Category: Youth

Save-the-Date for Souper Bowl of Caring 2024

Cheri Simonet
Souper Bowl of Caring

Souper Bowl of Caring—February 11, 2024

As Super Bowl Sunday approaches that means it’s time for our 2nd annual Souper Bowl of Caring!

Since 1990, close to $193 million has been reported donated to local food charities across all fifty states with over 305,000 unique groups participating. Every dollar donated to Souper Bowl of Caring creates over $18 for food charities. The cause unites all communities to Tackle Hunger.

Our #FirstPresGB Souper Bowl of Caring is led by the Christian Education Committee along with Youth Group and is held annually on Super Bowl Sunday. The event is meant to bring an awareness to hunger and to curb hunger through soup. The cost will be $5/person and there will be 8 different soup stations for people to experience. Each soup sampler will have a chance to vote and judge our Souper Bowl winner. The awardee will receive the cherished Golden Ladle that’s passed on year over year to the awarded winner. The current Golden Ladle holder from our 2022 Souper Bowl of Caring is Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges for her Christmas Corn Chowder.

More details will follow in February’s newsletter but in the meantime, we’re looking for 8 soup chefs to help us pull this off! All you need to do is craft a crock pot full of your favorite soup.

If you’re able to be one of our 8 soup chefs, please contact Director of Children, Youth and Families, Joel Morien, at ce@firstpresgreenbay.org or sign up on the bulletin board.

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!

2023 Youth Pool Party

Cheri Simonet
Pool Party July 20, 2023

Calling all #FirstPresGB Youth!

Youth Group may have started their summer hiatus but why go the whole summer without seeing each other? Join us for our annual Youth Pool Party!

Bring your friends – the more the merrier!

Our hostess, Loni McCormick, invites all youth to her home on Thursday, July 20th from 1p till 4, 4:30p. Loni will provide the beverages, but youth are asked to bring a snack to share.

We’re hoping for a warm summer day to relax in or by the pool to have some fun, play some games, splash around and take time to reconnect over the summer. So, grab your sunglasses, swimsuit, pool toys and a snack to share and join the fun at Loni’s pool!

For questions please contact Loni at (920) 655-8258 or pmccormick1@new.rr.com or contact Joel Morien at (920) 437-8121 or email ce@firstpresgreenbay.org.

We hope to see you poolside!

April 2023 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

2—4—2 @ the U

Thank you to all who helped make 2-4-2 @ the U happen! We served 22 kids plus workers and all were happy. The menu was homemade chili (vegetarian too!) with all the fixings along with wonderful desserts. The kids were appreciative about everything. Thank you again for your support!

Dear Souper Bowl Makers and Tasters

The Outreach Committee would like to extend a thank you to all for the Souper Bowl Sunday! The Pantry appreciates your gift and thanks to your contributions raised we’re giving each Pantry family a ham for Easter. Blessings to all who helped us succeed in giving our folks a beautiful Easter dinner!

March 2023 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Souper Bowl of Caring Tackles Hunger!

Our Souper Bowl of Caring was a great time of food and fellowship! Using muffin tins (genius!) everyone had the opportunity to sample 8 amazing soups. The judging was tough because all were delicious! We had nearly 40 votes and the grand prize winner was chef Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges with her Christmas Corn Chowder. Georjeanna was awarded the golden ladle during worship on February 26th.

We raised $285 for the Presbyterian Pantry but thanks to a generous, anonymous donor, that amount was matched and the grand total raised was $570—wow! Thanks to everyone who attended and voted, and thanks to our amazing chefs—Brooke Bruette, Russ Christensen, Al Smith, Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges, Brenda and George Hubbard, Ross and Lyn Early, Joel and Brittany Morien and Pastor Katie.

Thanks also to our CE Committee who made the event possible and to Mary Belanger who helped configure our crockpot outlets so we didn’t blow a circuit!

Cozy Kids are cozy thanks to you!

