2011 Hanging of the Greens prep and new hymnals

FCC UCC McGregor began getting ready for Christmas by preparing for the annual Hanging of the Greens Ceremony.  Members and friends came together for a great potluck supper before getting to work on ornaments and cards to be handed out at the ceremony.  Everyone enjoyed the fellowship and the work went easy with so many hands.

As some worked on the preparations for the ceremony others were getting our new hymnals ready to be put in the pews.  FCC is getting ready for another great Christmas.

Daughters, Mothers and Others Brunch

The fourth annual Daughters, Mothers and Others Brunch was held at the church fellowship hall on Saturday, May 1, at 9:30am. Yes, the food was really served by the men of the church. Some of the ladies prepared the quiche the previous afternoon and the men finished in the morning. Jim Arvidson provided the entertainment. He played his six-string guitar and a 12-string and sang. The ladies sure seemed to enjoy his performance. The brunch was sponsored by the R.E. Committee. I think the men had a good time working and fellowshipping together, too.

A Crop Walk Update

The Crop Walk will start at the First Congregational Church at 1 pm on April 18Th. Refreshments will be available upon completion of the walk. Marilyn Burke has the walk packets, available for pick up. Each walker is encouraged to find some sponsors for the walk. Hope for a beautiful day! And may God help you see the beauty in every day.

The World Day of Prayer 2010

The World Day of Prayer service will be held at First Congregational Church of McGregor Iowa on Friday, March 5th at 1:30 PM. World Day of Prayer (WDP) is a worldwide ecumenical movement of women of many faith traditions who come together to observe a common day of prayer each year on the first Friday in March. Each year a different country serves as the writer of the World day of Prayer worship service.

For 2010, the women of Cameroon developed the theme, Let everything that has breath praise God. They invite us to "Africa in miniature," a country rich in diversity, where climate and culture are widely varied, but where people are bound together by a love for music,family and faith. The worship service emphasizes the importance that the people of Cameroon place on music and celebration in their praise to God.

This year's World Day of Prayer service will begin at the first sunrise on March 5 in the Pacific region and follows the Earth's orbit, shining its light on Papua New Guinea (last year's writer country)and, in turn, the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, the coast of West Africa (where Cameroon lies) and the rest of the world.

Cameroon's WDP planning committee included women from many Christian denominations including Presbyterian (French and English), the Union of Baptist Churches,the Native Baptist Church, Eglise Protestante Africine, Eglise Fraternelle Lutherienne, Roman Catholic, United Methodist and Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne, as well as the YWCA.

WDP's motto, Informed prayer leads to prayerful action, affirms that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence. As we observe WDP 2010, millions of God's people are suffering from violence, exploitation and poverty, We encourage you to begin thinking about actions that you can take to further support the 2010 theme, which calls us to sing praise to the Lord and to bring our gifts together, ever faithful to his promise to overcome evil with good.

Please be sure to join us because this will be a wonderful event.

BIBLE STUDY GROUP MEETS THURSDAY AFTERNOON

The Bible study group meets Thursday's at Valley View Apartments at 4 pm. Members of the group take turns leading each weeks discussion. Not only do we learn more about God's path for us, we also learn more about each other. If interested, please join us-the more the merrier!

MAKING HYGIENE KITS AT THE FAMILY NIGHT POTLUCK

On January 31st,the Religious Education Committee held a Pre-Super Bowl Family Night Potluck. As always, there was plenty of good food and fun. We were instructed to bring a food the color from one of the play-off teams. Our main goal this night was to put together the hygiene kits. The RE committee had a presentation two weeks prior, asking everyone to sign up and donate items for the Hygiene Kits. The kits are sent to the Church World Service, which are used for disasters like the one in Haiti. Each kit contains: Hand towel 16" X 28",Washcloth, Wide tooth comb, Nail clipper, Bar of soap{Bath size in wrapper},Toothbrush {in original packaging}, Band-aids {standard size}. The items were at separate tables. Everyone was instructed to place one of each item into a zip-lock bag. Following a set trail around the tables made the process very simple. The final count was 106 hygiene kits sent to Church World Service. A big "Thank you" and "Job Well Done" to those who participated. We look forward to the next project. Click here to see more pictures from the Hygiene Kit Night.