“Boldly with Christ We Belong, Believe, Grow and Reach Out”

Resuming Care-filled Worship As we prepare to resume in person worship, we are reminded that we are to love one another. As a church body, we are responsible for one another and need to act accordingly, no matter how anxious we are to “move on”, take off the masks, shake hands, and hug people. We can show our love by conforming to the current recommended guidelines. Services will be streamed the first two Sundays in July with Ann Sukraw-Lutz presenting the message. July 12, Jon Beggs will assist with virtual communion. July 19 & July 26 services will be in-church following the guidelines listed below and live-streamed for members who prefer to stay at home. On July 19, Ann will deliver the message in person. On July 26, Rev. Will Ratcliff will deliver the message in person. There will be a short Congregational Meeting after the service on the 26th to vote on Rev. Will Ratcliff.

GUIDELINES FOR RESUMING IN PERSON SERVICES PREPARATION Public surfaces will be cleaned and wiped prior to Sunday services. Hand sanitizer will be available in the narthex, bathrooms, and kitchen. ENTRANCE Ushers at all doors will be masked, gloved and will open all entrance doors. Everyone must wear a mask. Anyone entering without a mask will be given one to put on immediately. Physical distancing of at least six feet while standing or seated is required. SANCTUARY Every other row will be closed off. Ushers will seat worshipers at the ends of the alternate rows as soon as they enter the church. Space is available for approximately 20 family groups. At the close of the service, worshipers will be dismissed by rows. (over)

First Presbyterian Church 1901 W Leota Street

North Platte, NE 69101

Telephone: (308) 532-1083 Web site: www.fpcnp.org Email: office@fpcnp.org

STAFF PASTOR: Vacant

ADMIN ASSIST: Naomi Okoye

CUSTODIAN: Linsey Nicola

ACCOMPIANISTS:

Nick Henline

Jennifer Winder

BELL DIRECTOR: Jill Dolan

TREASURER: Dean Kurth

PW MODERATOR: Dixie Francis

ELDERS CLERK OF SESSION:

Maris Schad Vern Ehlers Dave Glenn

JoAnne Greene Chuck Henline Joyce Kohler Dean Kurth Nancy Mack

Jim McClymont Tammy Miller

Maxine Mulder

Larry Pedersen Danny Ridgway

Gary Trego Rod Weitzel

DEACONS MODERATOR:

Chris Ochsner Shaina Bassett Glenda Feeney

Howard Gebhardt Jeanette Lawrence Russell Lawrence

Connie McCreery Carol Norgaard Ron Norgaard

Ally Pierce Sara Pierce

Susan Peters Joy Petersen Bev Sallee Cecil Sallee Deb Weitzel

Jenny Zachry

Trouble with hearing our live stream on your computer?

If you are able to see the live stream or archive but unable to hear it, move your hand controlled "cursor" to the left bottom of the video image. A speaker symbol will become visible. If there is a line through it, there will be no sound. Click on the symbol: the line will go away and you will have sound. You can then increase the volume.

To stream on Sunday morning, start by going to our website: www.fpcnp.org If you cannot get on the website, try this link to streaming: http://yourstreamlive.com/embed/iframe/tabs/3981?

GUIDELINES FOR RESUMING IN PERSON SERVICES (continued) Masks must remain in place during the service, unless you have an underlying health condition that prevents you from doing so. Additional seating will be available in the Narthex for family groups with one family per table. The family life center will be available for viewing the live streamed service. Children and youth are asked to remain with their parents. Elderly, or those with underlying health issues are advised to stay home and participate by streaming. Anyone who is ill with a cough, fever, aches, or similar symptoms is asked to stay home. Collection plates will NOT be passed, but will be available for donations before or after the service. Vocal music will be recorded. Congregational singing is not advised at this time. Soloists or small groups may provide music from the choir loft. There will be limited congregational verbal response during the service. FELLOWSHIP There will be no coffee, treats, or fellowship in the narthex or family life center before or after service.

These guidelines will be revised as conditions change in our community.

