The Epistle. First Congregational Church United Church of Christ An Open and Affirming Congregation Adams Ave Pastor: Reverend Kay Grice

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1 The Epistle Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Paul s Epistle to the Philippians 1:2) God is Still Speaking November 2017 First Congregational Church United Church of Christ An Open and Affirming Congregation It is the season to be thankful. Look around and take note of God s awesome beauty. Enjoy it, share it, and give thanks. Thank you to the Diaconate for the wonderful brunch on October 8. What a glorious morning! And we added $1,330 to the Savin for Pavin coffers. Thank you. We need to put on our thinking caps and come up with some more fun ways to get this done. We still need about $19,000. Share your ideas with any Trustee (Lynne Fech, Paul Legerski, Lee Pendleton, Linden Olson, or Rob Wilmetti) or our moderator, Diana Wiig. Holy Communion has invited us to join them to Bless the Animals on Sunday, October 29 at 10:30. This should be lots of fun because they have sheep and goats and ponies and dogs and cats and all sorts of animals which must be on leashes or in cages. Hope you will join us with or without a pet. I am excited and I am not necessarily a pet kind of person. But I am not totally a lost cause, I do love the deer outside my office window this morning there were two bucks. November 5 th we will remember our saints who have gone before us and celebrate the 500 th anniversary of the Reformation and the beginning of the Protestant movement. We, Christians, began as a protest movement against the established church. Protesting is how we got our name. Protesting is a part of who we are, and music has often been a part of that protesting, a way to express our concerns and our hopes. So, we are going to enjoy some of the songs that have been part of various protest movements. November 5, we are remembering and celebrating and not necessarily protesting anything. However, maybe we should be, if we are going to be faithful followers of Jesus. Our faith should make us comfortable enough with who and whose we are, that we can protest, that we can lovingly and civilly speak truth to power. This past month, we have repeatedly heard Moses to so with God. God is love and that love empowers us and gives us plenty of reasons to give thanks. Hope you will join us in doing so. Peace, K 1275 Adams Ave Pastor: Reverend Kay Grice Rock Springs, WY Pastor kgricefirstrock@gmail.com Church churchfirstrock@gmail.com Office Hours: Tues-Thurs 12:30-3:30 Worship Time: Sunday 10:30 a.m. Growing Faith following the Thought for All Ages

2 NOVEMBER 5TH- YOUTH CHOIR REHEARSAL 9:30 A.M. NOVEMBER 11TH- HOLIDAY BAZZAR 11:00 A.M. NOVEMBER 12TH- DIACONATE MEETING 9:30 A.M. ALL AGES CHOIR REHEARSAL 9:30 A.M. YOUTH GROUP (6th graders and up) 5:00 P.M. HOLY COMMUNION NOVEMBER 13TH- WOMEN S OUTLAW INN 11:30 NOVEMBER 19TH- ALL AGES CHOIR REHEARSAL 9:30 A.M. NOVEMBER 22ND- THANKSGIVING EVE MOUNT OF OLIVES 6:30 P.M. NOVEMBER 23RD & 24TH- THANKSGIVING- *OFFICE CLOSED* NOVEMBER 26TH- YOUTH CHOIR REHEARSAL 9:30 A.M. YOUTH GROUP (6th graders and up) 5:00 P.M. HOLY COMMUNION NOVEMBER 29TH- TRUSTEES MEETING 6:00 P.M. NOVEMBER 30TH- COUNCIL MEETING 6:00 P.M. Thanksgiving Eve Service Pie and Worship November 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Mount of Olives Church Don't forget our annual Holiday Bazaar coming up on Sat., Nov. 11, from 11:00 to 1:00. Please consider how you may contribute, as you are able, with donations, bringing something for the bake sale or bringing in craft items or gently used home décor, jewelry, etc., and by selling and buying raffle tickets. Also join us for lunch and great fellowship. We hope to see you there!!!

