OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES ? HARVEST INGATHERING
November is Harvest Ingathering and an opportunity to help others who need help putting enough on their tables during the holidays–at a time when food pantries typically run low. Donations will be collected through the month until November 20 when the bounty will be stacked across the platform. NOTE: an added opportunity is to join us to arrange the donations on November 19 at 10:a.m. (holiday treat will be served!).
HANGING OF THE GREENS. Greetings good people of First United!? It is time to prepare our sanctuary for the holiday season.? Sunday, November 20, beginning at 4:00 p.m., we will hang the greens, transforming our sleek mid-century modern worship space into a wassail hall festooned with fragrant live evergreen garlands, red bows, hanging wagon-wheel wreaths, and, of course, our beautiful Advent Wreath.? We need all hands on deck to help with this transformation.? Come one, come all!? When our work is done, we will join to sup together with all contributing in pitch-in style.? The Board of Christian Worship looks forward to seeing you all there.?
JUSTICE SUNDAY – NOVEMBER 20TH! Beginning next week, November 20th, First United will designate one Sunday per month as Justice Sunday. Ours has long been a congregation with a heart for seeking justice – in our city, our state, our nation and our world. In our time together on Justice Sundays, we will hear about various social justice issues and you will be given an opportunity for action – a chance to take real, concentrated steps to enact true change in this world. This week, in partnership with Bread for the World, we focus on the issue of hunger and poverty in Indiana. We will be conducting a focused letter writing campaign to our newly elected Senator (Todd Young) and Congressman (Trey Hollingsworth). Detailed information will be provided in service on November 13th. Please plan to join us in this important new endeavor!
TIME TO ORDER OUR BEAUTIFUL POINSETTIAS.? Brighten the church sanctuary with Holiday Poinsettias and support the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra! The BSO’s Annual Poinsettia Sale has begun! To order poinsettias to decorate the chancel during Advent and take home afterward, bring your check no later than Monday, November 21, made out to BSO Poinsettia 2016. Write “poinsettias” in the memo line. Each plant costs $13.00, beautifies the church, and supports the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. Your poinsettias may be picked up outside Fellowship Hall on Monday, December 19, if you would like to take them home. Please let the church office know if you would like to order one.?
TUESDAY MORNING ADULT STUDY GROUP 10:00 A.M. After a 36 week study of evil (!) we? now have that figured out and we are now progressing forward into a 12 week course entitled Science and Religion.? We will probe the very nature of science and religion:? How are they different and how are they similar in terms of their questions, methods and sources of knowledge and certainty.? Popular opinion generally assumes an antagonistic relationship between the two, but modern scholarship increasingly reveals this a one-sided view that is not only relatively recent but also self-servingly propagated to this day by extremist voices in both the religious and science camps.
Each Tuesday morning is a self-contained unit and a person can easily come and go as schedule permits.
Come and join a most interesting group at First United as we journey, study and discuss together.? The morning is moderated by Jack Skiles.
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.
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.
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.?
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 NOVEMBER 13, IS JEAN PETERS.? A minister of care is a church volunteer who visits members in their home.
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