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Welcome to Worship at First Presbyterian Church Neenah

We’re delighted that you’re here! With the open arms of Christ, we welcome persons of every age,

ability, race, or ethnicity fully into the life of the church, recognizing and respecting all sexual

orientations and gender identities.

Hearing Assistance: First Presbyterian has a hearing loop for hearing aid users equipped with

T-coils. Brochures explaining this feature are available in the pews. There are also head phones

available in the Narthex, (aka the entryway) if you don’t have hearing aids.

Childcare (infants and toddlers through 2 years old) is available in the nursery located across from

the Library. We welcome infants and small children in worship, but if your child needs care or

becomes uncomfortable during the service, feel free to leave and return as you wish.

Worship bags with activities and Bibles for children are available near the Sanctuary entrances.

Worship Enrichment: At the option of their parents, children ages three years through first grade

may follow a teacher to the Wee Worship room next to the Library immediately after the Time for

Children. Worship Enrichment offers time for children to learn stories, games, songs, and crafts

based upon familiar Bible lessons.

The flowers are given by the Grigsby family.

Special thanks you to Will Volkman for playing saxophone during our service today and to Nate

Struensee for the slide show.

Several FPCN members have planned today’s worship as a way to share and celebrate what they

learned and experienced at the Synod of Lakes & Prairies Synod School in Storm Lake, IA, last

month. Today’s Worship Leaders: Susan and Bob Coyle, Sam Hamilton-Poore, Foss Hooper,

Marilyn Paulson, Sarah Seager, Gina Struensee, Nate Struensee, and Shirley Willis.

Synod School is a learning and personal enrichment experience for people of all ages. We seek to

create an environment of hospitality, healing, and hope. The week is designed and open to everyone,

clergy and individuals alike. Classes and activities are available for adults, youth, and children.

Participants share in a unique experience of Christian community as we worship, study, play, and

live together.

The folks from Synod School invite you to follow them after the service

to the patio, weather permitting. We will be sharing a long time

Synod School tradition: ICE CREAM! Throughout the week of Synod School

the ice cream machine is pressed into service at lunch and dinner.

It is the BEST soft serve according to children ages 0 - 105!

We will be sharing a token of our esteem with ice cream!

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Service for the Lord’s Day August 12, 2018 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost 9:00 a.m.

Prelude The prelude at Synod School is an interactive time used to learn,

practice, and rehearse the music for that evening’s worship.

Together let’s sing our praises to God.

Today’s service begins with the ringing of our church bell.

At this time, please prepare quietly for worship and be sure all cell phones are off.

Hymn 466 (Repeat five times) Come and Fill Our Hearts CONFITEMINI DOMINO

Come and fill our hearts with your peace. You alone, O Lord, are holy.

Come and fill our hearts with your peace. Alleluia!

Silent Reflection

* Call to Worship – Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

* Hymn

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* Silent Prayer of Confession

* Response – Hymn 698 Take, O Take Me as I Am TAKE ME AS I AM

Take, O take me as I am; summon out what I shall be;

set your seal upon my heart and live in me.

* Assurance of Pardon

* Response – Hymn 649 (Stanza 1) Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound AMAZING GRACE

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

* The Peace Gina Struensee

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Welcome and Invitation to Our Church Life

(Please sign and pass the Fellowship Pads, noting other names as they are returned, and greet

one another after the service.)

A Time for Children Gina Struensee

(Following A Time for Children those who are 3 yrs – 1st grade are welcome to follow a

teacher to Worship Enrichment.)

Prayer for Illumination – Hymn 692 (Refrain) Spirit, Open My Heart WILD MOUNTAIN THYME

Spirit, open my heart to the joy and pain of living.

As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving. Spirit, open my heart.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 100 Pew Bible (OT) p. 552 Foss Hooper

Response: For the word of God in Scripture,

for the word of God among us,

for the word of God within us,

Thanks be to God!

Synod School Reflections

Foss Hooper

Hymn 157 (Refrain) Lord of the Dance LORD OF THE DANCE

Dance, then, wherever you may be; I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.

Sarah Seager

Lord of the Dance (Refrain)

Susan Coyle

Lord of the Dance (Refrain)

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Prayers of the People Bob Coyle

Silent Prayer

God, in your mercy

Hear our prayers

Hymn The Lord’s Prayer DAVID HAAS

Liturgical Dance Interpretation by Marilyn Paulson

Sharing of Our Gifts and Offerings

Offertory How Can I Keep from Singing? HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING

Blake Doss, piano

Synod School Slide Show

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* Sung Response – Hymn 608 Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow PRAISE GOD

The Prayer of Thanksgiving (Adapted from 1906 Book of Common Worship of the PCUSA)

O most gracious and merciful God, from whose hand we all have received much:

We ask you to accept this offering of your people.

