Pilgrim UCC (Carlsbad, CA), where

Rev. Murphy previously served, has invited Plymouth members to join an online presentation of the guest speaker Robert Jones, author of "White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity," on Sunday, August 1 at 6:00 pm (EST). The event will be available through a Zoom livestream. Register here.

Rev. Timothy Murphy will be away from the office on vacation this coming week. If you have a question that office staff can help with, please email them or call them at 260-423-9424. If you have a pastoral emergency that cannot wait, call the same number and dial 398, and Rev. Murphy will call you back.

Congregational Life presents an evening with the TinCaps on Saturday, August 14 at Parkview Field against the South Bend Cubs. The game starts at 7:00 pm and there will be fireworks after. All tickets are $14.00. Tickets are on sale in the Folsom room after Sunday service today.

“With Thanksgiving for the past, with joy in the present and with hope for the future we celebrate this renewal of Plymouth.” Plymouth Church presents the “Rejoice & Renewal Celebration” on Saturday, September 18 at 5:30 pm at the Mizpah Shrine Center Imperial Room located at 1015 Memorial Way, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805.

The evening will include a free catered dinner and music. A registration form can be found at the button below and will ask you to select your dinner choice: homestead chicken (rotisserie grilled half chicken), or vegan friendly pasta primavera (bow tie pasta with broccoli, carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, onions and ripe olives in an herbed olive oil). Please register for each individual person who will be in attendance and their dinner choice. Registration ends at 11:59 pm on September 7.

If you have any questions regarding the event, please contact Monty Millage at [email protected] or (260) 602-7209. If you cannot complete the registration online or need to make a change to your registration, please contact Elizabeth Pruitt at [email protected] or (260) 423-9424.

Register today and help us celebrate our future with respect for the past!

Within the past few months, Plymouth Church has hired a few new staff members. Learn more about our new staff and how they can serve you.

Communications Specialist: Elizabeth Pruitt is a graduate of Spring Arbor University with a degree in Communications Studies and moved to Fort Wayne from Hillsdale, Michigan. As the Communications Specialist for Plymouth, Elizabeth oversees the church's social medias, publishes the Bell newsletter, updates the church website, and performs other related duties. Outside of the office, you can find Elizabeth reading, getting coffee, going to trivia nights, or thrifting. Contact Elizabeth at [email protected].

Receptionist: Jake Slone is from Garrett, Indiana. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in theatre from Purdue University – Fort Wayne in 2011. A hopeless child at heart, Jacob loves to find the whimsy and humor in life and all its absurdity. He spends a great deal of time with his wife playing table-top role-playing games, board games, and traveling as much as they can afford. He enjoys reading, especially horror and fantasy novels. As the receptionist, he is the bright and shining face that greets you when you walk in the door. Contact Jake at [email protected].

Associate in Pastoral Care: January Simpson serves part time as Associate in Pastoral Care, bringing the community and care of Plymouth to church members who are homebound or living in nursing homes. January became a member of Plymouth in 2016, and also serves on the Benevolence Committee and Evangelism & Marketing Board. In 2018, she completed a 9-month residency at Lutheran Hospital in Clinical Pastoral Education, and was installed as a Licensed Minister at Plymouth in 2019. Continuing to explore a call to ministry, January is now a member in discernment at Plymouth and also leads worship services for Cross UCC in Berne, IN. She shares life with her wife, Maggie, and their adorable pets – cats Knucklehead and Chucklehead, and pup Freckles. Contact January at [email protected].

Last year, Plymouth hosted Study Connection via zoom for six children who attended Fairfield Elementary school. We plan to offer the Study Connection again beginning early to mid October in person in the Folsom Room, COVID permitting..

An orientation for new tutors is provided by Study Connection. In September there will be an organizational meeting for new and returning Plymouth tutors and subs. If interested, please apply this summer so we can have the tutors in place and assigned when the Study Connection begins in early to mid October. Everyone is welcome to be a special friend to an elementary age child. Providing support and encouragement is the main task for each tutor and sub. Being a tutor is a great way to make a difference in a child’s life.

To apply, click the button below and complete the Volunteer Information Form. All volunteers must have a background check which is done by the FWCS and two references. If you would like to be a tutor or a substitute or have any questions about volunteering, please let Lucy Hess know by contacting her at [email protected] or 484-4430.