THANK YOU to everyone who made our Cozy Kids January Campaign such a success! The kids were so grateful for all the generous contributions! Our community of faith is truly blessed to have so many members who give back to our local community, especially to our friends and families in need at Tank School.

February 2023 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Pastor Katie and Joel Morien were thrilled to attend the annual conference of the Association of Partners in Christian Education in late January, held in Birmingham Alabama. They appreciated plenary sessions with speaker John Pavlovitz whose most recent book is If God is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk, worship with local gospel choirs and nationally-known preachers, and a multitude of workshops. It was also an opportunity to network with others in ministry as the event drew more than 500 participants from around the country.

2nd Annual Burns Night—an Evening in the Highlands

Thanks to everyone involved in last Saturday’s second annual Burns Night Benefit Dinner: An Evening in the Highlands! More than 100 people gathered at the Green Bay Distillery to raise funds to help Hurricane Ian victims and to enjoy an wonderful evening. An optional Scotch tasting session was followed by a hearty feast of Whiskey Glazed Salmon or Whiskey Glazed Pork Loin with lots of extras. We also enjoyed amazing entertainment and activities including the Clan Donald Pipe Band, the Irish Heritage Dancers, sword dancing, Address to the Haggis, and more! It was a great evening, but don’t you think it’s a little cold for kilts?

  • Burns Dinner 2023
  • Burns Dinner 2023

Annual Ski Trip

This year’s ski trip was a fabulous time! We were fortunate to have our friends from First United along for the fun. The weather was perfect for a day on the slopes and the day was filled with fellowship and fun. And, this year everyone was off the bunny hill by 10:30 check-in!

Happy 100th Birthday to Theda Nero!

Wishing you a blessed day on your birthday and all the days ahead in your 100th year!

Theda Nero 100th Birthday
Stephanie Fahringer and Donna Jansen join Theda Nero for her 100th Birthday Celebration

January 2023 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

FMSC is a WINNER and awarded $10,000!

Thank you to all who voted in Thrivent Financial’s “Carols for a Cause” contest! We placed third so our Feed My Starving Children: Green Bay MobilePack will receive $10,000. That’s over 41,600 meals for children in need! It also means that our 2022 fundraising goal has now been met and we have started raising money to kick off the efforts for 2023. We are so incredibly grateful to the team at Thrivent for selecting our organization to be a part of this amazing contest and for their generous support, not only of our cause, but others from the Green Bay area as well.

Advent Workshop

We kicked off the Advent season with a wonderful chili lunch and workshop to get us all in the mood for the Christmas season. Cookies were decorated and eaten, candles were crafted, and hot chocolate spoons were created for gift-giving. We stuffed 48 pair of wool socks with necessary toiletries and other goodies for people experiencing homelessness. What a great day! Thank you to everyone who participated in this wonderful event.

Christmas Prayer Baskets

Our three adopted families had a beautiful Christmas thanks to so many wonderful people! All the tags were taken from our baskets to fill each family’s wish lists. Many people within the church and several outside of our church helped make this possible. The Outreach Committee thanks everyone so much for the wonderful presents and for spreading joy!

Toy Shop

This year’s Toy Shop on December 13th for our Pantry guests was a great success! We served 51 families and gave away toys for 221 kids! Thank you to everyone for your generous support with monetary gifts and toys, and special THANKS to our elves that were personal shoppers. Thanks to everyone’s support there’s 221 kids who found presents under the tree on Christmas morning!

Youth Lock-In

Our Youth had a great time with their annual lock-in on December 16th! Presents were wrapped for our three adopted families for our annual prayer basket campaign. There was Christmas trivia with prizes and one of the prizes was a 1 pound gummy bear! Who wouldn’t be happy to win a 1 pound gummy bear as a prize? It was a wonderful time of fellowship. As youth wrapped for our adopted families, they were reminded just how fortunate we are to have presents under our own trees and grateful for the opportunity to help others in need.