Remember in your love those who have brought it. Remember also those persons

and purposes for which it is given.

Follow these gifts with your blessing that they may promote peace and advance the kingdom

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.

Amen.

* Hymn 853 We Are Marching in the Light of God SIYAHAMBA

We are marching in the light of God;

We are marching in the light of God.

We are marching in the light of God;

We are marching in the light of God.

We are marching, we are marching, oo . . .

We are marching in the light of God.

We are marching, we are marching, oo . . .

We are marching in the light of God!

We are dancing . . .

praying . . .

singing . . .

* Charge and Benediction

* Hymn 853 We Are Marching in the Light of God (Repeat – see above) SIYAHAMBA

We invite you to continue singing our praises to God as you follow

the worship leaders to the courtyard for ice cream, coffee, and fellowship.

*****************************

*Those who are able are invited to stand.

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Weeklong Synod School Puts Successful 65th Year Into the Books By Duane Sweep, Special to Presbyterian News Service

STORM LAKE, Iowa — Marking its 65th year,

this year’s iteration of Synod School, the

midsummer ministry of the Synod of Lakes and

Prairies, drew more than 600 for a week of

worship, classes, fun and fellowship on the

campus of Buena Vista University in Storm

Lake, Iowa.

Synod School 2018, which ran July 21-27,

featured more than 70 classes, convocation

addresses by Jason Brian Santos, worship services

led by Jana Childers, and the music leadership of

Hans Peterson and Nelson Morlock.

While participation in Synod School is

usually measured by the number of participants from a presbytery, this year a single church contributed

29 attendees. “There were 29 of us, counting me,” noted Lance Loveall, pastor of the First Presbyterian

Church of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Loveall said the group included “four kids, 10 youth and 15 adults.”

Loveall and his wife, Paige, “have been talking about Synod School since we started coming seven years

ago,” he wrote in an e-mail. Grandparents started bringing grandchildren. “In the meantime the

grandparents that came spread the word of how awesome Synod School is and recruited people of that

generation as well,” Loveall noted. This year’s group include 16 first-timers, including one man who

attended for the first time with his wife and grandson, another grandchild with his grandmother, a

couple, a single adult, and four families with children.

“To the person, everyone reported having a good time,” Loveall wrote. “Whether it

was a class or classes, the worship, or [Santos], or a combination thereof, they all

reported having fun, learning, being spired, having thoughts about our congregation,

and having wonderful conversations about spiritual development and the church.”

Through five convocation addresses, Santos, who is the mission coordinator for

Christian formation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency in Louisville, explored

what it means to be an intergenerational “Sabbath people.”

Addressing the way the church connects with youth, Santos asked, “Are we

entertaining our youth or engaging them in Christian practice?” And commenting

on church as entertainment, and children’s time and youth activities, Santos said,

“If that’s all we have, we have failed.”

Santos said, “We have to put action into our words.” The connection with youth is

gained through community, shared time and experiences together. “We often think

our memories are our own,” Santos said, but added, “All of our memories are

connected to our communal environment.”

That’s true, too, for the community of the church. “At the end of the day, sometimes we put too

much emphasis on the sermon. … Is it so cerebral that we’ve lost the art of connecting?” Santos

asked. “We no longer live in a pastoral model of the church.”

Jason Brian Santos

delivers one of five

convocation addresses

at Synod School.

(Photo by Duane

Sweep)

Synod School attendees fill Schaller Chapel on the Buena Vista

University campus for opening-night worship Sunday, July 21.

(Photo by Duane Sweep)

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The 70-plus classes ranged from “Spiritual Formation” to

“Yoga: Vacation Style,” and “Immigration: Economics,

Ethics & Ethnics” to “The Coming of the Internet & the Loss

of Everything Else.” Classes also varied from the

“Introduction to the New Testament” to “Sheldon Cooper on

Relationships,” and the “Doctrine of Discovery” to “Outdoor

Cooking.”

Classes even included “Laughter as a Spiritual Discipline,” a

class taught by Tom Willadsen, a Presbyterian minister,

humor columnist and author of “OMG! LOL! Faith and

Laughter.” Willadsen is also well known at Synod School

for “Caramel Roll Day,” which usually takes place on Thursday.

