FIRST CONNECTION APRIL 2020

COMMUNITY CENTEREDCOMMUNITY FOCUSEDCOMMUNITY MINDED

Kirstie's ReflectionKirstie's Reflection

Every day I wake up, I give thanks for my family, faith, community and health.Every day I wake up, I also feel as if I am in a strange new land. The COVID-19pandemic has forced the entire world to adjust to a new way of being, living andinteracting with one another in a very short timeframe. Although I know that wewill get through these uncertain times together, I cannot dismiss the feeling ofbeing unsettled. It is unsettling to witness people all around me struggling tokeep well emotionally, physically and spiritually. It is unsettling to live in times offinancial hardships all around. It is unsettling to see the cases of infection andlives lost by the hour. So it is during these unsettling times that I invite us to seekways to establish a new way of life, health and wholeness. This is a greatopportunity to start spiritual disciplines of daily prayer, quiet time reflection andjournaling. This is a great time to set personal health and wellness goals forourselves. This is a great time to learn technology in a way that is life-giving. Asan example there are tools such as ZOOM meetings, Skype and more that willallow us to stay connected with one another and still see each other faces! This isa great time to pick up the phone and call a friend or family member. This is agreat time to reconnect with family, friends and more. The key I believe is waking

up every day with a determination to do things differently and safely so that wedo not succumb to loneliness, isolation and worry. The hope is that once we getthrough this... BECAUSE WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS....is that afterwards wewill be wiser, stronger and even more connected. So don't lose hope friends andfamily. I believe that after all of this, our eyes and heart will be open even moreso. The sun will shine even brighter and our love for one another andappreciation for one another will be greater!

FIRST CONNECTION MINISTRIES!

First Church Alignment CommitteeFirst Church Alignment Committee

One of the reasons I like coming to First UnitedMethodist Church Lincoln is that it is a place where Ibelong. People are welcoming. My race, gender orsexual orientation do not keep me from fully

participating in my church. Hopefully all people will feel this as they walk throughour doors. The Alignment Committee has been committed to reaching out to all people.One of the projects we have presented to the Church Council is the placement ofthe sign: “All Are Welcome Here”. As you can see the sign carries the messagefor all to see as they pass our church. Our church has committed to acceptingLGBTQIA persons. The rainbow colors are recognized as a symbol of identity andsolidarity. These persons are proud to be children of God. The sign will be placed(hopefully in the month of April) on the south side of the church to the west ofthe steps in the green grass. Donations will be accepted to cover this expense. The cost of the sign is $585and at this time we do have contributions of $120. We do appreciate theseadvance gifts. On the church website you may go to “Push Pay”. One of thecategories of giving is “Welcome Sign” in which you may choose to give. Or youmay send your check to the church and designate your gift to the “WelcomeSign” in the memo area. -----Submitted by Elaine Johnson, Alignment Committee Member

Church Council hasChurch Council haselected the followingelected the following

PHONE TREE

PHONE TREE MINISTRYPHONE TREE MINISTRY:John Spilker and Peggy

STEWARDSHIPSTEWARDSHIP

new members of thenew members of theBoard of Trustees!Board of Trustees!

Lynn AyersJoAnn BairGrady Turner

Be sure to congratulatethem or send a note ofappreciation!

Submitted by:Jack Chapin

INTERFAITHPEACEMAKING

Due to the COVID-19pandemic, theInterfaith PeacemakingCoalition 38th AnnualEvent with Rev. SallyBingham and inpartnership withNebraska InterfaithPower and Light; TheClimate Crisis: ASpiritual Call to Actionwill be postponed. Wewill make sure to keepyou informed when wereschedule this veryimportant event.

Hall

What is it?What is it?: Pastor Kirstieasked us to head upa Phone Tree Ministry toreach out to our FirstChurch family who don’thave email or social mediaduring the COVID-19 socialdistancing. Volunteersare reporting needs toJohn Spilker. He will workwith Peggy Hall and PastorKirstie to get those needstaken care ofby First Church staffas appropriate to the need.

