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Meet Lara Moll, new SH Youth Minister Lara Moll is the new shared Youth Minister for the three SpringHouse congregations. In this part-time role, Lara works with our youth on Sunday mornings and at various other events and gatherings. Lara is originally from Andover, Minnesota. She attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, where she studied Theater and Communications. She has worked in outdoor, youth, and publishing ministries. Besides serving as Youth Minister for SpringHouse, Lara attends Luther Seminary where she is studying Children, Youth, and Family ministry and works for the Communications Marketing team. (Pronouns: she/her/hers).

Pastor Laurie Feille welcomed home After three months of sabbatical time spent in far-flung places from a retreat center in Idaho to a coal mine shaft in Wales, Pastor Laurie has resumed her role as senior pastor at First Christian. Her return was celebrated at a welcome-home lunch on Sunday, November 17, where the congregation feasted on Southern gumbo and black-eyed peas, and heard speakers describe the impact of the activities the church engaged in while Pastor Laurie was on her journey. She presented the congregation with gifts, including an Irish linen communion table runner embroidered with Book of Kells symbols, and a pitcher and two goblets made from the soil of her homeland, Wales. Anna Bliss and Deb Murphy presented the textile art piece that they designed and had the members build around ribbons representing life-long FCC members, life-long DOC, and those who became DOC after starting as something else and our saints who died after our move to SpringHouse. Members then also wrote a word or two on the chalices to represent what First Christian means to them.

What’s INSIDE:

Message from Pastor Laurie Feille,

page 2

Soccer donations sought, page 3

December calendar,

page 4

A page of thank yous, page 5

UPCOMING Events

Sanctuary Switch, Monday, November 25,

10 am

FCC Book Club, Monday, November 25, 7 pm

Sanctuary Task Force

Fundraising Lunch and Program,

Sunday, Dec. 1, following worship

Advent Brunch,

Saturday, December 7, 10 am

The Courier November 23, 2019

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis

Overwhelmed with gratitude I had planned to say many “thank yous” at our Celebration Lunch this past Sunday. I wanted to thank you for being such a caring, loving congregation. I wanted to thank you for caring enough about your pastors to realize how important sabbaticals are for pastors and congregation. I wanted to thank you for all of the hard work you did and fun you had while I was gone. I wanted to thank Kirsten Cackoski for her leadership along with Mike Hesano. I wanted to thank everyone who helped Kirsten and Mike and the rest of my Pastoral Relations Committee carry out all of the activities over the past 3 months. I wanted to thank Pastor Dan, Deb, Adam and Mike for continuing to be the best staff in the world. I wanted to thank Dean Creighton for faithfully leading the Board during our renewal time. That is what I wanted to do but instead right before my time to share my thoughts the speakers before me overwhelmed me. I was overwhelmed because at that moment I realized the sabbatical was not only growth for me but for the congregation. To hear how the time positively impacted you and that among us there is a new love for the history of our denomination and congregation as well as our personal family histories is music to a Disciples pastor’s ears! It may sound strange but it is a gift to a pastor to realize that a church will continue to be church without the pastor present. It is a greater gift when one realizes that the church will grow in love and grace even when the pastor isn’t present. That means that our focus on being a community that strives to follow God’s lead is a reality! That realization brought me to tears and I lost track of everything I was going to say. Then I was blown away by the ribbon weaving that you created and that we will continue to create. Thank you to Anna Bliss and Deb Murphy for showing what it means to be connected to each other and God through this weaving. I had already been overwhelmed on Saturday when 19 of us showed up to pack food at Feed My Starving Children. I was overwhelmed last Wednesday when I looked through the Time and Talent cards and saw the amount of time and talent that is being pledged by so many members. Then Monday morning the finance committee received an email from the only person in the church who sees the pledge cards sharing that we have had a really good response to our Stewardship Campaign. Don’t worry---if you haven’t turned in your pledge card there is still time. So let me say thank you. Thank you First Christian Church for being you. I love being your pastor and serving alongside you. I can honestly say that I love living in the frozen tundra as that means I get to serve a wonderful church. Most of all let me just say that I love you. Much love and peace, Pastor Laurie

In Our Prayers Prayers of Joy For Lara Moll, our new

SpringHouse Youth Minister

For choir member Jack Russell as he presents his Senior Recital

Prayers of Concern For Bud Shandorf, who has

entered into hospice care For Warren and Karen

Westphal For Pastor Dan’s Uncle

Marvin For Deb Murphy’s cousin

Scott For Arlan Nickerson and Lu

Griffin For all homebound members

including Phyllis Dunlap and Donald Ulm

Prayers for the World For the people of Santa

Clarita coping with the aftermath of another school shooting

For transgender people here and around the world, especially remembering those who have been killed for who they are

A message from Pastor Laurie Feille

Page 2 November 23, 2019

Partner mission group changes name

Downtown Congregations to End Homeless, which has been FCC’s mission partner for many years, has a new name: Align Minneapolis. This group is an interfaith collaboration of 18

Minneapolis churches, synagogues, mosques, and people with lived experiences working together to address homelessness and poverty. Pastor Dan Adolphson and Karen Kandik are our current representatives.

