This Week at FCCLW 2/21/16

Published: Thu, 02/18/16

February 21, 2016

Nehemiah Action 2016

On Monday, March 14th at 7:00 PM we will gather with 2,900 people of faith from 22 other churches all over Palm Beach County to hold our public officials responsible for the problem of homelessness in our county.

At First Congregational United Church of Christ, we practice faith, mercy, and justice in community. One of the ways we practice justice is by, once a year, coming together to exercise the power that we have in our number to make positive changes in our community.

Our goal this year is to turn out 90 people (our average worship attendance). You should be invited by one of our Justice Ministry Network Members. If you need a ride, we will be car pooling from the church.

We are looking forward to doing justice together!

Gifts of the Dark Wood: A Lenten Journey This Sunday, we began our Lenten journey through the dark woods by exploring the "Gift of Uncertainty." You can see highlights from the service here. However our worship during Lent will be so much more than what you can see on video, consider joining us as we experience this journey together. We are also gathering on Wednesday evenings to further explore each week's "gift," with various teachers. You can see the schedule of gatherings and topics for Lent here. Psalm Forum First Congregational United Church of Christ is going to read through the Psalms in 2016! You are invited to join us in reading through the song book of the Bible. Our Psalms Forum meets every Sunday at 9:30 AM with insightful conversation among those gathered. You can see an outline of what was discussed and participate virtually by sharing your questions and observations on our website. Thank You We are so fortunate to have so many in our midst that facilitate our life together as First Congregational United Church of Christ: Thank to Christopher Lepard, Barbara Derryberry, Brenda Chappell, Barry Nicholson, Jennifer Limauro, and their crew for presenting a beautiful Valentine's Dinner for us! Janet Lisle, Meredith Button, Ilene Wilson, Vickie Grimes, Nancy Lydon, Barb Derryberry, and Jimmy Limauro for painting and cleaning the parlor before we install tile. It's going to look great! CROS Food Pantry The month of February is one of the two opportunities we have each year to collect food for the CROS Food Pantry. Our goal this month is 100 bags of food. Some great items to bring are peanut butter, canned meats, canned vegetables, 1 pound bags of rice and beans, pasts, and macaroni and cheese. Let's help CROS help us in fulfilling our ministry of mercy to the less fortunate in Palm Beach County! Facebook If you are on Facebook, you can keep up with what is happening "between Sundays" on our Facebook page. First, go to our page and "Like" us. However, just liking us does not mean that you will see everything we post. Each of our Facebook posts only goes to about 2% of the people who like our page. To make sure you see everything, after you like us, go to the pull-down menu on the "Like" button and click "Get Notifications." This way everything that we post will show up on your own Facebook wall.		PrideFest 2016 We will once again have a table at PrideFest of the Palm Beaches, reminding the LGBT community in Palm Beach County that we stand with them, that God loves them unconditionally, and that there is a church that accepts them for who God has created them to be. This year we will be following up Pride weekend by inviting those we meet to a spaghetti dinner on April 3rd after worship. If you would like to take a shift at our table, see Barry Nicholson. Help Wanted We are currently in need of two people to be involved in ministries here at First Congregational United Church of Christ. We need someone to be the steward of our "Care Notes" display, keeping it filled and the titles fresh. We also need someone to be the steward of our "Free Little Library," keeping it filled and fresh and soliciting book donations. If you would be willing to help with either of these important positions, please contact Pastor Jason. Women of the Church Retreat The women's retreat has been cancelled due to conflicting schedules. Online Giving Have you explored the opportunity of electronic giving? You can choose to have a set amount taken from your bank account on a regular basis or you can make a one (or more) time gift by checking account or credit card on our website. Your regular electronic giving means that your gift is available for ministry even when you are away (or forgot your checkbook!). Thank you for your continued support of the ministry of First Congregational Church! Hey, Thanks! You're sharing this newsletter with your friends! More people read (or at least opened) our newsletter than we send out. If there is something here that interests you, it may interest someone else. If a friend sent this to you and you would like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe on our website.