Worship Info for 5.31.20 Pentecost

Happy Pentecost!

Here is the link for Sunday's Worship service: https://youtu.be/QsJAlt19qXA

Search "Day of Pentecost Worship 5.31.20 FPC, St.Peter's and Zion Lutheran" on YouTube to get there without clicking on this link. 

Special Pentecost Events: 

• Blooming Pentecost Cross: On May 31st from 10am-5pm, you are invited to come to the church lawn at the corner of 6th and Washington to place flame-colored flowers or ribbons (red, yellow, orange) on the cross as a symbol of the Holy Spirit fire. Please park on the Washington Ave. side of the church between the hours of 10am-12pm because the PFC will be occupied.

• Drive-Through Communion: On May 31st, from 10am-noon in the Presbyterian Friendship Center (PFC) parking lot, we will be distributing the Lord's Supper to recipients in your vehicles. The pastors will be taking every COVID precaution in giving out the elements. Please drive your vehicle into the PFC parking lot by way of the Spring Ave. entrance, and turn to the left out onto 6th St. as you exit to facilitate the flow of traffic.

• If you cannot come to the drive-through communion, you are welcome to use your own bread and juice at home and partake the communion elements after the Eucharistic prayer in the video recording. 

Time with the Younger Church Message: Marie Baumgartner, our church nursery attendant, has recorded a message for our young and young-at-heart! Check it out at: 

https://youtu.be/tEVViOwo7Z0

Search "FPC La Grande Pentecost Children's Sermon" to get there without using the link. 

No Zoom Coffee Hour on May 31st. 

Prayer Requests: 

• Prayers for Annette's brother Craig
• Prayers for Teresa's continued healing
• Ongoing prayers for Sherry, recovering from lung transplant
• For Union County as we enter "phase 1" reopening; may all of us make wise decisions about protecting ourselves and others from COVID-19
• For racial justice and peace in our nation

 

Pentecost is different this year--but nothing can stop the coming of the Holy Spirit!  We give thanks for you, the church community of First Presbyterian Church, Spirit-filled blessings that you are to the world! 

May Christ's peace fill you and uphold you. 

Pastors Keith and Laura Hudson

On Line Giving

A great big thank you to all of you who continue to give financially to the church during these interesting times.  We know that the Holy Spirit is still working in and through our church even through we aren't meeting collectively yet.  We are working on plans for that and will keep you posted as things progress.

We wanted to let you know that the church now has an online giving option that is handled through the Presbyterian Foundation.  You can set up your giving through this option, your gift can be recurring or one-time.  Reports are sent to Ellen Barton.  At the end of the month, your gifts are transferred directly into our church General Fund Account.  Here is the link:

https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-bin/Vanco_ver3.vps?appver3=wWsk24ZWJSTZKsGd1RMKlg0BDvsSG3VIWQCPJNNxD8upkiY7JlDavDsozUE7KG0nFx2NSo8LdUKGuGuF396vbY94pmlaj6JG5DLUCX0OYM4iYnTg5dP4O6rpX5QvPEWlBhHDN59kLZFffwKfYERpQq5DdWo2XBL3TFD3PRfAlb4=&ver=3

We will soon have a "Give Now" link on our website that will take people to that sight. Typically, the admin fee is 2% of your gift but right now it has been dropped to 1%.  There is an option to increase your gift to cover that fee so the church gets the entire amount you want to give.

We (the Hudson's) gave our June gift online and it worked very well.  Please note that the first page you go to on the link won't say First Presbyterian Church of La Grande.  At least not yet.  We are creating an image with the church name that will be put on that page soon.

As always, the opportunity to mail your gift to the church or drop it off at 1308 Washington is still available.

Again, thank you to continue supporting the life and ministry of First Presbyterian Church!

Midweek Connection 5.27.20

Here is today's Midweek Connection

https://youtu.be/QAR8CW9VQkc

Turn up your volume during the Bible presentations.

A Prayer For Memorial Day

Thank you to all who have served our country.

Eternal God,
from whom all life comes, to whom all life returns,
we remember all who served our country in the military.
We remember and we give thanks.
We give thanks for sacrifices made and losses endured.
We give thanks for acts of courage, grace and hope.
We give thanks for our brothers and sisters who gave the full measure of devotion.
We give thanks for those we knew well and those we never met.
For the life, goodness, faith, courage, and love that was in each one, we give thanks.
We pray for our brothers and sisters who are recovering from wounds in body, mind, spirit, or soul.
Work healing in them in all the forms that healing takes.
We pray for those who provide care to them.
Show us ways that we can extend care and support.
We pray for families and friends and all who grieve for loved ones who have died.
Meet them in the valley of death's shadow.
Embrace them in the healing warmth of
your comfort, grace and love.
Grant them and all of us the assurance
that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whose name we pray.
May the day soon come when swords are beaten into plowshares, war is studied no more, and all peoples and your world will know peace.
May we work for that day.
We pray through Jesus Christ.
Amen.

