CROP WALK STILL TIME TO DONATE. ??If you still want to donate to Church World Service’s CROP walk, Laura Kao has her envelope available this Sunday. ? She’ll turn it in next week about Tuesday, October 25. ?Checks can be made out to CWS/CROP. ?Some of the money stays local for our food banks but most goes to international hunger and disaster relief efforts.
PEW SILENT AUCTION – We have three excess pews that Council has requested that we find new homes for by means of an in-house silent auction. ?Each pew for auction?is?marked with a?numbered?label on the seat back:?1, 2, and 3. In addition, there are two alter rails that are labeled #4 and 5. ?The bid sheet is by the sign-up table by the church kitchen. ?Bids can be called in to Lisa at the office as well (812) 332-4439. ?Starting bids are $10 and subsequent bids should?go up in increments of $10. ?The items?are solid oak, original to our 1956 Mid-Century Modern church. ?Auction ends Sunday?December 4 at high?noon with the pews and alter rails to go promptly off the premises. ?Questions? ?Contact Laura at laura_b_kao@hotmail.com.
WHAT IS THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE? On Sunday October 30th, the Sacred Conversation on Race group will begin discussing the origins of a dynamic that forces some K-12 students into the criminal justice system at an early age.? We will explore laws and school policies that disproportionately affect students of color.? Please join us at 9:30 in Room 6.?
PEW REMOVAL TRIAL – Starting on December 11, we will have a trial period during which two pews midway up the courtyard side and one more pew in front of the new sound control booth are removed from the sanctuary. ?A primary goal is to provide more options where congregants in wheelchairs can sit. ?We may like the traffic flow as well. ?We will give this configuration a trial of over one month.?
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.?
FAMILY FRIDAY NOVEMBER: Put Family Friday on your calendar for November?11 from 6-8. There will be the usual assortment of food and games as well as a craft. For a craft project this month we will be making worry dolls, which are a Guatemalan and Mexican tradition for helping children deal with worries and fears. Let Hopi Stosberg, hopi@stosberg.com, know if you are planning on coming so she can make sure she has adequate supplies.
The Family Friday craft? project in November will use yarn for the “dressing” of worry dolls, so I am looking for scrap yarn that anyone may have lingering around their knitting basket. If you have any yarn, please give it to Hopi Stosberg. Thanks.?
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.?
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, December 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.
MINISTER OF CARE FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 23, IS NORA SULLIVAN.? A minister of care is a church volunteer who visits members in
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