the courier2020/07/07 · the courier march 26, 2020 first christian church (disciples of christ),...

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Talent Show showcases dancers, whistlers, & more The Virtual FCC Talent show on July 11, hosted by the Deacons of FCC, revealed the many hidden gifts of FCC members. Thirteen talent acts (14 if you count two dogs separately) presented an hour of entertainment that included John Carter’s puppets, Elaine Tucker’s Caterpillar Wrangling, Mitch Grauberger’s solo from Hamilton, and much more, including dancing, poetry, music solos and duets. Guess which elder did a whistling number! And the great thing is, you can see it all, again, or for the first time! Go to FCC’s website, click on the Livestream button, and there you will find a video showing all of the talents that debuted on July 11. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPVqQ57szyEh8JCtF_8lhiw/videos

Still time to get donations to Mission at Our Doorstep July: Is almost over! Just a few days left to get your donations for HCMC, Bethesda Hospital, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Al-Maa’uun! (For the list of needed supplies, please refer to the last Courier.) And remember! Call, text or e-mail Bonnie Ford (612-810-8333; [email protected]) by the end of the day on July 23 for pick up by a friendly M&O team member on July 24! And a recently added request: paper grocery bags! Walker Community Methodist Church dispenses food and hot meals and needs bags! These can be picked up on the July 24, also. Just contact Bonnie if you have some you do not need! August: Is almost here! The original plan that M&O had for August is on hold; school supplies may or may not be needed. As of this writing, it is not known if kids will be returning to their physical school. Depending on what happens with schools, Mission at Our Doorstep may extend into the fall in order to provide school supplies. BUT: Don’t forget that The State Fair is coming to First Christian in August! More news to follow! Thank you again for your overflowing generosity! And remember—if you cannot buy donations, you can give money as a donation through the Mission and Outreach tab on Givelify!

What’s INSIDE:

A Message from, Pastor Laurie Feille,

page 2

August calendar, page 3

UPCOMING Events

Mission at Our Doorstep pickup day,

Friday, July 24

Game Night: Pictionary! Friday, July 24, 7 pm

Morning Coffee with the Pastors and Happy Hours

continue

The Courier March 26, 2020

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis

July 22, 2020 The Courier

Here’s a sampling from the Talent Show, the first two stanzas of a poem by Arlene Hillestad

A Talent Show Poem What will my talent be for the talent show? In my youth I twirled baton, but I’ve outgrown it, you know. The piano, saxophone or singing might do, But aren’t those rather usual? Perhaps I’ll do something unique for you. Us being remote, I can’t bake and share cookies or pies, Besides, I fail at that miserably, I can tell you no lies. Maybe I could possibly wiggle my ears, But the movement is not noticeable, the crowd would respond with jeers.

Four months – and as active as ever! Who knew? Sunday afternoon I turned to Bryan and said, “I am so proud of the leadership of the church.” As I said it my eyes teared up at the emotion I felt. I am overwhelmed by what the leaders of our church are doing in the midst of this global pandemic. Our Board, chaired by Kirsten Cackoski, is spending time in Board Meetings to dream and vision about the future. They have not stopped dreaming of all the goodness that is ahead for our faith community. Our Elders, chaired by Tom Curry, have undertaken the difficult and much needed discussions around systemic white supremacy. They are having honest conversations and our faith community is being transformed because of this. Our Deacons, co-chaired by Belinda Flanagan and Justin Carlson, have planned game nights and days and an incredible Talent Show. A group of Deacons has taken on the leadership of planning these events and because of their creativity we have had more fun than you can imagine. Our Trustees, chaired by Skip Wolverton, have met several times with Christian Church Foundation to discuss our investments. They are committed to being good stewards of the resources that we have and are on top of our investments in this ever-changing market. All of this has happened without any in-person meetings. Through the gift of Zoom we have had meetings, planned, learned and prayed together. At the beginning of March, if you had told me that we will be 4+ months into not having in-person worship/gatherings/meetings and that the church will be healthy and active I’m not sure I would have believed you. It is amazing what happens when we realize that the church exists beyond the four walls of a building. We have also continued to do Outreach through our Outreach giving and through Mission At Our Doorstep. We have had to think creatively, and the Mission and Outreach Team has been doing that. Outreach is at the heart of who we are, and I want to reassure you that we have not lost our heart! We are also participating in the fund that the Downtown Interfaith Clergy created: Minneapolis Interfaith Relief Fund. I serve on the Allocation Team for the fund and through the gifts of our faith communities we have raised over $78,000 with more gifts to come. When we remember that we are part of a partnership with other churches in Minneapolis and work together we are able to offer life in ways we can’t offer alone. At present we have given a total of $55,000 to 11 agencies and partners in communities of color and in the indigenous community that are working directly with those most affected by the killing of Mr. George Floyd. I share all of this with you to remind us that even though being church looks totally different than it did at the beginning of March, we are still being church. In fact, we may be more active and connected than we have been in the past. Rest assured that as a faith community we are being as faithful as we have always been. Even though these are unchartered waters, I would not want to be on this journey with any other church. I am so grateful to God that I get to do ministry with you in this time. I love you all! Much love and peace, Pastor Laurie

