 2023

Cheri Simonet

On this final Sunday in July, we again welcome Nancy Zorn Micke to the pulpit while Pastor Katie is away. More parables of Jesus are our focus, with Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 https://bit.ly/3ObNpaX as our scripture. Nancy will preach on “A Glimpse of Heaven” and is also going to play a Native flute for some of our music.

Gestures of Generosity, August 2023

Cheri Simonet
Gestures of Generosity

Thank you for your Gesture!

How does the Presbyterian Pantry get all the food we give away?

Some of it is given directly by church members, some is purchased through various discount programs available to food shelves around the city, and some just seems to fall into our laps (or into Stephanie Fahringer’s car!).

In the last two weeks we’ve received two cars full of food from Treehouse Foods, and we are so grateful for their generosity. This recent gift included orange immunity drink mix, energy bars, instant oatmeal, pasta, honey mustard sauce, ranch dressing, pickles, graham crackers and cookies. This came about because Stephanie swims at the YMCA with the head of Treehouse Foods, and her granddaughter’s husband also works there. Good connections makes for great generosity!

The Pantry also recently received a large quantity of yogurt and cheese from Schreiber Foods…we weren’t sure if we could take the generous offer, as our refrigerator has been struggling to remain chilled, but Gene Stenson was able to fix it and we’re now stocked with lots of yogurt and cheese for our families.

Thank you to Gene, to Schreiber Foods, and to Treehouse Foods for all this generosity!

If you have a Gestures of Generosity story to share, please contact Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and tell us your story.

August 2023 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Church Chix Socials

The Chix had an amazing July social, dining at the Cheesesteak Rebellion, when there were 7 Chix in attendance. The service and food were great and we had a wonderful evening to dine on the outdoor deck. Our August social is planned for Thursday, August 3rd at 6pm. Our hostess for the evening is Sue Russell at her home. Consult your directory or contact the office at office@firstpresgreenbay.org or call (920) 437-8121 for address details. Our entrée is chicken on the grill and we ask that everyone bring a side dish or dessert to share. Please contact Leah with what you plan to bring so we can avoid duplicates. To RSVP there’s a sign up sheet on the bulletin board or email office@firstpresgreenbay.org. Hope to see you then!

Softball Stats

We ended our 2022 Season as the Division Champions so we were moved up to the highest Division in the League. Although last season we knocked it out of the park, with our new Division placement we haven’t prevailed as often as we’d have liked. We ended the season with our playoff game on Sunday, July 23rd when we lost to the 2nd place team in the Division. Thank you to all who’ve come out to support our team on game day and for those who supported our July Brat Fry which helped pay for our new team jerseys!

Ordination and Installation

On Sunday, July 16, we were honored to ordain as deacons Olivia Crooks, George Hubbard, and Sue Russell, to ordain as ruling elder Fritzi Mevis, and to install as ruling elder Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges. These new officers of the church began their service at the July meetings of the Board of Deacons and the Session. Include them in your prayers for our church and its leadership.

July 2023 Brat Fry

July Brat Fry

Thank you to everyone who came out to support our July Brat Fry! The event was hosted by the softball team with the proceeds of $645.40 going towards the cost of our new team jerseys. We had happy customers including our furry friend, Okley, who happily consumed one of our hot dogs.

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!