October 2015

First Congregational Church, UCC

1200 N. Eastern, Las Vegas, NV 89101 Office (702) 642-2220 www.ucclasvegas.org

www.facebook.com/ucclasvegas

What a marvelous retreat we had with members of the Las Vegas United Church of Christ on September 26. There was an enthusiastic spirit about the ways our two churches have been working together – and a frequently expressed desire for us to continue to celebrate our “oneness”, quite possibly through a full merger. In the meantime, we will begin worshipping together on October 18 (see separate article) and continue to learn from and about one another. There were 31 people present at the retreat. I truly appreciate all who made the commitment to spend that Saturday together. I wish more of you could have been there. That was a continuing theme throughout the retreat: how we can continue to learn from one another. LVUCC has a strong emphasis on youth and children, and thus FCC can learn about how to incorporate that aspect into our life. LVUCC members expressed admiration for the strong adult leadership at FCC, and looked to learn from that. We spoke about how we can strengthen each other’s weaknesses in a joined congregation. We talked about how we could grow as a more significantly multi-cultural church in the Las Vegas valley. And we recognized the problems that lie ahead. FCC is leaving its “nest” and will be a “wilderness wanderer” for a time. LVUCC is contemplating what kind of a “nest” it needs to have in the near future. We also talked about identity: the extent to which we might each lose our identity in a merged church. LVUCC has a strong sense of Filipino identity, although it continues to assert its desire to become even more multi-cultural. FCC has a history going back nearly 80 years with a strong sense of “who we are” built up over that time. As we struggle with the issue of identity, we recognized, we will need to be willing to make compromises. We surfaced issues of money and control and pastoral leadership – especially as we head toward the end of January.

2 October 2015

Nevertheless, the over-riding spirit at the retreat was that of enthusiasm – an excitement about what we are doing together. One of the youth members of LVUCC used this metaphor for our coming together: “more of a salad bowl than a soup”, where we bring individual ingredients and blend them together, keeping that individuality, rather than the “melting pot” image that a “soup” suggests. We stated that we can become one because of Jesus, and that we can find unity in diversity. To the over-arching question posed at the retreat: “would a UCC-style mission and ministry to the valley be enhanced by having one congregation as over-against the two that are currently functioning?” there appeared to be a strong YES affirmed by those present. At the same time, we recognized that there are people in both congregations who have doubts that such a merger would be in that congregation’s best interests. We need to be pastorally sensitive to these concerns as we go forward. There is, of course, a long road to travel and a lot of decision-making still ahead. On October 4 FCC’s Boards and Church Council will have an opportunity to discuss where we go from here and what some of the implications are. LVUCC will have the same opportunity on October 11. Then that afternoon the Exploratory Committee will gather that input and discuss where we go from here. It is an exciting time to be church in Las Vegas.

Peace, Dave

October 2015 3

If you have not already heard about this at the worship service on September 27, we now have a firm selling price for the church and are moving toward a closing date mid-to-late October. This means that the last worship service in our present sanctuary will be Sun-day, October 11. We will hold a campership luncheon on that date – but the food being offered may be something special (come to find out). Also, on that date we will have a time for reminiscences and telling stories about our 50-years-or-so at 1200 N. Eastern. This will be an extraordinary day in the life of our congregation – please plan to be there. Then, the following Sunday, October 18, we will be worshipping with our sister congregation, Las Vegas United Church of Christ, at their campus: 101 S. Ran-cho [the building of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)], with the worship service starting at 11:30. FCC's Adult Bible Study Group is invited to meet with LVUCC's at 10:30. Pastor Pomeroy will be preaching at this initial service there. We will be wor-shipping with LVUCC for the next several months as we continue to discern what God has in store for us “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

4 October 2015

The Pastoral Search Committee met on Sept. 6th., to review progress in finding a new Pastor. A Clergy Compensation Guideline from our Conference was presented to the Committee. It is flexible and working with the Trustee's, we can make a deter-mination on compensation for the new Pastor. We will schedule to hear and evaluate a candidate for Pastor at a neutral pulpit in December. The changes and variables in our Church life dominate what we do, but we are committed to finding a new Pastor.

Ray Sitkiewicz, Chair

October 2015 5

Monies from the sale of the property

When the sale of the property is completed we will be receiving large amounts

of funds so I would like to take a minute and let the congregation know about

how we are protecting these funds.

The bank account where the money will be deposited requires three people to

remove any funds. The treasurer, the financial officer, an a trustee need to be

present to remove funds from the account. Also there cannot be any electronic

transfers out of the account. These safeguards were put in place to protect the

funds.

We need your input

As we look for a new neighborhood for our new home, the trustees need your

input as to the section of town to move to. There are many decisions that need

to be made about where our new location will be. The demographics of the

neighborhood, building and zoning laws, crime, etc. need to be looked at before

we make any decision. This is one of the reasons we are grateful of L.V.U.C.C.

for letting us visit for the next few months as we make this important decision.

We have also set up and e-mail account help@ucclasvegas.org where you can

send the trustees your ideas, problems, rants, etc. so that the trustees can ad-

dress your concerns and ideas. We guarantee to read and take into considera-

tion your thoughts and concerns. Thank You!

Nelson Grandjean Treasurer

6 October 2015

October 2015 1 2

Pinochle

3

4 World

Communion

Leadership

5 6 7 8 9 10

11

Last day of

Worship in

Sanctuary

12

Columbus

Day

Observed

13 14 15 16 17

18

Worship begins

at LVUCC

19 20 21 22 23 24

25

Reformation

Sunday

26 27 28 29 30

Nevada Day

Observed

31

Reformation

Day

Halloween

Finances August YTD

Contributions 3,338 32,191

Building Usage 1,500 12,140

Total Income 4,838 45,616

Operation & Administration 892 8,219

Utilities 552 5,764

Building & Grounds 2,442 10,924

Salaries 3,029 21,670

Total Expenses 6,364 41,316

Net -1,526 4,300

October 2015 7

Sun

9:15am 10:30am 10:50am 11:30am

FCC Adult Ed FCC Services

Youth Education FCC Coffee Hour

Mon 9am -12pm FCC Office

Wed 9am -12pm FCC Office

Thu 9:30am - 10:00am

Bread Run

Fri 6:30pm - 9:30pm Torre Fuerte (sanc)

Sat

8:30am - 2:pm 12:30pm -

1:30pm 6:30pm - 9:30pm

Torre Fuerte (sanc) Torre Fuerte (hall)

Torre Fuerte( sanc)

October 8 Marry Russo-Marx & Stan

Marx

October 16 Chris & Carla Orozco

October 27 Mark & Ofelia Ricker

October 9 James Norman

October 9 Kay Obenour

October 11 Carri Ann Orozco

October 18 Ann Pomeroy

October 24 Tom Berly

October 25 Jean Sitkiewicz

October 30 Gail Wells

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Adult Education 9:15 AM

Sunday Service 10:30 AM

Youth & Nursery 10:50 AM

Coffee & Fellowship 11:30 AM

Pinochle Oct 2

World Communion Sunday Leadership Sunday

Oct 4

Last Day of Worship at 1200 N. Eastern

Oct 11

Columbus Day Observed Oct 12

Worship begins at LVUCC Oct 18

Reformation Sunday Oct 25

Nevada Day Observed Oct 30

Reformation Day Halloween

Oct 31

Other Happenings

Sunday Schedule

Arizona Charlie's West Oct 6

IHOP Oct 13

Cannery on Craig Oct 20

50’s Diner Oct 27

Tuesday Breakfast