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PRAYER BASKETS
November 20 - December 13

Each year, First Pres, as a Ministry, provides a complete Christmas for 3 families from Tank School, and we collect all the items needed from November 20 - December 13. We have 3 trees in the back of the sanctuary with tags identifying special gifts for our Baby Jesus, Star, and Angel families. We also have an online way to choose tags this year: www.signupgenius.com. Please feel free to choose as many tags as you'd like - just put a/the tag on an UNWRAPPED gift and return it to the church by December 13, 5 pm.

ADVENT GOSPEL OF LUKE STUDY ON ZOOM
Tuesdays, December 1, 8, 15, 22 at 6:30 pm

An Advent opportunity is our Gospel of Luke Advent Study, geared toward the adults in our congregation. Beginning December 1st, we will be reading one chapter from the gospel of Luke a day, every day, all the way through December 24. There are 24 chapters in the gospel, one for each day of Advent. Luke’s gospel leads us from Jesus’ birth through his ascension into heaven, a perfect study to remind us why Jesus was sent to earth. Pastor Katie and Bobbi Holl will host the ZOOM meetings on Tuesdays, December 1-22 to share thoughts about what we’ve read. (Zoom sign-in information has been sent to members as email. If you need that information, please contact Bobbi.)

PRESBYTERIAN PANTRY IN COLD WEATHER
December 8 & 22, 10 am - noon

The pantry has moved back inside to serve our guests. We will have new instructions posted for everyone. Please use social distancing and EVERYONE must wear a MASK, including our volunteer pantry workers. Thank you for helping us honor safety procedures. Again, masks are required. Please continue to keep at least six feet between you and the other people in line. We will not be able to have a Treasure Table for safety reasons, nor will we be able to have the Toy Shop this year for the same reasons. Our main  goal is to provide food for guests...safely. Continue to use the door on Howard St. The pantry is on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays: December 8 and 22 from 10 am to noon. All are welcome, however MASKS are REQUIRED. 

PASTOR KATIE ESTES IS HERE!

Welcome and blessings, Pastor Katie! We are blessed that she was called to us! We know that you will make her and her daughter Grace and son DeShawn feel very welcome here, even though the pandemic continues to limit what we are able to do in person. As Pastor Katie says, "While COVID-19 makes so much of our church life together different or challenging, I am certain that God has abundant blessings in store for us still. Let’s discover them together!"

BLUE CHRISTMAS WORSHIP SERVICE
December 21, 7 pm, In person & Online

Many churches have begun to recognize that Festivals of Carols, celebrations of Christmas, and children’s pageants do not meet everyone’s needs. To recognize and acknowledge the darker side of our Advent preparations this year, we have planned a Blue Christmas service for Monday, December 21 at 7 pm. You may participate in the sanctuary in person (masked and distanced) or via our livestream online. Sometimes called a “Longest Night” service because it usually falls on or close to the Winter Solstice which is the longest night of the year, this contemplative service of music, candles and prayer goes back many years, in many different Christian practices. All who would care to sit with the family of faith in a liturgy that reminds us of the love of God through times of grief and isolation even as we prepare for the coming of the Christ child are welcome and encouraged to attend.  

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT!
December 24, 5 pm - completely virtual

We will be having a Christmas Pageant this year for our children and youth…however, it will be very different from past years. This year’s pageant will be completely virtual. The pageant we are doing is “Tell Me the Story of Christmas.” It has narrators reading the Christmas story with children asking them questions and acting out the parts. We will have speakers, characters (animals, shepherds, angels, etc.) and possibly musicians. The pageant will be a combination of Zoom recordings and parents recording their children acting their parts. The pageant scenes will be recorded ahead of time and incorporated into the early Christmas Eve worship service. This service will be streamed online at 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve on Facebook. More information on the Upcoming Events page.

CHRISTMAS EVE  WORSHIP SERVICE
December 24, 6:30 & 7 pm

Our Christmas Eve worship service will be based on the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus are told in nine short Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books, and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns, and special music. An extended prelude will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the service itself beginning at 7:00 p.m. 

CHURCH HAS REOPENED
Sundays, 10 am

First Pres has re-opened for worship on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. in a revised format, with operational policies and procedures which have changed for everyone's safety. The service is also broadcast on Facebook Live - please see full information on Upcoming Events page. 

ZOOM GATHERINGS CONTINUE
Sundays 11:15 am

Our virtual meetings continue through Zoom - video on your computer or smartphone, or listen/participate by phone. Sundays at 11:15 a.m. join the Zoom fellowship gathering following the live worship service. Use the information you received most recently in an 8/13 email to join. 

Or if you have misplaced your information, contact Amy Wittman by email or call her at 920-737-7717 for IDs. To listen only, you can call (312) 626-6799 to which you will again need the meeting ID. (Marj Krause Crowl is on the phone in the photo.)