Our reportOur report: With the helpof so many wonderfulmembers, our Phone TreeMinistry was staffed in 48hours with volunteers.Wow! Our congregation’sresponse filled me withsuch love to see howquickly our memberssupported this ministry.I’ve felt sad and lonely tobe socially distanced fromall your beautiful faces,and the volunteer responseto Phone Tree Ministry hasreminded me that evenduring a time of requiredsocial distancing, FirstChurch is a strong familyfilled with so muchkindness, care, andservice. Many thanks toour volunteers for yourlove and care of our FirstChurch family. If youwould like to be a phonetree minister, please emailor call me. JohnSpilker johndspilker@gmailjohndspilker@gmail.com.com and (850) 491-7351.Also, if you want to call meand talk, since we can’t beface to face, I’m here to

AND FINANCEAND FINANCECOMMITTEECOMMITTEE"First UnitedMethodist Church isneeding oursupport even morein these challengingtimes. Although thedoors aretemporarily closed,the ministry andoutreachcontinue. The costof ministerial staff,building operationsand outreach to thecommunity andthrough our MissionShares areongoing. Pleasecontinue yourgenerous giving asyou are able. Youcan do so by check,bank draw, orthrough PushPay(on thewebsite). Thechurch may becalled upon in thecoming times tobecome even moredirectly active as aresponse entity forcritical humanneeds; ourcontinued supportwill help be in aposition torespond."

Glenn Johnson

YOUTH

UNITED METHODISTWOMEN

Hold on to your garagesale items just a littlelonger, please. TheUMW garage sale isbeing postponed untillater in the year. Wewill be announcing anew date just as soonas we can, becausewe’re looking forwardto helping you makemore room in yourclosets while raisingmoney for UMWmission work withwomen, children, andyouth. We are also postponingour guest night, whichhad been scheduled forMay 7. Again, we willbe setting a new dateonce the virus crisis haspassed. While we’re not able tobe together face-to-face our leadershipteam is working onways to keep everyoneconnected with each

listen, minister, and givelove. “Oh let all who thirst,let them come to thewaters, without money,without price."

WORSHIP DESIGN

Blessings First Church,I continue to sing praisesthrough the storms of life.This church is an extensionof family for me, and Ipray that all are stayingsafe during these uncertaintimes. I am so proud ofthis team of individuals Iwork with to help continuea ministry to you all in anew and different way. Icontinue to move throughthe Lenten season focusingon growing closer to God.With my own walk I findups and downs andstruggles, but by focusingmy eyes on God thesestruggles seem lesser thenin past years. Mike Coffeycontinues to bring newmusic to my attention thatcan speak so deeply. Thispast Sunday of singingBroken Vessels togethertruly moved my spirit. Myprayer is to continue tobring the Spirit of God toall in our church familyduring this uncertain time. Blessings and Love,Mandy WestMinister of Music andWorship Design

MINISTRY

Dear First Church, First Church Youthand Adults arethankful for yoursupport forthe Spring LearnSpring Learnand Serve Trip toand Serve Trip toDallas, Texas.Dallas, Texas. FirstChurch and St.Marks led anamazing Learnand Serve Trip toDallas, Texas. OurGroup were ableto serve at theVNA Meals onWheels and NorthTexas Food Bank.On Sunday March8th, we worshipedwith Aaron Black,Sr. and AaronBlack, Jr and wasa great experienceand being able tofinally meet Rev.Aaron Black, Sr.We look forwardto sharing ourexperiences atsome point in thenear future whenwe get back fromthis coronaviruspandemic. Ibelieve I canspeak for ourgroup; we thankyou for yourcontinued supportfor the YouthMinistry and givingour youth life-changingexperiences thatwill carry withthem throughouttheir lives. We askfor your thoughts

other and with theimportant mission workUMW supports. Hereare just a fewsuggestions:

