Don t Be A Quitter! This time of year always seems to fly by for me. It seems like Christmas has just ended, a new year begins, maybe we have our Christmas decorations put away, and then Easter is here! One of the things that I am becoming increasingly more grateful for with each passing year is Lent. Lent is the 40 day (not including Sunday s) time between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. It is one of the most solemn and holy times in the Christian year. It is the period of time specifically recognized by the church as being set aside to prepare ourselves to encounter the cross and the resurrection. Different people and different Christian traditions have different ways of preparing for Easter during Lent. As Congregationalists, we don t have a prescribed method. We do not require any specific actions (nor lack of actions) during Lent. This means that each individual is free to follow their own conscience, as it is led by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, to prepare themselves for Easter. This is a practice that I encourage every Christian to engage in. If we approach Easter as Just another holiday, or Dang, there is so much to get ready. I can t wait until its done, or I can t wait to spend time with family and friends, then we have completely let the meaning of Easter pass us by, and the true joy of the holy day holiday will be lost on us. So please, this Lenten season, I encourage you to engage in practices that actively prepare you for Easter. But whatever you do, don t be a quitter! So many people approach Lent with a quitter mentality. They approach Lent as a way to quit something in their lives. But this quitting is often for the wrong reasons. I want to quit smoking for Lent so I can be healthier. I want to quit eating chocolate during Lent so I can lose weight. I want to quit eating meat during Lent because it s what I have to do. I want to quit cursing so much because I want to be a better person. While all of these things in-and-of themselves provide value in a person s life, they all miss the mark of what Lent is all about. Lent is not about being a quitter! Lent is all about being an exchanger. Instead of simply quitting something, we exchange it for something better. And I don t mean exchanging smoking for chewing gum; exchanging chocolate for celery; exchanging meat for fish; or exchanging cursing for hand gestures. I mean exchanging an idol in our lives for the Ideal. The words of Jesus that come to my mind as I approach Lent are from Mark 8:34, Whoever wants to become my follower, must deny himself take up his cross and follow me These are words of great challenge. If we truly want to be followers of Jesus (and not simply fans), then we must take to heart what He tells us here. On Good Friday, we will all take up our crosses with Jesus. We will walk with Him to Calvary and we will watch as our sins nail Him to the cross and His love keeps Him there. Then, after we see the consequence of our sins and the depth of His love, we will wait expectantly for Easter Sunday when the risen Christ will stand before us and beckon us to follow Him. But before we can approach that wonderful time, we must go through a 40 day time of denying ourselves just like Jesus in the desert. We must bring ourselves before God and ask Him what things in our lives we need to deny so that we can be more fully His. And whatever God is calling you to deny, recognize that it is not a quitting, it is an exchanging. If you are going to give something up, then be intentional about exchanging it for God. Whenever you start to think about wanting that which you have given up, instead make the choice to think of God and recognize that God is the source of your provision, life, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning. May we all boldly follow Christ this Lenten season as we prepare for the glory of Easter! Ministers: The People of the Church Pastor: Kevin Clark FCC associates with sister churches in the Wis. Congregational Association & National Association of Congregational Christian Churches
Church Council / Staff Moderator-Diane Williams... 594-2546 Moderator Elect-Rae-Ellen Preuss... 594-2740 Treasurer-Jean Brocker... 470-9949 Secretary-Joanne Himebauch... 363-8144 Budget & Finance-Prakash Mathew... 436-4025 Property & Grounds-Jim Schuett...414-257-1860 Worship... vacant Congregational Care-Sue Roberts... 378-4695 Missions-Deb Maske... 363-4484 Christian Education-Linda Haeger... 642-7723 Staff Organist/Choir Director - Marni Wiggins... 521-1406 Office Admin. - Judi Weyer...... 363-7249 Pastor Kevin Clark...612-327-0915 Servant Schedule Date Refresh. Ushers Nursery Liturgist 3/5 3/12 Pizza Ranch Scouts Charter Group 2 Sunday School Linda G Group 3 Glenn K Claire A 3/19 Group 1 Joanne H 3/26 Women s Fellowship Group 2 Linda G 4/2 Group 3 Glenn K Claire A Notice: Photographs taken at church events are included in the newsletter, on our website and our Facebook page. If you would prefer not to have your photo posted to any of these forums, please contact the church office. Articles for the April Newsletter are due in the office by Friday, March 24 Birthdays Linda Haeger... 3/8 David H. Beilfuss... 3/9 Jamie Brandemuehl... 3/13 Janine Coley... 3/14 Ryley Urban... 3/20 Gabrielle Beilfuss... 3/23 Mickey Rath... 3/24 Kemp Wilson... 3/31 Anniversaries Kevin & Ashley Clark... 3/9 Please drop a note to the church office to have your birthday or anniversary included here. Stewardship @ 2/24/17 Offering 14,946.00 Expenses 16,746.06 Over (Short) (1,800.06) Attendance Jan. 29 54 Feb. 5 51 Feb. 12 58 Feb. 19 64 CONTACT US First Congregational Church of Mukwonago 231 Roberts Drive Mukwonago, WI 53149 www.fccweb.net Church Office... 262-363-7249 office@fccweb.net Pastor Kevin Clark... 612-327-0915 rev.kevinclark@gmail.com Marni Wiggins Organist/Choir Director... marnilynn@mac.com March 12 Dodgeville, WI 53533 Prayer Chain... prayer@fccweb.net C.A.R.E. Ministry... care@fccweb.net
