Category: Events

2024 Per Capita Sunday

Cheri Simonet
Per Capita

January 21, 2024

What is per capita? Did you check that box on your pledge card, committing to pay $37.95 for each adult member of your household this year? Why do we ask for that above and beyond your regular pledge? Are we contributing to things we don’t want to?! How can we know?

On January 21, 2024, we will answer all these questions and more!

The PC(USA) (our denomination) has invited all Presbyterians to center their worship services around the ways in which we are called into mutual support and ministry through per capita giving. Our worship on this day will focus our attention on the larger issues of our denomination and the connectional nature of being Presbyterian.

The Generosity Team will host the coffee fellowship time and engage further discussion as well.

Youth Group 2023 Lock-in

Cheri Simonet
Youth Group

It’s time once again for our Annual Youth Group Lock-in! This annual tradition started many, many years ago with the task of wrapping Christmas gifts for Tank Elementary School families that our church adopts for Christmas each year.

Christmas Baskets

The Christmas Prayer Basket campaign, supported by the Outreach Committee, selects three families to adopt each year from nearby Tank Elementary School. We obtain wish lists for the children and adults in each family and those wishes are placed in three separate baskets on the table in the back of the Narthex. Congregation members select from the tags and return gifts unwrapped to the church by Thursday, December 14th. And the following night of the 15th is when our Youth Group gathers in the Memorial Room to wrap the dozens on dozens of presents generously donated by our members.

Although the primary purpose for the youth getting together is to wrap all those presents, the larger picture is having our youth connect with the local community and with those who’re less fortunate than us. Our youth focus on seeing those who are sometimes forgotten and unseen during the busy hustle and bustle of the Holiday season. The lock-in is the fun part of it but moreover youth draw a connection to how fortunate we are to be blessed in so many ways. It’s easy to take for granted our blessings and there’s no better time of year than Christmas to reflect, remember and give thanks for all those blessings.

We gather at 6:30 on Friday, December 15th to wrap, retire to the youth group room for our sleepover and return home the following morning after breakfast. It’s a memorable and rewarding experience for all who participate. If you’d like to know more or get involved in this year’s lock-in, please contact Joel Morien at ce@firstpresgreenbay.org. And thank you to all our members who will generously donate those gifts for the youth to wrap!

Annual 2024 Ski Trip

Cheri Simonet
Annual Ski Trip

The snow has begun to fly so the time has come to have some fun on the slopes at our annual Ski Trip! This year we’ll once again be joined by our friends from First United Presbyterian Church of DePere.

And, although primarily coordinated with Youth Group, the ski trip is considered a family event so all are welcome to join!

Our ski destination is Ski Brule and we’ll be checking in on Friday, January 26th, checking out Saturday, January 27th at the Chicaugon Lake Inn. 

We will need a minimum of 20 skiers to take advantage of the Ski Brule group discount so spread the word to family, friends and neighbors. The more the merrier!

We hope to see you on the slopes!

November 2023 Fourth Sunday Forum

Cheri Simonet
4th Sunday Forum - Internet Safety

“Internet Safety: How To Protect Yourself Online”

Our new opportunity for adult enrichment and connection on the fourth Sunday of each month has been well-received! We continue this month on November 26th from 9:00 to 9:45 am in Fellowship Room with a special presentation from our own Lisa Olson on Internet Safety.

Lisa has recently retired from the Green Bay Public schools after a long career in internet technology, and she brings us a wealth of knowledge in how to stay safe and still make use of all the rich resources technology has to offer. Learn about the importance of knowing what apps to access on your phone or tablet, and how to be careful about where you give your personal information. She will also address what AI is, and why we should care. Bring your questions and your concerns—coffee and treats will be available, too.

New Members Received October 15th

Cheri Simonet
Welcome New Members
Kris & Mike Melton
Kris & Mike Melton

On Sunday, October 15th in our service of worship at 10am, we will officially receive four new members who are already blessing our congregation.

Our coffee fellowship time following worship will be another opportunity to welcome them and express our gratitude for their presence among us in the body of Christ.

Brief biographies were shared in our September Newsletter last month for Carole Biddick, Kris and Mike Melton, and Barbara Perret (not pictured).

Carole Biddick
Carole Biddick

Please make an effort to reach out and draw them into our family of faith!

Break Every Chain Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness Program

Cheri Simonet
Human Trafficking Awareness Zoom Event

Covenant Community Presbyterian Church (CCPC) is inviting the churches in Winnebago Presbytery to watch the Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness Program on Oct. 21, 2023 at First United Presbyterian Church of DePere located at 605 N Webster Avenue in DePere from 9:30am till 11:30am.

Human Trafficking happens in every county in Wisconsin and involves the exploitation of children, women, and men for the purpose of commercial sex or compelled labor. We believe that knowledge of the trafficking Red Flags and how children and adults are groomed and deceived can make our communities safer. We believe that awareness of this crime may save a life and prevent a child, women, or man from becoming a victim of the horrific crime of Human Trafficking.