Reach out to oneanother by phone,mail, email, orsocial media. Itdoesn’t matterwhat you talkabout: sharerecipes, discuss abook, brainstormsome missionideas, chat aboutfamily, orcommiserate overthe challenges ofbeing confined athome. Theimportant thing isthat we stay intouch with eachother, payingparticularattention to thosewho may feelmore isolated dueto health or otherissues.If everyone inyour circle orgroup iscomfortable doingso, considerholding a virtualmeeting using aconferencingplatform likeZoom. Freeaccounts areavailable andparticipation byphone is possible.Use your extratime to participatein the UMWReading Program.Many of thebooks are

CHILDREN'S MINISTRYHi Everyone! I hope thisfinds you well. We are all alittle anxious I am sure, soI thought a great verse foryou to talk to your childrenabout is Isaiah 41:10. Thisis a great reminder thatGod is with us througheverything.All other Sunday schoolactivities and classes willbe postposed until we areable to meet again. Inaddition, I am waiting tohear word from CampFontenelle to see ifsummer camps will still betaking place. With useunprecented times wemust be fluid in ourplanning, and I apprecaiteyour understanding andsupport. For now, we arestill planning to have oursummer vacation bilbleSchool at the scheduledtime listed. Grace andpeace to you all! --CharityHelter

and prayers aswe continue toeducate and serveour communitiesthat we feel calledtoo. This July, FirstChurch Youth andAdults will betaking part in thelast Learn andLearn andServe Trip toServe Trip toOakland, CaliforniaOakland, Californiaon July 16on July 16thth-28-28thth,which will be ledby Matt Borlandand withassistance of MikeSterns, AlishaSimonson (theparentof Keyan Simonson), andNyla Witzel. Wehave beencontactingorganizations inthe area to servefor a whole weekin the Bay area.The organizationsthat we have beenin contact with areSt. Anthony’sFoundation, BayArea RescueMission, AlamedaPointCollaborative,Society of St.Vincent de Paul—Alameda County,Alameda CountyFood Bank, YouthUprising, Glide,and much more.We look forwardto theseopportunities toserve thecommunity of

available as e-books or in hardcopy throughAmazon, makingit easy to get thebooks withoutleaving home.The list isavailableat https://www.uhttps://www.unitedmethodistwonitedmethodistwomen.org/readingpmen.org/readingprogramrogram.Are you intopodcasts? TheUnited MethodistWomen FaithTalks podcastseries is availableon the UMWwebsite orwherever you getyour podcasts. Ifyou want toparticipate in theconversation, notjust listen,register inadvance to join inat https://www.uhttps://www.unitedmethodistwonitedmethodistwomen.org/faithtalksmen.org/faithtalks. (There is alsoa response magazine podcast series,so great listeningabounds.)Are you morevisually oriented?UMW has aYouTubechannel: https://whttps://www.youtube.com/ww.youtube.com/umwomenumwomen

Things may not beworking out the way weplanned, but, withGod’s help, they willwork out in a way thatallows us to continue to

FOOD MINISTRY

Our First Connection Meal

Oakland. We will learnabout what hasbeen going on inOakland and wewill visit museumsand surroundingareas to learnabout thecommunity. Theyouth going onthis journey areOlivia Gentert,Chloe Lyons,Kaitlyn Watson,Emily Holland,Michael Ault,Julian Estrada,SavannahWoundedarrows,Jaheim Curry,Jaquez Curry,Jalen Curry,and Keyan Simonson. We have agreat group ofyouth and adultsthat will explore,learn, and serveon this trip.However, thisgroup of youngpeople will be veryactive around FirstChurch and in thecommunity ofLincoln before wehead off toOakland. We willbe serving at thePeople’s CityMission by servingdinner on the firstSunday of eachmonth, lunchfundraisers at FirstChurch, Churchbuilding clean ups,and many moreopportunities toraise funds to

be faith, hope, and lovein action.