In some past years, Willadsen would take plates of caramel rolls from the serving pans and deliver

them throughout the dining hall. But in 2016, Willadsen noted, “[T]he food handling guidelines

changed, and one could not take food from the line and deliver it without using gloves and tongs.”

This year, on “Caramel Roll Day,” Willadsen greeted breakfast diners at the door with a paper plate

smeared with the “sweet, sticky goodness” of a devoured caramel roll. But Willadsen’s desire to

serve the delicious delight did come to pass. “I was pleased,” he noted. “There were a lot left about

10 minutes before breakfast ended, so they let me put on gloves and deliver them until we ran out.”

Childers, dean of the seminary and vice president for academic affairs at San Francisco Theological

Seminary, led evening worship Sunday through Thursday. A Presbyterian minister, Childers is a

popular conference speaker, preaching often in national and international settings. She has also been

featured on the Hallmark Channel’s “Great Preachers” series.

Dance also played a role in worship as Gina Penn, who discovered at age 13 she could dance as a

form of worship, served as the School’s artist in residence and led dancers during evening worship.

The success of Synod School has continued through another year, and plans are already in the works

for Synod School 2019 — planned again during the last full week of July, July 21-26, 2019 — and at

the same location.

Next year’s convocation speaker has already been chosen — Deidre “Dede” Johnston, professor of

communication at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, who conducts research in the area of global

communication and cross-cultural happiness. Johnston also led the development of a new peace

and justice studies minor at the college, and was involved in curriculum development for women’s

studies and American ethnic studies.

Shawna Bowman, associate director of field education and experiential education at McCormick

Theological Seminary in Chicago, will lead next year’s evening worship. Bowman is also an artist and

pastor at Friendship Presbyterian Church in Chicago and co-found of Creation Lab, an art collective.

And there are others making plans for next year’s Synod School. Loveall noted that people in his

congregation are already thinking about it. “People are already talking about next year … Some

people are already motivated to attend for the first time and many people are ready to go back.”

—–

Duane Sweep is director of communications for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. From time to time

he contributes to Presbyterian News Service.

Dancers were an integral part of worship at

Synod School. (Photo by Duane Sweep)

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The Synod of Lakes & Prairies

invites all to join them

at Synod School 2019!

July 21-26, 2019 Storm Lake, Iowa

Today’s Ministers of Welcome:

Greeters: Deacon Nancy Beyer and Elder Sarah Stertz.

Ushers: Tim Galloway and Dave Struensee.

Coffee host: Mark Bennett.

The next performance in the Lunch Time Organ Recital series takes place with a special joint

performance by organist Mario Buchanan and oboist Alexandra Piepenbrink on Wednesday, August

15th

, 12:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church Appleton. For a full list of recitals, please visit:

ww.lunchtimeorganrecital.org.

The Women’s Outdoor Adventure Group has rescheduled the Kayak/Canoe Trip down the Mecan

River to August 24th

. Please email Barb Ramaeker (barbararamaeker@gmail.com) if you are

interested in participating!

Downtown Neenah will be sponsoring a blood drive on Wednesday, August 15th

, 7:30 a.m. to 2:00

p.m. Mobile will be located outside the DoubleTree Hotel (123 E. Wisconsin Ave., Neenah) with

registration inside. Schedule your appointment by calling 800-280-4102.

Dinner and a show at the PAC! Join us for one, two, or all three of these matinees at the Fox Cities

Performing Arts Center (PAC) Appleton followed by dinner at Pullmans Restaurant.

Saturday, December 1, 2018; 2:00 p.m. showing of

Fiddler on the Roof. Cost is $60 due by Oct. 16th

.

Saturday, January 12, 2019; 2:00 p.m. showing of

Anastasia. Cost is $60 due by Nov. 27th

.

Saturday, February 23, 2019; 2:00 p.m. showing of

The Lion King. Cost is $98 due by Nov 14th

.

Cost includes show tickets, seats on the main floor, and bus transportation departing at 1:00 p.m.

from the Highlands at Mahler Park. Participants are responsible for ordering/paying for their own

dinner and beverages. Dinner includes: main dish, beverage, salad, hot rolls, queso dip and chips,

cookie/bar, taxes, and tip. A limited menu will be served. Reserve your spot now by contacting

Debbie Griffith (debbiegriffith34@gmail.com or 540-2342). Please make payments to Debbie.