December 2022 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Trunk-or-Treat

Ten decorated trunks, 50+ costumed guests, and hundreds of tasty treats! Our first annual Trunk or Treat was a spooky success. Thanks to all who hosted a trunk and all who turned out for treats!

Thanksgiving with our friends at First United

A glorious joint service of thanksgiving was held on Saturday November 19, 2022 at First United Presbyterian Church in De Pere with more than 75 people present from the two congregations. The service was followed by a delicious turkey dinner for everyone present. We raised $366.48 in free will offering, plus a grocery cart of canned good for the Presbyterian Pantry. Thank you, everyone, for your generous support!

November 2022 Rundown

Cheri Simonet
Monthly Rundown

Congratulations Eric Sperduto!

Aaron and Jody Sperduto’s son, Eric, was recognized in October by the Green Bay West Rotary Club as one of their Students of the Month. Eric is a senior at Pulaski High School. Congratulations on your accomplishment, Eric!

Fall Clean-up THANKS!

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful fall day to do our fall clean-up! It was sunny, warm and in the 70’s which made our chores feel far less chore like. The yard was cleaned up and the windows were washed. So much was accomplished thanks to the help of our amazing volunteers—Pat McCormick and his granddaughter, Grace, Pete Blashka, Dave and Lisa Solper, Judy Knutzen-Nerad, Kirke Ryder (our magician on windows), Joel Morien and John Belanger. Mary says a big THANK YOU to one and all! We couldn’t have gotten it done without you!

BURM Conference

What can be said about connecting with our partners in Russia, the Christians in Ukraine who are suffering from the war, the refugees in Belarus who are being used as pawns in a political game, the authoritarian regimes that are rising to political power in Europe and elsewhere, and the fact that we’re fighting wars over access to fossil fuels that are also degrading our planet?

Lots can be said, and lots was said – we learned so much at the Belarus, Ukraine, Russia Mission (BURM) Network conference October 6-8. We were honored to host the event in-person and virtually via our Facebook Livestream. There was a LOT of great information. Ellen Smith, our mission co-worker shared her recent newsletter telling us about how refugees in Belarus are at risk and details about her recent travels. Everyone walked away with a better understanding of the region, its challenges and what we can do to get involved. For more visit BURM 2022 Network Conference Rundown.

Confirmation Class and Apple Crisps

On Sunday, October 23 our Confirmation Class gathered to make and bake apple crisps for some of our homebound members. There were lots of apples to peel and dice, LOTS—dozens of apples. Later that afternoon the crisps were delivered to great acclaim and appreciation. Thank you to our confirmation class for your outreach efforts!

N.E.W. Pride Alive 2022 Festival

Cheri Simonet
NEW Pride Alive2022

We’re pleased to announce that our congregation will be represented at the N.E.W. Pride Alive Festival on Saturday, September 24th at the Brown County Fairgrounds. Several welcoming churches in the greater Green Bay area have come together to host a table in the exhibit hall, letting participants know that there are faith communities ready to welcome and embrace them. The table will be staffed from noon to 5:00 pm on Saturday by church volunteers, with plans to distribute a flier with details on welcoming churches as well as offering hand-held fans, glitter blessings, opportunities for prayer, and more. If you’d like to volunteer for a two-hour shift at the table, contact Pastor Katie at kestes@firstpresgreenbay.org or call (920) 437-8121.

The purpose of N.E.W. Pride is to enhance the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the Greater Fox Valley & Green Bay regions by empowering people and organizations that share this purpose. Through partnerships, education, funding, creating more opportunities for community connection, and raising visibility/awareness of LGBTQ+ issues, we strive to create a Northeastern Wisconsin where all LGBTQ+ folk thrive. Each year, N.E.W. Pride puts on a number of events including Northeastern Wisconsin Pride. This family-friendly pride event features fireworks, live music, a local history exhibit, drag performances, and more!

Please join us!