Highlights
First United Church is closed for worship and other events except the Beyond Hunger food pantry, First United Nursery School, and some staff and small-group use for groups no larger than 20 people.
Send prayer requests via email to [email protected].
July 25 — Fourth Sunday Offering: First United Nursery School Tuition Assistance Fund
Aug. 15 and Aug. 29 — Indoor worship; instructions for livestreaming are on the Worship webpage
Family Camp is Happening!
After it was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Family Camp is ON for August. Camp will be Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 12-15, at Tower Hill in Sawyer, Michigan, for a weekend of camping, swimming, and camaraderie. Lake Michigan is about a one-mile hike from the campsite. Cost is based on participation but should be about $15 per person per night. Bring your own tent, RV, or whatever, plus your own food. There will be a potluck dinner Saturday night. Contact Teri Omert or Cathy Cerniglia with questions or to sign up.
Calendar
During this time of social distancing, First United is offering online fellowship and events through YouTube, Facebook, and Zoom. Here's how to join in the life of the church:
Second and fourth Mondays — Prayer Shawl Ministry via Zoom, 10 a.m. at this link
Wednesdays — Fostering Connection and Support drop-in via Zoom, 9:30-10:30 a.m. at this link
July — Plastic Free July, all month
Aug. 12-15 — Family Camp
Sermon
Right Beside Us
Psalm 74, 75, and 85
One year, four months, three days, less about an hour or so, but who’s counting. The COVID-19 pandemic has meant the longest displacement from sacred space I have experienced, by far. ... I think of European cathedrals and monasteries destroyed in the world wars that took decades to repair. Yet still God was faithful, and God was still glorified even without the vaulting arches of stone and wood.
— John Edgerton
About Us & Registration Forms
Messenger Bell
Weekly Bulletins
Church School Registration
Youth Group Registration
Online Giving
First United Mission Partners
First United Nursery School
Annual Report 2020
First United Strategic Plan
Centennial booklet
Chapel window booklet
Poetry booklet
Mission Calendar
Information for newcomers
Evotional
A Gathering Without Going
(From the Call to Worship to the closing service of the UCC General Synod)
Our fellowship has let illness spread.
For survival, we moved apart.
Out of love, we have isolated,
Distance between friends
Is there a gathering without going?
— Lydia Mulkey
An explanation of community solar power
Two members of the First United Environmental Justice Team recently were interviewed by Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries' "Different Drummers" program to explain how churches are signing up to use solar energy as part of their electricity energy mix. First United is one of those churches, and Jim Babcock and Art Spooner explain the program. You can watch their interview at the link below.
Community Solar experience