Prayer Concerns

February 28, 2010 “First Forum” Today
Prayers for the the Art of the Covenant Class
at First Christian; Associate Regional Minis-
ter Don Hiscox recovering from recent sur-
gery; Phyllis Takekawa, John Billman and
Richard Schwersinske recuperating from re-
cent health challenges; for Steve and Rebecca
Haney as they begin the task of starting a new
church in Rochester, MN; for Skip and Ann
Wolverton, after the death of his mother; for
Our goal this year is to raise $500
We pray for the following churches in our and 500 pounds for Groveland
Region: Glen Echo Christian Church, Des Please join us after worship on today Foodshelf during March. MN Food-
Moines, Iowa; Moorhead Christian Church, to meet Tim Marburger, Volunteer Co- Share is a program of the Greater
Moorhead, Iowa; Plano Christian Church, ordinator for the Aliveness Project, a Minneapolis Council of Churches,
Plano, Iowa. local charity that helps persons with
co-sponsored by the Minnesota
HIV/AIDS. He will talk about what the
Council of Churches. You can drop
Aliveness Project does and how we as
We also pray for Christian Church in Pennsyl- off your non-perishable food items in
a community can be more involved in
vania. being Christ to those with HIV/AIDS. the Big Barrel in the Narthex.
Evening Prayer

The Bulletin
James Barrnett after the death of his grandfa-
If you have a prayer request or would like to
ther; for Elaine Tucker in her last weeks of “The Sacred on the Feel free to come on Wednesday
join our online prayer team, please contact

