Dear First Presbyterian Church Family:

It has been a busy week in the life of First Presbyterian Church! Here are just a few things going on that I want to bring to your attention:

BOOK GROUP ON NOVEL GILEADWe have started our church-wide Book Club on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. We invite the whole church to purchase this book and read along over the next six weeks. Every other week we will have a panel of three English professors along with me and Pastor Damen talking about the book. You can listen to that discussion like a radio broadcast or podcast by clicking here: https://soundcloud.com/damen-heitmann/062520-gilead-gleanings-a-summer-read If you would prefer to see our smiling faces, you can watch the broadcast on YouTube by clicking here: https://youtu.be/-_egyU233vo Next week we will host a live book group discussion via Zoom. Please email or call the church to RSVP and get the link for that: fpc@fpchastings.org or 402-462-5147

CONVERSATION GROUP ON ANTI-RACISM AND MOVIE JUST MERCY: We will be starting a multi-month conversation group on anti-racism. We begin by asking all church members to watch the movie Just Mercy which is available to stream for free during the month of June: http://justmercyfilm.com On Wednesday, 7/1, we will host a Zoom conversation about the movie. Please email or call the church to RSVP and get the link for that: fpc@fpchastings.org or 402-462-5147  Following that, we invite the congregation to read the book The Hate U Give or watch that movie and we will host conversation groups throughout the month of July on that book. We hope you can join us for this important work.

WORSHIP IN THE PARK LAST WEEK: We held a worship service in Alexander Park last week. More than 100 people attended and we had the most amazing tech crew record the service for us. I preached on the children’s book Wherever you are, my love will find you  and Psalm 139. We had amazing instrumental soloists help lead worship with their musical gifts. If you missed it or just want to catch it again, you can watch it by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=265356028026534 (You don’t need a Facebook account to watch the service)

MONDAY CHECK-IN: Each week, we provide a short conversational Bible Study chat that you can listen to like a radio broadcast or watch on YouTube. To listen to those, click here: https://soundcloud.com/damen-heitmann/sets/monday-check-in To watch them on YouTube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrDhGgyNVayw0xXR4NvbjrLXeMyPSOsBG

As you can see, the church is alive, well, and active in this time. We hope that you will click on some of these links and get involved in all the church is doing to stay connected in this time. Have a blessed weekend!

Your Servant in Christ,

Pastor Greg