Come join us for our March 21st meeting at 12:30 pm. We will be sharing Reuben sandwiches. Please let Sue Roberts know on her cellphone @ 262.933.6409 if you want a sandwich as she is picking them up on the 21st. We will be working on Birchrock Assisted Living Center Easter decorations. We hope to see you there. submitted by Bonnie Geiser Help Wanted Many young couples, when they are considering a church, give the nursery and Sunday School programs a high priority. We are working to improve both programs here at First Congregational, but we need help. New member, Pat Parr, has taken the lead for the nursery. She would like to have a team of six adult volunteers who would rotate weekly to care for our youngest members. Orientation and training in first aid and CPR are being planned. So please let her know if you will consider this ministry. Pat Parr 262-806-2243 patpatparr@yahoo.com THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT FEAST Luke 14:15-24 A man once gave a great banquet and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, Come; for all is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray to you have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, Go quickly to the streets and lands of the city and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame. During February, we again had problems with the boiler system. This has reminded me that we worship in a building that is approaching 60 years in age. Until recently, we have not been keeping up with all of the preventive maintenance needed on the building. In addition, the standards for construction, for electrical and heating were vastly different in 1960 than today. For example, we can not update the main bathrooms to meet current accessibility standards and still have three toilets in the room. In 1960, there was no need to consider WiFi. In addition to heating concerns, there are other things that need updating. One example is the lighting in Koeffler Hall. At the Annual Meeting we will be looking for volunteers to assess the physical needs of the building, estimate the cost of those updates, and make suggestions to the Council (and then the congregation) for funding these updates. If you would be interested in helping with this, please consider volunteering for long range planning for the building committee. Diane Williams from the 150 th Anniversary Booklet
Five Blessings In the seventy plus years of my life, I have truly been blessed. I have read we are to mention five blessings in our prayers each day. Most of us could go through an entire week and never mention the same blessing. Spring Cleaning Drive! March 19 th through April 9 th March is spring cleaning time and we will again be helping our community by having a drive for spring cleaning items for the Kitchen Kupboard out of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. We will be collecting items such as glass cleaner, 409, bath and toilet cleaners, dusting items such as Pledge, dust cloths, buckets, mops, etc. Anything you can think of that you like and use to help with your own spring cleaning (either inside or outside) is a great item to bring in for donation. We ll have a container in the narthex where you can place your items. Happy Spring Cleaning everyone! ProHealth Care Mukwonago Park Walk for Cancer Saturday, May 6, 2017 We will have an FCC team again this year for the walk on May 6 th. Watch for details on how to register for the walk. Early bird registration of $25 will close on March 15. You can save $5 on your registration if you register online. Please ask any of the Missions Team members how to go about signing up. It s a great morning walk, and we d love to have as many as possible on our team! Most often we think of our family, our health, or things that have made our day worthwhile. What of those who struggle with an illness, or grief, or financial difficulties, or fractured relationships? Do they find blessings in their days? How is it the optimists pray for guidance and strength and the pessimist pays for an end to all the struggle. As we pray for the needs of others through the grace of God we are blessed. Through the years of illness, grief, fractured relationships He has allowed me to seek a faith to be a person who knows I am loved. My five blessings this day are ~ good health, bright and loving grandchildren, the sounds of life in my neighborhood, fabric softener to make the towels soft and good friends. submitted by Roberta Oehrke Missions disbursements this month: Agape House Ministries in Walworth: $200 Agape House is an organization which offers spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physiological programs for teen girls and young adult women, as well as counseling for families and the greater community. They have welcomed girls from all walks of life who are hurting and seek ways to heal. submitted by Linda Garasimowicz The Annual Church Business Meeting will be on March 5 th after worship. Annual reports are available on the communication table. Join us for lunch at the Pizza Ranch in Elkhorn after the Annual Meeting on March 5. Need a ride? Let us know on the Communications Table sign-up.