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The summer is flying by and the TLC Quilting Ministry continues to cut, sew, quilt, and bind. TLC

will not meet in August, but we have plenty of fabric in our sewing room if you would like to pick

some up to put a simple quilt top together. We will finish it with the batting and backing for you.

Contact Amy Cebulski (acebulski22@gmail.com) if interested. Hands to work, hearts to God.

FPCN is hosting an Ask the Experts! Senior Service Roundtable on Wednesday, August 15th,

11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in our Fellowship Hall. We hope you will join us for a presentation and

senior resource information fair to learn the facts about senior care services. Bring your questions

and gain some clarity from industry professionals.

Senior Helpers: in-home care services Hooper Law: elder law services

Care Patrol: senior advisor services Compassus: hospice care services

Primrose: memory care living services Chiropractic Advantage: senior health

Coyle Care: senior/caregiver coaching & assistance Acre Realty: senior real estate specialist

Riverside Cemetery: pre-planning burial options Amedisys: home health care services

Medicare Masters: health insurance services The Bridges: rehabilitation & memory care

Thrivent Financial: legacy planning Brettschenider Funeral: funeral planning srvcs

Hey! from the

Pastor Nominating Committee We know that all of you are anxious to hear what’s been happening on our committee. And like you,

we are anxious too. We get frustrated at how long it seems to be taking, although to be fair, we’ve

only been looking at PIF’s (a.k.a. resumes) for 5 months. Just like all of you, we are excited for the

next person to arrive and lead our church into the next chapter in the life of this church. One of our

members has likened this process to finding a life partner, and, if you will recall, the perfect person

doesn’t just appear simply because you’ve decided that you are ready for them!

To put this in perspective, there are currently 2033 candidates across the country looking for pastoral

calls. But, and this is a BIG but, only 102 of those have identified Wisconsin as a state they would

consider moving to for a call! Gee, I wonder if our 6 feet of snow in April has influenced some of

their sentiments about our dear state. So we have only 5% of those candidates to even consider.

Unless they have listed Wisconsin or are open to any state, we won’t even have their PIF’s to

consider in our search. This is a sobering thought. But we remain positive that our person is out

there…we just have to remain faithful in God’s presence in the life of our committee and in His plan

for the church.

We have had over a dozen Skype interviews. We have fallen deeply in “like” with a few candidates

only to have them “reject” us. They either are being courted by another church and were further in

the process or, for personal reasons, a move to Neenah wasn’t in their future. Try to remember that

most of these candidates have more to consider than just themselves.

Often their spouses have careers that have to be considered; perhaps their children don’t want to

move or maybe they have aging parents to care for and they can’t be that far away from them.

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Accepting a pastoral call is a HUGE decision for a candidate and their entire family. We have also

realized that someone can dazzle us on paper but once we speak to them, we just don’t believe that

they are the right fit for our church.

So we continue to ask for your prayers and your patience while we continue through this process. We

feel a huge sense of responsibility for choosing someone that most of the church will be excited

about. I say “most” because we are aware that you can’t please everyone all of the time. And please

remember that we are blessed with a wonderful interim pastor in Terry and an amazing associate

pastor in Paul. Try not to focus on what you think we don’t have right now, and enjoy and be grateful

for what we do have at this time.

When we have more news, we’ll be sure to let you know! The PNC

THIS WEEK

Sunday, August 12

9:00 a.m. Worship in the Sanctuary

Monday, August 13

5:00 p.m. Vacation Bible School Classes will take place at CUCC,

1511 Nicolet Blvd., Neenah

Contact Gina Struensee to register!

7:00 p.m. Mission & Outreach Committee

Tuesday, August 14

5:00 p.m. Vacation Bible School

Thursday, August 16

5:00 p.m. Yoga

7:00 p.m. Caregiver Support Group

Sunday, August 19

9:00 a.m. Worship in the Sanctuary

10:00 a.m. Coffee Talk in the Meeting Room

Deacons’ Meeting

Wednesday, August 15

9:00 a.m. Knitting Circle

11:00 a.m. Senior Resource Fair

12:15 p.m. Lunchtime Organ Recital – First

United Methodist Church,

Appleton, organist Mario Buchanan

and oboist Alexandra Piepenbrink

5:00 p.m. Vacation Bible School

SAVE THESE DATES!

Rally Day - Sunday, September 9

ROCK the BLOCK - September 20, 21, & 22

Fall Wonderful Wednesdays

begin September 26

Adult Mission Trip - Departs October 6

Harvestfest - Saturday, October 20

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