** Note: Donovan Walling is now receiving care at the I.U. Hospice house. If you would like to send a card, here is the address; 2810 S. Deborah Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403.**?

BE THE CHURCH. Throughout the month of May Outreach is asking you to help us to identify instances of Being Church. An instance of Being Church is helping those who are in need, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the prisoner, advocating for those on the margins.

Maybe you volunteered. Or someone you know. Or gave money. Or marched. Or called an elected official. Or wrote a letter to the editor. For the poor. The homeless. The prisoner. The racial minority. The religious minority. The earth. Being the Church is anything we do to improve the earth for all God’s people.

Please write these Being Church instances down on slips of paper that will be available throughout the month of May and add them to our collection. These will be displayed for Pentecost on June 2 to celebrate the birthday of Being Church. Because we need more rather than fewer?and you were Church more than once?you are encouraged to be generous with writing down instances of Being Church.?

THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE (NC) has been working since late January to fill vacancies on Boards and in the Council Offices. ? ?The Council has set May 7 as the date the congregation will vote to elect the nominated slate; thus the closing date for nominations from the congregation is April 30th.? According to the?By-laws:? “Members of the congregation may submit nominations for church offices to the Nominating Committee during the period from the announcement of the Nominating Committee until one week prior to the election. Nominations from the congregation must be made in writing. Persons nominated by the congregation must declare their willingness to serve before they can be placed on the ballot.”

At this time the Committee is still seeking nominations for the Council Vice President; we would welcome?your input.? You may send your nomination on/before April 30 to any of the NC members:? Sarah Burton (Chair), burtonsp@indiana.edu;?Sara Ivey Lucas, sivey@indiana.edu; Laura Kao: laura_b_kao@hotmail.com; Sam Troxal: stroxal@yahoo.com; Florence Shelton: florence100447@yahoo.com; and Rebecca Keith: rekeith@iu.edu

Are you wanting to know more about? Monroe County United Ministries (MCUM)?

Would you like a way to contribute to Bloomington families in need?

Join us for the Spring Into Action!

Luncheon & Auction

?You are invited to support MCUM at their annual fundraiser. During a fun-filled afternoon at the Bloomington-Monroe County Convention Center, guests can bid on an exciting array of items in the silent auction, enjoy a catered meal, and learn about MCUM through a short formal program. This year’s event is scheduled for

Sunday, April 30 from 12-2pm.

Tickets are $35 for adults, $25 for youth ages 5-11, and free for children under 5 years old. Tables of eight are also available for purchase for $200.

You can purchase a ticket through the website http://mcum.ticketbud.com/springluncheon2017, contact the MCUM office, or contact me at sarahjanelagrange@gmail.com (Sarah LaGrange)**make sure to mention you are with the First United Church Group when signing up?

CHURCH YARD WORK. ?Laura Kao?of the Board of?Building and Grounds will be putting in?an hour of?yard work on Thursday mornings at 8:30 whenever she is in town this growing season. ?She invites you to join her any?Thursday. ?If you let her know by e-mail that?you are interested, she’d know to tell?you when she won’t be there. ?laura_b_kao@hotmail.com

LAWN MOWERS NEEDED.? There is a sign-up sheet for lawn mowers by the kitchen. ?The church has a riding mower, and either Chad Nunley or Jack Skiles can instruct in its operation. ?We hire the courtyard, slope by Third Street, and slope around the little red oak to be push?mowed. ?The rest of the yard takes about 4 hours to mow. Weather permitting, we like it to be done in the Thursday-Saturday time frame, all?spiffy for Sunday. ?In addition, we have two weed whackers for trimming around our many edges. ?Questions? ?Contact Chad Nunley ? cnunley92@gmail.com?

NEEDED COFFEE HOUR HOSTS ALL OF MAY. One of the ways we build our community of faith is through our coffee hour or fellowship time immediately following Sunday services.? Hosts help with this important aspect of our community life by showing hospitality to members, friends, and guests of First United Church. ??Coffee hour hosts typically leave Sunday services at the end of the sermon to brew the coffee and put out the snacks.??The Church provides all supplies for coffee hour.? If you sign up for coffee hour, a friendly member of the Board of Christian Worship will explain where to find the supplies.

FRIDAYS AT FIRST UNITED?

Play Friday:? Play Friday is a recurring family friendly event on the 2nd Friday of each month from 6-8 p.m. Pizza dinner is provided along with games and a craft activity. This event is fun for all ages. The next Play Friday will be on May 12, theme to be announced. It helps with food planning if you RSVP to Hopi Stosberg at hopi@stosberg.com

Just Friday: Our final Just Friday discussion in the series of stereotypes and bias will be on April 28 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. We will focus our media and discussion that night on the importance of communication between groups and methods of effective communication. Starting in May we will continue Just Friday discussions focused on a new justice related topic (TBA). Just Friday is an adult discussion group focused on discussing issues of justice. We meet on the 4th Friday of each month from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Desserts and drinks will be available, no childcare is provided.

MINISTER OF CARE FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 23, IS JEAN PETERS.? A minister of care is a church volunteer who visits members in their home.