Church News
The latest news, announcements, and church publications to keep you up to date.
Chimes, February 2025
Discover the Book of James
February is Black History Month
Discover the Book of James
Congregational Life and Education Committee (CLE)
James is a novel by author Percival Everett published by Doubleday in 2024. The novel is a re-imagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain but told from the perspective of Huckleberry’s friend on his travels, Jim, who is an escaped slave.
Christopher House Thank You
Thank You for Donating to Help Christopher House!
Your donations enabled us to adopt 35 families for the holidays. We also received twenty-seven $25.00 food gift cards for other families to receive on Christmas Day. What a blessing for so many during the holiday season.
Borrow from Mary & Martha for Holiday Entertaining!
Don’t Buy… Borrow from Mary and Martha’s Lending Closet for your holiday gatherings! Perhaps you keep seeing signs or reminders about Mary and Martha’s Lending Closet and you are wondering what it is all about. Mary and Martha’s Lending Closet started in the fall of 2019 as a mission project to provide items for entertaining to those in the community in exchange for a monetary donation that is used to support food insecurity programs in the Chicago area.
The closet provides a way to reduce the items we have in our homes and provide funds to food programs such as food pantries, community gardens and lunch programs. Are you planning a holiday party, entertaining a book club or committee meeting, but you do not have that beverage dispenser you need or enough glasses for everyone? Maybe you need some serving platters. Maybe you have a great idea for centerpieces, but you do not have the jars or vases you need. Maybe you would like to serve the popular Presbyterian punch, but you do not own a punch bowl.
Borrow them from Mary and Martha’s Lending Closet! No need to go and buy everything and then find a place to store it forever. You can borrow items and then return them for the next person to borrow. Contact [email protected] to set up an appointment to see what we have to offer.
Help at Family Night
Family Night is off to a great start. This year, we could use additional help, with donations of money, food and time.
How can you help out Family Night?
- SPONSOR A FAMILY NIGHT DINNER
On Wednesday night, eighty to one hundred people gather for dinner, fellowship and education. We are looking for members and friends to help us offset the cost of the weekly meal. A donation of $400 will help us cover one Wednesday night dinner. Please consider sponsoring all or a portion of a meal to help us keep Family Night free and open to all. You can donate online or by check, make sure to indicate Family Night Dinner in the memo. Thank you for your generosity. - SIGN-UP TO HELP AT FAMILY NIGHT
Help us bring joy to Family Night dinner by either providing a dessert for the meal or to do dishes and help with cleanup. Sign-up with the QR Code.
RefugeeOne
Every year, RefugeeOne serves more than 2,500 refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants of all ages, ethnic groups faiths and backgrounds. Their primary focus is to assist these individuals in becoming independent and self- supporting members of their new Chicagoland community. RefugeeOne will be welcoming about 700 newcomers by the end of June, 2025, and they are in desperate need of teams to set up an apartment prior to a family’s arrival. In response to this, the Mission Committee has agreed to take on the apartment set up for a RefugeeOne family with a target date of early 2025. As many of you may recall, First Pres co-sponsored a family from Rwanda in 2022, with an immediate and generous response from the congregation.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Look for a giving tree in the Narthex during December with ornaments that list items needed for the apartment. Take an ornament and bring your item back to church by the end of December. In early 2025, we will be looking for help with food shopping and the actual set up once we’ve collected everything necessary for the new arrivals’ home. Questions? Contact Kim Hogan
[email protected]
PADS is Returning in January and We Need Your Help
Your PADS Steering Team is hard at work! And lots of good things are happening with PADS! New plastering has been completed on the pillars and walls that had deterioration. The back sleeping area has been cleared out and we have additional space to accommodate our clients. In the Christian Education wing, Room 102-104 has been cleared out and is ready to accommodate women needing a separate sleeping area. January 14 is the start date for PADS here at First Pres. There will be multiple opportunities to volunteer and support this critical ministry outreach. Please consider joining our team of dedicated volunteers and experience first-hand what it feels like to serve those in need. For ways to volunteer, please scan the QR code.
Advent Devotional Available
A Time for Wonder Advent Devotional
Move through the cycle of morning, afternoon and evening, looking at four themes of Advent through the eyes of worship. This devotional guides you along a journey through times of renewal, trial, revelation and ultimately to a time of wonder at the great gift that we have at Christmas. This 4-week devotional is available in print in the church literature rack at the back of the Sanctuary and by request to the church office. You can also download the PDF directly using the QR code below.
Chimes, December 2024
Can You Help Make Family Night Happen?
There are many ways to help support this vital ministry to church and community members. Please consider ways you could help:
- Sponsor the full or partial cost of Dinner for one night (average cost is $400 for 100 people) – contact Debbie Walter in the Church office or choose “Family Night” from church give Drop-Down menu
- Bring Dessert – we need 3 people each week to bring 1-dozen servings of dessert Sign-up Here
- Wash Dishes, cleanup – we need 3 people each week to help wash, dry, and put away dishes. Sign-up Here
- Attend! The most important part of Family Night is YOU – whether you can help with funds, foods, or cleanup, your presence is the best gift of all!!
Please Donate a Bag of Candy for Trunk or Treat
We need your help! Last year’s Trunk or Treat event in the West Parking Lot was such a
huge success that we ran out of candy. This year, we are asking the congregation to help out by donating a bag of candy. Candy can be dropped off at the church starting on September 30. Also, if you are interested in participating by decorating your car trunk, please contact Rev. Rebekah Anderson. Thank you for your help making this event so much fun!
