This Week at FCCLW 6/24/18

Published: Thu, 06/21/18

June 24, 2018

Rainbow Interfaith Meditation

We continue to meet on Thursday evenings for a series of meditation gatherings. We will be exploring meditation practice in an interfaith context, using and adapting Buddhist mindfulness, Jewish kaballah, Christian centering prayer, Muslim dhikr, Hindu chakra contemplation, Taoist qi gong and other meditative practices. Each session will include a presentation as well as practice. We are calling this series Rainbow Meditation to honor the colorful array of traditions it incorporates. We meet at 7 pm. You can read more here.

Food Drive During the month of June we will be collecting for the church food pantry. We stock non-perishables such as canned soups, vegetables, peanut butter, and pasta. See the list enclosed in the bulletin. Community Dinner Our church offers a community dinner on Tuesday evenings for area homeless and hungry but also for those who enjoy some fellowship time with friends. Please join us for a meal at 5:30 or come around 4:00 for some friendly get-together time. Collection for Guatemala The Guatemala Mayan Center is collecting for another shipment in the near future for relief in Guatemala. You can bring items to the church and we will get them to the center. Unprocessed foods, kitchen items (oil, sugar, salt, etc.), bottled water, masks, toilet paper, diapers, cotton and rubbing alcohol, new underwear, shoes, hygiene products, feminine hygiene products, pet food, sterile gauze, pain medication, cough and cold syrup, formula. Woody Guthrie's American Song Social justice lyrics, an amazing cast and musicians, and our own Bruce Linser as director. Woody Guthrie's American Song will be playing July 11th - August 5th at Palm Beach Dramaworks. The Seattle Times calls it "An exuberant musical celebration of our nation, our history, and our shared humanity." We are considering going as a group to go see it. Let Jason know if you are interested. Renewal Book Club The Renewal Book Club will not meet over the summer, but you can get a copy of the 2018 - 2019 Reading for Renewal Book Club List in the church office and start your summer reading now. Our selection for the first fall meeting, September 18th at 6:30 p.m., will be The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash. You Outta Be In Pictures We are in the process of producing a picture directory to distribute to members and friends of First Congregational United Church of Christ. Instead of engaging with a photography company to do this, we are going to be a little less formal. If you were part of our last directory, we still have your picture. If you weren't, we're asking you to send us a favorite picture of yourself. It can be anything from a selfie to a more formal picture that expresses who you are. Our only request is that it be a picture just of you, because it will appear by your name when we print the directory. If you would like someone to take a picture of you, let Pastor Jason know or you can email your pictures to Pastor Jason.	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! Facebook 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. If you are on Facebook, you can keep up with what is happening "between Sundays" on our Facebook page. Facebook Link As much as we love gathering together on Sunday mornings, there are times when we are out of town or otherwise unable to be there in person. You can now watch our worship service live on Facebook right on your computer, tablet, or smart phone. At 10:30 on Sunday just head over to our Facebook page and join us! 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.