The Memorial Committee on behalf of our church is pleased to accept a framed print of "Jesus and the Children". This beautiful gift is hanging in our small Sunday School room. Thank you, Doris Rolfson, for giving us such a lovely picture for our children and teachers to enjoy. submitted by Rae-Ellen Preuss & Sue Roberts Have you seen us? Three of our burgundy fabric table clothes are missing and have been for awhile. With the celebration of our 160th anniversary this year, all twelve will be needed. Please check your home to see if you possibly brought them home to launder and just haven't returned them yet. If found, they can be returned to Rae-Ellen Preuss. Thanks! Rummage Sale 2 nd Weekend in June Start putting aside items for the annual church rummage sale! Watch for more information. At the February Council meeting the following was decided: Approved two new ministry teams--easy Worship is headed by Jean Broker. This team will put together the displays used on the screens during worship. They had previously been working under the audiovisual team. Nursery is headed by Pat Parr, one of our new members. The team is developing policies, staffing and furnishing the nursery. We set the agenda for the Annual Business meeting. We also received word that the boilers were having problems again this month. Last year we spent almost $10,000 on repairs to the boilers, so this is not good news. Replacing the boilers will cost at least $60,000. We have six years of payments left on the current boilers and energy updates. We will be discussing long range plans for the building at the Annual Meeting. We reviewed and updated the membership roles. It is important to know that we currently have a membership list and a voting member list. Participation in worship or activities and financial support are the criteria for voting membership. Members who are unable to physically attend worship will not be removed from the voters list. We are continuing to work on standard operating procedures. After the council meeting we learned that T.J. Tritz has resigned from the council. The vacancy will be filled at the March meeting. If you are interested contact the nominating committee (Diane Williams & Bonnie Geiser) I would like to thank Doris Rolfson for suggesting a monthly update in the newsletter of the Council actions. Diane Williams Moderator
231 ROBERTS DRIVE MUKWONAGO, WISCONSIN 53149-1129 «Final_Merge Mailing_Labels» «Address» «City», «State» «Zip» «Newsletter_Delivery_Preference» March, 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1 2 3 4 7:00 Ash Wednesday Service at FCC Saturday 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 9:00 Bible Study 8:00 Men's Breakfast 6:30 Quilters 3:00 Girl Scouts 10:00 Worship 10:00 Made With Love 7:00 Lenten Service 11:00 Annual Meeting 6:30 Choir at Honey Creek Pizza Ranch Outing 12 Charter Sunday 13 14 15 16 17 18 9:00 Bible Study 6:30 Boy Scouts 6:30 Choir 7:00 Lenten Service 6:30 Church Council Craft Fair Setup 8-4 Craft Fair 10:00 Worship at Burlington 11:00 Front Porch 19 20 21 22 23 24 Articles Due 25 9:00 Bible Study 10:00 Made With Love 7:00 Lenten Service 10:00 Worship 12:30 W omen's Fellowsh at English Settlement 11:00 Front Porch 6:30 Choir 1:00 Linden Ridge 6:30 Boy Scouts Cmte. 26 27 28 29 30 31 9:00 Bible Study 6:30 Boy Scouts 10:00 Made With Love 7:00 Lenten Service 10:00 Worship 6:30 Choir at FCC 11:00 Front Porch