Service for Healing and Wholeness

On May 28, we held a special service for healing and wholeness at Lakefront Park. We gathered to sing and pray together for healing and wholeness for ourselves, for our neighbors, for our communities, and for our world. As part of the worship service, we tied prayer ribbons to create a river of prayers for healing and wholeness. Following this special worship service, we placed the river of prayers in front of the church, along the Vine Street sidewalk, so that people from the wider community could add their prayers as well.

MISHPack 2019

In July, twenty-two youth and adults from the community (including a couple from our own congregation) traveled to Bozeman, MT, to serve with Habitat for Humanity, as part of Networks Youth Ministry’s MISHPack service trip. They laid sod, constructed saw horses, and helped with reorganizing and restocking supplies at the ReStore. Following their week of service, they spend 2.5 days hiking and camping in the Spanish Peaks. All enjoyed a week of exploring God’s call on their lives and God’s beautiful creation. Check out this video summarizing their trip!

St. Croix County “Friend of Public Health”

Every year as part of National Public Health Week, St. Croix County Public Health chooses a “Friend of Public Health” who has made a difference in the well-being and health of residents of St. Croix County. In April 2019, St. Croix County Public Health chose First Pres as their 2019 Friend of Public Health and hosted an appreciation luncheon at the St. Croix Services Center in New Richmond.

It is our honor to host monthly Public Health and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinics for the community. Over the years, we’ve sought to strengthen this partnership by knitting winter caps for WIC infants and sharing fresh veggies from the Give It Away Garden. This past year, one of our own youth led an effort to collect children’s books to share with the WIC children.

We look forward to this continued partnership as we seek God’s dream of a world where all people have easy and affordable access to nutritious food and timely healthcare.

Women’s Retreat

The first weekend of May 2019, more than twenty women from First Pres gathered for a long weekend retreat in Farmington, Wisconsin. The theme of the weekend was “Women Helping Women.” Activities included worship, songs around the campfire, Bible study, yoga, an introduction to the healing practice of Qigong, games, card making, and a service project—tying blankets to be distributed to children entering foster care by our mission partners at Safe Haven Foster Shoppe. There was also lots of time for fun and fellowship! Most notably the group gathered for a game of human foosball, with the ensuing hilarity inspiring Pastor Kendra’s article on play for the Hudson Star Observer.