Submitted by JoyceGettman

HUNGER AND POVERTYHUNGER AND POVERTYMINISTRYMINISTRY

For I was hungry, andyou gave me somethingto eat; I was thirsty, andyou gave me somethingto drink; I was a strangerand you invited me in. Matthew 25:35

During these challengingtimes when many of usare reading a plethora ofarticles surroundingCovid-19, our teamwould like to direct youto the First Churchwebsite for a differentkind of reading. ShirleyBaum has compiled ourteam's ideas in aresource for people whoare facing, perhaps forthe first time, a need forassistance related to foodinsecurity, abuse orneglect, and healthissues. Go to the FirstChurch website and lookfor: Welcome to aWelcome to aResource Page forResource Page forchallenging timeschallenging timesprovided by First Unitedprovided by First UnitedMethodist Church. Methodist Church. Special

will be ready to go once weare through this COVID-19crisis! We miss seeing youon Wednesday nights butdon't fret, we will meettogether again soon!

Submitted by:Stephen R. Engel

FLOWER MINISTRY

As Lent began, theSanctuary and West Vestryarrangements reflected thedormancy and quiet colorsof the season. For threeweeks, stones, more twigs,and purple paintedbranches were added tothe arrangements. Andthen community andpersonal lives changed aswe were advised to dosocial distancing to flattenthe curve of COVID-19.

First Church’s response, ledby Pastor Kirstie and theWorship Team, has been tolive stream our 10:45worship service at MorganCowell’s Piano Servicebusiness. The videos areexcellent and meaningfulmessages, vibrant music,and a background of musicart and a Lenten stole from

make this trippossible that isallowed duringthis odd time weareexperiencing withthe COVID-19.Our goal in raisingfunds for this2020 SummerLearn and Servetrip is by the endof June and Mid-July is to raise$20,000 for thistrip and to furthersupport the YouthMinistry before Idepart toSeminary. Thesocietal issues wewill learn, andwitness is thehousing crisis inOakland,displacement andgentrification,growinginequality,immigrationreform, criminaljustice reform,racism, poverty,andhomelessness. The 2018 and2019 Learn andServe Trips toAtlanta, Georgiaand Detroit/Flint,Michigan were life-changing for ouryouth and adults.As the YouthMinister I was ableto see the growthof our youngpeople on thisentire trip fromstart to finish.When our group

thanks to Pastor Kirstiefor initiating this idea.

Matt Talbot continues tooffer relief for peopleliving with food shortage,though modificationshave been made for thesafety of guests,volunteers andstaff. Rather than guestsgathering in the diningroom for meals, they arenow given a boxed mealto-go. The menu hasbeen simplified for theease of fitting well in theindividual boxes, but onthe 2nd Saturday of eachmonth, First Churchmembers are invited todonate vegetables for atossed salad, or fruit fora fruit salad. If youwould like to help fulfillthis important need,please contact LizZeff, ezeff64@gmail.coezeff64@gmail.comm Another great way tohelp is with a monetarydonation to MattTalbot. Checks may bewritten to FUMC withMatt Talbot in the memo.

Food Bank of Lincoln hastemporarily suspendedthe Food Market atHuntingtonElementary. ShirleyBaum, baums7311@gmbaums7311@gmail.comail.com, is monitoringupdates for the FoodMarket through theLincoln Public Schoolswebsite. If you would liketo offer help from adistance, checks may bewritten to FUMC withLincoln CommunityFoundation in thememo. You may accessthissite, www.lcf.org/covid-www.lcf.org/covid-

First Church.

Though we will completethe Lenten journey andcelebrate Easter in thisdifferent setting, we are sillthe First Church family.Tune in for the lovestreamed services visawebsite or Facebook. Youwill see First Churchtraditions in Lentenliturgical colors andsymbols, palm branches,and the Easter SundayFlower Garden.

“But how could we sing asong of Our God in aforeign land?” Psalm 137Watch it happen everySunday morning at 10:45!Submitted byThe Flower Ministry

WORSHIP, MEDIA ANDWORSHIP, MEDIA ANDSOUND MINISTRYSOUND MINISTRY

Hey FUMC!

