Events

Can you spare 15 minutes here and there?

As programming and use of the church has begun to increase, we've realized that there's a need for a team of people who are willing to do occasional room set-up for various events. The work is not terribly strenuous, and typically lasts 15-20 minutes - but we need a group of people to be on call for moments where furniture needs to be moved. Would you be willing to join this group? Please contact the church office at 440-775-1711 to put yourself on our call list for these moments. Thanks so much for your willingness to help!

Upcoming Vacation and Juneteenth

The Pastor is taking some time off from Monday, June 5 through Monday, June 19. In his absence, Barbara Davis will serve as the contact person for Pastoral Care. Should you wish a pastoral visit please contact Barb on her home phone at (440)774-1660.

Our Guest Preacher for Sunday, June 11, will be Rev. Roberto Ochoa, Minister for Ethnic Inclusion & Congregational Support for Rural & Small Churches, UCC National Offices.

On Sunday, June 18, the congregation will worship in the Fellowship Hall for a special service led by our Visioning Task Group. This is the first of many chances for you to participate in this important process.

Additionally, Jen is away from the office from Sunday, June 11 through Saturday, June 17.

Finally, the office will be closed on Monday, June 19th, in recognition of Juneteenth. We will be back in the office on Tuesday, June 20th.

There Are 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.

As usual, the deadline for submissions for the upcoming First Things First is Wednesday prior to 10 AM.
We will not be putting in any non-First Church job postings.
We will not be putting in any full flyers as the submission (however, we will put in a button that links to a PDF of the flyer).
There is a word limit of 100 words for the text of a submission.
You may insert links into the text post for more information, either by button or hyperlink in the text.
You may insert PDFs (accessible by buttons) for more information, a flyer, or anything else that would be helpful for the post, but the document must be in PDF format. Any other document format will not be included in your submission.
You may send one picture that you have the rights to use (i.e. a picture that is not subject to copyright, we suggest using the site pexels.com).
The submission will run for a maximum of 2 weeks in the eNews. These 2 weeks do not have to be consecutive.

When sending in your submission, you must have

The title of the post
The text of the post (maximum of 100 words)
Which 2 weeks you'd like for your submission to run

When sending in your submission, you could have

If you'd like, one picture
If you'd like, PDFs (and what you'd want the title of the button that links to it to be)
If you'd like, the links for spots in the text post (and which word(s) you'd like to be the hyperlink or what you'd want the title of the button to be)

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.

Worship - Live Streamed and in the Meeting House on Sundays @ 10am
Children's Church (grades K - 5) 10:15 AM each Sunday. Will resume in the Fall
Summer Storytime - 10:15 AM each Sunday.
Sunday School (grades 5 - 12) 11:30am each Sunday (Hot Topic discussion on the 4th Sunday each month). Will resume in the Fall.
Friday Night Hangout (all grades) - first Friday each month from 7:00 PM - 7:45 PM via Zoom
Sunday Night Youth Group (grades 5 - 12) - last Sunday each month from 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Finance Committee - 3rd Monday each month
Facility Committee - 1st Tuesday each month
Stewardship - 2nd Tuesday each month
Office Staff Meetings - Mondays at 10:00 AM
Book Group - Tuesdays at 4pm via Zoom
Witness and Membership - 2nd Wednesday each month
Christian Education Committee - 1st Thursday each month
Outreach and Service Committee - 1st Monday each month
Executive Council - 4th Tuesday each month
Friday Night Hangout - 1st Friday of each month
Green Team - 1st Wednesday of each month