The Worship Committee

4 Ellie McClymont 6 Terry Ackerman Kathleen McCoy 8 Annie Pankonin Jeanie Thies 9 Howard Gebhardt

12 Cooper Leibhart 14 Melinda Baker 16 Glenda Feeney Tami Hacker 19 Tom Pendleton 22 Roy Barta 23 Charlene Cash Chloe Kaminski 25 Zachary Ochsner 29 Martha Orcutt 30 Lyle Anderson June Powers

7/14 Julie & James Bunker 7/23/1977 Sue & Steve Finke

JULY SERVICE COMMITTEE:

Coordinator: Joyce Kohler Members: Carol Beggs, Dorothy Conger, Kelly Ehlers, Kristi Leibhart, Joy Petersen, Maris Schad, Laura Stewart

Summer Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 12pm 1pm - 3pm

May Finance Report

May Receipts May Expenses Actual: $ 6,523.54 $ 9,277.07 Budget: $13,376.17 $12,631.09

YTD Receipts YTD Expenses Actual: $72,476.18 $51,576.29 Budget: $66,880.85 $65,140.70

Giving: Thank you to all who have faithfully continued to give. Your gifts are much appreciated as we continue to meet our financial obligations.

Our web site, www.fpcnp.org, has a section entitled "Giving." If you wish to donate to our church by credit or debit card, click on "Donate now" and PayPal will direct your contribution to the church. You can also mail your contribution or drop it off at the church.

“Second Sunday = Second Purchase” of an item for the Pantry

Pantry items can be dropped off at the church during office hours and placed in the pantry box or dropped at the pantry, 114 C Street.

We are currently needing you to save your empty egg cartons. They can be dropped at either location.—Thank you!

Grace Ministries is continuing to serve the community, with reduced days of operation. We are open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 1:00-3:00pm, unless the weather is prohibitive to outdoor distribution.

The church office will be closed Friday,

July 3, in honor of the 4th of July Holiday.

The church office will be closed July 6 - 10 for the Administrative Assistant’s vacation.

Grace Ministries Food Pantry

July 2020. We are so thankful for the love and support from this church and our community! I usually end with thanks, but you know, in this time in history, with all that

is going on in the world, saying ‘Thanks’ right now seems to be of the utmost importance.

We are thankful for a check from the National Association of Letter Carriers, who have had to cancel their annual May food drive. Other gifts have included, Mark Farris in South Dakota honoring Phyllis Swigart in North Platte, Marilyn Jones, Margaret Johnson, Kim Ury with gifts in memory of her mother, Marilyn Swanson, Michael Einspahr, and mac and cheese dinner from Janet and Leroy Hare.

Through Mid Nebraska Community Founda-tion’s "North Platte Giving Day", we have received donations from George Evans, Janet and Leroy Hare, Francis and Diane Olson, Jack and Patty Price, Chuck Scripter, Gary and Linda Stengle, Carol Beggs, Austin Brunkhardt, Marilyn Cogley, Jay Favinger, Brian Gallagher, Nancy Kemptar, Connie Klemm, Cheri Kneifel, Brian Phares, Judy Rossetter, Phyllis Swigart, Roger and Kirsty Volentine, Alec Wesslund, Kate Wolford, Alan Erickson, and Ned and Nancy Mack. There were also two anonymous donations to this drive. This was our first year to be included in Giving Day. We are so thankful!

We have received nearly 900 pounds of fresh food from the North Platte school backpack program and the June Mobile Food Pantry, the latter being entirely fresh fruit and vegetables! We are so thankful!

We are going through a large volume of food at Grace Ministries, but the reason is not what we expected. With increases in assistance given through the SNAP Program (formerly known as food stamps), stimulus money from our govern-ment, emergency donations of food from food banks arriving often, NPPSD giving out food several times a week through June, the throngs of people needing assistance have not material-ized like we thought they would…..YET. What we ARE seeing at the Pantry is the return of families registered in our system that we have not seen for years. We are seeing new households signing

up for help. We are NOT seeing our usual seniors, those that had been coming regularly for years, which is concerning.

With all of the food options above, and so many more such as the Episcopal Church Wednesday night drive-through suppers, we are not having hoards of people at our doors. What is exciting for us is HOW we are assisting the customers that are coming in for help. First of all, we are now allowing customers to receive food once every two months, rather than the once every three months rule. Also, we are sending our customers home with a far greater amount of food that will last them a much longer time. We are so thankful to be able to do this!

We are continuing to work with a skeleton crew at the Pantry. We are so thankful for Methodist Francine McKenzie, and Presbyterians JoAnne Greene, Nancy Mack, and Tammy Miller. These ladies are doing a fabulous job of safely giving out major amounts of food to our grateful customers and are putting in a huge number of volunteer hours each month. We also thank those others who have helped unload deliveries. For the time being, the Pantry continues to be open to customers Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 1-3 pm.