I’m working hard to makethe Sunday serviceaccessible to all. I haveDVD copies of the service

served at CassCommunity SocialServices, we met agreat womannamed Nikki. Shewas intense,direct, and loving.We were able tolisten to herstories and havefellowship with herand listen to thehistory of theorganization. Ourgroup loved herand her hard workethic sheportrayed. This isjust a smallexample in howwe learned aboutthe communityand served in theDetroit area.These are themoments that willbe rememberedfor a lifetime andthis would not bepossible forthe continuedsupport from youthecongregation ofFirst Church. Weappreciate all thedonations andsupport to FirstChurch YouthMinistry andadvocating for ourLearn and ServeTrips. If youwould like tosupport our 2020our 2020Learn and ServeLearn and ServeTrip to Oakland,Trip to Oakland,California,California, checkscan be made outto ‘First UnitedMethodist

1919, for information.

We are living inchallenging times, andwe learn of greaterneeds with each newday. At First Church, weare blessed to have awonderfullycompassionate churchfamily who listens andlifts up one another, ourcommunity and globalneighbors. Thank you,Church, for yourcontinued outpouring oflove and sincerecommitment to helpingthose who are strugglingwith food and incomeinsecurity. Hunger and PovertyResponse Ministry Team

FIRST CHURCHRESOURCE LIST

A Resource Page withsections to assistindividuals with needsincluding FoodFoodInsecurity, Abuse &Insecurity, Abuse &Neglect, and Medical &Neglect, and Medical &Health relatedHealth related issueshas gone out throughan email blast. Becauseof the constant changein the time and natureof the services offeredin the agencies andbusinesses listed,please call for updated

available to all whorequest, and we arehoping to be back on localaccess ASAP. I’ll keep youposted. Please feel free tocontact me directly @ 531-500-2809 with questions orconcerns. Morgan

�TECHNOLOGY TIPS

TO STREAMthe 10:45 services on yourcomputer without havingFACEBOOK:• Click on the 1UMCFacebookpage https://www.faceboohttps://www.facebook.com/FirstUMCLincoln/k.com/FirstUMCLincoln/ and ignore the “Log In orCreate an Account” at thebottom of the screen.• Click on “Not Now” whenlater you are again facedwith the “Log In or Createan Account.” • Scroll down on theFacebook page to find thevideos that Kirstie hascreated.• You should be able toactively stream Sunday’ssession, starting at 10:45.• Previous videos areavailable as well (look atthe dates on the videos)

Submitted By:Ed Schneider

Church’ andput “YouthTrip” on thememo line. Thankyou once again! As we continue tobattle and gothrough thispandemic, I wouldlike to let you allknow that FirstChurch YouthMinistry willcontinue asplanned. We havebeen stayingconnected withour youth to seehow they arehandling this andforming thoserelationships thebest way we can.Regarding our2020 Learn andServe Trip toOakland, it is stillas planned andwill not make achange until July1st if that isapplicable. Ibelieve these tripsare life changingand can make adifference in theirlives, so I will notbe making anyquick decisionsuntil then. Blessings, MattBorland, Director ofYouth Ministries

information for thespecific service youneed.

If you need a copy ofthis list, please contactthe First Church Office.

Submitted By:Shirley Baum

HOLY WEEK ANDEASTER SERVICES

All Holy Week WorshipServices and EasterWorship Service will beavailable on our FirstChurch FacebookLivestream. Our team isstill working out thosedetails but stay tunedfor upcoming sermonseries, times and more!

First Church WorshipTeam

We will always rememberand celebrate the lives ofRev. Karl LentDean Kissinger

Please continue to holdthese families in yourthoughts and prayers!

A BIG THANK YOU goesout to all of the ministryleaders and staff whopulled together in this timeof uncertainty to ensure

that ministry does notstop...ever. Thank you forbeing the continuous loveand light in our greatcommunity!

Peace and Love!Kirstie Engel

Spiritual Leader

2723 N 50th stLincoln, NE 68504

402-466-1906

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