Greetings Everyone
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
This is my first contribution to the midweek messenger. For those of you who I haven’t met yet, my name is Raully Donahue and I am the new pastor at FPC. I am excited to be here. It is a return home for me. I grew up in Western Montana, the son of a Forest Service agent and the grandson and great-grandson of ranchers. It’s good to be back to where the air smells normal, the nights are cool and short (at least in the summer), and there are two sunsets every evening.
Pastor Paul has done a fantastic job as the interim pastor here. It was so good to see this congregation honor him last week. Paul is blessed with a pastoral heart, a love for God’s mission, and, apparently, a knack for corny jokes. Most churches experience restlessness during times of transition, but under Paul’s leadership FPC experienced true spiritual and numerical growth. For sure there are very big shoes to fill here and there is momentum for the future. We all wish Paul, Terri and Wrigley joy in retirement.
The most common question I’ve gotten so far is about my own family. Kari and I have a blended family of five children. Two of them are college graduates and both of them will be working overseas. Ryan, our middle child, is an engineering student at Hope College. Our youngest two kids, Sophie and Calvin, are still in high school. They will be coming with Kari in mid-June after school gets out. Please pray that they arrive safely and quickly. I’ll be honest; it’s a bit tough to be separated from them for a month.
Here’s a concrete way that you can help me as the new pastor at FPC. One of the hardest things for me is learning everyone’s name. It seems like I can remember a lot of things about a person – their background, their job, our conversations – before I can remember their name. So please be patient with me while I sort that out. It helps if you introduce yourself to me several times. It also really helps me if you take the time to have lunch or a cup of coffee with me – sometimes we can get to know one another outside of a hectic Sunday morning. For the next 2-3 weeks, I am scheduling abundant time during office hours (T-F, 9:30-1:30) and during the evenings to get to know people. Please take the opportunity to meet with me for fifteen to twenty minutes so that I can not only learn your name but so that I can get a chance to hear how God has been working in your life.
This Sunday is Pentecost and our sermon will focus on the Holy Spirit’s dramatic entry in Acts 2, when the disciples felt a violent wind and had cloven tongues of fire sprout from their foreheads. My primary goal for every Sunday is that you experience the passage in a new way. This will be an excellent portion of the Bible to explore together. I hope to see you there!
News & Events
Sunday, May 19th
10:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service
11:15 a.m. BBQ in the Fellowship Hall following worship service
Monday, May 20th
7:00 p.m. Choir Practice
Tuesday, May 21st
7:00 a.m. Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast
Wednesday, May 22nd
100:00 a.m. Ladies AM Bible Study (L.A.M.B.S)
6:00 p.m. FPC Youth Meet Up
Thursday, May 23rd
10:00 a.m. Bible Babes bible study
Sunday, May 26th
10:00 am Worship Service
11:00 a.m. Congregational Meeting to elect & ordain Rene Gense as Clerk of Session
Check out the Events Calendar for more upcoming events.
Dear Friends.
Terri and I want to thank you for the wonderful and gracious sendoff you gave us this past Sunday. The warmth, love and gratitude we felt was tremendous. The gifts we received were overwhelming, especially the gift of air travel with Delta Airlines from the whole congregation. We will be using that gift to make our reservations for our October trip to Florence, Italy and quite possibly next year to Scotland.
May the Lord continue to bless and guide you under the pastoral ministry of Pastor Raully. May each of you, individually and corporately continue to LOVE God, LEARN to know and follow Jesus, and LIVE your faith, in word and deed. May the Blessing of the Lord be Upon You.
Pastor Paul and Terri
Presbyterian Women Luncheon
Presbyterian Women invite you to a Spring luncheon on May 21st at 1:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. This will be our last meeting until next September. We are pleased to have Pastor Tim Lanham and Pastor Paul share an update about the Glacier Camp on Flathead Lake and the summer schedule of camping events and administrative changes. Please be sure you have RSVP’d to hostesses Merri and Willo. We hope you will join us.
Community Outreach
Whitefish Care & Rehab is looking for donations of personal care items. When a new resident comes into the facility they are provided with standard items. It will be a beautiful collaboration if residents also see a basket filled with items donated by the community that demonstrates they are thought of and cared for.
We are looking for the following travel sized items and hope to make 10 baskets in total.
Items to donate
-Small wooden basket
-Shampoo -Dove
– Conditioner- Dove
-Lotion- Dove
-Deodorant- Dove
-Lip balm
-Toothbrush & Toothpaste
-Activity books like sudoku and crosswords
-Snacks- Protein bars, soft cereal bars, mixed nuts (salt free),
-Water bottle
-Juice box
You may drop off donated items in the church office or look for the Whitefish Care & Rehab box in Fellowship Hall.
Your Fellowship Team will be celebrating the inauguration of our new Weber gas grill on Sunday, May 19th following our church service. We will be grilling cheeseburgers and hotdogs on our new deck built by our own Drew Rhymes. A signup sheet will be posted in the Fellowship Hall, so please bring a side dish to compliment the entree.
Thank You,
Fellowship Committee
FPC YOUTH NEWS
Final Wednesday for the school year will be on May 22nd at 6pm. We’ll have dinner, a lesson and finish up at Sweet Peaks!
Parents, we’ll have some summer fun together! Once we have a plan, you’ll be the first to know!
