Inside: A Time To Mourn Memorial Service, Food Drive Fridays, Pentecost Project

Online Worship

• Join us for worship online on Sunday at 10:30am and on Wednesday at 6:15pm, at 1stlu.org/live.

Cancellations

• In-person worship will not occur through at least May 26. Other gatherings, including weddings, funerals. Sunday School, confirmation and many small groups are also not gathering at this time. Vision & Leadership will determine how we will begin to gather again.

• For an up-to-date list of online options and cancellations please visit firstlutheranonalaska.org/thisweek.

A Time To Mourn: An Ecumenical Memorial Service For Lives Lost To Covid-19

Sun, May 24, 5pm (CTD). This public online memorial service will allow us to mourn the more than 300,000 people worldwide and 90,000 in the U.S. who have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The nation has not had a public moment of collective grief to acknowledge and mourn the impact of losing so many lives in such a short period of time.” This service will be broadcast on YouTube and Facebook Live. ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will take part in the service. Click here to register for the event. Click here to add names to the list of those who have died from COVID19.

Come for Supper Update

For May, Come for Supper will be offering take-out meals, but is currently not accepting donations, and will not need outside volunteers.

Our OWLs Be Zoomin’

The OWLs are a group at First that welcomes anyone, First Lutheran members or not, who are 55+. OWLs: If you are having technical problems viewing worship services or pastors’ morning musings please call volunteer coordinator, Brian Narveson for help: 608.526.9700. For those already connected with a computer, tablet or smart phone, or even just a regular phone, the OWLs will be holding “Virtual Potlucks” via Zoom. Zoom is a two way video conferencing system where you can both see and hear the people you are talking with. The next one is Wednesday, May 27 at 1pm. Brian wants the OWLs to know they can participate in these virtual potlucks with just a regular phone. For help with Zoom, feel free to contact Brian: owls@firstlu.org / 608.526.9700.

Food Drive Fridays

La Crosse County Health Department has partnered with The Hunger Task Force of La Crosse, and is teaming up with iFeed, Rotary, and Rotary Lights to hold “Food Drive Fridays”, a drive-thru style food drive where donors don’t get out of their vehicles. Collections are held every Friday from 11am-1pm through the end of May 2020. Locations include: 1) Valley View Mall parking lot (by former Macy’s location), 3800 Hwy 16, La Crosse; 2) La Crosse County Parking lot behind the Courthouse & Law Enforcement Center, 333 Vine St, La Crosse; 3) Big Lots parking lot located at 3960 Mormon Coulee Rd, La Crosse. Canned items needed include meats (tuna, chicken), peanut butter, soup, fruit, boxed side dishes (stuffing, rices, potatoes), breakfast items (cereal, oatmeal, etc), canned ravioli & spaghettios, pasta & pasta sauce. If you'd like to make a monetary donation, go to 1stlu.org/ifeed and select the iFeed Covid-19 option.

Help with Pentecost Project

Pentecost is on May 31, and we would like “Come Holy Spirit” recorded in as many languages as possible. Here is what we need from you: contact karyn@firstlu.org, and she’ll send you the name of a country. Do a little research, and find how one would say “Come Holy Spirit” in their language (Google Translate makes it easy). Record a video of you and your family saying “Come Holy Spirit” in the language, and upload to a Google folder. For more details, watch this post by Pastor Karyn.

Bible Bits

A project that we are starting to work on is to send a Bible verse video to Sunday school students. This video and verse from you would fill up the student's Bible with peoples names that are important to them and remember that God loves them and so do we! Each day or every other day Beth would send a video (made by members) with directions to the Sunday school students that would give the opportunity for the youth to highlight the verse and write your name near it. This is a way to stay connected to our Bibles and our congregations' youth during this time. For more information, contact Beth at beth@firstlu.org.

AV Ministry

Our live stream set-up is starting to get into place, and the next phase involves members learning the set-up so we can continue to provide this ministry to everyone at home. We will be in need of two leaders/volunteers each Sunday: 1) to run projection (as we always have) and 2) to direct the live stream. Ideally we’d like a 2 week commitment on both Sundays and Wednesdays, the first week to lead projection and the second week to learn the live stream. If you know someone with these gifts, or if you are interested in being a part of this ministry, pass their name or your name to andy@firstlu.org.

Readers!

We are seeking people of all ages who would be willing to be our readers each week. This would mean doing a video of yourself or family reading the assigned text and then uploading it to a google folder. If you are willing to do this, email Pastor Karyn: karyn@firstlu.org.

Prayers!

Pastor Karyn is looking for people who are willing to be our pray-ers. If you are willing to offer up a prayer or let us know a way we can be praying, send me an email to karyn@firstlu.org. Thanks!

Sewing Face Masks

The La Crosse County Health Dept. provides direction on making face masks for healthcare workers: Go to 1stlu.org/sewmasks for info, modifications to the pattern, and drop-off locations.

Help Those in Need

If you are looking for ways to help locally, go to the Ugetconnected site to find a variety of needs, from writing letters or drawing pictures to seniors, to delivering pre-packaged meals or sewing. It's hard to keep track of all the various organizations, so this is a great spot to find out how you can help. Go to 1stlu.org/needs.