- Mark Koenig

Pentecost Plans May 31

We are excited to announce plans for our Pentecost worship celebration, which is next Sunday, May 31st (not tomorrow, which is May 24th, in case you are like me and a little lost in time during pandemic season  ). 

First, an update on our worship plans in general. After reviewing the guidance from the Governor’s office, as well as from our individual denomination and congregational leadership, our congregation has decided not to have in-person worship until after Union County enters Phase Two. Exact dates and precautions are still being considered. 

So, we will be recording a Pentecost worship service and sending out the link. 

In addition, we are planning two special worship opportunities for May 31st"

• Blooming Pentecost Cross: the outdoor Easter cross was such a joy, we have decided to bring it out again. On May 31st from 10am-5pm, you are invited to come to the church lawn at the corner of 6th and Washington to place flame-colored flowers or ribbons (red, yellow, orange) on the cross as a symbol of the Holy Spirit fire given to the disciples in Acts 2. 

Please park on the Washington Ave. side of the church if you come to the cross between the hours of 10am-12pm because the PFC will be occupied with the following event: 

• Drive-Through Communion: On May 31st, from 10am-noon in the Presbyterian Friendship Center (PFC) parking lot, Pastors Keith and Laura and Roberta Smythe (of Zion Lutheran and St. Peter's Episcopal) will be distributing the bread and juice of the Lord's Supper to recipients in your vehicles. The pastors will be taking every COVID precaution in giving out the elements.

Please drive your vehicle into the PFC parking lot by way of the Spring Ave. entrance, and turn to the left out onto 6th St. as you exit to facilitate the flow of traffic.

There will be no Zoom Coffee Hour on May 31st (apologies to our long-distance members who have faithfully shown up for those events) because of the communion distribution. 

Pentecost, as with Lent and Eastertide, will be different this year! Yet we are encouraged by the power of the Holy Spirit to help us imagine and learn new ways to worship and be the church far beyond the bounds of any building! 

Worship Info for 5/24/20

Here is the link for tomorrow's Worship service: https://youtu.be/nHFs7WfdijE

Search "St. Peter's Episcopal & Zion Lutheran La Grande Online Worship for May 24th" on YouTube to get there without clicking on this link. 

Pentecost (May 31) information mentioned in the video will be sent in a separate email so as not to cause confusion with this Sunday's service. :) 

Prayer Requests: 

• Prayers for Teresa's continued healing
• Ongoing prayers for Sherry, recovering from lung transplant
• General prayers for those facing or recovering from various kinds of surgery in our congregation
• For Union County as we enter "phase 1" reopening; may all of us make wise decisions about protecting ourselves and others from COVID-19

Zoom Coffee Hour will happen at 10 am on Sunday, link is below. If you don't want to use the direct link, you can log into Zoom and enter 

• Please mute yourself upon entry to the Zoom room.  We will be trying to facilitate the flow of conversation, and muting yourself when you are not talking is helpful. 
• We will allow free-flow conversation later in the meeting, but at first we will invite you to share briefly with each other in relation to this question, "Where have you seen God this week?" We will start and then share the opportunity to speak by mutual invitation.
• We will close no later than 11 am with prayer

If you do not want to join by clicking the link, you can sign into Zoom on your device and then input the Meeting ID and Password below to enter our Zoom meeting room. You can also dial-in on your phone with info below.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87261513822?pwd=dDZuRFdmc1pVSmpDUXVHZ2VXZDcyZz09

Meeting ID: 872 6151 3822
Password: 009418
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Midweek Connection 5.20.20

Hi, Friends-Some things to do while stuck inside during a drippy day!

Here is our link for this week's midweek connection:

https://youtu.be/cQ_i2gCSslM

For those hesitant to use an embedded link, go to Youtube and search "FPC La Grande Midweek Connection 5.20.20" and it should take you there.  If for some reason it doesn't, click on one of the other midweek connection videos and proceed to Laura's page.  It will be listed there.

And thank you to everyone who sent in a note or a picture for the Reflections in the Pandemic Newsletter.  

 https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zLILOvOTRK-NqDK7sTGOY4XwiRxi8p2l

A link to the Newsletter is also available on the church's blog

https://fpclagrande.blogspot.com/