WANTED: Personal Stories Related To Hunger
The Indiana Chapter of The American Heart Association is gearing up to advocate for healthy food access in Indiana. In addition to meeting with Indiana’s representatives at the State level to lobby for specific healthy food access legislation, they will also be working to raise awareness about food insecurity and food deserts in our state.
Where do you come in? The AHA is creating a short, two-minute video to be shown in a variety of settings to raise awareness about food deserts and capture the authentic experiences of Indiana residents who struggle with food access. The AHA needs community members who are willing to share their personal stories.
If you or someone you know is willing to be captured on film discussing their authentic experiences of accessing food in their neighborhood, please contact Naima Gardner (naima.gardner@heart.org)?ASAP!!! Just let her know you were referred by First United in Bloomington. The AHA would also like to start compiling personal stories for other advocacy purposes (not on camera). If interested, please feel free to contact Naima about that as well.??
PLANNED PARENTHOOD PROJECT. Thanks to all who have contributed snacks for the Planned Parenthood Project. ?Your?contributions are appreciated very much.? If anyone is interested in becoming a part of the Snack Brigade for the Thursday clinic — either morning set up or afternoon clean up — please contact Sarah Burton after church services or via email:? burtonsp@indiana.edu. ?I can meet with you and take you through these very short tasks on any day that PP is open.
FRIDAYS AT FIRST UNITED Just Friday: Just Friday is an adult discussion group starting up on January 27 to discuss various topics related to justice. We will be meeting from 7:00p.m.-9:00 p.m. This is an ongoing discussion group meeting on the 4th Friday of each month.? Dessert and drinks will be available.
Childcare will not be provided. Starting in January in a series of four sessions we will discuss how we self identify and label ourselves and other people, the phenomenon of “us” vs. “them”, how our own biases (including subconscious bias) impact our relationships, and how we can move beyond those generalizations and bias to form real relationships between groups. The format will include watching a short documentary or movie clip and then having a discussion. If you have any questions, please contact Hopi Stosberg, Allison McClanahan, or Derek Roe.?
Play Friday: Play Friday (formerly Family Friday) is a casual evening of fun and fellowship for all ages. The 2nd Friday of each month from 6:00p.m.-8:00 p.m. we will come together to eat pizza, play games, make art, and have casual conversation. Activities are planned to be enjoyable and accessible for all ages. In February we will gather on February 10 to play with yarn! Bring your knitting or crocheting (if you do that) or you can learn that night! Simple knitting techniques can be taught to children as young as 3 and we will also have weaving and other crafts that use yarn. It helps with food planning if you can RSVP to Hopi Stosberg at hopi@stosberg.com. Hope to see you there!?
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING AND BUDGET VOTE, JANUARY 29. There will be a congregational vote directly after the service on Sunday, January 29 to approve the church budget.? Please plan to stay in the sanctuary after church for a brief congregational meeting and vote.? If you would like to see a copy of the church budget prior to the meeting, please email Sara Ivey Lucas (sivey@indiana.edu) or Kyle Hetrick (kytrick@mac.com) or stop by the church office during the week to pick one up from Lisa or Jack.?
KITCHEN CLEAN-UP AND CLOSET DECLUTTERING?-?Our usual kitchen work morning will be 8:30-10:30 on Saturday, February 4. ?In addition, the closets off Fellowship Hall will be re-imagined and cleaned out. ?This job may go later than 10:30. ?Efforts will be led by Building and Grounds but we could use help in both venues. ?Refreshments provided. ?Questions? ?Contact laura_b_kao@hotmail.com?
NOAH’S ARK. An Interfaith Journey Towards Understanding. Are you looking for ways to have in-depth conversations with people of different faiths?? Bloomington now has a group called Noah’s Ark whose goal is to foster these types of dialogues.? Those interested are asked to attend an informational meeting on either January 22 (1-4 pm), or January 28 (1-4 pm) at St. Mark’s UMC.? Meetings for conversation will begin on later dates.? For more information, please contact Jordan Shifriss at jordochi@yahoo.com.? RSVP for one of the informational meetings at http://www.bloomingtonvolunteernetwork.org/agency/detail/noahsark/.?
USHERS NEEDED FOR FEBRUARY. We need volunteers to serve as ushers for Church service during the month of February. This is an excellent way to meet others at Church. We especially invite new persons attending Church to serve. You can sign up for just one Sunday or for several Sundays. To sign up use the usher sign-up sheet next to the kitchen door. Or see Don Shelton who will be serving as usher captain for the month of February.?
FLOWERS FOR 2017. Sign-up sheets for flowers for 2017 are available in the notebook by the door to the kitchen.? If there’s a particular Sunday you would like to provide flowers for worship, sign up and secure it now.? Special arrangement, or allergy or such, just let Pat Martin know pat0304martin@comcast.net).
If you aren’t in the fellowship area of church and wish to provide flowers, just let Pat or the church office know. Thank you for contributing to worship in this way.
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS NEEDED. One of the ways we build our community of faith is through our coffer 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.
SCRIPTURE READERS NEEDED. If you?d like to read scripture during our Sunday morning worship, please sign up on the sign-up sheet on the table by the kitchen. We love having people of all ages be a part of worship in this special way. Our Office Manager will e-mail you the NRSV version of the scriptures the Friday before you read. This is a great way to participate in the Sunday service.?
OFFERING ENVELOPE UPDATE. You may now pick up your offering envelopes outside of the sanctuary, on a small table. Please look for your name. If you do not have offering envelopes please choose a box without a name and write your name on the paper list beside the envelope boxes. Thank you for using the envelopes, it helps with our accounting.?
MINISTER OF CARE FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 22, IS NORM OVERLY.? A minister of care is a church volunteer who visits members in their home.
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