The Program includes: Awareness, Prevention and Local Professionals speaking about what is happening in our area.

More details are below – please join us!

End Human Trafficking Awareness Program

October 2023 Fourth Sunday Faith Forum

Cheri Simonet
New Community Shelter Logo

A new opportunity for adult enrichment and connection from the Christian Education Committee, the Fourth Sunday Faith Forum featured International Peacemaker Noemi Sanchez from El Salvador last month and will feature a representative from New Community Shelter this month.

Please join us on Sunday, October 22nd in the Fellowship Room from 9:00 to 9:45am for a presentation about the ministry and outreach of this social service organization just down the street from our church.

At our Advent Festival last year, we stuffed socks with personal care products for unsheltered people and our youth group delivered them to the shelter and got to tour the facility and hear a little more about what they do. Now they are coming to us to share their ministry!

Don’t miss this chance to learn about a ministry in our community.

Sing Thru the Church Year

Cheri Simonet
Music notes

Special Worship Service September 3, 2023

The church year is NOT the same as a calendar year, but you may not notice it spread over the course of 12 months—when is Lent, why do we celebrate Epiphany, what comes after Pentecost?

For our worship service on Sunday, September 3th at 10am, we will attempt to sing our way through the whole church year with a few verses or a few hymns to represent each season. We’ll begin with Advent, move through Christmas and Epiphany, remind ourselves of Lent and Holy Week and Easter, then Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints’, and Christ the King.

It’s a LOT to squeeze into one service, but we think we can do it!

As it’s the first Sunday of the month, we will celebrate communion as well. Come join us for this hymn sing and perhaps learn a thing or two along the way. This service, planned by Pastor Katie and organist Matthew Thorne, will be our farewell to Matthew with deep thanks for his musical gifts and leadership over the summer.

Outdoor Worship and Ice Cream Social

Cheri Simonet
Outdoor Worship

September 10, 2023

“Back to school” sales are in full force and that means it is time for us all to come back to church after summer vacations and breaks! We celebrate the beginning of this new program year with a fun and casual outdoor worship on Sunday, September 10th at 10:00 am (weather permitting) on the front lawn. Bring your own chair or sit in one we’ve set up on the sidewalk—please don’t let navigating the grass keep you away.

Our worship service will feature a playful re-telling of the creation story and a special blessing of backpacks for all those headed back to school. If you are a student of any age, a teacher or administrator or helper in a school setting of any kind, please bring your backpack or other school bag on this day to receive a blessing including a special keychain to add to your bag. Let’s see how many backpacks and bags we can bless this year!

Following worship, we welcome everyone into the Fellowship Room for an ice cream social featuring dipped ice cream with all the toppings—plan to build your own sundae. This is a perfect day to bring a friend or neighbor or grandchild to worship, so please join us!

Fourth Sunday Forum to Begin

Cheri Simonet
El Salvador Flag

September 24, 2023

Our Christian Education Committee is excited to announce the launch of a new program for adults that we’re calling Fourth Sunday Faith Forum. This is a direct result of input received on our congregational survey last spring, which indicated a desire for more adult education opportunities. This gathering will feature a special speaker or a special topic led by a member of our congregation. On the fourth Sunday of each month, the committee intends to offer a forum from 9:00 to 9:45 am in the Fellowship Room. We hope to welcome lots of participants to this new opportunity for growth in faith and knowledge.

We kick off this new program with a speaker all the way from El Salvador, Noemi Sanchez. Noemi works for the Calvinist Reformed Church of El Salvador and is with us as part of the International Peacemakers program of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Her denomination works closely with the PC(USA) in sustainable agriculture and innovative farming practices, school and community support, and migration issues in her country, which is the most densely populated country in Central America. We are honored to host her for the first part of her visit to Winnebago Presbytery and hope to have a big turn-out on September 24 to hear her presentation about ministry in El Salvador.

Noemi Sanchez
Noemí Sánchez

More about Noemí

Abdias Noemí Iglesias Sánchez has been a member of the Calvinist Reformed Church of El Salvador (IRCES) for approximately 30 years, as part of the youth group and now as a member of the IRCES Board of Directors. Through the IRCES Board of Directors, Noemí is the primary representative, ensuring the implementation of General Assembly agreements as well as the community and pastoral work of the IRCES’s strategic plan.

In youth ministry, she attended various youth camps as well as workshops on building a culture of peace. She studied Business Administration from the University of El Salvador, and has put her faith and skills into practice by assisting IRCES colleagues in coordinating youth workshops and community activities promoting peace and teaching peaceful inter-personal skills.

Married 16 years with 2 children, family is one of the most important parts of Noemí’s life.

Watch this short introduction video and hear Noemí’s story in her own words