Advent Brunch set for December 7 The annual Advent Brunch will be held on Saturday, December 7, at 10 am in the Gathering Space. The speaker this year will be Wende Bristow Barrett, who is from our region and a staff member of the International Disciples Women's Ministries. She will be presenting on her trip to Cuba last year through the Woman to Woman Program. As usual, delicious food will be provided (suggested donation $7.) Please make your reservation with Deb by December 4. All are invited, women and men!

Salem family collecting for soccer kids As many SpringHouse folk know, Salem member Rae Buzzell's kids Bettie and Frank Buzzell, both active in SpringHouse youth, were born in Ethiopia. They are returning to their country in December, and as a part of the trip are collecting soccer equipment for a project being led by Roots Ethiopia (An NGO doing grassroots work in rural areas of Southern Ethiopia.) Both Bettie and Frank play soccer competitively; this project is for sports loving kids like them, who otherwise wouldn't have the chance to play. As any parent knows all too well, sports equipment wears out and need replacement. The Buzzell family is collecting new equipment via an Amazon wishlist. Want to contribute to the Amazon wish list? click here, http://a.co/aJ9w8pz select what you want to send, and it will go right to the Buzzell's house. They leave for Ethiopia December 14 and will be delivering the donations while they are in Ethiopia.

Special Offering for Disciples Colleges

Page 3 The Courier

From the very beginnings of the movement, Disciples have founded institutions of higher learning, encouraging students in their intellectual pursuits. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is still committed to higher education. Currently, over 52,000 students attend our fifteen Disciples related colleges and universities or seven seminaries and divinity houses. And in the past twelve months, over 12,000 students have graduated from these fine schools.

On November 17 and 24, Disciples churches across the US and Canada will collect the Thanksgiving offering. Your gift to the Thanksgiving offering helps to support the work of our institutions of higher learning in many ways: financially supporting Disciples related schools, providing undergraduate scholarships and support for spiritual life offices, and providing scholarships and support for those pursuing theological education.

This November, please give generously to this year’s Thanksgiving offering. Your gifts make a world of difference as Disciples continue our legacy of supporting education and our institutions of higher learning.

December 2019 First Christian Church

Sunday Morning Schedule 9:15 Children’s Sunday School 9:30 Adult Spiritual Formation Classes 10:30 Worship 11:45 Fellowship Time in Gathering Space

1 North Sanctuary 11:30 SHMC

Sanctuary Fundraising Lunch

Noon – Elders meeting

2 6:45 SHMC Building Committee

3 8:15 am

Lectionary Bible Study

4 6:30 Handbells 7:45 FCC Choir (RSVPs for

brunch due in church office)

5

6

7 10 am Advent

Brunch

8 North Sanctuary (2 pm –

Celebration of Life Service)

9 7 pm SHMC Finance Committee

10 8:15 am

Lectionary Bible Study

11 5:30 FCC

Finance Committee

6:30 Handbells 7:45 FCC Choir

12 6:30 Pastor Laurie PRC

13

14 10 am –

Aliveness Project Cookie Baking

15 South Sanctuary Joint Worship 10:30 am joint worship Children’s Pageant

16

17 8:15 am

Lectionary Bible Study

Noon – Grief Support Grp Brd Mtg

6 pm Worship Team

7 pm FCC Board

18 2 pm Mission &

Outreach 6:30 Handbells 7:45 FCC Choir

19

20 21

22 North Sanctuary

23

24 Christmas Eve

Service times TBD

25

26

27

28

29 North Sanctuary

30 7 pm FCC Book Club

31 8:15 am

Lectionary Bible Study

Elders (Offering elder listed first)

Worship Leader Children’s Moment

Diaconate Bus Drivers

Dec. 1 Jay Hillestad Arlene Hillestad

Wendy Manuel Deb Murphy A. Bliss A. Sosienski B. Flanagan M. Carlson J. Carlson Jen/Jon Krengel S. Grady

Mike Hesano 651-645-6758

Dec. 8

Lu Griffin Mike Hesano

Arlene Hillestad Deb Murphy Mike Morgan 612.926-9834

Dec. 15 Joint Worship Mike Hesano 651-645-6758

Dec. 22 Martha Harris Wendy Manuel

Karen Kandik Deb Murphy Mike Morgan 612.926-9834

Dec. 24 TBD TBD TBD Dec. 29 Tom Curry

Ann Wolverton Christine Isham Steve Rusinak Mike Hesano

651-645-6758 Note: Please call drivers by Saturday for Sunday bus ride

Note: The full calendar for FCC and SpringHouse is available online at https://calendar.churchart.com/calendar/73956030

To schedule room use, please send an email request to shcoordinator@fccmpls.org.