Due to numerous requests, Plymouth has decided to open our sanctuary on Thursdays from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm for a time of personal prayer. Please enter through the Berry Street Office entrance and check in with our receptionist. Contact our receptionist Jake Slone at (260) 423-9424 or [email protected] with any questions.

Plymouth Church has joined Instagram! If you would like to follow our Instagram to see what's happening at Plymouth each week and more, give us a follow @plymouthchurchfortwayne. If you post any pictures at Plymouth or at a Plymouth event, or have any previous posts at Plymouth, please tag us! The link to our Instagram can be found at the bottom of this bulletin and on our website.

Now that we are back in our sanctuary for worship, we again offer the opportunity to sign up for a Sunday to sponsor the chancel flowers. Members have used this opportunity to remember family and friends, celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations or other events. After the service, members volunteer to divide up the flowers to take to those who are not able to attend church services. Your donation of the flowers serves two purposes: to beautify the sanctuary and bring joy to members who cannot be in church. If you wish to take some of your donated flowers home, go to the kitchen after the service to claim your bunch.

Those who want to sign up can do so by filling out the form, linked here, or they can call/email the office. Payment can be made through the donation link on our website (included in the form) or they can mail cash/a check to the office. Donations for the selected Sunday(s) must be to the office by the prior Tuesday. The cost for one bouquet is $50. If two members sign up for the same Sunday, we will have two bouquets that week.

Contact the church office at (260) 423-9424 or [email protected] with any questions.

Evangelism & Marketing wants to extend a huge thanks to all who have donated so far to our RIP Medical Debt campaign. Not only have our friends at Peace and FCUCC Angola officially joined the campaign, they’ve both now had their official in-service kickoff for their participation. With their help, we’re at 76% of our goal! When we work together, incredible things can happen.

Remember, any donation is a great donation; $1 forgives $100, $5 forgives $500 – you can do so much good with so little. In the expectation that the blessing of our abundance can do good work in the world by liberating those shackled with unpayable debts, we invite you to consider a contribution.

The fundraising campaign will run through September 26, and our fundraising goal is $20,000 – or $2,000,000 in medical debt relief – but if we end up raising more than that our joy will increase with our giving. Please feel free to share the link with your friends and family – the more the merrier! Click the button below to visit our fundraising campaign page. There is also a link on our “Contribute” page at plymouthfw.org. Scroll down and click on “Campaign." Information can also be found on Facebook. Thank you!

The Safety Committee, a sub committee of the Deacons Board, needs a CPR/Defibrillator instructor that has access to the necessary training equipment to provide recertification training for those employees, safety committee members and volunteers who took the course two years ago. We hope to find someone in the congregation with that ability. This event would be available for our new employees as well as any new volunteers. Anyone interested should contact Tom Braun at (260) 403-0384 or [email protected].

The sanctuary will soon receive a much-needed upgrade to its audio and video equipment, allowing for a wonderful expansion of Plymouth’s digital ministry. We need some folks to learn to operate the new equipment and to assist with recording the worship services. Ideally, there will be several willing volunteers, so the duty remains light. John Escosa has been faithfully serving in this capacity for quite some time, and it will be good to expand the team!

Advanced tech skills are not required. Possessing these traits will be useful:

Anyone interested in joining or learning more about the specifics of the technology team is encouraged to attend the equipment training session which will be conducted once the equipment installation is complete. Please email either John Escosa at [email protected] or Cammy Sutter at [email protected] to be notified when the training will occur.

With our worship services returning to mostly normal, we need volunteer ushers to welcome folks and hand out bulletins. There are a few other minor duties involved, like collecting the pew pad attendance sheets, counting people in the sanctuary, etc. As an usher, the amount of energy you expend is minimal and it will help the congregation! If you are interested in serving as an usher, and would be willing to be placed on an usher’s schedule, or if you have any questions, please contact Bill Lambert at (260) 445-6270 or [email protected]. Thank you!

If you have a need to visit the office, we’d love to see you! Our office is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Appointments are no longer necessary to visit the office during these days. On Fridays, our office will be open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm by appointment only. Contact the office at (260) 423-9424 or [email protected] with any questions.

The state of Indiana has opened COVID-19 vaccination eligibility to anyone 12 and older. You can click the button below to schedule an appointment. If you have difficulty registering online, you can dial 211 from any phone for assistance.