In Our Prayers Prayers of Joy For the folks at the Christian

Conference Center who put together 322 Camp Crates to send to our region’s kids

For Deb Murphy and the ADAM Camp gang

For Bryce, son of Bonnie Ford, now testing negative for the virus

Prayers of Concern For Jen Krengel For Tom and Nancy Curry’s

daughter Tara and her family For Henri Smith For Joelle, granddaughter of

Alice and Ron Keith, recovering from an accident

For Gary Maanum and Garry Hesser as they continue their recoveries

For Julie Ronnei Murphy’s continuing health concerns

Prayers for the World For those who are marching

and organizing to end systemic racism in our communities

For homeless brothers and sisters that they may find permanent, dignified shelter

A message from Pastor Laurie Pound Feille

July 22, 2020

FCC Calendar for August, 2020

1 BILL WARD IS 90

today! Happy Birthday, Bill!

2 9:15 Children’s

Sunday School via Video on website

10:30 am Worship (livestream)

Elders: Mike Hesano, Lu Griffin

6 pm SH Youth via Zoom

3 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom 6:45 SHMC

Building Committee

4 8:15 Lectionary

via Zoom 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour

5 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom

9 am – Water Wednesday Day Camp

6 pm – SH Youth meeting

6 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour 6:30 Pastor

Laurie PRC

7 9 am Coffee

with Pastors – Zoom

8 9am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom

9 9:15 Children’s



Elders: Wendy Manuel, Steve Rusinak


10 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom

11 8:15 Lectionary

via Zoom 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour

12 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom


5:30 Finance Committee

6 pm – SH Youth meeting 7 pm Elders via Zoom

13 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour 6:30 Pastor

Laurie PRC

14 (No Coffee this

morning)

15 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom 8 pm GAME NIGHT: Yahtzee

16 9:15 Children’s



Elders: Karen Kandik, Pat Dunlop


17 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom 7 pm FCC Book

Group: Can’t Wait to Get To Heaven,” by Fannie Flagg

18 8:15 Lectionary

via Zoom 6 pm Worship

Team via Zoom

7 pm FCC General Board on Zoom

19 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom


2 pm Mission & Outreach Zoom meeting


20 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour

21 9 am Coffee


22 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom

23/30 9:15 Children’s




23 Elders: Kirsten Cackoski, Tom Curry

30 Elders: Arlene Hillestad, Jay Hillestad

24/31 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom

25 8:15 Lectionary

via Zoom 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour 7 pm Pastor Dan

PRC

26 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom



7 pm Elders via Zoom

27 5 pm Zoom

Happy Hour

28 9 am Coffee


29 9 am Coffee with

Pastors – Zoom

Note: The full calendar for FCC and SpringHouse is available online at https://calendar.churchart.com/calendar/73956030

The Courier

Narrative Lectionary Text for July 26, 2020

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

Sundays at First Christian Church Worship (and morning bulletin) at 10:30, online at fccmpls.org

“Children’s Table” activities online at fccmpls.org

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF MINNEAPOLIS

(DISCIPLES OF CHRIST) 610 W. 28th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55408

A Welcoming Community of Faith in the Heart of the City

Ministry Team Dan Adolphson, Associate Pastor [email protected] Rick Bowman, SHMC Building Manager Laurie Pound Feille, Senior Minister

[email protected] Martha Harris, Courier Editor,

[email protected] Lara Moll, SHMC Youth Minister,

[email protected] Deb Murphy, Office Manager & Director of Spiritual Formation of Children, [email protected] & SHMC Building Use Coordinator, [email protected] Rhianna Peterson, SHMC Child Care Maria Thieling, SHMC Child Care Tanner VanderKrabben, Bell Choir Conductor Mike Vasich, Music Director and Pianist Office Telephone: 612.870.1868 www.fccminneapolis.org

E-Mail: [email protected] Next issue deadline is Sunday, August 2

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis, is a partner church at SpringHouse Ministry Center

Reflections on the Word Matthew 13: 33b: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how something so small that is invisible to the eye can grow rapidly into a destructive force that consumes all our attention and resources. The parable of yeast in bread offers a counter-image of how the kingdom of heaven emerges from something invisible, offering us sustenance, a treasure worth of all our attention and resources. Nurturing God, Help us to keep up the slow, steady work of building the beloved community on earth as it is in heaven. Amen Holly Hearon, on Working Preacher

July 22, 2020

the courier2020/07/07 · the courier march 26, 2020 first christian church (disciples of christ),...

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