ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
Communion Celebrated Sunday
For those joining us for worship virtually Sunday, this is a reminder to prepare your elements for communion prior to the service.
Did You Know?
We have hearing loops that are compatible with t-coils in hearing aids in the Meeting House, JFO room, and Fellowship Hall that can be accessed to help with hearing!
Office Closed for Inventory Duties
The office will be closed on Friday, February 10th, and Friday, March 3rd, for Miranda to take care of inventory duties. The church will still be open for the pre planned events on those days, but we ask people refrain from going into the office for those two days. We thank you for your patience and understanding in these busy times.
Come to Country Skateland on February 20th!
Calling all youth! Come celebrate Presidents' Day with us! On Monday, February 20th, from 1-3 pm, we will be going roller skating at Country Skateland. Please meet at the rink - 45841 State Route 303, Oberlin. The church will pick up the cost of admission and skate rental - please bring your own money if you'd like to visit the concession stand or play the arcade games at the rink.
After our skating time, we'll come back to church and set up for the Pancake Dinner the next night! Yay! Pancakes!
Please let Jen know if you're planning to come by texting, emailing, or calling the office. ADULTS: We need at least one other person to chaperone this event. Please let Jen know if you're interested and available!
Everybody's Birthday Luncheon is Back!!
Please join us on Sunday, February 5th after church for a potluck and birthday celebration. If your last name begins with A-M, please bring a main dish for the potluck. If your last name begins with N-Z, please bring a salad or side dish. We also need people to "adopt a month" for the birthday celebration. Please sign up outside the church office to provide a dessert (cake or other) and table decorations for one of the months. If you have any questions, please direct them to the church office or to Sarah Colson at 440/774-2538.
The Pancake Dinner Returns!
The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner is making its triumphant return!
(...and we will need some help to pull this off!)
We are hoping the congregation will join us on Shrove Tuesday, February 21st, for pancakes and fellowship! Dinner will be served starting at 6 pm. A donation basket will be at the door, and all proceeds will go towards camp scholarships for our youth!
We have traditionally borrowed electric griddles for this event. If you are willing to lend yours, please let Jen know!
The youth will be doing some set up for the event on the 20th after their roller skating event, but we will also need folks on the 21st to help cook, serve, and clean up afterwards. A sign up sheet is posted on the wall outside the office - please help if you can!
Good News!
Jens served as organist at First Church while he was an organ student at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. We are delighted to share that he has been appointed Associate Professor of Organ at Baylor University, beginning in August. Congratulations, Jens!
Here is Jens' personal website for more info. (and pictures!)
Would you like to sing in the Community Masterworks being Conducted by Tom Bandy?
Hi everyone!
I’ll be conducting the Community Masterworks (with assorted choirs and the True North Orchestra) in the Mozart Krönungsmesse, K317, on Sunday March 12 at 3 PM at St. Peter Catholic Church, Lorain, with a call time probably at 1 PM. There is a joint rehearsal the Sunday before (3/5) at 3 PM. If you’re interested in singing with the group, I’d love to have you participate! Thank you
Tom Bandy
OCS sent thank yous to First Church for the help with Empty Mugs and Holiday Helping Hands that we all provided! Click the buttons below to see their notes!
Thank you!
Thanks to all who attended the Empty Mugs Fundraiser for Oberlin Community Services, and thanks as well to those who volunteered their time to make this event possible. With your help, we were able to raise more than $10,000 for OCS.
We still have pottery available for purchase if you were unable to make a purchase during the event. A table is set up in the Gallery near the staircase with pieces on display and a box for contributions.
Thanks again for your support!
Book Group
The First Church Book group meets via Zoom every Tuesday at 4 pm and ends at around 5:30 pm. To join, you just need to let the First Church Office know that you’d like to be on the list and you’ll receive an email invitation to the Zoom meeting every week.
Have questions? Contact anyone in the Book Group Task Force which (roughly) organizes the meetings: Laurel Price Jones, Anne Elder, Heather Laughman, Lindsay Graves, or Linda Gates.
Look ahead to see what books are being discussed. One book mentioned by Jeanne McKibben in her reflection on Sunday, October 30 - Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing - will be read and discussed in January. See the attached schedule.
Everyone Is Worthy
Issue #1120 | October 6, 2022
Edith Rasell
Click the button below to read this issue of the Witness For Justice newsletter involving economic justice.
Guest Columnist: Ed Long
Public Authority and Private Behavior: Lessons from Prohibition for the Abortion Controversy
From time to time, we would like to feature articles and reflections from members and friends of First Church. If you have a piece you've written that you would like considered for inclusion in First Things First please email it to the Pastor at pastor@firstchurchoberlin.org.
There Are NEW Requirements for Making Submissions to our First Things First eNews!
In an effort to make our eNews more readable and shorten the length, we have created new guidelines for submitting posts! The guidelines are as follows.
When sending in your submission, you must have
When sending in your submission, you could have
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to make our eNews experience more manageable for our readers!
Open and Affirming Committee Openings
June is Pride Month and a perfect opportunity for growth. (https://openandaffirming.org/ona/why/grow/). The Open and Affirming Committee (ONA) has openings. What is the ONA Committee you ask? It is a committee without meetings. It is a team of committed people supporting the ONA Statement of The First Church in Oberlin adopted in 1995 and amended in 2013. If you want to help make sure our congregation is living up to the welcoming and affirming spirit of the following statement, please contact Marty Buck @mbuck@oberlin.net or 440-225-7160 or a member of the Outreach and Service Committee @ outreach@firstchurchoberlin.org. Let us make the ONA Committee an ONA Team!
We know that as the Church we are many members but are one body in Christ. Each bringing individual pieces and gifts, only together do we find completion. With Christ we affirm that we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that we are called to act as agents of reconciliation and wholeness within the world and within the church itself. Recognizing the presence of ignorance, fear, and hatred in the wider church and in our culture toward specific members of Christ’s body:
We pledge to welcome people of all races, ages, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, abilities, socioeconomic levels, and sexual orientations into the full life and ministry of the church.
We seek actively to include and support those who because of fear and prejudice find themselves in exile from a spiritual community.
We commit ourselves to caring and concern for all.
RECURRING EVENTS:
Faith Formation News!
As always, call Jen or the office to get a link for any and all of these events!