First Congregational Church

300 S. Minnesota Ave | Sioux Falls, SD 57104

(605)336-3072 | fcc@firstcongucc.com

Thinking Faith. Unbounded Welcome. Creative Worship. Generous Service.

January 18, 2024 | The Good News

January - At a Glance

Friday, January 19: Mid High Game Night
Monday: January 22: Contemplative Prayer
Thursday, January 25: Dow Rummel Visit
Saturday, January 27: Building and Grounds Project Day
Sunday, January 28: Camp Sunday!
Sunday, January 28: Great Bear Ski Valley

Celebrating Marian Casey

Join us on Sunday, January 21, to celebrate and show our gratitude for Transitional Music Coordinator, Marian Casey. Marian has so graciously shared her time, her immense talent, her love, and her energy with First Congregational Church for many years. Her dedication to sharing the love of music and creativity with our community only grew during her time on staff, and we are so thankful! There will be a blessing for Marian during the service.

Sunday School Children will be singing a song during the Children's Message time on Sunday to celebrate Marian.

Mid High Game Night!

Who: All Middle School Students What: We will serve Pizza and drinks. We will play games like Sardines, “Among Us” style community games.

When: Friday, January 19th, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Where: FCC

Parents are welcome to stick around to visit, play card games, and eat pizza. Email or Sign up in Fick Hall for a count on Pizza! jpagone@firstcongucc.com

Camp Sunday -

Noisy Offering

Help send our youth to Placerville Camp by bringing change to service on Sunday, January 28th. We will be collecting a Noisy Offering in buckets with the change. Join us for a fun time of camp songs, special worship leader, Lorah Houser Jankord, and community.

Great Bear Ski Lodge

January 28th, 1:00 - 5:00 pm Enjoy time together with skiing, snowboarding, tubing, hanging out in the lodge, and drinking hot chocolate by the fire. We will bring games and provide snacks and treats for anyone watching the skiers, and will have a designated area for us to spend time together. Please contact John Pagone

(JPagone@firstcongucc.com) to RSVP, or sign up in Fick Hall.

Sunday Morning Schedule

9:15-9:45 - Breakfast in Jones Hall: An intergenerational time for our Congregation and Sunday School families to connect sharing in a meal.

9:45-10:20 - Sunday School Activities

10:45 - Crafts with Linda Poppe happening during Nursery Time!

Here's what's on the agenda:

Scraping the ceilings in the east bathrooms of Jones Hall before a fresh coat of paint.
Painting the bathrooms to give them a vibrant new look.
Repairing sheet rock on the wall in the old nursery to ensure a sturdy and welcoming space.
Installing carpet squares in Martell’s Closet and the hallway to the bathroom for added comfort.

If you're ready to roll up your sleeves and lend a hand, sign up in Fick Hall. Don't forget to bring your safety goggles – and rest assured, we've got N95 masks available at the church for your use during the project.

The Brooks Helping Hand Fund

The stewardship team invites you to participate in one of our church’s local special offerings. The Brooks Helping Hand Fund honors Rev. Jack Brooks, who was part of the FCC pastoral team, and his wife Ramona Brooks. They both contributed to the life of the church and to our community. The Brooks Helping Hand Fund is used to help people in the community who need some support at a time they face a hurdle.

FCC helped about 90 people in 2023 with the Brooks Helping Hands fund. The majority of the help (75 people) was with gas vouchers. We give out $20 gas vouchers to people with a current driver’s license and current car insurance. People who return to us can receive vouchers again after 3 months. We started giving out city bus passes and have given out a handful of those this year.

The other 15 people were helped in the following ways:

Bus tickets to cities outside Sioux Falls for medical appointments and funerals.
Food for someone taking cancer treatments.
Food for a person new to the city starting a job and not able to make ends meet after moving costs.
Support of a car payment to a college student.

In 2023, $2800 was distributed from the Brooks Helping Hand fund.

Thanks for your help in making this assistance possible. It is one of the ways that we continue to express being “God’s Hands in the Heart of the City.”

Norman Bliss (Stewardship Team) with input from Becky Pagone

Outreach Project

Help us provide a meal for Eugene Field teachers on February 8th during conferences. We're looking for 5-6 people to make crock pots of soup (delivered between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm, ready to eat by 2:30 pm). Contact the Church Office with questions. Outreach will handle bread, drinks, and desserts. If interest is low, we'll consider catering next week.

No Strings Attached

Young Adults - Cookie Decorating

Saturday, February 10, 2024, 4:00 pm

Gerlinger Room

Decorate Valentines Cookies with us - no matter what your relationship status is. Sugar Cookies and Gluten Free Sugar Cookies will be available. Feel free to bring whatever kind of toppings, frostings, glitters, or candies that you would like to, and bring your own drink. All are welcome!

On February 25th, after second service, we will vote on the

By-Law Changes proposed by Church Council at the Annual Financial Meeting

There will be an informational meeting available for you to ask any questions about the changes on February 18th, at 9:45 am, in the Gerlinger Room.

View the By-Law Changes by visiting the link below:

https://www.firstcongucc.com/church-by-laws

Join us for two thought-provoking evenings as we dive into our commitment to be in covenant with the national United Church of Christ (UCC). Local Churches speak for themselves but are in covenant with the decisions made by the national UCC. We'll be tackling the 16 resolutions from last year's General Synod through small group discussions, identifying which align with our church's goals.

These sessions offer a chance to understand our ties to the national UCC and pinpoint ways we can actively engage. Refreshments will be provided.

The Week Ahead

Sunday - 1/21/2024

Worship Service - 8:30 am

Breakfast - 9:15 am

Sunday School - 9:45 am

Worship Service - 10:30 am

Fellowship Time - 11:30 am

Monday - 1/22/2024

Contemplative Prayer - 6:00 pm

Tuesday - 1/23/2024

Staff Meeting - 10:00 am

Finance Committee - 5:30 pm

Trustees Meeting - 6:00 pm

Tuesday Night Yoga - 6:00 pm

Wednesday - 1/24/2024

OWL - 6:00 pm

Chancel Choir Rehearsal - 7:30 pm

Thursday - 1/25/2024

Gentle Yoga - 9:00 am

Fumble Through Bible Study - 10:30 am

Dow Rummel - 3:00 pm

Al-Anon Meeting - 5:30 pm

InReach Meeting - 6:00 pm

Sunday - 1/28/2024

Worship Service - 8:30 am

Breakfast - 9:15 am

Sunday School - 9:45 am

Worship Service - 10:30 am

Fellowship Time - 11:30 am

Great Bear Ski Valley - 1:00 pm

Building and Grounds

Planning for event on January 27th

OutReach

Discussed mission trip options for 2024 and will be voting soon
Providing a meal to Eugene Field Teachers for conferences
Planning Kids Against Hunger on Wednesday, March 13th

Remember in Prayer

Search Committee | Our Future pastor, still unknown to us

Weekly Scripture

Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Next week's Scripture: Mark 1:21-28

Our Behavioral Covenant

First Congregational Church adopted our Behavioral Covenant in 2023. You can find the document on our website:

https://www.firstcongucc.com/behavioral-covenant

If you would like a printed copy and do not have access to a printer, please contact the Church Office for a printout.

The mission of First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ is:

To create a Christian community based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth by growing in our relationships with God, each other, and our neighbors through a thinking faith, unbounded welcome, creative worship, and generous service.

Whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey,

you are welcome here.