3 October 29th at 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion Please have all pets on leashes or in cages. If you are a able to volunteer in Rock Springs to ring the Salvation Army Bell during the holidays, please contact Julie Godfrey at or Linda Cornell at Women s Fellowship November meeting will be Monday, November 13th at 11:30 a.m. at the Outlaw Inn! Future meetings: December 11 Lunch at the Outlaw January 14 Chili Sunday What a great way to get to know each other outside of church. Yeah Fellowship!!! Mission Moments We donated $ in September and $ in October to disaster relief. We are collecting feminine hygiene products and men s razors for a community service project with Holy Communion, Mount of Olives, and Union Churches. Please bring these items and put them in the basket by the office.

4 First Congregational Church UCC 1275 Adams Ave. ( ) Holiday Bazaar Saturday, November 11, :00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Crafts -Next to New Items Bake Sale- Luncheon Menu- Chicken Noodle Soup or Hamburger Soup Bowl- $8.00 *Includes Beverage, Hard Roll & Dessert Children s Menu Small Soup *Includes Beverage, Roll & Dessert Drink and Dessert---$3.00 Drawing for Hand Crafted Wooden Bench, Gift Baskets Donation: $1.00 each ticket or Book of 6 tickets for $5.00

5 Board Reports: COUNCIL S CORNER Council met October 25. Diana Wiig (moderator), Sharon Pribyl (ice-moderator), Liz Strannigan (secretary), Rob Wilmetti (trustee) and Kay Grice were present. Absent were Connie Jensen (at large), Melinda Ransom (at large), Diaconate and Growing Faith. Trustees talked about the updating of the unisex bathroom which we hope to start November 1 and completed before the bazaar. This month the furnaces here and at the parsonage were cleaned and filters changed. The sprinkler systems have been put to bed. The faucet in the open area in the basement was replaced. The weeds outside the fence were cut and the snow blower serviced to get ready for the winter. There were discussions about the security system and the possibility of solar panels. Rocky Mountain Power has an incentive program for renewable energy for which we may be eligible. We will just check it out. Growing Faith will be making Flat Stanleys, a book and national literacy program, on November 12. The youth will cut out and decorate a Stanley and then we will take a group photo. We will mail a Stanly, a photo, and a note to churches around the country. We are focusing on churches in areas that have experienced hurricanes and fires. Hopefully we will get a picture back. Missions is considering how to reach out during the holiday season. They have ordered some Equal Exchange items for the bazaar. Diaconate had no report. Thank you again to them for the brunch in October. After these reports, Diana talked about the ONA Webinar she and Kay recently watched. Rob will check to see if there is a LGTQ group at the high school we might reach out to and at least let them be aware that there is a church that welcomes them. Kay will also check with the college. We talked also talked about the possibility of doing a dinner for the International Students at WWCC Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving and decided to make this happen. There was also conversation about the You Tube music which has been used in worship. Apparently, some have not been able to hear them. It has been looked into and determined that the volume merely needed to be adjusted. Then we talked about themes for the Stewardship Campaign which will be November 12 and 19 with pledge cards being received on December 3. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions, or want more information, talk to any of the council members or dwiig54@gmail.com, slpribyl57@gmail.com, or kgricefirstrock@gmail.com

6 Thank you for your help!

7 Don t forget your aluminum and tin cans! Our proceeds support the Discretionary Fund. Monthly Art Gallery EDIE KOROGI 1 JUDY HOWE 5 LEE HOWE 7 LEE JACOB WILMETTI 10 HELEN KENNEDY 13 JAN ZANS 25 DIANA WIIG 25 PAUL LEGERSKI 26 DAVID WILSON 26 AUBRIELLE MAES 28 Jeremiah Fennell 5th Godfrey Youth 12th Mary Ruth Powell 19th- 26th- Deacon of the Month Don't forget to register and use when shopping online. Register First Congregational Church, Rock Springs, WY as your charity of choice and we will receive a rebate on every purchase you make. 5th Jan Zans 12th Amy & Jeremy Wiig 19th-Marietta s 26th-Legerski/Godfrey Monica Campbell We hold these folks in our prayers: Oscar Erickson, Shelia Pendleton, Ann Clifton, Donna Hay, Nancy Robins, and Hannah Soltis.