Peace & Global Witness Offering
On Sunday, October 6, World Communion Sunday, we will receive our Peace & Global Witness Offering. This offering draws Presbyterians together and provides education and exposure to siblings in Christ who work for peace every day. Your support of this offering helps encourage our church partners in Ukraine as they struggle against the trauma of war. It helps congregations begin to address the growing mental health crisis and the increase in the number of suicides in their communities. It provides resources for congregations seeking to address issues of gun violence in their communities.
This is why we give generously to the Peace & Global Witness Offering. We give because we know that every level of society needs Christ’s peace. From our congregation, where we retain 25% of this Offering to support local mission and its important role in our community; to the region, where 25% is retained by mid councils to support peacemaking efforts with our neighboring congregations; and to the ends of the Earth, where the remaining 50% is used by the Presbyterian Mission Agency to join the peacemaking efforts of church partners all over the globe. We join these monetary gifts with our prayers for peace and our work for justice.
You are invited to visit the Peace & Global Witness website (pcusa.org/peace-global) to learn how your support of this offering helps peacemaking efforts both in the U.S. and around the world. As a community of faith, we want to deepen our commitment to peacemaking so that it becomes a visible and profound witness to our community. We pray that the God of Peace might open the generosity in your hearts to join with Christians all over the country on World Communion Sunday to give to the Peace & Global Witness Offering.
As Presbyterians, we claim Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace and pattern our lives in the compassion, kindness and grace that he shows us. God is with us. May we joyfully bring that peace to all those we care for, love and serve.
Chimes, October 2024
Visitor’s Guide Fall 2024
Volunteer to Host Fellowship Time on Sunday
We are looking for hosts for our Sunday morning fellowship time. This is a great opportunity for you and a couple of friends to band together to provide treats and refreshments. The time requirement is from 10:00 – 10:30 am & 11:30 am – 12:00 pm.
You/Your group need to provide cookies, bars, coffee cake or other snacks for approximately 150 people. If there is a need to drop off items prior to Sunday morning, they can be dropped off in the Parlor kitchen during regular office hours on the Friday prior. Coffee and water will be provided.
On Sunday morning, you need to plate your snacks on plates that are available in the Parlor kitchen and place them on the tables in the Parlor. Please replenish as necessary. You are the hosts for the morning! Please be present in the Parlor and wear a name tag, which are available in the Parlor kitchen.
To sign-up please use the QR code or call Carol Vega at the office.
Bookmarks to Support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) Tornado and Windstorm Fund
Through September, Sunday morning bookmark donations will support the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Tornado and Windstorm Fund. In response to the recent outbreak of tornadoes resulting in widespread damage in the Midwest and elsewhere, the Mission Committee has voted to direct the bookmark funds to the PDA Tornado and Windstorm Fund. This fund supplements the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering to enable a significant response to tornadoes and windstorms. This might include immediate relief, long-term rebuilding and emotional/ spiritual care.
PADS Update
We have some exciting news to share with you! We have been spending the summer focused on revamping our PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) program. I know many of you have been volunteers supporting this vital outreach for many, many years. So, I want to say thank you! Even during the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic you continued serving the homeless and were faithful each week as we continued to open our doors.
It has come to our attention that the PADS area is in need of significant restoration that will take some time to complete. We have established a Steering Team to oversee the functioning of PADS and this team will provide a broader base of people to advise us as we move forward. Because there is so much work to be done, we have decided to postpone the opening of PADS until January 2025. I know for many of you this will be a disappointment, but we simply need more time to complete our tasks of restoring the area and increasing our volunteer base.
If you have previously supported this outreach monetarily, we encourage you to continue as we will still need financial support when our doors open again in January. The PADS Steering Team includes: Amy Hempleman, Cathy Mataloni, Mark Bishop, Sue Dean, Darl Pochert, David Hogan and Chuck Yedor. If you have any questions of concerns feel free to reach out to anyone on the team or Pastor Barbara.
Troop 32 Brendan Ferguson – Eagle Scout Project
Thank you to Scout Brendan Ferguson for all the work on his Eagle Scout project this summer. Brendan proposed his plan earlier in the year and completed it at the end of July. His project was for the improvement and beautification of both the Memorial Prayer Garden and the North Courtyard that included cleaning of the pavers in both gardens as well as cleaning and re-staining of the benches in both gardens. Additionally, he planted new boxwoods in the Memorial Prayer Garden. Please stop and look at the amazing work he’s done in these gardens. Brendan hopes to receive his Eagle Scout rank this fall.
Chimes, September 2024
Commemorating Juneteenth 2024
Message from the Pastors and Mission Committee of First Presbyterian Church Arlington Heights.
Let us all recognize the significance of this holiday.
Why is it called Juneteenth? It’s a combination of June and 19th, the day in 1865 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they’d been freed-after the end of the Civil War and two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. In the beginning, this day was celebrated as Black Americans’ true Independence Day, recognized with large raucous outdoor parties among the formerly enslaved families as many had been separated. They were revolutionary because they were free of the restrictive “Black Codes” enforced in confederate states controlling whether liberated slaves could gather to worship, buy property and vote. If you feel so moved, please take a moment to solemnly reflect on this aspect of our history.
A Prayer for Juneteenth
“God of new opportunity, in faith we know our unmet promises of yesterday and today can, by your Holy Spirit and the willingness of our hands and feet, become a new reality right now and tomorrow. May we be mindful of this Juneteenth and bring justice and opportunity for people of color across this land. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen“
– Written by Rev. Kyle Walker, N4DR Education and Training Committee
