ALL SAINTS DAY / ALL SOULS DAY ? NOVEMBER 6. Although All Saints Day is Tuesday, November 1, we are commuting this special feast day to Sunday, November 6, when we will honor those members of the First United community who have died in the last year.? We will commemorate their passing with a solemn liturgy, lighting white pillar candles as memorials of their lives.
As we have done for some time now at First United, we will continue on with the new tradition of setting up a table to the side of the sanctuary for All Souls (commuted from November 2).? For All Souls, congregants are encouraged to bring their unique candles to commemorate important people in their lives who have gone before them.? Part of the charm of the All Souls table is the number and the diversity of candles lit to honor those who have mattered to us.? We hope many will participate in this special First United liturgy.
?STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2017??????????????? ?Abundant Joy, Overflowing Generosity”
The 2017 Stewardship Campaign continues through Sunday, October 30!? As the First United community sets its course for 2017, your prayerful commitment this month will help provide the financial predictability that effective planning requires.????
Letters and e-mails containing the commitment cards (or printable electronic copies) have already gone out.? Please fill the commitment cards out and return them by placing in the collection plate on Sunday or mailing them to the church.? If, because you are not on any of our lists yet, you did not receive a commitment card, there are plenty on the tables just outside the sanctuary.
Remember, the 2017 Stewardship Campaign continues until the end of the month.? Any questions, contact Tim Morrison at timmorri@indiana.edu
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT.?? In March, Exodus Refugee will begin resettling refugees in Bloomington. There is much to do to prepare for sponsoring refugees, meetings to attend, information to share, arrangements to be made and coordinated, amongst our own congregation and with other sponsors in Bloomington. Please contact Jack Skiles or Sam Troxal if you are interested.?
NEW TIME! Thursday Prayer has moved to 7:00am beginning October 6. From 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. we share a time of silent prayer, meeting in community?with the intention of praying as a body for the church and community (both broadly and narrowly defined) as well as the concerns on our own hearts. At 7:30 a.m. we take a break so those who wish may leave. After the break we explore various prayer practices, spiritual disciplines and questions surrounding them.
Meetings are stewarded by a different individual from the group each week; our practices vary?at the direction of the facilitator.?We seek?to actively build up our community and one another through humble prayer together. We finish at 8:00 a.m. You are welcome to come for the whole hour or for either half hour whenever you can.
If you can’t join us in the chapel, you’re invited to pray with us wherever you are on Thursdays at 7:00 a.m.?
FALL YARD WORK DAY, SATURDAY,?NOVEMBER 5, 9-NOON. ?Come help put our grounds to bed for the growing season. ?We will also be continuing to clear our border’s overgrowth, so pulling brush and chipping will be part of the day’s work. ?We’ll do some work in the courtyard, so that it will be pretty as we look out on it resting this winter. ?Questions? ?Contact Laura Kao: ?laura_b_kao@hotmail.com or 812-361-6074
?CANDLELIGHT COMMUNION CHILDREN?S CHOIR. All children up to age 14 are invited to sing at Candlelight Communion this year. Rehearsals will take place during Children?s Learning Time starting this week. The service will be on Sunday, Dec. 11. Participating children should plan to be at church by 6:00 p.m. for the 7:00 p.m. service. For more information, contact Rebecca Keith at (812) 325-0145 or rekeith@iu.edu.
CURIOUS ABOUT SPIRITUAL DIRECTION??Spiritual Direction is a historically rooted ministry of our Christian tradition. A trained spiritual director serves as a spiritual companion to others on their faith journey, listening and discerning together. The purpose of spiritual direction is to become more attentive to God and specifically focuses on our relationship with God. It is not oriented toward a therapeutic management of life?s problems and crises even though God is very much present in all of life?s circumstances. It helps us to heighten the awareness of God?s presence and action in our lives and to make decisions based on that awareness. Your first session is FREE. Further sessions are based on a mutually arranged fee scale. Contact Dawna Petersen at spiritual.director@firstuc.org or 812-272-5404 to arrange your FREE session or to arrange an informal coffee date to chat about practice and prayer or to learn more about spiritual direction.?
LOOKING FOR CHILDREN’S LEARNING TIME TEACHERS.? Do you like working with kids aged 3-12?? Do you have a passion for helping children learn how to live well with others?? Do you find fulfillment in teaching children about our shared faith and this amazing world we live in?? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we may have a teaching opportunity for you!? Please see Ted Wininger, Hopi Stosberg, Derek Roe, or anyone else from the Education Board for more information!
MINISTER OF CARE FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 16, IS PHYLLIS PERKINS.? A minister of care is a church volunteer who visits members in their home.
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