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Words for the Beginning: Epiphany Sunday

Too often, we’ve been told that a successful life is a linear one. But in reality, our lives unfold with many unexpected twists and turns. The Magi follow a star, embarking on a long journey in a foreign land in order to honor the newborn Christ. Instead of returning to Herod as commanded, they trust their dreams and go home by another way. Their road isn’t straight, but God “makes a way in the wilderness” (Isaiah 43:19) as they follow their intuition and diverge from the expected path. A Sanctified Art | sanctifiedart.org

Epiphany: Devotional Series

The triangles in this quilt square point in multiple directions. Much like the magi's journey, the path that lies ahead isn’t always clear or straight. Thankfully, we have the guidance of the Spirit to light our way.

Bad Weather Closure Info

In case of inclement weather, please check the following for closure information:

First Pres Facebook page
First Pres website
Your email inbox (if you’ve provided the church office with an email address)
Your mobile phone text messages (if you’ve opted in to receive texts from the church)
WBAY-TV (ABC 2) (Green Bay - Fox Cities)
WBAY website

Brown Bag Bible Exploration

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 | Noon – 1:30 p.m.

Magnolia Hall at First Pres

This group is a great option for anybody looking for a caring and encouraging environment in which to explore their beliefs. Please join us for Brown Bag Bible Exploration with your Bible, your desire to interact with God’s Word, and your lunch.

Community Breakfast

Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. | Magnolia Hall at First Pres

In addition to providing a healthy, home-cooked food and chances for stimulating conversations, the community breakfast serves as a vital hub for support and connection. If you are in need of help, want to support someone, or just want to interact with a caring community, we invite you to take part in this experience. We are strengthening the core ties that bind our community together, not just sharing a meal.

Valentine Cookie Decorating Event

Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Magnolia Hall at First Pres

Are we really talking about Valentine’s Day already?! You bet we are because our personal calendars fill up fast, and this event is a must for saving the date! What could be sweeter than spending a Saturday morning with your family and friends decorating cookies and making memories! So, mark you calendar; and we’ll see you on January 25th. All the supplies you’ll need will be ready and waiting for you!

Memory Café

Wednesday, January 8, 2025 | 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Oshkosh YMCA

3303 W. 20th Avenue, Oshkosh

“Let us celebrate together” - Join this fantastic birthday celebration to recognize all of our birthdays to come in 2025. You’ll enjoy delicious cake, sing along to ‘Happy Birthday’, and get moving with some exciting and active party games.

Traveling Oshkosh Memory Café

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

1:30 – 3:00 p.m. | Copper Hall

203 Otter Avenue, Oshkosh

As we get older, we need to remind ourselves to look at ways that can help us live healthier and happier lives. Tools like the ‘Wellness Wheel’ can be a helpful guide in accomplishing our best lives if we remember to use it every day.

Blessing Box Update

Donation Bin: Next to the Church Office

Donation Hours:

Sundays before/after worship; Thursdays 8:00 – 11:30 a.m.

The Blessing Box priority list needs to be updated. The demand for toilet paper never goes away. So, if you have a square to spare, please place your gifts in the bin located beneath the church office’s “Community Crossroads” bulletin board. We need canned vegetables and soups as our top priority foods. Hint, hint: for amazing bargains, visit any dollar store! Many thanks for being a wonderful friend and neighbor in our neighborhood!

Meal Teams Needed

Day By Day Shelter | 420 Ceape Avenue, Oshkosh | 920.203.4536 | jessica@daybydayshelter.org

Help fill January Meal Team openings! Sign up to prepare or provide a meal for Day by Day Shelter guests - bring your friends, coworkers, or family members together and make an impact!

January Open Dates:

6 * 7 * 8 * 10 * 13 * 17 * 20 * 24 * 27 * 28 * 29 * 30 * 31

Every meal brings warmth, care, and hope to those we serve! Contact the Shelter today to sign up.

National Human Trafficking Prevention Month

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The theme for Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2025 highlights the importance of a holistic approach to preventing human trafficking, recognizing its intersection with other forms of violence and social issues.

Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, includes both forced labor and sex trafficking. It not only represents a threat to international peace and security but also undermines the rule of law, robs millions of their dignity and freedom, enriches transnational criminals and terrorists, and threatens public safety and national security everywhere.

There are estimated to be more than 27.6 million people — adults and children — subjected to human trafficking around the world, including in the United States. Traffickers often take advantage of instability caused by natural disasters, conflict, or a pandemic to exploit others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, traffickers are continuing to perpetrate the crime, finding ways to innovate and capitalize on the chaos.

Connecting the dots between human trafficking, online harassment and abuse, interpersonal violence, and other forms of violence can disrupt multiple forms of exploitation. Understanding the role of economic mobility, desires for connection, technology, and market dynamics can prevent some of the most predictable recruitment schemes into human trafficking. Building healthy relationships and strengthening the resilience of communities and industries can protect against vulnerabilities to human trafficking.

We can address the root causes by decreasing known risks and increasing protective factors against trafficking. This theme calls for collective action to strengthen prevention at every level—individual, relational, community, and societal. Our goal is to prevent exploitation before it occurs. It encourages cross-sector collaboration, including partnerships with individuals who have experienced trafficking. Together, we can strengthen our efforts to keep everyone safe from human trafficking.

Young adults offer suggestions for improving church life and the world

Panelists express ‘sense of urgency’ about advocacy and stress importance of inclusivity

Darla Carter, Presbyterian News Service

October 31, 2024

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — To Ariyah Sadler, a recent summer fellow for the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, there’s a strong connection between advocacy and loving thy neighbor.

“Loving your neighbor doesn't just mean to love the people who are immediately around you or people who are like you or in your community,” said Sadler, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It isn't just an emotion, a feeling. It is a commitment. It is wanting the best for the other people in this world, regardless of background, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, any of these things.”

Sadler was part of a diverse panel assembled for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Young Adult Advocacy Conference, which was recently held in Charlotte, N.C. All of the panelists at the regional conference were young adults who expressed their opinions on a variety of topics, primarily related to social justice advocacy and improving the church.

Typically, in church settings, “there's a lot more older people talking and a lot of younger people listening,” said panelist Leon Bee Wang, who also was a recent summer fellow for OPW. There should be more opportunities, so “young people can continue to get our voices out there to be heard by the church, both at large and in small congregations.” Read more.