Outreach

First United Methodist Church in the Wausau Community and World

Click on the button below to view a list of our church's outreach and mission opportunities...

September Mission Offering

This month’s Mission Offering supports our Personal Needs Closet. In 2018 we helped over 1000 people stretch there budgets by providing household supplies. All change put into the offering plate goes to this mission. Use a small brown envelope for bills or write PNC on the memo line on your check.

Remember that the Mission Offering must be clearly marked. Either write a note on your check or use the brown envelopes in the back of the pew. Just loose change in the offering plate will not go to the monthly offering.

Downtown Memory Café

We celebrated five years of outreach ministry in May of this year. We meet the 3rd Thursday of each month. Memory Cafés are for those experiencing early stage dementia, mild memory loss or cognitive impairment – accompanied by their care partners, family or friends. Sing-alongs, programs, conversation, activities and refreshments are offered each month by dementia-trained volunteers. Consider escorting a friend or loved one to a Downtown Memory Café. Free!

For more information, please contact the church office at 715.842.2201; or Charles Schoenfeld at 715-842- 9809, or memorycafe@fumcwausau.org

Campbell’s Labels
and
Milk Moola Caps

Many of us have been saving labels from Campbell’s cans to be redeemed by Northcott Neighborhood House in Milwaukee. This month, Campbell’s is discontinuing this program, so we will no longer be collecting those at the church.

Also, please bring in any “Milk Moola” caps from milk purchased at Kwik Trip stores as soon as possible. The caps will be taken to Mission u in Wisconsin Rapids July 24th.

UMW, Making Mission Practical

Fair Trade - Equal Exchange Coffee. This is a small gesture you can make to provide fair wages to coffee, tea, and cocoa producers throughout the world. It can be your personal mission project!

Tanzanian Jubilee Coffee and Café’ Salvador are regular drip grind coffeeand are the most popular. Decaf, drip grind, organic whole bean and flavored coffees are available also, as are organic hot cocoa mix and herbal/organic tea. Supplies are in the cupboard next to the fireplace in the parlor.

Regular ground - $8
Whole bean - $8
Ground flavored - $9
All decaf - $9
All teas - $4
Hot Chocolate - $6
Organic very dark Chocolate bars - $3

To purchase take your product, place the money (check or cash) in a brown envelope (in the cupboard) and put the envelope in the drop slot near the church office.

We would like to fill up the pages of our newsletter. If there is an event, celebration or piece of news you would like to share, please call the office at 715-842-2201 or email joan@fumcwausau.org

Are you interested in becoming an Aspirus Comfort Care & Hospice Volunteer?

Volunteers provide a comforting presence and emotional/ social support to our patients and their families in our Hospice Program. As a volunteer, you have the opportunity to help patients in their end-of life journey, live in dignity and peace while helping to offer a pain-free and comfortable environment.

To become an Aspirus Hospice Volunteer, please call the Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice Volunteer Coordinators, Samantha Stroik or Tasha Stencil at 715-847-2424 or toll free at 866-331-2467 for more information, please visit our website www.aspirus.org/volunteers go to the middle of the page and click on “Aspirus Wausau Hospital and Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice Services”. Click on “apply now” to start the process of becoming a hospice volunteer! Training is based on your schedule and needs.

Welcome Statement (in process)

A team of members has put together this statement for First Church to affirm our welcome of all persons. To share your thoughts (really!) contact Gary Getzin 715.842.9254, Wes Ebert 715.409.6077, Molly Hoffmann 715.845.6129, Bonnie Goertz 715.359.9871, Jen or Pete Johnson 715.848.8240, or Dick Rayborn 715.845.2665.

~~~~~
In response to God’s unconditional love for all people made known to us in Jesus Christ, we are called to be a welcoming and affirming community. We, the First United Methodist Church of Wausau, are believers and seekers who include and welcome persons of all ages, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities and physical and mental abilities. Whatever your story, we embrace who you are. We welcome into the full life of this church all who God sends us. Centered in Christ, we commit ourselves to building and living as a community where all are loved.
~~~~~

Beliefs Survey Results

About 15 years ago, First Church developed a fourcore approach to how we do church – worship, faith formation, care and outreach. As we look to our activities, we assess if and where this or that possible ministry fits within our Four Cores.

Part of our preparation for next month’s Missional Church Consultation Initiative (MCCI) Express Day includes putting together a Self-Study of our church – with information about our ministries, history, building, leaders, community and such. We also had to write about our church’s core values and beliefs. Rather than assuming that we knew what everyone believed,
we asked you to complete a Beliefs Survey. Knowing that some of you would like to know what we learned, I offer the following:

Of those who handed in responses, 72 of 77 indicated that they attend worship at least 2-3 times a month. Not all persons responded to all questions. Still, this offers us a snapshot of beliefs, values and concerns.

A large majority believe in God and recognize that God’s grace is available to every person. Most believe God is active in the life of the world through people like us. Most also believe that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine and that his death serves to reconcile us with God.

A large minority of respondents believe that we experience salvation through God’s saving action in this life as well as in the next. Most respondents believe either that the Bible conveys its writers’ interpretations regarding the ways and principles of God or that it is the inspired work of God. People generally view the Bible as their most authoritative theological reference.

Responses to a statement ranking what is important for us to do as a church were tightly clustered – for prayer, study, helping with the church’s ministries yet accepting people regardless of sexual orientation had the strongest response.

Most respondents believe First Church should be serving as Christ’s hands, feet and voice for the transformation of the world. We asked for two responses here. The other three – advocating for social justice, developing the faith of existing members and bringing new people into relationship with Christ as nearly equally divided.

Practicing welcome for all is important to the members of First Church. We are proud of the ways in which we engage with broader communities in mission.

Thank you to everyone who responded. If you would like to see the actual tallies of responses, please contact Dick Rayborn or Pastor Jayneann.

All Church E-Prayer Chain

If you’re a church member and didn’t receive a test email this month for our new All Church E-Prayer Chain, we may not have the correct email address for you on file. Please connect with Joan to update your contact information.

Communion for Shut-Ins

A reminder that on the first Sunday of each quarter we have Communion Kits prepared for those who do the visitations and communion deliveries. We put them out in the Chapel and in the Wesleyan Room that day. We would like to see the kits delivered as soon as possible. If this is a service that you do and would like to continue please let us know so we can update our records. If this is something you would be interested in starting see us in the office.