In the 5th paragraph above, I wrote “…the throngs of people needing assistance have not materialized like we thought they would….YET." I would like to emphasize that our Pantry leaders and volunteers feel that while we are currently keeping up with demand and providing wonder-ful quantities of food to a great number of people, the need in this area will continue to grow. We at Grace Ministries are preparing for those months through wise spending and careful purchasing from the Nebraska Food Bank. We are so thankful that the Food Bank is allowing us to purchase food at greatly reduced prices, even offering some goods at no cost. We must be diligent in keeping our shelves fully stocked to be ready for those difficult days and weeks yet to come.

Thank you all for your continued support and your prayers! - - Leigh Henline

P.S. We are also in need of empty egg cartons. They can be dropped at the pantry or at the church.

Embracing Hope with Bob and Kristi Rice Serving in South Sudan

Below is one article from the blog. Go to the website to read more and to see the photos of their ministry. Blogging with the Rices’ — http://boband kristi.blogspot.com/

A New Language

The Sunday evening rally was organized by the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a local organization called “Not in My Town,” an organization committed to anti-bigotry and anti-bullying. Within twenty four hours, the planners were able to organize this rally for justice and one thousand concerned citizens showed up at the promenade outside the Law and Justice Center in downtown Bloomington, Illinois.

When we arrived a few minutes before 5pm, people were standing and sitting and many were holding signs and placards with messages such as “White Silence is Violence” and “We Remember George Floyd” and “Black Lives Matter.” Even upon arrival, one could viscerally feel the emotion, the pathos, the pain. We felt compelled to come and show solidarity and concern, but being at any type of rally felt strange and new for us. We were at the back of the crowd, where it was often difficult to hear the speaker. A person would speak for a short time and then chants would cascade across the promenade, the crowd shouting “No justice, no peace” or “I can’t breathe” or “Say his name…George Floyd” or “Black Lives Matter.” For me to say “I can’t breathe” out loud with the group helped me to enter into the moment and the pain. To be honest, it was mildly difficult for me to voice those words. While I struggled to utter and internalize the unutterable words of a man killed within the last week, I felt like I needed to verbalize and internalize these words. I needed to enter into the pain of George Floyd and the others gathered to promote justice on this Pentecost Sunday.

The following day Kristi and I participated with over one hundred staff of the Presbyterian Mission Agency to process and lament together. Laurie Krauss, the director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), co-facilitated our shared time. She framed our time by sharing how when the tongues of fire came down at Pentecost, people responded in one of two ways to the new languages they heard spoken. Some were open to what God was doing while others dismissed the disciples as being drunk on wine. Laurie suggested that the protests and riots happening in our country could be seen as a new language. We can be open to the protests and the pain and ask, “Even though I don't understand what is going on, what message does God have for me and for us at this time? Or, we choose to disengage from the messengers because we don’t understand or agree with the method.

Kristi and I feel like we have been on a journey of learning the language of pain and protest from the African American community for several years now, though we often feel like new kids on the block. With a group of fellow mission co-workers, we are currently reading a book called White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo (link here). We are also listening to black and brown voices share their pain and their hope for a better world. One recent poignant interview was with Dr. Dwight Radcliff of Fuller Theological Seminary (podcast link here). We are on a journey, trying to learn a new language, the language of pain and protest. We will keep listening, keep reading, keep asking questions and keep showing up until we see a new heaven and a new earth rise up like a phoenix out of the broken ashes of our world, a world where division and poverty and racism hold sway. We will keep holding court with Jesus in prayer and we will continue entering spaces which are not comfortable, forcing us to listen to “voices long silenced” and to narratives not our own.

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10am Worship

*Live Streaming @ www.fpcnp.org

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10am Worship with Communion

*Live Streaming @ www.fpcp.org

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10am Worship In the Sanctuary

*Live Streaming @ www.fpcnp.org

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10am Worship In the Sanctuary

*Live Streaming @ www.fpcnp.org

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No Meetings and Activities until further notice. Sunday Worship Live Streamed @ www.fpcnp.org

First Presbyterian Church (USA) 1901 W Leota Street

North Platte, Nebraska 69101

Our Purpose

“Boldly with Christ, We Belong,

Believe, Grow and Reach Out”

Tel: (308) 532-1083

Fax: (308) 532-2968

Email: office@fpcnp.org

Web: www.fpcnp.org

Sunday Services

10:00am Worship

(Live Stream Service

at www.fpcnp.org)

Wednesday

FPC & ME (Sept - May)

Choir Rehearsals

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Permit 88

North Platte, NE 69101