Events and Calendar
Wednesday Night Live (WNL)
Wednesday Night Live returns on January 15. Join your church family and come greet new friends with activities, learning, and fun for all ages at 5 pm and dinner at 6 pm. Pastor Emma’s Bible study at 5 pm will begin a study ‘Facing Racism’ produced by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to help us look to scripture as we think about race, racism, and privilege in today’s world. Come when you can to the study; sign up for dinner ahead of time at the reception desk. After dinner, stay and “bring some new life to the old stuff.” Learn a little about birds in winter, make a bird feeder from recycled materials, and decals for your windows. Bring a t-shirt you no longer wear to create a shopping bag. See you on January 15!
5-6 pm Adult Study & Mission Projects for grades 6-12
5-5:30 pm Preschool Music Time & KIC Club for grades K-5
5:30-6 pm Music Time for grades K-5 & KIC Club for Preschool
6 pm Dinner for all in Kirkman Fellowship Hall
January “Pop-Up” Book Discussion on Race and Racism
Join Pastor Emma on Monday, January 27, 2020, from 7-8:30 pm for the first meeting in a new, occasional book discussion series. Get your own copy of “Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully about Racism” by Carolyn B. Helsel, and read it ahead of the meeting. Come prepared to share and discuss what you’ve read. We live in a time when it is imperative to educate ourselves and become more comfortable talking about race. This is particularly true for people who consider themselves white and in our predominantly white congregation. Helsel’s book is as gentle an introduction as we will find to these topics, while still challenging us to examine our own lives, relationships, and the world around us. Click on the link for a short video interview with the author.
Mark Your Calendars for Souper Bowl Sunday
On Sunday, February 2, our congregation will participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring. The program is a national movement of people working to fight hunger and poverty in their own communities around the time of the Super Bowl football game. We invite you to bring a canned food item or a non-perishable food item to church and leave it in the collection boxes. Items donated will be kept at the church and used to stock our Little Food Pantry. Click on the link to learn more about Souper Bowl of Caring.
FPCRO and the Michigan Opera Theater present
I, Too, Sing America February 22 at 10:00 am
Created by Chris Jakob with original poetry by Jessica Care Moore, I, Too, Sing America, looks closely at the African American experience in music and sports. Through the lens of opera and baseball—two seemingly different worlds which have in common thrilling spectacle and incredible feats, but which are both marred by a history of segregation—the show invites us to consider: What have these two worlds traditionally meant for African American individuals and communities? How have arts and sports played a role in bridging racial divides and promoting healing? And how do we, today, move toward a fuller incorporation of those pursuits in our world?
This free one-hour performance, made possible through a grant from the Earla B. Smith Foundation, is accessible to adults and teens alike.