One more note of thanks Kirsten, Dan, & FCC, Thank you for your gracious hospitality during my visit. I so enjoyed being with you and seeing all the good ministry you are doing Thank you for being the church together! Lee Hull Moses

from Kirsten Cackoski Many thank yous for our three months of Renewal On Sunday we culminated our three months of Rediscovering our Roots, Renewing our Purpose and Revitalizing our Community with a "Welcome Home" celebration for Pastor Laurie. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch thanks to Mike, Lu, Harold and Mia. We also shared some stories together. Thanks to Karen Kandik, Martha Harris, the Krengel family, Lu Griffin, Pastor Laurie, Anna Bliss and Deb Murphy for sharing your insights and experiences. Thanks to so many people who participated in helping to make these past three months meaningful for our congregation. Thanks to the many creative people on the Renewal Planning Team, which met for several months to plan all our activities. Thanks to David Cobb and Pastor Dan for organizing and leading the book study. Thanks to Karen Kandik and Pat Dunlop for all the work they put into organizing the history tours and presentation on the history of our congregation. They had a lot of people who helped in sorting through the archives and putting this together, so Thank You to all of you who helped with that. Thank you to all of our guest speakers, including the denominational leaders Rev. Lee Hull Moses, Vy Nguyen and Rick Lowery and also those from our own congregation, David Cobb, Wendy Manuel and Christine Isham, who shared messages that gave support and meaning to this adventure we’ve been on. Thank you to Mike Hesano, Lu Griffin and Steve Rusinak for everything related to food. They organized and prepared: Laurie’s going away picnic, the meal at Como Park, the great lunches when we had special speakers, and the great Welcome Home lunch. Thank you to Anna Bliss and Deb for the creative tapestry we all worked on to give us a visual representation of who we are and what FCC means to us. A big thank you to Deb and Dan for going the extra mile in so many countless ways to make this a special time for the congregation. Most of all, thank you to everyone who participated in any of the special activities of these last three months. Because of you, all this planning had a meaning and a purpose. If you participated in the book study or any of the history tours, thank you. If you came to hear any of our guest speakers and stayed for lunch and a program, thank you. To those who were praying for our congregation during this time, thank you. If you came along on any of our “fun” activities, thank you. To those of you who have participated in fellowship meal groups, thank you. It is our hope that through all of this you’ve learned something more about our church and our denomination, but most importantly, that you have gotten to know someone just a little bit better, because that was the whole point. Where we go from here is up to all of us. This isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. Thank you for being a part of our future.

Page 5 The Courier

And one more note about history Jon Krengel explored his family tree online and discovered these connections to Disciples ancestors: O.C. Wyman, one of FCC Minneapolis’ founders, is Jon’s 10th cousin twice removed's wife's uncle's wife's grandfather. Alexander Campbell, a founder of the Disciples denomination is Jon’s fifth cousin 6 times removed wife’s father.

Revised Common Lectionary Text

for Sunday, November 23 Psalm 100

Sundays at First Christian Church Worship at 10:30

Before Worship After Worship Children’s Classes, 9:15 am Fellowship Time 11:45 Joint Adult class 9:30 am

Reflections on the Word Luke 1: 78-79: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Just as the days of winter are approaching their deepest darkness, the lights start to appear all around the neighborhood, twinkling in many colors from the neighbors’ front yard trees and rooftops. So also does God promise that the light will always overcome the darkness. Holy God, Make of us a just and righteous people, worthy by grace to inherit with him the kingdom of light and peace where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit Amen

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF MINNEAPOLIS

(DISCIPLES OF CHRIST) 610 W. 28th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55408

A Welcoming Community of Faith in the Heart of the City

Ministry Team Dan Adolphson, Associate Pastor dan.adolphson@fccmpls.org Rick Bowman, SHMC Building Manager Adam Conrad, Music Director & Composer-

in-Residence Laurie Pound Feille, Senior Minister

pastor@fccmpls.org Martha Harris, Courier Editor,

harrismartha@mac.com Laura Moll, SH Youth Minister Deb Murphy, Office Manager & Director of

Spiritual Formation of Children and Youth, deb.murphy@fccmpls.org & SHMC Building Coordinator, events_SHMC@fccmpls.org

Rhianna Peterson, SHMC Maria Thieling, SHMC Child Care Mike Vasich - Pianist Office Telephone: 612.870.1868 www.fccminneapolis.org

E-Mail: office@fccminneapolis.org Next issue deadline is Sunday, Dec. 1

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis, is a partner church at SpringHouse Ministry Center

Festival of Lights, by John August Swanson

November 23, 2019 Page 6