Weekly Announcements from First Christian Church Minneapolis

pregnancy; traveling mercies for Garry
Hesser, and Bobbie Hall; Mark Carlson and
others dealing with unemployment.
We continue to remember the people of Haiti
and their relatives here in the States. You can
find out about the many ministries and mis-
sionaries to lift up in prayer by going to
www.globalministries.org.
The Bulletin
Ministry Team
All Members of the Congregation
Robert Brite, Interim Minister
Dennis Sanders, Minister of Diversity and
Mission
Chris Wogaman, Office Manager
Bill Stump, Director of Music
Rick Bowman, Building Manager
James Barnett, Pianist
Serena Carlson, Nursery Attendant
Martha Harris, Courier Editor
Telephone: 612.870.1868
either Pastor Bob Brite at: Street:” A Visual Medita-
pastor@fccminneapolis.org tion for Lent
Throughout Lent, First Christian will be
or Associate Pastor Dennis Sanders at: showcasing the photography of our own
associatepastor@fccminneapolis.org. You Deb Murphy. Her works, “The Sacred
can also leave a message by phone by calling on the Street” were part of an installa-
tion at United Seminary last fall. Stop by
the church office at 612-870-1868.
after worship in the West Hall (across
from the Hearthstone Room) to look and
stay tuned to how it will become a part
of First’s Lenten Prayer Practice. You can
also follow along on the church website
(fccminneapolis.org) or pick up a
weekly devotion in the Lounge.
www.fccminneapolis.org Minnesota Food-
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fccminneapolis share:2010
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
fccminneapolis In 2009, there were about 3 million
E-mail: office@fccminneapolis.org food shelf visits statewide and 61 mil-
lion pounds of food distributed to Min-
Fax: 612.870.1860
nesota families by food shelves. This is
just one fact from many hunger related
fact sheets and resources available at
A Thoughtful Church in the Heart of the www.mnfoodshare.gmcc.org/march.php
Cities. . Become a superhero for hunger by
educating yourself as First Christian
prepares for the states largest food drive,
The MN FoodShare March Campaign.
evenings at 7PM for Evening Prayer.
During Lent we will use the medita-
tions and images from Deb Murphy’s
exhibit as our guide for prayer.
Feed My Starving Chil-
dren
Our next trip to Feed My Starving
Children will be on Saturday, March
27 from 11:30am-1:30pm at the
Coon Rapids facility. We will be
sharing this mission event with our
sisters and brothers at Gethsemane
Episcopal in downtown Minneapolis.
A signup sheet will be available be-
ginning March 7.
Help Our Neighbors in
Haiti
You can donate to Week of Compas-
sion, the disaster and relief agency of
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
as they work with other agencies to
bring hope to the victims of the re-
cent earthquake. You can place a
check in the offering plate made out
This Week’s News
to First Christian and place “Haiti Earthquake
Relief” in the memo line. Because of recent
legislation signed by the President, you can
claim any cash donation given to Haiti relief
between January 11 and March 1 on your 2009
Federal Income Tax Return. You can also give
online at www.weekofcompassion.org. Today is
the last day we will receive the Week of Com-
passion Offering. Please use the offering enve-
lope in your bulletins.
Worship Committee Meeting
The Next Worship Committee Meeting is this
Tuesday, March 2 at 7PM at the church.
Welcome a Stranger, Inspire
Hope
For the first time in nearly a decade, Minnesota
will be resettling refugee”Free cases.” These
“Free case” families have no known connections
or family in the US. Ideally, Minnesota Council
of Churches would link these families to a co-
sponsorship group who could provide support
and material donations for them upon arrival.
Unfortunately, “our first three (12 people) free
cases families” will be arriving the week of
Feb.22nd. The Refugee Services program needs
your help to give these families a warm wel-
come in this cold climate.
If you can provide “Person Power” please con-
tact Rachele King at 612.230.3216 or at Rach-
ele.King@mnchurches.org. If you can provide
“Stuff” please contact Dan Huynh at
612.230.3227 or Dan.huynh@mnchurches.org.
To learn more about the three families and their
specific needs visit http://www.mnchurches.org/
programs/directservices/freecases.html.
Page 2
Register for JRLC’s Day-on-the-
Hill
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 8:30am to 4pm
Morning session at the RiverCentre, followed
by rally and meetings with legislators at the
MN State Capitol, MN State Capitol
Be part of a unique interfaith lobby day focusing
on poverty, healthcare, judicial fairness, housing
and taxation. Register now for the Joint Reli-
gious Legislative Coalition’s Annual Day on the
Hill. To register visit www.jrlc.org/day-on-the-
hill.
20/30 Somethings Meet
The UCC/Disciples 20/30 Fellowship meets this
Sunday afternoon from 5-7PM for broomball at
Van Cleave Park in Southeast Minneapolis. Af-
terwards the group will go to Mudsuckers Cof-
fee (1500 Como Ave. SE in Mpls) for food, fun
and fellowship. If interested, please contact
Associate Pastor Dennis Sanders or Rev. Amy
Wick Moore at 651-645-3765. The
UCC/Disciples 20/30 Fellowship is designed for
young adults in both denominations to come
together in fellowship.
Have an announcement to share?
Please drop it off in the church
office or email it to associatepas-
tor@fccminneapolis.org by
Wednesday.
THE BULLETIN
Mission Spotlight: Dorothy Stegner
Knit. Purl. Pray.
That’s what long time member Dorothy
Stegner has been up to these
days as she makes prayer
shawls for homebound
members of our community.
She notes that she is com-
mitted to this ministry.
Dorothy has also given out
prayer shawls to a recent
new member.
When I came over recently to take a picture
of Dorothy with some her shawls, she noted
that there were some flaws. “On those days,”
she said, “I was the one who needed prayer.”
Disciples Resettled More Than 1,200 Refugees Last Year
Refugees from Afghanistan, Burma, Cuba and
Iraq were among the 1,251 people resettled
through the Disciples Refu-
gee and Immigration Minis-
tries program in 2009. The
Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ) is one of the six
denominations that resettles
refugees through the Church World Service
Immigration and Refugee Program. Disciples
helped to place approximately 11 percent of
CWS’s caseload.
The pastoral staff is working with the Elders to
make sure the shawls get to homebound
members.
Dorothy is looking for others of
all ages who might be inter-
ested in joining her in this min-
istry. If interested, please con-
tact Associate Pastor Dennis
Sanders at associatepas-
tor@fccminneapolis.org or call
the church.
Praise God for Dorothy and her effort to be
church.
Those Disciples who promote the work of
Week of Compassion in congregations are
encouraged to share with them
the ministry that Week of Com-
passion makes possible through
funding Refugee and Immigra-
tion Ministries in Disciples
Home Missions. View a report
about the congregations in-
volved in refugee and immigration ministries
in 2009 at:
www.discipleshomemissions.org/rim
-Disciples News Service
Page 3