First Congregational Church Newsletter East Longmeadow, MA
FROM THE DEACONS – Pulpit Supply
This Sunday July 13, Rev. Craig Cowing will lead us in worship service.
We are delighted to welcome Pastor Elva Merry as our bridge minister. She began with us on July 1. When we first spoke with Pastor Elva, she told us that she already had a few commitments for this summer. One commitment is this Sunday, and there are 2 in August. So this week we will have Rev. Craig Cowing in the pulpit. We are grateful to him for agreeing to join us. Pastor Elva will return the following Sunday.
The Deacons have truly appreciated the congregation's response to the ministers who have been so generous in filling our pulpit over the last few weeks. We are grateful to have Pastor Elva now as our bridge pastor, and we hope you will enjoy Rev. Cowing this Sunday.
From the Missions committee
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE….
But school will be starting soon.
And some things never change. Kensington School continues to need our help. Our church membership has decreased, but our commitment to helping the needy students and their teachers there remains high.
The sales on school supplies will begin soon!! PLEASE purchase any school supplies and drop off in the containers in the breezeway or in the narthex. If it is easier, you can just write a check, made out to the church marked for “school supplies”. This enables the school to purchase in larger quantities at a lower cost specifically what they need as the school year progresses.
Our goal is to deliver the week of August 18.
The principal, staff and students thank you in advance for your continued generosity and dedication to this important mission. Providing tools for education changes lives.
Mission and Outreach
Search Committee Update
Since January of this year, the Search Committee has received one profile to consider. The Search Committee, in conversation with Business and Finance, is working to update our profile and our compensation. The sale of the parsonage has given us the ability to do this. We are now increasing the salary by $10,000. We are also working on the definition of “hours” with the conference, to try to enable us to be more flexible with candidates' schedules. Unfortunately, there is a lack of candidates, as has been the case since we started. We feel, however, that these changes will make us more attractive to future candidates. We are grateful for your continued prayers and support.
Can you help with the food truck event to support local food pantries?
Would you like to help us in this mission project? We will meet once in July and once in August to plan out the activities for September 6th
SUMMEROFFICE HOURS
Starting the week of June 23 and running through August 29, the office will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9:00 am – 12:00 pm.
NEWSLETTERSUMMERSCHEDULE
The E-News will be sent out every other week starting on July 2nd. The distribution dates are as follows:
July 9
July 16
July 30
August 13
August 27
The E-news will return to its regular weekly schedule in September.
PRAYER CONCERNS
from Sunday, July 6
Bobbie asks for continued healing for Wendy following her spine surgery
Mike's joyful prayer asks for many more happy years together with Marilyn, as they celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary
GOOGLE CALENDAR
We are sharing a link to the calendar of events on Facebook and on the weekly newsletter. This is an URL to the calendar: https://churchontherotary.org/calendar-agenda/ OR you can click on the image below.